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The International Academic Forum provides new perspectives to the thought-leadersand decision-makers of today and tomorrow by offering constructive environments
for dialogue and interchange at the intersections of nation, culture, and discipline.
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INTERNATIONALINTERCULTURAL
INTERDISCIPLINARY

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The Executive Council of the International Advisory Board

Mr Mitsumasa Aoyama
Director, The Yufuku Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Professor June Henton
Dean, College of Human Sciences, Auburn University,
USA

Lord Charles Bruce
Lord Lieutenant of Fife
Chairman of the Patrons of the National Galleries of
Scotland
Trustee of the Historic Scotland Foundation, UK

Professor Michael Hudson
President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term
Economic Trends (ISLET)Distinguished Research Professor of Economics, The
University of Missouri, Kansas City

Professor Donald E. Hall
Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Dean
Lehigh University, USA
Former Jackson Distinguished Professor of English
and Chair of the Department of English

Professor Koichi Iwabuchi
Professor of Media and Cultural Studies & Director of
the Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Australia

Professor Arthur Stockwin
Founding Director of the Nissan Institute forJapanese Studies & Emeritus Professor
The University of Oxford UK
Professor Chung-Ying Cheng
Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawai’i atManoa, USA
Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Chinese Philosophy
Professor Steve Cornwell
Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies,
Osaka Jogakuin University, Osaka, Japan
Osaka Local Conference Chair
Professor A. Robert Lee
Former Professor of English at Nihon University,
Tokyo from 1997 to 2011, previously long taught
at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK
Professor Dexter Da Silva
Professor of Educational Psychology, Keisen University,
Tokyo, Japan
Professor Georges Depeyrot
Professor and Director of Research & Member of theBoard of Trustees
French National Center for Scientific Research(CNRS) & L’Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France
Professor Johannes Moenius
William R. and S. Sue Johnson Endowed Chair of
Spatial Economic Analysis and Regional Planning
The University of Redlands School of Business, USA

Professor Sue Jackson
Professor of Lifelong Learning and Gender & Pro-Vice
Master of Teaching and Learning, Birkbeck, Universityof London, UK
Professor Sir Geoffrey Lloyd
Senior Scholar in Residence, The Needham ResearchInstitute, Cambridge, UK
Fellow and Former Master, Darwin College, Universityof Cambridge
Fellow of the British Academy
Professor Keith Miller
Orthwein Endowed Professor for Lifelong Learning in
the Science, University of Missouri-St.Louis, USA
Professor Kuniko Miyanaga
Director, Human Potential Institute, Japan
Fellow, Reischauer Institute, Harvard University, USA
Professor Dennis McInerney
Chair Professor of Educational Psychology and CoDirector of the Assessment Research Centre
The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
SAR
Professor Brian Daizen Victoria
Professor of English
Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies
Professor Michiko Nakano
Professor of English & Director of the Distance
Learning Center, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Professor Thomas Brian MooneyProfessor of Philosophy
Head of School of Creative Arts and Humanities
Professor of Philosophy and Head of School of
Creative Arts and Humanities, Charles Darwin
University, Australia

Professor Baden Offord
Professor of Cultural Studies and Human Rights & CoDirector of the Centre for Peace and Social JusticeSouthern Cross University, Australia
Professor Frank S. Ravitch
Professor of Law & Walter H. Stowers Chair in Law
and Religion, Michigan State University College of Law
Professor Richard RothSenior Associate Dean, Medill School of Journalism,
Northwestern University, Qatar
Professor Monty P. Satiadarma
Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology &Former Dean of the Department of Psychology and
Rector of the University, Tarumanugara University,
Indonesia
Mr Mohamed Salaheen
Director, The United Nations World Food Programme,Japan & Korea
Mr Lowell Sheppard
Asia Pacific Director, HOPE International
Development Agency, Canada/Japan
His Excellency Dr Drago Stambuk
Croatian Ambassador to Brazil, Brazil
Professor Mary Stuart
Vice-Chancellor, The University of Lincoln, UK
Professor Gary Swanson
Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence & Mildred S.
Hansen Endowed Chair, The University of Northern
Colorado, USA
Professor Jiro Takai
Secretary General of the Asian Association for Social
Psychology & Professor of Social Psychology
Graduate School of Education and Human
Development, Nagoya University, Japan
Professor Svetlana Ter Minasova
President of the Faculty of Foreign Languages andArea Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Professor Yozo Yokota
Director of the Center for Human Rights Affairs, Japan
Former UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Professor Kensaku Yoshida
Professor of English & Director of the Center for the
Teaching of Foreign Languages in General Education,
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

The Asian Conference on Education 2018

Official Conference Proceedings

ISSN: 2186-5892© The International Academic Forum 2018
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR)
Sakae 1-16-26-201
Naka Ward, Nagoya, Aichi
Japan 460-0008
ww.iafor.org

Table of Contents
The Economics And Politics Of The Shift From K To 10 To K To 12:
The Philippine Experience
Augusto de Viana

pp. 1 - 20

Internationalization & the Impact of International Students in theJapanese Classroom
Cecilia Ikeguchi

pp. 21 - 30

Crisis Marketing Strategy Antecedents of Performance of Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs)in Region III in the Philippines
Jesus D. Panlilio

pp. 31 - 46

Skills of Analyzing and Synthesizing Textual Information in University
Students: Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Approach
Anna Toom
Natalia Inshakova

pp. 47 - 59

Gamification as a Way to Reduce the Operating Method at Engineering
Classes
Luis F Calvo Prieto
Raul Herrero Martínez
Ana I García Pérez
Sergio Paniagua Bermejo

pp. 61 - 71

Assessing the Impact of Meritocracy on the Singapore Education System:
Evaluating Outcomes, Averting Threats
Mohamad Shamsuri Juhari

pp. 73 - 85

Literacy Learning Program using 3D Kanji Models for Children with
Developmental Dyslexia
Hanae Ikeshita-Yamazoe

pp. 87 - 93

Van Hiele’s Instructional Model In Teaching Of Tangents And Secants Of
Circles
Melchor Del Rosario
pp. 95 - 108
School Principals’ Profile and Public Elementary Schools Performancein the Schools Division Office of Imus City
Gregorio A. Co, Jr.
Matea-Alvyn H. Trinidad
Jenielyn A. Sadang

pp. 109 - 123

Using GSP in Creating Concept Image on the Topic Theory Graph for
Eighth Grade Students
Patcharin Setteechaichanapp. 125 - 133

The Development of Competency of Creation of Learning Management
for English Teachers by Coaching & Mentoring
Apiradee Jeenkram
Wisathorn Thanukit

pp. 135 - 141

Integrating Neurodidactics Stimulation Into Blended Learning In
Accomodating Students English Learning In EFL Setting
Rukminingsih

pp. 143 - 154

Low Proficient Students’ Oral Interaction with Native Speaker of English
as a Language Assistant in the Classroom
Imelda Wahyuni Husein

pp. 155 - 166

The Effectiveness of the Pragmatic Skills Intervention for Young Adults
with Mild Intellectual Disability (with or without co-morbid Autism
Spectrum Disorder)
Wendy Yeo Su Fen

pp. 167 - 177

2C-2I-1R Approaches: Way to Reduce Math Anxiety among Senior HighSchool Learners
Elymar Pascual

pp. 179 - 183

An Analysis on the Perceptions of High School Teachers in Manila,
Philippines Towards Student Data Privacy and Its Legal Implications
Juan Carlo Zamora
Madeleine Tan
Sharon Albacete
Rosemin Canulo

pp. 185 - 198

Mind Mapping and Science Performance of Grace 5 Pupils
of San Juan Elementary School, Sta. Cruz, Laguna
Nilda San Miguelpp. 199 - 202

Theories on Self-Reflection in Education
Anna Belobrovy

pp. 203 - 208

Teacher Professional Development Through Distance Education:
The Ghanaian Experience
Ellen Abakah

pp. 209 - 217

Internationalization at Home - Enhancing Students' InterculturalCompetence in “Intercultural Collaborative Co-Learning Class"
Kazuko Suematsu

pp. 219 - 228

Challenges and Opportunities to the Use of Google Docs Sharing forRealtime Writing Task Feedback: Inclusive ESL Classroom at Jakarta
Multicultural School
Athifah Utami

pp. 229 - 242

The Development of a Novel Using Storytelling Technique as a Learning
Tool in Promoting Student Engagement and Satisfaction
Patchara Vanichvasin

pp. 243 - 249

E-learning Strategies in English Language Learning in Pre-service
Teacher Education: Comparison in Hong Kong and Mainland China
Ruiqian Yang
Yiu Chi Lai

pp. 251 - 255

Zoo Kids Zone in Chiang Mai Zoo: Best Practice Activities
under the Concept of Edutainment
Banjaponn Thongkaw
Jirachai Yomkerd

pp. 257 - 267

A Study of Praise, Motivation, and Self-esteem of Low-achieving Students
in Mentoring Groups
Chun Kin ChungPeter Lai
Raoger Ng

pp. 269 - 294

The Academic Culture Shock Experiences of Turkish International
Students in Japan: A Qualitative Study
Ayse Ilgin Sozen
Tomoko Tanaka
Sachiko Nakano

pp. 295 - 307

Preliminary Finding: The Role of Non-Formal Education in Developing
Rural Youth Empowerment
Gusti Agung Ayu Pramitasari
Laurence Tamatea
Nicoli Barnes

pp. 309 - 318

The Performance of Factor and Multiple Problem-Solving
for the Fifth Grade with Mathematics Underachievers
Pei-Hsiu Chen

pp. 319 - 331

Effects of 3D Printing Interactive Technology on Special Education forChildren with Different Disabilities
Shu-Hua Chen
Chien-Yu Lin
Quo-Cyuan Mao

pp. 333 - 340

A Study at the Constitution of Students’ Family Backgrounds of an Elite
University in the Perspective of Cultural Capital
Ju Fasheng

pp. 341 - 357

Teacher Agency in Mother Tongue: From Social Practice to Legislation
Peter G. Romerosa

pp. 359 - 368

Multigenerational ESL Classrooms in Japan: An Exploration of theExperiences of Adult Students
Jeremy Chambers

pp. 369 - 380

Learner Autonomy and Hand Raising in the EFL Classroom:
Exploring Willingness to Talk
Tracy Friedrich
Lisa Miller

pp. 381 - 391

Challenges Associated with the Implementation of Active Learning:
A Small-scale Study of Japanese University EFL Teachers
Maki Ikoma

pp. 393 - 410

The Efficacy and Implementation of the ESP Approach: Assessment of
ESP Textbook for Physical Therapy
Minako Inoue

pp. 411 - 425

Developing and Creating Multimedia for Learning Values of Thai
Literature
Kittipong Phumpuang
Patcharin Buranakorn

pp. 427 - 438

The Case Study of The Thailand Pomelo-Based Learning Model to
Improve Students' Learning Experience
Nitta Roonkaseam

pp. 439 - 445

Mentorship, Global Readiness, and Student Success at South Carolina
State University (SCSU): A Descriptive Study of the Emergence of the
New Student Mentor
Delindus Richard Brown

pp. 447 - 451

Solitude Back in Fashion: Introducing the Uses of Being Alone
Amy Leepp. 453 - 461

Using Tech At Uni: Students Report On Their Technology Use At
University
Yuwanuch Gulateee
Jeremy E. Pagram
Barbara Combes

pp. 463 - 476

Academic Research in Vocationally-Oriented Higher Education:
Perspectives from Teaching Staff
Kit Yin Emmy Wong
Svetlana Chigaeva-Heddad

pp. 477 – 487

Task-Based Language Teaching in Education in ASEAN Course forStudent Teachers Mathematics English Program
Satsayamon Sangway

pp. 489 - 495

A Comparative Study on Compliment Response between Indonesian EFL
Students and English Native Speakers
Maria Febriani Seran

pp. 497 - 513

Leagility in Education: Logistics and Supply Chain Management as a
Dynamic Education Paradigm
Roy Irvine Morien
Duangporn Limthamrong

pp. 515 - 529

Rural Education in China in the Process of Urbanization: Development
and Reflection
Zhou Xing-Guo
Cao Rong-Rong
Liu Li-Na

pp. 531 - 542

Finding Opportunities Within a Conventional Curriculum to Provide
Research Experience to Undergraduate Biology Students: A
Collaborative Effort with Teachers
Deepti Gupta
Needa Baghban
Aakansha Sawant
Swapnja Patil
Jyotsna Vijapurkar

pp. 543 - 553

A Descriptive Analysis on Grammatical-Morphology Patterns of the Deaf
College Students’ Indonesian Written Language
pp. 555 - 564
Alies Poetri Lintangsari
The Relationship between Musical Instrument Adoption and Professionsof Music Students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in Thailand 4.0
Thassanai Phensit

pp. 565 - 572

Thailand 4.0 Music Student: Study on Classical Guitar Repertoire
Learning Process
Patommavat Thammachard

pp. 573 - 580

Administration Factors Affecting Student Development in Thailand 4.0 in
Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Sansanee Jasuwan

pp. 581 - 589

Music Curriculum Supporting Music Occupation for Music Students ofSuan Sunandha Rajabhat University in Thailand 4.0
Sirima Panapinan

pp. 591 - 595

The Role of Technology in Improving the Teaching and Learning Process
at Tadulako University, Indonesia
Aminah Suriaman
Sriati Usman
Anjar Kusuma Dewi
Saidna Zulfiqar Bin-Tahir

pp. 597 - 603

'I am a Mercenary Now' International Teachers as a Global Educational
Precariat?
Adam Poole

pp. 605 - 615

The Influence of Teacher’s Role, Autonomous Learning Method andStudent’s Engagement on Student’s Learning Outcomes in Vocational
High School in Jakarta, Indonesia
Setyani Dwi Lestari
Rida Pratamawati
Nora Andira Brabo
Bambang Agus Prasetyanto

pp. 617 - 627

The Significance and Strategy of Innovative Learning in the Age ofIntelligence
Li Zihua

pp. 629 - 636

Web-Based Science Learning as Innovative Instruction
Bruce Marvin Ruaro

pp. 637 - 652

Investigation of Grammatical Instruction on Pragmatics of Thai EFL
Learners: A Case of 1st Year English-Major Students
Arnunnit Manorom

pp. 653 - 669

Comparison of the Learning Curve and Adaptive Behavior from Kids toAdults who Create Mobile-Apps and Little Robots Using BlockProgramming
Felipe Moreno-Vera
Leonardo León-Vera
Juan Guizado-Vasquez
Michael Vera-Panez

pp. 671 - 677

Kinesthetic Perception, Physical Activity and on-Task Behavior in
Thematic Learning
Eva Julianti P
Heni Widyaningsih
Mulyana

pp. 679 - 684

Nutritional Information Media for Elementary School Children:
A Literature Review
Ambar Yoganingrum
Ratih Nurani Sumardi
Sanya Anda Lusiana
I Rai Ngardita

pp. 685 - 697

Instructional Scaffolding Through Zap the Gap Approach: Bridging
Academic Achievement in Science for Students-at-Risk
Kristine Joan Barredo

pp. 699 - 706

Social Inclusion: A Systemic Approach to Child’s Well-being
Manju Rajput
Ruchi Thakkar

pp. 707 - 722

Exploring Leadership Characteristics of Public and Private High School
Administrators in The Divisionof Malabon: A Comparative Analysis
Marivic Basilio
Maximo Y. Muldong

pp. 723 - 732

Beliefs, Attitudes, Challenges and Factors in The Implementation of The
New Curriculum: Basis for a Curriculum Model
Anecita Palacios
Apipa Masnar

pp. 733 - 747

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes towards Sustainable Rural
Tourism after a Decade of the Tsunami in Aceh
Jane Teng
Afrida Yahya

pp. 749 - 759

Thai University Students’ Perceptions and Practices of Smartphone Use
for English Language Learning
Siriluck Wechsumangkalo

pp. 761- 770

Iliganon Myths and Folklores: Its Effect to Social Culture
Joseph Michael Bentoy
Mitchel Garay
Gritchelyn Talisic

pp. 771 - 781

The Role of Informal English Language Teaching in Childhood on
English Knowledge and Attitude towards English Language in AdulthoodMarzie Mobtada
Aliakbar Saif

pp. 783 - 792

The Use of 'Kebudiluhuran' Aspect as a Curriculum Development in Budi
Luhur University
Bintarto Wicaksono
Nawiroh Vera
Haronas Kutanto

pp. 793 - 803

Reading as a Problem Solving Task and Digital School
Rosanna Tammaro
Concetta Ferrantino
Francesco Milito
Maria Tiso

pp. 805 - 812

Exploring The Effective Dimensions Of Engaging Students inContemporary Architecture Design Studios in Times Of Change
Naima Iftikhar
Philip Crowther
Lindy Osborne Burton

pp. 813 - 833

Content Design of Virtual Game for Elementary School Students:
Using Circle and Compound Graphics of Circle as an Example
Shih-Ju Weng
Shwu-Ching Young

pp. 835 - 840

The Study on Teaching of Practice Skills in a Drum Set at Suan Sunandha
Rajchapat University, Bangkok, in Thailand 4.0
Rungkiat Siriwongsuwan
pp. 841 - 851
Status of Traditional Thai Music Education in Thai Universities
Pongsilp Arunrat

pp. 853 - 860

Digital Technology Use of Teachers and Students and Their Perceptionsof Technology Integration into English Curriculum in Thailand
Pornnicha Weerakanto

pp. 861 - 888

Collaborative Assistive Technology in Mathematics Learning for Students
with Special Needs
Rou-Rou Sung
Shu-Wen Lin
Chien-Yu Lin
pp. 889 - 898
Manufactory: Promoting 3D Spatial Skills with Productive Failure and
Educational Games
Nana Tian
Vinayak Teoh Kanappan
Jeffrey Hong Yan Jack
Ayesha Fathima
Owen Noel Newton Fernando
Hock Soon Seah
Anupam Chattopadhyay

pp. 899 - 919

Improvement of Listening Skills of Thai Elementary Japanese Learners
Using the Top-down Shadowing Approach
Chinnawat Ninmotepp. 921 - 927

The Context of Curator in the 21st Century: A Study at Museums in
Bangkok Area
Anantachai Aeka
Wimonchat Lerdkochasri

pp. 929 - 935

The Effects of Software Interaction Mode on Nominal Group Creativity in
Online Classes
Janejira Sutanonpaiboon
pp. 937 - 948

A Study on a Method of Integrating AR Markers into a Foreign Language
Learning System for Task-based Activities
Harumi Kashiwagi
Min Kang
Kazuhiro Ohtsuki

pp. 949 - 957

All On Screen: The Effects of Digitized Learning Activities on Increasing
Learner Interest and Engagement in EFL Classroom
Jaiake Ritthipruek

pp. 959 - 968

The Effectiveness of Gamification in Finance Education
Lewis Teo Piaw Liew
Normala bt Jaya
Saripah Siti Zuliani Wan Abd. Rahman

pp. 969 - 976

Principal Leadership Practices, Teacher Morale and Performance ofElementary Schools
Abegaile B. Brazil – Rodrigo

pp. 977 - 985

Some Challenges with Opportunities of Introducing International
Baccalaureate Programmes into Japanese Schools
Carol Inugai Dixon
Jun Kawaguchi

pp. 987 - 994

What are Missing on the English Teacher Preparation Programme at
Japanese Universities in Terms of Pronunciation Instruction?
Akihito Desaki

pp. 995 - 1003

The Dynamical System of Character Education in Indonesia
Yulianto

pp. 1005 -1021

Eliciting Colloquial English Expressions in EFL Classrooms: Are VoiceOver Activities More Effective than Dubbing Activities?
Mariko Takahashi

pp. 1023 - 1038

Understanding & Applying Character Education In Chemistry:
A Case Study Of 10th Grade High School In Indonesia
Ahmad Ma'ruf
Yulianto Yulianto

pp. 1039 - 1042

Student Ambiguity Tolerance as Predictor of Problem-Solving Ability inMathematics
Buela, Mabel S.
Joaquin, Ma. Nympha B.

pp. 1043 - 1051

Efficacy of Moodle Forum in Teaching and Learning
Min Prasad Gurung
Rajan Kadel

pp. 1053 - 1061

Multilingual Education in Linguistically diverse Nepal: The Role ofMother-tongue based Education for Better Learning OutcomesPrem Singh Shintan
Elizabeth Cozens

pp. 1063 - 1072

A Study of Satisfaction of Students Towards the Bachelor of Science in
Medical and Public Health Secretary, College of Allied Health Sciences,
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Jirawat Sudsawart
Phannee Rojanabenjakun
Pradapet Krutchangthong
Veena Chantarasompoch
Kullaphat Pochanakul

pp. 1073 - 1084

Top Future Skills in Cross-Disciplinary Design Education
Mike Oustamanolakis

pp. 1085 - 1098

The Root of Spiritual Education: Chinese Culture’s Guigu Spiritual
MethodChen-Mei Li
Li-Yueh Chen

pp. 1099 - 1110

Using Social Innovation to Implement Weixin Shengjiao Doctrine in
Lifelong Education
Li-Yueh Chen
Chen-Mei Li

pp. 1111 - 1120

The Study of Clinical Observation of Acupuncture Therapy in theTreatment of Motor Aphasia after Cerebral Infarction
Suwanna Hadsamad
Tawat Buranatawonsom
Orawan Sinpaiboonlert
Shen Pengfei

pp. 1121 - 1134

Revolutionary Potential of Metaphors for English Language
Teaching and Learning
Irene Kusumawardanipp. 1135 - 1145

International Mindedness to Survive & Thrive: Challenges &Possibilities
Shubha Koshy
Carol Inugai-Dixon

pp. 1147 - 1158

Japanese English Language Education at the Preschool Level:
Institutional Possibilities, Home Options and the Utilization of Both—
Part 1
Mikio Brooks

pp. 1159 - 1175

The Satisfaction on Supportive Learning Materials of Students andLecturers of Medical and Public Health Secretary Program
Veena Chantarasompoch
Jirawat Sudsawart
Kullaphat Pochanakul

pp. 1177 - 1190

The Asian Conference on Education 2018

Official Conference Proceedings

The Economics And Politics Of The Shift From K To 10 To K To 12:
The Philippine Experience
Augusto de Viana, University of Santo Tomas, The Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
After several years of hesitation the Philippine government finally adopted a 12-yearbasic education program in 2013 with the signing of Republic Act No. 10533 known
as the K to 12 law. The law was in response to the perception of substandard quality
in Philippine education which resulted in Philippine graduates being discriminated in
the global workplace. The law was implemented in academic year 2014-2015.
Before the passage of the law Philippine basic education was only up to ten years.
With the implementation of the law two more years were added thus making basic
education from Kindergarten to the end of secondary education to 12 years. Despite
the political unpopularity of the K to 12 law it had to be passed to keep thePhilippines at par with the rest of the world in terms of education. With the country
dependent on incomes sent by overseas Filipino workers and rising standards in thePhilippines, the K to 12 law had to be passed. This paper examines the logistics
needed to implement the K to 12 law and the creation of a new pedagogy towards
creating a 21st century-ready graduate. The paper also examines the human cost interms of teacher dislocation and unemployment and what the Philippine government
has done to address this problem.
Keywords: K to 12, K to 12, economics, politics, problems, solutions

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Introduction
The Philippines is one of the world’s major labor-exporting countries. Beginning in
the early 1970s the country began sending workers overseas on a massive level.
Traditionally the destination of foreign-bound workers would be the United States andEurope. However with the construction boom in the Middle East in the 1970s theregion became the favored destination of many Filipino overseas workers. Of great
demand by employers were skilled workers doing professional and technical jobs
such as those in the health sector such as physicians, nurses and medical technicians;in the construction sector such as engineers, architects, welders, draftsmen andelectricians. Teachers and seamen also form part of the skilled manpower force. Evenfor jobs like domestic helpers employers prefer those that had some level of
education. (Pe, et. Al, 1)
The Philippines on its own cannot readily absorb the number of workers it produces.
At least a million new graduates from the country’s universities and colleges join thework force. The alternative was to facilitate the deployment of Filipino workers
abroad. Fortunately there is a demand for workers overseas especially skilled workers.
The ability of the Filipinos to speak English which is the language preferred by many
foreign employers and the reputation of the Filipinos as good workers abroad gavethem an added edge over other foreign workers. There are about 10.2 million overseas
Filipinos and about 52% of them are overseas workers. Their remittances to thePhilippines amounted to billions of dollars. In 2017 the anmount reached $26.92
billion. (Gmanetwork.com)
The effect of the billions of dollars of remittances from the earnings of overseas
Filipino workers can be seen in the countryside. Their homes are now improved fromthe traditional wood and palm leaf structures they can now afford to build concreteand stone houses. The families of overseas Filipino workers or OFWs as they are now
called, can now own appliances like the latest televisions, refrigerators and gadgets
which were only dreamed a few decades ago. OFWs also send their family members
to study in colleges and universities whereas before only a few select family members
can do so if they were fortunate enough. OFW families were also able to start theirown businesses. (Felongco)
The great value of the OFWs was demonstrated when the Philippines weathered the
Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 which caused the near-collapse of the economies
of countries in Southeast Asia. It is for these reasons the Philippine government called
the Overseas Filipino Workers as the Bagong Bayani or the new heroes of thePhilippines. (Dumlao, 16)
The Need for Educational Reform
However a serious challenge faced Filipino workers. Since the recognition ofPhilippine independence by the United States in 1946, education for most Philippine
graduates lasted for only 10 years from Grade 1 to Fourth high school. These consistof ten years basic education from Grade 1 to Grade 6 which is the elementary level in

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the Philippines while high school or secondary education lasts for four years. College
education on the other hand lasts for four years, thus giving a total of 14 years. With
the addition of kindergarten that would make a total of eleven years. Philippine basic
education therefore was called K 10 or kindergarten plus 10 years of elementary andhigh school education.
On the other hand most countries of the world had more years in their basic education.
Most western countries have adopted a K to 12 or a twelve year basic education
curriculum plus kindergarten. Lacking two years in the education of its graduates,
Philippine graduates were considered as substandard in terms of academic experience.
They were subjected to discrimination by employers and there were threats to remove
them from their jobs because their education was considered substandard. For
example an engineer trained in the Philippines cannot be accepted as an engineer inthe Middle East because of a two-year deficiency in his education. Such an engineer
can only be accepted for an inferior job such as technician. Likewise Filipino
architects can be only accepted as draftsmen. They will be able to qualify for thework they agreed to take further studies. Countries which used to hire Filipino
workers began to warn the Philippine government that unless reforms were
undertaken they will be forced to lay off their workers.
Not only overseas Filipino workers were affected by the lack of two years ofeducation. Even students applying for higher education in other countries such as
Canada, and in European countries were affected. For example a student trying toenter a master’s program in Canada cannot be accepted in a Canadian university
because his high school transcript shows a deficiency of two years. In the basic
education, a graduate of a master’s program in the Philippines cannot enter the
doctoral or Ph.D. program because he is just considered a college graduate. (Abueva,
1)
Reforms in Philippine education were therefore considered as necessary and urgent.
To refuse to do so will isolate the Philippines from the rest of the world. Before theadoption of K to 12, only the Philippines and Botswana were still having the K to 10
program. For a country that relies on the income of its overseas labor keeping the
educational standards at par with the rest of the world became imperative.
But to implement K to 12 would be a politically unpopular act. Previous
administrations already considered implementing a 12-year plus kindergarten program
however it was resisted by various groups. Among them were parents, college
teachers and professors, student and militant groups. For parents K to 12 is anfinancial added burden. It means shelling out at least P65,000 for tuition fee per year.
Not included are funds for allowance, uniforms, books, school supplies, transportationand meals. To maintain a student in a private school would cost at least triple theamount of tuition fees. Multiply the total costs by two years and education could
cause a mind-bogging amount of at least P300,000.
College teachers and professors for their part fear, dislocation in their jobs during theadjustment period to K to 12. There would be no freshman college students when the

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country starts to offer Grade 11 or the additional year after secondary school. There
would be no second year or sophomore students when Grade 12 or the second
additional year is offered. This dislocation will affect the third and fourth year ofcollege where there would be no enrolment for those levels.
For the students it would mean being delayed for graduation by two years. They
would not be able to help their parents or their families if they stayed in school for
those two years. Militant groups such as the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (NewNationalist Alliance or NPA) criticized the government for bowing to internationalpressure. It called instead. on the government to increase job opportunities forgraduates.
Another reason by the opponents was the doubt that the government may not have thefunds to implement the program. It would mean hiring new teachers, provision of newschool buildings and classrooms. The needed amount for the implementation of K to
12 will run into billions of pesos.
The Passage of the K to 12 Law
To ensure compliance into the adoption of educational reforms it was best that such
reforms must be backed by the force of law. Since 2003 the Philippine Congressconducted hearings on educational reforms. There was stiff opposition from manylawmakers who saw extending basic education as unpopular with voters. Yet the
feedback they received from resource persons was grim- Philippine graduates would
be shunned as substandard and with the Philippines heavily dependent on its labor
exports. After several years of consultations Congress passed a bill that that became
Republic Act No. 10533. It was presented to President Benigno S. Aquino, III for his
signature on May 15, 2013.

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President Benigno Aquino (center) with Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Senate
President Edgardo Angara with students at the signing ceremony of the Enhanced
Basic Education Act of 2013 held on May 15, 2013.
The law which is called the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 but popularly
known as the K to 12 law extended basic education in the Philippines from 10 to 12
years. With the inclusion of kindergarten, basic education in the Philippines is now 13
years thus the terms K + 12 or K plus 12 or simply K to 12. The law created the seniorhigh school. This was where the additional two years were added. The senior highschool is different from the junior high school. The former will mark the transition
from basic education to college or vocational courses.
It was the decision then of the lawmakers to add the two years to basic education
instead of adding two additional years in college so that more students will be
included. It was based on the findings of the Education Committee that about 60% ofhigh school graduates would elect to enter college. Thus the two additional years wereadded to the old high school which was renamed junior high school. It was envisionedthat the graduate of the senior high school will be employable after finishing the twoyear curriculum.

Image showing students being led to better education under K to 12 (DepEd
website)The Department of Education (DepEd) was mandated to supervise K to 12. Even
before the passage of the K to 12 law, the DepEd has been revising the curriculum.
The high school levels were not anymore called first year, second year, third year andfourth year but are continuation of the elementary grades such as Grade 7 which is theformer first year, Grade 8, second year, Grade 9, third year and Grade 10, fourth yer.
The grades under the senior high school would be called Grade 11 and Grade 12.
K to 12 did not only add two years to Philippine basic education but it is actually acomplete overhaul of the system. The courses have been revised and the pedagogy has
been changed. Instead of the traditional lecture method, the DepEd adopted the
Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) Approach in teaching the course.

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Diagram of the new K to 12 Program provided by the Department of Education
Through the outcomes based approach, the students are required to come out withconcrete evidences of their learning. These include the writing of papers of their own
authorships, concepts and audio-visual materials and intellectual works that are solely
by the students. The courses in the basic education were also changed and it placedemphasis on research and individual thinking and analysis rather than memorizationof lessons. The curriculum from Grade 1 to Grade 12 was revised and it added more
subjects that were formerly taught in college such as calculus, taxation, Philippine
government, methods of research.
K to 12 actually began not in 2013 but ten years before in 2003 when the first batch of
students entered Grade 1. Teachers were given training and seminars to prepare
themselves to the new program. By 2013 the year marked the full implementation of
K to 12 with the rollout of Grade 11 nationwide.
According to Nelson Cainghog , a political analyst from the University of thePhilippines (UP) Diliman, said the K to 12 – one of the "game changer" reforms inbasic education – not only brings the Philippines at par with most countries in theworld, but also prepares students for their preferred careers. (Geronimo)
There are eight strands in the Philippine senior high school system: the first is the
Academic strand which is intended for students intending to enter college. The
academic strand has the following tracks (Department of Education, 1)

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Senior high school curriculum showing the various strands or specializations
Academic Strand
a. General Academic Strand (GAS) – This track is intended for students who are stillundecided which specialization to take. They may chose may choose elective courses
from the different academic strands such as the humanities, social sciences, applied
economics, organization and management and disaster preparedness.
b. The Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) - The HUMSS is designed for thoseinterested to take up journalism, communication arts, liberal arts, education, and othersocial science-related courses in college. If a student takes this strand he could train incollege to be a teacher, a psychologist, a lawyer, a writer, a social worker, a reporter,even a priest or nun someday.
c. The Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) strand – This
track is geared towards the sciences. Under this track the student may look forward to
becoming a pilot, an architect, an astrophysicist, a biologist, a chemist, an engineer, adentist, a nutritionist, a nurse, a doctor, marine engineer and a lot more.
d. The Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) track – This track focuses on
the basic concepts of financial management, business management, corporate
operations, and all things that are accounted for. An ABM graduate can study to entercollege and eventually becoming managers, human resources, marketing director,
project officer, bookkeeper, accounting clerk, internal auditor, and a lot more.

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Technology, Vocational and Livelihood (TVL) Strand
The Technology, Vocational and Livelihood (TVL) strand This strand is geared
towards technology and the vocational arts.
a. Livelihood strand - Under this track are agri-fishery, Home Economics. industry.
TVL involves the technical vocational curriculum and graduates may move on to
become industrial and mechanical engineers or installers and construction workers.
b. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strand. – This track under
the TVL strand is intended for students who are computer savvy. The student canlearn writing computer programs, illustrating, and designing websites.
c. Visual and Media Arts The last track under the TVL strand is the Visual andMedia Arts. If the student has an inclination to animation and design, he can beprepared to enter a career in of multimedia production, advertising, corporate
communications, graphic designing, filmmaking, photography, and desktop
publishing.
The Sports Strand
There is also the Sports track which aims to give an understanding of the basic
principles with regards to physical education and recreation. Graduates of this course
may become fitness trainers, game officials, tournament manager, recreation
attendant, masseur, or gym instructor. Part of the curriculum includes track safety andfirst aid. Another area for this strand is physical therapy. The student will have thechance to help people recover from their injuries and sicknesses.
Arts and Design Strand
Arts and Design Track - Under this strand are tracks that prepare the student for a lifeof design, performance and creative arts. It exposes the student to various types of
media architecture, interior design, industrial design, graphic design, animation,
painting, fashion design, photography, and film. Included under the arts and design
track are the Performative Arts. The student may learn to become a singer, song
writer, or scriptwriter. He can also make his own studio for making furniture,jewelry, costumes, and set design.

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Preparing for K to 12: Logistics

Logo of the Commission on Higher Education.
The Department of Education (DepED) anticipated that its present facilities will not
be able to accommodate the estimated 1.5 million students who will graduate fromfourth year high school in 2013. In 2012 it proposed its biggest budget in its history.
For its 2013 budget it allotted P118.8 billion or $2.4 billion to be used for theconstruction of new classrooms, the repair of existing ones and acquiring basic
educational needs. Included here are 47,492 classrooms and 66,492 sets of schoolseats for the K-12 program. The DepEd will also purchase 55 million textbooks andinstructional materials as well as equipment for science and mathematics for 5,449
schools. (Ibid, 1)
The DepEd also initiated partnerships with private institutions to deliver basic
education. This means government will now subsidize private education. Students
that cannot be accommodated in public schools will be accommodated in private
schools. Under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private
Education (GASTPE) will receive P35.8 billion or ($722.95 million as assistancegrants to over 2.6 million beneficiaries. (Ibid, 2)

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Opposition to K to 12

Opposition Senator Senator Antonio Trillanes: Government has no resources for K to
12.
There was serious opposition to K to 12. The oppositors called K to 12 pahirap(burden). They filed at least 6 petitions questioning its constitutionality and seeking
its suspension. The issue reached the Supreme Court where it was left pending as ofthis writing.1 Critics say that the program did not undergo an experimental or pilot
stage. This was because there was simply no time for pilot testing as the fate of thecountry’s graduates wishing to be deployed for overseas employment was at stake.
The oppositors also noted that the DepEd does not have the facilities to accommodate
the number of students entering the Senior High School. Though the DepEd alreadymade preparations to give vouchers to private schools so they can accommodate
students who could not be handled in the private schools, the oppositors especiallythose aligned with leftist groups branded the voucher program as privatization of
education. (Geronimo, No Senior Student Left Behind)

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
1

On November 12, 2018, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled with finality on the constitutionality ofof K to 12 and It also ruled that Filipino courses need not be repeated in college.

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High school students protesting the adoption of K to 12 program: Their relatives callit another burden on the Filipinos.
There was also an observable increase in dropout rates compared to the students under
K to 10. Two years into the program opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV warned
that dropout rates will soar because of the additional expenses that come with two
more years of high school. Estimates from opponents say that K to 12 added P20,000
for two years but the left-leaning Kabataan party placed the expenses could go overP100,000. (Geronimo, ibid. )Graduates of the University of the Phlippines protesting educational reforms
among other issues.
Another characteristic of K to 12 is that it seeks to tap the tech-savvy of today’s
youth. It was assumed that K to 12 graduates in the Philippines are knowledgeablewith computers and information technology. There are courses that require students todo their lessons online. Some parents began to complain as their children wererequired to purchase their own laptops or read their lessons through e-books which

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had to be bought. The costs are simply beyond the means of the ordinary Filipino
student.

Students crossing a river on a makeshift raft to go to school (Rappler photograph)
The Role of the Commission on Higher Education
The other government agency in charge of implementing the K to 12 reforms was theCommission on Higher Education which had jurisdiction over post-secondary
education. Aware about the impact of

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A graphic projection by the Commission on Higher Education on the enrolment incollege during K to 12 transition. (Commission on Higher Education website)
https://ched.gov.ph/k-12-project-management-unit/ [accessed September 20, 2018]

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K to 12 to college professors and instructors, the Commission launched various
programs to assist affected educators. These are: (Commission on Higher Education,
8-26)
a. Offering of scholarships - Displaced college faculty are encouraged to avail ofscholarships in which they can study for their masters and Ph.D. in any university.
Government subsidy includes the payment of payment of tuition fees, bookallowance, (subject to availability) insurance. A total of P700 million pesos wasallotted for scholarships. With the expected applications for scholarships there is a capof P25,000 tuition fee per successful applicant .
b. Thesis and dissertation or capstone project – College instructors and professors
who are about to write their theses and dissertation may avail of this government
grant. The research must be finished within one year of the grant.
c. Graduate studies abroad – Displaced faculty members may do their graduate studies
abroad in cooperation of international partner institutions. Government support isusually partial assistance.
d. Stand up grants – In cooperation with partners in the academe and industry thecollege professors may avail of grans involving research and development ofeducational materials.
There could be research grants from food production and security, environmental
climate change and disaster risk reduction.
e. Creative arts grants - These will be in partnership with the National Commission
for Culture and the Arts in which they may do research on culture and heritage.
f. Immersion – The displaced college professors may implement research throughimmersion in the communities as part of a commissioned grant or as an extension
activity.
g. Post doctoral study grants - these will be given to holders of doctoral degrees who
may do their postdoctoral work overseas or locally in partnership with other agencies.
h. Senior High School – College professors may opt to teach at the senior high school
and the high school will waive its requirement for the teacher to have licensure status
for the first five years teaching. .
i. Teaching materials development – the displaced faculty in cooperation with the
Department of Education or the Commission on Higher Education may do activities
to make instructional teaching materials.
j. Possible financial support – It was contemplated that displaced colleges teachers
may avail of P25,000 monthly for the duration of his displacement but this was notfollowed.

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As for funding to assist the affected college professors and instructors, the bulk of thebudget of the Commission on Higher Education was intended to assist these
personnel. In its budget proposal for 2016, it requested P10.54 billion or $225.63
million a huge jump from 3.4 billion or 72.85 million budget in 2015.
Out of the P10 billion plus budget, P8.28 billion or $177.42 million will be allocatedfor the transition program for affected personnel under the K to 12 transition program.
These are: (Commission on Higher Education)
Scholarships

3,286,293

5,909 Masters and PhD
scholarships

Senior high school training

245,400

1,227 teaching staff

Faculty development grants

3,516,308

9,365 faculty

Staff development grants

727,020

4,241 staff

Innovation
institutions

grantsforhighereducation 500,000

100 institutions

Source: Commission on Higher Education, K to
12 Transition unit.
According to CHED findings a total of 13,634 teaching staff and 11,456 non-teaching
personnel will be displaced. Already college professors feared massive retrenchments
due to K to 12. These personnel will have no teaching load at certain times during theimplementation of K to 12 in college form 2013 to 2021 As a result many colleges
and universities offered early retirement schemes for their affected personnel. Higher
education institutions expect a drop in their freshman enrolment because of the full
implementation of senior high school under K to 12.

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Projection by the Commission on Higer Education on the abnormal enrolment from2013 to 2021. (Commission on Higher Education)
Shortcomings of the K to 12
Since the Senior High School under the K to 12 program is quite new, there werebirth pains on its introduction. Many schools were just feeling their way on how tooffer the additional two years of basic education. Shortages of classrooms and school
materials like textbooks were common. These were also the same problems felt in the
Junior High School and the elementary grades. There is also the digital divide amongrich and poor students. The rich students can easily acquire the needed software andhardware for their classes involving information technology but not the poor students
who had to make to with what they have.
Though Senior High School graduates were said to be employable because they
already had the skills needed for jobs, they were not well regarded as the college
graduates. They were also subject to exploitation by employers.
The role of the Commission on Higher Education was to cushion the impact of K to
12. Its programs were not totally successful in their implementation. The main
problem was the funds were not enough to accommodate all the affected college
academic personnel. Scholarship support was limited to P25,000 or $US500 asemester. The amount maybe good for enrolling in a provincial college but it notenough for a college or university in cities like Manila or Cebu. Adding to the
problem were the bureaucratic problems which cause the slow release of scholarshipfunds. Many scholars could not continue their studies because the funds were notreleased by the Commission.
There were few takers for foreign scholarships because the counterpart of thePhilippine government was not enough. There was senior high school training andtraining for the new courses under the K to 12 program. But these were stopped after
the second batch of trainees were trained as the funds intended for K to 12 support
were diverted to the free college program of the government.
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In the present school year, the K to 12 had its first graduates. As expected many
wished to enter college. It was expected that the graduates of the said strands willcontinue on to the college or school of their specialization. However the Departmentof Education decided that Senior High School graduate of any strand and track mayenter any college of his choice. This directive defeats the purpose of having thestrands in the Senior High School. The student should have been required to undergoa bridging course if his training was not related to the university he would like toenter. However this requirement was made optional and bridging courses were
implemented only upon the discretion of the administration of the university orcollege.

It was envisioned that K to 12 will tap the computer-saviness of today’s students
Conclusions
The adoption of the K to 12 program is the response of the Philippine government to
be at par with global standards. Since it is dependent on remittances of overseas
Filipino workers, such workers should be at par with the rising standards otherwise
they would be left behind. They would either be treated as underemployed or as
unskilled workers
It took a long time for the Philippine government to implement K to 12 because it waspolitically unpopular. It was considered an added burden for parents, students, and athreat to the jobs of affected teachers and other school personnel.
The alternative of not reforming the Philippine basic educational system is toendanger the status of the Philippines as a labor-exporting country. The Philippines
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will also be left behind academically. It would mean isolation of the Philippines in thefield of international labor and in education. Where other administrations hesitated in
implementing K to 12, credit belongs to the Aquino administration which showed
ample political will.
On the other hand the adoption of K to 12 was an opportunity to overhaul and reformthe basic education system of the Philippines. It gave an opportunity to start a studentcentered and outcomes based education. Since the program adds two more years to
the curriculum, the graduates of 12 year basic education will certainly be more matureand more capable in meeting the challenges of the 21st century world. It also
harnesses the technology of the times which enables the students and faculty to use
the latest information and communication technology.
The Philippine government took steps to help the affected sectors. Budgets of both the
Department of Education which handles basic education and the Commission on
Higher Education which was in charge of college were increased to historic levels.
These increases were meant to implement K TO 12 and to provide safety nets for
those who are adversely affected. However these measures were hampered byinadequate funds, slow bureaucracy and the demand to give free college education
which sapped the money intended for K to 12. Further training and scholarships are
now left to the individual schools, colleges and universities. Finally, there were noclear cut policies on where the graduates of students should continue their education.
The order to allow senior high school graduates to enroll in any course destroyed the
purpose of the education strands and tracks.
As the first graduates of K to 12 now enter college, we can now observe a different
kind of student. One who is more mature, more serious in his or her education andmore experienced in the rigors of school work.

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References
Abueva, Cianeko, “Whyt the Philippines Need K + 1,” Yes to K to 12 Basic
Education. Pasig City: Department of Education, 2017.
Commission on Higher Education, K to 12 Transtion Program Management Unit.
Investing in the Future of Higher Education. ( Quezon City: 2018),
Commission on Higher Education K to 12 Transition Unit. Annual Budget for 2015.
(Quezon City: 2016).
Department of Education. Primer on the New Senior High School. Pasig City: 2012.
Understanding DepEd’s Voucher Programme. Quezon City: April 11, 2018.
Department of Education. Senior High School Tracks and Strands in Senior HighSchool. Also: https://www.edukasyon.ph/courses/senior-high-tracks/ (Accessed
September 28, 2018)
Dumlao, Santiago. The Asian Financial Crisis Part Two The Philippine Response,
Business Mirror, July 4, 2017.
Estioko SVD, Leonardo . History of Education: A Filipino Perspective. LOGOS
Publications, Inc, 1994.
Department of Education. Fact Sheet Basic Education Statistics 2005-2010. Pasig
City: 2011.
Felongco, Gilbert, P. Overseas Filipino Workers Turning into Successful
Enterpreneurs,” Gulf News Asia News. April 28, 2013.
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/overseas-filipino-workers-evolving-intosuccessful-entrepreneurs-1.1176224 [Accessed June 24, 2018]
Geronimo, Jee, Y. “K to 12 and Beyond: A Look Back at Aquino’s 10-Point
Education Program,”Rappler News. June 24, 2016.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/137492-look-back-aquino-10-point-education-agenda[Accessed September 17, 2018].
Geronimo,Jee Y. Senior High School: No Youth Left Behind?” Rappler Newshttps://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/136182-philippines-education-seniorhighschool-learners (Accessed September 27, 2018)
Mitra, Tinton, Latest Opinion “The Bagong Bayani of the Philippines,” Philippines
Daily Inquirer, January 1, 2017.

