Vol 21 No 11 November 2022

IJLTER.
ORG
International Journal
of
Learning, Teaching
And
Educational Research
p-ISSN: 1694-2493
e-ISSN: 1694-2116
Vol.21 No.11
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
(IJLTER)
Vol. 21, No. 11 (November 2022)
Print version: 1694-2493
Online version: 1694-2116
IJLTER
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VOLUME 21 NUMBER 11 November 2022
Table of Contents
Curriculum Advisors’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching Reading in Foundation Phase Classrooms............... 1
Martha Khosa
A Case Study on the Impact of Digital Relationships on Unaccompanied Minors during the COVID-19 Lockdown
................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Francesca Coin, Monica Banzato
TikTok Use as Strategy to Improve Knowledge Acquisition and Build Engagement to Learn Literature in ESL
Classrooms............................................................................................................................................................................. 33
Sharmini Thanga Rajan, Hanita Hanim Ismail
Training Teachers Using Action Research for Innovation in Early Childhood Education Literacy .......................... 54
Aysha Saeed AlShamsi, Aysha Khamis AlShamsi, Alia Nhairl AlKetbi
Implementation of Teacher Capacitation Programs to Integrate Climate Change Education: The Case Study of
Geography Teaching in South African Secondary Schools ............................................................................................. 73
Mzuyanda Percival Mavuso, Kayode Babatunde Olawumi, Xolani Khalo, Babalwa Kafu-Quvane, Busiswa Mzilikazi
Integrating a Mobile-Learning Platform for Enhancing Clinical Teaching: The Learners’ Perspective .................... 87
Ma Saung Oo, Susie Schofield, San Thitsa Aung, Mya Mya Thwin, San San Oo, Khin Than Yee, Mar Mar Lwin, Alik
Riasadesa Zakaria
Narrative Perspective of the School Trajectory of At-Risk Students ............................................................................ 112

Abraham Bernárdez-Gómez, Eva María González Barea, María Jesús Rodríguez entrena
Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Modular Instruction....................................................................................... 129

Jevera C. Domogen, Joyce D. Cuyangoan, Lloyd F. Ilacad
Understanding EFL International Students’ Academic Listening Strategies: A Literature Review ........................ 152
Ahlam Ali Salim Halali, Lilliati Ismail, Arshad Abd Samad, Abu Bakar Razali, Nooreen Noordin
Exploiting Influential Factors in Teaching Oriented Towards the Development of Learners’ Capacity ................ 173
Le Khanh Tuan
Alternative Digital Credentials: UAE’s First Adopters’ Assessment and Evaluation Part (2) ................................. 188
El-Farra Samar
Language Learning through Digital Media: Investigating the Strategies among Selected International Students in
the Philippines..................................................................................................................................................................... 208
Jeffrey Rosario Ancheta
Madrasah Management Strategy as the Education Base for Religious Cadre ............................................................ 227
Minnah El Widdah
Evaluating the Accreditation Results of Christian Colleges in Indonesia Using the Context, Input, Process, and
Product (CIPP) Model ........................................................................................................................................................ 243
Jungjungan Simorangkir, Marina Letara Nababan, Winarti Agustina, May Rauli Simamora, Arjun Sinamo, Johanes
Waldes Hasugian
The Role of Metacognition (Metacomprehension) and Inferential Ability on Reading Comprehension Ability .. 262
Tanto Aljauharie Tantowie, Dadang Sunendar, Rahman Rahman, Tatat Hartati
Effectiveness of a Training Program in Improving Scientific Writing Skills Based on APA 7 Style among
Postgraduate Students ....................................................................................................................................................... 282
Sherif Adel Gaber, Sayed Ibrahim Ali
Formative Assessment: Component of Teaching-Learning Process in the University Context in Post-COVID-19

............................................................................................................................................................................................... 300
Edgar L. Martínez-Huamán, John Peter Aguirre Landa, Víctor Enrique Lizama Mendoza, Cecilia Edith García Rivas Plata
Learning Challenges in the New Senior High School English Curriculum in the Philippines ................................ 315
Ma. Rita R. Aranda
Levelling System Model: Approach to Physical Literacy .............................................................................................. 334

Cucu Hidayat, Anggi Setia Lengkana, Rizal Ahmad Fauzi, Aang Rohyana, Mia Rosalina, Dadang Budi Hermawan, Didik
Purwanto
Teachers’ Experiences of Teaching Financial Literacy in Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) in Preparing
Learners for FET Phase Accounting ................................................................................................................................. 357
Siyacela Nzuza, Jabulisile Ngwenya, Sithembele Ndovela
Efficacy of the SMARTV3UMS Learning Management System in Art and Design Courses .................................... 374
Lilian Lee Shiau Gee, Victor Pangayan
The Mediated Role of Satisfaction in Boosting the Perceived Progress via Interaction in Online Learning:
Empirical Evidence from Private Universities in Vietnam ............................................................................................ 393
Hung Nguyen Tien, Sang Tang My, Thai Nguyen Duy, Dinh Nguyen Ngoc
Exploring the Facilitation of the Student Learning Process Through Dominant Teaching Techniques ................. 409
Jehona Rrustemi, Vlora Sylaj
Rwandan Senior Secondary Physics Students’ Views on Nature of Science .............................................................. 426
Jean Bosco Bugingo, Lakhan Lal Yadav, K. K. Mashood
Formative Research to Strengthen Enquiry Competence in University Students ...................................................... 443

Osmer Campos-Ugaz, Walter Antonio Campos-Ugaz, Ronald M. Hernández, Silvia Georgina Aguinaga Doig, Janeth
Benedicta Falla Ortíz, Miguel A. Saavedra-López, Rafael Garay-Argandoña
1

Vol. 21, No. 11, pp. 1-14, November 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.11.1
Received Jun 30, 2022; Revised Sep 22, 2022; Accepted Nov 18, 2022
Curriculum Advisors’ and Teachers’ Perceptions

of Teaching Reading in Foundation Phase
Classrooms
Martha Khosa
University of KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Abstract. This article aims to examine curriculum advisors’ and teachers’

perceptions of teaching early reading in Foundation Phase classrooms. It
also aims to provide recommendations to alleviate overlaps based on the
findings. A qualitative approach was used to gather data through semi-
structured interviews. Purposeful convenience sampling was used to
study two curriculum advisors and five Grade 1 teachers from five
schools in the Mopani district of Limpopo Province. Data collected were
analysed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that the
curriculum advisors and teachers vary in their perceptions of early
reading. Both curriculum advisors perceived that teachers change slowly,
teach early reading unsystematically, and show superficial compliance,
but do not really abide by guidelines, while teachers say the National
Curriculum does not give them enough time to teach properly or attend
to struggling learners. Teachers also expressed their frustration in
managing large classes. This research article contributes to the body of
knowledge in creating an awareness that new curriculum requirements
are tools used for aligning teachers with change.
Keywords: early reading development; Foundation Phase; home

language; curriculum
1. Introduction
Teaching early reading is a challenge for many Foundation Phase (FP) teachers.
This has a negative impact on learner performance, given the findings that many
learners in South African classrooms fare poorly in reading, despite being tested
in their home language (HL) (Howie et al., 2017; Spaull & Pretorius, 2019).
Research on teachers’ perceptions of early reading has shown that there are many
factors contributing to this crisis. Some of these factors include inadequate early
reading instruction, ineffective teacher training workshops which fail to address
the what and how of changing teacher behaviour in curriculum implementation
(Pretorius & Klapwijk, 2016), and overcrowded classrooms (Spaull, 2016).
Developing early reading skills in the FP classroom requires expert teachers who
©Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
2
are knowledgeable about reading, know how to remediate reading problems, and
inspire and motivate learners to become skilled readers (Pretorius, Jackson,
McKay, Murray & Spaull, 2016). Despite an explicit curriculum and teachers’
training workshops and interventions, early reading development remains
challenging. Research has shown that many FP (Grades R-3) teachers do not know
how to teach early reading in line with the reading methodologies stipulated in
the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) (Pretorius et al., 2016).
Currently, very little research (if any) has been done regarding CAs’ perspectives
on the challenges of teaching reading in the FP. Studies to date have focused
mostly on teachers’ perceptions of reading instruction in the FP (Cekiso, 2017;
Segooa, 2020). This article aims to learn more about CAs’ and teachers’
perspectives on the challenges of teaching early reading. It offers opportunities
for further observation and analysis of actual CAs’ practices in understanding
their role in curriculum implementation for teaching reading in the FP. The
following are key research questions guiding this paper: “How do CAs view the
challenges of teaching early reading and their support of teachers in the FP
classroom?” and “How do Grade 1 teachers perceive their teaching of early
reading in the FP classrooms?” The article first discusses factors that influence
early reading development. This is followed by describing the research method
used to collect and analyse data. Thereafter, it presents findings, followed by a
discussion and recommendations.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Factors that influence early reading development
Factors such as poor pedagogic content knowledge, weak forms of assessment,
lost learning opportunities, overcrowding and inferior classroom management
have been found to characterise poor classroom practices that create barriers to
quality education. Each of these factors is briefly examined below.
2.1.1. Poor pedagogic content knowledge

Content knowledge entails what teachers need to know about a subject in order
to teach effectively. In contrast, pedagogic content knowledge (PCK) integrates
knowledge of what should be taught with an understanding of how to teach
learners in the classroom. In literacy instruction, PCK involves teachers’
knowledge about the basic elements of reading, how they relate to one another,
how they develop, and what is required to teach them. Poor teaching practice can
arise from poor teacher content knowledge and poor PCK, negatively impacting
learner performance. For example, Pretorius (2014) examined Grade 4 learners’
(n=31) literacy skills in both isiZulu home language and English first additional
language in South Africa and found that teachers in Grade 4 classrooms lacked
knowledge of teaching early reading according to methodologies prescribed in
the CAPS document, e.g. the teaching of syllables in the African languages such
as ba-be-bi-bo-bu- were chanted in chorus from the chalkboard with little
connection between these syllables and their occurrence in words and sentences
of extended texts.
Proponents of educational change agree that changes in schools must first occur
in the classroom (Moyo, 2017). However, change does not come about simply by
http://ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter
3
telling teachers to change their classroom practices. Teachers can impede the
effectiveness of curriculum change and implementation if they lack content
knowledge and pedagogic skills, if they do not know how to teach according to
CAPS recommendations and if their perceptions of reading and how to teach it
are different from those proposed in the curriculum. These factors, in turn, can
delay the effective delivery of CAPS in the classroom.
2.1.2. Weak forms of assessment

Another factor that contributes to poor classroom practices is weak forms of
assessment. Assessment is integral for identifying learning problems, informing
teaching, and addressing specific learning needs. There are different types of
assessments, including baseline, formative and summative assessments, each
administered for its specific purpose. Teachers are guided by what is stipulated
in the CAPS policy documents, which prescribe the requirements for the
assessments that are supposed to be carried out. However, regardless of clear
guidelines in the assessment policy documents, implementing classroom
assessment remains a challenge. In a study on assessment practices in the Maune
circuit of Limpopo Province, from a sample of Grade 9 Natural Science teachers
from high performing schools, Kibirige and Teffo (2014) found that teachers’
understanding of the roles of assessments ranged from 0% to 60%, with many
items scored at 40%. This suggests a huge difference between actual and ideal
assessment practices. Moreover, the findings may also have far-reaching
implications in terms of compliance with stipulations in the curriculum.
2.1.3. Lost learning opportunities

Different perceptions exist in terms of the factors contributing to the loss of
engaged time in the classroom. Some feel that potential engaged time is wasted
on managing learner behaviour, routine paperwork, interruptions, delays, special
events, and other off-task and off-topic activities (Rogers & Mirra, 2014). Others
believe that engaged time is wasted due to informal school closures, teacher
absenteeism, delays, early departures, and poor use of allocated time (Abadzi,
2009). Poor utilisation of engagement time in the classroom emanates from poor
planning or no planning at all, lack of homework, lack of reading and writing
activities, and superficial marking of learners’ exercise books.
The South African CAPS specifies the amount of time allocated per activity in all
phases (Foundation Phase, Intermediate Phase Grades 4-6, Senior Phase Grades
7-9, and Further Education and Training Grades 10-12), so that teachers can plan
their classroom activities according to the time allocated. However, many teachers
do not take learners’ work home to mark, and necessary administration or
planning is often done in class during engagement time. Time wastage in South
African classrooms is evidenced by off-task activities. In a study exploring the
extent to which non-academic incidences impact on instructional time during the
teaching of English First Additional Language (EFAL) in the Western Cape
Province, Tiba (2012) revealed that inappropriate use of pedagogic strategies,
poor use of code-switching, and unsuitable teaching exemplars contributed to the
loss of instructional time in the EFAL classroom.
4
2.1.4. Inferior classroom management

Classroom management refers to the teacher’s efforts to establish and maintain a
classroom environment that is conducive for teaching and learning (Brophy,
1986). Teachers use various strategies (e.g. classroom rules and routines, prior
planning, efficient use of classroom time, self-regulated learning, etc.) to manage
their classrooms. The ability of the teacher to manage students through the
engagement of the abovementioned strategies is important for achieving positive
educational outcomes (Oliver & Reschly, 2007).
In terms of classroom rules and routines, teachers should model, explain, and
practice how learners behave during different reading activities (Funda Wande,
2019). For example, knowing what to do when transitioning from one activity to
another, how they should sit, where they should sit, and what they should do
when they finish their assigned work is important for ensuring that learners
remain calm and focused. This also helps learners develop self-regulation skills
(the ability to work independently with minimal supervision), which are very
useful when the teacher is occupied with other activities such as paired reading
or group guided reading. Research has also shown that classroom rules and
routines are important for maintaining effective classroom management (Alter &
Haydon, 2017).
2.1.5. Overcrowding
An overcrowded classroom has no ‘exact size,’ as it is determined by the number
of learners per teacher (i.e. learner-educator ratio) within a particular context. In
South Africa, the learner-educator ratio (LER) for primary schools, as stipulated
in the DBE policy, is 40: 1 (Motshekga, 2012). However, the actual number of
learners in South African classrooms may reach 50:1 or even higher (West &
Meier, 2020). Teaching reading and writing in overcrowded conditions is unlikely
to be effective, particularly in the lower grades. In a study investigating the impact
of overcrowded classrooms on FP teachers (n=10) in Tshwane West district, West
and Meier (2020) found that overcrowding in the FP classroom is associated with
a lack of discipline, ineffective assessment, and no individual learner support.
Researchers have identified possible strategies that can be used to deal with large
classes. For example, Taylor et al. (2017) believe that good classroom management
practices such as establishing routines, reorganising classrooms, and working in
small groups while other groups are instructed to engage in different literacy
activities enable teachers to provide better instruction in large classes of at least
38 to 45 learners. However, they noted that very large classes of 50 learners or
more hamper effective teaching. This is supported in a study that examined how
teachers in Kano State approach reading instruction in primary grade classes of
approximately 160 learners per class. The findings revealed that overcrowded
classes prevented teachers from understanding their learners’ reading
development (Adamu, Tsiga & Zuilkowski, 2020).
3. Research method
A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews was used to obtain data
regarding CAs’ and teachers’ early reading perspectives in the FP classrooms.
5
3.1. Research instrument

Semi-structured interviews were used to interview the CAs and teachers to gain
their perspectives on teaching reading in the FP. The interview schedule was
divided into two sections: Section A dealt with the biographic data of participants,
as shown in Table 1. Section B covered semi-structured interviews based on the
respondents’ perspectives on the challenges of teaching reading in the FP. The
reliability and validity of the research instrument were ensured by using an audio
recorder to record the interviews, and notes were taken to supplement the data
recorded.
3.2. Participants
The study was conducted in five schools (one Grade 1 teacher per school) which
were sampled conveniently and purposefully. Table 1 shows summary
information about the CAs and the teachers. CA1 and CA2 refer to the two
curriculum advisors, and T1 to T5 refer to the teachers. CA1 (male) was
responsible for Khujwana circuit in Mopani West and CA2 (female) for Man’ombe
circuit in Mopani East in the Limpopo Province. Both CAs had Foundation Phase
experience as teachers. They also had Bachelor in Education (BEd) honours
degrees, and their ages and years of experience showed they had long been
involved in the FP. The five teachers from five schools were all females, and they
all had FP teaching experience. Teachers also had the required qualifications to
teach in South African primary schools. Two had BEd honours degrees, two had
BEd degrees, and one had an education diploma. The youngest teacher was 26
years old, and the oldest was 50.
Table 1. Background of the CAs and Grade 1 teachers

Participant Gender Age Qualifications FP Years of
experience experience
as
CA/teacher
CA1 Male 60 BEd Honours Yes 10
CA2 Female 50 BEd Honours Yes 8
T1 Female 50 BEd Honours Yes 25
T2 Female 26 BEd Degree Yes 4
T3 Female 49 BEd Degree Yes 24
T4 Female 48 Primary Teachers Yes 10
Diploma
T5 Female 50 BEd Honours Yes 23
3.3. Procedures for collecting data

Teachers were interviewed for approximately 30 minutes and two CAs in the
provincial education department (also referred to as subject advisors) were
interviewed for 35 minutes. Teachers were asked approximately 75 questions
related to their perceptions about the development of learners’ reading in the
Grade 1 classroom, while the CAs were asked 21 questions relating to their
outlook on supporting teachers in developing learners’ reading in the FP
classroom. Due to their busy schedules, CA2 was interviewed telephonically after
hours in the evening. Questions were posed to the CAs and teachers regarding
their perceptions of early reading in the FP classrooms. Interviews were audio-
recorded, and notes were taken for supplementary purposes.
6
3.4. Data analysis

The transcript segments from the recorded interviews were analysed using
thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six stages; namely,
becoming familiar with the data, generating initial codes from the data and
printing out the transcripts, searching for themes, reviewing and reorganisation
of themes, and lastly, naming themes.
3.5. Ethical considerations

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the University of South Africa
(ethical clearance number AL_MK025-2017) by the Department of Linguistics and
Modern Languages Research Ethics Review Committee members and the
Limpopo provincial education department. Consent was obtained from the
relevant stakeholders (the provincial education department, principals of schools,
teachers, and CAs). All participants had the opportunity to sign consent forms
before participating in the study and pseudonyms were used to protect the
identity of the participants.
3.6. Limitations of the study

This study was not without limitations. The sample was small, being based only
on two CAs and five Grade 1 teachers. A large number of participants can provide
detailed generalizable results. Another limitation is that teachers’ questions were
one-sided - they were not given opportunities to provide their views regarding
the support they received from the CAs in developing the learners’ reading in the
FP classroom. Further studies could explore teachers’ perceptions regarding the
curriculum support from the CAs as departmental officials.
4. Findings
In order to answer the research questions (How do the CAs view challenges of
teaching early reading and their support of teachers in the FP classroom? and
How do Grade 1 teachers perceive their teaching of early reading in the FP
classrooms?), the following three themes derived from the CAs’ and teachers’
perceptions of teaching reading in the FP classroom are presented: pedagogical
issues relating to difficulties in teaching early reading, structural issues relating to
difficulties in teaching early reading, and support from CAs in the form of
mentoring teachers.
4.1. Pedagogical issues relating to difficulties in teaching early reading

Both CAs raised issues they perceived to contribute to the ineffective development
of early reading in the FP. These include challenges regarding the nature of change
and adapting to reading instructional approaches required by CAPS.
Additionally, the CAs and teachers provided differing views regarding the
engaged time for reading instruction.
4.1.1. The nature of change

Since the implementation of CAPS in 2012, provincial education departments
have held workshops and several interventions, in the form of designing
professional development materials, to help teachers adapt their classroom
practices according to CAPS. However, according to CA2, some teachers have not
reached the expected level in teaching according to CAPS. CA1 added that
7
improvement is not that fast. Although teachers are still experiencing challenges
adapting to the new curriculum changes, CAs seem to be trying their best to
support them in various ways using the workshop model. CA1 explained that we
invite teachers in each and every workshop so that they can learn from the workshops that
it is important for them to do the same in their classrooms. If teachers are given
opportunities to attend workshops for their professional development and still
find it difficult to adapt to changes, this could suggest that the workshop training
might not be effective for curriculum implementation. Even though teachers are
expected to align their teaching with what is prescribed by the curriculum, CA1
pointed out that teachers are not forced to follow exactly what the template dictates,
indicating room for flexibility and creativity. The task of adapting curriculum
materials to the learning environment depends on, inter alia, how knowledgeable
teachers are about the curriculum content and its instructional strategies. The CAs
acknowledged that teacher change remains a challenge, despite factors they felt
had been put in place to facilitate change.
4.1.2. Adapting to reading instructional approaches required by CAPS

Despite CAPS explicitly clarifying how things should be done in terms of teaching
reading, the CAs felt that teachers still do not know how to teach reading. For
example, CA1 said, teachers don’t understand how to teach learners – for some, it is still
challenging to break away from the ‘traditional way’ (teacher-centred approach) of doing
things in the classroom. CA1 also confirmed that teachers have difficulty in
adjusting to reading instructional approaches required by CAPS. In particular, he
was concerned about their difficulty in focusing on what was important and
recognising that the approach to teaching reading in African languages differs in
some ways from English, and CA2 added:
When I go to schools, teachers would complain that many learners struggle
to identify and sound letters. But the bottom line of the challenge for
teachers is teaching learners to master the sounds. For example, you will
find that teachers have pasted letter cards on the wall. I usually tell them
that if I could hear children naming letters instead of sounding them, they
will have to explain themselves because those learners need to know sounds
so that even if the learner has to write the letter, he/she must know how to
sound that letter.
CA2 was concerned about teachers teaching letter names (common in English)
instead of focusing on letter sounds in African languages, given that these
languages have larger sets of letter sounds that are transparent and that mastery
of this knowledge base is key to reading. This dilemma causes teachers to stick to
their ‘traditional’ ways of teaching reading, which compromises learner
achievement in the classroom. Local research has also indicated that teachers do
not understand how early reading should be taught in the FP. For example,
Segooa (2020) has shown in her study that teachers’ practice of teaching reading
is not consistent with what is stipulated in the curriculum.
4.1.3. Engaged time

For teachers to effectively use engaged time, CAPS requires them to be well
organised and good at planning. However, both CAs raised concerns about time
management in the FP classroom when they explained:
8
We expect them to divide their learners into different groups so that they
can be able to at least see two groups per day for 15 minutes – but some
will tell you that 15 minutes is not enough (CA1) and there is time
allocated for each component; sometimes, they complain that the time
allocated is too little - so when I demonstrate, I show them that no-no-
no…this time is sufficient (CA2).
CA1 pointed out that teachers spend too much time singing with the learners. Singing
with learners in the classroom during early learning can be considered part of a
hidden curriculum, including assumptions and expectations about learning that
are not officially communicated within the learning environment (Alsubaie, 2015).
It is an undocumented curriculum used to communicate acceptable or
unacceptable behaviours implicitly.
On the other hand, singing is common in early grade classrooms and integral to
African culture. It is also typically used in routines when teachers change from
one activity to another, change the rhythm of teaching, or motivate feelings of
solidarity. It can also fill up the time or create an impression of communal
learning. However, the problem arises when teachers spend a lot of time on such
activities to the point where they overspend the time allocated for the official
curriculum. Spending time singing with learners will not necessarily develop
their ability to decode words, while developing alphabetic knowledge will.
According to both CAs, time seems to be an issue for the teachers. Carnoy et al.
(2012) also found that Grade 6 teachers in the North West Province had only
taught 40% of the scheduled lessons for the year. Most of the engaged time had
been lost on activities not included in the official curriculum. In this respect,
research confirms robust relationships between engagement time and student
achievement (Lei, Cui & Zhou, 2018), suggesting that if the allocated time for
different reading activities is lost, it is likely to compromise learners’ reading
development and academic achievement. Regarding the official time allocated for
teaching reading in the Grade 1 classroom, T1, T2, T4 and T5 expressed
dissatisfaction, explaining:
The department says we should spend 15 minutes, but for me, I think it’s
not enough as children differ, some can quickly catch up, but others take
time to get the message (T1), I am supposed to spend 15 minutes per group,
but because there are learners who take time to learn, I sometimes overlap
with extra minutes (T2). They say we should do shared reading in 15
minutes, but because my class is overcrowded, 15 minutes is not enough –
it takes a lot of time to include the learners (T4), and T5 added I normally
spend 15 minutes, but it is not enough, sometimes as a class manager, I
just decide to add some extra time depending on what I am doing with the
learners.
Although teachers lamented the lack of time needed to cater for the diverse
learning needs in their classrooms during reading lessons, it may sound like a
handy excuse. This also suggests that some of the things teachers do in their
classrooms might contribute to consuming engagement time with learners,
forcing them to teach beyond the stipulated time.
9
CAs and teachers perceive the allocated time for teaching various reading
activities in the FP classroom differently. The CAs believed that sufficient time
was allocated for teaching reading; however, teachers felt it was not enough to do
all they were supposed to do with learners.
4.2. Structural issues relating to difficulties in teaching early reading

4.2.1. Overcrowding
The LER for South African public primary schools is 40:1 (Motshekga, 2012). The
DBE has many sound educational policies, but problems persist because of classes
with more than 50 learners. This also confirms the findings which have shown
that class sizes in many South African public schools reflect unevenness in
implementing policy. The CAs also acknowledged the challenges of
overcrowding when saying, I will say classes may be overcrowded with learners (CA2)
and Ma’am, overcrowding is a problem to teachers because they can’t handle teaching,
“ke ra gore” [I am saying] there is nothing you can do to avoid it – it is beyond your
control (CA1). According to CA1, despite overcrowding, teaching is still expected.
Similarly, CA2 is aware that overcrowding is a problem, especially for teachers
who do not have strategies to deal with large classes. Both CAs felt that teachers
must find ways to deal with overcrowding because it seems to be escalating and
teachers cannot control how many learners are enrolled in their classrooms.
Marais (2016) agrees that overcrowding in South African public schools is an
ongoing problem but also recommends that this can be mitigated to some extent
through training teachers in skills geared to dealing with overcrowded
classrooms. T4 expressed her frustration in managing an overcrowded classroom.
She indicated that the class is crowded. I have to arrange desks the way you see them.
Having 62 learners in one class in Grade 1 is a challenge. An overcrowded class like this
will take you years to conduct each activity in the classroom. T4’s response suggests
that she has not been trained to deal with overcrowded classrooms. She further
said:
I conduct shared reading, learners remain seated on their desks because
there is no space to invite them to sit in front of the class. But I make sure
that I read louder so that even children at the back can hear, but they can’t
see the words – those who can see are those who are sitting on the front
desk.
T4 does not seem to understand the purpose of shared reading, which is meant to
show learners how texts work. It is important for all learners, even those sitting at
the back, to see the text during shared reading. Although teachers and CAs agree
on the fact that overcrowding is a challenge in terms of teaching and learning
effectively, there seem to be overlaps in the sense that the CAs do not seem
convinced that overcrowding can prevent teaching and learning as there are
various strategies that can be used to control learners. However, teachers felt they
couldn’t teach effectively in overcrowded classrooms, possibly because they
lacked strategies for dealing with large classes.
10
4.3. Support for teachers in the implementation of CAPS

4.3.1. Early Grade Reading Assessment
Both CAs indicated the importance of conducting baseline assessment when they
explained:
I actually advise them to record the performance of the learner so that they
can be able to follow up on whether there is progress or not because they
don’t do it once, they can assess first – they can determine the second term
or even third term (CA1) and Teachers should have a checklist where they
record the results of baseline assessment so that when I request it, I can be
able to see that they have tested the learners (CA2).
CAs emphasised record-keeping for baseline assessment outcomes. CA1

commented:
EGRA is the tool that I usually advise teachers to use so that they can be
able to test learners’ oral reading skills and thereafter use the questions of
the text from EGRA to ask learners questions based on the text that they
have read.
The DBE promotes the use of early grade reading assessment (EGRA) because it
helps teachers identify children who are not at grade level in early reading skills
(e.g. children with poor phonological and phonemic awareness in Grades R and
1, poor letter-sounds knowledge in Grade 1, or poor oral reading fluency and oral
reading comprehension in Grades 2 and 3), it helps teachers assign children to
ability groups more accurately, and it provides a base for monitoring progress.
However, as will be noted later, most teachers interviewed did not seem to use
EGRA to test what their children knew and instead seemed to rely on intuitive or
informal assessments. For instance, T2 indicated that she assessed learners
throughout the lesson by observing them, while T4 indicated that she assessed
learners individually when they lined up to submit their handwritten work.
Teachers seemed aware of the need to conduct a baseline assessment in their

Grade 1 classroom. For example, T1 explained that I tested them during the first
weeks of reopening; it was orientation, so I used that opportunity to get to know the
learners. Regarding keeping records of baseline assessment, T1 said: Yes, I recorded
somewhere, but most of my files were damaged because of the rain. Her evasive answer,
in which she claims to have lost the records, suggests that she might not have done
the assessment. T2 said, I only assess learners during lessons by asking them questions
to check how far they know, but I did not conduct the formal baseline assessment. Asking
learners questions can help a teacher gauge their comprehension of text but does
not provide an accurate or systematic assessment of decoding skills. T3 explained
that I don’t usually record because after testing the learner, I have an idea of where the
learner should fit- whether under the group of those that are slow or smart, suggesting
that T3 seemed to have informally assessed her learners’ knowledge at baseline.
After assessing learners, teachers are expected to record the outcomes so that they
can use the results for monitoring purposes, but T3 seemed to have lost the
opportunity to use baseline data to inform her teaching; she seems to have done
this rather superficially, for compliance, without understanding the potential
usefulness of what teachers are expected to do with assessment data.
11
Nevertheless, T3 indicated that she relied on a general impression to know her

children’s reading capabilities. This is a generalised approach that reveals lack of
awareness of the importance of analytic detail in tracking learners’ reading
progress. Furthermore, teachers are unlikely to remember ongoing and changing
details about learners, especially when classes are large. T4 said: I know most of
them by now, that’s why when I give them handwriting activities, they line up one-by-
one, here next to my table, then I check their work and if they did not do it correctly I show
them the right way. It is interesting to note that T4 uses handwriting outcomes to
assess her children’s levels of learning. However, one can’t assess phonics
knowledge or fluency by checking written work. The method of checking work
that T4 describes is also one that wastes valuable learning-teaching time since
learners wait in line for their books to be checked instead of the teacher taking
their books home for marking and using classroom time more productively.
Both CAs and teachers share similar sentiments regarding conducting learners’
baseline assessment; the CAs felt that teachers must record their learners’ baseline
assessment outcomes, but teachers do not seem to value this type of assessment,
since none of the teachers interviewed seemed to have actually conducted their
learners’ baseline assessment.
4.3.2. Classroom management

In respect of advising teachers to encourage learners to work independently while
the teacher is busy with other literacy activities, the CAs said:
We normally encourage teachers to train learners to self-regulate so that it
could be easier for them to focus on certain groups of learners while other
learners know what is expected of them (CA1) and one of the other ways
that I normally advise teachers who have big classes is that I tell them to
teach children in their classes what we call self-regulation skills (CA2).
Given that a large number of learners in one classroom can impede classroom
management and discipline, both CAs indicated that they advised teachers to use
self-regulated learning strategies to minimise disruptions. Research has also
shown that self-regulation is one of the strategies used for maintaining effective
classroom management (Alter & Haydon, 2017). The reasons T4 gave for not
doing group guided reading (GGR) properly suggested poor classroom
management and routines. Regarding managing learners during GGR activities,
T4 said:
Seeing groups several times even if I want is a problem because they are
many – sometimes, I miss helping other learners who really need my
attention because I will be rushing to attend to other groups.
T4 claimed that she found it difficult to work with two groups in one day, as per
CAPS recommendations. Her reason for not giving full attention to her small
group was that other learners are too noisy, but she might be failing to give other
learners appropriate work to do independently during GGR. T5 said:
They make a noise, but I make sure that I concentrate on a group that I am
busy working with. Learners do make noise even if I have given them other
tasks to keep them busy.
12
T5 seemed unable to control her learners during GGR activities, suggesting that
they were not well trained to work independently when the teacher is occupied
with other literacy activities. CAs and teachers are not in agreement regarding
classroom management. According to the CAs, teachers can easily manage their
classes if they have trained their learners to work independently. However,
teachers do not seem to have trained learners to work independently during GGR.
5. Discussion
This article focused on CAs’ and teachers’ perceptions of the challenges of
teaching reading in the FP classroom. Based on the findings drawn from the
qualitative approach, the CAs’ and teachers’ perceptions of early reading were
presented. The concern about the slow pace of change to develop children’s early
reading skills in the FP classroom is valid and requires subsequent interventions.
This article has uncovered differing perceptions on the challenges of teaching
reading in the FP classroom. On one hand, CAs perceived that teachers change
slowly, teach reading unsystematically in the FP classroom, and show superficial
compliance without actually abiding by guidelines; in short, they (teachers) seem
to resist change. These findings corroborate the findings by Segooa (2020), who
established that FP teachers’ practice of teaching reading is inconsistent with the
recommendations in the CAPS curriculum policy.
On the other hand, teachers claim that CAPS does not give them enough time to
teach appropriately or attend to struggling learners. This view is negated by the
CAs, who counter that teachers have the tendency of spending a lot of time on
activities which are not included in the official curriculum. These findings are
similar to those reported by Tiba (2012). According to teachers, the challenges of
teaching reading in the FP classroom are further exacerbated by overcrowding.
West and Meier (2020) also confirmed that teaching reading in overcrowded
conditions poses challenges which, according to Adamu et al. ((2020), may likely
prevent teachers from understanding individual learners’ reading development.
However, the CAs refute the teachers’ claim regarding the impact of
overcrowding because there are different strategies teachers could use to
effectively control and manage learners. Baseline assessment in the FP classroom
is vital in informing classroom instruction. However, findings in this study
revealed that the teachers interviewed do not seem to value the approach of
establishing the learners’ reading levels through conducting baseline assessments.
This corroborates previous findings, which showed a lack of teachers’
understanding of the roles of assessments (Kibirige & Teffo, 2014), suggesting that
assessments in many classrooms are not undertaken as prescribed in the
curriculum.
6. Conclusion
The findings in this study revealed that teachers experience challenges in teaching
reading simply because they are not adequately able to deal with large classes.
Although the CAs challenge the teachers’ views on the basis of engaging with
relevant strategies, it is recommended that teachers should be trained in skills
specifically to deal with overcrowded classrooms. Regardless of managing large
classes, findings also revealed that teachers cannot effectively conduct GGR
activities because they are interrupted by learners who are not in the focus group.
13
According to these findings, it is recommended that teachers should explicitly

train learners at the beginning of the year to work unsupervised during GGR
lessons. The findings also revealed that the CAs and teachers were not in
agreement regarding the engaged time with learners. Teachers seemed
dissatisfied with the time allocated for teaching different reading activities;
however, the CAs felt that the time allocated was sufficient, claiming that teachers
waste it on activities not included in the official curriculum. For this reason, it is
suggested that teachers strictly control their engagement in songs with learners to
save valuable teaching and learning time.
Overall, it is further recommended that in addition to the professional

development of teachers through the usual approach of in-service training,
provincial education departments and CAs should consider adopting the
coaching model. This approach will provide teachers with opportunities to
develop practical strategies to deal successfully with their classroom challenges.
It can also help teachers to fulfil their role as agents of change for effective reading
instruction. Hence, this research article contributes to the body of knowledge in
creating an awareness that new curriculum requirements are tools used for
aligning teachers with change.
7. Reference
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motshekga
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15

Received Jun 14, 2022; Revised Sep 26, 2022; Accepted Oct 23, 2022
A Case Study on the Impact of Digital

Relationships on Unaccompanied Minors during
the COVID-19 Lockdown
Francesca Coin
Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy
Monica Banzato*
Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy
Abstract. The exploratory study investigates how unaccompanied minors

(UAMs) in Italy dealt with social isolation at the time of the outbreak of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Have they suffered from the effects of the
lockdown? How did their relationships change? What feelings
characterised their experience? What factors helped them? Did ICT help
them, or did it increase their social and economic marginalisation? Very
little research has investigated the issues of UAMs, socialisation,
technologies, and pandemics together. The data were collected through a
purpose-built questionnaire that obtained an excellent Cronbach Alpha
index (0.91) for internal consistency, which was administered to the
migrant students of a school in North-East Italy. The answers indicated
that they perceived the change in their social relations; but they coped
with it, thanks to their internal resources, such as resilience and self-
efficacy, and external ones, including digital devices and social support
from family and teachers. Their friendship networks are regrettably
fragile, and the youths do not rely much on them. On the other hand, the
results show the crucial role of adults for the UAMs’ well-being:
everyone, from the developers of policies to teachers, should take this
aspect into account. Providing teenagers with appropriate
communication technologies, ensuring the support of caregivers and
teachers, and organising activities that strengthen peer networks are the
actions of paramount importance, to ensure their welfare.
Keywords: Unaccompanied minors (UAMs); COVID-19; Impact ICT;

digital relationship; C.P.I.A.
1. Introduction
The social restrictions and the stress that we all experienced during the COVID-
19 pandemic have put a strain on everyone's well-being (Cianfarani & Pampanini,
*
Corresponding author: Monica Banzato, banzato@unive.it
©Authors
16
2021). However, as is often the case, the most fragile and defenceless groups of
people suffered the greatest damage. Among them are children, adolescents
(Soest et al., 2020) and foreigners (Pieh et al., 2022). A special case is represented
by unaccompanied minors, who faced the pandemic in a foreign country far from
their families.
The definition by the Italian Council of Ministers in 1999 states that a UAM is a:
"Minor who is not a citizen of Italy or of other States of the European
Union and who, having not applied for asylum, is for any reason in the
territory of the State without assistance and representation by their
parents or other adults that are legally responsible for them under the laws
in force in the Italian legal system."
These are young people, usually between 14 and 17 years old, who leave their
country, their relatives and their friends when attempting to build a better future
for themselves and their families (Giordano & Blanchard, 2009).
Their personal history and condition expose them to the risks of psychological
and social distress; therefore, they need to be adequately supported in the
construction of their life projects.
"At the centre of the self-definition process, in fact, there is the adolescent
who, with the help of the adult, begins to plan a life path, not only aimed
at developing skills and social integration, but also at finding a new
existential dimension of his own" (Mancaniello, 2020, p. 24).
The separation from family, friends and the land of origin all contribute to the
difficulties of integration in a new country: they do not speak the language; and
they know little about the culture. These conditions make unaccompanied minors
an easy prey to closure, introversion, and loneliness. In addition,
"They have no right of choice from the very beginning of their painful
journey; and for a long time, they will continue to have no word, not only
because they do not yet know the language of the country that welcomes
them, but because they are deprived of an educational and care context"
(Castiglioni et al., 2020, p. 2).
Their young age and language difficulties cause a lack of speech and choice that
can undermine their self-efficacy and resilience. Satisfactory social relationships
are, especially in adolescence, at the basis of the construction of their idea of
themselves, of social and cultural identity, and of personal and professional self-
realisation and self-efficacy. The resulting difficulties in establishing meaningful
new relationships could severely weaken their resilience, and consequently the
future, of these young people and their ability to integrate effectively into their
new context. Their isolation, due to the pandemic, has increased these risks
considerably.
2. The literature review

Having ascertained the importance of maintaining active relationships, many
scholars how wondered how the period of social distancing imposed by the
prevention regulations for COVID-19 have affected the well-being of adolescents.
Some authors focused on their physical health (Nogueira-de-Almeida et al., 2020);
17
while others have focused on the psychological aspects (Hussong et al., 2021) and,
specifically, on social issues (Andrews et al., 2020; Bernasco et al., 2021).
A few researchers focused their studies on the immigrant adolescents during the
lockdown (Pieh et al., 2022; Wagaman et al., 2022; You et al., 2020); but very few
have paid attention to UAMs (Corona Maioli et al., 2021; Siegel, 2022). Some of
those studies were conducted in North America (Foppiano Palacios et al., 2022);
and a few were conducted in Europe (Gautier & Quesnel-Vallé, 2020), but only
one was conducted in Italy (Isernia et al., 2021).
Many studies were conducted on the use of digital devices for communication
during the pandemic; while some focused on the adults in the school context
(Karakose et al., 2022; Karakose et al., 2021); and yet others concentrated on
adolescent customs (Kolyvas & Nikiforos, 2021; Montag & Elhai, 2020), especially
in Italy (Limone & Toto, 2021; Salzano et al., 2021); but the numbers drastically
decrease when we search for work on immigrant adolescents (Endale et al., 2020).
Only one outcome concerns UAMs; and it records a study conducted in the USA
(Afzal, 2021).
Regarding psychological constructs, such as self-efficacy and resilience in UAMs,

the research works of Olmedo-Moreno and Exposito Lopez (2021) and Olmedo-
Moreno et al. (2020) are famous for investigating academic self-efficacy, but
almost nothing is found about UAMs’ social self-efficacy.
Much more has been written about the resilience of UAMs (Carlson et al., 2016;
Mitra & Hodes, 2019), but nothing specifically refers to the COVID-19 period.
3. The study
Since there is a gap in the literature investigating how UAMs coped with the
pandemic – with a focus on the use of ICT – we designed a simple exploratory
study, to collect the opinions of some foreign teenagers in Italy. They were
students attending courses in a C.P.I.A. (Centro Professionale di Istruzione per gli
Adulti; the provincial centre for adult education is a public-school providing
courses and activities for adults and young adults aged 16 and over) in north-east
Italy, where we were conducting the third edition of the workshop "Guarda... mi
racconto" (“Look…I tell you about myself”). The project has the aim of supporting
and strengthening the ability to express emotions in UAMs of various
nationalities. It is based on photo-language and photo-voice techniques directed
towards developing students’ communication skills and the sharing of personal
experiences.
The workshop usually ends with a final exhibition of the students’ products, in
which external guests also participate. During the lockdown period, the activities
were carried out from a distance, through online video lectures.
The activities are usually accompanied by a final questionnaire, which helps us to

go into different aspects of their identity: personal, cultural, relational, and
communicative. That year, our research attention focused on how these young
people communicate, to understand how social isolation had affected their
relationships. We were interested in understanding whether technologies
18
represented an opportunity for them to maintain contact with friends, school, and
family; or rather whether it was a source of discomfort due to the possible
inadequacy of their devices and the economic difficulties involved with their
UAM status.
3.1 The research questions

The research questions that guided the work were:
• Have they suffered from the effects of the lockdown?
• How did their relationships change?
• What feelings characterised their experiences?
• What factors helped them?
• Did ICT help them, or did it increase their social and economic
marginalisation?
3.2 The methods

At the end of the digital educational activities, after having reached a fair degree
of confidence with the students and having received their consent from the
teachers and headmaster, we administered the questionnaire.
The decision to use the questionnaire was because not all the participants had a
good level of fluency in Italian. This could have made them uncomfortable during
an interview conducted orally. The written mode, which was administered online,
allowed them more time to answer. If anyone required it, explanations of the
questions could be given. Participation, although encouraged by the
schoolteachers, was entirely optional and at any time they could in cease the need
to comply.
After a careful study of the literature concerning factors influencing pro-sociality

in adolescents (a summary is presented in section 4), it was decided that Caprara's
questionnaire (Caprara et al., 2005a) was the most suitable for the purpose.
However, it was not designed for a context like ours, neither was it calibrated for
foreign adolescents. It was therefore necessary to adapt it (see section 5), selecting
only some of the categories presented, simplifying the form of some questions,
and adding others concerning the pandemic, the use of ICT and relationships with
the reference adults.
4. Relations, resilience, and social self-efficacy in UAMs

Adolescence represents a period of crisis for all youths, as it involves an inevitable
loss of personal equilibrium (from biological, psychological, and social points of
view) that requires young people to start a long, and not at all linear, process of
separation from their parents. This process leads them to make choices that
significantly shape their adult identity and the whole course of their lives
(Caprara et al., 2005b). If this is true for any teenager, it would be more
complicated for UAMs, who find themselves facing much more radical changes
and choices, often in solitude, without the support of friends and family.
Immigration involves not only the loss of all those concrete and daily references,
but also the acquisition of new and different ones, so that young immigrants
19
experience loneliness with different characteristics than do native adolescents

(Madsen et al., 2021).
An extensive psychological literature has dealt with dysphoric forms of loneliness

and shyness, different phenomena, but both marked by feelings of dissatisfaction
with oneself and with others. Symptoms of reluctance and distrust, concern, and
mistrust, are both correlated and accompanied by a sequence of missed
opportunities; and these are fundamental factors for a correct integration in a new
country and the possibility of satisfying one's desire for self-realization.
Loneliness is a subjective experience of discomfort deriving from the perception

of not having social relationships that come up to one's expectations. Among its
consequences are the tendency to attribute failures to oneself and successes to
external causes, a lower tendency to affiliation, sociability, intimacy, and
openness, and to sharing one's feelings and hopes with others, low self-esteem,
and insufficient social skills. Among the antecedents to this condition, family, and
peer experiences, were highlighted, and situations of estrangement and
separation (Madsen et al. 2021).
It has been demonstrated that in adolescence, convictions of effectiveness are

related to the degree to which the individual is considered capable of achieving
good school, or work performance (professional self-efficacy), of establishing and
maintaining satisfactory social relations (social self-efficacy) and handling peer
pressure against transgressive behaviour (regulatory self-efficacy). These are
distinct, but moderately correlated beliefs. All these beliefs, to varying degrees,
determine well-being, good adaptation, and prosocial behaviour.
According to the model of Caprara et al. (2005b), the process begins with a belief
in being able to adequately express one’s emotions, which has positive effects on
one’s perceived ability to establish and maintain gratifying and constructive
interpersonal relationships. This factor is related to the ability to implement
appropriate behaviours, which leads to a greater probability of success and
satisfaction.
Figure 1: Conceptual model of relationships between personal efficacy beliefs and

behaviour (Caprara et al., 2005b)
Many UAMs, although they suffered traumas or micro-traumas due to their

experiences, seem to develop personal characteristics that allow them to improve
their emotional and behavioural skills and abilities that support positive chains of
perceived effectiveness. Tensions leads to resilience: it is as if they can overcome
difficult challenges; and this makes them stronger in the face of new challenges.
The themes of strength (understood as the ability to practise self-determination
and to face adversity) and of responsibility appear as the first elements in the
20
research of the authors; they are acknowledged by a representation of UAMs as

being resilient subjects.
5. The tool: the questionnaire

Based on the information above, we designed a questionnaire that could
investigate, through questions expressed in simple form, the main constructs
indicated in the literature, as being sensitive for these teenagers. The
questionnaire was administered in online format; and it is mainly composed of
closed questions expressed in positive form, to facilitate the compilation of the
data from those who have not yet mastered the Italian language. Some questions
require a short answer, others a multiple choice, and others indicate the degree of
agreement on a 6-point Likert scale.
This consists of 30 questions divided into four parts:

1. Personal details: gender, age, country of origin, mother tongue, date of arrival
in Italy, attendance at a CPIA school, state of residence (family, community, etc.).
2. Technologies: tools used to communicate with friends, partners, family
members, teachers and any related difficulties encountered.
3. Sociability: this section is the heart of the questionnaire; and it contains several
questions related to the questionnaires of Caprara (Caprara, Gerbino et al., 2005;
Caprara et al., 2005). We considered the following categories: prosocial behaviour,
communicative openness, empathy, resilience, self-efficacy (emotional, social,
and communicative), loneliness, as well as perceived support.
4. Changes: the nature of the changes introduced by the lockdown due to COVID-
19 in daily life and the modes of communication with others.
The sociability scale was also tested for internal consistency, resulting in an
excellent Cronbach Alpha index of 0.91.
5.1 The data analysis

The first two categories of questions – Personal details and Technologies – were
examined only by means of descriptive statistics in the form of percentages, as
these indicate only the frequencies of use. For the other two categories – Sociability
and Changes – in addition to the descriptive statistics, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov
test was applied, to verify the normality of small samples. With a positive
outcome (Sig. 0.093), the data of some groups of participants (males and females,
adults and minors, living in families and in communities, residing in Italy for
years or months) were compared by means of t-tests of independent samples.
6. The participants
Twenty-three young people participated in the research project. They attended
the course for the middle-school diploma at the CPIA. Among them, there were
five females and 18 males. 17 were between 15 and 18 years old (six people aged
16 and eight people aged 17), while six were already of adult age, between 19 and
25 years old. The majority came from the Balkan countries: eight from Albania,
and four from Kosovo. Three were from Nigeria, two from Moldova and two from
Pakistan. The other four came from Gambia, Guinea, Macedonia, and the
Philippines. Most of them had already been in Italy for a few months at the time
of compilation for between five and eight months (average 6.2 months). Others
21
had been resident in the country for several years, from one to seven, with an
average of three years. They had all been attending school for about seven months,
although some had arrived when the school year had already started.
Fifteen of them lived in residential communities, one was in temporary foster care
with a local family, six lived with family members; and one had recently formed
a new household with her partner. Twelve of them have Albanian as their mother-
tongue, four speak English and two speak Romanian-Moldovan. The others speak
in dialects typical of their area: Mandinka, Pular, Urdu, Punjabi and Turkish. The
level of skill in Italian is variable: generally, with good comprehension; medium-
good oral pronunciation with sufficient suitable for informal conversations;
written production is mostly possible with the help of dictionaries and translators.
In agreement with their teachers, the questionnaire was offered to the two whole
classes present in the school; participation was on a voluntary basis; therefore, we
can call it a convenient sample. We decided to include in the data analysis also the
six people over the age of 18, to better understand what happens after they have
reached a certain degree of independence at their majority.
7. The results
7.1 The changes
The change caused by the preventive social isolation for COVID-19 was perceived,
albeit with a different impact, by practically all the youths (15 out of 21), with an
average score of 3.85 (the horizontal line in Fig. 2).
Changes in socialization
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Contacts Willingness Contacts Contacts Contacts Time for Loneliness
with friends to tell them with family with partner with hobbies
teachers
Figure 2: The average scores of changes in contact and socialisation
This concerned the decreased frequency in communication with friends (3.52) and
in the willingness to tell them about their experiences (3.43), probably due to the
decrease in novelty during the lockdown. On the other hand, contacts with family
(4.43), partners (4.25) and teachers (4.38) increased. The increased family contacts
were probably related to anxiety over the risks to health, while contacts with
professors increased, thanks to the activation of distance learning and the
22
suspension of some work activities. The youths had the opportunity to devote
more time to their hobbies (3.81) and felt only slightly more alone (3.10).
Gender was the only factor reporting significant differences, in fact females felt
the changed circumstances more strongly (4.2 vs 3.7; t-test F=5.92, Sig. p<.05);
there was no relation related to age, living environment or period of residence in
Italy.
The changes regarding face-to-face contact mainly concerned the school (80%),
where distance learning provided by video lessons was the most significant
innovation, acting as a novelty to four students and an irritation to four others,
who felt the lack of face-to-face meetings. Secondly, friendships were deeply
affected (56%) and the greatest suffering came from the impossibility of meeting.
There were no changes in their manner of communicating with their families.
7.2 Socialising
The 15 questions in this category were divided into five scales, and then analysed
individually. The range of scores for the answers varies from one to six points;
and the overall average obtained was 3.45. The questionnaire was created ad hoc
for the exploratory survey; and the answers to these kinds of questions were
found to be strongly influenced by the past experiences and current living
conditions of the students. For these reasons, it is not possible to compare the data
with any control groups (e.g., minors who are not UAMs). The average scores of
the categories are therefore compared with the general average obtained by the
group itself (the horizontal line in Fig 3).
Socializing
5.
3.75
2.5
1.25
0.
Social Self- Comunicative Friend's Educator's Loneliness Past Future
efficacy Self-efficacy Support Support Resilience Resilience
Figure 3: Average scores of the 5 Socialising scales
Regarding self-efficacy, the average score was 3.34, slightly lower than the global
average of 3.45, obtained by the five categories. Emotional self-efficacy 3.43 and
social self-efficacy 3.41 were closer to the average, while communicated self-
efficacy 3.18 was lower.
23
Communication openness is one of the lowest scores at 2.72. The students

displayed greater closure towards their friends (at 2.62 and slightly less towards
their family members, which obtained a score of 2.82}.
Social support was found to be very present, as it scored above the average of 3.62,
and it came mainly from the educators, who take care of the youths at a score of
3.77, followed by the family at 3.57, and finally by friends at 3.52.
The loneliness index, in fact, obtained one of the highest scores of 4.55 (since it
was a negative question, high scores indicate a low loneliness level); they also
indicate that isolation does not seem to be a problem from which these teenagers
suffer.
Generally, their resilience seemed to be good at 3.30. It seems to come mainly from
the force transmitted by past events 3.72, rather than from confidence in the future
at 3.10 or confidence in the present at 3.09.
Prosocial behaviour has above average scores, 3.65, in detail: the willingness to
help others is high at 3.86, slightly less was the willingness to share personal facts
at 3.73 and a little lower than empathy at 3.36.
Regarding integration in Italy, most of the students said they did not encounter
any problems; since they immediately met people who spoke their own language
(48%). A good percentage (35%) did not have the same luck; and they attributed
the complications faced to language difficulties. Social factors did not seem to be
relevant in the lives of these young people; and they represented sources of
difficulties for only two of them, and an advantage for two others (8.5%).
The difference in scores in these scales is significant for gender (t-test F=5.93,
p>.05) as females seem to function better from a social point of view (average 4.2)
than do the males (3.7). Age did not seem to affect their social well-being, as it
does not present any statistically significant variations (average 3.9 for minors and
3.5 for adults). Living in a family or in a community does not seem to be significant
either (averages 3.8 and 3.9), nor does the time spent in Italy (a few months 4.0, at
least one year 3.6).
The lowest score was given by a 17-year-old Kosovar student who, despite living
in his family, felt that he could not count on his parents (2) and did not want to
confide in them. He has very low levels of resilience (1) and only slightly higher
levels of self-efficacy (2). He relies only on the help and confidence of friends (3),
which helps him not to feel particularly lonely (4).
A 22-year-old student from Guinea, living in the community, achieved the highest
score. He considered himself to be a sociable, empathetic, and open-minded
person, (6) who could rely on his family (5), but also on his friends and educators
(4), as well as on his communication skills (4.5) and resilience (6 for adaptability
and 4 for resilience) despite his past experiences (3).
24
7.3 Technologies
All the participants owned and regularly used a smartphone (100%). Three stated
that they have their own computers: two have lap-tops and one has a desk-top
computer.
Table 1: Digital Ways of Maintaining UAMs' Relationships, in Percentage

To speak My My
My Italian
with…/ country’s boy/girl My family My teachers
friends
I use… friends friend
Speech 47.8 % 4.3% 21.7% 21.7% 26.1%
SMS 34.8% 34.8% 30.4% 34.8% 30.4%
Chat 47.8% 30.4% 34.8% 34.8% 4.3%
Phone 47.8% 46.5% 43.8% 65.2% 34.8%
Voice msg 17.4% 21.7% 21.7% 13% 0%
Video call 8.7% 30.4% 17.4% 30.4% 34.8%
E-mail 8.7% 0% 8.7% 0% 47.8%
The most common ways (reported in Tab. 1) to contact Italian friends are face-to-
face meetings, telephone calls and chat rooms (48%). For friends staying in the
country of origin, the order is phone calls (56%), SMS (35%), then chat (30%) and
video calls (30%); while for partners the order is phone calls (43%), chat (35%) and
SMS (30%), namely the same used to contact family members, except for video
calls, which are more frequent with parents (30%). With teachers, they use more
formal channels, such as email (48%), followed by phone calls (35%), and in the
lately by video calls (30%).
The main difficulties in staying wired were due to insufficient wireless connection
(48%) and insufficient money (26%), followed by the inability to find help in case
of problems (22%) or the inability to use the device (17%), as well as the
inconvenience of using shared devices (17%). Complaints about old or broken
devices were uncommon (13% and 8%).
8. Discussion
The group of UAMs we met corresponds to the profile described in the literature:
most of them were 15 to 18 years old, had arrived in Italy a few months ago,
without family; and therefore, they hosted in residential communities. Many of
them came from Balkan countries with a clear life project, involving family
reunification; while others came from distant countries, such as Africa and
Pakistan, and had experienced traumatic and complex experiences
.
The students' answers permitted us to reply to the research questions: most of the
adolescents had felt the changes that were implemented for the preventive social
isolation for COVID-19 caused in their social habits; and only two of them said
they had not been affected. These changes influenced both the quantitative
sphere, i.e., the frequency of contacts with other people, and the qualitative
sphere, in the manner and satisfaction perceived by these contacts. Contact with
family members had increased, due to concerns about their health and the
increased time available. Contact with teachers had also increased, thanks to
distance learning and the augmented use of digital technologies for school. By
25
contrast, contact with peers seemed to have decreased, a possible sign of fragile
and unreliable relationships.
However, the students stated that they did not feel much loneliness; but rather,
they experienced the support of those close to them and confidence in the future,
despite concerns for the health of distant relatives. Investigating the different
responses, we can recognise several protective factors for their well-being and
pro-sociality.
First, Technologies played a great role in maintaining relations with family and
school, from which they had benefited in terms of frequency and the level of
interest. All the students reported that they had a device, usually a smartphone,
that allowed them to stay in contact with their reference persons and that helped
them to live through the lockdown period with greater peace of mind, although
situations of economic disadvantage such as old or poorly functioning devices,
sharing or inadequate money came to the fore.
The second protective factor was resilience: they were young people, able to
interpret their life experiences by transforming them into resilience resources; and
they did not give up, did not feel alone, and showed high rates of prosocial
behaviour. The positive approach to social life depends exclusively on internal
personal predispositions and gender (the only variable that showed significant
differences).
The third factor was self-efficacy, particularly high in emotional and social
aspects. This factor is closely linked to resilience, and both form the basis for a
positive attitude towards the future and the difficulties to be faced.
However, the students’ strength does not come only from inner factors, such as
perceived self-efficacy. It comes rather from the perception of external support,
especially from the family, which remains even at a distance a nodal point of
contact with their origins, unlike how it is described in the literature. Educators
and teachers met in Italy also, they represent an important point of support and
security, while friendly relationships appear weak, not very reassuring, and
subject to changes from external conditions. These young people declared that
they were part of a vast and satisfying friendly network in their home country,
and that in Italy they found it difficult to count on their friends (Italians or
compatriots) as a solid base of support for their new life.
The difficulties are mainly due to speaking a foreign language and are only
partially overcome if they meet compatriots who were already integrated into the
local community. This fact is also confirmed by the low level of communicative
self-efficacy. The inability to use the new language fluently prevents new
encounters from deepening; and it also weakens previous ones.
The fragility of friendship networks resulted in a drop in the frequency of contacts
and in suffering, due to the lack of personal meetings. Relationships proved to be,
as hypothesised, a decisive aspect in the life of all teenagers and even more for
UAMs. They are fragile adolescents, often with traumatic experiences, who face
26
the challenges of peer inclusion with additional disadvantages: language, limited

local knowledge and an initial emotional/communicative closure.
9. Conclusion
The young people who participated in the research displayed a demographic and
psychological profile very similar to that described in the literature. They have a
strong character, beyond the fragility associated with being UAMs, which protects
them from further hardships during their period of adjustment. Their experiences,
especially those of distance from loved ones, made them more sensitive in
prosocial behaviour; but at the same time, it made them more fragile, subject to
closure, introversion and the risk of social discomfort. Women especially seemed
to be more sensitive to context variations.
In the context of the pandemic, external protective factors tend to take on a new
importance. Technological devices, essential for maintaining contact with others
and the school through distance learning, become a much more relevant point-of-
reference than previously.
Much of the strength of these youths comes from the support they feel from the
families and the caregivers who welcome them. We can understand the
importance of providing them with suitable media devices for maintaining
contact and continuous availability to the adults of reference.
Ours was only a small exploratory study, conducted with just a few youths from
one class. From comparisons with the literature, it seems that their starting
conditions, their strengths, and weaknesses, were like those of many other
teenagers in their situation. We cannot, however, guarantee that the results can be
generalised to a wider population, as context changes.
The level of integration and the helpfulness of the host setting make a big
difference. The students in this school rediscovered in their teachers a new point-
of-reference, but elsewhere it might happen differently. Further studies could
provide more precise indications on this matter. Certainly, the adults in contact
with these youths are crucial for their well-being and this is something everybody
should consider, from policymakers to teachers.
Authors’ Contributions
All the authors contributed to the design, development, analysis and writing of
this research work. For reasons of national evaluation of the Italian university
research, the authors must declare in which each one has written in, although the
work is all the result of a continuous and intense collaboration. Sections 2, 4, 7, 8
and 9 are by Francesca Coin. Sections 1, 3, 5 and 6 are by Monica Banzato.
Acknowledgments
Our deep thanks go to our students and teachers and for the precious work done
together. Thanks to the constant support of the ITALS laboratory, Prof. Graziano
Serragiotto. Our special thanks go to Matthew Hoffman and to the reviewers.
27
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30
Appendix 1
Questionario: "Guarda... mi racconto"
Gentili studenti,
come accennato durante la scorsa lezione, richiediamo la vostra cortese collaborazione
per la messa a punto del questionario proposto nell'ambito del progetto "Guarda... mi
racconto" realizzato con gli studenti del C.P.I.A. di Venezia.
Dopo una breve parte di informazioni anagrafiche, verranno presentate le domande
del questionario, poste in forma di affermazioni, a cui è richiesto di dichiarare il proprio
grado di accordo su una scala da 1 a 4.
Poiché si tratta di opinioni personali non ci sono risposte corrette o errate.
Vi chiediamo, pertanto, di compilarlo in ogni sua parte con sincerità.
Grazie.
PRIVACY E TRATTAMENTO DEI DATI:

Il questionario è anonimo e i dati verranno trattati esclusivamente per finalità didattiche
e di ricerca, nel pieno rispetto della privacy, come previsto dal D.lgs 163/2017, Ex art. 13
D.L. 196/2003 ed ex art. 13 Regolamento Europeo 2016/679.
Qualche informazione su di te…

• Sei maschio o femmina?
• Quanti anni hai?
• Da dove vieni?
• Da quanto tempo sei in Italia?
• Qual è la tua prima lingua?
• Da quanto tempo frequenti il CPIA?
• Con chi vivi ora?
I tuoi strumenti per comunicare

• Quali dispositivi utilizzi per tenerti in contatto online con famiglia,
amici e scuola?
o Smartphone
o Tablet
o Computer portatile
o Computer fisso
o Altro:
• Per parlare con queste persone di solito cosa usi?

Li telefonata Messaggi Chat Messaggi Video E-
incontro (SMS, (WhatsApp) vocali chiamate mail
di MMS)
persona
Gli amici
in Italia □ □ □ □ □ □ □
Gli amici
del mio □ □ □ □ □ □ □
Paese
Il/la
mio/a □ □ □ □ □ □ □
ragazzo/a
31
I miei
familiari □ □ □ □ □ □ □
I miei
professori □ □ □ □ □ □ □
• Se hai avuto difficoltà a mantenerti connesso è stato perché...
o Il dispositivo era vecchio
o Il dispositivo era rotto
o Dovevo condividere il dispositivo con qualcuno (ad es., un amico o un
familiare)
o Non ho un dispositivo e dovevo chiederne uno in prestito a qualcuno
o La connessione alla rete non era buona
o Erano finiti i soldi
o Non c'era spazio in casa
o Non ero capace di usare il dispositivo
o Non c'era nessuno a cui chiedere aiuto
o Altro
• La modalità che meglio esprime le tue emozioni è:

o Parlare
o Scrivere
o Disegnare
o Dipingere
o Fotografare
o Cucinare
o Scolpire
o Ballare
o Cantare
o Altro:
Sei una persona socievole?
Indica da 1 a 6 quanto sei d’accordo con le seguenti affermazioni

• Penso di essere una persona socievole
• Quando mi succede qualcosa lo racconto subito a un familiare
• Faccio volentieri compagnia agli amici che si sentono soli
• Mi adatto facilmente ai cambiamenti
• Condivido con gli amici le cose che mi piacciono
• Sono bravo a trovare le parole giuste per raccontare i fatti
• A volte mi sento un po’ solo
• Mi emoziono quando un amico mi racconta qualcosa di personale
• Quando le cose sembrano senza speranza, non mi arrendo

• Quando mi succede qualcosa lo racconto subito ad un amico
• Ho amici pronti ad aiutarmi
• Sono bravo a trovare le parole giuste per raccontare le emozioni
• Ho una famiglia su cui posso contare
• Il passato mi dà fiducia per le nuove sfide
• So a chi chiedere aiuto quando ho bisogno
Quando sei arrivato in Italia è stato facile farti degli amici?

• No, perché non parlavo bene la lingua
• No, perché non conoscevo nessuno
32
• Sì, perché ho incontrato persone che parlavano la mia lingua

• Sì, perché sono una persona socievole
• Altro:
È cambiata la frequenza con cui fai queste cose? Indica la tua risposta da 1 a 6
• sento i miei amici
• sento i miei familiari
• sento il/la mio/a ragazzo/a
• sento i miei professori
• ho cose da raccontare ai miei amici
• mi dedico ai miei hobby
• mi sono sentito un po’ solo
Da quando c’è la quarantena hai cambiato modo di comunicare con:

• i miei amici
• i miei familiari
• i miei professori
• Altro:
• Perché? In che modo?
Pensi che questo progetto ti abbia permesso di esprimere qualcosa di ciò che provi?
• Sì
• No
• Forse
• Altro:
Grazie per aver partecipato al nostro sondaggio.
33

Received Jul 30, 2022; Revised Oct 14, 2022; Accepted Oct 22, 2022
TikTok Use as Strategy to Improve Knowledge

Acquisition and Build Engagement to Learn
Literature in ESL Classrooms
Sharmini Thanga Rajan
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Simpang Rengam, 86200, Simpang Rengam,
Johor, Malaysia
Hanita Hanim Ismail*

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
Abstract. The introduction of literature into English classes is an attempt

to improve students' language skills. In Malaysian schools, students’
interest in the chalk-and-talk method of teaching and learning literature
has waned, leading to a decline in students' knowledge acquisition and a
reduction in their engagement in learning. One of the ways to solve this
problem is to integrate technological platforms, such as social media
platform TikTok, into literature assignments. However, there are not
many studies that have investigated the use of this application in
literature learning for Malaysian secondary school students. In this quasi-
experimental quantitative study, the researchers used TikTok as a
strategy in teaching literature to 150 Form Two students, selected through
purposive sampling, to determine students' engagement in learning
literature and improve their knowledge acquisition. The two instruments
used were an adopted questionnaire, and pre-tests and post-tests
administered to control and experimental groups. Descriptive statistics,
such as number, percentage, independent and paired t-tests, were used to
analyse the results. The results of the study show that the overall mean of
students' engagement with TikTok in learning literature is very high and
students' knowledge acquisition in learning literature is positive. The
study elucidates how teachers can improve their students' knowledge
and promote engagement in literature using TikTok. Both the teaching
and learning literature become fun and foster creativity as an appropriate
medium, like TikTok, enables student-centred learning.
Keywords: learning engagement; learning literature; knowledge

assessment; social media; TikTok
*
Corresponding author: Hanita Hanim Ismail, Ismail, hanitaismail@ukm.edu.my
©Authors
34
1. Introduction
The world has witnessed a succession of four industrial revolutions (IR), starting
with mechanised production, that used water and steam in 1760; to electric power
production in the second IR in the late 19th century; followed by automated
production shaped by electronics and information technology in the third IR; and,
finally. now, the emergence of the latest technologies that contribute to blurring
boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds in the fourth IR
(4IR) (Avelino & Ismail, 2021). The 4IR has brought tremendous changes which
are observable in various spheres of life, including education, due to the
converging effects of globalisation and the evolution of information and
communication technology (Pentang, 2021). These have led to a decline in the
humanities across most countries, including Malaysia, with philosophy and
literature suffering the most.
As a nation of 32.7 million, Malaysia is the 27th most competitive country in the
world economically, residing the top Islamic world economy for nine consecutive
years (Tani, 2022) and this explains the need to mainstream English as a second
language in school policy and planning, despite the primary focus on Bahasa
Melayu (the national language of Malaysia) (Siddek & Ismail, 2021). To emphasize
the importance of English in Malaysia, it is a required subject in Malaysian schools
(Thirusanku & Yunus, 2014). It is taught so that all Malaysians who have
completed the national education system should be able to communicate in
English, as stated in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB, 2012).
The MEB 2013-2025 also specifies an English literature module as a compulsory

component within the English subject for secondary schools. Furthermore, the
Ministry of Education has designed the English curriculum to include various
literary texts to enable students to critically evaluate characters, setting, plot, and
meaning (Hassan et al., 2020). This is done through reading programmes such as
the NILAM programme and the Children's Contemporary Literature Programme
(Suliman & Yunus, 2014). Despite this ministerial effort, Malaysian school
students generally view literature as the most difficult subject to learn (Ismail,
2019).
When teaching and learning literature, it is important to highlight some possible

obstacles that can be experienced by both teachers and students. Teachers
consider text-related aspects, such as the level of linguistic and stylistic difficulty
and the level of cultural (un)familiarity, as critical factors that affect the
productivity of the teaching-learning process, which are consistent with the
findings of Suliman and Yunus (2014) and Mustakim et al. (2014). Alternatively,
students' poor language proficiency and lack of familiarity with other cultural and
social backgrounds included in the text are identified as primary challenges
(Hussein & Al-Emami, 2016).
Although the content of literary works is supposed to be taught and tested

through speaking, listening, reading and writing, Form Two students seem to
have little interest in the subject, despite its long-standing history of 18 years in
the English syllabus of Malaysian secondary schools. One possible reason is that,
35
unlike before, literature is not assessed in Form Three Assessment (PT3). Teachers
and students may underestimate the importance of understanding the required
literature materials to gain knowledge. As a result, students became passive and
participated less in literature lessons, resulting in a prescriptive, teacher-centred
learning environment, using conventional methods (Ling & Eng, 2016).
Students with poor reading comprehension and vocabulary range are less likely
to be able to answer higher order thinking questions (HOTS) correctly and, thus,
their desire to learn literature decreases. This leads to a decline in their learning
engagement in literature class and knowledge acquisition in terms of their
understanding of literary context ideas, as well as grammar and vocabulary
(Peels, 2019). Therefore, in order to improve students' learning engagement and
knowledge acquisition, teachers need to acquire the ability to integrate
technological platforms (Raw & Ismail, 2021), such as social media like TikTok,
into literature assignments that can be used both inside and outside the classroom.
There are not many studies that have investigated the use of TikTok in literature
learning for Malaysian secondary school students. Therefore, the researchers in
this study were interested in investigating the effectiveness of using TikTok as
strategy to build engagement and improve knowledge acquisition in learning
literature. This study aimed to answer the following research questions:
1. What is the level of students' engagement in learning literature through the
use of TikTok?
2. What is the impact of using TikTok strategies on students' knowledge
acquisition in learning literature?
This section is divided into three subsections: the importance of literature; social
media platforms; and TikTok use as strategy to build engagement to learn
literature improve knowledge.
2.1 The Importance of Literature in ESL Classrooms in Malaysia
Literary genres, such as poetry, dramas, fiction, and non-fiction, all are
categorised as literature, which includes both written and spoken works. As
Carter and Long highlighted in their 1991 statement, “both literature and
language training require building a sense of the language of reactions to ‘texts’
in the widest sense of the word – in both written and spoken discourses” (pp. 2–
3). By developing reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through literary
texts, learners are provided with an avenue of inspiration and creativity and
important skills for today's world.
Boyles (2012) and Perry (2019) asserted that the entrepreneurial competencies and
skills, including critical and creative thinking, innovation, reflection, self-
initiative, communication, teamwork and problem solving, required for the 21st
century can be developed through literature. Literature also helps with language
development by exposing learners to various language styles and levels, through
examining vocabulary and styles in literary texts (Muir, 2019). Therefore, for the
teaching and learning of literature in ESL classrooms to be effective, they will need
to rely heavily on evocative responses where most of the activities carried out in
literature classrooms focus on pupil-centred and interactive communication.
36
Malaysia, like other countries elsewhere, has included literature as a subject in its
language curriculum, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels. English
literature was almost taken out from the Malaysian education system in the 1970s
due to a shift in the medium of teaching in the education system when English
was recognised as the nation’s second language (Suliman et al., 2019), which
affected the teaching and learning of literature.
Another shift occurred when the Ministry of Education (MOE) reincluded the
literature component into the secondary school curriculum in 2000 and into the
primary school English curriculum in 2005 (Ganakumaran et al., 2003), with the
main purpose of improving language proficiency among Malaysian students
(Yusoff, 2017). This was to foster students’ ability to interact, read and respond
effectively to literary texts (Kaur & Mahmor, 2014).
However, one of the challenges in the teaching and learning of literature between
2000 and 2010 was the selection of texts; the novels were said to be uninteresting
and unappealing to students (Ghani et al., 2007) and some studies further
questioned the need to select local texts as an alternative (Omar, 2017; Mohaideen
et al., 2020). This further complicated the effort of maintaining student
engagement with the literary texts and improving their knowledge acquisition.
Despite the new English curriculum where literature is given equal attention as
other skills in an ESL classroom, it is not tested in the Form Three Assessment
(PT3) examination.
Past studies have highlighted that ESL learners tend to be disinterested because
they lack necessary understanding, and there are limited opportunities given to
engage in interactive activities, such as using online media and critical thinking
tasks, which explain students’ state of passivity in most literature classes which
are often described as teacher-centred (Krishnasamy, 2015; Sivapalan et al., 2017;
Yee et al., 2018). Teaching and learning literature methods need to be replaced
with a holistic, collaborative, innovative and learner-centred approach (Akyildiz,
2019).
Zain et al. (2020) emphasised that academic subjects such as English reading and
literature need to be adapted to 21st century learning by merging classroom
activities or courses that combine expected literacy skills with specific information
age skills, including ESL online pedagogy (De Souza et al., 2021). It is, therefore,
time to adopt a new approach that focuses on learners rather than teachers, and
emphasises universal and lifelong learning by integrating innovative models,
such as social media, suitable for Generation Z (those born between 1997–2012),
because they are active on social media platforms. These platforms are already
incorporated in their daily routines and should therefore be utilised in the field of
teaching and learning (Bagarukayo, 2018), especially in learning literature.
2.2 Social Media platforms and Their Values

Social media have features that not only promote communication with friends,
classmates and teachers but also encourage participation, collaboration, peer
support and engagement in educational activities and tasks that help improve all
37
four skills (Lim & Richardson, 2016). They are excellent platforms for students to
engage with peers for group projects based on videos captured during teacher-
led activities, aside from being useful tools for improving learners' vocabulary
and grammatical accuracy, while increasing motivation and engagement in
classroom activities.
Online social media can serve as a facilitator of lifelong learning, as a formal or

informal virtual bridge to close the education gap (Suswati et al., 2019). Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and TikTok are some of the social media platforms that
positively influence language learning as mobile learning tools (Kacetl & Klimova,
2019). As an example, Hattem and Lomicka (2016) argued that Twitter as a social
platform helps its users to develop cultural and sociopragmatic awareness, and
improve their language skills as they learn the language. Not only that, due to its
global use, it enables communication and interaction among native speakers of
the chosen language across different language levels and in different situations.
Furthermore, a study by Rahmawati and Anwar (2022) showed that respondents
had a positive attitude toward using TikTok as a strategy for learning vocabulary.
In contrast, some have argued that social media can disrupt classroom dynamics
(Van den Beemt et al., 2020) and that some of the features can lead to anxiety,
loneliness, and depression (Reer et al., 2019). Considering the various benefits that
social media usage can bring, teachers can utilise it to help students develop skills
that will improve their learning.
2.3 TikTok Use as Strategy to Build Engagement to Learn Literature and

Improve Knowledge
The quick evolution of social media has altered how information is shared,
communicated, and collaborated (Filo et al., 2015). For example, TikTok is a
platform that allows users to produce, view and share 15- to 60-second short
videos (Xiuwen & Razali, 2021). It is a suitable platform for students to
communicate their ideas in terms of positivity and education thanks to its many
interesting elements that appeal to millennials, including research video tasks,
language learning, public speaking, and a range of application features (Pratiwi
et al., 2021). The platform has an engaging user interface design (Garg & Pahuja,
2020) that encourages students to invest the necessary time and effort to achieve
desired outcomes and engage in course-related activities (Khan et al., 2017). This
is an effect desired in teaching and learning since students are more involved in
the learning process and get a sense of satisfaction when the result is achieved
(Viseu & Oliveira, 2012). The use of TikTok also increases students’ engagement
in lessons.
In teaching and learning, there are three types of student engagement: emotional,
cognitive and behavioural engagement (Appleton et al., 2008). While emotional
engagement occurs when a student is fully immersed and feels connected to a
topic, cognitive engagement refers to the level of involvement, which is highly
dependent on the teacher's method, tasks, or activities. Finally, learner action in
the form of interaction is referred to as behavioural engagement (Bergdahl et al.,
2018). According to Escamilla-Fajardo et al. (2021), students prefer to use TikTok
since it stimulates their creativity, increasing their learning engagement
38
throughout the lesson, and enables active learning which helps improve their
knowledge acquisition.
Incorporating TikTok strategies into literature lessons, including using ‘pop’

quizzes in the form of picture-creating to test students' understanding, producing
three-minute videos, and conducting duet challenges enables knowledge gain, all
while engaging in a happy and dynamic learning atmosphere. This emphasises
knowledge sharing as “the transmission of knowledge from a source in such a
way that it is learned and used by the receiver” (Ma & Chan, 2014, p. 52).
This application also fosters an increase in cognitive skills including recognising

key components, creating links between knowledge, reorganising the content to
create new learning materials, decision-making, and information evaluation.
(Ariffin et al., 2021). This is helpful for students as teachers recognise the need for
scaffolding to help students better regulate their cognitive activities which
support their metacognitive processes, which in turn helps students become more
competent (Molenaar et al., 2010). Therefore, the increasing use of social media
promotes information sharing and ensures the wide dissemination of knowledge
among users in people, groups and organisations by creating a virtual
environment conducive to knowledge sharing (Kwahk & Park, 2016). In addition,
learners explore online learning materials and create their own content by
collaborating with peers as they are accessible through social media, which
enhances their knowledge acquisition (Shadiev et al., 2019) and reinforces their
learning (Al-Jarrah et al., 2019).
The use of social media is not only effective, but also carries promising potential
as a tool to improve knowledge and increase learning engagement. However,
there are few studies that have explored the use of TikTok in literature learning
for Malaysian secondary school students. Therefore, this study further explores
the potential use of TikTok to enhance students' knowledge acquisition and
increase learning engagement in the literature classroom.
3. Methodology
A brief explanation of the research methods employed in this study is given. An
in-depth description on the demographic, sample, research tools, data gathering,
and data analysis is provided.
3.1 Research Design

In this study, a quasi-experimental research design was used to investigate the
effectiveness of TikTok strategies in improving knowledge and promoting
learning engagement in literature in ESL classes. With the understanding that a
good sample must reflect the entire research population, this quasi-experimental
quantitative research mainly uses basic statistics such as frequency, percentage,
mean, standard deviation and variance to characterise the study.
3.2 Sampling and Population

Based on a population of 193 Form Two students from a government school in
Johor, 150 Form Two students were selected as the sample for this study (see Table
39
1), using purposive sampling based on their own judgement and expertise
(Campbell et al., 2020). The sample was purposely selected because the
researchers wanted to focus on certain and specific characteristics of the sample
(see Table 2).
Table 1. Sample distribution

Demographic Profile Frequency (N) Percentage (%)
Male 70 47
Gender
Female 80 53
Malay 120 80
Race Chinese 20 13
Indian 10 7
B1 70 47
Band
B2 80 53
Experimental
Boys 35 47
Girls 40 53
Group
Control
Boys 35 47
Girls 40 53
Samples were also selected based on three criteria: students access to mobile
phone, a decent internet connection, and access to TikTok application (see Table
2). They were then divided into control and experimental groups equally.
Table 2. Students placed in experimental and control groups based on three criteria
Criteria Group Number of students
• Students with mobile phones.
• Good internet connection. Experimental 75
• Students with TikTok applications.
• Students without mobile phones.
• No/poor internet connection. Control 75
• Students without TikTok applications.
3.3 Research Instruments

This study used two methods of data collection: a document analysis (pre-test and
post-test) and a questionnaire.
3.3.1 Pre-Test and Post-Tests
Students’ proficiency in literature is evaluated through speaking, listening,
reading, and writing in accordance to the Curriculum and Assessment Standards
Document (DSKP) (2016) Form Two. However, for this research, only speaking
skills was used to assess students' knowledge acquisition of the chosen literary
texts, in terms of their understanding of literary context and ideas, as well as
grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and the use of the correct words in the
correct order, which answered the first research question.
Since there is a strong relationship between oral language skills and language
performance among learners in school (Koross, 2012), the pre-test and post-tests
40
were administered orally for three weeks. Samples were asked four structured
questions on the selected literary text (Table 3) during their English lesson. The
questions for the oral portion were taken from the lower secondary level literary
textbook Poetry for Pleasure, published by the Malaysian MOE in 2014 as a teaching
tool. The questions were validated by senior teachers at a vocational school and a
government school in Johor. The content and language of the material were rated
by the two teachers on a 4-point Likert scale, from Poor to Excellent.
Table 3. Structured questions taken from Poetry for Pleasure

No Questions
1 What is the meaning of “the dead of night”?
2 What would the child’s dad do if he met ghosts?
3 Who solves the problem when there is a spider in the bath? Why?
4 What did you like about this poem?
Only samples in the experimental group received treatments for three weeks, with
three speaking-based tasks related to literacy texts. Short videos with questions
were posted in the comments section at regular intervals. The students were
required to create short videos in which they answered questions based on the
texts.
3.3.2 Questionnaire
Quantitative research requires an instrument that consists of specific questions in
which its answers would allow the analysis of the data (Creswell, 2012) and,
therefore, this study uses a 14-question questionnaire to answer the second
research question, which was adapted from Alsharidi (2018). The questionnaire
was divided into three sections. Section A consists of three questions on
demographics, including the respondents’ preference of using TikTok and
number of hours spent using the platform. Section B consists of two parts: (1)
general aspects of TikTok use and its features, and (2) the use of TikTok among
Form Two students and the language used to communicate with each other.
Finally, section C collects questions about level of engagement (literature practice
and interaction on TikTok). Sections B and C contain items measured using a 5-
point Likert scale, where 1 = Strongly Disagree (SD); 2 = Disagree (D); 3 = Neutral
(N); 4 = Agree (A) and 5 = Strongly Agree (SA).
The questionnaire was validated where it underwent a process of assessing the

suitability of interpretations, usefulness and decisions based on the assessment
results. Upon receiving constructive feedback on the items, appropriate changes
were made in terms of accuracy, clarity, and organisation of the questions to
ensure content validity before it was distributed to respondents. The reliability of
the questionnaire was checked using SPSS software utilising mean values and
percentages for each item to determine Cronbach's alpha value. The alpha
coefficient for the 14 items is .702, which means that the items have an acceptable
level of reliability (Daud et al., 2018). Overall, these instruments helped in
investigating the potential impact of TikTok on improving student learning
engagement and knowledge acquisition in literature classes.
41
3.4 Data Collection Procedure

Upon obtaining permission to conduct the study in the selected school, samples
were selected based on three criteria: access to a mobile phone, a decent internet
connection and access to TikTok application, and the samples were divided
equally into a control and an experimental group. For the control group, only pre-
tests and post-tests were conducted, followed by formal language instructions,
while the samples in the experimental group were given treatments for three
weeks before completing the post-test.
Figure 1: TikTok account
A TikTok account was created and the samples in the experimental group were
invited to follow the account.
Figure 2: Speaking based activities
For three weeks, the samples were exposed to TikTok posts that contained
speaking questions based on DSKP Form Two using Content Standard 5.1.
42
Figure 3: Content standard
The questionnaires were distributed physically to the samples in the experimental

groups of 65 respondents after the post-test, and collected again after ten minutes.
Overall, these tools helped in investigating the potential impact of TikTok on
improving student learning engagement and knowledge acquisition in literature
classes.
3.5. Data analysis
For the experimental study, the samples’ achievement test scores in acquiring
knowledge were analysed quantitatively, both before and after the test using SPSS
v. 25 software. For the pre-test and post-tests, an adapted assessment rubric from
the Form Three Assessment (PT3) speaking test was used to assess students'
knowledge acquisition in terms of grammar, vocabulary and communicative
competence when answering questions on literary texts.
Table 4. Adapted PT3 speaking rubric assessment

Score Overall Spoken Performance
Can understand questions and instructions with ease.
3 Can maintain and develop the interaction by asking and responding to
questions.
Can understand questions and instructions through will sometimes have to
ask for repetition of particular words and phrases.
2
Can maintain the interaction by asking and responding to questions in a
simple and direct way.
Can understand questions and instructions slowly, directly and
1 repeatedly.
Can give basic information on familiar topics using short phrases.
0 Candidate uses language(s) other than English.
The range interpretation, which is divided into five levels, was used in this study
to determine students' engagement in literature classes with the use of TikTok as
learning strategies (Table 5).
Table 5. Interpretation Range
Mean Score Score Mean Ranking
0 – 0.90 Very Low (Strongly Disagree)
0.91 – 1.80 Low (Disagree)
1.81 – 2.70 Average (Neutral)
2.71 – 3.60 High (Agree)
3.61 – 4.50 Very High (Strongly Agree)
43
4. Findings and Discussion

The analysis and interpretation of secondary students' use of TikTok as learning
strategies to improve knowledge and promote engagement in learning literature
in ESL classes were conducted using mean, independent samples t-tests and
paired samples tests.
4.1 The Level of Students’ Engagement in Literature Learning by Using TikTok
To answer the first research question, “What is the level of student engagement in
literature learning through the use of TikTok?”, the demographic information in
section A, general aspects of TikTok usage in section B, and levels of engagement
in section C were examined.
Figure 4: Participants’ responses to demographic part
The demographics identify the hours spent on TikTok by gender. It was found
that half of the female participants (22) spent 3–5 hours, compared to the six male
participants who use TikTok the same amount of time. Compared to the male
students, 15 female students spent 6–7 hours each day on TikTok. In contrast, 16
male students spent less than 1–2 hours on TikTok. We may deduce that female
students spend more time on TikTok than male students. Despite this difference,
it can be argued that TikTok is increasingly integrated into students' daily routines
and it can be easily utilised for teaching and learning (Bagarukayo, 2018),
especially in literature.
Table 6. General aspects of TikTok usage
SD D N A SA
Mean
Item N N N N N Level
score
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
50
I find it easy to create an 3 7 15 Very
F1 0 4.03
account on TikTok. (4) (9) (20) High
(67)
I am an active user of 2 12 7 37 17 Very

F2 3.73
TikTok. (3) (16) (9) (50) (23) High
I find it easy to write 2 6 2 39 26 Very

F3 4.08
comments on TikTok. (3) (8) (3) (52) (35) High
44
I find it easy to share ideas,

4 5 7 37 22 Very
F4 post videos, etc., interact 3.91
(5) (7) (9) (50) (29) High
on TikTok.
I use TikTok for 26 17 8 9 15 Avera

F5 2.60
educational purposes only. (35) (23) (11) (12) (20) ge
I use both English and

12 9 3 10 41 Very
F6 Bahasa Melayu when I 3.79
(16) (12) (4) (13) (54.7) High
interact on TikTok.
Section B contains eight questions on attitudes towards TikTok as a social

software application (Table 6). Based on the range interpretation, the mean for
each sentence is included in Table 5. The average score for using English or Bahasa
Melayu in the application was 3.79, indicating that samples recognise the
importance of English as a second language by giving similar weight to the local
language when using technology, which is concurrent with the findings of
Alsharidi (2018). A further 50% of participants said that it is easy to express
thoughts, upload videos, and others on TikTok (F4), which allows students to
indirectly participate actively in literature lessons and improves their
understanding of poems, short stories, and novels (Khan et al., 2017) through its
unique social infrastructure. Unlike other social networks such as Facebook or
Twitter, TikTok allows text-based responses in the video comment session. This
allows for more complex and in-depth audio-video exchanges which increases the
learning engagement.
Table 7. Levels of engagement (Literature practice and interaction on TikTok)
SD D N A SA
Mean
Items N N N N N SD Level
Score
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Using social media such as

TikTok offers new ways 16 46 13 Very
E1 0 0 3.96 0.625
for me to engage in (21) (61) (17) High
literature classes.
I do not like the idea of

including TikTok in
19 39 4 11 2
E2 literature classes because it 2.17 1.057 Average
(25) (52) (5) (15) (3)
does not offer me any
benefits.
I feel no pressure when I

1 9 2 48 15 Very
E3 make mistakes on TikTok 3.89 0.909
(1) (12) (3) (64) (20) High
while learning literature.
I feel that TikTok is an

encouraging place to
4 13 41 17 Very
E4 engage in literature 0 3.95 0.787
(5) (17) (55) (23) High
lessons because no one
judges my mistakes.
45
I believe my literature
knowledge has improved 2
12 49 12 Very
E5 since I started interacting 0 (3) 3.95 0.655
(16) (66) (16) High
with classmates and
teacher on TikTok.
I believe using TikTok to

engage in literature helps
14 50 11 Very
E6 me to understand the plot, 0 0 3.96 0.580
(19) (67) (15) High
setting, characters and
meaning, etc. more easily.
Continuously practising
literature lessons on
TikTok like responding to
64 7 Very
E7 videos, uploading videos, 0 2 (3) 2 (3) 4.01 0.479
(85) (9) High
commenting, etc., boosts
my confidence in
exploring literature texts.
I would use TikTok in the 2 3 10 35 25 Very

E8 4.04 0.936
future to learn literature. (3) (4) (13) (47) (33) High
Very
Grand Mean 3.74 0.753
High
Addressing the first research question, it was found that the total mean of
literature practice and interaction on TikTok is relatively high (M = 3.74, SD =
0.753). Based on the interpretation of the range, the overall mean and mean for
each sentence are given in Table 5. The results from this study support past studies
such as Feroz et al. (2021) and Delfino, (2019). From the survey, 46 “Mostly
Agreed” and 13 “Agreed” for statement E1 (“Using social media such as TikTok
offers new ways for me to engage in literature classes”), while 16 expressed
uncertainties using TikTok which provides new opportunities to engage with
literature.
The samples indicated gaining new knowledge about literature during their
digital engagement where six samples “Mostly Agreed” and 45 “Agreed” with
statement E6 with a mean of 3.96.
TikTok is an audio-visual platform that enables users to make videos to share
knowledge (MacKinnon et al., 2021), interact with others with similar interests,
and have conversations about learning more. This is in line with the claim in the
literature that students feel satisfied when they complete the given task, which
boosts their confidence to perform better (Viseu & Oliveira, 2012). For question
E7, five participants also “Strongly Agreed”, and 64 “Agreed” that engaging with
the platform to learn literature helps them to understand new aspects of the target
subject, while boosting their confidence to perform better.
Only 39 participants “Disagreed” with statement E2, that learning literature via
TikTok has no benefits. This digitally advanced generation appears to have
realized that social media may be utilised for a variety of purposes (Filo et al.,
46
2015), which makes it easier to incorporate social media, like TikTok, into the
teaching and learning process.
This study shows that using TikTok in literature classes makes for interactive and
effective learning and helps improve students' knowledge acquisition and
enhances their engagement. The participants did not feel anxious when making
mistakes while creating videos or commenting, especially passive learners. This
is consistent with Faizi et al. (2013), who found that using social media to discuss
one's opinions and thoughts is useful for the more intimidated students.
4.2 The Impact of Using TikTok Strategies on Students’ Knowledge
Acquisition
To answer the second research question, “What is the impact of TikTok strategies
on students' knowledge acquisition in learning literature?”, the observed impact
from using TikTok strategies was examined. The control and experimental groups
were tested on their performance in a before-and-after speaking test, which was
taken from the main textbook. To find out whether using TikTok in literature
learning had an effect on students' knowledge acquisition, independent-samples
t-tests were conducted for both the pre-test and post-test of the experimental
group, and the means of the pre-test and post-test scores for each group were
analysed.
Table 8. Pre-test results of speaking test

Mean
Pre-Test Mean Std Deviation Std Error
Difference
Control 2.62 1.79 0.21
- 0.43
Experimental 3.05 0.82 0.10
Before the intervention, the performance scores of the control and experimental
groups were identical. At the pre-test (Table 8), the control group received an
average score of 2.62 (SD = 1.79), while the experimental group received an
average score of 3.06 (SD = 0.82). An administered t-test on the independent
samples shows the mean difference 0.43. These results show that the control and
experimental groups did not differ substantially in terms of improvement in
knowledge acquisition in learning literature. However, after the TikTok
intervention, students in the control and experimental groups were administered
the same performance test. An independent sample t-test was performed for the
post-test to evaluate the effectiveness of using TikTok as a tool to enhance the
teaching atmosphere for literature.
Table 9. Post-test results of speaking test

Mean
Post-Test Mean Std Deviation Std Error
Difference
Control 4.80 2.35 0.27
-2.27
Experimental 7.07 1.83 0.21
The results, as shown in Table 9, showed a statistically significant difference in

terms of mean values between those who had used TikTok to improve their
knowledge in the speaking test and those who had not. At the post-test, the mean
47
score of the experimental group increased significantly (M = 7.07), while the

control group had a lower mean score for their post-test (M = 4.80). This shows
that TikTok is considered audio-visually entertaining due to the combination of
text, video and music from the literary text, and the medium offers the
opportunity to produce useful videos for sharing information that helps in
knowledge acquisition (MacKinnon et al., 2021).
When people share their knowledge or learn from others, knowledge sharing
occurs (Ma & Chan, 2014). This aids in the development of students' backgrounds
and exposes them to new material, as well as their learning about a variety of
topics to acquire knowledge (Arias Rodríguez, 2017), which reiterates Zaitun et
al. (2021), who highlight that the use of appropriate strategies such as discussions,
oral reading, role-playing and video creation on TikTok is more effective in
supporting students' knowledge acquisition. These strategies emphasise the
importance of improving skills in the classroom to increase students' confidence
in using language to make connections and understand the content while
engaging a happy and dynamic learning atmosphere.
Table 10. Paired samples t-test result

Sig
Pair 1 Std Std Mean
Mean t df (2-
Experimental Deviation Error Difference
tailed
Pre-Test 3.05 0.82 0.10
- 04.01 -19.85 74 0.001
Post-Test 7.07 1.83 0.21
The pre-intervention mean had lower scores (M = 3.05, SD = 0.82) than the post-
intervention mean (M = 7.07, SD = 1.83). The result of this test shows that the
difference is statistically significant, t = -19.85, p = 0.001 (see Table 10). Combining
literature, whether in the form of short stories or poems, with social media
platforms, such as TikTok, as a learning platform are effective sources for
acquiring knowledge through personal exploration based on prior knowledge
(Hişmanoğlu, 2005). Learners can practice their skills and expand their knowledge
while solving problems by incorporating TikTok into literature lessons, leading to
a better level of learning in terms of Bloom's Taxonomy, without the help of
others.
Moreover, according to Li et al. (2020), the studies of social media appropriate

hashtags make it easier for users to find, connect and disseminate information to
gain knowledge, so incorporating TikTok as a learning strategy into literature
teaching can promote students' knowledge development in speaking, and serve
as a pedagogical aid for literature learning. Thus, teachers and students can make
good use of TikTok to enhance their knowledge of literature.
5. Conclusion
The implementation of TikTok strategies in literature classes was evaluated and
showed a convincing effect on improving students' eagerness to learn and their
knowledge acquisition when learning literature. Based on the analysis results, the
use of TikTok as a learning strategy in literature classes served the purpose of
48
improving students' knowledge and high level of engagement, and that its use in
literature classes is recommended.
From the findings, the implication is that TikTok can be used in regular classes to
increase learning engagement and improve knowledge acquisition. The results of
this study will also be helpful for teachers as they have an excellent opportunity
to incorporate the trendy social medium of TikTok into their lessons to engage
students' attention; incorporate TikTok trends, such as duet challenges and
creating three-minute videos, into lessons; and allow teachers to try different
ways of imparting knowledge.
However, the limitation of this research is that the results cannot be generalised
to the entire population of Form Two students in Malaysian schools as the sample
in this study was limited to 130 students. To tackle the limitations of this study,
further studies and future research could pursue the following aspects: (1)
research to be conducted with a larger sample by including private, international
and national schools to create diversity, in which more accurate data can be
obtained by including more students from different schools, and (2) future
research can be conducted with categorisation by gender to identify more
accurately the readiness level among and challenges faced by boys and girls using
TikTok in learning literature.
Acknowledgement
This research expresses gratitude for the awarded fund under the Futuristic
Learning Project at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
(Code no.: GG-2021-009).
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54

Received Jul 30, 2022; Revised Oct 11, 2022; Accepted Nov 20, 2022
Training Teachers Using Action Research for

Innovation in Early Childhood Education
Literacy
Aysha Saeed AlShamsi* , Aysha Khamis AlShamsi and Alia Nheil AlKetbi
Higher Colleges of Technology
United Arab Emirates
Abstract. Action research is a crucial authentic training tool in teacher

education programmes. The visual arts in early childhood education
(ECE) are important to release children’s creativity and help their
engagement skills. This case study examines the experiences of two
preservice teachers in the UAE who completed action research projects
during their final year of teacher training. Their participants consisted of
four groups of children aged between four to six years. The preservice
teachers were required to conduct interviews, do classroom observations,
and do journalling, while their progress was monitored by a supervising
instructor. The NVivo 12 software was used in the analysis of final
reflections and interview responses. Three main themes and several
important observations emerged from the experiment. The findings
suggest that preservice teachers value action research as an authentic
practical field research experience. Action research can positively impact
literacy teaching using visual arts and 21st-century skills in early
childhood despite challenges such as limited space and resources. These
should be addressed to enhance implementation.
Keywords: action research; early childhood education; literacy;

preservice teacher education; visual arts
1. Introduction
Teachers of contemporary ECE are poised to transform pedagogical practices to
enhance literacy among students through 21st-century skills such as problem-
solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills (Fernández-
Santín & Feliu-Torruella, 2020; Pakarinen & Kikas, 2019). Previously, teachers
emphasised collaboration as an instructional strategy to encourage children to
work together to achieve a designed objective (Tompkins, 2014). However,
targeting creativity can be difficult in the early years; consequently, Brusic and
Shearer (2014) urge teachers to focus on practices that promote cognitive,
*
Corresponding author: Aysha Saeed AlShamsi, email: Aalshamsi4@hct.ac.ae
©Authors
55
intellectual, and social connections across all subjects. The goal of any education
system is to nurture critical thinkers. Therefore, in the early years, teachers often
involve children in activities that go beyond memorisation to providing a wide
variety of thought-provoking activities to enable analysis, evaluation,
interpretation, and synthesis (Lonigan et al., 2011), using diverse forms of literacy.
Literacy can be stimulated through participation in visual arts with teachers

encouraging children to explore new vocabulary and engage in meaningful
discussions (Chang & Cress, 2014) by incorporating 21st-century skills. ECE
teacher training programmes support this approach by emphasising the creation
of meaningful, authentic learning experiences for preservice teachers that will
improve their teaching skills through innovative approaches (Campbell & Levin,
2009; Yeigh & Lynch, 2017). Generally, researchers consider innovative learning
as instructional strategies or tools used to support strong academic performance
(Wooten & Cullinan, 2009). However, pedagogical practices that focus on literacy
development attempt to bridge the gap between literacy and content, thereby
ensuring children are prepared for standardised testing (Wagner & Dintersmith,
2015). Currently, literacy is taught across subjects by teachers who are responsible
for literacy instruction (Wagner & Dintersmith, 2015).
Visual arts are an important medium for children to learn skills as they involve
high levels of contact with discovery. In reporting the outcome of an integrated
arts workshop, Wright (2001) noted that discovery, pursuit, self-awareness,
communication, interaction, perception, and critique are all developed through
art. Children who are encouraged to use “artistic language” in the classroom tend
to communicate using a unique language (Plummeridge, 1991), and engage while
developing 21st-century skills. Further, art helps with cognitive development, and
quantifying, or systematising intellectual abilities. Accordingly, teacher education
programmes are important for teaching instructors to assist children with these
expressions in ECE.
Action research in teaching practice enables preservice teachers to engage in an

assessment that links theory to practice, enhances their literacy teaching through
innovative approaches (Ghiatău et al., 2011), and bridges the gap between
theoretical concepts and practical implementation (Montecinos et al., 2014). In this
qualitative study, two preservice teachers used action research in a UAE ECE
classroom to develop innovative teaching practices while teaching literacy using
21st-century skills and visual arts. The preservice teachers were exposed to
experiences that provoked contextualised reflections and drew upon the
integration of theoretical resources to further their understanding. Although
Grossman (2005) often refers to an indirect link between theory and practice, the
premise of this model was based on these instructors’ reflections and perspectives
to achieve a higher level of rigour.
The next section explores the theoretical framework and action research paradigm
regarding literacy teaching approaches in ECE. The method and results follow,
after which a discussion of the findings is presented.
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2. Theoretical framework and research paradigm

The research is influenced by Vygotsky’s theory as applied to the responsive
social contexts provided in early childhood education. Vygotsky claims children
are “capable of far more competent performance when they have assistance from
adults in their zone of proximal development so adults take a reactive and
participatory role” (Vygotsky, 1978, as cited in Smith, 1993, p. 47). This study
combined preservice teachers’ final reflections on capstone projects and their
responses during weekly progress interviews with their instructors using a case
study approach.
A case study was considered appropriate as it allows the investigation of a

phenomenon within an authentic context when boundaries between the
phenomenon and its context are unclear. It is also supported by various sources
of evidence (Yin, 1984). The research goal was to extract participants’ experiences
to arrive at a clear understanding of the phenomenon (Creswell, 2014). Bracketing
ensured the researcher’s experiences and expectations did not influence the
preservice teachers’ understanding of the phenomenon (Carpenter, 2007). The
instructor’s role was crucial to examine the quality of the action research practices
leading to preservice teacher training using the action research cycle. All
phenomena included in this research interacted with and highlighted innovative
practices in literacy teaching to provide deeper insights (Drack, 2009) into Emirati
ECE literacy education practices.
Action research is a systematised process for collecting data in school and

classroom settings about how teachers teach and how well their students learn
(Mills, 2003, 2007). When supported by mentor teachers, preservice teachers are
also empowered to examine and transform their teaching practices by collecting
data that are relevant to the current issues in their context such as literacy teaching
approaches.
Linking the terms ‘action’ and ‘research’ highlights the method’s essential feature,
namely that of testing ideas in practice to increase knowledge about or improve
curriculum, teaching, and learning (Kemmis et al., 2014). Action research that
explores intervention in practices is used for various purposes: school-based
curriculum development, professional development, systems planning, school
restructuring, and as an evaluative tool (Creswell, 2014). Alternatively,
participatory action research aims to improve the qualities of organisations,
communities, and families through empowerment that leads to social change
(Fraenkel et al., 2012). This type of research explores the quality of innovative
literacy teaching approaches for future impact on the UAE’s National Agenda for
Education by improving the quality of teachers' and children’s literacy levels.
This study was also influenced by Mills’s (2003) four-step action research process
of dialectic action research, i.e., identification of an area of focus, development of
an action plan, data collection, and data analyses and interpretation. Mills
described this model as research done by teachers for teachers and students, not
research done on them. The model was also dynamic, responsive, and adaptable
to any context for various purposes (Mills, 2014). This paper evaluated the use of
57
action research as part of the training preservice teachers undergo in

implementing innovative literacy teaching approaches to explore possible future
improvements. The next section provides the research context for teacher action
research in early childhood literacy development in the UAE.
Early childhood literacy development in the UAE–research context

