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 Extrapolating the Digital Readiness – Are Turkmen
Undergraduate Students Competent for Online Learning?
Begench Yazov
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences,
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
b.yazov@campus.lmu.de
Ogulnabat Kakayeva
Department of Exact and Natural Sciences, International
University for the Humanities and Development
nabatmuradovna@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Every institution has to take challenges in order to obtain its own
place in technological progress competition. Current technologi-
cal progress for Higher Educational Institutions is to develop new
forms of teaching and learning which require IT integration with
ordinary education processes (methodology). To complete these
requirements of the era, every institution has to know the condi-
tions of the auditorium. This study evaluates students of the two
public universities of Turkmenistan on digital readiness for online
learning by adopting commonly recognized “Digital Competency
Profiler” tool and the “General Technological Competency and Use”
framework. The findings of this study might be a reference for
further enhancement of digital readiness for online learning and
stress the urgency of digital transformation in order to succeed in
technological progress competition.
CCS CONCEPTS
• Computer Uses in Education;
KEYWORDS
digital readiness, online learning, Turkmen Higher education, IUHD,
ETUT, DCP, GTCU
ACM Reference Format:
Begench Yazov, Rovshen Ishangulyyev, Ogulnabat Kakayeva, and Yuldash-
bay Kurambayev. 2022. Extrapolating the Digital Readiness – Are Turkmen
Undergraduate Students Competent for Online Learning?. In International
Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies 2022 (CompSysTech ’22),
June 17, 18, 2022, University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria. ACM, New York, NY,
USA, 7 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3546118.3546151
∗ Corresponding
author
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or
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must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish,
to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a
fee. Request permissions from permissions@acm.org.
CompSysTech ’22, June 17, 18, 2022, University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria
© 2022 Association for Computing Machinery.
ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-9644-8/22/06. . . $15.00
https://doi.org/10.1145/3546118.3546151
Rovshen Ishangulyyev∗
Department of Economics of Innovations, Oguz Han
Engineering and Technology University of Turkmenistan
rovshen.ishangulyyev@etut.edu.tm
Yuldashbay Kurambayev
Department of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity,
Oguz Han Engineering and Technology University of
Turkmenistan
yoldash@etut.edu.tm
1 INTRODUCTION
Over the last decades, higher education is continuously modern-
ized by digital technologies [1], [2]. These processes led to a new
form of teaching and learning which offer numerous ways of learn-
ing opportunities (e.g., digital learning, mobile learning, VR-based
and AI supported learning). In one hand, these have increased
access to quality learning resources, facilitating knowledge con-
structions, and providing authentic learning environments [3], [4].
On the other hand, it has created challenges for students who have
been struggling with their digital skills. With the COVID-19 pan-
demic, integration of educational system and digital technologies
has increased. So, it is important to enhance the digital competence
of higher education students (hereinafter students). It became in-
evitable to adapt to the novel digital learning environments and
leverage it to boost academic and professional prospects [5]. The
study on case of post-soviet nations shows that there are large num-
ber of students at Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) that are
incompetent for many online-learning activities [6]. Obviously, this
phenomenon might be a reason for failure and/or delay in digital
transformation at HEI. It is worthy to mention that readiness on
mobile devices are greater than desktops/laptops. Hence, mobile
learning is essential for making accessible quality education, espe-
cially for higher education students where the internet accessibility
is limited.
Turkmen HEI have started to provide online courses in mid-2020
[7]. However, due to certain reasons, there are difficulties on provid-
ing online learning during the COVID-19 crisis [8]. It was argued
[8] that the main reason is low digital literacy of university stu-
dents. So, considering aforementioned statements, it is reasonable
to investigate the digital readiness of Turkmen higher education
students and their competence level on electronic devices (mobile,
desktop/laptop etc.).
Therefore, goals of this study are: (1) to understand the digital
readiness level of students; (2) to determine participation of students
for digital and blended learning environments in Turkmenistan
by using four foundational order of technology use in education
(technical, communicational, informational and computational); (3)
to identify the mobile phones compatibility to use them as a main
tool to connect to the online class activities.
CompSysTech ’22, June 17, 18, 2022, University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria
The study will consist of five sections; the introductory section
is followed by literature review, methodology, findings and conclu-
sion.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Digital Transformation in Turkmen Higher
Education.
Turkmenistan is a Central Asian (CA) country that has been im-
plementing significant reforms to its higher education since its
independence [9]. The country has adopted packages of neo-liberal
reforms [10], [11] with improved research status and funding [12].
In 2017, the most holistic reform started with the national Digital
Learning Concept (hereinafter Conception) [13] which was aimed