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Pe, Roger, Andrea Chloe Wong and Mark Joseph Ubalde, “The Philippine Edge 2015
Survey on Overseas Filipinos Facts and Details. Quezon City also :http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/content/500918/infographic-where-2692b-of-ofw-remittances-come-from/story/. [accessed September 27, 2018].
Republic Act No. 10533 An Act Enhancing the Philippie Basic Education System byStrengthining its CurriculumAnd iIncreasing the Number of Years for Basic
Education, Appropriating Funds Therefore and forOther Purpose, May 15, 2013.
Rita, Joviland . GMA TV News. “Administrative Issues Hound K to 12 Transition
Program, StudySays,”GMATVNews.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/674629/administrative-issues-houndk-to-12-transition-program-study-says/story/ [Accessed November 14, 2018]

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Official Conference ProceedingsInternationalization & the Impact of International Students in the JapaneseClassroom
Cecilia Ikeguchi, Tsukuba Gakuin University, Japan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
One of the immediate measures adopted by the Japanese government in response to
the needs of internationalization was to increase the number of incoming foreign
students to Japan (Ikeguchi, 2016). As a result, the number of foreign students as of
May 1, 2017 was reported at 267,042, according to the Annual Survey of International
Students in Japan conducted by JASSO. This showed an increase of (11.6%) 27,755
students more compared to that of the previous year. Research on theinternationalization of Japanese higher education (Lie, 2001; Yoshizawa, 2009) has
reminded us that the presence of international students alone does not mean that theinstitution or students are reaping the benefits of internationalization. This study
assumes that the presence of non-Japanese learners have far-reaching benefits (as well
as issues) that both teachers and administration have usually overlooked. The purposeof this paper is to discuss intercultural learning as a consequence ofinternationalization of higher education in Japan. It shows how the presence of
foreign students can be utilized to promote intercultural learning in the classroom. At
the same time, it discusses three fundamental considerations and related concepts suchas peer learning, cooperative learning and active learning.
Keywords: internationalization, active learning, cooperative learning

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
One of the immediate measures adopted by the Japanese government in response to
the needs of internationalization was to increase the number of incoming foreign
students to Japan (Ikeguchi, 2016). As a result, the number of international students asof May 1, 2017 was reported at 267,042, according to the Annual Survey ofInternational Students in Japan conducted by JASSO. This showed an increase of(11.6%) 27,755 students more compared to that of the previous year. As toclassification, a total of 188,384 students (an increase of 17,262 %) were in higher
institutions, out of 78,658 students (an increase of 10,493 persons(15.4％) who werein Japanese language institutes.
Research on the internationalization of Japanese higher education (Lie, 2001;
Yoshizawa, 2009) has reminded us that the presence of international students alone
does not mean that the institution or the students are reaping the benefits ofinternationalization. Since the number of foreign students is readily measurable, many
have focused on increasing the number of foreign students and overlooked other lessquantifiable aspects, such as intercultural interaction, which is beneficial for both
domestic (Japanese) students and the foreign students. This paper discusses the impactof foreign students in the context of Japanese internationalization. Specifically, it will
demonstrate a teaching method that is based on the fundamental issues of active andcooperative learning. Assuming that the classroom is a microcosm of the larger social
context, lessons of this design are meant to train students to deal with situations ofintercultural differences meaningfully and effectively.
Japanese Internationalization and Foreign Students in Japan
What does it really mean to have foreign students attending your class? This study
assumes that the presence of non-Japanese learners have far-reaching benefits (as well
as issues) that both teachers and administration have usually overlooked. The purposeof this paper is to discuss intercultural learning as a consequence ofinternationalization of higher education in Japan. Specifically, it presents a sample
lesson that demonstrates how the presence of foreign students can be utilized topromote intercultural learning in the classroom. At the same time, this study discusses
three fundamental considerations and related concepts such as peer learning,cooperative learning and active learning.
The presence of international students alone, even in large numbers, is insufficient in
itself to promote intercultural interaction, develop intercultural friendships and toresult in international understanding. Situations must be structured to foster theseprocesses. It behooves the schools, and the classroom teacher to increase and enhanceintercultural interaction. Coleen Ward (2006) extensively describes the impact offoreign students have on three levels: interpersonal level, institutional, and to society
at large. This study focuses on the impact of foreign students in the classroom. What
does it really mean to have foreign students attending classes with domestic, Japanese
students? The presence of non-Japanese learners have far-reaching benefits (as well as
issues) that both teachers and administration have usually overlooked.
When we say foreign students in the classroom, we often think, first of all, about
foreign language use in the classroom. This paper, however will explore specific ways

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in which the principle of peer-learning and teaching in a culturally mixed class canmake both teaching and learning more meaningful.
As a consequence of rapid internationalization in education, intercultural learning has
become a vital 21st century learning tool for school communities. Schools, parents
and teachers face such situations more and more frequently and they must be ready toprovide answers and take actions to address several challenging issues. It behooves
the schools, and the classroom teacher to increase and enhance interculturalinteraction. Schools have a key role in developing intercultural and global
competences of both the domestic as well as foreign students. These competencies are“the targeted knowledge, skills and attitudes that lead to visible behavior andcommunication that are both effective and appropriate in intercultural interactions(Dearoff, 2006).
Some related concepts
The idea of domestic (Japanese) and foreign students learning together calls for sometheoretical consideration to maximize its results. The following section describes thisbriefly.
1. The concept of intercultural learning
Intercultural learning establishes, first of all, a more creative and healthy learning
environment where students learn to accept and respect differences. They work withand support classmates who are different. In these classes, students learn and come toknow more about themselves and their culture as a first step to comprehend culturalcomplexity. Thus, intercultural learning allows students first of all, to develop theirown global competencies by first understanding their culture and themselves as a
product of that culture. Beyond knowledge competencies, intercultural learning helps
foster skills necessary outside of the classroom. These skills first and foremost include
empathy and flexibility. Empathy allows students to understand others and see theworld from their perspective, as well as to be sensitive to their needs. Flexibility, inthinking and feeling trains them to behave in changing environments and adapt using
appropriate behavior.
Broadly, the challenge has become increasingly urgent for schools to adapt
curriculums that are more globally-minded to adequately help students develop a
global worldview and master intercultural skills. Several strategies have been
proposed to cope with the demands of increased intercultural learning but threestrategies have been used, evaluated and proven to foster specific positive
intercultural perceptions and relations on the personal level. These include ①
peer-pairing, ② cooperative learning and ③ residential programs. The focus of thispaper relates to the first and second issues.
The intercultural classroom can be a rich source of learning when students are highly
engaged in the own learning. The sample lesson provided, here based on the threeprinciples peer learning, pear learning and teaching, and cooperative learning,produce enthusiastic, intense involvement among students. A sample lesson like thisprovides structures, which unlike activities, don’t get used up. The teacher does nothave to worry about how to teach abstract concepts. For instance, “it is hard to train
cooperative learning, but it is easy to train one structure” (Kagan, 1994). Practicallesson plans help teachers nudge critical thinking, suspend judgement and foster

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curiosity, all considered crucial for global and intercultural competence
2. Peer learning and Peer teaching in an intercultural classroom
Peer learning is not a single, undifferentiated educational strategy. It encompasses a
broad sweep of activities. Several research has been done, both qualitatively andquantitatively, on strategies of this technique. Researchers from the University of
Ulster identified 10 different models of peer learning (Boud, 2000) that are both
useful and relevant to this paper.
Cooperative learning ranged from the traditional proctor model, in which senior
students tutor junior students. To the more innovative learning cells, in which students
in the same year form partnerships to assist each other with both course content andpersonal concerns. Other models involved discussion seminars, private study groups,
pairing (a buddy system) or counseling, peer-assessment schemes. It encompasses
both collaborative project and laboratory work, projects in different sized (cascading)groups, workplace mentoring and community activities.
3. Cooperative Learning in an intercultural classroom
Ikeguchi suggests several techniques in the application of cooperative learning both in
the teaching of English to second language learners (2016) but the application ofcooperative learning in this context extends beyond language learning. The sample
lesson attached in a latter part will show its application; a short summary of its
effectiveness is given below.
The class is divided into small heterogeneous groups which constitute the learning
units. Heterogeneous in this sense refers to culturally mixed groups. Students interact
directly with one another in different forms: sharing insights, asking questions,teaching (Japanese) language difficulties, summarizing, and all sorts.
Interaction includes mutual cooperation, assistance and exchange of ideas in pursuitof a common goal, since there are tasks each group has to accomplish. In a sense,
cooperative learning in an intercultural class encourages competition because thegroups are encouraged to present a discussion summary towards the end of eachsession. Unlike the traditional lecture method where learning tasks are not routing andimposed, students are empowered to explore, ask questions, interview and makechoices regarding the smaller themes they wish to focus on within the umbrella of theclass theme. It goes without saying that meaningful learning involves student
participation. Cooperative learning in an intercultural classroom not only engages
students in their own learning; it also involves the self and others in pursuit of theclassroom goal.
4. Active Learning in an intercultural classroom
Like peer learning and cooperative learning active learning has been discussed in somany several ways and in different learning environments. Summed up, active
learning is an approach to instruction that involves actively engaging students with thecourse material through several methods like discussions, problem solving, casestudies, role plays and other methods. It involves both the concepts described above.
Active learning is not possible without peer involvement in learning and student
cooperation in their learning.

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Active learning approaches place a greater degree of responsibility on the learner thanpassive approaches such as lectures, but instructor guidance is still crucial in theactive learning classroom. Active learning activities may range in length from acouple of minutes to whole class sessions or may take place over multiple classsessions. Within the group, students share responsibility to participate and collaborate,
take advantage of each participant’s strengths, and rely on each other for good project
management and effective learning.
The application of active learning in an intercultural classroom can be morechallenging than its usual implementation in other learning tasks. The students are
responsible for their own learning. Contrary to passive learning, students arechallenged to think about the intercultural issues and tasks presented in theclassroom. Active learning tries to get students to continually explore in theprocess of learning with opportunities to talk and work together, perceptions
change. And this is the goal of active learning in an intercultural classroom: achange in perception and a change in behavior.
The section below presents a sample lesson plan on the actual implementation ofthese concepts in teaching culture to a culturally mixed group of students. This lesson
is a part of a series of lesson in a Course called International Communication,
focusing on Intercultural Communication. The challenges of teaching, making
students learn culture, means effecting a change in students’ thinking, attitude andbehavior based on a true awareness of themselves and others. It is the hope of thispaper that a series of lesson plans with focus on each aspect of culture andcommunication can truly cause an effect on students’ learning.

TOPIC:

Noises in Intercultural Communication- Explorations on Intercultural Common Sense –PROCEDURES:
Warm-up:
1. Ask students to read once again the handouts given the previous week asassignment. (3-5 minutes)
2. A class leader for the day (previously assigned) reads the handout in parts, as
guided by the teacher, aloud in class.
3. Everybody answers the Self-check exercises. Items include for example:
Q1: Which of the following items are common sense for you?
Q2: If someone does this・ says this to you how would you feel?
① You’re late for an appointment with a friend.
② You received a gift from a friend. What is your initial reaction?
③ You feel you’re catching a cold. What would you do?
④ Your friend gives you a piece of his/her food using their chopstick. How
would you feel?

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4. The class is split into 4-5 groups (depending on class size) of intercultural mix,
with 1-2 Japanese students in each group. (15~20 minutes)
5. The groups are to accomplish the following tasks in order:① Spend some time for the foreign students to ask questions to Japanese
students about meaning of words and expressions.
② Share each member’s answers with the whole group.
③ Uncovering differences. Discuss why members feel differently in eachsituation. Discussion can be done in either English or Japanese, whichever ismore convenient.
④ Every member takes note of differences, while the group secretary records themain points and the group leader makes sure each member of the group is
given a fair chance to talk.
⑤ Each group is to give a definition of common sense, and explain why CS is anoise in intercultural communication.
Feedback:
1. The Japanese student leader reports to the whole class a summary of the group
discussion.
2. Any member of the group can freely add ideas to support or strengthen the groupreport.
3. The teacher summarizes main ideas from each group on reports on the board.
Expansion of Basic Concept:
4. Based on the items reported by each group, the teacher DRAWS students’attention to the PYRAMIDICAL SCOPE of common sense (Yashiro, et al, 2001).
① Behavior level: varied concepts of cleanliness – taking off shoes before
entering the room, taking a bath before sleep is a MUST in Japan.
② social practices: bowing in everyday life in Japan (Ikeguchi, 2007)③ social rules and laws: returning a favor or a gift received④ social values: keeping low profile in conversations⑤ beliefs: following group harmony and the decisions of authority⑥ Religion: going to shrines on New Year’s Eve
5. The teacher asks students to think and list up examples of the common sense in
their own country according to each of the six levels. (5~10 minutes)
Group Work No. ②
6. Students go back to their group to share and discuss (15-20 minutes)
7. Students are given time to write their personal reflections for the day’s lesson on
their class diary.
Summary and synthesis:
8. Teacher asks random feedback and makes notations on board: common sense
across cultures
9. Students may seek to express the core values underlying their stances.

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CAVEATS and ISSUES：
1. The Japanese language ability of international students is the first concern. Since
the materials and the lessons are conducted in Japanese, there is a need to makesure every foreign student understands to get maximum results.
2. Student personality is a crucial factor in the discussions. A high level ofmotivation is necessary especially for the shy, both the domestic and international,
students to engage in insightful sharing.
3. Besides personality, culture background and learning styles influence anddetermine to a large extent the success of the discussions. Culture dimensions has
been found to be one of them (Ladeira, 1995). The classroom is a microcosm of
the educational institutions, which are in turn a microcosm of the larger society
and reflects its values, traditions and practices. Two dimensions that exert strong
influenceonclassroomcommunication
andinteractionsareindividualism-collectivism (IC) and power distance (PD). Students fromindividualistic cultures tend to stand out and speak out, and draw attention. Thosefrom collectivist cultures (most Asian countries), are more strongly nonverbal,
unexpressive and unwilling to draw people’s attention to themselves. Closely
related to IC is power distance, and those students from high PD are less likely toargue, question or debate. These students are more strongly motivated to showrespect to teachers and maintain formal relationships with them.
4. Differences in teacher-learning roles vary across culture and have strong influenceon classroom approach. Extensive discussions of Smith, Miller and Crassini(1998) and Barnhardt (2000) include individualistic and competitive learning,
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and even concepts of intelligence. Some ofthese of interest to this paper are learning styles and preference for cooperative
learning. For instance, overseas students generally favor acceptance of authority,and more likely to agree rather than question or negate teacher ideas. Bothqualitative (Lieberman, 1994) as well as quantitative research reveal international
students from African and Asian countries were often critical of informality in theclassroom interactions.
MERITSBe that as it may, to date, students express positive attitudes about discussions in
culturally mixed groups. Another point of concern pointed out earlier is that thepresence of international students in the classroom or at an institution rarely prompts
faculty members to internationalize what they teach. A result is domestic students
becoming uninterested in international education in a serious way (Burke, 1990) (p5).
This study has proven that the teacher can change the content and approach of thecurricula to enhance its potential for internationalization
To date, Japanese students’ comments largely reflect a willingness and a strong
interest in the insights of international students. The same is true with the reflectionsof international students. Some comments include the following. “It is a good idea tohave group work where people mix. It gives you perspectives and ideas about how
people think and behave. It is a valuable experience, a substantial part of learning.

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Conclusions
The class of this design provides some form of DIVE training in its microscopic formin the classroom, when confronted with unfamiliar intercultural situations orambiguous circumstances (Bennett, 2015). DIVE (Describe, Interpret, Verify, andEvaluate) is a tool designed to help individuals:
1. Learn to temporarily suspend judgement and verify insights before making a final
assessment or taking action.
2. Help them navigate situations where they encounter something or someone
different in everyday life to have more effective, appropriate and meaningfulinteraction with others.
As students listen to the sharing of international students, and vice versa, they areencouraged to ask themselves the following questions:
Describe: What do I see/hear in an objective, factual way?
Interpret: What do I think about what I have described?
Verify: What do others think? Is my interpretation accurate?
Evaluate: How do I judge what I think and others think?
The classroom is a microcosm of the educational institutions, which are in turn amicrocosm of the larger society and reflects its values, traditions and practices.
“Education gives us the chance to understand that we are all tied together as citizensof the global community and that our challenges are interconnected.” (Ban Ki-moon,
UN Secretary General. 2017, March 22). The intercultural classroom has a large roleto play.

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References
Ban Ki-moon (2017). Education Global Citizenship Intercultural Learning
Publications.
UN Secretary-General. March 22, 2017.
Barnhardt, R. (2000). Teaching/Learning across Cultures: Strategies for Success. In
R.
Neil (Ed.), Voice of the Drum (pp. 167-176). Brandon, Manitoba: Kingfisher
Publications
Bennett, J. M. (Ed.). (2015). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intercultural Competence
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Boud, D. (2000). Developing Students’ Autonomy in Learning. 2nd edition. London:
Kogan Page.
Burke, B. (1990, June). Enriching the campus: The contribution of overseas students
to Australian universities. Paper presented at the Second Conference of Overseas
Student Advisers Network, Sydney, Australia.
Deardorff, D. (2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as an
Outcome of internationalization at Institutions of Higher Education in the US. Journalof Studies in International Education, Fall 2006, 10, p.241-266.
Griffiths, S. Houston, K. & Lazenbatt, A. (1995) Enhancing Student Learning
Through Peer Tutoring in Higher Ebennett . In D. Boud, R. Cohen & J. Sampson(Eds.) Peer learning in higher Education. Routledge: New York.
Ikeguchi, C. (2007). Intercultural Adjustment: Reconsidering the Issues. Intercultural
Communication Studies: 16, pp. 99-109.
Ikeguchi, C. (2007). Explorations on the Issues Involved in Classroom
e-mailing.Center for English Language Communication (CELC) Research. Universityof Singapore.
Kagan, S. (1994) Cooperative Learning. California: Resources for Teachers.
Ladeira-McCalman, C. (1995). Cultural Background and Classroom Interaction.
ERICDatabase: Institute of Education. ED 410613
Lie, J. (2001). Multi-ethnic Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Lieberman, A. (1994). Revisiting the social realities of teaching. In A. Lieberman &L.
Miller (Eds.), Staff Development: New demands, New realities and new perspectives(pp. 92-109). New York: Teachers College Press.
Smith, S. N., Miller, R. J., & Crassini, B. (1998). Approaches to studying ofAustralian and overseas Chinese university students. Higher Education ResearchandDevelopment, 17, 262-276.

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Ward, C. (2006). International Students: Interpersonal, Institutional and Community
Impacts. Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research. Victoria: University
ofWellington.
Ward, C. (2009). Acculturation and social cohesion: Emerging issues for Asian
Immigrants in New Zealand. In C.-H. Leong & J. W. Berry (Eds). Intercultural
relations in Asia: Migration and work effectiveness. Singapore: World Scientific.
Yashiro, K., Araki, S. Komisarof, B., Taguchi, Y., Yamamoto, S. (2006).
Intercultural
Communication Workbook. Tokyo: Sanshusha.
Yoshizawa (2009). Origins of the Current Problems of Korean Residents in Japan.
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies 3-1, 192-207.

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Crisis Marketing Strategy Antecedents of Performanceof Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)in Region III in the Philippines
Jesus D. Panlilio, Holy Angel University, Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
This paper studies the marketing strategy antecedents of performance of higher
education institutions in Philippines in the light of the crisis brought about by the K12 Curriculum. Antecedents include Market Focus, Market Expansion, Program
Offerings, Program Differentiation, Cost Leadership in Tuition, Place/Location
Expansion, Advertising, Sales Promotions, Events & Experiences, Public Relations,
Direct & Interactive Marketing, Word-of-Mouth, Personal Selling, and Attack
Competition. It made use of descriptive – correlational research design, which
covered ninety four (94) HEIs covering School Year (SY) 2015-2016. Factor analysis
with varimax rotation, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, independent t-tests (fornormally-distributed data) or Mann-Whitney U tests (for non-normally distributeddata), Pearson r (for normally-distributed data) or Spearman rho tests (for nonnormally distributed data) were also used. Four components determined were masscommunication strategies, differentiation strategies, personal communication
strategies, and target market strategies. Compared to school year 2014-2015, HEIs
performed favorably in changes in revenue, profits, assets / investment, andenrollment in school 2015-2016. Compared to public HEIs, private institutions’marketing strategies were found to be significantly different in market focus, market
expansion, cost leadership in tuition, sales promotion, event and experiences, public
relations, direct marketing, and attack competition. Significant correlations were
found to be positively moderate between place / location expansion strategy and profit
performance; between place / location expansion, word-of-mouth attack competition
strategies and asset / investment performance. Negatively moderate correlation was
found between cost leadership in tuition strategy and revenue performance; between
direct marketing strategy and enrollment performance.
Keywords: crisis marketing strategy, institutional performance, higher education
institutions (HEIs)

iafor

The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org
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Crisis Marketing Strategy Antecedents of Performance of Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) in Region III in the Philippines
Market performance metrics serve as strategic measures to analyze market position in
relation to competition and customers and to determine the impact the company
offerings may have in the performance of the company as well as what opportunities
and challenges exist. Marketing strategies served as antecedents to the organizational
performance. Cavusgil and Zou (1994) found that in the relationship of marketingstrategy and performance, marketing strategies such product, price, distribution andpromotion served as antecedents or the causes to performance. Similar relationshipwas also examined and proven that marketing characteristics and programs were
antecedents of performance (Townsend, Yeniyurt, Deligonul, & Cavusgil 2004 andJulian, 2009). So, marketing strategies are considered antecedents since they areprecursors or forerunners of organizational financial performance. In a cause andeffect relationship, marketing strategies are the cause and organizational financial
performance are the effect. In essence, marketing strategies are considered as
antecedents which influence organizational performance.
Strategic marketing is regularly conducted regardless of the situation especially so intime of radical market changes. Once the crisis has occurred crisis denial is no longer
an option, instead a coherent and strategic marketing plan must be developed to deal
with the crisis and to resolve it. In every crisis lies opportunity (Calvo-Porral, Stanton,& Mangin, 2016). Winiarski (2010) stated that crises are the natural test foreconomic decisions. This is the very essence of crisis marketing. It is mainly about
opportunity seeking time. It is also anticipatory marketing in approach which isproactive in nature.
Every organization resorts to crisis marketing to proactively address challenges, risks,and uncertainties happening in the market situation. This is true to all industries
including the education sector or the academe, which is facing a critical period with
the impending implementation of the K-12 curriculum. Such implementation iscausing a big financial impact to higher education institutions (HEIs) due to nonenrollment of college freshmen for two years (School Years 2016-2017 & 2017-2018)
and the huge budget needed for teachers, who will be retrenched. Both will lead tofinancial crisis to HEIs. Marketing strategies have to be anticipatory in nature to allow
proactive approach in facing every time crisis happens. This crisis will not only
happen in the two school years but for the succeeding school years as illustrated in thenext page.
College Enrollment
School Year First Year2016-20172017-20182018-20192019-2020
2020-2021
2021-2022
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+
+
+
+

Second
Year
+
+
+
+

Third Year

32

Fourth Year

Fifth Year

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
- Non-enrollment + Enrollment

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These marketing strategies have to be analyzed to determine their relationship on theinstitutional performance of the HEIs. It is for this reason why this study was
conducted to determine the crisis marketing of universities in Region III. It was
patterned after the research of Koksal and Ozgul (2005) on the relationship between
marketing strategies and performance in an economic crisis conducted in Turkey. Itfurther identified specific marketing strategies these universities were doing tosurvive a crisis.
Specifically, it addressed the following research questions:
1. What are the marketing strategies used by the HEIs in Region III given theopportunities brought about by the effects of the K-12 Curriculum in terms of thefollowing:
1.1. Market Focus
1.2. Market Expansion
1.3. Program Offerings
1.4. Program Differentiation
1.5. Cost Leadership in Tuition
1.6. Place/Location Expansion
1.7. Advertising
1.8. Sales Promotions
1.9. Events & Experiences
1.10. Public Relations
1.11. Direct & Interactive Marketing
1.12. Word-of-Mouth
1.13. Personal Selling
1.14. Attack Competition Strategies
2. What are the changes in the institutional performance of HEIs in Region III during
the school 2015-2016 compared to School Year 2014-2015 in terms of the following:
2.1. revenue
2.2. profits
2.3. assets/investment
2.4. enrollment
Is there a significant difference on the marketing strategies between the private HEIs
and the public HEIs?
Is there a significant difference on the institutional performance between the private
HEIs and the public HEIs?
Is there a significant relationship between the marketing strategies and institutional
performance of the HEIs in Region III given the opportunities brought about by theeffects of the K-12 Curriculum?
A conceptual framework, Hierarchical Marketing Performance (HMP) framework
developed by Huizingh and Zengerink (2001)
states that marketing performance is a
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sequence of intermediate performance measures ultimately leading to financial
performance.
Below is the operational framework of the study which shows the whole gamut of theresearch process; to wit:
Independent Variables
Marketing Strategies
Market Focus
Market Expansion
Program Offerings
Program Differentiation
Cost Leadership in Tuition
Place/Location Expansion
Advertising
Sales Promotions
Events & Experiences
Public Relations
Direct & Interactive Marketing
Word-of-Mouth
Personal Selling
Attack Competition

Dependent Variables
Institutional Performance

Change in Revenue
Change in Profit
Change in Asset/Investment
Change in Enrollment

Outcome

Impact of the HEI
Marketing Strategies on its
Institutional Performance

Intervening
Variables
Private HEI
Public HEI

Figure 1. Operational framework
Given this operational framework, this study focused on the following hypotheses
having p-value less than or equal to 0.05 were considered significant:Ho1: There is no significant difference on the marketing strategies between private
HEIs and the public HEIs.
Ho2: There is no significant difference on the institutional performance between theprivate HEIs and public HEIs.
Ho3: There is no significant relationship between the marketing strategies andinstitutional performance of the HEIs in Region III given the opportunities brought
about by effects the K-12 Curriculum.

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Methods
Research Design
The researcher made use of descriptive – correlational research design to find out therelationship between marketing strategies and performance among HEIs in Region
III given the opportunities brought about by the effects of the K-12 Curriculum.
ParticipantsThis study covered ninety four (94) HEIs. The sampling is based on the Rule of 5,
where the subjects-to-variables ratio should be no lower than 5 (Bryant & Yarnold,
1995). Of these, eighty seven (87) are private HEIs while seven (7) are public HEIs.
Of the ninety four (94) HEIs, Eighty four (84) HEIs are listed with the Commission
on Higher Education while ten (10) are listed with Technical Skills and Development
Authority. See Appendix B for the combined lists.
Sources of Data
Primary data were gathered from the presidents or authorized personnel of these HEIs
through a survey questionnaire. Secondary data were also gathered from the relevant
book, journals and internet websites as well as reports from government agencies.
Instrument
A questionnaire was used to collect data. It was patterned after the study of Koksal
and Ozgul (2005). On Appendix A is the questionnaire of the said study. However
revisions were made on Parts II and III of the questionnaire in consideration of
appropriateness and relevance to HEIs’ operations in the Philippine education setting.
An informed consent was included in the cover letter accompanying the questionnaire
given to the HEI presidents or their authorized personnel/representative.
Procedure
Frequency and percentage distribution was used to summarize categorical data.
Quantitative data were described using mean (if normally-distributed), median (ifnon-normally distributed), minimum and maximum values. Normality was tested
using Shapiro Wilk test.
Factor analysis with varimax rotation was applied in order to identify the mainunderlying dimensions of marketing strategies used during the impending crisis. Theinternal consistency reliability of the strategies in each identified factor wasdetermined using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.
Comparisons between the marketing strategies and institutional performance ofprivate and public HEIs were made using independent t-tests (for normally-distributeddata) or Mann-Whitney U tests (for non-normally distributed data).
To determine correlation between marketing strategies and institutional performance,
Pearson r (for normally-distributed data) or Spearman rho tests (for non-normally
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distributed data) were used. The computed correlation coefficients were interpreted
based on the following ranges (Zou, Tuncali & Silverman, 2003):
Correlation Coefficient Value
Direction and Strength of Correlation-1.0
Negative Perfect Correlation-0.80 - (-0.99)
Negative Very Strong Correlation-0.50 - (-0.79)
Negative Strong Correlation-0.20 - (-0.49)
Negative Moderate Correlation-0.01 - (-0.19)
Negative Weak Correlation0
No Correlation
0.01 - 0.19
Positive Weak Correlation
0.20 - 0.49
Positive Moderate Correlation
0.50 - 0.79
Positive Strong Correlation
0.80 - 0.99
Positive Very Strong Correlation
1.0
Positive Perfect Correlation
Table 1: Degree of RelationshipAll statistical tests were performed using a free trial version of Stata 14. P-values lessthan or equal to 0.05 were considered significant.
Results
I. Marketing strategies used by the HEIs in Region III given the opportunities
brought about by the effects of the K-12 Curriculum
As found in Table 2, the HEIs’ use of all the marketing strategies included in thesurvey generally increased given the opportunities brought about by the effects of theK-12 Curriculum.

Market Focus
MarketExpansion
ProgramOfferings
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f%

High Decrease

Medium Decrease

Small Decrease

Unchanged

Small Increase

Medium Increase

High Increase

Very High Decrease

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

1
1.08

f
%
f
%

2
2.22

Mean

Very High Decrease

Total responses to some of the variables do not total to 94 due to no responses fromthe other participants.

1
1.08

4
4.3

7
7.53

15
16.13

33
35.48

24
25.81

8
8.6

1.9

1
1.08

3
3.23

1
1.08

6
6.45

13
13.98

26
27.96

24
25.81

19
20.43

2.2

1
1.11

1
1.11

6
6.67

19
21.11

12
13.33

22
24.44

15
16.67

12
13.33

1.4

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Program
Differentiation
Cost
Leadership in
TuitionPlace/Location Expansion
Advertising
Sales
Promotion
Event &
Experiences
PublicRelations
Direct &Interactive
Word-of
Mouth
Personal
Selling
AttackCompetitionf%

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2
2.33

f
%

1
1.16

2
2.33

23
26.74

22
25.58

21
24.42

11
12.79

4
4.65

1.2

1
1.11

2
2.22

25
27.78

27
30

14
15.56

13
14.44

8
8.89

1.4

3
3.33
1
1.08

6
6.67
1
1.08

39
43.33
15
16.13

16
17.78
20
21.51

13
14.44
23
24.73

8
8.89
22
23.66

2
2.22
9
9.68

0.6

1
1.12

4
4.49

20
22.47

21
23.6

24
26.97

13
14.61

6
6.74

1.2

3
3.26

10
10.87

18
19.57

35
38.04

15
16.3

10
10.87

1.8

1
1.09

15
16.3

18
19.57

31
33.7

16
17.39

8
8.7

1.6

f
%
f
%

3
3.33
1
1.08

f
%

3
3.37

f
%

1
1.09

f
%

1
1.09

1
1.09

1
1.09

f
%

1
1.09

2
2.17

2
2.17

7
7.61

16
17.39

29
31.52

23
25

12
13.04

1.9

f
%

2
2.17

6
6.52

12
13.04

31
33.7

25
27.17

16
17.39

2.3

f
%

3
3.26

5
5.43

10
10.87

25
27.17

30
32.61

19
20.65

2.4

23
25

26
28.26

19
20.65

15
16.3

3
3.26

1.2

f
%

2
2.17

1
1.08

1
1.09

3
3.26

1.7

Table 2: Mean Change Marketing Strategies by HEIs given the opportunities brought
about by the K-12 Curriculum
As indicated in Table 3, the first component accounting for 19.07% of varianceconsisted of mass communications strategies such as advertising, sales promotion,
events & experiences, and public relations, which had factor loadings of 0.656, 0.777,
0.645, and 0.743, respectively. The second component, accounting for 17.91% of thevariance comprised of differentiation strategies such as program offerings, program
differentiation, and cost leadership in tuition, which had factor loadings of 0.856,
0.814, and 0.747, respectively. The third component, accounting for 16.30% of thevariance consists of personal communications strategies namely, direct marketing,word-of-mouth, and personal selling, which had factor loadings of 0.544, 0.872,
0.761, respectively. Lastly, the fourth component, accounting for 11.75% of thevariance consists of target market strategies, namely market focus and market
expansion, which had factor loadings of 0.816 and 0.796, respectively
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Lorenzo-Seva, (2013) stated loadings can range from -1 to 1. When loadings are close
to -1 or 1, they indicate that the factors strongly affect the variable. Only the strategies
with factor loadings of at least 0.50 are to be retained (Matsunaga, 2010).
Cronbach’s alpha is generally used as a measure of the reliability of a set of questions
in a survey instrument. It measures the interrelatedness of a set of items. Cronbach’s
alpha coefficients for all the factors extracted were within the acceptable range (i.e.
0.70 and above) (Tavakol & Dennick, 2011). So there is reliability of the set ofquestions used in the survey instrument.

Factor 1: Mass Communications Strategies
Advertising
Sales Promotion
Event & Experiences
Public Relations
Factor 2: Differentiation Strategies
Program Offerings
Program Differentiation
Cost Leadership in Tuition
Factor 3: Personal Communications Strategies
Direct Marketing
Word-of Mouth
Personal Selling
Factor 4: Target Market Strategies
Market Focus
Market Expansion% ofFactor Variance Cronbach’s
Loading Explainedalpha19.07%
0.841
.656
.777
.645
.743
17.91%
0.831
.856
.814
.747
16.30%
0.762
.544
.872
.761
11.75%
0.716
.816
.796

Table 3: Results of Factor Analysis with Varimax Rotation on the Marketing
Strategies by HEIs given the opportunities brought about by the K-12 Curriculum
II. Institutional performance of the HEIs in Region III during the school 20152016 compared to School Year 2014-2015
In terms of changes in the institutional performance of the HEIs in Region III in
School Year 2015-2016 compared to School Year 2014-2015, it can be seen in Table
4 that the changes in revenue generated, profits earned from the total revenue, assets /investment, and enrollment were generally favorable.
Total responses to some of the variables do not total to 94 due to no responses fromthe other participants.

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Change+10 (45% + Increase)+9 (40% - 44% Increase)+8 (35% - 39% Increase)+7 (30% - 34% Increase)+6 (25% - 29% Increase)+5 (20% - 24% Increase)+4 (15% - 19% Increase)+3 (10% - 14% Increase)+2 (5% - 9% Increase)+1 (1% - 4% Increase)-10 (45% - + Decrease)-9 (40% - 44% Decrease)-8 (35% - 39% Decrease)-7 (30% - 34% Decrease)-6 (25% - 29% Decrease)

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Change in
Revenuef%Change in
Profitf%

3

3Change in
Asset/Invest
ment
f
%

Change in
Enrollment
f
%

5
1
4
2
2
5
4
16
6

6.58
1.32
5.26
2.63
2.63
6.58
5.26
21.05
7.89

1
1
5
3
4
7
2
12
10

1.11
1.11
5.56
3.33
4.44
7.78
2.22
13.33
11.11

3
5
1
2
4
14
11

3.66
0.00
3.66
6.10
1.22
2.44
4.88
17.07
13.41

1
3
1
6
4
10
11

3.80
0.00
1.27
3.80
1.27
7.59
5.06
12.66
13.92

17
1
1
1

20.73
1.22
1.22
1.22

14
2
1
2

17.72
2.53
1.27
2.53

11
3
1

14.47
3.95
1.32
0.00

14
1
1
2

15.56
1.11
1.11
2.22

0.00

1

1.32

1

1.11

0.00

2

2.22

0.00
2

2.44

2

2.53

-5 (20% - 24% Decrease)
3
3.66
2
2.53
2
2.63
2
2.22
-4 (15% - 19% Decrease)
4
4.88
4
5.06
0.00
1
1.11
-3 (10% - 14% Decrease)
6
7.32
5
6.33
4
5.26
5
5.56
-2 (5% - 9% Decrease)
1
1.22
4
5.06
1
1.32
8
8.89
-1 (1% - 4% Decrease)
4
4.88
4
5.06
8
10.53
9
10.00
Table 4: Changes in the institutional performance of the HEIs in Region III during theschool 2015-2016 compared to School Year 2014-2015
III.
Difference on the marketing strategies and institutional performance ofthe private HEIs and the public HEIs
On Table 5, statistical comparison tests showed that private HEIs were found to haveused the following marketing strategies more than the public HEIs: market focus,
market expansion, cost leadership in tuition, sales promotion, event and experiences,public relations, direct & interactive marketing, and attack competition (p-values <0.05). Conversely, private and public HEIs did not vary significantly in terms of theiruse of strategies on program offerings, program differentiation, place/location
expansion, advertising, word-of mouth, and personal selling (p-values > 0.05).

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Mean / Median
RatingInterpretation
PrivatePublicMarketing Strategies
HEIs
HEIs p-valueMarket Focus
2.00
1.00
0.0310M Significant DifferenceMarket Expansion
2.00
1.00
0.0445M Significant Difference
Program Offerings
2.00
2.00
0.9382M No Significant Difference
Program Differentiationn
1.20
0.83
0.5388t No Significant Difference
Cost Leadership in Tuitionn
1.42
0.33
0.0014t Significant Difference
Place/Location Expansionn
0.63
-0.50
0.0845t No Significant Difference
Advertising
2.00
1.00
0.1140M No Significant Difference
Sales Promotion
1.50
0.00
0.0004M Significant Difference
Event & Experiences
2.00
1.00
0.0037M Significant Difference
Public Relations
2.00
0.00
0.0122M Significant Difference
Direct & Interactive
2.00
1.00
0.0096M Significant DifferenceWord-of Mouth
2.00
2.00
0.1199M No Significant Difference
Personal Selling
3.00
2.00
0.1751M No Significant Difference
Attack Competition
1.00
0.00
0.0069M Significant Differencen – normally distributed; M – Mann Whitney test; t – independent t test
Table 5: Comparison of the Marketing Strategies Used by Private and Public HEIs
While on Table 6, public HEIs indicated a significantly higher change in enrollment
as opposed to private HEIs (mean = 3.86 vs 0.88; p-value < 0.05). On the other hand,no significant differences were noted between public and private HEIs in terms ofchange in revenue (mean = 3.83 vs 1.24; p-value > 0.05), change in profit (mean =2.83 vs 0.73; p-value > 0.05) and change in asset / investment (mean = 1.40 vs 1.96;
p-value > 0.05).
Interpretation
Mean Rating
Private Public
Institutional Performance
HEIs
HEIs p-value
Change in Revenue
1.24
3.83
0.0716t No Significant Difference
Change in Profit
0.73
2.83
0.1301t No Significant Difference
Change in Asset/Investment
1.96
1.40
0.3980t No Significant Difference
Change in Enrollment
0.88
3.86
0.0371t Significant Differencet – independent t test (one-tailed test; Ha: Mean(Private) < Mean (Public) except for
Change in Asset / Investment)
Table 6: Comparison of the Institutional Performance of Private and Public HEIs
Relationship between the marketing strategies and institutionalIV.
performance of the HEIs in Region III given the opportunities brought about by
the effects of the K-12 Curriculum
Table 7 shows the correlation analysis of the marketing strategies and institutional
performance of the HEIs in Region III given the opportunities brought about by theeffects of the K -12 Curriculum which shows that greater use of the strategy cost

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leadership in tuition is associated with less increase in revenue (Pearson r = -0.22; pvalue = 0.05) while greater use of the strategy place / location expansion is associatedwith greater increase in profit (Pearson r = 0.22; p-value = 0.05). Likewise, greateruse of the strategy place / location expansion is associated with greater increase in
asset / investment (Spearman rho = 0.27; p-value = 0.02). Similarly, greater use ofword-of-mouth marketing strategy is associated with greater increase in asset /investment (Spearman rho = 0.26; p-value = 0.03). Also, greater use of strategies toattack competitors is associated with greater increase in asset / investment (Spearman
rho = 0.23; p-value = 0.05). Lastly, greater use of direct marketing strategy is
associated with less increase in enrollment (Spearman rho = -0.23; p-value = 0.05).
Change in Revenue

Correlation
Coefficient-0.02

pvalue0.86

Change in Profit

Correlation
Coefficient
0.01

pvalue0.93

Change in
Asset/Investment

Change in
Enrollment

Correlation
pCorrelation
pCoefficient value Coefficient value
0.03
0.81
-0.06
0.59

Market Focus
Market
0.12
0.32
0.16
0.17
0.13
0.27
0.03
Expansion
Program
-0.08
0.49
-0.08
0.48
0.06
0.64
0
Offerings
Program
Differentiation
0.17 r
0.13
0.01 r
0.9
0.12
0.29
0.10 rCost
Leadership in
Tuition-0.22 r0.05
-0.19 r
0.11
0.02
0.88
-0.16 rPlace/Location
Expansion
0.17 r
0.14
0.22 r
0.05
0.27
0.02
0.13 rAdvertising
0
0.97
-0.08
0.5
0.04
0.72
-0.1
Sales
Promotion
-0.1
0.4
-0.08
0.52
0.08
0.5
-0.14
Event &
Experiences
0.02
0.84
0.04
0.72
-0.02
0.84
-0.15
PublicRelations
0
0.97
0.02
0.88
-0.07
0.58
-0.06
Direct
-0.04
0.73
-0.06
0.6
-0.02
0.88
-0.23
MarketingWord-of
Mouth
0.18
0.13
0.13
0.29
0.26
0.03
0.01
Personal
Selling
0.02
0.84
-0.05
0.65
0.02
0.89
-0.02
AttackCompetition
0.12
0.31
0.06
0.62
0.23
0.05
0.15
All correlation coefficients are Spearman rho correlation coefficients except thosemarked with “r” which are Pearson r correlation coefficients
Table 7: Correlation of the Marketing Strategies Used by the HEIs in Region III to
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0.78
0.99
0.35
0.15
0.23
0.41
0.22
0.2
0.63
0.05
0.95
0.86
0.2

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Discussion
Marketing strategies were consciously increased given the opportunities brought
about by the effects of the K-12 Curriculum. Similar to the findings of Feliciano(2015), Schüller and Rašticová (2011), Hawkins and Frohoff (2010), Huang,
Binney, and Hede (2010), Hesel (2004), Lewison and Hawes (2007) marketingstrategies of HEIs were found to include product/service, pricing, place or location,
integrated marketing communications, and competition.
Factor analysis determined the data for patterns as well as reduced the manymarketing strategy variables to a more manageable number. Doing this allowed theidentification of four components namely the mass communication strategies,
differentiation strategies, personal communication strategies, and target market
strategies.
Reissenweber (2012), Wang (2010), and Allen, Burgess, Rasul, and McKenna (2010)
identified the school performance indicators as revenue, profit, and revenue growth),
growth in the number of customers, and accounting performance (business-unit
revenues, profit margins, and return on sales). Compared to school year 2014-2015,
HEIs performed favorably in term of institutional performance of changes in revenue
generated, profits earned from the total revenue, assets / investment, and enrollment inschool 2015-2016.
As to the comparison of their marketing strategies, significant difference were foundon market focus, market expansion, cost leadership in tuition, sales promotion, eventand experiences, public relations, direct marketing, and attack competition. They weremore competitive in choosing their market, pricing their tuition, and communicatedthese strategies to their present and prospective students. However, no significant
difference was found program offerings, program differentiation, place/location
expansion, advertising, word-of mouth, and personal selling.
As to the comparison of their institutional performance, public HEIs indicated asignificantly higher change in enrollment as opposed to private HEIs. Both private
and public HEIs believed in keeping strong and differentiated program offering.
Guided by the environment-strategy-performance paradigm of Sin, Tse, Yau, Chow,
and Lee (2003) and HRMP model of Huizingh, and Zengerink (2001), this study
found positive correlation between the marketing strategies and institutional
performance of the HEIs in Region III during an impending crisis showed that greateruse of the strategy cost leadership in tuition is associated with less increase in revenue
makes a lot of financial sense. Greater use of the strategy place / location expansion isassociated with greater increase in profit due to successfully catching students by
convenience of location. Very much related is the greater use of the strategy place /location expansion is associated with greater increase in asset / investment. Expansion
in facilities or in campus area necessitated corresponding increase in investment. Bothgreater use of word-of-mouth marketing strategy and attack competition was
associated with greater increase in asset / investment since both lead to more
enrollees. Word of mouth strategies motivated present students to stay in the HEI as
well as attracted potential enrollees like what attack competition strategy did in
persuading students from competing HEIs to transfer. However, greater use of direct
marketing strategy, was associated with lessincrease in enrollment must be due to
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possibilities that enrollment prospects may find the strategy too aggressive that may
turn them off to enroll in the campaigning HEI.
It is to be noted that all the foregoing correlations were found to be moderateaccording to Zou and Silverman (2003).
Conclusion
Among the strategies, the use of personal selling was found to have increased themost followed by word-of-mouth and then by market expansion.
Through factor analysis, the study was able to reduce the number of marketingstrategy variables to four components; namely; the first component of masscommunications strategies, the second component of differentiation strategies, third
component, of personal communications strategies, and the fourth component oftarget market strategies.
Change in institutional performance of the HEIs in Region III for School Year 20152016 in terms of revenue generated, profits earned from the total revenue,
assets/investment, and enrollment were investigated in the study. These changes
experienced by the HEIs were favorable. Despite the impeding financial crisis, thechanges were positive this year compared to the past year.
The study presented a statistical comparison of private and public HEIs. Such
differences were found in the marketing strategies such as market focus, market
expansion, cost leadership in tuition, sales promotion, event and experiences, public
relations, direct marketing, and attack competition. No significant differences were
however found in program offerings, program differentiation, place/location
expansion, advertising, word-of mouth, and personal selling. As to the comparison of
their institutional performance, significant difference was found in the change ofenrollment. On the other hand, no significant differences were noted between public
and private HEIs in terms of change in revenue, change in profit and change in asset /investment.
Like Koksal and Ozgul (2005) who investigated the effects of marketing strategy
changes on company performance during times of crisis, this study similarly
discovered the impact of marketing strategies to the HEIs performance given theopportunities brought about by the effects of the K-12 Curriculum. This study wasable to prove the Hierarchical Marketing Performance (HMP) framework (Huizingh& Zengerink, 2001), which states that marketing performance ultimately leads tofinancial performance, holds true for the HEIs in Region III during the conduct of thestudy in School Year 2015-2016.
With moderate correlation found on these marketing strategies with institutional
performance of the HEIs, makes them more relevant strategies. Making greater use ofthem will cause corresponding favorable impact on the institutional performance.
Correlations findings however implying that there are other variables accounting forthe institutional performance of the HEIs other than their marketing strategies such as
quality of education, graduation rate, board exam performance and employability ofgraduates.

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Skills of Analyzing and Synthesizing Textual Information in University Students:
Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Approach
Anna Toom, Touro College and University System, United States
Natalia Inshakova, Moscow State University, Russia
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Abstract
One of the most important tasks that the field of higher education is facing in theepoch of information technologies is the formation of a new type of specialist who isa professional in one’s area of expertise as well as an informational erudite having thenecessary skills to productively work with large flows of information. Presently, thistask is far from completion.Two researchers, a journalist and a psychologist, withdifferent cultural backgrounds combined their pedagogical experience and the resultsof long-term research of the contemporary university students. They studied theirstudents’ abilities to analyze and synthesize information in the texts when performing
various learning assignments, such as titling publications, annotating sources of
information, and writing research papers.The results showed that most students ineach specialty and culture had underdeveloped information skills, i.e. were
informationally incompetent. Their mistakes were systematic and similar. The mostdifficult task for them was to identify key words, phrases and fragments in the texts.
Consequently, such students had no full-fledged understanding of the semantic aspectof information. To denote this feature of cognitive activity of many university
students, the authors the study used the term fuzzy thinking.The authors concluded
that the educators’ efforts should be aimed at teaching university students how towork with texts professionally. Students in academia should be trained on developing
skills to analyze and synthesize information because they are the main mechanisms
which assure meaningful intellectual activity.
Keywords: information competence, analytical skills, textual information, fuzzy
thinking, university students.

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
One of the most important tasks which the field of higher education is facing in theepoch of information technologies is the formation of a new type of specialist. In
addition to being an expert in one’s area of knowledge, such a specialist is an
informational erudite having skills to productively work with large flows of
information. Specialists of this kind can find the information needed for theirprofessional activity in electronic libraries, classify, analyze, select data and makedecisions about the reliability of information. At present, the task of forming such a
specialist is still far from completion.
This task, if unsolved, can turn into a serious social problem that prevents progress.
Problems can already be found today in representatives of different specialties and indifferent cultures, even technologically advanced societies. In this work, we discuss
how these problems are manifested in students specializing in social sciences in someuniversities of USA and Russia.
Theoretical Frame
The concept of information competence (IC) appeared at the end of the last century inconnection with the rapid development of information technology. It reflects theability of a modern individual to adapt to new conditions of life and activity in theinformation environment.
Information Competence was viewed, first, as an essential characteristic of humanactivity related to the research in electronic libraries. Eventually, when the IC
development programs were integrated into the curriculum of colleges/universities
across the country, the definition also developed. In the Information Literacy
Competency Standards for Higher Education (2000) we find that IC is the ability to a)
determine information needed, b) access it efficiently, c) evaluate it and its sources
critically, d) use it effectively for solving a specific task, e) incorporate it into one’s
knowledge, f) access and use it legally and ethically. This definition with little
variations can be found today in many publications available in the Internet (Smiths,
2007; Held, 2011; College of San Mateo Library, 2018).
There is also a broader definition: IC consists of “library literacy, computer literacy,
media literacy, technological literacy, ethics, critical thinking, and communication
skills”. This understanding of IC was documented and adopted by the Academic
Senate for California Community Colleges (1998) and eventually by other US
educational institutions. Similar definitions can be found in the works of Russian
specialists (Udovik, 2011; Zaryeva, 2015).
The latter definition includes requirements for the psychological features included
into IC. In our study, we adhere to this paradigm and focus on the role which
cognitive processes play in the development of IC. It is necessary to consider suchcognitive functions as analysis and synthesis, basic components of formal-logicalthinking. They are the important cognitive mechanisms underlying IC. Anotherimportant type of thinking that is needed for effective work with information,
specifically textual information is semantic thinking. Adequate operating with themeanings contained in the information is another cognitive mechanism underlying IC.