Literacy development in Arabic and English is the core of ECE in the UAE and is
considered the foundation for academic and cognitive development (AlShamsi,
2021). Therefore, establishing a strong base in Arabic and English literacy is
essential in the Emirati bilingual context (Aljanahi & Alsheikh, 2020; AlShamsi &
Alsheikh, 2020). To improve this situation, the UAE government launched a
National Agenda in 2014, mandating high rankings in various standardised tests,
such as the Programme for International Student Assessment and the
International Mathematics and Science Study (proficiency in Arabic and English
is crucial to achieving high scores in these tests).
Literacy development is a language development tool for cognitive and social

skills (Littleton & Mercer, 2013). Classroom literacy practices and approaches
assist with essential aspects of early literacy focus such as oral language and
communicative skills, concepts of print, motivation and engagement, academic
language through vocabulary, alphabetic knowledge, reading fluency,
comprehension, spelling, and writing (Kennedy, 2018). Literacy also evolves with
society and technology, transforming literacy practices and environments
globally. Therefore, active and successful participation in a 21st-century
environment, supported by innovative practices such as visual arts, requires
children to develop age-level communicative and academic language (National
Council of Teachers of English, 2019). Visual arts are a powerful means through
which children can explore new meanings and experiences, deepen their
knowledge and develop creativity (Brooks, 2009; Ramli & Musa, 2020).
Classroom-based action research can improve preservice teachers’ literacy

teaching experiences by embedding innovation in their daily practices through
reinforcing, modifying, or changing perceptions, based on informal data and non-
systematic observations. During the implementation phase, preservice teachers
use informal assessment tools such as story retelling, discussions, drawings,
writings, running records, and comprehension questions to gather data (Kemmis
et al., 2014). Therefore, teachers learn what they can influence, and make changes
that can produce tangible results. The process provides the opportunity to work
with others and to learn from the sharing of ideas. Action research is pivotal for
three reasons: to promote personal and professional growth, improve practice to
enhance student learning, and advance the teaching profession (Kemmis et al.,
2014). Kemmis et al. (2014) and Mills (2014) suggest that action research is
committed to examining classroom teaching as well as the principles and effects
teachers’ actions have on students' development in a reflective and meaningful
way. In light of this, Holter et al. (2014) perceived action research as a tool for
positive change in the school’s community through research practitioners.
58
Teaching practicum in Higher Colleges of Technology programme

Students at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in the Bachelor of Education
programme are expected to demonstrate that they have achieved the UAE’s
Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards (TELS), the School Inspection
Framework, and the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) teacher annual appraisal to
enhance teaching and learning (UAE Government Portal, 2021). The standards set
out in the HCT’s ECE programme are mandatory requirements for effective
teaching in the UAE and must be met by graduation. These standards must meet
the expectations of the MOE and the TELS.
Enrolment in this research-based exercise aimed to help ECE teachers deal with
students from diverse backgrounds and abilities in Emirati ECE classroom
settings. The practical experience and the research course are essential for helping
preservice teachers understand the unique academic and communication
differences in modern student-centred classrooms. In this study, both preservice
teachers focused on literacy development through innovative approaches such as
21st-century skills and visual arts. Since they both taught bilingually, they also
had a good grasp of the current situation in the UAE-ECE schools.
Practical experience is a basic and crucial requirement for a preservice teacher

education programme (Yeigh & Lynch, 2017). Creating a balance between
campus-based and internship learning through field experience is essential.
Therefore, it is important to bridge the gap by linking theoretical knowledge with
practice as an essential component of preservice teacher training through methods
such as action research (Zeichner, 2010). The balance between college learning
time and real-life practicum and professional experience cannot be
overemphasised (Deed et al., 2011).
The preservice ECE programme at HCT incorporates practical experience through

exposure to professional teaching and learning experience and enables preservice
teachers to understand Emirati schools’ routine life and reality and gain practical
experience teaching literacy in physical classrooms. The crucial aspect of the
practical application is to understand daily teaching and learning in the Emirati
context and gain sufficient experience as real teachers. The practical and
professional experience in schools with practicum courses for preservice teachers
equips them with the opportunity to transfer theory into practice through
observation and teaching methodologies in their area of focus such as literacy.
Teacher reflection is considered an important element in meeting students’

diverse learning needs. Data-driven decision-making can help students perform
more effectively (Schildkamp & Poortman, 2015); such data would normally be
gathered from action research with appropriate reflection on practice. Therefore,
before preservice teachers graduate from HCT they must conduct independent
action research projects and demonstrate their ability to make data-driven and
evidence-based decisions in the classroom. This is one of the unique features of
the HCT programmes. Preservice teachers exposed to this kind of initial training
benefit from ongoing reflective professional development to improve literacy
through innovative approaches (Osterman & Kottkamp, 1993).
59
This qualitative study is based on the reflections of two preservice teachers as they
implemented action research and collected weekly progress data. The action
research followed Mills’s (2003, 2014) framework, which was crucial to executing
the next steps. The following research questions addressed this objective:
1. How does action research help preservice teachers integrate 21st-century
skills and visual arts-based innovative approaches in teaching literacy?
2. How could the action research experience of preservice teachers be improved,
enabling them the opportunity to integrate innovative practices in teaching
literacy?
3. Materials and method

The research design generated an in-depth and multi-faceted understanding of
participants (Tellis, 1997), through written documents and reflections (Patton,
1990). These reflections contributed to developing a research outline (Stake, 1995)
to generate a broader understanding of innovation in literacy teaching in the UAE.
The preservice teachers conducted practical activities during their internship
which were quite useful as they were then able to better understand the issue in
real practice (Crowe et al., 2011; Flynn & Korcuska, 2018). This enabled them to
explore the integration of innovative approaches to literacy teaching and evaluate
the use of action research to facilitate this experience. The practical action research
methodology suited the capstone project for Y-4 students in the HCT-ECE
programme. This paper assessed and analysed the efficacy of practical action
research in the Emirati ECE context.
Participants
Year four-semester students conducted research in their final semester practicum
over eight weeks, with weekly interventions. Each action plan had been
developed in a previous course, refined, and enhanced for their action research
course. The data collection and analysis plans were agreed upon in advance with
lecturers and included reflective journals, classroom observations, and interviews
that were then analysed for main points and themes, and further reflected upon.
After a data analysis of the final action research reflections, students discussed,
triangulated, and reflected on the findings in interviews with the lecturer and
formatted the document like a dissertation. While all student-teachers in the
project were invited to participate, only two showed keen interest. These two
participants, Sarah and Laila, (pseudonyms) were selected to reflect on their
practices since both were exploring literacy teaching through innovative
approaches.
Both participants were placed at mixed-gender government schools offering ECE

for six weeks in semester seven and eight weeks in semester eight. They worked
as assistants to their mentor school teachers (MST) and observed taught classes as
well as teaching a minimum of 15 full lessons while engaging in continuous
weekly interviews with their instructor.
A. Sara investigated how 21st-century skills (critical thinking, collaboration,
creativity, and communication) supported student learning in literacy. She
selected this topic mainly from a concern for preparing young children for the
60
future at an early age and a conviction that developing the four skills while
teaching or integrating literacy would be imminently necessary.
B. Laila investigated the integration of visual arts with literacy or integrating
literacy with other subjects as an innovative approach that can facilitate
literacy teaching and learning. She chose this topic based on experience from
a previous teaching practicum that children learn best by integrating visual
arts into their learning. Laila also observed in other student practicums that
learning through art has a positive impact on EC students’ writing and
communicative skills.
Instrument
All major reflections were analysed using NVivo 12 software. Initial codes and
themes were devised and identified to fit with the study objectives and research
questions. These were monitored and approved by MST and MCT. All efforts
were made to involve the participants in the analysis and keep respondents’ texts
in their original form, save for the correction of some grammatical and
typographical errors, to minimise the researcher’s bias. Participation in the
research was voluntary and the participants received no compensation. This
helped to ensure that the research process was transparent and bias free.
Reflections were provided after the series of scheduled interviews, the initial
presentation of the findings, and the final submission of the action research. This
was to ensure that they genuinely reflected the students’ experience and not just
responses they felt the lecturer wanted to hear. This was to ensure responses were
based on the students’ practical and professional experience in innovative
professional and practical experiences in literacy teaching.
Ethical considerations
The researcher first approached the HCT to enquire about permission to conduct
the research. This was subsequently formalised and approval was given in
February, 2021. The two participants were provided with informed consent and
advised that their participation did not affect their final grade or graduation
process. Both participants gave their verbal consent.
Data Analysis
Data analysis occurred in three phases following the research design. Each phase
outlined actions taken by either the researcher or the participants.
Implementation of action research

The instructor implemented four ‘moments’ of action research (Kemmis et al.,
2014) to ensure students were appropriately prepared for their experiment. The
students were required to follow the four-step action research process (Mills,
2003) supported by the 12-point framework for action research (Mills, 2014). Both
approaches in literacy teaching supported the improvement of literacy levels in
UAE schools and the ECE Emirati context.
The instructor's approach to data collection

The instructor taught one action research class for one capstone project course
(N=5 students). Two students were purposefully selected to participate in the
61
research and implement their practical action research projects. As indicated in

Figure 1, the instructor planned the overall research steps and follow-up with the
students, ensuring their commitment and the validity of the data.
• The problem or the focus is relevant to the • Identify the intervention or innovation for
local context of the UAE's Education System. implementation.
• State the problem and the rationale. • Develop a timeline for implementation (seven
• Develop research questions weeks).
• MCT facilitates the process. • Describe the context, setting and participants.
Plan of action: Both instructor and • Develop a list of resources needed for
students develop a plan for action. implementation.
• Identify the type of data to be collected.
• Create/select tools for data collection.
• Develop data collection and analysis plan.
• MCT facilitates the process.
Identify an
Develop an
area of
action plan
reflect on these effects for future
focus
Act: Instructor and students

(strategies and collect data)
Reflect: Instructor and students
implement their plans

implementation.
Analyse
and Collect
interpret data
• Students follow an analysis plan that is based on the
data collection plan. Weekly reflections and any
qualtative data are continuously added to a matrix that
data • Carry out the plan (implement action strategies,
collect data, reflect, etc.)
students designed in advance. • MST provides feedback and support.
• MST provides feedback and support. Observe: Instructor and • Action strategies to be reimplemented at least two
to three times supported by weekly reflections and
• Highlights and coding are continuous but not linear to students observe the effects of the identified data collection tool such as
generate themes. their actions observations, checklists, testes, etc.
• Students continuously review to combine their themes • The action plan should be revisited and the
and narrow them down. implementation plan should be followed.
• Final write up of the analysis and intepretation of data. • MCT facilitates the process.
• Triangulation is essential for the discussion and final
future recommendations.
Figure 1: The instructor's approach to data collection
i. Sara’s case. Sara’s study site was a government school in Al Ain following
the MOE curriculum. She conducted her research on two classes, with 20 and 22
children respectively, aged around five years.
Sara’s MST taught science, maths, and literacy. The first class of 20 students (girls
= 12; boys = 8) and the second of 22 students (girls = 12; boys = 10) were divided
into four learning levels (mastered, developed, developing and emerging) and
three special cases.
Sara observed and taught lessons, made at least six weekly reflections in journals
which were the main basis for the conclusions, and interviewed the observed
teacher. She noted the teacher imparting 21st-century skills of communication,
creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. This involved strategies such as
problem-solving skills (e.g., discussing the differences between living and non-
living things), using innovative technology such as the electronic whiteboard and
helping the children present ideas using cameras and communicating online. The
teacher also made use of video games in teaching and online group work. Critical
thinking was encouraged through open-ended questions and classification
exercises. All activities included discussions and literacy aspects that supported
the English lessons. Activities included the enhancement of sight words,
vocabulary, speaking, phonemes, and the like.
62
Sara concluded that using 21st-century skills helped teachers to organise their
teaching strategies and methods based on students’ needs. Students were
supported to face problem areas and be prepared for solving issues by focusing
on their communicative skills development and using their learned vocabularies
and content to ensure age-level academic language development. Sara concluded
that English teachers with these skills would be ready to support students in
creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication by choosing
stories, videos, puzzles, and activities, as well as helping students use technology
to find solutions by relying on their grade level literacy skills, forming groups and
collaborating in the activities that focus on 21st-century and literacy development.
ii. Laila’s case. Laila’s study site was two kindergarten classes in Al Ain, a
government school that follows the MOE curriculum. This mixed-gender school
had only kindergarten classes. The first class had 27 students (girls = 18; boys = 9)
while the second had 26 (girls = 15; boys = 11). All students were aged between
four and five years old and were Emirates. The two teachers in the classroom
consisted of an Arabic native speaker who taught Arabic and Islam and an English
native speaker who taught English, science, and maths (the latter was
interviewed).
Laila made seven observations, and six journal reflections, and interviewed the
observed teacher. Laila observed and reflected on interventions such as asking the
students to draw and label the body parts of a lion, encouraging them to use
imaginative writing skills. The teacher also asked students to present numbers by
drawing circles. In the teaching sessions, she asked students to draw an animal
with four legs, then draw a human and compare the similarities and differences
between them. She also asked students to draw the chicken life cycle, and then
describe it to her; they also had to plant a seed and record a video of the process.
In her summary, Laila developed three themes: a) visual arts that integrated
literacy elements related to the English lessons increased students’ creativity by
fostering students’ imagination and critical thinking; b) visual arts that played a
recurrent role in motivating students to develop emerging writing and
communicative skills; and c) visual arts activities that improved students' level of
social interaction using the desired age-level academic language.
Rigour in preservice teachers’ action research

The following data are based on the reflections of the two preservice teachers.
Both shared their views and reflections, with measures taken to ensure that
participants at both sites were independent and did not influence each other’s
reflections.
Ensuring the validity and applicability of final research recommendations was

crucial to help in-service and preservice teachers understand the importance of
implementing unique and innovative literacy teaching approaches. The lecturer
in charge of the students’ projects had a weekly meeting with a group of five
students for two hours. Sometimes a student was given an additional 30 minutes
63
of individual meeting time. Additionally, four formal interviews were conducted

on their research topic and reflections.
The instructor used system-wide standardised tools. Melrose (2001) linked the
rigour of action research with the procedures. Stringer (2007) noted that rigour
involved checking to ensure results were not biased or reflected a personal
perspective. Consequently, weekly interview progress sessions, and four MST
observations followed by four feedback sessions were supported by four MCT
observations. Feedback sessions triangulated the findings and produced the first
summative assessment. The implementation of the next steps in the feedback from
MCT and MST was checked and monitored by both teachers. The data collected
during the classroom implementation was checked regularly by both MST and
MCT. MSTs reviewed and approved the results of the research before final
submission but ensured unbiased results (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Benefits of implementing 21st-century skills and visual arts for teaching
literacy
Each student concluded their research with findings and recommendations. To

ensure rigour in students’ practical research and participatory data analysis,
Bogdan and Biklen's (1998) approach to independent coding and categorising was
adopted based on the researchers’ pre-assumed categories or what emerged from
the data during the implementation. Participants discussed the coding and
themes with their MSTs. Sara and Laila completed an inter-rater reliability
exercise with their MSTs by finding the ratio of items on a previously agreed
number of themes or rated codes which is referred to as percent agreement
(Carmines & Zeller, 1991). A good rate of inter-rater reliability of 75% for Sara and
85% for Laila was established, resulting in a good degree of confidence in the
responses provided by the preservice teachers. The instructor discussed the
results with instructors who were currently teaching the same course during the
moderation session for each assessment.
64
4. Findings
Three themes emerged from the first research question: How does action research
help preservice teachers integrate 21st-century skills and visual arts-based innovative
practice in teaching literacy?
Theme 1: Sensitisation of the importance of 21st-century skills and visual arts for teaching
literacy
This theme comprised two initial codes:
i. The reflections showed the need to highlight the importance of visual arts
in the early years. Sara stated, “Throughout my four years of teaching training,
I realised visual arts are excluded across the academic curriculum and there is a
lack of focus on the influence of visual arts on the students’ different skills, which
propelled me to set up this research.” She further noted, “Children appreciated
visual arts when speaking about their projects. We observed there was an
improvement in their level of proficiency and confidence.” Laila noted, “Artwork
encouraged children to engage with other children socially. They exchange ideas,
draw together and share materials and resources.” In addition, artwork
encouraged children to “discuss and share their work, sometimes re-visit them
and add some changes. This encouraged dialogue in small groups.” The link with
writing is clear to the student. Laila continued, “When images or drawings
are used in any writing activity, the children write better and try to express
themselves.” She noticed “students are showed a higher level of excitement,
engagement, and participation when we include any aspect of the visual arts in
math, science, and English lessons.” She noticed also, “children utilise visual
arts in science projects and students were engaged and excited to add more writing
on their projects, speak out loudly about their process and communicate
confidently with other team members.” Generally, Laila noticed “there is a clear
aspect of creativity included when children utilise arts in other subjects.”
ii. The reflections also emphasised 21st-century skills in the ECE context:
Teacher C wrote, “I have looked at developing literacy in ECE context through
the utilisation of the 21st-century skills.” Further, Teacher C added, ”When we
encouraged children to work collaboratively on a science project, they had to solve
problems, think critically by stimulating their curiosity, and finally produce a
final creative project.” The most interesting part of it, she added was, “the
clear use and development of communicative skills improved, cognitive language
development and emerging writing skills while applying the project.” The other
student remarked, “Communication skills helped my students learn how to
listen and then share their opinion, simple points of view were shared using guided
lesson vocabulary while focusing on the lesson content, my goal was developing
the academic language while allowing the students to speak freely.”
65
Theme 2: Adopting 21st-century skills and visual arts in teaching practices
This theme comprised three codes:
i. Test analyses revealed that “one of the important issues is that the teachers are
supposed to strike a tricky balance between theory in use and practice.” All
participants valued the process of the action research as it enabled them to
find different possibilities in schools that enhance their literacy teaching
skills. For example, Sara remarked that action research “helps in trying out
actions, reflect, evaluate and re-plan for future actions.” Similarly, Laila,
described action research as “the process of policymaking in the school because
the effectiveness of triangulated data is one of the best practices we managed to
share with the school leaders.”
ii. They commented on the level of creativity when incorporating visual arts
and the 21st century in children’s daily lessons. Sara noted, “when including
painting and drawing in science lessons, children are engaged, these tools
stimulate critical thinking and expose children to different options to solve
problems,” also, Sara noticed that “when we include any kind of visual arts in
our English lesson, I noticed children interpret the text, understand it, and
communicate with the teacher more effectively.” She observed that “children are
happy to share with us their artwork and put it on artwork display. Children are
encouraged to incorporate communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and
problem-solving when completing their artistic works this leads to creative work
where ideas are shared artistically”. This also brought creativity into the
teaching experience where both communicative and academic languages
are developed.
iii. Laila said, “But the resource that I was able to create was practical in nature, and
I also believe that it will be helpful in literacy development through the utilisation
of 21st-century skills that lead to creative teaching experiences.” Similarly, one
of the teachers noted research-guided improvement in teaching practices
“The use of previous and current research also helps the professionals. Current
research tries to summarise the best practices made by the teaching professionals
that may strengthen the beginners’ learning.” Laila, “the ongoing update of
literature facilitates the application of any new strategy and expanded our
knowledge in the idea of the integrative curriculum in the early years where
literacy is placed as the core of all subjects.”
Theme 3: Enhancing student engagement
In this theme, both teachers raised two key points:

i. The first was about unique student requirements while teaching in the
ECE context. Sara wrote, “If they try to be too theoretical they may miss or
ignore the uniqueness of their teaching practice and may also not able to address
the unique prepositions raised by the individual student.” Laila stated, “I noticed
that art was a means for a group of students to share their ideas, and visualise
66
information to make sense of the text or the topic.” Sara noted that “we
understand that every child learns differently, so the incorporation of visual arts
enabled me to open a door for some children to communicate, solve the problem,
think critically and submit creative projects.”
ii. The second point was enhancing students’ interest. Sara suggested, “Also,
it will help the teachers to know how to integrate visual arts across their learning
which increases students’ interest and desire to learn.” Laila remarked,
“Understanding students’ needs and the role of visual arts in their motivation to
participate allowed me to focus on a group of children as artists in the class to help
them further.”
Figure 3. How action research helps in implementing 21st-century skills and visual
arts for teaching literacy
Improving the use of action research for literacy teaching

The second research question was: How could the action research experience of
preservice teachers be improved, enabling them to implement 21st-century skills and
visual arts-based innovative practices in teaching literacy? The following suggestions
resulted from the analysis of the teachers’ reflections.
Need for support and guidance

Sara stated, “Provide sufficient resources for visual art and guidance and follow the
available research with a broader relevant perspective.” Sara stated, “We need to visit the
campus at least once to use the available resources in the resources room.” Laila
suggested “following the action plan with the support of the instructor will prevent any
challenge and delay in implementation.” Student C remarked, “It is essential to provide
67
children with high-quality and well-managed space for art activities in schools where
subjects are integrated.”
Another important point was the removal of specific obstacles. For instance, Sara
noted, “there are some other issues related to the classroom context or the change of
teachers and timetable. We face issues with the readiness of the classroom or the MSTs
willingness to help and support our innovative approaches. However, we believe that we
need to integrate our ideas within their daily practices.” The second theme was better
teacher engagement initiated with self-assessment. Laila suggested “Start with a
self-assessment that may enable the preservice teachers to recognise their weaknesses and
strengths. The next step is to study how they can get the greatest benefit by modifying
their literacy teaching practice based on previously conducted research in the area of 21st-
century skills, creativity, and literacy in the ECE context.” Laila stated, “The continuous
involvement in MSTs daily school activities and professional development programmes
helps us to be engaged in authentic practices while linking them to the research that is
included in the research or our weekly readings.” Similarly, Teacher C made the
following recommendation: “Engage and involve the teachers in the learning process
to provide more guidance and support and to provide a better impact in the real practice.”
Student C noted, “Our MSTs learn from our practices, and are eager to know more about
the reflective practice we have in the HCT.”
Figure 4: Students' suggestions to improve the use of action research and visual arts
for literacy teaching
5. Discussion
This study examines how two preservice teachers use action research in a
capstone project to explore and implement innovative approaches to teaching
literacy by integrating 21st-century skills and visual arts. The research provides
insights into preservice teachers’ feelings and responses to action research to
explore innovative ways of literacy development in the ECE teaching and learning
context. Reflective teaching is a vital component of the ECE programme at HCT;
68
it begins from the first semester and continues throughout these teachers’ teaching
process. A key point gleaned from the reflections is their understanding of the
need to work on developing their research skills in the ECE context. The analysis
also reveals that teachers acknowledge the importance of 21st-century skills and
visual arts and integrate them into their teaching strategy to enhance students’
engagement.
This study supports the findings of Kemmis (2010) who contends that teachers
guide their professional and practical development in the course of action
research. Action research enhances self-knowledge through practical experience,
and is an integral part of classroom teaching (Kemmis, 2010; Ulvik & Riese, 2016).
During this research process, preservice teachers continue to grow as teachers as
they acquire a practical understanding of physical classroom teaching (Smith &
Sela, 2005). The significance of reflective practice in teaching and teacher
education is evolutionary and explorable from different angles such as teacher
value, self-efficacy, and self-reflection (Bourke et al., 2012; Ditchburn, 2015;
Guidry et al., 2013; Phelps, 2010; Zeldin & Pajares, 2000).
Furthermore, Beck and Kosnik (2000) argue for a separate assessment of the
impact of action research in teacher education concerning other aspects of
professional and practical experience. They conclude that action research is a
practical approach for preservice teachers to identify a practical problem within
their classrooms and resolve it through their own applied methods. This may help
preservice teachers develop a more customised and specialised approach to
teaching (Beck & Kosnik, 2000). The findings of this study are also consistent with
the literature that reveals that action research enhances students’ cognitive and
creative skills. For instance, Littleton and Mercer (2013) note that literacy develops
language as a tool for cognitive and social skills in the practical classroom context.
Action research is a complex and exigent procedure that needs proper guidance
and facilitation (Winter, 1998). Many teacher trainees have difficulty doing action
research as their decision-making capacity can be weak (Dobber et al., 2012).
Hence, this study confirms that preservice teachers need continuous support,
guidance, and stronger teacher engagement. Another important finding is that
preservice teachers are overwhelmed when starting the action research process
since they lack research experience. Figure 5 shows the integrated framework
based on the research analysis.
69
An integrative approach to Learning

Innovation in ECE Literacy Teaching Through
Action
Integrate 21st century skills and

visual arts in all subjects to College support
improve literacy
Provide resources Continuous support

Continuous follow- Alumni support: n-
Science projects, literacy classes, Development of Development of service teachers follow
and math lessons: Collaboration, up
Development of Cognitive language Communicative up and involvement in
communication, critical thinking, writing skills skills language skills Provide PDs for college activities
problem solving and creativity teachers on action
and visual arts research Provide PDs
Figure 5: An integrated framework of learning innovation in ECE literacy teaching

through action research
6. Conclusion
This study assesses the efficacy of action research for preservice teachers to enable
their learning and implementation of 21st-century skills and visual arts-based
innovation in teaching literacy within the ECE context. The method integrates the
perspectives of preservice teachers' use of action research. As a secondary finding,
the teachers emphasise the benefits of implementing 21st-century skills and visual
arts for teaching literacy. These strategies enhance students’ cognitive skills which
improve significantly. Therefore, using action research is recommended to assist
preservice teachers to learn how to implement 21st-century skills and visual arts
in teaching literacy. Limitations of the study are the research design which is
highly subjective based on the data collection and analysis, and the small sample
size that limits its comparisons to international literacy scores but may be relevant
to the UAE population. Despite these limitations, the in-depth analysis provided
thorough reflection and the literature review suggests the work contributes to the
action research literature on teacher training. Meaningful and authentic learning
experiences for preservice teachers to improve their literacy teaching skills
through innovative approaches are highly regarded in the ECE higher education
programmes. Future research could build on these results by analysing preservice
teachers’ reflections on conducting action research as a final project in their
teacher education and essential to their professional development.
Declaration of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or
personal relationships that could have acted to influence the work reported in this
paper.
70
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Received Sep 4, 2022; Revised Nov 19, 2022; Accepted Nov 23, 2022
Implementation of Teacher Capacitation Programs to

Integrate Climate Change Education: The Case Study of
Geography Teaching in South African Secondary Schools
Mzuyanda Percival Mavuso , Kayode Babatunde Olawumi ,

Xolani Khalo , Babalwa Kafu-Quvane and Busiswa Mzilikazi
University of Fort Hare, South Africa
Abstract. Countries all over the world are experiencing the devastating
havoc of climate change. Drastic efforts directed at integrating climate
change education into the school curriculum in South African Secondary
schools have been unsuccessful due to a lack of training support for
teachers teaching Climate Change Education in secondary schools. The
purpose of this paper was to explore the role of teacher capacitation
programs in assisting Geography teacher to integrate climate change
education in their lessons. Shulman’s Model of Pedagogical Reasoning
served as theoretical lenses for the study. Five secondary schools out of
twenty which participated in the five days’ training program conducted
by one higher education institution were purposefully selected. Data for
the study was generated through one-on-one semi-structured interviews
conducted with five participating Geography teachers in the selected
schools according to the geographical location and close proximity to the
training provider. It emerged from the data that teachers were lacking
content and pedagogical knowledge on Climate Change Education and
this capacitation program assisted in bridging that gap. The study
concludes that training programs were according to selected Geography
teachers’ views responsible for the improved pedagogical practices in the
classroom. It is therefore recommended that teacher professional
development programs on Climate Change Education for Geography
teachers be organized on a continuous basis.
Keywords: teacher training; pedagogical practice; climate change

education; secondary school
1. Introduction and Background

In the current era of global political and economic instability, with rising
inequality and social unrest, climate change education (CCE) should play an
important role in society. The devastating effect of climate change on the
environment all over the world is a major concern to world leaders and the efforts
by the governments in addressing the menace of this global challenge through the
organization of different conferences have not yielded the desired result (Pearce,
Brown, Nerlick & Koteyco 2015). With the introduction of Curriculum and
©Authors
74
Assessment Policy Statement in 2011 the measures aimed at addressing the

problem of climate change in South Africa, resulted into integration of CCE into
the school curriculum across all subjects (Aylett, 2015). Despite the integration of
CCE into the curriculum, little or no result has been achieved in terms of teaching
and learning the topic in the classroom (Dawson & Carson, 2020). For instance, it
appears from the literature that Geography teachers’ literacy levels of climate
change are low and are therefore, unable to teach content on climate change
(Anyawu, La Grange, & Beets, 2015). It is important to note as stated by Dawson
and Carson (2020) that much evidence-based research has not been done on CCE
teachers’ professional development. Yet, the importance of professional
development of teachers in CCE is key to the implementation of Geography
curriculum-aligned and locally relevant CCE in the classroom (Drewes,
Henderson & Mouza 2018). Despite the role of professional development in
increasing teachers’ capacitation, concerted efforts have not been made at
improving understanding and preparedness to address climate change in terms
of research and development (Drewes et al., 2018). Opuni-Frimpong, Essel,
Opuni-Frimpong & Obeng (2022) confirm that in Ghana and most African
countries, the biggest hurdle to properly teaching Climate Change Education in
most subjects was amongst other factors the lack of in-service training for
teachers. Furthermore, integrating climate change into the educational system can
be a difficult task that necessitates genuine nationalist will, a realistic curriculum
development guide, and ongoing work on the part of instructors. A large portion
of climate change education (CCE) effectively takes place in the curriculum of a
structured school system, and its coordination primarily depends on one key
stakeholder—the teacher.
The introduction of CCE into the CAPS document was a welcome development
by stakeholders in environmental education, but little or no effort has been made
to put in place appropriate training programs to empower teachers in the field of
CCE to develop pedagogical skills that will enable them to adequately teach the
subject. Smart, Sinclair, Benavot, Bernard, Chabbott, Russell and Williams (2020)
in their view noted that CCE teachers do not have appropriate pedagogical skills
but use the textbook method of teaching without recourse to the curriculum
alignment and locally relevant and effective CCE in their classrooms. According
to Shulman’s (1986) as cited in Favier, Van Gorp, Cyvin and Cyvin (2021)
Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) framework, (future) teachers need to have
knowledge in the fields of Pedagogy (P) and Content (C), and knowledge at the
intersection of these fields. To be able to plan and implement efficient climate
change adaptation education, they must acquire a broad knowledge base. The
Keep-It-Cool -Climate Change Education (KIC-CCE) project which five South
Africa universities and Fundisa for Change (a non-governmental organization
(NGO) with experience in supporting teacher in-service training programs on
sustainable development) is expected to fill this gap through the teacher
capacitation program. The KIC-CCE project is targeted at conducting continuous
professional teacher development (CPTD) for Geography and Natural Sciences
teachers by developing and providing CCE materials for these teachers and
developing innovative curriculum-aligned CCE change projects which involve
teachers, learners, and communities. It also supports the establishment of
professional learning communities (PLCs).
75
The KIC-CCE initiative is a collaborative project between the Department of Basic

Education (DBE), and the Department of Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF), Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) that provide teacher education training, and four
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with experience in supporting in-
service training for secondary school teachers in education for sustainable
development. This paper, therefore, focused on the implementation of teachers'
capacitation programs to integrate CCE in twenty selected secondary schools in
Amathole Education District in South Africa. It aimed to determine the levels of
content and pedagogical content knowledge held by Geography teachers before
being involved in the capacity program and the ways in which this intervention
program added to that knowledge.
Waldron, Mallon, Barry, and Martinez Sainz (2020) define CCE as a learning area
where young learners are made aware of their environment in order to foster the
development of critical and creative thinking as well as the strengthening of their
capacity to address environmental issues in their community. It involves
imaginatively preparing kids and teenagers for a future that is rapidly changing,
unknown, risky, and perhaps dangerous (Stevenson, Nicholls & Whitehouse,
2017). Young people must therefore be taught about the effects of their actions and
inaction on the environment and how these effects affect their wellbeing. The
promotion of teacher professional development programs for teachers instructing
CCE in secondary schools in South Africa has not received enough attention.
According to Monroe, Plate, Oxarart, Bowers, and Chaves (2019), this may be to
blame for secondary schools' lack of techniques for teaching about climate change,
which is what this study attempted to solve. The findings of this study may help
pre-service training programs offered by higher education institutions and the
Department of Basic Education create in-service training programs to support
teachers who are teaching CC in their classrooms. This study is intended to assist
teachers of CC in developing their pedagogical and content understanding.
2. Research Questions
This paper was guided by the following research question:
• How are teacher capacitation programs assisting Geography teachers to
integrate CCE in their lessons?
3. Theoretical Framework
Based on Shulman's (1986; 1987) and Gudmundsdottir and Shulman’s (2006)
Model. The Model of Pedagogical Reasoning, the expert and novice teachers are
compared and contrasted. According to this model, teachers prepare for lessons
by consulting the following sources of knowledge: content knowledge,
pedagogical content knowledge, curriculum knowledge, general pedagogical
knowledge, knowledge of goals and purposes, knowledge of learners, and
knowledge of educational contexts, settings, and governance. According to
Shulman, the process of instructional reasoning and action is made possible by
three sources of understanding. In order to make a subject topic "teachable," the
model explains how a teacher must change their knowledge of it. Vast knowledge
sources are tapped during this transformation process, with pedagogical content
knowledge being the most significant. The teacher differs from the subject matter
76
expert in that they possess a different level of knowledge and comprehension of

their field. The knowledge of learners, general pedagogical knowledge, and
pedagogical content knowledge are all foundations upon which pedagogical
content knowledge is constructed (Gudmundsdottir & Shulman, 2006). The
Model of Pedagogical Reasoning is suitable for the study in that it assists to
explain the effect of teachers’ continuous professional development on
pedagogical practice that will enhance curriculum-aligned and locally relevant
CCE in their classrooms.
National teacher education policies (DHET, 2015) that are being implemented
currently include the reformulation and restructuring of teacher education
programs to align with the "new" national qualifications framework for higher
education. The updated policy emphasizes environmental issues and includes
them in the teacher education curriculum (Reddy, 2021).
4.1 The concepts of climate change and climate change education
In defining the climate McKeown and Hopkins (2010) state that the climate part
obviously falls under the umbrella of the natural sciences and has traditionally
been taught in geography (e.g., climatology) and earth science (e.g., meteorology).
Different authors have attempted to define climate change education given the
devastating effect on the environment globally. In an attempt to give an acceptable
definition of climate change education, the intergovernmental panel on climate
change (IPCC), describes climate change as noticeable and variable changes that
occur in the environment over a long period (Minx, Callaghan, Lamb, Garard &
Edenhofer 2017). Anderson (2010) viewed climate change education as an
education that gave people the opportunity to act in a way that will have a positive
impact on their environment. It involves activities that will inculcate in the
learner’s positive attitudes such as lifestyles, and economic and social activities
that will reduce excessive production of greenhouse gasses (Anderson, 2010). It is
important to emphasise the need to inculcate a positive attitude in the ways we
interact with our environment. This change of attitude is expected to come from
the teaching and learning of climate change in the Geography lessons. Favier, et
al (2021) state that mitigating climate change is urgent and giant leaps forward are
necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change. In order to prevent catastrophic
climate change, it is urgent to mitigate climate change and huge advancements
are required. Only the introduction of climate change education to children when
they are school-age could be successful in changing society as a whole. In order to
address young people as future citizens and decision-makers, education must
provide them with knowledge of the wicked problem of climate change and the
skills necessary to contribute to its solution. This will go a long way to finding a
lasting solution to the problems confronting our environment. Researchers in the
field of climate change education have identified human activities against our
environment. Ferguson (2019) and McKeown and Hopkins (2010) were of the
view that climate change is a complete alteration of the composition of the
atmosphere due to human activities that are a detriment to the environment. The
practical climate change knowledge does not preexist, but rather develops in
response to local issues and the questions generated by context-specific problems
requiring "research" approaches that are context-sensitive. This is also consistent
77
with the contextualized nature of the practicum periods in which students

participate, as it provides a localized context with its issues and problems (Reddy,
2021).
Climate change is a problem that we must learn to adapt to and find a way of
mitigating through our social and economic relationship with the environment
(Mochizuki & Bryan, 2015). This is an indication that for us to be able to have a
sustainable environment, citizens should be informed of the danger climate
change poses to societies and the government should be at the forefront of
creating awareness through education from primary schools to higher institutions
of learning (Stevenson et al., 2017). However, the teaching and learning of climate
change in the classroom should create awareness on the part of the learners of the
grave consequences that our behavior can cause the socio economic and
sustainable development of our society. Much effort at creating awareness on the
need to protect the environment through education should be intensified by the
government and other stakeholders. Since climate change is a global challenge
and it appears that governments are willing to address the havoc it has created by
embarking on education and integrating it into school curricula, efforts should be
made to ensure that teacher development programs are embedded into higher
education curricula to develop strategies that will equip teachers to deal with the
climate change education in the classroom (Anyanwu et al., 2015).
Further to seminal work by Stevenson et al., (2017), climate change education

involves preparing young people for a rapidly changing, uncertain, risky, and
possibly destructive future created by human activities. This implies that the goal
of climate change education is to support learners to acquire necessary
knowledge, skills, dispositions and values that will enable them to interact with
their environment and provide solutions to future challenges in their
environment. The role of professional development is crucial in preparing
learners learners on how to interact with the environment in a sustainable
manner. Stevenson et al., (2017) further reveal that this can only be realized when
there is a professional development program for climate change education for
teachers that will provide them with pedagogical skills needed for teaching and
learning climate change education in the classrooms.
4.2 Teacher continuous teacher professional development programs in South

Africa
Continuous professional teacher development (CPTD) is an aspect of teacher
education that deals with in-service training for practicing teachers that are aimed
at developing their teaching practice and content knowledge (Thenga et al., 2020).
While supporting the view above, Johnson (2011) and Lunds (2009) are of the view
that teacher professional development program will provide necessary skills for
teachers to understand scientific evidence around climate change. However, the
benefits of professional development on teacher competence and pedagogical
development have not been appreciated adequately (Leibowitz, Bozalek, Van
Schalkwyk & Winberg 2015; Cheon, Reeve, Lee, & Lee 2018). It is noteworthy to
say that despite the importance of professional development for a successful
pedagogical practice, much has not been done in the area of research to
successfully design an appropriate in-service training framework for serving
78
climate change teachers on curriculum-aligned and locally relevant climate

change education in their classrooms.
CPTD is classified as individual or collaborative (Patton, Parker & Tannehill 2015).

While collaborative teacher development focuses on the development of teachers
as a community or in partnership with one another, the individual program
focuses on personal or professional growth (Patton et al., 2015; Avalos, 2011). The
KIC-CCE project is an initiative of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in
collaboration with other stakeholders like the Department of Forestry and
Fisheries (DEFF), Higher Education Institution (HEI) that specialized in capacity
development for teachers including Geography teachers, and four Non-
Governmental Organization that are climate change focused. The HEIs provide
the training capacitation program for the participating Geography teachers
selected for the research. The KIC-CCE training project is a short program that is
organized to strengthen teacher capacitation for curriculum-aligned locally
relevant climate change education in their classrooms.
5. Methodology
This study used a case study design and adopted the qualitative approach. Case-
study research is an in-depth investigation of contemporary phenomena in a real-
life context, designed to address how and why questions of the research. It assists
researchers to focus on the topic under investigation (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Five secondary schools were selected from twenty schools in the Amathole West
Education District based on geographical location and close proximity to the
training provider. These are the schools that participated in the teacher
capacitation program conducted by one higher education institution that were
purposefully selected for the study. One Geography teacher from each school was
selected. However, four geography teachers participated in one-on-one semi-
structured interviews as the fifth one appeared to have some challenges during
the interview session and opted out. To comply with anonymity issues, these
teachers were given codes as GT1, GT2, GT3 and GT4. Geography teachers that
participated in the five-day training program were adequately informed that they
are free to opt out of the research at any time they wish. The researchers sought
the consent of participating Geography teachers before engaging them in one-on-
one semi structured interviews. Their consent was also sought before recording
the interview. There was only one post-course interview session for each teacher
which aimed to find out the level of teacher content and pedagogical knowledge
of climate change education before and after the training program. The thematic
approach of coding, sorting, and transcribing was used in analyzing information
collected from the participants for the study. The Keep-it-cool-Climate-change-
education (KIC-CCE) initiative is a collaborative project between the Department
of Basic Education (DBE), and the Department of Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF),
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that provide teacher education training, and
four governmental organizations (NGOs) with experience in supporting in-
service training for secondary school teachers in education for sustainable
development.
79
6. Findings
In line with the research questions, data was presented and analyzed following
the following themes:
6.1 Teachers' level of content and pedagogical knowledge before the teacher
capacitation programs
6.1.1 Teacher pedagogical practice
The findings from the data collected revealed that Geography teachers do not
have the pedagogical content knowledge to teach CCE before the training project
by one HEI. Geography teachers did not have a specific method of teaching
climate change education in their classrooms before the training project. Teaching
was done using the teacher-centered approach without any instructional
materials. One of the teachers specifically noted that:
“…we taught them without showing them the visual…”
(GT1).
Another geography teacher had this to say:
“…before the project starts my knowledge of climate
change was not enough and how to relate it to learners,
and also the methods. I did not know any assessment
method…” (GT1).
The response from geography teacher one above reveals that geography teachers
do not take climate change education seriously before the KIC-CCE training
project. The KIC-CCE training project serves as an avenue for the participating
geography teachers to develop an appropriate method of teaching that will bring
about curriculum-aligned and locally relevant climate change education in their
schools.
6.1.2 Teacher content knowledge

It is noteworthy to note that the geography teachers lack content knowledge of
climate change concepts. A teacher with poor content knowledge cannot
adequately teach climate change education in a way that will bring about
curriculum-aligned locally relevant examples in their teaching. This training was
not part of the in-service training offered by the Department of Basic Education
(DBE). Geography teachers lack knowledge of climate change, adaptation, and
mitigation before the project. As a result, they cannot align the content with the
curriculum and use locally relevant examples in their teaching. This was the
situation before the KIC-CCE training project. One of the geography teachers
added that:
“…my understanding is there is the increase in the level
of snowing place. I learned about climate change
adaptation during the project. Before the training, I only
have knowledge about climate change but little or no
knowledge about adaptation and mitigation…” (GT4)
80
6.3 Contribution of capacitation intervention programs to geography teachers’

content and pedagogical knowledge.
The capacitation intervention training program organized by one HEI was
conceived to provide training and educational resources/materials support for
geography teachers. Participants at the training were supported with educational
materials as part of the training program. Geography teachers reported a
significant improvement in their teaching as a result of the capacitation training
program. One of the teachers specifically noted that:
“…I have improved my CCE content knowledge through
the educational material/resources, improve my CCE
lesson plan, teaching method, and lesson planning
through the material/resources. The training also assisted
me to use examples in the school environment that are
relevant to my teaching in the classroom...”(GT1)
On whether participating teachers received curriculum-aligned and locally
relevant CCE training from the project, the majority of the teachers expressed the
view that the training they received assisted them in aligning their teaching with
the curriculum and also enabled them to use locally relevant examples in their
lessons. The data collected from the one-on-one interview conducted by the
researchers and the analysis indicated that the majority of the Geography teachers
that participated in the training program received curriculum-aligned and locally
relevant support by trainers, to design and implement climate change education
projects with students and communities. This statement is an indication that the
training program has assisted Geography teachers in implementing effective CCE
teaching in their lessons. The analysis also reveals that the CCE training program
has positively assisted Geography teachers to enhance their CCE content and
pedagogical knowledge.
“…I now use more relevant CCE educational material,
teach learners to understand real-life climate change
issues, help students to develop CCA and Mitigation
solutions, and integrate CCE better in my Geography
class. My students can now apply the CC concept in
tackling real-life issues affecting men and women in the
school community. Above all, the intervention has helped
me to change my teaching strategies in the classroom…”
(GT3)
This is in line with findings from the literature that support the claim that
continuous professional development of Geography teachers can enhance their
content and pedagogical knowledge to teach climate change in their lessons.
Another teacher has this to say:
“I received curriculum-aligned and locally relevant CCE
training. Now I use local examples in the school
environment and community where the school is located
to teach my learners in the classroom. This strategy
enhances their understanding of CC topics in the
geography lessons” (GT1)
81
Also, the analysis of data reveals that the majority of Geography teachers that
participated in the training program have improved their CCE lesson planning as
a result of the training. This revelation is an indication that the training program
has capacitated the Geography teachers to be able to improve their lesson
planning in the classroom. The majority of the Geography teachers that
participated in the training program also improved their teaching methods as a
result of the CCE training program. The training program was responsible for an
improved method of teaching CCE by Geography teachers in their classrooms.
6.4 Extent to which the project interventions contributed to improved

pedagogical practice
The data revealed that the selected Geography teachers were now able to teach
climate change better after the training program and could use locally relevant
examples in their environment. According to Geography teachers, the training
enables them to help learners to understand real-life issues about CCE and how
to deal with these issues in a more responsible and sustainable manner. Another
finding that emerged from the interviews was that those teachers who
participated in the five-day training program were now able to teach CC concepts
like adaptation and mitigation in the Geography classroom.
Findings also reveal that participating Geography teachers can now integrate CCE
better into geography teaching as a result of the training they received from the
project. The majority of the participating Geography teachers from the finding are
now better able to apply CC concepts to proffer solutions to problems in their
school and immediate communities. It also emerged from the analysis that a
substantial number of Geography teachers that participated in the training
program were able to significantly improve their pedagogical knowledge in the
classroom as a result of the training project and attendance of meetings of PLCs.
A Geography teacher has this to say:
“I have been participating in the PLC meeting unlike
some teachers from other schools. The PLC is an effective
space and process for improving my pedagogical practice.
I have improved my pedagogical practice as a result of my
participation in the CCE PLC.” (GT4)
7. Discussion of Findings
The capacitation of Geography teachers in terms of developing their content
knowledge, the pedagogical skills in a way that will bring about curriculum
alignment and effective locally relevant examples have received limited attention
from stakeholders and indeed government (Smart et al., 2020; Monroe et al., 2019).
The data collected indicates that the four Geography teachers had little knowledge
of climate change education and lack the required pedagogical skills that can help
them to teach climate change education in their classroom before the KIC-CCE
training. This justified assertions by Opuni-Frimpong, et al. (2022). It also emerged
from the data that the level of knowledge and pedagogical skills for climate
change education improved significantly as a result of the teacher capacitation
program. Another finding from the analysis reveals that Geography teachers do
not take climate change education seriously before the KIC-CCE training project.
82
This is an indication that Geography teachers attitudes also contributed to their

poor performance in the classrooms. The situation before the training project
requires an urgent attention which the KIC-CCE training project was designed to
address. Results from the data analysis also show that geography teachers that
participated in the study do not have professional training that will enable them
to teach topics on climate change education in their classroom. This position is in
line with prior literature and the views of Johnson (2011) and Lunds (2009) which
emphasized that teachers need continuous professional development programs
to enable them to develop climate change content knowledge and pedagogical
skills to teach the topics in their lessons. However, Thenga et al., (2020) emphasize
that to teach climate change education effectively, the Department of Basic
Education should as a matter of priority provide a periodic CPTD program that
will capacitate Geography teachers to teach climate change in secondary schools
in South Africa. This become imperative in view of the findings which reveals that
majority of the Geography teachers after the training were able to teach effectively
CC concept like adaptation and mitigation in the Geography classroom. This
according to them should be part of the pre-service teachers' program in the
universities and also for serving teachers on a continuous basis. This is important
going by the result of findings which reveal that Geography teachers lack content
knowledge of climate change education before the KIC-CCE project. The KIC-
CCE training by one University in the Eastern Cape was utilized by the
Geography teachers who are responsible for the teaching of climate change
education in the classroom. The training project provided by the KIC-CCE project
was responsible for the change observed in the Geography teachers’ knowledge
of climate change concepts as indicated in the result of the findings. This training
program and educational resources/materials provided by the KIC-CCE project
assisted Geography teachers to integrate climate change education into their
teaching by utilizing locally relevant examples in their communities. Geography
teachers that participated in the KIC-CCE training project were able to improve
their lesson planning technique, content knowledge, and teaching method as a
result of the training and the educational materials/resources support they
received from the project. This position is in line with the view expressed by
Shulman (1986). According to the theory, teachers prepare for lessons by
consulting the following sources of knowledge: content knowledge, pedagogical
content knowledge, curriculum knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge,
knowledge of goals and purposes, knowledge of learners, and knowledge of
educational contexts, settings, and governance. This theory has provided an
understanding that to develop pedagogical content knowledge in Geography
teaching, teachers need to prepare for their lessons ahead before going to the
classroom. This has made it possible for teachers to integrate climate change
education into their teaching in the classroom. Apart from this, teachers can utilize
examples that are relevant to their local environment in their teaching in the
classroom. This cannot be achieved without the training project organized by one
HEI in the Eastern Cape. This assertion also showed that the KIC-CCE training
program provided by one Higher Education Institution in the Eastern Cape was,
according to Geography teachers’ views, responsible for the improved
pedagogical practices. These results from the data analyzed above indicate that
CPTD is an important causal mechanism that is responsible for teachers'
83
improved teaching practice, particularly in integrating climate change education

topics into their Geography classroom using locally relevant examples in their
environment.
8. Conclusion
The result of the findings reveals that Geography teachers were just teaching
climate change without recourse to any strategy. The majority of these teachers
were found to lack content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge related to
climate change concepts as such they were unable to effectively teach the topic in
their lessons. Also noted from the findings is the lack of training support for
teachers especially Geography teachers in the discharge of their duties in the
classroom. Lack of in-service training has affected their capacity to effectively
align the curriculum and use locally relevant and effective examples while
teaching climate change education in their lessons. The paper concludes that
geography teachers lacked content knowledge, lesson planning skills, and
teaching methods before the capacitation training program which affected their
teaching in the classroom. This means therefore that the training programs were
according Geography teachers view responsible for the improved pedagogical
practice of geography teachers in the classroom. Furthermore,
9. Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study recommends that continuous professional
teacher development programs on Climate Change Education for Geography
teachers be organized on a continuous basis. Since it emerged from the data that
Geography teachers were of the view that capacitation programs were impacting
positively on the pedagogical practices, it is also recommended that CCE be
adequately integrated into the teacher education pre-service programs.
Furthermore, HEIs, the Department of Higher Education and Training, and the
Department of Basic Education should collaborate in that direction to see how to
integrate CPTD programs for climate change education into the University
curriculum. Furthermore, a quantitative study which will focus on how consistent
has been the improvement of Geography teachers’ pedagogical practices as a
result of CCE teachers capacitation programs.
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87

Integrating a Mobile-Learning Platform for

Enhancing Clinical Teaching: The Learners’
Perspective
Ma Saung Oo*
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia
Susie Schofield
University of Dundee, UK
San Thitsar Aung

Paediatric Department, UCSI, Malaysia
Mya Mya Thwin

Management and Science University, Malaysia
San San Oo
Khin Than Yee

University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Malaysia
Mar Mar Lwin

University Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Alik Riasadesa Zakaria

Abstract. The role of mobile technology has become an integral part of

daily activity among today’s society, including medical schools and
hospitals. This study aimed to establish a mobile-learning platform for
providing high-quality clinical teaching in undergraduate medical
education. It was a mixed-methods design of quantitative survey and
qualitative focus-group discussions to analyse the learners' view for
acceptance of technology-integrated learning in clinical teaching at
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin. Forty-two undergraduate medical
students from years 3 and 5 participated in this study. The vast majority
*
Corresponding author: Ma Saung Oo; saung2012yh@yahoo.com
88
found that a mobile-learning platform was a helpful medium for the

integration of leaning resources and collaboration with other health-care
professionals in a clinical setting (p<0.001). They generally agreed that
there is an improvement in clinical competence, confidence in clinical
reasoning and focusing on the discussion by providing constructive
feedback (p<0.001). The qualitative focused group discussion’s findings
indicated that most of the participants expressed their satisfaction with
improving their intellectual skills and their anticipation of achieving
strategic learning via integrated bedside teaching with mobile-group
discussions. Overall, the participants accepted that a mobile-learning
platform integrated bedside teaching is a constructive, productive
approach for enhancing and facilitating their learning in a clinical setting.
This study offered a unique insight into learners’ perceptions of benefits
and the limitation of technology-enhanced learning in undergraduate
medical training. The essential attributes of mobile technology are crucial
for technology integration in high-quality clinical teaching.
Keywords: mobile technology; mobile learning platform; bedside

teaching; medical students; clinical teaching
1. Introduction
Bedside teaching (BST) is the teaching in the patient’s presence in a health-related
environment. It is one of the integral teaching modalities for teaching clinical skills
that are important for the medical profession. Despite technological advances in
the clinical setting, BST is still valuable; and simulated-based learning will not
replace authentic learning with patients (Narayanan & Nair, 2020). Hence, BST
remains an indispensable part of clinical teaching (Sultan, 2019). Teaching in the
clinical environment is stressful, complicated, and often challenging for clinicians
and the medical students without adequate preparation or orientation in advance.
Bedside teaching has declined, despite introducing several innovative models
over the years (Garout, Nuqali, Alhazmi, Almoallim, et al., 2016; Stickrath et al.,
2013). The quantity and quality of clinical-bedside teaching (cBST) has declined
for several reasons, including workforce constraints, clinicians’ busy schedules
and the rising trends of technology dependence, such as digital-case records,
computer-generated results, and diagnostic imaging (Garout, Nuqali, Alhazmi, &
Almoallim, 2016).
In Malaysia, private medical universities are increasing in number, with few

hospitals able to accommodate the growing number of new medical students. This
issue has resulted in declining BST practice, with the increased use of simulating-
based clinical teaching for replacing traditional BST (Watson et al., 2012). Using
simulated standardised patients to replace authentic patients is an alternative
approach for clinical-bedside teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic (Ajab et
al., 2022). However, simulated-based learning merely complements authentic
bedside learning, rather than completely replacing it. In this study, mobile-group
discussion is integrated into conventional BST by using an MLP1-Bedside-MLP2
(MBM) approach, in order to create constructive and productive clinical-bedside
learning (Appendix A). This MLP offers the opportunity for individualised and
group learning regardless of location and timing, thereby enabling the learners to
establish a more integrated, self-regulated and creative way of learning.
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Diagram 1 provides the comprehensive conceptual framework of this study.
Integrated mobile learning platform for enhancing clinical teaching
Research Objectives
Pragmatic Research Questions Conceptual

paradigm framework
Acceptance Quality, effectiveness, Influencing factors

competency, feedback
reflection
Quantitative (Self- reported survey) Qualitative (Focus group discussion)

variables Interview questions
Statistical Analysis Thematic Analysis
Dependent variable – MLP Semi structure questions
Independent Variables 1) Perception
A. Social demographic data 2) Competence skills
B. Questionnaire 3) Quality & Effectiveness
1) Quality & Effectiveness 4) Differences between old and new strategies
2) Competency 5) Influencing factors
3) Feedback & reflection 6) Personal reflection and SRL

7) Feedback
8) Overall opinion & recommendations
Integrating statistical findings & themes to explore the

learners view for integrating MLP for enhancing clinical
teaching
Diagram 1- Conceptual Framework
Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) allows the students to develop self-

regulation (SRL)approaches to acquiring knowledge with self-confidence and the
motivation for lifelong learning in a busy clinical environment (Siddaiah-
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Subramanya et al., 2017). During the MLP- integrated BST session, mobile
technology is integrated into the SRL approach, thereby encouraging the learners
to engage in proactive learning, rather than merely reacting to situations in
conventional BST. The lecturers' feedback and the peers' views are vital sources
of self-reflection and motivation for their future learning process.
Overall, the literature review has identified several factors that influence the
adoption of mobile technology and learners’ acceptance of MLP for enhancing
their learning in a clinical setting.
However, there is limited information regarding the learners' choice of mobile

apps with their advantages and disadvantages and their acceptance of
technology-enhanced learning. There are very few studies on integrating MLP in
clinical BST (cBST) in Malaysia. The integration of mobile technology in the
clinical environment is a constant challenge due to the rapid advances in
technology. Consequently, further enquiry is required , in order to determine the
students’ acceptance of TEL in cBST.
It has revealed several gaps, namely a gap in capturing the learners' experience of
using mobile devices in the clinical setting, focusing on the benefits and risks of
technology-integrated learning compared to the conventional approach, and for
identifying the influencing factors for the acceptance of mobile technology for
enhancing clinical-bedside teaching.
2. Research objectives and questions

In this study, mobile-group discussion is integrated into conventional BST, using
mobile technology to create constructive and productive clinical-bedside learning.
This MLP offers the opportunity for individualised and group learning,
regardless of location and timing, thus enabling the learners to establish a more
integrated, self-regulated and creative way of learning.
This study aims to reveal the learners’ perspectives on integrating mobile
technology, in order to enhance their learning of clinical-bedside teaching. It
should help to identify the drivers for further improvement in the quality of
clinical teaching. Despite the ubiquitous use of mobile technology in a clinical
setting, few studies have investigated the main influencing factors for adopting
mobile technology in cBST. Revisiting and restructuring the core teaching strategy
to maximise mobile-learning benefits has led to the formulation of the research
questions:
(1) To what extent do learners accept the integrating MLP for enhancing
clinical BST?
(2) How do learners describe the benefits and limitations of MLP integrated
BST, based on their experience of the differences between conventional
and integrated BST?
(3) What factors do learners identify for the usage of mobile technology in
their clinical-bedside learning?
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With this new strategy of integrated BST, this research potentially extends and
refines SRL as the essential concept of the technology-enhanced learning
approach.
3. The methodology
This study was carried out from February 2019 to June 2019 at Universiti Sultan
Zainal Abidin. In this study, the conceptual framework is a pragmatic guide to
select for research design, methods, sampling, collecting, analysing of the data
and data interpretation. The is the quantitative and qualitative convergent parallel
mixed-method design with the phenomenological approach, in which a self-
regulated learning concept is adopted to construct the research phenomena for
informing the research enquiry. (Details in appendix B.) The integration of the
questionnaire survey and the FGD interviews brings together the advantages of
the breadth and the depth of the research enquiry. The survey and FGD questions
are in Appendix C. Ethical approval was granted by both Universiti Sultan Zainal
Abidin and Dundee’s School of Ethics Committees (SREC) (Appendix D).
3.1 The Sample population

This study investigated the third and fifth-year undergraduate medical students'
experience with conventional and MLP integrated-clinical bedside approach at
UniSZA. However, the 4th-year medical students were excluded from this study:
as they were in district hospitals for short postings without BST. A total of 42
students in six groups participated in this study. Each group consisted of an
average of 6 (range of 5-8) participants.
3.2 The sampling method and the sample size

The maximum variant sampling is employed, in order to provide the relevant
information on the research problems for addressing the research questions
(Creswell & Creswell. David J, 2017). The participants’ voluntary participation
and the exploring of their opinion in a coherent, meaningful, and contemplative
way is essential, in order to inform the research enquiry. In this study, the sample
size is according to the saturation of information when no new information is
emerging and the giving of a theoretical saturation point (Francis et al., 2009). The
data-gathering instruments were piloted, in order to check their reliability and
content validity. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated, in order to verify the internal
consistency of the research instruments (Tavakol & Dennick, 2011).
3.3 The data collection

The paper questionnaires were distributed in sealed envelopes before starting the
FGD interview; and it takes 15-20 minutes to complete the survey. The GDs lasted
between 40 to 60 minutes. Each was audiotaped and transcribed. The FGD was
arranged as per schedule with the participants’ availability.
3.4 The data analysis

The quantitative data were introduced into a Statistical Package for the Social
Science (SPSS) software version 21. The one-sample t- test was done to determine
the overall participants’ perspective on MLP integrated BST with statistical
significance by comparing the mean value with the test value. The value of 3
(neutral) was assigned as the test value for this analysis. Mean values above the
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test value were considered as agreement with the statements; whereas mean
values below the test value were considered as disagreement with the statements
and the level of the significance set at p< 0.05. The data were collected by using
the same variables and categories from the same participants, in order to solve the
unequal sample size by weighting the equal number of participants in both the
quantitative and the qualitative databases.
The thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative data analysis. For the data
analysis, manual transcribing was applied for the coding, the categorisation, and
the construction of the themes, in order to arrive at a general principle from the
categories and the essence revealed from the original interview data in this study.
The analysis was done iteratively for the subsequently coded transcripts until
theoretical saturation was achieved. Adding was done on new codes when the
present set failed to capture or elicit an observed or listed item. The survey and
the interview data were analysed independently; but the results were interpreted
from the findings concurrently, in order to address the research questions. Lastly,
both the datasets of the results were integrated and triangulated, in order to
present a quantitatively established effect and a detailed qualitative description
of the research enquiry (Howe, 2012).
4. The results
The two datasets are combined and triangulated, in order to strengthen the
validity of the research findings (Howe, 2012).
The quantitative results

The quantitative research findings were analysed, in order to capture an
overview of the research enquiry.
4.1 The demographic characteristics of the participants

Descriptive analysis was performed to describe the participants’ demographic
data. There were 42 participants (18 males, 24 females; 22 from year 3 and 20 from
year 5) (Figure 1). All were under the age of 27 years. Despite the wide range of
apps available, the students only used WhatsApp. The easy installation,
application, password-encrypted security, free user-friendly, suitability for group
discussion, long duration of data retention are common reasons for WhatsApp
usage over other mobile apps at the current institution (Table 1). Students
favoured smartphone usage in their undergraduate clinical training, regardless of
differences in the characteristics of the participants and the academic year.
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Figure 1: Gender, age, and clinical year of the respondents
Table 1: Participants’ usage of mobile devices and their purposes (n= 42)
Frequency
No Variables Percentage
Number
(%)
1 How do you use your mobile device for
everyday studying purposes?
During lessons 2 4.8
Between lessons 11 26.2
For independent studying 16 38.1
For group work 5 11.9
For peer discussions 8 19.0
2 How often on average would you use your
mobile device on any given day?
0-2 hours 6 11.9
3-4 hours 21 50.0
5-6 hours 10 23.8
7-8 hours 6 14.3
3 How often do you use WhatsApp on your
mobile phone?
Every day 41 97.6
Every week 1 2.4
4 How long do you use mobile Apps for
learning purposes during undergraduate
training?
One year 5 11.9
Two years 3 7.1
Once joined clinical year 25 59.5
Once start WhatsApp bedside teaching group 9 21.5
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5 What mobile Apps do you use on your

mobile device for learning purposes?
WhatsApp 42 100
Viber 0 -
Tango 0 -
Line 0 -
WeChat 0 -
Hangout 0 -
Messenger 0 -
Snapshot 0 -
Over half of the respondents started to use mobile apps for learning within the
last year, the majority for 3-4 hours per day for both learning and other activities
(Table 1). Some used mobile technology for independent learning, and others for
peer-group discussions and searching for information during lessons. Despite the
wide range of apps available, the students only used WhatsApp.
4.2 The benefits and limitations of MLP integrated BST

The benefits and limitations of MLP integrated BST were categorised into quality
and effectiveness, competence skill and feedback and reflection.
Regarding quality and effectiveness, the vast majority found that MLP is a helpful
medium for integration with other health-care professionals and collaboration
and enhancement of learning in a clinical setting (p<0.001). Most students
perceived that they had an opportunity for peer-group discussions with self-
respect in MLP integrated BST (p <0.001). However, there was a potential for
compromise in sharing information (p=0.001) and technical illiteracy (p<0.001)
(Table 2).
Table 2- Mean perspective view for quality and effectiveness of MLP integrated BST
(n=42)
No Quality and Effectiveness Mean SD P-value
1 Improve quality of clinical teaching 4.36 0.73 <0.001
2 More opportunity for discussion 4.26 0.54 <0.001
3 Improving learning productivity 4.21 0.65 <0.001
4 Encouragement to become a constructive 4.31 0.64 <0.001

learner
5 Integrating with all aspect of health care 4.19 0.63 <0.001

& multidisciplinary team approach
6 Encourage collaboration and facilitation 4.43 0.59 <0.001
7 Experienced some connectivity issues 2.76 1.03 0.142
8 Difficulty in participating in discussion 3.31 1.20 0.102

groups
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9 Lack of contents and function for sharing 3.60 1.13 0.001

information
10 Confidentiality issue while sharing in 2.74 1.04 0.109

group discussions
11 Mobile devices need a back-up plan 2.64 1.25 0.070
12 Lack of familiarity with advanced 4.12 1.09 <0.001

technology
13 Mobile learning platform is beneficial 4.62 0.54 <0.001
Notes: * Positive statements are highlighted in bold.

** Significant p-values are highlighted in bold.
*** One -sample t-test for mean perspective and level of significance set at
p < 0.05.
With regard to competence skills, the participants generally agreed on an

improvement in clinical competence, confidence in clinical reasoning in group
discussions (p<0.001). Again, some of them have an uncomfortable feeling of
sharing video or audio recordings in discussion forums though there was no
substantial negative impact on their learning (p=0.018) (Table 3).
Table 3- Mean perspective view for competence skills of MLP integrated BST (n=42)
No Competency skills Mean SD P- value
1 More confident to do clinical reasoning 3.88 0.97 <0.001
via mobile-group discussions.
2 Improved clinical competence 4.33 0.53 <0.001
3 Confident to make a management plan 4.10 0.91 <0.001
4 Effective participation in Mobile-group 4.17 0.79 <0.001
case discussions
5 Some unpleasant feelings of video or 3.43 1.13 0.018
audio recording in a discussion forum
6 Technical issue and small screen size for 3.10 1.34 0.648
sharing information
7 Difficulty in downloading video or 3.33 1.30 0.104
clinical presentation on a mobile phone
due to its limited capacity
8 Mobile technology has useful resources 4.38 0.58 <0.001

*** One-sample t-test for mean perspective and level of significance set at
p< 0.05.
For feedback and reflection, the participants from both groups generally agreed
on receiving professional opinions for focusing the discussion by providing
constructive feedback and integration of learning resources (p<0.001). However,
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some participants from both academic groups suggested an uneasiness for

sharing negative feedback (p<0.001) and exploring personal reflections in on-line
group discussions (p= 0.046) (Table 4). Nevertheless, most participants did not
consider that those negative impacts were the primary issue, and they were
familiar with technology advancement in the self-regulation learning approach,
without any adverse effects during group discussions.
Table 4- Mean perspective view for feedback and reflection of MLP integrated BST
(n=42)
No Feedback & Reflection Mean SD P -value
1 The opportunities for continued discussion 4.43 0.63 <0.001
and feedback
2 The professional opinion and coherent 4.31 0.68 <0.001
communication of ideas in mobile-learning
discussions.
3 New strategies provide focus and integration 4.31 0.68 <0.001
of learning from different resources.
4 Some difficulty for getting learning resources 3.67 1.07 <0.001
for preparation before bed-side teaching
5 Some uneasy feeling of sharing feedback, 4.12 1.04 <0.001
particularly negative aspects in groups
discussion
6 Uncomfortable with exploring personal 3.36 1.12 0.046
reflection in on-line group discussions
7 A new strategy provides effective feedback 4.45 0.50 <0.001
for professional development.
*** One-sample t- test for mean perspective and level of significance set at
p< 0.05.
Most participants stated that MLP integrated bed-side teaching promoted peer
collaboration, teamwork with self-regulation in a co-ordinated way; and it
improved motivation with productive feedback and self-reflection.
4.3 Qualitative result findings

The analysis of the transcripts of the FGD interviews (six groups) revealed 17
themes. The themes of comparing MLP integrated BST with traditional BST are
illustrated per category. These were categories of quality and effectiveness: (1)
mobile efficiency (2) enhancing the quality of learning with self-regulation (3)
information overload (4) educator ignorance, category of competence: (1)
intellectual skilfulness (2) simulation (3) lack of standardisation ,category of
feedback and reflection: (1) instant feedback (2) self-efficacy (3) lack of confidence
(4) technical illiteracy, category of influencing factors: (1) educational references
(2) self-strategic learning (3) distraction (4) mobile technology challenges (3)
superficial learning (4) textbook references. The details are shown in Figure 2.
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However, there are possible chances that qualitative data would comparatively
overspread with each other.
Figure 2 -Mapping of Categories, Sub-categories and themes of MLP
4.3.1. Quality and effectiveness of MLP integrated BST based on the experiences
between two BST approaches
The participants reported more benefits than limitations. The majority identified
mobile efficacy as beneficial: “We can ask the questions and give answers immediately
without any restriction: since mobile phones are portable and practicable (5A1). This
contrasted with the views on asking questions in the traditional setting, which
often invoked anxiety: “However, we do not have an opportunity to ask the questions
whenever we want to, because we are very anxious and afraid to get scolded in the
conventional BST approach” (5A1).
The benefits, however, do not come without challenges or limitations. Most

mentioned a feeling of information overload: “Information overload is one of the main
issues in MLP” (5B4). Another limitation was educator ignorance: “Lecturers
ignored the question posted by a student and neither replied nor answered. This is very
disappointing and frustrating” (3B8).
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4.3.2. Competence skills of MLP integrated BST based on the experiences of the differences
between two BST approaches
Most of the participants reported that they had used the smartphone for social
connections and learning purposes. They reflected that learning through their
mobile could enhance their intellectual skills for discussion or organising
information during BST. They thought that additional skills could be learnt by
using a mobile device, such as communication skills specifically: “This learning
platform helps me to improve my communication skills with health-care professionals,
educators, colleagues, and peer groups” (5B2).
Writing skill was identified as a specific communication skill: “One of the skills that
I have developed is when we answer the question online, we have to type it out, so it trained
us to write it appropriately and to practise for essay-writing skill. This writing skill
couldn’t be practised in conventional BST, as there was no further discussion after the
BST session” (5A1). Self-efficiency and organisational skills during clinical practice
were also highlighted. However, they still felt there should be duplication, due to
the simulation not being sufficient on its own: “I feel that there may be differences
between performing the examination on a real patient compared to on a simulated patient
or manqué; since they are not real patients. I prefer to examine real patients; and I feel that
the authentic bedside teaching is still valuable; but integrated BST with MLP makes BST
more interesting and engaging “(3B3). Some were concerned about various clinical
examination techniques with different lecturers and the need for the
standardisation of examination techniques in BST practice was suggested.
4.3.3. Feedback and reflection of MLP integrated BST based on the experiences between
two BST approaches
Most participants perceived that MLP provided the opportunity for feedback and
reflective practice. The participants felt that MLP could be used for instant
feedback: “It gives me satisfaction; since whenever I have a question then I can ask and
get an instant reply. I feel very delighted whenever my answer is correct, it really improves
my self-esteem” (5B5). This compared favourably with traditional BST: “In
traditional BST, there is only a limited opportunity for us to have effective feedback, due
to consultants’ busy schedules and insufficient BST time” (5B5).
Nevertheless, most identified negatives, such as unsatisfactory feedback from

lecturers: “Some negative responses can give discouragement” (5C5). Some
participants described frustration concerning technological illiteracy among
mobile-device users of retired lecturers (3B3).
The Integrated BST enhanced self-regulated learning and facilitated collaboration

through communication and interaction between students and lecturers.
Discussions on the MLP produced moments that led to the learning of soft skills,
such as compassion, comprehension, and consideration.
4.3.4. Influencing factors on the use of mobile technology at clinical teaching.

The advantages of mobile technology
Most reported that the MLP promoted integrating and sharing of information,
providing relevant educational resources: “The best part of this new strategy is
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learning a new way and the sharing of information from relevant resources with rapid
access at anytime and anywhere, and as many times as we needed them” (3A1).
All the participants felt that mobile technology was flexible, accessible, and going
beyond the classroom lecture. It provided not only new opportunities for
interaction among students and lecturers, but also self-regulation with personal
learning.
The disadvantages of mobile technology

Most said that they were distracted from targeted learning while using mobile
devices, due to misdirection and the misuse of Apps: “I definitely find myself in a
dilemma, as it is very annoying; and it disturbs our concentration on study, because of
constantly messaging in WhatsApp group discussions” (5A5). Many found themselves
reviewing social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, rather than participating in
group discussions.” But it is good for us to review our discussion any time we want to,
instead of WhatsApp group discussions compared to the discussion at bedside without any
continuation in the conventional approach “(5A5). Furthermore, some participants
have concerns about more superficial learning without any in-depth detail
description of discussions in MLP.
Most favoured was adopting mobile technology for enhancing their learning
during clinical bedside teaching. The participants have expressed their
satisfaction with improving their intellectual skills and anticipation for achieving
strategic learning via integrated BST during bedside group discussions. They
have reported that MLP provided a platform for sharing information resources by
promoting a self-regulation learning practice that is not yet available during
traditional BST.
5. Discussion
This study is the first to explore the learners’ acceptance of technology-enhanced
learning in the clinical context at UniSZA. The participants felt that smartphones
are significantly helpful for obtaining learning resources, collaboration and
sharing information in their daily life. All the participants used WhatsApp for
social communication and mobile learning as it is free and user-friendly, when
aligned with the findings from other articles (Clavier et al.;, 2019; Raiman et al.,
2017). However, it varied with the usage of mobile apps, according to
geographical location. WhatsApp usage is higher in Malaysia, when compared to
WeChat apps usage, which is common in China (Ohn et al., 2018; Wang et al.,
2017).
The participants expressed satisfaction with integrating MLP in mobile group

discussion after BST sessions. It indicates that learners are ready to adopt
multimedia learning Apps for various learning purposes in clinical bedside
teaching. Hence, MLP is invaluable for integrating theory into clinical practice, in
order to enhance learning in a clinical setting (David et al., 2014; Wallace et al.,
2012).
The participants have reported that integrating MLP during BST has a potential
benefit for learning through access to resources “just in time” in a clinical setting.
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Some authors have reported on how mobile devices enhance students' learning.
This conforms with the findings from other Malaysan studies, but not in a clinical
setting (Adams et al., 2018; Ismail et al., 2016). Other international articles argue
that the new technology offered the potential benefits for enhancing clinical
learning. Nevertheless, the possible disadvantages associated with its use were
comparable to the findings of this study (Bullock et al., 2015; Wallace et al., 2012).
The participants also have identified several potential challenges with MLP-
integrated BST, such as distraction, technical issues, and superficial learning. Like
any other form of medical pedagogy, MLP has drawbacks. The advantage of
accessibility can become a disadvantage while exceeding the purpose of
utilization, such as diversion, time-consuming with internet disruption and the
lack of in-depth learning (Davies et al., 2012; Rashid-Doubell et al., 2016; Wallace
et al., 2012).
The participants take opportunities to schedule, arrange, and support their

learning at any time and anywhere, including when on-the-move with self-
management strategies. This agrees with the conclusions reached by some
authors, who explored the levels of self-regulated learning, success in academic
achievement and clinically competent skills in a clinical environment (Cho et al.,
2017; Zheng & Zhang, 2020). An essential finding from this study is the insight
into the influence of feedback on the learners’ self-reflection for motivation and
self-management in their clinical bedside learning. The participants have agreed
that the mobile-learning platform is an effective educational platform for
improving the quality of the BST approach; and they are keen to embrace mobile
technology in the clinical setting. These findings agree with the non-Malaysian
context of learners’ motivation and self-efficacy with the self-regulated learning
principle (Koorsse et al., 2014; Zheng & Zhang, 2020).
Mobile technology is seen as an essential tool for daily life in the modern era of
technology transformation. Nevertheless, based on the findings from the current
study and other studies, integrating MLP is a global trend, supporting and
enhancing the learning process and metacognition with self-regulation (Koorsse
et al., 2014).
The findings of this study highlighted that communication, collaboration,

connection, and engagement with feedback via WhatsApp mobile-group
discussions not only facilitates but also enhances student learning during and
after clinical bedside sessions, which agrees with some research findings locally
and globally (Bullock et al., 2015; Hussin et al., 2012; Raiman et al., 2017).
The participants listed several benefits, as well as the disadvantages associated

with MLP- integrated BST. The benefits of MLP aligned with the findings from
other works of literature, such as a dual purpose of building knowledge and
learning, and connecting among teams’ members (Rashid-Doubell et al., 2016;
Siddaiah-Subramanya et al., 2017). Knowledge- building is part of learning for
students and lecturers during BST; although this knowledge gain can be transient
(Wallace et al., 2012). In general, the students perceived that there was an
improvement in cognitive skills with MLP-integrated BST sessions.
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Most of the participants stated that mobile technology offered better and faster
access to local and global information, regardless of time and location. Clinical
skills are an essential part of bed-side learning, and it is necessary to be seamlessly
integrated into the process of learning to become confident and competent health-
care professionals. In the category of competence skills, most of them perceived
an improvement in their confidence in performing clinical procedures in survey
questionnaires. However, the participants reported that they had the opportunity
to practise writing, communication, comprehension, critical thinking, and
problem-solving skills, rather than direct clinical-examination skill acquisition
following the online group discussion in the FGD interview. Nevertheless, with
progressive digital transformation, the learners increasingly utilise mobile devices
for writing and reading, instead of using a desktop or laptop for their learning
(Baron, 2013). SRL has a significant impact on medical training, and it is not
adopted spontaneously in the clinical learning environment (Sandars & Cleary,
2012; Zheng & Zhang, 2020).
This study has explored how students adapted self-regulation to learning at the
bedside; and they found that students adapted SRL skills during mobile-group
discussions when transitioning from face-to-face to online learning. These
findings are consistent with the information from other studies during small
group-teaching sessions and clinical rotation (Cho et al., 2017; Woods et al., 2011).
The participants with numerous choices on an MLP can benefit from SRL skills;
because these can support the learners to manage various obstacles like a
distraction, in which switching to browse Facebook or YouTube during their
learning with the strategic learning process (Baron, 2013; David et al., 2014). One
of the compelling findings here was a mixed feeling of the impact of feedback
among the participants, despite having a positive perspective with a different
view for exploring negative feedback in group discussions. It aligned with
findings from another study (Ada et al., 2017). The participants felt that they had
developed self-awareness and self-regulation of multi-tasking habits. This is a
necessary skillset among medical students in the modern workplace.
The participants did express concerns about the potential intrusion of personal
matters with compromising professional behaviour in group discussions.
Technology illiteracy is the main barrier to employing MLPs in clinical teaching.
In this study, some educators were not familiar with mobile app usage, although
it did not adversely affect the quality of BST.
Self-regulation skills are a powerful predictor of academic success in online
learning (Jouhari et al., 2015; Siddiqui & Malik, 2019). The importance of SRL with
self-management is one of the positive perceptive views for integrating MLP in a
clinical setting in the current study. All the participants perceived the MLP as a
beneficial learning platform in their academic endeavours with opportunities for
an instant asset to relevant educational resources via the MLP; and it allowed
learners to make the best use of downtime between their clinical activities (Payne
et al., 2012). Over the study period, the students became aware of the potential
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advantages of integrating the MLP. Their initial concerns were found to be mostly
unfounded.
The learners’ preference for technology transformation in medical education is

debatable; and there can be dissimilar views between their wishes and their needs
(Kirschner & van Merriënboer, 2013). In this study, the learners remained
concerned about the increased disruptions, due to the technical problems of
mobile devices, higher dependence on MLP and privacy invasion, as was found
in other studies (David et al., 2014; Payne et al., 2012). Although they still have
some doubts about mobile apps usage compared to the traditional study
materials, overall medical students have a favourable view of medical apps usage.
In this study, some participants raised concerns about the potential for distraction,
superficial learning, and some technical issues that led to interruption or partial
task completion.
The participants in this study identified the limitations of using MLP for in-depth
learning; and instead, they used them mainly for quick reference and short
notetaking. These findings are comparable to the outcomes of other studies
(Wallace et al., 2012; Davies et al., 2012). Nevertheless, the participants have the
self-awareness to solve superficial learning problems by searching for the relevant
information for reconfirmation, rather than depending on browsing the social
webs. The participants reported that MLP is a supplementary tool for
conventional BST with a positive influence for enhancing their learning in the
clinical setting, which aligned with other literature reviews (Gormley et al., 2009).
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, lectures were conducted in an e-learning platform

except for clinical bedside teaching. Most students happily accept technology-
enhanced learning for a conducive educational environment and engagement
with good internet facilities (Dyrek et al., 2022).
The educator’s feedback plays a vital role in improving learners’ achievement.

However, sub-optimal feedback and high student numbers can act negatively
(Ada et al., 2017; Evans, 2013). The participants appreciated engaging with peers
and lecturers for further opportunities to receive feedback. Continual
communication maintained the positive relationship between educators and
learners; and it promoted peer discussion for improving self-reflection among
team members. The medical curriculum is evolving consistently to accommodate
rapid changes in the technologically-adepted world. During the COVID-19
pandemic, the use of e-learning has increased significantly with students
‘receptive attitudes to interaction and high motivation for digital skills
(Delungahawatta et al., 2022). The online platform is a creditable educational tool
for undergraduate clinical medicine, and further exploration of the risks and
benefits of technology-enhanced learning is warranted (Delungahawatta et al.,
2022).
Many of the participants anticipated that MLP would soon replace the traditional
textbooks. The use of mobile devices is gaining universal acceptance in a diverse
range of clinical environments. All the participants in this study felt that
103
integrating MLP into clinical teaching has made a significant contribution to the
learning process, with the potential for enhancing both cognitive skills and clinical
practice. Students have accepted the use of technology and recognised its benefits
and limitations together with its challenges. Enhancing self-regulation skills
among students is an essential attribute for the implementation of technology-
enhanced learning (Romli et al., 2022).
This study has revealed that mobile technology has more benefits than risks for
enhancing student learning in clinical teaching. The perceived benefits outweigh
the risks from introducing this new strategy; and the learners’ acceptance and
preference are crucial for integrating MLP and for enhancing clinical bedside
teaching.
6. Conclusion
This study has provided a diverse description of learners' personal experiences
and how these elements have influenced their positive or negative perceptions of
the acceptability or the disapproval of using the MLP in clinical teaching. Self-
regulated learning continues to be an integral part of lifelong learning for health-
care professionals. It will remain an essential skill to be encouraged and
developed in medical students. This study has explored how mobile technology
can facilitate the transformation of the clinical-learning process with a self-
regulation concept to design and develop learning activities. Medical students are
likely to continue to have integrated MLP into clinical teaching; as they can access
the relevant information, regardless of location or timing. This study has
identified the significant influencing factors in how learners currently work with
mobile technologies in a current institution. This study has also provided crucial
descriptions of the advantages and the disadvantages of MLP integrated BST in
clinical teaching.
Mobile technologies, like other technologies, are not essentially good or bad, to be
desired or rejected. This study has concluded that digital transformation has
provided information technology; and mobile apps have made MLP a helpful tool
in clinical bed-side teaching. The findings from this study place another piece in
the complex jigsaw of technology-enhanced learning in a busy clinical setting.
7. Further recommendations
There are areas for future research on educators' acceptance of mobile technology
in community health-care practice with e-health platforms for improving patients’
and community health education and different levels of health-care
environments.
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Appendix A
Mobile learning platform (1) -MLP 1
WhatsApp Educator Deliver

Learners resource
Planning arrangeme
Group ‘arrangem .
nt
ent
Conventional bedside teaching
Sharing
conversation Demonstration Participation
information
Mobile learning platform (2)- MLP 2
Sharing view Analysis

Evaluation Reflection Suggestion
Diagram - MLP1-BST-MLP2(MBM) BST and the learning approach
108
Appendix B
Research methodology
No Process Selected element Purpose

1 Research Paradigm Pragmatic paradigm This research paradigm
supports concurrent use of
qualitative and quantitative
approaches for generating
evidence to inform research
inquiry.
2 Research Framework Conceptual framework In this study, the researcher has
adopted the self-regulated
learning concept to construct
the research phenomena for
exploring the learners view of
Integrated BST approach.
3 Research Method Mixed method The triangulation of data from
both approaches to capture the
depth of research inquiry while
balancing the weakness of both
methods.
4 Research Design Convergent parallel It is one of the data-collection

design that collect both
Different types of mixed numerical and text data
method Designs simultaneously and integrate
1) Convergent Parallel the data at the same time
2) Explanatory within a limited time frame.
3) Exploratory
4) Embedded
5) Transformative
6) Multiphase
5 Research approach Quantitative It consists of series of
Survey questionnaires for gathering
information to describe and
interpret the experience of MLP
integrated and conventional
BST perceived by the group of
participants.
Qualitative
FGD
Phenomenology Aim to determine the essence
(Action Research) of the experience as perceived
by the participants.
There are 5 types of
Qualitative research
1) Ethnography
2) Grounded theory
109
3) Case study
4) Narrative
5) Phenomenological
7 Research sample Medical students Medical students from year 3
population and year 5 in clinical posting
are included. However, year 4
students are in district short
posting without BST sessions.
9 Research sampling Purposive sampling It is a type of non-probability

method Types of qualitative research sampling technique which
sampling focuses on the elements that
1) Purposive sampling meet specific criteria and
2) Snowball sampling purpose.
3) Quota sampling
4) Convenience
sampling
10 Sub- category of Maximum variant sampling Maximum variation sampling
purposive sampling Different types of purposive is one of the purposive
sampling sampling techniques that used
1) Maximum variant to capture a wide range of data
sampling to address the research
2) Homogenous questions.
sampling The basic principle of this
3) Typical case sampling method is to gain greater
4) Extreme case insights into a research
sampling phenomenon by looking at it
5) Critical case sampling from all angles.
6) Total population
sampling
7) Expert sampling
11. Data integration Data triangulation This study adopted the data
Different types of triangulation with the use of
triangulations multiple data sources in a
1) Data single study for enhancing the
2) Methods research credibility. It provided
3) Investigator a more comprehensive
4) Theory perspective view of the
phenomenon of interest.
110
Appendix C
Survey questions- Benefits and limitations of MLP inegrated BST

I. Quality and effectiveness 1 2 3 4 5
1)Quality improvement with technology
enhancing
2) Gain respect and have opportunity for
discussion in
WhatsApp group discussion
3) Increase the learning productivity
4) Become constructive learner with positive.
guidance and encouragement via a new
approach
5) Integration with all aspect of health care with
multidisciplinary team approach
6) Encourages collaboration and facilitation
7) Connectivity issues during discussion
8) Difficulty in participating due to lack of support
9) Lack of contents and function for sharing

information
10)Confidentiality issue while sharing personal
view in group. discussions
11) Need of back-up plan for battery with limited
expiry time frame
12) Lack of familiarity to mobile technology
13) Mobile learning platform is beneficial
II. Competence
1) Confident to do clinical reasoning
2) Confident in clinical examination techniques
3) Confident to make a management plan
4) Participate in Mobile group case discussion
5) Some unpleasant feelings of video or audio
recording in
a discussion forum
6) Some technical issues and small screen size
7) Difficulty in downloading video or clinical
presentation
due to limited capacity of mobile phone.
8) Mobile technology is useful resources
III. Feedback and reflection
1) Opportunities for continue discussion with
receiving
feedback for personal reflective practice
2) Receive professional opinion and coherent
communication of an idea
3) Provide focussing and integration of learning
from different resources
4) Difficulty in getting learning resources with
poor internet
connection.
111
5) Uneasy feeling of sharing negative feedback in

a group discussion
6) Uncomfortable with exploring personal
reflection in group discussions
7) Provides effective feedback.
for personal reflection.
Focus- group interview questions
1) What skills have you developed from MLP integrated BST and how?
2) What were your best and worst experiences and how?
3) How do you perceive feedback and reflective view of a new strategy?
4) What are the differences you identify between a new strategy and an old
conventional BST and how?
5) What are the factors influencing for accepting or rejecting integrating MLP in
clinical BST?
6) What is your expectation and recommendation of a new strategy for

enhancing learning
practice in a clinical setting?
Appendix D - Ethical approval
Ethical approval (University of Dundee)
approval letter
054-18.pdf
Ethical approval
Dundee(Amendment) ( 28 Feb 2019) (2).pdf
Ethical approval (Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin)
UHREC (UniSZA).pdf
112

Narrative Perspective of the School Trajectory of

At-Risk Students
Abraham Bernárdez-Gomez* , Eva María González Barea and
María Jesús Rodríguez Entrena
University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
Abstract. Students’ engagement in the educational task has been a matter

of growing interest over the past few years as a factor in tackling one of
the leading academic problems, namely school dropout. This brief
research report offers an overview of how engagement in the educational
trajectories of young people at risk is manifested. It was studied by
applying the life course theory as the backbone of the research. A
qualitative methodology has been applied, using a biographical-narrative
approach through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The total number
of subjects interviewed was 10. The main results indicate that: a) there
are stages in which events that facilitate positive or negative engagement
predominate more strongly; b) in general, there is a higher presence of
negative critical events that lead to a decline in the quality of the students'
engagement; and c) there are a series of factors that stand out in each of
the stages of the students' trajectories. One of the main conclusions that
can be drawn is that the traineeships are dynamic and flexible. Students
may have the possibility of returning to their studies.
Keywords: engagement; educational trajectories; narrative inquiry; life

history; life course theory
1. Introduction
There are issues in education that are as old as school itself. Because they are
backed by extensive research, some of them are transformed as they are studied
in greater depth (Garnica et al., 2019). This is the case of the problem addressed in
this text, namely the school dropout of vulnerable subjects or so-called at-risk
students (Bernárdez-Gómez et al., 2021; Thureau, 2018; Vandekinderen et al.,
2018) and how these students return to their studies (Cuconato et al., 2017; Portela
Pruaño et al., 2022; Ribaya, 2011; Tomaszewska-Pękała et al., 2017). The following
text presents some of the results of a broader research project which studied the
factors that benefit, or not, the engagement in school of young dropouts and
returnees. Thus, the objective of the research was to explore the various factors
*
Corresponding author: Abraham Bernárdez-Gómez, abraham.bernardez@um.es
©Authors
113
that intervene in students’ engagement through the stages of the educational

trajectories of young people who have dropped out of school.
The need for education aimed at reducing social inequality is strongly advocated
by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UNESCO, 2016), in both the
fourth and tenth goals, which aim for quality education and the reduction of
inequalities. Likewise, organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) have identified social inequality as one of
the barriers to equitable education (OECD, 2018).
This research addresses the circumstance of those that have been a priority for
educational administrations over the years and continue to show their relevance.
From the obsolete Europe 2020 Strategy to the current SDGs or the Horizon
Europe Framework Program (Reglamento UE, 2021) they propose to achieve
goals dedicated to educational quality and to enhance well-being in schools.
Moreover, the well-being of students in educational institutions is directly linked
to the educational quality offered by educational systems (Viac & Fraser, 2020).
Thus, the challenge is no longer to retain vulnerable students, but to find a
friendly space in the educational institutions where they can develop their studies
and maintain their engagement throughout their educational trajectories.
1.1. Trajectories
The study of educational trajectories is based on the study of the life course of
individuals (Hutchison, 2019; Monarca, 2017). This is a theory that has been
widely studied in the field of social sciences and has become relevant to social
science research over the years (Blasbichler & Vogt, 2020; Christodoulou et al.,
2018; Portela Pruaño et al., 2019). The paradigm on which the life course theory
(LCT) is developed has a multifactorial character, as does the drop-out issue
(Hutchison, 2019). The various factors identified in previous research are
consistent (Bernárdez-Gómez, 2022; Gottfried & Hutt, 2019). Thus, through the
life course theory, events are presented that significantly affect students'
trajectories. These events are the factors that can be found in the work of authors
such as Salvà-Mut et al. (2014) or Nichol et al. (2016) who refer to different spheres
of proximity to the individual: micro-, meso- and macrosocial (Salvà-Mut et al.,
2014). At the same time, it should be noted that the various events that occur
manifest a different intensity. On the one hand are life events, which are present
throughout the entire trajectory but have no special significance for the subjects
(Kang, 2019; Tarabini, 2018) and on the other hand, there are critical events, strong
enough to generate transitions in the trajectories that can cause a modification in
their direction.
The various events that occur in an individual's trajectory substantially affect the
implication they present (Crosnoe & Benner, 2016). One of the multiple definitions
of the construct of engagement is that of the attachment that students exhibit for
their studies and the intensity with which they dedicate themselves to the
educational task (Emery et al., 2020). However, when different events cause a
deterioration in students’ engagement at the compulsory schooling stage, a
process of disengagement begins (Yusof et al., 2018). This refers to the situation in
114
which students begin a progressive withdrawal from the educational experience

offered by the school (Gebel & Heineck, 2019). Thus, the various data extracted
from the research process indicate the type of engagement that is most prevalent
in the trajectories of students who drop out. The stages in which these students
present more events that produce positive or negative engagement are presented
as well. Finally, the events that produce the quality of engagement whether in a
positive or negative direction, are identified.
1.2. Student engagement

Student engagement, a construct which reflects the students’ commitment to their
school tasks, has been studied in depth in recent years (Cooley et al., 2021).
Research on student engagement was initiated by the question of how the
teaching-learning process develops based on the qualitative characteristics of the
school history or academic life and the results produced by students (Boyaci, 2019;
Mayhew et al., 2016; Teuscher & Makarova, 2018). Astin, who studied the issue
of student involvement, defined it as the amount of energy invested by the
student in the educational experience (Astin, 1993). This energy, modulated by
the learning process, relates to the quality of involvement (Zabalza & Zabalza
Cerdeiriña, 2022) that is understood as a continuous phenomenon in an
individual’s experience.
The idea of non-involvement or the low quality of it in students has manifested

itself in literature as an abstract issue that relates to any field (Bernárdez-Gómez,
2022). It is therefore a heterogeneous phenomenon throughout the students'
careers for which there is a lack of terminological agreement, referring to it as
demobilization, internal or virtual absenteeism, or lack of belonging or affiliation
(Fernández Enguita, 2011). The meeting point of all of these definitions is the final
product of a procedural result of slowly moving away from the connection
between the student and the school, diminishing the feeling of belonging (Mena
et al., 2010; Tomaszewska- Pękała et al., 2017). This separation between student
and school relates to a possible dichotomy between those students who adjust
well to the institution and those who present problems. Therefore, all students are
affected by the phenomenon, with multiple levels of intensity, in different ways
and with different results. Any student can be affected; however, it is more
pronounced in the stage of compulsory attendance. Diminishing disengagement
has been one of the subjects of concern at the European level in recent years
(Reglamento UE, 2021). These results usually relate to the situation of those
students in a context of risk.
1.3. At-risk students

School risk affects vulnerable students who "suffer learning difficulties with some
severity in the educational systems, institutions and classrooms we have"
(Escudero & González, 2013, p. 13). The subjects at risk, those students who
experience difficulties in their education, are not a rara avis regarding educational
problems. In fact, as a phenomenon, it tends to be considered more of an epidemic
within the educational system than a set of isolated cases with few repercussions
(Karacabey & Boyaci, 2018). This makes it a widely studied question for which
answers are still being sought.
115
Broadly speaking, the subjects who are in a situation of risk would be those who
"due to certain personal characteristics and perhaps a set of them, as well as social,
community and family, have high probabilities of reaching undesirable results by
being exposed to the influence of situations and contexts of risk" (Escudero, &
González, 2013, p. 20). In this definition it should be noted how these subjects,
despite their singularities, are highly influenced by the realities in which they are
framed, these being those that will promote, or not, situations of risk (Barros et al.,
2019). Likewise, these students will be those who later have the highest
probability of absenteeism, abandonment, or school failure (Jurado & Tejada,
2019; Rubio, 2017). As an undesirable result, they do not have sufficient skills to
subsequently integrate into acceptable patterns of family, society and working life
(González & San Fabián Maroto, 2018). This happens since there is the danger of
not developing the individuals’ potential in the face of the risk situations by which
they may be affected during their educational career.
2. Method
2.1. Objectives
The aim of the following research has been to explore the various factors that
intervene in the students’ engagement through the stages of the educational
trajectories of young people who have dropped out of school.
2.2. Design
Taking into account the stated objective and the previous research that has been
carried out on this issue (Deterding & Waters, 2021), this research study was
carried according to a qualitative approach. Specifically, the design had a
biographical-narrative nature. Through the development of this methodological
design, it was possible to establish the various events that unfolded in the
students' trajectories (Brandenburg, 2021) with the intention of gathering
information and understanding the different relationships that have developed
during their life course (Rodríguez-Dorans & Jacobs, 2020). This methodology
attempts to make sense of and construct meaning from isolated events that are
evoked in the individual through the researcher (Portela Pruaño et al., 2019, 2022).
The reconstruction and analysis of the experiences enable the comparison of the
various events that have taken place. This inherently involves a reflective and
introspective process of an individual who compares different events in another
individual's life or an aspect of it.
2.3. Data collection

The data collection technique used to carry out the research was to conduct life
histories by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews. There is agreement
that this is the best technique for carrying out biographical-narrative research
(Rodríguez-Dorans & Jacobs, 2020). This tool allows the researcher the necessary
immersion in the study problem and sufficient flexibility to develop the interview
according to the different needs that arise as it is carried out (Deterding & Waters,
2021). The interview was validated using the individual aggregate method
(Traverso Macías, 2019) by sending an initial draft and receiving feedback from
experts in the research area. This interview was structured in three different
stages. First is a series of initial questions that served to verify that the
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interviewees have the requisite characteristics for inclusion in the sample for the
study and to establish the personal and sociohumanitarian context from which
they come. Second is a central block dedicated to investigating each of the stages
established in the student's career, namely the stage prior to dropping out, the
stage in which the student is absent and the stage of reincorporation. Finally, the
third stage is a series of questions dedicated to delving into some aspects that have
not been sufficiently clear and to assess the trajectory of the students’ lives, as well
as their prospects.
The core questions asked to the subjects were the following:

• Over the years, what has your life been like outside of school?
• Tell me about yourself; how are you or how do you define yourself?
• Tell me about the schools you have been in; what was the atmosphere like?
• About those schools, what was your experience in your school and in high
school? What would you highlight?
• What would you highlight both positively and negatively? Why?
• What was the process of deciding to drop out of school like?
• What did you do while you did not attend school?
• What influenced you the most to go back to school and not drop out?
• What was the process of going back to school like?
• What have been your expectations along the way?
• How do you think those experiences (that you have talked about) have
affected your life?
2.4. Sample
The sample was selected on a non-probabilistic purposive basis and the study was
carried out in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Three criteria were considered for its
selection: a) young people who had dropped out of school ; b) they were at the
time of their participation involved in studying in some of the measures aimed at
fostering their reincorporation into the educational system; and c) the size of the
sample. This last aspect was one of the most relevant, since twice as many
individuals were selected as recommended by Hernández-Sampieri et al. (2018)
for these studies, namely from three to five individuals. Finally, this study’s
sample comprised ten young people, aged between 17 and 29 years old, from
programmes considered to be back to training. Specifically, four of them were
related to basic professional training, four to professional training programmes
and two were entrance exams. These types of reinstatement programmes are
dedicated to “students at risk of educational exclusion and/or which feature
personal characteristics or schooling background which result in a negative
appraisal of the school framework” (Bernárdez-Gómez et al., 2021, p. 257). In this
way, we guarantee one of the requirements of the candidates, having gone
through a situation of distance and reincorporation from the school. In this way it
can be confirmed that the candidates have experienced a spell away from school
and are subsequently being incorporated back into the system.
2.5. Data analysis

The analysis of the qualitative data was carried out using two complementary
analysis techniques: content analysis (Friese, 2020) and Barton and Lazarsfeld's
117
(cited in Taylor et al., 2015) qualitative data analysis model. These two techniques
were employed sequentially with the support of the analysis software ATLAS.ti.
Firstly, a content analysis was performed whereby a) the information was
reduced, and the data prepared for coding; b) it was structured through
categorization; and c) relationships among the different categories were
extracted. Secondly, it was complemented by Barton and Lazarsfeld's (1961)
model of analysis of d) systematizing the relationships by means of code
concurrences; e) making matrix formulations by means of semantic networks; and
f) conducting a theory-supporting analysis.
The advantage of the qualitative analysis procedure of Barton and Lazarsfeld

(1961) was pointed out by Glasser and Strauss (1967) who indicated that an
analysis could be performed by this procedure from a simple to a more complex
level. The use of this procedure has acquired greater relevance to be able to be
used through the support of data analysis software such as ATLAS.ti (Friese,
2020). This facilitates the monitoring of the steps of the analysis procedure by
having tools that help in each of the steps, as has been done in previous research
(Belmonte Almagro & Bernárdez-Gómez, 2021).
The categories that were used in the analysis can be found in Table 1. Among them
are categories related to the involvement perceived by the students, the type of
event, the stage in their educational trajectories in which the event has taken place
and the type of event, depending on the level of approach of the student.
Table 1: Codes and groups of codes used in the analysis

Level of student approach Engagement type Stages in educational
trajectory
-Education and Previous Stage away
training system -Positive primary
-Dominant social Engagement stage
Macrosocial values -Negative
-Links between Engagement
training and
employment
-Community Life course theory Previous Reinstateme
-Family secondary nt stage
Mesosocial
-Peer group -Life events stage
-Educational centre -Critical events
-Individual Distancing Timeless
characteristics stage
Microsocial
-Interpersonal
relationships
3. Results and Discussion

The trajectories of various students have been reconstructed and each of them has
revealed the uniqueness of each of the individuals to whom the story behind them
belongs. The focus is on how the engagement manifests itself through these life
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stories. This provides an answer to the research objective, namely to explore the
various factors that intervene in the students’ engagement through the stages of
the educational trajectories of young people who have dropped out of school. On
the one hand, the results reveal how engagement manifests itself in terms of
quality in the stories as a whole and, specifically, in each of the stages of the
trajectories (Hutchison, 2019). On the other hand, the main events in the students'
trajectories and their relationship to the quality of engagement are also reflected
(Bernárdez-Gómez, 2022).
3.1. Engagement in students' trajectories