to improve the quality of education in HEI through digital platforms
and create environments for continuous learning [14].
Early digitalization attempts in HEI were in the early 2000s in
line with the UN, its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
European Commission (EC) projects. For instance, many students,
who are linguistically flexible, can master new disciplines with
the help of distance educational platforms such as the e-learning
platform “E-Sapak”, TuRENA21 as well as the Moodle platform
with materials and tests modified for technical university students,
TEMPUS-TASIC2 , ERASMUS+.
In 2016, the EC announced the program “Support to the Edu-
cation sector in Turkmenistan” (2016-2020) to support the digital
learning initiative of Turkmen HEI according to the Conception.
The program provided best practices on digital education solutions
in post-soviet nations, Baltic, and the CA countries. Three Turkmen
HEI participate in international project, “Modernization of Higher
education in CA through New Technologies (HiEdTec)” which aims
to introduce innovative educational technologies and didactic mod-
els into the educational processes [15].
Turkmen universities have been using e-learning, mostly in
blended mode with face-to-face teaching [16]. The International
University for the Humanities and Development (IUHD) launched
the blended mode of teaching for undergraduate and master pro-
grams. IUHD uses Moodle as an alternative Learning Management
System (LMS) [17]. Moodle-based e-learning programs have been
in operation in other pioneer universities. These developments are
the signs of successful implementations of digital learning at Turk-
men HEI. However, there are still many tasks that is needed to be
performed to meet the demands of the Conception.
In line with aforementioned national and international develop-
ments, Turkmenistan has also made tremendous efforts to foster
digital teaching and learning opportunities at middle school level.
It can be seen in the nationwide introduction of computers to sec-
ondary education. Almost all high schools in Turkmenistan have
well-equipped computer laboratories [18]. The vision of the ed-
ucation sector for the national socio-economic development of
Turkmenistan for the period of 2011- 2030 is “to have globally a
competitive quality education, training and research for sustainable
development”.
As it can be seen in the literature, by having made many efforts on
digital transformation, few have been done on digital competence
1 https://science.gov.tm/en/projects/occasion/reports/turena_1period/#7
2 https://science.gov.tm/en/projects/TACIS/
Begench Yazov et al.
of students on recent trends and educational contents, especially on
benefiting digital learning opportunities. Priority fields were ICT for
transforming TVET and higher education, improving teacher com-
petency as well as building and upgrading learning environments.
In addition to that, lack of coordinated actions, absence in many
international surveys on ICT in education as well as monitoring and
evaluation systems using ICT in education are worrying concerns
in the field [17]. Therefore, it is challenging to make evidence-based
decisions on the current status of digital learning. It is worthy to
mentioned that there is no investigation focused on digital learning
in Turkmenistan which makes this study essential, especially at
this point of shifting period.
2.2 Conceptual framework
2.2.1 Digital learning in higher education. In last decade, there
are plenty studies that have been done in the field of educational-
transformation especially focusing on digital competency of HEI
among post-soviet nations. These differs from various perspec-
tives: a) socio-cultural [19],[20]; b) human-computer-interaction
[21],[22]; c) student and professor. This phenomenon draws us a
framework to shape our understanding of Turkmen context. By
following the student digital competencies, the performance gap
is interesting because it connects back to the ambiguities of the
meaning of a high-risk strategy to shift online learning in every
micro-macro level educational change [23]. The potential connec-
tion is clear: If institutions set very high standards (goals) then
they will perceive a large performance gap which leads to adopting
high-risk strategies in order to close it [23]. In any case, there might
be a gap between the importance and performance which requires
continuous monitoring and evaluation.
2.2.2 Students’ competencies for digital learning. Digital compe-
tence is essential for students to be successful in higher education
[2]. As many course materials became available via LMS, good dig-
ital skills enable students to obtain greater capacity to understand
given educational content and help them to perform better [24],
[25].
Studies on digital learning show that, in developing nations more
papers focus on access to technology and context whereas in devel-
oped nations more papers concern individuals [26]. Turkmenistan,
although developing nation, achieved fundamental digital infras-
tructure developments on teaching and learning in higher education.
Hence, it is a moment to focus on individuals and their demands
which will enable them to benefit full potential of educational op-
portunities in this transforming period.
3 DATA COLLECTION AND METHODOLOGY
This study was conducted at two public universities located in
Ashgabat which have similar education process. The universities
have been promoting digitally enhanced learning and teaching
(e.g., blended/digital learning and ICT-assisted teaching) for years.
Universities were chosen due to several aspects: (1) pioneering
status of implementing online leaning during the COVID-19 pan-
demic; (2) Medium of instruction, both of which delivered their
lectures in English language. Therefore, original DCP questionnaire
were adopted. However, translation of questionnaire into Turkmen
Extrapolating the Digital Readiness – Are Turkmen Undergraduate Students Competent for Online
Learning? CompSysTech ’22, June 17, 18, 2022, University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria