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Authors of this paper speak about the IC of the university students in the fields ofsocial sciences. IC is viewed here as the complex of cognitive skills required forworking with textual information to perform daily learning assignments either withthe use of information technology tools or without them.
Methodology
To collect empirical data, authors used methods of observing, conversations withstudents, and analyzing their intellectual work. Participant observation andconversations were the basic techniques for the study of the students’ learning
activities in a traditional classroom of Moscow State University (McLeod, 2015).
In Touro University System, a combination of observation techniques and the analysisof the students’ research papers were used. Courses were conducted on the Internet.
The participant observation was applied to check homework and discuss them withstudents in the asynchronous mode. The non-participant observation took place insome forums on the Discussion Board where the instructor, not being involved,
checked the students’ collaborative work related to solving learning tasks. An analysisof the students’ papers was carried out with the use of a simplified version of thecontent analysis (Content Analysis, 2018).
Studies of the Skills for Analyzing and Synthesizing Textual Information
Titling a note
Country:
Russian Federation
Educational Institution: Moscow State University
Department:
Journalism
Course:Basics of Editing Media Texts
Students:
Undergraduate level; seniors (the 4th year)

In the modern world which is overwhelmed with information, people, when looking
at a title, want to understand what a publication is about and whether it makes sense toread it. Of course, the publications must meet this audience’s need (Gilyarevsky,
2003). The titles should be informative that is, it should provide the fullest possible
reflection of the publication’s content (Inshakova, 2017). Informative titles for printed
and electronic issues are important for all areas of mass communication: education,
religion, culture, and even advertising, in which the accuracy of the commercial
proposal determines the response of a future consumer.
Dr. Natalia Inshakova, one of the authors of this article, when she taught the topic“Work on the title”, used all forms of instructional methodology. She specified
features and values of the informative titles in her lectures, demonstrated informative
titles on numerous examples during practicums. In those classes, the students werefamiliarized with the strategy for analyzing titles and the algorithm for constructing
meaningfully adequate titles (Gendina, 2013).
Then, the students received a small newspaper’s note for their homework assignment.
Its title did not adequately reflect the content of the note. The students’ task was todetermine whether the title was informative and propose a more informative one.

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To formulate the title, it is necessary, first, to determine the topic of the note. The
topic consists of three key-concepts: the subject of activity, the object of activity, andthe event. The key-concepts have their textual indicators in the note. Identifying the
textual indicators is a central part of any task of this kind; it cannot be solved without
a proper analysis of the text. The note, key-concepts, and their textual indicators(highlighted in colors) are illustrated in Figure 1.

The study lasted from 2013 to 2018. The results showed that the search for textualindicators of key-concepts was difficult for the students. Identifying the event
described in the note turned out to be especially hard. The instructor tried to find out
the cause of it. When discussing with the students the results of their homework, she
asked, “What is the note’s main event?” The most common answers were “publishingprojects”, “publications for jubilee.” From semester to semester, most students were
losing sight of the main event – they missed “the presentation”.
The students experienced even greater difficulties when they were composing theirown titles for the note. These results are illustrated in Figure 2. The answers can bedivided into 4 categories.

The category A represents correct answers. 5% of students proposed informative titles
which reflected the essence of the note to the greatest degree: “Project Classical

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University Textbook: Presentation of Publishing Programs for the 260th Jubilee of
Moscow State University”.
The category B represents incomplete answers. 25% of students, although determined
the specific aspects of the topic, proposed non-informative titles: “Textbooks for thejubilee of the University”, “Moscow University: publishing projects.”
The category C represents wrong answers. 30% of students did not cope with the task.
They substituted it by offering the advertising titles: “In the jubilee with a new
textbook”, “Learn, learn and learn!”. Quite often their titles were misinforming: “Ageof maturity”.
The category D represents absence of answers. 40% of the students refused toperform the task considering the given title effective and believing that "nothing was
wrong with unclear and incomprehensible titles". Many of them were also convincedthat "to attract attention of the readers is more important than anything else”. “Youwant us,” – they were saying to their professor, – “to create boring titles, but titles
must not be boring!”
Drawing up an annotation
Country:
Russian Federation
Educational Institution: Moscow State University
Department: Journalism
Course:Basics of Editing Media Texts
Students:
Undergraduate level; seniors (the 4th year students)

The annotation is the next, – after the title, – step in informing the readers about the
publication. Annotation is derived from the Latin word annotatio (note). An annotation
is a brief description of the publication’s content and form: it has information about the
publication’s main characteristics. In fact, any book or article in mass media, art, orscience, – may be accompanied by an annotation; in English-language scientificjournals it is usually called abstract. For some majors including journalism anannotation is an obligatory element for qualification works.
Dr. Inshakova in her lectures familiarized her students with requirements for writing anannotation and with technology of its composing (Suminova, 2001; Baryakina, 2018;
Nikitenkova, 2018). The requirements were related to various aspects of the text which
are mandatory for inclusion in the annotation. Namely: a) author, compiler, translator,b) genre, c) content, d) year of publishing, e) the composition of its reference apparatus,f) specific of publishing and printing form, g) the reader's address.
The students were also informed about the requirements for the literary format ofannotation (Methodology of Composing Annotation, 2006), and about what is notallowed in the annotations: stamps, quotations from the text of the annotated work,
exceeding the normative volume (600 characters).
Then, the students were offered an annotation to a published novel with a bibliographic
description of the book: Lewis C. (2010). Till we have faces. Translated from English
by I. Kormiltsev. Moscow: Foreign Literature; B.S.G. – PRESS. 304 p.

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Till We Have no Faces is a philosophical parable, a “retold myth”, by the author's own
definition. The eternal story of Amur and Psyche raises eternal questions about theFate of man and the nature of Love - and gives answers to them. 220 characters.

The students’ task was to find errors in this annotation and propose their own, more
informative options. Acquaintance with the book was not a prerequisite for thisassignment. However, students were recommended to search for missing and necessary
information in the Internet.
The instructor, when analyzing results of the students’ work on this task, found thefollowing:
1. Many students were able to detect errors in someone else's annotations, but they
could not compose their own.
2. In the annotations drawn up by students, the most common mistakes were:a. absence of the main book’s characteristics (for example, on the account of its
content).
b. excessive amount of insignificant details and/or mandatory data (about theauthor, the circumstances of the creation of the work, etc.)
c. lack of language discipline (verbosity, repetition, many words with undefined
meaning)
3. In the average, only one third of students drew up informative annotations which
met most formal requirements.
The short annotation given to students for their homework met only two formal
requirements: it had the textual indicators of the book genre (“philosophical parable”)
and its content (“eternal story of Amur and Psyche”). So, the students generally
completed the first part of the assignment. However, most of them still failed with thesecond part of it. Only about 30% of investigated population were able to compose an
informative annotation which met from 6 to 9 formal requirements. One of theinformative annotations with the highlighted textual indicators of formal requirements
is illustrated in Figure 3.

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Writing a research paper
Country:
USA
Educational Institution: Touro College & University System
Department:
School of Education and Special Education
Course:Child Development and Learning in Cultural Context
Students:
Graduate level; the first year

The research paper (RP) is a kind of academic writing which aims to explore andcommunicate ideas and arguments and is based on the search of information in
traditional and virtual libraries. (Difference between creative and academic writing,2018; Types of academic writing, 2018). Currently, the RP is widely incorporated into
the college/university curriculum. It is the most advanced and reliable form of testinglearners’ knowledge and skills on a subject. An effective RP is an indisputableindicator of a student’s information competence.
Dr. Anna Toom, another author of this article, assigned RPs in her online psychology
course which she taught from 2014 to 2016. Students wrote papers on the topic
Comparative Analysis of Theoretical Approaches to Child Development andLearning.
The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage in which 81 students studied
lasted during the summer and fall of 2014. The instructor guided students by her
virtual lecture about specific features of the research paper as a genre and its
difference from other types of writing. Additionally, the students were given certain
requirements for the paper’s content and format.
The main criterion for evaluating the RPs was the quality of the comparative analysisof theoretical approaches carried out in them. Accordingly, all students’ works weredivided into the following categories. They were papers in which a comparative
analysis: was not done (category 1), was done incorrectly (category 2), was done
correctly (category 3). An additional category was allocated, which counted nonsubmitted papers and those in which the topic was replaced (category 4).
Distribution of the students’ RP between categories is illustrated in Figure 4. Since
the number of students in the summer and fall semesters was not the same, the data
was normalized. Numbers of RP-s in categories are represented in percentages.

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The two most significant results are as follows:
1. The most populated category in both semesters was compounded by the students
who performed a comparative analysis incorrectly. Together with those who did
not accomplish the task, they formed an overwhelming majority in theinvestigated population.
2. The distribution of the papers between the four categories appeared consistentfrom one semester to the next. Such a similarity of graphic compositions fordifferent semesters indicated the reliability of the results.
These were the alarming facts. It looked like about 85% of our graduate students did
not have sufficient analytical skills for accomplishing the final course work.
The second stage of this study took place during the 2015 and 2016 academic years.
At this time, 222 students took the same course and wrote their RPs on the same
topic. The only difference was in assigning a preliminary training for writing effective
papers.
The new instructional methodology was based on the theory of G. Polya which
explained how people should solve problems (Polya, 1973). According to Polya, to beeffective, a solution of any problem must begin from the analysis of its statement;
after that a plan for solving this problem should be developed, and finally, this planshould be executed. Our preparatory training included analysis of the topic’s
statement and writing of the RP outline.
Analysis of the topic’s statement. Students determined: 1. Three basic independent
key-concepts in the topic’s statement, 2. Semantic content of key-concepts, 3.
Hierarchy of key-concepts. A fragment of this analysis’ results pertaining the keyconcept Theoretical Approaches is shown in Figure 8. When the topic’s key-concepts
were identified, the content of each was found, and their hierarchy in the statement wasdetermined, the learners were required to write the research paper outline (Reamy,2016).

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Writing the RP outline. According to a common definition, “an outline is used topresent main points (in sentences) or topics (terms) of a given subject” (Outline,
2018). Research paper outline done in full sentences gives a very accurate picture ofwhat the students’ final paper will be about (How to Make an Outline, 2005). An
effective outline is a reliable indicator of a task’s understanding and a subject’s
knowledge.
The main criterion for evaluating the outlines was the quality of the comparative
analysis described in them. Accordingly, all submitted outlines were divided into four
categories. They were the outlines in which a comparative analysis: was not done atall (category 1), was done superficially and cursory (category 2), was done in detailand in-depth (category 3). Non-submitted outlines made up an additional category(category 4). The distribution of the outlines between categories is illustrated in
Figure 9. The numbers of RPs in categories are normalized and represented inpercentages.
The three most significant results are the following:
1. The most populated category in both years was constituted by the outlines inwhich comparative analysis of theoretical approaches was included (on average
94.5%);
2. Most outlines were done in full sentences (on average 65.5%);
3. The distribution of the outlines between categories appeared consistent from one
year to the next. The similarity of the graphic compositions for different years
indicated the reliability of the results.

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Discussion
At the Journalism department of Moscow State University, the students solved different
in genres, but methodically similar tasks: “find errors in someone else's solution andoffer your own, better option.” The first part of the task required mainly analyticalskills, the second part – mainly the synthesizing skills of processing information. The
second part of the assignment was fulfilled by only 5% of students which solved thetask “Titling a note” and 30% of those which solved the task “Drawing up an
annotation”. This indicates insufficiently developed skills to synthesize information inmost students of investigated population. Even the first part of the assignment wascompleted only if it was small in volume. This allows the authors to assume an
insufficient preparation of investigated population of students-journalists for solving thetasks proposed in the course and students’ information incompetence.
In the American University, for successful completion of the assignment “Writing a
Research Paper”, the graduate students lacked the same cognitive skills. In 2014,
only 14% of learners who were taking the course Child Development and Learning in
Cultural Context succeeded competently conduct a comparative analysis of theoretical
approaches to child development. However, in 2015-2016, having passed a special
training prepared by the instructor within the framework of this course, 85% of
students accomplished this task when creating the paper outlines.
Analysis of the mistakes made by students in the performance of assignments allowed
the authors to examine the features of the cognitive activity of students. The inability
to compare two theories (in the research paper task) indicates underdeveloped skillsof analysis and synthesis, problems of formal-logical nature. The inability to
distinguish the important from the minor when searching and selecting data fromelectronic libraries (in the titling task), the tendency to use words with uncertain andvague semantics (in the annotation task), and, most importantly, the inability to findin the text indicators of concepts (in all the three tasks), – all this points tounderdeveloped skills to operate with meanings, to problems of semantic nature.

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The latter result is of especial scientific interest – due to insufficient research.
Although, recently it was confirmed in the study of the students’ comprehension of afiction story. Participants of that study had difficulties in understanding the semantic
structure of the fiction story’s text (Toom, 2015).
This feature of our university students’ cognitive activity can be called fuzzy thinking.
This means that they fail to distinguish important from unimportant, paramount fromminor. Their understanding of the reading's content is flat, there are no reliefs in it. As
Gestalt psychologists would say, there are no figures on the background for them:everything is either a solid figure or a solid background. In such students’ mentality,
many different concepts merge into one undifferentiated, confused picture. The
authors suggest that a new instructional methodology is needed to teach young people
a culture of perception and understanding of textual information.
Conclusions
This article presents the studies of authors belonging to different cultures anddifferent fields of knowledge. One of the authors works in Russia, the other – in USA.
One is a philologist, the other is a psychologist. One of the authors teaches
exclusively in the classroom, the other – only online, and the tasks solved by theirstudents in New York and Moscow were different. However, their results turned out
to be surprisingly similar.
The university’s students specializing in journalism and education in bothundergraduate and graduate levels demonstrated weak skills of analyzing andsynthesizing the texts. They experienced difficulties when they were working withlarge flows of information, which is an indisputable indicator of their information
incompetence. Moreover, for many learners it was difficult to identify the key words /phrases / fragments in the texts that is, to operate with meanings. Therefore, such
students had no full-fledged understanding of the semantic aspect of information. The
authors called this phenomenon “fuzzy thinking.” It deserves a thorough study.
However, the authors also showed that improvement of instructional methodology
may lead to a significant improvement in the quality of the students’ work. Therefore,both learners’ various cognitive skills and information competence developed. To
make it happen, special trainings are needed. One of such methods based on an
application of the outstanding educational theory by G. Polya was demonstrated inthis work.
The authors concluded that the educators’ efforts should be aimed at teaching ourstudents how to work with texts academically and professionally. It makes sense to
begin such teaching not in bachelor’s or master’s programs of the universities, butmuch earlier. In many ways, it depends on us, today's educators, whether the younger
generations will become information competent specialists.

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References
American Library Association. (2000). Information literacy competency standards forhigher education. Retrieved April 2, 2008 fromhttp://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/standards.pdf
Baryakina, E. How to write an annotation for a book. Retrieved September 2, 2018from https://www.avtoram.com/kak_napisat_annotatziyu_k_knige/
College of San Mateo Library. Information Competency at CSM. Retrieved
September 1, 2018 from http://www.collegeofsanmateoedu/library/info_comp.php
Content Analysis. Retrieved September 14, 2018
http://www.psychologywizard.net/content-analyses-ao1-ao2-ao3.html
Difference between creative and academic writing. Retrieved September 2, 2018 fromhttps://rampages.us/wisech/2015/02/12/differences-between-creative-and-academicwriting/
Gendina, N.I. Informazionnoe obrazovanie i informazionnaya Kaltura lichnosti kak
factory razvitiya infimazionnogo obschestva. Retrieved September 18, 2018 fromhttp://www.gpntb.ru/win/inter-events/crimea2001/tom/sem2/doc33.html
Gilyarevsky, R.S. (2003). Osnovy informatiki: kurs lekziy. Moskva: Izd-vo Examen.
Held, Tim. (2011). What is Information Literacy/Information Competency?
Perspectives for Instructional Faculty. California State University Library. Retrieved
from http://library.csustan.edu/theld/2011infolitprimer.pdf
How to Make an Outline (2005). Psychology Writing Center, University ofWashington. Retrieved September 26, 2018 fromhttps://web.archive.org/web/20100820185827/http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/outline.pdf
Information competency in the California community colleges: the academic senate
for California community colleges. (1998). Retrieved September 18, 2018 fromhttps://www.asccc.org/sites/default/files/publications/InfoComp_0.pdf
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. (2000).
Academic, College, and Research Libraries (American Library Association.)
Retrieved June 1, 2018 fromhttp://www.arcl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/arcl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm#ildefInshakova, N.G. (2017). Informazionno-analiticheskie navyki uchaschegosya vuza.
Alma mater. Vestnik Vysshei schkoly, № 8. S. 59-64.
McLeod, Saul (2015). Simply Psychology. Observation Method. Retrieved June 2016
fromhttps://www.simplypsychology.org/observation.html

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Metodika sostavleniya annotazii. (2006). Sost. Lapenkova S.G. & Volkhina T.I. M-vo
obshchego i prof. obrazovaniya Sverdl. Obl. Ekaterinburg: IRRO.
Nikitenkova, N. Annotation as a genre of scientific style. Retrieved September 14,
2018 fromhttps://studbooks.net/733622/zhurnalistika/annotatsiya_zhanr_nauchnogo_stilya
Outline (list). Retrieved September 26, 2018 fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_(list)
Reamy, Lauren (2016). 8 steps to writing an amazing research paper. Retrieved
September 11, 2018 from https://www.freshu.io/lauren-reamy/8-steps-to-writing-anamazing-research-paper
Polya, G. (1973). How to solve it. A new Aspect of Mathematical Method. Princeton,
New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Suminova, T.N. (2001). Annotirovanie, referirovanie i obzorno-analiticheskaya
deyatelnost: uchebnoe posobie. Moskva: MGUKI.
Smith, Bill (2007). Information competency for faculty at Rio Hondo College.
Retrieved September 10, 2018 from http://library.riohondo.edu/Info_Comp/WhatIsInfoComp.htm
The University of Sydney. Types of academic writing. Retrieved September 2, 2018from https://sydney.edu.au/students/writing/types-of-academic-writing.html
Toom A., (2015). Teaching Leo Vygotsky’s Theory of Sociocultural Developmentwith the Use of Literature and Information Technology. In Academic research of
SSaH 2015 (pp. 60-76). Prague, Czech Republic: Czech Technical University.
Retrieved October 4, 2018 fromhttps://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=gse_pubs
Udovik Elena E. (2011). Povyschenie informazionnoi kompetentnosti uchaschihsya v
hode vypolneniya tvorchskih zadaniy. Pedagogika iskusstva, 3. Retrieved September
26, 2018 from http://www.art-education.ru/electronic-journal/povyshenieinformacionnoy-kompetentnosti-uchashchihsya-v-hode-vypolneniya
Zaryeva M.I. (2015). Informazionnaya kompetentnost’: teoriya i technologiya
razvitiya. Molodoi uchenyi, № 17. P. 580-583. URL:
https://moluch.ru/archive/97/21838/ (data obrasheniya: 23.9.2018).

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Gamification as a Way to Reduce the Operating Method at Engineering Classes
Luis F Calvo Prieto, University of León, Spain
Raul Herrero Martínez, University of León, Spain
Ana I García Pérez, University of León, Spain
Sergio Paniagua Bermejo, University of León, Spain
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Abstract
As a result of the low grades found by the university students of engineering, theteaching staff of the second year of the Degree in Environmental Sciences, in the
Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of León,
proposes a plan of action on the students. The proposal goes in order to work on two
aspects that are considered as vital when dealing with these type of engineering
students. On the one hand it is proposed gamification as a way to reduce the stresswith which students deal at university classes and ,on the other hand, it reduces theoperative character with which the students try (in the wrong way in the judgment of
the teaching staff) to solve the engineering problems raised in the cited subject. In thisway, it was introduced a new concept for resolving the conventional engineering
problems based in a game (for the incorporation of the gamification and produce a
reduction of the stress). This game consists in to solve a problem without initial dates.
The students have to obtain the dates choosing between several dates (some of them
are no necessary for solving it) changing points for the dates. The objective is to know
if this methodology improve the satisfaction of the students and their results in thesubject. Then, with the present work, it has been shown statistically (t-Test of equalityof means proceedings) that both actions improve both, satisfaction and results if wecompare with a control statistically similar group.
Keywords: Academic stress, engineering problems, operativism, gamification

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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1. Introduction
University tutors usually consider that the stress of engineering students during
learning period at University is not an important problem for them. However, current
literature stated that university success could be improved if stress was consideredduring the learning period.
Previous experiences indicate that almost 75 % of our engineering students suffer
anxiety, fear and stress during the learning process at University and, in the same way,
all the researches of our staff group consider that this situation is far away to be agood situation for the health of the students, and, therefore, for obtaining goodacademic results.
Therefore, the question that we have to consider is:
Is it possible to reduce the stress of ours students without the loss of academic rigour?
Gamification is known as the process of game-thinking and game mechanics toengage users and solve problems (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011). In this way,
any game implicit in the concept of gamification must not only influence thepsychological and social behaviour of the player. However, it must also serve to help
the player to achieve some answers to certain problems, in such a way that the players,
the more they play, the more time they want to dedicate to the game by increasing
their comfort and the number of responses found (Kapp, 2012).
In addition, the second question to consider is if we introduce reducing stress factors
in classrooms, can we improve our students capacities and labor skills?
In this sense, we are talking now about to improve the capacities and labor skills of
our students reducing their operating method: we want thinking students and not
mimic or simple operator students.
Johan Hizinga (1872-1945) was a Dutch philosopher and he was one of the first
persons who worked in a pioneer project about the influence of the game in education
process. In his book Homo Ludens (1938), he explained the influence of the game in
the brain process of the players.
In this way, when we introduce gamification and learning based games we can
improve the learning process of our students, reducing, at the same time, the common
stress situations present in higher education.
It is important to know the difference between Game based Learning and
Gamification videogames (Hamari & Koivisto, 2013).
Game based learning describes an approach to teaching where students explore
relevant aspect of games in a learning context designed by teachers. Teachers andstudents collaborate in order to add depth and perspective to the experience of playing
the game. Within an effective game-based learning environment, we work toward a
goal, choosing actions and experiencing the consequences of those actions along theway. This keeps us to practice behaviors and thought processes that we can easilytransfer from the simulated environment to real life.

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Gamification is a different type of learning experience. Gamification takes gameelements (such as points, badges, leaderboards, competition, achievements) andapplies them to a non-game setting. It has the potential to turn routine, simple task
into refreshing, motivating and mainly, reduce the stress situations in the engineering
university class.
Although in our research group, we worked with both concepts, but in this paper, weare going to speak only about Gamification Learning, and we are going to introduce
this concept in engineering classes by a free Application for Smartphones, this is tosay, by the use of ICT.
Although there are many experiences of the use of ICT in the university classroom(Overland & Mindt, 2002), the use of the same by the student is conditioned to theeducational approach given by the teacher, differentiating, according to (Galvis,
Galvis, & Giraldo, 2015),between ICTs that support transmission, ICTs that support
active learning and ICTs that facilitate interaction. However, the literature does notconsider the existence of an ICT that involves a profound change in the way ofsolving problems by engineering students, reducing their operational procedure to
make way for a much more rational model and close to their future work.
(de Sandoval & de Cudmani, 1992).
2. Objectives
2.1. General objective
The main goal of this research is to destroy the pure operating method used forstudents to solve engineering problems. Our initial hypothesis is that we can obtain an
improvement of engineering students academic results by reducing stress conditions
using a gamification models based in PWD (Problems without Data). For that, wehave to specific objectives.
2.2. Specific objectivesa) Design a gamification model based in PWD (problems without dates) thatallows to our engineering students reduce learning stress conditions and mimicor operating conditions to resolve engineering problems, improving, in thesame sense, the thinking conditions of learning.
b) Verify, in statistical terms, that gamification model based in PWD (problems
without data) meet with the stated purposes
3. Methodology and methods
3.1. Statistic population
In this research, we worked with 67 students who studied the Environmental Science
Degree at University of León (Spain). All of them were studying one subject called
Principles of Environmental Engineering during the academic course 2016-17. They
are scientific students, but this subject is an engineering subject, so the capacities thatthey have to acquire are different to the capacities of other subjects of the Degree.
Without considerer any variable (it is to say, randomly), the students were divided in
two groups. In one side, students who followed Gamification Model based in PWD by
the utilization of our original application for smartphones called BINQUI (acronym of

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Principles of Chemical Engineering in Spanish); in the other hand, students who don’t
followed that model and they utilized the classical way for teaching in engineeringclasses at University (with blackboard).
3.2. Methodology
Gamification model based in PWD (problems without data) was implement with afree App available for both, IOS and Android. I invite you to download it and, in thisway, you can analyse how it runs. In essence, students create a profile in the app and,after that; they can observe that the app has set of problems placed in increasing orderof difficulty.
These problems have no data inside the text of the problem, and, for that reason,
students have to “buy” (not with money, obviously, they buy data through spending
points).
There are two important things for a better understand of gamification process:- Not all data are necessary to solve a problem- A same problem can be solved in various ways, spending more orless points.
In this way, the student who resolve spending the fewest quantity of points will be thewinner, and the App shows a ranking including time to solve it.
Students will be fully aware, from the first day of class, of their participation in the
proposed dynamic as well as the objectives pursued. The breakdown of operating
method followed by students when they solve certain questions will be encouraged.
In resume, the main idea that we have to learn is that one of the most important
capacity for them is to know what dates they need for solving an engineering problem.
In the first place, it could happen that the students react surprised to this proposal.
Likewise, ambiguity must be avoided in order to students can focus on the correct
resolution of the problem. Ambiguity, or, in other words, open situations, is an
essential characteristic of genuinely problematic situations, being one of thefundamental tasks of scientific work to limit the open problems and impose
simplifying conditions. In addition, it is the best way to simulate the labour conditions
out of the university environment. Another setback that can be pointed to this type ofdynamics refers to the possibility of eliminating the data and precisions of the usual
problem definitions and constructing more open problems able to eliminate aresolution according to the characteristics of the scientific work. In this regard, theexperience of the teachers involved in the activity has made possible to verify that theusual problem definitions are easily "translatable" to general problems statements
without data.
3.3. Measuring instruments
In order to know if the targets have been achieved, it will be necessary to collect aseries of data that allow the results evaluation of the proposed activity. In this way, toassess the degree of achievement, the use or non-use of the App will be evaluated as
an independent variable (considering if it has been downloaded or not). A relation
between this variable and the student academic result of the student will be sought(evaluating both the subject pass and the final grade).

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3.4. Reliability and validity of the measuring instruments
This paragraph encompassed an explanation about how the different variables havebeen measured to guarantee their validity and reliability.
a)
BINQUI. It means if the student used the App named as “BINQUI”
for the exam preparation. The value of this variable is collected directly fromthe interface of the App Manager”, which guarantees the validity (measureswhat you want to measure) and reliability (accuracy of measurement). “Use of
BINQUI” is called by letter B and “Do not use of BINQUI” is called by letters
NB.
This is our independent variable.
b)Stress of our students after the research. Quantitative variable(on a scale from zero to ten) of the final stress of the student (after the
research). We have measured this value with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale(Hamilton; Xiao-Wei et al. 2018) and it was called as Y2. This variable is adependent variable.
c)
Academic results of our engineering students. . It is categoricalvariable related to the mark obtained by the student in the subject. It is aquantitative variable (on a scale from zero to seven) of the result of the student(after the research). We have called it as Y3.
3.5. Analysis of critical points and risks in the achievement of the goals
The realisation of the project implies a risk in terms of acceptance by the students,
since it represents a radical change in the way of approaching the study of their
university classes. The critical points referred to the students are listed below:
Lack of confidence in the teacher.
Absence of participation.
Lack of seriousness.
Lack of maturity of certain students.
Other aspect not considered
Therefore, the development of the proposed tasks is related to a series of risks. Oncethese risks have been identified, strategies that minimize their impact or even prevent
their appearance can be defined. The management of the work carried out has been
based on the PDCA continuous improvement cycle and the UNE 166002 R & DManagement Standard.
For the critical points identification, periodic meetings were established between theteacher and a representation of the students in order to know both opinions about thedevelopment of the activities. Likewise, to resolve the identified critical points,
actions are proposed to be carried out in order to solve any problems.
4. Results and discussion
A free and without advertising App has been created. It was called “BINQUI”. Eachstudent, after download and log in, has 200 starting points. A series of PWD(Problems without Data inside the text) related to the subject linked to this projectwill be presented. They must decide, among all the data offered by the application,
what are necessary to solve them. The acquisition will be related to a decreasing inthe students points (the more data they request, the more points they will spend).
Once the problem will be solved, a ranking of players for that exercise can be

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accessed. The first position will be for the student who, having solved the exercise has
spent less points. It should be noted that in equality of points, the winner will be theone that has taken less time. A series of the App screenshots are depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Screenshots of the original application that allows the use of Gamification
model based in PWD
It is necessary to clarify that App use has been voluntary. This fact allowed theauthors to form two students groups according if the employed or not the App. The
variables used in this work were the shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Independent and dependent variables used in the research
Name of theEscaleMeasurement
variablerange
Use of BINQUI
0: no(independent
BINQUI
Nominal1: yesvariable)Stress of the student
Y2
Quantitative
0-10
after the research
Academic Results ofY3
Quantitative
0-7
our students
Variable

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4.1. Statistic descriptive results
Table 2 shows the statistic descriptive results of the variable called Y2 obtained by
SPSS statistic program for both: the group of the students that did not followed the
proposal methodology (Y2NB) and the group of the students that followed degamification model based in PWD with the use of BINQUI (Y2B).
Table 2. Statistic descriptive results of Y2 (Stress of the students after the research)

Y2NB

Y2B

Variable Y2 (Stress after research)
Mean
95% Confidence
Lower boundinterval for mean
Upper bounMedianVariance
Std. Desviation
Range
KurtosisMean
95% Confidence
Lower boundinterval for mean
Upper bounMedianVariance
Std. Desviation
Range
Kurtosis

Statistic
5.97675.3742
6.57936.00003.83301.95789.00000.53703.45832.9452
3.97144.00001.47601.21511.0000-0.4350

Std. Error
0.29860.70900.24800.9180We can observe that the stress of the students that did not followed the gamification
model based in PWD was 5.98, but if BINQUI has been used this variable takes avalue of 3.46, almost 1.5 points lower. In this sense, we can verify that the stresssituation of our students has been reduces when they have been used BINQUI in theirlearning process. These results are agree with results showed in current literature
about the use of gamification in learning process (Leah S., et al 2017; Joana D. 2017;
Chris P., et al 2016).
Table 3 shows the statistic descriptive results of the variable called Y3 obtained by
SPSS statistic program for both: the group of the students that did not followed the
proposal methodology (Y3NB) and the group of the students that followed degamification model based in PWD with the use of BINQUI (Y3B).
We can observe that the mean values if BINQUI was not used is 1.67 but if BINQUI
has been used this value is 3.19. This is a very important difference and we can verify,
with these dates, that academic results of the students have been improved.

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Table 3. Statistic descriptive results of Y3 (Academic results of our students after the
research)
Variable Y3 (Academic results)
Y3NB
Mean
95% Confidence
interval for mean

Y3B

MedianVariance
Std. Desviation
Range
KurtosisMean
95% Confidence
interval for mean

Lower boundUpper bounLower boundUpper bounMedianVariance
Std. Desviation
Range
Kurtosis

Statistic
1.66531.32502.00571.53001.22301.10594.1000-0.6140
3.18962.49493.88433.28002.70701.64526.5000-0.4520

Std. Error
0.1687

0.33580.33580.91804.2. Test of equality of means for Y3
If we analyze the mean values between the use or not of BINQUI in the different
variables, we had to verify the parametric conditions that t-Test considers:- Sample size greater than 20- Variables have to be quantitative variables- We will have in consideration the equality of Variances- The Normal distribution of the variables in verified using normality test
Kolmogorov Smirnov way and Shapiro Wilk way, with Lilliefors SignificanceCorrection.
For all t-Test we have the next conditions:- Setting up the null (H0) and alternative (H1) hypotheses. Null hypothesis H0:
the means of both considered group are similar in statistically terms;
alternative hypothesis H1: the means of both considered group are not similarin statistically terms.
Justified choice of the statistical test. Considered variables are quantitative variables
and they verify parametric conditions, so the most suitable statistical test to beconsidered is the t-Test. Moreover, SPSS provides the possibility of carrying out
some symmetric and directional trials based on this parameter.
Significance level (α). We have worked with an error rate of 0.05.
Definition of the sampling distribution. The sampling distribution is a probability
distribution consisting of infinite values of a t-Test distribution, which is obtained
from infinite random samples of the same population, all of them having the same
sample size than the one of the research problem.

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Rejection region or critical region. The rejection region of H0 is a part of thesampling distribution made up by the values whose probability is lower than or equal
to 0.05 whenever the null hypothesis is true.
In this sense, table 4 shows the results of t Test of equality of means of Y3 (academic
results of our students)
Table 4. t-Test equality of means for Y3

Y3

Equal
variancesassumedEqual
variancesnotassumedLevene´s Test
for Equality of
Variances
F
Sig.

t

df

Sig. (2tailed)Mean
Difference

Std.
Error
Differnce

95 % ConfidenceInterval of the
Difference
Lower
Upper

5.398

-4.52565

0.00-1.52420.3369-2.1970-0.8515-4.05634.8500.00-1.52420.3758-2.2872-0.76120.023

t-test for Equality of Means

When we do the t-Test for equality of means with variable Y3 (academic results ofour students), we cannot accept the Equality of Variances (signification >0.05) with asignification of 5 %. In that case, the mean of both groups, with 5 % of signification
again, is different using statistical terms. That is to say that the use of BINQUI(gamification model based in PWD (problems without dates) improve the academic
results of our environmental engineering students.
5. Conclusions
The mail conclusion of this research is that the use of gamification model based inproblems without dates (PWD) improve academic results of our engineering students
reducing learning stress conditions. In this sense, we have obtained the answer for thetwo specific objectives considered.
On the one hand, we have designed an App for smartphones that introduce twoconcepts to our students: gamification (similar to no stress) and reduction to theoperativistic wrong model for solving problems; on the other hand, we have verified,in statistical terms, the conclusions of this research.
7. Acknowledgements
We want to be pleasure with the programme PAGID from University of León thatsubsidized this research.

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References
Cassidy, T. (2000). Social background, achievement motivation, optimism and health:a longitudinal study. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 13(4), 399–412.
Castro, R., & Calvo, L. F. (2015). Utilización de la herramienta AVIP integrada en
Moodle. VII Congreso Ibérico de Agroingeniería. Orihuela (Spain).
Chris Perryer, Nicole Amanda Celestine, Brenda Scott-Ladd, Catherine Leighton.
(2016). Enhancing workplace motivation through gamification: Transferrable lessons
from pedagogy. The International Journal of Management Education, Volume 14,
Issue 3, November, Pages 327-335)
Daniel, W. (1990). Applied nonparametric statistics. Boston, MA: PWS-Kent.
Gabel, D. L. (1993). Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning
Project. ERIC.
Galvis, C. M. M., Galvis, D. D. J. M., & Giraldo, L. M. R. (2015). Incidencia del uso
de las herramientas web en el desarrollo de la producción de textos en los estudiantes
de quinto grado de básica primaria en la institución educativa “José Castillo Bolívar”
del municipio de Soledad. Escenarios, 13(2), 50–86.
Hamari, J., & Koivisto, J. (2013). Social Motivations To Use Gamification: An
Empirical Study Of Gamifying Exercise. In ECIS (Vol. 105).
Hamilton (1959).Anxiety Scale, HAS, Hamilton
Joana Dias. (2017). Teaching operations research to undergraduate management
students: The role of gamification The International Journal of Management
Education, Volume 15, Issue 1, March, Pages 98-111
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: game-based
methods and strategies for training and education. (J. W. & Sons, Ed.). John Wiley &Sons.
Leah Sera, Erin Wheele (2017). Game on: The gamification of the pharmacy
classroom. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, Volume 9, Issue 1,
January–February Pages 155-159
Overland, K., & Mindt, T. (2002). Technology and Texts: Hearing the Student Voice.
Psillos, D. (2003). Science Education Research in the Knowledge-Based Society.
Springer. Retrieved from https://books.google.es/books?id=MY0vZZVr_RwC
Salguero, R. T., & del Río, M. P. (2008). La psicología de los videojuegos. Ediciones
Aljibe.
Suzan A. Haidar, N. K. de Vries, Mirey Karavetian, Rola El-Rass. (2018). Stress,
Anxiety, and Weight Gain among University and College Students: A Systematic
Review. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 118, Issue 2,
February Pages 261-274

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Xiao-Wei Chu, Cui-Ying Fan, Qing-Qi Liu, Zong-Kui Zhou. (2018). Cyberbullying
victimization and symptoms of depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents:
Examining hopelessness as a mediator and self-compassion as a moderator.
Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 86, September, Pages 377-386)
Zichermann, G., & Cunningham, C. (2011). Gamification by design: Implementing
game mechanics in web and mobile apps. “ O’Reilly Media, Inc.”
Contact email: Dr Calvo Prieto, professor at University of León (Spain)
lfcalp@unileon.es

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Assessing the Impact of Meritocracy on the Singapore Education System:
Evaluating Outcomes, Averting Threats
Mohamad Shamsuri Juhari, National University of Singapore, Singapore
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The Republic of Singapore is a small multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious
island-nation made up of various ethnic communities. While the Malays arerecognised as the country’s indigenous group, they currently make up less than 14 percent of the total population. The Chinese, being the dominant group, form 75 per centof the citizenry while the Indians, at 8 per cent, are represented as another minority
group. The rest of the population comprises various ethnicities categorised as“Others”. Because of its diversity, the government has made clear its prerogative on
developing the nation’s social cohesion and identity through education. This is done
by imposing a uniform curriculum for all types of institutions, using locally-oriented
textbooks, and instilling in its students a sense of common purpose and direction.
Over time, such enforcement of “uniformity” across all Singapore schools’ curricula
has led to the convergence towards an extreme belief in meritocracy; where students’abilities are mainly differentiated based on results attained in high-stakes
examinations. Critics have highlighted several negative outcomes resulting from theabsolute “buy-in” of meritocracy. For one, socio-emotional learning is made ofsecondary importance to academic teaching. As a result, the nation is at risk ofdeveloping students who may be “book smart” but lack the sensibility to understand,empathize and respect. Others point to the weakness of meritocracy in the way it fails
to appropriately recognize the different “starting points” for every student’s academic
journey. This casts doubts on the chances of these pupils doing well in a completely
meritocratic environment.
Keywords: Meritocracy, Multicultural, Literacy, Vernacular schools, Bilingual
education, Uniform curriculum, Capability set

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction

The Republic of Singapore is a small multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious
island-nation made up of various ethnic communities. While the Malays arerecognised as the country’s indigenous group, they currently make up less than 14 percent of the total population. The Chinese, being the dominant group, form 75 per centof the citizenry while the Indians, at 8 per cent, are represented as another minority
group. The rest of the population comprises various ethnicities categorised as“Others”. Over the years, Singapore’s education system has evolved and gained muchrecognition both locally as well as globally. Praises are showered as the nation-state’s
literacy rates rose from about 50 per cent in 1965 to more than 96 per cent by 2012
(Gopinathan, 2015, p. 90). This is accompanied by high levels of trust shown by
stakeholders and parents (Mathews, 2017, p. 17). Similarly, Singapore students haveconsistently raised their performance at the international level, ranking high in global
assessments like TIMSS, PISA, PIRLS and various International Olympiads. In
addition, organisations such as the OECD have analysed and commended Singapore’s
education system. Guided by well-trained teachers and school leaders, Singapore’s
education system continues to enjoy high achievement rates.
1.1.

Origins

As a former British colony, Singapore’s modern-day education policy began with thefounding of the Singapore Institution in 1823. The school was funded by the colonial
masters to provide free education for the indigenous residents in their mother tongue.
The move was to create a more structured and more easily managed society — rather
than more noble ideals of social progress for the Malay inhabitants (Ong, 2008). At
the time, the English language was not taught to the natives as the British believedthat early training in the child’s own language was an absolute necessity. In their eyes,
the objective of the Malay-language based education was simply to make theindigenous inhabitants better fishermen and peasants.
The Chinese and Indians were however, largely left to their own devices when it cameto establishing learning institutions of their own. As a result, these communities
established schools that were privately funded. The Chinese, for instance, set up
vernacular schools run by teachers recruited from China, using textbooks imported
from their Mainland. Similar to the Malay and Indian institutions, these schools were
initially limited to the primary level. English-medium schools on the other hand weretypically established by Christian missionaries, additionally supported by thegovernment and were opened to all children on a fee-paying basis.
Overall, of these publicly-funded institutions were free from government control until
1919, after which the British government implemented the Registration of School
Ordinance. In these early days, the local Education system has been characterised as
suffering from “benign neglect, ad hoc policy making and indifference toconsequences” (ibid). This was until the Registration of School Ordinance came into
effect in 1920 that it subsequently underwent a series of amendments and re-enacted
as the 1957 Education Ordinance.
By the end of World War II in 1945, the local population had begun to develop asense of belonging and patriotism that resulted in the British government initiating

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changes to the education policy. To appease the population’s awakening national
fervour, the British government then declared free primary education for all races.
According to Ho and Gopinathan (1999), Singapore’s education system today has its
roots prior to 1965 when the nation achieved its independence. In 1956 for example,
the All-Party Report on Chinese Education commissioned by the British-ruled
Singapore government had included a proposal for an “equal and adequate” education
system to meet the needs of all major ethnic groups in the country (Zhao & Liu, 2010,
p. 241). Similarly, when Singapore was granted internal self-government in 1959 and
the People’s Action Party (PAP) subsequently voted into power, a policy statement
was issued echoing this line of belief. The new government made it clear that its
prerogative was the attainment of social cohesion and the development of a national
identity for its citizens through education. PAP leaders saw an overriding need inworking against the colonial legacy of communalism and ethnic division. The leadersbegan by introducing a Five-Year Plan that emphasised equal treatment of the four
language streams of education. Nevertheless, in wanting to simultaneously recognise
the nation’s historical foundations and meet the perceived demands of the economy,
Malay was made the National Language while emphasis was given to the teaching of
Science and Technical subjects in schools (Tan, 2010).
By the time Singapore attained complete independence from the British in 1965, there-elected PAP government made more concrete its plans to shape the education
system for the young nation. It introduced a tripartite system of academic, vocational
and technical schools, to support the country’s fledgling economy. With the
population’s diversity, the government also saw the need to inculcate patriotism andnational identity among school-going Singaporeans in order to develop a peaceful andproductive multiracial, multicultural and multilingual society. This was done byputting together a uniform curriculum for all types of schools, using locally-oriented
textbooks, and instilling in schools a sense of common purpose and direction.
Ethnic division was further mitigated with the introduction of bilingual education in
1966. English was made the main medium of instruction while the pupil’s mothertongue was declared a Second Language but made a compulsory examinable subject
at both the primary and secondary levels.
Today, the Singapore education system has evolved and diversified to include
specialised government-run institutions, such as the Singapore Sports School and
School of the Arts.
2.

Evolution of Meritocracy as an Ideology

Regardless of any incremental changes, the government has remained steadfast in its
enforcement of “uniformity” across all Singapore schools’ curricula. The rationale
underpinning this approach is for academic success to essentially be based on a
student’s merit and performance regardless of his or her race, religion or socioeconomic background. In this sense, the meritocratic model recognises and rewards
talent primarily based on academic achievement. This was outlined by Dr Aline
Wong, then Senior Minister of State for Education (2000) who clarified that “In the
1960s and 70s, a series of educational reforms was undertaken to unify the standards,
and set up a common education system.” It has been maintained however, that the

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government has over the years, shown some flexibility in allowing for the curriculum
to be reviewed “to allow for differentiation to meet the needs of students withdifferent talents and abilities” (Hodge, 2007).
Nevertheless, the view towards academic meritocracy as a bedrock for gauging
competencies has remained uncompromising. In his 2010 National Day speech, thecountry’s Prime Minister clarified that, “The Singapore spirit is not based on acommon race, language or religion. It is based on deeper things that we share: sharedvalues like multi-racialism, meritocracy, or respect for every talent; shared loyalty andcommitment to Singapore; shared responsibility for each other and pride in what wehave done together...” (https://www.pmo.gov.sg/newsroom/prime-minister-lee-hsienloongs-national-day-rally-2010-speech-english).
This deep belief in the value of commonality and uniformity has ultimately led to aconvergence on the importance of meritocracy. Epitomised into an all-consuming
ideology, the meritocratic model rationalises the government’s commitment towards
recognising, cultivating and rewarding talent based on academic merit. Essentially,
regardless of any other abilities that they might possess, students’ abilities aredifferentiated based only on results attained in high-stakes examinations.
2.1.

Positive Outcomes

After more than 50 years since its inception, the proponents of the meritocratic
approach have now, in their possession, a ‘showcase’ of successes that they can boast
of. While differences in academic performance between ethnic groups remain,
statistics have shown that the gap has narrowed considerably. Data reported in the
McKinsey report shows that the performance of pupils in the Primary School Leaving
Examination (PSLE) has improved for all ethnic groups, with Malay and Indian
pupils showing the most marked improvement while Chinese students continued toperform consistently above the national average (Gopinathan, 2015, p. 14). In aspeech presented in 2011, then Minister for Education Ng Eng Hen noted that in1980, only a quarter of those aged 25-39 years had completed secondary school
education and above. This jumped fourfold to 96% by 2010. Each succeeding
generation, he said, has done better than their parents. Furthermore, 44% of those
aged 25-39 years today have university education. What is impressive, he noted given
the big attrition rates in the 1970s, is the ability of the current education system toboth retain and enable students to complete a minimum 10 years of education, with amajority obtaining five O-levels. Also to note is the fact that significant numbers go
on to post-secondary education. Over 75% of the cohort then proceeded to enrol in thenext level of their studies. These significant figures signal that families recognise thevalue of credentials, and that further education and training in Singapore are showing
benefits (Ng, 2011).
2.2.

Conceptual Misalignments

With the passing of time unfortunately, the flaws of such meritocratic ideals are
beginning to reveal themselves in significant ways. Critics have argued that while
Singaporean students are achieving ever-higher grades in national examinations,“book smarts” have little relevance in the real world where a sense of equity andjustice; underscored by the ability to understand, empathise and respect; are just as

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necessary. While components of socio-emotional learning such as Character andCitizenship Education, Critical Thinking Skills and Pastoral Care already exist in the
Singapore curriculum, these non-examinable subjects are, however unintentionally,
regarded to be of lesser importance in classroom studies. The general perception
among educators, and subsequently their pupils, is that these socio-emotional learning
lessons are either “time-wasters” or government-initiated propaganda.
Over time, the prominence given to meritocratic ideals, reinforced by the inherent
downplay of socio-emotional education, have lulled students into a “false
consciousness” where issues such as the exclusion and marginalisation of minority
groups are seen as a natural state of affairs. As clarified by Jost (1995), false
consciousness pertains to “the holding of false beliefs… which thereby contribute to
the disadvantaged position [of a group]” (p. 397).
To counter this phenomenon, proponents such as Ward and Mullender (1991) insist
for a greater push to be made to empower all learners towards “a commitment tochallenging and combating injustice and oppression,” hence moving closer towards
creating a progressive yet conciliatory community (p. 22). This is seen to be anincreasingly necessary approach in the current Singaporean society, where terms suchas “Chinese privilege” and “majority rules” are euphemisms often expressed by thedisgruntled minority. Chua (1995), for example, has written extensively on what heterms the “communitarian” approach adopted by the Chinese-dominated Singapore
government. Communitarianism is based on what is perceived to be the “sharedvalue” that is embraced by all racial and cultural groups, and is considered to be thecultural essence of Asian societies. He insists however, that “in reality, thecommunitarian ideology is indubitably anti-liberal as collective interests are placed
above individual ones” (p. 29). Others have added the situation may even be worst as,“collective interests” in the Singapore context typically translates to beliefs that
advocate the needs of the dominant group over that of minority welfare. Minority
ethnic groups with weak political representation, such as the Malays become
vulnerable to the whims of these “collective interests”. In most cases, it ends up withthe community sacrificing their needs in deference to “the greater good” (Juhari,2011). The concept of Shared Values formulated in 1988 by the country’s leaders
illustrates this. Championed as values for Singaporeans to live by, the messages
underpinning each value are extolled to have rooted from ‘Asian’ beliefs. Critics
however, highlight that such values are in fact appropriated from ‘selected’ Confucian
ethics that idealised economic processes. These beliefs in turn, serve to perpetuateruling-class interests by securing compliance from the populace. (Chong, 2002, p.
402)
Responding to such criticisms, the government insists that demands for such“intensive” types of socio-emotional education cannot be met as the approach will notreconcile with the maintenance of the nation’s “shared values”. Unfortunately, to themost extreme hardliner, the current pedagogy is one that forcefully emphasises
benefits that favour the dominant ethnic group while marginalising the minority
communities.