Firstly, when focusing on how engagement is reflected in each of the subjects'
events, it can be seen that there is a tendency for events of a negative nature to
emerge (Figure 1). In both the critical events, which are more important for the
subject, and in the life events, the everyday events, there is a greater link with
events that provoke a negative engagement in the students. However, if focusing
only on life events, no notable difference is detected between the events that cause
distancing in the student or greater engagement in his or her studies. Co-
occurrence coefficients† of 0.57 and 0.47 are presented, reflecting a very slight
difference in this aspect. On the other hand, it can be observed that there is a
substantial difference between negative and positive critical events, with the
former being the most frequent. This indicates that, in the trajectories of these
individuals, there is a prevalence of events that led to their dropping out of
school. This is because the events that are decisive for the direction taken by their
engagement occur with seven points of difference in their co-occurrence
coefficient and almost quintuplicate the number of events.
Figure 1: Co-occurrence between types of events and different qualities of

engagement
On the other hand, focusing on identifying where the events are concentrated
according to whether they have a negative or positive engagement, there are also
two differentiated aspects (Figure 2). The events with the highest negative
engagement occur in the stages before students drop out of their studies. It can be
observed that there is an outstanding co-occurrence coefficient (0.48) in the stage
before the dropout occurs. It could be pointed out that there is a certain
progression between the stages prior to dropout, since the number of negative
events multiplies, while the number of positive events remains the same.
Regarding the events that develop a positive engagement, most of them occur in
the re-entry stage, with a much higher co-occurrence coefficient than in other
stages. In the following section these are discussed in more detail.
†
Co-occurrence coefficients are offered by the ATLAS.ti software from the relationship strength
between two codes.
119
Figure 2: Co-occurrence between different engagement qualities and stages of the

trajectories
3.2. Factors related to the quality of engagement

As has been seen so far, there are some stages in the students' trajectory that differ
from the others owing to the quality of the engagement of the events that take
place during this time. It can be noted that the factors in the stages are
heterogeneous. In all the stages of the various subjects there is a diversity of events
that refer to the great variety of factors that can affect the school trajectory.
However, there is a series of factors that predominate over others in each of the
stages. These factors are shown in Figure 3. In the semantic network, in addition
to the different relationships between codes, the total number of citations of a
code (letter G) and the relationships with other codes that have been established
for that code (letter D) are found.
Figure 3: Semantic network of the relationship between quality of engagement,

factors and stages of the trajectory
120
This semantic network emerges from the different co-occurrences that we have
been able to find between the factors and the different stages as reflected in Table
2. The network has been created according to the various events that occur in each
of the stages and whether these events produced an engagement of a positive or
a negative nature.
Table 2: Co-occurrences between types of events present in the trajectories and each of
the stages through which they pass
Previous Previous Stage away Reinstatement
primary stage secondary stage stage
No. CooC No. CooC No. CooC No. CooC
quote quote quote quote
Individual
11 0.03 49 0.11 26 0.11 51 0.17
characteristics
Interpersonal
27 0.09 64 0.17 10 0.05 7 0.02
relationships
Community 19 0.08 26 0.08 8 0.06 6 0.03
Family 70 0.20 65 0.14 31 0.11 50 0.14
Peer group 59 0.16 139 0.34 25 0.08 18 0.04
Teachers 54 0.16 79 0.19 20 0.08 44 0.13
Educational
99 0.25 157 0.34 17 0.04 57 0.13
Centre
Education and
5 0.02 23 0.06 11 0.07 37 0.15
training system
Dominant
17 0.06 31 0.07 25 0.13 54 0.20
social values
Links between
training and 4 0.02 8 0.02 22 0.16 39 0.17
employment
Mesosocial factors at the primary education stage. For the first stage, that which
takes place before the students' dropping out from school in primary and
secondary education, events that lead to a decrease in the quality of engagement
derived from factors close to the students, those at the micro- and mesosocial level
are more influential. Thus, events related to the school, the family and the peer
group stand out, especially in the primary education stage. Although they do not
have a high co-occurrence coefficient, they have many citations. As can be seen
from the following quotes, for students, the relationship established with each of
the groups indicated is particularly relevant. In fact, they have a notable presence
when defining the trajectory followed by students at risk of exclusion.
It helped me because I used to say to dad, I don't understand this, can you
help me, but maybe he didn't come to help me and that, I don't know... it
bothers me because from childhood to adolescence, he doesn't ask me: -
hey, what's wrong with you? (D3:35)‡
‡
For the citation of the material, the coding offered by the analysis software has been used,
where the D indicates the interview number, and the next number indicates the citation within
that document.
121
I remember one of them very fondly, one in particular who was my tutor
in class. [...] The man must have retired years ago, he was older, he was a
good guy, he was a constant source of laughter. (D1:41)
If each of the factors that exist is addressed individually within the dimensions of
the mesosocial level, one of the first difficulties in this analysis is the wealth of
factors that make up each of these dimensions. Starting with those that have
shown less relevance in the trajectories of the students, namely those referring to
the community, it can be observed that the presence of the same is anecdotal,
which would indicate a low relevance for the students of this factor (Ribaya, 2011).
It could also indicate, de facto, a limited influence, appearing tentatively in the
stage before the distance when the subjects mention the environment in which
they develop their studies and highlight how harmful it is to their studies because
it is an environment far removed from the school culture (Salvà-Mut et al., 2014).
If the order is followed that marks the relevance of the events according to the
number of appearances it has in the coding, the family is presented as a dimension
that has a significant influence on how the life stories of the students are
configured. It can be observed that, throughout all stages, there is a constant
presence of events related to it These relate to circumstances as varied as the
negligible cohesion of the family unit (Garnica et al., 2019), the excessive
responsibility of students with roles that do not belong to them, at least because
of age, or the insubstantial involvement of the family itself (Tarabini, 2018) in the
education of their children and, by extension, in what happens in school.
On the other hand, the peer group also acquires considerable relevance, mainly in
the stage prior to dropping out, which has already been pointed out as one of the
stages in which factors associated with the friendships of students have a great
influence (Cooley et al., 2021; Salvà-Mut et al., 2014). The main events that are
presented in the stories of the students are linked to those derived from
fraternizing with subjects of low educational level and who present problematic
behaviour or behaviour oriented to distancing themselves from the school and
who are frequently opposed to the educational fact.
Finally, at the mesosocial level, the school is the main dimension that generates
events that influence the trajectories of students. The importance of the school in
the educational trajectories of students lies, on the one hand, in the multitude of
factors that make up this dimension and, on the other, in the high relevance that
the organization has in the lives of students as a psychosocial context in which to
spend much of their time (Bernárdez-Gómez, 2022; Tarabini, 2018).
Microsocial factors at secondary stage. At the stage of secondary education, the

phenomenon is similar, with microsocial factors becoming relevant for them in
terms of their individual characteristics and the relationships closest to them. By
the time they reach adolescence, they are at a stage in their development where
the events closest to them (personal relationships and their individual
characteristics) become more important. How they handle their personal
characteristics, and the influence of their closest circle will be decisive in the way
they develop their trajectory at the time the most negative events occur.
122
Mathematics has always been very difficult for me; I see a number and I
don't know what to do with it. (D2:48)
There are teachers who have given me many opportunities, of course, who
have helped me [...] and they are good people who have been very good to
me. (D5:54)
On the other hand, the stage during which they have dropped out does not
represent a particularly significant stage for the students. However, there is a
sense of how macrosocial factors begin to manifest themselves in the trajectory
and later become the most influential. In this way, through the quote, an example
can be observed of how dominant social values influence the trajectory of a
student who has dropped out of education.
I was ashamed to be asked or that we were among us, talking in the group
of friends at home and, maybe, we would talk about it: at seven euros an
hour for six days 7×6... and I would stay, oh my God, don't ask me.
(D9:44)
Among the various factors at the microsocial level there are examples of the
diversity of events that affect the trajectory of students. If individual
characteristics are considered (Monarca, 2017), problems of security and self-
esteem of the subjects or behavioural problems that are externalized, such as
aggressiveness or delinquency or that develop internally, such as depressive
states (Kang, 2019), stand out. These difficulties, according to Salvà-Mut et al.
(2014), are related to the school complement and factors directly caused by the
schooling of students, where a considerable number of them refer to the negative
experience that students have when passing through school (Boyaci, 2019;
Teuscher & Makarova, 2018), This is due to issues such as low levels of
participation or sense of belonging or a lack of academic skills, as well as
experiencing learning problems or having specific unmet educational support
needs (Yusof et al., 2018). However, events related to students' interpersonal
relationships are also significant, since, in addition to being a difficulty for them,
they have a deep connection with the events associated with individual
characteristics. This is because, in the absence of valuable and relevant
relationships for them, both other students and the teachers themselves will lack
references that generate a positive experience in the institutions or the feeling of
belonging that they lack (Tarabini, 2018).
Macrosocial factors at reinstatement stage. Finally, and on a positive note, the

engagement of students is presented as improving in their re-entry phase. Events
related to dominant social values, the relationship between training and
employment or specific training at this stage cause a considerable increase in their
engagement. At this stage, students perceive the importance of training owing to
the intervention of factors beyond their control. This leads them to assume that
they cannot prevent them and that it is therefore necessary to align themselves
with them.
They didn't think so much about you, it's like university, you know? ...
Simply: I'll give it to you (professors giving the homework) if you like it,
fine, if you don't like it, if you don't like it at all, get a life, that's it, I wash
123
my hands of it like Pilate. In VET they give you the opportunity to meet,
to say: I like this, I'm going to do this. And above all, they are looking out
for you. (D2:62)
Because I need a job, and I need to try to pick up everything else, to learn
everything I haven't learned. (D5:83)
The different events that can be found reflected in the quotations that refer to the
macrosocial level of the factors affecting the stages of the educational trajectories
of the students are strongly linked to the factors mentioned in the previous levels.
This is because many of them reflect these or because the actions carried out by a
person at the individual level are a direct consequence of the society and culture
in which they are immersed (Fernández Sierra, 2017; Jimenez, 2008; Salvà-Mut et
al., 2014). These are the main sources from which factors emerge at the
macrosocial level.
An example of this is the dimension related to the education system. Although, in

the life stories, the events on the different programmes and measures aimed at
alleviating the problem discussed here are manifested, are still legislative issues
that have their extension in what happens in the school. Therefore, there are
events of which it is impossible to think of as improvements or changes at a single
level; these must be structural.
Another of those factors that are rooted at all levels is that of dominant social
values. Students assume a self-image based on the influence of preconceived
collective ideological patterns on them or their surroundings (Barros et al., 2019;
Karacabey & Boyaci, 2018). The danger of this derives in the assumption of future
eventualities by the fact of belonging to an ethnic group, growing up in a certain
environment where education is not valued or that the references of the subjects
are immersed in a culture that does not value education positively. Faced with
this, there could be some cause for concern, since the front on which to act is global
and diffuse.
On the other hand, although it does not present such a strong link with the other
levels, the last of the dimensions, referring to the relations between training and
employment, is manifested mainly in the stage of reintegration and in which
students remain distant. The main reason for this is the new perception that the
subjects develop of the training, namely as a motivating element that facilitates
the opportunity of accessing a job and supposes an improvement of their
expectations in the labour market (Emery et al., 2020). One of the main incentives
is employment-oriented training, and the subjects’ assumption that the path they
are taking is the right one (Nichol et al., 2016; Yusof et al., 2018). However, the
high level of involvement they show is a singularity that takes time to appear
(Gebel & Heineck, 2019). This raises the question why they were not aware of
that need before dropping out of school.
4. Conclusions
The meeting point of the students studied here is the end product of a processual
result of slowly moving away from the common ideas between the student and
the school, with the feeling of belonging disappearing and the quality of
124
engagement gradually decreasing. Likewise, this distance is reduced by re-

involving themselves in their studies through various factors that produce that
effect. This separation between student and school relates to a possible dichotomy
between students, namely those who accept the institutional system and those
who present problems. Thus, it is a phenomenon that affects all students, with
varying levels of intensity, in different ways and with different results. Similarly,
it is a process with a very marked expressive aspect through the students'
boredom with the organization of the school and the educational programmes,
both rigid and outdated, manifesting as a tedious and irrelevant experience of
their education.
The various events that occur throughout each student's school career are not
episodic or disconnected from one another. Therefore, the purpose of constructing
life histories is to try to understand the continuities and how the different events
and experiences that occur in each of the school trajectories divert and take
different directions in the lives of students and in their passage through school.
The various school trajectories that have emerged have been reflected, to a greater
or lesser extent, in the different trajectory models that have been taken as a
reference. Although certain differences found between the emerging patterns and
those used as a reference show how the models of trajectories are more focused
on processes of absenteeism, dropping out or school failure do not fully follow
the trajectory of a person returning to training, finding even slight differences in
the stage prior to leaving school. However, it is necessary to point out that the
perspective that students have of their life courses, despite the fact that their
trajectory develops in one direction or another, is dynamic and reversible. They
use their own resilience as a tool for correcting the situation in which they find
themselves and are not permanently affected by it.
Finally, and according to the objective set, it should be noted that the different
manifestations of student engagement are strongly linked to the different stages
of their career. This is owing to the strong relationship that is established between
some factors and a certain quality of engagement. There are factors that facilitate
the involvement of students and others that facilitate their distancing. Likewise,
it was also verified how, in each of the stages of its trajectory, there are also factors
the presence of which predominates.
4.1. Limitations of the research

It is necessary to point out the limitations encountered in carrying out the study:
a) The vast amount of knowledge that has been generated previously and the
desire to bring it all together and analyze every little aspect, but it is impossible.
In addition, it would have been possible to have continued with the analysis of
the data in a more extensive way, but this would also have been an almost endless
task. b) It would have been interesting to have more informants for the life
histories; however, in the current conditions for a doctoral thesis, this would have
been complex to say the least. The situation with the pandemic has been extremely
limiting, not only in terms of this aspect, but also regarding the possibilities of
accessing the field.
125
Funding
This research has been financed by the predoctoral studies grants from the
Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness of the Spanish government
(BES-2017-081040).
Ethics
This research has been approved by the Research Ethics Commission of the
University of Murcia (Id: 3226/2021).
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Received Jun 30, 2022; Revised Nov 11, 2022; Accepted Nov 18, 2022
Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Modular

Instruction
Jevera C. Domogen
Mountain Province State Polytechnic College
Joyce D. Cuyangoan
Lloyd F. Ilacad
Abstract. Gender equality in education can be achieved through gender

mainstreaming. Through gender-responsive practices, this
transformation can be achieved. This study assessed the implementation
of Gender and Development (GAD) perspectives in modular instruction
at Mountain Province State Polytechnic College. It aimed to identify
modular instruction practices that promote gender-fair learning and
challenges in mainstreaming gender perspectives and suggest measures
to address the challenges. The study participants were thirty-four (34)
faculty members as module developers. A descriptive research method
through document analysis of the syllabi and modules was utilized to
identify the gender mainstreaming practices in modular instruction. An
interview and focus group discussion were conducted to identify
challenges and further clarify issues in the research. The data analysis
showed that course facilitators considered gender-inclusive practices in
module development, indicating an awareness of gender
mainstreaming. However, only a few were able to integrate GAD
concepts into their modules. Also, there are pressing challenges faced by
the course facilitators in facilitating gender mainstreaming practices that
have given rise to a lack of commitment towards advancing GAD
programs. The gender-inclusive practices and the different challenges
underscore the further need to intensify mainstreaming efforts in the
following areas: enabling policy, human resources, material resources,
and activities.
Keywords: gender equality; gender mainstreaming; gender

perspectives; modular instruction; Gender and Development
©Authors
130
1. Introduction
Gender equality is a global issue. Thus, advocacy campaigns are organized for
gender equality as a human right empowerment of women and girls as well as
gender-responsive laws and policies. Such aims are also integrated into the
development framework of national government programs. However, gender
equality is still far from being achieved in terms of education, access to
opportunities, or presence in decision-making positions (Asadikia et al., 2021;
Cuberes & Teignier, 2014; Edwards et al., 2019).
The COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardized the decade-long campaign to close the
gender inequality gap (Smith, 2019). This could reverse the effort’s slow progress
in mitigating gender-based inequalities from health to society, including
academia. The New Normal brought about significant changes in all aspects of
society. While changes are being implemented, it is imperative to look into
programs and policies and implement them without sacrificing or disregarding
the efforts that have been made to improve those policy areas that deal with the
needs of all people.
In light of the pandemic, education must not be sacrificed. Thus, educational

institutions continuously craft programs to accommodate learning needs and
address the issues brought about by the New Normal. The spread of the COVID-
19 pandemic quickly necessitated a shift from face-to-face classes to alternative
modes of instruction. As educators pay attention to the delivery of learning
competencies to learners, gender equity should not be discounted in any aspect.
Consequently, gender dimensions in research were also initiated. Shallaita et al.
(2021) and Wafa (2021) analyzed teaching materials for gender representation.
Aguilar-Delavin (2022) evaluated the manifestations of gender bias in DepEd
Secondary English Modules during the pandemic. Such studies impressively
reported gender imbalance practices; however, the area most focused upon was
gender bias. A more systematic and substantive analysis of educators’
understanding of gender mainstreaming is needed in order to gain a clearer
sense of what these are and how they are practiced.
Mountain Province State Polytechnic College continues to cater to the welfare of

its learners. In response to the new mode of preparing instructional materials,
shifts in assessing learning, and managing the conduct of modular instruction,
teachers prepare learning modules to ensure that the quality of education
remains high. Still, the best interests of the learners continues to be a top priority.
Organizing the lessons has become more challenging as the module developers
need to ensure the required competencies are included, while taking the learners’
backgrounds into consideration. Toquero (2020) stated that educational planning
should guarantee continuous learning while preventing the spread of the virus.
As educators prepare the modules for their learners, inclusiveness should still be
emphasized. The materials should allow all students to realize that learning is for
everybody. The approach in preparing learning materials should emphasize
universal inclusion, especially of those often subject to discrimination, such as
indigenous peoples, girls, women, LGBT, and persons with special needs.
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Equality in gender needs to be mainstreamed, from the preparation of the

syllabus content to its execution in the modules. It is important to consider that
even at the planning stage, consideration for gender equality must be advocated.
Research consistently shows a lack of awareness and implementation of gender
mainstreaming practices (Gurung & Rajbanshi, 2020; Kitta & Cardona Moltó,
2022; Nurhaeni & Kurniawan, 2018). Given the increasing recognition in research
that gender equity calls for a strong intervention (Psaki et al., 2022; Shih & Wang,
2021), this research aims to identify the mainstreaming of gender perspective
practices and the challenges in modular instruction. Recognizing the challenges
in promoting gender-fair practices was essential in proposing intervention
measures for crafting the syllabi and modules.
Specific steps to end gender inequality will be needed in order to achieve gender
equality. The measure proposed in this study has been developed to address the
practices and attitudes that maintain gender inequality. The proposed gender
equity measures should support inclusivity in education at all times, in any
mode of instruction.
2. Related Literature
In an effort to tackle pervasive gender inequality, the United Nations (UN)
established the global strategy of gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming
is the process of (re)organizing, enhancing, developing, and evaluating policy
processes such that all parties involved in policymaking adopt an appropriate
perspective on gender equality and incorporate it into all policies at all levels
and stages (United Nations, 2002). This is seen as an approach whereby every
policy formation promotes equality between men and women.
In 2012, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set in Rio de Janeiro

during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The fifth
goal was gender equality. The United Nations (UN) reported that in 2020, even
with steps being made towards gender equality, such as increases in the number
of girls attending school and the number of women taking a seat in government
positions, as well as reformed laws for gender equality over the last decades, yet
gender discrimination and unequal social norms are still experienced in many
societies. Also, data shows that no country has fully achieved gender equality,
and existing programs were proven to be inadequate, as a record number of 143
countries agreed to include gender equality in their constitutions. However, 52
other countries failed to do this (UN Women, 2015), showing that policy
commitment to securing gender equity is a slow process.
In Philippine society, the concretization of gender-related laws and mandates is

intended to translate into programs to address gender issues. The Magna Carta
for Women, or RA 9710, declares, “the State affirms the role of women in nation-
building and ensures the substantive equality of women and men.” This
upholding of women’s rights seeks to eliminate discrimination against women,
whereby the unequal treatment of women has hindered them from attaining
their full potential. With this, the government has been painstakingly crafting
policies and programs to empower women.
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The Philippine Plan for Gender Responsive Development, 1995-2025, was

crafted to address, provide and pursue gender equality. This demands that all
governmental organizations take the necessary actions to guarantee that Gender
and Development (GAD) is fully implemented and institutionalized.
The educational sector is instrumental in addressing gender constraints and

expanding the policy for infusing women and all genders into its programs and
policies. This development strategy uplifts women’s roles and achieves gender
equality.
Section 4 of the same CHED memo indicates that faculty must provide learning
materials that are gender-neutral and employ language that is sensitive to gender
issues. Thus, learning materials such as laboratory manuals, modules, teaching
guides, teaching manuals, workbooks, operation manuals, as well as everything
that teachers prepare, must exhibit the use of gender-sensitive terms in the texts.
The fifth of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be successfully
attained if gender perspectives are taken into account in the many development
fields (David et al., 2018).
Language in culture and society is a powerful tool in shaping attitudes and

values. Given this, gender-sensitive language in academia is crucial in promoting
gender inclusiveness and eradicating gender bias. This means that all forms of
productive communication, speaking, and writing should use terms that are non-
discriminatory against any gender. This gender inclusiveness, however, is a
persistent challenge with the continued vulnerability of gender identities.
Despite these expanding commitments and investments in education, it is still a
challenge to translate gender equality from policy to practice. Research
demonstrates the need for more focused gender initiatives in education (Alegado
et al., 2020; Pantaleon & Ison, 2020; Paz et al., 2016).
3. Conceptual framework
The mainstreaming strategy is defined as a process of including gender concerns
and experiences as an integral consideration in any policy or program
development and implementation. The United Nations (2002) clarified that
mainstreaming strategy consists of different forms: research, policy
development, program delivery, and other technical activities.
The Beijing Platform for Action serves as the study’s defining framework. This
study is also anchored on the concept that education is essential in changing
attitudes toward gender equality by generating knowledge and providing
learning opportunities. According to the Global Education Monitoring Report
(2019), governments, schools, instructors, and students must ensure that schools
offer a high-quality, gender-sensitive education that is free from violence and
prejudice. Teachers are expected to follow industry standards for fair instruction
and suitable disciplinary measures.
The Mountain Province State Polytechnic College aspires to be a preferred

university for developmental culture and inclusive growth. Thus, the college is
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committed to providing quality instruction for all, regardless of its learners’

socio-cultural background or gender orientation.
The paradigm of the study is shown in Figure 1. Analysis of the syllabi and
learning modules was conducted to identify the modular instruction practices
that promote Gender and Development perspectives. Challenges were identified
and intervention measures are consequently proposed to address the challenges
in mainstreaming gender perspectives in modular instruction.
Syllabi Measures to
Gender and address the
Development challenges in
perspectives mainstreaming
practices Modules gender
perspectives
Challenges in mainstreaming
gender perspectives
Figure 1. Paradigm of the Study
4. Objectives of the study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how Gender and Development
perspectives are mainstreamed in modular instruction at Mountain Province
State Polytechnic College-Tadian Campus.
The study examined the use of gender-fair languages in the modules, gender
equality teaching, learning enrichment and assessment activities, and the
provisions for gender-fair learning accommodation. Specifically, it aimed to
identify modular instruction practices that promote gender-fair learning, the
challenges in mainstreaming gender perspectives in modular instruction, and the
strategies to address the challenges in mainstreaming gender perspectives.
5. Materials and methods

5.1. Research design
This research study is descriptive. It focused on identifying and analyzing those
modular instruction practices that promote gender-fair learning in MPSPC. The
descriptive technique of research describes and interprets the relationships that
are present, the prevalent norms, the beliefs, the processes, or the emerging
trends (Calderon & Gonzales, 2018). The descriptive method is the appropriate
design for this study since it is concerned with assessing the implementation of
Gender and Development perspectives in modular instruction. With this
method, problems and abnormal conditions are revealed so that remedial
measures may be instituted.
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5.2. Participants
The participants of this study were thirty-four (34) faculty members in Mountain
Province State Polytechnic College-Tadian Campus, who crafted their syllabi
with their modules. Due to COVID-19 protocol restrictions that applied to faculty
members who had work-from-home arrangements, convenience sampling was
used. The respondents were from the three departments teaching engineering,
forestry, and teacher education.
5.3. Instruments
This research utilized an interview guide to elicit data on the challenges of
mainstreaming gender. The interview and focus group discussion were utilized
to validate the data gathered from the modules and identify challenges in
mainstreaming gender perspectives in modular instruction.
5.4. Procedures
Data were collected using document analysis, interviews, and focus group
discussions. A total of fifty-six (56) modules from the participants were collected
for data analysis. After this, the interviews and focus group discussions with the
thirty-four faculty members were conducted in different places to accommodate
the convenience of the participants and in observation of the COVID-19
guidelines and protocols. Each participant’s interview lasted approximately 30
minutes, while the focus group discussion took at least 30-45 minutes. After the
interviews, the transcripts were organized and categorized in terms of
similarities and differences in preparation for thematic analysis.
5.5. Data analysis

The thematic analysis is conducted to achieve pattern recognition within the data
and to identify emerging themes. Therefore, the respondents’ syllabi and
modules were assessed to examine modular instruction practices that promote
gender-fair learning.
The modules collected from the faculty members served as the materials for
document analysis. The texts were thoroughly scrutinized to identify gender
mainstreaming practices. The data gathered, including pictures and texts, were
scanned as evidence. A total of forty-nine modules with syllabi were manually
analyzed for thematic analysis. The texts were subsequently coded, categories
were constructed, and finally the themes were disclosed.
After conducting the interviews and focus group discussions, the researchers
transcribed the data and analyzed the categories and themes through a thematic-
analysis approach (Clarke & Braun, 2013) using a coding process. To preserve
anonymity, the participants were given codes such as T1 (teacher 1) and T2
(teacher 2).
6. Results and discussion

6.1. Modular Instruction Practices that Promote Gender-fair Learning
There is no denying that education is responsible for the holistic development of
an individual. A person's mental development and education regarding societal
norms and expectations for proper conduct are both greatly aided by attending
school (Galamgam et al., 2021). Consequently, educational institutions have a
135
significant impact on how students learn to socialize, posing more cognitive,

social, and emotional obstacles (Durlak et al., 2011). Therefore, educators can
address the challenge of gender disparities through gender-responsive
mechanisms.
At such a critical time during the COVID-19 pandemic, drastic changes have
increased the gaps in the education sector globally (Onyema et al., 2020). Due to
this, teachers constantly search for ways to engage their learners in lessons while
ensuring inclusivity, despite the absence of in-person classes.
The Mountain Province State Polytechnic College adopts the modular approach
to instructional delivery. In adherence to CHED Memorandum Order No. 01, S.
2015, course facilitators as module developers need to craft gender-fair learning
modules; several gender-inclusive practices to take into account the needs of all
genders in the courses were considered in module development.
All teacher respondents are aware of gender mainstreaming as a strategy to

promote gender-fair learning. As such, they are the key factors in counteracting
gender inequality. According to Kollmayer et al. (2020), teachers are essential
starting points for advancing gender equality in education because it has been
demonstrated that their attitudes and methods of instruction have a substantial
impact on students' motivation and performance.
Critical reflection on the collected modules resulted in the emergence of three

themes.
6.1.1. Communicating gender-friendly introduction

Teachers indicated that mainstreaming a gender perspective in their modules
should start right at the beginning of the modules. Thus, the following sentences
can be read in the introduction to the modules.
“The activities throughout this module are designed for students of all
gender and cultural backgrounds.”
“Your module is designed for you to appreciate regardless of your
gender and culture.”
“The activities in this module are purposely designed/prepared for 4th-
year Electrical Engineering students of any social and cultural
background, gender, and religious affiliation.”
“Experiments included in the modules must be done regardless of
gender preference. No activities are intended for a specific gender.”
“Basic gymnastics is not only for girls but for everybody. Boys also need
to learn these activities, especially those who would be pushing through
military endeavors in the future.”
An introduction establishes the scope and context of the module. It highlights the
potential learning that can be acquired through completing the module.
According to the respondents, including the above statements provides a
positive impression that the material prepared for the students engages learners
from various backgrounds, gender included. This, in a way, builds rapport and
encourages the learners to continue. Although it is interesting to note that there
were no females enrolled in industrial courses such as Automotive Technology
136
and Electrical Technology, the accommodation of all genders is nevertheless

indicated. Teachers handling these subjects reasoned that they also used this
introduction to make their students aware that the course is very inclusive, in the
hope of increasing the participation of women in male-dominated courses. One
issue that is continuously given attention in education is expanding access to
technical and vocational education and training, especially regarding the
increased participation of female learners. Simui et al. (2017), in a study of
distance learners’ perspectives on user-friendly instructional materials,
recommend that instructional modules be designed with learners' needs in mind;
materials should be user-friendly for the learners, and this principle should
apply to all disciplines and levels of learners. This shows that teachers are aware
that consideration of factors such as age, ethnicity and gender is of paramount
importance in designing and developing modules.
In the facilitation of the modules, further instructions through online

communication platforms (SMS, phone call, and Messenger) also observe gender
sensitivity. Therefore, they were allowed to submit their module outputs
personally or online. Furthermore, since some students had young children, they
were given the option to submit their modules online.
6.1.2. Adopting gender-fair language and visuals

The respondents agreed that language is a powerful tool to lessen gender
inequality. For them, certain words elicit consciousness in avoiding implicit and
explicit discriminatory language against women and men. In their own
comprehension of gender-fair languages, the use of the pronouns “you” and
“we” is inclusive. The respondents remarked, “When I use the pronoun “you” in
conversing with my students in the modules, I meant ‘All of you regardless of
gender preference.” A module in Mathematics consistently uses the pronoun
“we” to maintain a conversational tone. With the stereotyping of Math as a
challenging subject, a friendly tone not only addresses gender inequity but also
encourages all learners to have a positive attitude toward the course. Freeman
(2004) advocates for using the active voice, such as "we" and "you," as well as
short phrases to keep the tone approachable. Kintanar and Tongson (2014)
suggested that first and second-person pronouns such as “we” and “you” may
be used when appropriate in non-sexist writing.
A module presenting concepts about entrepreneurship consistently used the

term “business owner” instead of “businessman” throughout the module. This
clearly indicates an awareness of gender-fair terms. Several studies have proven
that the use of gender-fair language can greatly contribute to a gender-fair
attitude. Kollberg (2015) posits that the language used in learning materials can
influence the way in which students perceive their surroundings. After being
introduced to the reasons for using gender-fair language, speakers changed their
language use to favor gender equality, according to Sczesny et al. (2016)’s study.
According to Vizcarra-Garcia (2021), this specific language caused a “domino
effect with far-reaching effects” since people are more likely to use gender-fair
forms the more often they read them and become aware of them.
137
Visual facilitation of the lesson helps learners to easily recall key concepts. The
use of visual graphics is a great way to communicate information about gender
perspectives in a manner that appeals to learners. Visual material is said to be
biased if only a particular gender is predominantly shown. The UNESCO (2009)
checklist cited that in the materials, all genders must be represented equally in
terms of frequency, respect, and potential (for example, when talking about jobs,
or the future). Several images from the modules exemplified this aim. For
example, a Physical Fitness and Self-testing Activity module shows images of
both males and females executing gymnastic stunts. In the motivation part of a
module in Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education, there was an equal
number of female and male cartoon illustrations. In a business course, to
exemplify price-quality relationships in an Entrepreneurship subject, the module
employed both male (George’s Store) and female (Juana’s Store) names of store
owners. These instances demonstrate that some modules exemplify gender
balance portrayals. According to Lomotey (2020), these strategies are significant
in developing learners’ comprehension of their own and others’ gendering styles
and are ultimately necessary for embedding gender equality and equity as basic
human ideals.
6.1.3. Gender integration in lessons

With gender perspectives being explicitly incorporated into the lesson, there is a
greater chance of advancing equitable development possibilities for both men
and women. However, the integration of gender-sensitive teaching strategies
remains a challenge among teachers. Despite this, efforts are being made to
incorporate elements that acknowledge the problems connected with gender
equality in their instructional courses. For example, in a Teaching Science in
Elementary Grades course, the pre-service teachers enrolled were required to
prepare a lesson plan integrating Gender and Development. The module
developer confirmed that the pre-service teachers could integrate GAD
perspectives into their objectives and narrate the activities to be undertaken in
their lesson plans. According to Powell and Ah-King (2013), increased
understanding of gender perspectives in teaching, support for individual
teachers who had developed an interest in these issues, and a forum in which to
discuss teaching-related topics were all facilitated by incorporating gender
perspectives in subject content and teaching at a natural science university. The
course evaluation and follow-up interviews showed that the participants
appreciated the project.
Social Sciences modules also emphasized equity in gender. Given the nature of
the subject, the course objectives sought to clarify the relationship between sex
and gender, cited laws on equal rights for all genders, and discussed social
issues surrounding them. Thus, we cannot disregard gender as a social category
that constructs identities, roles, preferences, behavior, and practices in teaching
social sciences and law. Stevens Kaylene (2016)’s findings in an analysis of
teachers’ understandings, curriculum, and classroom practices about gender
equity in social studies courses revealed that social studies teachers with gender
equitable beliefs did adjust the curriculum and intentionally designed it to be
inclusive. Furthermore, these teachers changed their behavior both within and
138
outside of the classroom, in accordance with their convictions about gender

parity.
A module in an assessment subject was found to have the following statement:

The preparation of a test is one we should be careful as teachers. There is
no perfect assessment type since learners are of varied backgrounds.
Therefore, a multitude of assessment tools should be known to the test
implementer to cater to different types of learners.
Essay questions in the assessment part of the Teaching Math in Intermediate

Grades module were:
“Considering your female and male students, do you think there should
be a different strategy in teaching each? Why?”
“Do you think there is a strategy more suited for male or female
students? Why?”
These examples illustrate that assessment can also address equity by fostering
the learners’ identities, including gender and cultural practices from their
communities. Teachers can receive support from coaches and instructional
leaders as they evaluate data to suggest and test strategies for enhancing the
equality of participation, and they should examine participation and interaction
quality for inequities related to race or gender (Shepard et al., 2020). Despite this,
there are still gaps that need filling in. For example, in an examination of novice
teachers' perceptions of the connections between instruction and student
evaluation in various classrooms by DeLuca and Lam (2014), the teacher
candidates readily expressed responses to students from a variety of cultural
backgrounds, as well as varying English language proficiency and different
learning styles and abilities. Despite this, they showed little empathy or
understanding for pupils of other genders, sexual orientations, socioeconomic
backgrounds, religious affiliations, or other aspects of diversity, such as body
image and interests.
While it is true that gender-based learning styles exist, it is more likely that
various factors contribute to achievement inequalities between men and women.
As a result, teaching practices and theories are critical components of effective
instruction. Therefore, seeking to understand the needs of each student by
considering physical characteristics, intelligence, perception, gender, ability, and
learning styles is likely to achieve an effective and productive learning-teaching
process (Kubat, 2018).
Language-related subjects take on the role of clarifying issues on gender. These

are manifested in subjects such as Language, Culture, and Society and Teaching
and Assessment of Grammar. A language module has an objective to ‘promote
gender-fair languages as an important concern in integrating the role of
language, culture, and society through information campaigns.’ Thus, in the
assessment section of the module, the activity indicated was to promote the use
of gender-fair language through an informative pamphlet. This clearly indicates
that modular instruction does not hamper the campaign toward gender equity.
The British Council (2017) opined that gender-neutral language is a matter of
139
awareness. Accordingly, if people are aware that phrases and expressions used
regularly have the potential to offend because they tend to denigrate women and
girls and their contributions and roles in society, we must endeavor to avoid
them. As a result, people will have more respectful attitudes, and we may be able
to develop a more tolerant and equal society. In her study of teachers’
impressions of gender-inclusive language in the classroom, Vizcarra-Garcia
(2021) found that most teachers responded favorably to gender-inclusive
terminology. They were enthusiastic about using it in their classrooms because it
fosters gender equality and sensitivity in their students. The study demonstrated
that students’ awareness of gender issues is aided by language.
An article aiming to further discuss the concept of ‘grammaring’ and

‘degrammaticalization’ in a grammar module refers to ‘They’ As the Word of the
Year. The module required the learners to survey ten people of various ages and
genders to present their views regarding pronoun use. In addition, they should
refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary. Activities such as
this provide authentic responses on gender issues since the interviewer can judge
the spontaneity of the respondents through their verbal and non-verbal
expressions.
6.2. Challenges in Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Modular

Instruction
The shift toward gender awareness poses issues for teachers. Even with face-to-
face classes, the respondents agreed that obstacles prevent or limit the spread of
such practices. These educators may struggle to incorporate notions of gender-
fairness language in their fields. Still, they recognized the usefulness and
advantages of incorporating gender-equality principles into their instructional
practices. Studies have demonstrated that issues remain regarding gender-
responsive and sensitive curricula, instructional delivery, evaluation, facilities,
and training (Hernandez & Cudiamat, 2018). In advancing toward gender parity,
the Philippines is still a long way from attaining gender equality and diversity in
education (Paz et al., 2016). Study findings have shown that the majority of
students encountered gender inequity in their basic education from K to 12.
Despite having most successfully narrowed the gender gap compared to other
Asian countries (Philippine Commission on Women, 2019) and being one of
Asia’s most gender-equal nations (2019 Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia |
Community Business, n.d.), difficulties persist. Some educators continue to feel
that sexist attitudes are inherent or part of Filipino culture (Evangelista, 2017).
The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) have yet to succeed in removing the recurring misogynistic
themes that ‘naturally’ hide in textbooks (Curaming & Curaming, 2020).
Interestingly, although most teachers have inserted a gender-friendly
introduction into their modules, some of the subsequent content does not reflect
this due to the following challenges.
6.2.1. Differences in views

Although all of the respondents agreed that it is everyone’s responsibility to
implement gender mainstreaming, they also revealed that gender viewpoints are
not universally understood or interpreted. One teacher commented that over 32
140
years of service, there have always been conflicting views on gender integration
in the classroom. They further testified that syllabi were returned several times
due to differences in one’s perspective or point of view on GAD integration.
Teachers vehemently expressed:
“With too much theory and different understanding to practice in
gender integration, how about accepting and respecting other’s ways of
integrating GAD according to their good intentions for all kinds of
learners.“[T11]
“This is a concept that I find difficult to operationalize, and I believe that

its interpretation is up to the individual.”[T26]
“There is no monitoring scheme which is why I am not sure whether I

am doing it right. Honestly, when I ask my colleagues for help, they have
different perceptions regarding mainstreaming. Then until this moment,
I am not clear about what it is. Thus, I am not confident in applying
it.”[T9]
Lualhati (2019) discovered that Filipino teachers are now incorporating gender
sensitivity into their educational approaches. However, Tarrayo et al. (2021)
remarked that the report seems to be optimistic at best. According to them, the
study concentrated on categorical questions, such as whether teachers utilize
gender-neutral terminology in their conversations or lesson plans, rather than
assessing the teachers’ knowledge of Gender and Development. This somehow
does not truly measure the knowledge of teachers.
Respondents commented that they question themselves in terms of whether they
are doing things right. This aligns with Muyomi’s (2014) findings, which
revealed that most of the respondents were not confident in introducing gender
issues at work, followed by those who were not sure whether they had the
confidence. This was due to the knowledge gap in gender mainstreaming. It
must be noted that in order to catalyze visible impacts of gender mainstreaming,
unified organizational support is needed. This necessitates a common
understanding of the learning gaps in gender mainstreaming.
6.2.2. Lack of aggressive gender advocates and practitioners

Gender advocates are expected to work with various institutions and groups that
deal with women’s and gender issues. Their activity includes campaigning and
public participation as well as (research and teaching/learning) materials and
access. Additionally, GAD practitioners need to have specific competences in
specialized fields and be capable of engaging in responsive policy making,
planning, budgeting, and administration (Quezada-Reyes, n.d.).
The field of Gender and Development (GAD) is essential to higher education. It
is mainstreamed by way of the focal individuals. The respondents unanimously
agreed that there is a need for more gender advocates and GAD practitioners.
Though there is a full-time officer overseeing the gender concerns of the college,
the transfer of practice to the instructional level is lacking. Respondents attested
to this with the following responses:
“Teachers maybe are gender campaigners but we also teach, do research,
and extension works which means we are busy. We also face other tasks
141
such as attending meetings and training or doing our administrative

tasks.“ [T3]
“No one took the role of teaching how to integrate gender in my lessons.
There is a lack of awareness on advocating gender sensitivity inside the
classroom. Thus, it becomes more difficult to translate into the
modules.” [T8]
“It is not enough that we attend a day of training for awareness

purposes. We need more contextualized training. We need a committed
gender focal person at the instruction level to also transfer this
knowledge to the students for implementation and practice, especially
since we are training future educators.” [T2]
Respondents recognized the need for more gender focal persons to guide them
in implementing gender mainstreaming. To make each program more gender-
responsive, the support for the implementation process could make the teachers
more committed. Esteban (2016) revealed in her study that the commonly
implemented Gender and Development (GAD) Programs in SUCs in Region III
Capability due to the lack of manpower and inadequacy of material resources to
facilitate the implementation process. Because of a lack of financial and human
resources, the focus on gender is frequently not extended through to the
implementation and monitoring of interventions, even when gender equality
and analysis are integrated at the design stage (La & Todd, 2012). dela Rosa &
Castro, 2021) averred that it is everyone’s responsibility to fully implement
gender mainstreaming, which could address several issues in the school
organization. This could only be possible with the help of a gender specialist
who can guide them on all the premises of gender awareness and sensitivity.
Likewise, a monitoring and evaluation committee may help address the issues
of mainstreaming Gender and Development. According to Villegas (2021), the
continuous assessment and monitoring of gender mainstreaming ensures
sustainability.
The shortage of human resources is a pressing challenge that demands attention

to integrate gender mainstreaming successfully. According to the respondents,
they need to be provided with the necessary skills to assist in designing and
implementing GAD awareness. They believe that channeling these skills builds
teachers’ capacity in gender mainstreaming. All of these issues require the
intervention of more gender advocates. Thus, policy gaps in certain programs
may also arise from a lack of human resources and monitoring, which would
widen the distance between policymaking and practice.
All respondents recognize the need for gender advocates to provide the
necessary skills in gender integration through contextualized trainings.
However, an analysis finding by Muyomi (2014) showed that employees lacked
the necessary abilities to influence the gender mainstreaming implementation
process.
142
6.2.3. Restrictions in the curriculum

While there has been progress in gender mainstreaming in the modules, more
curriculum-related gaps and challenges tend to impede effective
implementation. For example, Talon et al. (2020) discovered significant gender
inequality in curriculum, instructional materials, physical facilities, programs,
and initiatives. Teachers handling different subjects shared the following:
“Most resources are gender-biased. In fact, there are only a few pictures
showing females as automotive or mechanical workers. Thus, more males
are used in the modules. Especially since there were no females enrolled
in my class.” [T16]
“In teaching English, gender is appropriately identified. Moreover,

textbooks still use insensitive grammar rules, for instance, in the use of
the gendered pronoun in pronoun-antecedent agreement. I can
repeatedly teach the use of gender-fair languages in my English major
classes, but it would be good if we had reference materials ready for such.
It is difficult to find the latest literary pieces in my literature class that
infused gender sensitivity.” (T29]
“We lack contextualized resources to mainstream gender awareness that

fit the learning needs of our students. In addition, the subject I handle is
highly technical. To look for a way to integrate that into my topic is
difficult. I wish we [had] been instructed on how to do it before we
developed our modules.” [T11]
“When it comes to discussing social roles, learners’ outputs still exhibit

stereotyping of female and male roles to reflect the community’s values
and norms. Again, I can observe this in my class when I require field
activities.’ [T30]
In this study, respondents clearly indicated gender stereotyping as an issue in

reference materials. Talon et al. (2020)’s study of Gender and Development in the
classroom revealed that despite the gender-responsive basic education policy,
there still exists gender disparity in the graphics of Technology and Livelihood
Education (TLE) and Technical Vocational Livelihood (TVL) instructional
modules and media that focus on one gender only. The most common element of
gender inequity is gender-based stereotyping; for instance, the notion that men
should be strong, whereas women should be soft or weak. This is observed not
only in school, but it could be reflected in the family and society. Reference
materials even portray such outdated ideals. This situation makes the teacher the
most important element in gender mainstreaming. If this is translated and
students are made aware, they develop healthy attitudes. Teachers should avoid
situations, texts, and visual aids that perpetuate stereotyped roles. All
instructional resources, including textbooks, handouts, and workbooks, should
be scrutinized to see whether they have gender bias, are gender-neutral, or are
gender-responsive (UNESCO, 2015).
Some aspects of grammar promoted sexist language in the English language.

These were found in the pronouns "he/him/his" and the generic masculine man,
143
which are used to refer to people of both sexes, as well as the use of suffixes like -
ess, such as hostess and poetess (Kintanar & Tongson, 2014). This is one concern
posited by a language teacher respondent. The instructor noted that gender
stereotypes of both men and women still exist in reference books, as do the
generic terms "man" and "he/him/his," as well as the use of the suffixes "man,"
"ess," and "ette," in occupational nouns and job titles. Triyaswati and Emaliana
(2021) examined equal gender representation in English instructional materials
during emergency remote learning and found gender bias in transactional
interpersonal texts and pictures in every chapter. This shows that the textbook
has a gender bias.
Tarrayo et al. (2021) found a shortage of relevant and acceptable instructional

resources that incorporate gender mainstreaming in ELT and apparently
insufficient gender perspective training due to the lack of a framework for
integrating the gender factor in teaching. Additionally, some textbooks continue
to encourage sexism. In a study of gender mainstreaming in General Education
and Professional Education Courses, Villaroman (2017) discovered a similar
problem. One of the challenges faculty members face in integrating GAD is the
limited availability of GAD resources, particularly in Professional Education
Courses.
6.2.4. Lack of theoretical knowledge and skills in gender mainstreaming

Although the teachers acknowledged that they have academic freedom in
choosing the materials for their courses, including gender concerns, they also
acknowledged that it requires a lot of work to incorporate the gender viewpoint
into their modules. They may lack the necessary expertise and knowledge in
gender mainstreaming. They are not trained for this orientation. The interview
statements below prove this point.
“I lack sufficient knowledge due to a lack of training, and if there was, it
was not sustainable. No training needs analysis was conducted to have a
more focused and gender-contextualized lesson. Additionally, teachers
or managers who were sent to GAD-related trainings/seminars should
conduct echo seminars to update us.” [T18].
“There is no proper information about gender-fair activities which can

be accommodated in the virtual classroom.” [T25]
“I really wanted to be creative in amplifying the empowerment of all

genders, but I am not familiar with ways by which specific gender-fair
objectives and activities can really be identified in the lessons.” [T8]
“I find it difficult on how do I cater to gender perspectives in
mathematical calculations.” [T14]
“Although I have suggestions for how to include gender in the

discussion, I do not claim to be an expert on gender as a discipline. In all
honesty, I have not been directly guided by anyone in integrating a
gender perspective in my module.” [T7]
144
Appropriate training is the most common approach to educating non-gender

specialists. Ilagan (2019) posits that teacher training is vital because they serve as
examples and change agents in the community and at school. Procedures such as
training can be efficient if reflected in the planning, implementation, and
monitoring of the intervention. Monitoring and evaluation activities are used to
ascertain whether gender mainstreaming policies, programs, and initiatives in
the institution are being implemented and affecting gender relations inside the
organization (UNESCO, 2015). In one study, Albaladejo (2016) found that one of
the top three problems met by the educational managers and faculty members in
the implementation of GAD programs was the inadequacy of training, seminars,
workshops, and conferences related to GAD. Similarly, Theresa and Arellano-
Hernandez (n.d.) suggested that members of the gender focal points system be
encouraged to attend GAD capability building trainings or seminars sponsored
or organized by other agencies as they are comfortable discussing sex and
gender concepts but lack knowledge of gender mainstreaming and GAD
planning and budgeting.
Ilagan (2019) revealed in a study of gender mainstreaming in a Higher Education

Institution (HEI) that administrators have had more opportunities to participate
in trainings and seminars on Gender and Development; as a result, they are more
knowledgeable about the current problems, legislation, and government
programs, particularly in the university. However, the entire academic
community, particularly the faculty, must enhance its awareness to help improve
gender mainstreaming in the whole university system. Teacher education
institutions are important parts of educational systems and have a positive
reputation. As change agents in society, they have an impact beyond their walls.
To achieve positive change, teachers must first completely comprehend the issue.
Respondents stressed the need for a comprehensive training needs assessment.
The investment in preparing training should be adapted to the specific context of
its participants. When both training needs assessment and monitoring are
lacking, there is no basis for developing a foundation for gender mainstreaming
learning or intervention activities. However, as noted, monitoring is almost non-
existent. Examining all of the institution's policies, operations, and work plans
via a gender lens is possible with gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation
(UNESCO, 2015). Galamgam et al. (2021) proposed that a monitoring and
evaluation technical working group should carefully observe and assess the
classroom and school's Gender and Development initiatives to ensure ongoing
improvement.
6.3. Measures to Address the Challenges in Mainstreaming Gender

Perspectives
Gender mainstreaming in the Campus under study complied with the mandates
of gender mainstreaming. However, at the instructional level, teachers still face
some challenges. Thus, there is a need to strengthen its implementation. Some of
the proposed measures are identified in Table 1 based on the challenges
experienced by the teachers in their effort to mainstream gender perspectives in
their modules.
145
Table. 1. Proposed measures to address the challenges in mainstreaming gender

perspectives
Areas Proposed Measures
Evidence-based Enabling Policies Replicable programs and practices to support

the gender mainstreaming effort of the
institution
Human Resources Designation of a GAD focal person and GAD

coordinators on the campus to coordinate all
gender-related activities
Composition of monitoring and evaluation
committee to monitor and evaluate gender
mainstreaming in the campus
Material Resources Provision of GAD office on the campus

Provision of updated GAD mainstreaming
resource materials in the library
Continuous capability building activities for

Activities gender focal persons, GAD Coordinators, and
teachers to (re)evaluate their gender notions
Engendering the curriculum and subjects
during curriculum review through inviting
inputs from community gender advocates and
LGBTQ
Contextualizing the instructional materials to
promote an inclusive and supportive learning
environment
Research activities on current methods and
policies in gender integration
Workshop on concrete integration of gender
perspectives in the syllabus and updating of
modules for gender-fair education
Concrete signages within the campus that
support equality of all genders.
Creation of a networking site for
mainstreaming efforts
Review the examples and wording used in
current tests, exams, and assessments to see if
they contain any gender prejudice or
stereotypes.
Integrate gender awareness components into
pre- and in-service teacher training
Strengthen linkages with partner institutions
for benchmarking to identify best practices in
gender mainstreaming
Evidence-based reform in education refers to measures that permit or promote

the implementation of programs and practices that have been successfully tested
146
via in-depth analysis (Slavin, 2019). Evidence-based means a program or practice

that can be implemented with a set of procedures to allow successful replication
(WSIPP, 2020).
According to Slavin (2019), for evidence-based reform to prevail, three

conditions must exist: there must be a broad range of proven programs in every
area of education, every subject and grade level, appropriate for use in a given
country or region; trusted, impartial, educator-friendly reviews of research must
be available, to enable educators and policymakers to know which specific
programs and practices have been proven to work in rigorous evaluations; and
government agencies must provide resources to schools to enable them to adopt
proven programs.
In the context of the study setting, an evidence-based policy requires specific

replicable programs and practices to be implemented. Thus, the proposed
measures spell out contextualized programs and activities specifically befitting
to MPSPC based on the challenges identified by the respondents. It is the hope
of the study that initiatives from the policy-makers could be solicited to ascertain
active participation leading to measurable results.
7. Conclusion
The data analysis revealed that course facilitators as module developers
considered gender-inclusive practices in module development, such as explicitly
communicating a gender-friendly introduction, adopting gender-fair language
and visuals in the modules, and gender integration in lessons, indicating
awareness of gender mainstreaming. However, only a few were able to integrate
GAD concepts into their modules. Though the college has complied with the
mandate of gender mainstreaming in its policies, plans and programs in
instruction, research, extension and production, a strong commitment from the
faculty members is needed. In addition, strengthening the college’s gender
mainstreaming requires strong commitment and support from the
administrative officials, faculty, and staff. Pressing challenges such as differences
in views, lack of aggressive gender advocates and practitioners, restrictions in
the curriculum, and lack of theoretical knowledge and skills in gender
mainstreaming have given rise to a lack of commitment toward advancing GAD
programs. These underscore the further need to intensify mainstreaming efforts
in the areas of enabling policy, human resources, material resources, and
activities.
Based on the findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are

proposed. The campus may adopt the suggested measures to ensure the active
involvement of all stakeholders to be fully equipped with the desired
competencies to implement the GAD programs effectively and efficiently.
Moreover, gender-based analysis as an approach in research may also be
conducted to examine the impact of the tasks in the module on different
genders. This paper aimed to present a broader discussion of gender
mainstreaming practices in modular instruction as well as the proposed
intervention; however, the area of study is new in the context of modular
147
instruction. It is hoped that more researchers may be motivated to focus on

gender mainstreaming efforts to capture a wider perspective.
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Appendix 1
Intro Script: Thank you for taking time to participate in this interview. Our
group is conducting research entitled Mainstreaming Gender
Perspectives in Modular Instruction. In this regard, we humbly implore
your cooperation in responding to the following queries. Your responses
are highly solicited for the completion of the said study. Thank you.
Before we begin, may I know how long have you worked for this
institution? What is your current position?
Interview Proper
1. What is your personal view of Gender and Development (GAD)?
2. In your ____ years of experience as a teacher, what is your understanding
of gender mainstreaming?
3. Which programs/activities are put in place which you have participated
to ensure implementation of gender mainstreaming in school?
4. Were you trained on implementation of gender mainstreaming in
education?
5. How many learning modules have you prepared so far?
6. What are the subjects you handle?
7. Were you able to practice the mainstreaming methods you have acquired
in crafting your modules?
8. What are the challenges you have encountered in mainstreaming gender
perspectives in modular instruction?
9. What recommendations would you make to the College to strengthen
gender mainstreaming efforts?
Received Aug 17, 2022; Revised Nov 17, 2022; Accepted Nov 23, 2022
Understanding EFL International Students’

Academic Listening Strategies: A Literature
Review
Ahlam Ali Salim Halali
Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Faculty of Languages, Department of English, Sebha University, 18758,
Sebha State, Libya
Lilliati Ismail
Arshad Abd Samad

Taylor’s University, Malaysia, 1, Lrg DK Senza, 47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia
Abu Bakar Razali

Nooreen Noordin
Abstract. Academic listening and interaction in international educational

settings are essential for academic success. International students’
language proficiency and prior practice in their home countries either
facilitate or impede their academic success. Thus, internationalization has
become a desirable trend among learners to further their studies in
overseas institutions where English is the medium of instruction.
Overseas education allows international students to gain new knowledge
and improve their academic skills in various academic fields. However, a
lack of English communicative competence and comprehension impedes
learners’ academic and communicative success. As a result, international
students look for strategies to help them overcome their academic
comprehension challenges. This paper explores and better explains EFL
international students’ academic listening challenges and strategies to
motivate stakeholders to support international students in furthering
their studies overseas. Thus, this paper reviews related literature on
academic listening strategies through the traditional literature review
©Authors
153
process. Therefore, this paper explores and better explains EFL

international students’ academic listening challenges and strategies to
motivate stakeholders to support international students in furthering
their studies overseas. The discussion of findings reveals that
international students face challenges with understanding others in
academic discourse. These challenges are due to their lack of prior English
listening practice in their home countries. Thus, international students
rely on strategies to overcome communication challenges and improve
academic listening comprehension skills (i.e., memory, cognitive, and
social strategies). The findings should encourage administrators of
international institutions, researchers, and other stakeholders to revamp
pre-sessional English language programs and conduct more research on
international students’ language learning experiences to help them
succeed in their overseas study programs.
Keywords: international students; communicative competence; academic

listening challenges; academic listening strategies
1. Introduction
This paper reviews the foundations of research investigating the relations among
identified language learning challenges to explain how language learning
strategies are formulated. More specifically, the discussion concentrates on
international students’ academic language performance issues. Listening is a
passive activity that depends on a learner’s development of knowledge, mental
processing abilities, and strategies for receiving and comprehending the speech
delivered by others. Thus, listening skills are essential to developing
communication competence, which depends on practical experience using the
target language. However, for EFL learners, there is often a learning deficit in
target language use and practice, which explains their low levels of listening
comprehension of the new language. This matter is particularly problematic for
international students from EFL learning backgrounds exposed to content in a
foreign language with unfamiliar terminology specific to their fields of study.
International students must therefore utilize various types of knowledge relevant
to the academic contexts they encounter to comprehend what they hear, which
involves highly complex cognitive and behavioural processes (Juan & Zainol-
Abidin, 2013).
Most international students find comprehension more difficult when listening to

English rather reading it, which may be partially explained by the fundamental
differences between written and spoken language and how people listen and
read. The listening process mainly involves the retrieval of information from long-
term memory. Thus, learners’ listening challenges could be negatively affected by
factors such as their levels of linguistic competence and knowledge acquired
through education as well as other affective factors such as personality
characteristics and the ambiguities of tolerance, anxiety, and attitude, which can
inhibit learners from successful listening comprehension (Brown, 2005).
Therefore, these problems represent significant obstacles to EFL international
students studying at universities where English is the medium of instruction and
154
communication with others in academic settings (Haduck, 2018; Stillwell, 2018;

Tsai, 2017).
Several studies found that international students faced challenges in academic

listening concerning connecting and understanding elements of content in
lectures and other communicative activities, which extended to note-taking and
understanding academic speech in interactions with others (Manjet, 2019;
Stillwell, 2018; Tsai, 2017; Wolf & Phung, 2019). For example, Wolf and Phung
(2019) found that international students experienced academic listening
challenges inside and outside classroom settings. The research further found that
international students’ problems and challenges were attributable to their
insufficient prior English learning experience. One reason for the difficulty in
listening was “they mostly listened to textbook recordings and had little
opportunity to listen to native speakers while learning English” (Wolf & Phung,
2019, p. 217). A similar study by Juan and Zainol-Abidin (2013) identified three
stages of the listening process related to the academic listening challenges of
international students, classified as “pre-listening, while-listening, and post-
listening” (p. 395).
Liu and Kinginger (2021) and Shinagawa et al. (2022) found difficulties were
encountered by students during the pre-, while-, and post-listening stages of the
listening process, which hindered them when performing basic academic
activities (Manjet, 2016). Besides, English academic language proficiency
deficiencies may prevent students from fully comprehending and participating in
English academic discourse. As academic language is challenging to acquire
through short-term training (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1990), EFL
international students may need to rely on strategies to aid them in overcoming
their academic language challenges.
Cultural and individual differences between English users can hinder or enable
second language learning and acquisition. Thus, in the transition from EFL to ESL
language learning pedagogy, language learning strategies are useful in improving
communicative competence. Due to cognitive differences, the implementation of
these strategies varies depending on whether the learner is a child or an adult.
Researchers only began to recognize the importance of adults’ use of EFL and ESL
strategies and the development of taxonomies in the mid-1970s (O’Malley &
Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1992; Rubin, 1981). Since then, learning strategies have
drawn considerable attention from many researchers and other authors.
According to Oxford (1990), “language learning strategies are specific actions

taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-
directed, more effective, and more transferrable to a new situation” (p. 8). These
strategies were described by Rubin (1975) as techniques or tools that are useful for
enhancing learning processes involved in acquiring knowledge specific to
learners’ needs in specific situations. Therefore, language learning strategies can
be used to encourage learners to take advantage of opportunities to enhance and
increase their interactions in academic contexts and thus improve their
communicative competence.
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2. Literature Review Analysis

2.1. Listening Strategies
Language strategies, “specific actions, behaviours, steps, or techniques that
students use to improve their progress in developing the new language skills”
Oxford (1990. p. 157) can facilitate the internalization, storage, retrieval, or the use
of new language. O’Malley and Chamot (1991) and Oxford (1992) have enhanced
and extended these strategies to include sociolinguistic competence and other
linguistic competencies in language learning strategies. Recently, learning
strategies have been defined as “an individual’s activities engagement in the
learning process within a particular situated setting to accomplish their proximal
goals (e.g., to learn a language for immediate gain) or/and ultimate ones (e.g.,
master language for academic/professional/national advancement)” (Hajar,
2019, p. 33).
Language learning strategies have been identified and classified by several

authors. For example, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) organized language learning
strategies according to cognitive, metacognitive, and social/affective strategy
classifications, while Oxford (1990) classified them as cognitive, memory-related,
compensatory, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies, which are the
categories used in the present research. Ultimately, language learning strategies
were classified according to two main complementary classes with six
subcategories, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Language learning strategies

Type of Strategy Function Related Example
Cognitive Enable “manipulation or Practicing, receiving,
strategies transformation of the target sending messages,
language by the learner” analysing and
reasoning, and
creating a structure for
input and output
Memory- “Enable learners to restore Creating mental
related verbal material and then linkages, applying
strategies retrieve it when needed for images and sounds,
Direct communication” and reviewing well,
Strategies “moving information from employing actions
‘fact level’ to the ‘skill level’”
Compensatory Enable learners to use the Guessing (e.g.,
strategies new language for either inferencing)
comprehension or production intelligently in
despite the limitation in listening, reading, and
knowledge; intended to make overcoming
up for an inadequate limitations in speaking
repertoire of grammar and and writing
especially, vocabulary
Metacognitive Enable learners to perform Centring learners’
strategies actions that go beyond purely own learning,
Indirect cognitive devices, and which arranging and
Strategies provide a way for learners to planning learners’
coordinate their learning own learning, and
process
156
evaluating their own

learning
Affective Enable learners to gain Self-encouragement:

strategies control over emotions, lowering anxiety,
attitudes, motivation, and encouraging own self,
values taking own emotional
temperature
Social Enable learners’ Asking questions,
strategies communication that occurs cooperating with
between and among people others, and
empathizing with
others
Source: Oxford (1990)
The direct strategies class is for strategies that deal directly with a new language,
which entails mental processing, including cognitive, memory-related, and
compensatory strategies. The indirect strategies are meant for general learning
management and provide “indirect support for language learning through
focusing, planning, evaluating, seeking opportunities, controlling anxiety,
increasing cooperation and empathy and other means” (Lavasani & Faryadres,
2011, p. 192). The indirect strategies include metacognitive, affective, and social
strategies (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1990; Rubin, 1975).
Because English language listening skills cannot be effectively learned in a short

time, international students tend to adopt or develop strategies to assist their
language learning. These strategies assist them in mitigating their language use
challenges so that they can actively participate in academic discourse and
improve their knowledge acquisition and academic performance in their fields of
study. For instance, several related studies conducted in the UK (Dodge, 2016;
Khalifa, 2010; Trenkic & Warmington, 2018) focused on international students in
higher education from various perspectives. Dodge (2016) and Trenkic and
Warmington (2019) found that even though international students had met the
official English language proficiency requirements, they could not effectively
participate in academic discussions or contribute to their fields of study as they
were insufficiently proficient in academic listening.
International students’ perspectives on academic language strategies are divided

into two categories. Some students tend to concentrate their efforts on applying
strategies that involve processes to integrate and control information, such as
metacognitive strategies for regulating self-monitoring and cognitive self-control
when engaging in activities (Abdullah & Mahfoodh, 2019), while other
international students tend to rely on memorization strategies (Lee et al., 2015) in
response to factors such as anxiety, insufficient self-confidence, and the
inclination to prefer autonomous learning.
The quantitative and qualitative results of research conducted by Lee et al. (2015)
indicated high usage of cognitive strategies for academic listening, while the
qualitative results indicated that “memorization was much higher than the survey
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results (M = 2.37, SD = .64)” (p. 922). These results agree with those of Oxford
(1989) and Oxford and Ehrman (1992) concerning the influences of factors on
English language learners’ implementation of learning strategies. These listening
strategies are associated with socializing factors and thus social and affective
strategies. Their usage for developing academic listening depends on the extent
to which learners can socialize in new academic settings and cultures. For
example, Alghail and Mahfoodh (2016) found that international students relied
on social strategies such as “joining English proficiency courses and attending
seminars, workshops, and conferences” (p. 301) on their own initiative.
Wakamoto and Rose (2021) found that international students employed strategies
of various types and varying degrees of usage associated with several factors. For
instance, students studying in native English-speaking countries encounter
different communication problems from those studying in ESL settings, and
opportunities to practice listening in these two linguistic contexts also differ.
Therefore, the English language learning strategies students employ vary in
accordance with these factors. This finding is supported by Anthony and
Ganesen’s (2012) research, which compared the language learning strategies of
local and international students. They also found that “the international students
used the language learning strategies more frequently than the local students in
the categories of memory, cognitive, metacognitive, and affective strategy” (p. 60).
This finding supports the findings of researchers reporting contrasts in the types
of language learning strategies used by international students from different
countries and academic learning contexts.
The important roles of language learning strategies in the learning process and
their effects on the listening challenges and strategies of 117 Chinese international
students were investigated by Fu et al. (2018) using a mixed-method research
design. The study found that although “participation and English proficiency
level predicted direct strategies like memory, cognitive and compensatory
strategies, participation was identified as the sole predictor of indirect strategies,
like metacognitive, affective and social strategies” (p. 1891). As a result of the
anxiousness and loneliness experienced by international students in new foreign
educational settings, students rely on memory-related, cognitive, and
compensatory strategies.
These strategies allow more time for self-improvement compared to social

strategies requiring communication with others. Furthermore, the effectiveness of
social strategies is questionable due to the students’ lack of cross-cultural
language training to prepare them for new international academic settings. The
classifications of language learning strategies relevant to the present study are
presented in detail in the following sections, which correspond to the related
literature.
Listening depends on the cognitive processes of encoding and decoding meaning

for storing and retrieving information and metacognitive processes involving
meaningful practice. Various strategies are used to enhance attention and
memory by relating social and cultural contexts with short- and long-term
158
memory. Listening comprehension is thus viewed as a receptive, “active process

in which individuals focus on selected aspects of aural input, construct meaning
from passages, and relate what they hear to existing knowledge” (O’Malley et al.,
1989, p. 418). As a result, learners could adopt learning strategies to improve their
listening comprehension abilities. Furthermore, Saraswaty (2018) observed that
students “should have much more exposure to a variety of listening” (p. 147),
which could be facilitated through the use of various listening strategies to assist
in listening comprehension processes to overcome communication challenges.
The following subsections discuss related literature on the two major direct and
indirect listening strategies classes. The direct strategies include cognitive,
memory-related, and compensatory strategies, while the indirect listening
strategies comprise metacognitive, affective, and social strategies (Oxford, 1990).
As mentioned above, direct listening strategies involve the cognitive processing

of language to store and retrieve information. Based on related literature, the three
direct strategy types relevant to this study are discussed in the subsections below.
2.1.1. Cognitive Listening Strategies

Cognitive listening strategies “involve active manipulation of the learning task”
(O’Malley & Chamot, 1990, p. 423). These strategies include practising, receiving
and sending messages, and analysing and reasoning to improve listening
comprehension. Practising consists of the repetition and practice of sounds,
recognition and use of formulae and patterns, and naturalistic practice Oxford
(1990). These practising strategies are useful in the review of academic content to
familiarise students with the subject matter. Receiving and sending messages
involves understanding ideas quickly, thus enabling learners to precisely identify
and concentrate on what they need to understand while disregarding non-
essential information. These processes may rely on resources available online, or
they could be in the form of offline resources such as electronic devices to obtain
the meanings of utterances or to support comprehension of subject matter
(Oxford, 1990; Yerken & Nguyen Luu, 2022).
The use of technology has become the most commonly used strategy for assisting
learners in preparing for classwork and discussions. This approach can improve
cognitive abilities in understanding meanings to increase comprehensible input
and improve comprehension by listening to the pronunciation of academic terms
(Oxford, 1990). Analysing and reasoning strategies involve deductive reasoning
to arrive at assumptions about the meanings of what learners have heard by first
understanding the overall idea of the content and then narrowing it to more
specific ideas. Thus, students tend to predict meanings from academic content by
focusing their attention on familiar words or expressions to reach a general
understanding of the content. Oxford (1990) explained that analysing expressions
involves relying on cognitive skills to mentally break down phrases into their
components. This could be based on notes taken in context for later analysis to
allow more time for processing the information.
159
The analysis and reasoning strategy components are contrastive analysis,

translating, and transferring. Contrastive analysis involves phonological, lexical,
and syntactic analyses to determine and connect the relations between parts of the
speech content of discussions (Oxford, 1990; Shinagawa et al., 2022). This is
usually implemented through cognitive processing while listening to the speech
of others in context to facilitate the listener’s ability to follow discussion content.
Translation is an effective strategy for learners with low levels of communicative
competence in English. This strategy relies on the learner’s native language as a
basis for understanding English discussions by focusing on familiar words and
then moving on to new words and expressions. This is similar to transferring,
which is a strategy involving the application of previously acquired linguistic
knowledge and understanding of the learner’s native language (Oxford, 1990).
For instance, Arabic and English have similarities and differences that can be
useful to support English language comprehension. An example of this is that the
sentence position of adjectives in Arabic is the opposite of English. Therefore, with
this knowledge, native Arabic speakers’ understanding of English could be
improved.
Finally, the last categories of cognitive listening strategies are taking notes,
summarising, and highlighting linguistic input and output to support learners’
listening comprehension. According to Oxford (1990), note-taking “is a very
important strategy for listening” (p. 86). Note-taking is an advanced tool for
learners with a high level of proficiency, whose listening is supported by their
prior learning experience (Kim, 2006). Moreover, note-taking is essential for
aiding the transmission of information into long-term memory. For example,
McKnight (2004) reported “learning from academic lectures as deriving from
individual listening and note-taking processes” (p. 352).
Thus, international students’ learning has been found to improve as a result of

improved listening comprehension gained through taking notes while listening
to academic discourse. Summarising is another type of cognitive listening strategy
that involves top-down cognitive processing. Learners can utilize this strategy
with low levels of language proficiency to facilitate their recognition of topics in
received listening content. At the same time, advanced learners may also use the
method to summarise the target language (Juan & Zainol-Abidin, 2013). The last
component of these strategies is highlighting, which has been reported by
Pourfarhad et al. (2012) and Tuengkun (2014) as improving the listening
comprehension abilities of international students. The strategy is interrelated with
note-taking and summarising as it involves annotating notes and taking brief
supplementary notes on received listening content such as keywords.
Previous research on learning strategies conducted by Tuengkun (2014) among

279 Asian international students found that cognitive strategies were used more
than metacognitive and socio-effective strategies to improve English language
comprehension due to the students’ prior lack of English listening practice and
exposure in naturalistic academic settings. Furthermore, a study conducted by
Serraj and Noordin (2013) among Iranian students found that they relied on audio
recording as a strategy to improve listening comprehension skills. This allowed
160
the students to spend more time listening to speech to understand the academic
content more deeply.
2.1.2 Memory-Related Listening Strategies

Learners employ a variety of memory-related cognitive processes to improve their
listening comprehension. Memory-related listening strategies involve creating
mental linkages, applying sounds and images, reviewing acquired knowledge,
performing actions, and developing strategies to enhance the retrieval of
information from short- and long-term memory (O’Malley et al., 1989; Oxford,
1990).
According to Oxford (1990), the creation of mental linkages consists of grouping

new words and other linguistic information into meaningful classifications or
associations with contexts. This may involve associating new information with
familiar concepts already stored in the memory as part of a learner’s prior
knowledge (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990). Implementation of this type of strategy
could improve learners’ listening comprehension by enabling them to remember
information more easily and quickly, and associating new words with contexts
allows the parsing of new words learners hear to apply them in meaningful
contexts.
Strategies that rely on associating images and sounds involve forming mental
images of what a learner has heard. Applying these associated images and sounds
in the learning process helps learners commit new expressions they hear to
memory, thus making the imagery of concrete value in facilitating learning. This
may extend to learners creating associations between imagery and concepts such
as parts of speech by using keywords in combination with images or sounds to
remember what they hear or repeating sounds to memorize what is heard through
audio repetition to facilitate the recall of information from memory (O’Malley &
Chamot, 1990).
Reviewing what has been heard is an essential strategy for improving information
recall and understanding meaning. Reviewing would usually involve repeated
listening to increase students’ familiarity with academic content. As discussed
above, this could involve contextualising words to increase learners’ listening
comprehension, resulting in improved communicative competence (Oxford,
1990). Memory-related strategies can also involve employing actions, which are
also referred to as total physical responses. This was explained by Oxford (1990)
as being implemented when “students listen to a command and then physically
act it out” (p. 66). Oxford (1990) illustrated further about learners physically acting
lexical items out with the example of a learner teaching “himself to get a feeling
of physical heat whenever he hears a new feminine noun” (p. 66). A listener could
also listen carefully to what others were saying to act it out later to enable
remembering and understanding the meaning of utterances. This could improve
comprehensible input when similar utterances were used again in other
circumstances.
161
Several studies have investigated memory-related strategies, including one by

Juan and Zainol-Abidin (2013) on the pre-and post-listening challenges faced by
Chinese students enrolled in a Malaysian university. These problems were found
to result from the students’ inadequate prior knowledge of vocabulary, which led
to the research informants’ heavy reliance on stories and images to improve their
listening comprehension. The researcher mentioned, “Pictures could be the
materials to enhance students’ understanding of the learning materials as the
students actively ask questions to get more information from the learning
materials” (p. 391). Thus, the students tended to predict the meanings of
unfamiliar words by linking them to pictures. Implementing this strategy
motivated the students to become more attentive and curious about
understanding listening materials, which raised the students’ morale regarding
effective learning of the subject matter.
Tuengkun (2014) study investigated the listening strategies employed by 279

Asian international students who faced listening comprehension challenges
resulting from their inadequate prior knowledge and practice of English. The
research found that the students focused on certain keywords about familiar
words to form linkages between their memory ideas and the content of active
discussions. The memory-related listening strategy was more frequently used
compared to others, such as metacognitive and socio-affective listening strategies
in improving their listening comprehension and communicative competence.
2.1.3. Compensatory Listening Strategies

Compensatory listening strategies are utilized to overcome the effects of
knowledge-related limitations on listening skills. These strategies are essential for
aiding learners who sometimes do not know expressions, encounter ambiguous
meanings, or fail to hear utterances used in academic discourse. In such cases, as
Rubin (1975) stated, “The good language learner may be a good guesser” (p. 43).
Clues aid in identifying familiar, understood words and other expressions from
content and inferring the meaning of the rest Rubin (1975). This view of
compensatory strategies is supported by a study conducted among Chinese
students by Tsai (2017). The findings reported that compensatory strategies were
beneficial to students in improving their listening comprehension.
Furthermore, the findings of a study by Liu (2011) substantiated the role of

compensatory strategies in enhancing the learning of listening skills, explaining
they are “built up by practicing with compensatory skills” (p. 26). Therefore, these
strategies rely on intelligent guessing when listening through recognizing the use
of linguistic or other clues. The linguistic clues are recognized based on previous
acquired linguistic knowledge of the target language, such as syntax or
morphology. Other clues may be unrelated or indirectly related to linguistics,
such as social relations or situations or any other information from the immediate
environment or prior knowledge and experience that might aid in guessing the
meaning of the subject matter. Indirect listening strategies may be combined with
the strategies discussed above but provide indirect support for language learning.
These strategies are comprised of metacognitive, affective, and social listening
162
strategies, which are discussed in the following subsections based on the review
of related literature.
2.1.4. Metacognitive Listening Strategies

According to O’Malley and Chamot (1990), “metacognitive strategies are higher-
order executive skills” (p. 44), which Oxford (1990) describes as involving
centring, arranging, planning, and evaluating learning.
Centring learning is accomplished by reviewing newly acquired knowledge or

learning materials and linking them with prior knowledge to review basic
principles and other aspects of content in preparation for upcoming engagement
in academic discourse. This is intended to lessen confusion and the possibility of
becoming overwhelmed while processing new information. Moreover, with this
strategy, language is learned with prior knowledge, allowing learners to focus
their attention, thus enabling them to have directed and selective attention.
(Humphreys, 2022; Oxford, 1990).
Directed attention assists learners in understanding a context’s overall meaning,

while selective attention focuses on particular details. Oxford (1990) noted that
both of these modes of attention are important in listening. O’Malley and Chamot
(1990) asserted that learners need interaction to facilitate understanding while
paying attention. Another strategy is to delay speech production to focus
attention on listening, automatically and dynamically, depending on a student’s
language communication skills (O’Malley et al., 1989; Oxford, 1990).
Language learning strategies involving arranging and planning assist learners in

developing and improving listening abilities. These elements facilitate the
discovery of what is needed in language learning. Thus, organizing learning
materials involves considering their usefulness in the academic setting and
facilitates the process of understanding when reviewing the organized content.
Another strategy is setting achievement goals needed to improve listening
comprehension. (Liu & Kinginger, 2021; O’Malley et al., 1989; Oxford, 1990).
Another strategy is identifying the purposes of language tasks, which requires

identifying the topics of academic discourse to facilitate understanding of the
subject matter. This strategy is supported by seeking practice opportunities
whenever possible to become accustomed to listening to variation in speech (e.g.,
accents). Evaluating learning, as reported by Shinagawa et al. (2022), is important
in relation to the other strategies and primarily involves self-monitoring and self-
evaluation. Self-monitoring is the learners’ noticing how they understand others
when communicating with them while keeping track of any failures in
understanding others’ speech. Self-evaluation involves learners determining the
extent to which they have improved their listening skills concerning the problems
they have faced when communicating with others.
Bidabadi and Yamat (2011) investigated metacognitive strategies among 92

Iranian freshmen. Their research found that metacognitive strategies significantly
and positively correlated with the students’ listening proficiency and were used
more frequently and actively than cognitive and socio-affective listening
163
strategies. Similarly, in Kazemi and Kiamarsi’s (2017) research conducted among

60 students in language institutes in Yasouj, Iran, participants reported they relied
more frequently on metacognitive strategies than cognitive and socio-affective
strategies. Moreover, Liu’s (2014) research among 80 participants showed positive
effects of metacognitive strategies on improving listening, which was
instrumental in cultivating correct language learning beliefs among learners.
However, in contrast to the above studies, Tuengkun's (2014) study among 279
Asian international students found that metacognitive strategies were the least
used by study participants in comparison to other strategies for improving their
English language listening abilities.
2.1.5 Affective Listening Strategies

Affective listening is assisted by processes used to achieve targeted goals,
including the reduction of anxiety, self-encouragement, and tracking emotional
temperature. Reducing anxiety involves progressive relaxation and deep
breathing, which would help to reduce anxiety throughout the learning process.
Self-encouragement, which supports increasing motivation, has received
considerable attention in previous research on Gardner and Lambert’s (1959)
instrumental and integrative classifications. However, language learning
strategies also rely on internal and external motivation as affective factors in
encouraging learning to improve listening comprehension. These types of
motivation focus on making positive statements, taking risks wisely, and
rewarding oneself. Taking emotional temperature involves self-assessment of
one’s feelings, motivation, and attitudes. The learner uses strategies to monitor
and control these emotional factors by paying attention to their emotional
responses, such as anxiety or fear, during interaction with others. This may be
accomplished with the help of structured records such as checklists or diaries.
Otherwise, learners may express their feelings to someone who could support or
encourage their language development.
2.1.6 Social Listening Strategies

Social listening strategies are communication and engagement processes such as
asking questions, cooperating, and empathizing with others. Asking questions
involves two question types: asking for clarification and asking for verification.
Asking for clarification includes asking a speaker to speak more slowly,
paraphrase or repeat what was said, or explain the meaning of an utterance.
Asking for verification is usually about learners’ need to confirm the accuracy of
their understanding of speech content and may include asking for corrections.
(O’Malley et al., 1989; Rubin, 1975; Shinagawa et al., 2022).
For cooperating with others, the learner must seek opportunities for interaction
with peers or professionals in academic settings to improve their listening
comprehension (Rubin, 1975). Empathizing with others requires the development
of cultural awareness and an understanding and awareness of the thoughts and
feelings of others. In theory, this understanding or empathy would encourage
learners to listen more attentively and gain a deeper understanding of the
concepts shared by others (Rubin, 1975).
164
Socio-effective strategies were investigated in research by Tuengkun (2014)

among 279 Asian international students, reporting that these strategies were the
least used among participants in comparison with other strategies for improving
English listening skills. However, a study conducted by Lang (2018) found that
socializing strategies involving attentive listening were important to improving
international students’ listening skills to understand US English speakers. The
importance of social listening strategies is also supported by Ngo’s (2019) finding
that from a socio-cultural perspective, social strategies improved listening skills.
3. Discussion
International students reported relying on several academic listening strategies to
overcome their associated academic communication challenges, which is
considered an essential method of improving and supporting the language
processing abilities of learners (e.g., Halali et al., 2021; O’Malley & Chamot, 1990;
Rubin, 1981; Ungureanu & Georgescu, 2012).
The findings on international students’ implementation of communication

strategies to overcome their communication challenges suggest that international
students from various educational backgrounds have not gained adequate
academic English knowledge as a result of English being treated as a foreign
language and rarely used (Liu & Kinginger, 2021; Shinagawa et al., 2022). These
challenges may arise from a greater need for communicative competence in
academic listening as the students would be expected to engage in conversation
and express themselves articulately.
According to Hymes (1976), communicative competence relies on tacit knowledge

and the ability to use it. This relates to Piaget’s (1936) theory on cognitive
development, which explains learning as knowledge that is stored in memory.
However, international students often lack the needed store of useful knowledge
due to insufficient prior learning and practice in English. Therefore, academic
listening strategies have been found to support the improvement of learners’
listening comprehension abilities and reduce their L2-related anxiety (Fathi et al.,
2020). Among the six sub-constructs of listening strategies considered in this
review, international students relied more heavily on metacognitive strategies. In
order of usage levels, these were followed by cognitive, compensatory, affective,
memory-related, and social listening strategies reported by several studies (e.g.,
Halali et al., 2023, Kazemi & Kiamarsi, 2017; Saraswaty, 2018; Tuengkun, 2014;
Tsai, 2017). For example, Tuengkun (2014) found that Asian international students
studying in the US relied heavily on cognitive listening strategies for
understanding academic discourse, while Tsai (2017) found that note-taking was
a central component of listening strategies that improved academic listening
comprehension.
The finding that metacognitive listening strategies were the most used by
internationals is consistent with Kazemi and Kiamarsi’s (2017) finding that these
strategies were the most frequently used for improving listening comprehension.
These strategies enhance paying more attention to others to improve
understanding of academic discussions and taking advantage of opportunities to
165
listen to others in academic settings. These strategies, according to Shinagawa et

al. (2022), indicate that internationals are autonomous learners who strive to
improve cognitive skills to facilitate academic communication and improve
learning. The discussion also indicates the students have self-awareness of their
learning, which was also reported in previous research (Maftoon & Alamdari,
2020; Zarrabi, 2020) on metacognitive strategies. Fathi et al. (2020) reported that
employing this type of listening strategy improved listening comprehension
while reducing anxiety.
Fathi et al. (2020) reported that international students preferred cognitive listening
strategies, which focus primarily on watching academic content on TV and
YouTube videos followed by summarisation and note-taking. These strategies
made the international students feel comfortable as they could perform the
activities they chose and improve comprehension of content through repetitive
listening with reduced anxiety. The strategies were complemented by note-taking
with translation into the students’ L1 to enhance understanding and improve
abilities to store and retrieve information, which was also found effective by Juan
and Zainol-Abidin (2013). These findings are also consistent with those of Yulisa
(2018), who reported cognitive listening strategies were the second most
implemented strategy by learners and were significantly correlated with
improved listening comprehension. Compensatory listening strategies were the
third most used strategies reported. These strategies involved guessing meaning
from academic discourse and relating that to familiar content and the current
academic context.
Thus, compensatory strategies concentrating on prior preparation along with

guessing speech content facilitated linking prior input with new input by
decreasing the response time needed in the processing of linguistic meaning,
which was also reported in Tsai’s (2017) findings on international students’
reliance on compensatory listening strategies to overcome vocabulary deficiencies
and improve listening skills. The study further supports the finding on the role of
note-taking in improving listening comprehension. The present study’s findings
are consistent with Hong-Nam and Leavell’s (2006) findings, which found
compensatory strategies were the third most used strategy for improving
listening comprehension; however, Mohammadipour (2018) found these
strategies were the most frequently used among study participants.
Affective listening strategies are centred on the internal motivations of learning

and the control of emotions to focus attention on important aspects of improving
communicative competence and eventually achieving mastery of the target
language through acquiring comprehensible input. Thus, in relation to their
experiences with these strategies, the internationals who used them reported their
attempts at calming themselves down and evaluating their weaknesses to
improve their listening comprehension. In the qualitative responses, the
informants recognized the importance of being autonomous adult learners who
were expected to know how to manage their problems. Thus, effective listening
strategies were ultimately found to enhance learners’ self-confidence by
encouraging self-reliance and self-motivation. However, these were among the
166
least used types of listening strategies, which agrees with several other studies
(Alhaysony, 2017; Fu et al., 2018; Kazemi & Kiamarsi, 2017), which found
metacognitive and cognitive strategies were preferred over affective strategies.
Memory-related listening strategies were reported as the second to last used by

the international students, which is consistent with Gilakjani and Sabouri’s (2016)
finding that learners used “memory strategies most frequently and social
strategies least frequently” (p. 125). These strategies are related to enhancing the
restoration and retrieval of information with emphasis on related aspects of
linguistic form such as grammar while engaged in academic discourse as an
opportunity to improve understanding of the content of the communication. The
functionality of these strategies highlighted the role of memory-related strategies
in allowing international students to find their linguistic performance comfort
zone related to the processes of storing and retrieving information between short-
and long-term memory, which supported their control over anxiety resulting
from the inability to understand academic discourse in English.
The arguments justifying international students’ use of memorization through

note-taking, indirectly confirm that their listening challenges stem from their lack
of prior knowledge and resultant communication language anxiety. Social
listening strategies, which were also reported by Humphreys (2022) as relating to
interaction with others in the process of language learning, were reported as the
least used listening strategies among international students. International
students expressed their reluctance to utilize social listening strategies as they felt
awkward and embarrassed when they misunderstood speech content,
particularly when this would have meant asking for clarification or for someone
to speak more slowly to aid in comprehension.
Therefore, their insufficient communicative competence due to negative prior

learning experiences was linked to their avoidance of social interaction in ESL
academic contexts. Furthermore, the discussion indicates that an individual
student would have had a highly effective filter, which would have effectively
blocked comprehensible input and contributed to their communication anxiety
levels (Byrne et al., 2019; Krashen, 1982; Oxford, 1990). Thus, based on the above
findings, the students’ avoidance of social listening strategies to aid in improving
their listening comprehension was largely due to their lack of prior learning
experience, which led to anxiety regarding interaction with others in academic
contexts.
Although the above findings contrast with those of some previous research
(Chou, 2021; Kazemi & Kiamarsi, 2017) that found study participants with
relatively more advanced levels of communicative competence reported their
reliance on social listening strategies, other research has reported that participants
were less reliant on social listening strategies due to high levels of communication
anxiety (Bidabadi & Yamat, 2011; Serraj & Noordin, 2013).
Even though language practice through exposure to the L2 in authentic or natural

settings is essential to developing cognitive skills essential to understanding and
167
reasoning, international students have been found to prefer metacognitive and

cognitive listening strategies over social strategies. This indicates that most
international students are independent, self-regulated learners and rely on self-
awareness to improve their communicative competence.
The findings of Dave et al. (2021) and Kajiura et al. (2021) also support the
importance of neural mechanisms to enhance L2 processing for improving
listening skills through using prior knowledge. This is evident in that listening
requires the processing of linguistic input but also relies on incorporating
contextual cues from the communicative context (Dave et al., 2021). This is
relevant to the above results as Kajiura et al. (2021) asserted that prior knowledge
and experience with the L2 improve linguistic processing, leading to successful
listening comprehension, stating that effective learning is dependent on “gaining
new information by making use of prior knowledge” (p. 11).
However, the negative learning experiences of the international students

combined with consequential communication anxiety led to preferences for other
strategies instead of social listening strategies, which may have been of significant
benefit if they had acquired adequate prior learning experience (Liu & Kinginger,
2021; Shinagawa et al., 2022). Therefore, social factors such as these often
determine the students’ choices of listening strategies (Ellis, 1994). The reluctance
to use social strategies may also be explained by Lee et al.’s (2015) affective factors
in that the students lacked the tolerance needed for successful use. Thus, they
tended to avoid explicitly exposing their challenges to others during academic
discourse.
This review supports the conclusion that communicative competence (Hymes,

1976) enhances cognitive competence (Piaget, 1936). Cognitive processes useful in
communication skills rely on both internal thoughts and external forces. Thus,
learner’s competencies in communicative listening and speaking could be
increased through positive learning experiences (Halali et al. ,2022).
4. Conclusion
This review paper presented the foundations of research involving investigating
and exploring the identified academic listening challenges and strategies among
international students. The findings support the conclusion that listening skills
are essential to developing communication competence, which depends on
practical experience using the target language. However, for EFL learners, it was
found that there is often a learning deficit in target language use and practice,
which explains low levels of listening comprehension of the new language with
unfamiliar terminology specific to their fields of study. As a result, international
students were found to rely on several strategies to enhance their cognitive
process to support themselves in their international academic settings and
procced to achieving academic success. Therefore, this information would guide
developers, policymakers, and academic institutions about how to assist students
to plan for their overseas educations, which could include any alterations to their
academic English language preparation before enrolling in foreign institutions.
The contributions of the research discussed above have great potential value to
168
such stakeholders considering the present dearth of literature on the issues

explored. For example, suggestions from students on how to improve the
overseas educational experience in the extant literature could be of value in
enhancing academic language programmes for preparing students for overseas
studies. Therefore, the findings discussed in this paper comprise valuable
resources useful to policymakers in developing effective teaching and assessment
methods to assist international students in overcoming their communication
challenges
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who helped during this
review and improved the quality of our final manuscript.
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Exploiting Influential Factors in Teaching Oriented

Towards the Development of Learners’ Capacity
Le Khanh Tuan
Sai Gon University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Abstract. The article focuses on teaching in the direction of developing

learners’ competencies through the influence of four factors, namely
knowledge, skills, attitudes, and situations. Previous studies have shown that
properly exploiting these four factors will contribute to effectively reaching
the teaching goals, that is, creating the best capacity for learners. Therefore,
this study has selected an approach to the problem of improving teaching
quality in the direction of developing learners’ capacity. This involved
putting the elements of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and teaching situations
in the same interactive relationship and to find ways to exploit them most
effectively. Using this approach, educational managers should influence the
construction of curriculum content (knowledge), create appropriate teaching
conditions and environments (situations), establish a mechanism for
academic freedom, and relate schooling to life to train learners in skills and
attitudes. Teachers can exploit all four factors in the teaching process to
improve teaching quality. Using such an approach, a questionnaire was
designed to carry out an educational survey with 394 respondents (including
112 graduate students of educational management and 282 pedagogical
students living and studying in 41/63 provinces of Vietnam). The survey
results affirmed a number of observations and assessments about the current
situation of teaching in the direction of developing the learners’ capacity in
Vietnam. Solutions to improve the effectiveness of these activities are
proposed.
Keywords: capacity development; exploiting; influential factors; teaching;

Vietnam
1. Introduction
Currently, the central task of schools in many countries is to transform teaching
activities from mainly teaching knowledge to teaching in the direction of developing
learners’ capacity. In Vietnam, this requirement was initiated by the Ministry of
Education and Training (MOET) of Vietnam in 2018 and started to be implemented
©Authors
174
in the New General Education Program in 2020 (Vietnam. MOET, 2018). This article
aims to analyze and determine the combined relationship of the most basic factors
that are decisive in the development of learners’ capacity, thereby proposing
solutions to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching activities towards
capacity development.
In fact, the rapid development of knowledge and the demands placed on changing
skills, attitudes, and teaching situations were predicted very early by American
futurist Alvin Toffler. Toffler (1970) argued that society was undergoing a
tremendous structural change, a revolution from an industrial society to a
“super-industrial society”. This change would be overwhelming for everyone; most
social problems would be symptoms of future shock, which included what was
termed “information overload”. Toffler (1970) also foresaw future schools with
temporary classrooms, teaching on special assignments, and students having to gain
experience from school before they entered a temporary super-industry. These
predictions have strongly influenced the relationship of knowledge, skills, attitudes,
and teaching situations.
Subsequently, the issue of student-centered teaching towards the promotion of

learners’ activeness has attracted the attention of scientists (Delors, 1996; Khalamop,
1987; Thai, 2007). Most notably, from UNESCO’s initiation of the four pillars of
learning (Delors, 1996), a change occurred in the teaching philosophy in many
countries, especially developing ones. The four factors mentioned above that affect
teaching activities have been mentioned many times in the discussion of the changes
in teaching philosophy. The “knowledge” factor is emphasized in respect of “learning
to know”, the “skill” factor in “learning to do”, the “attitude” factor in “learning to
live together”, and the “situation” factor in “learning to be”.
In 2010, UNESCO’s Office of International Education (UNESCO, 2010) developed a

training toolkit for curriculum development to support curriculum reform at all
levels, aiming to improve learning quality. The toolkit indicated the needs and
methods to develop the capacity of administrators and teachers in formulating
educational policy at national and regional levels, design curricula, and improve the
quality of the teaching staff. In particular, the combination of knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and teaching situations were also mentioned in many different aspects, but
not much emphasis was placed on their interconnection in the same teaching process.
From the research orientations as mentioned above, the issue of capacity

development for learners has been considered in broader scope, in greater depth, and
with various approaches. These include innovating objectives, content, and teaching
methods (Meier & Nguyen, 2014); comprehensively shifting from teaching for rote
learning to teaching for development of students’ thinking ability (Vietnam. MOET,
2018); creating and developing a learning environment (Heick, 2020; Starr, 2017;
Vietnam. MOET, 2017); focusing on enhancing teachers (Dinh, 2017; Le, 2019;
Paniagua & Istance, 2018; Willis, 2021); and adopting approaches to developing
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learners’ capacity (Bellanca et al., 2019; Hill, 2021; Nguyen, 2021; Tran, 2003; Vietnam
Association of Psychological-Education Science, 2015). In the studies cited here, the
factors of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and teaching situations were deeply exploited
in different aspects of impact, but their impact relationship was not found to develop
learners’ capacity.
In the article What is teaching for capacity development?, Nguyen (2021) examined
capacity under the interaction of the three factors of knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
Speaking at the Scientific Conference on Teacher Training jointly organized by the
MOET of Vietnam and the World Bank in Hanoi, Dinh (2017) took another step
forward by putting the development of learners’ capacity under the influence of four
factors of knowledge, attitudes, skills, and teaching situations. His point of view was
recognized and appreciated by many scientists.
Agreeing with the approach of Dinh (2017), in this article, I conduct an overall study
of the issue, and use practical research methods to analyze and search for the impact
relationship of the four factors of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and situations on
teaching effectiveness and capacity development. Starting from such an approach, I
propose solutions to improve the quality of teaching in the direction of developing
learners’ capacity. Surveys and assessments of the actual situation were carried out
at a university, but the results can be extended to students in general.
2.1 Capacity and Teaching Towards Capacity Development
Capacity is understood as “someone’s ability to do a particular thing” (Cambridge
Dictionary, 2021) or “a characteristic of an individual showing a degree of
proficiency, i.e., being able to competently and reliably perform one or more certain
types of activities” (Vietnam. NCDCE, 2011). From the point of view of psychologists,
capacity is a combination of unique attributes of an individual that is suitable for the
requirements of a certain activity, ensuring that the activity will bring good results.
Capacity is both the precondition and result of an activity. It is also a condition for a
successful activity, and at the same time, it develops in the activity itself. In human
activities, the interaction of the three factors of knowledge, skills, and attitudes
determines the creation of capacity (Nguyen, 2021).
From the above, teaching in the direction of developing learners’ capacity can be defined
as a teaching activity that emphasizes creation of the ability to perform subject-related
activities proficiently and competently for learners. It focuses on the teaching of
thinking methods, the training of skills, and anti-rote learning. Furthermore, because
teaching is a human activity, from a psychological point of view, the elements of
knowledge, skills, attitudes, and teaching situations also have an impact relationship
to create capacity for learners.
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2.2 Research Overview

Since UNESCO initiated the four pillars of learning (Delors, 1996), capacity
development-oriented teaching has increasingly developed and followed very
specific approaches. In the context that human knowledge grows so quickly that
people cannot learn to remember, “learning to know” shifts the teaching focus to the
learning of thinking methods, with which learners can acquire more knowledge.
“Learning to do” is aimed at practical and skill teaching so that learners can work
post-graduation. “Learning to be” requires personalized teaching so that each
individual learner can develop well. This is against the stereotypical and model
teaching styles, which means that situations are very important. As for “learning to
live together”, it is necessary to practice the team player’s skills. For the common goal,
learners must have the qualities of a global citizen. From these new UNESCO
approaches, many studies have delved into each element of knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and teaching situations.
In developing tools to train educational managers and teachers in support of

curriculum reform, UNESCO (2010) provided a broadly comparative international
perspective with the aim of deepening the comprehensive understanding of the
theory and practice in curriculum change. The toolkit included a resource package of
eight modules that covered a range of factors and aspects that needed to be
considered to improve the quality of curriculum development processes and
products in schools. The toolkit comprised specific requirements set for teachers and
teacher trainers. These were: understanding their roles in the change when the
curriculum changed; understanding the goals and standards of the national
curriculum; mastering pedagogical topics and skills; having a positive attitude
towards change; breaking isolation and developing teamwork; and regularly
participating in professional learning and personal development. This UNESCO
research strongly promoted the development of teachers towards innovative teaching
methods. In the study, considerable attention was paid to the basic factors
contributing to learners’ capacity, namely knowledge, skills, attitudes, and teaching
situations.
After a long process, many studies have gone into depth to consider the impact of
each element of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and situations on teaching activities.
Most authors have believed that these are the core factors that govern the outputs of
the teaching process, especially capacity development for learners. The following are
some outstanding studies:
1) Regarding knowledge: In the paper What is teaching for capacity development?,
Nguyen (2021) argued that teaching content (knowledge) should be selected in
such way that it is just enough to achieve the output capacity goals. It should also
focus on practical skills and apply them to practice. In addition, the content of the
curriculum should be open, creating conditions for teachers and learners to easily
update knowledge. In the current requirements for teaching innovation, many
studies have also confirmed that knowledge should be considered to teach
thinking methods. The teaching content therefore needs to be streamlined to the
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most compact level to save time for teachers to implement their teaching methods.
This means that it is necessary to change the perspective in developing the content
of the curriculum (Le, 2019; Meier & Nguyen, 2014; Thai, 2007; Tran, 2003;
Vietnam Association of Psychological-Education Science, 2015; Vietnam. MOET,
2017, 2018). According to Singh (1991), the curriculum needs to be built to be
integrative in the sense of combination; that is, knowledge must be appropriately
integrated and incorporated into subjects.
2) Regarding skills development: Bellanca et al. (2019) in the book How to teach thinking
skills offered a step-by-step approach to teaching and practicing thinking skills.
The book is full of examples at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Willis (2021) suggested five steps that can be used to develop students’ skills for
future challenges. These are to: teach collaboration as a value and skill; develop
skills based on assessment and analysis; teach stamina and resilience; orient
students through their strengths; and use learning situations outside of the
classroom. Furthermore, Hill (2021) pointed out three keys to develop personal
learning capacity. The first key is to understand students’ cognitive strengths and
weaknesses and use strategies based on targeted evidence to support learning.
The second is to train students’ cognitive skills in an aggregated and integrated
way. The use of this key emphasizes the involvement of technology in teaching.
The third key is to cultivate a growth mindset with experiential situations and
training of thinking. The studies mentioned here have also confirmed that
teaching and skills training need to be emphasized to build learner capacity. In
an experiment, Gul (2014) came to the conclusion that students learned the skill
more rapidly when they are allowed to use their initiative and judgment in a
mutual practice technique of skills development.
3) Regarding attitude: Heick (2020) argued that when the focus is on the teaching
content rather than the teaching of the child, the child will be lost. In an attempt
towards improvement, he sought to innovate methods, creating pressure for
learners to be more active and proactive. Heick (2020) listed 10 characteristics of
a positive teaching environment. These are: students ask good questions;
questions are valued more than answers; ideas come from diverse sources;
multiple learning models are used; classroom learning flows into a connected
community; learning is personalized; assessments are ongoing, authentic,
transparent, and non-punitive; success criteria are set in a balanced and
transparent way; learning habits are modeled continuously, such as “A monkey
can also see and follow”; and students regularly have hands-on opportunities to
approach the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Development. Thus,
despite the emphasis on thinking, Heick (2020) attached great importance to the
link between thinking and knowledge, attitudes, and teaching situations. A key
finding of Wulf-Andersen’s (2022) case study of learners was that students with
problems often encounter the attitude that they are not “proper” students or
“suitable” for university. Psychosocial problems seem to be understood as
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antithetical to the prevalent, culturally normative ideas of the “good student”,

producing a range of (extra) problems for students.
4) Regarding teaching situations: Paniagua and Istance (2018) mentioned the

requirement that teachers need to be the designer of the learning
situation/environment. They saw this as an innovative pedagogy used in
classrooms around the world, setting the stage for educators and policymakers to
innovate teaching by viewing what was currently happening in schools as
potential seeds for change. Howard Miler, a professor at Lincoln College of
Education, pointed out 12 steps that every teacher must do at the beginning of the
school year to build a learning environment/situation (Starr, 2017). The teacher
must establish a plan in writing and ensure its implementation; be steadfast,
steadfast, and steadfast; be patient with themselves and with students; and call
on schools and parents to be allies. In addition, the teacher must not talk too
much, but mainly instruct the task, then let the students do the work; divide class
time into activities to create excitement; provide directions for learning activities
and summarize at the end of each activity; and not take attendance by name, as it
will take a long time, but instead use the seating chart to check attendance while
students are working. Lastly, the teacher must maintain that all students
participate in classroom learning; remind and discipline students who are
disorderly and are busy with their own affairs; maintain a sense of humor and
association; and know how to require the coordination of each student in the
timeliest manner. Rudhumbu (2022) proved that institutional practices, lecturers,
parents, peers, learning content and artifacts, as well as the classroom
environment have a significant influence on university students. Thus, the
teaching situation is very important, which is a factor that strongly impacts the
learner capacity development that every teacher must focus on.
From international scientific quintessence, in Vietnam, the new General Education

Program (starting from the academic year 2020–2021) was built towards the
development of student quality and capacity. The program aimed to create a learning
and training environment to help students develop in harmony in physical and
mental terms; become active and confident learners; and know how to apply active
learning methods to perfect their foundational knowledge and skills, conscious career
choice and lifelong learning. The program also aimed to help students gain the
necessary good qualities and abilities to become responsible citizens and cultured,
industrious, and creative workers who meet the needs of personal development and
the requirements of national development and protection in the era of globalization
and Industry 4.0 (Vietnam. MOET, 2018). At the scientific conference organized by
the MOET of Vietnam in collaboration with the World Bank, scientists strongly
agreed with the view that capacity is created from the interactive combination of four
factors in the teaching process, namely knowledge, skills, attitudes, and situations
(Dinh, 2017). These factors can be considered as component elements of capacity,
while also being factors that create capacity for learners. In order to teach in the
direction of developing learners’ capacity, it is necessary to organize and activate the
179
dynamism of each element. The core point is the intersection of all four elements.
Figure 1 presents the idea of approaching teaching in the direction of developing
learners’ capacity through these factors.
Knowledge
Capacity
Attitudes Skills
Situations
Figure 1: Factors that influence teaching activities towards learner capacity development
From the perspective discussed above, in the remainder of the article, I will seek
answers to the following questions surrounding the four elements of teaching
(knowledge, attitudes, skills, situations):
1) When coordinated in teaching to develop learners’ capacity, in what position
and role should each element of teaching be placed?
2) What is the actual situation of teaching activities in the direction of developing
learners’ capacity?
3) What is the solution for effective teaching in the direction of developing
learners’ capacity?
3. Methodology
This study used theoretical research methods to gain an overview of the research
problem, and analyzed research results to draw conclusions about the influence of
knowledge, skills, attitudes, and situations on teaching activities in the direction of
developing learners’ capacity. In addition to this and the selected research
approaches, educational investigation methods and statistical–mathematical
methods were adopted to investigate, collect, and process data to answer the research
questions and evaluate and offer solutions to improve the actual situation.
The survey questionnaire was designed to include 24 questions spread over 4 groups
of problems as follows:
1) Position and role of the four elements of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
situations in general perception of teaching theory (four questions). The goal here
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was to determine whether or not: knowledge plays the role of raw materials and
means to practice thinking methods; skills act as intellectual processing activities
to connect knowledge according to a certain logic; teachers and learners’ attitudes
act as psychological conditions and motivations for applying knowledge and
skills to life; and the teaching situation plays the role of a cognitive task.
2) Position and role of the four factors of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and teaching
situations in Vietnamese schools before the implementation of educational reform
(four questions).
3) Evaluation of the objectives, content, methods, and results of current teaching in

Vietnamese schools (eight questions). These questions related to whether:
knowledge is moderate or overwhelming; teaching is practical (just enough
knowledge, not crammed; interest not being in achievements or degrees but in
ability and actual acquiring of knowledge); teaching is pragmatic (students are
only interested in degrees rather than in acquiring knowledge); what the methods
are to approach knowledge; the learner’s method of thinking is stereotyped; what
the inspirations and enrivonment for teachers’ creativity are; the learners feel
constrained or lack psychological motivation to create; and teaching situations are
diverse and relevant to the reality outside of the school grounds.
4) The method that should be selected for teaching in the direction of developing
learners’ capacity (eight questions). The question here related to eight expected
solutions, as presented in the following section.
The questionnaire was designed using Google Forms and sent to the respondents.
There were 24 closed-ended questions with four options for each answer, ranking
from low to high (with the lowest level being 1 point and the highest 4 points). The
respondents answered independently and objectively according to their perception
and submitted their results on the system. There were 394 respondents with valid
answers. The respondents were students studying at university or graduate school,
who had previously attended different high schools and universities from different
regions. Specifically, 112 respondents were graduate students majoring in
educational management of Terms 19 and 20 at Saigon University. They were
teachers or school administrators from 33 provinces and cities in South Vietnam. The
remaining 282 respondents were sophomore, junior, and senior students at Saigon
University in six sub-majors of pedagogy (math, music, English, fine arts, physics,
and literature). Before becoming students, they were enrolled in high school
programs in 41 provinces/cities of Vietnam.
4. Results
4.1 Position and Role of Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Teaching Situations
The first set of questions probed the respondents’ assessment of the role of factors
affecting teaching towards development of learners’ capacity in terms of theory. The
majority of respondents (74.9%) indicated that “knowledge acts as a raw material, a
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means and an excuse to train learners’ thinking methods (knowledge should be just
enough and not overwhelming)”. The question of “whether teaching and learning
skills act as intellectual processing activities to connect knowledge according to a
certain logic (i.e., teaching and learning the approaches to acquiring knowledge)” was
rated high by 79.4% of respondents. Similarly, 79.7% of respondents acknowledged
that “attitudes of teachers and learners act as psychological conditions and
motivations for applying knowledge and skills to life”. In addition, 78.4% of the
respondents rated “the teaching situation (questions and answers, exercises, project-
based teaching, reality-based teaching, etc.)” as an important task of perception. It is
encouraging that the theoretical perception of most respondents was good and in line
with the requirements for teaching innovation identified in the New General
Education Program (Vietnam. MOET, 2018).
The second set of problems assessed the actual role of factors affecting teaching towards
the development of learners’ capacity at school (in the period before 2020). Regarding
knowledge, 69.3% of the respondents thought that the knowledge was
overwhelming, while 19.3% stated that it was a bit overwhelming, and only 11.4%
believed that it was reasonable. As for the role of skills of teachers and students, 65%
of respondents said it was not focused, 27.4% considered it as reasonable, and only
7.6% esteemed it good. Regarding the attitude of teachers and students in teaching,
63.7% of the respondents rated it good, 28.9% thought it was average, and 7.4%
thought it was not good. With respect to the teaching situation, 53.8% of respondents
thought that diversity was inadequate, the school still lacked integration with real
life, and there was a lack of experiential activities in teaching. Only 19.8% thought
that the teaching situation was good.
A comparison was made between the requirements set out in theory and the actual
teaching situation in previous years as indicated from the survey. It was found that it
is necessary to reduce the load of knowledge in the teaching content to the extent that
it is just fundamental and sufficient to teach methods. In addition, the time for
training skills and attitudes of teachers and students should receive more importance
and be increased. Lastly, teaching situations should be diversified so that there are
more experiential activities, bringing real-life experiences into schools. Students can
thereby become acquainted with and receive skills and life experience directly at the
school. Implementing all these things well will contribute to effective and quality
teaching towards the development of learners’ capacity. These are suggestions that
are worth referring to both for managers and scientists who are developing the
content of textbook programs and for teachers who want to innovate their teaching
methods.
4.2 Actual Situation of Teaching Activities in the Direction of Developing

Learners’ Capacity
Eight questions were raised to elicit respondent opinions on the current situation of
teaching activities oriented towards developing learners’ capacity at school. These are
the issues selected from the above-mentioned approach measured against the current
182
situation of teaching in the direction of developing learners’ capacity in Vietnamese

schools. The results of the data analysis are summarized in Table 1. The maximum
average score was 4, with the following assessment levels: disagree (1–1.75), slightly
agree (1.76–2.50), agree (2.51–3.25), and strongly agree (3.26–4).
Table 1: Respondents’ assessment of the current situation of some teaching activities

before 2020
Slightly Strongly
Disagree Agree Average
Assessment content agree agree
(%) (%) score
(%) (%)
Heavy in memorizing knowledge, 13.7 26.2 37.8 22.3 2.69
little training in thinking methods
Teaching in a practical way: 9.6 31.7 32.6 26.1 2.75
Knowledge is just sufficient and not
crammed, and emphasis is not
placed on achievements or degrees,
but instead on actual capacity
Teaching in a materialistic way: 16.0 34.8 26.4 22.8 2.56
Pursuing qualifications and
achievements where learning is just
for the sake of social standing
The method of approaching 7.9 28.4 45.9 17.8 2.74
knowledge is still stereotyped in
discovering and detecting problems
The thinking method is still 10.4 32.7 38.6 18.3 2.65
stereotyped, lacks space for
personal creativity, and lacks
responsiveness in behavior and
approaches when situations change
The teacher has inspired and created 6.9 31.0 40.5 21.6 2.77
an environment for creative
learning
Learners are confined to a common 12.9 31.0 35.0 21.1 2.64
framework with a lack of
psychological motivation to create
and apply knowledge
Lack of diverse teaching situations, 13.2 32.7 36.1 18.0 2.59
only encapsulated in school and
away from real life
The data from Table 1 show that the respondents had quite an accurate perception of
the current teaching situation in Vietnamese schools. After a number of years of
initiating innovation, teaching activities in the direction of developing learners’
capacity initially had a positive change, but compared to social requirements, it was
still low (Vietnam. MOET, 2014). The details from the study results are as follows:
183
1) The most appreciated progress as perceived by respondents was that of the

teaching staff, with innovative teaching methods that have “inspired and created
an environment for creative learning” for learners, with an average score of 2.77
out of 4, a fair score. This result shows that teachers have a certain satisfaction
regarding their skills and attitude in teaching.
2) Respondents considered the reduction of the teaching content and the selection
of sufficient knowledge as a good change, gradually shifting to a more practical
teaching style and better serving the actual needs of learners. The evidence
showed that practical teaching was rated higher (2.75) than pragmatic teaching
(2.56). However, it should be noted that this result was positively acknowledged
at the high school level, while at the university level, many respondents
considered the change as slower.
3) In terms of factors affecting teaching activities alone, knowledge was still

considered overwhelming, teaching was still in the way of rote learning (2.69);
and teaching attitude was still under the pressure of the society’s preference for
achievements and degrees and the materialistic teaching style still needed more
attention for improvement. Furthermore, teaching and learning skills still left
something to be desired as the methods were still stereotyped (2.74) and the
thinking was still heavily based on models and patterns. In addition, creativity
and responsiveness to changes were rated low (2.64); and teaching situations
were not diverse and had not really integrated real life into school, and learners
had not yet formed life skills and practical experiences (2.59, ranking 7/8).
Various findings surfaced from the results. First, the lesson to be learned is that
teaching content should be reduced continuously and there should be a strong switch
from teaching for rote learning to teaching thinking methods. In addition, the training
of life and work skills for learners should be more intensely innovated, and an
environment of academic freedom should be created where learners’ creativity and
diverse approaches are respected, which helps them develop their personal qualities
and adapt to social changes. In particular, teaching activities at school and real-life
practice must be blended and enhanced with experiential activities so that learners
possess sufficient knowledge, skills, and experience as soon as they leave school and
enter society.
4.3 Solution for Effective Teaching in the Direction of Developing Learners’

Capacity
From the lessons of the situation, eight solutions were proposed to respondents to
effectively exploit the influential factors (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and situations)
in order to make the teaching process more positive towards learner capacity
development.
1) Solution 1: Build the program in the direction of reducing knowledge to a
minimum, spend time teaching how to approach problems, and train thinking
methods for learners.
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2) Solution 2: Develop teaching and training of life and thinking skills for learners
more strongly and effectively.
3) Solution 3: Strengthen school activities to link the learning content with social life,
that is, learning to do and solve problems in life.
4) Solution 4: Increase teaching situations, especially real-life ones; for example,

project-based teaching, role-playing teaching, learning through a real-life task etc.
5) Solution 5: Encourage students’ creativity, fight stereotypes; implement

personalized teaching and encourage academic freedom.
6) Solution 6: Add more subjects to teach learners the ability to quickly adapt to life’s
changes and know how to manage changes.
7) Solution 7: Strengthen the teaching of teamwork skills, focusing on the quality of

“each member aiming at the common goal and striving to support each other for
the collective progress”.
8) Solution 8: Form and develop the qualities of global citizenship for students,
teaching them the necessary qualities and competencies to integrate with the
outside world in the context of a deep international integration environment.
The results of the respondents’ selections are shown in Figure 2.