Table 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of participants

Variables Values N (IUHD) % (IUHD) N (ETUT) % (ETUT)

Participant Total by School 133 100 157 100
Gender 85 64 103 66
48 36 54 34
Age group 17-19 12 9 26 17
20-24 120 90 123 78
25-29 - 1 8 5
Educational Domain Economics and Management - - 46 29
Social Sciences 25 19 - -
Chemical Engineering - - 37 24
Bioengineering - - 8 5
Information Technologies 108 81 34 22
Cyber-physical Systems - - 32 20

might threaten the validity and reliability of collected data by pro-
ducing irrelevant results [27]. Both universities operate under the
supervision of Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan.
The questionnaire was accessible for all students at two partic-
ipating universities through Google Forms and 290 students vol-
untarily agreed to respond (Table 1). The State Energy Institute of
Turkmenistan were contacted. However, inquires went unanswered
as a common practice for researchers in Turkmen context [28].
The participants considered in this study are enrolled in different
disciplines (Table 1). Volunteer students were initially asked by their
Student Affairs Office to sign up a consent form and complete an
online survey.
3.1 Data Collection Tool.
Digital Competency Profiler (DCP) were adopted for its specific
features to conceptualize uses of digital technologies and their
related competencies [29],[30]. It knows as a multidimensional
framework, was developed in long-term research on the General
Technological Competency and Use (GTCU) framework [31], [32].
The DCP consists of 26 indicators under four competency di-
mensions: technical, communicational, informational, and computa-
tional. Within that group there are five items for technical and seven
for each of the competencies. Students were asked about the type of
digital device, confidence of usage, and frequency of using them for
educational purposes. As DCP instructions, the frequency of usage
was measured using a five-point Likert scale in 5 categories: never
(1), few times a year (2), few times a month (3), few times a week
(4), and daily (5). The confidence of use was also measured using a
five-level Likert scale: do not know how to use (1), not confident,
require assistance to use (2), confident, can solve some problems (3),
quite confident, can use with no assistance (4), and very confident,
can teach others how to use (5). Additionally, students were asked
to included type of digital devices (desktop/laptop, mobile and/or
other) that they select to perform each DCP items.
3.2 Analysis
According to previous studies [6],[33] Cronbach’s alphas [34] were
adopted to measure the validity and reliability [35]. Indicators were
acceptable for the four constructs ranging from 0.70 to 0.81.
By following the GTCU framework, referring to the five-point
Likert scale, confidence and frequency values were added in order
to create competency-item scores for each participating student. In
a newly generated condition, maximum competency-item can reach
up to 10, which indicates daily use and high confidence. Participants
with low digital skill and ignorance of usage of any digital devices
scores as 2.
The interpretation of the value was based on the following
adopted competence score (CS) criteria designed in 2018 [6]: CS
≥ 7 shows high readiness level of digital competence. 4 ≤ CS ≤
6 indicates middle level readiness and CS ≤ 3 indicates low level
of readiness. Students with low level of readiness need support
which is provided in detail on related findings section for each
digital action. The middle level of readiness included those students
for whom DCP predicts performance less reliably [23]. Thus, even
though performance level might be adequate, conclusions about
the expected functioning of those students are not made.
4 RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.1 Digital readiness for technical actions
Table 2 displays technical actions across two digital readiness levels.
The results for T1 showed that the high number of students from
both universities have high digital readiness on any devices. The
IUHD cohort mostly inclined to using desktop/laptop (80%) and
the ETUT cohort mostly smartphones (63%). It is the mostly well
performed skill in the technical order of competency, followed by
T3 and T4. All actions under technical actions are the prerequisite
for effective performing of other dimensions of GTCU framework,
which can be obtained by students having a sufficient desire and
access to related technologies (laptop, smartphone, tablet etc.) [6].
Despite having high level of T1 on computer and laptop, the
IUHD cohort demonstrated lower level of digital readiness than
the ETUT cohort at four out of five items. The ETUT, achieves the
highest readiness T2-T3 using both devices which the IUHD cohort
needs to enhance those competencies, especially on creating/editing
audio materials. Nevertheless, the majority of students from both
cohorts lacked technical skills in T5. It is worthy to mention that
the ETUT cohort reaches 71% on T4 using desktop/laptop, while
the mobile device was preferred for T1-T3.
CompSysTech ’22, June 17, 18, 2022, University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria Begench Yazov et al.