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Unintended Outcomes

Proponents of the meritocratic model have given their assurance that quality
education will be made available for students of all levels of academic aptitude.
Nevertheless, placement of students into the different learning tracks itself has
become an issue of controversy.
For example, upon their entry into the secondary level, students are streamed into thevarious learning tracks depending on their Primary School Leaving Examination(PSLE) results. In line with the meritocratic approach, posting is based on academic
achievement with the different curricula emphases designed to match each student’s
learning needs, abilities and interests. For instance, highest scoring students who form
the top 10% of their secondary cohort are channelled into the Special stream and areprovided with enhanced learning modules that allow for more flexibility and a lessstructured study programme. These students are enrolled into the Integrated Program
which exempts them from taking the ‘O’ level examinations at the end of their 4-year
course of study. They will however be automatically promoted to their next level ofstudy. In this way, these high achieving pupils will be able to live up to their potential
having been immersed in learning experiences which are broader in nature yet without
the need to be tied to studies which focus only towards passing their final
examinations. The long-term expectation is for these students to advance their studies
beyond that of the basic tertiary credentials. Of the remainder in the secondary level
cohort, 50% will qualify for a place in the Express track. This may lead first to juniorcollege or the polytechnics and for some who excel, to university studies. The
remaining 40% are considered lower achieving students in the cohort. Of these, half
are expected to undertake the Normal (Academic) track which normally leads to apolytechnic diploma while the rest will fall into the Normal (Technical) stream which,upon completion, enables them to attain a skills-based qualification derived from theInstitutes of Technical Education (“The Downsides to Singapore’s education system:
streaming, stress and suicides,” 2017)
According to statistics published by Singapore’s MOE, the government’s recurrent
expenditure per secondary school student rose from SGD 5,614 in the 2002/03
academic year to SGD 13,931 in the 2016/17 academic year (Education Digest,2017). An argument has thus be made that at the basic level, the government has
shown commitment to an increasing yet equal allocation of resources endowed to all
local students. In short, no government learning institutions have been deprived of theresources required for effective teaching and learning. Critics however argue thatregardless of this, inequality and marginalisation still occur at Singapore schools
because of the value-added resources made privy to those at the higher-end learning
tracks. It was pointed out that schools catering to top-tier students also receive
additional funding by way of per capita grants and scholarships so as to be able toparticipate in specialised programs (MOE, 2018). For instance, one of its top
secondary schools, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), has been able to offer
various enrichment programmes designed to “stretch and develop its high ability
learners”. These include yearly enrichment camps to provide such students with outof-classroom learning activities as well as an annual symposium where students roleplay politicians and diplomats in a United Nations or Singapore Parliamentary setting.
(Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), 2018). In addition, it was reported that. “Thegap between Singapore's top-end neighbourhood schools has over the decades

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widened partly as a result of factors like bigger and better facilities built with alumni
funds” (Davie, 2014). The implication is that such institutions are further advantaged
by being recipients of additional funding endowed by their already well-established
Old Students Associations.
Research has shown that students with vast access to economic and social capital are
more likely to optimise the opportunities provided for them. Such elements, forinstance, can be found in the kind of exposure and interactions made available via theenrichment activities organised for the IP students but not for the rest in the secondary
level cohort. In addition, students from less privileged family backgrounds will also
miss out on the perks of having cultural capital. They often have no one to advise
them on the steps to take as most of their older relations tend not to go as far in the
education ladder. As such, these students have to rely on themselves to look forsources of information and motivation. Failing to access these, they inevitably
stumble more along the way resulting in greater stress faced in their studies. The lackof information due to the limited cultural capital they have makes them vulnerable tosuccumbing to less desirable paths which they would have strived to avoid had they
fully understood the impacts these would have on their future. Marginalisation occurs
when these learners are not provided with the same level of access to the various
forms of capital thus resulting in their loss of prospects for a higher level of education(Zhang, 2014).
Another main criticism of the meritocracy-based education system is the way it takes
its toll on the achievement levels of students from the minority groups in the country.
This is especially so for students from the minority Malay community, a group overrepresented at the lower end of the income spectrum. The fallacy of meritocracy, inthe context of Singapore’s education system, lies in the fact that it fails to recognise
the variability of “starting points” for every child’s academic journey and how thesewill differ due to the individual’s circumstances in life. While the previous issue ofhigh dropout rates for Malay students at the primary level have been resolved with theintroduction of the Compulsory Education Legislation, statistics from the Ministry of
Education nevertheless indicate that the would-be dropouts are merely ‘pushed up’ tooccupy the lower rungs of the secondary school cohort (Ministry of Education
Statistics Digest, 2017). As such, at the end of their secondary school education,
Malay students continue to experience higher levels of underachievement. For
instance, results of the ‘O’ level examinations reflect that Malay students generally
fared lower than the other ethnic groups in the core subjects of English, Science andMathematics. The gap for Mathematics, in fact, widened to more than twenty
percentage points in 2016 (ibid).
This is despite studies which revealed Malays to be as conscious to the fact that
educational attainment is the best medium for upward social mobility. A 2016 IPS
survey on Parents and Education for instance indicate that compared to those from theother ethnic groups in the country, Malay parents scored the highest levels of stress on
issues relating to them not being able to help their child with his or her studies
because the syllabus is too challenging for them. This subsequently increases theirfear that their child will lose out in the education system in the long run (Mathews,2017).

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Assistance, Resources & Shortcomings

Acknowledging the mounting criticism of the meritocratic model, the Singapore
government has undertaken measures to reduce what is seen to be a growing
aspirational divide reflecting the widening socio-economic differences in the country.
The call is for a change in educational approach where equality of opportunity should
now be tempered with genuine measures to create greater equity of outcome. Amartya
Sen uses the term ‘capability set’ when denoting an individual’s alternative
combinations of ‘functionings’ required to achieve his or her life’s objectives (2000,
p. 75). On this basis, fairness in outcomes can be achieved by supplementing thelimited ‘capability sets’ of those who are less privileged. In the case of marginalised
students in Singapore, this is done by enhancing the options available to pupils whoface limited choices in how they want to live their lives. In this regard, Singapore’s
MOE has put in place several initiatives in an attempt to increase the capability sets ofthese marginalised students. Several of these can be found in the following examples.
Unfortunately, these programmes tend to also develop their own set of shortcomings.
2.4.1. Financial assistanceStudents from less well-off families are identified and enrolled in the many financial
assistance schemes made available to them. These range from daily issued school
allowances to the yearly disbursement of education grants to deserving pupils. The
Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund for example was started in 2000 as acommunity project initiated by The Straits Times, the country’s newspaper
publication to provide pocket money to children from low-income families to help
them through school. The children can use the money for school-related expenses
such as buying a meal during recess, paying for transport or using it to meet otherschooling needs. The financial help is expected to ease the burden of the many parents
who are already struggling to feed their families on their meagre incomes. The Fundcurrently supports more than 10,000 children and youth a year by providing them withmonthly school pocket money (“School Pocket Money Fund,” n.d.).
Similarly, all Singaporean students in government and government-aided learning
institutions are eligible for the Edusave Merit Bursary if they are within the top 25%of their cohort in terms of academic performance, have demonstrated good conduct,
and whose gross monthly household income does not exceed SGD 6,900 (or per
capita income does not exceed SGD 1,725). The values of these yearly bursaries
range from $200 for students in Primary 1 to 3, to $500 for those studying in theInstitutes of Technical Education or specialised schools/Polytechnics (“Edusave Merit
Bursary,” n.d.).
Nevertheless, while such forms of financial assistance have provided invaluableassistance to these less well-off pupils, they only function as temporary ‘band aids’ inproviding solutions to the diversity of issues that they face in their lives. Critics arearguing for a more holistic approach where there can be integration and consolidationof services among community organizations serving to alleviate the plight of these
individuals. An example has been made of how community programmes are often
seen to work in silos or have become oblivious to the ways of how one anotheroperates in providing help to the families in need. Specifically, while the family unit
accepts the best possible assistance rendered by the various relevant agencies, the aid

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Official Conference Proceedingsthat they receive tends not to complement or synergise. For example, the school
delinquent is counselled and made to undergo behaviour management programmes
but little is done to ensure that the family be made more supportive of the child’s
education and rehabilitation. Thus even if financial assistance is made available to thefamily, without proper guidance and supervision, the needed emotional support forthe student may be lacking. In the end, there can be no win-win situation as thefinancial intervention lacks the holistic approach (Juhari, 2016).
2.4.2. Assistance from Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)
Through its promotion of the ‘Many Helping Hands’ approach, the government
adopts a strategy where it empowers NGOs by supporting efforts fronted by ethnicbased self-help groups or social-welfare organisations. For instance, it provided
assistance to Yayasan MENDAKI, a Malay Self-Help Group when it pioneered theestablishment of the MENDAKI Tuition Scheme (MTS). Initiated in 1982, thenationwide programme aims to provide quality tuition at affordable rates so as to help
students from the Malay community attain better results in their school and national
examinations. To date, about 200,000 Malay students have benefited from thequality and affordable tuition. With highly qualified tutors, students are engaged in apositive and enriching environment during lessons. MTS is aligned to the Ministry Of
Education’s curriculum and provides additional developmental activities. Weekend
classes are conducted in more than 50 schools around the island (“Mendaki Tuition
Scheme”, n.d.).
“The Many Helping Hands” approach has been lauded for providing NGOs with the‘space’ and opportunity to use their creativity in implementing their initiatives.
However, there has also been criticism in the way assistance from the government isonly rendered at the “sidelines”. In short, political appointment holders are free ofblame should there be flaws or failure with any of these programmes. The “ManyHelping Hands” approach thus protects and relieves political leaders from taking on
the full commitment and responsibility of welfare provision, seen to be the burden of
any nationally-elected representative.
2.4.3. Direct School Admission (DSA) programme
Introduced in 2004, the DSA programme is an admission exercise that allows
participating secondary schools to select some Primary Six students for admission
into their institutions at the Secondary One level before the release of the PSLE
results. These selections are aimed at recognising and admitting students into
secondary schools based on talents in areas such as sports and arts instead of generalacademic ability (“Direct School Admission Programme,” n.d.). According to
Indranee Rajah, Second Minister for Education, “The programme’s primary objective
was to ensure that students who are less well-resourced, less well-advantaged, still
have the opportunity to apply, and to make it an available platform for them”(Mokhtar, 2018). Some examples of talents which selected secondary schools keep alook out for include performance arts such as ballet as well as for sports such as
rugby, hockey, swimming and soccer.
Unfortunately, this initiative at most only advantages a small subset of best qualified
low-income students. Affluent parents, in fact have been “gaming” the system by

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sending their children to preparatory schools to give them an edge in a bid to secure aplace in top schools. Such practices led Denise Phua, Member of Parliament for Jalan
Besar Group Representation Constituency, to call it an “open secret” that DSA has
benefited children from wealthier households (ibid).
3.

Conclusion

To conclude, while the image of Singapore’s education system is rosy in the eyes of
the international community, it is not without its problems. Issues of exclusion andmarginalisation must continually be addressed and resolved before they trigger social
discontent. Appropriate counter-measures are needed to balance educational
excellence with equity. This calls for a change in educational approach in which
meritocracy; which calls for equality of opportunity; is continuously tempered withgenuine measures to create fairness of outcomes for all students.
Appendices•
Many Helping Hands – An approach where the Singapore Government works
closely with and through community organisations to provide help to the needy.
•Social Capital – Refers to the value of social networks that serves to bondgroups of similar people or to bridge groups of diverse people, using norms ofreciprocity as a benchmark.
•
Education Ordinance – A set of legal provisions relating to the registration ofschools, conduct of managers and teachers, as well as for the roles and responsibilities
of school management committees.
•
Compulsory Education Legislation - An Act of Parliament which makes
mandatory a period of education for all citizens of that country.
•
Cultural Capital – A set of social assets possessed by an individual such as
education and intellect which functions to promote his or her social mobility so as toachieve a higher social status in society.
•
TIMSS – The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study(TIMSS) is a series of international assessments of the mathematics and scienceknowledge of students around the world.
•
PISA – The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is atriennial international survey that aims to evaluate education systems worldwide bytesting the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students.
•
PIRLS – The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is aninternational study of reading achievement of fourth graders.
•International Olympiads – The International Olympiads are a group ofworldwide annual competitions of various learning disciplines.
•
OECD – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) aims to promote policies that will improve the economic and social wellbeing of people around the world.

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References
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). (2018). Programme. Retrieved 13 November,
2018, from Anglo-Chinese School website: https://www.acsindep.moe.edu.sg
Chong, T. (2002). Asian values and Confucian ethics: Malay Singaporeans’
Dilemma. Journal of Contemporary Asia.32 (3). UK: University of Warwick
Chua, B. H. (1995). For a communitarian democracy in Singapore. In D. de Cunha(Ed.), Debating Singapore (pp. 27–31). Singapore: Institute of Southeast AsianStudies.
Davie, S. (2014). Funding cuts for top independent schools in Singapore. The Straits
Times. Retrieved November 13, 2018, from Asiaone website:
http://news.asiaone.com/funding-cuts-top-independent-schools-spore
Edusave Merit Bursary. (n.d.) Retrieved November 12, 2018, from Ministry of
Education website: https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/edusave/edusaveawards/edusave-merit-bursary-(emb)Gopinathan, S. (2015). Singapore Chronicles: Education. Singapore: Institute of
Policy Studies & Straits Times Press.
Ho, W. K., & Gopinathan, S. (1999). Recent developments in education in Singapore.
School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 10(1), 99–117.
Hodge, W. (2012). Basic Education Curriculum Revisited: A Look at the Current
Content and Reform. Retrieved November 12, 2018, from Multilingual Philippines
website: https://mlephil.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/singapore-basic-educationcurriculum-revisited-a-look-at-the-current-content-and-reform/
Jost, J. T. (1995). Negative illusions: Conceptual clarification and psychologicalevidence concerning false consciousness. Political Psychology, 16, 397– 424.
Juhari, M.S. (2011). Perceptions of Singaporean Malay-Muslim Youths. Retrieved 13
November, 2018, from University of Birmingham website:
http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/3004/1/Juhari11PhD.pdf
Juhari, M. S. (2015). Evaluating the work of Singapore’s Malay-based organisations
in raising the educational attainment of the ethnic community: A continuing analysis.
Journal of International and Comparative Education, 4(1). Centre for Research inInternational and Comparative Education (CRICE)
Mathews, M., Lim, L., & Teng, S. S. (2017). Parents’ perceptions of the Singapore
primary school system. IPS Working Papers No. 27. Institute of Policy Studies.
Mendaki Tuition Scheme. (n.d.) Retrieved November 12, 2018, from the Yayasan
Mendaki website:
https://www.mendaki.org.sg/mendaki/programmes/education/academicprogrammes/mendaki-tuition-scheme-mts

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Ministry of Education. (2017). Education Statistics Digest 2017. Retrieved November
12, 2018, from Singapore Ministry of Education website:
https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/publications/educationstatistics-digest/esd_2017.pdf
Mokhtar, F. (2018). Todayonline. Revamped DSA scheme to give students fromdisadvantaged families a leg up. Retrieved 13 November, 2018, from Todayonline
website: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/revamped-dsa-scheme-givestudents-disadvantaged-families-leg
Ng, E. H. (2011). Financial Year 2011 Committee of Supply Debate. Retrieved
November 12, 2018, from National Archives of Singapore website:
http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/20110314004/moe_cos2011_minis
ter_speech_-_7_mar_(final).pdf
Ong, H. P. (2008). Singapore education system and policy: A select bibliography.
Singapore: National Library Board.
Lee, H.L. (2010). Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally 2010 Speech(English). Retrieved November 12, 2018 from Prime Minister’s Office website:
https://www.pmo.gov.sg/newsroom/prime-minister-lee-hsien-loongs-national-dayrally-2010-speech-english
Sen, A. (2000). Development as freedom. Sydney: Anchor
School Pocket Money Fund. (n.d.) Retrieved November 12, 2018, from The Straits
Times School Pocket Money Fund website: https://www.spmf.org.sg/
Tan, J. (2010). Compulsory education in Singapore — Who benefits? Asia Pacific
Journal of Education, 30(4), 401–418.
The downsides to Singapore’s education system: streaming, stress and suicides (2017,
September 21), South China Morning Post. Retrieved November 12, 2018, fromSouth China Morning Post website:
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/2111822/downsides-singaporeseducation-system-streaming-stress-and
Ward, D. & Mullender, A. (1991). Empowerment and oppression: An indissoluble
pairing for contemporary social work. Critical Social Policy, 11(32), 21–30.
Wong, A. (2000). Education in a Multicultural Setting – The Singapore Experience.
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Zhang, J. (2014). Debunking the Myth of the Lazy Malays. Mendaki Occasional Paper
Series. Yayasan Mendaki.p.8.

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Zhao, S. & Liu, Y. (2010). Chinese education in Singapore: Constraints of bilingual
policy from the perspectives of status and prestige planning. Language Problems andLanguage Planning, 34(3), 236–258.
Contact email: shamsuri.juhari@nus.edu.sg

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Literacy Learning Program using 3D Kanji Models for Children with
Developmental Dyslexia
Hanae Ikeshita-Yamazoe, Sagami Women’s University, Japan
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Abstract
A unique program for the 3D representation of letters (including stroke order andstructure) has been developed to support intelligible understanding of written
Japanese kanji by children with developmental dyslexia using a tablet computer. The
3D kanji consists of ordered pairs of strokes with distinctly different depths. This
study therefore aims to test the efficacy of the program as a tool for literacy learning
on a tablet computer. We propose that the 3D program better supports Japanese kanji
education for children with developmental dyslexia as compared to 2D letters. In thepresent study, the effect of 3D letters on kanji learning and subjective preferences
about kanji learning methods for children with developmental dyslexia and typicallydeveloping children were tested. Five children with developmental dyslexia and fivetypically developing children participated in this study. Participants used both 3D
kanji and 2D kanji. The post-tests were conducted immediately after learning andevery week for four weeks. The post-test conducted immediately after writing
indicated that the writing order was more accurate for 3D kanji than 2D kanji. The
correct answers were different for each participant after four weeks of learning kanji.
The data obtained suggested that 3D depth is a key factor in the efficient recognitionof letters. It is possible that arranging 3D letters spatially helped the participants toobtain information more efficiently than from flat presentations. The 3D kanji might
be a fun method for children to learn kanji, irrespective of learning disabilities.
Keywords: dyslexia, kanji, literacy learning, 3D, learning disabilities

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Introduction
Developmental dyslexia is a learning disability that is neurobiological in origin (Lyon,
Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003). Learning to read or to write is extremely difficulty forabout 80% of those suffering from learning disability (Lerner, 1989). Individuals with
developmental dyslexia have recognition problems when decomposing Japanesecharacters into their components, patterns, and strokes.
The Japanese writing system consists of two qualitatively different scripts: kanji andkana. Kanji are both logographic and morphographic and are derived from Chinesecharacters. Japanese children are introduced to 1006 different kanji characters during
their six years of primary school education. Japanese children with dyslexia havemore trouble writing kanji than reading it. This difficulty appears in various ways,
such as difficulties separating kanji characters into their component strokes, failing tograsp the aggregate structure of characters, orienting them incorrectly, and omitting
certain strokes.
The traditional methods used to teach children the Japanese writing system are often
unsuitable for children with developmental dyslexia. Teachers most commonly begin
instruction by showing students a specific kanji character and teaching them thephonetics of this character. Teachers then demonstrate the stroke order of thecharacter so that students can follow their example. Finally, children repeatedly
practice the characters to master them. This traditional method refers to copying avisually displayed model. Due to their writing impairments, children with
developmental dyslexia often show a poor response to this method of learning kanji(Uno et al., 2009). Nevertheless, it is also reported that individuals with
developmental dyslexia have phenomenal visual-spatial recognition ability (vonKárolyi, Winner, Gray, & Sherman, 2003). Visuo-spatial recognition is required tounderstand the three-dimensional(3D) position of an object, which contains more
information than two-dimensional (2D) objects.
We developed a literacy learning program using 3D kanji models. This study aims totest the efficacy of this literacy learning program on a tablet computer. We proposethat 3D letters better support Japanese language education for dyslexic children
compared to 2D letters.
Methods
Participants
The participants of this study include six children with low vision (three boys andFive children with developmental dyslexia (four boys and one girl) between eight andten years of age and five children without developmental dyslexia (two boys and three
girls) between six and seven years of age participated in this study. Written informed
consent was obtained from the participant’s parents. This study was approved by
Sagami Women’s University.

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Apparatus and Stimuli
This experiment was conducted on a tablet computer (9.7-inch Apple iPad Air). The
learning kanji in both 3D and 2D were presented the using the Apple iBooks
application. The participants were asked to seat themselves on a chair positioned in
front of the tablet computer.
This study used 3D software (Autodesk Maya) to model the 3D letters. The 3D letterswere COLLADA format (.dae). This content involved 3D letters that were createdusing the 3D widget within iBooks Author (Apple).
The 3D letters were correlated front to rear with a starting-stroke point to end-stroke
point that continuously changed (see Figure 1). These were arranged in the depth
direction (z-axis) in combination with the stroke order. The 3D letters can rotate 360
degrees on the screen. The 2D letters were the same as the kanjimodels(Koubunshoin) used at school (see Figure 2). This study selected the learning
kanji which the participants never learn to kanji.

Figure 1: The 3D letter of “ 赤(red)”.

Figure 2: The 2D letter of “ 先(tip)”.

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Procedure
The participants sat on a chair, and they were provided with instructions for the task.
They learned using 2D or 3D kanji on a tablet computer; they copied the kanji fivetimes on paper while looking at a 2D or 3D kanji models. One session was two lettersof a 2D or 3D kanji while a limited 5 minutes. The participants were conducted two
sessions.
Figure 4 shows a participant learning the 3D kanji. The participants were tested on thelearned kanjis immediately after learning them (post-test) and one week later (posttest 2).

Figure 3: Participant learning the 3D kanji on an iPad.
Results
Post-test 1 results for developmental dyslexia were an average of 60.0±24.4% for 2D
and 100.0±00.0% for 3D kanji. Post-test 2 results for children with developmental
dyslexia were an average of 30.0±20.0% for 2D and 90.0±10.0% for 3D kanji.
Post-test 1 results for the control group were an average of 30.0±12.2% for 2D and
50.0±0.0% for 3D kanji. Post-test 2 results for the control group were an average of
0.0%±0.0 for 2D and 10.0±10.0% for 3D kanji.
We checked that participants recalled the learned kanji after using the 2D or 3D kanji.
In children with developmental dyslexia, the 3D kanji scored higher than the 2D kanji
in post-test 2 (p < 0.10, n = 5; Wilcoxon signed rank test, z = -1.73, two-tailed).

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Figure 4: Writing skill assessment test in children with developmental dyslexia.

Figure 5: Writing skill assessment test in controls.
Conclusion
We discovered that 3D letters are suitable for children with developmental dyslexia toobtain enough visual information and that this is a useful tool for learning kanji letters.
These 3D kanji characters have been proven to be an effective method for deliveringvisual information to children with developmental dyslexia.
Japanese kanji consist of more strokes than letters in the English alphabet. The visualcharacteristics of Japanese kanji might account for the difficulty of memorizing thescript. This experiment with 3D kanji has indicated that using depth information,
shapes, and positions made the text easier to grasp.

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The current results suggest that depth information is a key factor in the effective
recognition of kanji letters. It is possible that by arranging 3D letters spatially children
with developmental dyslexia were able to obtain information more efficiently thanfrom 2D letters.
In the future, we plan to investigate the effectiveness of this 3D program among
dyslexic language learners who are struggling with other languages.
Acknowledgment
This research was partially supported by The Mitsubishi Foundation.

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References
Lerner, J. W. (1989). Educational interventions in learning disabilities. Journal of theAmerican Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28(3), 326-331.
Lyon, G. R., Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2003). A definition of dyslexia.
Annals of dyslexia, 53(1), 1-14.
Von Karolyi, C., Winner, E., Gray, W., & Sherman, G. F. (2003). Dyslexia linked totalent: Global visual-spatial ability. Brain and language, 85(3), 427-431.
Uno, A., Wydell, T. N., Haruhara, N., Kaneko, M., & Shinya, N. (2009). Relationshipbetween reading/writing skills and cognitive abilities among Japanese primary-school
children: normal readers versus poor readers (dyslexics). Reading and Writing, 22(7),755-789.

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Van Hiele’s Instructional Model In Teaching Of Tangents And Secants Of Circles
Melchor Del Rosario, Don Jesus Gonzales High School, The Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
The research study aimed to identify the pupils’ skill in proving mathematicalconcepts about tangents and secants of circles using Van Hiele’s instructional model.
Quasi – experimental method of research was used in this study. Quantitative, since
descriptive analysis was employed on the scores of the participants and qualitative
since the research dealt with the description of the different performance of group of
students in terms of learning, for the participants belonging to low performing,
average performing or high performing. The study was conducted during the firstsemester of S.Y.2017 – 2018 using fifteen students from Grade 10 as the participantsof the study. Participants were given a pretest prior to the discussion about tangentsand secants of circles and posttest was administered after the instruction using the
Van Hiele’s Instructional Model’s five levels of learning. The results were thenstatistically evaluated, analyzed, and interpreted. Percentage, mean and t-test were
utilized to analyze and interpret the data. Qualitative analysis was drawn from thedescriptive rating of the selected 15 participants of the experimental group. This study
found out that the participants with the use of Van Hiele Instructional Model
showed poor and satisfactory performances on the pretest and very satisfactory andexcellent on the posttest. Moreover, the participants showed improved scores inall levels in their mathematics performance. On the pre-test and posttest mean scoresof each student, high performing participants improved their skills in Mathematics
from Level 1 to level 5 instructional model. Average performing participants and low
performing participants also showed improvement from their pre-test mean scores totheir posttest mean scores. Van Hiele Instructional Model is effective.
Keywords: Van Hiele’s Instructional Model, Tangents, Secants

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Introduction
Mathematics is indeed a difficult and of little interest to certain people. Ganal andGuiab (2014) added, “Mathematics has importance over and above the application ofbasic numeracy skills. It is also the primary tool for developing student’s logicalthinking and higher-order thinking skills. Mathematics also plays a major role in someother scientific fields, such as engineering and statistics. With this, a positive attitude
towards learning mathematics among students is an important goal of mathematics
educators in the education system.”
Paja (2001) said that students learn hardly anything that is being taught but if theylearn through hands-on and minds on approach, with the law of readiness, and if what
they learn will be incorporated into everyday activities and in subjects like languages,
arts, sciences, social studies, music, physical education, life skills and performing arts,
it will just be easier for them. Since students in today’s generation are practical work
learners, investigational learners, and sociable learner.
Thus, ln 2001, the Department of Education emphasizes that teachers must assist theFilipino child to discover his/her full potential in a child-centered and value-driven
teaching-learning environment and thereby, enable him/her to create his/her destiny inthe global community. Learning, therefore, must be focused in nurturing a childthrough a child-centered instruction.
Student-centered learning, according to Jones (2007), also known as learner-centerededucation, broadly encompasses methods of teaching that shift the focus of instruction
from the teacher to the student. In original usage, student-centered learning aims todevelop learner autonomy and independence by putting responsibility for the learning
path in the hands of students. Young and Patterson (2007) added that student-centeredinstruction focuses on skills and practices that enable lifelong learning andindependent problem-solving. The constructivist learning theory of Jean Piaget is thebasis of student-centered learning theory and practice which emphasizes the learner's
critical role in constructing meaning from new ideas, information and priorexperience.
The Mathematics teachers’ approach to geometric instruction as cited by Dongwi(2014), determines a large extent in the mathematical thinking strategies anddispositions of learners. Cabahug (2012) as cited by Mendoza (2016) mentioned that
Mathematics is an essential subject in the curriculum. But in teaching mathematics,
one of the common problems of teachers is how to teach symbols and abstract
concepts in such a way that the students would easily understand the topic and makesense of them. One way is the use of the different teaching aids which are reflected in
Bruner’s theory. In his theory, Bruner (1967) says that conceptual understanding canbe enhanced if students will be exposed to different representations of concepts. In
particular, he identifies three main types of representations: concrete, iconic, andsymbolic.
Studies such as Ismael (1998) pointed out that geometry is one of the hardest
branches of Math facing the students and this difficulty refers to the lack of geometricconcepts acquisition.

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Van Hiele’s (1986) solution to overcoming these problems is for teachers to takeresponsibility for their teaching and to make appropriate choices. For example, if thecurriculum is not suitable for learners, design your own and if the textbook is
inappropriate for teaching and learning in your classroom, restructure it to suit theenvironment. The difficulties that learners experience with geometricconceptualization arise from various factors, but their inability to reason at a higher
level of geometric thinking does not lie solely within their learning ability or
motivation.
The Van Hiele theory identifies a sequence of five hierarchical levels of geometric
thinking. These thinking levels are recognition, analysis, ordering, deduction, andrigor. According to the Van Hiele’s theory, “students move sequentially from one
level of thinking to the next [level] as their capability increased” (Gutierrez, Jaime &Fortuny, 1991).
The levels of thinking comprise a hierarchical nature. They are logically structured tosuggest that learners move from lower to higher levels of thinking in geometry. The
current is a prerequisite for the next level. For example, “the recognition of a figure atLevel 1 is an essential prerequisite for Level 2. The consideration of properties at
Level 2 will eventually lead to Level 3 understanding where students see relationships
between them, i.e., how one or two properties lead to a third” (Pegg, 1992). The
fourth level leads to conceptual understanding of geometrical proof and development
and of theorems and postulates.
Difficulties in teaching geometry persisted in the Van Hieles’ years of teaching,despite their change of geometric instruction over the years. Van Hiele (1986)
chronicled; “in the years that followed, he changed explanation many times, but thedifficulties remained. It seemed as though he was speaking a different language”.
They then developed a framework of teaching phases that helped teachers to movetheir learners from one level to the next. Van Hiele-Geldof (1958, as cited in Fuys, etal., 1984) stresses that learners cannot progress through the levels of thinking without
proper instruction. Hence, it is important that the teachers’ instruction is pegged at theappropriate Van Hiele level to enable learners to attain the highest possible level in
their learning environments according to Dongwi (2014).
One of the goals of teaching mathematics subject is to improve the students’geometric thinking levels. Geometric thinking is valuable in many scientific,
technological and professional subjects as stated by Olkun, Sinoplu, & Deryakulu,(2005). Some studies have pointed to the significant role of the teaching method indeveloping geometric thinking skills (Ghneim, 2012). As per the Philippine
Mathematics Curriculum is concerned, Cruz (2015) in one of his articles in Philippine
Star Global cited that the enormous change is the spiral approach of the content.
Today, students learn all the areas of mathematics starting in Kindergarten to twelfth
grade. The learning is enhanced little by little and continuously as the students go up
and promoted in the ladder of basic education. Learning Geometry as early as
Kindergarten will enable students to master different skills in order to describe
geometric concepts like shapes, analyze their characteristics, and make a comparison
between the geometric systems.
One of the theories that help greatly and efficiently in teaching geometry is Van Hiele
which attracted educationists’ attention because it helps effectively in teaching

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geometry to the students through the different school stages. The Van Hiele modelfrom this theory includes five phases which are: information, directed orientation,
explication, free orientation where students are involved in tasks relying on them, andintegration where the students summarize the concepts learned from activities(Mistretta, 2000).
The Van Hiele model is considered one of the most important models in teaching the
subject geometry and the geometric concepts and thoughts will be developed throughfive phases within an educational system. These phases represent the development of
the thinking process in geometry in addition to the acquisition of geometricknowledge. The progress in the student’s thinking enables him to summarize what helearned and employ it in his daily life activities (Tall & Pegg, 2005).
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
When Van Hiele suggested a geometrical learning model, he realized that, to masterthe intended learning levels as prescribed in the model, an appropriate pedagogicalapproach would be required. She, therefore, suggested a series of instructional
disciplines that could facilitate the learning of geometry. Van de Walle (2004) notesthat Van Hiele clarified the specific activities expected of the teacher while teachinggeometry.
The instructional steps were composed of five steps which were to guarantee thatstudents move from one Van Hiele learning level to a higher one in their geometric
thinking: “In the Van Hiele model an instructional plan, which is made up of five
steps, was formed to provide a transition from one level to another in students’geometric thinking." (Crowley, 1987; Erdoğan, Durmuş & Bekci, 2007).
Interview (research): The first step is the step in which the geometric thinking levelsof students are determined. In this step, the students’ geometric thinking levels will be
determined through communication between the teacher and the student.
Direct Orientation: In this step, the teacher gives instructions and assignments related
to the studies which is done in the light of the answers he gets from the students. The
purpose of the teacher giving tasks is to make students explore the structures about
the topic through research.
Making clear (explanation): Teacher introduces the topic to students in this step andstudents combine their experiences with the words they used related to the discussion.
In this level, it is of value for the teacher to arouse students’ interests.
Free Performance (activities): Students work on different solutions to multiphaseproblems in this step. They discover the relationships/the effect of the Van Hiele
Model-based to the various objects of the structure in the topic they work. The teacher
should guide students in their thinking about different solutions.
Integration: This step is the step in which students summarize and gather what theyacquired. Students internalize what they learned as a new thinking structure.” The
instructional model was visually structured by John A. Van de Walle (2004), tosummarize the instructional models stated above. See figure 1 below.

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Figure 1
This study applied the Van Hiele’s Instructional Model. The researcher taught
Tangents and Secants of Circles applying the Van Hiele’s Instructional Model in thewhole class. He selected 15 students as experimental groups. All groups wererequired to take the pretest and posttest to evaluate their understanding of theorems oftangents and secants of circles. The test results of each group was analyzed todetermine their skills in proving mathematical concepts and to identify their readinessin moving to the next stage of the 5-Levels of Thinking of Van Hiele’s Instructional
Model.
Paradigm of the Study

Research Problems
The research study aimed to identify the pupils’ skill in proving mathematicalconcepts about tangents and secants of circles using Van Hiele’s instructional model.
The researcher sought answers to the following questions: (1.) how may theperformance of the participants be described in terms of the following levels of the

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Van Hiele’s Instructional Model?; (2.) how may the performance of the following
participants be described during the experiments? 2.1) low? 2.2) average? and 2.3)
high?; and (3.) does Van Hiele’s Instructional Model significantly affect theperformance of the students?
Hypothesis
It was hypothesized in this study that Van Hiele’s Instructional Model does not
significantly affect the performance of the students.
Methods
The study was both quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative, since
descriptive analysis was employed on the scores of the participants and qualitative
since the research dealt with the description of the different performance of group of
students in terms of learning, for the participants belonging to Low Performing,
Average Performing or High Performing.
Participants
The participants of this study were randomly selected from one section of Don Jesus
Gonzales High School, Mexico, Pampanga during the school year 2017 - 2018.
Participants were composed of males and females regardless of their age, culture andsocio – economic status. Grade 10 - Patience were chosen as experimental group of
the experiment. Qualitative part of the study focused on the 15 participants from theexperimental group who were analyzed based on their methods and means ofsolutions in solving measurement of angles of tangents and secants of circles. These
15 participants were chosen through the diagnostic test administered to them. There
were 5 high – performing, 5 average – performing and 5 low – performing
participants identified after the diagnostic test. Participants 1 to 5 were the high –performing participants, participants 6 – 10 were the average – performing
participants while participants 11 – 15 were the low – performing participants.
Instrument
The researcher utilized 2 sets of instrument per level of the Van Hiele’s Instructional
Model, 5 sets of problems involving tangents and secants of circles for pretest and 5
sets of problems for posttest were given to the participants.
The problem sets were composed of tangents and secants problems as per the deliveryof the Van Hiele’s Instructional Model. The first pretest was administered to identify
the fifteen selected participants: 5 high – performing, 5 average - performing and 5
low – performing participants. These selected fifteen participants were the subject of
qualitative discussion of the study to analyze the effect of Van Hiele’s Instructional
Model to their skills in solving problems involving tangents and secants of circle.
Each participant was given a test paper. During the pretest, problems were solved
using any method that was taught to the participants in their previous grade level orthe method known to them. In the posttest, the experimental group applied what they
had learned in the Van Hiele’s Instructional Model in solving the given problems. The

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researcher used all or nothing point system for the study. The researcher used 20points parallel questions for the pretest and posttest. The researcher divided the scores
into two and got the scale in order to descriptively rate the performances. The
following scale was utilized to rate the score of the participants.
Scale for the Pretest/Posttest
8.01 – 10.00
Excellent
6.50 – 8.00
Very Satisfactory
5.00 – 6.49
Satisfactory
5.00 below
Poor
Procedures
The researcher wrote a letter to Don Jesus Gonzales High School to inform its officethat the researcher will have an initial visit to the locale for this research. After an
initial visit, the researcher prepared the instruments and instructional materials to
conduct the study. The researcher conducted and applied the Van Hiele’s instructionalmodel to his classes. However, only one participating class was chosen and the resultsof their outputs, both pretest and posttests were recorded.
A pretest was administered to the experimental group to identify the five high –performing pupils, five average performing pupils and five low – performing pupils.
These 15 pupils were the subjects of the study.
Before every discussion, a pretest was administered by the researcher. And this time,
only the scores of the 15 participants were recorded. Then, discussion of the lessons
in the Tangents and Secants of Circles was done. The experimental group was given
two sessions of discussion per level of the Van Hiele’s Instructional Model. A total often sessions was utilized in discussing the Tangents and Secants of the Circle.
After every discussion, the researcher administered the posttest to evaluate theunderstanding of the participants. Lastly, interventions were done for each level
depending on the learner’s grasp of the mathematical skill. The proposed intervention
materials, in line with the Van Hiele’s Instructional Model, was administered perlevel before proceeding to the next level to develop mastery of learning.
Levels of the Van Hiel’s Instructional model were determined during the discussion.
In the Van Hiele model an instructional plan, which is composed of five steps, wasformed in order to provide a transition from one level to another in students’geometric thinking." (Crowley, 1987; Erdoğan, Durmuş & Bekci, 2007).
Level 1 focused on the interview (research) in which the geometric thinking levels ofstudents were determined. In this step, the students’ geometric thinking levels wereanalyzed through indirect communication between the teacher and the student. The
students were given a pre-test to check what each student already knew. The teacher
then taught the students by giving different tasks and activities. To check if they
improved, a posttest was administered.
Level 2 was Direct Orientation. In this step, a pre-test was also given before otheractivities. The teacher gave instructions and assignments related to the studies which
was done in the light of the answers he got from the students. The purpose of the

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teacher giving tasks was to make students explore the structures about the topic
through research. To check if the students improved, a posttest was also administered.
In Level 3, the teacher focused in making clear explanation. Prior to this step, a
posttest was given to determine prior knowledge about the lesson. The teacher
introduced the topic to students while combining their experiences with the words
they used related to the discussion. In this level, it was of value for the teacher toarouse students’ interests. The teacher taught and gave different activities to improve
the skills of the students. A posttest was also given afterwards.
Free Performance was the center theme of Level 4. It was focused on activities thatdeepened the critical thinking skills of the students. A pre-test was administered
before any other activities. They were able to work on different solutions tomultiphased problems in this step. They discovered the relationships/the effect of the
Van Hiele Model-based to the various objects of the structure in the topic they work.
The teacher guided students in their thinking about different solutions and geometricproofs.
Table 1. Performance of the participants in Van Hiele's Instructional Model

Pre-test
Level 1
Post test
Pre-test
Level 2
Post test
Pre-test
Level 3
Post test
Pre-test
Level 4
Post test
Pre-test
Level 5
Post test

Excellent

Very
Satisfactory

Satisfactory

Poor

5
33
9
60
0
0

5
33
5
33
0
0

0
0
1
7
12
80

5
33
0
0
3
20

6
40
0
0
8
53
0
0
4
27
0
0

5
33
0
0
4
27
0
0
1
7
0
0

4
27
0
0
2
13
0
0
2
13
5
33

0
0
15
100
1
7
15
100
8
53
10
67%

6
% 40

3
20

5
33

1
7%

f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f

In Level 5 or Integration, a pre-test was also administered. This step was the step inwhich students summarized and gathered what they acquired. Finally, a posttest wasadministered to check the improvement on the skills of students.

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Van Hiele’s Instructional Model is an instructional model where students followed thefive levels namely: a) Visualization; b) Analysis; c) Informal Deductions; d)Deductions; and e) Rigor.
Percentage score was utilized to determine the performance of the participants using
the instructional model. Mean and Standard deviation were also used to analyze thescores of the participants and t-test was used to determine if the Van Hiele’s
Instructional Model significantly affect the performance of the students.
Qualitative analysis came from the participant’s descriptive rating of the selected 15
students of the experimental group.
Results and Discussion
Table 1 reveals the performance of the participants in Van Hiele's Instructional
Model. In Level 1, the pretest revealed that there are five participants who get a
descriptive rating of excellent which is equivalent to 33% while the other 5participants (33%), were recorded very satisfactory and the other 5 (33%) were rated
poor. On the other hand, after the discussion, Posttest revealed that 9 out of 15
participants (60%) were rated excellent, 5 (33%) were very satisfactory and 1 (7%)
was satisfactory. In the pre-test of Level 2, 12 participants (80%) were recorded assatisfactory and 3 (20%) were noted as poor while the post test revealed that 6
participants (40%) were rated as excellent, 5 (33%) were very satisfactory and 4(27%) were satisfactory. In level 3, 15 participants or 100% were rated poor on thepretest while on the posttest, 8 out of 15 (53%) were recorded as excellent, 4 (27%)
were very satisfactory, 2 (14%) were satisfactory and there was only 1 (7%) rated
poor. The pre-test of Level 4 was also rated as poor since 100% among 15
participants got zero. Some improvements were done after the discussion because 4
participants (27%) were rated excellent, 1 (7%) were very satisfactory, 2 (13%) weresatisfactory and 8 (53%) were still categorized as poor. In Level 5, the pretest
revealed that there are 5 participants who get a descriptive rating of satisfactory whichis equivalent to 33% while the other 10 participants (67%) were recorded poor.
Hence, after the discussion, posttest revealed that 6 (40%) got excellent rating, 3(23%) got very satisfactory, and 5 (60%) got poor rating.
Thus, the table implied that the participants with the use of Van Hiele Instructional
Model showed mostly poor and satisfactory performances on the pretest and mostly
very satisfactory and excellent on the posttest, however, participants showed
improving scores in all levels in their mathematics performance

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Graph 1. Pre-test and posttest mean scores of the participants

HP AP LPLEVEL 1HP AP LPLEVEL 2HP AP LPLEVEL 3HP AP LPLEVEL 4HP AP LPLEVEL 5Graph 1 showed the pre-test and posttest mean scores of the participants. It will be
described on the graph that most students improved greatly from their pre-test scoresto their posttest scores. Level 1 showed that high-performing participants improved
0.40 from their pre-test mean scores to their posttest mean scores. Average
performing participants improved from 6.90 to 8.80 and low performing participants
improved the most by 5.10 mean difference of the posttest to their pre-test.
Level 2 also showed improving skills in Mathematics. High performing participants’posttest improved to 4.20 from its pretest mean score of 5.00. Average performing
participants also improved from 4.00 to 7.60. There was also an improvement among
the low performing participants from the pre-test mean score of 0.90 to posttest meanscore of 6.50.
On Level 3, students showed a great height of improvement. High performing
participants had a mean difference of 8.30. Average performing participants upgradedfrom pre-test mean score of 1.00 to posttest mean score of 8.40 while low performing
participants mean score was increased by 6.30.
There was a visible upgrade shown on Level 4. Participants from the high performing
group increased by 8.00 from the pre-test mean scores and posttest mean scores.
Average performing participants had a mean of 0.20 from the pre-test to 5.10 on the
posttest. All students from the low performing group did not scored on the pretest but
there’s an improvement on the posttest with a mean score of 3.60.

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On level 5, all participants showed improving skills in Mathematics. High performing
participants’ posttest improved to 3.90 from its pretest mean score of 5.90. Average
performing participants also improved from 3.20 to 7.70. There was also an
improvement among the low performing participants from the pre-test mean score of
2.30 to posttest mean score of 5.60.
Based on the pre-test and posttest mean scores of each students, high performing
participants improved their skills in mathematics from Level 1 to level 5 of the Van
Hiele’s instructional model. Average performing participants and low performing
participants also showed improvement from their pre-test mean scores to their posttest
mean scores.
Table 2. Difference between the posttest scores of the participants
LevelsMean Differences

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5

2.47
4.47
7.33
5.50
3.90

p-valueSig. (2-tailed)
0.001
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

Remarks
Significant at 0.01
Significant at 0.01
Significant at 0.01
Significant at 0.01
Significant at 0.01

Table 2 reveals that there was a significant difference at 1% between the pretest andposttest of the Van Hiele’s Instructional Model with a computed p – value of 0.001
for the Level 1, 0.000 for the Level 2, 0.000 for the Level 3, 0.000 for the Level 4 and
0.000 for the Level 5. The mean difference of pre-test and posttest per level was also
computed. The mean difference of Level 1 is 2.47, 4.47 for Level 2, 7.33 for Level 3,5.50 for Level 4 and 3.90 for Level 5. This indicates that participants improved theirperformance after the discussion of the lesson. This proves that the Van Hiele’s
Instructional Model showed significant improvement in their skill in mathematics
with regards to tangents and secants of circles.
Conclusion
Based on the findings, the researcher derived at the following conclusions: 1) The
participants used Van Hiele Instructional Model showed mostly poor and satisfactory
performances on the pretest and mostly very satisfactory and excellent on the posttest
however participants showed improving scores in all Levels in their mathematics
performance; 2) on the pre-test and posttest mean scores of participants, highperforming participants improved their skills in Mathematics from Level 1 to level 5of the Van Hiele’s instructional model. Average performing participants and low
performing participants also showed improvement from their pre-test mean scores totheir posttest mean scores; and 3) the Van Hiele Instructional Model is effective.
Considering the aforementioned findings and conclusions, the following
recommendations are hereby suggested: 1) Teachers are encouraged to test the priorknowledge of their students before discussing their lessons about tangents and secantsof circles to determine pupils’ strengths and weaknesses; 2) Teachers may adopt theuse of Van Hiele’s Instructional Model in teaching Mathematics from primary levelto junior high school to enhance students’ performance in Mathematics and tostrengthen the foundation of knowledge; 3) Curriculum planners and textbooks

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writers must take into consideration the difficulties of students in order to come up
with easier methods to be used in teaching to produce better students’ outputs.
Moreover, researchers on the different techniques on how to address students’learning barriers in Mathematics may be conducted; cultural background andtechniques could be observed before applying a foreign method.