3.3
3.25
3.2
3.15
3.1
3.05
3
2.95
2.9
2.85
2.8
Solution 1 Solution 2 Solution 3 Solution 4 Solution 5 Solution 6 Solution 7 Solution 8
Avg. score 2.95 3.18 3.24 3.04 3.12 3.16 3.09 3.16
Figure 2: Levels of solution choices by the 394 respondents
The following findings were drawn from respondents’ selection of the eight
solutions:
1) Solution 3 was chosen by most of the respondents (3.24 out of 4.00, a high
score). Most of the respondents wanted to bring school closer to life, which
means learners must learn skills and life experience right at school.
185
2) Solution 2 was also required to be implemented at a high level, as was

reflected in respondents’ choice (3.18). This aspect is also a weakness that
needs to be overcome in terms of teaching methods in all traditional
assessments.
3) Solution 6 and Solution 8 were considered to be equally important, ranked at

a fairly high level (3.16) by respondents.
4) Solution 1 and Solution 4 were considered less important by respondents (2.95

and 3.04, respectively, an average score). The results are appropriate
regarding the actual situation, because when promulgating the New General
Education Program, the MOET added experiential activities (organization of
different teaching situations) as part of the compulsory teaching contents. In
addition, the new textbooks have also been adapted in the direction of
reducing the knowledge load to focus on developing learners’ capabilities
(Vietnam. MOET, 2018). Those solutions have been determined to contribute
to improving the teaching situation, hence the respondents considering
Solution 1 and Solution 4 to be less important.
Based on the evaluation levels, the eight solutions can all be selected for application.
The levels also help to determine the order of priority in the selection, management
and implementation of each specific solution. Solutions 3, 2, 6, and 8 need more
attention to direct and prioritize resources for implementation. For solutions 5, 7, 4
and 1, it is necessary to inherit and promote the achieved results, while detecting
existing difficulties and problems to be overcome.
5. Conclusion
From the literature overview, it was found that the four factors of knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and situations are, on the one hand, essential components of human
capacity. On the other hand, they are factors that directly affect the capacity
development of learners in teaching activities. Consistently combining these factors
in teaching activities and properly exploiting them will produce quality. It is an
approach that educational administrators and teachers can all consider in order to
create the elements so that teaching activities oriented towards developing learners’
capacity can be optimally effective.
The actual survey results showed that teaching in schools in Vietnam is still heavily
reliant on knowledge teaching and that skills training and attitude formation in
diverse learning situations have not been properly evaluated. Most of the
respondents indicated the need for more positive solutions to innovate teaching
activities, in which reducing knowledge and increasing practice hours in real-life
situations are the key factors and supposedly need to be deployed promptly. This
reflects the desire for a transformation in teaching from content-oriented teaching to
186
capacity-oriented teaching. The findings of this study can prove useful for
educational managers when implementing educational program innovation.
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188

Alternative Digital Credentials: UAE’s First

Adopters’ Assessment and Evaluation
Part (2)
El-Farra Samar
Higher Colleges of Technology
Emirates Medical Association-Radiographers Society of Emirates,
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Abstract. Despite the wealth of research on full credentials assessments,

standardized approaches are still scarce. This is even more threatening
to the acceptance of higher education alternative digital credentials. To
address this threat, validated and transparent assessments and
evaluation processes are of paramount importance. This study is a
continuum to our previous review on the pedagogical program analysis,
design, development, and implementation. This paper reviews, assesses
and evaluates the alternative digital credential offering case study. We
review the development and administration of seven requirements and
assessment tools used to evaluate students’ performance and use
Kirkpatrick’s model to evaluate the effectiveness of the alternative
credential offered. The predominantly clinical-based assessment tools
and assessment decision criteria are reviewed in detail in this paper,
allowing educators to leverage the outcome of this work.
Results: The reviewed alternative digital credential case study in the

human thorax and extremities from medical imaging has achieved
Kirkpatrick level three, as evident in results, particularly from clinical
assessments and clinical site viva-voce. When introducing a new
competency-based assessment, professional standards can be used as a
reference point to develop Behavioral Marker System rubrics. The Ebel
method in calculating the cut score, which reflects expert judgment,
should be considered when developing competency-based rubrics.
Standardization of at least the top common technical and NTS is
possible when researchers consider international collaboration by
publishing comprehensive methodologies, frameworks, and results.
This paper is unique as we are unaware of any publication on
alternative digital credentials combining medical imaging and technical
and non-technical skills within entrustable professional task assessment,
verification, and program evaluation.
Keywords: alternative digital credentials; clinical-based assessment;

non-technical skills; medical imaging; entrustable professional tasks
©Author
189
1. Introduction
The contemporary healthcare Non-Technical Skills NTS training programs have
mainly originated from aviation programs adopted since the 1970s after high-
profile plane crashes. Thus, clinical aspects are not well addressed in the
curricular components of those programs (Thomas, 2018). This paper is a
continuum review of the Alternative Digital Credential (ADC), offering two
distinguishable Entrusted Professional Tasks (EPTs) program analysis, design,
development, and implementation (El-Farra, 2022). The findings and discussions
in this paper have a heavy context dependency on part one reviewed by El-Farra
(2022).
1.1. Importance of the Study

This paper reviews student and program evaluation methodology and
framework to achieve two EPTs evaluation as the final step of the ADDIE
instructional model by Gagne and Briggs (1974). The EPTs assume that a learner
would be able to practice effective and safe communication and collaboration
while demonstrating empathy in performing extremities and thorax Medical
Imaging (MI) accurately and independently (El-Farra, 2022).
1.2. Study strategies and instruments

Seven assessment tools and requirements were developed and administered to
evaluate the students’ performance and the effectiveness of the five pedagogical
collective interventions previously published. The overall objective of the
evaluation is to verify the awarded ADC, which combines technical and NTS
within the EPT scope to ensure that the ADC recipient can be trusted to perform
clinically without direct supervision. Student assessments described herewith
are grade/decision-bearing assessments. So, all formative non-graded
assessments like discussions, feedback, and debriefing were part of the training
phases before the clinical experience.
Competency/Clinical Based Assessment (CBA) addresses the witnessed

paradigm shift in how educators and policymakers judge the effectiveness of
educational programs in regard to how learners ‘perform’ and ‘do’ (Gruppen et
al., 2012). Within a CBA context, summative assessments were carried out at the
clinical site, including eight clinical assessments and a final viva-voce. We
maintained the working hours with staggered shifts to prepare the students for
their clinical assessments without impacting their contact hours load. Still, we
doubled the patient training quota compared to the parent course requirements.
However, summative judgments should not be made in isolation. Multiple
observers of various patient encounters throughout training are needed to
provide a collective judgment (Schuwirth & Vleuten, 2019). Also, evaluating
NTS by only one faculty or clinical supervisor is not enough to correctly assess
NTS. In fact, multi-sourcing information is essential for more accurate findings
(Thomas, 2018). Further, assessment approaches, such as reflective practice,
portfolios, and multisource feedback, help evaluate technical and NTS directly
related to patient safety (Goldman & Wong, 2020). Consequently, we used the
curricular course assessment results to triangulate our findings using the newly
developed assessment tools and requirements. Seven different added and/or
altered assessment tools or requirements were introduced to the ADC. The
190
added requirements were training patient quota, reflective journal requirements,

and an aggregated e-portfolio. While the assessments introduced were eight
additional clinical assessments on actual patients, Jefferson’s Score of Empathy
(JSE) (Hojat, 2016), viva-voce, and patient satisfaction and critical incident
reports reviews.
In a systematic review, tools used to assess NTS were reported to be often locally
developed to specific educational interventions, without reference to conceptual
frameworks. Consequently, those tools are rarely validated, limiting their
dissemination and replication (Gordon et al., 2019). Moreover, literature reports
a gap in educators’ CBA literacy and preparedness (Gallardo, 2020) in line with
our qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design. We
applied Guba's model of trustworthiness, which suggests dependability,
credibility, transferability, and confirmability as criteria suitable for qualitative
studies (Shenton, 2004). As such, we utilized triangulation, peer and industrial
review, and a thorough description of the setting and the research methods in
developing the assessment tools, calculating the cut-scores, and rolling out the
assessments. Finally, we maintained a trail detailing the process of creating the
assessment tools, cut scores, and interpretations. Some of that evidence will be in
the form of the lifelong e-portfolio, and some are published in this paper and
other interlinked papers.
Assessing NTS within professions is a topic in urgent need of research (Gordon

et al., 2019). Reportedly, there is no gold standard for NTS setting standards to
be assessed (Yune et al., 2018). Yet, predetermined technical and NTS criteria are
helpful to indicate whether a student is competent (Thomas, 2018). Three
assessment rubrics were developed for the student assessments. A Dedicated
Behavioral Marker System (DBMS) rubric was designed to make EPT reliable
judgments. The DBMS taxonomy was equivalent to the Professional Practice
Standards modified list (PPS-modified) taxonomy used for training students in
the lab and class (El-Farra, 2022). A Structured Viva-voce (S.Viva) conducted by
the head of the clinical department as a lead panelist was performed using a
rubric co-designed with the clinical experts. For both tools, calculating the cut-
score was achieved by applying the Ebel method (De Champlain, 2019). During
cut score identification for the clinical and S.Viva assessments, a panel of clinical
experts provided difficulty estimates against content relevance per assessment
item. This is essential because cut‐scores should reflect expert judgment as to
what constitutes competence, supported by several sources of evidence (De
Champlain, 2019). The cut‐score was then calculated by adding the cross‐
products of the difficulty and relevance decisions. The cut-score for the clinical
was 80% and 84% for the S.Viva. Finally, the reflective journal entries rubric was
developed based on Gibbs' reflective cycle of reflection (Gibbs, 1988). Suitable
for formative requirements, an estimated 60% cut-score was used for the rubric
to assess the reflective journal accounts.
To measure the response of patients, we deployed a test survey. We found that

the patients were giving highly subjective encouraging surveys all of which
reached 100% satisfaction. We retrospectively reviewed all patient complaints,
191
clinical peer dissatisfaction, and safety incident reports for any possible
involvement of the ADC students as a reverse confirmation of satisfaction.
To document all relevant results supporting the value of the awarded ADC, a
structured e-portfolio was used as an electronic space requirement to aggregate
the evidence of achievement stipulated in the ADC standards for job
applications. The digital artifacts linked with the students’ digital record e-
portfolio are the ADC standards document, clinical assessments results, JSE, and
S.Viva results. The technology infrastructure is still in the sandbox phase, and
the technology journey’s subsequent publications are en route.
Finally, we conducted an ADC effectiveness evaluation using the Kirkpatrick

method: reaction, learning, behavior, and results (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). The ADC program described as such has reached the third level of
effectiveness. Further longitudinal research is required to provide evidence of
achieving all four levels of ADC effectiveness.
2. ADC Student Completion Requirements

The ADC requirements were divided into three main categories based on the
deviations from the parent curriculum, as follows:
• Unchanged course requirements such as the 60% pass score of the didactic
and clinical courses and the clinical training hours. Student results were used
for triangulation.
• Replaced or waived as an ADC requirement due to lack of relevancy or
compatibility, and those Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE),
written image critiques, reflection journals, and clinical site supervisor
assessments.
• Added seven and/or altered assessment tools or requirements:
1. Patient training quota doubled from 34 to 70 per EPT.
2. Eight clinical assessments, four per EPT, using a dedicated rubric in addition
to the existing technical rubric.
3. Empathy score using Jefferson’s Scale of Empathy (JSE) test (Hojat, 2016)
4. A final S.Viva conducted by a panel led by clinical experts using a dedicated
rubric.
5. Two reflection journals using a dedicated rubric.
6. Patient satisfaction and critical incident report reviews for possible students’
direct responsibility or significant involvement.
7. E-portfolio.
Table 1 represents a summary of the ADC completion requirements and the

types of adjustment as compared to the parent curriculum.
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Table 1: ADC Completion Requirements and the Types of Adjustments Compared to

the Parent Curriculum
Category Component Parent curriculum ADC curricular
components adjustments
Unchanged Clinical hours 160 hours 160 hours.
requirement
Unchanged Passing didactic As part of the full As part of the ADC
requirement and clinical credential graduation completion
used for courses requirements requirements
triangulation
Waived but used Clinical Four assessments with a Student
for triangulation supervisor rubric performance results
assessment were used for
triangulation.
Waived but used Image critique Two image critiques Waived but used
for triangulation with grading criteria for triangulation
Waived but used OSCE Two assessments with a Waived but used
for triangulation heavily technical rubric for triangulation
Waived and Reflection journal Four entries with no Replaced
replaced rubric
Added as a Reflection journal None Two different Non-
replacement with dedicated Technical Skills
rubric NTS- focused
entries
Added Patient quota 34 per EPA 70 per EPA
Added and altered Clinical One assessment with a Eight assessments
assessment heavily technical rubric using the DBMS
and technical rubric
Added S. Viva None By industry panel
using a rubric
Added Empathy score None JSE
Added Patient None Incident reports
satisfaction and and patient-
critical incident compliant reports,
reports reviews reviews of
exclusion
3. Student Evaluation Framework

Methods for NTS assessment can be categorized into holistic judgment,
standardized assessments, performance/competency assessments, and portfolio
assessments. Each demonstrates strengths and weaknesses, so using a variety of
those assessments is more valuable (Curtis, 2004). Furthermore, CBA is the most
appropriate NTS assessment approach (Thomas, 2018). The proposed
framework has seven different added and/or altered assessment tools or
requirements that form a mix of all four categories described by Curtis (2004)
with a comprehensive holistic judgment assumption. Between academics and
clinical supervisors, a variety of assessors facilitated a holistic judgment. A
faculty and a clinical instructor from our institution were directly involved in the
assessment, in addition to a pool of clinical supervisors at the clinical site. The
ADC students were all assigned to one hospital on a non-rotational schedule, so
the same pool of clinical supervisors and faculty would get to know students’
193
attributes through frequent clinical or lab observations. At the same time,

consistency of judgments within panels of assessors has been demonstrated
through the collective holistic judgment via utilizing rubric or checklists to
formulate the bases of EPT performance judgment. Additionally, two NTS-
focused journals were also used to add a self-reflecting layer. Reflective practices
are essential for patient safety and quality improvement within the healthcare
context (Goldman & Wong ,2020). Multisource judgments are valuable when
examining patient safety and quality improvement skills (Goldman & Wong,
2020). Therefore, we introduced an approach we debated to complete a 360-
evaluation, suitable for small cohorts with challenged statistical inferences. In
this assessment, we propose that no direct or indirect student involvement in
patient and staff complaints and/or incident reports provides indirect proof of
satisfaction and safe conduct. We argue that this evaluation tool is relevant to
high-risk industries and fits under the CBA methodology.
Because the ADC was within an undergraduate parent curriculum, we did not
introduce any additional standardized assessments. Although the parent’s
curriculum standardized assessments do not have segregated NTS items per se,
we opted to use standardized assessment results for triangulation to correlate
with the EPT individual performance. Because of the lack of comparability in the
NTS assessment, a discrepancy trigger was considered relevant if a student’s
score was below a C grade in any of the curricular ADC courses. Although none
of the ADC students scored less than a C grade, further research is required to
establish better correlation triggering parameters.
To address the inherent cynicism in ADC offerings, three heavily clinical-based-

oriented requirements and assessments were introduced. First, the patient
training quota requirement was doubled to ensure student readiness for the
subsequent eight clinical assessments on actual patients. For those assessments,
we used the existing technical rubric and designed a DBMS rubric. Both tools
facilitated standardized technical and NTS EPT-specific judgments. Because the
tool was used for the first time, the outcomes correlated with the well-
established JSE. The students had pre- and post-intervention JSE tests and the
results were correlated with the empathy sections of the DBMS for major
discrepancies. The S.Viva was the third CBA conducted by the head of the
clinical department as the lead panelist. The structured setting and a special
rubric were co-designed with the clinical experts.
Finally, an e-portfolio an electronic space requirement to aggregate the evidence

of achievement stipulated in the ADC standards. The e-portfolio was structured
to have all supporting evidence that may be used for job applications and the
technology infrastructure was still in the sandbox phase. The e-portfolio has four
sections: the ADC standards document, the clinical assessment, S.Viva results,
and the JSE scores. The technological journey shall be published in the
subsequent parts of this paper.
194
4. Clinical Requirements and Assessments

Authentic CBA through direct clinical observations is gaining popularity
(Schuwirth & Vleuten, 2019). Consistent with clinical expectations, CBA reflects
the complexity of the clinical environments and situations (Gallardo, 2020). This
is relevant to the “entrust” component of the EPT concept in four ways. First,
CBA focuses on performance and results rather than educational processes.
Second, CBA criteria or performance standards are not determined by the
performance of other learners but by the expert judgment of practitioners and
educators in the field (Gruppen et al., 2012). Third, CBA is criterion-based
performance judgment (Thomas, 2018; Yune et al., 2018). Predetermined
technical and NTS criteria are utilized to identify whether a trainee is competent
or not yet competent (Thomas, 2018). Lastly, the authenticity and
interdisciplinarity features of CBA imply the involvement of work field experts
in determining the essential evaluation indicators (Gallardo, 2020).
4.1. Supervised Patient Training Quota

Because the curriculum is accredited by regulatory bodies, we benchmarked the
number of patients against the accreditation requirements to determine the
suitable quota. Since we needed to distinguish the ADC from the associated
clinical course, we estimated that doubling the training quota should provide
students and future employers with enough confidence in the quality of training
received under clinical site supervision. After discussions and reviews on the
clinical site patient intake number, it was evident that students needed to work
staggered shifts to meet the quota. Upon completing almost 60% of the quota by
week nine of the semester, all seven students shared that they were ready for the
first clinical assessment. This was considered an indication of a possibly lower
required quota for future ADC offerings.
4.2 Clinical-Based Assessment

To determine the number of assessment encounters required, traditional
estimates of reliability against feasibility should be observed. The purpose of the
assessment has a direct impact on the encounters required; the more encounters,
the more the width of the confidence interval declines, and the more the number
of valid decisions increases (Norcini & Zaidi, 2019). Since the assessment aims to
identify which students are not “entrusted” to perform the EPA, we did not use
the standard error of measurement to refine making this decision. Instead, four
clinical assessment encounters per EPA were estimated to be sufficient. The
DBMS was designed to be used to rate direct observations of interactions with
actual patients, while more lab training requirements were planned for students
who had received scores below the cut-off.
4.2.1. Assessment tool

Assessing competencies in combination with NTS is a topic in urgent need of
research (Gordon et al., 2019). In a literature review, 76 healthcare NTS
measurement tools were identified with widely various methods of scoring.
However, there is no golden standard tool for NTS measurement (Higham et al.,
2019), with no available perfect way of setting standards (Yune et al., 2018). In a
systematic literature review, the challenges of CBA rubrics were identified in
integrating skills beyond technical and cognitive ones which account for the
195
interdisciplinarity of tasks and educators’ CBA literacy (Gallardo, 2020). While

CBA is based on observational judgments, the lack of homogenizing assessment
exacerbates assessors’ differences (Norcini & Zaidi, 2019). Further, expertise,
experience, and firmness are substantial factors that affect CBA reliability (Yune
et al., 2018).
Rubrics have evolved in the last three decades as a powerful tool to make
judgments about students’ learning. The importance of rubrics design for
technical and NTS rubrics was reported in a recent systematic literature review
(Gallardo, 2020). Despite the wealth of research, rubric design varies according
to pedagogical and assessment needs, which continues to be challenging.
Furthermore, few existing rubrics go beyond the cognitive and technical
domains despite the urgent demand to capture NTS within complex situations
(Gallardo, 2020, Velasco-Martínez & Hurtado, 2018). Furthermore, current CBA
rubrics are relatively weak due to rubric design assessment literacy issues
(Velasco-Martínez & Hurtado, 2018).
During the pilot analysis and design phases, the competencies were first
identified and translated into two distinct EPT incorporating technical skills and
NTS (El-Farra, 2022). Ideally, the same set of competencies used for training
should be used to develop assessment methods (Gruppen et al., 2012; Thomas,
2018). Consequently, there was a need for a methodology to translate the PPS-
modified checklist used for training (El-Farra, 2022) into an assessment rubric.
In thirty-three publications, checklists of observed interactions are the most

frequently used assessment method (Cimatti, 2016). In addition to task-specific
checklists, holistic and analytic rubrics are often used for CBA (Yune et al., 2018).
Task-specific checklists are relatively objective; they capture the occurrence of
behaviors that non-experts like simulated patients or peers can observe and
evaluate. Also, scores based on checklists are strongly correlated with scores
based on holistic rubrics and global rating scales. Further, task-specific checklist
judgments focus on feedback to help students learn (Norcini & Zaidi, 2019).
Finally, a unified checklist for training and assessment enhances faculty
confidence in teaching and evaluating NTS (Duffy et al., 2004). Adversely, task-
specific checklists limit the effects of the evaluator’s expertise in evaluation.
Also, there is scarce research with which to determine analytic rubrics
holistically versus the efficacy (Yune et al., 2018).
While holistic rubrics, including global rating scales, underline an overall

expert’s judgment of a comprehensive complex tasks assessment, the analytic
scoring process involves assigning points to individual performance. It adds the
points to derive one or more dimension scores (Yune et al., 2018). For example,
students with low scores in the cue “Modifies communication methods to
account for patient diversity” from the PPS-modified checklist (El-Farra, 2022)
can be trained separately on different MI-specific scenarios. Consequently,
analytic rubrics are more reliable in checking the key content providing precise
feedback per dimension. In congruence with Yune et al.’s (2018) findings that
holistic and analytic rubrics are efficient tools for explaining task-specific
checklist scores, we used the parent curriculum holistic rubrics with
196
behaviorally anchored scales to indirectly assess students by triangulating the

individual performance outcomes. This way we would mitigate the limitations
of task-specific checklist evaluation. Additionally, we debate that such
triangulation is especially valuable when introducing a new assessment tool.
Also relevant are the Behavioral Marker Systems (BMS) being at the forefront of
the NTS assessment in high-risk work environments. Relevant to the cues
described in the PPS-modified checklist are the standards of performance
described as “good” versus “bad” behaviors stated in BMS (Thomas, 2018).
Based on the key characteristics of BMS, we transformed the PPS-modified
checklist used for training with the below alignment constituents.
The critical characteristics of BMS and PPS-modified constituents align, as both

are relevant for NTS related to safe and efficient operations. Also, both tools
state observable behaviors as per a taxonomy. Furthermore, both tools have
comparable taxonomies as follows:
1. The BMS term category is used to describe a domain of NTS, such as
communication, which is the equivalent of the term standard used in the PPS-
modified checklist.
2. The terminology element is equally used across both tools to describe a
specific skill, such as assertiveness.
3. The BMS lexicon indicators’ equivalent is performance criteria defined as
evident actions.
4. Cues in the PPS-modified checklist that aid with clarification of the indicators
of performance is the equivalent of the good/bad behavioral marker. As such,
performing a cue when needed is “good” and not performing it is “bad”.
Table 2 outlines the equivalency in the taxonomic structure between the BMS
and the PPS-modified checklist (Thomas, 2018).
Table 2: BMS and the PPS-modified Taxonomic Structure Equivalency

PPS-modified taxonomy BMS taxonomy
(El-Farra, 2022) (Thomas, 2018)
Standard Category
The explicit professional activity Used to describe a domain of NTS, such
requirements to be demonstrated in the as communication.
clinical setting, such as behavior elements.
Key element components/responsibilities Elements
within the standard, such as Are used to describe a specific
“Sound communication methods” skill, such as
“Assertiveness”
Indicators Performance criteria
Performance criteria and evident actions to Evident actions, such as
ensure the standards are being met, such as “Identify and communicate any
“Recognize and overcome communication alternative Diagnoses”
barriers”
Cues Behavioral markers
Aid with clarification of the indicators of Performance indicators, such as
performance, such as “Read-back is used to confirm
“Provides aftercare instructions” information is received correctly”
197
4.2.2. Assessment Decision Criteria

Although grading with sufficient levels of granularity is desired to differentiate
performance, the simplest NTS rating scales use a binary ‘pass/fail’ to produce
greater levels of consistency between assessments (Thomas, 2018). Using the
DBMS, each constellation of indicators was categorized per at least one of the
targeted NTS and allocated a binary grading per indicator. Each indicator has
one or more possible cues and is assigned to a value of one if achieved and zero
if not. Finally, when an underlying assumption that a set of NTS are safety-
related, a jeopardy ‘pass/fail’ NTS assessment can be justified (Thomas, 2018).
Therefore, based on the foreseeable or actual safety implications, certain cues
were tagged as a jeopardy ‘Zero-tolerance’ (e.g., subjecting a person to
unnecessary radiation or failing to call for help if a patient
deteriorates/collapses).
4.2.3. Cut-score calculations

The underlying assumption in CBE is that the translation of qualitative
standards to a cut‐score number would reflect competencies. Also, in
competency-based methods, it is desirable that all learners achieve ‘competence’
after training. Consequently, criterion‐referenced cut-scores are more relevant in
healthcare education as they indicate that a candidate has mastered the EPT‘s
underlying components during an assessment (Gruppen et al., 2012). Finally, the
involvement of the clinical experts in determining essential evaluation indicators
and scores is important (Gallardo, 2020).
We applied the Ebel method to determine whether the scores at or above a

certain cut-score would indicate that the performance standard has been met.
The Ebel method involves asking a panel of clinical experts to provide difficulty
estimates per assessment item/cue categorized as easy, average, or difficult
along with content relevance classified as essential, important, acceptable, and
questionable. The cut‐score is then calculated by adding the cross‐products of
the difficulty and relevance decisions. This approach correlates item relevance
and difficulty, and the total score can be interpreted as an overall reflection of
candidates’ competencies in interrelated domains (De Champlain, 2019).
The two experts with more than 20 years of experience (one is with a mixed
extensive academic/clinical and one is the head of the clinical department) were
required to independently consider the relevance and degree of difficulty of the
DBMS 58 cues and then estimate the proportion of questions that the minimally
proficient student would correctly demonstrate in each cell. Disagreements
between the two panelists were reconciled through inter-discussions. Finally, the
panelists reported that nine of 58 cues were essential with 4,2,3 care categorized
as easy, average, and difficult, respectively. Panelists agreed that 92% of the
students should be able to achieve the easy essential cues, 85% should achieve
the average essential cues and 71% should be able to achieve the difficult
essential cues. Further, 49 of 58 items were classified as important items with
5,29,15 cues categorized as easy, average, and difficult respectively. Panelists
agreed that 88 % of the students should be able to achieve the easy essential
cues, 83% should achieve the average essential cues and 70% should be able to
demonstrate competency in achieving the difficult essential cues. The resulting
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cut‐score was calculated as the sum of the relevance/ difficulty of cell cross‐
products. None of the cues were classified as acceptable or questionable which
supports the expectation of the EPT “entrustable” component. Also, this
supported the ASMIRT (2018) extraction processes described by El-Farra (2022).
Table 3 depicts the two‐dimensional Ebel grid relevance/ difficulty cells and the
cut-score calculation sum of the relevance/ difficulty cell cross‐products with
examples.
Table 3: The DBMS Two‐Dimensional Ebel Grid

Relevance Easy Average Difficult
Essential 0.92 (4 cues) 0.85 (2 cues) 0.71 (3 cues)
Essential cue Exchanges and Involve other Watches for non-
example shares information professionals as verbal cues
with members of the needed
interprofessional
team
Important 0.88 (5 cues) 0.83 (29 cues) 0.7 (15 cues)
Important cue Ensures patient Ensure language Adopts and adjusts
example identification policy style is situation communication style
has been adhered to appropriate appropriately
Cut-score = 0.92(4)+ 0.85(2)+0.71(3)+0.88(5)+0.83(29)+0.7(15)= 46.48/58 (80%)
4.3. Empathy Assessment

Cognizant of the shortfalls of our proposed DBMS in terms of maturity, we also
used the JSE to establish a correlation that might support our work. Since Hojat
and colleagues developed the JSE in 2001, it has been extensively employed as
one of the most common psychometrically sound tools used to measure
empathy in the context of health professions education and patient care (Hojat &
Gonnella, 2017; Hojat et al., 2018). The associations between scores of the JSE and
pertinent variables have been extensively reported in empirical research (Hojat
et al., 2018). We deployed the (HPS-Version) for administration to all health
professions students other than medical students. We ran the baseline and a
post-intervention of the JSE assessment at the beginning of the first semester and
towards the end of the second. The initial compressions between the post-
intervention did not reveal significant discrepancies between the empathy
constituents of the devised DBMS. However, to improve our statistical
inferences and to establish retention of the attained empath, the after-
intervention score will be analyzed as compared to all health science students
(n)=1000 students. Future work will be published on a none randomized parallel
arm-controlled trial.
4.4. Structured Viva-Voce

Traditional viva-voce assessments have a long history in medical assessment, yet
students feel that they lack standardization and objectivity (Jefferies et al., 2011;
Shenwai & Patil, 2013). These shortcomings are better addressed by structuring
the event. Faculty members and students favor S.Viva as its structure reduces
the bias and makes viva-voce a fair assessment tool (Shenwai & Patil, 2013).
Furthermore, S.Viva assessments entail many advantages such as assessing NTS
like problem-solving and recognition of safe practice. They also provide an in-
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depth assessment of knowledge and flexibility to tailor the questions asked to

the needs of each individual candidate (Davis & Karunathilake, 2005). Moreover,
the overall and inter-rater reliabilities achieved in S.Viva exceeds those of
traditional viva-voce (Ganji, 2017).
In the S.Viva clinical cases, questions, criteria, possible answers, and marking
schemes are all predetermined (Jefferies et al., 2011). Before the S.Viva session,
each student was given a fixed, proctored 30 minutes to review two pre-selected
cases with known diagnostic outcomes (a case per EPT). To improve the
reliability, each student was provided with the checklist used for grading and
was allowed to write comments that could be referred to during the S.Viva
sessions by two examiners of different backgrounds, as described by Schuwirth
and Vleuten (2019).
4.4.1. Assessment Tool and Decision Criteria

The objective of the S.Viva was to test the knowledge of students to determine
the diagnostic quality of an image produced as the product of any of the EPTs.
This decision is critical to provide the “entrust” component of concluding a
patient’s encounter safely and successfully. Image critique standards used were
those which affect the diagnostic value of the produced medical image
(Lampignano & Kendrick, 2017).
The criteria were tabulated in a checklist that included 15 items that describe
medicolegal information, positioning, collimation, centering, technical factors,
image artifacts and anatomy identification. Seventy percent of the cases were
selected by experts at the clinical site with questionable diagnostic value, fifty
percent of which had to be repeated due to suboptimal positioning and/or
procedure. The predetermined answers were based on the actual outcome
documented in the radiologist report.
We applied a binary ‘met/unmet’ rating scale to improve the consistency. We

also pre-identified jeopardy assessment items as those which would result in the
need to unnecessarily repeat the examination and subject a patient to
unjustifiable hazards of radiation. Only one student responded that an ankle x-
ray should be repeated, but that image was reported as acceptable, and
repetition was not warranted. A single make-up attempt was allowed, but the
score of the second attempt was capped by the cut-score for fairness to other
students.
4.4.2. Cut-Score Calculations

Applying the same Ebel methodology, the panelists who used the rubric for the
S.Viva were involved in determining the cut-score for the tool. They agreed that
all items in the checklist are essential to the EPT scopes, with five items
categorized as easy, six as average and four as difficult. The calculated cut-score
was 84%. Table 4 depicts the two‐dimensional Ebel grid relevance/ difficulty
and the cut-score calculation sum of the relevance/ difficulty cross‐products
with examples.
200
Table 4: The S.Viva Two-Dimensional Ebel Grid

Relevance Easy Average Difficult
Essential 0.95 (5 items) 0.85 (6 items) 0.70 (4 items)
Cue Student accurately Student states if Student states if the

example critiques the image in positioning is accurate exam must be
terms of medico-legal using a minimum of repeated due to
requirements. two evaluation criteria. positioning error.
Minimum of one
criterion.
Cut-score = 0.95(5) + 0.85(6) +0.70(4) = 12.65/15 (84%)
4.5. Patient Satisfaction and Critical Safety Incident Report Reviews

Reviewing patient complaints, reports, and malpractice and patient surveys
following an encounter effectively assesses interpersonal and communication
skills (Duffy et al., 2004). Due to the limitations imposed by the small cohort to
complete a 360 evaluation, we reviewed all patient and clinical peer
dissatisfaction reports in addition to safety incident reports during the fifteen
and subsequent five weeks past the semester for any possible involvement of the
ADC students as a reverse confirmation of satisfaction. None of the reports
showed any direct or indirect involvement of the ADC students in any safety
compromises or dissatisfaction encounters during their training and assessment
periods.
4.6. Reflection Journal

Reflective activities align well with NTS development as they show that
achieving safe and efficient performance requires both technical and NTS
(Thomas, 2018). The parent curriculum requires four entries that prompt a
student to submit an account of encounters to state the challenges and success,
with no rubric for marking. Those were excluded from the assessment and
replaced by two structured reflection journals. The rubric was designed with a
focus on NTS following the Gibbs' reflective cycle, one of the most famous
cyclical models of reflection. The cycle is a six-stage step by step journey that
guides the student to explore an experience through context description,
feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan (Gibbs, 1988). Due to
the foreseen language barriers and to foster the reflective capacity in the
students, journals were used as a formative assessment. The rubric used for
grading has five criteria and ten guiding questions, each of which was assigned
a mark. The maximum possible grade was 15 and the cut-off score was 60%
(9/15). The first journal draft was due mid-semester and the second was due by
the end. One-on-one discussions were offered to students who scored zero in
any of the six stages, to ensure their comprehension of the concept of reflection.
5. E-Portfolio Structure and Content

Collecting data about NTS is more practical and accessible using e-portfolios
(Cimatti, 2016). E-portfolios are useful for supporting and assessing clinical
practice learning. Depending on their purpose, portfolios differ in scope,
structure, and content (Driessen & Tartwijk, 2019). The primary purpose of the
ADC e-portfolio is to aggregate show-case evidence of attainment to address
201
uncertainties around the ADC concept as a higher education paradigm shift.

Upon discussions with the clinical sites, we balanced student privacy, credential
authenticity, and relevancy of the evidence. The e-portfolio we used was
systematically structured as a transparent and practical evidence reservoir
suitable for potential employees to have confidence in the issued ADC. The
sandbox environment used for issuing the ADC and the e-portfolio components
was our institutional property. Similar to the full credentials, the ADC and the
students’ e-portfolios will be digitally available through Blockchain. Full
autonomy is granted for a student to share or not share the ADC e-portfolio
component(s) with prospective employers. Each student e-portfolio has four
components: the ADC standards document, the clinical assessments results, the
second Jefferson’s scale of empathy score and the S.Viva results.
6. Program Evaluation
We refer to the Kirkpatrick method to evaluate the ADC training program’s
effectiveness. The Kirkpatrick model is a widely recognized tool for evaluating
and analyzing the results of educational and training programs. It consists of
four levels: level 1 Reaction; level 2 Learning; level 3 Behavior; and level 4 Results (
Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
In the first week of the semester, nine eligible students were offered an
awareness session with the faculty and employer. Seven of them have
voluntarily enrolled based on individually expressed written interest (El-Farra,
2022). The reaction level of the program evaluation model refers to the degree to
which those seven students find the training favorable and relevant to their
future jobs (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). All students had the option to
withdraw from the ADC without penalty at any stage. Yet, none of the students
have expressed any intention to drop out at any stage and all seven students
have successfully completed the ADC. Therefore, we assume that the offering
has fully achieved the first level of the Kirkpatrick model. Learning is the second
level of the model, and it is about describing the degree to which participants
acquire the intended outcomes including knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence,
and commitment. At the same time, the behavior level is about the effects beyond
what learners attain in terms of course marks and measuring the observable
behavior at work (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The progression offering of
the ADC was designed to optimize and assess learning transfer and subsequent
employee performance in two ways. First, the deployment of CBA as an integral
assessment directly involves clinical demonstration of technical and NTS as well
as the direct industrial involvement in developing the assessment tools and
assessing the students. Both approaches provide evidence to reflect the
individual competency in performing the EPT stated. Therefore, achieving the
Kirkpatrick levels 2 and 3, learning, and behavior, respectively, was evident in
the assessments results, particularly in the clinical assessments and the S.Viva.
However, we cannot hold the debate that the ADC program has achieved the
results level. The fourth and final level encompasses the broader results and
consequences of the learning and the gains for the organizations and
stakeholders. We argue that achieving tangible results to align with the fourth
202
Kirkpatrick level could be established through three possible avenues. First, a

follow-up survey on the acceptance of the ADC amongst the employers, a
periodical assessment if those students had a better job or volunteering offers,
and a full-fledged rollout of the ADC framework proposed and /or national
alignment with the same.
7. Trustworthiness Analysis
This work is a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research
design. To enhance the value of this research we aligned with Guba's model of
trustworthiness. This model lists dependability, credibility, transferability, and
confirmability as criteria that enhance qualitative research trustworthiness
(Shenton, 2004), with overarching transparency in publishing an elaborate
description of our work to enhance all four trustworthiness criteria.
Triangulating data collection and inferences was used across the process as a
valuable tool for formative guidance and to extend credibility and dependability
to our work. We used formative and summative triangulation approaches. The
formative approach was to triangulate student performance variation across the
different assessment tools. Those checking points were mainly utilized to inform
the individualized training and mentoring plans. Table 5 plots the triangulation
points used to establish individual performance correlations across the different
requirements and assessments. At the same time, the summative triangulation
was intended to provide an overall program triangulation. Both ADC and the
clinical course have a ‘pass/fail’ derived from percentage grading schema. So
initially, deviation in performance was considered if a student passed the ADC
but did not pass the parent courses or vice-versa. This is because the cut-score of
all course assessments is 60%, compared with variable cut-scores described in
this paper. We also compared the aggregated percentage of letter grades. Table
6 depicts individual ADC and parent curriculum clinical course performance
differences in letter grade. In addition to transparency and triangulation, the
ADC curriculum and assessment had substantial input from peers and clinical
experts. The extensive involvement of various experts improves the credibility
and confirmability of our work. External involvement, contribution, and
validation roles were stated in the above sections and are reviewed in Table 7.
Table 5: The Formative Triangulation Points Matrix Across the Different

Requirements and Assessments
Passing Clinical Image OSCE Clinical
courses supervisor critique assessment
assessment technical skills
rubric
Reflection journal Yes Yes
with dedicated rubric
Clinical assessment Yes Yes Yes Yes
using the DBMS
S.Viva Yes Yes
Patient satisfaction Yes Yes Yes
and critical incident
report reviews
203
Table 6: Individual ADC and Parent Curriculum Clinical Course Student Performance
Differences
Student 1MI 2MI 3MI 4MI 5MI 6MI 7MI
ID/
Final
Grade
ADC A A A A A- A A
Course A A A A B+ A- B+
Table 7: External Peer and Clinical Experts’ Involvement, Contribution, and

Validation Roles
Assessment Contributor(s) Role
Clinical hours Accreditation -
requirement
Passing didactic Two different faculty Deliver the three courses and assess
and clinical courses and and grade students per parent
clinical supervisors curriculum requirements.
Clinical supervisor Clinical supervisors Assess and grade students’ clinical
assessment performance as per parent curriculum
requirements
Image critique Faculty member Assess and grade students’
submissions as per parent curriculum
requirements
OSCE Faculty member and Assess and grade students’ clinical
lab technician performance within the lab setting as
per parent curriculum requirements
Reflection journal Faculty member Assess and grade students’
submissions as per parent curriculum
requirements
Reflection journal ADC Faculty Rubric design
with rubric Train the students on the requirements
Grade entries for formative feedback
Patient quota ADC Faculty and Estimate the number of supervised
clinical site head of training patient quotas required for the
department EPT to be attainable based on the
patient intake numbers and
competency expectations.
Clinical assessment ADC Faculty Rubric design
ADC faculty Train the students on the requirements
Orient evaluators to use the rubric
Student result interpretation and
performance triangulation
Clinical site expert and Cut score determination
ADC Faculty
Clinical instructor Conduct clinical assessment
S. Viva ADC Faculty Rubric design
Panelists in the S.Viva sessions
Result interpretation and student
performance triangulation
Clinical site expert and Cut-score determination
head of department Case image selection
Lead the S.Viva panel to make the final
204
student performance decision

Empathy score Thomas Jefferson Online test
University
Patient satisfaction ADC Faculty and Review and report
and critical clinical site head of
incident report department
reviews
8. Ethical Considerations
In addition to the ethical considerations followed during the pre-assessment
phases falling under the institutional Research Ethics and Integrity Committee
(REIC2-113) permission (El-Farra, 2022), additional assessment-specific ethical
considerations were adhered to. To ensure non-maleficence, all ADC-related
assessments and requirements did not have any input or influence on the grade-
bearing assessment that contributed to the Grade Point Average (GPA)
calculations. Further, participants' rights to privacy, confidentiality, and
anonymity were protected by not sharing the assessment results with the rest of
the MI faculty. Additionally, the sandbox e-portfolio permissions are designed
with a security layer that allows the earner of the ADC to share with employers
of their own choice.
9. Limitations and Future Work

The originally intended scope of the ADC is not limited to undergraduate
students with relatively high GPA scores. De facto, targeting upskilling and
reskilling for the existing workforce is a significant drive. However, ethical and
feasibility considerations have restrained this study to be only conducted for a
relatively small number of undergraduate students with high GPA scores.
Further study is required to determine if the results are generalizable to other
cohorts like adult learners and those with non-GPA-dependency eligibility. Also,
certain limitations arise due to the dependency on CBA to assess the students.
CBA implementation requires careful feasibility and validity tradeoffs. Factors
like suboptimal evaluator training could compromise the validity of the
assessment (Gallardo, 2020). Our findings are based on optimized feasibility and
validity tradeoffs because of the relatively small number of evaluators trained on
using the assessment tools. Further, clinical training and assessment
opportunities were feasibly optimized due to the small numbers. However,
generalizability and variations in workplace contexts will contribute to
differences in skills development (Gruppen et al., 2012).
Future research should be focused on the digital journey, the stakeholder’s

acceptance studies, and longitudinal studies to examine NTS changes in ADC
graduates. Finally, there is a need to set broad yet distinguishable areas of
competence that would collectively constitute a general descriptive framework
for a profession (Englander et al., 2013). At the same time, standards of MI
practice might differ from country to country, common technical and NTS form
most of the MI professional expectations. One of the objectives of the
International Academic Network (IAN) of the International Society of
Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT) is to contribute to the
technical and NTS patient-centered care and patient safety educational materials
205
and research (ISRRT, 2022). Future work is required in collaboration with IAN to
establish a generalized MI competency framework that incorporates interrelated
and purposeful competencies like radiation and contrast injection safety
communication. Such a framework would constitute the backbone of a more
homogenous pedogeological and assessment method.
10. Conclusion
Our initial assessment and evaluation findings support the assumption of the
need for various approaches, primarily CBA tools. Leveraging the local or
international professional standards as a reference point to develop rubrics
within a BMS framework is a practical and reliable starting point in any newly
introduced CBA tool. The difficulty of a question item or cue of performance is
not the only factor that should be considered while designing an assessment.
Addressing the dependency between assessment items’ relevancy and domains
is equally important. Thus, the Ebel method in calculating the cut-score should
be considered when developing CBA tools and BMSs, particularly when clinical
expertise is required for the tool development and grading to enhance the ADC
prospects and trustworthiness. Also, cut‐scores can be viewed as a translation of
the standards which reflect expert judgment as to what constitutes competence
and should be supported by evidence. However, careful planning and local
considerations to balance privacy and transparency should be followed to
decide which digital footprint artifacts should be available to the stakeholders.
Finally, there is a need for transparency in assessment research. Standardization
of at least the top common technical and NTS is possible when researchers
consider international collaboration by publishing comprehensive
methodologies, frameworks, and results.
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Received Jul 12, 2022; Revised Nov 12, 2022; Accepted Nov 18, 2022
Language Learning through Digital Media:

Investigating the Strategies among Selected
International Students in the Philippines
Jeffrey Rosario Ancheta
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Manila, Philippines
Abstract. This study attempts to investigate the language learning

strategies used by international students in Manila, Philippines, in five
areas: planning and organizing, remembering, thinking and
understanding, compensating, and interacting. Using the snowball
sampling technique, the researcher identified and interviewed ten (10)
international students from different colleges and universities for this
descriptive research. The findings revealed that the use of digital media
has become common for participants in various areas of language
learning strategies. For instance, the usefulness of Google Translate,
Dictionary+, YouTube, Netflix, mobile language translators, and other
language learning applications such as Mango, Drops, Rosetta Stone,
Babbel and Mondly were recognized, alongside writing new words,
interacting with people, and conversing using a second language (L2).
Given the significance of digital media in L2 learning, the researcher
developed the digital media-assisted language learning (DMALL)
paradigm to contribute to language learning research. This study will
cater to a specific context to address the needs of international students in
the Philippines. Hence, determining the difficulties and the strategies will
form an integral part of the academic curriculum plan or design that will
substantially assist the L2 needs of the growing number of international
students in the country.
Keywords: digital media; digital media-assisted language learning;

international students; language learning; strategies
1. Introduction
The field of language learning strategies (LLS) research remains controversial. As
the area continues to develop, specific vital issues are still highlighted based on
over-generalizations, conflicting results, inconsistency among subjects, contextual
factors, dissenting categorizations, lack of empirical support, etc. (Rose, 2012;
Vlckova et al., 2013; Wu, 2008;). Through LLS research, greater emphasis has been
placed on the role of the learner through effective strategy use toward efficient
©Author
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learning. Over the last twenty years, a significant shift in language research can
be witnessed due to the multiplying interest of researchers to focus on what
learners employ to achieve learning (Tseng, 2005). Furthermore, the pioneer
works (particularly their language taxonomies) of Joan Rubin, Rebecca Oxford, J.
Michael O’Malley, Anna Uhl Chamot, and Hans Heinrich Stern have become the
subject of subsequent research claiming the irregularities between their particular
taxonomies, lack of consistency among subjects, disregard of context,
instrumentalities, and other issues. However, these criticisms benefit the LLS
research field as they ignite a generation eager to unravel more about it.
Since the mid-1970s, LLS has received attention due to the profuse number of
findings claiming the importance of strategy use toward second language (L2)
acquisition (Zare, 2012; Zareva & Fomina, 2013). The respective works of Wenden
and Rubin, Oxford, O’Malley and Chamot, and Stern have stood as the pioneers
during the shift in trend. Notably, many of their initial studies have been
conducted based on the “good” language learner concept, which assumes that all
learners tend to employ the same strategies in L2 learning. Hence, if the “bad”
ones can utilize the strategy used by the good language learners, successful L2
learning is achieved (Fazeli, 2011; Wong, 2005; Zare, 2012). Notwithstanding,
recent studies concentrate on individual differences in strategy preferences and
the complex relationship between language performance and strategy usage
(Gamage, 2003).
The ability to converse effectively and employ the appropriate language in all
situations constitutes good language learners. Studies have found that language
learners typically adopt proper learning techniques and using language learning
strategies increases their learning outcomes (Su, 2005). Every language learner
employs a specific set of language learning techniques, although there are
variations in how frequently and which techniques are used. According to
Chamot and Kupper (1989), all individuals used language learning methods
regardless of aptitude. Nevertheless, the breadth of techniques used and how they
were applied set good language learners apart from poor effective language
learners. Efficient or good language learners employ suitable, varied, and viable
tactics to finish the task (Su, 2005).
While distinct learners tend to use varied language learning strategies, Tigarajan
et al. (2016) discovered that individuals utilize various language learning
strategies to become good language learners, and a few of these strategies are
exceptional. This finding corresponds to the one mentioned above because it
sought to obtain insights into good language learners and their strategies. This is
also connected with a study by Du (2018), who looked at the disparities between
successful and unsuccessful EFL Chinese university students' use of listening
strategies for various listening questions. According to the study, each person's
listening approach is highly unique because it varies on their degree of linguistic
proficiency.
Given these findings from relevant studies in language learning, this research was
conducted to investigate and determine the effective language learning strategies
210
of international students in Manila, Philippines. Specifically, this study will

answer the following questions:
1. What strategies are they using to help them plan and organize their language
learning?
2. What strategies are they using to help them remember new language items?
3. What strategies help them to think about and understand the new language?
4. What strategies are they using to help them compensate for lack of
knowledge?
5. What strategies are they using which involve interaction with other people?
This study will cater to a specific context to particularly address the needs of the
international students in different colleges and universities in Manila, Philippines.
Hence, an extra leap will be achieved toward creating a program or curriculum
that will substantially assist the L2 needs of the growing number of international
students in the country. Determination of both the difficulties and the strategies
will form an integral part of the academic curriculum plan or design.
2.1 Defining Learning Strategies
Learning strategies can be defined as any sets of operations, steps, plans, or
routines used by the learner to facilitate obtaining, storing, retrieving, and using
information (Wenden & Rubin, 1987). Cohen (2007), on the other hand, defines a
learning strategy as a conscious mental activity that contains a goal or intention,
an action to reach this goal, and a learning activity. As Oxford (1999) puts it, it is
a “conscious movement towards a goal.” She adds that autonomy and self-
regulation serve as a theoretical framework for understanding the purpose of
language learning strategies.
The following definitions for learning strategies are also notable:

1. They are particular thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them
comprehend, learn, or retain new information (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990).
2. They are processes consciously selected by learners. They may result in actions
taken to enhance the learning or use of a second or foreign language through
storage, retention, recall, and application of information about that language
(Cohen, 1998).
3. They are specific actions the learner takes to make learning easier, faster, more
enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new
situations (Oxford, 1990).
2.2 Foreign LLS Research Studies

Various studies have been made to cater to the specific context of a particular
language. Languages such as Korean (Magno, 2010) and Chinese (Chen & Hung,
2012; Jie & Xiaoqing, 2006; Kao & Craigie, 2013; Wu, 2008; Xuesong, 2006) in
different settings such as China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Arabic (Ruba et al.,
2014; Yusri et al., 2013), Russian (Zareva & Fomina, 2012), Spanish (Del Angel &
Gallardo, 2014; Judge, 2011), and Malaysian (Ahmad Tarmizi et al., 2022; Wong,
2005) are some of the subjects of these studies.
211
Studies of LLS use of Spanish (L1) learners have concluded the importance of
cognitive and metacognitive functions in learning English (L2). Spanish adults
who are engaged in business affairs recognize the importance of English to
understand a vast number of people (Judge, 2011); hence, they do not only
frequently use cognitive and metacognitive strategies but also social strategies.
On the other hand, Mexican students need effective strategy use and personal and
family complements to achieve academic success (Del Angel & Gallardo, 2014).
Overall, both studies have rebutted some claims of Oxford (1990), such as the
infrequency of social strategy usage as seen in Judge (2011) and the emphasis on
the good language learner to identify effective LLSs as witnessed in Del Angel
and Gallardo (2014).
Given that the Orang Asli indigenous students are not native Malay speakers and
are not proficient in the language, Ahmad Tarmizi et al. (2022) noted that it was
essential to investigate this group's experiences in learning and acquiring a second
language. This is supported by related studies and scientific reports on the Orang
Asli indigenous students' low and subpar educational status. Investigating their
Malay language learning and experiences will also help students improve their
learning abilities and second language proficiency. Wong (2005) and Yusri et al.
(2013) also focused on Malaysian subjects in their LLS Research. The study by
Wong (2005) utilized pre-service teachers (defined as having a one-year diploma
in the Education course) to identify a correlation between LLS and language self-
efficacy and concluded that a positive correlational relationship between the two
exists. In addition, high self-efficacy teachers tend to use a more significant
number of LLS (primarily cognitive, social, and metacognitive) than low self-
efficacy ones.
In terms of the use of integrative (i.e. due to practical reasons such as getting a job,
passing a subject, etc.) and instrumental (i.e. due to willingness to communicate
with other people or learn their culture) motivation, a study conducted in the
Malaysian context also discusses that there is no significant difference between
genders in learning L2 (Spanish). Simply put, gender tends to inappropriately
determine if a learner is integratively or instrumentally motivated in learning
Spanish as L2. However, Malaysian L2 learners tend to be instrumentally
motivated rather than integratively. In addition, females show a significantly
higher level of instrumental motivation than males (Khong et al., 2017).
On the other hand, L2 research in the Chinese context has focused on different
perspectives such as parental support (Xuesong, 2006), LLS use (Wu, 2008),
personality type (Chen & Hung, 2012), coping strategies (Kao & Craigie, 2013),
and learning styles (Jie & Xiaoqing, 2006). Studies by Xuesong (2006) and Wu
(2008) are clear examples of the social strategy used by Chinese students. Xuesong
(2006) explains the direct involvement of parents as advisors, coercers, and
nurturers and their indirect involvement as advocates, facilitators, and
collaborators. On the other hand, Wu (2008) emphasized the more significant
popularity of social/affective strategies among Chinese English learners in Hong
Kong compared to cognitive and metacognitive ones. Three contextual factors
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have been implied to influence LLS use. These are the (1) role of English in Hong
Kong, (2) education system, and (3) Confucianism.
The particular studies of Jie and Xiaoqing (2006), Chen and Hung (2012), and Kao
and Craigie (2013) tend to focus more on the learner as an individual rather than
the learner as a societal member. For instance, Chen and Hung (2012) explained
significant relationships of strategy use in introverted/extroverted,
sensing/intuitive, and judging/perceiving personality types. Those who are
extroverts and intuitive are reported to use cognitive, metacognitive, and social
strategies more. On the other hand, Jie and Xiaoqing (2006) emphasized the
influence of learning styles on strategy choice. The study has claimed that learning
style tends to be the most influential variable to consider in strategy choices.
Furthermore, Kao and Craigie (2013) determined positive thinking as the most
often used strategy for learners to avoid anxiety.
Other studies on particular languages are also noteworthy and contributory to the
field. For instance, Ruba et al. (2014) found that most of the selected Pakistani
students did not utilize learning strategies in learning English. They explained
that this lack of utilization was due to a lack of awareness and opportunity. The
study argues that teachers have shortcomings in exposing students to strategic
practices, and students are reluctant to practice or improve their knowledge. Nor
Shaid et al. (2022) also attempted to fill this research gap by carefully examining
how business students at a public university in Malaysia improved their English-
speaking abilities in an L2 classroom setting, as there is still much work to be done
to thoroughly investigate the changing aspect of SLL.
On the other hand, Magno’s (2010) research somehow invalidated the SILL of
Oxford since he argues that most of the classifications (except compensation
strategies) did not accurately predict the English proficiency of Korean students.
He added that the months of formal study in English significantly predicted L2
ability. However, Zareva and Fomina’s (2012) results speak otherwise. They
believed not only in the usefulness of the SILL in identifying the strategy scope of
Russian university students but also in evaluating the effectiveness of their
learning programs. Differences have been found between the strategic use of first
and final year students. Generally, they explained that Russian university
students have strategy use ranging from high to medium, indicating the growing
trend to communicative approaches aside from the traditional ones.
2.3 Taxonomies of Language Learning Strategies

To provide a more straightforward understanding of L2 learning strategies,
O'Malley (1985), Rubin (1987) and Oxford (1990) have developed their taxonomies
that classify these strategies. Oxford’s Strategy Inventory of Language Learning
(SILL) classified into two: (1) direct strategies, which directly involve processing
or using the second language being learned, and (2) indirect strategies, which
allow the learner to manage themselves concerning the following: planning,
organizing, monitoring, evaluating, maintaining motivation, lowering anxiety,
and learning with others. Meanwhile, O’Malley’s Taxonomy of Language
Learning Strategies focused on (1) metacognitive, which involves planning,
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thinking, monitoring, and evaluating one’s own learning; (2) cognitive, which is
more limited to specific learning tasks and they involve more direct manipulation
of the learning material itself; and (3) socio-affective strategies, which are linked
to social-mediating activity and transacting with others. On the other hand,
Rubin’s Language Learning Strategies are somewhat similar to Oxford (1990), and
classify learning strategies into two types: direct and indirect. Direct strategies
refer to learning strategies, while indirect strategies refer to communication and
social strategies.
Other taxonomies such as those of Bialystok (1981), Willing (1988), Ellis and
Sinclair (1989), and Stern (1992) have also contributed to the categorization of
language learning strategies. As Zare (2012) puts it, these studies have not only
helped classifying strategies but also in creating instructional frameworks which
take into consideration the particular classifications. However, Zare (2012)
considers these taxonomies relatively the same and comparing their impact on
language teaching methodologies seems senseless.
Supporting Zare (2012), Gamage (2003) states that the discussion regarding
strategy classifications remains open since certain key issues remain unaddressed,
such as the relativity of strategy use to different cultural backgrounds, learning
environments, and language-specific tasks. Hence, extra-precaution should be
exercised in applying results of studies utilizing these taxonomies to other groups
which have not been used as the subjects of the respective study. For instance,
strategy studies for adults should not be applied to those of children since there
exists conspicuous psychological and sociological differences between the two
groups (Purdie & Oliver, 1999). Indeed, overgeneralization is one threat in
establishing a good classification or inventory of learning strategies. Wenden and
Rubin (1987) have provided four criteria which must be considered upon creating
a strategy inventory:
1. The inventory must be understood by the majority of participants (sentence
structure, use of jargons, grammar, language used)
2. It must be comprised of selective strategies needed for a particular language
skill (for instance, skills related to memory differ from skills related to
conversation)
3. It contains strategies applicable to a specific language setting (strategy use in
the learning English differs from strategy use in learning Filipino)
4. It must be bounded by strategies which are the most often used.
Criticisms and issues regarding strategy classifications or language taxonomies

began when Rebecca Oxford released her once widely used Strategy Inventory of
Language Learning (SILL). Some issues regarding SILL include over-emphasis of
quantity over quality of strategy use (Tseng et al., 2006) and neglect of context
such as culture and education (Woodrow, 2005). Woodrow (2005) argued that the
SILL lacks reliability since it does not cater a specific sample and suggested that
qualitative methods should be furthered. Combining these key issues in her
study, Rose (2012) calls for more context-specific studies which employ more
qualitative methods.
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3. Methodology
The study used a qualitative approach, a scientific methodology developed by
observing a person's or a group's behavioral tendencies (Babbie, 2014). This study
concentrated on recounting the experiences of international students in Manila,
Philippines, in learning their second language. Accordingly, this study was
classified as descriptive research since it seeks to elucidate "what" exists beyond
experiences, understanding, and language learning strategies (Shields &
Rangarajan, 2013).
Through the snowball sampling technique, this research selected ten (10)
international students from different universities and colleges in Manila as
participants. The study made use of in-depth online interviews during the data
gathering. Using an in-depth interview guide, the participants were subjected to
an in-depth online interview on various platforms, including Zoom and Google
Meet. In-depth interviewing (IDI) is a qualitative data collection technique that
involves rigorous one-on-one interviews with a small number of respondents to
understand better their perspectives on a specific concept, initiative, or situation
(Boyce & Neale, 2006). A reflexive critical dialogue with oneself was also chosen
as the method the researchers would use to stick to the narrative case study
strategy. As a result, this calls for the Bevan-proposed descriptive, structural
interview questions of modes of appearing to understand the phenomenon
(methods of appearing in natural attitude) (Bevan, 2014). For instance, the
researcher created an interview guide that included theme topics that the
interviewer wanted to cover throughout the session as he explored the
experiences of the chosen participants in learning their second language, English
and/or Filipino (the national language of the Philippines).
Also, with the participants’ consent, the interview was recorded and transcribed.
The transcripts of each participant were then familiarized. The researcher
employed inductive thematic analysis in a reflexive manner (Braun & Clarke,
2019; Charmaz, 2006). The codes were initially investigated using open coding.
Lastly, the researcher used axial coding to connect and classify the categories into
themes.
Table 1: Profile of the participants
Participant Nationality First Language
Participant 1 Sudanese Arabic
Participant 2 Arabic Arabic
Participant 3 Eritrean Arabic
Participant 5 Eritrean Arabic
Participant 7 Palestinian Arabic
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Participant 9 Sudanese Arabic

The presentation of the results is divided into five areas of strategies of language
learning: (1) planning and organizing; (2) remembering; (3) thinking and
understanding; (4) compensating for lack of knowledge; and (5) interaction with
other people.
4.1 Strategies in Planning and Organizing Language Learning

The participants used different strategies to plan and organize their language
learning. Most of them used their speaking skills as their strategy because they
believed they could plan and organize their language learning through practice.
Some of them also used electronic books and dictionaries to acquire new
vocabulary. At the same time, one of the participants highlighted that watching
movies over Netflix and listening to music over YouTube served as strategies that
helped them plan and organize their language learning (see Table 2).
Table 2: Strategies in planning and organizing language learning of the participants
Participant Strategies of the Participant

“E-books. Actually I found first because the vocab, and the grammar
Participant 1 and actually… especially classic stories, this the one like will really
make your English suave.”
“If I find a new word I would just write it and try to practice on it,
Participant 2
read the online dictionary…Google Translate also.”
“By talking to one another it can do. That’s the best strategy, by
Participant 3
chatting to one (another) and mostly reading…that helps.”
“Talking, you will know you are good…because when you start
Participant 4 talking, you remove the [shyness] in you and uhh how you feel
afraid.”
“If I came like….for the university, and the prof told me go to
introduce something about yourself, like that. Like when I see the
book he feels smiling like that… or anyone he feels smiling or share
Participant 5
it from me, I feel like, I do something great. I focus on someone
who’s better than me..if I do something wrong, tell me what was the
wrong I will make it correct next time.”
“uhhhh try me to translate for the people… and like uhhh I have
many friends they came to Philippines, and he doesn’t know how to
Participant 6 speak English, they ask me to translate for them… so I’m the one to
translate for them. Even if I am not very good in English, but I’m
better than them…so I guess.”
“All the day I talk in English everybody talk English so you can
Participant 7
learn faster.”
“I’m starting to movies and songs like in YouTube. I’m a good
Participant 8 listener…I was a kid we have no TV. so I watch movie every week.
Movie that wouldn’t translate in Arabic and I’ll try to understand.”
216
“If I didn’t I start to memorize I see and then search it on the internet
Participant 9
and that I can really memorize it.”
Participant 10 “Talk to people don’t be shy even it’s wrong try to learn from it.”
Learning strategies can be considered conscious and intentional movement or

control by a learner towards a language goal (Bialystok, 1990; Pressley &
McCormick, 1995 as cited in Oxford, 2003). A strategy chain (as coined by Oxford)
is a “set of interlocking, related, and mutually supportive strategies.” In her study,
Oxford (2003) provides a clear example of a strategy chain, starting from how the
learner plans his/her specific actions:
“Let us consider Divna, whose goal is to conduct research in chemistry
with the help of articles written in the L2. [...] To meet the need, she plans
a manageable task: finding and reading one L2 article per week on
chemistry until she develops a rapid reading rate and is able to identify
and understand published research findings. Other strategies [...] might
include scheduling time each week to search for an article in the library or
on the Internet, [...]. In addition, she could use strategies such as
skimming for the main points, reading carefully for supporting details,
keeping a notebook for L2 scientific vocabulary, using the dictionary to
look up difficult words, guessing the meaning of words from the context,
and making a written outline or summary if needed.”
In the case of selected international students in Manila, Philippines, the students

plan and organize their learning by utilizing social strategies, classified as the
indirect strategies of Oxford (1990) or the SILL, O’Malley’s (1985), and Rubin’s
(1987). The respondents tend to plan that they have to utilize L2 in communicating
with other students around the university; on the other hand, some organize their
learning by planning to watch movies, read e-books, and search over the internet.
4.2 Strategies in Remembering New Language Items

One component of learning a new language is the strategy of remembering. Based
on the interview conducted with the participants, most of them used to write the
new vocabularies they encountered and tried to look for their meaning in a
dictionary or search over the internet. From there, they would start memorizing
the new words and using them in their daily conversation (see Table 3).
Table 3: Participants’ strategies in remembering new language items

“Writing…I write with my hand… I even uhm I repeat it, one,
twice, three until I saved it in my mind. “Yeah actually,
Participant 1
writing… it’s more better than just listening because it let you
like get it fastly.”
“I just write It down on my phone then just repeat that. I just
Participant 2
write the word then try to use it.”
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“Memorizing…just say it always…it’s important that I save it

Participant 3 on my phone, then If I already memorized it, then just delete it
from my phone.”
“Picture…first time for me when I learn English, if some word I
Participant 4 don’t know it, my friend will Google it for me, picture…and
show it to me.”
“If I saw a movie and I see a new word, I would try to use it.
For example a sentence, and I will try to use it in my life, when
Participant 5
someone he talked to me in English, I will try my best to use the
new word.”
“Say it… say it many times and write it…write in your phone,
in your dictionary…by hand like if you know some words…I
Participant 6 just find it in my online dictionary and I still save it on my
phone. So that when I come back to home, I will write it many
times…and then it will sink in my mind.”
“I if I know new… something new, you have to...say that every
Participant 7 day in my chat in Facebook or even face to face. I have to use it
so I will not forget it.”
“By listening to rap music on my iPod or music
Participant 8
applications….and listening to it I remember all English.”
“I try to write it and then memorize it and I can remember

Participant 9
that.”
“I’m using pictures and I save on my phone and I have online

Participant 10
translator like application.”
Another integral part of the strategy chain used by the international students is
writing down new vocabulary they have encountered. In the relevant taxonomies
of L2 learning, note-taking or memorization falls under the cognitive strategies of
all three taxonomies: O’Malley (1985), Rubin (1987) and Oxford (1990). Based on
these taxonomies, cognitive strategies involve a learner's conscious and direct
manipulation of their learning material. Note-taking, listening to music for better
memory (auditory representation), and watching movies reflect cognitive
strategies.
4.3 Strategies in Thinking and Understanding New Language

The participants used different strategies to think and understand a new
language. These are some of their techniques: (1) use an English translator through
a cell phone, (2) consult Dictionary+, (3) surf the net like Google, (4) watch
YouTube videos and Netflix, (5) enroll in English courses, and (6) utilizing
language learning applications like Rosetta Stone, Babbel and Mondly (see Table
4).
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Table 4: Participants’ strategies in thinking and understanding new language
“It’s something important to me because if I didn’t get it right. I

Participant 1
have to know, I don’t pass it, I have to know.”
“I use digital application such as Rosetta Stone and Mondly to

Participant 2
better think and understand the language.”
“I’m not going to understand because it’s meant to be hard
unless I have some idea about that language, that time I will
Participant 3
think what’s the word or the meaning. Most of the time, I used
translation application.”
“First time for me, I start to use my text message [in English]
everybody’s using this communication… text we use only just
Participant 4
call. So this technique is a strategy helped me by English... write
my text by Arabic and use translation to English.”
“When I want a new language, I must use it. I must use the
Participant 5 Dictionary+ (plus) app. I feel so bad about it…Because I hate
dictionaries…I feel like I hate it but like… I must do it!”
“…as the help of my dictionary…actually dictionary is very
Participant 6
important for me…it’s application on my phone.”
“I am using Rosetta Stone and Babbel… language learning

Participant 7
software.”
“I just read but more or listen and watch YouTube videos and
Participant 8
Netflix. I listen to rap songs and expose myself to new words.”
“Learn the basics through online courses like in YouTube and

Participant 9
then taking English courses in school.”
Participant 10 “Using Google to improve my English words.”
The growing relevance of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) can be

seen in the students' strategies to think and understand new languages. Using
Google, Dictionary+, YouTube, and translation applications has assisted students
in learning new vocabularies. Closely connected with CALL is mobile assisted
language learning (MALL). Although learning through MALL may take longer
than CALL, MALL assists learners by giving them enough freedom (autonomy)
to learn L2 in terms of time and space. An essential advantage of MALL is that it
allows learners to learn without the usual classroom or computer laboratory
setting (Miangah & Nezarat, 2012).
The result can imply that searching techniques can assist the students in utilizing
the internet in the maximum way possible to learn L2. For instance, in the context
of Korean EFL students, there has been a significant increase in the overall gain
score (pre-test and post-test) of students after they have undergone Google Search
Techniques (GST) training, focusing on article collocations and paraphrasing.
Two important implications have been made on this study: (a) it maximizes
219
learning outcomes from formulating search phrases, using different Google sub
corpora, and interpreting search results of frequency and contextual information;
(b) if incorporated into L2 writing instruction, GST can enhance learners’
autonomy through consultation of weak writing points and useful DDL tools or
dictionaries (Han & Shin, 2017).
Aside from Google, another tool used by the students is YouTube. It has been one
of the most accessed tools to learn L2. Language teachers recognize the use of
YouTube by uploading L2 learning instructions on the site. However, some
limitations to using the website exist, including the lack of privacy on YouTube,
limited access to schools, and difficulty for instructors to assess its effectiveness.
In Alhamami (2013), a novel rubric classified into five categories (i.e., video
characteristic, attractiveness, clarity, reaction, and content) has been developed to
assist both instructors and students in determining the appropriate videos for the
target audience and creating compelling language learning videos based on LL
theories.
4.4 Strategies in Compensating the Lack of Knowledge of New Language

The result showed that most participants used digital tools, gadgets, and/or
applications to compensate for their lack of knowledge of the new language. These
are Dictionary+, Google Translate, cellphone translators, and digital applications
like Mango, Drops, Rosetta Stone, Babbel and Mondly. Other participants found
YouTube and Netflix more helpful in understanding the language (see Table 5).
Table 5: Participants’ strategies in thinking and understanding new language

“Dictionary+ (Plus) and also I’m using the Engineering
Participant 1 one…the vocabulary is so hard actually. I also use language
application like Mango.”
“Search it on the internet and ask someone. I always use Rosetta
Participant 2
Stone and Mondly apps.”
“First, I’ll try to search for the definition, if I couldn’t
Participant 3 understand the definition so I’ll use Google Translator so it’s
more easier…from English to Arabic.”
“Dictionary…I use it before but not really…Google. Google
Participant 4
Translation. YouTube, helpful. Movies, helpful.”
Participant 5 “Watching movies on and Netflix.”
“Yeah Google… the translator, YouTube no (not better than

dictionary)… I have some dictionary in my… uhhh its name is
Participant 6 dict + (plus). It’s very good because it doesn’t need internet
so… just write the word and it will give the meaning and you
will have example also.”
“I use translation on my cellphone yeah. It’s offline so I can use
Participant 7 it always… But I depend my learning on Rosetta Stone and
Babbel application.”
220
“Student feel about my new language. I don’t know. Sometimes

Participant 8
I use Mango and Drops application as my online tutor.”
“Sometimes using Google Translate and then I search it on the

Participant 9
internet or ask my friend.”
Participant 10 “Talk to someone else and try to ask to your English mistakes.”
Specific actions mentioned by the participants can otherwise be classified as

cognitive strategies under O’Malley (1985) and Learning-Cognitive Strategies
under Rubin (1987). The use of CALL and MALL has also been mentioned.
However, compensating strategies have been used by Participant 10 to overcome
his limitations in speaking L2. On the other hand, Participant 2 utilizes both CALL
(or cognitive) and social strategies to further compensate for his lack of
knowledge. Within a particular strategy chain, an individual tends to employ
different strategies based on the three taxonomies by Oxford, O’Malley, and
Rubin.
For instance, a study by Daflizar (2020) showed that most exercises students
regularly participated in entailed using technology. To help their pupils learn
English effectively, teachers must encourage them to use technology effectively.
Motivation, guidance for which tools to use, suggestions for metacognitive and
cognitive methods, technology usage in the classroom, and incorporating
technological resources in homework are all possible aspects of a teacher's role.
4.5 Strategies in Interacting with Others

In terms of interaction with other people, the participants used different strategies
to understand them. Some of these are (1) showing pictures of what they meant;
(2) asking the person they are talking to to repeat what they are saying; (3) being
friendly and pleasant to the person they are talking to; (4) speaking slowly; and
(5) employing texting and translating application (see Table 6).
Table 6: Strategies used in interaction with other people

“Sometimes yeah, (sign language) because the communication
of people…you have to be…so If didn’t get you, I will get you
Participant 1
somewhere along the meaning that I want you to know. Maybe
I’ll show you a picture…or something close to what I mean.”
“I would try my best to understand them. Explain and why he
Participant 2 couldn’t understand me like uhh I would just ask him to repeat
what he say…I try my best to understand what he say.”
“I cannot interact if I cannot understand or it’s going to be hard
Participant 3 if I don’t know what he’s talking about so I always have
translating software on my phone.”
“First of course you have to be nice, and you have to be friendly
because sometime the Filipino…sometimes they are afraid with
Participant 4
the foreigner so you need to be friendly and you need to be
nice…because sometimes they are afraid to speak in English.”
221
“…I’m speaking so fast so someone he cannot understand me; I

speak so slow. After this, if he doesn’t understand me, I’ll show
Participant 5
him like a video or a picture, or I’ll give him example or
anything. I’ll make anything, to understand.”
“The text…it’s very good, if they are all silent, or they are
Participant 6 scared. I think the text it’s very good, it’s better. But also I guess
he should do the talk.”
“Always I text…yeah. I try to know my people talk English. If
Participant 7
they say Arabic, I don’t like to talk to them too much.”
Participant 8 “Sometime I use texting and translating app.”
Participant 9 “Interaction to different people like this.”
Participant 10 “Talking to people. Formal and informal talking to them.”
Given the recognition of CALL and social strategies as important tools for
international students involved in this study, a virtual social platform may be
developed to further enhance their L2 learning. Among the three taxonomies,
social strategies commonly pertain to communicating and interacting with other
people. The integration of social strategies and virtual platforms can be witnessed
in a study by Etxebarria et al. (2012) wherein focus is given to social strategies and
how they are utilized by the students in a Moodle platform. However, results
show that students tend to underutilize Moodle tools to improve four kinds of
social strategies, namely: asking, cooperating, empathizing, and practicing. A
study that can fill the gap between Moodle tools and the appropriate social
strategy to address has yet to be created.
As Oxford (1990) puts it, language is a social behavior. Indeed, social strategies
are an integral part of L2 learning. The strategies of asking, cooperating,
empathizing, and practicing are adapted from the taxonomies of Bialystok (1987),
O’Malley and Chamot (1990), and Oxford (1990). Employing these strategies
contributes to higher self-esteem or confidence, tremendous respect for other
people, greater motivation, more opportunities, feedback on mistakes, etc. For the
selected international students in this study, the specific actions can be classified
as:
1. showing pictures of what they meant (asking)
2. ask the person they are talking to repeat what the person is saying (asking and
cooperating)
3. being friendly and pleasant to the person they are talking to (cooperating and
empathizing)
4. speaking slowly (empathizing and practicing)
5. employing texting (practicing)
222
4.6 Digital Media-Assisted Language Learning (DMALL) Paradigm

The results of the participants' strategies for planning and organizing language
learning, remembering new language items, thinking and understanding the new
language, compensating for lack of knowledge, and interacting with other people
can be attributed to the taxonomies of the three language experts.
In the condition of selected international students, their language learning can be

categorized under the Oxford, O’Malley, and Rubin taxonomies since the result
described different strategies in planning and organizing, remembering, thinking
and understanding, compensating and interacting. However, the result showed
that integrating digital media such as the internet, cellphone, and computer
applications is valuable and helpful in the participants’ language learning. Thus,
the researcher developed the digital media-assisted language learning (DMALL)
paradigm (see Figure 1) since it best describes the participants' strategy.
Figure 1: Digital Media-Assisted Language Learning (DMALL) Paradigm
The DMALL arises from the growing recognition of the CALL strategy in
research. CALL is a dynamic and broad discipline tied to language autonomy and
computer science. CALL can be defined as “any process in which a learner uses a
computer, and, as a result, improves his/her language” (Beatty, 2013). It can be
argued that CALL improves learners’ autonomy (acquiring learning strategies
and taking control of one’s learning). The computer, the internet, and “other
related tools such as emails, discussion forums, and online chat environments
provide language learners with sociable, collaborative, and authentic learning
opportunities where they can take control of their own learning” (Mutlu & Tuga,
2013).
Recognizing the roles new media has to play in learning, and teaching languages
involves determining that the internet provides authentic language materials,
allows direct contact, and provides immediate connectivity to people worldwide
223
(ECML, n.d.). Given the convenience digital media can provide, there has been
great support for integrating technology in L2 instructions. For instance, in a
study conducted in Saudi Arabia, students and instructors strongly supported
using technology in EFL learning since it invokes higher student participation and
inclines more toward a learner-centered approach. Aside from that, students have
significantly improved accentual patterns or pronunciation and writing skills
after utilizing technological platforms. However, the role of instructors is still
emphasized as crucial as they are the ones who impart to the students the way
these platforms or tools should be used (Ahmad, 2012).
Through digital media, mobile technology and/or the internet, the participants
have been able to learn new words by searching and/or clicking. Google
Translate, Dictionary+, YouTube, Netflix, mobile language translators, and other
language learning applications such as Mango, Drops, Rosetta Stone, Babbel, and
Mondly are just some of the applications accessed by international students.
Based on the participants’ responses, the role of new media has been clearly
magnified based on improved learners’ autonomy (i.e., taking control of their
learning at their own pace). An important implication can be made from the
results regarding the growing significance of technology in L2 learning and
learners’ autonomy; hence, the researcher developed the DMALL strategy
paradigm to present this significance in L2 learning further.
5. Conclusion
Based on the results, a very effective strategy concerning participants' language
learning can be witnessed – the use of digital media in the learning process such
as Google Translate, Dictionary+, YouTube, Netflix, mobile language translators,
and other language learning applications such as Mango, Drops, Rosetta Stone,
Babbel, and Mondly. It is noticeable in the study that each factor involved digital
technology because the participants believed that using digital technology could
help them learn a different language. Therefore, the researcher concludes that the
emerging digital media-based strategy in language learning plays a vital role in
the participants' language learning. Even in research, there have been studies
explaining the part of CALL. Aside from CALL strategies, writing new words for
better memorization, interaction with people, conversing with further comments,
and enrolling in English courses have assisted the participants in L2 learning.
In identifying these strategies used by international students in Manila,

Philippines, an additional contribution has been made toward creating an
inclusive curriculum or program. The growing number of international students
in the Philippines is noticeable; given the situation, there is now a need to assist
them in learning L2 (Filipino or English), which is essential in the Philippine
context. Furthermore, the researchers recommend future studies explore the
concept of DMALL as a significant factor in L2 learning. Applying DMALL in
different contexts or populations will contribute more to widening DMALL
research recognition.
224
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227

Madrasah Management Strategy as the

Education Base for Religious Cadre
Minnah El Widdah
Management Education Depertment,
Postgraduate UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi , Indonesia
Abstract. The purpose of this study was to describe the management

strategy of madrasahs as the educational base for religious cadres. This
research is a qualitative descriptive study. The research was conducted
by Madrasah Aliyah in the city of Jambi, namely Madrasah Olek,
Madrasah Model, Madrasah Negeri 3 Jambi City, Jambi City Education
Office, and Jambi City Religion Department. Data collection techniques
are interviews and documentation. The data collection instruments in this
study were an interview and observation guide. Data analysis in this
study used a qualitative analysis model recommended by Miles and
Huberman (1994), which included data reduction, data presentation, and
data conclusion. The strategy for managing madrasahs as religious cadres
is to establish a good management framework through determining clear
flagship programs, preparing resources, compiling indicators of success
as a reference for providing education, and evaluating each program.
These four pillars are used to control the cadre process by strengthening
the role of Islamic religious education. The strategy for implementing
education in madrasahs is through the formulation of clear policies to
strengthen religious education. This includes segments of educational
organization, education regulation, human resources, monitoring and
evaluation, data and information management, and education quality
assurance. The recommendations obtained from this research to produce
a good cadre process are to improve the quality of teachers, improve the
quality of management services, and improve facilities and
infrastructure.
Keywords: management; madrasah; cadre; Islamic education
1. Introduction
Quality education is the hope for this nation (Arlinwibowo et al., 2021; Zurqoni et
al., 2018). Education is expected to give life to Indonesian people as a whole, as
mandated by our normative rules (Arlinwibowo et al., 2021; Retnawati et al.,
2018). Quality education must be provided through various channels, types, and
levels in our education system, including the madrasah education path (Basit et
al., 2020). A madrasah is a type of school that prioritizes religious education
services compared to other types of schools. This type of school is now starting
©Authors
228
to enjoy community approval along with the growing awareness that the
foundation of religious knowledge can foster a person’s growth to becoming a
good person.
The model of religion-based education has been well regulated in our education
system (Hidayat et al., 2020). However, there are still issues that need to be
improved in its operations (Arlinwibowo et al., 2020; Retnawati et al., 2017). The
quality of learning outcomes is an indication of the quality of education which is
motivated by many aspects that encourage the achievement of quality education,
both those that act as raw inputs (raw inputs), equipment inputs (instrumental
inputs), environmental inputs (environmental inputs) or a quality
implementation process (Usri et al., 2021).
Jambi is a province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The results of the

monitoring and evaluation carried out by the Ministry of National Education, and
the Ministry of Religion of Jambi Province (Monev Education Performance Jambi:
2009) identified that the provision of education at State Madrasah Aliyah
institutions in Jambi city needed to be improved. In general, Madrasah Aliyah
institutions are still faced with several obstacles that also affect the quality of
educational processes and outcomes.
Based on the results of an initial survey conducted by researchers in January 2009

regarding the implementation of Madrasah Aliyah State education in the city of
Jambi, there were indications that there were several significant obstacles, both
from the management aspect, including leadership, process, and educational
outcomes. This can be seen from the academic potential of students who enter
Madrasah Aliyah Negeri in general, which is lower when compared to that of
prospective students who want to enroll at the high school of their choice. This
can be gauged by examining the National Examination (UN) scores, which reveal
that those of prospective Madrasah Aliyah students are relatively lower when
compared to those who enter existing popular schools.
There are several aspects of both the internal and external potential of madrasahs
that demand optimal empowerment to improve the quality of education. Internal
and external potential in particular must be managed through quality
improvement strategic planning. The internal and external potentials are as
follows, namely first, the firm view that exists in the community that Madrasah
Aliyah is a pillar in the implementation of education based on the values of Islamic
teachings; second, Madrasah Aliyah is considered capable of producing graduates
of high intellectual and Islamic character, as well as being able to master science
and technology; and third, the rational attitude and values adopted by the Muslim
community are pillars for enforcing education characterized by Islam.
It is undeniable that there are high levels of public trust in madrasahs, both
regarding the intellectual development of students as well as the inculcating of
religious values. The implementation of education by Madrasah Aliyah
institutions is required to develop and implement management, including
strategic planning, to improve the quality of education. Thus, it is essential to
229
investigate madrasah management as the educational base for the religious cadre.
The purpose of this study was to examine the strategies and barriers to managing
madrasahs as the educational base for religious cadre. The results of this research
are significant for use as an overview regarding madrasa management so that it
can support the implementation of good education in madrasahs as producers of
religious cadres. Thus, this study aims to examine madrasah management and its
various strategies in the religious cadre process.
2. Method
This research is a qualitative descriptive study that reveals the phenomenon of
madrasa management as the basis of education for religious cadres. The research
was conducted by Madrasah Aliyah in the city of Jambi, namely Madrasah Olek,
Madrasah Model, Madrasah Negeri 3 Jambi City, Jambi City Education Office,
and Jambi City Religion Department. Data collection techniques were interviews
and documentation. The instruments in this study were interview guidelines and
observation guidelines. The instruments were developed based on the need for
research substance. The need for research substance is based on the relevant
literature for formulating a conceptual definition. This definition was used as the
basis for producing operational definitions which are the basis for indicators in
developing the items in the instrument.
The participants who were interviewed in this study were (a) the Principal as the
head of the madrasah and teachers, (b) the Head of the City Education Office as
the person in charge of education management at the Jambi City level, (c) the
Head of the Ministry of Religion as the person in charge of madrasah management
at the Jambi City level, (d) the Education Supervisor, and (e) parents and the
community. In addition, there are document data relating to the management of
existing madrasahs at the school level (madrasah) and the management level,
namely the Education Office and the Jambi City Ministry of Religion.
Data analysis in this study used a qualitative analysis model recommended by

Miles and Huberman (1994) . Qualitative research analysis was conducted
throughout, from pre-research to the completion of the research. According to the
recommendations of Miles and Huberman (1994), after the data had been
collected, qualitative data analysis took place, including data reduction, data
presentation, and data conclusion. To maintain data quality and data credibility,
data triangulation was carried out.
Figure 1: Data Analysis
230
3. Results
The results of this study are divided into three categories, namely a description of
the Work Program in the Management Framework of Madrasah Aliyah in Jambi
City; Strategic Issues of Islamic Education in the Scope of Management of State
Madrasah Aliyah in Jambi City; and an in-depth study of the Implementation of
Management Strategies for State Madrasah Aliyah in Jambi City. The research
findings are discussed below.
3.1 The findings of the work program in the management framework of

Madrasah Aliyah in Jambi City are as follows:
3.1.1 Featured Program

In accordance with the strategic position of Islamic education as the result of
development in the field of religion and national education, the formulation of the
vision refers to the vision of national education in 2010-2014, namely "the
realization of the education system as a strong and authoritative social institution
to empower all Indonesian citizens… [to] develop into quality human beings so
that they are able to proactively respond to the challenges of an ever-changing
era”. On the other hand, the vision of development in the religious field is "the
realization of an Indonesian society which is religious, advanced, prosperous, and
intelligent as well as mutual respect between fellow believers in the life of society,
nation and state in the unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia".
By referring to national ideals, regulatory mandates, national education vision,

and vision in the development of the religious field, as well as absorbing the
aspirations and hopes of stakeholders, the vision of Islamic Education is "the
formation of intelligent, harmonious and mutafaqqih fi al-din students in order to
create a quality and independent society. The formulation of this vision explicitly
shows that the development of a complete human being, which is the focus of
educational development, will focus on the three elements of intelligence, namely
intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. As an educational process, the vision led to
quality and independent education as the goal pursued in 2014. There are six
keywords contained in the vision statement, namely intelligent, harmonious,
mutafaqqih fi al-din, quality, independent and Islamic.
3.1.2 Resources
There are two kinds of resources, namely human resources and non-human
resources. The human resources include the principal, teachers, administrative
staff, and students. On the other hand, non-human resources include madrasah
facilities and infrastructure, including building facilities, study rooms, libraries,
laboratories, and sources of education financing. The more appropriate and
effective these resources are, the more it is assumed that they will provide positive
support for the success of the madrasah quality improvement program.
There are nine (9) resource factors that can support the success of the madrasah
quality improvement program. These are curriculum and learning,
administration/management, institutional organization, facilities and
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infrastructure, manpower, financing, students, community participation,

environment, and madrasah culture.
3.1.3 Success Indicators

In carrying out the evaluation of the madrasah quality improvement program,
which was carefully prepared, the design encompasses the entire implementation
of the assessment of madrasah quality improvement management. One of the
components is the preparation of success indicators, namely context, input,
process, output, and outcome.
The context considerations include aspects of demand for education, community

support for education, government policies, community aspirations for
education, social and economic status of the community, geographical conditions,
and the like. The input considerations relate to the vision, mission, goals of the
madrasah, madrasah resources, students, and curriculum. The process
considerations relate to the decision-making process, the institutional
management process, the program management process, the learning process,
and the assessment process, among others. At the same time, the output
considerations relate to academic achievement (National Examination scores,
report cards, achievements in writing competitions, and the like) as well as non-
academic achievements (sports, the arts, among others). Furthermore,
consideration of outcomes regarding the long-term benefits of madrasah quality
improvement activities include, among others, further education, career
development, and development opportunities.
3.1.4 Evaluation
Evaluation is determining whether the madrasah quality improvement program
can be implemented as expected or not. This evaluation activity cannot be
separated from monitoring activities, namely activities that emphasize
monitoring the implementation process of madrasa quality improvement
management.
The evaluation also aims to determine whether the madrasah quality

improvement management has achieved the expected targets or not. In this case,
the results of monitoring and evaluation are in the form of information for
decision-making. Therefore, the information or data resulting from the
monitoring and evaluation must be reliable and accountable (valid and reliable).
All forms of information and conclusions from the results of the monitoring and
evaluation carried out are expected to be used to make decisions about what needs
to be done to help make the implementation of the madrasa quality improvement
program as successful as expected. In other words, information and conclusions
based on the results of monitoring and evaluation are expected to be used as
guidelines in making decisions about the madrasah quality improvement
program comprehensively. This starts with conformity with community needs
and future demands (context), input, process, output, and expected outcomes and
includes the possibility of maintaining (prospectively) the madrasah quality
improvement program in the following years. The implementation of monitoring
and evaluation is also intended to determine the progress of the implementation
of the madrasah quality improvement program.
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The input components in the madrasah quality improvement program include

indicators that question whether the program is in accordance with the applicable
legal basis and education policy, the geographical and socio-economic conditions
of the community, future challenges for graduates, educational aspirations of the
surrounding community and community support for educational programs or
others. Apart from that, in this case, the suitability of the vision, mission, goals,
and targets formulated with these indicators is also questioned. This input
component includes indicators of human resources, curriculum and application
design, supporting facilities and equipment, funds/budget, and procedures and
rules required. Ideally, these input indicators should have been prepared
beforehand so that quality improvement activities can be carried out effectively
and efficiently.
Then the process components in the madrasah quality improvement program

include indicators of the decision-making process, the program management
process, the learning management process, the assessment process, and the like.
The output component basically questions whether the target has been achieved
as expected or not. This output component is always related to student
performance. This is because improving the quality of madrasahs is more aimed
at improving student learning outcomes. In other words, whatever madrasah
quality improvement activities are carried out, the output is student learning
outcomes, curriculum, and learning.
3.2 The second category of findings relates to the strategic issues of Islamic
education within the scope of the management of State Madrasah Aliyah in
Jambi City. This issue becomes very important considering that madrasahs are
Islamic religious cadre institutions so that the implementation of Islamic
education is crucial. The following are the findings of strategic issues of Islamic
education.
3.2.1 Madrasah Education

At the madrasah level, strategic issues that need attention are mastery of general
subjects (Citizenship, Indonesian, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and
Mathematics). The achievement of madrasah students is relatively lower than that
of students of a similar school. This cannot be separated from the calibre of
teachers who are less qualified in their fields because they are graduates from non-
educational educational institutions (LPTKs) or religious education institutions.
In addition, another problem is inadequate facilities to support learning, for
example, the limitations of laboratories, learning media, and reference books.
In addition, to create a comparative advantage for madrasah graduates, various

stimulus programs that are oriented towards life skills are needed. With this
program, it is hoped that madrasah graduates will be more confident in facing
social realities. Improving management and governance in madrasahs is aimed at
developing education boards and forming madrasah committees that are
expected to work together in helping the learning process to run smoothly. In
addition, improving management and governance in madrasahs is also focused
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on conducting monitoring and evaluation from the center to the education unit so
as to produce transparent and accountable management.
3.2.2 Islamic Education (PAI) in Education Units

The implementation of PAI in PAUD, especially TK, is still diverse because there
are no instruments with standardised standards, both regarding material
standards, infrastructure, learning models, evaluations, and other instruments.
Furthermore, judging by the number of PAI teachers available, it is very unlikely
because the ratio of students to the number of PAI teachers is disproportionate.
In schools, the main problem that arises is that the quality of Islamic religious
education schools still varies from one school to another. This is influenced by the
condition of the school, teachers, parents, students, and the environment itself. In
schools that have adequate carrying capacity, the quality of PAI is better. In
general, the quality of PAI has not met the expectations of the community.
Moreover, there are several indications, such as the ability to read the Al-Quran,
which is still low, the ability to worship which is still not orderly, and the lack of
respect for parents, teachers, and peers. Furthermore, seen from the objectives of
the curriculum, the results of the acquisition of scores are not encouraging.
3.2.3 Management and Governance of Islamic Education

The strategic issue related to the management and governance of Islamic
Education lies in how the person in charge of Islamic Education sets minimum
service standards and establishes standard operating procedures for Islamic
education management. In addition, regarding management and governance, the
formulation of policies based on research and development results is not yet
optimal. In addition, program accountability, finance, human resources, and
assets have not implemented the principles of good governance optimally.
3.3 The third category of findings is an in-depth study of the implementation

of Madrasah Aliyah management strategies in Jambi City.
In this study, an in-depth investigation was carried out related to the formulation
of policies and governance, strategies for improving the quality of human
resources, for improving the quality of institutional management services, and for
improving infrastructure and facilities. The following are the details of the
findings related to the implementation of the Madrasah Aliyah Management
Strategy.
3.3.1 Current Islamic Education Policy and Governance Formulation

The current formulation of Islamic Education policies still does not take the results
of research into account. The program to improve the quality of graduates of
Islamic education institutions is still implemented without using good research
and study results. Likewise, the same applies to the formulation and evaluation
of other policies in the field of expanding access, management, and governance of
Islamic education. The commitment of the Directorate General of Islamic
Education in 2009 was to improve the quality of Islamic education in a systematic
and sustainable manner. This includes the expansion and equitable distribution
of access, quality improvement, relevance and competitiveness, governance, and
image. This commitment is supported by an effective management and
governance system covering organization, regulation, human resources,
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monitoring and evaluation, data and information management, education quality

assurance, and imaging. The management and governance of Islamic education
in 2010-2014 was expected to improve the excellence of Islamic education
management which could be more effective, efficient, transparent, and
accountable by improving the current management and governance aspects of
Islamic education:
The first is organization. The management system for the administration of

Islamic education within the Ministry of Religion is carried out at several levels of
the bureaucracy. The organizational structure of the Ministry of Religion is still
centralized, therefore there is a fairly long span of control in implementing
Islamic education which is one of the bases of its duties. Technically, the
management of Islamic education is centralized under the authority of the
Directorate General of Islamic Education. After that, the organizers at the next
level are the organizers of Islamic education at the provincial level, district/city
level, and finally, at the education unit level. However, there is a problem of
synchronizing the organization between the central and regional groups, which
has not yet been resolved. At the central level, the organization is excellent,
diminishing in effectiveness, however, at the provincial and district levels. This
results in accumulated workloads that are not proportional to the existing
resources. For example, at the Directorate of Islamic Education at the central level,
there is the Directorate of Madrasah Education and the Directorate of PAIS. In
contrast, at the provincial level, there is only the Mapenda Sector which must
accommodate two directorates in one field at this level. This condition also affects
the level of service that is not optimal, especially regarding Islamic education in
schools.
The second aspect is regulation. The position of the Islamic education system as
an integral part of the national education system which found its juridical basis in
Law No. 2 of 1989 concerning the National Education System (UU Sisdiknas 1989),
which abolished the dichotomy between general education and Islamic education.
It was strengthened by the enacting of Law No. 20 of 2003 concerning the National
Education System (UU Sisdiknas 2003). Regulations related to Islamic education
are the introduction of PP no. 55 of 2007 concerning Religious Education. In
addition, several recent regulations, namely PP No. 47 of 2008 concerning
Reasonable Education and Government Regulation No. 74 of 2008 concerning
Teachers and Law no. 9 of 2009 the implementation of which requires derivatives
which include several regulations of the Minister of Religion as derivatives of PP.
55 tau 2007. In addition, existing regulations require adjustments and
improvements so that they are in line with current regulations and fulfil
community justice by providing religious education services.
The third is human resources. Human resources are resources within the
organization that can be realized in the real potential of acknowledging the
organization's existence and its organizational goals. Human resource
management in Islamic education includes human resources at the central and
regional levels, which are human resources for policymakers and implementers
of Islamic education policies, as well as human resources in education units in the
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form of educators and education staff. The state of human resources at Islam
educational institutions is still inadequate; educators do not meet qualification
standards, and levels of competence are still low. Likewise, human resources who
manage education management at the central and regional levels still need to
increase capacity and quality on an ongoing basis.
The fourth aspect is monitoring and evaluation. Implementation of evaluation in

all scopes is still partial and specific to a program/activity in a particular work
unit. The overall achievement of the substance of the tasks and functions carried
out by the organization cannot be described. Monitoring and evaluation have not
gone well. The evaluation aspect is neglected chiefly and stops at the assessment
stage—recommendations from these assessments are rarely followed up with
concrete steps. The evaluation activities are still focused on the output, which is
solely used as an administrative document. The desired outcomes and impact
have not been measured correctly, so the evaluation has not been able to measure
the substance of the target to be achieved effectively. The implementation of the
evaluation appears to have only fulfilled the principle of obeying the law and the
regulation of orderly state administration. However, other general principles of
implementation, such as the principle of public interest, the focus of openness,
and the direction of professionalism, have not been fully fulfilled.
The fifth aspect relates to data and information management. The data and
information management of the Directorate General of Islamic Education is
carried out by a unit known as EMIS (Education Management Information
System). The EMIS is another form of carrying out the tasks of the Data and
Information Subdivision, Planning, and Data Section, which is under the structure
of the Secretariat of the Directorate General of Islamic Education. Apart from the
EMIS, several other work units also collect and process data. Of course, this
increases the workload of educational units or other work units that are the
objects of data collection substantially because they have to serve several requests
at once from various agencies. Awareness of the importance of integrated data
and information management still seems to be in the discourse stage. Another
problem faced in the data collection system is the low levels of awareness of the
importance of data which results in delays in data collection, low levels of data
accuracy and consistency, and difficulties in accessing data accurately and
quickly.
The sixth factor is education quality assurance. Service standards and education
quality assurance in accordance with PP No.19 of 2005 concerning National
Education Standards must find their form in the management system and
governance of Islamic education. The forms of religious and religious education,
which are varied and have unique characteristics, require that management and
governance systems in this field receive more special attention and approaches
in order to conform to actual quality assurance standards.
3.3.2 Teacher Quality Improvement