Table 2: Digital readiness segments for technical actions

Technical actions Segments IUHD D/L IUHD M ETUT D/L ETUT M

T1. Create/edit documents High 0.798 0.538 0.667 0.630
Low 0.011 0.231 0.072 0.065
T2. Create/edit audio High 0.091 0.387 0.636 0.581
Low 0.318 0.225 0.091 0.153
T3. Create/edit multimedia High 0.580 0.590 0.622 0.625
Low 0.020 0.108 0.108 0.083
T4. Manage accounts High 0.667 0.443 0.714 0.318
Low 0.148 0.170 0.179 0.341
T5. Manage/operate other devices High 0.163 0.289 0.433 0.220
Low 0.163 0.378 0.300 0.488

Table 3: Digital readiness segments for communicational actions

Communicational actions Segments IUHD D/L IUHD M ETUT D/L ETUT M

A6. Communicate using text messages High 0.333 0.946 0.583 0.966
Low 0.000 0.023 0.083 0.007
A7. Communicate using audio High 0.800 0.924 0.500 0.837
Low 0.000 0.017 0.250 0.050
A8. Communicate using video High 0.700 0.724 0.789 0.783
Low 0.000 0.057 0.158 0.058
A9. Communicate using email High 0.864 0.640 0.773 0.511
Low 0.000 0.072 0.045 0.141
A10. Use social networks High 0.400 0.789 0.625 0.809
Low 0.200 0.063 0.250 0.043
A11. Use collaboration tools High 0.600 0.398 0.463 0.328
Low 0.086 0.245 0.195 0.491
A12. Share works and ideas online High 0.364 0.533 0.588 0.586
Low 0.091 0.082 0.235 0.093