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References
Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press. Retrieved August 19, 2017, fromhttp://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/constructivist.html
Cruz, I. (2015) The Math Curriculum Mini Critique (The Philippine Star) | Updated
August 13, 2015 12:00am
Crowley, M. L. (1987) cited by Erdoğan, Durmuş & Bekci, (2007) The Van Hiele
model of the development of geometric thought. In M.M. Lindguist (Ed.), Learningand teaching geometry (K–12 (pp. 1-16). Reston, VA: NCTM.
Dongwi, B. L. (2014) Using the Van Hiele phases of Instruction to Design and
Implement a Circle Geometry Teaching Programme in a Secondary School in
Oshikoto Region: A Namibian Case Study.
Ganal, N. N. & Guiab, M. R. (2014) Problems and Difficulties Encountered byStudents towards Mastering Learning Competencies.
Genz, R. (2006). Determining high school geometry students’ geometric
understanding using Van Hiele levels: Is there a difference between standards-based
curriculum studentsand non standards-based curriculum students? Retrieved August19, 2017, from http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1373.pdf
Gneim, M. (2012). Effect of teaching geometry using Van Hiele Model in the ninth
grade students’ achievement and developing critical thinking skills in Jordan(Unpublished thesis). University of Jordan.
Gutiérrez A., Jaime, A. & Fortuny, J. M. (1991). An alternative paradigm to assess
the acquisition of the Van Hiele levels. Journal for Research in Mathematics
Education, 22(3), 237–251.
Ismael, M. R. ( 1998 ).The effect of using mathematics laboratory in teachinggeometry for fourth grade students on their achievement and performance of scientificthinking skills and engineering. Journal of research in education and science,
University of Almniaa. 11(4).
Jones, L. (2007). The Student-Centered Classroom. Cambridge University Press.
Mendoza, A. R. (2016) Singapore Bar Model Drawing Method And Traditional
MethodMistretta, R. M. (2000). Enhancing geometric reasoning. Adolescence, 35(138), 365379.
NCTM. (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. National Councilof Teachers Mathematics Reston.

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Olkun, S., Sinoplu, N. B., & Deryakulu, D. (2005). Geometric explorations withdynamic geometry applications based on van Hiele levels. International Journal for
Mathematics Teaching and Learning.
Paja (2001). Problem – Based Learning in Teaching and Learning High School
Geometry: Its Effects on Students’ Attitude and Performance
Pegg, J. (1992). Students’ understanding of geometry: theoretical perspectives.
Retrieved August 21, 2017 from http://www.merga.net.au/documents/Keynote_Pegg
1992.pdf
Piaget, Jean. (1950). The Psychology of Intelligence. New York: Routledge.
Sadiki, M/ W. R. (2016). The Effect Of Using Van Hiele’s Instructional Model In
The Teaching Of Congruent Triangles In Grade 10 In Gauteng High Schools.
Tall, D., & Pegg, J. (2005). The fundamentals cycle of concept construction
underlying various theoretical frameworks. International reviews on mathematics
Education, 37, 468-475.
The Vision & Mission of the Department of Education. (2001) Retrieved fromhttp://www.deped.gov.ph/mandate
Van de Walle, J. A. (2004). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics-Teaching
Developmentally.5th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.
Van Hiele, P. M. (1959). The child’s thought and geometry. In D. Fuys, D. Geddes &R. Welchman Tishchler (Eds.), (1984). English translations of selected writings ofDina van Hiele-Geldof and Pierre M. van Hiele (pp. 1-259). ERIC/SMEAC.
Van Hiele, P. M. (1986). Structure and insight: A theory of mathematics education.
Netherlands: Academic Press.
Van Hiele, P. M. (1999). Developing geometric thinking through activities that begin
with play. Teaching Children Mathematics, 5(6), 310–316.
Young, L.E. & Patterson, B.L. (2007). Teaching nursing: Developing a studentcentered learning environment. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Contact email: melchormdr@gmail.com

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School Principals’ Profile and Public Elementary Schools Performance in the
Schools Division Office of Imus City
Gregorio A. Co, Jr., Department of Education Imus City, Philippines
Matea-Alvyn H. Trinidad, Department of Education Imus City, Philippines
Jenielyn A. Sadang, Department of Education Imus City, Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The widely quoted biblical verse “By their fruits, ye shall know them” aptly relates toschool leadership. The quality of education delivered to students is dependent on howlearning process is managed in the schools. A systematic review conducted by
Osborne-Lampkin, Folsom, and Herrington (2015) that examined 52 empirical studies
published between 2001 and 2012 on the relationships between principal
characteristics and student achievement in the United States showed some interesting
results. One of which was in general, principal precursors (such as principals’
experience and educational attainment) and student achievement had positive
relationship. They claimed, however, that principal preparation programs, also aprecursor, provided mixed results. This study sought to establish if the school
principals’ demographic profile has a relationship on schools performance in the
Schools Division Office of Imus City. Results revealed that majority of the school
principals are female (78.57%), had bachelor degree with units in MA (71.43%) andhad been promoted as principal prior to the administration of the National Qualifying
Examination for School Heads (NQESH) (50.00%). Twelve (85.71%) schools
recorded a decrease of dropout rate from SY 2013 – 2014 and SY 2014 – 2015 and allof the fourteen (14) schools studied were way below the national standard of 75%
Mean Percentage Score (MPS) in the National Achievement Test (NAT). The school
principals’ demographic profile namely sex, educational attainment and qualification,
were not related to school performance in terms of dropout rate and result of the NAT.
Keywords: school principal, demographic profile, performance, dropout, achievement

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The widely quoted biblical verse “By their fruits, ye shall know them” aptly relates toschool leadership. The quality of education delivered to students is dependent on howlearning process is managed in the schools. Although there were tons of other factorsthat could be associated to quality of education delivered, the role of school
principals, who hold the scepter of leadership and management in the school, is seen
to have the greatest impact. This fact is accentuated by Arne Duncan, U.S Secretaryof Education, when he said, “There are no good schools without good school
principals.”
The crucial role of principal as school leader and manager was also given emphasis in
the Philippines. In Republic Act 9155, otherwise known as Governance of Basic
Education Act of 2001, clearly stipulated that school heads have the accountability
and responsibility “…for higher learning outcomes.”
Muring (2014), an elementary school principal, also believed that the key leaders in
the education system are the school principals. He made clear that every aspect ofschool operation, school principals are involved. To him, development andimplementation of programs and projects that pertains to education are responsibilitiesof the principal.
The reiteration of the crucial roles held by school principals were viewed to havegreat impact on the overall performance of the school. As implementers of various
programs and projects of the Department of Education at the grass roots, school
principals were enjoined, as stated in DepEd’s mandate, to provide “for theestablishment and maintenance of a complete, adequate, and integrated system ofbasic education relevant to the goals of national developments.” The emphasis given
on how school principals affect the overall outcome of education merited the conductof this study. Hence, it is noteworthy to study the school principals’ demographic
profile and its relationship on school performance.
Brief Review of Related Literature
The succeeding paragraphs presented and discussed related literatures to the study.
These are taken from books, journals, dissertations, and electronic journals and/orbooks.
Behbahani (2011) pointed out that the start of change in the field of education should
start from education management. To prove his claim, he conducted literature reviewof the works of various education authors and researchers. The results of his study
showed that if knowledge, attitude and job conduct of school principals of schools andmanagers of educational units is not rooted from their specialized and professional
knowledge needed to take the position, they could turn into a barrier in the
improvement and renovation of educational system.
Like the claim above, Cruz et al. (2016) also believed that schools, like any otherorganizations, could perform and deliver its functions when there is strong leadershipand management. They emphasized that to keep a school going, school heads being

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the leader and manager must set the direction. School heads, they said, are responsible
for the overall operation of the school.
Horng and Loeb (2010) also had a firm belief that schools demonstrating growth instudent achievement are more likely to have school principals who are strongorganizational managers. They added that strong instructional leadership is essential
for a school to be successful. On the studies they conducted, they found that growth invalued school outcomes come more from organizational management for instructional
improvement than from school principals’ time observing classrooms or directly
coaching teachers. They concluded that school leaders influence classroom teaching,and consequently student learning, by staffing schools with highly effective teachersand supporting those teachers with effective teaching and learning environments,
rather than by focusing too narrowly on their own contributions to classroom
instruction.
A systematic review conducted by Osborne-Lampkin, Folsom, and Herrington (2015)that examined 52 empirical studies published between 2001 and 2012 on therelationships between principal characteristics and student achievement in the UnitedStates showed some interesting results. One of which was in general, principal
precursors (such as school principals’ experience and educational attainment) andstudent achievement had positive relationship. They claimed, however, that principal
preparation programs, also a precursor, provided mixed results. However, they cited
the work of Knoeppel and Rinehart (2007) which also found that experience ineducation, when analyzed with other variables, was not associated with student
achievement.
Furthermore, Osborne-Lampkin, Folsom, and Herrington (2015) cited results of theother studies they reviewed on the effect of a principal’s years of experience as ateacher on improving student achievement (Clark et al. and Vanderhaar et al.). It was
found that the number of years of teaching experience was not associated with student
achievement but in contrast, achievement was higher among students whose school
principals were in the middle of their careers.
The studies they reviewed showed that students whose principal had nine (9) toseventeen (17) years of teaching experience had higher achievement than students
whose principal had less than nine (9) years or more than seventeen (17) years ofexperience. They concluded that this finding suggested a relationship between a
specific range of teaching experience (9–17 years) and student achievement.
In a correlational study on leadership effectiveness and student achievement
conducted by Feyisa, Ferede and Amsale (2016) showed that there was no significant
correlation between a school principal’s leadership effectiveness and students’
academic achievement. They claimed that this implied that there was no direct
relationship between school leadership and students' academic achievement. They
also added that the findings suggest that the relationship between school principals’
level of education, service year, and leadership effectiveness was not direct.
The reviewed literatures clearly illustrated that school principals’ leadership,
management, competence and skills had to some extent influence students’achievement. But unlike these reviewed literatures, this study focused on some

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demographic profiles of school principals and its relationship to school performanceas measured by dropout rate and the result of National Achievement Test (NAT).
Research Questions
This study sought to establish if the school principals’ demographic profile has arelationship on public elementary schools’ performance in the Schools Division
Office of Imus City. Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following
questions:
1. What are the demographic characteristics of the participants in terms of thefollowing:
1.1 sex;1.2 educational attainment;
1.3 school principalship training/ qualification; and1.4 length of service.
2. What is the school population for the last two (2) school years, 2013-204 and2014 -015?
3. What is the NAT-national passing percentage?
4. What is the national dropout rate for the last school year 2016-2017?
5. Is there a significant relationship between the school principals’ demographic
profile and the performance of the public elementary schools in terms of thefollowing:
6.1 School population?
6.2 Result of the National Achievement Test? and6.3 Dropout rate?
Hypotheses of the Study
1. There is no significant relationship between the sex of the school principals andthe performance of the public elementary schools in terms of population.
2. There is no significant relationship between the educational attainment of theschool principals and the performance of the public elementary schools in terms of
population.
3. There is no significant relationship between the school principalshiptraining/qualification of the school principals and the performance of the public
elementary schools in terms of population.
4. There is no significant relationship between the length of service of the school
principals and the performance of the public elementary schools in terms of
population.

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5. There is no significant relationship between the sex of the school principals andthe performance of the public elementary schools in terms of the result of National
Achievement Test.
6. There is no significant relationship between the educational attainment of theschool principals and the performance of the public elementary schools in terms of
the result of National Achievement Test.
7. There is no significant relationship between the school principalshiptraining/qualification of the school principals and the performance of the public
elementary schools in terms of the result of National Achievement Test
8. There is no significant relationship between the length of service of the school
principals and the performance of the public elementary schools in terms of theresult of National Achievement Test.
9. There is no significant relationship between the sex of the school principals andthe performance of the public elementary schools in terms of dropout rate.
10. There is no significant relationship between the educational attainment of theschool principals and the performance of the schools in terms of dropout rate.
11. There is no significant relationship between the qualification of the school
principals and the performance of the schools in terms of dropout rate.
12. There is no significant relationship between the length of service of the school
principals and the performance of the public elementary schools in terms ofdropout rate.
Scope and Limitations
The study is limited to school principals who served for two consecutive school years,
2013-2014 and 2014-2015 respectively. Of the total 26 public elementary schools
only 14 or 53.85% were interpreted and considered as the participants of the study.
Methodology
This study is a descriptive study. Descriptive study is used to obtain information
concerning the status of the phenomena and to describe "what exists" with respect tovariables or conditions in a situation.
The study employed documentary analysis and interview as method of gathering data.
Relevant records filed at the Office of the Planning and Research Section of the
Schools Division Office of Imus City were requested and analyzed. Permission was
obtained from the Schools Division Superintendent to access these records.
The records that were requested for analysis belong to the twenty-six (26) public
elementary schools of the Schools Division Office of Imus City. The data that wereobtained include demographic profiles of the school principals and performance

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indicators of public elementary schools such as enrolment, number of drop outs andresult of NAT. The data covered two (2) school years 2013 – 2014 and 2014 – 2015.
The proponents sent letter of request to school principals for a possible meeting andscheduled the interview to obtain updates of their other demographic profiles not
captured by the available data.
The interview conducted in a relax and informal manner, wherein participants wereasked to confirm or supply information regarding their educational attainment, school
principalship training/ qualification and length of service. The answers given by theparticipants were tabulated, consolidated and were used as data of participants.
From the records of the twenty-six (26) public elementary schools that were analyzed,
only the data of schools whose principal served for two consecutive school years from2013 – 2014 and 2014 – 2015 were interpreted. This left the researchers with 14 or
53.85% of the total twenty-six (26) public elementary schools. The 14 school
principals who served in these schools were the participants of the study.
The data were interpreted using descriptive measures such as frequency count,relative frequency in percent and mean. The hypotheses were tested using the nonparametric test analogous to ANOVA, the Kruskal-Wallis H Test.
Results and Discussion
The succeeding tables and paragraphs present the results of the study. Each table isaccompanied by its corresponding analysis.
1.

Demographic Profile of the School principals

1.1.

Sex

Sex
Male
Female
Total

Table 1. Sex of the ParticipantsFrequency
Percent
3
21.43
11
78.57
14
100.00%

Table 1 reveals that 3 or 21.43% are male and 11 or 78.57% are female. This is a clear
indication that school leadership in the Schools Division Office of Imus City was
dominated by female school principals.
Hausmann et al. (2012) reported that the Philippines remained the highest-ranking
country from Asia in the Global Gender Gap Index 2012. They reported that
Philippines ranked first on both education and health and is also among the top 20 on
economic participation and political empowerment. They added that the Philippines
was the only country in Asia, on the date the report was released in 2012, to haveclosed the gender gap in both education and health.

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Educational Attainment

Table 2 shows the distribution of the participants in terms of their educational
attainment.
Table 2. Educational Attainment of the Participants
Educational Attainment
Frequency
Percent
Bachelor Degree with
10
71.43
Units in MA
Graduate of MA214.29
MA with Units in
1
7.14
PhD/EdD
Graduate of PhD/EdD
1
7.14
Total
14
100.00%
It is shown in Table 2 that majority of the participants had educational attainment ofbachelor degree with units in MA, 10 or 71.43%. Two or 14.29% of the participants
are graduates of MA and only one or 7.14% had attained MA with units in PhD/EdD
or graduate of PhD/EdD.
Unlike the result of the current study, the findings that were obtained by Guiab andGanal (2014) on their study of the demographic profile of public school heads andschool related problems found that majority or 55% of public elementary school
principals in Alicia, Isabela were MA graduates.
1.3.

Qualification

Table 3 shows the distribution of the participants in terms of their qualification. The
qualification mentioned here refers to the school principals' test administered by
DepEd, the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH).
Qualification
Promoted as Principal
prior to NQESH
NQESH Passer
Not NQESH Passer
Total

Table 3. Qualification of the ParticipantsFrequency
Percent
7

50.00

6
1
14

42.86
7.14
100.00%

Revealed in Table 3 is that 7 or 50.00% of the participants were promoted as principal
prior to the administration of NQESH, 6 or 42.86% of the participants were passer of
NQESH while one or 7.14% was not passer of the said examination but was acting as
principal.
As stipulated in DepEd Memorandum No. 143, s. 2011, this examination shall serveas mechanism for selecting competent school heads in the public basic education
sector.

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Performance of Schools

2.1

Dropout Rate

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Table 4 shows the performance of the schools in terms of dropout rate.
Table 4. Dropout Rate
Dropout Rate
SY 2013 – 2014
SY 2014 – 2015
3.83%
2.78%
6.37%
3.89%
5.45%
3.16%
5.69%
3.02%
6.50%
3.39%
3.98%
2.58%
4.16%
4.60%
5.43%
2.93%
2.87%
2.30%
3.83%
3.10%
3.33%
2.29%
9.22%
8.57%
7.50%
3.49%
6.13%
6.51%

School
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Difference-1.05%-2.48%-2.29%-2.67%-3.11%-1.40%
0.44%-2.50%-0.57%-0.73%-1.04%-0.64%-4.01%
0.38%

Shown in Table 4 is the performance of the 14 public elementary schools in the
Schools Division Office of Imus City. It can be seen from the table that 12 of the 14
schools or 85.71% recorded a decrease in dropout rate from SY 2013 – 2014 to SY2014 – 2015.School Number 13 registered the greatest decrease in dropout rate with
4.01% while school I with 0.57% had the least. School Numbers 7and14 were theonly schools with increased dropout rates with 0.44% and 0.38% increase,respectively.
Using DepEd data, Amoroso and Bajo (2014) reported that the elementary dropout
rate never got past the 6% level since 2008. They added that from 5.99% in school
year 2007 – 2008, the dropout rate went up gradually until it reached 6.81% in school
year 2012 – 2013. On the average, this reported figure was way above the case of
public elementary schools in Imus City.
2.2

National Achievement Test

Table 5 below shows the performance of the schools in terms of the result of the
National Achievement Test (NAT).

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Table 5. National Achievement Test
School MPS in NAT for SY Difference from the National
2014 – 2015
Standard (75.00)
66.44
8.56
49.94
25.06
44.42
30.58
57.00
18.00
48.29
26.71
41.78
33.22
46.13
28.87
50.41
24.59
49.45
25.55
52.52
22.48
46.92
28.08
46.99
28.01
48.69
26.31
52.62
22.38

School
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

As reflected in Table 5, fourteen (14) out of the 26 public elementary schools in the
Schools Division Office of Imus City were all below the national standard of 75.00%
Mean Percentage Score (MPS). School Number 1 had the closest MPS difference tothe national standard with 8.56 and followed by school number 4 with 18.00. On theother hand, school numbers 3 and 6 had the greatest difference from the national
standard at 30.58 and 33.22, respectively.
3.
Relationship between the School Principals’ Demographic Profile and the
Performance of the Schools
3.1.

Sex and Dropout Rate

Sex
Male
FemaleTable 6. Result of Kruskal-Wallis H Test for Sex and Dropout RateN
Mean Rank
df
Kruskal-Wallis H p Value
3
6.67
1
0.152
0.697
11
7.73

The null hypothesis which states that “There is no significant relationship between thesex of the school principals and the performance of the schools in terms of dropout
rate” was tested using Kruskal-Wallis H Test at 0.05 level of significance. In Table 6,
the test showed that that there was no significant relationship between the sex of theschool principals and the performance of the schools in terms of dropout rate, H(1) =0.152, p = 0.697, with a mean rank dropout rate of 6.67 for male and 7.73 for female.
This result showed that sex of school principals and performance of schools in termsof dropout rate were not related. This indicates that efforts of the schools in reducing
dropouts are not directly affected by the school principals’ sex.

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Educational Attainment and Dropout Rate

Table 7. Result of Kruskal-Wallis H Test for Educational Attainment and Dropout
Rate
EducationalN
Mean Rank
df
Kruskal-Wallis H p Value
Attainment
Bachelor Degree
10
6.10
3
4.006
0.261
with Units in MA
Graduate of MA211.50
MA with Units in
1
11.00
PhD/EdD
Graduate of1
10.00
PhD/EdD
The null hypothesis which states that “There is no significant relationship between the
educational attainment of the school principals and the performance of the schools interms of dropout rate” was tested using Kruskal-Wallis H Test at 0.05 level ofsignificance. In Table 7, the test revealed that there was no significant relationshipbetween the educational attainment of the school principals and the performance ofthe schools in terms of dropout rate, H(3) = 4.006, p = 0.261, with a mean rank
dropout rate of 6.10 for the school principals whose educational attainment isbachelor degree with units in MA, 11.50 for graduates of MA, 11.00 for MA withunits in PhD/EdD and 10.00 for graduates of PhD/EdD. This showed that educational
attainment of school principals and performance of schools in terms of dropout rate
were not related. This indicates that efforts of the schools in reducing dropouts are notdirectly affected by the school principals’ educational attainment.
3.3.

Qualification and Dropout Rate

Table 8. Result of Kruskal-Wallis H Test for Educational Attainment and Dropout
Rate
Qualification
N Mean Rank df Kruskal-Wallis H p Value
Promoted as Principal
7 7.86
2
1.094
0.579
prior to NQESH
NQESH Passer
6 6.50
Not NQESH Passer
1 11.00
The null hypothesis which states that “There is no significant relationship between thequalification of the school principals and the performance of the schools in terms ofdropout rate” was tested using Kruskal-Wallis H Test at 0.05 level of significance. In
Table 8, the test revealed that there was no significant relationship between thequalification of the school principals and the performance of the schools in terms ofdropout rate, H(2) = 1.094, p = 0.579, with a mean rank dropout rate of 7.86 for theschool principals who were promoted as principal prior to NQESH, 6.50 for theschool principals who were passers of NQESH and 11.00 for school principals who
were not passer of NQESH but acting as principal. This showed that qualification ofschool principals and performance of schools in terms of dropout rate were notrelated. This indicates that efforts of the schools in reducing dropouts are not directly
affected by the school principals’ qualification.

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Sex and Result of National Achievement Test

Table 9. Result of Kruskal-Wallis H Test for Sex and Result of National Achievement
Test
Sex
N
Mean Rank
df
Kruskal-Wallis H p Value
Male
3
7.33
1
0.006
0.938
Female11
7.55
The null hypothesis which states that “There is no significant relationship between thesex of the school principals and the performance of the schools in terms of the resultof National Achievement Test” was tested using Kruskal-Wallis H Test at 0.05 levelof significance. In Table 9, the test showed that there was no significant relationshipbetween the sex of the school principals and the performance of the schools in termsof result of National Achievement Test, H(1) = 0.006, p = 0.938, with a mean rank
MPS in NAT of 7.33 for male and 7.55 for female. This result showed that sex ofschool principals and performance of schools in terms of result of National
Achievement Test were not related. This shows that activities of the schools inachieving the national standard of NAT MPS are not directly affected by the school
principals’ sex.
3.5.

Educational Attainment and Result of National Achievement Test

Table 10. Result of Kruskal-Wallis H Test for Educational Attainment and Result of
National Achievement Test
Educational Attainment
N Mean Rank df Kruskal-Wallis H p Value
Bachelor Degree with
10 8.20
3
3.166
0.367
Units in MA
Graduate of MA
23.50
MA with Units in
1
5.00
PhD/EdD
Graduate of PhD/EdD
1
11.00
The null hypothesis which states that “There is no significant relationship between the
educational attainment of the school principals and the performance of the schools interms of result of National Achievement Test” was tested using Kruskal-Wallis H
Test at 0.05 level of significance. In Table 10, the test showed that that there was no
significant relationship between the educational attainment of the school principals
and the performance of the schools in terms of result of National Achievement Test,
H(3) = 3.166, p = 0.367, with a mean rank MPS in NAT of 8.20 for the school
principals whose educational attainment is bachelor degree with units in MA, 3.50 for
graduates of MA, 5.00 for MA with units in PhD/EdD and 11.00 for graduate of
PhD/EdD. This showed that educational attainment of school principals andperformance of schools in terms of result of National Achievement Test were notrelated. This shows that activities of the schools in achieving the national standard of
NAT MPS are not directly affected by the school principals’ educational attainment.

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Qualification and Result of National Achievement Test

Table 11. Result of Kruskal-Wallis H Test for Qualification and Result of National
Achievement Test
Qualification
N
Mean Rank
df Kruskal-Wallis H p Value
Promoted as Principal
77.57
2 0.397
0.820
prior to NQESH
NQESH Passer
6
7.83
Not NQESH Passer
1
5.00
The null hypothesis which states that “There is no significant relationship between thequalification of the school principals and the performance of the schools in terms ofresult of National Achievement Test” was tested using Kruskal-Wallis H Test at 0.05
level of significance. In Table 11, the test showed that there was no significant
relationship between the qualification of the school principals and the performance ofthe schools in terms of the result of National Achievement Test, H(2) = 0.397, p =0.820, with a mean rank MPS in NAT of 7.57 for the school principals who were
promoted as principal prior to NQESH, 7.83 for the school principals who werepassers of NQESH and 5.00 for school principals who were not passer of NQESH but
acting as principal. This showed that qualification of school principals andperformance of schools in terms of result of National Achievement Test were notrelated. This shows that activities of the schools in achieving the national standard of
NAT MPS are not directly affected by the school principals’ qualification.
Conclusions
In the light of the foregoing discussion of results, the researchers had the following
conclusions.
1. School principals in the public elementary schools of the Schools Division ofImus City who had served for two consecutive years in school years 2013 – 2014
and 2014 – 2015, majority are female (78.57%), had bachelor degree with units inMA (71.43%) and had been promoted as principal prior to the administration of
NQESH (50.00%).
2. Fourteen (14) of the 26 (53.85%) public elementary schools in the Schools
Division of Imus City that were studied, 12 (85.71%) recorded a decrease ofdropout rate from SY 2013 – 2014 and SY 2014 – 2015 which indicates thatefforts were being done to reduce dropouts.
3. The performance of the schools in the National Achievement Test remained achallenge. All studied schools were way below the national standard of 75% MPS.
4. The school principals’ demographic profile namely: sex, educational attainmentand qualification, were not related to school performance in terms of dropout rate.
This indicates that efforts of the schools in reducing dropouts are not directly
affected by the school principals’ sex, educational attainment and qualification.
5. The school principals’ demographic profile namely: sex, educational attainmentand qualification, were not related to school performance in terms of the result of

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National Achievement Test. This shows that activities of the schools in achieving
the national standard of NAT MPS are not directly affected by the school
principals’ sex, educational attainment and qualification.
Recommendations
In relation to the findings and conclusions of the study, the following arerecommended.
1. Reclassification for new school principals may not be determined solely bypassing of the NQESH. Other forms of assessing competence may be instituted on
top of this examination.
2. Promotion of school principals to the next rank may also include achievement of
set standards as criteria. Lesser weight may be given to criterion such as
educational attainment.
3. Future studies may be conducted such as principal’s organizational management
for instructional improvement that can influence schools’ performance.

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References
Amoroso, Venice and Anna Baja (2014). Phil dropout rates rising since 2007.
http://www.philstar.com/campus/2014/06/12/1333995/phl-dropout-rates-rising-2007
Behbahani, Aliakbar (2011). Educational leaders and role of education on theefficiency of schools school principals. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15(2011) 9–11.
Cruz, Carol Dahlia P. et al (2016). Towards Enhancing the Managerial Performanceof School Heads..
Department of Education. Vision, Mission, Core Values, and Mandate.
http://www.deped.gov.ph/mandate.
DepEd Memorandum No. 143, s. 2011. 2011 National Qualification Examination for
School Heads.
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DepEd Order No. 97, s. 2011. Revised Guidelines on the Allocation and
Reclassification of School Head Positions.
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Feyisa, Dessalegn, Bekalu Ferede and Frew Amsale (2016).Principal’s perceived
leadership effectiveness and its relationship with academic achievement among
students in secondary school: The Ethiopian. Educational Research and Reviews Vol.
11(12), pp. 1129-1137, 23 June, 2016. Retrieved fromhttp://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1104567.pdf.
Guiab, Marissa R. and Nicette N. Ganal (2014). Demographic profile of public schoolheads and school related problems. Express, an International Journal of Multi
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Hausmann, Ricardo et al. (2012). The Global Gender Gap Index 2012.
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hip.pdf.
Knoeppel, R., Verstegen, D., & Rinehart, J. (2007). What Is the Relationship Between
Resources and Student Achievement? A Canonical Analysis. Journal of Education
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Muring, Jesus V. (2014). The Challenging Roles of a School Principal.
https://www.depedmalaybalay.net/article/the-challenging-roles-of-a-schoolprincipal.html.

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Osborne-Lampkin, La’Tara., Folsom, Jessica S., and Herrington, Carolyn D. (2015).
A systematic review of the relationships between principal characteristics and student
achievement (REL 2016–091). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,
Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation andRegional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Retrieved fromhttp://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.
Republic Act No. 9155. An Act Instituting a Framework of Governance for Basic
Education, Establishing Authority and Accountability, Renaming the Department of
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http://slhall.students.noctrl.edu/difference.html.

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Using GSP in Creating Concept Image on the Topic Theory Graphfor Eighth Grade Students
Patcharin Setteechaichana, Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University
under the Royal Patronage, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The purposes of this research were to creating concept image, to study theachievement and to study the attitudes towards on the topic Theory Graph by using
GSP. The research samples were 26 schooling eighth grade students for gifted child inscience and mathematics curriculum from Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University
under the Royal Patronage Demonstration School in the second semester of the 2017
academic year. The design of this study was the one group pretest-posttest design.
Tools used in this research were Lesson plan by using GSP, the achievement test andthe attitudes towards questionnaire. The achievement test had Reliability 0.78, Item
Difficulty 0.31-0.71 and Discrimination Power 0.36-0.77. Time taken for thisexperiment was 23 hours. From evaluating the knowledge of students on the topics
Theory Graph, students had the average score from total score 120 in pretest and in
the achievement test equal to 83.42, and 108.88 respectively. After study, the students
had better achievement at the level of significance .05. The students had averagelearning develop at 78.51% and lesson plan on the topic Theory Graph by using GSP
had efficiency were at 96.64/90.74%. Students have a very positive attitude towards
learning Mathematics by using GSP.
Keywords: Concept Image, Theory Graph, GSP, Gifted Child in Science andMathematics Curriculum

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Introduction
Mathematics contents are abstracted by their natures and they are communicated withsymbols that are not so easy to learn and to understand instantly. Thus, inMathematics teaching, the students must be instructed so that they have reasonable,
systematic and creative thinking abilities in solving problems. To induce such skills inclass, it is necessary for students to know and understand the original of each topic.
There are many problems in everyday life. Modeling using graph theory is aninteresting solution because it makes it easier to understand the problem. Then,remove the model response explaining the situation that occurred in the real issue.
Students can create a problem model using points and lines. This is the source ofgraph theory.
For the topic Theory Graph, its contents involve Graph, Degree of dots, Walk, Euler'sGraph, and Application of Graph. Formerly, teachers usually tell the properties ofTheory Graph and ask students to remember such properties. This teaching did not
help students to understand and to memorize the concept; therefore, students were notable to apply their knowledge in solving problems. Hiebert & Lefevre (Hiebert,2012), referred that both procedural and conceptual knowledge are considered asnecessary aspects of mathematical understanding. In creating mathematics concept, itis necessary for students to have the “concept image”, because students cannot solve
various problems well by only attempting to memorize the concept definition. The
concept definition differs from the concept image: the concept definition is to definemathematical meaning in form of words or messages whereas the concept image
composes of more components stimulated by corresponding stimuli; Visual
Representation, Mental Pictures, Experiences, and Impressions. (Tall, D. & Vinner,2014) wrote that The concept image consists of all cognitive structure in theindividual’s mind that is associated with a given concept. The procedure of creating
the concept image based on the Action-Process-Structure Theory which wasdeveloped by Heingraj has five steps: Interiorization, Coordination, Reversal,
Generalization, and Encapsulation. (Heingrag, 2010) Students can apply these five
steps in creating their own understanding for solving mathematics problems and linkto new knowledge.
GSP is software that can be used in teaching geometry, algebra, trigonometry, andcalculus. It was found from many resources that the GSP software can efficiently
improve mathematical thinking skills and learning attitudes of the learners. However,for last 10 years, there are only 14 GSP-based reports in Thailand’s databases and all
appeared in geometry-area. The number of researches is very few when compare withresearch in field of educational technology.
Body
The purposes of this research were to creating concept image, to study theachievement and to study the attitudes towards on the topic Theory Graph by using
GSP.
The research samples were 26 schooling eighth grade students for gifted child inscience and mathematics curriculum from Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University

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under the Royal Patronage Demonstration School in the second semester of the 2017
academic year. The design of this study was the one group pretest-posttest design.
Tools used in this research were Lesson plan by using GSP, the achievement test andthe attitudes towards questionnaire. The achievement test had Reliability 0.78, Item
Difficulty 0.31-0.71 and Discrimination Power 0.36-0.77. Time taken for thisexperiment was 23 hours.
Activity and instruction documents were used during learning in class, where aspractice document was used out of class. Problems in instruction document andpractice document and achievement test are resemblance, but problems inachievement test are more complicated.
There are three groups of questions in all documents except in activity document.
Such questions are used to evaluate level of knowledge associated with the concept
image as follows:level 1 (Action conceptual understanding). In this level, the students candescribe what are given in the problems and what are the questions of the problems.
level 2 (Process conceptual understanding). In this level, the students can stepby-step manipulate the given information in form of imaginative image in order tomake proper solutions and know possible relationships among the information.
level 3 (Structural conceptual understanding). In this level, the students cangive the correct answers to the problems.
The students were asked to perform pretest before class. In the class, students have todo the activity according to the concept image creating steps as follows:
Step 1 (Interiorization). This step involves explanation, comparison, andreflection of students’ thinking that related to the given information. The students
should have the ability to find out the conclusions from the given information and use
them to create any corresponding images.
Step 2 (Coordination). In this step, the students should be able to create new
information from existed information by creating possible connections between
available information and created images in order to make new conclusions. Thismeans, the students should be able to explain relationships between the createdimages and the given information.
Step 3 (Reversal). In this step, the students should be able to write down
results obtained from the images that created under the given instructions.
Step 4 (Generalization). In this step, the students should be able to generate
their conclusions or create new images in imaginative forms.
Step 5 (Encapsulation). This step is the explanation of the imaginative images
in message forms. The students should be able to write down new corresponding
conclusions in concept definition.
There are cooperative-learning between teacher and students during the activity.
Some of students can chair their idea to others on each subtopic by presenting in frontof the class. Two examples of problems in activity document are illustrated. In eachexample, students were asked to do step by step and gave the answers of each

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question. Students were asked to explain “What do they learn from this activity”, andto give the conclusion in concept image and concept definition.
After that, they had to do the achievement test in 3 hours and also to complete a
multiple choices satisfaction questionnaire. The achievement test has 20 problems
with total scores 120. Each problem has 4 questions. Question number 1 and number
2 measures the action conceptual understanding, Question number 3 measures theprocess conceptual understanding, and Question number 4 measure the structuralconceptual understanding. The score in question number 3 are three times of others
questions.
Example of Activity and content on the topic Theory Graph is illustrated as follow.

Figure 1: This is the Walk of Graph image.

Figure 2: This is the Degree of Dots image.

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It was seen from this example that the content is a little bit difficult than others in the
instruction document. Students have to use the knowledge that they learnt from
activity document and also their previous knowledge about the angle between theparallel lines.
For evaluating the students in the aspect conceptual understanding, learningachievement, learning behavior and attitude towards the topic Theory Graph and GSP
utilization, we use the following criterions:Level of knowledge associated with the concept image from achievement test
Table 1. Length of scores for evaluating the concept image.
Action conceptual
Process
Structural
understanding
conceptual
conceptual
Range of knowledge
understanding
understanding
Q.1
Q. 2
Q. 3
Q. 4
16– 20
16– 20
46– 6016 – 20
Excellent
11– 15
11– 1531 – 45
11– 15Good
6 – 10
6 – 1016 – 30
6 – 10Satisfactory
0–5
0–5
0 – 150–5
Unsatisfactory
Level of learning achievement
Table 2. Length of scores for evaluating students’ knowledge
Pretest and knowledge Test
Instruction document
Range of knowledge
91 – 120
127 – 168
Excellent
61 – 90
85 – 126Good
31 – 60
43 – 84
Satisfactory0 – 300 – 42
Unsatisfactory
Level of learning behavior
3.26-4.00 : very often practice;
2.51-3.25 : often practice;
1.00-1.75   : occasionally practice;
1.00-1.75 : rarely practice.
Level of attitude towards the topic Theory Graph and GSP utilization.
4.21-5.00 : highest satisfactory;
3.41-4.20 : high satisfactory;
2.61-3.40 : moderate satisfactory;
1.81-2.60 : low satisfactory;
1.00-1.80 : lowest satisfactory.
Conclusion
The average of the achievement of students after studying is higher than before at thelevel of significance .05. From total scores 120, the average score in pretest is 83.42
where as in the achievement test equals to 108.88. The learning achievements scores
before and after class, of 26 students, are shown in Fig. 3.

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scoresstudents
represents pretest scores
represents achievement test scores
Figure 3. Learning achievements scores before and after class
From analyzing the various understandings, it was found that the average score ofanswering questions number 1 and 2 equals to 18.23 and 19.46, which means thatstudents had “Excellent” in Action conceptual understanding. The average score ofanswering questions number 3 and 4 equals to 53.12 and 18.08 respectively, whichmean that they had “Excellent” in Process conceptual understanding and had“Excellent” in Structural conceptual understanding. This indicated that the students
are able to describe the information given in the problems and know what the
problems ask for, and can express their thinking process; therefore, they can give theanswers. Percentage scores of achievements test, classified by image
concept understanding of 26 students, are shown in Fig. 4.
Percentage scores

students
represents answer correctly to question number 1
represents answer correctly to question number 2
represents answer correctly to question number 3
represents answer correctly to question number 4
Figure 4. Percentage scores of images concept understanding

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The students had average learning develop at 78.51% and lesson plan on the topic
Theory Graph by using GSP had efficiency were at 96.64/90.74%, which means thatthe knowledge of students during engagement with instruction is in “Excellent” range.
Therefore, the effect from learning activity can support the students to do their workin instruction document.
Four issues for discussion are considered.
1. Learning achievement before, during, and after class. It was observed that the
average score of pre-test is in Good range, the average score during class is in
Excellent range, and the average score in the achievement test is in Excellent range.
This may be due to:
1.1 The problems assigned in instruction document are not too hard and notcomplicate. Most students can immediately give the answer after finished readingeach item. The problems in the examination paper are difficult and complicate.
Therefore, the students did not know how to use their formerly knowledge to build theconcepts for analyzing and solving the problems. Such problems are very hard forstudents who have range of basic mathematics knowledge in an intermediate andweak level.
1.2 Time spent for studying in instruction document is longer than that one
spent in examination. During the class, the students can relax and exchange their idea
to each other, but for examination period, students have pressure from such given
time. However, 15 hours for studying in class were not enough for the students tounderstand the lessons, because they have to learn about using GSP software and to
study in new form of learning activity that they were not familiar with. This may be
hard for the students to study both things simultaneously.
From the result of the achievement test, students are considered into two groups; thefirst one was a group that has the improvement in the level Good, and the second
group has the improvement in the level Excellent. Students in first group understandthe process associated with the concept image, they can illustrate their thinking andcalculate for the solution correctly. Students in the second group also understand in
the same manner but did not completely correct. Some knew the way to think but did
not know how to explain.
2. Learning behavior, although students had good learning behavior both in class andout of class, but the performance was still lacked in intensity and continuity becauseof friend influences. Students should intend to practice exercise by themselves and tounderstand the content instead of remembrance, so that they are able to solve otherproblems differing from the given examples. If the behaviors are changed in proper
way and are always done both inner and outer class, the students will gain morelearning achievements.
3. Attitude in learning mathematics, it was clear that third years mathematic students
majoring of education department can understand the nature of mathematics andappreciate to its values and advantages. However, the students still require morelearning time which needs to be served. Additional period provision may be an

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appropriate way in helping students for better understanding the contents andincreasing their self-confidence.
4. The GSP usage, from using GSP in studying topic Theory Graph, it was found thatstudents were able to understand the relationship between concept definition andconcept image, but some of them were not able to use the software properly; they did
not know how to use command and when one should use that. Using computer
software in learning process will help learners to have an idea in solving problem.
Enhancing of learning activities by technologies is a good idea; mathematics teachers
should apply computer software as a tool for creating learning media of other topics
in the future. (IPST, 2016) However, the most importance thing is the preparation ofteachers. Teachers should have the ability both in using the context and choosing thesuitable technology.
Acknowledgement
This research was financially supported by the Research and Development Institute of
Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University under the Royal Patronage of Thailand.

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References
Heingrag, C. (2010). Roles of Geometer’s Sketchpad in Students’ Processes ofGeometrie Conceptual Construction on Translation; A Case Study, Paper presented at
the Thailand International Conference on 21st Century Information Technology inMathematics Education, held at Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai,
Thailand, 2010.
Hiebert, J. & Lefevre, P. (2012). Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge inMathematics: An Introductory Analysis, In J. Hiebert (Ed). Conceptual andProcedural knowledge: Case of Mathematics, Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum, 1-27.
Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology. (IPST). 2016. The
Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2551 (A.D. 2008), The Ministry of Education,
THAILAND, 1 (1), 64-105.
Research Department. (2017). Results of the research project The Third International
Mathematics and Science Study Repeat; TIMSS 2016, The Institute for the
Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST), retrieved fromhttp://research.ipst.ac.th/index, THAILAND.
Tall, D. & Vinner, S. (2014). Concept Image and Concept Definition in Mathematics
with particular reference to Limits and Continuity, Educational Studies inMathematics, 12, Macmillan, New York, 2014, 151-169.
Contact email: patcharin.settee@vru.ac.th

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The Development of Competency of Creation of Learning Management for English
Teachers by Coaching & Mentoring
Apiradee Jeenkram, Lampang Rajabhat University, Thailand
Wisathorn Thanukit, Lampang Rajabhat University, Thailand
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Abstract
The purposes of this research were: 1) to compare the competency of creation oflearning management for English teachers by coaching & mentoring and 2) to study
the English teachers’ satisfaction towards the development of creation of learning
management. The target group was 8 English teachers in Lamphun province(Thailand). The experiments instruments were: 1) the competency of creation oflearning management form 2) pre-test & post-test 3) Learning Management for
English Teacher Curriculum 4) the English teachers’ satisfaction form. The findingsof the research were as follows: 1) after taking this research, the scores of thecompetency of creation of learning management for English teachers had risen thanthose of the pretest before they were introduced by coaching & mentoring 5.13 points
and 2) the scores of the English teachers’ satisfaction towards the development ofcreation of learning management are in a good level ( x = 4.29), and the competency of
creation of learning management for English teachers by coaching & mentoring has
been beneficial to the English teachers.
Keywords: Competency of creation of learning management, English teachers,coaching & mentoring

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Introduction
At present, Thailand has been developing the economy and society as well asinternational. The main policy of every Thai government is to focus on the economic
dimension that we have started to develop economic plan since the government ofField Marshal Sarit Thanarat. The first economic development plan was in 1961 –1949 and was adjusted to reflect the social and economic situation.
Today, Thailand has adopted the 12th Economic Development Plan (2017-2021)
which the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB)
has formulated adhered to the 20-year National Strategy framework (2017 - 2036).
This is the principal plan of the country development and the goal of sustainable
development (Sustainable Development Goals: SDGs), including the restructuring
Thailand to Thailand 4.0, as well as other reform agendas. In addition, theparticipation of all development actors has been emphasized at the professional level,
the region level and country level in all stages of the plan extensively and continuallyin order to set out development directions and strategies to achieve the objectives of“Security, Prosperity, and Sustainability”, the NESDB regards participation by abroad cross-section of society to be a crucial principle in the drafting of this Plan.
The development of the country during the 12th Economic Development plan is amajor turning point in connecting with 20-year national strategy in long-term strategictransformation into action. Furthermore, the development issues and the significant
project are set in each of the 12th Plan that we can see the results in the first 5 years of
the national strategy movement to prepare human capital, society and the economy for
future challenges. Likewise, there are also a clear implementation as well as
monitoring and evaluation procedures to bring about genuine development that is
effective, beneficial, and sustainable for all. (Office of the National Economic andSocial Development Board, 2017) In the ongoing developing this country makes the
rapid changes in the social community both in urban and rural society, especially theusing English to communication, so teaching English in all students’ level is set in the
Basic Education Core Curriculum. Studying foreign languages requires a thoughtprocess and the practice to communicate in various situations, in and out of theclassroom, in order for the learner to use the language in real situations both spoken
and written languages in grammatically correct and use appropriately in the culture.
Besides, the ability to use English as a tool to acquire knowledge in other subjects, forcontinuing education and occupation is what to focus on.
The researcher was responsible for supervising the English major students teacher for
many years, so I have the opportunity to share and learn with the mentors who are thetarget group. In Lamphun area, we found that English teachers in the schools which
are the practicum network have difficulty in managing English classrooms due toseveral factors, for example 1) Teacher development courses do not meet the needs ofEnglish teachers and not consistent with the actual classroom conditions, so theteacher development process has not been successful. 2) Method and content ofdevelopment are not the new models or innovations in line with today's technology
and teaching focuses on theory rather than practicality with students in class. 3) The
most training programs are short-term (only 1 – 2 days) and there is not a follow-up
on how teachers develop or change their learning management behaviors.
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Research Purpose
1. To compare the competency of creation of learning management of English
teachers by coaching and mentoring.
2. To examine the satisfaction of the development of the English teachers towards
the competency of creation of learning management by coaching and mentoring.
Scope of ResearchThis research aimed to study the development of the English teachers towards thecompetency of creation of learning management by coaching and mentoring.
Scope of Target group
The target group in this was 8 English teachers in Lamphun Province (Thailand).
Scope of Variables
Independent variable was coaching and mentoring.
Dependent variables included1) the competency of creation of learning management of English teachers bycoaching and mentoring2) the satisfaction of the development of the English teachers towards thecompetency of creation of learning management by coaching andmentoring.
Methods to Create and Develop Research Instruments
This research is an experimental research study focused on the competency of
creation of learning management of English teachers by coaching and mentoring. The
procedures of develop research instruments were as follows:
1. To create the questionnaire to study the problems of creation of learning
management and the requirement of target group which it was divided into
3-part: 1) personal information 2) the competency of creation of learning
management and 3) the requirement of development of English learning
management.
2. To create and develop the learning management for English Teacher
Curriculum which the researcher had brought the information from thequestionnaire to create the curriculum. After that the curriculum had checkconsistency of the contents, distinctness, and appropriateness of thelanguage by three experts.
3. To create the quizzes for studying the achievement of the target group
before and after development about the competency of creation of learning
management by coaching and mentoring.
4. To create the satisfaction form which was divided into 2-part: 1) personal
information and 2) a closed-end questions which the scales were separated
into five-level rating scale and an opened questions which was a creationof message to express opinions of English teachers towards the
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competency of creation of learning management by coaching andmentoring.
After that the researchers created the procedures to develop the competency of
creation of learning management of English teachers by coaching and mentoring wereas follows:
1. The 8-English teacher gave the information about the problems of creationof learning management by questionnaire and did the quizzes for studying
the achievement (pretest).
2. The researchers coach and mentor the 8-English teacher about creation oflearning management of English subject which they could design thelesson plan by using activities, games, songs, multimedia etc.
3. After that the 8-English teacher brought their lesson plan to teach andevaluate their students. Then the 8-English teacher did the quizzes forstudying the achievement (posttest).
4. Assign the 8-English teacher to do the satisfaction survey on thedevelopment about the competency of creation of learning management ofEnglish teachers by coaching and mentoring.
5. The researchers collected the data of the quizzes for studying theachievement (pretest/ posttest), they analyzed the data by the statistics
such as average, percentage, and standard deviation. And analyzed the dataof do the satisfaction survey which the scales were separated into fivelevel scales.
Research Results and Discussion
The research title The Development of Competency of Creation of Learning
Management for English Teachers by Coaching & Mentoring had data analysis details
from the research as follows:
Results of Data Analysis
1. The information about the problems of creation of learning management byquestionnaire found in 2-point: 1) the 8-English teacher could not apply the activities,
games, or multimedia with lesson plan and 2) the 8-English teacher want to develop
the competency to create the learning management with the high efficiency. Therefore
the researchers took the data to design the curriculum for developing the competencyof creation for learning management (30 hours).
2. The learning management for English Teacher Curriculum which theresearcher had had check consistency of the contents, distinctness, andappropriateness of the language by three experts. After that the curriculum wasappropriate to coach and mentor the 8-English teacher.
3. The evaluation of the learning management for English Teacher Curriculum
was divided into 2-part found:
3.1 The knowledge and content of the curriculum found: after the 8-English
teacher participated this research project, they were more understood about thecreation learning management than before.
3.2 The satisfaction results of the 8-English teacher towards The Development
ofCompetencyof Creation of Learning
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Coaching & Mentoring had a mean score of 4.30 with a satisfied level of overall
image.
Conclusions
The research title ‘The Development of Competency of Creation of Learning
Management for English Teachers by Coaching & Mentoring’ can be concluded asfollows:
1. From the study results of the development of competency of learning
management for English teachers by coaching & mentoring in Lamphunprovince, it could be found that the average point before joining the
research project was 9.5 and after the average point was 14.93 which theaverage point after joining the research project was higher than before.
2. The satisfaction results of the 8-English teacher towards The Developmentof Competency of Creation of Learning Management for English Teachers
by Coaching & Mentoring had a mean score of 4.30 with a satisfied levelof overall image. When was separated into 3-part found that 1) thesatisfaction towards the appropriate curriculum and documents had theaverage at 4.38 with a satisfied level 2) the satisfaction towards theresearchers had the average at 4.31 with a satisfied level and 3) thesatisfaction towards the knowledge, content, and benefits had the average
at 4.19 with a satisfied level.
Finding Discussion
The research title ‘The Development of Competency of Creation of Learning
Management for English Teachers by Coaching & Mentoring’ can be discussed asfollows:
1. From the study results of the development of competency of creation oflearning management for English teachers by coaching & mentoring in
Lamphun province, it could be found that, after participating the 8-English
teacher had more understood the knowledge and content about thecompetency of learning management. From analysis the data, theresearchers found the first factor that effect to the competency of learning
management in English subject was the 8-English teacher could not apply
the activities or other multimedia into lesson plan. As a result, teaching is
not as effective as it should be. So that the researchers took this data todesign the workshop curriculum to develop the English teachers bycoaching mentoring for 30 hours. The workshop curriculum was divided
into 2-part: learning theory and practical section, which the curriculum
encouraged the English teacher to discuss each other. This is consistent
with Amornkitpinyo Pimprapa. (2008), who defined the word ‘coaching &mentoring’ that the coaching & mentoring system was took to develop
individuals in the organization, which the role of coachers was developed
new personnel employees, explained about problems and how to solved
the problems, gave an advice, suggested other details, and helped the new
employees to have higher self-confidence. Moreover, the coachers was the
supporters who encouraged the new employees could be passed theprobation period. This is consistent with Faculty of Education, Nakhon
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Ratchasima Rajabhat University, (2013), the research title ‘The development ofteacher by the coaching & mentoring system project of Nakhon Ratchasima
Education Area District Office Area 1’ found that the results of the teacher, whojoining this project, were as followed: teachers could be take the knowledge, content,
language skills, calculation, reasoning and learning management to apply withlearning management by using Big 5 Learning Technic. The teachers might do theclassroom research for developing learning management and their students could
approve their language skills, calculation and had the higher achievement.
2. The satisfaction results of the 8-English teacher towards the developmentof competency of learning management for English teachers by coaching& mentoring in Lamphun province had a mean score of 4.30 with asatisfied level of overall image. When considerate each part found that thefirst point was the satisfaction towards the appropriate curriculum anddocuments had the average at 4.38 with a satisfied level because thecurriculum had learning theory and practical section, it could be open theexchange opportunity about creation the lesson plan for teachers. After the
English teachers joined the research project, they could be creation thelesson plan suitable with their students which effected the students’performance. This is also consistent with Mejeang Areerak and Panawong
Siriphron (2010), who said the content of curriculum was according withproblems and requirement of the English teachers.
During the training period, the English teachers had opportunity to exchange eachother, asked the question about learning management problems. Furthermore, theresearchers had knowledge (content, activities, games, multimedia), friendly, and able
to answer the questions which effected to the satisfaction of the participants.
Recommendations
Based on the findings above, the researchers have recommendations as below.
1. There should be take new technology and application to apply withlearning management for motivate their students. Besides, it could bearrange learning management in various way.
2. The researchers should added the channel for exchanging learning
management and followed up periodically which motivated andencouraged the English teachers to apply in the classroom.