The optimal qualifications of teachers who reach the S1 level are to be found in
the Model State Madrasah Aliyah. This madrasah achieves the highest
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accreditation compared to the Olak Kemang State Madrasah Aliyah and the State
3 Madrasah Aliyah. According to the descriptions above, it can be understood
that the higher the level of teacher education, the better the implementation
process. This situation, in turn, can be expected to have a higher positive impact
on the quality of the process and student learning outcomes (achievements).
The professional competence of teachers in general at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri in

Jambi city still needs to be improved in accordance with the demands of the times.
This can be seen from their level of understanding and ability to apply knowledge
and skills. Teacher professionalism has a key role in achieving the success of
efforts to improve the quality of madrasas.
The quality of the actual performance of teachers (in this context, the teachers of
Madrasah Aliyah Negeri in the city of Jambi) cannot be separated from the
influence of the factors of willingness, ability, attitude, and dedication of teachers
in carrying out their duties professionally. The balance of mutual influence
between the three factors will have implications for teacher performance. Teacher
training is an important aspect of improving learning performance. It is important
to observe the efficiency and effectiveness of teacher training activities. Based on
this understanding, it can be concluded that several variables affect teacher
performance, namely (a) psychological variables (mental, personality,
willingness/motivation, dedication), (b) organizational variables (leadership,
rewards, resources, work) and (c) non-psychological variables (ability, physical,
background).
3.3.3 Improving the Quality of Madrasah Management Services

Conceptually, madrasah-based management is understood as one of the formal
alternatives for managing decentralized education. This concept places the
redistribution of the authority of policymakers as an essential element in
improving the quality of education outcomes. Madrasah-based management is
the way to motivate madrasah principals to be more responsible for the quality of
students. For this reason, the Head of the Madrasah should develop
comprehensive educational programs to serve all the needs of students in the
madrasah.
The madrasah-based management approach is a critique of the implementation

of education which has been centralized so far. Centralized education does not
direct the implementation of madrasah education management for independent
learning, both in terms of leadership management and institutional development,
curriculum development, provision of learning resources, resource allocation,
and especially building community participation in owning madrasahs.
Therefore, the implementation of madrasah needs the support of stakeholders,
including local governments, madrasah committees (madrasah heads, teachers,
parents, and community leaders), and students.
Improving madrasah-based management requires greater participation from

every madrasah in every policy and throughout the madrasah decision-making
process. All decisions are made collectively and synergistically with stakeholders.
237
However, implementation in the field seems to still face certain obstacles. In the
context of improving madrasah-based management, there needs to be every
possible opportunity to increase the professionalism of the staff and establish a
more conducive collaboration between staff and parents in providing education
for students. This concept requires parents and teachers to better understand how
best to meet the needs of their students. Cooperative efforts can lead to the
formulation of the most appropriate program according to the needs of students.
Policy changes require availability of various resources and capabilities of

managers at the madrasah level. However, what is more important is the
understanding of and enthusiasm for what the new system is and how it works.
Several State Aliyah Madrasahs are still in a transitional stage of implementing
madrasah-based management as expected.
There are several main reasons that demand policy changes in madrasah
management, including the demands of the community's needs for educational
outcomes owing to changes in socio-political, economic, and cultural
developments. The higher levels of the social life of the community are in line with
the development of science and technology. Madrasah-based management is a
political approach that aims to redesign madrasah management by giving power
to madrasah principals and increasing community participation in efforts to
improve madrasah performance. This involves madrasah principals, teachers,
TU staff, parents, students, and the community.
The problem is for local stakeholders to use their influence to improve the quality
of madrasahs. Organizational design must change, and program development
must be relevant to community needs. In addition, various ways to apply this
concept require conditions that support the direction of change in which the
madrasah has more freedom of movement. In this way, madrasahs can creatively
and responsibly carry out activities to manage programs effectively and
efficiently.
Madrasa policies are considered to have a high level of effectiveness and provide
several advantages, namely (a) madrasah policies, and authorities have a direct
influence on students, parents, and teachers; (b) they aim to utilize local resources;
(c) they are effective in coaching students in such aspects as attendance, learning
outcomes, repetition rate, dropout rate, teacher morale, and madrasah climate;
and (d) there is a common concern in making decisions, empowering teachers,
madrasah management, madrasa redesign, and planning changes.
In accordance with the policy of improving the quality of madrasahs, they are
required to be able to allocate the following resources: (a) knowledge related to
the curriculum, educational goals, and objectives, (b) technology related to media,
learning resources and instruments, (c) the authority to make decisions, (d)
materials, use of facilities, procurement, and equipment, (e) allocation of human
resources (professional development), and (f) allocation of time and budget. In
this context, resources are seen broadly as transforming into learning experiences.
However, an essential objective for every state Madrasah Aliyah is to develop a
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plan for its coaching program, which is based on a strategic and synergistic system
in line with regional development programs and national development.
3.3.4 Increasing the Number and Quality of Facilities and Infrastructure

The results of this study indicate that the development of facilities and
infrastructure is an integral part of the basic strategy framework for continuous
quality improvement. The discussion on learning resources in this study centres
on the availability of appropriate facilities and infrastructure, including textbooks
in madrasahs, either in the form of textbooks provided by the government
(Education Office and/or Ministry of Religion) or supporting books. Student
learning that is not supported by adequate textbooks cannot be expected to lead
to optimal results, both in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor growth.
The shortage of textbooks in Madrasah Aliyah Negeri is suspected to be one of

the causes of the low learning outcomes of madrasah students. This situation has
implications for parents who have to provide textbooks according to the demands
of the curriculum. Ideally, the provision of learning resources, especially
textbooks, is part of the State Madrasah Aliyah’s budget plan in accordance with
the mandate of the Law to provide 20% of the APBD for education. Finally, it can
be said that the carrying capacity is balanced between the availability of learning
resources and quality improvement management. Teacher professionalism is seen
as supporting the improvement of the quality of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri in the
city of Jambi.
4. Discussion
Madrasah is an integration of pesantren-style education into public school
education which is expected to produce graduates who are both intellectual and
spiritual (Faruq & Sunoko, 2021). Character is a highly emphasized quality in the
madrasah curriculum (Umar et al., 2021), not only emphasizing the internalization
of knowledge (Yusmaliana & Widodo, 2019). Education helps parents to teach
their children good habits and good moral values, as well as education for social
life. This is difficult to provide at home (Ayuningsih et al., 2020).
The Madrasah curriculum is a means of regeneration. In general, this curriculum

is realized through regular scheduling recitations and other student activities. In
addition to mastering religious knowledge, students must also have
communication skills to spread their knowledge (Zarkasyi, 2021). Religious
learning that is a study (community) provides positive benefits that students
derive from a curriculum that is specifically applied to spiritual cultivation in
shaping personality (Hasibuan et al., 2019).
In madrasahs, as educational institutions for cadres, Islamic religious education is

the most frequently discussed issue. Although there is a mission to produce
intellectuals, spiritualists remain the main target targeted by madrasah graduates
(Faruq & Sunoko, 2021). Religious education has a vital role in shaping the
personality of cadres. Religion guides children to become true Muslims, firm in
their faith, righteous deeds, and noble character, and useful for society, religion,
239
and the state (Ayuningsih et al., 2020). Faith prevents the intellectual from doing
evil deeds.
Regarding the very heavy responsibility of madrasahs in producing cadres with

spiritual and intellectual criteria, madrasahs must also have clear and systematic
quality standards of regeneration (Zarkasyi, 2021). The framework for managing
Madrasah Aliyah in Jambi City states that there are excellent programs,
strengthening human resources, determining clear indicators of success, and
conducting continuous evaluations. Schools must have a measurable, sustainable
program. Schools must have personnel who provide input, support program
implementation, oversee program implementation, and bridge communication
between schools and the community so that various indicators of success can be
achieved (Rahmatullah, 2021).
Human resource development is a very important criterion in determining the

quality of a school (Arlinwibowo et al., 2020; Retnawati et al., 2016). Teachers
should be given training by professionals or training in comparative studies at
schools of a better quality (Abdillah et al., 2020). In addition, the flow of
information for teachers is important so that teachers can keep up with the times
(Marsigit et al., 2020). One way for teachers to keep abreast of change is by being
actively involved in the community. One of such activity is the Subject Teacher
Consultative Communications, often called MGMP (Retnawati et al., 2018). In the
MGMP forum, there are intensive discussions related to the development of
education (Abdillah et al., 2020).
Schools must have clear indicators of achievement. School quality should be

clearly defined through various formulated indicators (Giersch et al., 2021; Mayer
et al., 2000). Leaders must be careful in determining and monitoring these
indicators so that schools can develop properly (Şencan & Karabulut, 2015). Thus,
indicators have an important role in determining development directions and
policies.
Furthermore, evaluation is one of the important elements that must be carried out
by educational institutions (Kartowagiran et al., 2017). Evaluation produces a data
output that can be used as a basis for leadership in determining policies (Zamili
et al., 2020). School evaluation also contributes to school development.
Furthermore, evaluation plays a role in improving educational performance and
standardization (Şahin & Kiliç, 2018). Thus, schools need to carry out continuous
self-evaluation according to a clear system to ensure that the quality of education
continues to be controlled (Garira et al., 2019).
5. Conclusion
The strategy for managing madrasahs as religious cadres is to establish a good
management framework through determining clear flagship programs, preparing
resources, compiling indicators of success as a reference for providing education,
and evaluating each program. The four pillars are used to control the cadre
process by strengthening the role of Islamic religious education. The strategy for
implementing education in madrasahs is through the formulation of clear policies
240
to strengthen religious education, which include segments of educational

organization, education regulation, human resources, monitoring and evaluation,
data and information management, and education quality assurance.
Cadre is one of the main functions of the madrasa. Thus, the cadre process must
become one of the main programs in the madrasah. Furthermore, the
recommendations obtained from this research are to produce a good cadre
process. What is needed to improve the cadre process are the following:
(a)Improving the quality of teachers. Madrasas must provide strengthening of
cadre competencies for teachers so that they are able to become good cadre agents;
(b) Improving service management. Madrasas must build good management so
that services to students do not disappoint. This will give a good impression in
order to encourage the cadre process; and (c) Improving facilities and
infrastructure.
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243

Evaluating the Accreditation Results of Christian

Colleges in Indonesia Using the Context, Input,
Process, and Product (CIPP) Model
Jungjungan Simorangkir , Marina Letara Nababan*
Winarti Agustina , May Rauli Simamora , Arjun Sinamo
Institut Agama Kristen Negeri Tarutung
North Sumatra, Indonesia
Johanes Waldes Hasugian

Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Sumatera Utara
North Sumatra, Indonesia
Abstract. Accreditation is an external quality assurance system

authorized institutions use to provide formal recognition. Christian
colleges in Indonesia, which have been around for decades, should be
able to have excellent accreditation. There are still very few Christian
colleges that are accredited with excellence while very many Christian
colleges are well-accredited. The purpose of this study is to identify the
conformity of the Good Accredited Christian College (GACC) target
with the results of the accreditation assessment, analyze the
recommendations given by the evaluators in the results of the
accreditation assessment, and produce GACC strategies in improving
the quality of education to have competitiveness. Mixed-method with
qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in this study. The
evaluation with model Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) is
used as design research. The evaluation results show that GACC can
improve accreditation quality and status by considering the
accreditation assessment matrix requirements as a different strategy.
GACC must strive to meet the standard of excellence in each component
of the accreditation instrument to be able to compete nationally and
internationally.
Keywords: evaluation; accreditation; CIPP model; Christian College;

Indonesia
1. Introduction
Colleges must use digital learning because everything demands rapid changes.
Likewise, Christian colleges in Indonesia must try their best to keep up with
*
Corresponding author: Marina Letara Nababan; marinaletara@gmail.com
©Authors
244
these changes to produce excellent human resources. In order to achieve this,

Christian colleges must prepare everything such as curriculum, learning
methods, lecturer capacity, educational infrastructure, and others. The readiness
of this component brings changes in a better direction to improve prospective
graduates' competence so that they can face competitiveness in the world of
work. Moreover, the quality of these components can be seen from the
assessment of higher education accreditation.
Accreditation
Accreditation in English comes from Latin, namely credit, which means trust.
The public needs to believe that they pursue a decent effort when a student
begins a college education, and the system to help ensure the trust is referred to
as accreditation (Alstete, 2007). Accreditation is a mechanism by which an
external panel assesses the educational program of an institution or educational
institution against the criteria that have been set, whether it meets the standards
or not (Altschuld & Engle, 2015).
Accreditation Evaluation
One of the accreditation bodies in Indonesia is the National Accreditation Board
for Higher Education (called BAN-PT). The report from the accreditation
evaluation team is used by the accreditation body to decide on whether, to what
extent and for how long the institution or program will be accredited and ends
with submitting its report to the institution or program. Usually, accreditation is
given for a limited period, for example, five years.
BAN-PT publishes the accreditation results of colleges and study programs

through the Higher Education Database (HED) website, which can be widely
accessed by the public (KEMDIKBUD, 2022). According to Stufflebeam and
Coryn (2014), many educational institutions, hospitals, and other service
organizations have been the subject of accreditation studies, and many
professionals, at one time, had to meet certification requirements for a particular
position. Therefore, the study of institutions and personnel is in the realm of
accountability-oriented evaluation and has an improvement element. Usually,
the feedback report identifies areas for improvement. The standards of BAN-PT
consist of nine criteria including (1) Vision, Mission, Objectives, and Strategies;
(2) Civil Service, Governance, and Cooperation; (3) Students; (4) Human
Resources; (5) Finance, Facilities, and Infrastructure; (6) Education; (7) Research;
(8) Community Service; and (9) Outcomes and Achievements. Accreditation data
for 151 Christian colleges in Indonesia are according to BAN-PT data, namely:
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Diagram 1. Christian Higher Education Accreditation Ranking Data in Indonesia
120 112
100
80
60
40
16 20
20
3
0
A/Excellent B/Very Good C/Good Unaccredited
Source: BAN-PT Search Results (Tuesday, April 19, 2022: at 10.49 WIB)
There are three colleges that have been accredited with Excellent rank (1.99%),
Very Good rankings are 16 colleges (10.6%), Good rankings are 112 colleges
(74.17%), and 20 colleges are not accredited (13.25%). Thus, there are still very
few Christian colleges in Indonesia with Very Good ratings, most of which have
Good accreditation. The findings reveal that accreditation contributes to the
improvement of processes and practices in higher education institutions (Ulker
& Bakioglu, 2018).
One of the State Christian Colleges (SCC) in Indonesia, established in 1999 (23
years), obtains at least a minimum of Very Good ranks and even Excellent
scores. Moreover, the data of enthusiasts (prospective students) entering SCC
continue to increase yearly. The results of the survey of high school/ vocational
students as equals or prospective students in North Sumatra, which were
distributed through Google Form, obtained the following data:
Diagram 2. Survey Results of High School / Vocational School Students in North

Sumatra
Survey Results (Scale 1 – 5)

Tuition fee 4.2
Physical Facilities 4.22
Reputation/Accreditation 4.42
Study Programs and Degrees 4.19
Capacity Building 4.19
4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5
Source: Google Form Analysis Results
Based on these data, it is found that the reputation aspect was the factor that
most influenced students when choosing a college. These aspects include
colleges that have been accredited, have internationally recognized rankings,
cooperate with foreign colleges, and have internationally experienced teaching
246
staff. The data align with Ma's (2021) research that reputation is a significant
factor in considering colleges.
Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) Model

According to Zhang et al. (2011), at least 26 approaches are often used to
evaluate projects grouped into five categories: pseudo-evaluation, pseudo-
evaluation studies, improvement-oriented and accountability-oriented
evaluations, social agendas and advocacy and eclectic evaluations. However, the
CIPP evaluation model that belongs to the category of improvement and
accountability oriented is the most comprehensive and widely applied
framework for conducting evaluations (Zhang et al., 2011). The CIPP model was
created in the 1970s by Daniel Stufflebeam to help improve and achieve
accountability for public school projects in the United States funded by the
government, whose goal is to improve teaching and learning in U.S. inner-city
districts. The CIPP model is based on learning by doing, where continuous
efforts are made to identify and correct errors in evaluation practices to find and
test necessary new procedures and maintain and combine highly effective
practices (Stufflebeam & Coryn, 2014).
CIPP is evaluating the context of entities, inputs, processes and products. The
main uses of CIPP model evaluation are to guide and strengthen companies,
publish accountability reports, help disseminate effective practices, improve
understanding of the phenomena involved, and, where appropriate, make
decision-makers, stakeholders and the public aware of evaluations that prove
unfit for further use.
Based on data in Diagram 1, in Christian colleges in Indonesia, only three got

Excellent scores, and 16 got Very Good scores. Meanwhile, the demands of job
acceptance for college graduates have at least Very Good ranks. In addition,
government demands also need to be considered regarding the closing of State
Colleges (SC), which can occur if the SC is declared not accredited by BAN-PT
Therefore, researchers tried to evaluate using the CIPP model to find problems
from all nine criteria and identify recommendations that can be given to
policymakers on the accreditation process.
Accreditation research that has been carried out by several previous researchers
uses literature review research methods and mixed methods with research
results that emphasize accreditation procedures/principles (Amirtharaj et al.,
2021), accreditation characteristics (Sorrentino, 2019), and evaluate quality
maturity and accreditation readiness (Chen et al., 2018). Thus, the purpose of
this study is to identify the suitability of the targets of Religious Higher
Education with the results of the accreditation assessment, analyze the
recommendations given by the evaluators in the results of the accreditation
assessment, and produce strategies for the Religious Higher Education in
improving the quality of education to have competitiveness.
2. Method
Mixed-method with qualitative and quantitative approaches was used in this
study. This study uses an evaluation research design (Johnson, 2021). The
247
evaluation research design used is the CIPP evaluation model (Stufflebeam &
Coryn, 2014). Data collection was carried out by conducting interviews,
observations, document studies of the results of the BAN-PT accreditation
assessment, and questionnaires. The following are the data collection
instruments using the CIPP model, namely:
Table 1. Data Collection Instruments Based on CIPP Evaluation Model
No. Components Indicators

Criterion 1
1. Context
Criterion 2
Criterion 3
2. Input Criterion 4
Criterion 5
Criterion 6
3. Process Criterion 7
Criterion 8
4. Product Criterion 9
Qualitative data were obtained from observations and interviews with Religious
Colleges with a Very Good ranking in Indonesia. Ten employees at the Quality
Assurance Agency (QAA) were interviewed for questioning about strategies for
enhancing accreditation. Meanwhile, quantitative data were obtained from the
Good Accredited Christian Colleges (GACC) field assessment results in
Indonesia.
Qualitative analysis techniques are carried out by organizing data, describing

them into units, performing synthesis, compiling them into patterns, choosing
which ones are important and which ones will be studied, and making
conclusions that can be conveyed to others. Meanwhile, quantitative data
analysis is carried out by calculating the score formula on each criterion by the
Higher Education Accreditation Assessment (HEAA) matrix set by BAN-PT
(Badan Akreditasi Nasional Perguruan Tinggi, 2019). In addition, this study also
analyzed the Field Assessment Report of GACC document.
3. Results
The results of the analysis of documents and interview transcripts are arranged
as follows: 1) context evaluation in accreditation; 2) evaluation of input in
accreditation; 3) process evaluation in accreditation; and 4) product evaluation in
accreditation; 5) eligibility needs to rank very good or excellent; 6) and increased
low score at high weight.
3.1. Context Evaluation in Accreditation

3.1.1. Vision, Mission, Goals and Strategies (VMGS)
In criterion 1, the needs and conditions of GACC in Indonesia currently refer to
a) targets that are oriented toward international competitiveness and have been
implemented consistently;
b) the goal of providing skilled human resources to anticipate present and
future needs; and
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c) goals that lead to national economic development.

The problems faced today are competitiveness which is still at a national level
and in its implementation is still inconsistent, and the quality of human
resources has not been fulfilled, even though in quantity it has been fulfilled. In
addition, the 2020–2024 Strategic Plan has not been compiled, which leads to the
nation's economic development.
In the 2020 – 2024 Strategic Plan document, VMGS in GACC in Indonesia
include the “the three pillars of higher education” as stated in the main
performance indicators, namely
1. organizing educational programs that emphasize commitment to service
education;
2. carrying out educational and theological research on Christianity by the
needs of service in the community;
3. carrying out community service with partners, including colleges, churches
and ministry-based governments.
The field assessment results on February 18 to 19, 2022, show that education at
GACC in Indonesia has been carried out according to VMGS, which is globally
oriented, actual, and futuristic service-oriented.
In additional performance indicators in the form of service-oriented academic

skills are namely; a) Producing graduates who can work in partner institutions;
b) Establishing cooperation with various social service institutions amid church
and community life, for example, orphanages, hospitals, both at home and
abroad; c) Developing a study program curriculum that is tailored to the
demands of science and technology and the needs of partners; d) targets
oriented toward national competitiveness, by providing skilled human resources
in the field of education. VMGS also focus on industrial management that wants
to achieve or produce national/international standard products, especially for
artworks and the acquisition of copyrights and patents for innovative works
produced by GACC lecturers in Indonesia.
3.1.2. Civil Service, Governance and Cooperation (CSGC)

Based on the field assessment results, data were obtained that GACC in
Indonesia has available formal documents on the organizational structure and
work procedures of institutions equipped with duties and functions contained in
the Statute, Organization and Work Procedure of College from the Ministry of
Religious Affairs. The realization of Good University Governance (GUG)
includes aspects of credibility by adhering to the principle of trust, involvement
of the rectorate, faculty, study program and all work units in work meetings
every semester and yearly to ensure transparency; leaders who are responsible
to the Rector, lecturers and education staff are responsible as to their Excellent
status; fairness through rewarding lecturers and education personnel who have
proven excellent achievements and performance and providing punishment by
the regulations in force in the institution.
Planning preparation is described in several work programs: education,

academic atmosphere, student affairs, research, service, human resources,
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finance, infrastructure, quality assurance systems and cooperation. The Rector of

GACC in Indonesia organizes each element with the vice-rector, bureau head,
Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), Research Institutions and Community
Service (RICS) head and his staff. In addition, the Rector of GACC in Indonesia
assigns lecturers and education staff to participate in workshops, training, and
national/international seminars to develop self-quality, academic quality and
personality competence and assigns all elements to participate in meetings held
every semester.
GACC in Indonesia has implemented the Internal Quality Assurance Unit

(IQAU) by providing documents in the form of quality policies, quality manuals,
quality standards, quality forms, and higher education standards. The QAA
carries out an evaluation of the implementation of standards through Internal
Quality Audit (IQA) activities, which are held annually.
3.2. Evaluation of Input in Accreditation

3.2.1. Student
The findings of the GACC field assessment in Indonesia confirm that 100% of
the students who passed the selection re-apply, and no international students
have been accepted. The student services provided are coaching and
developing interests and talents. Soft skills development is through various
student activities (e.g., Student Choir, English Club/TOEFL Preparation),
guidance and counselling for students through Academic Supervisors (AS). For
example, the Bidikmisi scholarships and AAE (Academic Achievement
Enhancement) scholarships are available. Fostering entrepreneurship is through
courses and extracurricular activities, one of which is in collaboration with the
Kasih Untuk Bangsa Foundation. However, in the aspect of student service
quality, it has not been implemented consistently by the faculty quality
assurance group.
3.2.2. Human Resources

The field assessment results at the GACC in Indonesia found that there are 13
study programs as described in the Table 2. GACC education staff in Indonesia
are dominated by honorary staff and are still not by their educational
background. However, education staff have worked with information
technology support, including SIAKAD for education, SIMPUS for libraries and
SIMPEG for staffing.
Table 2. The Human Resources Data

Total Explanation
Permanent Lecturer 110 65 lecturers have certified educator
Honorary Lecturer 11
Student 1739 The ratio of the number of permanent
lecturers to the number of students is
15.81
Research 196 With costs from college or independent
Community Service (CS) 164
Recognition 15 As visiting lecturers or editors of
accredited national journals
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3.2.3. Finance and Infrastructure

Education financing at GACC in Indonesia has a source of funds from student
admissions in the last three years, from the total university funds (5.7% obtained
from students and other by 94.3%). In addition, funds for processes of the
learning, research and Community Service (CS) are obtained based on the
number of students and the number of permanent lecturers from the total funds
obtained by GACC in Indonesia.
Colleges have relevant facilities and infrastructure to support learning, research,

CS, and facilitate those with special needs according to SN-DIKTI in two
different campus locations, including a rectorate building, faculty building,
postgraduate building, dormitory room, clinic, mini hall building, auditorium,
language laboratory, computer laboratory, counselling laboratory, library and
sports field. The facilities and infrastructure at GACC in Indonesia are easily
accessible to the entire academic community, for example, the strength of the
internet and Wi-Fi networks provided for every office and student. All facilities
and infrastructure are monitored and guaranteed security to not harm every
user. GACC in Indonesia has a particular unit, namely the Database Information
Technology Unit (DITU), to collect and input data of lecturers, employees and
students into HED. Applications that exist and are managed by GACC in
Indonesia are the GACC website in Indonesia, E-Learning, SIMBKD, online
presence, new student admission website, alumni information system, ejournal,
repository, library slims and e-book application.
3.3. Process Evaluation in Accreditation

3.3.1. Education
Based on the results of the field assessment, it is explained that GACC in
Indonesia has established policies related to curriculum development that
consider the relationship with the vision and mission (mandate) of higher
education, the development of science and the comprehensive stakeholders needs
based on the Rector's decree. Curriculum development policies refer to several
regulations, including the Indonesian National Qualification Framework (INQF)
2012 book and the Rector's decree regarding Guidelines for the Preparation of
Syllabi and Semester Lesson Plan (SLP). Furthermore, GACC in Indonesia has
curriculum implementation guidelines that include curriculum planning,
implementation, monitoring, and review that consider stakeholders' feedback
and the achievement of strategic issues to ensure their suitability. In addition,
GACC in Indonesia has guidelines on implementing a lecturer assignment
system based on needs, qualifications, expertise and experience in the learning
process based on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the division of
courses.
Guidelines for determining strategies, methods and learning media as well as

learning assessments are based on the Rector's decree regarding guidelines for
the preparation of syllabi and SLP, and also the Rector's decree on Strategies,
Methods, Learning Media and Learning Assessment at GACC in Indonesia. The
system of monitoring and evaluating the implementation and quality of the
learning process can be seen in the teaching of lecturers who are supervised by
monitoring lectures, control sheets by students, daily performance reports of
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lecturers and reports on lecturer performance loads and employee performance

targets. This evaluation procedure applies in the teaching and learning process,
including the evaluation of lecturers and lectures each semester, starting from
the preparation of evaluation materials, socialization with students and
recapitulation of evaluation data.
By using the GACC research and service roadmap in Indonesia, the integration
of research activities and CS into learning is carried out. The academic
atmosphere in the field of education is improved through various activities that
increase interaction between students, the interaction between lecturers and
students as well as interaction with educational staff; for example, the
interaction between lecturers and students can occur through learning activities
in the classroom, interaction outside the classroom in the form of seminars and
public lectures, regular worship in each class, academic guidance activities,
undergraduate thesis/dissertation guidance, Field Experience Practice (FEP)
and Community Service Program (CSP) activities. Strategic steps to improve the
academic atmosphere are by holding PEKERTI (Pelatihan Teknik Instruksional)
and applied approach training, workshops on increasing lecturer competence,
socializing policies to the entire academic civility, involving educational
personnel in educational and training activities, providing further study
scholarships for lecturers, being involved in professional associations and study
programs, holding final semester meetings and learning evaluations and follow-
up.
3.2.2. Research
GACC in Indonesia has a formal strategic plan document containing the
development foundation, research roadmap, resources, strategic program
objectives and performance indicators, with research focusing on theology,
Christian education and Christian humanities. Research guidelines include
research direction and focus, a track record of excellent research, cooperation
with outside researchers, funding and a competition system. Socialization was
carried out from the Research Institution and Community Service (RICS) to the
faculty through banners and meetings of GACC lecturers. The implementation
of the research begins with the lecturer or research team submitting a research
proposal to RICS. Furthermore, RICS and the Rector holds a meeting to review
the research proposals that have been submitted (also involving reviewers from
outside GACC in Indonesia). The Rector issues a decree for research that has
been approved and submitted directly to lecturers or research teams regarding
the determination of the title and name of the recipients of research assistance
for GACC lecturers and students in Indonesia. After that, the researcher carries
out the research for a maximum period of one school year and then is required
to report the research by the predetermined period. The manual and SOP for
research books guide the research procedure. Research reports include results,
minutes, financial reports and research monitoring and evaluation (M&E)
results. Research reports are available and confirmed. QAA has conducted
M&E’s research, but the results are being compiled. However, the results of
research products produced by the research group have not seen their
competitiveness and have not been disseminated in the field of education.
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3.3.3. Community Service (CS)

The findings of the GACC field assessment in Indonesia already have a strategic
plan, CS roadmap, resources, strategic program targets, and performance
indicators available, where the implementation of CS is adjusted to the vision
and mission of GACC in Indonesia. CS guidelines are also available and
socialized through faculties and lecturer meetings, but their implementation has
not gone through a review process (only carried out directly by RICS through
proposal submission and approval). CS reports are available on RICS.
3.4. Product Evaluation in Accreditation

Outcomes and Achievements of the “the three pillars of higher education”
In the doctoral program, there are no graduates. The tracer study data have not
been recorded correctly. Students’ academic and nonacademic achievements are
still dominated at the national and local levels. The output of journal
publications, intellectual property, CS, and products (ISBN books and chapter
books) needs to be improved at the local, national, and international levels.
3.5. Eligibility Needs to Rank Very Good or Excellent

In Appendix of the Regulation of the National Accreditation Board for Higher
Education (RNABHE) Number 3 of 2019 concerning Higher Education
Accreditation Instruments (HEAI), there are Guidelines for Higher Education
Accreditation Assessment (GHEAA) version 3.0, which is a reference for
assessors to assess higher education accreditation. The results of higher
education accreditation are declared with accredited and non-accredited status.
Accredited status has three ranks: 1) Excellent; 2) Very Good; 3) Good.
Accredited status is determined based on the accreditation value, eligibility
needs to be accredited, and conditions need to be ranked. Status and ranking
determinations can be seen in Table 3.
Table 3. Accreditation Score, Accreditation Status, and Accredited Rank
Requirements
Requirements Need
Need to be
to Rank
Accreditation Accredited
No. Status Rank
Score Very
Excellent
*) Good
**)
***)
1 NA ≥ 361 V V - Excellent
2 NA ≥ 361 V X - Very Good
3 301 ≤ NA < 361 V - V Accredited Very Good
4 301 ≤ NA < 361 V - X Good
5 200 ≤ NA < 301 V - - Good
6 NA ≥ 200 X V/X V/X -
7 NA < 200 V/X - - Unaccredited -
(Source: Appendix of RNABHE Number 3 of 2019 of HEAI on page 12)
Description :*) V = Eligible Needs to Be Accredited, X = Ineligible Needs to Be
Accredited.
**) V = Qualified Need Excellent Rank, X = Ineligible Need Excellent Rank.
***) V = qualified Needs to Very Good Rank, X = Ineligible Needs Very Good Rank.
253
BAN-PT set the accreditation rating of GACC in Indonesia with a score of 242.
As a result of interviews with the accreditation improvement team at GACC, the
assessor never provided details of this score. However, each university can
predict the accreditation value based on the assessment matrix of self-evaluation
reports and performance reports of vocational colleges, state colleges, and work
units in the Appendix of RNABHE Number 3 of 2019 of HEAI; there are
GHEAA version 3.0. There are 64 indicator items that can be given; the highest
score is four, and the lowest score is 0. The determination of the score can be
predicted based on qualitative and quantitative explanations. Researchers tried
to predict based on the minutes of the field assessment signed by BAN-PT
assessors and GACC leaders in Indonesia.
Table 4. Item Numbers, Criteria/Indicators, Necessary Requirement Scores and

Accredited Ratings
Score
Requirements
No. Criteria/Indicators Need
Very
Excellent
Good
Item 7 C.2.4.d) Quality Assurance System ≥2.5 ≥3
Acquisition of accredited status of study program by
Item 10 BAN-PT or The Independent Accreditation Institute ≥2.5 ≥3
(IAI). Table 1.b LKPT Accreditation of Study Programs
Item 15 C.2.7 Quality Assurance ≥2.5 ≥3
Item 57 C.9.4.b) Research ≥2.5 ≥3
In item 7, the score obtained can be calculated using the formula:
𝐴+(2 𝑥 𝐵)
𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 3
, with
A = Availability of formal IQAU documents as evidenced by the existence of

five aspects as follows: 1) IQAU organs/functions, 2) IQAU documents, 3)
internal auditors, 4) audit results, and 5) follow-up evidence.
B = Availability of valid evidence related to good practices for the development

of quality culture in colleges through management review meetings, which
require discussion of elements, which include: 1) internal audit results, 2)
feedback, 3) process performance and product suitability, 4) the status of
preventive and remedial measures, 5) follow-up of previous management
review meetings, 6) changes that may affect the quality assurance system,
and 7) recommendations for improvement.
A score of ≥2.5 can be obtained by paying attention to indicators A and B; at

least the minimum score obtained by indicator A is 2, and the minimum score
obtained by indicator B is 3. A score of 2 on indicator A can be achieved if the
university has run IQAU, as evidenced by five aspects. A score of 3 on indicator
B can be achieved if the university has valid evidence of the excellent practice of
developing a quality culture in higher education through a management review
meeting that requires discussion of some of the seven elements.
254
In Item 10, the score can be calculated using the following formula:
(4 𝑥 𝑁𝐸𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 +3,5 𝑥 𝑁𝐴 +3 𝑥 𝑁𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 +2,5 𝑥 𝑁𝐵 +2 𝑥 𝑁𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 +1,5 𝑥 𝑁𝐶 )
𝑁𝑆𝐴 = (𝑁𝐸𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 +𝑁𝐴 +𝑁𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 +𝑁𝐵 +𝑁𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 +𝑁𝐶 +𝑁𝐾 )
, with
𝑁𝑆𝐴 = Score item 10
𝑁𝐸𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 = Number of Excellent accredited study programs; 𝑁𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 = Number

of accredited study programs is Very Good; 𝑁𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 = Number of Good accredited
study programs; 𝑁𝐴 = Number of A accredited study programs; 𝑁𝐵 = Number of
B accredited study programs; 𝑁𝐶 = Number of C accredited study programs; 𝑁𝐾
= Number of unaccredited/expired study programs. With a note, the
accreditation of new study programs with minimum accredited status is not
included in the calculation of 𝑁𝑆𝐴 . If 𝑁𝑆𝐴 ≥ 3,50, then the score is 4 and if 𝑁𝑆𝐴 <
3,50, then the score is , 𝑁𝑆𝐴 + 0,5. So, to obtain the necessary requirements with a
score of ≥ 2.5 a score 𝑁𝑆𝐴 = 2 is required, to obtain this minimum score, at least
all study programs have been accredited with a standard of 9 with a minimum
of one accredited study program with Very Good rank.
In item 15, to obtain a score of ≥ 2.5, colleges have implemented a quality

assurance system that has proven to be effective in fulfilling four aspects and a
review of the quality assurance cycle is carried out. In Item 57, a score of ≥2.5 can
be obtained using the following formula.
𝑁 (𝑁𝐴2 +𝑁𝐴3 ) 𝑁
𝑅𝐿 = 𝑁 𝐴1 ; 𝑅𝑁 = 𝑁𝐷𝑇
; 𝑅𝐼 = 𝑁𝐴4 where 𝑎 = 0,05; 𝑏 = 0,5; 𝑐 = 1
𝐷𝑇 𝐷𝑇
𝑅
If 𝑅𝐼 ≥ 𝑎 , then 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 4; If 𝑅𝐼 < 𝑎 and 𝑅𝑁 ≥ 𝑏, then 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 3 + ( 𝐼⁄𝑎); then
𝑅𝐼 = 0 and 𝑅𝑁 = 0 and if 𝑅𝐿 ≥ 𝑐, then 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 2; if 0 < 𝑅𝐼 < 𝑎 and 0 < 𝑅𝑁 < 𝑏,
𝑅 𝑅
then 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 2 + (2 𝑥 ( 𝐼⁄𝑎)) + ( 𝑁⁄𝑏) − ((𝑅𝐼 𝑥 𝑅𝑁 )/(𝑎 𝑥 𝑏); if 𝑅𝐼 = 0 and 𝑅𝑁 =
0 and 𝑅𝐿 < 𝑐, then 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 (2 𝑥 𝑅𝐿 )/𝑐. 𝑁𝐴1 = Number of publications in non-
accredited journals; 𝑁𝐴2 = Number of publications in accredited national
journals; 𝑁𝐴3 = Number of publications in international journals; 𝑁𝐴4 = Number
of publications in reputable international journals; 𝑁𝐷𝑇 =Number of permanent
lecturers. Thus, to obtain a score of ≥2.5 using the formula 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 2 +
𝑅 𝑅
(2 𝑥 ( 𝐼⁄𝑎)) + ( 𝑁⁄𝑏) − ((𝑅𝐼 𝑥 𝑅𝑁 )/(𝑎 𝑥 𝑏), colleges at least (minimal) have one
publication in reputable international journals, two publications in international
journals, 15 publications in accredited national journals, and four publications in
non-accredited journals.
3.6. Increased Low Score at High Weight

The results of the field assessment conducted by the assessor at GACC in
Indonesia showed that there were seven additional criteria/indicators that were
predicted to have low scores at high weights other than point 15 and point 57,
namely item 3, point 16, point 38, item 40, item 44, item 59 and point 60. This
prediction is also calculated using qualitative explanations and formulas in the
Matrix in the Appendix of RNABHE Number 3 of 2019.
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Table 5. Item Number, Criteria/Indicators, Prediction Score, Weights and Score x

Weights
Score Score*
No. Criteria/Indicators Weight
Prediction Weight
C.1 Vision, Mission, Goals and Strategies
Item 3 2.00 4.00 8.00
C.1.4 Main Performance Indicators
Item 15 C.2.7 Quality Assurance 2.00 2.78 5.56
Item 16 C.2.8 Stakeholder satisfaction. 2.00 2.78 5.56
C.6 Education C.6.4 Main Performance
Item 38 1.67 2.50 4.17
Indicators C.6.4.a) Curriculum
C.6.4.c) Integration of Research and CS in
Item 40 0.86 3.13 2.68
Learning
C.8 Community service C.8.4 Main
Item 44 Performance Indicators C.8.4.a) 2.00 4.00 8.00
Implementation of CS
Item 57 C.9.4.b) Research 2.12 3.53 7.47
The ratio of the number of
products/services adopted by
industry/society to the number of
Item 59 2.17 4.41 9.55
permanent lecturers in the last three years.
Table 5.g LKPT Products/services Adopted
by Industry/Society.
The number of research outputs and CS
Item 60 permanent lecturers in the last three years. 2.17 3.53 7.64
Table 5.h LKPT Other Outputs
The following strategy is that if points 7 and point 10 have been increased to a
score of at least 2.5, the score on the nine items that are low in Table 5 should be
increased. If the rating GACC wants to achieve is Very Good, then the
Accreditation Value (NA) achieved must be in the range 301 ≤ 𝑁𝐴 ≤ 361 (see
Table 3). The score can be achieved by reducing the low score in point 3, point
15, point 16 and point 59 to 3.5; and item 38, item 40, item 44, item 57 and item 60
to 4 (see Table 6). Scores of 3.5 and 4 can be achieved by meeting the
achievement targets in the matrix in Appendix of RNABHE Number 3 of 2019.
Table 6. Item Number, Criteria/Indicators, Prediction Score, Weights and Strategy

Score
Score Strategy
No. Criteria/Indicators Weight
Prediction Score
C.1 Vision, Mission, Goals and
Item 3 Strategies C.1.4 Main Performance 2.00 4.00 3.50
Indicators
Item 15 C.2.7 Quality Assurance 2.00 2.78 3.50
Item 16 C.2.8 Stakeholder satisfaction. 2.00 2.78 3.50
Item 38 C.6 Education C.6.4 Main Performance 1.67 2.50 4.00

Indicators C.6.4.a) Curriculum
C.6.4.c) Integration of Research and CS
Item 40 0.86 3.13 4.00
in Learning
256
C.8 Community service C.8.4 Main

Item 44 Performance Indicators C.8.4.a) 2.00 4.00 4.00
Implementation of CS
Item 57 C.9.4.b) Research 2.12 3.53 4.00
The ratio of the number of
products/services adopted by
industry/society to the number of
Item 59 permanent lecturers in the last three 2.17 4.41 3.50
years. Table 5.g LKPT
Products/services Adopted by
Industry/Society.
The number of research outputs and
Item 60 CS permanent lecturers in the last three 2.17 3.53 4.00
years. Table 5.h LKPT Other Outputs
4. Discussion
Improvement strategies in Criterion 1 include: 1) Socializing the VMGS to
external and internal parties through various print and digital media; 2)
Monitoring and evaluating the achievement of the VMGS; 3) Integrating the
VMGS in the fields of education, research, and community service; 4)
Conducting a ranking system for faculties that is optimal in the implementation
of the VMGS; 5) Exercising/Training on the preparation of higher education
identity; 6) Carrying out quality assurance through five main steps, namely
Determination, Implementation, Evaluation, Control, and Improvement. The
research findings reveal that colleges' vision and mission statements must be in
line with the policies of their respective countries and lead to national and
international competitiveness (Dumanig & Symaco, 2020).
The second improvement strategy is on Criterion 2, namely: 1) Conducting a

continuum leadership model; 2) Capturing cooperation to the international
realm in the field of the “the three pillars of higher education;” and 3)
Monitoring and evaluating the field of civil service and governance. In line with
previous research, the governance structure in colleges has an important role
and is even mandatory to have as a quality improvement (Sulaiman & Ghadas,
2021). Moreover, in order to be able to be competitive, governance is needed to
expand to the international arena.
Furthermore, the third improvement strategy in Criterion 3 consists of 1)

Providing a grade/GPA to students > 3.00; 2) Conducting student exchanges at
least with institutions that have established cooperation; 3) Developing
students' interests and talents with extracurricular activities through student
association activities; 4) Involving students in the field of the “the three pillars
of higher education;” 5) Establishing a career centre for alumnus; 6) Improving
the quality of student services; 7) Socializing new student admissions in various
media; and 8) Providing scholarships. If this strategy is implemented correctly,
students will feel satisfied with the services provided by GACC. Student
satisfaction is essential in determining the quality of service in higher education.
In line with research conducted by Twum and Peprah (2020) that to achieve
257
Excellent predicates, colleges must build stronger bonds with students by

providing value to the services provided .
Criterion 4 needs to be improved, among others: 1) Recruiting lecturers and

academic staff according to the established procedures; 2) Creating a roadmap
for human resource development efforts; 3) Providing opportunities for lecturers
using main process planning programs to improve careers by providing further
study scholarships; 4) Facilitating lecturers to compile functional positions; 5)
Conducting job rotations for education staff; 6) Monitoring and evaluating the
performance of human resources. The study's results revealed that the trend of
higher education reform must be intensified by maintaining the quality and
quantity of skilled human resources and clear competencies per the basics of
Human Resources (Nallbani, 2013). In addition, one of the determinants of
quality education in higher education is quality human resources (Owusu, 2022).
GACC's improvement strategy on Criterion 5 focuses on two things, namely; 1)
Allocating targeted college funds based on needs and monitoring student
service satisfaction; 2) Improving the quality of ICT system availability. This
strategy is related to the improvement strategy in Criterion 3, namely service to
students. The monitoring results show that students have high expectations for
the college's services (Twum & Peprah, 2020). The use of technology is also
needed as an alternative to online and offline teaching and learning processes to
improve the quality of learning methods and answer challenges to be
competitive (Omodan & Ige, 2021). Colleges need to understand student needs
by paying attention to the services needed for students with disabilities
(Zilvinskis, 2021).
Strategies in Criterion 6 include: 1) Evaluating and updating the curriculum

periodically; 2) Following-up and improving the teaching field; 3) Having
curriculum benchmarks, graduate profiles, and semester learning plans; 4)
Having learning guidelines and lecturer assignment systems according to needs,
qualifications, expertise, and experience in the learning process; 5) Monitoring
and evaluating the quality of the learning process in order to follow up; 6)
Disseminating research and community service in learning as seen in the
Semester Learning Plan; 7) Each study program makes a policy of academic
atmosphere, for example with book surgery activities. Thus, a curriculum
redesign is necessary to meet the needs of GACC. This finding is in line with
Andrade (2018) thinking about the extent of the changes needed in higher
education to compete with the ever-evolving global environment. Learning
evaluation activities must also be in line with the curriculum, starting from the
content, and the method of assessment, to the assessment procedure (Du Plessis,
2021).
In Criterion 7, improvement strategies that need to be considered include: 1)

Having a research roadmap; 2) Monitoring and evaluating research activities; 3)
Having research guidelines that are socialized to lecturers, education staff, and
students; 4) Reporting community service activities by RICS to
university leaders; 5) Collaborating on the research of lecturers with students,
internal lecturers with external lecturers of colleges, internal students with
students outside the college; 6) Providing rewards for lecturers and students
258
who excel in the field of research; 7) Registering research products in the form of
patent certificates. The findings of this study suggest several policy implications
for higher education institutions, including the need to have strong faculty
development programs, increased research collaboration, increased research
productivity, and a sound incentive system to promote and improve the culture
of research in higher education (Quimbo & Sulabo, 2014). This approach not
only solves the unbalanced burden of teaching and research but also enables
junior lecturers to strengthen individual and institutional research capacities
(Zhou et al., 2019). In addition to research dissemination issues, it is argued that
campuses should further strengthen the use of research in more complex
educational decision-making (Farley-Ripple et al., 2018). Previous research offers
research-practice partnerships as a strategy to promote evidence-based decision-
making in education (Welsh, 2021).
The improvement strategy in Criterion 8 consists of 1) Having a roadmap for

community service; 2) Monitoring and evaluating community service activities;
3) Having community service guidelines that are socialized to lecturers,
education staff, and students; 4) Reporting community service activities by RICS
to university leaders; 5) Collaborating on community service of lecturers with
students, internal lecturers with external lecturers of colleges, internal students
with students external to colleges; 6) Allocating community service funds by
producing products that are useful in the community; 7) Conducting community
service publications. These strategies are supported by research on the
importance of community service programs carried out by colleges that can
improve the personal, social, ethical, and academic domains of students (Meyer
et al., 2019).
Finally, improvement strategies in Criterion 9, namely: 1) Facilitating students

for development in academic and non-academic fields at the local to
international levels; 2) Documenting the number of graduate students and
graduate users; 3) Analyzing the study tracer for evaluation materials and
increase the profile of graduates; 4) Creating a job info website for alumnus; 5)
Conducting Internal Quality Audits; 6) Providing alumnus service surveys for
graduate users; 7) Providing workshops for alumnus to be competitive
internationally. The results of Dumanig and Symaco's (2020) research suggest
that colleges must emphasize the importance of producing global and competent
graduates and obtaining international recognition and world-class education.
The implication of this research is that GACC can apply strategies per criteria to
achieve Excellent accreditation. Thus, GACC is able to compete both on a
national and international scale. The potential development of middle-level
leaders (faculty level) is needed to be able to manage committees in higher
education (Ito, 2021).
The limitation of this study is the difficulty of researchers in collecting data on

the accreditation of Christian colleges in Indonesia using nine criteria. In
addition, there is limited literature that examines the accreditation of Christian
colleges.
259
5. Conclusion
Based on the results of the research analysis, the following conclusions can be
drawn: in the context component, organizational strengths and weaknesses,
goals and objectives are identified that answer the needs of GACC. In the input
component, human resources such as educators, education staff, students,
finance, and the facilities and infrastructure needed to achieve the GACC targets
have been fulfilled. In the process component, the program's implementation
specifically for the “the three pillars of higher education” has been carried out
according to existing guidelines. However, it is necessary to follow up on each
evaluation result to improve the quality of higher education through better
accreditation rankings. Finally, in the output component, it can be concluded
that the expected results of the entire GACC program have been achieved.
However, it needs to be improved in order to be able to compete nationally and
internationally and even improve the quality of higher education to achieve an
accreditation rating of Very Good or Excellent. Christian colleges must strive to
improve the quality of their education, which can be seen from the increasing
value of accreditation to obtain very good and excellent accreditation values.
The accreditation assessment guidelines are a reference for Christian colleges to
be able to prepare for future accreditation improvements. That way Christian
colleges can compete nationally and internationally.
6. Acknowledgments
This paper is based on the research project entitled Evaluasi Hasil Penilaian
Akreditasi Perguruan Tinggi Kristen di Indonesia dalam Menghadapi
Persaingan di Era Digital dengan Model CIPP (Context, Input, Process, and
Product). The authors would like to thank to Institut Agama Kristen Negeri
Tarutung for funding this research through the Lembaga Penelitian dan
Pengabdian Masyarakat or Research Institution and Community Service.
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262

The Role of Metacognition (Metacomprehension)

and Inferential Ability on Reading
Comprehension Ability
Tanto Aljauharie Tantowie* , Dadang Sunendar , Rahman
and Tatat Hartati
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
Abstract. In this study, the researchers explored the role of the

metacognition component on reading comprehension ability and the role
of reading comprehension ability in predicting the level of accuracy of
metacomprehension. The first stage of research used experimental
research to see the effect of inferential ability and metacognition on the
reading comprehension ability. The second stage of research using the
correlational method is used to study the relationship between the
independent and dependent variables. This study involved 300 primary
school students from 10 schools with a composition of 200 students
involved in the first phase of research and 100 students involved in the
second phase of research. Samples were taken randomly. The results
show that the individual's reading comprehension ability can predict the
level of metacomprehension accuracy. Metacognitive strategies that are
carried out through planning, monitoring and evaluation have a
significant impact on students' reading comprehension skills. Inferential-
based questions have a significant impact on the accuracy of
metacomprehension. In addition, the metacognitive component
(metacomprehension), and inferential ability can improve students'
reading comprehension skills, especially increasing inferential
understanding. The implication of this research is that teachers can
consider these aspects as well as optimise the role of these variables to
enhance students' reading comprehension skills.
Keywords: reading comprehension; metacognition

(metacomprehension); textual and inferential question; inferential ability
1. Introduction
The ability to read comprehension is currently needed by students along with the
changing nature and pattern of questions that mostly measure high-level
cognitive abilities, for example in PISA and ordinary school exams. Students who
have good reading comprehension skills are able to solve problems that are at a
* Corresponding author: Tanto Aljauharie Tantowie; tanto.aljauharie@upi.edu
©Authors
263
high level. This reading comprehension ability can be improved by optimising the
role of students' metacognition and inferential abilities (LaRusso et al., 2016;
Ozturk, 2017). Metacognition is the ability for planning, monitoring, and
evaluating the learning process and consists of two fundamental aspects, namely
monitoring and control. The concept of metacognition began to develop following
its introduction by Flavel (1979) with other researchers strengthening the concept
of metacognition cognitive knowledge and cognitive regulation (Hayashi et al.,
2018; Zhou et al., 2020). There is some knowledge involved in the metacognition
process, including declarative knowledge which is used as an introduction to
learning strategies, procedural knowledge as necessary steps, and conditional
knowledge. Cognitive regulation is a process for monitoring and controlling
learning and includes the planning process, information management, debugging
strategies, evaluation, and monitoring the level of student understanding (Tarchi,
2017; Wulfemeyer, 2019). In this study, researchers focused on the understanding
(metacognitive) monitoring regulatory sub-process.
Monitoring this understanding involves the skills of monitoring learning tasks

and controlling learning activities to achieve goals accurately and efficiently.
Monitoring and regulating these learning activities becomes a reciprocal process
in the context of learning. In this study, the accuracy of cognitive monitoring was
defined as the level of desire to know (Hadianto et al., 2021; O’Shea & O’Shea,
1994). Learners can be assessed through assignments, tests or exams as
prospective assessments to predict student performance in the future. Global or
holistic measurement is an alternative that can be used to interpret students'
metacognitive monitoring abilities (Young et al., 2019). The suitability of an
individual's assessment of his own performance with the student's original ability
is known as the accuracy of monitoring or comprehension accuracy, while the
discrepancy between self-assessment and student performance is called
metacomprehension bias and is caused by overconfidence or lack of confidence.
The accuracy of this metacomprehension used to measure cognitive monitoring is
assessed using absolute and relative assessments in order to obtain detailed
assessment results (Hadianto et al., 2022; Lim, 2020).
Cognitive monitoring is widely used in several domains. However, in this study,

researchers focused on reading ability. Reading comprehension ability is an
adequate mental representation skill generated through text and used to
understand reading. Reading comprehension involves various cognitive aspects
including word understanding, relationships between sentences and paragraphs,
and the ability to understand the meaning of the text as a whole (Allen & Hancock,
2008; Banks, 2012). When students process texts, they enter into two levels, namely
basic understanding (text-based) and inferential understanding. The success of
this stage depends on the ability to relate the ideas in the text. Through this
process, students elaborate on previous knowledge to understand new meanings
in the text. Metacomprehension in reading involves a metacognitive process to
optimise text understanding (Fletcher, 2009; Gier et al., 2009). The reader evaluates
his level of understanding and mental representations through the reading
process. Therefore, through this study, the researcher studied the absolute
accuracy of metacomprehension, self-reporting of reading strategies, and reading
results.
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An efficient reader is aware of what she/he already knows and what she/he
doesn’t when reading new information. That's when readers understand specific
actions that can optimise the efficiency of their understanding of new information.
Awareness of this process is called metacognitive and is the most important aspect
in supporting the success of the learning process. The ability of the teacher to
monitor the learning process is an important point of metacognition so that the
teacher can determine the level of students' understanding of the material being
studied as to whether it meets the criteria or not. When individuals know their
shortcomings, they will be better able to regulate their own actions to optimise
their understanding. A reliable reader knows when they have gained adequate
knowledge of the text. If the reader understands that his level of understanding
of a text is not sufficient, the reader will be involved in the next process, namely
the monitoring stage and the controlling stage. This stage is the most important
stage in reading metacomprehension. Metacognitive strategies can be said to be
effective if readers have the right understanding of their level of understanding
of a text (Cantrell & Carter, 2009; LaRusso et al., 2016).
When readers reach that level they have already reached a high level of
metacomprehension. However, when the reader does not yet have a poor level of
metacomprehension, the reader will not be able to properly manage their efforts.
For example, if a student has poor metacomprehension skills, when they face an
exam they may spend a lot of time studying, but they are not able to measure their
level of understanding or mastery of the topic or material being studied, so they
are not sure of their abilities. This can also happen to students who are too
confident when studying, so that during exams they get poor results because they
are unable to measure the adequacy of their learning.
The phenomenon that describes the low level of student metacomprehension in

Indonesia is that there are still many students who study hard but have not been
able to achieve their targets, for example, passing exams satisfactorily or passing
college entrance exams and this happens in almost all parts of Indonesia,
including the Ciamis area. This phenomenon occurs because the teacher has not
been optimal in conveying effective reading methods and, at the same time, how
to measure students' own reading results, so that students have an awareness of
the ability of the reading results. So, this research is very important because,
through metacognition or metacomprehension, students can measure the results
of reading themselves and are able to gain inferential ability to understand
difficult questions or instructions (Ness, 2011; Ozturk, 2017). This has been
investigated by several previous studies. The main goal of learning to read is to
achieve a good level of metacomprehension and to develop methods or
interventions to improve students' reading skills. There are several previous
studies examining various methods to improve reading ability (Mulyati &
Hadianto, 2022; Lim, 2020; Zhou et al., 2020). However, in this study, the
researcher focuses on two aspects of readers' metacomprehension. First, the
researcher studied the metacognitive component that can predict reading
comprehension which was tested through questions with a basic level of
understanding (text-based) and questions that required deeper understanding
(inferential reasoning).
265
Furthermore, the researcher studied the relationship between reading

comprehension skills and the level of accuracy of metacomprehension, textual
and inferential. Through the focus of this research, researchers can obtain
information about the relationship between reading comprehension and
metacognitive, for example, the skill of evaluating level of understanding.
Although, several previous studies provide evidence of the benefits of
metacognitive knowledge, it is still unclear how it relates to reading
comprehension skills. Previous studies including research on the role of verbal
cues to see the relationship between metacognition and reading strategies are still
unclear and have no impact (Banks, 2012; Bui & Fagan, 2013; Kane et al., 2014). In
addition, another study found that interventions used to improve
metacomprehension had no significant impact on reading comprehension skills,
while another found that the relationship between reading comprehension tests
and reading awareness tests was weak. These studies still do not clearly describe
the role of metacomprehension in reading comprehension. Before the researcher
formulates the literature review of the effect of metacognition on reading
comprehension, we will explain the conceptualisation of monitoring
comprehension. In monitoring understanding, there are different processes,
namely evaluation and regulation. Based on this view, reader monitoring can be
said to be successful when readers realise that they have not fully comprehended
some parts of the text, then they will make serious efforts to improve their
understanding, for example, by repeating reading. Thus, there is a difference
between the monitoring process (evaluating understanding) and regulation
(improving understanding). The researcher adopted this concept to study
metacomprehension and its effect on reading comprehension.
2.1 Metacomprehension Accuracy
Based on previous studies that have been carried out, the current
metacomprehension accuracy of students is still low. This is due to the fact that
the teacher has not been optimal in delivering reading strategies that can measure
the results of reading by the readers themselves. Several studies involving
students to make predictions on the results of reading prove these predictions are
still weak. Although predictions are made at a basic level, the results obtained are
still low in accuracy (LaRusso et al., 2016; Ozturk, 2017). Measurement of
metacomprehension accuracy uses students' ability to predict overall
understanding and predict the results of information contained in the text and is
conceptual, for example, definitions. The relationship between prediction and
performance is used as a measurement evaluation. Students can be said to be
successful in evaluating their level of understanding when they are quite accurate
in predicting their level of understanding.
Several researchers conducted an analysis of the relationship between evaluation

and reading comprehension (Lim, 2020; Ozturk, 2017; Pacello, 2014). The result of
the findings based on 40 previous studies is the correlation between evaluation
and reading comprehension level is at 0.30. This low correlation explains that
there may be distortions that cause the relationship between predictions and
reading comprehension scores to have a low level of precision in the evaluation.
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Other studies have shown that there is an increase in the accuracy of

metacomprehension when text elements are part of the comprehension
assessment. The assessment must also ask for all the information contained in the
text. So, the researcher can conclude that, to measure the level of reading
comprehension ability, it must include the components of the text as well as the
relationship between these components. When comprehension assessments focus
on a specific material, the relationship between prediction and performance
decreases (Ness, 2011; Yousuf et al., 2021). Metacomprehension can also be
affected by the length of the text. Long texts will make it difficult for readers to
make accurate predictions about their understanding and cause low
metacomprehension accuracy. These studies use a relative accuracy index, while
in this study the measurements were carried out using absolute accuracy.
Another aspect that interferes with the low level of metacomprehension accuracy
is that teachers may use different ways of assessing students' understanding
levels. Distraction level theory assumes that, when a reader assesses his or her
own understanding, it is influenced by cues that originate from the reading
disorder (Majumdar et al., 2021; Martins & Capellini, 2021). Based on inferential
assumptions, the metacomprehension assessment was carried out based on the
example of the disorder. There are several factors that interfere with students'
reading comprehension, including foreign words, pronouns, incomplete
understanding and so on. The more distractions, the teacher tends to conclude
that the text has been misinterpreted by the reader. Metacomprehension
assessment serves to study the extent to which the primary assessment describes
predictive reading comprehension test performance. The reader concludes that
long text will affect the results of the reading test (Lim, 2020; Muijselaar et al.,
2017). If length is related to the level of difficulty, the accuracy of the assessment
will be high. However, this is not always the case. So, interference can occur at
various levels, namely in the text and the situation. The assumption of
representation becomes very important in metacomprehension. This is the focus
of this research.
2.2 Level of Representation and Metacomprehension

There are three levels in processing information while reading, namely the
linguistic level, the text-based level, and the situation level. The linguistic level is
the level of reading which in the process involves knowledge of the meaning of
words or terms and understanding of syntactic relationships between sentences
(Bui & Fagan, 2013; Connor et al., 2018). The text-based level is the level of the
reading process by capturing meaning through integration between paragraphs.
The third level is the level of the situation model. This level involves combining
textual information with schemata or previous knowledge that the reader already
has (Ghaemi & Ghaemi, 2011; Mckee, 2012). So it can be concluded that reading
comprehension is a constructed mental operation. In the reading process, the
reader involves an inferential process by involving the reader's schemata to
produce a deeper understanding of the text he reads. This happens because the
reader involves a semantic component into the mental representation of new
information in the text. Thus, conclusions have an important role in the quality of
mental representations.
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Several previous studies demonstrated that better inferential ability will have a
significant impact on reading comprehension ability. This is in accordance with
the phenomenon in the field that students who have difficulty in understanding
the text will find it difficult to conclude. This good inferential ability requires prior
knowledge and information from the reader to draw conclusions from the reading
results. Other studies have also shown that teaching inferential skills has a
significant impact on reading comprehension skills. For example, research to
develop Self-Explanation Strategy Training (SERT) which aims to teach reading
strategies to students by involving self-explanation and encouraging students to
produce general conclusions. Another study also shows that there is a positive
relationship between drawing conclusions from text elements and performance
as measured through reading comprehension questions. So, the reader's meta-
understanding ability is greatly influenced by his inferential skills (Bohlmann &
Downer, 2016; Bracken & Fischel, 2008).
Specifically, metacomprehension assessment requires careful evaluation. Readers

with good and poor inferential skills will base their reading judgements on
different information. For example, readers with high inferential skills are likely
to encounter interference at the level of representation of the situation model.
Readers with high inference abilities are more intense in drawing conclusions and
obtaining information by involving prior knowledge. Readers like this will be
better able to get a deeper understanding. Readers who have low inferential skills
tend to draw few conclusions and do not notice disturbances at the level of
representation of the situation model, but will have more difficulty at the text-
based level or gain knowledge based on the text. Other research confirms that the
quality of mental representation has a positive influence on the accuracy of
metacomprehension (Cabell et al., 2021; Curenton & Justice, 2008). If the reader
can draw the right conclusions, they have better metacomprehension accuracy
because they use signs at the level of the situation model rather than at the text-
based level.
This concept is supported by several previous studies which state that the
accuracy of metacomprehension can be improved using certain methods during
or after reading. This is done to develop a mental representation that is more-
complete and easy to obtain ( Lim, 2020; Tarchi, 2017). This method can be in the
form of ranking keywords, explaining to yourself while reading, and constructing
a concept map. This concept can be related to the Kintsch model which states that
the reader will find it easier to access a more complete model of the text situation
if they make a summary after reading. This can also happen to readers who make
keywords; the reader's metacomprehension assessment will be more in line with
reading comprehension tests. This allows students to be able to make valid
assessments. In the study of Anderson and Thiede (2003), the value of
metacomprehension accuracy was higher for the group that made a summary
than the group that did not make a summary. This study was re-examined on long
and short texts with the result that the reader's mental representation had an effect
on students' metacomprehension. In addition, mental representations also
encourage readers to engage in inferential processes, which can increase the
accuracy of metacomprehension.
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Based on the preliminary explanation and theory above, through this research,
the researcher focuses on studying the role and relationship of metacognitive
knowledge with the level of understanding of readers at various levels, namely
linguistic level, text level and situation level. By focusing on the object of this
research, the researcher formulated this research in two studies, namely the role
of metacognition (planning, monitoring, and evaluation) on reading
comprehension skills at the text-based and inferential levels, the second study
looking at the role of reading comprehension performance on the absolute
accuracy level metacomprehension. Based on the research objectives, the
researchers formulated the following research questions:
1) What is the role of metacognition (planning, monitoring, and evaluation)
performed by students on students' understanding levels at the textual and
inferential levels?
2) What is the difference in the role of metacognition on the level of
understanding at the textual and inferential levels?
3) What is the role of reading comprehension in predicting absolute accuracy of
metacomprehension?
4) How is the relationship between absolute accuracy of metacomprehension
and reading comprehension performance based on inferential and textual
question types?
3. Methodology
Based on the formulation of the problem proposed, this study divides the method
based on two phases. The first study is used to answer the formulation of the first
and second problems, namely 1) What is the role of metacognition (planning,
monitoring, and evaluation) performed by students on students' understanding
levels at the textual and inferential levels? 2) What is the difference in the role of
metacognition on the level of understanding at the textual and inferential levels?
while the second study was used to answer the third and fourth problem
formulations, namely 3) What is the role of reading comprehension in predicting
absolute accuracy of metacomprehension? 4) How is the relationship between
absolute accuracy of metacomprehension and reading comprehension
performance based on inferential and textual question types? Researchers used
different methods and samples at both stages of this research because they
adjusted to the formulation of the problem posed and avoided bias in the research
results. This study uses the same text material so that it allows bias from reading
results if using the same student sample.
The first phase of research used experimental research to see the effect of
inferential ability, metacognition on reading comprehension ability. The second
stage of research uses the correlational method to study the relationship between
the independent and dependent variables.
3.1 The Research Method of the First Study

3.1.1 Participants
The first study research involved 200 primary school students with 100 female
students and 100 male students drawn from 10 schools in the Ciamis City area.
The age of students is in the range of 5-7 years (M=13.05, SD=1.20). The first phase
of research used experimental research to see the effect of inferential ability,
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metacognition on reading comprehension ability. The schools involved in this

study were public and private schools. Students selected in the sample are
students who have relatively the same or close to national exam scores.
3.1.2 Measuring Metacomprehension Skills

Students' metacomprehension skills were measured using a reading awareness
scale commonly used for students aged 5-7 years. The reading awareness
measurement scale consists of 56 multiple choice questions with three choice
answers to assess three dimensions of metacomprehension, namely planning,
monitoring, and evaluation. This measurement scale was adopted to measure
students' metacognitive competence by providing opportunities for students to
self-assess. Questions on the planning dimension are used to determine the
selection of reading strategies, the monitoring dimension to determine the ability
to adjust attention and effort during reading, and the evaluation dimension to
determine whether students' understanding levels have met the criteria or not.
Questions to measure reading awareness are listed in Table 1. The measurement
dimension of reading awareness is related to the concept of regulation while
reading, while the evaluation dimension is related to self-assessment related to
reading comprehension. The measurement of reading awareness has been tested
for reliability and validity. The empirical reliability test was carried out on
students, while the validity test was carried out through expert judgement
conducted by six reading experts with doctor qualifications. From the test results,
Cronbach's internal consistency reliability coefficient meets the criteria for use
with a value (α = .69, Planning; .72, Monitoring; .74, Evaluation: 75). The
instrument used in this study is the result of the conversion of the theory of
reading comprehension concepts from Pacello (2014) and Hayashi, Seta, and
Ikeda (2018).
Table 1. Measurement of Reading Awareness of Each Dimension
Metacognition Question and Point

Dimension
Planning What do you do before reading?
a) I don't plan anything before reading. [0]
b) I consider the important points of the text before reading. [2]
c) I choose a comfortable place and position to read. [1]
Monitoring What do you do while reading a book when you come across a
difficult passage?
a) I pause and think about the passage to understand it [2]
b) I stop reading because there are parts I don’t understand. [0]
c) I keep reading and delay to understand the passage until the
end. [1]
Evaluation Is evaluation important in carrying out reading activities?
a) I think it is useful to assess the extent of my understanding. [2]
b) I think evaluating understanding is good but it should be done
by the teacher [1]
c) I think that evaluating does not improve my understanding. [0]
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3.1.2 Measurement of Reading Comprehension Test

The level of understanding of students' reading results was evaluated by using
texts about social phenomena in this study. Discourse is made by collaborating
with discourse experts and validated by expert judgement. Questions to measure
understanding used the construction-integration model. This model is used to
classify questions. The questions consist of 20 questions with a composition of 10
questions for basic text-based and 10 inferential questions. For text-based
questions (textual), the answers are contained in the text explicitly. However, the
inferential question, the answer requires the ability to draw the right conclusions
because it is not explicitly stated. The researcher uses a rubric to assess the correct
answer. The score ranges from 0-2. 0 for wrong answer, 1 for correct answer but
incomplete or still weak, 2 for correct and complete answer. The average length
of the text is 450 words. The total score range obtained is 0-40. Each student gets
a score according to the performance of the reading results, namely being able to
answer textual and inferential questions. Students who have a coherent mentality
during or after reading will be better able to solve inferential questions. However,
students who are only able to answer textual questions, their level of
understanding is still limited. Cronbach’s reliability coefficient value meets the
criteria with values: textual questions: 0.75; inferential questions: 0.84.
The reliability test of the reading comprehension test instrument was conducted
empirically on students and the validity test was carried out through expert
judgement conducted by six reading experts with doctoral qualifications. From
the test results, Cronbach's internal consistency reliability coefficient meets the
criteria for use with a value (α = .89). The instrument used in this study is the
result of the conversion of the theory of reading comprehension concepts from
Pacello (2014) and Hayashi, Seta, and Ikeda, (2018).
3.1.3 Procedure
The research was conducted with the permission of the relevant institution. After
obtaining permission, data collection began by completing a 50-minute reading
awareness test. After that, students were given an expository text about social
phenomena. Students had 50 minutes to read. After the reading process was
complete, a reading comprehension test was carried out. The results of this test
were then processed and presented in the form of descriptive statistics on the
results.
3.1.4 Data Analysis

The researcher selected the deviant data obtained from the reading awareness
scale, reading comprehension test, and evaluated them before the analysis was
carried out. This deviation analysis found 14 deviations (six in the planning stage,
eight in the evaluation stage of the reading awareness scale). These deviations
were identified through casewise diagnostics in regression by determining the
standard residuals outside the three components of the standard deviation. From
the number of samples assessed, the researcher eliminated the deviant data and
then analysed the data on 186 other results. The data were then tested for
normality, homogeneity, and linearity. Descriptive statistics are presented using
the reading awareness and reading comprehension performance scales in Table 2
in the results section. To answer the formulation of the first problem, the
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researcher calculates the zero-order Pearson correlation coefficient and the results
are presented in Table 3. To answer the second problem formulation, a series of
simultaneous tests or standard least squares regression was carried out.
Comprehension performance was recorded on each metacomprehension
component on the proportion of variance. This was done to adjust the p-value
reasoning by adjusting it with Bonferroni’s analysis.
3.2 Research Methods Second study

3.2.1. Participants
The sample from the first study was selected to be 100 students from five primary
schools in the Ciamis area consisting of public and private schools. The second
stage of research used the correlational method to study the relationship between
the independent and dependent variables. Different students were involved in the
second phase of the study to avoid bias in the results. Students were randomly
selected to participate in the study. The composition of the sample is 50 male and
50 females with an average age of 12.50 (SD = 0.80).
3.2.2 Measurement of Reading Comprehension Test

Students' reading comprehension ability was measured using two texts, namely
about natural phenomena (natural disasters) and social phenomena (social gaps).
This text is used to assess the accuracy of metacomprehension as well. The text
has an average length of 350 words and contains both textual and inferential
questions. There is a total of 20 questions from two texts with a composition of 10
textual questions and 10 inferential questions. Internal reliability coefficient using
Kuder-Richardson 20 with test results showed social phenomena text: 0.75 and
natural phenomena text 0.70.
3.2.3 Metacomprehension Accuracy Measurement

Assessment of metacomprehension accuracy was carried out after finishing
reading by asking students to do a thorough assessment of the number of
questions they believe will be answered correctly on the test. This method is
carried out on textual and inferential questions separately. In the literature, this
metacognitive monitoring is known as global prospective trust in performance
appraisal. This global assessment is done by analysing per item. This analysis will
provide more optimal results. The results of this assessment are juxtaposed with
the results of students' real performance on each type of question (textual and
inferential) separately, so that researchers can produce an absolute monitoring
accuracy index for each type of question. The researcher chose to use the absolute
accuracy approach because this assessment was considered more comprehensive
and precise. The score was calculated by comparing students' global predictions
regarding performance assessment (when finished reading and the test had not
been carried out) with the results of students' actual scores on each set of textual
and inferential question types with a total of 5 in each text. A score of 0 is used to
indicate a perfect or precise curation, the higher the value or the farther from the
number 0, the worse the level of accuracy of the metacomprehension. The
researcher uses absolute accuracy measure because this accuracy can measure
metacomprehension precisely. Students who are good at predicting future
performance will have a greater ability to take appropriate action in learning to
read. So, if students get good calibration, they will be better able to optimally
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understand the material they are studying because these students can take
appropriate action.
3.2.4 Procedure
When students finish reading the first text, students make predictions about their
reading results. Next, students answer the questions according to the text they
read. Students repeat the process for the next text. The study lasted about 60
minutes. The texts were presented alternately in this second study for balance.
Grade 7 students were asked to read and immediately asked to make a
performance assessment of the results of reading texts about natural phenomena,
then carried out on social phenomena texts.
3.2.5. Data Analysis

Before analysing the data, the researcher conducted data filtering. The data
obtained were tested for normality and linearity. In this study, the researcher did
not find deviant data, so all data were included for analysis. Researchers
conducted a standardised least squares regression test simultaneously on each
metacomprehension accuracy score (textual and inferential social phenomena
texts and textual and inferential natural phenomena texts). In the final session, the
researcher studied the effect of textual and inferential question types on students'
reading comprehension results and students' metacomprehension accuracy in
each text. Researchers analysed the data using MANOVA separately so that the
effects of performance and metacomprehension accuracy could be described more
clearly. The researcher controlled for the reduction in error rate using the
Bonferroni adjustment.
4. Result
Descriptive statistics of students' reading comprehension results are presented
using a reading awareness scale to answer the formulation of the first problem,
namely what is the role of metacognition (planning, monitoring, and evaluation)
performed by students on students' understanding levels at the textual and
inferential levels? Of the three dimensions of metacognition, the highest average
is owned by the planning dimension, followed by the monitoring dimension, and
finally the evaluation dimension. This indicates that almost every student does
planning when they are going to read. The role of metacognition (planning,
monitoring, and evaluation) on reading comprehension outcomes is shown in
Table 2. Reading results tested with textual (M=8.78) and inferential (M=11.79)
questions illustrate that the role of metacognition in reading comprehension is
very important and has a significant impact on improving inferential reading
comprehension skills because, through metacognition, the reader can control his
reading ability before, during, and after reading. To answer the second problem
formulation, namely what is the difference in the role of metacognition on the
level of understanding at the textual and inferential levels? the correlation
between variables is explained as shown in Table 3. The correlation between
variables shows a positive correlation. It is interesting that the planning
metacognition component correlates more strongly with questions to test
inferential understanding than with textual questions. Based on the results of
simultaneous regression, it shows that the metacognition component (planning,
monitoring, and evaluation) is a strong predictor of inferential understanding
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F(3.170) = 7.38, p = .001, R2 = .12, but not a strong predictor of textual questions
F(3.170) = 2.45, p = 0.06. Questions that are textual in nature are influenced by the
monitoring dimension. The monitoring dimension has a significant impact on the
textual reading comprehension results (p = .07) as listed in Table 4. Based on the
results of the simultaneous regression, the dimensions of monitoring and
evaluation are significant predictors of inferential understanding, but the
strongest predictor is the evaluation dimension. Questions about students' self-
evaluations were effective in predicting students' inferential understanding
abilities.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics of awareness and performance scales on textual and
inferential reading comprehension
Component M SD Min Maxi Skew Kurtosis
Reading
Awareness
Planning 38.41 5.78 26.00 49.00 −0.20 −0.40
Monitoring 23.87 4.41 16.00 31.00 −0.38 −0.45
Evaluation 18.58 3.70 14.00 27.00 −0.30 −0.28
Reading
Comprehension
Textual 8.78 4.12 2.00 13.00 −0.41 −1.12
Inferential 11.79 4.30 0.00 18.00 −0.48 −0.54
Study 1.
N = 200
Table 3. Correlation matrix between question types and metacognitive dimensions

Component 1 2 3 4 5
1. Textual – .64** .15* .17* .19*
2. Inferential – .24* .11 .32**
3. Planning – .43** .34**
4. Monitoring – .26*
5. Evaluation –
Skew −0.40 −0.38 −0.48 −0.80 −0.50
Kurtosis −1.08 −0.45 −0.05 0.34 0.48
Study 1.
N = 200
* p < .05
** p < .01 (one-tailed)
Table 4. Standard regression of reading comprehension, textual and inferential, based

on cognitive dimension
Predictor B+ (CI95%) β− T p
Textual
Performance
Planning 0.04 (−0.09, 0.15) 0.07 0.75 0.48 ns
Monitoring 0.13 (−0.05, 0.30) 0.15 1.50 0.16 ns
Evaluation 0.13 (−0.07, 0.32) 0.12 1.28 0.23 ns
Inferential
Performance
Planning 0.15 (0.03, 0.30) 0.17 2.03 0.040*
Monitoring −0.05 (−0.26, 0.18) −0.05 −0.40 0.75 ns
Evaluation 0.46 (0.20, 0.70) 0.30 3.55 0.002**
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The metacomprehension accuracy scores of each text are presented to answer the
third and fourth problem formulations, namely what is the role of reading
comprehension in predicting absolute accuracy of metacomprehension? and how
is the relationship between absolute accuracy of metacomprehension and reading
comprehension performance based on inferential and textual question types?
Descriptive statistics on reading comprehension are presented in Table 5. Based
on Table 5, it was found that the type of text greatly influences the type of textual
(text-based) questions. Metacomprhension accuracy scores for each type of
question and type of text are presented in Table 6. Pearson's zero-order coefficient
correlation is presented in Table 7. The relationship between reading results and
metacomprehension accuracy shows a negative correlation as listed in Table 7.
This shows that the ability to read comprehension greatly impacts on the accuracy
of metacomprhension. The higher the reading comprehension ability, the lower
the calibration error. This is a function of the method used, namely calculating
absolute metacomprehension accuracy. The correlation coefficient value in Table
7 explains that the accuracy of metacomprehension is closely related to the type
of question, both inferential and textual. Text-based reading performance (textual)
has a stronger correlation with metacomprehension scores than inferential
reading performance. Based on the standard regression results, inferential
questions on social inequality texts are significant predictors of
metacomprehension accuracy with values of F(4.84) = 43.12, p = .001, R2 = .54. The
performance of textual questions on social inequality texts is able to predict the
accuracy of metacomprehension, but it is not too significant with a value of
(F=4.51) = 25.13, p = .001, R2 = .38. This pattern is also shown in the text of natural
disasters. The performance of inferential questions can better predict students'
metacomprehension accuracy. The performance of inferential questions has a
value of F(4.84) = 30.41, p = .001, R2 = .43, while the performance of textual
questions has a value of F(4.71) = 29.45, p = . 001, R2 = 0.41. The results of the
standard regression model are listed in Table 8.
Table 5. Descriptive statistics of performance based on the type of questions

and text
Question Natural Social
Type Disasters Inequality
M SD Skew Kurtosis M SD Skew Kurtosis
Inferential 1.78 1.05 0.61 0.30 1.91 1.18 0.30 0.04
Textual 2.50 1.34 0.10 −0.94 3.01 1.55 −0.30 −1.05
Study 2.
N = 100
Table 6. Descriptive statistics of metacomprehension accuracy based on types of

questions and texts
Question Natural Social
Type Disasters Inequality
M SD Skew Kurtosis M SD Skew Kurtosis
Inferential 2.17 1.15 0.50 0.20 2.10 1.20 0.15 −0.55
Textual 1.60 1.15 0.40 −0.45 1.55 1.12 0.89 1.04
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Table 7. Correlation of reading comprehension performance and metacomprehension

accuracy
Text 1 2 3 4
1. Natural Disasters Performance – .20* −.71** .02
2. Social Inequality Performance .94** – −.10 −.62**
3. Natural Disasters −.65** −.55** – −.07
4. Social Inequality −.64** −.75** .40** –
N = 100
Based on Table 7, students' reading comprehension ability depends on their level

of understanding whether it is deep or still not optimal. To answer the fourth
problem formulation, from Table 7 we can see that the relationship between the
results of reading comprehension and metacomprehension accuracy shows a high
correlation on inferential level questions (r value = 0.34-0.94. This pattern does not
occur in textual questions. The relationship between reading comprehension
results and metacomprehension accuracy on textual questions is lower with a
value of r = 0.07-0.064. Based on the accuracy index, a high value means that it has
a larger calibration error and a negative correlation indicates that the higher the
comprehension performance, the lower the calibration error. One-way MANOVA
test on the ability to read text comprehension Natural Disasters and Social
Inequality found that the type of textual or inferential questions significantly
affected students' reading outcomes with a value of F(2.180) = 18.34, p < .001, 2 =
.170. The improvement of reading ability based on the type of question includes
1) the result of reading comprehension on Natural Disasters text obtained the
value (1.180) = 16.70, p <.001, 2 = 0.090, while the results of reading
comprehension on the Social Inequality text obtained the value of F(1.175) = 33.20,
p <.001, 2 = 0.160. The reading comprehension performance of students on textual
questions in both texts (Natural Disasters (M = 2.50, SD = 1.34) and Social
Inequality (M = 3.01, SD = 1.55) was superior to the performance of students'
understanding of the type inferential questions (natural disaster, M = 1.78, SD =
1.05; social inequality, M = 1.91, SD = 1.18) To answer the fourth problem
formulation, Table 8 showing the results of the calculation of the standard ability
regression test present reading comprehension of students on each type of
question and both types of text.
Table 8. Standard regression results of textual and inferential reading

comprehension performance in both texts
Predictor B+ (CI95%) β− T p
Textual Absolute Accuracy
Social Inequality Performance
Inferential 0.10 (−0.07, 0.26) 0.09 1.20 0.25 ns
Textual −0.45 (−0.56, −0.32) −0.63 −6.98 0.001**
Natural Disasters
Performance
Inferential −0.09 (−0.30, 0.11) −0.09 −0.93 0.40 ns
Textual −0.52 (−0.68, −0.40) −0.63 −7.20 0.001**
Inferential Absolute Accuracy
Social Inequality Performance
Inferential −0.73 (−0.90, −0.60) −0.75 −9.60 0.001**
Textual 0.01 (−0.12, 0.14) 0.15 0.20 0.90 ns
276
Natural Disasters
Performance
Inferential −0.70 (−0.90, −0.52) −0.70 −7.65 0.001**
Textual 0.04 (−0.13, 0.20) 0.05 0.43 0.70 ns
Study 2.
N = 100 *p < .05 **p < .01 ns Non-significant
Based on the results of the metacomprehension test, the type of question (textual
and inferential) had a significant impact on the accuracy of metacomprehension
in all multivariates with a value of F(2.182) = 9.60, p <.001, 2 = .103. Based on the
results of the univariate test, the type of question also has a significant effect on
the Natural Disasters text having a value of F(1.183) = 10.95, p = .001, 2 = 0.063
and the Social Inequality text F(1.180) = 11.01, p = .001, 2 = .062. When compared
from the two texts, the metacomprehension accuracy of students in the textual
type (Natural Disasters, M = 1.60, SD = 1.15; Social Inequality, M = 1.55, SD = 1.12)
was higher than the inferential type. Based on these findings, it can be concluded
that the accuracy of students' metacomprehension on the textual question type is
consistently better than the metacomprehension accuracy on the inferential
question type. This pattern is found in both texts.
5. Discussion
In the phase 1, the researcher revealed the role of metacognition (planning,
monitoring, and evaluation) on the level of reading comprehension by looking at
students' performance in answering textual and inferential types of questions.
Metacognition monitoring is done by self-reporting. In the second phase, the
researcher conducted an absolute global metacognitive assessment on the level of
students' reading comprehension which was carried out after reading the text
(Chen et al., 2016; Susantini et al., 2021). The first research findings include the
level of knowledge in evaluating students' reading which is assessed by reading
awareness and there is a significant relationship to students' ability to answer
inferential type questions. This finding shows that evaluative reading
comprehension, which includes planning, monitoring, and evaluation, is an
important aspect in supporting students' reading comprehension level, especially
in improving inferential understanding. This finding relates to the students'
knowledge of reading strategies, which greatly affects understanding. The
reading strategy can be applied to every metacognitive phase (planning,
monitoring and evaluation) so that the level of students' understanding of the text
is optimal. Planning is included as a significant predictor of the performance of
inferential understanding. This finding indicates that students need skills in
planning strategies before reading is carried out so that text understanding is
deeper, especially in complex texts and texts that require inferential
understanding (Martins & Capellini, 2021; Samiei & Ebadi, 2021). So, it can be
concluded that readers who have high reading planning skills can produce
quality or deeper understanding and conclusions about texts than students who
do not do reading planning.
In the second study, it was found that the absolute global metacomprehension
accuracy showed different performance relationships in the textual and inferential
question text types. Metacomprehension accuracy on inferential questions shows
277
a higher relationship than textual questions. Students who are better at answering
inferential questions have global absolute metacomprehension accuracy and tend
to have better cognitive abilities. This indicates that the students' reading
comprehension ability depends on their ability to process the text. This finding is
in accordance with the level of interference theory from Lim, (2020). Students gain
reading comprehension based on the level of interference obtained. Therefore,
students who get a lot of conclusions from the results of reading the text can
estimate their level of understanding based on their ability to make conclusions.
However, readers who are not able to make a lot of conclusions (less reading
skills) assess their level of understanding at different levels (Hayashi et al., 2018;
Yousuf et al., 2021; Mulyati & Hadianto, 2022)
). Metacomprehension is done so that students are aware of their own level of

understanding. Therefore, adequate inferential abilities are needed for students to
be able to predict their own reading success rate. It can be concluded in the first
study, based on monitoring the global absolute assessment, that inferential ability
and the level of students' impairment had a significant effect on students'
metacomprehension.
The difference in performance on metacomprehension accuracy proves that there

are different uses of cues in assessing the level of reading comprehension itself.
According to the level of distraction theory, readers predict their level of
understanding based on cues from impaired reading flow, inferential
assumptions, assumption accuracy, and perceived representation. In addition,
interference can also occur at the level of text representation. If interference occurs
at a certain level, the reader's assessment of metacomprehension accuracy tends
to be based on the textual level rather than conclusions that require quality
reasoning abilities (Curenton & Justice, 2008; Solheim & Lundetræ, 2018; Lim,
2020). Thus, readers who have better reading comprehension skills tend to
understand the text based on the explicit information in the text and the
relationship between adjacent ideas in the text. However, the textual reader also
has limitations because explicit information also involves several dimensions, for
example, detailed explicit ideas that require a high level of understanding.
Another study that strengthens this finding is that students' internal factors are
very strong predictors of their metacomprehension accuracy (Loh et al., 2020;
Ptacek, 2016). Inferential readers understand reading texts using more
sophisticated cues such as self-explanation and elaboration. So, it can be
concluded that mental representations with good inferential understanding
performance involve coherent text representations so as to produce alignment
between performance assessments and students' actual performance (better
metacomprehension accuracy) (Hadianto et al., 2021b, 2021a. Metacognitive
abilities greatly affect the reading process and the results of students' reading
comprehension. Metacognition plays a very important role in selecting relevant
information or not with an appropriate text representation. Cohesive text is very
helpful for less skilled readers but an obstacle for skilled readers (Johansson, 2013;
Zhou et al., 2020). This finding is very interesting because it proves that
metacognition greatly affects students' reading comprehension outcomes and the
specific metacognition used by students can be different depending on the ability
278
of the reader, as found in this study. The results of the study prove that inferential
readers have less accurate monitoring of explicit information and make it difficult
for them to gain access to inferential text representations.
6. Conclusion, Limitation and Recommendation

Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that students with good
inferential skills have better metacognitive abilities, especially regarding reading
evaluation skills. Readers with this profile try to adjust the mental representation
of the text with their understanding. In addition, they have good
metacomprehension accuracy in the level of inferential understanding. However,
readers with textual skills have good metacomprehension accuracy at the textual
level only. So, both findings indicate that inferential and metacognitive skills of
reading strategies and evaluation of learning play an important role in facilitating
students to achieve optimal levels of reading comprehension. A reader must have
regulatory skills so that they can guide their reading skills and can help students
to continue to excel in the future. The implication of this research is that the
teacher must emphasise inferential reasoning skills in the learning process
because this reasoning ability not only helps in understanding the text or material
but also improves metacomprehension abilities. Students who have the ability to
monitor their own learning tend to be more independent and successful in the
future. Interventions that can train students' inferential and metacognitive skills
are suggested in learning to read.
This study has several limitations, including samples taken from elementary
schools and junior high schools, so it needs to be tested on a sample of high school
students, not paying attention to gender; research on early reading abilities is not
measured, so the progress of students' reading skills is not visible in detail. In
addition, the measurement of metacomprehension accuracy is carried out
through self-reporting where there may be students who are dishonest and do not
assess as objectively as possible on metacognition. Despite the shortcomings of
this study, the researcher believes that this research contributes to the teaching of
reading to be more effective. Based on the limitations of this study, further
research should pay attention to the suggested variables, namely paying attention
to gender, measuring ability not only relying on tests but looking at it from the
perspective of the parents of students, and the results of the study should be
further strengthened by deeper qualitative analysis.
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282

Effectiveness of a Training Program in

Improving Scientific Writing Skills Based on
APA 7 Style among Postgraduate Students
Sherif Adel Gaber*
Faculty of Education, King Faisal University
Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Sayed Ibrahim Ali

Faculty of Medicine, King Faisal University
Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Faculty of Education, Helwan University,
Cairo, Egypt
Abstract. Scientific writing is the final product of research and can take
the form of a master’s or doctoral thesis or a peer reviewed journal article.
It must follow the appropriate format and style of scientific writing. We
verify the effectiveness of a training program in improving the scientific
writing skills of 26 postgraduate students at King Faisal University's
College of Education. A quasi-experimental approach was used. The
sample was divided into 13 experimental group and 13 control group. A
scientific writing skills scale and training program (both developed by the
researchers) were used. The results showed that there was a statistically
significant difference between the mean ranks of the experimental and
control groups on the post-test in favor of the experimental group. The
results also revealed a statistically significant difference between the mean
ranks of the experimental group on the pre-and post-tests in favor of the
post-test, the findings of the study indicate that the training program was
effective in improving the scientific writing skills of the participants.
Keywords: scientific writing skills, postgraduate students, College of

Education, King Faisal University, APA 7
1. Introduction
Writing is of great importance among the four language arts (listening, speaking,
reading, and writing) and writers need special skills to deliver their messages
effectively and appropriately to the reader. Scientific writing skills are a
requirement for postgraduate students because of their significant and direct
*
Corresponding author: Sherif Adel Gaber; sagahmed@kfu.edu.sa
©Authors
283
impact on the quality of written scientific material. They also affect the extent to
which scientific material is accepted by international publications.
Scientific research is a set of regular procedures followed by a postgraduate

student in order to identify all aspects related to the problem of his study, it was
necessary to have a comprehensive guide containing everything related to
scientific writing in a clear and organized manner, which achieved in APA 7.
Writing based on the style of the American Psychological Association (APA) is

required as a part of the undergraduate psychology curriculum. Little is known,
however, about the efficacy of specific techniques for teaching students how to
format APA-style citations and references (Boysen, 2019). The APA Publication
Manual is a valuable resource for social science students and faculty members.
However, many students and academics disregard the significance of APA style
in encouraging writing excellence, scientific writing occupies an important
position in scientific research, no less than methodology. It serves to translate what
has been done in the research into the form of a final product that meets the
standards governing style (Daniels & Kennedy, 2019; Muhammad, 2016).
Cooper (2020) has provided practical advice on how to understand the APA Style
Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) and Meta-Analysis Reporting
Standards (MARS) and apply them to quantitative research. These standards
specify the information that researchers must report, such as detailed accounts of
the methods they used, data results and analysis, interpretations of their findings,
and implications for future research. Cooper (2020) examined examples from APA
journals, providing readers with advice on how to implement the revised
standards in their writing and adhere to the guidelines in the 7th edition of the
APA Publication Manual. Updated chapters provide more detailed guidelines for
reporting statistical analyses and distinguishing features of various types of
research, such as replication studies, clinical trials, and observational studies.
Scientific writing refers to the final product of a research project; its expression in
an appropriate form that is accepted by various international scientific circles. This
also entails following the scientific writing style. Therefore, it is important to teach
the scientific writing style based on APA 7 to post-graduate through a training
program that include many scientific writing skills.
Writing ability is essential for success in academic and professional pursuits. APA
style is a set of guidelines for clear and precise scholarly communication that
assists both new and experienced authors in achieving writing excellence. It is
used by millions of people worldwide in psychology, as well as in fields such as
nursing, social work, communications, education, business, and engineering, to
prepare manuscripts for publication, student papers, dissertations, and theses, the
APA Publication Manual is the authoritative resource for this style (American
Psychology Association, 2019).
Haryono and Adam (2021) conducted a mini-research project in animal ecology to

enhance the scientific writing and communication skills of undergraduate
284
students. This descriptive quantitative research utilized two cycles of action-

research technique. The information gathered was analyzed both descriptively
and quantitatively. Based on the results, the increase in students’ scientific writing
scores was 0.6 (moderate). Moreover, as tested during a presentation session,
students' communication abilities improved from Cycle 1 to Cycle 2 as a result of
the second cycle. The study's findings show that implementing a mini-research
project in this course helped students develop their scientific writing and
communication skills.
Deng et al. (2019) examined the evolution of Chinese undergraduates' scientific

writing competence. Twenty-two undergraduate students participated in this
investigation. They were instructed to compose scientific articles based on the
researcher's experience with them. Their academic writing was evaluated. The
results showed improvement in their scientific writing development.
The research problem originated from our observation of the weak scientific
writing skills of postgraduate students in several departments in the College of
Education at King Faisal University. We attended scientific seminars in the
Departments of Special Education, Education & Psychology, Curricula &
Teaching Methods, and Physical Education. We also analyzed examples of
scientific writing: 19 research proposals, 18 research projects, and 10 theses. We
observed clear weaknesses in the scientific writing of this sample; the level of
weakness was 63.83%. This was supported by the results of previous research and
studies of postgraduate students in the Faculty of Education. For example,
Hussein and Al-Mahlawi (2018) showed weakness in the academic writing skills
of postgraduate students in the Faculty of Education. Khatab (2020) also indicated
that there is a clear deficiency in the scientific writing skills of postgraduate
students at the College of Education. In this study, the skill of expressing the
scientific method reached 57.86% and the skill of directing the writing reached
26.31%. Likewise, the postgraduate students at King Faisal University’s College of
Education have weaknesses in scientific writing skills. As such this research
address this problem and specifically attempts to answer the following questions:
1. What are the scientific writing skills needed for postgraduate students at King
Faisal University's College of Education?
2. What are the training needs of these students in the field of scientific writing?
3. What is the level of effectiveness of the training program in improving the
scientific writing skills of these students?
1.1 Research Terminologies

1.1.1 Scientific writing
Hussein (2018) defines scientific writing as writing related to the field of study in
the various departments of specialization, which requires students to practice a
set of skills, the most important of which are summarizing, reporting scientific
findings, following rules for citations and references, and the basic linguistic skills
necessary for writing without errors. Swales et al. (2004) define scientific writing
as a linguistic style and format in which scientific theses, research projects, and
research are written which has words, structures, connotations, meanings,
formulation, and characteristics that make it distinct from other types of writing.
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The researchers define scientific writing skills theoretically as the skills that enable
researchers to use a distinguished academic method through which they translate
what they have done in their research into a final product that meets the quality
standards. They are reflected in the current study in terms of the score the
graduate student obtained on the scale of scientific writing skills. This assessment
is defined as a set of written performances that reflect a series of mental
perceptions and show postgraduate students’ ability to choose correct and formal
procedural words, construct sentences correctly, link sentences appropriately,
formulate paragraphs in a clear scientific manner, summarize quotations without
violating their meaning, document them in the text, and cite references properly
according to APA 7.
1.1.2 Training program

Shehata and Al-Najjar (2003) define a training program as an integrated series of
activities that aim to prepare individuals, train them in a specific field, and
develop their knowledge, skills, and attitudes in line with their educational
experiences, growth, and needs. Procedurally, the researchers define the training
program in this study as a set of structured and sequential training sessions that
include a set of experiences and activities designed with the aim of developing
scientific writing skills according to APA 7.
The Scientific Publication Guide APA 7 helps postgraduate students with the tasks
required from them as they write their thesis, such as helping them coordinate
their citations and their list of references (Griffith University, 2022). Explicitly in
the section of the paper's body where they are paraphrasing or quoting. Because
they will provide summaries of the work in parenthesis, this is also known as an
in-text or parenthetical citation. Near the end of the manuscript, on the References
page, they should include all the details required to track down a copy of the
sources they consulted for their paper (Northeast Wisconsin Technical College,
2022). An "author-date" citation is used in accordance with APA 7. The author's
name and the resource's publication date are cited in-text, and at the end of the
paper, a reference list with more comprehensive item information is used. This
multidisciplinary referencing technique is highly popular. This guide was created
to show researchers how to properly cite the many sorts of sources they frequently
utilize for their assignments using the APA 7 referencing style. They can also find
examples using a variety of other resource types in the APA 7 Guide (Mutawa &
Al-Khalifa, 2014).
There were a number of studies that showed the effectiveness of training

programs in improving academic writing skills among postgraduate students at
College of Education. Such as the study of Al-Ahwal (2015), which showed that
the training program was effective in developing the academic writing skills of the
students in the research sample.
Greenberg (2015) evaluated the use of a thorough rubric intended to assess APA-
style empirical research papers to improve students' scientific writing. Students
who applied the rubric produced higher-quality reports. In addition, students
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improved their reports after utilizing the rubric to grade a classmate's. These data
show the usefulness of rubrics in formative assessment. Another study aimed to
determine which aspects of APA formatting college teachers find most difficult in
student writing. Using a Likert-style poll, the researchers determined that
concerns with documentation, particularly citations, references, and quotations
were the most common source of worry. Numerous style and format mistakes
were of little consequence. There were 135 responders, the majority of whom were
faculty members teaching undergraduate classes at universities where the APA
style is mandated across fields. Whereas the APA Publication Manual is the
official source, numerous tools, resources, and tactics can assist students in
mastering APA-style rules (Mandernach et al., 2016). The effectiveness of a
training program in developing scientific research and innovative thinking skills
was verified among postgraduate students, with a clear improvement in the
performance levels of the target group, with statistically significant differences
between the average scores on the pre-and post-test (Al-Ahwal, 2016). Ali’s (2017)
study concluded that all of the average scores of the research sample (writing a
good title belonging to the field of precise specialization) ranged between 40% and
42.67%. “Accuracy in selecting words” was met by the highest percentage of the
sample 42.67%; the lowest proportion 40% achieved “clarity of the relationship
between research and summarizing variables in words without tampering or
disturbing the meaning.” This indicates a significant shortcoming in academic
writing skills.
In addition, the effectiveness of using an educational website based on the theory

of brain-based learning to develop academic writing skills has been tested among
students at the Faculty of Education, there was a statistically significant difference
between the study group members on the pre-and post-tests of writing skills in
favor of the post-test (Hussein & El Mahalawy, 2018). Number of errors have been
discovered in APA-style citations and references among a sample of students.
Material creation resulted in significantly improved achievement on both a
prompt quiz and a subsequent test. The activities elicited similar levels of
enjoyment and effort, according to student evaluations, However, the majority of
students favored the error-recognition task, despite the fact that the production
activity led to greater learning (Boysen, 2019). Hilali (2019) verified that the
strategy of cognitive travel across the web (Web Quest) was effective in
developing the academic writing skills of master’s students at the College of
Education. An experimental method was used. A list of the academic writing skills
needed for master’s students at the College of Education was used. The study also
employed two tests, one of which was cognitive and the other of which concerned
the performance of academic writing skills.
The academic writing skills of postgraduate students at the College of Education

were developed and the impact of this on their ability to write research plans was
investigated, the positive effect of the training program on the skills required to
write a research plan has been found (Khattab, 2020). Stiegler-Balfour et al. (2020)
studied the influence of in-text APA-style citations on quiz performance as judged
by the Multi-Media Comprehension Battery's structure-building ability. The
participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (APA or no
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citations) and asked to read an expository text, followed by a quiz on

comprehension. Less-skilled structure builders did significantly worse on a
comprehension quiz and read faster in the APA citation condition compared to
the no-citation condition. Skilled structure builders, on the other hand, did
similarly well on the comprehension test but were required to slow down their
reading speed in the APA citation condition.
Al-Zahrani (2021) determined the academic writing skills needed by students at

the University of Bisha from the point of view of a random sample of faculty
members in the following areas: content writing and organization, language and
style, organizational form, and documentation. A descriptive, analytical approach
was used. The researcher prepared a questionnaire regarding the academic
writing skills required by students. After making sure of its validity and stability,
the researcher presented it to the sample to determine the degree of importance
they gave to each item. Then, the researcher developed and proposed a concept to
include in the communication skills course. The results of the research determined
the degree of importance of the necessary academic writing skills, arranged them
accordingly, and built a methodological conception to include them in the
communication skills course. Another study has been done to determine the
effectiveness of a training program based on the introduction of differentiated
education to develop academic writing skills and the trend toward scientific
research among postgraduate students in the Faculties of Education, the training
program was effective in developing academic writing skills and attitudes toward
scientific research among postgraduate students in the faculties of education
(Ibrahim, 2021).
Quynn and Stewart (2021) aimed to conduct a study to better understand how
postgraduate students implement academic writing productivity techniques.
Graduate students who attended more than one retreat per year reported
increased writing confidence and productivity. The results demonstrate the
importance of non-residential retreats in the thesis writing process. A study by
Sari et al. (2021) aimed to verify the influence of problem-based learning on
problem-solving and scientific writing. The study employed a quasi-experimental
design. In addition, grading rubrics for scientific writing and data from problem-
solving and scientific experiments were incorporated. The results indicated that
the problem-based learning paradigm had a substantial effect on the problem-
solving and scientific writing skills of students.
By presenting the previous studies; It is clear that the studies dealt with the
academic writing skills only, as they were concerned with documentation
according to APA 6, as well as the scarcity of studies that dealt with APA 7, which
gives importance to the current study.
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3. Materials and Methods

3.1 Research Approach
We used a descriptive, quasi-experimental method with a two-group design. A
training program (as an independent variable) was also used. The goal was to
verify its effectiveness in developing academic writing skills (the dependent
variable) among those in the study.
3.2 Research Sample

The population of the study consist of all students enrolled in postgraduate
programs in the departments of the College of Education. From the given
population, the sample was drawn and it consisted of 26 students (13 for the
experimental group and 13 for the control group) enrolled in postgraduate
programs in the following departments: Special Education, Education and
Psychology, Curriculum and Teaching Methods, and Physical Education. Their
ages ranged from 23 to 32 years with a mean of 27.36 ± 2.14. Consent to conduct
this study was acquired from the Deanship of Scientific Research and the Scientific
Research Ethics Committee at King Faisal University and the students.