4.2 Digital readiness for communicational
actions
The communicational actions described by DCP are required to have
flexible skills and are crucial in participating as an active member
of online-learning environments. Table 3 exhibits the results of two
digital readiness levels and seven communicational skills.
The majority of participants from both cohorts uses mobile de-
vices. In terms of each cohort, the IUHD students have consistently
higher percentage (40-95%) in high-readiness segments in all seven
communicational actions with smartphones. Heterogeneous dis-
tribution of competencies can be seen within the ETUT cohort,
especially in A8, A10, A12. It shows that there is a gap between stu-
dents’ communication skills in ETUT cohort. For A11 usage alone,
there are low level readiness for desktop/laptop (20%) and mobile
(50%) which is the communication item that needs to be improved
to get students’ active engagement during online learning activities.
These findings would be a strong foundation not only for future
digital-competence development of students in educational sector,
but also it is important to enhance capacity building of prospective
workforce to develop sustainable digital economy in the country
[36].
The results of this action indicated that, for both cohorts, when
students are competent on one device, it also affects their readiness
level for other devices. These can be observed on more than half of
ETUT students while performing social skills (A6, A8, A10, A12)
and on high number of IUHD students in three out of seven items
(A7, A9, A11).
In conclusion, compared to ETUT students, IUHD students’
stands out without having extreme level of low readiness in terms
of readiness level for using communicational tools for learning
purposes.
4.3 Digital readiness for informational actions
The DCP encompasses the data about the interaction tools between
given subject and learners’ knowledge. To have sufficient infor-
mation skills, it is essential to be competent in M14, M18, M15,
depending on each subject matter. These can be on an entire web
or university offline-portal. Albiladi et al., [37] state whose movies
are important sources of foreign learning languages. If movies are
to be exploited efficiently then they might be the engine for im-
proving language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing).
As the scope of this study covers two universities using English as
a medium of their instructions, it is also essential for students to be
Extrapolating the Digital Readiness – Are Turkmen Undergraduate Students Competent for Online
Learning? CompSysTech ’22, June 17, 18, 2022, University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria

Table 4: Digital readiness segments for informational actions

Informational actions Segments IUHD D/L IUHD M ETUT D/L ETUT M

M13. Access maps or GPS High 0.333 0.226 0.412 0.314
Low 0.111 0.258 0.353 0.329
M14. Search for journal articles High 0.593 0.500 0.724 0.594
Low 0.074 0.170 0.138 0.141
M15. Search for short movies High 0.708 0.752 0.727 0.770
Low 0.083 0.018 0.182 0.059
M16. Search or download movies High 0.710 0.588 0.725 0.556
Low 0.065 0.039 0.025 0.128
M17. Search or download music High 0.778 0.863 0.824 0.829
Low 0.000 0.024 0.000 0.029
M18. Read or download books High 0.826 0.809 0.739 0.679
Low 0.043 0.027 0.043 0.067
M19. Automate information sources High 0.081 0.141 0.167 0.164
Low 0.532 0.592 0.714 0.699

able to find high quality films (M16) and music (M17) as a learning
tool throughout the process of second language acquisition [38].
Using digital maps (M13) also included under informational skills
which is mostly used as navigation to guide in unfamiliar places.
Finally, content-aggregation tools can increase the productivity
in academic research, such as reference-management extensions
(M19). Therefore, it is clear that, these group of informational ac-
tions meet vital digital gap in any higher education institutions.
As shown in Table 4 there are greater number of high-readiness
users for mobile actions within each university cohort. Findings
overall, indicated that majority of the university students are con-
sidered as acceptable ready users for all informational skills with
the exception of M13 and M19.
Within the IUHD cohort, level of students in M18 identified as a
high-readiness segment on any devices. Second higher readiness
level in M17 belongs to cohorts (86% via smartphones). The ETUT
cohort has higher readiness level in M14 and M15 using mobile
device.
In both cohorts, most students belong to acceptable segment M15
using both devices. In spite of not having any informational action
competencies at very high-readiness segment, there are certain
items that both universities achieved in common and also have to
work on specific items enhancing the students’ readiness level for
transformative online learning.
In order to have a university level research, articles and books
have fundamental role. Overall, the IUHD students mostly works
on smartphones. The ETUT students have moderate high-readiness
segments regarding these skills, and they are mostly competent on
desktops and laptops. However, the results show that, such training
is needed for both cohorts, to enhance their academic-informational
competencies.
4.4 Digital readiness for computational actions
Table 5 shows digital competencies on computational actions (also
known as epistemological skills) and demonstrates readiness level
of students from two public universities across their readiness lev-
els (low and high) and seven skill items. In order to be a proficient
on computational actions, students need to know the substantial
domain knowledge and the ability to assign "cognitive processes"
to the computer either using ready-to-use applications or program-
ming languages.
It is obvious that using innovative educational technologies in
the classroom settings increases the cognitive and IT skills of stu-
dents, which is also proven by research on a small group [39]
in the local context. This research finding shows that there is a
strong correlation between the frequency level of using actions
and students’ confidence level for each digital skill among two
university students in Turkmenistan. In this regard, implementing
the presidential Decree for HEIs in Turkmenistan on harnessing
educational technologies to develop ICT-enhanced teaching and
learning environments would be helpful to make students com-
petent in digital skills. In a long term, these will be beneficial for
meeting the national (Digital Learning Concept, 2017) and interna-
tional educational goals (SDG4) in Turkmenistan. It is essential to
have in mind that, it is difficult task to measure student who studies
and conducts research without significant level of computational
actions throughout this process, particularly in an age of "big data"
[40].
Results indicated that most of the students from both university
cohorts demonstrated medium readiness level for all computational
skills. However, it is very important to organize additional activities
to enhance skills for H21, H22 and H24. Indeed, there are high
number of students showing high-readiness level in certain actions,
which give us hope to succeed in their future learning experiences.
5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Measuring the digital readiness of HEI students for online learning
is challenging in Turkmen context. It is clear that the technology-
readiness of students is necessary, however the condition for build-
ing successful online-learning experiences is also vital while evalu-
ating the status of digital competency of university students. Many
factors affect the performance, which create challenges to predict
the real capacities of students without having available online learn-
ing conditions.
CompSysTech ’22, June 17, 18, 2022, University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria Begench Yazov et al.