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References
Amornkitpinyo P. (2008). Effects of mentoring system on service quality andorganizational loyalty medicating job-based measures: a study for improving of
human resource management in the private hospitals. Faculty of Education. SaintJohn's University. [In Thai]
Fack-oon. C. (2008). The design of learning management by using Backward Design.
Supervisor of Lamphun Education Area District Office Area 1. [In Thai] (2009). The
design of learning management through the Basic education curriculum B.E.2008 byusing Backward Design technic. Bangkok: Prasanmit Press. [In Thai]
Faculty of Education. Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University. (2013). The
development of teacher by the coaching & mentoring system project. Nakhon
Ratchasima Education Area District Office Area 1. [In Thai]
Mejeang A. and Panawong S. (2010). The development of a training course based
problem-based learning for second key stage English teachers. Journal of Education.
Naresuan University Volume 12 No.2 May-Aug 2010.
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board. (2017). The Twelfth
National Economic and Social Development Plan 2017-2021. [In Thai]

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Integrating Neurodidactics Stimulation Into Blended Learning In Accomodating
Students English Learning In EFL Setting
Rukminingsih, STKIP PGRI Jombang, Indonesia
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Abstract
The article reports a research on integrating neurodidactics stimulation into blended
learning in accommodating students’ learning foreign language. The most importantprinciples of neurodidactics and brain-based teaching are involved in motivation,
emotion, learning, and memory. The learners’ emotion about language affects
their desires to learn a language. This study aims to examine (1) how canneurodidactic process of blended learning be applied to stimulate students learning inEFLsetting (2)towhat
extent the
integrationofneurodidactics
stimulation into blended learning stimulates students’ emotion and motivation in
acquiring English in EFL setting. The participants are 30 students of English
Department of STKIP PGRI Jombang . They learn English as a foreign language
Using qualitative data from observation and students’ journal to provide the processof blended learning stimulated by neurodidactics and students’ emotion andmotivation in acquiring foreign language. The findings show that neurodidactics
stimulation supports students’ positive emotion and motivation to learn a foreign
language. Based on this study, considering on students’ brain work in teaching
English as EFL setting is suggested.
Keywords: Neurodidactics; Blended Learning;Learning English as EFL Setting.

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Introduction
English as foreign language means a language which is not spoken generally in thesurrounding community and environment. Scholarly inquiry into the acquisition of a
non-native language includes the disciplines of psychology, linguistics, language
pedagogy, education, neurobiology, sociology, and anthropology. Inquiries oflearning and teaching innovations have provided new insights into successful
language learning strategies and environments designed to increase language
achievement and proficiency. English is one of foreign languages which is applied inIndonesia as a compulsory subject in a school from junior high school until university
level. English has become increasingly important as a first foreign language inIndonesia. Many other related problems are encountered in implementation inIndonesian classrooms in junior, senior high schools and colleges or higher educationlevels. When learning process becomes central to English Foreign Language (EFL)
learning, teaching preparation including teaching aids is fundamental for class successsuch as authentic materials, large class with mixed ability, teaching techniques, andteacher roles.
The progress in mastering the language acquisition is individual. No brain is able toprocess the information immediately. Every mind influenced by one´s own experienceand anatomic peculiarities processes and evaluates the information in a different way.
Learning is a very complex process that cannot be influenced directly (Roth 2009,
cited in Sabitzer 2011), but only through circumstances, teachers cannot change
biological facts, such as gender-specific differences in brain structure anddevelopment or the hormone status which may have an effect on aptitudes andperformance. Many teachers complain about the passive and unmotivated attitude of
their students as well as the high noise level in the classroom where effective learning
is not possible. However, they can take the students in consideration and try tounderstand the difficulties in learning and concentrating of our students in theiradolescence.
The teacher should stimulate the students’ emotion and motivation to support theirlearning process in acquiring English as a foreign language by activating theirpositive emotion, motivation, and cognitive. However teachers often neglect theemotional brain of their students in the teaching and learning process. Some teaching–learning processes make students in high psychological tension. In contrast, thestudents need to have comfortable, joy and save situation in order to lead theirconcentration. In learning learners need some psychological and artistic tools(Stevick, 1980). The psychological tools include liveliness, joy and cheerfulness in
the learning environment
Many studies have been conducted to prove that teaching language by using
blended learning which can bring innovation on traditional educational instruction.
Teachers and technologists are searching for new and innovative ways to design
learner-centered learning environments effectively, trying to engage learners more in
the learning process. This blended learning method integrates several neurodidacticalprinciples so it can stimulate the learning success in EFL setting. Some studies haveprovided evidence that technology can be used to enhance language learning
effectively through the requirement of high-quality input. Zhao (2003) stated that the

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use of technology seems to not only widen the perspective for learning a second
language but also have positive implications for both the acquisition process.
Furthermore, teachers' experiences in integrating technology in their class areencouraging the supporters of technology in language learning. Technology has been
considered as a beneficial resource for increasing comprehensible input, improving
interaction, making learning authentic and creating encouraging learning environment(Byrom, 2005Nevertheless, there is controversy related to technology and language
learning. Recent studies find that students' social and spatial awareness is moredeveloped in the face-to-face classroom rather than in the virtual class (Wuensh,2008). A study carried out by Hui et al. in Diaz (2009) shows that virtual learning
environment is better for vocabulary development but less effective in developing
listening comprehension skills which are more successful in the face-to-faceinteraction.
Based on some studies above, teacher should choose appropriate method of teachingdifferent types of students, to cultivate students’ motivation, and to increase students’memorizing ability. Neurodidactics applied in foreign language teaching leads
students into excitement of learning through inspiring and innovative strategies thatreveal the amazing power of the brain and the hidden energy of the human spirit (Botwania, R &Saniewska, 2016). One possibility to increase learning success is to usesome unconscious memory processes that support the function of sensory andworking memory like the modality or multimedia effect in learning ( Sabitzer, 2011).
In this study, the concept is integrated to stimulate students’ neurodidactics by
employing virtual learning and face to face as a blended learning. It will be put into
practice with the implementation of blended learning in English class as in EFL
setting. It tends to merge traditional classes with elements of virtual education
together (Finn and Bucceri, 2004).
This study aims at examining on how neurodidactics can be applied to stimulate
students in EFL setting and to what extent the integration of neurodidactics
stimulation into blended learning stimulates students’ emotion and motivation in
acquiring English in EFL setting. Therefore the research questions are (1) how canneurodidactic process of blended learning be applied to stimulate students learning in
EFL setting ? (2) To what extent do the integration of neurodidactics stimulation into
blended learning stimulate students’ emotion and motivation in acquiring English in
EFL setting ?
Happiness and learning are identical things to our brain. feelings, emotions help inmemorizing rules. Unfortunately, the teachers often neglect on the key to effective
learning and a good long-term memory which are very essential in the processlearning. It means that the teacher has to give some attention on opening mind, styleof learning, concentrating and focusing on the learning process. The brain has a many
ways how to store information for feelings the emotional memory. Teaching needs tokeep alive to desire to learn. The curiosity for meaningful experiences is innate.
Emotional involvement improves cognitive performance. By implementing blended
learning, the learning process can encourage students’ learning in foreign language
because they get something new and challenging when they have to learn throughvirtual learning and face to face. They do not feel bored and feel happy since they do

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not only study face to face with their teacher but also they study by virtual learningwhich the new technology may make them inspired and challenged.
New information that we perceive as unconsciously is checked immediately by thelimbic system the evaluation system of our brain, that supports the learning of things
that are new, good and important for us and rejects information that creates bad
feelings (Roth,2009 cited in Sabitzer, 2011) Necessary information is first stored in
the sensory memory and then elaborated and encoded in the working memory, if it ischanged in a format that can be stored in the long-termmemory. (Sabitzer, 2011). The
limbic system itself is central in the control of emotional responses.
The limbic system supports a variety of functions including emotion, behavior,
motivation and long-term memory. Emotional life is largely housed in the limbic
system, and it has a great deal to do with the formation of memories. (Thompson, R.F.
2000).
The limbic system of the brain is a group of structures which govern emotions andbehavior. One of the basic requirements of neurodidactics is an individual emotion .
Based on the discovered capability of an individual, a teacher can develop a student’s
personality, emotion and motivation to learn foreign language.
For some teachers, blended learning is describing what they’ve been doing
successfully for years. that is, using a range of resources and activities to provide
individualised, student-centred learning experiences for their students. The term
Blended Learning (BL) has become very familiar to English language training
providers over the last decade. Blended Learning is used to describe all manner oftraining situations but in general can be described as combining “face-to-face
instruction with computer-mediated instruction”(Graham 2007
1.

Methodology

Research Design
This design is qualitative study with case study to describe what happened andexplain why something happened by looking at a process of into blended learning
stimulates students’ emotion and motivation in acquiring English in EFL setting. Thiscase study was implemented to answer the research questions (1) how is the processof neurodidactics stimulation into blended learning in EFL setting, (2) The integrationof neurodidactics stimulationinto blended learning stimulate students’ emotion andmotivation in acquiring English in EFL setting. Furthermore, case studies provide an
in-depth description of a single unit. The “unit” can be an individual, a group, a site, aclass, a policy, a program, a process, an institution, or a community. “Case studies cananswer descriptive questions (what happened) or attempt to explain why something
happened by looking at a process”.(Ary, 2010)
Setting and ParticipantsThis research was conducted in “STKIP PGRI”, Jombang, East Java, Indonesia, Theparticipants in a case study were taken from English Department of STKIP PGRI
Jombang in the fifth semester. The number of the students was 30 students. They

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learn English as a foreign language. The Students at this institution were from bothrural and urban backgrounds with the mixed ability students. Most of the students arefrom medium and low level abilities.
Data Collection and Analysis
Observations and reflective students’ journal were used to collect the data which
captured the process of neurodidactics stimulation into blended learning appliedlearning English in EFL setting and students’ Journals were used to capture students’emotion and motivation in acquiring English as a foreign language. The students were
given a format to capture the process of learning and teaching in the classroom andthe students emotion and motivation experiences during their class through the resultof students’ journal to capture their emotions and motivation which influence theirlong term memory.. Students were advised to write as many journal entries as desired
per meeting in order to keep a map of their emotional and motivation experiences.
Students were not be limited in terms of the type (negative or positive) of emotion andmotivation to report, or in the number of journal entries to write per meeting. Everyweek students has responsible to submit their journal entries to the researcher.
In the journal entries, students become observers of their own emotional andmotivational experiences and asked to record these honestly consisting introspective
and reflections on their own experience. At the end of four meetings, 60 journals
entries are on the study file. The data set was analyzed in two stages due toextensiveness. The first stage of analysis includes general reading after the students
submitted their journals every meeting. A quick read allowed the researcher to haveinformation about their emotion and motivation experienced. The second stage
consisted of a detail reading in which specifics emotion and motivation experienced
were highlighted and their source were identified.
Findings And Discussion
The neurodidactics process of implementing blended learning to stimulate students’learning in English foreign language setting
Various models have been adopted by the lecturers in implementing blended learningfor enhancing students’ learning outcomes. Lecturer combines virtual and face toface interaction with students. It relates to the concept of Blended learning which
integrate face-to-face and virtual learning environment(Marsh, 2012).In this case,lecturer varies her teaching techniques in accordance with the discussed topic.
Referring to the result of observation and interview, the steps in implementing
blended learning is in the following:
Steps
Do brainstorming related to the topic
View the result of group discussion /individual summary which are posted on
certain platform schoology a day or aweek before the offline class.
Ask students to respond their friends’
posting virtual .

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Effects of Learning
To dig up students’ schemata
to improve achievement of learning
objectives by employing the appropriate
use of technologies to match various
learning styles
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mixed ability learners
Give comment virtual done by teachers Give positive feedback
and the other students
Ask each group or individual to present Student exchange information, social
their work in front of the class with the interaction, output after learning andhelp of media (poster, power point student centre approach.
program )Ask the audience to give comment and Active learning, social interaction ,suggestion as well as ask questions
student centre approach.
Review and give feedback the result of Students have positive washback.
presentation and discussion and quizzes
The implementation of blended learning in English Grammar class tends to merge
traditional classes with elements of virtual education together (Finn and Bucceri,2004), such as students are given space for expressing idea virtual through Schoology
as well as presenting and discussing certain topics by face to face interaction.
Based on the result of observation on the process of neurodidactics stimulation in
English foreign language setting by implementing blended learning.
Learning can be done into the following steps:a.

Preparation

In preparation step, the lesson plan must be designed well including the a)
instructional objectives b) the material c) teaching technique d) teaching media e)teaching and learning activities and f) assessment. The lesson plan is different inevery meeting, it must be appropriate to the topic discussed.
The result of the first observation reveals that when the topic is about the adjective
clause The teaching technique applied is grammar in pattern drills and communicative
ways. The material prepared is about adjective clauses the instructional media usedschoology. The students should do the instruction from the lecturer written inschoology. The Assessment form applied is on going assessment in writing context.
The result of the second observation reveals that when the topic is about the noun
clause The teaching technique applied is grammar in pattern drills and communicative
ways. The material prepared is about adjective clauses the instructional media usedschoology. The students should do the instruction from the lecturer written inschoology. . The Assessment form applied is on going assessment in writing context.
The result of the third observation revels that when the topic is about the participial.
The teaching technique applied is grammar in pattern drills and communicative ways.
The material prepared is about adjective clauses the instructional media usedschoology. The students should do the instruction from the lecturer written inschoology. . The Assessment form applied is on going assessment in writing context.

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Implemention

Pre-Activity
Pre-activity is dealing with brainstorming activity. The teacher activated the students’background knowledge in accordance with the topic discussed.
Whilst-Activity
Whilst-Activity refers to the main activity that divided into:
Pre Task stage in which the teacher explores the topic with the class and helps
students to understand the task instructions by asking the students to create schoology
for virtual learning and making a group for face to face learning.During Task which is
combined between virtual learning and face to to face learning.
In virtual learning the students perform the task in small groups discussion which
are posted on certain platform schoology two days before the offline class. Then ask
them to respond their friends’ posting virtual. The last, the lecture gives comment byvirtual.
In face to face, the students in a group should present their work in front of the classwith the help of media ( poster, LCD ). Then the other students or audience should
give comment and suggestion as well as ask questions. the last, the lecture gives
feedback the result of presentation and discussion and quizzes.
Post-Activity
The lecturer asks the students to make reinforcement and reflection on the grammarclass that day.
Based on the observation which has been conducted three times, it can be seen thatthe students may share or ask something confusing about the lesson to the lecturer andthey can work alone, in pairs or small groups and try to solve problems in cooperation
with their classmates (cooperative learning, learning by teaching, re-encoding). The
lecturer only helps and supports the students if needed in their Schoology. Class
Schoology provides great forums for students to practice their grammar in writing
context. One of the most reason why students find schoology appealing that it is moreauthentic grammar activities both in pattern drills and in writing context as a wider
audience has access to read posted entries which means students tend to put more
effort into their schoology. The lecture\r can provide commentary to give somefeedback furthermore the students can give comment, questions and feedback to theirother friends’ . So there is an interaction among students and teachers. Schoology
also provides good opportunities for family members to see what their children are
working on in class.
The brain has a many ways how to store information for feelings and the emotional
memory. Teaching needs to keep alive to desire to learn. By implementing blended
learning, virtual learning and face to face can stimulate students’ s curiosity formeaningful experiences. Emotional involvement improves cognitive performance .
“New information that we perceive as unconsciously is checked immediately by thelimbic system the evaluation system of our brain, that supports the learning of things

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feelings” (Roth,2009 cited in Sabitzer, 2011)
The integration of neurodidactics stimulation into blended learning stimulate
students’ emotion and motivation in acquiring English in EFL setting
Most students experience different emotions during their daily learning classes. It isuseful to keep a record of the students different feelings, emotion and motivation.
Students’ emotional and motivational experience journals involves five questions. (1)what emotions have you felt this week in your Grammar class?, (2) which of theemotions you have noted did you feel the most strongly (3) can you explain what
happened and how you came to feel this way?, (4) What effects did you have on yourmotivation to learn English? (5) what did you do about it ?
Phase 1 : week 1
Students reported feeling more positive than negative emotion during four – week
period. Students experiences positive emotion which are mostly provoked bymotivating learning activities that caused feelings of self efficacy, thus re-energizing
their motivational energy. Students can follow their lecture notes, do additional
readings and get some feedback from their lecture by face to face while maintaining
a positive attitude towards learning. This finding is supported by Lupshenyuk andAdams (2009) who indicate that blended learning has a positive impact on workplacelearners' motivation to learn. These results are also supported by Al-Saleem et al.
(2010) who report that a blended learning context provides students with
opportunities to think and rethink, get prompt feedback, decreases peer-pressure, andincreases self-esteem.
While a few students experiences a little negative emotion in the first phase because
they feel lack of experience in virtual learning especially in Schoology application.
They feel difficulty to for the first time they have to follow the instruction from thelecturer to do their task in schoology so it also influences their motivation to follow
the class.
Phase 2 : week 2This period is more positive dominated by positive emotions. Positive emotions arepresent after a class activity stirring up their interest in learning English because they
can connect to a community anytime, and anywhere while they are learning by virtual
learning. It is supported that blended learning Enables learners to be “together andapart—and to be connected to a community of learners anytime and anywhere,
without being time, place orsituation bound” (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004). Students
continues feeling good after learning by virtual through schoolgy program they may
have small group in face to face learning to make it clear what they think about theiridea on the materials discussed.
While in the second phase, students who do not have experience to do with schoology
have learned how to learn and do the task through schoology so they can do the same
way with their other friends. They have been motivated well than in the first phase.

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Phase 3 : week 3
Emotion during this period is mostly originated by exams because it is time for
midterms. Positive emotions are experienced due to class activities that students
considers fun. Some students also experiences feeling more confidence in doing their
exams because the exam should do in schoology so they can do anytime andanywhere before the deadline of submission. Some report realizing that they arelearning by doing. It means that they can exchange information , share their difficultyin virtual way and other friends and the lecture will help and give feedback on theirdifficulty on the material being discussed and tasks.
Respecting this result of students’ emotional and motivational experience journals
supposes the following condition:
1.
The motivational level must fit the dimension of a well-era didactic activity
which can generate beneficial learning experience.
2.
The teacher’s instruction for students must be clear and simple so it isunderstandable.
3.
A blended learning classroom, in which students can access both instruction
and content in the classroom and virtual supports a student’s ability to follow theircuriosity, recognize and evaluate possible learning pathways, collaborate freely, andinteract directly with content and peer sets all impact the confidence, curiosity, andmotivation of a learner.
The result shows that foreign language students experience an array of negative andpositive emotion during classroom instruction. Negative emotions are experienced
during the grammar class in one semester. These emotions are caused by difficulty touse ICT especially Schoology program because the students feel that that program
are the new one for them . Positive emotions are also experienced during thegrammar class in one excitement, satisfaction and relaxation. These emotions comefrom learning activities that students get motivating, the way teacher teaches , thepositive and innovative learning environment developed by the teacher. In line with
Garret and Young (2009) said that emotions have been revealed as strongly impacting
on foreign language learners’ motivation not only in classroom instruction.
The findings of this study also show that current teachers should not ignore on
educational neurodidactics to design an innovative and challenging model in order tostimulate students in accommodating learning language in EFL setting. To know how
the brain works through neurodidactics stimulation certainly enhances the quality ofteaching as well as encourage both teachers and students to employ in the processlearning of foreign language. In this regard, teachers are encouraged to utilize theneurodidactive through blended learning. Moreover, this implies that by emphasizing
the development of attention, working memory, and mood it will be possible toenhance students’ ability to embed their knowledge in the long-term memory

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Conclusion
Based on the finding, it is immediately obvious that blended learning is able to meetthe learning objectives by employing the appropriate use of technologies to match
various learning styles at the precise time. Another important aspect is technologicaladvanced and the need for the students development of the media competence. It
implied that blended learning is able to improve achievement of learning objectives
by employing the appropriate use of technologies to match various learning styles atthe precise time. Moreover, I mixed the use of virtual and face to face interaction in
the teaching and learning process. It relates to the concept of Blended learning which
integrate face-to-face and virtual learning environment. Students are given
opportunity to convey their idea virtual through schoology program as well as
communicating and discussing particular issues by face to face interaction with theirclassmates and lecturer. Language learning is a process replete with negative andpositive emotions. Thus appropriate stimulation students’ emotions is important for
language teachers to enable them to help their students to make their emotions workfor them and not against them.
The brain is generated to drive new connections by discovery and challenged.
Paradoxically, the role of lecturer is as a facilitator. It means that a teacher is not totransmit information but help students find information and select the most essential
bits of it. The second element is emotional aspect in the educational aspects. The
middle part of the brain is considered the center of emotions. Memory and motivation
are interrelated with emotions. They color humans’ lives, strengthen our memories
and they also function as strong motivators. The last finding has shown that emotions
are a particular driving force in stimulating learning.
MacIntyre (2002) highlighted that the motivational properties of emotion have been
severely underestimated in the language learning literature” . Along the same lines,
Dewaele (2005, cited in Lopez, 2011) calls for more research focus on affect andemotion in order to pay increased attention to the communication of emotion and thedevelopment of socio cultural competence in a second language. Schumann’s (1998)neurobiology theory considers feelings and emotions as crucial to the understandingof second language achievement. According to him, learning a second or foreign
language is manipulated by our emotions, and emotions shape behavior and perhaps
all cognition.
Neurodidactics research has got a lot of attention in the world recently, the finding of
neurodidactics research tells that teacher needs to realize the so called “ brain
adequate learning”. Teachers should employ neurodidactics to stimulate students’learning in foreign language learning through strategies that reveal the amazing
power of the brain and hidden energy of the human’ spirit. The teacher should
consider how the brain works because the more we know about how brain andmemory work, the better we can enhance the techniques of the teaching and learning
process. The teacher must not ignore the innovative and challenge class atmosphere tocreate students’ positive emotion and great motivation in learning process. Then
blended learning is one of methods that can fulfill the students who are brought up in
the digital age and who expect to learn with the latest technologies.

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References
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Garrison, D. R., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its
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Low Proficient Students’ Oral Interaction with Native Speaker of English as aLanguage Assistant in the Classroom
Imelda Wahyuni Husein, Indonesia University of Education, Indonesia

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Abstract
There are many students in Indonesia who are afraid of speaking in English. The lackof vocabulary, fluency, accuracy, and also exposure makes it difficult for students tobe confident speaking English. This study entitled “Low proficient Students’ OralInteraction with Native Speakers of English as a Language Assistant in theClassroom” is aimed to investigate how low proficient students interact with a native
speaker of English and what they feel following the conversation. This study uses
qualitative research involving four 10th grade students in one of vocational highschools in Bandung, Indonesia. The sample is taken purposively in order to get theuniqueness. Observations were conducted in this study to observe four low proficient
students’ interaction with native speaker of English during 16 meetings. An interview
is also conducted to find out what students feel when they have a conversation andwhether they feel an improvement in their speaking skill. The data were collectedbased on observation and interview results. According to the observation findings,
low proficient students experience an improvement in their speaking skill after
interacting with a native speaker even if they faced difficulties. The interview results
show that they are more confident in speaking English after having a conversation
with a native speaker. Therefore, it is suggested that if it is neccesary, the teachers
make a collaboration or work together with native speakers in order to improvestudents’ speaking skill.
Keywords: Low proficient students’, Oral Interaction, Native Speaker of English,

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
English is the most important language in the world and has been known as theinternational language. In the process of formal teaching of four basic language skills(listening, speaking, reading and writing) in school, speaking is considered as themost important skill to master. In Indonesia context, there are so many students who
have difficulties in speaking. They understand what the speaker says, but they doknow how to respond. Pinter (2006) states that speaking fluently and accurately is thehardest thing to do by the students because they should think and speak at the sametime. This skill is important as a sender of message to other people orally.
Conversation which occurs among two people (the speaker and interlocutor) will
occur if they have the capability in speaking skill. The part of speaking skill whichcannot be separated is pronunciation. If someone can pronouce correctly, they can beunderstood easily as what Harmer (2007) says that the most important thing inpronunciation is intelligibility.
In order to make students’ pronunciation better, communicating with native speakers
can also help students to develop their speaking skill as what Walkinsaw and Oanh(2014) find from his study that there were many advantages for students who learned
English taught by native speaker such as improving their pronounciation and speaking
skill. So, this study is aimed to investigate low proficient students’ oral interaction
with native speakers of English in classroom. This study is also expected to answer
following research question:
1. How do low proficient students’ oral interaction with native speakers ofEnglish by through Skype?
2. What do students feel when they have conversation with native speakers ofEnglish?
This study also is expected to give contribution to teachers, students, and further
researchers. For the teachers, this hopefully can make them aware of the interaction
with native speakers can be a very usefull exposure for students. Whereas, for the
students, this study hopefully can make students be more confident and want to try tointeract with native speakers of English. For the other researchers, this study is
expected to be used as an additional source especially for those who conduct a
research on increasing student’ speaking skill by interacting with native speakers ofEnglish.
A. Literature Review
Speaking
Speaking is one of human activities in delivering a message and one of language
performances which people use to communicate. Bygate (as cited in Carter & Nunan,
2001) states that speaking in a second language involves the development ofcommunication skill. A speaker needs to have the same language in order tocommunicate with someone else (Celce & Brinton, 1979). There are several
characteristics of good speaker stated by Celce & Brinton (1979) as follows:a. Speakers need to consider their pronunciationb. Speakers need to consider their grammar

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Official Conference Proceedingsc. Speakers need to consider the rules of sentence formation and theselection of vocabulary
Those statements are also supported by Georgio & Pavlou (2003) that a speaker needs
to consider their fluency, pronunciation, and discourse management. Harmer (2002)
states that there are two main elements of a good speaker: language features andmental or social processing. Language features is when the speaker needs to consider
their speech, expressive devices, lexical, and grammar. Mental or social processing iswhen the speaker get the information from the interaction.
Difficulties of Speaking
Speaking another language is not that easy since they need to say and think at thesame time. There are several difficulties which make speaking difficult to masteraccording to Brown (2001): Clustering (fluent speech is usually phrasal, not word byword), redundancy, reduce forms (contractions, elisions, reduced vowels, etc.),
performance variables (hesitations, pauses, backtracking, and corrections), colloquial
language (words, idioms, and phrases), rate of delivery (speed), stress, rhythm,
intonation, and interaction. He also adds that the biggest problem for a learner is not
the complexity of words, sounds, phrases, and discourse forms, but the interactive
nature of communication. So, conversation makes a learner know how to say things
and when to speak.
Interactional skills requires many things that a learner need to be able to such as
express purpose, recognise other speakers’ purpose, express agreement, express
disagreement, elicit opinions, elicit information, questions assertions made by otherspeakers, modify statement or comments, justify or support statement or opinions ofother speakers, attempt to persuade others, repair breakdowns in interaction, checktheir understanding, establish common ground, elicit clarification, respond to request,
correct themselves or others, indicate understanding, and indicate uncertainty(Hughes, 2003). He also states some skill in managing interactions: initiateinteractions, change the topic of an interaction, share the responsibility, take turn, give
turn, come to decision, and end of the interaction. Those skills can be very difficult tomaster by low proficient students in Indonesia whose English as a foreign language.
According to Harmer (2007) there are some problems occur in pronunciation teaching
and learning as follows:a. What students can hear
Some students have difficulty hearing pronunciation feature which we wantthem to reproduce.
b. What students can say
As a person who lives in a country whose English is as foreign language, welose the habit of making sounds because we have learned two languages since
we were a kid.
c. The intonation problem
The most problematic area of pronunciation is intonation.
Some of us have many difficulties to hear and identify the different patterns of raisingand falling tones. The key to success teaching speaking is not so much getting
students to produce correct sounds or intonation tunes, but let them listen and notice
how English is spoken on audio or video or by their teacher either native or non native
teachers.

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Teaching Speaking and Conversation
In teaching speaking, a teacher needs to deals with students who have problem inspeaking either the students shy or the students do not know what to say and respond.
Harmer (2007) states that there are several ways to help students’ problem withpreparation, repetition, group talk, and mandatory participation. The activity can bevariated such as acting from script, communication games, discussion, prepared talks,questionnaires, simulation, and role-play.
There are two approaches in teaching conversation: indirect and direct approach.
Indirect approach in which the learners are more or less set loose to engange in aninteraction and direct approach deals with planning conversation program around thespecific microskills, strategies, and processes which are involved in a conversation(Richard, 1990). He also offers list of features of conversation that can be a focus in aclassroom instruction such as how to use conversation both transactional andinteractional purposes, how to produce both short and long turns conversation, turntaking, opening and closing conversations, initiate and respond to talk, how to use
both a casual and neutral or more formal style of speaking, how to use conversation indifferent social settings, repairing trouble spots in conversation, how to maintainfluency, how to produce talk in conversational mode, how to use conversational fillers
and small talk, and how to use conversational routines. Other interactive techniques
can also be applied such as interviews, guessing games, jigsaw task, ranking exercise,discussions, values clarification, problem-solving activities, role-play, andsimulations.
Types of Speaking Classroom
According to Brown (2001), there are types of classroom speaking performance asfollows:
a. Imitative
In imitative classroom speaking performance, students can practice how topronounce or say something in a proper way by imitating someone either theteacher or human tape recorder speech.
b. Intensive
Intensive speaking deals with self-initiated or it can be pair work activity in which
the learners practice some phonological and grammatical aspect of language.
c. Responsive
Responsive teaching can occure in short replies to teacher- or student- initiatedquestions or comments.
d. Transactional (dialogue)
Transactional language deals with the purpose of conveying or exchanging
specific information.
e. Interpersonal (dialogue)
In interpersonal language, students are required to maintain social relationships.
f. Extensive (monologue)
In extensive language, students are required to have a try in oral reports,summaries, or short speeches.

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Designing Speaking Technique
There some technique in designing speaking according to Brown (2001) as follows:a. Use technique that cover the spectrum of learner needs, from language-based
focus on accyracy to message-based focus on interaction, meaning, and fluency.
b. Provide intrinsically motivating techniques and encourage the students to learn thematerial so they are motivated and tell the students the purpose of the activities as
well.
c. Encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts.
d. Provide appropriate feedback and correction.
e. Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening.
f. Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication.
g. Encourage the development of speaking strategies such as asking for clarification,
asking someone to repeat something, using fillers, using conversation
maintenance cues, getting someone’s attention, using paraphrases, appealing forassistance from the interlocutor, using formal expressions, and using mime andnon-verbal expressions to convey meaning.
Native VS Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
Being an English teacher needs to have good language proficiency level. Native
English-speaking teachers (NESTs) are usually better than non-native Englishspeaking teachers (NNESTs) since native English-speaking teachers are already goodat speaking, vocabulary, and grammar. Wahyudi (2012) states that there are many
advantages in interacting with native speaker teachers. Ma (2012) also points thatnative speaker teachers are more communicative and interactive since they havehigher proficiency level in terms of speaking.
According to Levis, et al (2017), students believe that English pronunciation should
be taught by a native English speaking teacher since NESTs represent the ideal ofpronunciation. Listening to a good model (a native speaker) will make good result for
students. The reason why native speech in teaching has become valued is on accountof the high importance attached to students’ communicative in the foreign language
classroom and it becomes the ideal of the phenomenon (Kramsch, 1997).
It does not mean that NNESTs are not professional. Having NNESTs in the classroom
also maintains some advantages since NNESTs can provide students with some
information dealing with students’ problems and needs, take advantage of sharing
students’ mother tongue, and have a solution for students who have diffuculties inreceiving new information (Medgyes, 1992). Kemaloglu-Er (2017) says that there areno significant differences between NESTs and NNESTs in terms of teaching roles andanagement classroom skills, but the differences are found in communication andpronunication skills.
NNESTs are more advantageous when they can share their experience in how theyacquire English as their second language while NESTs are more reliable in order toshare the culture (Widdowson, 1994). In line with Bayyurt (2006), he states that themore native English speaking teachers, the more students require linguistic andcultural backgrounds information. Both NNESTs and NESTs have their own strengths
and weaknesses as a teacher in an EFL/ESL classroom. Teaching goes back to

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teachers’ competence in delivering the materials. NESTs are better in terms of
speaking and NNESts are better in dealing with students’ problems.
NESTs also have some pedagogical issues. There are teaching abroad challenges for
NESTs both pedagogical and non-pedagogical issues. Some pedagogical issues facedby NESTs are teaching method difference, language issues, students’ classroom
activity preference, and audibility barriers and non-pedagogical issues faced by
NESTs are mutual trust establishment and countries’ law (Luong-Phan, 2015). In her
study, she suggests that NESTs teachers need a support such as knowledge about thecountry (law and culture) itself, teaching support (translator and teaching assistant),
and administrative support.
According to Javid (2016), NNESts and NESTs can be differed based on the use ofEnglish, general attitude, attitude to teaching the language, and attitude to teaching
culture. In terms of the use of English, NESTs speak better, use real language, and use
English confidently, while NNESTs speak poorer English, use ‘bookish’ language,and use English less confidently. In terms of general attitude, NESTs adopt a more
flexible approach, are more innovative, are less empathetic, attend to perceived needs,
have far-fetched expectations, are more casual, and are less committed while NNESTs
adopt a more guided approach, are more cautious, are more empathetic, attend to realneeds, have realistic expectations, are stricter, and are more committed. In terms of
attitude to teaching the language, NESTs are less insightful, focus on fluency,
meaning, language in use, and oral skills, colloquial registers, teach items in context,
prefer free activities, favor group work/pair work, use a variety of materials, tolerate
erros, set fewer tests, use no/less L1, resort to no/less translation, and assign lesshomework, while NNESTs are more insightful, focus on accuracy, form, grammar
rules, and printed word, formal registers, teach items in isolation, prefer controlled
activities, favor frontal work, use a single textbook, correct/punish for errors, set moretests, use more L1, resort to more translation, and assign more homework. In terms of
attitude to teaching culture, NESTs supply more cultural information while NNESTs
supply less cultural information.
Due to some fallacies that both NESTs and NNESTs may have, collaboration or teamteaching can be a powerful combination in order to improve students’ skill especiallyspeaking skill. the The contribution that involve NEST and NNEST in the classroom
can improve students’ communicative comptence (Tajino & Tajino, 2000).
Related Previous Research
A number of study have been conducted in investigating the collaboration of NNESTs
and NESTs contribution in the clasroom. Matsuda and Matsuda (2001) found out thata collaborative relationship between native and nonnative English speaking teachers
are needed in order to develop their teaching styles. Oliveira and Richardson (2001)
also found out that the collaboration between native and non-native English-speaking
teachers not only intend to continue sharing teaching ideas and co-presenting, but also
discuss collaborating a book.
Carless and Walker (2006) was interested in investigating the effectiveness of teamteaching between native and non-native English-speaking teachers and the findings
show that there is an improvement towards students’ lexical knowledge and fluency in

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speech and NNESTs’ proficiency has developed as well. So, collaborative teachinghas good impact on students and NNESTs. In another study Carless (2006) found outthat collaboration teaching between NEST and NNEST provide students with anauthentic environment to learn English and develop their confidence in using English
for communication, develop innovative teaching and learning methods, and promote
the professional development of the teachers. Jeon and Lee (2006) also found out thatteam teaching assists the professional development both NEST and NNEST teachers,
assists the development of teaching materials, and build supportive working
relationships.
Having both NEST and NNEST in the classroom make students better and according
to Lasagabaster and Sierra (2005) in their study, their study showed that 60.6%
students prefered a NEST as a teacher in the classroom but there were 71.6% students
prefered both NEST and NNEST are the teacher in the classroom.
It can be seen that students also preferred to have both NEST and NNEST in theclassroom since they have their own strengths and weaknesses. In line with Kung’s(2015) study, he found out that students believed that both NESTs and NNESTs havedifferent functions based on their teaching strategies and style. NESTs are naturallistening and speaking teachers since they are native and NNESTs are better grammar
and reading teachers from their learning experiences.
B. Research Methodology
This research was conducted using a qualitative case study design. A case study isused in order to investigate what really happen in real-life events. According to Yin(1994), a case study is an empirical inquiry which means that a case study is used toinvestigate a contemporary phenomenon in real-life events and the boundaries
between phenomenon and contexts which are not distinguishable. The case study alsoinquiry copes with different situations, relies on multiple evidence, and benefits fromthe prior development of theoretical propositions. The main purpose of a case study isto understand a case in depth and it is also useful to answer descriptive andexplanatory questions (Hamied, 2017). The result is going to explain what really
happen in the real event rather than generalize the conditions.
Observation and interview were conducted in this study. Observation enables
researchers to gather data on physical, human, interactional, and program setting(Cohen & Manion, 2000) and according to Merriam (2009), interview is a process inwhich the researcher and participant engage in a conversation focused on questions
related to study.
Observation was used in this study in order to observe what really happen during theinteraction of four students with a native speaker of English in the classroom during
16 meetings and interview was used in this study in order to investigate deep truth
about what students feel when they have conversation with a native speaker ofEnglish during 16 meetings. The interview questions used Indonesian in order tomake students understand the question better as what Alwasilah (2003) says that using
respondents’ native language will help the researcher to get more detailed data fromthe respondents.

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There were four low proficient students of 10th grade from one of vocational highschools in Bandung, Indonesia. The participants were purposive participant in which
they were chosen because they had low proficiency of English. Purposive participant
means that the participants are selected because of who they are and what they know
(Hamied, 2017). Then, the data were analyzed based on the observation sheets andinterview result. The observation sheets were transcribed, coded, and categorized
while the interview results were transcibed and analyzed.
C. Findings And Discussions
1. Observation Findings
The observation findings show that four low proficient students experience theimprovement in terms of speaking skill. The students were observed in terms ofseveral aspects: participation in class, student’s enthusiasm, student’s confidence,and oral interaction aspects (telling story, giving comment/asking, hesitation,
doing a contact, speaking loud and clear, giving responses, grammatical correct,
and initiating conversation). Based on the observation findings, S1 did not show
his participation and enthusiasm in the first three meetings, then the student
showed his participation and enthusiasm after three meetings. In aspect ofshowing confidence, S1 had lack of confidence during five meetings then his
confidence increased after fifth meething. In oral interaction aspect, S1 told thestory after second meeting, gave a comment/asking after fourth meeting, did
hesitation for the whole meeting, did a contact for the whole meeting, spoke loudand clear after third meeting, gave responses for the whole meeting, spoke
grammatical correctly after fifth meeting, and initiated conversation after fifth
meeting.
S2 showed the participation and enthusiasm after fourth meetings. In aspect ofshowing confidence, S2 had lack of confidence during six meetings then thestudent’s confidence increased after sixth meething. In oral interaction aspect, S2
told the story after sixth meeting, gave a comment/asking after sixth meeting, did
hesitation for the whole meeting, did a contact for the whole meeting, spoke loudand clear after seventh meeting, gave responses after fourth meeting, spoke
grammatical correctly after seventh meeting, and initiated conversation after fifth
meeting.
S3 did not show his participation and enthusiasm in the first six meetings, thenthe student showed the participation and enthusiasm after six meetings. In aspectof showing confidence, S3 had lack of confidence during four meetings thenshowing confidence after fourth meething. In oral interaction aspect, S3 told thestory after fifth meeting, gave a comment/asking after fifth meeting, did
hesitation in the first sixth meeting, did a contact for the whole meeting, spoke
loud and clear after second meeting, gave responses for the whole meeting, spoke
grammatical correctly after seventh meeting, and initiated conversation after sixth
meeting.
S4 did not show his participation and enthusiasm in the first six meetings, thenthe student’s participation and enthusiasm increased after six meetings. In aspectof showing confidence, S4 had lack of confidence during five meetings then his
confidence increased after fifth meething. In oral interaction aspect, S4 told the

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story after fifth meeting, gave a comment/asking after sixth meeting, did
hesitation for the whole meeting, did a contact after sixth meeting, spoke loudand clear after sixth meeting, gave responses for the whole meeting, spoke
grammatical correctly after eighth meeting, and initiated conversation after eighth
meeting.
2. Interview Findings
The interview was conduted to the four low proficient students and the results
found out how low proficient students feel when they had conversation withnative speaker, whether the students feel any improvement in terms of speaking
skill, and whether the students feel more confident. There were four category ininterview. First category was about what they feel when they have conversation
with native speaker (NS) for the first time, they found difficulties when they had
conversation with NS and their confidence at the first time. Second category was
about what they feel during conversation and their understanding. Third category
was about the improvement that they feel and fourth category was about theirconfidence after having 16 meetings conversation with NS.
According to interview results, all four students had similar answer. Answering
the first category, all four low proficient students felt nervous at the first time
because they never talked to NS before and they did not know what to say and it
made them felt less confidence. The difficulties that they found were NS accentand speed which were very hard for students to follow. Then, the second category,
all four low proficient students still felt a little bit nervous but the more they spoke
to NS, the better they felt and it helped them to understand the conversation better.
The result from third category was found that all four low proficient students felt
an improvement in their speaking skill even if it was not that big improvement but
they felt that they could speak English in daily life conversation better than before
in terms of pronunciation and grammar. Last, four category, all four proficient
students felt their confidence had increased because they had some experience inhaving conversations with NS.
D. Conclusion And Recommendation
Students’ speaking skill can be increased by several techniques. One of techniques
which give a big influence is having conversation with native speaker of English.
Students who had lack exposure, grammar and vocabulary knowledge, andfluency and accuracy can improve their speaking skill by having conversation
with native speaker of English. It is not only an improvement in speaking skill, butalso they felt more confidence in speaking English. It is suggested to all English
teachers who are non-native to have collaboration with native speaker of English
in order to help students to improve their speaking skill.

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Contact email: imeldahusein18@gmail.com

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The Effectiveness of the Pragmatic Skills Intervention for Young Adults with MildIntellectual Disability (with or without co-morbid Autism Spectrum Disorder)
Wendy Yeo Su Fen, APSN Delta Senior School, Singapore.
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Abstract
Background: Trainers and teachers provided feedback that students with MildIntellectual Disability (with and without co-morbid Autism Spectrum Disorders)
faced challenges demonstrating the pragmatic skills necessary for them to be work
ready. These students were studying in a special needs vocational school for students,
aged between 17 to 21 years old. A pragmatic skills programme was developed anddovetailed into their work skills training lessons. Purpose: This study explored theeffectiveness of the pragmatic skills intervention. Methods: In a single groupobservational study using pre/post-test design with a three-month follow-up, six
students received pragmatic skills intervention during their WST lessons once weekly
for four months from a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT). Beyond SLT’spresence, teacher and trainers would also request the students for the targetedpragmatic behaviours during their WST lessons. Results: All students utilised more
pragmatic skills at post-test and 3-month follow-up, with notable improvements
observed for the ability to initiate a simple speech act. When students showed
regression in their scores at 3-month follow-up when compared to post-test scores,
they were still an improvement of pre-test scores. The prevalence of students
regressing in their newly learnt behaviours of nonverbal communication and speech
intelligibility were much lower compared to speech acts at 3-month follow-up.
Achieving significant improvement in a new skill might diminish skill regression.
Conclusions: All students utilised more pragmatic skills behaviours after the
programme. Dovetailing the programme in the natural learning environment withconstant attention on requiring targeted pragmatic behaviours were possible
attributing factors.
Keywords: Mild Intellectual disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder, pragmatic skills,
workforce ready.

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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BACKGROUNDAPSN Delta Senior School offers two pathways to eligible students with MildIntellectual Disability from the age of 17 years to transit to the workforce or further
training opportunities. First, a vocational certification leading to national certificationin selected industry areas (horticulture, retail operations, food services, and hotel &accommodation services). Students who successfully complete the vocational
certification programme will receive the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications(WSQ) that would facilitate their job applications in the open market, or further
advanced vocational training at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to pursue
the National ITE Certificate (NITEC) when they meet the pre-requisites admission
criteria for the courses. Second, a 2-year progressive competency-cased curriculum
called LEAD Programme (LP) to work-capable students. Students in this programme
could progress to the School-to-Work (S2W) Transition Programme that offer morecustomised training cum work options beyond the vocational certification pathways,
or sheltered workshops.
The Year-2 LP students undergo a work skills training (WST) programme in theirsecond year to prepare them for placement at post-school pathways, where they needto secure further WST for employment placement. Some examples of the work skills
includes sweeping and mopping the floor, wiping furniture, assembling anddisassembling boxes, packing and unpacking items.
In the course of completing a vocational task, practically, the student would need touse their pragmatic skills to communicate with others, “knowing what to say, how to
say it, and when to say it and how to ‘be’ with other people” (Bowen, 2011). For
example, during public cleaning, a member of the public might be standing at thelocation that the student needs to sweep. The student would need to be able to gain theattention of that person and initiate a simple interaction with that person, verbally or
nonverbally. Generally, it was observed that when the public was not aware of thestudent’s presence and remained at that location, the students tend to either hoveraround the area for a while and leaves without sweeping or continue sweeping
including sweeping the feet of the member of public.
LP teachers and trainers provided feedback that the pragmatic skills of their students
were often observed to be inadequate and impeding their post-school placements.
Aim
This study explored the effectiveness of the Job Readiness Programme (JRP), a
pragmatic skills intervention for young adults with Mild Intellectual Disability (withor without co-morbid Autism Spectrum Disorder).
METHODSThis was a single group observational study using pre/post-test design with a threemonth follow-up.