3.3.1. Scientific Writing Skills Scale (SWSS)
This scale was constructed to assess the scientific writing skills of postgraduate
students. It consist of 30 items and was divided into five dimensions with six
statements each. A Likert scale with three points was used; answers ranged from
1 (does not apply) to 3 (applies). External Validity was performed by calculating
the correlation coefficient between the developed scale and AlAhwal’s scale (2015)
as an external criterion. The correlation coefficient was 0.807, and the test-retest
reliability was 0.843.
3.3.2. Training program

The researchers prepared a training program. They were taught to follow a
linguistic style and format that includes words, structures, construction,
connotations, meanings, formulation, and characteristics for writing scientific
theses, graduate projects, and research, which makes them distinct from other
types of writing. We presented the initial edition of the training program to several
experts in order to validate its efficacy. Based on their feedbacks, we classified the
program's procedural objectives into three areas: (1) the origins and basics of
scientific writing, (2) the ethics of scientific research, and (3) the documentation of
the text and the references.
We used a variety of techniques, such as lectures, brainstorming, dialogue,

discussion, and home assignments. The training program was divided into 12
sessions, with two sessions per week. Each session lasted 120 minutes. Moreover,
the program was divided into three phases. The preliminary stage consisted of one
session. The subsequent training phase consisted of ten sessions. The evaluation
phase concluded with a single session. Table 1 illustrates these sessions in terms
of their quantity, phase, objectives, and methodologies.
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Table 1. Training Program stages

- Stages Objectives - Techniques
- The members of the experimental group familiarize
- Stage1:
themselves with the program and its content, - its Brainstorming,
Introduction
benefits, the number of sessions, the time of- each dialogue, and
and pre-
session and the total time of the program, and the discussion
application
pre-application of the scale of scientific writing
-
(Session 1)
skills.
- By the end of the program, students will be able to:
- - understand the basics of scientific writing
according to APA 7.
- - produce scientific writing in Arabic.
- - identify the components of a scientific thesis,
graduate project, or research paper.
- - accomplish the division of research and its types.
- - familiarize themselves with the ethics of scientific
research.
- - identify the elements of the title page (cover).
Stage - 2: - understand the importance of the title and - its Lecture,
Training on conditions. - Brainstorming,
the - - identify the levels of headings. - Dialogue
program's
- - learn about the concept of the abstract and its discussion,
procedural types, components, and conditions. - Cooperative
objectives
- - learn about the concept of the body of a study and learning,
(Sessions 2– its sections, and components. - And
11) - - apply the rules of presenting data analysis output Homework.
such as tables and graphs.
- - apply the general rules of citation within the text.
- - implement the rules for quoting an author’s words.
- - implement the rules for citing indirect sources.
- - apply the rules for the citation of sources that do
not include page numbers.
- - implement the rules for documenting electronic
resources.
- - apply the general rules for creating a list of
references and the conditions that must be met.
- Stage 3:
- Participants complete the post-application
- Summary and
- Evaluation
measurement of the academic writing skills scale. termination
- (Session 12)
3.4 Data analysis

All collected data were coded and entered into an excel sheet. Data entry and
statistical analysis were performed by using the Statistical Product and Service
Solutions (SPSS, version 26.0). Qualitative data were presented using frequencies
and percentages, while quantitative data were presented using means and
standard deviations. Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests were used to compare
between mean ranks.
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4. Results
4.1. Scientific writing skills needed for postgraduate students at King Faisal
University's College of Education?’’.
The results of this study show that there are five basic skills of scientific writing
that postgraduate students should be trained on it, which are shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: Scientific Writing Skills
4.2. Training needs of these students in the field of scientific writing?’’.

Table 2 shows the means and standard deviations of all the items identified. The
highest skill was “writing each idea in a separate paragraph and adhering to the
specified number of paragraphs per page, according to APA 7.” with an average
(2.92); then “Ability to summarize a quotation without disturbing the meaning.”
with a mean of (2.88), then “Preparing the cover page including the basic data
required by APA 7.” with a mean of (2.85). The lowest skill was “use of clear
sentences to express ideas.” with a mean of (1.77), then “Avoidance of subjective
pronouns such as "I" and "we" and the passive voice.” with a mean of (1.81), then
“correct use of conjunctions between sentences.” with a mean of (1.85).
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Table 2. Means and standard deviations for scientific writing skills needs
Degree of need
- The - Total
- Weighted - Degree
- Training need
- - High Medium
- Low - Mean
field weights mean of need
- -
MEDIUM
- Use of clear
sentences to
- -0 20
- -6 46- 15.33
- 1.77
express ideas.
- Correct use of
MEDIUM
conjunctions
- -2 18
- -6 48- 16.00
- 1.85
between
-
sentences.
Paraphrasing
- Integrity of the
MEDIUM
grammatical
- -1 23
- -2 51- 17.00
- 1.96
structure of
-
sentences.
- Avoidance of
MEDIUM
plurals and
- -2 19
- -5 49- 16.33
- 1.88
categorical
-
clauses.
-
- Avoidance of
MEDIUM
subjective
pronouns such - as -5 11
- 10
- 47- 15.67
- 1.81
-
"I" and "we" and
the passive voice.
- Commitment to
the ethics of
HIGH
- 20
- 3- -3 69- 23.00
- 2.65
scientific
-
research.
- Connecting ideas
HIGH
- 17
- 5- -4 65- 21.67
- 2.50
-
to each other.
- Ability to
Scientific method
summarize a
HIGH-
quotation
- 23
- 3- -0 75- 25.00
- 2.88
without
disturbing the
meaning.
- Expressing
HIGH-
personal
- 20
- 2- -4 68- 22.67
- 2.62
opinions based
on evidence.
- Avoid bias when

HIGH
dealing with
- 16
- 2- -8 60- 20.00
- 2.31
-
certain societies.
-
292
- Adherence to the
rules for citing
MEDIUM
references in the
body of the - -0 24
- -2 50- 16.67
- 1.92
In-text Citations
research paper in
accordance with
APA 7.
- Adherence to the
MEDIUM
rules of citation
-
in the reference
- -2 22
- -2 52- 17.33
- 2.00
list according to
APA 7.
- Preparing the
cover page
including the
HIGH
-
- 24
- 0- -2 74- 24.67
- 2.85
basic data
required by APA
7.
- Writing each
idea in a separate
-
paragraph and
adhere to the
HIGH
specified number- 25
- 0- -1 76- 25.33
- 2.92
of paragraphs
Organizing and directing
per page,
according to
APA 7.
-
- Writing titles
according to
their levels in
HIGH
- 18
- 5- -3 67- 22.33
- 2.58
one style
according to
APA7.
- Putting
HIGH-
punctuation
- 19
- 6- -1 70- 23.33
- 2.69
marks in the
correct position.
- Designing
statistical and
HIGH-
non-statistical
- 23
- 1- -2 73- 24.33
- 2.81
tables according
to APA 7
standards.
Figure 2 shows the means of Paraphrasing needs. The highest item needed was
-
“Integrity of the grammatical structure of sentences” with 21%, and the lowest
item needed was “Use of clear sentences to express ideas” with 19%.
293
Paraphrasing
Use of clear sentences to
express ideas.
Correct use of conjunctions

between sentences.
Integrity of the grammatical 20% 19%

structure of sentences.
Avoidance of plurals and

categorical clauses. 20% 20%
Avoidance of subjective
pronouns such as "I" and "we" 21%
and the passive voice.
Figure 2: The means of ‘’Paraphrasing’’ needs
Figure 3 shows the means of scientific method needs. The highest item was
“Ability to summarize a quotation without disturbing the meaning” with 22%,
and the lowest item was “Avoid bias when dealing with certain societies” with
18%.
Scientific Method
Commitment to the ethics of
scientific research.
Connecting ideas to each other. 18% 21%
Ability to summarize a quotation

without disturbing the meaning. 20% 19%
Expressing personal opinions
based on evidence. 22%
Avoid bias when dealing with
certain societies.
Figure 3: The means of ‘’Scientific method’’ needs
294
Figure 4 shows the means of (in-text citations needs). The highest item was
“Adherence to the rules of citation in the reference list according to APA 7.” with
51%, and the lowest item needed was “Adherence to the rules for citing references
in the body of the research paper in accordance with APA 7” with 49%.
In-text citations
Adherence to the rules for citing
references in the body of the
research paper in accordance
with APA 7.
Adherence to the rules of
citation in the reference list
51% 49%
according to APA 7.
Figure 4: The means of ‘’In-text citations’’ needs
Figure 5 shows the means of Organizing and directing needs. The highest item
needed was “Writing each idea in a separate paragraph and adhere to the specified
number of paragraphs per page, according to APA 7” with 21%, and the lowest
item needed was “Writing titles according to their levels in one style according to
APA7” with 19%.
Organizing and directing

Preparing the cover page
including the basic data required
by APA 7.
20% 21%
Writing each idea in a separate
paragraph and adhere to the
specified number of paragraphs
per page, according to APA 7. 19% 21%
Writing titles according to their
levels in one style according to 19%
APA7.
Figure 5: The means of ‘Organizing and directing’’ needs
295
4.3. The level of effectiveness of the training program in improving the scientific
writing skills of these students?’’.
The results indicate that there was a significant difference (significance level ≤
0.05) between the mean ranks of the scientific writing skills of the control and
experimental groups on the post-test in favor of the experimental group. The
researchers used the Mann-Whitney test to reveal the significance of the difference
between the mean ranks of the scores of the two independent groups, as shown in
Table 3.
Table 3. Mann-Whitney test results
Control group Experimental
(N=13) group (N=13)
The scale and its Sum
Mean Sum of Mean Z P-Value
dimensions
of
Rank Ranks Rank
Ranks
Basics of scientific
7 91 20 260 -4.369 0.001
writing
Cover and titles 7 91 20 260 -4.370 0.001
Research ethics 7 91 20 260 -4.405 0.001
In-text citations 7 91 20 260 -4.449 0.001
Writing references 7 91 20 260 -4.365 0.001
Total 7 91 20 260 -4.339 <0.001
The value of Z for the total scale was -4.339 (p-value <0.001), which is smaller than
0.05. This difference was in favor of the group with the highest average, which
was the experimental group. This means that the program used to develop the
scientific writing skills of the postgraduate students (members of the experimental
group) was effective.
The researchers used the Wilcoxon test to detect the significance of the difference
between the mean ranks of two related groups, as shown in Table 4. The results
also indicate that there was a significant difference (significance level ≤ 0.05)
between the mean ranks of the scores indicating the scientific writing skills of the
experimental group on the pre-and post-tests in favor of the post-test.
Table 4. Results of the Wilcoxon test

The experimental
N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Z P-Value
group (Pre-Post)
Negative Ranks 0 0 0
Positive Ranks 13 7 91 -3.195 0.001
Ties 0
Positive Ranks 13 7 91 -3.187 0.001
Ties 0
Positive Ranks 13 7 91 -3.204 0.001
Ties 0
Negative Ranks 0 0 0 -3.213 0.001
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Positive Ranks 13 7 91
Ties 0
Positive Ranks 13 7 91 -3.605 0.001
Ties 0
Positive Ranks 13 7 91 -3.606 <0.001
Ties 0
Table 4 shows that there was a significant difference between the mean ranks of
the experimental group on the pre-and post-tests in favor of the post-test. The
value of Z for the whole scale was -3.606 and the p-value was <0.001, which is less
than 0.05. This further indicates that the training program was effective in
improving the scientific writing skills of the postgraduate students (the
experimental group).
5. Discussion
The results of the study reveal that the program was effective in improving
scientific writing skills according to APA 7 style (including grammar, scientific
methods, reference documentation, organization, and direction) among graduate
students in the College of Education. The scientific writing skills of the members
of the experimental group was improved. This is due to the scientific activities and
practices that were targeted. The participants were given significant training on
documenting references within the text and in the list of references so they would
be able to do so without the need for specialized programs or websites to help
them. In addition, the researchers explained punctuation marks to reduce
common linguistic errors in research and studies. The scientific writing skills of
the members of the control group did not improve because they were not
subjected to any training. Also, few references explain the APA-7 style in Arabic;
those that focus only on documenting references and marginalize the other skills.
As a result of the student’s inability to master English grammar, it is difficult for
them to translate the available information about the APA 7 style into English.
Similar studies support these results (Al-Ahwal , 2015), (Khattab, 2020), and
(Ibrahim, 2021); where these studies showed higher effectiveness of training
programs in increasing the ability of scientific writing skills among study samples
in favor of the experimental group. Although the results of this study differ from
those of Ali’s study (2017); where this study showed a lower level of academic
skills writing among the study sample.
Moreover, the results of this study also indirectly confirm that the program was
effective in improving scientific writing among the students of the experimental
group. This was due to the training programs that the students of the control
group were not exposed to, which contributed to the development of the targeted
skills. The scientific writing skills of the experimental group increased in terms of
writing properly, being free of common linguistic errors, avoiding bias, using
scientific methods appropriately, and being able to apply the standards of
organization and output in the scientific paper. Similar studies support these
results (Al-Ahwal, 2015), (Al-Ahwal, 2016), (Hussein & Al-Mahlawi, 2018), (Hilali,
297
2019), (Khattab, 2020), (Stiegler-Balfour et al, 2020), (Al-Zahrani, 2021), and

(Ibrahim, 2021), where these studies showed higher effectiveness of training
programs in increasing the ability of scientific writing skills among study samples
in favor of the post-test. Although they differ from other studies (Boysen, 2019);
where this study showed no improvement in academic skills writing among the
study sample.
6. Recommendations
The researchers recommend the following steps:
1. Developing the postgraduate program in the departments of the College of
Education at King Faisal University by adding a course on scientific writing
skills.
2. Introducing training courses with the aim of developing the practical writing
skills of postgraduate students, like those at foreign universities.
3. Reconsidering the course of the "research seminar" in the postgraduate stage
so that the content of this course includes some activities and tasks to help
students refine their scientific writing skills.
4. Producing a second version of this guide to includes a special chapter on the
standards of scientific writing so that students’ writing is directed towards
specific goals and benefits from the tools of current research in subsequent
studies and research when evaluating scientific writing skills.
7. Conclusions
It is necessary to pay attention to the theoretical and applied aspects when
teaching scientific writing skills and look at scientific writing as both practical and
productive. Furthermore, it is crucial to focus on analyzing methodological and
linguistic errors as they are common errors in postgraduate students. Empowering
graduate students with scientific writing skills contributes to helping them write
research plans, research papers, and scientific theses. All scientific writing skills
must be taken into account in all stages of writing research or scientific theses, and
not relying solely on documentation issue. As well as taking into account all the
data in the statistical tables and graphs according to the APA 7.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Faisal
University for providing the research fund, Grant No (1458).
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Formative Assessment: Component of Teaching-

Learning Process in the University Context in
Post-COVID-19
Edgar L. Martínez-Huamán*
José María Arguedas National University
Andahuaylas, Perú
John Peter Aguirre Landa

José María Arguedas National University
Andahuaylas, Perú
Víctor Enrique Lizama Mendoza

Federico Villarreal National University
Lima, Perú
Cecilia Edith García Rivas Plata

Ciro Alegría National University
La Libertad, Perú
Abstract. The aim of this study was to reveal formative assessments as

being a component of the teaching-learning process in the university
context in post-COVID-19 times. This study has focused on the qualitative
approach through the interpretive phenomenological method. The data
gathering tool used was that of a semi-structured interview with seven
professors from the education and engineering programs at the
Universidad Nacional José María Arguedas, Peru. The methodological
procedure involved the organization through the Atlas.ti computer
program and the transcription of the information through content
analysis, resulting in the emergence of validated categories through the
triangulation process reflecting the phenomenological reduction. The
results showed there to be three categories: the role of the professor in the
formative assessment, socio-emotional bonding, and learning feedback.
In conclusion, formative assessment is a fundamental component of
teaching and learning in the classroom where the professor, through
feedback in the class sessions, promotes socio-emotional bonding,
perceives mistakes to offer correction, and recognizes the work well done
to encourage reinforcement and reflection of the teaching practice. A new
*
Corresponding author: Edgar Luis Martínez Huamán, emartinez@unajma.edu.pe
©Authors
301
evaluative culture focused on the formation of skills and competencies is

required for which the professor has a high commitment and
responsibility not only in terms of preparing and training the student but
also themselves.
Keywords: formative assessment; feedback; learning process; face-to-face

teaching; online teaching
1. Introduction
All human beings carry out activities that in some way or another implicitly or
explicitly that serve to issue a value judgment that approves or disqualifies the
performance of an action or task through the given result. This also occurs in the
educational field since estimation serves to provide feedback on the teaching-
learning process based on the discovery of gaps, failures, and deficiencies in the
procedure used (Blair & Valdez, 2014).
In this sense, the teaching-learning process conducted by professors in the post-

COVID-19 period must be loaded with strategies focused on the learner
(Montrezor, 2016) to facilitate the formative process that is only required through
evaluation (Walvoord, 2010). This indicates the achievement and non-
continuation of the goals. It is necessary to address the deficiencies and
consolidate the strengths observed during the long period of confinement.
Recalling how fast and improvised the academic year was during the peak of the
COVID-19 health crisis, the lack of training in digital skills for both students and
professors opened up gaps and negative points (OECD, 2016; Guevara, 2020;
Hodges et al., 2020; Chick et al., 2020) in the different components of the
educational process where the evaluation was limited to adding what was
demonstrated in the projects, the contents of folders, and the resolution of activity
booklets that were part of the digital evidence, all while lacking feedback on the
activities carried out (Diez-Gutierrez & Gajardo-Espinoza, 2020).
In this way, it is necessary to strengthen the integrated, continuous, or formative

assessment within the educational process since this evaluation does not separate
or isolate the phases of the teaching-learning process. Rather, it implements it as
part of the process and as a substantial element (Brown, 2015). However, studies
show (Azzi-Huck & Shmis, 2020; United Nations, 2020) that during the social
isolation caused by the pandemic, in most cases, the professors had to design
sessions with a high degree of improvisation and often quickly. The simple
application of online techniques and tools was used to determine the knowledge
obtained by the students, reflecting to give a final grade or letter for the work done
in the classroom with the purpose of ensuring the continuity of the educational
process and complying with the purposes of the official curriculum.
While formative assessments go beyond grading, it is an estimation of progress

that is strictly based on the correction of the student's training judging by the
alternatives prior to decision-making (Hussey, 2017). This formative assessment
process is crystallized through the feedback that is developed between professor-
302
student and student-student, allowing confusion and defects to be corrected, and

overcoming the difficulties that contribute to the acquisition of missing skills
through work in the classroom (Elwy et al., 2020). In this way, the learning
provided by the feedback made together by the professor and classmates is
estimated (Komorowska, 2019).
From this perspective, what is stated by Ryan et al. (2000) and Earl (2013) is
pertinent as it indicates that nobody has learned anything from a grade or letter,
whereas there is learning achieved following brief feedback or the reporting of
failures and mistakes incurred (Kevereski, 2017). This generates valuable and
positive information for future learning, as well as the quality of the learners.
Continuous or formative assessment were at one point no longer used due to the
scarce time available to carry out feedback on the processes (Gilles & Charlier,
2020; García-Riveros et al., 2021). This is because the professors were unaware of
the tools and methodologies available to augment the teaching-learning process
mediated by Information and Communication Technologies (Gewin, 2020). The
students demonstrated difficulties when mastering conceptual, procedural, and
attitudinal knowledge, reflecting low skills and performance (Sá & Serpa, 2020).
Peru, like other countries in the world, has returned to face-to-face classes and this
has become a reality under the new normality. University students and professors
turn to look at each other and their use of certain protection measures such as the
use of masks, alcohol or hydroalcoholic gel, and safe distancing. This has allowed
for the start of academic activities from March to the present day. In this context,
the need to rethink formative assessments has been identified which offers the
opportunity for students and professors to demonstrate their knowledge, skills
and abilities, as well as the failures and achievements detected that can now be
corrected. This includes strengthening what is well done and not waiting for
another time to learn from mistakes made. The situation was that during the
online teaching-learning process, it was very consistent that the assessment was
done at the end and not during the process.
For this reason, in the conversations with the professors of education and
engineering programs at Universidad Nacional José María Arguedas, problems
regarding online formative assessment during the pandemic were remarked on.
Almost all of the professors focused more on correcting when grading the course.
The few and moderate moments used to socialize the evaluation, analyze the
evidence, and readjust the praxis contributed to avoiding knowing how to
improve from the mistakes and failures of their students and the knowledge that
they must learn for the betterment of their future. In this way, the purpose of the
research is to reveal how formative assessments are a component of the teaching-
learning process in the university context post-COVID-19, which in turn makes it
possible to identify and discover whether formative assessments are currently
relevant and necessary to reorient and promote learning not acquired during the
pandemic.
303
2. Materials and Methods

2.1 Approach and Method
The study was developed using the qualitative approach that is based on
reflecting on the reality of the informant’s experiences, their meaning and
significance according to the comprehensive and interpretive historicity, and the
promotion of the revaluation of experiences (Creswell, 2007). In this sense, the
interpretive phenomenological method was used which studies events as they are
captured and perceived by the subject. This admits the approach of realities whose
essence and particular structure can only be understood from the frame of
reference that is internal to the individual who experiences and lives it (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2013).
2.2. Participants
The participants consisted of 18 professors who were involved in university life
from the Academic Department of Education and Humanities and the Academic
Department of Engineering at the Universidad Nacional José María Arguedas.
This group of professors performed substantive functions such as teaching,
research, and engaging in university social responsibility. Through the
interviews, the phenomenon of saturation occurred. After a certain number of
interviews, the researcher stopped acquiring new information, leaving seven key
informants, four education professors, and three engineering professors. Using
the answers and phrases that they provided, they revealed the properties and
categories that responded to the purpose of the study, thus considered to be the
most significant concepts. The professors involved three females and four males
(Table 1) with more than 10 years of teaching experience and proven academic
studies. They were aged between 37 and 47 years old and were identified with
letters.
Table 1. Identification of the key informants

Informant Age Gender Academic degree Functions
A 47 Male Doctor Professor in education
B 42 Female Master Engineering professor
C 45 Male Master Professor in education
D 47 Male Doctor Engineering professor
E 46 Female Doctor Professor in education
F 37 Female Master Professor in education
G 39 Male Master Engineering professor
2.3 Procedure
The research was carried out in 2022 in May, June, and July with the informed
consent of the informants. The research tools used were semi-structured in-depth
individualized interviews through face-to-face and online meetings in sessions of
50 minutes. The interviews used an interview script and video conferencing
through the means of the Google meet app. All information was audio recorded
and transcribed on a laptop. In order to interpret the information generated by the
informants, the ATLAS.ti program was used. This is a computational mechanism
that is used to analyze and select qualitative information from the textual
statements.
304
Once the interviews were read and processed through the computational
mechanism, the themes that emerged from the expressions of the informants were
classified as topics in themselves and any micro-aspects that detailed the topics
were called categories and sub-categories (Elliot, 1993). The interviews carried out
with university professors are shown in Table 1 which establishes 3 categories and
16 subcategories that allowed for the reflection and contrasting of the information
through triangulation. This is a process that consists of the action of gathering and
cross-checking all of the information related to the reality studied through the use
of the selected data collection instrument (Merriam, 1988). This considers the
description of the text to reach the conceptual level that assists the investigative
construction that arises between the method and techniques.
Table 2. Analysis categories and sub-categories

Categories Sub-categories
1. Role of the professor in - 1.1 Granting of responsibility
formative assessment - 1.2 Activity orientation
- 1.3 Socialize the assessment
- 1.4 Analyze the evidence
- 1.5 Readjust pedagogical practice
- 1.6 Permanent evaluator
2. Socio-emotional bonding - 2.1 Effective evaluation
- 2.2 Motivation to learn
- 2.3 Meaningful teaching and learning
- 2.4 Personal and affective development
3. Feedback on learning - 3.1 Assessment of achievements
- 3.2 Time in which it is done
- 3.3 Continuity of ICT use
- 3.4 Professional development
- 3.5 Promotion of evaluation types
- 3.6 Feedback Effects
3. Results
This section presents the interpretation of the categories that emerged during the
dialogues of the interviews carried out with the informants where the ideas and
keywords that reflect the experiences lived according to the context and the
people who give them meaning and meaning were retrieved. As shown in Figure
1, the categories identify formative assessment as a component of the teaching-
learning process in the university context post-COVID-19. A reality that requires
monitoring is manifested in order to achieve improvements in the teaching and
learning processes.
305
Figure 1. Formative assessment categories in the teaching-learning process in the

university context post-COVID-19.
The categories that are part of the formative assessment as components of the
teaching-learning process in the university context post-COVID-19 are: the role of
the professor in the formative assessment, socio-emotional bonding, and feedback
learning.
3.1 Role of the professor in formative assessments

In education in the 21st century, the professor must have a set of qualities and
skills that enables them to be able to perform without difficulty in the classroom.
He must assume the commitment to the new practices mediated by technology to
develop the learning process of the students (Morera, 2020). Since technology has
caused there to be a digital context that is attached to the social distancing
generated by COVID-19, the educational process has been based on connections.
The way of learning and teaching has changed (Secundo et al., 2021). Nowadays,
the educational actors are able to meet again and experience the approach of
teaching and learning. Informant A highlighted: “It has been an intense and
difficult situation within the educational context that the pandemic has passed
and we have overcome it; however, there are many gaps in the way of teaching
with ICT and without them. Our role is that through formative assessment,
meaningful and successful learning can be achieved in the student, a goal that
every professor aspires for quality education.”
Informant C stated: “Our role must be rethought, the role in the classroom is very
important more than ever, comparing the moments of teaching-learning online,
and now face-to-face, in some cases in a hybrid way, where we have to join
traditional and technological strategies, explaining the purpose of the evaluation
that helps students to improve their academic performance, because
unfortunately, it is low.” Undoubtedly, knowledge is found as part of a network,
so technology alone does not guide. The professor is required to be the one who
306
plans and accompanies the learner in their learning process. This is the way that
determines whether they are learning through the use of formative assessments
or not.
Given the above statements made by the informants, it is shown that the professor
has a fundamental role not only as a guide but also as an evaluator of learning.
They give responsibilities to the students by guiding the activities that are carried
out mostly in real time in the classroom (Carless, 2015) and through technology.
Coinciding with the state, the professor, when developing a class, previously
plans and selects activities, techniques, and strategies that allow the socialization
of the content that will be part of the use of instruments that are allies in the
evidence of progress among the students (Allal, 1980). This is the reason for
socializing the evaluation through the announcement or detailed explanation of
how, when, for what, and with what the students will be evaluated, providing
them with confidence and making it exciting, exposing what has been prepared
for the evaluation. Professors and students can meet the requirements and
negotiate certain changes if there were any undertaken in order to generate a good
climate for learning. This involves knowing the weaknesses and strengths of the
students. The professor is able to change or readjust his way of teaching to achieve
better learning (Romero-Martín et al., 2014).
From this point of view, Informants B and D agreed, stating that: “It has been
experienced that formative assessment is essential in post-pandemic times.” The
students presented two important situations: they do not properly master the
basic knowledge of some subjects in the program and they have a high degree of
command regarding their digital skills. We were able to detect this because we
took the time to socialize the evaluation, something that we could not do with
online teaching. From there, we had to take advantage of the personal components
and insist on constant training to offer a formative assessment leading to
improving teaching and learning through the online or face-to-face modalities.
Professors are the main figures not only in the training process of the subject as
someone who learns but also as a facilitator, counselor, planner, organizer, and
visionary of the progression of learning to achieve a certain competence that is
evidenced by performance. I is pertinent to be at the forefront of change to face
any of the unexpected phenomena that occur in the world that influence in
academic life (Azogul & Sullivan, 2009; Paufler et al., 2020).
3.2 Socio-emotional bonding

When evaluating, it is pertinent to print the socio-emotional part of the training
process that allows the educational actors to feel confident and encouraged to
develop activities in the classroom. It is well known that professors and students
have presented with individual needs related to the contingency caused by the
COVID-19 virus. This has been controlled so far but with uncertainty regarding
its reappearance. For this reason, compliance with the prevention protocols is
mandatory in academic institutions to minimize the risk of contagion (Flores et
al., 2022).
307
The socio-emotional bonding that the professor must provide while developing a
class, as well as when estimating an activity, must be directed toward the attention
given to the student’s social and emotional needs. This guarantees that the
acquisition of skills and learning progress is observed through effective
performance that generates wellbeing and satisfaction for both the professor and
students (Leighton & Gómez, 2018).
In this way, Informants E and G expressed that “being in the classroom is a big
step, we have managed to make that socio-emotional “click” with the students
during their training in these three months of the year.” It was necessary to give
feedback to each other and to strengthen not only the bonds of friendship but also
to reinforce learning. This is an unusual situation during online classes because
on many occasions, they were faceless students. “Sure, we were distressed,
stressed, and lonely.”
Considering what was expressed by the professors, the socio-emotional bonding

in relation to the formative assessment under the online and face-to-face
modalities showed there to be a great difference. Where the online modality
dominated the scenario, the formative evaluation was ineffective, monotonous,
and boring, lacking in conversation that builds and energizes the teaching-
learning process among the educational actors (Viñoles-Cosentino et al., 2021).
This is the reason why the professor has ownership of what he says and does,
inspiring and injecting emotion into the students to make them curious to learn.
The feeling of wellbeing and satisfaction when learning is enhanced which is not
possible with online teaching because the professors and students do not know of
the multiple tools available that can promote the facilitation and motivation of the
educational process to help improve their academic performance (Joshi et al.,
2021; Tomasik et al., 2021).
This was confirmed by Informant F when referring to the following: “As a

professor we are obliged to prepare ourselves along with the appearance of
pedagogical and technological innovations that help us through formative
assessment to build an open and flexible cognitive platform aligned on fostering
positive emotions so that students can quickly get over from negative situations.”
Informant D reaffirms that “within the formative assessment, socio-emotional
links must be present since they allow dismantling the harmful effects that
negative emotions can bring in the student life.”
It is urgent in this post-pandemic time, through this approach to encourage and

develop adequate emotions that propitiate an attitude and more optimistic view
that supports decision-making to establish solutions, building healthy behaviors
to face difficulties is preferred in favor of the consolidation of personal
maturation. This is achieved through the planning of activities with defined
purposes with intentionality. This enables the development of self-esteem, a sense
of humor, and social relationships that are predisposed to motivate and obtain
significant learning in the classroom climate (Leighton et al. al., 2018; Zi & Pastore,
2022; Salmon et al., 2022).
308
Consequently, online classes can be considered an attractive and natural

environment that introduces the student the achievement of skills. From now on,
the professor must seek to consistently incorporate face-to-face and virtual
teaching, evolving through the combination of traditional tools with technological
ones in order to offer a new and motivating form of teaching that generates
emotions and assists thought (Khashaba, 2020). For this reason, Informant G
stated: “I no longer conceive teaching without the use of technology, students feel
comfortable when I propose an activity with some digital tool as part of the
formative assessment. They look forward to developing the proposed activity.”
Within this complex educational context, formative assessments are considered to

be a fundamental component since it provides valuable information about the
teaching-learning process in the distance and face-to-face modalities. This process
should be understood as one that integrates knowledge, a set of skills, the
organization of experiences within a creative activity, and the organization of the
norms of relationships in the world. This reflects, in some way, that evaluation
intrinsically forms, guides, and enriches since it is focused on promoting the
attitudes, values, and experiences of essential emotions for the integral
development of the personality of the students (Triantafillou et al., 2003;
Kulasegaram & Rangachari, 2018).
3.3 Learning Feedback

Formative assessments are the established means through which to monitor
student progress to meet the purposes of the study program. This type of
evaluation intends to offer feedback to strengthen participation (Nicol &
Macfarlane-Dick, 2006; Barba-Martín & Hortigüela-Alcalá, 2022) and content
mastery, in addition to skills development, with the aim of modifying attitudes
and promoting the academic growth of students (Brown, 2005).
Significantly, formative assessment through learning feedback focuses on the

process through which the individual can learn. It is not governed only by the
provisional measures that make the final result possible. In this sense, Informant
C verbalized that during the new academic year and in such a short time, I have
managed to get my students to achieve significant learning through the feedback
that I gave throughout the class, asking questions for them to participate,
presenting audiovisual materials on the subject, and reflecting on what and why
it is useful.
Corresponding to asking and involving the students in their learning process, this
reinforced what was shared in class and considered that the points of view of the
students and the professor are what we call the evaluation of learning, essential
to correcting mistake or failures (Carless, 2007). This modification facilitates the
appropriation of knowledge and it is what allows them to acquire the skills and
abilities that can be put into action at any moment of their social, educational,
family, and professional life.
Based on the above, Informants A and D stated that the action of estimating the
teaching-learning processes in person have been permanent, constant, and
309
progressive, making use of ICT as a tool for participation and getting feedback on
what has been explained. This is as well as being a way to creatively learn and
innovate in class. Once again, the ability of professors to lead dynamic processes
and environments and improve the quality of the teaching-learning process is
demonstrated. After the pandemic, formative evaluations and technologies
within the educational context are essential components in human daily life. First,
this is because the pedagogical practices framed in the co-assessment, self-
assessment (Eva & Regehr, 2011), and hetero assessment do not exclusively
generate other forms of authentic socialization in the classroom (Tejedor et al.,
2019; Calatayud & Alonso, 2022). Second, it is because through technology, they
have a massive and constructive scope that facilitates the replication of better
performance (Yildiz, 2020).
Meanwhile, Informant B stated that the feedback process between students and
professors refers to the training and assessment of performance. This is nothing
more than learning with an axiological, emotional, and social burden that
contributes to the person who is learning to improve their subsequent learning
and motivates them to learn what is unknown. Within this perspective, the
assessment of achievements through the performance achieved is synonymous
with learning which, for students and professors, is real evidence of the teaching
process.
It is evident that the professors, through feedback from the students, go beyond
the transmission of knowledge and progress toward the development of skills,
knowledge, and attitudes that allow the educational actors to perform
competently. From the point of view of the professor, the formative assessment
contributes to the improvement of their teaching practices, as well as their
personal development. In addition, the professor as a mediator must help the
student to learn so then they realize their mistakes and at the same time, resolves
them. This corrective action must be carried out regularly during the class sessions
as a whole, integrated into the educational process and the participation of the
professor and students through communication and feedback. This allows them
to consolidate what has been learned and brings in authentic links as a benefit that
turns learning into a pleasant path to travel toward what is useful and significant
because it goes beyond the approval of the course (Urhahne, 2015; Huisman et al.,
2018).
4. Conclusion
The focus of this research was based on revealing formative assessments as a
component of the teaching-learning process in the university context post-
COVID-19. The professors showed that they have a fundamental role in the
conducting of formative assessments in both the face-to-face and online
modalities. Moreover, it is understood as the continuous process of participation
and reflection on the failures and progress of the student to help them improve
their skills. The student changes through correction and is strengthened when
their performance is well done.
310
In this way, it is shown that the socio-emotional link generated by the formative
assessment is significant and protagonist. Logically, both students and professors
are active participants in the teaching-learning process. The professor is the
planner and facilitator of learning because he designs and applies strategies based
on the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of the learner who receives all of the
attention needed to strengthen his potential and build knowledge. In addition,
this indicates whether what has been developed corresponds to what was planned
or what needs to be modified and improved. This has an impact on the personal
and emotional sphere of the educational actors.
As with the formative assessment process, feedback must always be present

because the entire teaching-learning process is based on it. The dynamics that it
places within the scene include reflection, analysis, communication, and
adjustments that allow for professional development and improvements in the
teaching practice. Therefore, it is time to abandon reductionist evaluative
practices, ceasing to be professors who are examiners and instead becoming
professors who are planners, organizers, and visionaries of the progression of
learning in order to achieve a certain competence while considering the
difficulties and needs of the student.
In this sense, the emerged categories indicate a new evaluative culture focused on
the formation of skills and competencies. The development of critical thinking,
group work, and collaborative and interactive work is what the current world
demands. This also shows that the professor has a high commitment and
responsibility not only regarding preparing and training the student but also
themselves as an individual.
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Appendix
INSTRUMENT VALIDATION FORM

ACADEMIC DEPARTAMENT OF EDUCATION
JOSÉ MARÍA ARGUEDAS NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
TITLE
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT IN THE UNIVERSITY CONTEXT POST-
COVID-19
Interview script:
1. What was your teaching role during and after the confinement of the pandemic
regarding the process of formative assessment?
2. What is the purpose of formative assessments after the pandemic lockdown?
3. How does the teacher link the formative assessment and socio-emotional part
following the confinement of the pandemic?
4. What was the way used for the students to achieve meaningful learning after
the confinement of the pandemic?
5. What meaning do you give to feedback in the teaching-learning process?
315

Learning Challenges in the New Senior High

School English Curriculum in the Philippines
Ma. Rita R. Aranda
National University Philippines
Abstract. The Philippines has adopted the new K-12 program known as
the "Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013" through Republic Act No.
10533. To this day, senior high school students use the new English
curriculum. This study aims to understand and explore the experiences
of the first batch of senior high school students when the Department of
Education (DepEd) implemented the English language curriculum. The
Researchers employed a case study design to acquire an in-depth analysis
of the case of one or more students. Thirteen male and female students
from a private non-sectarian school in the National Capital Region,
Philippines, were selected using purposive sampling. Subsequently, the
participants underwent face-to-face interviews with semi-structured and
open-ended questions. The data collected from the interviews were
analysed through thematic analysis using the six-phase framework by
Braun & Clarke et al. (2006). The study findings revealed that most
participants experienced challenges and considered the subject difficult
because of its complexity. The challenges unveiled by the participants are
insufficient knowledge and skills, low self-confidence, peer attitudes, and
teaching instruction. They also mentioned that they overcome these by
staying positive, enjoying their learning experience, and helping
themselves through self-instructions. Moreover, the study also revealed
that most of the challenges experienced by the participants come from
their learning environments, such as peers and teachers. Therefore,
understanding the challenges of students may help improve teachers'
methodologies and approaches; likewise, the school administrators may
develop and enhance their programs and policies for better
implementation of the English curriculum.
Keywords: K-12 curriculum; English curriculum; English language

learning; senior high school
1. Introduction
In 2013, the government implemented the Philippine 10-year basic educational
platform as it transitioned to the K-12 program signed by President Benigno
'Ninoy' Aquino III. The Philippines is now implementing the K to 12 Curriculum
through the Republic Act No. 10533, otherwise known as the "Enhanced Basic
Education Act of 2013." The new curriculum focused on the mastery of learning
©Author
316
and strengthened the core subjects such as Mathematics, Science, and Language.
This program intensified the standards. They have been integrated for innovative
instruction, and at the same time, they made the Philippines at par with the
educational standards of foreign countries.
There was a comprehensive reform for the Philippines’ basic education.

However, the students who graduated from high school were lacked of
competencies in several subject areas (Barrot, 2018). Thus, the Philippines has
adopted the K to 12 curricula to address the problem. DepEd introduced the
spiral progression approach to strengthen retention and mastery of topics and
skills as students revisit learning in the next grade levels (Quijano, 2012).
Integrating the 21st-century learning framework in this curriculum reform will
strengthen the quality of high school graduates to make them more globally
competitive to achieve more success and gain recognition in the international
labor arena (DepEd Order No. 55, 2015).
The primary purpose of the K-12 program is to allow the two additional learning
years to strengthen students' skills in their specific fields. The program offers two
branches: One is academic, and the other is the technical-vocational branch. The
program equips K-12 technical-vocational students to be workplace ready and
prepares academic branch students for college. As the first batch of senior high
school started in 2016, there are still objections from parents and other sectors of
society, and they urge to defer its full implementation. Many Filipinos believe that
the Philippine educational system is still being prepared for curriculum change
because of its difficulties. According to reports, the senior high school curriculum
lacks implementing guidelines, preparation, and materials, aside from being "too
ambitious" because the design and content are for exceptional learners. The
students need to submit research papers as basic requirements in the course.
(Brilliantes, 2020).
As the Philippines welcomed the new administration after the 2022 election, there
was a call to conduct a thorough evaluation of the K-12 program of the
Department of Education (DepEd) to determine the program's accomplishments
and failings. According to experts, the K-12 curriculum has many competencies
that end up with no learning. The technical-vocational track, which concerns the
training given to senior high school students in terms of time and technology, is
another issue to be addressed in the K–12 curriculum assessment.
In implementing the senior high school programs, teachers and students

experienced issues and challenges. However, the Department of Education
(DepEd), Commission of Higher Education (CHED), Fund Assistance for Private
Education (FAPE), the National Network of Normal Schools, including the
Philippine Normal University, and the University of the Philippines prepared
programs that would help the teachers and academic leaders to cope with these
issues and challenges. Some of these programs focused on developing teaching
guides, using the Senior High School Support Website for teachers, collaborative
teacher training, and the higher education institution (HEI)-K12 School Adoption
Model.
317
Unfortunately, these programs are mainly designed to address the concerns of

teachers. More effort must be made to address the concerns of students who were
significantly affected by implementing the K -12 program. (Dizon et al., 2019).
With this, students find difficulty adjusting to the new curriculum; thus, their
school performance is very much affected. Teachers should improve, modify, and
contextualize their teaching approaches to address the current needs of students
since they have various learning styles. With the new curriculum, the teaching-
learning process becomes challenging in developing students' 21st-century skills
and competencies.
The additional two (2) years in the Philippine educational system have brought
issues and concerns to educators, institutions, and students. Addressing these
issues and concerns is the primary objective of this paper. Few studies have
explored the challenges of Senior High School (SHS) students in their English
classrooms. Consequently, the researchers aim to explore the senior high school
students' experiences in accomplishing and complying with the requirements of
their English teachers.
The main objective of this paper is focused on exploring the experiences of senior
high school students in their English classes. This paper will also investigate their
challenges and coping mechanisms for overcoming them. The result of this study
will enlighten English teachers to address the concerns of their students
appropriately.
2.1 Learning English
The Philippines is an English-speaking country acknowledged globally and
enjoyed international recognition. English is one of the country's official
languages and is used as a medium of instruction in education, with more than 14
million Filipinos using it (Cabigon, 2015). Although this country has several
regional languages, it was ranked 14th in the global English Proficiency Index
(EPI) in 2018. This rank means that the country has a "high proficiency" level in
English, which enables Filipinos to make a presentation at work, understand TV
shows, and read newspapers (Baclig, 2020).
With approximately 1.4 billion native and non-native English speakers

worldwide, English has been predominantly used in international business,
diplomatic relations, tourism, aviation, and technology. It also emerges as the
most used language in scientific studies and one of the most-sought foreign
languages to learn. Moreover, employers in the global market quickly hire people
with high English proficiency (Domingo, 2020). Therefore, it is the language of
opportunities and so the language of the world (Nanquil, 2021). However, despite
the high proficiency rating in 2018, the Philippines ranked the lowest in reading
comprehension among 79 countries in a global survey conducted by the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Results
revealed that the Philippines has an average reading score of 340, meaning that
one in four students cannot complete even the most basic reading tasks.
318
DepEd also acknowledged that it must regularly assess the curriculum for its
applicability and that the provision of facilities needs to be sped up because these
are two key elements influencing Filipino students' performance. Other factors
affecting the nation's educational system, such as hunger and poverty,
government spending on education, and class size, are listed after it.
Students learn English for many years in school; however, they cannot
communicate in English effectively and efficiently. Despite all the government's
efforts, Filipino students are less successful in learning English than expected. In
other words, learning English as a second language remains a challenging task.
Students and teachers need a shared and enduring effort (Ying et al., 2021). To
fully develop and enhance the language competencies of Filipino students, the
government is making efforts to improve the teaching and learning of English to
achieve 21st-century skills in oral and written communication.
2.2 Senior High School English Curriculum

Oral communications in Context and Reading and Writing Skills are two English
subjects offered in the senior high school curriculum. Both are taught for 80 hours
per semester. In the Oral Communications subject, students are expected to
develop listening and speaking skills for effective communication. On the other
hand, students are expected to develop their reading and writing skills in the
Reading and Writing Skills subject. Furthermore, in these subjects, Senior high
school students are expected to develop the following skills: integrate
communication and language skills in creating meaning using oral and written
texts and utilize various genres and discursive contexts for personal and
professional purposes. These subjects are expected to equip students with
communicative competence before they graduate from senior high school.
English proficiency in the Philippines is weakening due to the graduates'

declining mastery of competencies in the English language. The Philippines had
the lowest reading comprehension in the 2018 Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA) and the lowest in the 2019 International Mathematics and
Science Study (Puente, 2022). If the students have a strong foundation in the
English language during elementary and secondary education, they will achieve
English proficiency in tertiary. However, more than ninety percent of college
graduates in the Philippines still need to be equipped with English proficiency, as
revealed in the test conducted by Hopkins (Domingo, 2020).
2.3 Challenges of Senior High School Students

In the Philippines, English is the medium of instruction in all subjects except
Filipino. However, English speaking seems very difficult for most Filipino
students, especially at the secondary level, even though it is used as a second
language in the Philippines. (Canceran & Temporal, 2020), In some countries,
several factors are associated with difficulty in English language learning in the
school setting, including grammatical problems and a lack of motivation to
practice (Novariana et al., 2018). According to Akay and Toraman (2015),
grammar is commonly taught as one of the essential elements to help learners
communicate in the target language. Parallel to this, a study by Schulz, as cited by
Canceran and Temporal (2020), revealed that both American and Columbian
319
students deemed formal grammar study essential to mastering a foreign

language. Despite the growing population of English language learners
worldwide, little research has focused on understanding the challenges of English
language learners within the context of the K-12 curriculum in the Philippines.
In addition, Loewen et al. (2009) concluded that grammar is a basis for

participants to build up the information they learn about the language and help
them develop their writing, reading, and speaking skills. Similarly, İncecay and
Dollar, as cited in Akay and Toraman (2015), revealed that students consider
grammar an essential aspect of language learning; however, they believe that
English should be taught more communicatively. Interestingly, several studies
were conducted on grammar teaching and language learning, but few on the
learners' attitudes and perceptions towards grammar.
The study by Akbari (2015) stated that learning English becomes difficult because
the students do not feel the immediate need to use English outside the classroom,
and no environment will make them familiar with the language. Furthermore,
many students disregard learning and mastering a foreign language, and only a
few succeed because they use strategies to learn the language.
Learning a second language entails the right attitude, and it is revealed in the
study of Blas et al. (2018) that attitude, motivation, emotions, and the learner's
background could affect English Language proficiency. The study showed that
the highly motivated student learning the language could achieve more than the
less motivated student. Correspondingly, a study by Zhou (2009) concluded that
participants were very motivated to develop their grammar and especially needed
to learn grammar to avoid making mistakes while writing. Gardner (as cited in
Canceran & Temporal, 2020) also identified learners' attitudes toward learning
another language as having a critical role in enhancing and motivating students
to learn the language. Correspondingly, it also influences students' language
performance and increases positive attitudes toward language learning (Kara,
2009).
Moreover, most students reportedly encountered communication problems that

affected their studies (Alhassan et al., 2021). Communication problems included
speaking skills related to oral presentations made by students and classroom
participation, while listening skills consisted of lecture comprehension and note-
taking skills. The skills mentioned above relate to the competencies necessary to
master English.
According to Rahayu (2015), students must master four skills in learning English:
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Speaking is the most essential of the four
because it is a crucial aspect of English learning. Success is measured in the ability
to carry out a conversation in a language. In the same study, Rahayu (2015)
concluded that the common problems faced by students in speaking English
include fear of making mistakes, incorrect pronunciation, lack of understanding
of grammatical patterns, limited vocabulary mastery, minimum opportunities,
students' interest, mother tongue use, seldom to practice, and less discipline.
320
Moreover, the study by Blas et al. (2018) revealed that self-confidence and self-
esteem contribute to the success of learning the language. Therefore, students'
performance in the classroom may depend on their level of self-esteem and self-
efficacy.
Teachers or instructors may also partake a role in students' English language

learning. A case study by Alhassan et al. (2012) revealed that teachers have
difficulty teaching the subject because of their slow understanding of basic
concepts. However, they are very committed to teaching them. Meanwhile, a
study by Novariana et al. (2018) also revealed that students failed to write better
because the teacher did not provide feedback on their writing. Teachers only
correct the paper and give a score, but no feedback is shown on the paper. The
study suggested that teachers should provide positive feedback and encourage
students to practice writing and reading rather than judge students' mistakes.
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Design
The study used qualitative design and a case study approach to acquire an in-
depth analysis of the case of one or more students. This paper used a case study
design through interviews with open-ended questions. A case study, as posited
by Creswell (2013), “explores a real-life, contemporary bounded system (a case)
or multiple bounded systems (cases) over time, through detailed, in-depth data
collection to report a case description and case themes" (p.73). Since the challenges
of the senior high school students as the first batch in the implementation of the
new curriculum are interesting, the case study design is deemed most suitable for
this study as it sought to explore the challenges faced by the students as they
engage in the implementation of the curriculum.
3.2 Research Questions

This paper aimed to explore the experiences of senior high school students in
implementing the new English curriculum. The following questions were asked:
(1) What are the experiences that the Senior High school students encountered in
the implementation of the new K-12 English Curriculum? (2) What are the
students' challenges and coping strategies in dealing with these difficulties?
3.2 Research Participants

This study involved thirteen senior high school students from a non-sectarian
private school. They were male and female students aged between sixteen and
eighteen and were selected using a purposive sampling method. Purposive
sampling is a technique to identify and select the participants that have
experienced the phenomenon. Also, these participants are willing to participate
and can communicate their experiences and views (Palinkas et al., 2015).
3.3 Data Collection

The study employed a semi-structured and in-depth interview process. The
interview guide consisted of seven open-ended questions that helped the students
describe their experiences and share their challenges and coping strategies in
learning English.
321
3.4 Data Analysis

Coding was used to analyse the data. According to Creswell (2013), in coding, the
researcher organizes data collected into segments and assigns a word or phrase to
them as labels. It is the process of fragmenting and classifying text to create
explanations and comprehensive themes in the data (Akinyode and Khan, 2018).
The data collected from the interviews were analysed through thematic analysis
using the six-phase framework by Braun & Clarke et al. (2006). The six-phase used
are as follows: 1. First, the researchers familiarized themselves with the data by
repeated reading to search for the meaning. 2. Second, the researchers generated
initial codes after familiarizing themselves with the data; this was done by coding
the significant ideas. 3. Third, they developed themes after sorting codes that
showed a pattern of meaning from the data. 4. Fourth, they reviewed the themes
to ensure that data within themes correspond meaningfully with clear distinctions
between themes. 5. Fifth, they defined and named the themes. They also wrote a
detailed analysis and explained the relevance of the data gathered to the research
problem. 6. Lastly, they wrote the research report based on the findings of the
data.
3.5 Validity and Reliability

Three experts in teaching, curriculum, and psychology validated the interview
questions. The researchers conducted pilot testing to assess the research
instrument's effectiveness and identify its weaknesses. After transcribing the
interview result, the researchers reviewed each transcript using investigator
triangulation to ensure accuracy and reliability. The researchers conducted a
confirmatory analysis through three rounds of coding. First, the principal
researcher coded the thirteen interview transcripts; in the second and third
rounds, each co-researcher reviewed all the transcripts previously coded by the
principal researcher. Thus, all three researchers coded and confirmed each
interview transcript.
3.6 Ethical Considerations

Since this study used human participants, an informed consent form was given to
the students, and let their parents or guardians signed it. The consent letter was
discussed first with the students before giving it to them. After the parents or
guardians signed the form, the researchers started the interview process. The
identity of the participants and the participating school in this study were treated
with the utmost confidentiality and ensured that there was no harm or possible
risks that could pose a danger in conducting the study because it involved only
an interview.

Participants were asked to describe their experiences and share particular
challenges in learning English in the new curriculum. The findings revealed that
learning English is difficult and challenging because of its complexity; thus, for
them, it is an everyday challenge to attend their English classes. However, only
some students found it advantageous because learning English allowed them to
learn, explore, and practice the language through the learning activities inside the
classroom. This study's results presented four (4) main themes and nine (9) sub-
322
themes. The first theme covered the experiences of students in learning English,
the second and third theme included their challenges, and the fourth theme
covered their strategies for dealing with the challenges.
1. What are the experiences that Senior High School Students encountered
in the implementation of the new K-12 English Curriculum?
Students were asked to describe their experiences in attending their English
class.
Theme 1: English Learning Experience

Sub theme: A Challenging Experience
Most of the participants described their English learning experiences in the
classroom as an everyday challenge. Though they find it necessary to learn the
language, they find it difficult, especially in speaking. The participants stated that
they have difficulties speaking due to unfamiliar words, grammar weakness, and
sentence construction complexity. In addition, they also emphasized that learning
and speaking English becomes more challenging than beneficial because they lack
the opportunity for practical application in their daily lives.
English is not the language of many families in the country. In the case of some
participants, English is not used at home because not all family members can
speak and understand English, as the student shared:
"At home, I was not required to speak English. We only use Filipino at
home, and I only use English in school. I am challenged." (SHS4)
This finding is similar to the results of Akbari (2015), which found that Iranian
students' main obstacle to learning English is the unavailability of an environment
that will help them use or practice English. Participants in this study also do not
see the need to learn the language because they only use English in the classroom.
In the Philippines, Filipino or Tagalog is used in many Filipino homes to
communicate with family members, the community, and friends. Like the Iranian
students, therefore, students' use of their mother tongue serves as a barrier to
English learning as it creates few opportunities for practicing spoken English,
which may result in low proficiency.
Subsequently, the content of English subjects presents itself as a challenge because

they are relatively more profound and complex than what the participants have
discussed in junior high. To some students, the complexity of topics was another
challenge in their English classroom. According to SHS6:
"It's challenging because in junior high, topics were not so hard. In senior
high, it got deep and more complex." (SHS6)
This atmosphere of difficulty that the students experience stems from the
complexity of topics, lack of practice, and little motivation to learn. Learning the
language and practicing it is a two-way process. The students tried their best to
learn the English language in the classroom, but unfortunately, they did not have
the opportunity to practice it outside the school, and the tendency is for them to
forget what they have learned. According to the participants, it is more
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challenging because English is a required course in all tracks in senior high school,
and they need to pass it to finish senior high school.
Sub theme: A Beneficial Experience

The result of the study revealed that only some of the participants felt that they
were being challenged as they took their English subject. Some participants find
English classes an opportunity to learn, practice, and enhance their English skills.
According to them, it is challenging, but they viewed learning English as a
beneficial experience because they gained knowledge and improved their
communication and writing skills. The participants felt proud that they could do
research now and express themselves in writing. The students considered this as
their accomplishment as they say:
"My problem in junior high school was I could not do research. Now, I
can do it." (SHS10)
"My subjects like Reading and Writing and Oral Communication
enhanced my formal writing skills." (SHS13)
Students' attitude toward learning the English language plays a vital role in their
learning process. If students find learning the English language beneficial, they
quickly learn it, and if they enjoy what they have learned, they exert effort to
enhance the skills they have gained. Unfortunately, not all students find learning
the English language beneficial; some have a negative attitude toward learning the
English language. Some of them stated that they do not see the importance of
understanding the English language because they do not have plans to work
abroad and do not need to speak and write in English fluently and accurately.
More than teachers in senior high school, some students with this kind of thinking
should work harder to enhance the students' communication, reading, and writing
skills.
According to the k-12 curricula publicly available at the official website of

Department of Education (DepEd), reading and writing skills will be enhanced
and emphasized in the Reading and Writing Skills subject while listening and
speaking skills for effective communication in the Oral Communications subject.
Ironically, few students in this study mentioned that their English subjects in
senior high enhanced their communication and writing skills. This only shows
that students do not mind long-term learning; they study English to pass the
subject. In other words, the student's perspective must be changed to experience
joy in learning the language.
(2) What are the students' challenges and coping strategies in dealing with these
difficulties?
Students were asked to share challenges that they encountered in attending
English class since the subject were taken from the tertiary curriculum. The
challenges were elaborated in themes 2 and 3 while coping strategies were
elaborated in theme 4.
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Theme 2: Intrapersonal Challenges

Sub theme: Insufficient Knowledge and Skills
Most students admitted that their English background is weak, and they have
difficulty in understanding and using English in conversation inside the
classroom. They cannot express themselves in English, especially during
recitation. One SHS5 disclosed that she felt fear whenever she recited because her
classmates might laugh at her if her grammar was wrong. According to her:
"I can't pick up straight English. I have trouble delivering in English.
One of my challenges is speaking (English)." (SHS5)
It cannot deny that grammar is one of the essential elements of learning a target
language (Akay and Toraman, 2015). Schulz (2001) emphasized the importance of
the formal study of grammar in mastering a foreign language. Interestingly, this
study's results suggest that grammar is the most inhibiting factor in English
language learning. Parallel to studies that included grammatical problems
(Novariana et al., 2018), particularly lack of understanding of grammatical
patterns (Rahayu, 2015) is a common problem students face in speaking English.
Grammatical structure is always challenging, especially for students, for English
is the second language. Students in this study also revealed that their challenges
involve confusion with grammatical rules, poor comprehension, and a weak
background in English. Some students commented that:
I’m confused with grammatical rules. When writing a research paper, I
get confused with the structure." (SHS9)
"Constructing sentences, especially grammar. I don't know how to use
'neither,' 'either,' 'are,' 'is.'" (SHS11)
Based on the students sharing of language difficulty, the complexities of grammar

rules, such as using "either" and "neither," sometimes affect their overall ability to
speak and construct sentences in English. They also admitted that remembering
basic grammar is difficult, so they experienced poor comprehension in class
discussions. The present study agrees with the study of Domingo (2020), who
found that there should be a solid English foundation to achieve higher skills in
the English language. Students' weak foundation in grammar affects their
speaking ability and sentence construction in English. Thus, they have a hard time
comprehending discussions inside the classroom. According to Akbari (2015), the
differences in foundation skills in English are significantly affected by
socioeconomic factors.
Understanding basic grammar components help strengthen students' English

language competencies. Applying correct grammar rules, such as correct tenses,
allow students to practice and eventually form proper and correct sentences in
both speaking and writing. Yet, based on the findings, insufficient knowledge of
grammar concepts and skills necessary for English language proficiency, such as
constructing sentences, serve as the biggest challenge for students in senior high
school. According to the participants, English grammar consists of perplexing
structures and rules, so they find it challenging to apply these rules in speaking
and writing English.
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Subtheme: Low Self-Confidence

Blas et al. (2018) emphasized the contribution of self-confidence and self-esteem
to the success of learning a language. The more confident the learner, the more
successful they will become in learning a language. However, in this study, some
participants revealed they have low confidence in speaking and writing in
English. They admitted that they could not speak in front of the class and feared
class recitation because they could not express themselves in English fluently.
These fears then inhibit the students from practicing and using the English
language. According to the participants:
“I have low confidence when it comes to English. Speaking and
writing.” (SHS2)
“I have very low confidence when tackling lessons because I’m not fluent
in English.” (SHS11)
Moreover, students with low self-confidence need help to keep up with the
discussions and may need help understanding and comprehending even small
conversations. Another student emphasized that he can better understand
arguments in a mixed Filipino-English language (Taglish) rather than in full
English.
This scenario can be seen in the study by Domingo (2020). It supports the claim
that students’ lack of confidence in using the language and lack of positive
attitude and interest in learning was one of the challenges for teachers in teaching
English. It was revealed in the study that many students are nervous and
unwilling to recite because of the fear that they might be embarrassed by their
classmates when they commit mistakes.
The findings of this study also indicate that besides having low confidence,
students tend to feel anxious when constructing English sentences because they
fear being laughed at for incorrect grammar. Knowing basic grammatical
structures allow a speaker to produce sentences that are both understandable and
proficient in communication. Likewise, this finding revealed that fear of
committing grammatical mistakes and societal pressure could be two main factors
of students’ poor communicative competency. According to some students:
“I’m anxious when it comes to grammar. Millennials or students are
afraid to construct sentences because they fear the grammar might be
incorrect.” (SHS8)
“Then it’s like you feel stupid. As a Filipino, I’m afraid that people would
laugh at me because I’m not that good at English.” (SHS 11)
Theme 3: Interpersonal Challenges

Sub theme: Peer attitudes
According to the students, they help each other by discussing lessons and doing
the assignments. Similarly, in the study of Chand (2021), it was revealed that
students learned many things from their peers by participating, collaborating, and
planning various learning activities.
On the contrary, the senior high school participants unveiled that they are
exposed to negative peer relationships, thus resulting in a behavioral shift such as
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being distracted, unhappy, and having a demotivated attitude toward language

learning (Aggarwal & Rajwanshi, 2020). In the present study, one of the
participants revealed that she could not get along with her classmates; that is why
she is always sitting at the back alone most of the time. According to her:
“My number one problem is my classmates, the people around me. I do
not get along with them since I’m in grade 11. I find it difficult, and I’m
unhappy. I get distracted because some of them aren’t nice” (SHS 4)
Moreover, one participant also mentioned that there are peers who, instead of
motivating their classmates to do better, try to persuade their classmates to be
passive. As what SHS1 commented:
“One of the challenges is the people around me (I’m associated with).
Their vibe is different; for example, sometimes I get influenced by their
laziness.” (SHS 1)
These results showed that attitude is one factor that may hinder students from
accomplishing their goals. It only showed that being directly exposed to others
who lack interest in language learning has a negative impact on the participants'
attitudes toward language learning. Several studies revealed that students learn a
lot from their peers. When students observe that their peers are highly motivated
academically, they also become inspired to plan their learning activities,
collaborate with others, and evaluate their learning styles. Learning with their
peers is one of the students' most significant challenges. Students can be
discouraged from achieving and enhancing their speaking and writing skills in
English due to their peers' consistently demotivated attitudes.
Subtheme: Teaching Instruction

Teachers’ commitment, motivation, and quality of instruction in teaching
influenced the students’ attitudes toward learning. Teachers are the source of
knowledge and are expected to employ the best strategies to teach their students
the appropriate skills and competencies. In this study, the participants mentioned
that some teachers lacked content knowledge, demotivation, and non-facilitating
behaviors. Some participants felt dismayed that their teachers lacked interest and
motivation in teaching the subject aside from being not supportive of their
learning. According to the participants, the teacher’s motivation and passion for
teaching are significant factors in their learning. Similarly, the study by Chand
(2021) revealed that teachers’ lack of motivation contributes to the speaking
difficulty of students. Students considered teachers as one of their challenges in
learning English. As the student shared:
“When you see that your teacher is uninterested in your class, you would
also feel uninterested (lazy, unmotivated). It affects my learning and
motivation.” (SHS 1)
During the first year of the implementation of the new curriculum, many faculty
in the tertiary level transitioned to senior high school because the majority of the
English subjects in college were transferred to senior high. Therefore, they need
to adapt to the new routines and create and experiment with new methodologies
and activities for high school students (Aranda et al., 2018). At the same time,
teachers from junior high transitioned to senior high because of the opportunity
327
for promotion. The scenario of teachers transitioning was one of the challenges for
the students because their teachers who used to teach in college needed help
finding methodologies that would meet the level of senior high students.
Likewise, their teachers from junior high who were unfamiliar with the content
added to their challenges. As students lamented:
"Sometimes the professors lack information on how to explain properly in
front." (SHS 13)
"The first challenge is with the teacher; when reading contexts, for
example, if there are difficult words, of course, you would feel shy to ask
your teacher for the meaning of the word. There are other teachers who
would explain and others who wouldn't." (SHS 1)
Teaching processes are within the context of learning on students, and when
teachers espouse a dislike or uninterested demeanor toward language learning,
students may take on this attitude. They are more likely to develop similar beliefs
and exhibit a similar outlook that undermines positive language learning.
Theme 4: Coping Strategies To Master The Subject

Participants were also asked to share their strategies for learning English despite
their challenges. The results showed that students were trying their best to learn
the language by looking for ways to motivate them.
Sub-theme: Optimism
The participants admitted that they need to face challenges and find ways to enjoy
learning and practicing the language. From the participants' answers, positive
psychology will surface on the role of enjoyment in learning. Positive emotions
and their critical role in language learning have received increased attention as
the discipline has progressed. A recent belief in applied linguistics is that
emotions such as enjoyment and willingness are associated with the increased
driving force and motivation for students' language learning success. When
students enjoy their activities, they gain control and feel capable (Mierzwa, 2019).
As revealed by the participants in the current study, they always face personal
and social challenges as part of their education. As a consequence of their
struggles, optimism emerges as an initial coping mechanism in their attempts to
master the language. According to the participants:
"I enjoy it, and I'm really willing to study it. I always think to myself (tell
myself) that "I need to do this. This is just a presentation, and I can do
this." (SHS 3)
"I guess I just have to. Besides, through time, we learn how to enjoy, and
from the teachings, they were all good." (SHS 7)
The participants believed it is not only that optimism could help them surpass the
challenges in learning but also that facing their fears could help them achieve their
goals. They also emphasized that their willingness to enjoy learning and
practicing the language frequently is the key to opening the many opportunities
for them to enhance their competencies in the language.
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Sub-theme: Self-instruction
The participants realized that they must help cope with challenges and look for
ways to improve themselves. One of the participants admitted that listening,
speaking, reading, and writing are all part of learning English. Anyone who
wishes to master the language can do so through self-study, which allows them
to take control of their education. This learning method encourages language
learners to research and finds information to assist them with their studies.
According to the participants, to help them learn the language, they need to go
out of their comfort zone to express their feelings and accept corrections
positively. They need to minimize the fear of being laughed at instead of enjoying
what is happening in the class. As the student shared:
"I guess I have to. Through time, so we learn how to enjoy and too...
(SHS7)
Senior high school students who participated in this study admitted they
struggled to speak simple English, understand complex English words, use
grammatical patterns correctly, and understand vocabulary. For these reasons,
participants devised several self-learning methods to overcome these difficulties.
Many students shared that they watch English movies and YouTube videos and
read books, English novels, blogs, and Wattpad to familiarize themselves with
difficult words and improve their vocabulary. Students said:
"I would watch American series on Netflix to add words to my vocabulary
and also read books. I would do this to familiarize myself with other
words." (SHS 8)
"I watched YouTube; I read English vlogs and novels." (SHS11)
The participants also shared that aside from being independent in improving
themselves, they patiently listen to the teachers' lectures and ensure they are
always present in class and actively participating in the discussions. As what the
students shared:
"I need to be independent; no one will help me except me." (SHS4)
"I listen attentively to my teachers." (SHS10)
Writing and speaking are also challenging for the participants, but
they use different strategies to help them write a good paper. One
of the participants mentioned that she used the internet to search
online for the topics they needed to discuss, prepare their reports
ahead of time, write the information on the index card before the
presentation, and practice speaking with good voice, diction, and
correct grammar. As the student disclosed:
"I will practice my report; I will write first in the index card so that I cannot forget
the words. Also, I will practice my diction." (SHS3)"I am doing research online
for my English requirements." (SHS4)
Aside from conducting research, the participants stated that taking notes on new
vocabulary and practicing spoken and written language is one of their strategies.
Likewise, they engage themselves in reading, listening, and watching activities in
English. These findings showed that students are involved in self-directed
329
learning to improve their language skills and identify areas where they need to
work harder. Self-study has evolved into an excellent way for English language
learners to supplement their education.
4.3 Consultation
The students find consultation with peers an excellent strategy for learning
English. It was revealed in the study by Nuraeni (2019) that peer support helps
and motivates students' learning; thus, challenging assignments become more
manageable through peers' help. Participants in the present research mentioned
that they frequently consulted their classmates to help them improve their English
language skills. They also shared that before they submitted their assignment,
they asked their peers if the grammar was okay before they offered it to the
teacher.
"Well, I would ask my classmates, for example, "Is my grammar
correct?", "Is what I'm doing right?" and other similar questions."
(SHS 2)
"If I'm not that confident with the papers I wrote, I would ask my smart
classmates to proofread my work and see if they're okay or not and if there
is something they want to change. "(SHS 10)
This study revealed that some participants consulted their peers more often than
their teachers. Only a few students asked for consultation from their teachers, and
they found it helpful because the teacher was willing to help. This study also
revealed that most participants find peer consultation more accessible and
relaxing. Though the teachers were accommodating, the participants felt shy
whenever they asked the teachers.
Furthermore, understanding why language learners engage in peer instruction

may be explained by how fellow students can be particularly effective explainers.
It is believed that students can better understand their peers' perspectives than
teachers. (Tullis & Goldstone, 2020). Peers may be better than educators at
explaining concepts in simple terms. This way, peers are regarded as a valuable
resource for language clarification and proficiency. It also allows students to gain
confidence while listening and relying on one another.
6. Conclusion, Implications, and Limitations of the Study

The findings of the present study highlight the senior high schools' general
experience with the new English curriculum in the Philippines, the challenges
they encounter, and their strategies to cope with them.
Most students described their everyday English learning experience inside the
classroom as "challenging" because of various factors. Since this group of students
is the first batch to receive the new English curriculum taken from the tertiary
curriculum, they first experienced the transitory period of the contents and topics
of English subjects. This situation has posed a significant challenge to some
330
students because from a simpler and easier topic from junior high, they now have
taken more profound and complex topics in senior high.
Secondly, students were also apprehensive about learning the English language
as they did not see the need to study it because Filipino or Tagalog are generally
used at home. On the one hand, only some students have recognized the benefits
of the new English curriculum as they gained new skills and competencies from
their English classes. As the Department of Education projected, subjects in the
new curriculum, such as Reading and Writing and Oral Communication,
contributed to newly developed proficiencies in students' oral speaking and
research writing. Even if the students describe their general experience as
challenging, the findings revealed particular challenges students experience in
their English classes. This includes having intrapersonal and interpersonal
challenges. Students' internal (intrapersonal) challenges include insufficient
knowledge and skills, particularly grammatical rules and sentence construction.
Students in this study also reported having low self-confidence when
participating in their English classes because they fear committing grammatical
mistakes. In addition, the findings also revealed how external (interpersonal)
factors significantly influence students' learning outcomes. Students in this study
reported having behavioral shifts that included being distracted and demotivated
to learn due to negative peer relationships.
Meanwhile, since the new English curriculum consists of elements from the
tertiary curriculum, the implementation of the new curriculum also involved an
inevitable transitioning of faculty from tertiary to senior high and junior high to
senior high. This transition caused most faculty to adjust and adapt new
methodologies in teaching, which caused a negative toll on senior high school
students. Despite the challenges, students did not fail to express their optimism
in learning and practicing English as an attempt to master the language. With
dedication, students engaged in self-studying habits and consultation with peers
to improve their English proficiency.
In conclusion, the findings revealed that some students were unprepared for a
sudden shift and curriculum change as they experienced difficulties keeping up
with the complexity of the topics involved. It is also noteworthy that using the
mother tongue. However, it promotes and preserves one's culture, which can be
a barrier to learning English because students are presented with fewer
opportunities to practice English. Consequently, as grammar and sentence
construction are necessary for English proficiency, students' weak foundation in
these areas affects their general ability to comprehend, construct, write, and speak
English. Lastly, a supportive and motivating learning environment is crucial for
establishing students' confidence in their English classroom, which may extend
their proficiency and improve class participation.
The above findings proved that learning the English language challenges the
participants. Understanding these challenges may help teachers and
administrators develop and enhance the programs and policies to help improve
the English curriculum's facilitation. Determining the experiences of senior high
331
school students may improve teachers' methodologies and approaches inside the
classrooms. Moreover, the result of this study can enlighten teacher education
institutions to emphasize the development of English learning materials and
teacher training.
The only limitation of this study is there are only a few numbers of participants
interviewed because some of the students were not permitted by their parents or
guardians to involve in the study. Though it has a small sample size, the
experiences of the senior high school students were revealed and analysed
critically. Other researchers may conduct this kind of study in different
disciplines.
6. Acknowledgment
This research was supported by a Research Grant from the Center for Research,
National University Philippines.
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Levelling System Model: Approach to Physical

Literacy
Cucu Hidayat*
Universitas Siliwangi, Tasikmalaya, Indonesia
Anggi Setia Lengkana and Rizal Ahmad Fauzi

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
Aang Rohyana
Universitas Siliwangi, Tasikmalaya, Indonesia
Mia Rosalina
Universitas 17 Agustus 1945, Cirebon, Indonesia
Dadang Budi Hermawan

Universitas Sebelas April, Sumedang, Indonesia
Didik Purwanto
Universitas Tadulako, Palu, Indonesia
Abstract. Motion learning needs to be interpreted so that motion becomes

effective and efficient. Teachers must develop material adapted to a
structured curriculum using specific standards in the learning process
that students must achieve. The purpose of this research was to analyze
the effectiveness of using the Model Levelling System (LS) to increase
physical literacy (PL) in the physical education (PE) of elementary school
students. This study used an experimental method with a pretest-posttest
one-group design. The samples used in this research were 105 people
consisting of male and female students, using the cluster random
sampling technique. The instruments used were the Canadian
Assessment of Physical Literacy, Second Edition (CAPL-2) to measure
students' motivation and self-confidence, the Canadian Agility and
Movement Skill Assessment (CAMSA) to measure physical competence,
the Physical Literacy Knowledge Questionnaire (PLKQ) to measure
knowledge and students' understanding, and Pedometer, Google Fit to
measure daily behavior. Statistical data analysis was conducted using
SPSS for Windows 20 series with the first step testing validity and
*
Corresponding author: Cucu Hidayat, cucuhidayat@unsil.ac.id
©Authors
335
reliability, reducing data using the method of successive interval (MSI),

testing data normality using Kolmogorov Smirnov, and testing
significance using the paired sample t-test. This study concluded that the
LS model has proven to be effective in increasing the PL of elementary
school students. This is supported by the results of the t-test obtained by
the value of sig. (2-tailed) of 0.000 < 0.05. Therefore, it can be stated that
there is a difference in PL scores between the pre-test and post-test in this
study. This research can contribute significantly to the world of physical
education so that for the perfection of further research, large samples are
needed at every level of education.
Keywords: levelling system model; physical literacy; learning

approaches; physical education; elementary school
1. Introduction
Physical education is an educational process that involves interaction between
students through systematic physical activity toward the formation of a whole
person. PE is a foundation needed to nurture children's cognitive, practical, and
psychomotor needs, which they will later need in order to grow and develop
holistically (Pühse & Gerber, 2005; Weinberg & Gould, 2018). Children are the
nation's assets, therefore paying attention to their physical and psychological
health is necessary. Healthy child development is essential in realizing a strong
Indonesia. It is of concern that nowadays, children tend to lack physical activity,
which can cause problems in their bodies. Many public health experts have
emphasized the importance of prevention in dealing with these problems through
health promotion and increasing the schools' role in developing children's
physical activity (Kolbe et al., 2019).
As time goes by, children's need for systematic and programmed physical activity
must be a top priority to be implemented in long-term programs because the
initial foundation of growth and development is the forerunner of physical
activities as well as activities at school. This is done to promote the early
prevention of health problems through physical activity in children using the
concept of PL. Corbin (2016) explained that PL is a concept of healthy lifestyle
habits with four interrelated components: motivation, belief, physical, cognitive
(knowledge and understanding), and behavior. Through a play activity approach,
PL is expected to influence motor development in school-age children so that it
helps enrich body movements. Based on the results of the writers’ observations
after the Covid-19 pandemic, the condition of children needs to readjust to daily
activities at school, such as the frequency of physical activity in the context of
physical education, extracurricular activities, and other routine activities. This is
necessitated a study applying learning models in an attempt to prevent and treat
children's conditions. Schools play a significant role in PL children through PE
and sports extracurricular programs, thereby increasing the role of community-
based schools that involve the community in promoting physical activity.
Caldwell et al. (2020) explained that the involvement of children in school
activities should be fun and can improve motor skills. The role of parents and the
community is needed in implementing PL.
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PL conditions must contain elements involving cognitive, affective, and

psychomotor domains (Edwards et al., 2019; Shearer et al., 2018). Therefore,
physically literate individuals are people who have good mobility and physical
capacity, motivation, self-confidence, a positive attitude, who are always actively
physically involved, have convincing knowledge related to physical activity and
its benefits, following a routine and being diligent in doing daily activities
(Lengkana et al., 2019a; Mulya et al., 2021). Goss et al. (2022) emphasized that PL
is aimed at individuals who can continue to develop skills and add a variety of
motions, intensity, and duration. There are several components in PL: motivation,
skill, confidence, and knowledge (George et al., 2016). Longmuir et al. (2018)
explained that knowledge and understanding are included in the cognitive
domain aimed at individuals who know and understand a healthy lifestyle and
the benefits of physical activity based on science.
The involvement of children in lifelong physical activity is included in the domain
of behavior aimed at individuals responsible for healthy lifestyle choices and the
challenges of other physical activities as part of life. The primary key to
developing PL is through quality learning experiences, and the characteristics of
quality PL learning experiences must vary according to competence and context
in PE learning (Dudley, 2015). Higgs et al. (2019) explained the characteristics of
the development of PL as a) having the opportunity to move in an unstructured
and structured environment, b) having the opportunity for all participants to lead,
explore and innovate, c) having the availability of equipment appropriate to
learning needs, d) facilitating fun and challenging learning activities that lead to
success and failure, e) having the opportunity to choose between various activities
and environments, and f) a high student participation rate. Therefore, to equip PL
so that all competencies needed by children can be adequately fulfilled through
PE, a practical learning approach is necessary for children to learn movement.
Strengthening PL in elementary school children is expected to provide
motivation, confidence, and enthusiasm to continue doing physical activity
(Wagner et al., 2013). With children involved in physical activity, the body's
immunity system is increased so that they will stay fit and healthy. Therefore, it
is clear that at this stage, physical activity is essential to maintain health.
The learning approach involves learning in stages, from the easiest to the most
difficult. This is done to provide a meaningful learning experience and to hone
skills based on levels of difficulty in learning. The study sough to apply a learning
approach using the model levelling system (LS) to equip children with PE at
school. LS is a learning model that consists of several components which are
interrelated with each other and form a unified whole to achieve a pre-determined
goal. Furthermore, LS is a learning process to determine each student's level.
Through LS, students learn to recognize and understand their competencies for
coping with life’s challenges in the future (From, 2017). Competence is a unity of
understanding and mastery of knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes as outlined
in the pattern of thinking and acting when carrying out activities (Valijonovna et
al., 2022). Through LS, learning is packaged systematically to make learning easier
for children. Each level of knowledge has been adjusted to the growth and
development of school-going children . It stimulates children's motivation to learn
(Muhtar et al., 2021). They will voluntarily participate in learning when the
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material presented is exciting, easy to do, and challenging (Stephani, 2017). It also
promotes students’ autonomous learning (Rahman et al., 2021).
The LS model has been adapted to the Merdeka Belajar curriculum initiated by the
Indonesian government in 2020 with learning nuances of play. Merdeka belajar in
PE learning, one of which is to allow students to move freely using facilities
prepared and deliberately designed by the teacher to shape students' attitudes,
knowledge, and skills (Kemendikbud & Tohir, 2020). Saleh (2020) explained that
if students were free to carry out various learning activities by themselves it
would not seem like learning to them. Instead of controlling activities, the
teacher's role is rather that of a monitor, using various appropriate strategies so
that the student activities align with the achievement of the laid-down learning
objectives.
Learning design is an essential aspect before any teaching or learning takes place
(Lengkana et al., 2020). An educator must understand the competencies to be
achieved through the curriculum references used in the learning curriculum
(Mustafa, 2021). The first step in preparing a learning design is a needs analysis,
where an educator needs to consider the environment encountered when
teaching later. Lengkana et al. (2019b) and Subarna et al. (2021) explained the
factors necessary to design learning as including facilities, environmental
conditions, student characteristics, and the material that needs to be taught.
Lesson plans need to be designed according to the requirements of Merdeka belajar.
Previous studies were limited to only examining the concept of PL in the 2013
Curriculum (K13) (Roetert & MacDonald, 2015), researching the development of
sports and physical literacy (Lundvall, 2015), and researching assessment and
physical literacy (Young et al., 2021). Looking at several previous studies, the
authors have yet to find research on the involvement of learning models in
developing children's PL in PE learning. With this in mind, they identified a need
to examine the possibility of providing a different movement learning experience
for each PE lesson. It was carried out by applying the LS model to develop the
physical literacy abilities of elementary school children.
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1. Levelling System
The LS method is the result of previous research by the authors in 2021. The
authors’ reason for the LS naming is that they wanted a name for this model that
was different from others. This learning process is an approach to identifying or
knowing the competence level of each student. The students must progress from
the most accessible level to the most complex and challenging (Lengkana et al.,
2019b, 2020; Muhtar et al., 2019, 2020; Mulya et al., 2021). The students are given
several motion experiences based on what they like; however, the teacher has
structured these taking into consideration the tools to be used in the following
levels. The students will have a different motion learning experience, with varying
levels of difficulty; they will learn to solve problems and think of what techniques,
tactics, and strategies should be used to complete the motion assignment (Bores-
Garcia et al., 2021). LS has several essential components to consider as follows:
a. The stage of grouping students through an ability test into three levels
based on the grades achieved by students.
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b. The stage of determining the teaching method according to the level of

student ability can thus improve student learning outcomes.
c. The evaluation stage consists of three types, namely i) a daily performance
test that is carried out after facilitating learning, ii) a periodical test is
held at the end of the topic, and iii) a promotion test is conducted at the
end of the semester to assess and reposition students' ability levels.
LS has indicators that must be considered in the preparation of long-term

children's programs, especially in the context of physical education. They include
the following:
a. Enthusiasm is students' willingness to pay attention to the learning
facilitated by the teacher.
b. Desire is the desire or willingness of students to answer questions or
training provided by the teachers.
c. Speed is a quick effort made by students in assignments and training given
by the teacher.
d. Initiative is a student’s initiative to ask questions if some instructions or
discussions need to be understood or explained.
e. Focus is the seriousness of students in carrying out assignments and
training provided by the teacher.
f. Evaluation is the process of studying the results of the learning provided
by the teacher by taking notes and practising.
2.2. Physical Literacy

Physical literacy (PL) is a skill that students must possess owing to a shift in PE
learning outcomes (Gustian, 2020). According to Tremblay and Lloyd (2010), PL)
is interpreted as a foundation in the formation of behavior, awareness,
understanding of active lifestyles, pleasure in carrying out activities, and the
ability to identify, understand, interpret, and respond effectively to the use of
gestures in a wide and varied context. PL is a concept that was intended to equip
individuals to have an active lifestyle involving physical activity. PL is an
emerging construct in promoting children's health and can affect their lifelong
physical activity habits (Tremblay et al., 2018). Through PL, various health
problems caused by a lack of physical activity can be overcome. This means that
the emergence of the term PL provides new concepts and directions in physical
education science.
PL comprises motivation, self-confidence, physical competence, knowledge,
understanding, and respecting and taking responsibility for maintaining physical
activity goals throughout life (Ennis, 2015). That is, PL includes the domains of
motivation, self-confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and
understanding. However, of the four aspects, the field of knowledge and
experiences is critical. This is because knowledge and experience become the basis
for children about what, how, and when to engage in physical activity
(Whitehead, 2016).
According to Priadana et al. (2021), the physical activity of children aged 8-12
years must be adjusted to their growth and development to have an optimal
impact on their physical and emotional development. This includes basic
movement skills, physical fitness, and sports skills. Therefore, the questions used
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in the PL knowledge instrument meet these requirements. Based on the

explanation above, this knowledge of PL for children as the primary capital is
essential to carry out various lifelong physical activities. Given the importance of
developing PL for students, it should be the primary focus of teachers who teach
physical education, especially in elementary schools in Indonesia. This is because
PE in elementary schools has a vital role in student development, namely
encouraging students to learn movement to improve movement skills, develop
fitness, increase knowledge about motion, and stimulate them to participate
actively in physical exercises.
2.3. Component of Physical Literacy
The benefits for children with good PL include having physical and fitness skills,
having positive attitudes and emotions that motivate them to be active, having
knowledge and understanding of how, why, and when they should engage in
physical activity, and acquiring social skills to enable them to socialize actively
with others (Higgs et al., 2019). To achieve PL capabilities, the following
components must be considered (Edwards et al., 2017):
a. Motivation and Confidence (Affective); Motivation is the driving force to
grow and increase enthusiasm in learning activities. Students' motivation
influences the development of the process and student learning outcomes.
Confidence is one aspect of personality in the form of belief in one's
abilities so that they are not influenced by others and can act according to
their own will, and be happy, optimistic, tolerant, and responsible.
Motivation and self-confidence grow from healthy interaction in the
individual's social environment and occur continuously. Motivation and
self-confidence do not just appear in a person; there is a specific process in
their personality development. Motivation and self-confidence refer to an
individual's enthusiasm for comfort and self-confidence in adopting
physical activity as an integral part of life.
b. Physical competence (Physical); Physical competence refers to an
individual's ability to develop skills, movement patterns, and the capacity
to experience various intensities and durations of movement. Increased
physical competence enables individuals to participate in multiple
physical activities suitable for children.
c. Knowledge and understanding (Cognitive): This is a combination of
factors such as experience, values, contextual information, wisdom, and
intuition. Knowledge is one of the requirements for individuals to develop
an idea or a skill in which they can achieve or something they want to
produce. Knowledge and understanding include identifying and
expressing essential qualities that affect movement, understanding the
health benefits of an active lifestyle, and appreciating appropriate safety
features associated with physical activity in various environments.
d. Engagement in physical activities for life (Behavioral); Involvement of a
child in lifelong physical activity refers to individuals who take personal
responsibility for their PL by choosing freely according to their interests
and their need to be active regularly. This should be a priority and a
commitment to maintaining involvement in a variety of personally
meaningful and challenging activities as an integral part of one's lifestyle.
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2.4. Research Objective

The concept above can be a direction of change for teachers in improving the
quality of learning and PE learning activities in schools. Based on this, this study's
purpose is to increase PL after students have learnt movement education through
a levelling system model approach so that the findings of this study can contribute
to improving teachers' pedagogical competence to equip students with holistic
learning skills.
3. Method
3.1. Design
The authors tried unsuccessfully to find information on how this levelling system
is applied in physical education learning to improve the PL of elementary school
students. Therefore, the experimental research approach was chosen in this study.
The practical method is used in this study with a research design of one-group
pre-test post-test design, i.e., empirical research carried out with only one group
selected randomly (Fraenkel et al., 2011). The following is a flowchart for research
design:
Figure 1: One-group pre-test post-test design
3.2. Research Procedure

In the early stages, a series of tests was conducted at the beginning before the
treatment was carried out and at the end after the treatment had been carried out
to determine the basic description the level of PL of children before and after
being given treatment. Owing to the many components that the researchers had
to observe to facilitate the observation process during the research process, a
record was kept for each participant to see how their abilities develop from one
meeting to the next. The test consists of four components, based on a) children's
motivation and self-confidence; b) physical competence; c) knowledge and
understanding; and d) involvement in lifelong physical activity. To facilitate class
management and research data collection, the sample was divided into three
groups, and the test was conducted in three sessions. Questionnaires were
distributed to respondents in each session. Respondents were accompanied by
researchers and PE teachers from the school to facilitate their understanding in
filling out the questionnaire.
Table 1: Stages of levelling system model

No Indicator Activity description
1. LEVEL 1
Fundamental Motor Skill
(FMS): a) In the first lesson, students are introduced to
Running ABCs (agility, learning fundamental movements such as
balance, coordination, and running, walking around, imitating various
speed)
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Following voice instructions forms of simple exercises, and developing some

Branchy ball of them.
Obstacle ball b) This learning prioritizes the fulfillment of
Walk and hop on motion needs as the initial foundation of
Crab walking and horse learning motion before students learn other
riding complex forms of movement.
Frog jumping competition c) Learning the motion of running ABC,
Caterpillar walking following proper instructions, balls with balls,
Body control skills obstacle balls, crab walking competitions, frog
jumping, and snail walking are development
activities to provide other motion experiences
with different nuances.
d) The stages of learning are adjusted to the
success level of mastery of movement carried out
by students. If they do not meet the specified
motion criteria, they will not move to material
with a high level of complexity.
e) Participants prioritize gross motor
components such as locomotor, non-locomotor,
and manipulative movements at this stage.
f) They also learn to control arm and leg position
and body control (e.g., balance movement
activities, coordination).
2. LEVEL 2
Coordination Training: a) Long shot is a direct kick to the target from a
Long shot and combo distance. A long shot is one of the techniques that
Crab soccer every player must master to score and pass the
SOS games ball to the target. A long shot can also be used
Mine circle when a free kick after a player has committed a
Throw and catch stars foul. Combo soccer steal, or what is called
Skills stealing the ball, is one technique that is relied
Motor cognitive coordination upon by the team when not holding the ball to
training (MCCT) stop the opponent's movement so that the team
can score goals faster.
b) Crab football is an activity played by two
teams where each team consists of 4-5 people
with one goalkeeper. The game aims to kick the
ball into the goal to score as many points as
possible. Players' hands are placed under or
beside their bodies and move sideways using
their feet; their movements should be like
walking crabs. This game can be played indoors
and use a handball the size of a regular soccer
ball. Only the goalkeeper can hold the ball.
c) In the SOS game, a group of children is
divided into red and blue teams. In front of each
group are three boxes with five rows behind each
row (SOS). Each group must arrange a package
their team's colour; it can be horizontal or
vertical (it must be a straight line). Each group
can make the other group lose by thwarting the
opponent team's SOS (entering their team's
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colour into the SOS). The team that can arrange

the SOS first wins the game.
c) In the SOS game, a group of children is
divided into two teams: red and blue. In front of
each group are three boxes with five rows behind
each row (SOS). Each group must arrange a box
with their team's colour; it can be horizontal or
vertical (it must be a straight line). Each group
can make the other group lose by thwarting the
opposing team's SOS (entering their team's color
into the SOS). The team that can arrange the SOS
first, then that team wins.
d) This game uses a circular rope with no end; in
this game, there is a tug of war in the form of a
circle. The way to do this game is to divide
students into three groups, each consisting of 4
students. Each group is given one seat. The
circular rope is stored in the middle of the three
groups. Each group prepares to hold the rope.
When the whistle is blown, the students start
running to pick up the rope, then the group that
touches their seats is the winner.
e) MCCT games prioritize cognitive and
coordination aspects in various activities.
3. LEVEL 3
Net games; Using tactics a) Sending or placing objects against walls or
(tennis, squash, badminton, over nets into vacant or poorly guarded areas.
table tennis, volleyball, sepak For example, a big volleyball game sends it into
takraw, and a variety of an empty or open space with various variations
games using the net or walls) of speed and strength.
Shadow game, no ball b) Initiating and returning to the original
Supporting the ball carrier strategic position at the end of each move. Every
when passing time you make a move, you immediately analyze
Passing and receiving the ball the possibilities of what might happen from the
Using forward target players action taken; therefore, putting yourself in the
when shooting and dribbling correct position is a strategy to win the game.
Application of learning c) The need to play objects in various ways, both
variations, player placement, speed, rotation, the direction of objects, and
game patterns, 1vs 1, 1 vs 2, 2 strength so that the opponent does not easily
vs 2, 2 vs 3, 3 vs 3, 3 vs. 4, 4 vs. read them. In net and wall games, the variety of
4, 5 vs. 5 strokes or placements is decisive in getting the
Transitions and shifts advantage in the game. The more variety players
have, the more choices they will have to make or
Defense mechanism
answer the challenges they face while playing.
Communication among the d) The strategy of dividing the area with friends.
players By dividing the area proportionally according to
the abilities possessed by each player, it is easier
to control the area or narrow the open area so
that all game areas are always in control. The
division of this area can also be used to make
positions and repositions from areas left by their
playmates.
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e) Always communicate with friends during

play. Harmonious relationships among team
members on the field during the game are
beneficial in achieving a goal.
f) Communication can be in verbal form or with
specific signs, gestures with fingers, thumbs, etc.,
to perform specific movements, for example,
wanting to grab, smash, serve, or block in
volleyball, tennis, or table tennis.
4. LEVEL 4
Invasion games; a) Learning begins with students learning the
Big target, Near-far game of accuracy, starting from large targets to
Small target, Near-far smaller sizes. The distance that is played starts
Cross target, tiny target-big from the closest to the farthest point in the
target, far-close corner of the field. The target can be in a straight
Games performance (1 vs. 1, 1 line with the participant, or it can also be placed
vs. 2, 1 vs. 3, 1 vs. 4, 1 vs. 5, 3 across. Therefore, participants have to do some
vs. 3, 5 vs. 5) movement development.
b) This game is similar to the game of defense
and attack; tactics and strategy are essential to
score points and win the game.
c) When the game starts, participants compete
for one vs. 1, starting from determining who is
on guard and who is attacking. If the attacker
wins a point, the winner has the right to add one
player and one ball, so the number of attacking
players becomes two players and has two balls.
Meanwhile, if the defending team wins the
same number, they have the right to have it. The
game ends up with five vs. 5, and the number of
points is limited to 5 digits.
Based on Table 1 above, the concept of independent learning is that students can
choose physical activities that will be carried out according to their hobbies. Thus,
the authors determine various activities that, when implementing PE learning, use
the LS method, where the material includes basic movement skills activities,
physical fitness activities, and sports skills. Students can choose various physical
activities the teacher has provided, but they must choose one of the three. In the
next meeting, the teacher does the same thing so that, in the end, they have had
the experience of movement in various activities.
In the first learning stage, children learn fundamental motor skills (FMS),
including various basic activities such as running, jumping, throwing, hopping,
and various forms of development movement with and without tools. However,
the main focus in the early stages of learning is to prioritize gross motor
components such as locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative movements. A
second learning stage is a movement coordination activity focused on eye-hand
coordination, eye-foot coordination, concentration, and understanding concepts.
Indirectly in this section, cognitive elements can be adequately trained. The third
and fourth stages are a form of sports skill activity. In addition, they learn various
forms of development from basic techniques, tactics and strategies that must be
344
built based on the flow of communication among players. Children will learn how
to deal with opponents with an ability level equal to or above their own.
After complete learning, the teacher provides opportunities for children to explain
their learning experiences. They are free to choose activities based on their hobbies
and interests after seeing the facilities and infrastructure provided by the teacher.
The teacher asks various questions related to the children's understanding, level
of motivation, and to what extent they master these movement skills. The teacher
can evaluate the children's competence and fluency if learning is complex. At the
end of the activity, the teacher explains the following lesson plan; the purpose is
that the children can learn more about what has been known and what will be
studied next.
3.3. Participants
The authors coordinated with physical education teacher organizations and the
education department to determine the research sample. Therefore, several
schools from 13 elementary schools in the authors’ work area were selected. The
total population comprised 175 people, thus 60% of the total population was taken
as a sample. The number of research subjects was 105, consisting of 67 males and
38 females. Their average age was estimated between 9-12 years. Owing to the
authors' limitations, the sampling technique used was random sampling based on
area or region (cluster random sampling). This determines the sample based on
regional groups of members of the study population. In this technique, research
subjects were visited according to where they lived. The purpose, among others,
was to research various aspects of a topic in a different site.
3.4. Data Collection

The research data was generated from students' pre-tests and post-tests, which
had previously been conducted through coordination with various parties, such
as the teacher and the school concerned. The authors held a focus group
discussion (FGD) with physical education teachers to determine the data
collection schedule. Furthermore, the authors grouped the respondents according
to the distance between the schools; then, the authors assembled the respondents
in one place, the access to which was affordable to everyone. The initial test and
post-test were carried out for three days to avoid overcrowding and to make it
easier for the writer to control the respondents.
The instrument used is the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy, Second
Edition (CAPL-2). CAPL-2 has test components required in PL, such as a)
students' motivation and confidence, b) physical competence, c) knowledge and
understanding, and d) involvement in physical activity throughout life
(Longmuir et al., 2018). The motivation and self-confidence component has
several objectives that had to be achieved, such as assessing student preferences,
assessing adequacy, assessing expectations for success and feeling satisfied with
competency assessment, and determining whether students can complete
challenging physical activities optimally (Li et al., 2020). Questionnaire statements
represent feelings about how much they enjoy the physical activities carried out
at school. The assessment criteria use a Likert scale to facilitate understanding in
filling out questionnaires by respondents. For physical competence, the
instrument used is the Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment
345
(CAMSA) (Longmuir et al., 2017). CAMSA has seven movement skills tasks that
participants must pass, including a) jumping on two legs through three hoops; b)
sliding from side to side at a distance of 3 m; c) catching the ball; d) throwing the
ball at the target wall with a distance of 5 m; e) jumping as far as 5 m; f) hopping
on one leg in and out of six hoops; and g) kicking a soccer ball between two cones
at a distance of 5 m. The last test of physical competence is the shuttle run with a
distance of 15 m.
In assessing children's knowledge and understanding of PL using the Physical
Literacy Knowledge Questionnaire (PLKQ) instrument, adapted from Longmuir,
et al. (2018). This questionnaire contains information about the importance of
physical activity, daily physical guidelines for children, recognition of mastery of
movement skills, understanding of fitness, daily physical activities, identification
of everyday healthy foods, and ways to improve skills and fitness. For
measurement of daily behavior, the authors used a pedometer (Belanger et al.,
2018) was used, as well as and Google Fit, available on the Google Play Store.
Daily behavior, which can be interpreted as daily activities or daily movement
behavior, is calculated with a pedometer to count steps taken per day. The daily
behavior assessment includes the students’ physical activity level, assessed
objectively and subjectively. Physical activity was measured directly using a
pedometer and indirectly set through the last question on the physical literacy
questionnaire, for example, how often the children engage in physical activity that
makes their hearts beat faster. The component scores for physical activity
behavior were measured by counting the pedometer steps, and the activity self-
reports were summed. The physical activity step scores were given a heavier
weighting than the weekly physical activity questions because the direct
measurement of activity for seven days with a pedometer is more objective than
what is measured by the self-report questionnaire. The Google Fit application is
one of the health-tracking platforms developed by Google, and serves as a
repository of user activity data recorded through the device. The following is a
recap of the instruments used in measuring PL:
Table 2: Instrument list of physical literacy

Canadian Assessment of Physical
Motivation and Confidence Literacy-2nd (CAPL-2) Motivation
and Confidence Questionnaires
Canadian Agility and Movement
Physical Competence
Skill Assessment (CAMSA)
Physical Literacy Knowledge
Children's Knowledge and Understanding
Questionnaire (PLKQ)
Daily Behavior Pedometer, Google Fit
3.5. Data Analysis

Quantitative data obtained from the results of the students’ initial and final tests
were then analyzed using the IBM SPSS series 20 program. The validity and
reliability of the questionnaire used were tested, followed by the data normality
test to assess the distribution of data in a group of data or variables and whether
the distribution of the data is normally distributed. The last step was to test the
hypothesis using the paired t-test. This test aims to determine whether there is a
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difference in the mean between the initial and final tests. With this analysis,
researchers could continue the process of subjectively interpreting data on text
data (Asmus & Radocy, 2017; Mitchell, 2010).
4. Result
4.1. Data Validity and Reliability Test Results
The data were analyzed through questionnaires, daily notes, and the physical
competence test. This data confirmed the description and the answers from the
participants which were assessed by using SPSS version 20. The result of the
internal validity test and reliability showed that the motivation and confidence,
knowledge and understanding, and daily behavior can be seen in the following
tables (see Tables 3-5):
Table 3: Result of the validity and reliability of motivation and self-confidence

questionnaire
Test (n=105) Validity Test Reliability Test
Correct
Motivation Item- Scale ed
p-
& Mean Total Variance Item- Cronbac %
ICC (95% CI) Value SEM MDC
Confidence (SD) Correlati if Item Total h’s α SEM
†
on Deleted Correla
tion
2.21 2.45 0.934 (0.913–
Point 1 0.354 ** .204 0.989 0.131 0.10 5.20 0.65
(0.43) (0.52) 0.935)
2.02 2.66 0.954 (0.809–
Point 2 0.562 ** .303 0.956 0.000 0.16 7.56 0.47
(0.58) (0.56) 0.925)
0.67 1.31 0.834 (0.762–
Point 3 0.380 .265 0.934 0.002 0.22 26.74 0.68
(0.89) (0.58) 0.861)
4.34 5.77 0.864 (0.718–
Interest N/A .304 0.945 0.802 0.34 6.34 1.28
(0.76) (0.48) 0.900)
1.47 2.42 0.876 (0.889–
Point 1 0.638 ** .156 0.930 0.124 0.11 7.69 0.76
(0.64) (0.38) 0.917)
1.51 1.67 0.929 (0.852–
Point 2 0.344 * .313 0.991 0.021 0.27 18.07 0.87
(0.68) (0.47) 0.928)
0.04 2.89 0.930 (0.800–
Point 3 0.677** .376 0.924 0.066 0.23 9.61 0.34
(0.47) (0.77) 0.947)
4.12 5.49 0.818 (0.789–
Adequacy N/A .124 0.956 0.007 0.36 6.70 1.93
(1.37) (0.56) 0.947)
1.42 2.34 0.898 (0.670–
Point 1 0.665 ** .493 0.897 0.439 0.19 8.25 0.60
(0.61) (0.47) 0.820)
3.08 2.45 0.723 (0.546–
Point 2 0.223 ** .587 0.819 1.000 0.20 9.71 0.88
(0.80) (0.42) 0.815)
2.44 2.45 0.809 (0.823–
Point 3 0.733 ** .462 0.920 0.058 0.18 6.89 0.81
(0.47) (0.39) 0.938)
Intrinsic 6.34 6.33 0.810 (0.732–
N/A .313 0.915 0.297 0.39 5.67 1.96
Motivation (0.58) (0.59) 0.863)
1.57 1.09 0.700 (0.646–
Point 1 0.786 ** .231 0.897 0.027 0.20 12.41 0.04
(0.89) (0.25) 0.880)
1.36 1.46 0.865 (0.854–
Point 2 0.744 ** .462 0.912 0.000 0.10 10.36 0.93
(0.56) (0.63) 0.942)
2.28 2.40 0.812 (0.863–
Point 3 0.756 ** .589 0.941 0.015 0.14 7.77 0.37
(0.38) (0.39) 0.959)
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Physical
5.45 5.70 0.822 (0.758–
activity N/A .340 0.909 0.021 0.42 8.60 1.62
(1.69) (1.22) 0.965)
competence
23.(2.6 23.02 0.829 (0.731–
Total Score N/A .379 0.921 0.039 0.92 4.67 2.45
4) (2.48) 0.950)
Table 4: Result of the validity and reliability of the knowledge and understanding
component questionnaire
Correcte
Item- Scale
Knowledge and d Item- p-
Mean Total Varianc Cronbac %
Understanding Total ICC (95% CI) Value SEM MDC
(SD) Correlati e if Item h’s α SEM
Correlati †
on Deleted
on
Physical activity 2.45 2.53 0.931 (0.913–
0.354 ** .135 0.976 0.171 0.18 5.70 0.25
(0.43) (0.53) 0.935)
(PA) guidelines 2.32 2.27 0.998 (0.869–
0.757 ** .462 0.952 0.690 0.23 7.86 0.67
(0.48) (0.54) 0.995)
Cardiorespirator 0.56 1.69 0.851 (0.702–
0.320 .231 0.907 0.172 0.20 26.0` 1.18
y (0.59) (0.65) 0.871)
Fitness 5.59 5.24 0.867 (0.748–
N/A .288 0.918 0.542 0.31 6.24 1.58
deﬁnition (0.86) (0.98) 0.980)
Muscular 2.77 2.75 0.876 (0.879–
0.458 ** .548 0.942 0.504 0.19 7.71 0.76
endurance (0.44) (0.45) 0.907)
Deﬁnition 1.28 1.81 0.960 (0.852–
0.666 * .481 0.961 0.141 0.22 18.13 0.87
(0.68) (0.71) 0.968)
Improve sport 2.69 2.91 0.977 (0.880–
0.623 ** .462 0.960 0.886 0.28 9.11 0.94
skills (0.67) (0.60) 0.937)
PA 5.44 5.28 0.884 (0.739–
N/A .306 0.920 0.534 0.39 6.67 1.23
comprehension (1.17) (0.92) 0.957)
Total domain 2.65 2.38 0.885 (0.650–
0.721 ** .135 0.899 0.421 0.11 8.28 0.70
score (0.31) (0.46) 0.860)
Table 5: Results of the validity and reliability test of the daily behavior component
questionnaire
Correcte
Item- Scale
PA & d Item- p-
Mean Total Varianc Cronbac %
Behavior Total ICC (95% CI) Value SEM MDC
(SD) Correlati e if Item h’s α SEM
Correlati †
on Deleted
on
Daily 2.78 2.67 0.971 (0.920–
0.470 ** .507 0.981 0.122 0.27 4.31 0.15
Behavior (0.83) (0.82) 0.966)
Based on the data from the validity and reliability test results on the motivation
and self-confidence questionnaire, the results of the questions from the motivation
and self-confidence questionnaire items, knowledge and understanding of the
CAPL-2, and daily behavior were obtained. According to the data seen in Table
5, the data has a good level of consistency; this is according to the questions,
variables, the total score of the questionnaire, and the average is in the range
(Cronbach's from 0.700 to 0.965). The validity test showed that all questions were
declared valid, namely < table 0.576. Except for the adequacy variable for point 2
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with a score of 0.587 > table, and the intrinsic motivation variable with a score of
0.589 > table, the statement was declared invalid. The question was corrected ,
then tested again on the respondents, and the results were declared valid.
Furthermore, the authors reduced the data with a successive interval (MSI)
transformation method. This method is used to transform ordinal data into
interval data. In general, respondents' answers are measured using a Likert scale.
Scoring is carried out, giving numerical values of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; and each score
obtained will have an ordinal measurement level. These numerical values are
considered objects and then are placed into intervals through a transformation
process. The calculation steps carried out are to determine the frequency of
answers from each category (choice answers) based on the frequency of each type,
and the proportion is calculated. From the ratios obtained, the cumulative
proportions for each category are calculated. Then the Z limit value for each
category was determined. Finally, the scale value (average interval) and the score
(transformed value) were calculated.
4.2 Data Normality Test