Table 5: Digital readiness segments for computational actions

Computational actions Segments IUHD D/L IUHD M ETUT D/L ETUT M

H20. Use/share calendar or organizer High 0.207 0.442 0.579 0.768
Low 0.241 0.212 0.316 0.058
H21. Create concept maps or flow charts High 0.357 0.195 0.426 0.188
Low 0.107 0.442 0.393 0.521
H22. Create/modify figures and diagrams High 0.267 0.356 0.287 0.314
Low 0.117 0.411 0.414 0.400
H23. Sort large amounts of data High 0.647 0.707 0.346 0.443
Low 0.039 0.146 0.449 0.342
H24. Generate graphs from numbers High 0.469 0.319 0.342 0.369
Low 0.094 0.304 0.301 0.357
H25. Do complex calculations High 0.375 0.725 0.875 0.823
Low 0.125 0.055 0.000 0.064
H26. Program or automate procedures High 0.615 0.162 0.445 0.085
Low 0.115 0.459 0.300 0.596

The study has achieved its prior goals. However, it has some
limitations too. First, by considering each university settings, it is
impossible to generalize outcomes of HEI of Turkmenistan. Tech-
nical device availability, internet connectivity (as technical) and
heterogeneous characteristics, various competency levels (as edu-
cational) are main factors that make each university unique case.
Second, some actions of original DCP requires access to websites
with specific properties, such as social network platforms (A10),
however they were blocked in Turkmenistan during the data collec-
tion. Therefore, they replaced with less functional platforms (Imo
and others) for digital learning.
According to findings based on collected data, most students
from both university cohorts shows high digital readiness for social
and informational tasks using mobile phones. Specifically, majority
of participants from both cohorts achieved the high-readiness level
for communicational skills using mobile devices. Within that, col-
laboration tools displayed low readiness level with desktop/laptop
which needs to be improved in order to get active involvement of
students during online education process. Because obtaining strong
foundation of these digital competencies is essential not only for
ongoing developments in educational sector, but also it is important
to join future workforce.
In addition, training on computational skills is required for stu-
dents from both HEI. The training programs have to include soft-
ware applications which can be run on desktop/laptop computer
to equip students with computational skills. In terms of technical
skills, trainings must target software programs that are suitable for
both electronic devices.
This research paves the way for further research. Since univer-
sity teaching staffs are associated with digital learning, their in-
volvement into evaluation process should be considered. Therefore,
future research on developing a conceptional evaluation model is
needed which takes into account the perceptions of teaching staffs
by using qualitative approach.
This study only focused on junior level students, whose results
are essential to show which competencies learners bring with them
to the university. It assists universities to draw a conclusion on
what kind of competencies should be developed to cope with digital
learning, as well as digital transformation at HEI in Turkmenistan.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency.
The authors acknowledges that the participants were recruited vol-
untarily from two public university students based on permissions
by each Academic Council for data collection.
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