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Participants
The JRP was designed for the cohort of students from the Year 2 LP classes (n=13).
Teachers divided the cohort into two groups depending on their readiness to attend
WST lessons, with one group starting their WST lessons in January and the othergroup in March. Students with long term absenteeism (n=2), the group of students thatwere shortlisted to start their WST lesson in July (n=3), and students who exhibited
pragmatic skills (n=2), were excluded from this study. Of the six students included inthis study, five of them were available for the pre-test (in January), post-test (in May)and 3-month follow-up (in August) assessments and one student was only available
for the pre-test and post-test assessments. The group of students who started their
WST lessons in July, while excluded from this study, were provided support
customised to their level of functioning when they started their WST lessons.
Interventions
The students had WST lessons twice weekly for two full days. Some examples ofwork skills training included sweeping and mopping the floor, wiping furniture,assembling and disassembling boxes, packing and unpacking items. Besides
practicing to achieve competency in their work skills, they also need to demonstrate
the ability to complete simple social interactions commonly necessary at theworkplace, to increase their opportunities to secure further employment training
placements. For example, initiate to inform their teacher/ trainer when they complete
each task, ask their teacher/ trainer when they do not understand their work schedule,
request for help when they require assistance.
The Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) joined the students in their WST lessons
once weekly for one lesson block (1 hour and 50 minutes) in Semester 1 (February toMay). The Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) and Direct Instruction (DI) approaches
were used to teach the students to utilise their pragmatic skills, and the prompt
hierarchy was used to support the student to achieve independence in their task.
In addition to supporting the students in exhibiting appropriate nonverbal
communication (eye contact, facial expression, gesture), and verbal communication(speak intelligibility, specifically speech volume, as well as speech acts, initiate to
inform/request) to complete a simple social interaction, the SLT also at appropriate
context created “road blocks” while they were trying to complete their vocationaltask. For example, while the student was practicing the skill of sweeping, the SLT
would step on the litter that was on the floor and wait for the student to say “Excuse
me please” before moving away.
Thus, besides having opportunities to practice their vocational skills, the students also
had ample opportunities to practise initiating simple social interaction within theirwork stimulation context appropriately.
Available information showed that the enhanced milieu teaching approach improved
the student’s social use of language (Hancock et al, 2016; Kaiser et al, 2013), direct
instruction teaching approach had superior research compared with minimally guided
instruction (Wheldall, 2014), and prompting had been effective in supporting young
adults with or without ASD learn new skills (Neitzel et al, 2009). Besides availability

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implementation within the WST setting.
Beyond the SLT’s presence at the WST lessons, teachers and trainers also
consistently elicited the targeted pragmatic behaviours during their WST lessons.
Outcome measures
The students were rated on the pragmatic skill variables (nonverbal communication,
speech intelligibility, and speech acts) using a 5-point pragmatic skill scale (1 =unable to elicit; 2 = required verbal and physical prompts; 3 = required verbal andgestural prompts; 4 = required gestural prompts; 5 = initiated independently).
Inter-Rater Reliability
Inter-rater reliability (IRR) measures were taken for all pragmatic skill variables on all
students who participated in this study by two teachers at pre-test, post-test and 3month follow-up, and two APSN SLTs (from another two schools) administrated theirassessment at post-test and at 3-month follow-up. While statistical measures ofagreement between raters were not obtained with Krippendorff's alpha of 0.402
among the teachers and SLT, and 0.339 among the three SLTs, all raters were inagreement in their rating directions as explained in Table 6.
RESULTSIn the analyses of this study of whether the JRP was effective, the students’ pragmatic
skills scores at post-test and 3-month follow-up were compared to their pre-testscores. For the JRP to be effective as the students’ pragmatic skills intervention, theirpost-test or/and 3-month follow-up scores should be higher than their pre-test scores.
The SLT’s assessment of the students’ pragmatic skills scores assessed at these threejunctures were shown in Figure 1. Medians, ranges and standard deviations were
provided in Table 1.

Figure 1: DSS SLT’s rating of students’ pragmatic skills at pre-test, post-test and 3month follow-up

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Table 1: Number (n), median raw score, range and standard deviation (σ) byPragmatic skills variables rated by SLT 1
Rater: SLT 1

Pre-Test

Post-Test

3-month follow-up

VariableNon Verbal
Communication
SpeechIntelligibility

N

Median

Range

σ

N

Median

Range

σ

N

Median

Range

σ

6

3.50

2-5

1.145

6

4.25

3.8-5

0.490

5

4.00

3.3-5

0.750

6

3.00

2-4

0.753

6

4.00

3-5

0.753

5

4.00

4-5

0.548

Speech Acts

6

2.67

2-3

0.502

6

5.00

4.7-5

0.402

5

4.33

3.7-5

0.484

Nonverbal communication
Table 2 showed that the degree of the nonverbal communication scores relationshipbetween the pre-test and post-test, as well as the pre-test and 3-month follow-up hadstrong statistical correlations and were statistically significant (p<.05). There was no
statistical significance between the post-test and 3-month follow-up scores although
there was strong statistical correlations. A student with high nonverbal
communication scores at pre-test was a strong indicator to possibly achieve a highnonverbal communication scores at post-test as well as at 3-month follow-up.
Table 2: t-Test: Paired Two Sample (Nonverbal Communication)
Nonverbal communication

Pre-Test

Post-Test

Post-Test

3-mth follow-up

Pre-Test

3-mth follow-up

Mean
Variance
Observations
Pearson Correlationdft StatP(T<=t) one-tailt Critical one-tailP(T<=t) two-tailt Critical two-tail

3.458
1.310
6
0.905
5
-2.67910
0.021932.01505
0.04387
2.57058

4.258
0.240
6

4.210
0.283
5
0.893
4
-0.24526
0.40916
2.131850.81833
2.77645

4.250
0.563
5

3.350
1.550
5
0.853
4
-2.79414
0.02455
2.131850.049102.77645

4.250
0.563
5

Speech Intelligibility
Table 3 showed that the speech intelligibility scores between pre-test and post-test as
well as pre-test and 3-month follow up were statistically significant (p<.05) while thescores between post-test and 3-month follow-up was not statistically significant(p≥.05). Their strength of association between all scores was low. A high speech
intelligibility score at pre-test had low indication that it would correspondent to highspeech intelligibility at post-test or low speech intelligibility at 3-month follow-up.

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Table 3: t-Test: Paired Two Sample (Speech Intelligibility)
Speech Intelligibility
Mean
Variance
Observations
Pearson Correlationdft StatP(T<=t) one-tailt Critical one-tailP(T<=t) two-tailt Critical two-tailPre-Test
3.167
0.567
6
0.294
5
-2.73861
0.020432.01505
0.04086
2.57058

Post-Test
4.167
0.567
6

Post-Test
4.4
0.3
5
0.167
4
0
0.5
2.1318512.776453-mth follow-up
4.4
0.3
5

Pre-Test
3.2
0.7
5-0.2184-2.44949
0.03524
2.131850.070482.776453-mth follow-up
4.4
0.3
5

Speech Acts
Table 4 showed that the speech acts scores between pre-test and post-test, as well as
pre-test and 3-month follow-up were statistically highly significant (p<.01). And thepost-test and 3-month follow-up were statistically significant (p<.05). The strength
association between pre-test and post-test was moderate, between post-test and 3month follow-up was low, between pre-test and 3-month follow-up was strong. A
high speech acts score at pre-test was a good indication that a low speech acts score at
3-month follow-up would be unlikely. A high speech acts scores at pre-test had
moderate indication that a high speech acts score at post-test was likely.
Table 4: t-Test: Paired Two Sample (Speech Acts)
Speech Acts

Pre-Test

Post-Test

Post-Test

3-mth follow-up

Pre-Test

3-mth follow-up

2.556
0.252
6

4.783
0.162
6

4.940
0.018
5

4.400
0.234
5

2.667
0.222
5

4.400
0.234
5

Mean
Variance
Observations
PearsonCorrelation
Differencedft Stat0.418
05-11.03298

0.116
0
4
2.48088-0.6090
4-4.52431

P(T<=t) one-tailt Critical one-tailP(T<=t) two-tailt Critical two-tail0.00005
2.01505
0.000112.57058

0.034072.131850.06815
2.776450.005312.131850.010622.77645DISCUSSION
Changes in student’s pragmatic performance between pre-test and post-test, post-test
and 3-month follow-up, as well as pre-test and 3-month follow-up were shown in
Figure 2. Medians, ranges and standard deviations were provided in Table 5.
Differences at Post-Test
It was observed that all students had shown improvements in their pragmatic skills at
post-test when compared to their behaviours at pre-test. Notable differences wereobserved in all the students’ ability to perform speech acts with greater independence.
When no difference was observed in a particular pragmatic variable between the threejunctures of assessment, the intervention did not cause any student to exhibit

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regression in his/ her pragmatic skills behaviours. It was noted that their pragmatic
skills were at moderate to high levels before commencing JRP. Three such incidents
were observed. Firstly, a student who obtained a 5-point rating for nonverbal
communication score at pre-test, also obtained a 5-point rating for nonverbal
communication score at post-test and at 3-month follow-up. Secondly, a student who
obtained a 4-point rating for speech intelligibility at pre-test, also obtained a 4-point
rating for speech intelligibility at post-test and 3-month follow-up. Thirdly, a student
who obtained a 3-point rating for speech intelligibility at pre-test, also obtained a 3point rating for speech intelligibility at post-test (the student was not available forassessment at 3-month follow-up).
Differences at 3-month follow-up
It was observed that all students had shown improvements or sustained theirimprovements in their pragmatic skills at 3 months follow-up when compared to their
behaviours at pre-test.
When students showed regression at 3-month follow-up when compared to their posttest results, their results at 3-month follow-up were still an improvement compared totheir pre-test results.
It was observed that comparatively students faced greater challenges sustaining theirimproved speech acts behaviour between post-test and 3-month follow-up, as opposed
to improved nonverbal communication and improved speech intelligibility, a variable
that shown notable improvements at both pre-test and post-test as well as pre-test and3-month follow-up.
Nevertheless, there was an occurrence where the student was able to sustain a 3-point
rating improvement for the speech acts variable at post-test to 3-month follow-up withno observable regression. This student exhibited the greatest improvement in speechact (from a 2-point rating to a 5-point rating) compared to his/ her peers. A significant
improvement in the utilisation of the speech act might be an indication of theresistance level of regression for a newly acquired pragmatic skill.
It was also noted that the prevalence of students regressing in the utility of their newly
learnt behaviours of nonverbal communication and speech intelligibility were shown
to be low.
In addition, it was observed that the students could improve their pragmatic variablesof nonverbal communication and speech intelligibility beyond the post-test phase.

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Figure 2: Changes in student’s pragmatic performance between pre-test and post-test,
post-test and 3-month follow-up, & pre-test and 3-month follow-up.
Table 5: Number (n), median raw score, range and standard deviation (σ) byPragmatic skills variables of change in students’ performance between pre-test andpost-test, post-test and 3-month follow-up, & pre-test and 3-month follow-up.
Rater: SLT 1

Pre/ Post Differences

Post/ Follow-up Differences

Pre/ Follow-up Differences

VariableNon Verbal
Communication
SpeechIntelligibility

N

Median

Range

σ

N

Median

Range

σ

N

Median

Range

σ

6

0.65

0.3-2

0.731

6

0.00

-0.5 to 0.2

0.365

5

0.75

0-2

0.720

6

1.00

0-2

0.894

6

0.00

-1 to 1

0.707

5

1.00

0-3

1.095

Speech Acts

6

2.00

1.7-3

0.495

6

-0.40

-1.3 to 0

0.487

5

1.67

0.7-3

0.857

Differences in rating between APSN SLTs
While the inter-rater reliability measure among three SLTs was not in statisticalagreement under Krippendorff's alpha, identical rating directions were commonly
observed in this study as shown in Table 6. Such agreements in rating directions
provided practical confirmation of students’ learning and progression.
Possible reasons for not obtaining statistical agreement between raters included
insufficient rater discussion prior to rating, different opportunities to ascertain target
behaviours, and the use of a conservative measure (Krippendorff’s alpha) to calculateinter-rater reliability.
Table 6: Rating directions among three SLTs
Student
1
2
3
4
5
6

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Agreements in rating directions among three SLTs
Identical ratings in 3-month follow up
Identical observation of student's regressed behaviours in 3-month follow up
Identical 4-point & higher ratings in 3-month follow up
Identical 5-point ratings for nonverbal comm + Intelligibility, above 4-point ratings for
Speech Acts in post-test and 3-month follow up
Identical 4-point ratings or higher in 3-month follow up
Identical 3-point & higher ratings in post-test (student not present at 3-month follow up)

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Differences in ratings between SLT and teachers
Both teachers’ ratings were in agreement with the study’s finding that the student
utilised greater pragmatic skills at 3-month follow up compared to pre-test although
there was no statistical agreement on the inter-rater reliability measure. The medians,
ranges and standard deviations by Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 were provided in Table 7
and Table 8.
Table 7: Teacher 1 rating of students’ pragmatic skills at pre-test, post-test and 3month follow-up
Rater: Teacher 1

Pre-Test

Post-Test

3-month follow-up

Variable
Nonverbal
Communication
SpeechIntelligibility

N

Median

Range

σ

N

Median

Range

σ

N

Median

Range

σ

6

3.00

2.8-4

0.557

6

3.50

2.8-4

0.719

6

3.88

2.8-5

0.858

6

3.00

2-3

0.408

6

3.00

3-4

0.408

6

4.50

3-5

0.983

Speech Acts

6

3.00

3

0.000

6

3.33

3-4

0.502

6

4.00

3-4.7

0.723

Table 8: Teacher 2 rating of students’ pragmatic skills at pre-test, post-test and 3month follow-up
Rater: Teacher 2

Pre-Test

Post-Test

Variable
Nonverbal
Communication
SpeechIntelligibility

N MedianRange

σ

N Median
3.38

Range
2.54.3

6

3.00

2-4

0.749

6

6

2.50

2-3

0.548

6

3.00

Speech Acts

6

3.00

2-4

0.712

6

3.34

3-month follow-upσ

N Median

Range

σ

0.683

6

3.88

3.5-4.8

0.585

3-4

0.408

6

4.00

3-4

0.408

3-4.3

0.587

6

3.85

3.7-4.7

0.384

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
The results of this study showed that all students with MID (with or without comorbid ASD) utilised more pragmatic skills behaviours after the programme. Notable
improvements were observed in their ability to initiate a simple speech act. When
students showed regression in their scores at 3-month follow-up when compared totheir post-test scores, their scores at 3-month follow-up were still an improvementcompared to their pre-test scores. The prevalence of students regressing in their newly
learnt behaviours of nonverbal communication and speech intelligibility was much
lower than speech acts at 3-month follow-up although they made notable
improvements on their speech acts.
This study suggested that a student with high nonverbal communication scores at pretest was a strong indicator to possibly achieve a high nonverbal communication scoresat post-test as well as at 3-month follow-up. A high speech intelligibility score at pretest had low indication that it would correspondent to high speech intelligibility at
post-test or low speech intelligibility at 3-month follow-up. A high speech acts scoreat pre-test was a good indication that a low speech acts score at 3-month follow-up
would be unlikely. A high speech acts scores at pre-test had moderate indication that ahigh speech acts score at post-test was likely. In addition, achieving a significant
improvement in utilising a new skill might provide an indication of the resistancelevel of regression for that new learnt skill.

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Issues relating to skill generalisation from clinical setting were minimised as
pragmatic skills training was dovetailed into the students’ work skills training. The
students learnt and practised using their pragmatic skills in the course of carrying out
their vocational task as one set of action, similar to how typical learners learn.
Further possible reason for improvements in behaviours might also attribute to theconstant prompts by their teachers/trainers for beyond SLT’s presence. The
collaboration of this programme might have increased the awareness and attention ofstaff to request for students to use the targeted pragmatic behaviours. This was in linewith Parons’ (2017) meta-analysis which suggest that the person(s) of focus is asignificant mediator of intervention effect.
In this study, the students’ speech intelligibility was primary rated on their speechvolume. Besides physiological organic factors (e.g. vocal folds, breath support),
speech volume might also be dependent on variables such as personality traits andpsychological factors (Roy et al, 2000). The statistical findings obtained in this studyof low association and significant presence between the speech intelligibility scores
was in line with this tenet.
As students’ main educators, a reliable assessment of their behaviours by teachers,
trainers, and allied health professionals would be essential in a transdisciplinary
setting. Similarly, this same importance applies to caregivers (Stolarova et al, 2014).
This study highlighted the need for continual collaboration between student’s
stakeholders. It would also be an important consideration when exploring thepossibility of extending the programme beyond school setting.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author gratefully thanks the APSN Delta Senior School staff and students (2017Year-2 LP class) as well as APSN (Chao Yang School and Tanglin School) SLTs forparticipating in this study.
Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone
is responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

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References
Bowen, C. (2011). Information for Families: Semantic and Pragmatic Difficulties.
Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ on 06 December 2017.
Hancock, Terry & Ledbetter-Cho, Katherine & Howell, Alexandria & Lang, Russell.
(2016). Enhanced Milieu Teaching. 177-218. 10.1007/978-3-319-30925-5_7.
Kaiser, A. P., & Roberts, M. Y. (2013). Parent-Implemented Enhanced Milieu
Teaching with Preschool Children with Intellectual Disabilities. Journal of Speech,
Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR, 56(1), 295–309.
http://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2012/11-0231)
Neitzel, J., & Wolery, M. (2009). Overview of prompting. Chapel Hill, NC: The
National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Frank
Porter Graham Child Development Institute, The University of North Carolina.
Parsons L., Cordier R., Munro N., Joosten A., Speyer R. (2017) A systematic review
of pragmatic language interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder.
PLoS ONE, 12 (4) , art. no. e0172242. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172242
Roy, Nelson & Bless, Diane. (2000). Personality Traits and Psychological Factors in
Voice Pathology: A Foundation for Future Research. Journal of speech, language, andhearing research : JSLHR. 43. 737-48.
Stolarova, M., Wolf, C., Rinker, T., & Brielmann, A. (2014). How to assess andcompare inter-rater reliability, agreement and correlation of ratings: an exemplary
analysis of mother-father and parent-teacher expressive vocabulary rating
pairs. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 509. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00509
Wheldall, K., Stephenson, J., & Carter, M. (2014, July). What is Direct Instruction?
Retrieved from Macquarie University Special Education Centre website
https://www.mq.edu.au/__data/assets/ pdf_file/ 0019/ 171037/MUSEC-Briefing-39What-is-direct-instruction.pdf on 06 December 2017.
Contact email: y_e_o@hotmail.com

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2C-2I-1R Approaches: Way to Reduce Math Anxiety
among Senior High School Learners
Elymar Pascual, Talangan Integrated National High School, The Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
This paper aimed at determining the possible solution to the Math anxiety of SeniorHigh School (SHS) learners of Talangan Integrated National High School (TINHS).
Alongside with teaching, the teacher-researcher explored different activities which
promote the 2C-2I-1R approaches that the Department of Education mandated to be
used for 21st century learners. These activities are TDAR (Think-Discuss-Act-Reflect)
which is a collaborative approach, RMFD (Recall-Model-Familiarize-Decide) which
is a constructivist approach, 4A’s (Activity-Analysis-Abstraction-Application) which
is an integrative approach, AICDR (Ask-Investigate-Create-Discuss-Reflect) which isan inquiry-based approach, and TTRA (Think-Talk-Read-Ask) which is a reflective
approach. A survey on Math anxiety level among 100 SHS learners of TINHS wasconducted and it was found out that they have a moderate level of Math anxiety(mean of 2.96). Different teaching approaches in teaching Mathematics, specifically
Statistics and Probability, which is a core subject offered this 2nd semester of school
year 2016-2017, are applied in classroom teaching. After exploring the different
approaches in teaching and learning for a period of one month, the Math anxiety level
was again measured using the survey question. Learners’ Math anxiety level wascomputed to be at low level (mean of 2.26). The difference between the level of Mathanxiety before the application of different approaches in teaching (2.96) and the levelof Math anxiety after the application (2.26) was deemed significant using t-test. At theend of the study, recommendations were given to master teachers, school heads,
district heads and officials, and to future researchers.
Keywords: mathematics, anxiety, performance

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction“Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics;
I assure you that mine are greater.”-Albert EinsteinOver the century, researchers, educators and mathematicians alike dealt on the issueof Math anxiety. It’s a concept that originated from Eastern countries and is being
studied thoroughly even by Western countries in the past decade.
Factors affecting Math anxiety can be attributed to many aspects. One is the Mathteacher, either the present one or the past ones. Learners may have experienced ahumiliating moment with a teacher, have clearly remembered the pain of bodyinfliction caused by an instructor, or may have developed an intimidation on theteachers’ style of teaching.
Another factor that can be considered is the world of numbers and symbols itself.
There are those who just tremble with the sight of numbers and figures even when theteaching process has not yet started. They assume or tend to think that these figures
will swallow or enshroud them totally.
And even the classmates and the environment can cause Math anxiety to learners.
When some excel or seem to know more things than others do, pressure is created in
the mind and heart of learners. They conclude that they cannot cope up with thesubject even when they haven’t tried with themselves how things in Math work.
With these factors associated with Math anxiety, many solutions have been proposedin many books and researches. There are those that focused on the strategy ofstudying to reduce Math anxiety. There are those that focus on mental andpsychological aspect to try to minimize this problem. But none so far has tried
teaching approach in giving solution to the present problem. Can different teachingapproaches be the solution to reduce Math anxiety?
The Philippine government, through the leadership of former President Benigno
Aquino III, has signed Republic Act 10533, otherwise known as the Enhanced Basic
Education Act of 2013. Stipulated in one the sections of that law is that the education
should make use of the following approaches: collaborative, constructivist,
integrative, interrogative, and reflective. Talangan National High School has lived up
with the standard of DepEd in executing these approaches in their different course
offerings, namely, General Academic Strand, Caregiving, and Automotive.
Talangan Integrated National High School is located near the town proper of
Nagcarlan, Laguna, just a kilometer before the busy market. It has existed for already46 years, and its present head is Arturo R. Moreno, Principal II. As of this second
semester, the enrollees of Senior High School in Talangan add up to 120 from four
sections (GAS, Care, and 2 Automotive classes). Their subjects this second semester
includes Practical Research, Psysical Science, Pagbasa at Pagsusuri ng Teksto,
MAPEH, Biology, Automotive, Caregiving, and Statistics and Probability.

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The Mathematics teacher (the researcher) noticed a very low performance inMathematics, especially the automotive class, last semester. Many readings cite that
low math achievement can be traced in Math anxiety. This is the reason why the
researcher would like to investigate on this issue, and propose a solution which theteacher can implement within the bounds of learning-teaching process.
Conclusion
After a month of exploring different activities that highlights the different approaches
in teaching, the 2C-2I-1R, the Math anxiety level of 100 SHS learners of Talangan
NHS decreased significantly. The specific aspect of the studies that have been dealt
with are the following:a.) Math anxiety of learners before the application of 2C-2I-1R approaches;b.) Mean level of perception of learners on the TDAR, RMFD, 4A’s, AICDR and
TTRA activities;c.) Math anxiety of learners after the application of 2C-2I-1R approaches; andd.) Significant difference level of Math anxiety before and after the 2C-2I-1R.
The findings that have been noted in this study are the following:1.) The math anxiety level of learners before the application of 2C-2I-1R
approaches is 2.96 which is interpreted as moderate level.
2.) All of the five different activities in were rated by the learners as very highly
satisfactory.
a.) TDAR Activity (Collaborative approach) has a mean level of 4.39b.) RMFD Activity (Collaborative approach) has a mean level of 4.61c.) 4A’s Activity (Collaborative approach) has a mean level of 4.38d.) AICDR Activity (Collaborative approach) has a mean level of 4.29
e.) TTRA Activity (Collaborative approach) has a mean level of 4.37
3.) The math anxiety level of learners after the application of 2C-2I-1R
approaches is 2.26 which is interpreted as low level.
4.) Using the t-test (paired sample means), the tcomp is 7.08 while the tcrit is 1.98.
Since is tcomp > tcrit, the hypothesis that there is no significant difference in themath anxiety level of the learners before and after the application of 2C-2I-1R
approaches is not sustained.
Based on the findings on this study, it is revealed that there is a significant difference
on the math anxiety level of learners before and after the application of 2C-2I-1R
approaches. Teaching approach help learners reduce their Math anxiety. The result of
this study is supported by the meta-analysis of Hembree when he looked at thedifferent studies done in Mathematics. He said that Math anxiety is related to negative
attitudes toward Math. Since the learners in this study have a positive attitude
regarding the activities they have undergone, as shown by their very high satisfaction
rating, their Math anxiety is reduced.

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References
Ashcraft, Mark H. (2002), "Math anxiety: Personal, educational, and cognitive
tyjuconsequences", Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11: 181– 185
Bartlett, Leo. (1990). Teacher development through reflective teaching. In J.C.
Richards and D. Nunan (Eds), Second Language Teacher Education (pp. 2002-214).
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Contact email: elymarpascual@rocketmail.com

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An Analysis on the Perceptions of High School Teachers in Manila, Philippines
Towards Student Data Privacy and Its Legal Implications
Juan Carlo Zamora, De La Salle University, The Philippines
Madeleine Tan, De La Salle University, The Philippines
Sharon Albacete, St. Paul University-Manila, The Philippines
Rosemin Canulo, De La Salle University, The Philippines
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Abstract
Information and communication technology (ICT) has been making its way into ourlives since the invention of Internet and its applications, including the daily usage ofinternet social media. In recent years, it has conquered the education industry,
providing school administrators and teachers a more challenging, yet effective andpractical way of managing school operations. Teachers have been using technologyenhanced data collection and analysis as tools to aid their schools in planning, andimplementing personalized, student-centered learning experiences for their students.
While there are numerous positive effects, it goes without notice that privacy ofstudents is being sacrificed. The Philippines enacted its privacy law, the Data Privacy
Act of 2012 to protect its people from the growing use of data. As the law is relatively
new, the researchers investigated the perceptions of high school teachers from public
and private schools in Manila, Philippines towards data privacy and its legal
implications. The methods used in obtaining the perception of the teachers were
through an online survey using convenience sampling. The survey used a Likert scalein asking the perception of the teachers regarding potential lawsuits and data usage
activities. Analysis administered for the perception are descriptive statistics, validity
and reliability using Cronbach's alpha, and correlation of perception against different
demographic profiles. Results show that the perception of the teachers show
significance in age group and awareness of the data privacy law.
Keywords: Philippines, Data Privacy, High Schooliafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Schools of today are making the most out of the use of technology. The prevalence
and use of computers, the Internet, and social media are continuously evolving andexpanding; and concomitantly so are the legal, ethical, and practical implications in
the employment sector and beyond (Cavivo, Majtaba, Muffler, & Samuel, 2013). Asof the end of 2017, there were approximately 4.2 billion Internet users around theworld, and Asian countries take approximately 2 billion Internet users (Internet World
Stats, 2018). According to the National Association of Secondary School Principals(n.d.), school administrators and teachers have been using technology-enhanced datacollection and analysis as tools to aid their schools in planning, and implementing
personalized, student-centered learning experiences for their students. Though it
seems that current technology has made access to data much easier and reliable, there
are pitfalls to it and one is the increasing trend of sharing private student
information (Bloom and Attai, 2016). This student information not only includes
personal demographic information, but also student abilities, strengths andweaknesses, and habits and routines.
The rapid increase in data production and collection in schools have the potential to
make students targets of cybercrime; which includes fraud, cyberbullying, and theft.
In the past decade, several countries have produced data protection law to protect its
citizens. In the Philippines, the ‘Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA)’ is a safeguard
enacted by the government to such pitfall. According to the DPA, their main goal is
to “protect the fundamental human right of privacy, of communication while ensuring
free flow of information to promote innovation and growth”. As it is relatively
new, this research would like to gather and compare perceptions of teachers fromprivate and public high schools in Manila, Philippines on the act.
In this research paper, the group aims to provide answers an
explanationtothefollowing research questions: RQ1. Do teachers know the rights ofthe students' personal data? RQ2. Do teachers respect and protect the personal data of
the students? RQ3. How does the teachers perceive legal threats in their role of data
management? These questions inquire about the privacy concerns with the usage ofsocial media and usage of personal data for academic use.
Review of Related Literature
Privacy is a right (MacCarthy, 2014). According to Yang and Wang (2014), it is
the “desire of people to choose freely under what circumstances, and to what extent,
they will expose themselves, their attitude, and their behavior to others”. In otherwords, a person chooses what information of his could be shared, disclosed, and used.
There are rules created on privacy, with consideration to the context, because
these "govern the transmission of information and serve to protect the integrity of thecontext", as stated in MacCarthy (2014). With access to information just a click away,
how can one be protected?
Data Privacy Systems
Data privacy is a common issue in today's technology-plagued society. Free speech is
integrated into different social media platforms. Social media has been consuming

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countless minutes of our everyday life and it is one of the primary sources of personal
information, such as Facebook and Twitter, especially for the youth (Clemons andWilson, 2015). An ethical problem revolving around sociology may occur whenevertechnology companies source data, in which a person may not be fully aware on theusage of their personal human data. User- generated media is rapidly increases and it
is impossible for any human to scrutinize all of the data to see which media affects
privacy (Smith, Szongott, Henne & Von Voigt ,n.d.). In 2014, an estimate of 2.5
quintillion bytes of data are created each day (Amihan, 2017).
The internet provides its users the opportunity to communicate with people around theglobe, research and share information, and conduct podcasts, classes, and videos toname a few; and any of such connection to the internet could potentially be utilized incollecting and/or accessing data (NASSP, n.d.). These modes of communication
through the internet transmit the littlest of information that is being uploaded into the
web or in other words, whatever is inputted, can be retrieved and used.
Technology-enhanced data collection and analysis have “the power to transformteaching and learning by helping educators identify and provide supports to allstudents, assisting teachers and school leaders in improving their instructional
practices, and informing schoolwide improvement activities" (NASSP, n.d.);
Furthermore, these data can be used as reference and support in creating activities that
can improve the educational system. According to Strauss (2015), most of the student
data gathered in schools are through students' online usage or the information
provided by teachers, staff, and parents; and this information may be composed of thestudent's demographics, school and discipline records, disabilities, medical history
and records, and Individual Education Plan to name a few.
While having online database systems has its many advantages, it comes with its
comparable responsibilities. Schools have collected student data which they had
created, used, and stored over the years, through different means; and with this comes
the obligation of keeping student information private (Bloom and Attai, 2016).
There have been recent controversies involving such obligation that took down atleast two well-known companies namely 23andm3 and inBloom, the latter being a$100-million non-profit corporation backed up by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York (Boyd and Metcalf, 2014). The
said corporation's mission is to personalize learning through the collection of student
data and store these in a cloud for teachers to be able to track, customize lessons inreal time, and share the records with educational tool developers for better and more
effective construction of resources (Singer, 2013). However, a few months later,
controversies arose which led to the company to shut down for reasons that there areno policies on the security of information and the amassing increase of information
about the students that are stored, leading parents, school board members, and privacy
lawyers to gravely object (Singer, 2013).
School administrators and teachers have it easier today when it comes to collecting
and analyzing data at the school level because of technology (National Association ofSecondary School Principals, n.d.). With the benefits and loopholes of online databasesystems, there must be safeguards to the usage of these data. School administrators
must have policies, besides those of the government, to govern who can access

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student information, how these should be stored, and what information can only beshared to private companies such as third-party vendors (Singer, 2013). Legal
contracts and agreements must be clearly discussed, and the partner vendors are wellaware of the privacy laws on such as well (Bloom and Attai, 2016). As a provider ofeducation, a school has the responsibility to protect its staff, stakeholders, andstudents, be it in physical form or through information systems, and how these arebeing managed within its environment (Aston, 2017). They are accountable as to what
is being done to the information.
For students, each of them has personal, identifiable information in a school's
database, for whatever purpose; and therefore, for their protection, there must be
movements towards student data privacy as to present the "legal and ethicallimitations on the collection, use, sharing, and handling of student personal
identifiable information". (Bloom and Attai, 2016). In our technology-dependentsociety today, laws must be made to govern such handling of private information.
Free Speech Rights of Teachers
The credibility of teachers is affected by their social media content, in which theperception of the students show that teacher credibility affects whether it is acceptable
for a teacher to have Facebook profile (Wang, Z., et. al., 2015). In light of this,teachers are believed to be disciplined whenever students’ profiles are being
monitored by educators, even when the profile is publicly accessible, since thestudents have rights over the information posted (Folger, T. S., et. al., 2009).
Educational institutions might create strict rules for the use of social media byteachers and students if there is encouragement in the use of social media, whatever
the medium. On the other hand, if there is discouragement or banning of the use ofsocial media, the development of their innovative creativity may hinder (Folger, T. S.,
et. al. 2009).
Legal Implications of the Data Privacy Act of 2012
In the Philippines, with the rapid increase in internet usage, an act was passed toaddress 21st century crimes, specifically the concern on internet and information. ThisAct is known to be RA 10173 or otherwise known as the "Data Privacy Act of2012".
The National Privacy Commission (n.d.) states that the Act “(1) protects the privacyof individuals while ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation andgrowth; (2) regulates the collection, recording, organization, storage, updating or
modification, retrieval, consultation, use, consolidation, blocking, erasure or
destruction of personal data; and (3) ensures that the Philippines complies withinternational standards set for data protection through National Privacy Commission(NPC)”. It is the country’s first comprehensive data protection law.
Based from Nicolas and De Vega Law Offices (2016), "Data Privacy Act of 2012protects all forms of information that are personal, private or privileged. It covers all
persons, whether natural or juridical, with particular emphasis to companies or
juridical entities involved in the processing of protected information", though it is

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worth noting that the law only protects private information, not of which are publicly
accessible. Wapp (2017) defines private personal information as being:····

About an individual’s race, ethnic origin, marital status, age, color, andreligious, philosophical or political affiliations;
About an individual’s health, education, genetic or sexual life of a person,or to any proceeding or any offense committed or alleged to havecommitted;
Issued by government agencies “peculiar” (unique) to an individual, suchas social security number;Marked as classified by executive order or act of Congress.

When personal, private, or privileged data are to be collected and processed, thepurpose must first be specified, legitimate, transparent, legal, and reasonable(Amihan, 2017; Wapp, 2017). Certain circumstances have been identified though as
exceptions when it comes to processing of such data and Wapp (2007) stated these:·
Consent of the data subject;·
Pursuant to law that does not require consent;·
Necessity to protect life and health of a person;·
Necessity for medical treatment;· Necessity to protect the lawful rights of data subjects in court proceedings,
legal proceedings, or regulation.
Second, the consented information can be shared to only the agreed recipient. The
information, kept accurate and relevant, must be used only for the stated and agreed
upon purposes and kept for as long as reasonably needed (Amihan, 2017). Third
parties, most especially, who process personal information must have and utilize
contracts or other reasonable means that align with the Act’s implementing rules andregulations (IRR) to “ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of thepersonal data processed, prevent its use for unauthorized purposes, and otherwise
comply with the law” (Parsons, M. and Crawford, L., 2016). When unauthorized
person has acquired any sensitive personal information or information that may be
used to commit identity fraud, the personal information controllers must notify NPC
within 72 hours as mandatory breach notification (Parsons, M. and Crawford, L.,2016).
Third, when the personal information is no longer needed, it must be securely
discarded. It must not be visible and accessible to unauthorized parties (Amihan,2017). When handled improperly, the Act states that one is punishable for up to six(6) years in prison or up to five million pesos (PHP 5,000,000), depending on thenature and degree of the violation (Amihan, 2017).
National Privacy Commission
A commission was created to enforce the R.A. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of2012. The National Privacy Commission is assigned to check and validate whether
companies are compliant with the element stated in the republic act. The five (5)elements, as discussed in Amihan (2017), are:

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2.
3.
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Appointing a Data Protection Officer
Conducting a privacy impact assessment
Creating a privacy knowledge management program
Implementing a privacy and data protection policy
Exercising a breach reporting procedure

According to Amihan (2017), the Data Privacy Act of 2012 requires companies withat least 250 employees or have access to personal and identifiable information of atleast 1,000 people to register with the National Privacy Commission and comply with
the Act. Furthermore, as it is relatively new, many are still unaware that they areaffected by the law (Amihan, 2017).
Research Methodology
The survey was developed and pretested on the respondents of private schools andpublic high schools, also known as government schools, in Manila, Philippines.
Participants were collected through convenience sampling, in which the researchers
sent survey request through the principals of the schools around Manila. Participants
must be currently employed as a teacher full-time teacher in a government accredited
school. The survey is voluntary, the teachers from each school were not forced by theprincipal to answer the survey. Out of 534 survey requests only 44 returned to answer
the survey. The personal information gathered through this survey is kept intimate
and is treated with utmost respect.
The survey, which consists of 25 questions, inquires about the online behavior ofteachers, and perceived legal threats. The composition of the survey consists of
6 questions on demographic, 6 technical data, and 13 questions on perceptions, which
are divided into three parts.
The questions on perceptions were initially 25 questions, but were then modified toand reduced to 13 questions. The reason for the decrease in questions is to maintain agood score on the reliability test using Cronbach’s alpha. Then, perception questions
were divided into three parts. The first two categories of questions about perceptions
are adapted from information security and education literature, specifically the survey
items related to Privacy Concern for Communication Tools, and Risk and Severity of
exposing others were adapted from study of James, T. L. et al (2017) and Dhir (2016).
The questions about legal implications are developed by the researchers with theassistance of lawyer specializing in education and working as a full-time professor ina university in the Philippines, and it is also based on the current Philippine laws
about data privacy and cybercrime. These questions are on a Likert scale from 1(Highly Disagree) to 7 (Highly Agree).
Table 1.
Sources of Survey Items
Constructs
Items Adapted From:
Privacy Concern for Communication Tools (PC)
Dhir (2016); James (2017)
Risk and Severity of Exposing Others (RS)
Dhir (2016); James (2017)
Scale Developed by Authors
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The framework of this research is based on the hypothesis that if the teachers are notefficient and knowledgeable about technology and data, then they are more likely toperceive threats. The researchers made four hypotheses to answer the researchquestions. Specifically, the first hypothesis (H1) connects that Privacy Concern ofCommunication tools is positively associated with Risk and Severity of Exposing
Others; second hypothesis (H2) is about Risk and Severity of Exposing Others having
a significant influence on Perceived Legal Threat; and lastly the last hypothesis (H3),which answers the main inquiry, is about Perceived Legal Threats have a significant
difference between technical aspects and demographic profiles of the teachers.
Using the SPSS as a statistical tool, the researchers tested the measures ofcentral tendency, with mean and standard deviation for the analysis of
the Likert scale. Validity, reliability, and discriminant validity were measured forthe sub constructs items in the survey.
Results and Discussion
As seen in Table 2, it can be observed that most of the teachers are females. Most of
the age group comes from the Millennial generation, which was defined by Dimock(2018). Most of the teachers comes from private institutions. The teaching experienceof the teachers range highly from 3-4 years, while the next large population comesfrom those who have though for more than 5 years. The teachers are taking graduate
studies and have taken graduate degree exceeds those who only continue to teach witheducational attainment of a bachelor’s degree.
From the data, it can be inferred that the teachers are experienced teaching andhandling students. Furthermore, the professional qualifications of the teachers relating
to education are substantial. For most of the teachers, they have most likely have been
exposed to the Data Privacy Act from its conception to its implementation by the timethey started their teaching profession.

Demographics

Table 2.
Demographic Profile of Teachers
Category

Sex

Male
FemaleAge Group
Generation Z (Born in 1997 –2012)
Millenials (Born in 1980 –1996)
Generation X (Born in 1965 –1980)
School TypePrivatePublicUndergraduate degree is in Yes
Education
No
HighestEducational
Graduate Degree
Attainment

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Frequency(Percentage)
11 (25)33 (75)2 (4.5)38 (86.4)
4 (9.1)34 (77.3)
10 (22.7)
31 (70.4)
13 (29.6)
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Some Master's Units
Undergraduate
1-2 years
3-4 years
5-10 years>10 years

17 (38.6)
15 (34.1)
9 (20.5)
23 (52.3)
7 (15.9)
5 (11.4)

The questions asked for the technical knowledge of teachers related to the potential
data breach of information that the teacher may accidentally release. Teachers could
accidentally release students’ information without warning, and thus they must be
trained for data protection practices (Chou & Chou, 2016; Chou & Chen, 2016). The
data Risk of Data Breach shows that there is a potential that the personal data of thestudents may be stored in a teacher’s possession without the approval of the school.
The final count for the technical knowledge of the teachers are presented in Table 3.
Majority of the teachers have knowledge about the laws covering data privacy in thePhilippines. The researchers believe that if the teachers are knowledgeable in the laws
regarding the rights of every person in the Philippines and their perceive legal threatsis present in their mindset. This also answers RQ1, in which teachers know theirrights and the rights of the students. Thus, it cannot be dismissed that the teachers are
not apathetic to the laws protecting everyone when it comes to handling sensitive
data. RQ2 can also be answered in the information below, in which the teachers may
have shared the data or have kept confidential data that can be potentially distributed.
Respecting and protecting the data of the students may differ in definition for eachteacher and having the ability to protect these data may also differ in terms ofefficiency and use of different instruments.

Technical Aspect

Table 3.
Technical Knowledge of Teachers
Items

AnswerYes NoRisk of Data Breach
I keep the records of my students in my personal 32 12
computerI save the records of my students in different tools 35 9(Drobox, flashdrive, email, Google drive, etc.)
I have access to my students' personal data 24 20
without signing any consent forms on disclosure
Knowledge
About I have at least read basic information in Data 27 17
Philippine Laws
Privacy Act of 2012
I have at least read basic information in the 33 11
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012
I have at least read the Philippine 1987 38 6
Constitution
A good reliability of the Cronbach’s alpha is greater than 0.7 (Peterson, 1994). The
Cronbach’s alpha of all the final survey items were greater than 0.7. As can be seen in
Table 4, the survey items show a good indicator of reliability. Additionally, theISSN: 2186-5892

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average for the PC and RS leans on the agreement that there is a threat to certain
behaviors and activities that they perceive to be happening.
Table 4.
Reliability of Survey Items
Item
Cronbach’s
Alpha
Privacy Concern for Communication Tools
(PC)
0.71
Risk and Severity of Exposing Others (RS)0.73
Perceived Legal Threats (PL)
0.81

Mean Std.
Dev.
5.15 1.28
5.43
4.32

1.33
1.24

The final items in the survey, along with the means and standard deviations of each
item are provided in Table 5. For each item in the PC, it can be observed that most of
the answers tend to agree with the communication tools have some privacy concerns.
As for items in RS, teachers can be seen to agree that their behavior may risk of
exposing others. This can be seen to be related to the items in Table 3. As for PL, theperception of teachers is leaning towards being more on the neutral when it comes totheir legal threats.
The role of the teachers in answering RQ3, could be initially identified by the resultsin the individual means of each item under PL. It seems that the teachers perception oflegal threats is not high as opposed to the expectations of the researchers, in which it
is expected to lean towards the scale of agreement.
Table 5.
Descriptive Statistics of Perception Items
Item
Indicator
PC1
PC2
PC3
PC4
PC5
RS1
RS2
RS3
PL1
PL2
PL3

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Mean Std.
Dev.
Through social media, I can get Information
5.73 1.68
Through social media, I can share information
5.50 1.52
Others may experience leaks of personal information 4.45 2.19
because of what I do on social media
If I use social media, it is likely that the personal 4.82 2.06
information of some other people may be posted.
It is possible that other people’s personal information 4.59 1.85
may be shared by my use of social media.
If I shared somebody’s personal information through 6.00 1.75
social media, it could be harmful for that other person.
It could be unfortunate for a person if his or her 6.14 1.41
personal information was spread by my social media
activity.
Posting the grade of my students in a social media 4.42 2.04
group or online education platform is not tolerable
It is acceptable that a teacher loses its license if they 4.41 2.15
were put on trial for data privacy
I am vulnerable to lawsuits for my practice in handling 4.41 1.99
student data
I think that my employer is responsible for potential 5.45 1.45
lawsuits regarding student data, and I may pose as an

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accessory to such lawsuits
Being unaware to some data privacy definitions makes 3.41
me worried for my legal safety
I see the Data Privacy Act can harm me in the current 4.41
situation

1.74
2.15

PL5
(7-point Likert scale; 1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree)
In testing the three hypotheses, the results of different perceptions together with thetechnical and demographic data are correlated with each other. The results for thecorrelation of PC and RS were insignificant (p>0.05), thus rejecting H1, which then it
can be inferred that the perceived behavior for the privacy concern does not affect therisk and severity of exposing others. The results show that is not similar to the study
by James (2017), in which there is a significance for similar items of RS and PC.
As for RS correlating with PL shows that they are positively significant (H2: 0.467;
p<0.01), in which that there is a reason to believe that there is a legal threat if there isa high risk of exposing others.
Lastly, Table 6 shows significance are age, years of teaching, and have read the Data
Privacy Act of 2012. This result is straightforward, in which it can be interpreted thatas legal threats may come easily to teachers who have aged more and had taught morethroughout years of teaching and work experience. The correlation for reading thedata privacy law is set at 1 for those who have answered Yes, thus it can be inferredthat those who have read the law about data privacy are much more concerned forlegal threats. The results for the significance of some demographics and sometechnical knowledge does not fully supports the totality of H3. The results could be
improved by reinforcing different options in the perceptions on legal threats.
Table 6.
Summarized Results for Correlation
Category
Perceived Legal Threats (PL)PearsonSig.
Correlation(2-tailed)
Age
0.629
0.000**
Years of Teaching
0.475
0.001**
I have at least read basic information in Data
0.352
0.019*
Privacy Act of 2012
*Correlation is significant at: (p<0.05); Correlation is significant at **(p<0.01)
Conclusion and Recommendation
It can be inferred that teachers in this study are more likely to perceive threats if they
are aware of the potential lawsuits applicable to them based on their behavior.
Overall, the threats of inhibiting the freedom of the teachers are near to neutral, and it
can be implied that they may not see that potential lawsuits are imminent. Perhaps,
due to the relatively new implementation of multiple data privacy laws, issues oflawsuits are not entirely visible to the teaching community. The perceptions on theprivacy concern for the use of communication tools and risks of exposing others

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shows that teachers could have potentially made minor breach in privacy of student
data but shows little concern if there would be legal ramifications in the future.
Despite these findings, our study is without its limitations. There are numerous rooms
for improvements and opportunities that can be explored. Perhaps, future research
could dive into topics that involve a holistic environment of the school setting, whereadministrators, and the student body are involved. Aside from instruction, theprofessional and social environment among different countries would be potentiallygood for exploration. The study was done on a limited scope involving only the cityof Manila in the Philippines, in which the results may differ dramatically to otherregions of the country or differ from different countries.
Nevertheless, our study has investigated the legal perceptions of the teachers throughthe Philippine context. We believe that there is a wide potential for research in teacher
behavior and data privacy. Our study introduces the different concepts of data privacyin the Philippine context, and it could serve Filipino educators well for building on thegrowing knowledge of data privacy and the views on its legal implications.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our professor Atty. Jocelyn Cruz, faculty and former dean of
De La Salle University’s (DLSU) College of Law, for encouraging us in making thisresearch. We would also like to express gratitude to all of our colleagues, friends, andfellow teachers who have helped in gathering data. This research would not also be
possible without the guidance of Dr. Ferdinand Pitagan, former chair of Educational
Leadership and Management Department of DLSU, for his wisdom in being
productive in research writing.