The data obtained must then be analysed with the normality test of the data as a
determinant for the next test stage. The normality test score was the one
using Kolmogorov Smirnov because the sample was 105 people. Therefore, it
already met the prerequisites for the sample size. Analysis of this statistical data
used the SPSS for Windows 20 series application program. The data for the
normality test can be seen in Table 6:
Table 6: Normality test

Kolmogorov-Smirnova
Asymp.Sig (2-
Variable Test Statistic df
Tailed)
Motivation and Confidence 0,421 105 0,201
Physical Competence 0,247 105 0,107
Children's Knowledge and
0,337 105 0,175
Understanding
Daily Behaviour 0,502 105 0,085
Based on the test data from Kolmogorov-Smirnov, the asymp.sig (2-tailed) score
was 0.201 for the Motivation and Confidence test, 0.107 for the Physical
Competence test, 0.175 for the Children's Knowledge and Understanding test, and
0.085 for the Daily Behavior test. The prerequisite for the normality test is that
the asymp. sig value must be > 0.05, then the distribution of the data is declared
as normal, therefore eligible for further statistical analysis using parametric tests.
4.3. Results of Hypothesis Testing using T-test

The hypothesis used is the null hypothesis, when there is not a significant
difference for the experimental group after being given treatment. This null
hypothesis addresses research that is expected to produce results. The null
hypothesis gives three choices: to accept the consequence statistically, to reject the
result negatively, and to reject the outcome positively. After the data has been
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declared normal on the results of the normality test above, the next statistical test
step is hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing is carried out to answer the
hypothesis set in the study, namely the effect of the levelling system on increasing
the physical literacy of elementary school students. The t-test (paired sample
t-test) was used to test this hypothesis. The results of the paired sample t-test
hypothesis test can be seen in Table 7.
Table 7: Hypothesis Test Results

Paired Sample t-test
Paired Differences
95% Confidence Sig.
Std.
Std. Interval of the t df (2-
Mean Error
Deviation Difference tailed)
Mean
Lower Upper
Pre-
Pair test - -
1,023 .241 -2,397 -1,380 105 ,000
1 Post- 1,8889 7,837
test
Table 7 reveals the results of the t-test (paired sample t-test) using the SPSS series
20 program. In this t-test, the results obtained from sig. (2-tailed) of 0.000 < 0.05. It
can therefore be concluded that the application of the LS model influences the PL
of elementary school-age children.
5. Discussion
PL is recognized as a basis for lifelong participation and performance excellence
in human movement and physical activity. According to Taplin (2019), PL
ensures active participation throughout life, motivation, competence, knowledge,
and confidence in carrying out sports activities. The basis exists within oneself
and is characterized by the emergence of feelings and reactions to meet needs and
achieve goals, as well as the readiness within the individual that encourages
behavior to do something to that inspires hope (Ennis, 2015). In an activity,
motivation is essential; therefore, every individual must have a reason. Inspiration
can be encouragement, caused by factors from within and outside the individual
to achieve specific goals to fulfill a need. Without any activity people will become
passive. Motivational talks encourage people's enthusiasm so that they want to
work by using their abilities and expertise optimally to achieve their goals. This
stimulus will encourage people to carry out physical activities.
The motivation to exercise provides physiological, psychomotor, and social
benefits. Socially, sport can be used as a medium of socialization through
interaction and communication with other people or the surrounding
environment (Pot et al., 2018). Exercise can reduce dependence on others, help to
make many friends, and increase productivity Physiologically, exercise can
improve physiological functions such as health, fitness, agility, and strength as
well as improving the quality of one’s physical condition such as the work of the
heart and lungs. Psychologically, exercise can enhance one’s mood, reduce the
risk of dementia, and prevent depression (Robinson et al., 2018). Undeniably, the
motivation instilled from childhood will have a significant impact when entering
old age; there are many older people with limitations who are still actively
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exercising and participating in competitions. With this high level of motivation

and self-confidence, some people are successful even in their old age.
Confidence is a vital aspect of personality for everyone because it is related to
belief. Confidence is a person's belief in being able to conquer one’s fear of facing
various situations. Quennestedt et al. (2021) indicated that self-confidence is
people’s positive attitude that enables them to develop favorable judgments of
themselves and their situations. High levels of self-confidence only refer to
several aspects of people's lives where they feel competent and capable and
believe that they can because of previous experience, actual potential,
achievements, and expectations of themselves (Durden-Myers et al., 2018).
Having self-confidence can also affect their physical activity, therefore they
expect to be able to carry out their physical activity successfully.
Physical competence refers to an individual's ability to develop skills, and
movement patterns and to experience a wide range of intensity and duration of
the movement. According to Whitehead (2019), enhanced physical competence
allows one to participate in various activities in diverse physical settings. From an
early age physical activity is expected to help people maintain their health and
fitness in the future, accompanied by their knowledge and understanding of an
active and healthy lifestyle.
Knowledge and understanding include the ability to identify and express
essential qualities that influence movement, understand the benefits of health and
an active lifestyle, and appreciate the safety features appropriate to physical
activity in a variety of settings and physical environments (Faigenbaum &
Rebullido, 2018; Young et al. al., 2020). Knowledge and understanding are most
important in any physical activity. People know and understand their physical
activity ability because of prior knowledge and information. Knowledge and
understanding gained when young will be helpful when old. Moreover, extensive
knowledge will make it easier to get along with various groups. Knowledge about
lifestyles that prevent multiple diseases is also important. Adopting a healthy
lifestyle can ultimately improve people’s quality of life so they can remain active
well into old age. The knowledge and understanding one has about the world of
sport can also be shared with others by providing coaching and training.
PL exists despite the decrease in active lifestyle habits in the broader community,
especially during the transition from the COVID-19 pandemic to the current
normal activities. PL is obtained through an educational process that is natural
and not forced so that awareness is created to manage and maintain health. The
formation of PL is inseparable from the central role of PE. PE orientation is not
only about practising physical activity and sports; therefore, students need to be
given more information about the importance of physical activity for their future
as well (Whitehead, 2013). PE has excellent potential to enhance and promote
healthy lifestyles; however, it is not the only priority, as PE serves many other
purposes. PE can be integrated in schools with other fields of study because PE is
holistic.
The PE learning process must be packaged in a fun learning presentation; this will
help children develop their interest in PE learning. When children have developed
their interests, it will help them to take on anything in the future. Children must
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learn easy things first. It means they gradually get to know something according
to their ability and will. Wagner et al. (2013) explained that all education must
take place according to the rungs of the ladder; no one should miss a rung, and
if it is lost, the children will not be able to move on and continue learning. When
children learn gradually, they have a positive attitude to knowledge acquisition
(McVee et al., 2019). By studying psychology, we know that when children are
happy to learn and know, they will gladly repeat lessons (the law of effect).
When they feel excited to repeat the study, they will often do the exercises and
have the knowledge that they can (the law of practice). When the children can
follow the study, they will be ready to learn independently (the law of readiness)
(Gleitman & Gross, 2010; Law, 2013; Olson, 2015).
Therefore, the learning of primary motion material that the author developed
through the LS model becomes the starting point for children to start learning
motion, as these activities that require the use of smooth muscles and large
muscles of the body are simple games, opportunities for trial and error, learning
to work together, as well as the chance to use various playing facilities. Learning
to work and try together with their friends is an essential ability that children must
have because cooperation involves interaction and the ability to get along with
other people. Instilling the importance of cooperation in children from an early
age provides many benefits for them, especially to improve cognitive, social, and
emotional abilities that will be useful right through adulthood (Boyette, 2017;
Fang et al., 2022).
Through LS, the enthusiasm of students in paying attention to the learning
facilitated by the teacher is immeasurable. This is shown by their being on time,
their ability to express opinions, their willingness to answer questions, their
ability to do the training provided and practise every movement with
enthusiasm. Student competencies develop well when they show seriousness,
initiative in learning, as well as speed in carrying out assignments and training
provided by the teacher. This model is beneficial for teachers in developing
student competencies, especially PL.
Based on the students' daily journal entries, competency achievements,
interactions, and habits emerge during research activities. However, overall, it
can be seen that the responses elicited by female students were much better than
the responses from male students. This is due to the difference in the level of
maturity between male and female students. Based on the results of research
conducted by Kozieł and Malina (2018), it was found that women's brains reach
maturity at the age of 10, while men have to wait until the age of 20 to reach the
same level of maturity. Furthermore, Malina et al. (2021) revealed that much
activity occurs in the female brain between the ages of 10 to 12 years, while in
males, this only occurs between the ages of 15 to 20 years. This causes women to
mature faster, both cognitively and emotionally. Therefore, it is essential in
implementing the use of learning models to consider these differences. This is
taken into consideration so that the PE learning process runs optimally. Through
LS, without realizing it, children learn much that is important and that they will
need in the future. It is our joint responsibility to make educational programs
successful by adapting them to the growth and development levels of children.
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6. Conclusion
Based on the results of data processing and in-depth logic analysis in the
discussion that is strengthened by experts' opinions, the next step is to provide
conclusions as the final statement of the results of this study. The decision proves
that applying the LS model has proven to be very effective in helping children
improve physical literacy. With the development of physical literacy, it is hoped
that the growth and development of children will enable them to overcome
problems both in education at school and in everyday life.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank those who have supported this research,
especially the Institute for Research and Community Service of the University of
Siliwangi, which has financed this research, as well as all parties who were
directly involved and participated in this research.
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Received Aug 5, 2022; Revised Oct 2, 2022; Accepted Oct 22, 2022
Teachers’ Experiences of Teaching Financial

Literacy in Economic and Management Sciences
(EMS) in Preparing Learners for FET Phase
Accounting
Siyacela Nzuza
University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Education, Private Bag X03, Ashwood,
Pinetown, 3605, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Jabulisile Ngwenya
Sithembele Ndovela
Abstract. Given that the South African school curriculum offers

Accounting subject at a secondary education level in the Further
Education and Training (FET) Phase, the content of this subject requires
that learners should acquire its basics in the Economic and Management
Sciences (EMS) subject in the General Education and Training (GET)
phase through the effective teaching of a Financial Literacy component,
which forms part of the EMS content. This article explores teachers’
experiences of teaching Financial Literacy in EMS in preparing the
learners for FET Phase Accounting. The participants, comprising Grade 9
EMS teachers and Grade 10 Accounting teachers from five schools, were
conveniently and purposively sampled. A qualitative case-study
approach was employed along with an interpretivist paradigm to
underpin the study and allow for an in-depth understanding of the
teachers’ views by talking to them directly. Reflective activities and semi-
structured interviews were adopted as data-generation instruments. This
article is framed using the curricular spider-web theory, which through
its application aided in describing in detail the concepts around the
discourse of the EMS Financial Literacy component and its role in
preparing the learners for FET Phase Accounting. Data generated was
analysed thematically. The findings revealed the elements and
importance of EMS, hindrances to the effective teaching of EMS, and
strategies to minimise the reported hindrances. Additionally, the data
was generated from five schools in one province; hence, it is
©Authors
358
recommended that other studies focusing on other provinces can be

conducted. Future researchers can then build up from these findings and
address the limitations of this study as presented in this paper.
Keywords: Economic and Management Sciences; Financial Literacy;

Accounting; Teachers’ Experiences; curricular spider-web
1. Introduction
The introduction of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for Grade R to
Grade 12 in 2003, followed by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements
(CAPS) in 2012, as the amendment of NCS, led to the implementation of Economic
and Management Sciences (EMS) as an integrated subject that is taught in the
General Education and Training (GET) Phase (Grade 7 to 9). EMS is a unique
South African school subject and comprises three components, namely: Economy,
Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy (Department of Basic Education, 2011).
It is offered as a foundational subject to prepare learners for the Business,
Commerce and Management Sciences (BCMS) stream in the FET Phase.
Accounting is introduced in Financial Literacy while Economics is introduced
through Economy. The Entrepreneurship component introduces Business
Studies. This suggests that the acquisition of knowledge in EMS supports the
learners’ choice of subjects when transiting from the GET to the FET Phase. The
Financial Literacy component is aimed at introducing learners to Accounting
concepts. In Accounting, the introduction of these concepts at an early stage is
essential since understanding concepts is the preliminary skill that equips learners
with the knowledge required in analysing financial information and solving
problems (Abbott & Palatnik, 2018; Erasmus & Fourie, 2018). The expected
outcome is that the learners who exit the GET Phase have attained an elementary
knowledge of Accounting (Assan & Lumadi, 2012).
The desire to embark on this study emanated from our reflections on various
experiences and observations within the BCMS department in a secondary school.
We have closely observed that learners are struggling extremely in Accounting. It
is noticeable that a large number of learners fail Accounting recurrently
throughout the year. Also, during the teachers’ workshops and cluster meetings,
teachers in this department share the same concern about learners’ unsatisfactory
performance and their level of unpreparedness for Accounting. To quell our
curiosity and concern, we decided to engage the learners to find out what the issue
is. Some of them indicated that they do not understand Accounting; thus, they
struggle to pass the subject. Also, Msimanga (2017) and Modise (2016) report that
learners are facing difficulties in handling Accounting in the FET Phase.
Consequently, this has resulted in a drastic decline in the number of learners who
select Accounting as they reach the FET Phase (Msimanga, 2017; Letshwene & Du
Plessis, 2021). Findings of the study conducted by Letshwene (2014) report that
the key reason the learners struggle to do well in Accounting is partly due to an
insufficient exposure to basic understanding of Accounting, which ought to have
been gained in EMS Financial Literacy component in the GET Phase. This implies
that the Financial Literacy part is frequently neglected during the content delivery
and hence learners enter FET Phase with minimal understanding of Accounting
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basics. Although teachers may understand how important the Financial Literacy
component is in EMS to prepare learners for Accounting, it is not taught
effectively.
Since EMS is an integrated subject, teaching of it places an obligation on teachers

to teach all components competently and effectively using the necessary
techniques and approaches (Doyle & Bozzone, 2018; Kelley & Knowles, 2016). In
support of this, Assan and Lumadi (2012) stress that learners who are specialising
in commerce subjects must sense a relationship between the components.
Therefore, teachers must be very knowledgeable because the extent to which the
learners can attain this outcome lies completely with teachers’ ability to facilitate
EMS using an integrated approach. Moloi and Molise, (2021) add that it is
imperative to implement an integrated curriculum like EMS in a way that shows
the link between different learning areas. If a teacher understands and approaches
the subject in an integrated way, it becomes easier for learners to view and
approach the subject in the same manner. Also, Ngwenya and Maistry (2012) and
Letshwene and Du Plessis (2021) affirm that when learners enrol in Grade 10, they
must have already grasped Accounting basics through the EMS Financial Literacy
component (Ngwenya & Maistry, 2012; Letshwene & Du Plessis, 2021).
Furthermore, it is noticeable that the literature drawn from studies, such as those
of Letshwene (2014), Msimanga (2017) and Letshwene and Du Plessis (2021),
reveal that there is a scarcity of studies in EMS in general and particularly research
that includes the teachers’ views. In addition, since the implementation of the NCS
in the FET Phase in 2007 and the amended policy statement (DBE, 2011) in South
Africa, very few studies have been undertaken in EMS education. Although there
are studies on teachers’ views on integrated subjects, most studies concentrate on
subjects like Natural Sciences and Social Sciences, but minimal research has been
conducted in EMS. Hence, this paper seeks to explore the teachers’ experiences of
teaching the Financial Literacy component in EMS in preparing learners for FET
Phase Accounting. To achieve this objective, the following three key research
questions were formulated to assist in addressing the research problem: What are
teachers’ experiences of teaching Financial Literacy in EMS in preparing the
learners for the FET Phase Accounting? Why do teachers experience the teaching
of EMS Financial Literacy in preparing the learners for FET Phase Accounting in
the way they do? How do teachers apply their experiences towards factors that
hinder the teaching of Financial Literacy in EMS in preparing learners for FET
Phase Accounting?
2. Literature review
2.1 The nature of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) as a subject
EMS is a compulsory subject introduced in the GET Phase. It contains the basics
of Accounting, which are taught through the Financial Literacy component.
Accounting is one of the major subjects offered in the FET Phase (DBE, 2011) and
is accessible to all learners who intend to pursue Accounting-related careers.
However, even without career intended purposes, Accounting knowledge is
useful and applicable in personal life regarding finances in general (Samkin, Low
& Taylor, 2012). According to the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement
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(CAPS) document, Accounting is dominated by Financial Accounting content as

its weighting is 50% to 60%. This affirms that the Financial Literacy component in
EMS should be effectively taught to prepare learners for Accounting as the more
technical subject (Samkin et al., 2012).
2.2 Accounting knowledge and skills acquired in Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy is a major component of EMS and is intended to equip learners
with the elementary knowledge and skills required for the study of Accounting.
In the context of the EMS curriculum, Financial Literacy is described as an
acquisition of the set of skills and knowledge, and the learners’ ability to
effectively apply these skills in order to make well-informed decisions about their
financial resources (DBE, 2011). This implies that the various financial skills that
are taught in Accounting are acquired as basics in the EMS Financial Literacy
component. Accounting is the FET subject that endeavours to provide learners
with the “knowledge and skills to collect, organise, record, analyse and critically
evaluate financial information” (Alamry, 2020, p. 78). It is vital for learners
choosing to do Accounting in the FET phase to have a basic understanding of
concepts and the bookkeeping process. According to the DBE (2011) and Umalusi
(2015), learners entering the FET Phase must have acquired an understanding of
the purpose of Accounting, including preparing financial statements for informed
decision-making; as well as an ability to conceptualise and explain the elements
of Assets, Liabilities, Capital, Drawings, Income, Expenses and Owner’s Equity.
Moreover, the basics of the Accounting Equation, Accounting Cycle, Financial
Statements and the bookkeeping process must have been understood. These
basics also help learners to decide prior to the FET Phase whether to select
Accounting towards their National Senior Certificate as they acquire skills that
are necessary to start FET Phase Accounting successfully (Letshwene, 2014 &
Umalusi, 2015). This suggests that it is critical that the Financial Literacy topic is
effectively taught, since it is intended to prepare learners for a more technical
subject, such as Accounting, in the FET Phase.
2.3 Teachers’ experiences of teaching Financial Literacy in Economic and

Management Sciences
Various studies confirm that teachers often struggle to implement the integrated
curriculum since it requires teachers to adjust their teaching strategies and
assessment practices (Babatunde, Benedict & Adu, 2016; Kelley & Knowles, 2016;
Moloi & Molise, 2021; Owoyemi, 2014; Phakathi, 2018). These studies show that
teachers frequently find it difficult to improve their teaching strategies since they
lack adequate training in developing content knowledge and skills in an
integrated curriculum (Izci, 2017; Reynolds & Macqueen, 2018).
These teachers end up teaching in a disciplinary manner by isolating components

or topics they were not trained to teach. For teachers to be able to implement
integrated subjects, they need to be up to date with the changes in terms of content
knowledge of the subjects. The reports from various studies concur that most
South African teachers experience limited content and pedagogical knowledge in
teaching subjects like EMS, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences (Assan &
Lumadi, 2013; Babatunde et al., 2016; Modise, 2016 & Phakathi, 2018). As a result,
teachers are often reluctant to implement an integrated curriculum due to
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insufficient training and an overloaded curriculum emanating from the grouping

of subjects. Babatunde et al. (2016) found that in Social Studies, learners lacked
understanding because they were not learning Social Studies as an integrated
subject. This lack of understanding was aggravated by teachers’ failure in
drawing links between History and Geography. Most EMS teachers experience
problems teaching Financial Literacy because they are not trained as Accounting
specialists. This results in teachers leaning towards preferred subjects.
In Turkey, Izci (2017) mentioned that a lack of curriculum materials and the need
for creating engaging experiences for students were viewed as the main obstacles
inhibiting successful integration in science disciplines. Fu and Sibert (2017) found
that although American teachers knew how to integrate engineering into their
physical science classrooms, they often grappled with effective integration of
physics concepts, and this hindered the in-depth teaching and learning of physical
science content. In Canada, Drake and Reid’s (2018) study shows that inadequate
support and training offered to teachers led to confusion and anxiety during
implementation of an integrated curriculum.
3. Conceptual framework
This study is framed using the curricular spider-web theory by Van den Akker
(2003), which is adopted based on its nature and design as it outlines the
important concepts that aid in answering the research questions of this paper. The
phenomenon of the article is closely grounded within the elements of the
curricular spider-web, namely, accessibility, goals, content, learning activities,
teacher role, material and resources, location, time, and assessment. The
discussion of these elements is positioned within the EMS and Accounting since
the study is centred on these two subjects. In support, Makumane (2020) indicates
that conceptual framework can be described as a theory that contains concepts
that relate to the currently conducted study. Also, Henning, Van Rensburg and
Smit (2004) concur that the framework must correlate with the research
phenomenon because it must be used as a perspective or lenses that the study is
positioned within. Mpungose (2016) adds that the curricular spider-web
comprises conceptual ideas that help guide the study towards having a specific
concentration.
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Figure 1: The curricular spider-web
4. Methodology
This study uses a qualitative research design through an interpretative paradigm.
The interpretive paradigm was employed to generate and interpret data. Cohen,
Manion and Morrison (2018) indicate that interpretivism is about how one
understands human experiences in the world. Teachers draw meanings and
understandings from their lived experiences. The qualitative approach was used
and assisted in adding questions that were triggered by the responses during the
interview process, hence a qualitative case study was adopted as a research
design. Through case study, teachers were investigated on a specific and in-depth
phenomenon that is being studied in its actual setting, therefore the real-life
events and behaviours were studied (Cronin, 2014; Yin, 2018).
4.2 Sampling
The participants were purposively and conveniently sampled from five schools
offering Accounting as a school major subject in the FET Phase and offering EMS
in the GET Phase. The intention was to generate rich data since these participants
could provide responses from their real experiences (Creswell & Clark, 2017).
Also, the sampling was convenient because the selection of schools was based on
the ease of access (Creswell, 2014), hence the neighbouring schools were
considered (Remler & Van Ryzin, 2014). Ten participants comprising EMS and
Accounting teachers were selected from five schools to participate in the study.
4.3 Data-generation methods

Reflective activities and face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were used as the
appropriate methods of data generation (Creswell, 2014). The participants were
requested to complete the reflective activities in their own time and these were
validated through 30-to-60-minute individual interviews (Cohen et al., 2018).
363
4.4 Data analysis

The data set obtained from semi-structured individual interviews and reflective
activities was analysed using the thematic approach (Cohen et al., 2018). The
process began by transcribing audio-data to textual data and reading the
transcripts and reflective activities several times to identify units of meaning, in
order to access the deeper meaning of the responses. A process of open coding
was used and categories were established, reviewed and clustered into specific
themes. The findings were arranged according to the various themes that emerged
from the analysis and these were used to present and report the findings. The
transcribed data was given to the participants to verify the authenticity, serving
as member checking and adding to credibility and trustworthiness.
4.5 Ethical considerations

The ethical code of conduct was adhered to by acquiring permission to conduct
the research from the university where the authors are based. Other ethical
measures, which included confidentiality, anonymity, and voluntary
participation, were elucidated to the participants and observed throughout the
duration of the study. Teachers’ consent was obtained to audio-record the
interviews for transcription and storage purposes. Pseudonyms were used to
observe the anonymity of the participants.
5. Findings
The following themes describe the teachers’ experiences of teaching Financial
Literacy in EMS in preparing learners for FET Phase Accounting that emerged
from the analysis of reflective activities and face-to-face semi-structured
interviews.
5.1 The Elements and Importance of EMS

Teachers viewed EMS as a foundation and performance indicator for the Business,
Commerce and Management Sciences stream, particularly the Accounting
subject. Although EMS was not taught by Accounting specialists in other schools,
teachers were aware of the importance of EMS in laying a foundation for
Accounting. Teacher A said EMS was taught by an Accounting specialist at her
school. Hence those learners are well prepared for Accounting. According to
Teacher A; ‘EMS helps in preparing learners for Accounting because Grade 9 EMS is
taught by Accounting teachers.’ Similarly, Teacher B indicated that the EMS syllabus
contains a fair amount of Accounting basics. He believed that EMS gives learners
the knowledge they need to do Accounting. Therefore, if learners are taught
adequately, they will be well prepared for Accounting: ‘Most of the syllabus outlined
in CAPS for EMS, introduces learners to Accounting.’
Teacher C agreed with Teacher B, adding that topics that are taught in Financial
Literacy, Economy and Entrepreneurship provide learners with the basic concepts
they need when doing BCMS subjects in the FET Phase. This is confirmed in what
she said: ‘When teaching EMS, we introduce learners to Accounting, Economics and
Business Studies even though not fully. But almost all the basic knowledge of each subject
is introduced in EMS.’
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From the above excerpts, all teachers perceived EMS as a combination of different
subjects that are put together as one subject to provide learners with the
foundational knowledge they need to pursue BCMS subjects in the FET Phase,
and particularly Accounting.
5.2 Hindrances to the Effective Teaching of EMS

The findings revealed the impediments that affect the effective teaching of EMS,
such as a lack of teacher knowledge, lack of staff development, time constraints
due to poor curriculum structure, and timetabling problems. There were also
concerns about the meagreness of curriculum content and a lack of practical
activities in textbooks. Teacher B stated that teachers select topics and neglect the
Financial Literacy component when they teach, and complain it is difficult. This
affirms that they lack sufficient knowledge, which then leaves the learners
unprepared for Accounting. He said: ‘Teachers tend to skip the Accounting part in
EMS or not teach it thoroughly because they say it is difficult. They only focus on other
parts.’
Teacher D alleged that EMS consists of different learning areas, but some teachers
omit Financial Literacy. She is upset that the subject is not taught by Accounting
specialists: ‘Most of the EMS teachers are not Accounting specialists and end up not
teaching Financial Literacy effectively.’ Additionally, Teacher A agreed with the
some of the teachers by stating that some EMS teachers do not have basic
Accounting background, therefore they do not teach the Accounting part
properly. Teachers concentrate more on the theory part and neglect the practical
part of the subject. As a result, learners are not given enough exposure to the
subject when exiting the phase: ‘There are EMS teachers who do not have Accounting
background. They can easily do other theory parts, but the Accounting part is more
practical, which makes it difficult.’
Teacher C added: ‘Some EMS teachers do not do Accounting in the early Grades. They
put focus on what they know and neglect the important aspects of Accounting due to lack
of knowledge.’
Teacher E said it becomes a burden to Grade 10 Accounting teachers because
learners come to Grade 10 unprepared for Accounting. She asserted that: ‘Some
EMS teachers have no background knowledge and that gives a problem for Grade 10
Accounting teachers.’
Moreover, teachers were vociferous on the issue of time constraints, poor

curriculum structure, and problems with timetabling in the teaching of EMS. This
leads to a lack of continuity in the timetable.
Teacher F stated that the teaching time of EMS is not sufficient and it is difficult
to cover the stipulated syllabus in the given time. She said: ‘EMS has two periods
per week [per grade], which makes it difficult to cover the chapter per day.’ Teacher G
and Teacher H raised similar concerns and noted that EMS the curriculum is not
structured correctly as the teacher has to jump from component to component;
hence the smooth continuity is lost. Teacher G further stated that due to limited
time, he often opts to teach one component and finish it before going onto another.
This is what they said: ‘EMS is allocated two hours per week to teach Financial Literacy
and the other two parts, which is not enough. Normally, I teach one component until I
365
finish it before moving to other parts. For example, only Financial Literacy in the first six
weeks and it is the one that takes more time.
‘Since the syllabus is fixed as we have to constantly jump from component to component,
the smooth continuity is lost and this poses an issue because the child is not looking at, for
example, Accounting for a period of three hours.’
Correspondingly, Teacher I agreed by stating that the timetable has no smooth

continuity as it does not allow the teaching of one component sequentially and
consecutively to conclusion, therefore the learners end up forgetting what was
done in the previous lesson. He said: ‘I find it even very hard to teach Financial
Literacy because it deals with numbers. If you teach learners today and tomorrow and
expect them to remember all this the other week since you keep jumping and coming back;
normally, the learners easily forget what was done last week.’
Teacher J and Teacher D stressed that in addition, the teaching time allocated to
EMS is insufficient, especially for the Financial Literacy component. Teacher J
said: ‘We are given two periods per week to teach three components and that time is not
enough. Sometimes it becomes necessary to violate the policy requirement. At least allocate
two periods per section, like having six periods for EMS per week instead of two. I think
when they did the policy, they did not give enough time, especially for Accounting part.
‘Time allocated for Accounting part is not sufficient. A lot has to be taught in a short
period of time while there are many topics to be covered.’ (Teacher D)
Teacher E and Teacher B added that there is too much work to be covered in the
EMS syllabus, with insufficient time allocated in the timetable. Teacher E further
stated that it is difficult to spend much time on teaching the Financial Literacy
component because there is too much work to be covered within a limited time:
This is what she said: ‘EMS has too much content with less time, which makes it difficult
to place a focus on Financial Literacy.’
Teacher B asserted that the Financial Literacy component needs more time than
other components because learners have to be given activities to review what they
have learnt and to reinforce understanding of new content. They do not have time
to give learners more remedial activities because they are rushing to complete the
syllabus, which is what is encouraged by the Department of Basic Education.
‘There is a lack of time to groom the learners enough. The department’s policies emphasise
more on finishing the syllabus than instilling the content to a learner.’
Furthermore, the lack of teacher development programmes for EMS teachers was
considered another challenge to effective teaching of this subject, and the
Accounting subject is plagued with recurring changes due to global developments
in the Accounting profession. Teachers stressed that for quite a long time, there
has never been a workshop organised for EMS teachers in the aforementioned
district. Teacher H stated that for the past five years, there have never been any
staff development programmes and subject advisers for EMS. She said: ‘There are
no workshops and we have not had a subject adviser for a while. It has been over five years
366
because I have been here for 10 years. We only attended a number of workshops while the
subject was introduced.’
All teachers agreed with Teacher H and affirmed that there had been no EMS
subject adviser or workshops in a long while. Seemingly, teachers cope by
themselves when teaching EMS. This is what Teacher F stated: ‘EMS workshops are
not convened like the same way as other subjects. Sometimes we go beyond two years
without a subject adviser. There has been no subject adviser for quite some time.’
Similarly, Teacher G raised a concern that ever since he started teaching the
subject, he has never been invited to a workshop because there is no Department
of Basic Education official who is responsible for providing support to EMS
teachers. This is what Teacher G said: ‘I have never heard of any workshop for EMS
for almost three years since I started teaching. There is even no subject adviser for this
subject.’
Teacher J added that ‘There is no EMS workshop we are attending and there is no subject
adviser. As EMS teachers we are on our own to try and cope.’ Teacher I explained that
he used to meet with other teachers in neighbouring schools to discuss their
challenges pertaining to content and other teaching strategies. He also relied on
textbooks. ‘I last attended the workshop more than three years back. I just cope by using
the textbooks. We also meet as EMS teachers in the ward to discuss our challenges.’
There is also a huge concern regarding the insufficient content in the EMS
curriculum. Teachers indicated that Accounting content in the EMS curriculum is
lacking due to some important topics being left out. They felt that financial
statements are a huge omission, and it needs to be added because learners need
background knowledge on the preparation and the importance of financial
statements before they get to Grade 10. This is confirmed by Teacher H: ‘Financial
statements need to be added in Grade 9 EMS as it was before because they are a massive
content in Grade 10 Accounting.’
Teacher I is of the same view that the omission of financial statements is the major
shortfall in the EMS curriculum since the topic is critical in laying the foundation
for other topics in the FET Phase. ‘I think financial statements need to be introduced
just as basics in Grade 9 so that when learners reach FET Phase Accounting, they have a
good foundation to do the financial statements. They need this foundation knowledge
because in Grade 10 they have to analyse the financial statements.’
Teacher A is concerned that if learners are only introduced to financial statements

in Grade 10, it takes time for them to grasp the process followed in preparation
and analysis of financial information. She is also worried about the overloaded
curriculum to an extent that if financial statements are only introduced in
Grade 10, it adds to the length of the curriculum. ‘Financial statements have been
taken out and I do not think that was a good move. Therefore, learners are only exposed
for the first time to this topic in Grade 10 Accounting. It is difficult to teach financial
statements and ratios in Grade 10 because the syllabus is too long.’
Additionally, Teacher C submitted a similar view as the above participants on the
inclusion of financial statements in Grade 9 EMS. This is what she said:
‘Learners should be introduced to financial statements in EMS; this will make it easier for
them to prepare the General Journals when they come to Grade 10 Accounting.’
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Teachers also critiqued the shortage of practical activities in the prescribed EMS
textbooks with regards to the Financial Literacy component. Consequently, this
affects the effective preparation of learners and the expected outcomes for FET
Phase Accounting.
Teacher H said: ‘Some textbooks have inadequate practical activities.’ Teacher G
submitted a similar concern that textbooks do not favour the Financial Literacy
component when it comes to the number of activities. He commented: ‘Textbooks
do not favour the Financial Literacy as there is only two activities. Especially if you rely
on one textbook.’
Similarly, Teacher J agreed with the above teachers. He stated that sometimes
teachers are forced to create their own activities. It was also indicated that some
activities are difficult for the learners to understand. ‘The textbooks we have do not
contain enough activities for Accounting part in Grade 9 EMS, to a point that we as
teachers are forced to come up with our own activities.’ Teacher I added that: ‘The
textbooks do not have enough Financial Literacy activities, instead those few activities are
difficult for learners to understand.’ This implies that the textbooks do not provide
adequate support to an extent that it is difficult for a teacher to entirely rely on the
prescribed textbooks because learners will be disadvantaged.
5.3 Strategies to minimise the hindrances to effective teaching of EMS

Teachers suggested a need to allocate EMS to specialist teachers for effective
teaching of this subject. Teacher H averred that EMS must be taught by somebody
who is knowledgeable in all the components of EMS, especially in the Accounting
part which is Financial Literacy. This implies that incompetent teachers neglect
some components of EMS; the Accounting part is seen to be the most neglected
one due to a lack of knowledge and therefore the learners remain unprepared for
FET Phase Accounting. Teacher H said: ‘EMS should be taught by somebody who has
Accounting knowledge, so that the learners will be well prepared for Accounting.’
Teacher F and Teacher J pointed out a closely related view to Teacher H by stating
that an EMS teacher must be knowledgeable on all three BCMS subjects, which
include Accounting: ‘The educator must have all three commercial subjects as majors,
namely: Accounting, Business Studies and Economics in order to teach EMS.’ Teacher J
explained that: ‘Basically, EMS must be taught by someone who is a commerce specialist,
especially who can teach Accounting. For example, I am a qualified BCom graduate that
can teach Accounting and I have a good understanding of teaching EMS.’
Teacher I and Teacher B agreed with the other teachers, emphasising the
Accounting knowledge an EMS teacher should have so that the basics of this
subject can be effectively introduced to the learners in Grade 9. He said: ‘The
Accounting part in EMS needs someone who specialised in Accounting and who
understands what Accounting is about, so that learners will be well prepared for
Accounting. The EMS teachers must have the Accounting knowledge because half of the
content done in EMS is the Accounting.’
Furthermore, Teacher D, Teacher C and Teacher E indicated that EMS is normally

given to any teacher who is a non-specialist in Accounting in the BCMS stream,
368
and this results in poor performance by Accounting learners in Grade 10. It must
be taught by competent teachers so that learners can perform well in Accounting.
‘The consideration of Accounting specialisation is important because you find that EMS
ends up being taught by just anyone in BCMS stream and that leads to poor performance
in Grade 10 Accounting.’ (Teacher D)
‘EMS teachers must be competent and must have majored in Accounting specifically.’
(Teacher C)
‘The school management should consider Accounting specialisation in teachers before
allocating EMS to a teacher, as this makes learners more efficient in Accounting.’
(Teacher F)
Teachers are also of the view that EMS needs to be split into different components,
and especially that the Accounting part be a stand-alone subject. Teacher D and
Teacher C declared that the Accounting part must not be integrated with other
components of EMS; instead it should be an independent subject because the size
of its content coverage makes it difficult to teach within a specific given time.
‘Accounting must be made a stand-alone subject because there are many topics to cover in
a short period of time.’ (Teacher D)
‘I will prefer to teach Accounting on its own as a subject, as it was done years back then.
Split the three subjects and make Accounting a stand-alone subject.’ (Teacher C)
All teachers corroborated the above views and said EMS curriculum formulators
should rather combine Economy and Entrepreneurship, keeping Financial
Literacy as a stand-alone subject. In their view, it was also suggested that the
components be taught during different school terms and that exam papers be
split. This would also give the Accounting part (Financial Literacy) in EMS a long
enough period for teaching.
6. Discussion
The findings revealed EMS as an integrated subject, a view that is supported by
Makumane (2020) and Wall and Leckie (2017), who state that curriculum
integration is an application of the combined related disciplines in one theme. The
findings also revealed that EMS teachers know that EMS differs from other
subjects like Maths and Technology, where the focus is purely on one subject.
Teachers agreed that in EMS, learners can relate and identify the interconnection
of subjects.
The lack of teacher knowledge is a huge concern as Grade 10 Accounting teachers

lament that justice is not done in the teaching of EMS in Grade 9. This leaves
learners inadequately prepared for Accounting because the basics seem to be
neglected. Some EMS teachers are not sufficiently knowledgeable or competent in
teaching all EMS components, especially Financial Literacy. This finding is
affirmed by Kelley and Knowles (2016), who state that when a curriculum is
integrated, it becomes complicated if the teachers are not competent to teach all
the integrated subjects. Fu and Sibert (2017) and Moloi and Molise (2021) concur
that there are difficulties in implementing an integrated curriculum due to a
‘teacher knowledge problem’. While the curricular spider-web indicates the
content as one of the concepts that must be reflected when implementing the
369
curriculum, the findings of the study revealed that some teachers lack EMS
knowledge, and especially the Financial Literacy component.
Similarly, teachers were concerned that the prescribed teaching time allocated for
EMS was insufficient compared to the massive syllabus that needs to be taught,
which forces teachers to combine topics that ought to be taught separately. In their
study, Doyle and Bozzone (2018) and Reynolds and Macqueen (2018) made a
similar finding that in the context of an integrated approach, time allocation places
too much pressure on teachers. Teachers could not finish the syllabus within the
stipulated timeframe; hence they integrate or omit other topics. Drake and Reid
(2018) affirm that when the curriculum is integrated, it becomes complex,
resulting in the failure of the integration approach. Fu and Sibert (2017) also report
that when various subjects are associated and integrated, it demands
extraordinary time and a lot of energy when applied.
Teachers lamented that the structure of the EMS timetable lacked continuity. This
severely affected the quality of teaching, interrupting the flow when teaching the
EMS components. Teachers indicated that the learning of new concepts lacks
consistency and continuity as the sequencing of topics is not chronological. This
reduces the focus on each content area (Drake & Reid, 2018; Kelley & Knowles,
2016). Teachers further pointed out that it is difficult to teach the whole
component in one period as explanation requires sufficient time. For example,
teaching a particular component today and coming back the following period (or
day) to teach another component when the previous one was not finished, is a
challenge because by the time you return to that component, learners have already
forgotten the material. This has negative effects on conceptual understanding of
basic Accounting concepts in particular. This affirms that the prescribed sequence
of teaching EMS components, according to the timetable, is ineffective and
therefore affects the teachers’ quality of teaching. This finding aligns with the
curricular spider-web through the time concept as it is presented and described
as one of the important elements that must be reflected when implementing the
curriculum.
The findings revealed that EMS teachers had no regular teacher development to
ensure the effective delivery of the subject as they have had no workshops and
subject adviser for a long time. Phakathi (2018) states that teachers must be trained
to retain expanded knowledge to teach an integrated subject like EMS, because
without training, the goals of the subject cannot be achieved. This finding
contradicts the curricular spider-web concepts such as content, goals, learning
activities and teacher role, which are always informed by the ongoing teacher
development programmes. Lack of staff development leads to ignorance about
the goals of the subject and ineffective implementation of the subject curriculum
(Letshwene, 2014; Modise, 2016). This means that the curricular spider-web
principle is violated as it states that all these concepts must be reflected when
implementing the curriculum.
Teachers made the submission that since Grade 10 Accounting includes a financial
statements topic that the learners get exposed to for the first time in this grade,
370
this topic must start in EMS as it was before so that the learners are introduced to
this topic at an early grade (Msimanga, 2017; Modise, 2016). This aligns with the
curricular spider-web through the ‘content’ concept, which must be reflected
when implementing the curriculum. This finding affirms that EMS teachers are
aware of what they teach in terms of the subject content as they have been able to
identify the content inadequacies.
Furthermore, a concern was raised about EMS textbooks that have content
omissions and insufficiencies, particularly for the Financial Literacy component.
Also, Bloom’s Taxonomy, which is the cognitive levels of questions, is not
considered in the structure of the activities. This suggests that the textbooks are
not properly structured, making it difficult for teachers to fully rely on textbooks
and placing learners at a disadvantage (Assan & Lumadi, 2012). Yang and Sianturi
(2017) add that as textbooks cannot be fully relied upon, teachers’ knowledge
must be broad and not only focused on what is in the textbook when delivering
lessons. This finding is corroborated in the curricular spider-web through the
‘material and resources’ as one of the concepts that must be reflected when
implementing the curriculum. This suggests that teachers understand the material
and resources they are using to teach, as prescribed by the curricular spider-web.
7. Summary of the findings

The summary of findings presented below answered the three key research
questions, namely: What are teachers’ experiences of teaching Financial Literacy
in EMS in preparing the learners for FET Phase Accounting? Why do teachers
experience the teaching of EMS Financial Literacy in preparing the learners for
FET Phase Accounting the way they do? How do teachers apply their experiences
towards factors that hinder the teaching of Financial Literacy in EMS in the
preparing learners for FET Phase Accounting?
Research question one revealed EMS as an integrated subject. This was evident in
the participants’ views on the reasons and visions for teaching EMS and the
content taught in the subject. The way in which teachers view the EMS is also
evident in the location for teaching and assessment in the subject and the
Accounting knowledge and skills acquired in EMS.
The findings for research question two stressed the elements and importance of
EMS. It is evident from the findings that EMS is seen by teachers as a subject that
equips the learners with the basics of FET Phase Accounting and other BCMS
subjects in the FET Phase. The Financial Literacy component in EMS is
acknowledged by teachers as one that is aimed at preparing learners for
Accounting. Furthermore, it was alleged that EMS may contribute to learners’
performance in FET Phase Accounting, and there are many shortfalls that confirm
the unreadiness of learners for FET Phase Accounting.
Research question three revealed the hindrances to effective teaching of EMS. The
participants stated many factors that lead to unpreparedness of EMS learners for
FET Phase Accounting. The issue of a lack of teacher knowledge, which can be
caused by teacher unskilfulness due to lack of staff development, was raised.
371
There are also concerns about time constraints because of poor curriculum
structure and timetabling of EMS, which affects the teaching of the subject.
Teachers also raised concerns about the shortage of topics in the EMS curriculum
content, as well as insufficient practical activities in the textbooks.
8. Delimitations
The study was conducted using five schools in one district and one province.
Therefore, the findings cannot be used to make a sweeping statement for all other
schools in South Africa and across the borders of the country. The study employed
qualitative approach and an interpretivism paradigm to collect data through
reflective activities and semi-structured interviews. Hence, the findings only
emerged from the aforementioned methods, they cannot be generalised and
assumed for other methods of data collection until proven. Also, this article
explored the teachers’ experiences of teaching Financial Literacy in EMS in
preparing the learners for FET Phase Accounting; therefore, the findings focused
more on the Financial Literacy component, which is the Accounting foundation
in EMS. On that note, little attention was given to other components such as
Economy and Entrepreneurship in the same subject. Hence, we recommend that
researchers who want to embark on the study of the same scope for future studies
can extend the research to different methods and contexts; and also, the further
study may be conducted on the experiences of teachers in teaching the Economy
and Entrepreneurship components in EMS in preparing the learners for FET
phase Economics and Business Studies subjects.
9. Conclusion
This article sought to explore teachers’ experiences of teaching Financial Literacy
in preparing the learners for FET Phase Accounting. Findings revealed that
teachers understand that the subject EMS is an integrated subject that combines
three BCMS subjects. What emerged from the findings is that, although teachers
were cognizant of the purpose of the subject EMS, their engagement with the
subject content revealed a lack of deep conceptual understanding of the integrated
curriculum. As a result, the teaching of some topics such as Financial Literacy
seems to be neglected. Also, although learning in Accounting is developmental,
teachers revealed that the sequencing of topics does not allow continuity in
teaching and learning of new knowledge. This view shows a lack of
understanding of interconnectedness of topics in an integrated subject like EMS.
This discrepancy may hinder learners’ opportunity to learn the core Accounting
concepts required in preparation for further learning of Accounting in the FET
Phase.
10. Recommendations
Since it is not always possible to allocate specialists who can teach all three BCMS
subjects in EMS, it is therefore advisable to offer regular staff development
programmes for EMS teachers as a support in order for them to effectively teach
the subject. These programmes will also endeavour to supply enough teaching
and learning resources, such as textbooks that will help in providing the sufficient
practical activities, especially for the Financial Literacy component.
372
Teachers should be regularly monitored to ensure effective teaching of EMS so

that the learners are sufficiently equipped with the solid foundation of BCMS
subjects. It is also recommended that the EMS curriculum be reviewed and
amended accordingly to cater for the missing Accounting foundational
knowledge, such as financial statements.
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Efficacy of the SMARTV3UMS Learning

Management System in Art and Design Courses
Lilian Lee Shiau Gee and Victor Pangayan

Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Sabah, Malaysia
Abstract. Educational institutions are developing e-learning that uses

intervention and individual interaction in the learning process to become
more efficient and successful. Learning management systems (LMSs) aid
in the management of teaching components and online contact between
teachers and students. However, their effectiveness is highly dependent
on a thorough understanding of the obstacles and factors that influence
their use among their users. This relates in particular to transferability
and knowledge acquisition among students, especially those enrolled in
art and design majors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the
effects of knowledge management (KM) on the SMARTV3UMS learning
system for art students. SMARTV3UMS is an LMS system that all art
students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah must use during their courses. A
quantitative survey was undertaken to assess knowledge acquisition,
sharing, application, protection, internalization, and creation in relation
to the SMARTV3UMS system and user experience. Descriptive and
inferential statistics were used to analyze the collected data and assess the
study objectives. In SMARTV3UMS, knowledge acquisition,
internalization, and creation were the three KM components most
adopted by the participating 216 art students. Gender and geographic
area did not affect the SMARTV3UMS “fit” quality measures for student
KM. The findings revealed that KM creates diverse instructional
techniques and alters the learning process in e-learning. Stakeholders can
assess student thinking, experience, and knowledge of educational
technology use by evaluating the KM domain. SMARTV3UMS needs a
solid KM integration strategy and a plan to support learning, specifically
online art and design learning, as well as visual arts students’ e-learning
implementation concerns.
Keywords: art learning; learning management system; higher education;

knowledge management; SMARTV3UMS
1. Introduction
E-learning technology can improve an educational institution’s competitiveness,
particularly in the execution of study programs, and must thus be utilized by
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375
higher education institutions. Efforts to improve internet technology, develop

new online learning tools, and enhance online e-learning environments are
becoming increasingly crucial for connecting educators, students, and
stakeholders. Due to Industry 4.0 regulations and the influence of Covid-19, the
learning management system (LMS) has become the preeminent platform for all
higher education institutions to support the delivery and administration of
courses. The role and function of an LMS permits flexible teaching facilities,
distant education, the implementation of learning content, and the enhancement
of learning quality (Ahmed & Mesonovich, 2019; Chung et al., 2020; Kraleva et al.,
2019; Nguyen, 2021; Thah & Latif, 2020). Understanding the efficiency of
employing an LMS to inculcate knowledge (input and output of the educational
process) in students is critical for Malaysian higher education institutions. Recent
LMS-evaluation research has identified the need to analyze the implementation
of knowledge management (KM) in respective institutions’ platform systems to
ease the learning process, especially by expanding it across several knowledge
areas (Alenezi et al., 2018; Al-Jedaiah, 2020; Hantoobi et al., 2021; Okfalisa et al.,
2020). LMSs use KM to create, share, apply, and process information into implicit
knowledge that can transform students’ thinking and enrich their experience.
Satisfaction impacts utilization, and users’ perception of LMS quality depends on
the excellence factor (KM domain) they value. Students’ LMS attitudes are crucial
to the system’s sustainability. Using the KM domain (Alenezi et al., 2018) to
evaluate the gap in learning skills, knowledge production, and knowledge
exchange is one approach for bridging the divide.
In order to map the factors that are conducive to LMS implementation, a

comprehensive awareness of the academic context and KM strategies present in
the LMS setting is required. This is essential for the provision of art and design
curricula (Erol, 2015; Koh & Kan, 2020). Until now, there has been a scarcity of
research regarding the efficacy of LMSs in the arts field, for example illustration,
painting, ceramics etc. As a result, there is a need for improvement in the
capabilities of LMSs to facilitate art and design education (Alsuwaida, 2022),
particularly in terms of gaining insight about the LMS experiences of art students.
Moreover, there is a lack of depth in LMS assessments when comparing and
contrasting student demographics (Fazlin et al., 2021). This emphasizes the urgent
need for an evaluation of LMSs in the field of art education, especially regarding
the integration of technology and creative learning at the global university level.
As the discipline enters a new phase, it is vital to have a deeper understanding of
the relationship between LMS capabilities and KM in order to determine the
demand for more individualized online education as a means of encouraging
art-related disciplinary learning. Recognizing the variances in perception among
art students can also assist instructors to optimize LMS features for personalized
student learning.
The aim of this study was to analyze which domains of the LMS platform in e-
learning are more successful based on the results of KM on the generation of high-
376
quality knowledge and its potential relationship to student learning outcomes.

The objectives of the study were to:
i. identify the perceptions of visual arts students on SMARTV3UMS in
online learning guided by KM;
ii. determine differences in perceptions between male and female students
on SMARTV3UMS in online learning with respect to KM domains; and
iii. determine the differences in perceptions between students in urban and
rural areas towards SMARTV3UMS in online learning with respect to KM
domains.
2.1 E-learning, Learning Management System, and SMARTV3UMS
E-learning is a method of instruction that offers instructors and students
technology-based learning tools (Thangaiah et al., 2021). In general, the e-learning
design involves an LMS. The objective of this information system is to facilitate
the delivery of online courses (Ahmed & Mesonovich, 2019). The LMS is also a
database system for managing, delivering, facilitating, and interacting with
teaching and learning activities. Teaching content, progress tracking, and usage
data can be captured and made available through the LMS for the purposes of
instructor and student monitoring. The LMS is a prevalent platform in Malaysian
universities and institutions of higher education (Min et al., 2012).
Local institutions are increasingly investigating the use of e-learning to meet the
growing need for flexible distance education (Annamalai et al., 2021; Awang-
Kanak, 2021; Fazlin et al., 2021; Weaver et al., 2008). As a result, Universiti
Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has made available an online platform that supports
technology enabled learning (TEL) for managing the teaching and learning
approach. UMS has deployed SMARTV3UMS, an LMS based on the open-source
Moodle concept (Fong et al., 2019). The SMARTV3UMS platform is an official
platform at UMS that provides both instructors and students flexible access to
teaching and learning materials.
The LMS offers various advantages, although its effectiveness in education has
been contested. The capabilities and attributes of an LMS are believed to enhance
interactivity, collaboration, and user engagement. The usability of an LMS should
be evaluated based on the design of a user interface that optimizes LMS
functionality (in terms of online communication strategy, content, interactivity,
and accessibility) and whether it fosters a productive pedagogical learning
environment (Chung et al., 2020; Kraleva et al., 2019; Thah & Latif, 2020). The
acceptance and willingness of lecturers to use the LMS for instructional delivery
are poor (Azlim et al., 2014), mostly due to their insufficient mastery and lack of
control and communication while utilizing the LMS for remote education (Chung
et al., 2020). The majority of courses do not use LMS features (Alghamdi & Bayaga,
2016), and there is a disconnect between LMS content and user interface (Fazlin et
al., 2021; Freire et al., 2012).
According to Dahlstrom et al. (2014), instructors and students use advanced LMS
tools and functionalities with restricted capabilities that facilitate infrequent
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interactivity, collaboration, and active involvement in the LMS environment.

Demographic factors such as gender and geographic location (Almarashdeh &
Alsmadi, 2016), and students’ ICT infrastructure, influence the use of the LMS for
distance education in Malaysia. In addition, students are more likely to choose
mobile learning strategies such as WhatsApp and Google Classroom than the
traditional LMS (Yacob et al., 2020). This has emphasized the need to understand
the factors that influence the use and interaction approach to enhance
collaborative learning and online learning experiences as well as the future
application of the LMS as a platform that stimulates online learning. Foremost,
the LMS must be developed and expanded for the betterment of art students in
order to accommodate blended learning difficulties to acquire knowledge and
develop art skills and independence.
2.2 Knowledge Management, Learning, and Learner Outcomes

KM involves a set of systematic disciplinary actions intended to increase the value
of knowledge in respect to its creation, sharing, integration, evaluation, and use
in several intellectual aspects (Qwaider, 2011; Vasilyeva & Pechenizkiy, 2005).
Implementing KM in education can enrich the core curriculum, facilitate
collaboration, and improve student learning outcomes (Al-Jedaiah, 2020;
Hantoobi et al., 2021; Okfalisa et al., 2020). Institutions mainly focus on the
opportunity to create, transfer, and improve student learning outcomes.
The implementation of KM into e-learning intends to encourage the availability

of an effective approach for delivering high-quality knowledge for learning,
particularly within an e-learning environment. KM in e-learning aims to generate
knowledge value in terms of acquisition, sharing, application, protection,
internalization, and creation (Abu Shawar & Al-Sadi, 2010; Al-Jedaiah, 2020;
Qwaider, 2011) in order to support quicker and convenient learning. Each domain
has a specific role in the LMS, as seen in Table 1.
Table 1: The six domains of knowledge management

KM domain Function
Knowledge acquisition Capturing of educational materials, guidance,
and comprehension
Knowledge sharing Transferring information and intellect into
lasting value
Knowledge application Ease of access to materials, adequacy of
content, and availability of technical
assistance
Knowledge protection Level of data protection and privacy in the
LMS
Knowledge internalization System dependability, processing of
information, and information organizing
Knowledge creation Development of “new” thought and abilities
In order to facilitate the development process, openness, dynamics,

interconnection, distribution, adaptability, user-friendliness, and social access, the
influence of the KM process on the development of new learning forms in
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e-learning systems (Lytras et al., 2005) is essential. There is a high demand among
students for access to numerous sources of knowledge and information search,
storage, conversion, and exchange for learning via databases and internet
networks. Thus, KM tools are linked to quality knowledge development. This goal
will grow more significant as schools, colleges, and universities face pressure to
improve learning services.
One of the KM tools that facilitates e-learning is the LMS (Alenezi et al., 2018; Al-
Jedaiah, 2020; Hantoobi et al., 2021; Min et al., 2012; Okfalisa et al., 2020). LMS
integration into teaching and learning activities plays a crucial role in knowledge
production because it improves the process of obtaining knowledge and
information, disseminating knowledge in the platform and learning activities, and
assessing student knowledge. Learning, KM, and learning outcomes are linked.
KM assessment in e-learning systems helps sustain and supervise the teaching
and learning process by meeting current needs. Teaching content, progress
monitoring, and usage information can be easily managed and displayed to
continue the effectiveness of learning outcomes (knowledge, skills, and abilities)
retained by each student at the end of each semester.
Consequently, evaluating the efficacy of the LMS in terms of the ensuing student
KM becomes a crucial factor. Knowing the results of student KM will enable
stakeholders to analyze the online learning process to improve its effectiveness.
Understanding how the platform is utilized in a specific course and the system’s
inherent capabilities to assist students in achieving the targeted course outcomes
can increase the effectiveness of the LMS. Knowing more about the existing
university LMS system is crucial, particularly in certain disciplines of study, such
as art and design, so that the online learning process becomes more effective for
courses involving theory and practice.
3. Methodology
This study assessed art students’ KM through SMARTV3UMS acquisition in
online learning using descriptive statistics. All visual arts students enrolled in the
Academy of Arts and Creative Technology, UMS comprised the study population.
Based on G*Power’s computation of the sample size and the number of items in
the questionnaire (21), 216 students participated in this study. Using a simple
random sampling technique, a simple random sample was taken from the total
number of students at UMS. It is considered that this number of participants is
sufficient for a high level of reliability. As method of data collection, a
Google Forms-programmed questionnaire (refer to Appendix 1) was used to
collect data from respondents, including male and female, urban and rural
students. The questionnaire is divided into three sections. The first provides
demographic information. The second comprises 18 items that measure 6
independent variables and the level of KM proficiency among students. The last
section is a list of items pertaining to the evaluation of student satisfaction with
the LMS (SMARTV3UMS). Responses were measured on a 5-point Likert scale,
with strongly agree and strongly disagree as anchor points. To ensure the validity of
the study, the level of validity and reliability of the questionnaire was considered.
The survey was distributed to three academics that were not included in the
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sample. Before the questionnaire was distributed to students, language and

content modifications were made. The questionnaire reliability was determined
using Cronbach’s alpha. All six KM factors scored higher than 0.6, indicating a
high level of reliability. The gathered survey data were analyzed using SPSS.
4. Results
Data analysis was done in the context of the study objectives. Several methods of
statistical analysis were applied to the data to determine the perspectives of the
participating art students in general, as well as in relation to their gender and
geographic area. The first objective was evaluated using the independent t test,
and the second and third objectives were evaluated using descriptive analyses.
4.1 Perceptions of Respondents Towards SMARTV3UMS in Online Learning

Guided by Knowledge Management
Table 2 shows the mean scores for each KM domain. As seen in the table,
knowledge acquisition, internalization, and creation were evaluated above the
mean (3.3). Conversely, the respondents scored SMARTV3UMS lower for its
knowledge sharing (M = 2.713), application (M = 2.728), and protection
(M = 2.435) capabilities. The SMARTV3UMS model’s domain evaluation results
reveal its inadequacy to implement online art and design learning.
Table 2: Respondent perceptions regarding knowledge management domains

KM Domain N Mean
Knowledge acquisition 216 3.998
Knowledge sharing 216 2.713
Knowledge application 216 2.728
Knowledge protection 216 2.435
Knowledge internalization 216 3.307
Knowledge creation 216 3.687
These results indicated that knowledge sharing, application, and protection
should be prioritized for improvement because they have a large impact on the
LMS but a low current mean. The relevance of SMARTV3UMS is that universities
are concerned with the availability of LMS technologies in order to achieve
blended learning objectives in higher education. Nevertheless, the conceptual
strategy of SMARTV3UMS needs to be remarked in order to achieve a high ability
to increase the quality of blended learning modes, full online learning, and remote
education in universities, particularly for practical-based courses such as visual
arts.
4.2 Differences in Perception Between Male and Female Respondents Towards

SMARTV3UMS in Online Learning With Respect to the Domains of
Knowledge Management
The mean scores of the study respondents in terms of gender are shown in Table 3.
Results of the independent samples t test showed that there were no significant
differences between male and female respondents regarding the six domains.
Male and female respondents had almost the same opinion in relation to
knowledge acquisition (male: M = 4.038; female: M = 3.980; p = .584), knowledge
sharing (male: M = 2.624; female: M = 2.756; p = .309), knowledge application
(male: M = 2.686; female: M = 2.749; p = .576), knowledge protection (male:
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M = 2.381; female: M = 2.461; p = .582), knowledge internalization (male:

M = 3.286; female: M = 3.317; p = .802), and knowledge creation (male: M = 3.681;
female: M = 3.690; p = .937).
Table 3: Mean knowledge management domain outcomes by gender

Mean
Equality of difference
Mean variance significance
KM domain Gender Mean difference F Sig. t Sig.
Knowledge acquisition Male 4.038
0.059 1.394 0.239 0.549 .584
Female 3.980
Knowledge sharing Male 2.624
-0.132 0.000 0.991 -1.020 .309
Female 2.756
Knowledge application Male 2.686
-0.063 0.730 0.394 -0.559 .576
Female 2.749
Knowledge protection Male 2.381
-0.080 0.348 0.556 -0.551 .582
Female 2.461
Knowledge Male 3.286
-0.031 0.155 0.695 -0.251 .802
internalization Female 3.317
Knowledge creation Male 3.681
-0.009 0.197 0.657 -0.079 .937
Female 3.690
Note: *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
Although male and female respondents scored almost equally on all six domains,
the mean values showed that the female respondents tended to have a stronger
positive opinion than the males regarding the effectiveness of SMARTV3UMS in
relation to the six domains.
4.3 Differences in Perception of Respondents in Terms of Geographic Area

Towards SMARTV3UMS in Online Learning With Respect to the Domains
of Knowledge Management
The mean scores of the study respondents in terms of geographic area are shown
in Table 4.
Table 4: Mean knowledge management domain outcomes by geographic location
Mean
Equality of difference
Mean variance significance
KM domain Area Mean difference F Sig. t Sig.
Knowledge acquisition Urban 3.961
-0.180 0.171 0.680 -1.465 .144
Rural 4.141
Knowledge sharing Urban 2.729
0.077 1.669 0.198 0.517 .606
Rural 2.652
Knowledge application Urban 2.715
-0.062 2.276 0.133 -0.479 .632
Rural 2.778
Knowledge protection Urban 2.421
-0.068 1.132 0.289 -0.404 .686
Rural 2.489
Knowledge Urban 3.289
-0.089 0.771 0.381 -0.614 .540
internalization Rural 3.378
Knowledge creation Urban 3.669
-0.087 0.039 0.844 -0.694 .488
Rural 3.756
Note: *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
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The results showed no significant difference in opinion between respondents from

urban and rural areas. Results were as follows: knowledge acquisition (urban:
M = 3.961; rural: M = 4.141; p = .144), knowledge sharing (urban: M = 2.729; rural:
M = 2.652; p = .606), knowledge application (urban: M = 2.715; rural: M = 2.778;
p = .632), knowledge protection (urban: M = 2.421; rural: M = 2.489; p = .686),
knowledge internalization (urban: M = 3.289; rural: M = 3.378; p = .540), and
knowledge creation (urban: M = 3.669; rural: M = 3.756; p = .488).
Nevertheless, based on the mean value, it was found that respondents from rural
areas tended to have a stronger positive opinion towards the use of
SMARTV3UMS compared to respondents from urban areas regarding the
effectiveness of SMARTV3UMS in relation to the six domains.
4.4 Outcomes of Respondent Perceptions Regarding the Six Knowledge

Management Domains
4.4.1 Knowledge acquisition
Knowledge acquisition skills attained one of the highest mean scores (3.998),
indicating that the LMS integration through SMARTV3UMS can increase the
knowledge acquisition of students at UMS majoring in visual art technology.
Consequently, 80.6% of respondents indicated that SMARTV3UMS facilitates the
acquisition of study materials and content, and 81.5% of respondents agreed that
it can assist in receiving guidance from the course instructor regarding learning
activities. Furthermore, 81.5% of respondents admitted that SMARTV3UMS
facilitates the acquisition of art design knowledge.
It appears that neither male nor female respondents had any difficulties with
online learning (t test F = 1.394, Sig. p > .05), the scores being 4.038 and 3.980,
respectively. The results indicated that there was no significant difference
between respondents from urban (M = 3.961) and rural (M = 4.141) areas
regarding the acquisition of information using the provided online platform (t test
F = 0.171, Sig. p > .05). It has been shown that using SMARTV3UMS promotes a
constructive attitude towards the process of information acquisition and makes
active learning easier. During the process of acquiring new knowledge, “delivery
strategies” are plans or methods that guide students of the visual arts towards the
appropriate educational path. Using this method, students are guided to the
appropriate learning material versions contained inside the SMARTV3UMS path
nodes.
4.4.2 Knowledge sharing

The mean score for knowledge sharing was 2.713, which is slightly lower than the
overall average. Knowledge sharing has a lower mean score than knowledge
acquisition, knowledge internalization, and knowledge creation. A small
percentage of respondents (21.3%) reported that the system made it easy to share
course content and materials with classmates, 27.3% evaluated the system as a
good sharing tool, and 37.9% reported that the system was effective at promoting
the culture of knowledge sharing. There was no significant difference between
gender factors (t test F = 0.000, Sig. p > .05) and geographic area factors (t test F =
1.669, Sig. p > .05). On the basis of the mean value, however, it was determined
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that female respondents (M = 2.756) tended to hold a more favorable impression

than male respondents (M = 2.624) regarding the usefulness of SMARTV3UMS in
relation to knowledge sharing. Compared to respondents in rural areas
(M = 2.652), respondents from urban areas had a higher opinion of the ability of
SMARTV3UMS to communicate information (M = 2.729).
The results of the analysis indicated that although the mean scores were nearly
identical, the mean score of rural respondents was significantly lower when the
system’s ease of information sharing was considered. This may be affected by the
quality of the internet network in Sabah’s rural districts. In addition, it is necessary
to examine the characteristics of SMARTV3UMS to improve student learning via
collaborative and proactive activities. Therefore, the SMARTV3UMS features
must be adapted to the needs of students in the visual arts, including benchmarks
and criteria that encourage online knowledge sharing and collaborative learning.
The new e-learning environment should be enhanced to enable the development
of art skills by students through art-course-specific internal knowledge (content,
notes, demos, and tutorial videos). To develop new resources for art education,
the layout of information sharing must be user-friendly, well supported, and
technically reliable.
4.4.3 Knowledge application

Knowledge application is one of the most significant aspects of acquiring a higher
education. This study examined students’ interpretations of the consequences of
knowledge application via SMARTV3UMS. Forty-four percent (44%) of
respondents felt that SMARTV3UMS was very capable of offering fast access to
art course materials and content. Only a small percentage of respondents (17.1%)
expressed a positive view of SMARTV3UMS’s ability to help them by connecting
learning materials and content to problem solving. A large percentage of
respondents (87%) reported that the system did not align with their learning
objectives, particularly in terms of enabling them to transfer, adapt, and adopt
best practices in their artwork. Consequently, the mean score for SMARTV3UMS
feature-generating knowledge application was a mere 2.728. In the application of
art and design knowledge, the study demonstrated that SMARTV3UMS was used
less effectively by male than female respondents (2.686 vs. 2.749; t test F = 0.730,
Sig. p > .05) as a tool to facilitate the acceptance of learning content, and that it did
not increase student engagement in its use. Similarly, urban and rural respondents
(2.715 vs. 2.778; t test F = 2.276, Sig. p > .05) perceived that SMARTV3UMS
reduced their control over the learning process.
Respondents were less confident that using SMARTV3UMS alongside face-to-face

learning will improve their art-learning process. The findings revealed that the
majority of respondents perceived that they did not have the opportunity to
benefit from the system in their learning process, particularly regarding the ease,
usefulness, and effectiveness of the SMARTV3UMS system. This exemplifies that
improving the information and service quality of the system has the greatest
positive impact on students’ acceptance of e-learning. To enable the knowledge
application process to occur, investigation into the characterization of
SMARTV3UMS is required, as is the development of valuable online pedagogy
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and training materials, thereby engaging students in the process of using the
system to their own advantage. The complexity of the system is something that
must be taken into consideration. However, lecturers’ acceptance of and
involvement with e-learning which can inspire students to accept SMARTV3UMS
require additional research to arouse students’ commitment to and interest in
using this innovative system for their art-learning process.
4.4.4 Knowledge protection

Analysis was also conducted on the efficiency of SMARTV3UMS regarding the
protection of knowledge, with the knowledge protection component receiving a
mean score of just 2.435. For this component, the vast majority of
respondents (88%) were of the opinion that the system did not provide sufficient
protection against unauthorized access and use of their academic information.
Seventy-six percent (76%) of respondents thought their assignments were not
entirely protected and can be accessed long after the semester has ended, and
78.8% rejected the notion that their communications and talks in SMARTV3UMS
were protected from unauthorized access.
Regarding gender differences, the perspectives of male and female respondents

were practically identical (2.381 vs. 2.461; t test F = 1.394, Sig. p > .05), with
respondents perceiving that the importance of data protection as a component of
the LMS system was reduced in the SMARTV3UMS platform. Nonetheless,
female respondents had a higher level of concern and care regarding the
protection of their personal information. Both urban and rural respondents (2.421
vs. 2.489; t test F = 1.132, Sig. p > .05) considered that the security of their data and
privacy on the platform were less important. The difference between the two
groups was not statistically significant, however. Protecting privacy is crucial to
gaining public confidence in an LMS. Students, educators, and stakeholders
should indeed have trust that any personal information provided or stored is
protected from hackers, rivals, and other risks. In brief, SMARTV3UMS should
take the protection of user data and sensitive information seriously. E-learning
security is necessary for avoiding costly regulatory penalties associated with
incidents involving the disclosure of personal information, secret business data,
and other potential security hazards.
4.4.5 Knowledge internalization

Knowledge goes through the process of internalization when it is combined with
other information in a way that transforms it from complicated and structured
explicit knowledge into implicit knowledge. The respondents provided their
feedback regarding the potential for acquiring comprehensive and structured
knowledge using SMARTV3UMS, and the findings revealed that the mean score
for their level of internalized knowledge was 3.307. This score in relation to the
system’s ease of generating internalized knowledge was slightly above average.
According to the findings, 58.8% of the respondents did not feel that
SMARTV3UMS was capable of motivating them to continue expanding their art
knowledge repertoire. Furthermore, 62.5% of respondents indicated that they did
not receive sufficient assistance or convenience from SMARTV3UMS in order to
better organize the new art information they were given. However, 85.2% of
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respondents viewed SMARTV3UMS as an advantage that will make it easier for

them to monitor and complete their art-learning process more efficiently.
According to the findings, the majority of male and female respondents (3.286 vs.
3.317; t test F = 0.155, Sig. p > .05) were committed to using SMARTV3UMS and
were interested in working with the system. Similarly, both urban and rural
respondents (3.289 vs. 3.378; t test F = 0.771, Sig. p > .05) asserted that their
SMARTV3UMS self-experience increased their interest in their work. In
conclusion, knowledge internalization requires the construction of teaching
tactics and delivery methods to transform teaching materials into tacit knowledge
for students when learning visual arts using an experience-based learning
approach. The structure of SMARTV3UMS needs to be reevaluated to be more
comprehensive and structured to meet students’ level of competence and their
capacity to increase their knowledge according to the features.
4.4.6 Knowledge creation

Respondents were asked whether SMARTV3UMS was an effective learning tool
for the knowledge they had generated. The majority of respondents (87.1%)
indicated that SMARTV3UMS facilitated their development of new learning
strategies. Furthermore, 82.4% of respondents felt that SMARTV3UMS was
effective, allowing them to utilize the knowledge received from SMARTV3UMS.
The mean knowledge creation score was 3.687. The convenience of the system was
ranked slightly above average. However, only 40.3% of respondents indicated an
increase in the processing of development-related knowledge. Therefore, in
addition to the teacher being a source of knowledge creation, the platform also
needs to be adequate to sharpen the student’s intellect, particularly in courses that
emphasize the creation of knowledge and art skills.
The mean scores obtained by male and female respondents (3.681 vs. 3.690; t test
F = 0.197, Sig. p > .05) showed that both male and female respondents thought
similarly about the knowledge creation offered using SMARTV3UMS in the field
of art. The mean scores for urban and rural respondents (3.669 vs. 3.756; t test
F = 0.197, Sig. p > .05) also indicated that respondents considered knowledge
creation using SMARTV3UMS an easy process. However, the most important
aspect that needs to be emphasized is the effectiveness of SMARTV3UMS in the
formation of knowledge in the discipline of art in a limited period of time.
SMARTV3UMS should be a great instrument for enhancing the individual growth
and achievements of students. The study indicated that knowledge creation is an
attribute of SMARTV3UMS and that online knowledge creation motivates
students to monitor their academic progress more attentively. Therefore,
additional research is required to determine the effect of SMARTV3UMS on the
willingness of art students to adapt their learning efforts to desired outcomes.
4.5 The Effect of Knowledge Management on SMARTV3UMS Experiences

The results of the regression analysis are presented in Table 5. The findings
indicated that the acquisition and internalization of knowledge using the
SMARTV3UMS platform had the greatest impact on respondents’ ability to have
a pleasant student experience; however, sharing, application, protection, and
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creation of knowledge had no significant impact on respondents’ SMARTV3UMS

experience.
This suggests that the KM domains have limited supportability, especially for art
and design learning. Accordingly, SMARTV3UMS efficiency is closely related to
the existence of an integrated KM strategy with the structuring of education, the
goal of implementing practical art learning, and the delivery of practical learning
and systematized art skills.
Table 5: Regression analysis results for the knowledge management domains on

SMARTV3UMS experiences
Std.
Domain  error t p
Knowledge acquisition 0.294 0.079 3.727 < .001***
Knowledge sharing 0.038 0.057 0.671 .503
Knowledge application 0.100 0.066 1.514 .132
Knowledge protection -0.020 0.049 -0.412 .681
Knowledge internalization -0.111 0.067 -1.659 .099*
Knowledge creation 0.010 0.091 0.114 .909
Note: R = 0.350, Adjusted R2 = 0.122; ***p < .001, **p < .005, *p < .1
5. Discussion
All the KM variables greatly affect the efficacy of SMARTV3UMS for online art
education. Although the aspects of knowledge sharing, application,
and protection received an average mean score below 3, the results of the analysis
indicated that the SMARTV3UMS platform can effectively deliver art courses in a
virtual environment. In addition, it is beneficial in relation to art knowledge,
especially for visual arts students who are positive about using it for knowledge
acquisition, appreciation, and creation in art and design learning. This study
supports previous studies (Alsuwaida, 2022; Awang-Kanak, 2021; Erol, 2015; Koh
& Kan, 2020; Mroziak & Bowman, 2016) that the LMS is an important
contextualization for practical-based learning. The implementation of online
learning in the arts can help achieve simultaneous exploration, providing
flexibility and efficiency to experiential learning without limitations in terms of
time and location (Almarashdeh & Alsmadi, 2016; Annamalai et al., 2021; Fazlin
et al., 2021; Min et al., 2012). SMARTV3UMS may cause tension in practice-based
learning approaches (art and design), since art students seem to have differing
views on LMS use for learning and as a learning administration system. This
suggests that successful technology adoption for artistic learning needs enables
flexibility and trust in the platform’s flawlessness. Therefore, the SMARTV3UMS
strategy should include quality content sharing aspects, quality teaching, and
quality portal characterization to improve art student pedagogy assessment.
Furthermore, the results of the study indicated that neither gender nor geographic
factors influenced the quality domains of student KM. This study disproves the
notion that art students at UMS share similar usage patterns. These results suggest
that art students’ contentment with SMARTV3UMS and their sense of
achievement in art learning with SMARTV3UMS may be equally deepened by
greater use. This implies that strategic planning that includes structured
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information, high technical reliability, and better data protection might improve
students’ sense of online course quality and LMS satisfaction. This may be crucial
for enhancing the retention of online students. It is also suggested that
SMARTV3UMS contextualization activities and faculty preparation should be
initiated to increase the pedagogical scale of online learning quality for all art
student groups in universities.
According to the average student perspective, KM quality affects student

satisfaction. The six KM factors that affect student satisfaction have direct and
indirect consequences. The contradictory results between KM domains regarding
the quality and satisfaction of SMARTV3UMS suggest that the characterization
principles of the SMARTV3UMS display design should be refined for the
application of factors that correspond to the needs of art students in order to
improve the usability of the LMS in the learning of art and design. Important to
the effectiveness of SMARTV3UMS for art and design education are students’
familiarity with the platform and desire in utilizing it. Therefore, adequate time
and opportunities must be provided for students to become comfortable with the
system and to build a clearer relationship between LMS activities and their
learning outcomes in the course’s curriculum design. This can boost students’
sense of learning accomplishment and, consequently, their learning quality. One
strategy to enhance students’ impressions of teaching quality with
SMARTV3UMS is to have faculty support, for example in the form of
development workshops to expand their pedagogical knowledge beyond usage
of LMS management. SMARTV3UMS assessment every semester helps
universities evaluate student restrictions, characteristics, learning results, and
facility needs. Furthermore, this tactic can help students obtain feedback tailored
to their requirements and circumstances to increase SMARTV3UMS utilization.
6. Conclusions and Implications

The teaching and learning of art and design practice courses are experiencing a
rapid transformation due to blended learning, which integrates physical
practicality and online learning portals to complement the needs of the current
learning medium, particularly in emergency situations (i.e., pandemics). One
strategy to ensure alignment between KM capabilities and LMS use is to enhance
student’ artistic pedagogical interactions with SMARTV3UMS. This study’s
findings are extensive and informative in clarifying the applicability of SMARTV3
to meet the principles of artistic and KM practices in the next semester. Most art
students feel SMARTV3 capabilities need to be updated to improve teacher-
student communication and knowledge formation. SMARTV3 is accessible, easy
to view, interactive, and easy to navigate. It improves understanding, sharing, and
application of visual arts knowledge. To take advantage of these constraints,
training and guidelines to assist stakeholders in competently integrating KM with
SMARTV3UMS are essential. This relates particularly to the transformation of
artistic face-to-face learning into the realm of online learning using digital tools
that adhere to the principles of artistic learning.
Each practical learning situation, particularly art education, clearly necessitates a

customized KM approach that must emphasize the specificity and uniqueness of
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the practical learning setting. This should be done by emphasizing: i) students’

active participation in promoting technology use; (ii) the ability of technology to
facilitate adaptable learning and a range of knowledge-transformation aspects;
and (iii) the capacity of technology to enhance the artistic process by way of
instantaneous online feedback on student work. The integration process can be
hampered by a lack of technology or cultural support for online education.
Academic faculty should encourage e-learning and increase LMS adoption with
effective university-wide support. To fully fulfil the pedagogical potential of
digital learning environments, more deliberate strategies are required, such as the
upgrading of hardware resources.
Future research might compare the findings of the current study with those of
future investigations to determine whether SMARTV3 perception has changed.
More attention to disparities in students’ opinions of the quality of SMARTV3UMS
may enable the construction of educational methods that promote student
satisfaction with online artistic and practical learning. This study has
consequences for the development of the SMARTV3 mobile application, which
intends to make online learning more accessible on numerous platforms,
especially for students in remote areas and with little financial resources. To
improve the learning outcomes of art students, it may be necessary to do an
intensive study on the relationship between platform layout (interface design) and
KM systems.
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390
Appendix 1
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE USE OF SMARTV3 IN TEACHING AND LEARNING VISUAL

ARTS
Dear Reviewer,
The questionnaire intended to identify the effectiveness of SMARTV3 in Visual Arts as for blended learning.
Therefore, this questionnaire attempts to integrate student’s perceptions during teaching and learning art
sessions via SMARTV3.
Please submit feedback regarding the aspect you have just completed, including feedback on course structure,
content, and instructor.
1. Email *
2. Gender *
Mark only one oval.
Male Female
3. The area stayed during the semester *

Mark only one oval.
City area (Urban) Rural area (Kampung)
SA QA A D DA
4. KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
My SMARTV3 is able to
Facilitates my acquisition of the study materials and contents.
Facilitates me to receive guidance from the course instructor on learning activities.
Facilitates knowledge acquisition of art design.
5. KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Facilitates me to share course content and materials with my classmates.
Provides me with technologically supported sharing tools that allow me to discuss
class content and material with my instructor and classmates.
Encouraged me to a culture of knowledge sharing with my class instructor and
classmates.
6. KNOWLEDGE APPLICATION
Provides immediate access to course materials and content.
Facilitates me to utilise and apply the learning materials and content when solving
problems.
Facilitates me to transfer, adapt, and implement best practises in my work.
7. KNOWLEDGE PROTECTION
Protected my study materials and their contents from inappropriate access and
use.
Protected from unauthorised access my communications and conversations with
my classmates and teacher.
My submission assignments are completely protected and can be located even
after the semester has ended.
8 KNOWLEDGE INTERNALISATION
Motivating me to continually update my knowledge repertoire.
Facilitates me to organise the categorization of new information.
Facilitating my completion of the learning process more efficiently.
9. KNOWLEDGE CREATION
Facilitating me to develop new learning strategies.
Improving development art knowledge processing.
Providing me with the ability to apply knowledge acquired from SMARTV3.
10. EXPERIENCES
391
Facilitates me to developed new way of learning.

Enhancing processing of development art knowledge.
Improve the sense of achievement with online learning.
393

Received Aug 24, 2022; Revised Nov 19, 2022; Accepted Dec 6, 2022
The Mediated Role of Satisfaction in Boosting the

Perceived Progress via Interaction in Online
Learning: Empirical Evidence from Private
Universities in Vietnam
Hung Nguyen Tien

University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Sang Tang My*

Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance, Vietnam
Thai Nguyen Duy

Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Vietnam
Dinh Nguyen Ngoc

University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Abstract. Online education is an inevitable trend in the era of digital

transformation, but effective implementation is not easy. This research
was conducted to understand the relationship between interaction and
the perceived progress of online learning, under the mediated effect of
satisfaction. Data was gathered from 223 full-time learners at nine
universities in Vietnam, using Google Forms. Since the study had a
mediating variable, the partial least squares structural equation modeling
(PLS-SEM) method was used. The results show that learner–lecturer
interaction, learner–learner interaction, and learning content have
positive impacts on online learning satisfaction. The findings of this study
reveal that satisfaction has a positive influence on overall progress, which
means that, as satisfaction increases, perceived progress in online
learning interaction increases as well. Based on the findings, the authors
suggest using the flipped classroom model to increase the interactivity
and effectiveness of online teaching. This study sheds new light on the
relationship between interactions and perception of progress in online
education at private universities in Vietnam's southern region.
Keywords: interaction; online learning; perceived progress; PLS-SEM;

satisfaction
*
Corresponding author: Sang Tang My, sangtm@uef.edu.vn
©Authors
394
1. Introduction
Interactive teaching belongs to open teaching and contributes to the formation of
interest, responsibility, and activeness in learning (Lin et al., 2017). The interactive
classroom solution allocates to learners the role of planning, being practice-
oriented, and participating in group cooperation. However, interaction is easier
to do in the form of face-to-face learning than online learning (Duc-Long et al.,
2021). The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immense impact all aspects of every
nation in the world, including learning and teaching activities (Wang et al., 2021).
It is argued that online learning is the best method to cope with Covid-19
pandemic challenges (Lanzotti et al., 2020). According to Wang et al. (2021), online
education has become the new normal, which has prompted researchers to study
the relationship between student achievement and student satisfaction in online
environments.
Knowledge acquisition and intellectual abilities should be major indicators of

learning outcomes (Ayanbode et al., 2022). According to Barker (1994), interaction
plays a critical role, not only in knowledge acquisition, but also in cognitive
progression and developing physical skills. It is believed that interaction is a
fundamental element of both traditional lessons and distance learning
(Maheshwari, 2021).
In the online learning environment, interaction is vitally important for achieving

effective learning and teaching results (Lin et al., 2017). Song and McNary (2011)
emphasize that one of the most important determinants of learning experiences is
learner interaction. In addition, interaction in virtual or online lessons, which are
quite different from face-to-face interaction in traditional ones, occurs via
supported technological tools or platforms, such as chatrooms, email, learning
management systems, and so on. A shift to online, distance interaction from a
physical one helps overcome distance barriers and to curtail the spread of disease
infection. However, understanding how learners interact in the online learning
environment is critical, since interaction affects the learning quality significantly
(Ayanbode et al., 2022). Hence, in support of this argument, interactions are
classified into three types: learner–content interaction, learner–lecturer
interaction, and learner–learner interaction (Moore, 1989). Although many
scholars have written on this subject, under new circumstances, such as that of the
pandemic and the explosion of information technology, it is necessary to
undertake further research that focuses on interaction in online education, and to
produce empirical results that explain the effect of interaction on learning
effectiveness.
In the context of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on Vietnam, the Ministry of
Education and Training suspended all face-to-face education activities across the
nation as part of quarantine solutions, to prevent the virus spreading (UNICEF,
2021). Vietnam has developed online education in recent years (Duc-Long et al.,
2021), so, in the quarantine periods, online learning was enhanced from piloting
to massive implementation.
A number of researchers have referred to online learning and teaching in Vietnam.

The study of Nguyen (2009), for example, which was conducted at Tra Vinh
395
University, focused on exploring lecturer–learner interaction in online classes.

Phạm and Trần (2020) did their research at the Hanoi campus of a polytechnic
university to investigate lecturers and learners’ perceptions of fundamental
courses, as well as that of administrators regarding the online learning
environment. Maheshwari (2021) studied factors that influence learners’ intention
to learn online, and reveals that support by the institution and satisfaction affect
learners’ intention to learn online. Although the results of these studies have
shown the effect of satisfaction on learning, there is no clear demonstration of the
role of satisfaction in online learning (Moore, 2012). Hence, a quantitative research
method was applied, and this paper reports on findings in relation to the
meaningful relationship between interaction and perceived progress, under the
mediated effect of satisfaction, at private universities in Vietnam.
2. Literature review
Interaction is one of the factors that promotes effective online learning (Song &
McNary, 2011). However, increasing interactive activities is not easy, and requires
appropriate teaching strategies. Learners should also define clear learning goals.
2.1. Achievement goal theory

The theory owes its existence to McClelland and Atkinson's pioneering work on
needs and motives. The theory defines the types of goals that guide achievement-
related behaviors, and is more concerned with understanding why than what
individuals are attempting to accomplish with certain goals (Urdan & Maehr,
1995).
Avoiding failure and the reason for wanting to achieve success are two
achievement motives. The motivation to attain achievement is related to the
approval of goal orientation and the goal of outperforming others; these goals are
referred to as performance-approach goals in the literature, because they focus on
demonstrating competence. The desire to avoid failure is linked to the desire to
avoid demonstrating incompetence, or what is now more commonly known as
performance targets (Torun, 2019).
Learners are not always highly motivated in the university context. Higher
education not only expects learners to achieve, it also values the process of
learning and improving learners' skills, and encouraging learners to exert the
effort required to develop, apply, and maintain skills and knowledge for long-
term development. Motivation is, thus, a result of education (Na et al., 2020). From
the viewpoint of education, achievement goal theory attaches the experience to
the goals that learners set for their course or academic task.
Regarding investigating learners’ motivation in academic settings, the theory has

received a great deal of attention. The theory defines the types of goals that
motivate achievement-related behaviors. As online learning is applied more in
higher education, researchers should investigate the impact of pursuing multiple
goals on learners' perception, use of strategies and behaviors to achieve goals in
an online learning environment (Yeh at el., 2019).
396
2.2. E-learning satisfaction

E-learning is defined as using telecommunication technology to deliver
information in order to educate and train people (Kulkarni et al., 2020). The e-
learning system is one of several education methods (teaching and learning
procedures) that allow for flexible, learner-centered education. It is a World Wide
Web-based information system (Edelhauser & Lupu-Dima, 2020). The ability to
achieve a higher-level consistency of teaching is one advantage of e-learning. With
traditional training, different individuals are likely to provide training for a single
workforce. Time and distance have always been major barriers to training. E-
learning, in contrast, virtually eliminates these two barriers. E-learning features
encompass all the requirements of modern learning, and it is in higher demand in
businesses and higher education institutions as a result of this particular quality
(Kulkarni et al., 2020).
Satisfaction refers to the degree of happiness or disappointment with the service

received (Moore, 2012). It is an internal feeling that expresses the level of
satisfaction and happiness expressed by learners regarding the effectiveness of
course content delivery. According to Moore (2012), learning strategies,
challenges in learning, interactions, data usability, and learning outcomes were
found to have an impact on learner satisfaction. The satisfaction or dissatisfaction
of a learner with e-learning is an important factor in encouraging learners to
continue studying online. If learners are satisfied with online learning, they will
continue to study and if they are not, they are unlikely to apply this type of study
(Rajabalee & Santally, 2021).
2.3 Interactions in and satisfaction with e-learning

Interaction is an essential part of e-learning – it is at the heart of any successful e-
learning program. There are three types of interactions, based on the parties
involved, that is, learner and lecturer, learner and learner, and learner and content
(Moore, 1989).
2.3.1 Learner–lecturer interaction

The results of interaction between learners and lecturers assess how engaged
trainers are with learners and how close they perceive the trainer to be, based on
their online presence (Keskin et al., 2019). This interaction creates an environment
that encourages learners to understand the material. Interaction between learners
and lecturers can occur for two reasons: instrumental reasons, and emotional and
social reasons. If the interaction takes place for instrumental reasons, the
instructor will search for postings that are mainly about finding and providing
help, whether it is scientific questions about study materials and content, or
queries about assignments and study structure. Depending on the teaching
method, the lecturers can play a prominent (instructor-centered) or a facilitator
role. In interaction that takes place for emotional and social reasons, postings are
primarily about seeking and providing reassurance and assistance in response to
social or emotional questions, and issues related to the course (Shariq et al., 2022).
The level of participation of online lecturers and learners is not synchronized,
which can lead to learner dissatisfaction (Arbaugh, 2018). So, the role of learner–
lecturer interaction is very important.
397
2.3.2 Learner–learner interaction

Interaction between a learner and their peers is referred to as learner–learner
interaction (Pillutla et al., 2020). Another way of describing learner–learner
interaction is as the communication between one learner and another, either alone
or in groups (Dönmez et al., 2010). Interaction between learners can also occur for
two reasons: instrumental reasons and emotional/social reasons. Interaction
helps to stimulate thinking and curiosity, thereby affecting learners' knowledge
acquisition. In the study of Pillutla et al. (2020), the authors found that the
interaction between learners affected the results of the knowledge that was
acquired. Learner-centered education, according to the research of Junus et al.
(2015), paves the way for learners' ultimate satisfaction.
2.3.3 Learner–content interaction

Learner–content interaction is especially important for online course participants,
because it contributes to successful learning outcomes and course completion
(Fredrickson, 2015). Interaction between learners and content is fundamental in
all forms of education (Vrasidas, 2000), and is the most important type of
interaction, because it is here that learner learning occurs (Tuovinen, 2000). Web
facilities, such as laboratories and computer support, promote passive interaction
between learners and content, and open up many opportunities for interaction for
learners and lecturers (Edelhauser & Lupu-Dima, 2020). This is the interaction
between the learner and the learning material, which can be presented in a variety
of formats, such as text, audio, video, graphs, and images. Technology has
expanded the possibilities for material storage, indexing, and distribution, while
computer simulation, instructional tools, and distance laboratories have altered
learner–content interaction behavior and structure (Fredrickson, 2015).
According to Lin et al. (2017), satisfaction during the interaction affects the success
of the online lesson. The research of Ayanbode et al. (2022) shows that learner–
content interaction is positively related to learner satisfaction. Interaction with
course content was found to be a significant predictor of perceived learning.
2.4 E-learning satisfaction and perceived progress
The extent to which individual students perceive the benefits of taking the e-
learning course is defined as perceived learning. The benefits of online
collaborative learning are concerned with intellectual development or process
knowledge (Edelhauser & Lupu-Dima, 2020). The perceived level of the quality
of learners' learning experience in online lessons is used to measure the perceived
progress of learners (Eom & Ashill, 2016). According to Ayanbode et al. (2022),
when learners interact with peers and lecturers, their satisfaction increases, and
their cognitive progress also improves (learner–teacher).
3. Hypotheses of the study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between interaction
and learning outcomes under the mediated influence of satisfaction. Based on
achievement goal theory and previous studies, the authors propose four research
hypotheses, as follows:
H1. Learner–lecturer interaction is positively correlated with satisfaction.
398
H2. Interaction between learners is positively correlated with satisfaction.
H3. Learner–content interaction is positively correlated with satisfaction.
H4. E-learning satisfaction is positively correlated with perceived progress.
The research model is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The research model
4. Methodology
To verify the research hypotheses, the authors applied a particular research
design, and engaged in data collection and data analysis. The process is described
as follows.

