ERI2023 Pre-Recorded Virtual Presentations

Learner Experience Design

67170 | The Impact of the Student Athlete Identity

Maria Savva, St. John's University, United States

The concept of athletic identity has been defined as the degree to which an individual identifies with their own athlete role (Brewer et al., 1993). Based on this research, positive and negative connotations of athletes persisted throughout time. Studies portray the varying correlations between athletic identity, academia success and motivation in the identity of the athlete. With this, the goal of this study is to determine if the transcendence of academia and athletics in lives of former athletes continue beyond college into their current professional lives. This pilot case study examined 3 prior student-athletes that are currently in different professions and determinants of their adult life. Through my qualitative approach of interviews, self-reflecting journals, and questioning former male elite athletes, the question that arises is: How has former athletes' athletic identity and academic journey contributed, if at all, to their lives after college? Through coding and analysis, the correlation between one's athletic identity and academic journey transcend to their current lives in many ways despite the participants previous sport, current workplace, or location of education. The goal of this research is for the development of a framework in academia to internationally integrate athletics within educational policy and curriculums in order to create more successful and motivated generations.

Rural Education

68454 | Gender Differences in Primary School Achievement in Ghana: The Moderating Effects of School Types and Localities

Maxwell Nyatsikor, University for Development Studies, Ghana

The study used national achievement data from Ghana to explore the extent pupils’ gender accounted for achievement differences in mathematics and English Language and how these differences were moderated by the types and locations of the schools they attended. The sample size comprised 16,429 primary 3 pupils drawn from 448 schools. A multilevel modelling technique was used to analyse the data. The study found statistically insignificant gender-linked differences in English Language but significant differences in mathematics achievement. The types and locations of schools significantly impacted pupils’ achievement but could not offset the statistically significant gender-related differences in mathematics. Girls in urban schools outperformed boys in English Language and mathematics, albeit insignificantly. Boys in rural, public and private schools did better than girls in English, although the differences were not statistically significant. However, there was a statistically significant difference in mathematics achievement by boys and girls in rural and public schools but not in urban and private schools. The study’s outcome suggests potential differential learning opportunities for boys and girls in some schools and localities, predominantly in rural schools in Ghana. The results imply that Ghana is yet to fully achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, which seeks to reduce attainment gaps between male and female learners to insignificant levels. Consequently, stakeholders need to re-examine and effectively implement our commitments to achieving inclusive education for all learners regardless of gender, school type, location and subjects.

STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts & Math) Education

68047 | Lectures’ Experiences in Teaching STEM Courses Online During COVID-19: Case of a Zimbabwean University

Sibusisiwe Dube, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe

Belinda Ndlovu, University of South Africa, South Africa

Sinokubekezela Princess Dube, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe

This research explains the university lecturers’ experiences during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While this research acknowledges the existence of literature on the teaching conditions during COVID-19, it also recognises the gap of limited literature on lecturers’ experiences in teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics (STEM) courses online. It is therefore, imperative to fill this gap by presenting these experiences and using them as guidelines during situations that demand the quick transitioning to online-based STEM education particularly where there is neither ample time nor frameworks to guide the smooth switch towards online classes. This quantitative study based on a single university case shows how Structuration Theory’s structures of domination, legitimation and signification influence transitioning from physical to online teaching methods. An understanding of these structures as experienced by the university lecturers afford the university management and the higher education institutions’ policy makers to formulate education policies that support online teaching methods to align with the new normal such as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic where educational institutions were forced to quickly turn to online STEM classes. The paper concludes with a causal loop diagram of concepts that positively or negatively affect transitioning to teaching STEM classes online. These findings will have both practical and theoretical implications on policy makers as they present the guidelines for transitioning from physical classes towards teaching STEM courses virtually.

69584 | The Effect of an Educational Technology Program Approach on Students’ Attitude Towards Problem Solving

Sabariah Sharif, University Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

Thiwagar Muniandy, University Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

Muralindran Mariappan, University Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

This research intends to investigate the effect of an educational technology program approach on students’ attitude towards problem solving. Quantitative research with the quasi-experimental model (pre-test & post-test) was used in the study to outline the research design and questionnaire technique was administered for data collecting from experiment and control group. The samples were 10 years old (Year 4) primary schools’ students from Selangor and Malacca state in Malaysia with a total sample of 500 students. Inferential statistical test, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) with significance value 0.05 was performed using SPSS 25 to analyze the data. Based on data and discussion that have been accomplished, it can be concluded there is a significant difference on students’ attitude towards problem solving in experimental group after attending educational technology program over control group who did not participate in educational technology program and only experiences traditional learning method. Educational technology program approach that has been used in this study was robotic program. This robotic program is suggested as one of the innovative STEAM and game based program, based on constructivism which is advised for enhancing problem solving skills. Excellent problem solving skill will assist students in resolving contextual and complex problems.