The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between
interaction, satisfaction, and perceived learning at private universities in
Vietnam's southern region. The research population comprised respondents at
private universities, named UEF, Hong Bang, Van Lang, Van Hien, Technology,
Hoa Sen, Huflit, FPT, and Nguyen Tat Thanh. The research did a survey of full-
time learners at these institutions. The survey was carried out using Google
Forms. The benefit of using Google Forms is that the respondents can complete
the survey at any time of the day or night. The questionnaire was piloted with a
small group of learners (n = 10), to determine whether a question was difficult to
answer due to sentence construction or use of technical terms or formulas, and to
improve the questionnaire validity (Shadish et al., 2002).
4.2. Data collection and sampling

The selected respondents were from two large private universities – UEF and Hoa
Sen – and they were given a pre-test survey. Then, 250 survey questions are
designed on Google Forms and distributed via email. A total of 223 valid
respondents were collected, which was an 89 percent response rate. It is
considered a good response rate, which decreases the chance of response bias
(Cheung et al., 2006). In the partial least squares structural equation modeling
(PLS-SEM), the minimum sample size is at least 10 times the number of structural
399
paths (Hair et al., 2014). The sample had to be greater than 40, because there were
four possible paths. So, 223 responses met the PLS-SEM criteria in this study.
4.3 Measure of constructs

The questionnaire was designed and had been adjusted from the studies of
Quadir et al. (2022), and Eom and Ashill (2016). The interaction scale is based on
the research of Eom and Ashill (2016), and Quadir et al. (2022). The perceived
progress scale and satisfaction scale are based on the research of Eom and Ashill
(2016). Table 1 displays all measures and constructs.
Table 1. Questionnaire and their sources

Learner–content interaction (LCI)
Source: Quadir et al. (2022)
LCI1 I can view text, graphics, animation, audio, video, and other media
presentations.
LCI2 I have access to instructional materials that are specifically tailored to my
needs.
LCI3 I have access to customized test or quiz items.
LCI4 I can submit content-related questions and receive immediate online
assistance.
LCI5 I can provide relevant links with course-related information.
LCI6 I can attend the events, attracted and encouraged by special incentives,
such as a prize for the learner who submits the most interesting posts.
Learner–lecturer interaction (LII)
Source: Eom and Ashill (2016)
LII1 In class, interaction with my lecturer is often constructive and positive
LII2 In this class, interaction between lecturer and learners is often
constructive and positive.
LII3 In this class, the positive interaction between the lecturer and the learners
helped me to increase my outcomes.
LII4 Positive and constructive interactions between learners and lecturers
make an important contribution to learning outcomes.
Learner - Learner interaction (LLI)
LLI1 I had many positive and constructive interactions with my classmates.
LLI2 Learner interaction in this online classroom is positive and constructive.
LLI3 I learned a lot of good things from my classmates while studying online.
LLI4 The quality of my learning improves due to positive and constructive
interactions with other learners.
Perceived progress (PER)
PER1 The quality of the class is higher than the quality of the in-person classes.
PER2 The knowledge I learned from this online class is equivalent to what I
learned in the face-to-face class.
PER3 I have learned more knowledge in the online classroom during the
pandemic.
400
PER4 The quality of learning was found to be higher in online classes during
the pandemic.
Satisfaction (SAS)
SAS1 When studying with this lecturer, learners will get more benefits.
SAS2 This online course is something I would recommend to other learners.
SAS3 In the future, I would take another online course at this university.
SAS4 During the pandemic, I was very pleased with this online course.
4.4 Data analysis

This study was conducted to determine the impact of interaction on learning
perception under the influence of the mediating variable satisfaction, by using the
PLS-SEM approach. PLS-SEM is thought to be the best approach for such studies,
because this study was exploratory in nature (Hair at el., 2014). PLS-SEM is
suitable for small sample sizes (Rigdon, 2016).
The research model is a reflective model. To evaluate measurement models, the

indicator loadings must be examined first. Loadings greater than 0.708 are
suggested, because they imply that the construct reports more than half the
variance in the indicator, suggesting appropriate reliability.
The second step is to evaluate internal consistency reliability. Most of the time,
composite reliability (CR) was used. Composite reliability is greater than 0.70 and
less than 0.95 (Hair et al., 2014). Cronbach's alpha is another measure of internal
consistency reliability that uses the same thresholds as CR, but yields lower
values. Dijkstra and Henseler (2015) propose rho_A as an as an alternative; it is an
approximate measure of construct reliability that typically lies between
Cronbach's alpha and the CR. As a result, rho_A may be a good compromise if
the factor model is correct, recommended 0.70–0.90.
The third step was evaluating a reflective measurement model to determine the
convergent validity of each construct measure. Hair et al. (2014) propose
considering the external loading of the item and the extracted mean-variance
(AVE) to determine convergent validity, and whether acceptable AVE is equal to
or greater than 0.50.
The fourth step was to evaluate discriminant validity, which refers to how distinct
a construct is empirically from other constructs in the structural model. The
threshold should be between 0.65 and 0.85.
Finally, goodness-of-fit indices were used to assess model fit for both the
measurement and structural models. These include Chi-square-based model fit
measures, and the standardized root means square residual (SRMR) (Henseler et
al., 2016).
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5. Findings
Theoretical models were used to examine the association of the four pathways by
means of the four research hypotheses. The results, after applying PLS-SEM, are
as follows.
5.1 Assessing measurement model

The reliability of individual items can be assessed using outer loadings, which are
the loadings of the reflective manifest variables with their associated latent
variables. A loading of LCI6 and LLI1 is less than 0.708, so, we removed these two
items; the remainder was greater than 0.708, which indicates that the project is
trustworthy.
The CR of all items is greater than 0.763 and less than 0.858, which meets the
threshold. Cronbach's alpha of items ranges from 0.763 to 0.858, rho_A is from
0,763 to 0,872, and AVE is greater than 0,638 ≥ 0,5, which indicates that they meet
the threshold.
Table 2. The results from the measurement model estimation

Latent Manifest Outer Outer CR Cronbach’s
AVE rho_A
variable variable weight loading value alpha
LCI1 0.204 0.747
Learner– LCI2 0.235 0.779
content LCI3 0.301 0.851 0.898 0.638 0.858 0.872
interaction LCI4 0.275 0.843
LCI5 0.230 0.767
LII1 0.304 0.825
Learner–
LII2 0.313 0.854
lecturer 0.731 0.799 0.799 0.799
LII3 0.288 0.801
interaction
LII4 0.310 0.811
Learner– LLI2 0.392 0.818
learner LLI3 0.409 0.824 0.848 0.786 0.763 0.763
interaction LLI4 0.413 0.829
PER1 0.372 0.885
Perceived PER2 0.392 0.878
0.857 0.857 0.856 0.856
progress PER3 0.371 0.880
PER4 0.284 0.823
SAS1 0.275 0.775
SAS2 0.300 0.800
Satisfaction 0.830 0.830 0.825 0.825
SAS3 0.316 0.808
SAS4 0.342 0.854
Source: Authors’ findings
5.2 Assessing structural models

5.2.1 Discriminant validity results
According to Fornell and Larcker's (1981) criteria, there is no violation of
discriminant validity in Table 3.
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Table 3. Discriminant validity results

LCI LLI LII PER SAS
LCI 0.799
LLI 0.691*** 0.823
LII 0.724*** 0.561*** 0.844
PER 0.632*** 0.657*** 0.581*** 0.881
SAS 0.715*** 0.633*** 0.685*** 0.810*** 0.810
Note: ** indicates a significant at p < 0.01; *** indicates a significant at p < 0.001
According to model fit statistics, the data is a perfect fit for the model. The result
of χ2 is 644.988, value of df = 254 and p = 0.000, the result of CMIN/df is equal to
2.539, SRMR = 0.072 (Hair et al., 2014). As a result, all constructs are trustworthy,
acceptable, and distinguishable from one another (Hair et al., 2014).
Table 4. Discriminant validity results

Proposed
Hypothesis Relationship SRW Results
effects
Learner–lecturer interaction →
H1 Positive 0.323 Supported
Satisfaction
Learner–learner interaction →
Satisfaction
Learner–content interaction →
Satisfaction
Satisfaction → Perceived
progress
5.2.2. Structural equation modeling-partial least squares
Figure 2. Path coefficient diagram results

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Research results show that learner–lecturer interaction, learner–learner

interaction, and learner–content interaction have a positive impact on satisfaction.
This result is compatible with the study of Ayanbode et al. (2022). This result
shows that, when learner–lecturer interaction increases, satisfaction will increase.
Research results also show that satisfaction has a positive impact on perceived
progress, which means that when satisfaction increases, perceived progress
increases.
6. Discussion
Research results show that learner–lecturer interaction is positively correlated
with satisfaction. This result is compatible with the studies of Ayanbode et al.
(2022) and Nguyen (2009). A lesson must bear the mark of a lecturer, not only in
terms of knowledge, but also in style and unique features that distinguish one
lecturer from another. Therefore, lectures for a subject taught by a lecturer in the
form of e-learning must be delivered by the lecturer directly to learners via the
Internet, not a prerecorded lecture that is implemented by a group of lecturers.
Activities, such as forums, exchanges and discussions, should also be designed,
to increase the interaction between lecturers and learners. A virtual classroom that
maintains lecturer-learner interaction similar to that of a traditional classroom will
increase the lecturer's excitement, enthusiasm, and responsibility and attract
learners to participate in the learning process. This is an important factor that
makes online training programs attractive and successful.
It was also noted in the research results that learner–learner interaction is

positively related to learner satisfaction. This result is compatible with the study
of Ayanbode et al (2022). It can be explained that, when studying in groups,
learners are more motivated, the receive input from other members of the group,
and they do not feel isolated. Instructors need to plan for learner–learner
interaction by considering their collaboration and information sharing, they must
build a sense of community among the participants of the course, create a learning
atmosphere where they can participate, give feedback, draw positive feedback,
and communicate with concise, focused messages. Doing so will foster strong
relationships between learners and help them to understand the material lecturers
present material better. In addition, lecturers should enable learners to interact
with each other through technology. Lecturers can get started with discussion
boards, telecommunications tools, such as email and chat rooms, and social
collaboration tools.
Moreover, the results show that learner-content is positively correlated with

satisfaction. The course structure is very important in online teaching and
learning. This result also suggests to administrators how to design online courses
using competency-based design to engage students better and to improve overall
learner satisfaction and experience.
The results also show that learner satisfaction increases perceived progress in
online learning. Thus, the interaction helps create satisfaction and, in turn,
satisfaction helps to improve learning results. This finding is compatible with the
study of Ayanbode et al. (2022).
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7. Conclusion
While learners have been able to return to school under the new normal, the
impact of the pandemic has forced many classes to take advantage of online
instruction. For a long time, online learning has involved limited interaction
between lecturers and learners, thereby seriously affecting the quality of
education. In addition, in this era of booming digital technologies, higher
education institutions must make investing in online learning a strategic goal, not
only to increase their market share of learners, but also to build learning platforms
that use technology to change teaching methods, improve quality, and transform
organizational training models. Interaction is critical to the success of an online
classroom.
Research results of a study at Vietnamese private universities show that learner–
lecturer interaction is positively correlated to satisfaction, learner–learner
interaction is positively related to learner satisfaction, learner–content interaction
is positively correlated to satisfaction, and learner satisfaction increases perceived
progress. Hence, the research found that levels of interaction have an impact on
developing student satisfaction, which, in turn, improves learning outcomes.
8. Recommendations
As a result of this study, the authors propose introducing a type of flipped
classroom in online education to improve interactivity and effectiveness. Flipped
classroom solutions not only help improve the quality of online training, increase
learner interaction and make learning fun, but are also crucial steps in the digital
transformation of education to improve the quality of training, and will continue
to do so when learners return to face-to-face lessons. A flipped classroom requires
a combination of technological equipment and classroom organization methods.
The main objective of this technique is to transform a training approach from a
lecturer-centered one to a learner-centered one. The authors recommend the
models shown in the Table 5.
Table 5: Flipped classroom
Home Phone Classroom Physical Classroom
Learning management Online meeting Lecture hall, simulation
system platforms (MS Teams, practice room, creative
(LMS) Zoom, GG Meet, Cisco center, enterprise etc.
Webex etc.)
Learners access learning Learners interact with lecturers (ask and answer
materials (videos, questions)
podcasts, ebooks,
SCOM etc.)
Learners do simple Learners prepare group exercises
exercises to test their (Case studies, discussion topics, research projects etc.)
basic knowledge
Learners work in
Learners work in groups groups, visit businesses,
Learners prepare group under the supervision conduct field surveys
exercises and guidance of under the supervision
lecturers and guidance of
lecturers
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Home Phone Classroom Physical Classroom

Under the supervision of the learners, learners present
the findings of their group's research, discussion, and
debate.
Learners submit their homework via the LMS
Lecturers mark learners' Lecturers evaluate learner work results (research
homework on LMS objectives completed, skills)
Source: Authors’ proposal
To implement the above models optimally, education institutions need to develop

learning management systems, equip online platforms, and improve learning
environments, in addition to investing in technology. Adequate training, creative
centers, simulation labs, and teachers’ and learners’ preparation are some of the
issues that need to be addressed.
The role of the teacher will undoubtedly become more critical, and will shift from
imparting knowledge to instructing learners on how to approach and solve
problems. The demands on lecturers are undiminished; instead, lecturers need
advanced professional qualifications and teaching skills to support learners in
actively searching, organizing, and selecting information, not only at the level of
knowledge and understanding, but also knowing how to use, analyze, synthesize,
and criticize. The direct interaction between learners and lecturers, as an essential
part of education quality, has a strong emotional impact on learners, and is the
driving force that supports learners in discovering and mastering the process of
autonomous knowledge construction, to build up personal knowledge, and to
create new knowledge for society.
It is necessary to provide learners with adequate and appropriate technological
equipment, so that they can access course content outside the classroom. The
transition to so-called reverse learning requires a high degree of self-control, and
learners' imperfect time management could result in delayed results from self-
study, and lesson preparation. Extracurricular activities may not be attractive to
learners. In contrast, implementing an inverse model at an integrated level
significantly increases the amount of home learning experience (knowledge,
practice); however, if the monitoring and evaluation of the learning process is not
appropriate, learners may not be motivated to complete it.
9. Limitations
The study did not compare the effectiveness of perceptual learning before and
after interaction. Furthermore, due to limited data sources, this paper is unable to
compare the effectiveness of interaction with other universities in Vietnam, or
other countries in the region.
Acknowledgment
This research is funded by University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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Vol. 21, No. 11, pp. 409-425, December 2022
Received Sep 7, 2022; Revised Oct 28, 2022; Accepted Dec 3, 2022
Exploring the Facilitation of the Student

Learning Process Through Dominant Teaching
Techniques
Jehona Rrustemi
University of Prishtina, Prishtine
Vlora Sylaj*
University of Prishtina, Prishtine
Abstract. The study aimed to identify the facilitative function of teaching

techniques in the student learning process. Within the general aim, the
study also had specific objectives that identify certain aspects of the
facilitative function of teaching techniques in general and of some
teaching techniques in particular. These techniques include directed
reading and thinking activity (DRTA), directed reading activity (DRA),
mind maps, clustering, posters, two-part diaries, etc. The research
participants were teachers of the lower cycle, Grades I–V (N = 412), and
Grades III–V students (N = 6). The study was conducted using mixed
methods research. The instrument used for the collection of quantitative
data from teacher respondents was a questionnaire and for the collection
of qualitative data from student participants a semi-structured interview.
Quantitative and qualitative data yielded the same results. The
quantitative results showed that teaching techniques facilitate students’
learning process by incorporating the visual, aural, reading/writing, and
kinesthetic (VARK) model styles of students’ learning preferences. In
addition, the qualitative results showed different ways of facilitating the
learning process through learning with teaching techniques.
Keywords: Aural learning; reading and writing; teaching techniques;

visual learning
1. Introduction
From antiquity to the present day, there are still different perspectives regarding
the facilitation of the learning process. Plato, as a rationalist, developed the belief
that knowledge and truth can be revealed by self-reflection. Aristotle, as an
empiricist, used his senses to seek truth and knowledge. From his empirical basis,
*
Corresponding author: Vlora Sylaj, vlora.sylaj@uni-pr.edu
©Authors
410
Aristotle developed the method of data collection to study the world around him.
Socrates developed the dialectic method of discovering truth through
conversations with fellow citizens (Hammond et al., 2001).
Learning is a process of drawing connections between what is already known and

understood and new information. Thus, prior knowledge is important for the
learning process. Students learn in different ways and identifying individual
differences between students helps in planning the learning process. People can
be considered to possess a number of intelligences beyond the linguistic and
logical-mathematical abilities commonly emphasized in schools. Students have
differences in information processing that affect how they handle visual, aural, or
kinesthetic information (Hammond et al., 2012). The explosion of research work
in the field of cognitive psychology in the 1970s and 1980s created a large volume
of theories and scientific research, for learning in general and reading and writing
in particular. Although this research took place on different fronts, it is worth
mentioning the work of Anderson et al. (1985), who created a theoretical and
research program called scheme theory, which relies on the theory of
constructivism. This work showed the importance of student activity in building
knowledge, as well as the importance of existing knowledge of the student in the
learning process (Anderson et al., 1985).
The work of cognitive psychologists in general and scheme theorists in particular

has inspired the creation of new teaching techniques that encourage students to
actively seek knowledge. Worth mentioning are the evocation/realization of
meaning/reflection model, the “I know/I want to know/I learned” (KWL)
technique (Ogle, 1986), and the question of author technique. Cognitive
psychology has also provided theoretical and research support for many teaching
strategies/techniques that are already widely used, such as the directed reading
and thinking activity (DRTA) technique (Crawford et al., 2005)
The most appropriate tradition of criticism in literature regarding the

constructivist theory of learning is the reactive criticism of the reader. Formulated
by Rosenblatt (1978) and Bleich (1975), the theory of the reader’s reaction
emphasizes the role of the reader in constructing literary meaning. This includes
from imagining circumstances and characters through images and feelings,
created by direct or indirect experiences, up to the emphasis of certain events in
the text and the creation of interpretations for the text. Reader reaction theory also
attaches importance to the interpretive community of readers. When readers
discuss literary works with each other, a community of meaning is created
(Crawford et al., 2005). Such a community of performers facilitates the process of
understanding and learning in general. According to Westwood (2008), group
activities promote social interaction, language, and communication that derive
from constructivist classes. A widespread assumption of constructivist reasoning,
namely the application of teaching techniques, is that children are self-motivated
and self-regulating beings who will acquire their reading, communication,
writing, spelling, calculation, and problem-solving skills as a result of
involvement in teaching/learning activities. Therefore, direct teaching where
such activities are lacking is shameful, boring, and pointless (Westwood, 2008).
411
The Government of the United Kingdom has recommended a guide for interactive
teaching as a potential tool for increasing the achievement levels of students in
reading and writing. While the teaching lesson contains other components of
direct teaching, the application of the interactive model may be suitable for
different learning styles (Westwood, 2008).
This research is based on certain basic notions. The first is learning styles, the way
students attempt to receive new information and connect it to previous
knowledge and experiences (Santos, 2017). The second notion is: “Reflection is
defined as the process of engaging the self (S) in attentive, critical, exploratory and
iterative (ACEI) interactions with one’s thoughts and actions (TA), and their
underlying conceptual frame (CF), with a view to changing them and a view on
the change itself (VC)” (Nguyen et al., 2014, p. 2). The third notion underlying this
research is teaching methods – processes, principles and pedagogy that are used
by lecturers/teachers for classroom instruction to enable student learning
(Panmanivong, 2019). Collaboration, according to DuFour et al. (2010), has the
meaning of working together to achieve common goals with the purpose of all
participants learning.
The following research questions were formulated for this study:
• How much do teaching techniques facilitate the learning process of students
through the incorporation of learning styles, such as the visual, aural,
reading/writing, and kinesthetic (VARK) model styles?
by encouraging them to connect current knowledge with new knowledge?
by encouraging them to cooperate and interact during the learning process?
by activating them to analyze, synthesize, describe, and reflect on educational
issues?
• How much do teaching techniques include learning styles such as DRTA,
directed reading activity (DRA), mind-mapping, two-part diaries, KWL, hand
of questions, and the Venn diagram?
• Do students think that teaching techniques facilitate their learning process?
Contemporary theories related to student learning emphasize the fact that
different teaching techniques are useful for different types of learning. Depending
on what kind of learning is required in that context, it is then decided which
techniques may be most appropriate for that purpose. An individual’s strengths
and special points in intelligence have a direct impact on the way they learn
(Pritchard, 2009). According to Woolfolk (2011), learning preferences are the
preferred modes of learning and studying, for example through the use of pictures
instead of text or learning with a friend versus learning alone.
Learning is a complex process where teacher, learning material, student

motivation, and several other aspects interact with each other. Many aspects and
skills are learned unconsciously or without thinking. However, many aspects are
412
also learned consciously and which require use of different strategies (Jaleel &
Thomas, 2019).
Teaching techniques are normally used to teach students in better and easier
ways. Students learn differently and in varied ways. This means that students
prefer different learning styles, have different learning motivations, and differ
from each other in self-confidence. The learning style is the way in which a student
concentrates on, processes, absorbs, and retains the information. The interaction
of these elements occurs differently for individuals. Learning styles are
considered one of the most important factors for how students learn (Jaleel &
Thomas, 2019).
An individual’s learning style refers to their preferred way of gathering,

organizing, and thinking about information. The components of the VARK model
are sensory modalities that are used for learning; they are thus perceptive ways
through which students receive and express information (Fleming & Bonwell,
2019). Students may have a strong preference for one way of learning and have
weaknesses in other ways. The process of academic learning requires the use of
sight, speaking, listening, and reading/writing. Some students like to use all their
senses at once while experiencing their learning, and others may have a preference
to use a combination of the VARK components, for example visual and
reading/writing (V and R) or aural and kinesthetic (A and K) (Fleming & Bonwell,
2019).
The visual style of preference involves students having a preference for

information in graphics, symbols, arrows, circles, hierarchies, illustrations etc.
Special importance is also given to colors in creating meaning of the information
(Fleming & Bonwell, 2019). Students who have visual skills are characteristically
imaginative and can be creative and inventive. For this preference, the use of
visual aids is essential for teaching lessons, for example images, maps, figures,
and diagrams (Hussain, 2017).
The aural style involves the preference of students to learn by listening, and
includes oral comments, discussions, oral presentations, conversations, asking
questions, phone conversations etc. (Fleming & Bonwell, 2019). Students may be
helped through this style by organizing discussions between them, giving them
the freedom to ask questions, brainstorming, and organizing stories, fairy tales,
and poems (Hussain, 2017).
The reading/writing style emphasizes the student’s preference for learning and
receiving information through reading and writing. Students with this learning
preference generally learn by reading books and also prefer to learn by writing
quotes and essays, and free writing (Fleming & Bonwell, 2019). This style includes
the use mainly of reading and writing activities as well as techniques that
encourage reading to understand. DRTA, DRA, reflections, as well as techniques
that encourage students to write help students who prefer this learning style.
413
The kinesthetic style indicates the preference of students to learn through the use
of experience and practice (simulated or real) or even through the perception of
the experiences and practice of others. It is different even for those who learn by
doing (Fleming & Bonwell, 2019). The use of imitation, acting, interpretation, role
play, card games, and demonstrations helps students who prefer this learning
style (Hussain, 2017).
When there are discrepancies between a student’s learning style and the teacher’s
teaching style, the student may become upset and inattentive in the classroom. In
this context, teachers should be careful to use teaching techniques that engage
students of all learning preferences. The teacher’s knowledge of different types of
learning styles will thus help students in the learning process. Images are thought
to improve memory for two reasons. One system is verbal and used for
representation and thinking through language (Paivio, 2006). The second system
is nonverbal for the representation and processing of nonverbal information such
as images. When receiving information through reading or listening to words, one
or both systems can be activated.
If the information is coded both verbally and nonverbally, the probability of

remembering that information increases. Concept mapping is an effective strategy
to help students develop a conceptual understanding of complex prose. In
addition, teaching techniques that promote the group-and pair work facilitate the
learning process. Groupwork provides opportunities for students to engage in
classroom communication through collaboration. It equally helps to create a
stress-free atmosphere and motivation in the classroom, as students work
together in small groups instead of competing for recognition or grades.
Groupwork activities have the advantage of engaging students in interactive
communication and fostering social and participatory skills. Miller (2005)
recounted some ways to better remember learning content. These are: working in
pairs and in groups; drawing attention through teaching techniques; learning
visually through graphs, tables, and drawings; and using mnemonic techniques
and notes. The research aims to identify and describe the facilitative function of
dominant teaching techniques in facilitating the learning process of students.
3. Methods
3.1 Research Design
Contemporary teaching is characterized by the variety of applications of teaching
techniques which aim to facilitate the student learning process. To investigate the
facilitative effect of teaching techniques on the student learning process, we used
a mixed methods research design to investigate the effect in detail. In terms of
design, the research was exploratory and used a phenomenological model based
on teachers’ perceptions and experiences. Thus, the research falls within a
qualitative empirical paradigm (Cresswell, 2007).
A mixed methods research design is a procedure “mixing” both quantitative and

qualitative research and methods in a single study to understand a research
problem (Creswell, 2012). For the quantitative part, the questionnaire was
considered more appropriate, as it enabled the collection of data in several cities
414
of Kosovo. Through the questionnaire, we investigated the perceptions of primary

school teachers regarding the facilitative effect of teaching techniques in the
student learning process.
3.2 Population and Sampling

The focus of this research was to answer the research questions using teachers’
perceptions and students’ opinions. Since the research was of a mixed nature
utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods, the sample selection
in this research was guided by two philosophies.
In the quantitative research part, the sample was selected unbiasedly and
represented the population from which it was selected. The sample size was
determined according to the 95% confidence level and 5% error probability. Based
on the report Education statistics in Kosovo 2021/22 prepared by the Education
Information Management System (MASHT, 2022), 1746 primary and lower
secondary education teachers worked in the schools of the Municipality of
Pristina, of which 1378 were women and 368 men. Descriptive studies are
conducted, for example, when no previous studies have been conducted on a
topic, when topics for further research should be discovered, or when the attitude
towards a certain situation should be determined. A descriptive study is a
scientific study, and the proper choice of sample is important for its scientific
aspect.
According to Research Advisors (2006), to achieve a 95% confidence level, a

sample with a 5% margin of error should include 370 subjects. These
characteristics would require the theoretical sample to be larger than 300 declared
subjects. For the quantitative component, we considered going with a sample of
412 teachers. If certain irregularities (i.e., hypothetical) are to be calculated into
the sampling and administration of the questionnaires, then the “100 excess”
respondents (in the sense of over-sampling) would compensate for any
deficiencies that may have come from the alleged irregularities. The data obtained
from such a sample would strongly support a descriptive study. The sample was
selected according to the intentional model so that each teacher would have an
equal and independent chance of being selected.
For the qualitative component, the selection of students for the interviews was
done based on the preferences of teachers in selecting their students. Six students
participated in the interviews, two each in the third, fourth, and fifth grades.

The teacher questionnaire for data collection was developed in line with the
literature review and the aim of the research. The questionnaire summarizes the
questions related to the facilitative function of teaching techniques in the student
learning process. The questionnaire was defined by five evaluation scales to
categorize the respondents’ opinion on the items: I fully agree, I agree, neutral, I
disagree, and I fully disagree. During the research, the reliability of the questionnaire
was verified, and the calculations showed that the instrument had a high level of
reliability (α = .882, p = .000).
415
In addition, the sections of the questionnaire were analyzed to determine its

validity. Each dimension of each questionnaire was analyzed to understand the
relationship between them in order to establish validity. The validity of the
questionnaire turned out to be α = .867 and p = .000. The analyses were done using
Cronbach’s α coefficient. The fulfillment of these metric features of the
questionnaire thus ensured reliability and validity of the questionnaire.
The protocol of the semi-structured interview was compiled based on the general
questions of the questionnaire used for the collection of quantitative data. The
questions were simplified appropriately in order to obtain the opinions of the
participating Grades III–V students. The interview questions were designed based
on the level of knowledge of the students. We tried to elicit participants’ opinions
by mentioning the names of different teaching techniques, for example the
two-part diary, DRTA, DRA, mind map, clustering, or poster, accompanied by
description.
The questions addressed in the interviews were:
1. Do you learn more easily when the teacher divides a part of the story into
paragraphs and asks you to read, reflect on that read part, predict what
will happen next? Or does one student read and the others listen, then
reflect, ask and describe possibilities for the development of the event? We
are talking about DRTA and DRA techniques.
2. I believe you know the two-part diary!! Do you understand the lesson
more easily when you read it and then complete a two-part diary?
3. Do you know what clustering is? I believe your teacher wrote it on the
board? Do you learn and understand the lesson faster and easier?
4. With mind maps, have you ever learned in class? Did you understand the
lesson faster and easier?
5. Have you ever made a poster in class? Do you learn more easily when you
make a poster for any lesson?
3.4 Data Collection Procedure

The data collection procedure initially started with the piloting of the quantitative
research instrument with teachers in a school in Prishtina. The piloting was done
to identify the comprehensibility of the questions by the teachers with whom we
planned to conduct the research. After analysis of the data and completion of
improvements to the teacher’s questionnaire, the phase of conducting field
research began. The aim of the research and the contents of the questionnaire were
explained to the selected teachers in advance. We respected the ethics for
quantitative research. Teachers were informed that the questionnaire were to be
completed anonymously and that the data collected would only be used to
describe the facilitative function of teaching techniques in the learning process.
All teachers were informed that completion of the questionnaire was of their own
free will and that they had the right not to complete the questionnaire at all. All
this information was provided to teachers in their teachers rooms at the respective
schools, after which they completed the questionnaire in their free time. All
participating teachers thus had the opportunity to freely express their opinions
without being influenced by anyone. After collecting the questionnaires, the data
416
were coded and statistical analysis done using Statistical Package for the Social
Science (SPSS) SPS version 20.
The semi-structured interview with student participants was conducted to obtain

the perspectives of students regarding the facilitative function of teaching
techniques in the learning process. The selection of students for interviewing was
done according to research ethical principles. This involved their teachers first
being notified of the purpose of the interview, after which the teachers selected
the students according to their preferences. After this, the parents of the students
were informed of the purpose of interviewing their children, and after obtaining
the permission/consent of the parents, the teachers informed us and together we
determined the place and time for the student interviews. To elicit accurate
opinions from student participants, the questions were changed and simplified to
suit their level of knowledge. The students selected for the interviews were of
different grade levels, two students for each grade level from Grades III to V,
making a total of six students. Two students were selected from each grade for
interviews to obtain more complete information so that their opinions could
complement that of the other.
3.5 Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics were used, such as mean and standard deviation, for all
variables, both predictor and criterion variables. We used the average as a
descriptive statistic, whereby according to Fraenkel and Wallen (2009), the
average is one of the most used statistics in social science studies.
The average means the measurement of the central tendency, respectively the
point on which the data are concentrated, dividing 50% of the cases from the other
50% of cases. The standard deviation is the statistic used to measure the
distribution of data and their deviation from the mean. The larger the data
distribution than average, the greater the standard deviation (Fraenkel & Wallen,
2009). In this study, the mean and standard deviation were used to understand
the mean point of the data and the distribution of data from the mean. Their
implementation thus provided insight into the level of development of the
variables reported by the participants.
Analysis in the qualitative research component consisted of the descriptions of the

opinions of the student participants of the lower cycle (Grades III–V). Based on
the descriptive analysis of the qualitative part, the facilitative function of the
teaching techniques in the students’ learning process were accurately verified and
detailed. The findings were then analyzed based on thematic analysis. After this
phase, the functions of applying teaching techniques in the learning process were
identified and conceived. Data were grouped based on the research questions.
417
4. Results
In this section, we present and describe the results of the collected data.
4.1 Quantitative Research Component

Our study aimed to explore teachers’ perceptions of the facilitative function of
teaching techniques in the student learning process and to ascertain the positive
or negative relationship between teachers’ perceptions and students’ opinions.
We first aimed to identify whether teacher respondents integrated VARK learning
styles into their teaching techniques during the student learning process. The
mean and SD of teacher respondents’ perceptions of the facilitative function of
incorporating the VARK learning styles into their teaching techniques are
presented in Table 1.
The following results were yielded regarding how respondents integrated the
four learning styles into their teaching techniques: visual learning style
(M = 1.4543, DS = .68651); aural learning style (M = 1.5872, DS = .70301);
kinesthetic learning style (M = 1.7437, DS = .75426); and reading/writing learning
style (M = 1.5074, DS = .69828).
Table 1: Teacher perceptions of the facilitative function of teaching techniques

through the incorporation of the VARK styles of student learning
Teaching technique Mean SD n
Incorporate the visual learning style of students through
1.4543 .68651 405
graphics, illustrations, pictures etc.
Incorporate the aural learning style of students through
listening to conversations, class discussions, questions, 1.5872 .70301 407
and answers etc.
Incorporate the kinesthetic learning style of students
1.7437 .75426 398
through practice, simulation, play, gesture movement.
Incorporate the reading/writing learning style of
1.5074 .69828 406
students through encouragement to read, write etc.
Teacher respondents were also asked for other ways of facilitating the learning
process of students through teaching techniques. The mean and SD of teacher
respondents’ perceptions on facilitating the learning process through teaching
techniques are presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Teacher perceptions on facilitating the learning process through teaching

techniques
Teaching technique Mean SD n
Provide opportunities for students to make the
connection between previous knowledge and new 1.5074 .69828 404
knowledge.
Encourage student cooperation and interactive learning 1.5470 .69758 396
in the classroom.
Activate students in the learning process through
1.5736 .73855 394
questions, analysis, synthesis, description, reflection etc.
418
The following results were yielded based on the central tendency and data
distributions for the three techniques indicated in Table 2: “Provide opportunities
for students to make the connection between previous knowledge and new
knowledge” (M = 1.5074, DS = .69828); “Encourage student cooperation and
interactive learning in the classroom” (M = 1.5470, DS = .69758); and “Activate
students in the learning process” (M = 1.5736, DS = .73855).
Teacher respondents were furthermore asked to indicate which of the VARK

model styles can be incorporated into the respective teaching techniques. The
results are presented in Table 3.
Table 3: Teacher perceptions on which VARK styles can include the different teaching
techniques
Teaching technique No.
DRTA 272
DRA 271
Mind map 291
KWL 277
Veen diagram 264
Two-part diary 265
Poster 285
4.2 Qualitative Research Component

Regarding the facilitative function of the identified teaching techniques, we
obtained the opinions of student participants for the qualitative research
component. Data showed that participants learned more easily when these
teaching techniques are used in the student learning process in the classroom. The
following statements are proof of this:
“I learn easier because I write what I learn, and so I better remember what
I learn.” Participant 5
“I learn easier, and I understand the lesson faster.” Participant 4
“I learn more easily because I remember the way I did with clustering, so I
remember it longer.” Participant 3
“I usually prefer to always learn with different techniques, such as

mind-mapping, two-part diary etc.” Participant 2
According to the opinions of student participants, we conclude that what is seen

is better understood. According to Participant 1, the relevant techniques motivate
students to learn.
“I understand the lesson better, because I see what I learn; it encourages
me to think about what I learn, and write about what I learn.”
419
The above learning techniques also improve student learning:

“I understand learning better when I learn, for example with
mind-mapping, because I see how things relate; simply put, I enjoy
learning with mind-mapping.” Participant 6
The statements of student participants about the facilitative function of the

relevant teaching techniques show that students learn more easily using these
techniques. Participants indicated that they easily understand the lessons and that
they learn more easily because they write what they learn. In addition,
participants indicated that when they see what they learn, it makes them think
about what they learned, that is, according to them, that the dominant teaching
techniques serve as a motivating factor in learning.
Participants were asked whether their teacher used the DRTA or DRA
technique in reading a story and whether they generally understood better and
easier. The participants expressed their experiences thus:
“I learn easier and I am more attentive.” Participant 6
“I understand more easily, and I am more attentive, because I have to think

to give answers, for example, to predict what will happen in the story.”
Participant 2
“I understand the story better, because it is divided into parts, and for each
part, we reflect and also listen to the reflections of friends about the story.”
Participant 3
Nonetheless, only some of the student participants indicated that they knew the
DRTA and DRA techniques.
Regarding the use of posters as teaching technique and whether they liked them
and learned more easily when the teacher instructed them to make a poster in
groups with friends, participants indicated the following:
“I learn easier. It seems to me that tasks are done faster when we learn
together in a group; we ask for help from each other and offer help as well.”
Participant 4
“I like the poster, I learn more easily, and I feel safer because we share
responsibilities in the group, we help each other.” Participant 5
“I enjoy doing the lesson on the poster. I would like to do all the lessons on
the poster.” Participant 3
“I feel better when we learn in groups with friends and classmates.”

Participant 2
These participants’ attitudes showed that they learned easily and liked it when
the teacher instructed them to do a poster for the lesson in a group with friends.
420
5. Discussion
Our findings confirmed the facilitative function of teaching techniques during the
student learning process. The facilitative function of teaching techniques includes
visual, aural, reading/writing, and kinesthetic/practical learning styles. The
results showed that teaching techniques activate students in the learning process
and encourage them to make connections between their current knowledge and
new knowledge.
In addition, the opinions of the interviewed students showed that the teaching
techniques helped them to faster understand and better memorize the knowledge.
It enabled them to see what they learned, to hear about what they learned, to write
about what they learned, and to practice what they learned, thus keeping them
active during the learning process.
Regarding the DRTA technique, 272 respondents indicated that it included the
VARK learning styles. Furthermore, 271 respondents indicated that the DRA
technique included VARK learning styles, 291 that the mind map technique
included VARK learning styles, and 277 that the KWL technique included VARK
learning styles. Then, 264 respondents indicated that the Venn diagram technique
included VARK learning styles, 265 that the two-part diary included VARK
learning styles, and 285 that the poster included VARK learning styles.
Research has shown that literacy-related learning techniques facilitate the

learning of all types of content. In a report outlining how learning across content
areas is facilitated by instructional strategies (Section 7, n.d.), examples of such
techniques are the DRTA technique (Readence et al., 2000; Stauffer, 1969) and the
visualization technique, whereby students create visual images or pictures in their
minds while they are reading. Visualization helps improve comprehension and
memory (Keene & Zimmerman, 1997). The “graphic thinking organizers”
technique represents visual representations of the organization of ideas. These
representations clarify the relationship of ideas and help students to remember
ideas more easily (Readence et al., 2000).
Our findings are also supported by a study conducted by Ginting (2017) that
emphasized effective and facilitative teaching through learning based on student
learning styles. This study showed that there is a relationship between students’
learning styles, effective teaching, and facilitating the student learning process
(Ginting, 2017).
Hackathorn et al. (2011) sought to examine the effectiveness of four teaching

techniques (lectures, demonstrations, discussions, and in-class activities) in the
classroom. The findings indicated that each teaching technique has its own unique
benefits and is effective for various levels of learning. In-class activities lead to
higher overall scores than any other teaching method, while lecture methods lead
to the lowest overall scores of any of the teaching methods.
According to the perceptions of Kosovar teachers, the application of teaching

techniques stimulates cooperation and interaction between students. Our findings
421
coincide with the findings of Hurst et al. (2013). These scholars found that the social
interaction of students is important in improving their learning and increasing their
literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Also supporting our study
findings is the study of Wegner et al. (2013), who showed that teaching techniques
affect the improvement of students’ learning. This is achieved through collaborative
learning, where students support each other as a basic requirement for successful
learning. Our study identified the facilitative function of dominant teaching
techniques in the student learning process in general. This is evidenced by the study
of Hattie and Donoghue (2016). According to them, all techniques are important in
enhancing learning in general; however, the effectiveness of the teaching technique
depends on the phase of learning in which it is applied.
6. Conclusion
Based on the analysis in the quantitative component of the study, we can conclude
that the results proved the facilitative function of teaching techniques in the
learning process of students through the incorporation of VARK model learning
styles. In addition, the results showed that teaching techniques facilitate the
learning process of students by activating students in the learning process,
encouraging them to collaborate for learning problems, and encouraging them to
connect their current knowledge with new knowledge. Based on the teacher
respondents’ perceptions regarding teaching techniques, we can conclude that all
the teaching techniques mentioned in this study strongly emphasize the
reading/writing style, but also include the visual, aural, and kinesthetic styles. In
addition, the analysis of the results of the qualitative component of the study
coincided with the results of the quantitative component, showing that students
enjoy learning with teaching techniques and understand better and learn faster
and easier through teaching techniques.
It should be noted that the research was limited in its theoretical and empirical
examination. It relied on the function of teaching techniques in the incorporation
of only the VARK model as one of the most suitable models for facilitating Grades
I–V student learning with teacher surveys and student interviews. Future studies
can take these results into consideration to continue with other research of this
nature that will contribute to effective teaching and productive student learning.
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Appendix
Questionnaire for teachers Cycle 1-5
General instructions:
The purpose of the questionnaire is to highlight the functions of the
implementation of the dominant teaching strategies in the student's
learning. The data of the questionnaire will be used for the doctoral
thesis.
Your responses will be CONFIDENTIAL. The questionnaire is not
intended to offend teachers or the school or the education system of
Kosovo.
Please read the instructions carefully for each category of questions.
Try to be as honest as possible when giving your opinion by marking
with an X.
Mark with an X in the columns of the sections where you express your opinion.
(1) Fully disagree; (2) Disagree (3) Neutral; (4) Agree; (5) Fully agree.
Part I: The function of teaching techniques in facilitating the 1 2 3 4 5

learning process.
1. Incorporate the visual learning style of students through
illustrations, pictures and photographs.
2. Incorporate the auditive learning style of students through
listening to conversations, class discussions, questions, and
answers, etc.
3. Incorporate the kinesthetic learning style of students
through, manipulation with objects, play, gesture movement.
4. Incorporate the reading/ writing learning style of students
through encouragement, to read, write ese.
5. Provide opportunities for students to make the connection
between actual knowledge with new knowledge.
6. Encourage student cooperation and interactive learning in
classroom.
7. Activates students in the learning process.
Part VI: Different techniques and their incorporating in the learning process of
students
Mark with (x) which style incorporate each teaching techniques.
Dominant teaching Visual Auditive style Read/writing Kinestethic

techniques style style syle
1. Directed Reading and

Thinking Activity
(DRTA)
2. Directed Reading
Activity (DRA)
425
3.Poster
4. Two-part diary
5.Mind Map
6. I know / I want to
know / I learned (KWL)
7. Venn diagrams
Semi-structured interview protocol for students grades III-V

In the semi-structured interview, the questions were designed based on the level of
knowledge of the students. Therefore, the technical word of teaching has never been used
because we have been clear that the students do not understand this notion. We have tried
to get students' opinions by mentioning the names of different techniques such as: Two-
part journal, DRTA, DRA, Mind Map, Cluster, Poster accompanied by description.
1. Do you learn more easily when the teacher divides a part of the story into paragraphs
and asks you to read, reflect on that read part, predict what will happen next? Or does one
student read and the others listen, then reflect, ask and describe possibilities for the
development of the event? We are talking about DRTA and DRA techniques.
2. I believe you know the two-part diary!! Do you understand the lesson more easily when
you read it and then complete a two-part diary?
3. Do you know what Cluster is? I believe your teacher wrote it on the board? Do you learn
and understand the lesson faster and easier? Why do you understand the lesson easily?
4. With Mind map, have you ever learned in class? Did you understand the lesson faster
and easier? Why did you understand it more easily?
5. Have you ever made a poster in class? Do you learn more easily when you make a poster
for any lesson?
426

Received Aug 30, 2022; Revised Nov 21, 2022; Accepted Dec 5, 2022
Rwandan Senior Secondary Physics Students’

Views on Nature of Science
Jean Bosco Bugingo*

African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and
Science (ACEITLMS),
University of Rwanda – College of Education (UR-CE), Rukara Campus, Rwanda
Lakhan Lal Yadav

African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and
Science (ACEITLMS),
University of Rwanda – College of Education (UR-CE), Rukara Campus, Rwanda
Department of Mathematics, Science and Physical Education, UR-CE, Rukara Campus,
Rwanda
K. K. Mashood
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, India
Abstract. Although the nature of science (NOS) is recognized worldwide

as an important aspect of promoting the understanding of science subjects
in schools but very little research has been conducted in this regard in the
Rwandan context. This study investigates the status of Rwandan senior
secondary physics students’ views on NOS aspects. The instrument for
data collection in this study is made up of 30 items adapted from “Views
of Nature of Science-B”; “Student Understanding of Science and
Scientific Inquiry (SUSSI)”; and “Views of Nature of Science-C
(VNOS-C)”. After establishing the reliability of the instrument, we
administered this questionnaire to 148 senior secondary physics students
from four schools (i.e. randomly selected two boarding schools and two
day schools) from Kicukiro and Kayonza districts. Frequency, mean, and
standard deviation were calculated, and a t-test was used as part of the
data analysis. The findings of this study indicate that many of the
students have strongly held and naïve views about all targeted NOS
aspects. The naïve views are predominantly related to the tentative nature
of science; empiricism; the relationship between scientific theories and
laws; social contexts in knowledge construction; and scientific methods,
compared to other remaining targeted NOS aspects which are
observation and inferences; and imagination and creativity. The study
revealed that, overall, students’ understanding of NOS is not influenced
*Corresponding author: Jean Bosco Bugingo, bugingo2012@gmail.com
©Authors
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by gender or school location. However, a more detailed look shows slight

variations between male and female students on some items.
Keywords: Nature of Science (NOS); senior secondary physics students;
science; Views of Nature of Science (VNOS); naïve views
1. Introduction
Nature of science (NOS) and its awareness among secondary school students are
necessary in the present era, particularly its representation in the science
curriculum. This is because of its role in increasing the interest of students in
learning science and making it their career, developing critical thinking, and
helping learners to apply what they have learned (McComas, 2002; Rana et al.,
2015). In addition to this, understanding NOS helps students in building a strong
capacity for making informed decisions about scientific enterprises (NRC, 2012).
However, several research studies have indicated that secondary school students
have a steady and negative attitude toward science and harbor naïve views on the
understanding of NOS (Toma et al., 2019; Vázquez-Alonso et al., 2014; Yoon et al.,
2014).
One of the vital components in realizing an effective ‘understanding of science’ is
promoting the understanding of NOS and to improve adequate views of NOS
(Billingsley & Fraser, 2018; Das et al., 2019). This is because NOS clearly describes
the historical, social, and philosophical perspectives of science (Lederman, 2007).
NOS informed views refer to the abilities of students to understand, evaluate
scientific knowledge and develop deep learning in scientific methods and
processes (Liang et al., 2008).
Understanding and improving students’ views on NOS (Lederman et al., 2002)
have been of significant interest and researchable topics for science education
researchers (NRC, 2012; NGSS Lead States, 2013; McComas & Nouri, 2016).
Several attempts and interventions to improve students’ views on NOS in USA
(Abd-El-Khalick, 2013), Europe (Dagher & Erduran, 2017), and the Middle East
(Nur & Fitnat, 2015) were put in place. For instance, UK introduced NOS
standards in its science curriculum (Taber, 2008). Science curricula in countries
such as USA and New Zealand not only focused on cognitive knowledge but also
on the two standards that discussed NOS, which were identified among six
aspects (Hipkins, 2012). However, apart from the lack of explicit NOS
representation in teaching materials (Bugingo et al., 2022a; Caramaschi et al.,
2022), research studies across the globe are still reporting an inadequate
understanding of NOS among learners (Toma et al., 2019; Torres et al., 2015; Yoon
et al., 2014). In addition to this, little attention is paid to the integration of NOS
aspects, as observed in 24 Turkish middle science textbooks used from 1926 up to
2018 (Atakan & Akçay, 2022).
Contrary to the West, a very limited number of interventions and few initiatives
on improving students’ views about NOS and little effort in integrating NOS into
science curricula in Africa were identified (Bugingo et al., 2022b; Ibrahim et al.,
2009). For example, the South African natural science curriculum was identified
as a model curriculum in the region to help learners to develop NOS
understanding among students (Ogunniyi, 2006). Even though a few science
428
curricula have been refined versus NOS representation, the implicit approach was
reported as dominating (Upahi et al., 2020).
The deficit of NOS representation in science curricula and limited interventions
on NOS aspects in teaching aids materials are worrisome in East African
community countries (Kinyota, 2020; Kinyota & Rwimo, 2022; Munezero et al.,
2022). For instance, in a study by Bugingo et al. (2022a), a very poor, vague
representation of NOS was identified from four senior secondary school physics
curricula from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania. The literature on NOS
understanding among students in the region is still low, particularly in the
Rwandan context.
According to Ramnarain and Chanetsa (2016), it is vital to be aware of NOS
understanding among students before designing a science curriculum or
interventions that may ease NOS learning. Thus, the current study will contribute
to understanding the learning and teaching of NOS in the region.
This study may inform science educationists in the region, particularly in
Rwanda, which claims the promotion of a knowledge-based economy. A
knowledge-based economy is not achievable without emphasis on the
development of scientific enterprise. Implicitly, the existing secondary school
curriculum in Rwanda provides an opportunity to make students aware of the
nature of science (REB, 2015). However, the need for promoting explicit learning
and teaching of NOS is a key requirement to building a strong educational system
in Rwanda; to attaining and successfully sustaining high standards in science
education; and overcoming a declining number of learners in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects and traditional instructional
approaches (Uwizeyimana et al., 2018).
There is also no clear idea of how NOS is being integrated into the classroom if
traditional teaching methods are still dominating in Rwandan classrooms
(Ndihokubwayo, 2020), with little regard for the learners' acquisition of
transferrable skills. In addition, in Rwanda, little is known from the literature
about students' understanding of NOS. To address this issue, this study aimed to
analyze the status of the understanding of NOS among senior secondary physics
students in Kayonza and Kicukiro districts, Rwanda. Students’ understanding of
NOS knowledge may guide a framework for the betterment of their
understanding in this domain.
Research Questions
This study analyzed the responses of five senior physics students, on seven
aspects of NOS, using the following research questions.
1. What is the status of Rwandan physics students’ views towards NOS
aspects?
2. Is the Rwandan physics students’ understanding of NOS affected by
gender and school location?
429
2. Methodology
Research Approach Design
A mixed research approach was used to collect data. This approach was used due
to its nature of combining the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative data.
In this research design, the researchers gathered both quantitative and qualitative
data for a deep understanding of NOS views among students (Creswell & Plano,
2011; Fraenkel et al., 2012). The main questionnaire on NOS views was used for
collecting qualitative and quantitative data. After collecting the data from the
field, the quantitative data were first analyzed and reported, which was
complemented by qualitative data comparing the results in the discussion section.
Furthermore, the interpretation was drawn from these findings.
Data Collection Instrument and Reliability

The Views on Nature of Science Questionnaire (VNOSQ) is made up of 30 items of
close-ended questions to measure targeted NOS aspects (tentative; empirical;
observation and inferences; relationship between scientific theories and laws;
social and cultural contexts; creativity and imagination; and scientific methods).
At least four items were used to measure each NOS aspect. While selecting and
adapting the statements of the main questionnaire to assess students’ views on
NOS aspects, “Views of Nature of Science-B” (Lederman et al., 2002), “Student
Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry (SUSSI)” (Liang et al., 2008), and
“VNOS-C” (Lederman et al., 2002) for NOS were taken as reference.
Different items and open-ended questions developed by Lederman et al. (2002)
and Liang et al. (2008) were adapted in this study; a sample is shown in Table 1.
The 30 items were rated using the following five Likert scales: 1 = Strongly
Disagree (SD); 2 = Disagree (D); 3 = Neutral (N); 4 = Agree (A); and 5 = Strongly
Agree (SA). In addition, seven open-ended questions were also included in the
questionnaire to measure the same targeted NOS aspects. The first six open-ended
questions which related to tentative; empirical; observation and inferences; the
relationship between scientific theories and laws, social and cultural
embeddedness; creativity and imagination, and were adapted from VNOS-form
C and D (Lederman et al., 2002). The seventh open-ended question was about
scientific methods, adapted from SUSSI (Liang et al., 2008).
Table 1: A sample of adapted closed-ended items and open-ended questions
Part one: A Rating Scale

sample of
closed-ended
Statements
SD D N A SA
items
Some of the scientific theories produced by

1 1 2 3 4 5
scientists changed after their development.
It is possible that scientific knowledge may

2 1 2 3 4 5
change in the future.
Scientific theories may be completely replaced

3 1 2 3 4 5
by new theories in light of new evidence.
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With the help of technology development,

4 scientific knowledge approaches absolute 1 2 3 4 5
truth.
Scientific theories based on accurate

5 1 2 3 4 5
experimentation will not be changed.
Part two: A
With an example, explain why you think a scientific theory (for example,
sample of an
atomic theory) produced by scientists may be changed or do not change
open-ended
over time.
question
Before administering the questionnaire for piloting, the two senior faculty
members at our university helped to polish the instrument by checking the
content, format, and ambiguous statements and questions. The reliability index
was checked in the Rwandan context, and it was found to be 0.871, showing that
the instrument is reliable. The validity was also checked by assessing the same
NOS aspects for both quantitative and qualitative data. In addition to this, every
participant in this study was given the same number of items and open-ended
questions.
Participants and Data-Collection Procedures

Understanding NOS aspects require a high level of thinking about the
epistemology of science. If the participants come from low grades, a good number
of open-ended questions may be answered randomly and may lead to the
divergence of reality and false results. Therefore, senior five (S5) students from
the physics–chemistry–biology (PCB) combination were chosen. In Rwanda,
senior five students are in mid-senior high school experience; students of this class
(S5) are ready to respond to any co-curricular activity, as they are not being freshly
introduced to secondary physics topics, and not preparing for national
examinations. They are readily willing to react to any activity which requires
thinking in physics, as well as in science, due to their skills and competencies from
previous years of study.
The sample size for this study comprised A-level students who study physics as
a major subject, specifically in PCB combination from Kicukiro and Kayonza
districts. A total number of 148 students were sampled (Table 2). Purposive
sampling was considered while selecting the districts, and the day schools and
boarding schools were randomly selected. The whole class was used to address
the bias issue in the selection of students (Fraenkel et al., 2012). The two schools
(i.e. one day and one boarding school) were selected in each district which led
researchers to collect data from four schools.
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Table 2: Sample size of participants administered in the study
Variable Number of students Percentage
Male 80 54.1
Gender Female 68 45.9
Total 148 100.0
Urban 96 64.9
School Location Rural 52 35.1
Total 148 100.0
Data Analysis of the Findings

Microsoft Office Excel and SPSS version 21.0 allow data entry and analysis
respectively. Frequency, percentage, and central tendency measures were
computed to investigate research question one, while a t-test and a 0.05
significance level were used to answer research question two. Thematic analysis
was used to analyze the qualitative data in which different categories were drawn
from the participant’s responses.
3. Findings
The findings of this study are presented using descriptive statistics and inductive
reasoning. In addition, the results are compared to other findings with related
interests. Before running any descriptive and inferential statistics about NOS
aspects versus different variables, the similarity and consistency of variance were
calculated and checked through Levene’s test. The findings noted a similarity
between variables. Sig. value was found to be p ˃ 0.05 as shown in Table 3.
The findings also indicated that senior secondary physics students in Rwanda
hold strong misconceptions in five NOS aspects as shown in Table 4. However,
the scientific method is highly ranked as an aspect that is very difficult to
understand among all seven targeted NOS aspects.
Table 3. The variability of scores between variances
Levene's test for equality of variances

NOS aspect Gender School location
Sig.value Sig.value
Tentative nature of scientific
0.136 0.999
knowledge
Empirical nature of science 0.685 0.170
Observation and inferences 0.779 0.612
Relationship between scientific laws
0.764 0.398
and theories
Creativity and imagination in science 0.293 0.675
Social and cultural contexts in science 0.546 0.794
Scientific methods in science 0.724 0.849
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Physics Students’ Views on Different NOS Aspects

To investigate the physics students’ views on targeted NOS aspects, frequency (f),
percentage (%), mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) were generated; this is
shown in Table 4.
Table 4 indicates that the physics students hold naïve views on all seven targeted
aspects of NOS. The results revealed that most of the respondents (117 students)
disagreed (combining ‘Strongly Disagree’ and ‘Disagree’) with the tentative
nature of scientific knowledge (79.1%, M=1.96, SD=0.058), where M is the mean of
responses of students for all items related to an aspect of NOS on Likert scale. A
total of 115 students (77.7%, M=1.93, SD=1.082) disagreed on the empirical nature
of science.
On the aspect of ‘observation and inferences’, 102 students (68.9%, M=2.24,
SD=1.149) disagreed. A further 116 students (78.4%, M=1.93, SD=0.967) disagreed
on the aspect of the ‘relationship between scientific laws and theories’. Above half
of the students were found with naïve views on ‘creativity and imagination in
science’, of which 87 students disagreed (58.8%, M=2.46, SD=1.293). A large
number (110) of students (74.3%, M=2.01, SD=1.024) disagreed on the influence of
‘social and cultural contexts’ in developing science. ‘Scientific methods in science’
was identified as a NOS aspect among other targeted NOS aspects in which a large
number (120) of students (81.8%, M=1.83, SD=0.991) were found with strong
misconceptions.
As indicated in Table 4, a slightly high mean (2.46) and standard deviation (1.293)
were noted in ‘creativity and imagination in the science’ aspect compared to other
NOS aspects. This is because a considerable number of participants showed
informed views of some items under this aspect. For example, this study indicates
a considerable number (48) of respondents (32.4%, M = 2.70, SD = 1.375) who hold
informed views on an item that states ‘scientists use their imagination and
creativity only when they design experiments’.
Therefore, this study noted a good number of physics students who demonstrated
an understanding of some items of creativity and imagination aspect versus other
targeted NOS aspects in this study.
Table 4. Physics students’ views on emphasized aspects of NOS

Strongly Strongly
Disagree Agree
Neutral
and and Mean
NOS aspect SD
Disagree Agree M
f (%) f (%) f (%)
117(79.1) 15(10.1) 16(10.8) 1.96 1.058
knowledge
Empirical nature of science 115(77.7) 14(9.5) 19(12.8) 1.93 1.082
Observation and inferences 102(68.9) 20(13.5) 26(17.6) 2.24 1.149

Relationship between scientific
116(78.4) 17(11.5) 15(10.1) 1.93 0.967
laws and theories
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Creativity and imagination in

87(58.8) 22(14.9) 39(26.3) 2.46 1.293
science
Social and cultural contexts in
110(74.3) 21(14.2) 17(11.5) 2.01 1.024
science
Scientific methods in science 121(81.8) 14(9.4) 13(8.8) 1.83 0.991
The findings in Table 4 show that the senior secondary physics students in
selected four schools hold inadequate views in all targeted NOS aspects.
Particularly, they have strong misconceptions in five NOS aspects, namely
‘scientific methods’, ‘tentative nature of science’, ‘the relationship between
scientific laws and theories’, ‘empirical nature of science’, and ‘social and cultural
contexts in science’.
Strong misconceptions in above mentioned five aspects are indicated by a big
number of students who hold uninformed views on some items from those
aspects. For instance, on the ‘tentative nature of science’, most of the students
(85.9%) though that absolute truth about scientific knowledge can be reached with
the help of technological development. The same number of students (85.9%)
agreed with an item under the aspect of the scientific method which stated that
‘when scientists use the scientific method correctly, their results are true and
accurate’.
Looking at ‘the relationship between scientific laws and theories’, 81.8% of
students viewed that ‘scientific theories have to be proven several times to become
scientific laws’. The item ‘the acceptance of scientific theory entirely depends on
experimental evidence’, under empirical nature of science was identified with the
highest percentage (90.6%) of students with strong misconceptions compared to
the other items used in the data collection.
Understanding of NOS Aspects by Gender

The understanding of NOS aspects by male and female physics students was
analyzed using central tendency measures such as means and standard deviation,
in addition to frequency and percentage. The t-test was also used for equality of
means to determine whether there is no influence of gender on the understanding
of targeted NOS aspects in this study. Table 5 indicates the frequency and
percentages of physics students concerning their gender who hold naïve and
informed views of targeted NOS aspects, while Table 6 compares the mean to
check whether the views on NOS are influenced by students’ gender.
434
Table 5. Understanding of physics students’ views of emphasized aspects of NOS by

gender
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

Neutral
and Disagree and Agree
NOS Aspect Male Female Male Female Male Female
N = 80 N = 68 N = 80 N = 68 N = 80 N = 68
f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%)
Tentative nature of
64(80.0) 50(73.5) 6(7.5) 12(17.7) 10(12.5) 6(8.8)
scientific knowledge
Empirical nature of
63(78.7) 52(76.5) 5(6.3) 9(13.2) 12 (15.0) 7(10.3)
science
Observation and
55(68.8) 47(69.1) 9 (11.2) 11(16.2) 16 (20.0) 10(14.7)
inferences
Relationship between
scientific laws and 65(81.2) 52(76.5) 8(10.0) 9(13.2) 7(8.8) 7(10.3)
theories
Creativity and
46(57.5) 42(61.8) 12(15.0) 10(14.7) 22(27.5) 16(23.5)
imagination in science
Social and cultural
60(75.0) 55(80.2) 9(11.2) 12(17.7) 11(13.8) 6(8.8)
contexts in science
Scientific methods in
67(83.7) 54(79.4) 7(8.8) 7(10.3) 6(7.5) 7(10.3)
science
Examining the frequency (f) and percentages of students in Table 5, the findings
indicate that the understanding of NOS aspects by students' gender is not
significantly different. The findings also reveal that a large number of both males
(55% and above) and females (60% and above) hold an inadequate understanding
of all targeted NOS aspects as shown in Table 5.
The findings in Table 6 indicate that there is no considerable difference in physics
students’ views on NOS concerning gender as the p-value is greater than 0.05.
Table 6 indicates the comparison of the central tendency measures, such as mean
and standard deviation of the understanding of NOS aspects by students’ gender.
Table 6. Comparison of the students’ understanding of NOS aspects by gender

Students’ gender
t-test for equality of means
Male Female
NOS aspect
N = 80 N = 68
Mean M(SD) Mean M(SD) t-value Df Sig. p
1.90(1.116) 2.04(0.965) -1.544 146 0.125
knowledge
Empirical nature of science 1.90(1.092) 1.97(1.057) -0.724 146 0.470
Observation and inferences 2.28(1.198) 2.21(1.076) 0.340 146 0.734

1.86(0.922) 2.02(0.994) -1.866 146 0.064
scientific laws and theories
2.50(1.341) 2.42(1.234) 0.714 146 0.477
science
435

2.00(1.056) 2.01(0.991) -0.026 146 0.979
science
Scientific methods in science 1.78(0.987) 1.89(0.993) -1.361 146 0.176
As shown in Table 6, a t-test was run to compare students’ views on the ‘tentative
nature of science’ for males and females. The findings of the analysis show that
there is no considerable difference in understanding between males (M = 1.90, SD
= 1.116) and females [M = 2.04, SD=0.965; t (146) = -1.544, p= 0.125]. Similar
understandings between males (M = 2.28, SD = 1.198) and females [M = 2.21, SD
= 1.076; t (146) = 0.340, p = 0.734] were identified on the aspect of ‘observation and
inferences’. It was also noted that the understanding of ‘the relationship between
scientific laws and theories’ is not significantly different between males (M = 1.86,
SD = 0.922) and females [M = 2.02, SD = 0.994; t (146) = -1.866, p = 0.064]. There is
no significant difference in understanding of ‘creativity and imagination in
science’ between males (M = 2.50, SD = 1.341) and females [M = 2.42, SD = 1.234;
t (146) = 0.714, p = 0.477].
There is no significant difference in the understanding of ‘social and cultural
contexts in science’ between males (M = 2.00, SD = 1.056) and females [M = 2.01,
SD = 0.991; t (146) = -0.026, p = 0.979] and, like other targeted NOS aspects in this
study, ‘scientific methods in science’ also did not mark the significant difference
in understanding between males (M = 1.78, SD = 0.987) and females [M = 1.89, SD
= 0.993; t (146) = -1.361, p = 0.176].
The overall effect of gender on NOS understanding among students is not
significantly different, but examining each item used in the data collection in-
depth, a slight difference in NOS understanding versus gender was noted. For
instance, the findings showed that males (81.2%) hold an inadequate
understanding of the item ’Some of the scientific theories produced by scientists
changed after their development’ compared to the females (66.1%). On the item
‘Scientific theories may be completely replaced by new theories in the light of new
evidence’, the study reported that males (80.0%) hold significantly more naïve
views than their female counterparts (66.1%).
Additionally, this study reveals that females hold inadequate NOS understanding
of observations and inferences and creativity and imagination. For example, on
the item ‘scientists may make different interpretations based on the same
observable phenomenon’, it was noted that females (79.4%) hold significantly
more naïve views compared to males (66.2%). Furthermore, an item that stated
that ‘when scientists use the scientific method correctly, their results are true and
accurate’ was identified as an item under the scientific method in which both
males (86.2%) and females (85.2%) students hold strong misconceptions.
Understanding of NOS Aspects by School Location

The schools’ location indicated in this study refers to urban schools and rural
schools. The results indicated that the schools’ location does not affect the
understanding of NOS aspects as shown in Table 7.
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Table 7. Understanding of NOS aspects by school location

School Location t-test for Equality of
Urban Rural Means
NOS Aspect
N = 81 N = 67
Mean M(SD) Mean M(SD) t-value Df Sig. p
1.97(1.073) 1.96(1.044) -0.060 146 0.952
knowledge
Empirical nature 1.95(1.112) 1.91(1.042) 0.346 146 0.730
Observation and inferences 2.20(1.112) 2.29(1.185) 0.062 146 0.951
1.91(0.945) 1.96(0.980) -0.474 146 0.636
scientific laws and theories
2.52(1.353) 2.39(1.221) 1.075 146 0.281
science
1.99(1.038) 2.03(1.011) -0.475 146 0.635
science
Scientific methods in science 1.90(1.027) 1.75(0.940) 1.809 146 0.073
According to Table 7, the findings of the analysis show that there was no
considerable difference in understanding of ‘the tentative nature of science’ for
urban (M = 1.97, SD = 1.073) and rural [M = 1.96, SD=1.044; t (146) = -0.060, p=
0.952] school students. There is no significant difference in understanding on
‘observation and inferences’ for urban (M = 2.20, SD = 1.112) and rural [M = 2.29,
SD = 1.185; t (146) = 0.062, p = 0.951] school students. It was also noted that the
understanding on ‘relationship between scientific laws and theories’ was not
significantly different between urban (M = 1.91, SD = 0.945) and rural [M = 1.96,
SD = 0.980; t (146) = -0.474, p = 0.636] school students. There is no significant
difference in understanding of ‘creativity and imagination in science’ between
urban (M = 2.52, SD = 1.353) and rural [M = 2.39, SD = 1.221; t (146) = 1.075, p =
0.281] students. There is no significant difference in understanding of ‘social and
cultural contexts in science’ between urban (M = 1.99, SD = 1.038) and rural [M =
2.03, SD = 1.011; t (146) = -0.475, p = 0.635] and like other targeted NOS aspects in
this study, ‘scientific methods in science’ also did not mark the significant
difference in understanding between urban (M = 1.90, SD = 1.027) and rural [M =
1.75, SD = 0.940; t (146) = 1.809, p = 0.073].
4. Discussion of the Findings

The findings from close-ended questions indicate that the senior secondary
physics students in Rwanda hold an inadequate understanding of all seven
targeted aspects of NOS. Particularly, strong misconceptions were identified in
five NOS aspects, namely ‘scientific methods’, ‘tentative nature of science’, ‘the
relationship between scientific laws and theories’, ‘empirical nature of science’,
and ‘social and cultural contexts in science’. A large number of students who hold
uninformed views on these aspects was noted.
In addition to the students’ answers to close-ended questions as shown in Table
4, the misunderstanding about targeted NOS aspects among students was also
clearly seen in students’ answers to open-ended questions which accompanied
close-ended questions on each NOS aspect. For example, many students showed
inadequate views on the ‘tentative nature of science’ as described.
437
One student coded with S014 wrote that “It may be changed when the scientific
methods are used incorrectly and may not be changed when scientists use accurate
experimentation which leads to the true and permanent scientific theories”. A student
with a code of S034 said “I think, they should not be changed but there should be some
innovation but not replacing or removing old scientific theories by the new ones”.
Another student with a code of S056 mentioned that "for example, the atomic theory
will not change because it has been proved as a correct theory. So, if it is correct, the theory
has to remain the same so that it can be applied in our daily life”.
A student with a code of S062 said that scientific theory may not be changed
because it is difficult to see scientists who may change their laws and theories. A
student with code S138 also confirmed an inadequate understanding of the
tentative nature by saying that “scientific theory does not change over time because
scientists had provided all evidence necessary required to explain it well”.
Open-ended responses from the participants confirm the quantitative findings in
which many respondents hold strong misconceptions about ‘the relationship
between scientific theories and laws’. For instance, a student with a code of S005
answered that “scientific theories are proposed statements which are not fully accepted
universally while scientific laws are fully accepted worldwide”. A participant with a
code S067 said that “scientific theories cannot change but scientific laws may change”.
A student with a code S115 justified why scientific theories may change by saying
that Thomson’s atomic theory was opposed by Rutherford, but the same student
(S115) urged that scientific laws cannot be changed because they are permanent
inventions. Another student with a code of S127 showed a misconception about
the relation between scientific laws and theories while confirming that ‘scientific
theories have to be proved several times to become scientific laws’.
The results converge with that of a study by Yoon et al. (2014) and that of Yadav
and Shrivastava (2007), where their studies reported that the most of respondents
held an insufficient knowledge of the NOS. The findings also agree with other
studies which found that students hold inadequate views on the NOS (Dogan &
Abd–El–Khalick, 2008; Yenice & Saydam, 2010). Similar results were also noted in
a study by Herman et al. (2022), in which many participants were found with a
strong misconception about the scientific method. For instance, the participants
opined that science must follow a single set method. The findings of this study are
aligned with that of Yacoubian (2021) in which three of four interviewed
participants showed inadequate understanding of the tentative aspect of NOS and
the relationship between laws and theories. In this study, one student urged that
facts and laws will not change and added that laws are unchangeable because they
have been proven through different scientific approaches (Yacoubian, 2021).
Several research studies reported that gender may influence conceptual
understanding and students’ performance in science subjects (Lin et al., 2016). For
instance, in a study by Acar et al. (2015), females scored better than their
counterparts in conceptual knowledge physics test. In addition to this, some
studies carried out in Rwanda also showed that gender and school location affect
students’ perception and performance of scientific subjects (Bizimana et al., 2022;
Mukagihana et al., 2021). In this regard, the focus is on the investigation of the
influence of these factors for further recommendations to improve smooth
learning of NOS aspects in the Rwandan context.
438
Subsequently, the findings of this study show that students’ gender and their
understanding of NOS are not connected. Similar findings were reported in
several research studies. For example, Acar et al. (2015), found that there was no
difference between “males and females in scientific reasoning and NOS
understanding among physics students”. Similar findings were also reported in
studies by Dogan and Abd–El–Khalick (2008) and Tsybulsky et al. (2017), where
these researchers found that NOS understanding among students was not
influenced by their gender.
Furthermore, the results of this study also indicated that schools’ location does
not influence the understanding of the NOS aspects. These results are consistent
with that of Yenice and Saydam (2010) and Yoon et al. (2014) who reported that
the student’s residence does not affect the understanding of NOS aspects. The
findings in a study by Ntibi and Edoho (2017) also lead to the conclusion that this
is no effect of school location on NOS understanding among students.
However, other researchers found that these factors may influence the conceptual
understanding of nature of scientific knowledge (Kiliç et al., 2005). Therefore, this
study recommends further investigation of these factors for different grades of
students.
5. Conclusion and Recommendations

The major goal of this study is to fill the gap in the literature, in the context of
Rwanda, on views of NOS among secondary school physics students. The study
may also help science education researchers in the region to identify or develop
effective interventions to improve NOS understanding among Rwandan or East
African community students.
This study revealed that Rwandan physics students show misconceptions about
all targeted NOS aspects. The study also indicated that students have strongly
held naïve views in five aspects (‘scientific methods’; ‘tentative nature of science’;
‘scientific laws and theories’; ‘empirical nature of science’; and ‘social and cultural
contexts of science’) compared to the remaining NOS aspects considered in this
study. For instance, most participants believed that accurate experimentation
leads to permanent scientific theories. Many students opined about true and
accurate results “when scientists use the scientific method correctly”. Most of the
students in this study said that “scientists follow a single universal step-by-step
scientific method” to produce knowledge. In addition to this, many students in this
study opined that scientific theories have to be proven several times to become
scientific laws. The student’s gender and school location were identified as factors
that do not influence the understanding of NOS. The results showed that both
male and female students hold similar naïve views towards all targeted NOS. The
study also indicated that there is no significant influence of either boarding or day
schools. The results also indicated that both schools from rural and urban areas
share similar naïve views on all targeted NOS aspects.
Strongly held naïve views among most Rwandan secondary school students on
several aspects of NOS indicate some serious problems in teaching/learning
science. There may be several reasons for it. It seems that there is a low
representation of NOS in the physics curriculum and textbooks for secondary
school students, and/or teachers might not be using appropriate methods to teach
439
aspects of NOS. Secondary school teachers might also be having naïve

conceptions of NOS, which may be due to poor pre-service training of physics
teachers on aspects of NOS. These plausible reasons need to be further
investigated.
The present study did not investigate the reasons why Rwandan students have
naïve conceptions of different aspects of NOS. Further studies are needed to check
to which extent various interventions may affect the students’ views on NOS. It is
very important for science educators in the region, particularly in Rwanda, to
review science teaching materials vis-à-vis the integration of NOS aspects.
6. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to send warm thanks to the ACEITLMS for financial
support. Thanks are due to Kayonza and Kicukiro Education Officers for
providing permission to conduct research in both districts.
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Received Sep 2, 2022; Revised Nov 28, 2022; Accepted Dec 5, 2022
Formative Research to Strengthen Enquiry

Competence in University Students
Osmer Campos-Ugaz
Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo, Chiclayo, Perú
Walter Antonio Campos-Ugaz

Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo, Chiclayo, Perú
Ronald M. Hernández
Silvia Georgina Aguinaga Doig

Janeth Benedicta Falla Ortíz

Miguel A. Saavedra-López
Universidad Continental, Cusco, Perú
Rafael Garay-Argandoña
Universidad de San Martín de Porres, Lima, Perú
Abstract. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the effectiveness

of formative research in strengthening enquiry competence in university
students. In this sense, a single-group design with pre-test and post-test
was used, with a purposive sample of 102 subjects. The instrument used
was a rubric, characterised by very high valuations, in terms of validity
criteria (0.917) and reliability (0.869). The results obtained exceeded
expectations, which were corroborated by the Wilcoxon statistical test;
since the theoretical significance α = 0.05 is superlative, when compared
to the observed significance, Sig.=000; consequently, the null hypothesis
was categorically rejected. In short, the proposal, consisting of five
stages: sensitisation, adoption, interaction, evaluation and confrontation,
proved its effectiveness in the enhancement of investigative knowledge,
such as the problematisation-theorisation-checking of reality.
Undoubtedly, great advances in initial training that have an impact not
only in raising the quality of scientific production, but also in making
©Authors
444
sustainable the development of research skills for subsequent

performance in the professional field and for improving quality in
universities.
Keywords: formative research; research knowledge; problematisation;

theorisation; verification
1. Introduction
One of the pillars of progress in societies is under the responsibility of universities,
promoters of enquiry skills as integrated knowledge, also aligned to the
production of new knowledge to solve contextual demands. In our country,
universities consider the research component as fundamental and unavoidable,
whose purpose is to train competent professionals, suitable to solve problems
with scientific rigidity. In this perspective, the competence investigates on a real
level; and it is understood as the ability of an individual to use scientific
knowledge and to be able to distinguish problems of reality, to study them, to
understand them and to explain them through specialised techniques, such as the
use of the scientific method, to obtain conclusions based on objectively relevant
data (Chávez et al., 2022, Vargas & Sito, 2021, Rubio et al., 2018).
It has as a fundamental pillar, the development of intellectual capacity, through

specialised techniques and of the procedures of a scientific nature (Rojas, 2020);
allowing a researcher to perform effectively (Fernández & Villavicencio, 2017).
Likewise, Alfaro and Estrada (2019) mention that for the development of this
competence, the cognitive aspect and the abilities to put acquired knowledge into
practice are necessary. In sum, attitudes, knowledge and enquiry skills allow
performing research tasks efficiently and effectively, contributing to the quality of
the study (Casanova et al., 2020).
The subject in question is very important in professional training; however, its

development continues to grow in training institutions in the region and at the
national level, with values far below those of countries, such as Brazil, Chile,
Uruguay, Mexico and Colombia. From this analysis, initial training programs in
Latin American universities, to date, have not produced sustainable changes in
innovation, development and research (IDI). Specifically in Peru, despite its
considerable progress in regulatory matters, public policies, it is worth
mentioning the University Law in its articles 7-48-51 (Law No. 30220), the quality
models under standards 22, 23, 24 (SINEACE, 2018) and the basic conditions IV-
V contemplated by the National Superintendence of University Higher Education
(SUNEDU, 2019); there is still no noticeable increase in the number of scientific
publications, for example. In view of all this, there is a great expectation that
academic action will achieve the goals of continuous improvement and the
incorporation of new knowledge useful for the progress of societies.
Meanwhile, there is a good predisposition for scientific enquiry on the part of

Peruvian university students; however, there are deficiencies in the formative
aspect of this process. A study that agrees with this statement corresponds to that
of Hernández et al. (2021), who point out in a descriptive comparative study,
carried out with Peruvian (n: 468) and Spanish (n: 485) undergraduate students,
445
that more than 50% of the Peruvian university students evaluated have a positive
attitude towards research, compared to only 23.5% of Spanish students. However,
the quality of research training is at a lower level compared to the European
countries. The latter constitute the starting point and lend suitability to the
characterisation promoted in the study, from a theoretical-pragmatic perspective.
With reference to the above, it is evident that Latin American universities do not
manage to consolidate scientific research, as a social policy, articulated with
regional, national and international problems. A study showed that the number
of scientists in Peru is very low, with a total of 0.01% of the population, compared
to that of other countries. Moreover, one out of ten research-projects is developed
by private institutions (De la Cruz - Vargas & Rodriguez-Chavez, 2019). This
could be due to the fact that higher levels training is mainly formative-assistenial
and the curriculum in most cases provides little relevance to research subjects, i.e.,
subjects are considered in the curriculum, but writing and publishing scientific
articles is not taught (Hernández et al., 2022). This preliminary evidence shows
the need to promote scientific activity, due to the limited number of researchers
and scarce scientific production by teachers, students and graduates, which affects
the quality of research work and the time required to obtain a degree.
According to Scimago Institutions Rankings [SIR] (2021), Peru ranks sixty-fifth

(234) worldwide and sixth (48) in Latin America, with 6104 documents. This is
probably due to the slow progress of IDI management in training institutions. In
this reality, a high percentage of undergraduate and postgraduate students of
various Peruvian training institutions are located in this situation; a worrying
situation that needs the intervention of professionals with concrete, viable and
relevant proposals. Based on these premises, a diagnosis was made in
undergraduate students, the puppose of which purpose was to know their present
enquiry competence. As a result, multiple difficulties that interfere in the
development of their academic activities were experienced. One of the most
outstanding characteristics in the research is reflected at the moment of
identifying the research problem, explaining with precision the causes and the
consequences of the identified need, and the limitations in carrying out the
general description and discernment of the existing state, referring to the specific
area of research, among others linked to the scientific formulation of the problem
(problematisation).
On the other hand, students show deficiencies to elaborate, select and understand
theories that allow them to propose innovative solutions, with scientific rigour
and ethical criteria, leading to concrete improvement actions (theorisation). It was
also evidenced in the participants, with notorious difficulties in the fieldwork
phase: the use of a methodology that is not very pertinent for the collection,
processing and analysis of qualitative-quantitative data. Another limitation noted
is the lack of ability to effectively communicate the most important findings and
to discuss the data collected, based on previous studies and the various theories
cited (reality check).
In congruence with the problem, it is affirmed that the enquiry competence of the
students in the study sample, referring to the problematisation, theorisation and
verification of reality, needs to be strengthened; since these are necessary to
446
promote scientific production from the classroom. Along these lines, the study by
Gómez-Escorcha et al. (2020) agrees, stating that the research component in the
initial training provided by Peruvian universities is scarce, formative exploration
is not prioritised, consequently, there are great deficiencies in the research skills
of university students, evidenced at the time of formulating the study problem,
the hypothesis, analysing statistical and qualitative data; they also show
difficulties in drawing conclusions, recommendations, disseminating results,
among other basic research categories.
In the described context and in order to reduce the existing knowledge gap, the
scientific question is formulated: how to strengthen the enquiry competence in
university students? In response to this, it was proposed to demonstrate the
effectiveness of formative research (Sensitisation, Adoption, Interaction,
Assessment and Confrontation: SAIVC) in strengthening enquiry competence in
university students. The following was also stated as an a priori conjecture:
SAIVC formative research will strengthen enquiry competence in university
students. Under this logic, it was pointed out that formative research, seen as a
classroom learning process, stimulates the development of an enquiry culture in
students, thereby enabling them to discover scientific findings, enhancing their
skills and interests in relation to research and strengthening their other learning
capabilities (Álvarez et al., 2021 and Espinoza, 2020).
Therefore, the present study questions how useful it can be to train early in
research, and whether this raises the quality standards in universities? Therefore,
it is intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of formative research in
strengthening enquiry competence in university students, since this competence
is an essential and mandatory function of the university, which promotes and
executes it, responding through the production of knowledge and development
of technology applied to the needs of society (University Law No. 30220). Thus,
the impact of the study can materialise in advances in university management; as
inferred from the analysis of Dáher et al. (2018); Vergara et al. (2018) and Turpo et
al. (2020) when they linked the progress of research with the policies adopted by
training institutions, as a quality assurance system.
1.1 The Theoretical Foundation

1.1.1. Formative research
Esparza and Morales (2021) suggest that formative research can become an active
teaching-learning process, a methodological strategy or a useful tool in the
acquisition of knowledge. Espinoza (2020) and Escobar (2020) characterise it as a
type of enquiry directed by a teacher, in which the tasks are shared with the
students; by the way in which it makes it possible to discover and build
knowledge. This variable also means instructing, accompanying and supporting
in, and for exploratory activities, with the purpose of involving the students in the
active construction of their learning, through the search for information, reflection
and analysis through an instruction oriented to the solution of problematic
realities in the different professional fields (Mejía and Velásquez, 2021). In short,
it is intended that students should learn the benefits of enquiring through their
own enquiry practices.
447
Additionally, the purpose of formative research is to provide comprehensive

teaching, from and, for university classrooms (Patiño et al., 2018; Campos, 2020;
Asis et al., 2022; Esteban et al., 2021; Escobar, 2020). This type of enquiry allows
students to foster their creativity, autonomy, criticality, collaborative learning and
to broaden their interdisciplinary knowledge; ensuring thereby the formation of
professionals with communication and research skills that respond to the current
needs (García et. al, 2018). Similarly, formative research plays an essential role in
undergraduate education; since it focuses on imparting new knowledge, and the
training of professionals capable of identifying problems and proposing
alternative solutions, because, at present, professionals with the necessary skills
to develop and disseminate scientific research are required. Based on the
aforementioned authors, formative research can be defined as an integral didactic
strategy, through which university students can acquire enquiry competences
through learning by doing. In summary, for the purposes of the study, formative
research (SAIVC) was materialised through a set of specific activities that
deliberately enhanced the skills chosen for the intervention.
1.1.2 Enquiry competence

Scientific competence, from a general view, is an integrated knowledge; it
includes thinking, doing and being. From this perspective, Vigo (2018) stipulates
that competence is not taught, it is not learned, it is only acquired by activating
potentialities, according to their multiple interests and needs. In this regard, it is
relevant to generate learning situations throughout the training of future
professionals, thereby enabling them to have the knowledge, skills and attitudes
necessary to solve the problems of their professional work with autonomy and
flexibility.
Fernández and Villavicencio (2017) argued that enquiry competence is composed

of skills, such as enquiry, assimilation, explanation and contrast; and those skills,
among which enquiry, analysis and channelling stand out. The aforementioned
help to achieve creativity and critical thinking in a university students; and,
therefore, to comply with the graduate profile. In this same line, there are nine
operations that every researcher must perform before initiating the enquiry
process and thereby facilitating the development of a scientific study: analyse
information, synthesise content, operationalise variables, pose hypotheses, select
theories linked to the study, make inferences, establish methodology and
conclusions, and synthesise the study, in order to make it known to the scientific
community. Therefore, it is essential that higher education should promote the
strategy of formative research, so that students might strengthen their research
potential, in order to contribute to solving problems in their environment
(Fernández and Villavicencio, 2017; Carlín et al., 2020).
Taking into account the preceding authors, enquiry competence can be

conceptualised as the combined application of knowledge, skills and attitudes,
conducive to the effective development of research work. Among the skills that
integrate other potentialities and that have a greater impact in the formative field
are the following: problematisation, theorisation, and reality-testing. It should be
noted that these skills transcend the educational context; since they are connected
to the field of research and function as mediators for the collection of information,
448
enquiry, hypothesis-formulation, obtaining results, among other activities of an

investigative nature.
2. Methods and Materials

The study was of applicative modality, based on the quantitative approach
(Hernández-Sampieri & Mendoza, 2018; Sánchez, 2019) and limited to the
administration of formative research (SAIVC). Its purpose was intended to
contribute to the strengthening of enquiry competence (problematisation,
theorisation and reality-testing), in a group of university students. In
correspondence with the general purpose, the data obtained in the research were
the object of description, analysis and interpretation, in order to focus on the
objectives and to finalise with a clear communication of the study. The research
design used was related to the plan established by the researcher and the
objectives set. In accordance with recent research, which assumes experimental
designs to evaluate the efficacy and the effectiveness of an intervention, relating
cause and effect in behavioural phenomena and educational sciences (Zurita-Cruz
et al., 2018; Chávez et al., 2020), it was decided to use a single-group design with
pre-test and post-test, as shown in the following schematisation: G: O1 X O2,
where G stands for research subjects; O1, pre-test; X, stimulus; and O2, post-test.
The sample was purposive, composed of 102 students, whose ages ranged
between 21 and 22 years. The intervened subjects belonged to a finite set,
characterised by being an accessible, homogeneous and problem-bearing sample;
which made it possible, in this way, to obtain the conclusions, based on an
objective measurement. In other words, as Otzen and Manterola (2017) state, it is
important to make use of representative samples, selected with the inclusion and
exclusion criteria that allow generalising the results and extrapolating the benefit
to target populations. A rubric was used in Its pre-test and post-test versions,
which was adapted from the author Aliaga et al. (2021). In the validation process,
five experts on the subject participated and the quantifications were tabulated
through Aike’'s V, reaching a result of 0.917 (very high level in the criteria of
coherence, clarity, relevance; per item and in general, see Table 1). Similarly, the
reliability of the rubric is declared through the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient,
achieving very high merit (0.869) according to scale (See Table 2).
Table 1. Expert appraisal, measuring instrument

Indicators/Items Clarity Consistency Relevance Average
1 0.778 0.944 1.000 0.907
0.833 0.778 0.722 0.778
0.722 0.833 0.889 0.815
0.889 0.889 0.833 0.870
5 1.000 0.944 1.000 0.981
1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000
0.944 0.889 1.000 0.944
0.944 1.000 1.000 0.981
1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000
0.778 0.944 0.944 0.889
Overall average 0.889 0.922 0.934 0.917
Note: The table shows the average scores calculated with Aike's V coefficient, according
to the ratings of the five judges for the 10 items of the rubric.
449
Table 2. Reliability of the instrument. Statistics

No Items No Subjects Value
10 102 0.869
Note. The result comes from the Cronbach’'s Alpha formula, a reliability method
calculated with the results of the pilot test.
According to Muriel (2018), for an in-depth analysis of the study cat egories,
processes of triangulation of data, methods and theories are important. Then, it
was decided to analyse, systematically and simultaneously, the creditable
products presented by the students in the thesis report. In this way, the
debugging-ordering, coding, tabulation and interpretation were followed based
on the idea of Sanchez (2019), also qualitative inductive-deductive methods for
the processing of the information collected through the rubric and the final
reports. Certainly, the valid combination of techniques was achieved in the
research, as promoted by Forni and De Grande (2020) and Samaja (2018), when it
comes to the contemporary social sciences.
The data collected were statistically calculated in the SPSS version 25 software.
Therefore, the relevant information is presented in tables and figures, duly
interpreted, in accordance with the models suggested by de la Torre and Miguel
(2020).
3. The Results
In coherence with the objective of the research, the data showing significant
changes in the enquiry competence of university students and the essential
components of the proposal are presented sequentially.
100
50
%
0
10-13 14-15
Not enough Enough
Figure 1. The level of enquiry skills in thesis courses, before the application of the
tests.
Note: The figure shows the lowest levels of the enquiry competence for the entire group
evaluated.
In general, the diagnostic evaluation determined that no student in the sample

was placed in the notable and outstanding levels. In the specific calculation, using
statisticians, it stands out that the group is homogeneous with a CV=7.14 %. Also,
450
the value of the arithmetic mean is equivalent to 12.11 points, with 11 being the
most frequently repeated score. It was found at the same time that 50 % of those
evaluated have scores below the declared mean. This indicates that the subjects
presented difficulties in the development of their research skills, when referred to
the statement of the scientific problem, the theorisation of the object of study, the
methodological approach, field work (collection, processing and analysis of
qualitative-quantitative data) and scientific writing.
The data also show basic skills in the field of theorising the object of study: the
subjects are at the sufficient level in two competences assessed (see Table 3). In
sum, almost 100% of the subjects investigated constructed their theoretical
framework by integrating the essential concepts of the work variables with some
background information and linking them with general constructs moderately
related to the central theme. Likewise, they weakly explain the methodological,
practical and theoretical implications of the enquiry, this being the most
contentious and priority aspect to be addressed.
Table 3. Specific assessment of enquiry competence

Indicators evaluated Media
D1. Problematisation
Problematising of the object of study-approach for objective solutions. 11
Data organisation for the substantiation of the identified problem. 12
Formulation of coherent questions, objectives and hypotheses. 12
D2. Theorising
Construction of the theoretical framework integrating different fields of 14

knowledge.
Argumentation of the theoretical, methodological and practical relevance of 14
the study.
D3. Reality check
Methodological selection consistent with the purpose of the study. 10
Systematisition of the data obtained in the field work. 12
Data analysis to structure the answer to the research question. 12
Interpretation of transcendental data. 12
Writing the thesis report with academic, scientific and technical precision. 10
Note: The table shows the average scores of the group for each competence assessed at the
beginning of the research.
This is followed by the analysis and interpretation of the subsequent procedure

that determines the effectiveness of the SAIVC program.
451
Sobresaliente
Outstanding
18-20 20.6
Notable
Remarkable
16-17 79.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Figure 2. Level of enquiry skills in thesis courses, after the application of the stimulus.
Note: The figure shows the highest levels on the scale used to measure enquiry
competence after applying the SAIVC academic program. Statistical processing
shows that at the end of the experiment, all the students were at the highest levels.
In addition, performance was uniformly maintained among those evaluated,
declaring once again the homogeneity of the group (CV=3.88 %) and the
arithmetic mean, which was increased with respect to the pre-test (from 12.11 to
16.71). In addition, the mode 16 score was recorded, with minimum scores of 15.37
and maximum scores of 18.22. It is worth mentioning that in correspondence wotj
the identified problem, the academic program acted on the dimension that
promotes methodological management in thesis courses in university students,
thereby noting the progress with six points of difference in the average scores (See
Figure 3).
D3.5. Writing the thesis report with

D3.5. Redacción del informe de tesis con precisión
academic-scientific-technical precision.
académico-científica – técnica.
D3.4. Interpretation of transcendental data.
D3.4.analysis
D3.3. Data Interpretación datos trascendentes.
to structure the answer
to theAnálisis
D3.3. research question.
datos para estructurar la respuesta
D3.2. Systematisation
a la pregunta de ofinvestigación.
the data obtained
in theD3.2.
fieldSistematización
work. datos obtenidos en el
D3.1. Methodological trabajo de campo.
selection consistent
D3.1.the
with Selección
purpose metodológica
of the study. en coherencia con
el propósito
D2.2. Argumentation ofdel
theestudio.
theoretical,
D2.2. Argumentación
methodological and practical de la relevancia
relevanceteórica,
of
the study.metodológica y práctica del estudio.
D2.1. Construcción del marco teórico integrando
D2.1. Construction of the theoretical
diferentes campos del saber.
framework integrating different fields of
D1.3. Formulación de preguntas, objetivos y/o
knowledge. hipótesis coherentes.
D1.3. Formulationdatos
D1.2. Organización of coherent questions,
para la fundamentación
objectives deland/or hypotheses.
problema identificado.
D1.2. Organisation
D1.1. of data
Problematización delfor the de estudio-
objeto
justification of the identified problem.
planteamiento de soluciones objetivas.
D1.1. Raises the problem of the object of
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
study-approach in objective solutions.
Pre test Post Test
Figure 3. Comparison of results by skill, after the application of the stimulus.
452
In this way, the effectiveness of formative research in strengthening enquiry

competence and with the rigour of the Wilconxon method is demonstrated. The
corresponding hypothesis test was performed. Certainly, relevant differences
were found between the pre-test (12.11) and the post-test results (16.7124), where
the theoretical significance α = 0.05 is superlative, compared to the observed
significance, Sig =000. Therefore, the Ho (null hypothesis) is refuted and the H1
(alternate hypothesis) is accepted, there being sufficient scientific evidence to
conclude that the formative research had a direct and proven result in the
empowerment of skills in initial teacher training (see Tables 4 and 5).
Table 4. Specific assessment of enquiry competence

Indicators evaluated Media
D1. Problematisation
Problematisation of the object of study-approach of objective solutions. 16
Data organisation for the substantiation of the identified problem. 16
Formulation of coherent questions, objectives and hypotheses. 16
D2. Theorising
Construction of the theoretical framework integrating different fields of 18

knowledge.
Argumentation of the theoretical, methodological and practical items 18
relevance of the study.
D3. Reality check
Methodological selection consistent with the purpose of the study. 16
Systematisation of the data obtained in the field work. 16
Data analysis to structure the answer to the research question. 17
Interpretation of transcendental data. 16
Writing the thesis report with academic-scientific-technical precision. 15
Note: The table shows the average scores of the group for each competence evaluated
after applying the proposal.
Table 5. Wilcoxon method calculation

Measurements Media N Deviation standard
Pre-test 12,1152 102 0,86562
Post-test 16,7176 102 0,64789
Pre- and post-test 4.6024
Theoretical significance α = 0.05 Significance observed Sig =0.000
In the meantime, the findings linked to a proposal make its presentation relevant,
the same that explains its organisation and the foundation, from which
453
experimentation was favoured. In this environment, the following paragraphs

describe the modelling of the formative research developed as a contribution to
the improvement of the research competence.
In general, formative research stands out as a primary alternative strategy in the

university context; since it is there where the development of scientific production
is required. Cabrales (2021), in his scientific study, recommends teachers of
research subjects to carry out experimental work, as well as the integration of
formative research, as a pedagogical-didactic and curricular strategy, in order to
promote and strengthen research competences and performance. Under this logic,
the proposal is conceived as an integral strategy, whose purpose is to promote the
development of enquiry competence in accordance with the competences of the
graduate profile of the university rank. It is characterised for being holistic,
systemic, objective and sustainable, the latter, for possessing the qualities of
theoretical validity and empirical validation. Undoubtedly, the contribution
constitutes an active methodology, as pointed out by Esparza-Reyes and Morales-
Trapp (2021), and a pedagogical strategy, according to Arenas et al. (2020);
standing out as a primary alternative in the university context, a scenario
demanding scientific production.
Now, the modelling of the academic program implied the integration of

terminology that the authors assume from the theoretical contribution. One,
inquiry competence, as investigative knowledge that encompasses a set of
practices to produce knowledge, enhance skills, attitudes and abilities, which -in
essence- favour meaningful learning (George and Salado, 2019 and Figueroa et al.,
2019). Two, problematisation, a process that consists of approaching reality from
a holistic view to know, analyse and understand the problems that affect it and,
based on this, formulate the research questions, objectives and hypotheses
(Álvarez-Ochoa, et al., 2020; Rojas & Tasayco, 2020). Three, theorising, is a type of
work that involves owning, constructing, exposing, explaining, claiming,
applying, questioning, knowing and putting into practice diverse theories
(Juncosa & Garcés, 2020). Four, reality check, assumed as the determination of the
viability and consistency of the alternatives applied, in order to solve the
problematic situation by evaluating its achievements and difficulties in a scientific
manner, as stated by Rojas & Tasayco (2020). Likewise, it has to do with the
precision of the methodology, data collection and presentation of the results in
contrast with the scientific theory, qualities in accordance with the approach of
Álvarez-Ochoa et al. (2020).
Three theories are also considered an essential part of SAIVC. Firstly, the classic
curricular model, in which the student plays a fundamental role in learning, while
the teacher guides, accompanies and directs the acquisition of new knowledge.
The latter should be based on concrete situations and organised knowledge from
a curricular viewpoint. It includes in turn: expected learning, content,
methodology and evaluation, elements proposed by Biggs and Tang (2011).
Secondly, the theory of connectivism. From it, ideas are taken about the critical
capacity that each individual has to select what to learn and how to do it; and it is
of the utmost importance in the academic field, much more so when making use
of technological resources. This is consistent with the principles described: there
454
is no standardised knowledge and way of learning; one learns more by

researching; knowledge resides in technologies; information changes
continuously; the learner, in this case the researcher, must be ready to modify his
previous knowledge about a particular field of study because one learns
constantly, since information tends to be updated (Siemens, 2004 and Sobrino,
2014). And, the research theory, to affirm that research proposals are framed in a
concrete reality; they include endogenous and exogenous components, and are
based on current scientific theories that seek to contribute to the objective solution
of problems inherent to the national and international community. In this
direction, for research to determine a series of approaches to complex solutions, it
must be scientific, as exposed by Padrón (2018); therefore, it must comply with
three properties; socialisation, systematisation and have a theoretical foundation.
Finally, the graduation profile is defined as the set of characteristics, skills or

competences that a student is able to demonstrate at the end of the training
process. It responds to the social demands of the educational level in which they
are configured, assertions that coincide with those of Huamán et al. (2021), García
and Treviño (2020), which serve as support throughout the approach to the
development of formative research in university students.
In order to materialise the proposal, several postulates were taken into

consideration. Regarding the approach, students are faced with a concrete,
relevant, but limited problem situation, for which a real solution is required
within the predefined terms of the project. Thus, its design conforms to five
propositions. One, in terms of learning, the students obtain new skills through
discovery, considering a pertinent sequence: sensitisation, adoption, interaction,
valuation and confrontation. Two, related to the process, the university student
works in all stages of the project, so that its approach always generates significant
learning. Three, the evaluation is comprehensive, including the relevant objective
and subjective dimensions. Four, regarding the teaching role, the teacher is the
designer, guide, instructor and has prior knowledge of the solution. In other
words, the teacher is in charge of preparing and fostering a welcoming
environment, with students participating in an active, orderly and voluntary
manner.
Finally, the didactic resources required to execute this proposal depend on each
selected case and the purpose of the activity. The most significant is sufficient
information to learn and illustrate the issue or situation under discussion. In this
context, bibliographic and audiovisual material, documents, among others, are
used, especially those framed in virtuality.
Continuing with the description, one of the fundamental elements that also
constitute the didactic and methodological contribution of SAIVC, are the cyclical
phases, complementary to each other, for the development of the sessions in thesis
subjects (See Table 6). Within the framework of the study and experimentation,
they turn out to be the explanation of the students' achievements observed in the
post-test, being able to affirm that, in these components, there is enough support
for the development of pedagogical proposals that include not only formative
455
research as a strategy, but that could be adapted as pedagogical processes aligned

with diverse areas and educational competences.
Table 6. Stages of formative research (SAIVC)

Phases Description
Awareness The students have a first approach to the situation posed.
From this, they retrieve previous information and learn
about it (previous knowledge-purpose-organisation).
Adoption An in-depth study of the case is carried out. First, the
different variables involved are analyzed individually. We
observe whether the information we have is sufficient or
whether further research and support from the teacher is
required (general explanation - theorisation - feedback).
Interaction Knowledge about the case is shared and discussed. The
solution alternatives are presented, the pros and cons of
each one of them. Finally, decisions are proposed (exchange
of knowledge).
Valuation Evaluation phase: corresponds to the sharing and analysis.
Each student has an answer for the case, which is presented
individually or in small groups. In the plenary, comments
and observations are made on each of the alternatives
presented. Students develop their expository and
argumentative capacity; they are also receptive and tolerant
of divergent positions (application of knowledge-
feedback).
Confrontation At this stage, after supporting each of the solutions to the
case, these are compared with the solution in the real
situation (triangulation of knowledge-deepening-
articulation).
The proposal was reflected in each of the programmed activities. First, the
thematic unit entitled "Academic Aspects" containing two sessions with a total of
8 teaching hours and an emphasis on the practical work. Topics on philosophical
and epistemological foundations were addressed, with the primary purpose of
consolidating learning on the basic elements of the research.
In relation to philosophical foundations, the purpose of the session was for

students to master basic knowledge about the role of philosophy and its branches
throughout history (aesthetics, ethics, ontology, metaphysics, philosophy of
language, political philosophy, gnoseology, anthropology and epistemology).
This, by virtue of the fact that philosophy is the key to understanding research;
and therefore, it makes possible the production and the creation of scientific
knowledge.
Regarding epistemological foundations: It is essential that students, before

conceiving the scientific problem, master the basic knowledge about
epistemology. In view of this, the importance of the paradigms of science
(positivism-hermeneutic-phenomenological-socio-critical) and the most
transcendent epistemic theories throughout history, in terms of the production of
knowledge in the search for truth, was developed.
456
Next, the thematic unit related to the techno-didactic component, had an

extension of 8 sessions with 32 teaching hours, in which the practical aspect was
developed -mostly- with activities, such as the following: approaching the
scientific problem, review of the study of the art, elaboration of a contextual
framework, design and validity of data collection instruments, construction and
ratification of models, mastery of techniques, such as data analysis, hypothesis
testing and the corresponding scientific writing. The following is a summary of
the achievements and products of the sessions.
Regarding the scientific problem statement, students in this session were able to
identify the emerging problem, the starting point of the current study, in order to
obtain original information and, based on this, to propose alternative solutions.
They were also able to obtain and systematise exclusive information that allowed
for the prioritisation of the problem.
Finally, they enunciated the basic categories (problem, objectives and

hypotheses), in order to continue with the scientific process. Then, for the review
of the study of the art, in order to carry out a sustainable and well-founded work,
they were familiar with the existing literature, the findings and the previous
models.
In the elaboration of a contextual framework, each participant consolidated the

problem statement. In this line, they approached the analysis of the problematic
situation, describing, by the way, the frame of reference on the object of study at
the local, national and international levels. Then, in order to collect reliable
information on the object of study, they took on the challenge of constructing or
adapting instruments.
Next, they determined, through experts, the content validity; and finally, they
conducted a pilot test, from which the key data were obtained to establish the
reliability of the measurement tools. This was materialised through the Kr20
(Kuder Richardson)-Alpha Cronbach methods (see complete session in the
attached table).
Table 7. Classroom Design Using Formative Inquiry (SAIVC)

Session title: "Creating and validating instruments."
Skill: Reality check

Phases Didactic process
Awareness Previous knowledge: Resolve the question: What are the
processes and resources to be used to design and validate
measurement instruments?
Statement of purpose: At the end of the session, they are able
to determine whether the selected tools to be used are reliable
and valid.
Organisation: They work individually/teams.
Adoption General explanation: presentation of the subject.
457
Theorization: They individually analyse diverse information

on the subject.
Feedback: Reinforce specific ideas in the presence of a
cognitive conflict.
Interaction Exchange of knowledge: They present individually, or in
teams, the information or the case analysed.
Valuation Application of knowledge in new situations: They participate
in teams or individually, and are evaluated according to an
estimation scale.
Based on the results, feedback is provided on the topic or case
studied.
Confrontation Triangulation of knowledge: They actively participate in the
systematisation of the topic or case being dealt with.
Deepening - articulation: They deepen and investigate the
topic or case that will be developed in the following class,
according to the program (strategy, inverted classroom).
Other topics implemented were those corresponding to model construction and

validation. The purpose of the activity was to build a proposal and, at the same
time, to certify it by means of the expert judgment method. In this line, the
principles of systemic approach and simplicity were considered. For the mastery
of techniques and the data analysis, the students were able to process and analyse
the qualitative and the quantitative data. The information was materialised in the
"results and discussion" section of the executive report. Hypothesis testing was
also established; in this activity, the basic tests most commonly used in
pedagogical research were addressed.
Finally, scientific writing was addressed, the purpose of which was for students
to master three important aspects: research work protocols (thesis project-report),
scientific citation techniques, and writing style. Regarding the methodological
and evaluative process of the proposal, the first was determinant, in order to
promote the development of enquiry skills, being among the most significant the
inverted classroom, workshops, problem-based learning (PBL), case method,
intercalated questions, exposition-dialogue, autonomous learning, team-work,
among other resources within the virtual framework. Regarding the second
process, it was developed in three modalities: diagnostic (rubric), formative
(estimation scale) and summative (rubric). For this purpose, the instrument
proposed by the authors Aliaga et al. (2021) was used, which was adapted to
initial training (the main format was applied to postgraduate studies), and whose
purpose was to evaluate, specifically, the students' enquiry skills in thesis courses,
considering the research report as a medium. In this scheme, a vigesimal scale is
used: 1 (not achieved <10), 2 (insufficient 10-13), 3 (sufficient 14-15), 4 (remarkable
16-17) and 5 (outstanding 18-20).
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4. Discussion
In the analysis of the enquiry competence, it was found that 50% of those
evaluated obtained scores lower than 12.11, and the entire group reached
insufficient and sufficient levels on the scale used. Consequently, it is asserted that
undergraduate students weakly achieve the development of competences related
to research. This is due to the curricular distribution that places these competences
in specific research subjects, towards the last cycles, resulting in a dissociation in
the training without any emphasis on scientific knowledge and methodologies to
do science. In the environment of the indicated problematic, Hernández et al.
(2020) and García et al. (2018) concluded in their work that the initial training
provided by Peruvian universities is deficient; since formative research is not
prioritised; consequently, there are great deficiencies in their enquiry
competences, evidenced at the moment of formulating the scientific problem and
hypothesis, analysing the statistical data, elaborating conclusions,
recommendations, disseminating results, among other basic inquiry categories.
The above reaffirm the concern and one of the most immediate measures would
be to incorporate new and sustainable didactic proposals that manage to add
formative research as a strategy and in a transversal way in undergraduate
situations.
Other research has expressed similar opinions. Thus, they state that higher level
institutions present as a challenge to raise the academic quality of students with a
training based on research competences; and they should seek to incorporate
them in their daily life, social and labour development (Velandia-Mesa et al. ,
2017; Cruz, 2019). Along these lines, formative research orients students towards
the production and communication of academic studies, awakening their first
notions of research and socialisation with their peers, which leads to the
improvement of scientific research and to a contribution of new knowledge to the
knowledge society (Asis et al., 2022; Peláez & Montoya, 2019).
Therefore, it should be considered from the first cycles of the university; since it
facilitates autonomous learning, interdisciplinary training and the promotion of
good enquiry practices. Undoubtedly, the evolution of research is essential to
achieve quality training in higher education, an aspect connected with the impact
and advances in the field to respond to current challenges, such as changes in
globalisation and technology, in accordance with the assertions of Stankovska et
al. (2019).
In addition, from the comparative evaluation in the study, relevant differences

were found between the pre-test and the post-test (4.6 points), demonstrating by
the Wilconxon method for hypothesis testing that formative research strengthens
enquiry competences in university students. A work that largely agrees with the
results of this study is that of García et al. (2018). The authors concluded that
formative research has a positive impact on the development of communicative
and investigative skills, as the ratings of their sample increased by 4.12 points.
In the first criterion considered, they placed speaking and listening; likewise, in
the second, interpretation, synthesis and analysis. However, the study in question
limits the evaluations and actions to two of the dimensions assessed in the present
459
enquiry, which comprehensively reports aspects of the procedure involving skills

ranging from elaborating a project, executing it and reporting the results in a
scientific manner; issues that have allowed alerting, above all, the need for
knowledge in the scientific method.
Being the learning of research methodology the most complex for undergraduate
students, and the curricular plans designed considering the progressive teaching
of these competences, a viable alternative is constituted by research seedbeds. This
is stated by Alfaro and Estrada (2019), Villalba and González (2017), Numa-
Sanjuan and Márquez (2019), who promote as a formative strategy with impact
on the development of research skills, language management, cognitive
operations, observation, argumentation, social construction of knowledge and the
apprehension of new knowledge. In relation to this, Jojoa (2021) stipulates that
formative research awakens in students motivation, confidence, security and
passion for research, thereby improving skills; among them, assertive
communication, problem-solving, critical thinking and metacognition. Even at the
graduate level, the difficulties to materialise degree and graduation processes
have an impact on the satisfaction of graduates, where well-conducted research
allows closing this gap (Perales, 2020).
From the perspective of training and the development of professionals for the
exercise in the field of action, there are works that support this type of proposal
so that, according to Aparicio and Rodriguez (2020), the transversalisation of
formative research should be achieved; since it is an integrating strategy that in
turn generates impact on the students in charge of future professionals in
Education. In fact, more works consider that the intervened students show great
capacity to participate in a relevant way in the planning processes, field work and
communication of results (Díaz et al., 2017; Carlín et al., 2020; Gamboa-Suárez et
al., 2017); therefore, by enhancing different scientific skills from the
implementation of pedagogical strategies, the beneficiaries may even have access
to job opportunities (Hernández et al., 2021).
With regard to the explanations of the findings, it is also important to describe the
systematised limitations and recommendations of the study; firstly, with respect
to the design, and, secondly, related to the scope of the object of study. Consistent
with the design, there was no comparative group, as was initially thought. The
selection of the sample was not based on probabilistic methods; only on the
criteria of homogeneity, accessibility, and the bearer of the problem studied (non-
probabilistic sampling) were considered. In this context, it is suggested that in
future research, quasi-experimental designs or pure experiments should be taken
into consideration, as long as they are materially feasible, since they should
strengthen the proposal.
In relation to the second aspect, it should be noted that the work focused on
diagnosing and promoting the development of certain enquiry skills, leaving
some gaps concerning the characterisation of the dynamics of formative research
with respect to the description of the contexts and the strategies used to promote
the variable in question, and on the learning methodology used by students to
460
benefit the development of research knowledge during their training, not only in
thesis courses, but also in related subjects.
In short, the data obtained in this academic experience are effective for the
acquisition of different enquiry competences in the university context, such as
problematisation, theorisation and verification of reality. On the other hand, it
promotes a better benefit and use of the acquired knowledge, teamwork,
interpersonal relationships, also it motivates the learning process and allows the
achievement of successful academic results. In this sense, it is recommended that
this proposal be applied not only to students in Education careers, but also in all
other careers, both undergraduate and graduate. At the same time, it is suggested
to determine the correlation between the enquiry competences of the teaching
staff and the skills and attitudes of the students; associating, at the same time,
variables linked to the learning of the different curricular areas.
5. Conclusions
The findings of the study showed that formative research, from and for university
classrooms, becomes a fundamental strategy in response to the problems and
needs of today's society. In this line, it promotes learning in real situations and by
discovery, where the teacher is directly responsible for promoting it, after
planning diverse didactic resources.
Thus, it is categorically stated about the benefits of formative research (SAIVC),

accepting the hypothesis of the study by fulfilling the strengthening of the enquiry
competence in students of the Education career, through the developed program.
With this, the bases are also laid in contribution to the improvement of quality in
universities, thereby expanding the methodology to other professional careers.
Likewise, scientific production is guaranteed as a genuine practice, with benefits
in the school-professional, academic-labour, social-economic environment.
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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 November 2022 Issue

Narrative Perspective of the School Trajectory of At-Risk Students ............................................................................ 112

Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Modular Instruction....................................................................................... 129

Formative Assessment: Component of Teaching-Learning Process in the University Context in Post-COVID-19

Levelling System Model: Approach to Physical Literacy .............................................................................................. 334

Formative Research to Strengthen Enquiry Competence in University Students ...................................................... 443

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

Curriculum Advisors’ and Teachers’ Perceptions

Abstract. This article aims to examine curriculum advisors’ and teachers’

Keywords: early reading development; Foundation Phase; home

2.1.1. Poor pedagogic content knowledge

2.1.2. Weak forms of assessment

2.1.3. Lost learning opportunities

2.1.4. Inferior classroom management

3.1. Research instrument

Table 1. Background of the CAs and Grade 1 teachers

3.3. Procedures for collecting data

3.4. Data analysis

3.5. Ethical considerations

3.6. Limitations of the study

4.1. Pedagogical issues relating to difficulties in teaching early reading

4.1.1. The nature of change

4.1.2. Adapting to reading instructional approaches required by CAPS

4.1.3. Engaged time

4.2. Structural issues relating to difficulties in teaching early reading

4.3. Support for teachers in the implementation of CAPS

CAs emphasised record-keeping for baseline assessment outcomes. CA1

Teachers seemed aware of the need to conduct a baseline assessment in their

Nevertheless, T3 indicated that she relied on a general impression to know her

4.3.2. Classroom management

According to these findings, it is recommended that teachers should explicitly

Overall, it is further recommended that in addition to the professional

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

A Case Study on the Impact of Digital

Abstract. The exploratory study investigates how unaccompanied minors

Keywords: Unaccompanied minors (UAMs); COVID-19; Impact ICT;

2. The literature review

Regarding psychological constructs, such as self-efficacy and resilience in UAMs,

The activities are usually accompanied by a final questionnaire, which helps us to

3.1 The research questions

3.2 The methods

After a careful study of the literature concerning factors influencing pro-sociality

4. Relations, resilience, and social self-efficacy in UAMs

experience loneliness with different characteristics than do native adolescents

An extensive psychological literature has dealt with dysphoric forms of loneliness

Loneliness is a subjective experience of discomfort deriving from the perception

It has been demonstrated that in adolescence, convictions of effectiveness are

Figure 1: Conceptual model of relationships between personal efficacy beliefs and

Many UAMs, although they suffered traumas or micro-traumas due to their

research of the authors; they are acknowledged by a representation of UAMs as

5. The tool: the questionnaire