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References
Amihan. (2017, July 10). The beginner's guide to ra 10173 (data privacy act of 2012).
Retrieved from https://amihan.net/2017/07/10/beginners_guide_to_ra_10173/
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Chou, H.-L., & Chen, C.-H. (2016). Beyond identifying privacy issues in e-learning
settings–Implications for instructional designers. Computers & Education, 103, 124–
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Chou, H., & Chou, C. (2016). Computers in Human Behavior An analysis of multiple
factors relating to teachers ’ problematic information security behavior. Computers in
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Foulger, T. S., Ewbank, A. D., Kay, A., Popp, S. O., & Carter, H. L. (2009). Moralspaces in MySpace: Preservice teachers’ perspectives about ethical issues in social
networking. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(1), 1-28.

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James, T. L., Wallace, L., Warkentin, M., Kim, B. C., & Collignon, S. E. (2017).
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Yang, F., & Wang, S. (2014). Students' perception toward personal information andprivacy disclosure in e-learning questionnaire. PsycTESTS Dataset, 13(1).
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Contact email: juan_carlo_zamora@dlsu.edu.phmadeleine_rose_tan@dlsu.edu.phsharon_albacete@dlsu.edu.phrosemin.laguerta@dlsu.edu.ph

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Mind Mapping and Science Performance of Grace 5 Pupils
of San Juan Elementary School, Sta. Cruz, Laguna
Nilda San Miguel, San Juan Elementary School, The Philippines
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Abstract
This study aimed in determining the effect of mind mapping to the science
performance of Grade 5 Pupils of San Juan Elementary School. Two strategies were
executed by the researcher in order to analyze the performance of 40 pupils. For the
direct teaching, the teacher delivered the topic on “Female Reproductive System”
with proper procedure – from motivation to evaluation. Another strategy being
executed by the teacher is by integrating mind mapping so as to evaluate the students’
understanding using the same topic. Using direct teaching and multimedia
presentation, pupils obtained a mean of 2.15 and sd 1.66 in a 5-item quiz. On theother hand, integration of mind mapping generated a mean of 3.56 and sd 1.38. Lower
coefficient of variation was observed in the result of integrating mind mapping (0.39)
than the result of direct teaching (0.77), showing that integrating mind mapping in theteaching process generated a less varied scores than direct teaching. Using t-test forindependent samples, assuming equal variances, the t-computed was -4.11 while the tcritical was 1.99. These values showed that integrating mind mapping has significant
effect to the Science performance of the pupils. The conclusion is supported by the pvalue 0.00. Recommendations to Science teachers, school heads, district supervisors
and future researchers were given at the end of the study. Promotion of mind mappingin teaching should be one of the foci of educators. The teacher-researcher reflectedalso on the importance of involving the learners on the process of teaching-learning.
Keywords: mind, mapping, science, performance

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Introduction
Education is the process of transferring knowledge to the next generation. It is alsopreserving information so that the future generation can still benefit from the patienceand determination of the past.
This is the reason why the Department of Education (DepEd) is continually
improving the curriculum. From BEC Curriculum, to RBEC, then the Understanding
by Design (UBD), and the latest which is the K to 12 Basic Education Program.
This K to 12 Basic Education program came from the concept in the international
scenario. There are many countries around the world, even countries from Asia,
which uses this twelve-year development program for the basic education, and thePhilippines is already lagging behind this educational setting. Singapore has goneahead of in such a way that they have already developed their high standard ofeducation system. Many countries are importing their materials especially in Mathand Science subjects. This country is topping in the list of quality education base fromthe internationally conducted contests and exams like the one being done by the
Trends in Math and Science Studies (TIMSS).
But how should knowledge be transferred to students in such a way that theknowledge would be retained to them? Many studies have been conducted toinvestigate on the effectiveness of different strategies like cognitive approach,deductive approach, inductive approach, spoon-feeding approach, peer-tutoring,group activity, simulation, and many other means of instructing.
When it comes to Science subject, what would be an effective way so that students
would easily grasp the concepts and connected ideas to a certain topic? This is thefocus of this study.
The San Juan Elementary School started as an Annex to Bubukal Elementary School.
It has been operating since 2006. The third batch of grade five has completed thecourse requirement from the Department of Education last school year 2016-2017.
After the recognition ceremony, the Parents-Teachers Association pushed through its
independency from Bubukal Elementary School and the local government granted theautonomy through the able leadership of Dr. Myra D. Collado.
There here are 40 grade five students and their Science subject is being handled by the
researcher of this study. The topics in this subject follow the topics as line-up by
DepEd under the K to 12 program. It includes the system of the human bodies, taking
care of health, healthy foods, the ecosystem, plants and animals, our environment, andthe universe.
To learn these topics, the teacher implements many strategies: experimentation, group
activities, lecture method, exploratory activity, investigative projects, and mind
mapping.
How is the mind mapping learning style in terms of the output in the exams andquizzes of these grade five students? Are they learning much in the same level or

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degree that they learn using the lecture type method or the typical visual aid method?
These are the questions that the researcher has in mind in the beginning of the study.
Conclusion
The two teaching processes being compared are classroom sessions without the
integration of mind mapping learning style and classroom sessions with the
integration of mind mapping learning style. Without the integration of peer mind
mapping style, the learners got a mean of 2.15 and an SD of 1.66 out of a 5-item word
problem quiz on the topic of “Female Reproductive System”. On the other hand, with
the integration of mind mapping learning style, the learners’ mean is 3.56 and SD is1.38. This shows that learners did better in the teaching-learning process when mind
mapping learning style was integrated to learn concepts and skill in Science. Using ttest for independent samples, the T-critical is 1.99 while the T-computed is 4.11.
Since the absolute value of the T-computed is greater than the T-critical, it can be said
that there is a significant difference between the two means. The P-value 0.00 which
is lower than the alpha 0.05 supports the claim that there is a significant difference
between the scores in quiz without the integration of mind mapping learning style andwith the integration of mind mapping learning style, thus, the implication that theteaching process affects the Science performance of grade 5 learners. When
integration of mind mapping learning style is used alongside teaching and learning,higher Science performance is exhibited by the learners compare with the teachingprocess without the integration of mind mapping learning style. These findings revealthat mind mapping is of great value to the teaching of science. This is in agreementwith Toi (2009) shows that Mind Mapping can help children recall words more
effectively than using lists, with improvements in memory of up to 32%.

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References
Al-Jarf, R. (2009), ‘Enhancing Freshman students’ Writing Skills with a Mind
Mapping software’. Paper presented at the 5th International Scientific Conference,eLearning and Software for Education, Bucharest, April 2009.
Boyson, G. (2009), ‘The Use of Mind Mapping in Teaching and Learning’. The
Learning Institute, Assignment 3.
Cain, M. E. (2001/2002), ‘Using Mind Maps to raise standards in literacy, improve
confidence and encourage positive attitudes towards learning’. Study conducted at
Newchurch Community Primary School, Warrington.
D’Antoni, A. V., and Pinto Zipp, G. (2005), ‘Applications of the Mind Map Learning
Technique in Chiropractic Education’. Journal of Chiropractic Education, 19:53-4.
Farrand, P., Hussain, F. and Hennessy E. (2002), ‘The efficacy of the ‘mind map’study technique’. Medical Education, Vol. 36 (5), pp 426-431.
Goodnough, K. and Long, R. (2002), ‘Mind Mapping: A Graphic Organizer for thePedagogical Toolbox’. Science Scope, Vol. 25, No. 8, pp 20-24.
Goodnough, K. and Woods, R. (2002), ‘Student and Teacher Perceptions of Mind
Mapping: A Middle School Case Study’. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting ofAmerican Educational Research Association, New Orleans, 1st to 5th April 2002.
Holland, B., Holland, L. and Davies, J. (2003/2004), ‘An investigation into theconcept of Mind Mapping and the use of Mind Mapping software to support
andimprove student academic performance’. Learning and Teaching Projects 2003/2004,
pp 89-94.
Mento, A. J., Martinelli, P. and Jones R. M. (1999), ‘Mind Mapping in Executive
Education: Applications and Outcomes’. The Journal of Management Development,
Vol. 18, Issue 4.
Toi, H (2009), ‘Research on how Mind Map improves Memory’. Paper presented at
the International Conference on Thinking, Kuala Lumpur, 22nd to 26th June 2009.
Contact email: nildssanmiguel@gmail.com

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Theories on Self-Reflection in Education
Anna Belobrovy, Reitaku University, Japan
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Abstract
Self-reflection can be recognized as a process that gives students opportunities to stopand be reflective about the learning that has taken place (Davies, Herbst, & Busick,2013). This study provides analysis of the existing theoretical background on thevalue and role of learner self-reflection in education in general and language
education in particular. This paper will also discuss the perspectives of activeclassroom research based on the studies on reflective learning through journal writing.
In addition, it will overview the contribution to the learners' awareness of journal
writing as a medium of self-reflection of their language skill development andprogress. In conclusion, this paper will suggest possible outcomes of reflective
learning, such as pedagogical implications of perception, goal-setting, learning
difficulties and motivation, together with curriculum-related aspects, such as setting
customized curricular goals and adjusting activity choices.
Keywords: Self-reflection, Pedagogy, Teacher Development, Learner Development,
Learner Autonomy

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Introduction
Self-reflection and its contribution to the field of general learner development hasgathered abundant attention in research literature over recent years. The recognitionof its significance in terms of learners' empowerment, encouragement and taking
responsibility for their learning in undeniable. It can naturally activate further
engagement with learning material, deepen learners' understanding of the topic andreinforce independent thinking and in that way create an effective learning
environment. (Park 2003, Little 2007).
While on the learners' side the benefits could be clear and comprehensible (Noels
1999), the real challenge lies in finding similar benefits on the educators' side. This
paper was designed in order to assist the educators on their way to deeper
understanding and discovery of the implicit pedagogical value of their learners'
metacognitive reflective processes, by describing the views on the general roles ofself-reflection in pedagogy in the literature and offering an overview of the mostcommon mediums of self-reflection in language pedagogy and their conceivablebenefits for language educators.
The theoretical background that would be demonstrated in the next section andrelevant for this research included research on the definition of self-reflection and its
role in education in general, journal writing as reflection medium, and learnerautonomy.
The Overview of Self-Reflection in the Literature
The research literature below illustrates all the possible connections between students’
self-evaluation, self-reflection, autonomy development and diary writing in EFL
classroom. It elaborates on theoretical background to the role of self-reflection in thelearning process in general and second-language learning in particular. It also
provides valuable explanation of the purposes diary entries serve as conceivable selfreflective medium in terms of building learner metacognitive awareness of their own
learning and mastering successful learning behaviors as life-skill. (Sevilla, Gamboa,
2016)
Research on Self-reflection
The metacognitive process of self-reflection has received attention in the literaturefrom various angles such as contribution to learning environment, learning process,learning and teaching styles. For instance, Sivasubramaniam (2011) has considered
the basic and irreplaceable elements of constructivist learning environments, which
include: the view of knowledge as mutually constructed between learners andinstructors, the use of authentic activities and tasks, the provision of “stimulus forreflecting on experience”, and the acknowledgement of “collaborative construction ofknowledge through interpersonal associations/negotiations” (p.9). In pedagogicalpractice, such principles are to be translated into opportunities for meaningfulreflective learning process, student initiated goal-setting in the classroom, learnerautonomy and initiative, and opportunities to become active members of the learning
community and to be able to drive lessons and “negotiate strategies and alter content”(Watson, 2001, pp. 140).

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In the context of autonomous learning skills development and student-initiated goalsetting it was also claimed that self-reflection can be harmonized with the principles
of student-centered learning that has called the attention of many scholars in the pastfew decades. (e.g., Gronich, 2004; Frances and Rose, 2009; Hickman, 2010; andQasem, 2010 as cited in Sevilla and Gamboa, 2016)
Stevens and Cooper (2009) provide further perspectives on the nature of reflection
and learning from experiences based on the work by John Dewey. They focus on how
to perform effective reflection, describing it as an active, intentional, and journalistic
cycle. (Stevens and Cooper, 2009 as cited in Desjarlais and Smith, 2011)
Dewey (1991) refers to reflection as to an active and intentional process that canbegin with some discomfort with an experience and end with learning and deeper
insights. According to Dewey, aspects of reflective thought include perplexity,
elaboration, generation hypothesis, comparing hypothesizes, and taking action. In his
later work Dewey emphasizes the positive roles reflection might play in fostering
students’ self-reflection, critical thinking, and in a demonstrable way development ofprofessional values or skills. Dewey has defined reflection as “active, persistent, andcareful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of thegrounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends” (p.9)
Boud et al. (1985) define reflection in the context of learning and equally to Deweyemphasize one’s personal experience as the object of reflection, as referring to “those
intellectual and affective activities that individuals engage into explore theirexperience, which leads to new understanding and appreciations” (Boud et al., 1985,
p.19 as quoted in Lew and Schmidt, 2011, p.530). Moon (1999) describes reflection
as a “form of mental processing with a purpose and/or anticipated outcome that is
applied to relatively complex or unstructured ideas for which there is not an obvious
solution” (p. 23). Lew and Schmidt (2011) view self-reflection as a:
Process which the learner undergoes to look back on his past learning experiences
and what he did to enable learning to occur (i.e. self-reflection on how the learning
took place) and the exploration of connections between the knowledge that was taught
and learner’s own ideas about them (i.e. self-reflection on what was learned). The
authors claim that consistent engagement in both processes by the learners bypracticing self-reflection lead to better academic achievement.
Finally, self-reflection, as seen by Lew and Schmidt (2011), reflects the view of selfreflection by Steven and Cooper (2009). As Steven and Cooper describe it andsummarize the matter in an inclusive way, the reflective phase involves focusing on
what as experience means and how it is related to past learning. In comparison, Schon(1983) has two processes: reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, which hedescribes as components of the development of expertise. In terms of learner benefits
from the process, some studies see self-reflection as a tool for motivating andenhancing learning, fostering autonomy and shifting some of the learning
responsibilities from the instructor to the learner. (Noels 1999) Goal-setting andproactive use of strategies as logical outcomes of the reflective process are expected
to enable learners to attribute success or failure to their own level of effort andstrategy use, rather than factors outside their control such as luck or task difficulty.

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This ability empowers learners and helps them develop a greater sense ofachievement. (Graham, 2004)
Research on Journal Writing as Self-Reflection Medium
Raelin (2002) and Amulia (2004) emphasized the roles of the reflective practices as“the practice of periodically stepping back to ponder the meaning of what has recently
transpired to ourselves and to others in our immediate environment” (Raelin, 2002).
He presents it as a public and open process by which an individual’s interpretations,evaluation, and assumptions are subjected to the review of others in order to avoid
bias and errors in perceptions of reality (Desjarlais, Smith, 2011). Amulya states the
purpose of reflection is to learn from experiences. She suggests journaling as a way tothink about an experience, as a process.
Marefat (2002) notes that in order to gain insights into language learning studies andto get closer to learner needs, the researcher is required to guide the learners to
examine their own behavior, i.e. introspection, or as Walker (2006) puts it, apedagogic technique which promotes reflection.
As it appears in Park (2003), the learning journals have sufficient potential to assist
the introspective examination of their learning behavior process described by Marefat(2002), and increase student interest in and engagement with course material, toencourage and empower students to take more responsibility for their own learning, tobe more reflective in their study, and to allow them to have a voice and provide
valuable feedback to the teacher.
According to the overview of research on journal writing presented above, it becomesapparent, that written reflection can serve as a beneficial learning tool for gaining
reflective experiences (Amulia, 2004) from the students' angle and serve the educators
by in that way supporting more efficient pedagogical practices not only in general
education, but also in the context of the language classroom.
Conclusions
The main goal of this study was to investigate theoretical background on reflective
learning processes. Existing research in the area of self-reflection puts on display oflanguage educators an undeniable and thorough justification for adopting theimplementation of the self-reflective practices on a larger scale as suggested via
journaling as a written form of the process. In addition, the study legitimized theusage of goal-setting as a reflective tool, that can be potentially linked to studentinitiated autonomous classroom practices.
The study is lacking actual proof by active classroom research on the nature ofreflective practices and their potential contribution to pedagogical practices, thatwould be conducted by the author in the future.

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References
Amulia, J. (2004). What is Reflective Practice? Boston, MA: Center for Reflective
Community Practice t the Massachusetts Institute.
Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Reflection: Turning Experience into
Learning. London: Kogan Page.
Davies, A., Herbst, S., & Busick, K. (2013). Quality assessment in high schools:
Accounts from teachers . Courtney, BC: Connections Publishing.
Desjarlais, M. and Smith, P. (2011). A Comparative Analysis of Reflection and SelfAssessment. International Journal of Process Education, 3(1), 3-18.
Dewey, J. (1991). How we think. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books (Originallypublished: Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1910).
Francess, J. and Rose, S. (2009). Agnostics, Skeptics, and Believers: Writing
Teachers' on Student-Centered Teaching. [Doctoral Dissertation]. Purdue University.
Graham, S.J. (2004). Giving Up on Modern Foreign Languages? Students' Perceptionof Learning French, Modern Language Journal, 88, 171-191.
Gronich, L. (2004). Towards an Understanding of What it Means to be Student
Centered: A New Teacher's Journey, Journal of Management Education, 28 (4), 447462.
Hickman, T. (2010). Culture Change: Defining and Measuring Student-Centered
Teaching. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University of Toledo.
Lew, M.D.N., & Schmidt, H.G. (2011). Self-Reflection and Academic Performance:
Is There a Relationship?, Advances in Health Sciences Education, 16(4).
Marefat, F. (2002). The Impact of Diary Analysis on Teaching/Learning Writing,
RELC Journal, 33, 101-121.
Moon, J.A. (1999). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning. London:
Routledge.
Noels, K.A., Clement, R., & Pelletier, L.G. (1999). Perceptions of teachers'
communicative style and students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Modern
Language Journal, 83, 23-34.
Qasem, R.F. (2010). The Relationship Between Postsecondary Foreign Language
Teachers' Beliefs in Student-Centered and Their Educational Technology Practices.
[Doctoral Dissertation]. North Central University.
Park, C. (2003). Engaging students in the learning process: The learning journal,
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Vol. 27, No 2, 183-199.

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Raelin, J.A. (2002). "I Don't Have Time to Think!" Versus the Art of Reflective
Practice. Reflections, 4(1), 66-79.
Sevilla, H. & Gamboa, R. (2016). Student Self-Evaluation and Autonomy
Development in EFL Learning, Revistade Lenguas Modernas, 25, 199-222.
Sivasubramaniam, S. (2011). Constructivism in EIL: Issues and Insights for
Teaching and Research, Journal of English as an International Language, 6 (1), 120.
Stevens, D.D., & Cooper, J.E. (2009). Journal Keeping: How to Use Reflective
Writing for Learning, Teaching, Professional Insight, and Positive Change. Sterling,
VA: Stylus.
Watson, J. (2001). Social Constructivism in the Classroom. Support for Learning,
16(3), 140-147.

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Teacher Professional Development Through Distance Education: The Ghanaian
Experience
Ellen Abakah, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
In spite of the global interests in teacher continuing professional development (CPD),
Ghana is yet to institutionalise and implement a well-designed CPD policy to guideteachers’ professional practice. At present, CPD opportunities entail participation in
hardly organised in-service training and workshops activities. Consequently,
continuing education through the distance mode of learning has emerged to be themost viable means for teachers to update professional knowledge in order to improvepractice, but this approach is without a challenge. This study uses qualitativeinterviews to highlight issues involved in teachers’ use of distance education fro theirprofessional development. The study identifies teacher absenteeism loss of
instructional hours and a general effect on students learning as teachers engage indistance education programmes. The study recommends a much repertoire of CPD
activities for Ghanaian teachers and the regularisation of CPD as on-going learning
activities for teachers.
Keywords: Professional development, distance education, and basic schoolteachers

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Introduction
In education literature, the Continuing professional development of teachers is seen as
an important potential way to improve schools, increase teacher quality and improve
the quality of student learning (Day, 1999; Opfer and Pedder, 2011) thus, making
CPD policy priorities in efforts to ensure quality education and educational
effectiveness (Borg, 2015). Yet in Ghana and other Sub-Saharan African countries,
CPD is yet to receive maximum attention in teacher development and educational
improvement efforts (Pryor, Akyeampong, Westbrook, & Lussier, 2012).
This is in spite of Ghana’s struggle to address quality issues in its educational system.
While many attempts have been made over the past three decades through theimplementation of various educational reforms and policies (MOE, 1994;
Akyeampong, 2002), Ghanaian school child is found to be learning very little(Mereku, 2003) as reforms have had minimal impact on students’ learning outcomes.
For instance, the OECD (2015) report on Universal Basic Skills in Science andMathematics ranked Ghana as one of the worse countries to have participated in theinternational assessment (Ghana was ranked 74th). A study by the Ministry of
Education (MOE), 2012) also suggest that less than 25% of primary six children in
Ghana are able to read and write and attain basic literacy skills after six years of
public schooling.
The lower returns on students learning outcomes is partly because educational
reforms and initiatives in the past decades have paid too little attention to what
actually goes on in the classroom by way of looking at teachers’ professional learningand development. Researches into teacher quality in Ghana suggest that teachers haveweak knowledge in content and pedagogies, which undermine effective students’learning and achievements (Akyeampong, Pryor, & Ampiah, 2006; Moon, 2007). To
raise the teachers’ performances in the classroom to support effective learning ofstudents, Ghanaian teachers must be supported through systematic and ongoingprofessional development.
Currently, even though the in-service training and workshops activities are current
themes in policies and programmes for teachers’ development, it all too rarely
expands into a larger and more comprehensive idea of CPD (Atta & Mensah, 2015) as
it is also hardly organised (Esia-Donkoh, 2014; Essel, Badu, Owusu-Boateng, &Saah, 2009). Consequently the distance education and the sandwich educational
programmes have increasingly become avenues for teachers’ to upgrade theirknowledge and skills (Baiden-Amissah, 2006) as away of their professional
development. As teachers engage in distance education for their professional
development as a professional development, there are consequences that affect theteaching and learning of their students. Ananga, Tamanja, and Amos (2015) report ina study that teachers’ participation in DE affects teaching and delivery, students’
academic progress, monitoring and evaluation, inadequate teacher preparation and theentire school administration systems. Tamanja (2016) also found in a study that, byparticipating in sandwich programmes as a way of professional development, anaverage of 264 hours each of classroom instructional time is lost with their students inan academic year.

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Yet, the fundamental purpose of CPD is to bring about desirable changes in teachers’
practice for improved students learning (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; Guskey,2002). Therefore CPD enactments of teachers should not in anyway affect thelearning of their students. It is against this background that the study examines issues
involved in teachers’ engagement in distance education programmes as a way for
their professional development.
Literature Review
Teacher continuing professional development (CPD)
Literature suggests varying definitions of CPD, but in its simplest form, CPD is seenas the development of a person in his or her professional role (UNESCO, 2003). In
teacher education, CPD is perceived as a long-term process, which extends beyond
teacher education at the tertiary level to in-service training at the workplace (Putnam& Borko, 2000). It is the “processes and activities designed to enhance theprofessional knowledge, skills and attitudes of educators so that they might in turn,improve the learning of students” (Guskey, 2002, p. 16). Through participation in
CPD activities, teachers are equipped with new knowledge (in content and pedagogy),skills and attitudes, which leads to teacher change for effective students learning(Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002).
Teachers’ participation in Distance Education (DE) in Ghana
In Ghana, one of the dominant approaches of teacher development is continuing
education using the distance mode. Distance education is any form of learning process
where learners are separated from the teacher in terms of space and time, where“communication between the two is mediated by print media or ICT; and learning isunder the control of the learner rather than the teacher” (Mnyanyi & Mbwette, 2009,p. 2). With its large-scale implementation in 1996, the University of Education,
Winneba offers various distance education courses for teachers to upgrade theirprofessional knowledge while remaining at post.
Such convenience associated with DE programmes has increased teachers’ enrolment
in DE over the years. Also, while study leave options are gradually becoming
inaccessible to teachers due to its quota implementation, teachers are turning to the
DE and sandwich programmes to upgrade themselves while remaining at post.
Statistics from the largest DE providers for teachers attests to the phenomenal
increase in teachers’ enrolment in DE programmes at the University of Education,
Winneba (see figure 1)

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Figure 1: Enrolment trend in Distance Education and Sandwich Programmes at
the University of Winneba (UEW)
Source: UEW 22nd Congregation report, 2017)
Methods
The study adopted a basic qualitative design involving 16 teachers and six educational
stakeholders. Teachers were drawn from four (4) purposefully selected districts in theCentral region as cases with their district educational directors. In-depth interviews
were the only data collection tool. Themes were extracted from the data to form thebasis of the analysis guided by Braun and Clarke (2006) criterion for thematic data
analysis. The study had ethical approval granted by the University of Technology
Sydney ethics committee and participants gave informed consent in order to be part ofthe study.
Results
This section presents the results from the interview data analysis. The findings havebeen categorised into four themes: teacher absenteeism, loss of instructional hours,
effects on students learning and DE serving its fundamental purpose.
Teacher absenteeism
A major concern raised by all educational stakeholders was the increase in teacher
absenteeism owing to participation in distance education programmes. All educational
directors expressed worry over abandoning of classroom duties for engagement infurther school activities such as leaving school to various campus sites for
information, to write quizzes and to submit assignments. In Ghana teacher
absenteeism has been an educational challenge affecting teaching and learning inclassrooms. Absenteeism refers to a miss of work when a teacher allocates teachingtime to activities that compete with scheduled work for other reasons such as personalutility (Martochio and Jimeno, 2003). An educational director expressed continuing
education as a leading cause of teacher absenteeism in the following way:

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It is very common that these teachers leave their classroom duties to engage inother personal studies. It is good that they obtain further upgrading but the
distance programmes affect student. When a teacher needs to submit
assignment to their various schools [where they pursue further studies] or findout information, they leave their teaching posts. Even though in some cases
permission is sought from their head teachers, it amounts to absenteeism inthe classroom (Becks, personal Interview)
Loss of instructional hours with students
Another effect of DE participation is the loss of instructional hours with students andtime on task. Time on task refers to the contact hours teachers are expected to invest
in teaching daily and for which they are paid (Tamanja, 2016). It was revealed thatteachers’ engagements in DE programmes affect the quality time teachers had toengage with their students in the classroom. Stakeholders observed throughsupervision and monitoring that, teachers used instructional hours to engage inpersonal learning while preparing for quizzes and examinations in their respective
universities. Similarly leaving teaching duties for other learning commitments in theuniversities did not only increase absenteeism in the schools but also affected
instructional hours and time on task within the schools.
Ironically, all teachers who had used the DE modes of study did not concur to theconcerns raised by educational stakeholder on absenteeism and loss of instructional
hours with students. Teachers who were Junior high school teachers1 argued thatwhenever they had to leave for their university engagements (be it examinations,submission of assignment or registration), they did so after finishing their tasks inschools. Teachers explained with their experiences:
I have successfully completed my degree programme through the DE andthere was never a time I left my students unattended for schools. Lectures areon weekends and I also didn't use my instructional hours teaching to read bylecture notes, that is not just possible (Teacher 2, personal interview).
Another teacher also commented:
I think stakeholders just exaggerate teacher absenteeism that we [teachers]
leave the classrooms to pursue our own personal learning. I didn't do that andI don't think any good teacher will do that. What we usually do is to engage
with our lecture materials during our free time (teacher 3, personal interview)
It is important to emphasise that, this contrary positions have fuelled tensions between
participating teachers and school administration that view this practice as affecting thelearning of students. While, in the study teachers’ responses were apparent
justification for their engagement, it is important to reckon that indeed teachers’
engagement in DE programmes contribute to teacher absenteeism in the classroom as

1

At the Junior High school level, teachers teach specific subject and thus have specific time allocationin the school timetable for their lesson.

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well as loss of quality time with students as has been established in other studies(Tamanja, 2016).
DE serving its purpose
This theme emerged as teachers’ justification on their use of DE programmes todevelop professional selves especially in situations where CPD opportunities forteachers are not forthcoming. Therefore to the teachers DE programmes enablemajority of teachers to further their education while remaining at their teaching post.
Teachers also explained that, as opportunities to obtain study leave with pay to leaveclassrooms to pursue further studies is limited, the distance education and sandwich
programmes remained alternative PD tool to upgrade their professional knowledge.
Teachers explained in the following ways:
Whether you like it or not, the DE programmes have come to stay with us. I
am able to further my knowledge so are my colleague teachers. We wouldn't
have been able to do that because it is difficult to even get study leave withpay (Kwesi, teacher).
Another teacher also explained:
We are able to further our education thanks to DE and the sandwich
programmes. It allows us to be in school and study at the same time. Today
many teachers are in school because of DE programmes (Ato, teacher).
Discussion and conclusion
The study’s results show that teacher participation in DE programmes affect teaching
and learning. On one hand, though educational stakeholders identified concerns andeffect of teachers’ participation, teachers on the other hand felt the DE programmes
are serving its purpose by equipping them with professional resources (knowledge,
skills and attitudes) with hitherto were unattainable due to the difficulties in accessstudy leave options. Furthermore, in the absence of varied CPD opportunities todevelop teachers, engaging in continuing education using the DE demonstrates humanagency on the part of these teachers as they sought out own avenue to develop in theirprofession. However, teachers cannot develop at the expense of their students.
Researches have indeed demonstrated effects of participation in DE programmes on
the teaching and learning. Mereku (2013) reports in a study among teacher
participants in DE programmes at the University of Education, Winneba that althoughteachers generally felt the DE is achieving its purpose in terms of widening access toteachers in the continuing education pursuits, DE programmes are inadequate toincrease teacher capacity effectively in the classrooms. Other reports have also
identified teachers’ continuing education through the DE and sandwich modes as
significant cause of teacher absenteeism, which is found to affect students learning(World Bank report, 2010; Tamanja, 2016).
In conclusion, to harness the contribution of DE towards teachers’ professional
development, measure must be taken to address these concerns as this study has
highlighted. Challenges associated with DE practices need urgent redress in order forteachers to enjoy full participation without adverse effects on their students. School

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management can streamline pragmatic steps at the school level to ensure that teachers
do not use official hours for personal learning concerning their further studies. Also,
there is the need for consideration of richer repertoire of CPD practices that include
teachers’ informal activities as they occur within the context of their practice. This
will reduce the overreliance of continuing education to other avenues for teachers todevelop professionally.
Acknowledgement
I acknowledge the contributions and support of my two supervisors: Dr. Jacquie
Widin and Prof. Nina Burridge, all senior lecturers at the University of Technology
Sydney, Australia.

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Reference
Akyeampong, K., Pryor, J., & Ampiah, J. G. (2006). A vision of successful schooling:
Ghanaian teachers’ understandings of learning, teaching and assessment.
Comparative Education, 42(02), 155-176.
Ananga, D. E., Tamanja, E. M., & Amos, P. (2015). Effects of teachers’ participationin distance education onbasic education: A case study of central region in Ghana.
Plan Ghana.
Atta, G., & Mensah, E. (2015). Exploring teachers' perspectives on the availability ofprefessional development programs: A case of one district in Ghana. International
Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 5. No. 7(1), 48-58
Baiden-Amissah, A. (2006). Improving the education sector in Ghana development
agenda. Paper delivered at the Study Tour of Asia by African Ministers of Education,
June, 19.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative
research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Clarke, D., & Hollingsworth, H. (2002). Elaborating a model of teacher professional
growth. Teaching and teacher education, 18(8), 947-967.
Esia-Donkoh, K. a. O.-D., Eric. (2014). Effects of educational supervision on
professional development: Perceptions of public basic school teachers at Winneba,
Ghana. British Journal of Education,
Vol 2, No.6, 63-82.
Essel, R., Badu, E., Owusu-Boateng, W., & Saah, A. A. (2009). In-Service Training:
An Essential Element in the Professional Development of Teachers. Malaysian
Journal of Distance Education, 11(2), 55-64.
Guskey, T. R. (2002). Professional development and teacher change. Teachers andTeaching: theory and practice, 8(3), 381-391.
Mnyanyi, C. B., & Mbwette, T. (2009). Open and distance learning in professional
development in third world countries. Paper presented at the Maastricht‘s 23rd
International Conference on Distance Education.
Moon, B. (2007). Research analysis: Attracting, developing and retaining effective
teachers: A global overview of current policies and practices. Paris, France: United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
Pryor, J., Akyeampong, K., Westbrook, J., & Lussier, K. (2012). Rethinking teacher
preparation and professional development in Africa: an analysis of the curriculum ofteacher education in the teaching of early reading and mathematics. Curriculum
Journal, 23(4), 409-502.

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Putnam, R. T., & Borko, H. (2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking
have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational researcher, 29(1), 4-15.
Tamanja, E. M. J. (2016). Teacher Professional Development through Sandwich
Programmes and Absenteeism in Basic Schools in Ghana. Journal of Education andPractice, 7(18), 92-108.
UNESCO. (2003). Teacher professional development: An international review ofliterature. Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning.
Contact Email: esisasah16@gmail.com

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Official Conference ProceedingsInternationalization at Home - Enhancing Students' Intercultural Competence in“Intercultural Collaborative Co-Learning Class"
Kazuko Suematsu, Tohoku University, Japan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
Japanese universities face an increasing demand - from students as well as industries for quality education that is directly connected to the improvement of students’
employability. One of the important components of employability is interculturalcompetence. As the world becomes more globalized and diversified, our students
need to be not only internationally minded but also equipped with skills to effectively
work with people from different backgrounds. Education-abroad will probably be themost effective way to develop the intercultural competence. Yet, data suggests that
only a few percent of students on average in Japanese universities take advantage ofstudying abroad due to reasons such as financial difficulty, lack of language
proficiency, fear of delaying graduation, and so forth. Intercultural co-learning
collaborative classes designed to promote meaningful interactions between
international and domestic students have great potential to develop students’intercultural competence while at home. In the classes, thematic discussions and/or
collaborative projects by students with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds arebuilt into the learner-centered lessons where different ways of thinking, values, andworking styles are respected. The intensive interactions across cultures enable
students to gain deeper insights into their differences and similarities, reflect on theirown cultures and identities, and reconstruct themselves. Previous studies suggest theeffectiveness of intercultural co-learning, yet few connect the benefits andintercultural competence development. This paper serves to examine the effects ofintercultural co-learning between domestic and international students, introducessome pedagogical implications, and suggest policy makers to integrate the concept ofInternationali-zation at Home (Beelen & Jones, 2015) into higher education in Japanas alternative for education abroad.
Keywords: Intercultural education, collaborative learning, project-based learning,internationalization at home

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Internationalization has brought about notable changes in higher education. In Japan,
this was made possible through a few project-based educational reforms such as theDevelopment of Global Human Resources (Go Global Japan or GGJ), where thefocus is on fostering global talent. This term has several different applications. The
project initiated by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Culture, Science and Technology(MEXT) defines the global talent as an individual who possesses the following
qualities: “language and communication skills,” “independence, activeness, the desire
to take on new challenges, cooperativeness and flexibility, responsibility,” “capabilityof appreciating other cultures while being aware of their own identity,” “leadershipand teamwork through problem-solving”. Each university selected on this project is
responsible for providing curricula that emphasize these sets of skills – whether it beaccomplished through setting appropriate goals or reforming policies. Hence, every
institution, department, and program should have its own unique definition of global
talent.
The importance of providing such educational opportunities for students has become
obvious over recent years. Climate change, natural disasters, terrorism, political unrest,and immigration problems all have their roots down in this single phenomenon wecall globalization. The need for instructors at higher education institutions to respondto this dramatic shift in society has become more critical than ever. Language
proficiency is no longer the only quality expected from global citizens. They mustalso demonstrate a wide range of refined skills such as attentive listening, negotiation
skills, logical thinking, problem-solving skills, teamwork, and the ability to takeaction.
2 Cultivating Global Talent in Japan
2-1 Recent Developments in Policies
One of the first global policies implemented in Japanese higher education was“100,000 International Student Project” (1983) under the Prime Minister Nakasone’s
Cabinet. Since then, several so-called global projects such as Global 30 (2009-2013),
Go Global Japan (2012-2016), and Top Global (2014-2023) were carried out in order
to internationalize higher education institutions in Japan. These policies encouraged
higher education institutions to establish systems that would enable the take-in of
talented students from abroad and allow domestic students to gain international
experiences including education abroad. The Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry and the MEXT collaborated on the joint project called, “Asia Human
Resources Fund” (2007-2013) to welcome international students and foster theirtalents in IT. The MEXT’s ongoing “Inter-University Exchange Project” is also
serving as a driving force to internationalize Japanese higher education.

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2-2 Defining Global Talent
It is important to review what global human resources we, as a nation, are hoping tocultivate. “Global talent” is a unique Japanese term that has numerous applications,dependent upon each institution to interpret. This concept is thought to haveoriginated after the economic bubble burst in Japan, alongside the emergence of aworldwide globalization movement as discussed earlier. In order to overcome theeconomic depression and to compete in the global market, Japan began to realize theimportance of cultivating competent global human resources. The economic industry
has its own expectations from higher education institutions regarding global talentcultivation. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) made its first
involvement with this matter following their issuance of “Industry-University
Partnership” in 2009, which later developed into “New Development Strategy
Realization Meeting (Shinseichosenryakukaigi)” and then to “Global Human
Resource Promotion Committee” (Yoshida, 2014). The latter meeting consisted of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, Labor and Welfare. This indicatesthat nurturing global human resources was not only a common interest of different
ministries. This was also a national project. It was on this meeting’s midterm reportthat the skills and qualities of global talent were discussed in detail.
2-3 Issues of Generic Skills and Graduate Attributes
Between 1990 and 2000, education reforms of similar nature took place outside ofJapan. These reforms focused on the acquisition of generic skills, such as key
competency, EU competency, key skills, the 21st century skills, transferable skills andemployability. The employability advocated by Knight and Yorke (2003) was
especially valued by higher education institutions to envision specific sets of skills
and qualities crucial for students to acquire before graduation. For instance, theUniversity of Kent or the University of Edinburg states in their university mission thatthe employability is one of their important graduate attributes.
These events outside of Japan, combined with critical issues within the nation –decreased international competitiveness due to ailing economy and the youth reluctant
to strive for success – have led Japan to reconsider its interpretation of global talent.
The MEXT’s “graduate attributes” (2007), the METI’s “fundamental competencies
for working persons” (2006), the Cabinet Office’s “human strength”, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs, Education, Health, Labor and Welfare’s “foundational skills for
employment” all incorporated the idea of competency, versatility, and employability.
Together, these specific skills provide the basis of global talent. Evidently, some ofthese skills are specific to career development as they were suggested either by the
METI or experts in similar fields. Moreover, these sets of skills also differ in depthwith some being detailed and others not. Yoshihara (2007) blames the lack ofharmony between educational and industrial experts who attended the Global Human
Resource Promotion Committee for this imbalance, and not sharing the samedefinition or interpretation of global talent.

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2-4 Definition of Global Talent in GGJ
Bearing this complexity in mind, it is quite interesting to see how 11 universities
selected for the GGJ projects incorporate their core values into education policies thatstrengthen and support human resource development. However, these projects do fallshort in one critical aspect. They seem to be ambiguous about the skills, qualities, andknowledge that their students are expected to obtain by graduation or the end of theterm. The exception is linguistic ability, a skill which can be determined merely fromadministering score-based exams. It is as if they directly applied GGJ’s definition of
global talent to their programs. The GGJ’s unique and flexible system is worth
commending, in that each institution’s educational policy is valued individually. The
GGJ also strives to inspire youths who have been affected by the economic bubble
burst and depression afterwards. What the GGJ could have done, however, is todemand the selected universities to provide detailed definitions/explanations about
their graduate attributes, possibly in the form of rubrics for skill assessment.
3 Global Talent Cultivation and Study Abroad
3-1 The Effects of Study Abroad on Human Resource Development
Universities selected by the GGJ do, in fact, share the same passion for promoting
study abroad. It is crucial that all of GGJ programs are built on the assumption thatstudy abroad is integral to global talent cultivation. The GGJ has triggered theimplementation of several government-funded study abroad programs such as “Leapfor Tomorrow, Study-Abroad Initiative,” a collaborative scholarship program of theindustry and the MEXT.
Previous studies indicate that exposures to different cultures, practices and beliefs aswell as experiences to overcome challenges while living in a different culturalenvironment enhance one’s global competency. Research has proved that the effectsof studying abroad are more profound than initially understood. Study abroad
experiences strengthen intercultural communication skills, most significantly, theability to express appreciation towards different cultures and values, and nourish
creative-analytical thinking skills (William, 2005; Lee et al., 2012). Stebleton et al.
(2013) also believes the greatest product of studying abroad is the substantial increaseof intercultural competency. Similar effects have been reported in Japan. A research
conducted by Kobayashi (2013) revealed that 91.7% of students who had studied
abroad saw significant improvements in their command of foreign languages,
followed by 89.8% who thought it was their communication skills that improved themost. In a similar study targeting scholarship students supported by the Japan Student
Services Organization, Nomizu and Nitta (2014) concluded that a long-term study
abroad foster students’ generic skills, specifically, foundational skills necessary for
the workforce.

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3-2 Factors Impeding Study Abroad
The benefits of studying in an environment with different customs, traditions,languages, and values have been emphasized throughout the previous sections.
However, it goes without saying that several factors such as financial issues, lack oflanguage proficiency, delayed graduation, job-hunting related factors, and uncertainty
towards living in a foreign country can stand in the student’s study-abroad. Kojima etal. (2014) found that out of 418 domestic students, 142 showed no interest in studying
abroad. A survey by Tohoku University in 2015 (N=2,595) also revealed that 51.8%
of respondents “did not want to study abroad” with the most popular reasons being,“financial difficulty” (28.7%), “a lack of linguistic ability” (24.6%), “concerned aboutliving overseas” (19.2%), “not willing to delay graduation” (18.9%), and “preferring
Japan’s safety and convenience” (18.8%). This indicates that no matter how
established Japan’s study abroad programs may be, not everyone is willing to takeadvantage of these opportunities.
Addressing some of these issues, in recent years, many non-profitable or nongovernmental organizations have started to advertise their own scholarship
opportunities to students, alongside several universities adopting similar reward
programs. The industry is also undergoing accommodating changes. The Japan
Economic Foundation has encouraged hirers to reconsider their time frames forrecruitment and hosted special information sessions for post-study abroad students.
Yet, financial issues still persist. With the economy yet to recover, many students still
depend heavily on scholarships just to attend university, and these people simply
cannot afford the luxury to study abroad, bearing in mind how costly tuition andliving expenses can be.
3-3 Alternatives to Studying Abroad
Under these circumstances, how can a higher education institution encourage its
students to experience the outside world? What is an easier way to cultivate global
talent if economic factors get in the way? Internationalization at Home (IoH) may be
the answer. This concept was first introduced by Wachter (2003), and later endorsed
by Knight (2004) as a crucial measure for higher education across the nation,
alongside cross-border education. International associations such as the Association ofInternational Educators (NAFSA) and the European Association of International
Educators (EAIE) advocate IoH, and this movement is expected to spread to otherregions over the years. In a comprehensive study (n=15,807), Soria and Troisi (2013)
had students from nine public research universities in the United States self-assess
their Global, International, Intercultural (GII) competency. Upon comparing theevaluations between students with study abroad experiences to students who weremore globally active on campus - such as taking international or global-related
courses, interacting with international students, and partaking in international or
global-related activities - they found the latter group displayed higher global
competency. It is important to note that this study relies on subjective evaluations, andtherefore, should not be used to prove the effectiveness of on-campus activities.

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However, it does imply that such on-campus learning experiences could equate to asingle study abroad experience.
4 Internationalizing the Curriculum
4-1 Intercultural Collaborative Co-learning
Such collaborative learning between domestic and international students has begun toreceive attentions in Japan. Intercultural collaborative co-learning classes provide
both international and Japanese students with opportunities to learn from each otherthrough "meaningful interactions." Thematic discussions and collaborative projects by
students with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds are built into the learnercentered lessons where different ways of thinking, values, and working-styles arerespected. The intensive interactions across cultures enable students to gain deeper
insights into their differences and similarities, reflect on their own cultures andidentities, and reconstruct themselves. Due to the nature of this concept, these classes
are sometimes referred to as intercultural classes or multicultural classes. It is crucial
to value a bidirectional, interactive, and cooperative learning process in this type ofclass (Van der Wende, 2000).
In Japan, however, multicultural classes are not held on a regular basis as students
from abroad are still a minority. Furthermore, each university has its own preference
for naming these types of classes (a multicultural class, multicultural coexistence,
multicultural learning, intercultural appreciation, an intercultural communication class,mutual cultural learning, to name a few) yet structurally, they are all similar. A groupof Japanese students and another group of international students are to learn together,which is “co-learning (kyoshu)” if translated directly into Japanese, but it is moreintercultural collaborative learning.
It is the learning process that is valued most in intercultural co-learning. Students
from different backgrounds share their own values, exchange opinions, andexperience a wide range of emotions. By overcoming language and cultural barriers,
they learn to accept and appreciate each other’s differences, and come to reflect upon
their own identities. This experience helps learners gain empathy as well as criticalthinking skills. Meticulous planning and instructor’s involvement are of crucial
importance in the intercultural co-learning classes because they are not your typicallecture-based classes. Yet, the concept still remains simple. Intercultural collaborative
learning leads students to a global perspective.
4-2 The Effects of Intercultural Collaborative Co-learning
Several studies have confirmed the benefits of intercultural interaction between local
and international students, both inside and outside of the classroom, and its relation to
global competency (Leask, 2009). According to Leask and Carroll (2009), theinteraction between domestic and international students should be always purposeful,but meaningful interaction is not something that occurs naturally. Instructors need tomake the following adjustments along the way to facilitate intercultural interaction: 1)

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Having students map out a common goal to be accomplished, 2) assigning tasks andactivities to students in accordance with the goal, 3) evaluating their learning
outcomes that are connected to the goal and assignment.
Intercultural collaborative co-learning has been endorsed by experts of intercultural
education also in Japan for over ten years. Kagami (1999) states that such educational
interventions deepened learners’ understanding of different cultures, widened theirperspectives, increased self-awareness of their own development, and changed theirattitudes toward different cultures positively. These opportunities also affect theirattitudes toward multicultural understanding, such as learning to appreciate diversity
and collaboration (Kagami, 2006) and positively influenced domestic students’motivation for intercultural communication, flexibility, self-control of emotion, andtolerance with uncertainty (Suematsu, 2014). This challenging process also enables
international students to understand the Japanese way of communicating, and improvetheir own Japanese language communication skills along the way (Nakano, 2006).
4-3 Challenges in Practices
Intercultural collaborative co-learning in Japan is still in the midst of development. It
was initially started with the purpose of teaching international students “Nihonjijo” orJapanese current issues as part of Japanese language education. Instructors firstbrought Japanese students into their classes to increase a contact with natives forinternational students. Then they realized the benefits that domestic students enjoy
from interacting with international students. The classes were gradually modified toalso target domestic students. The second type of the intercultural co-learning wasdeveloped as a response to the internationalization of higher education initiated by
Global 30 and GGJ. The classes were held in English. Some of the instructors,
however, misunderstood that either classes taught in English or classes whereinternational and Japanese students were taking together were all intercultural colearning.
Examining the history of intercultural co-learning in Japan in fact, reveals that it lacks
a proper backbone structure such as theories behind the practices or well-developed
pedagogy. Education-nal practitioners who integrate intercultural collaborative colearning into their teaching must attend to setting an appropriate theme and learning
goal for the class, identifying possible resources for students, selecting a language of
instruction, determining the method and frequency of instructor’s intervention, andchoosing how to assess and evaluate students’ learning outcomes.
5 Conclusion
A government-sponsored project to develop instructor’s guide in Australia, “Finding
Common Ground” provides a framework for facilitating interaction between students
of different language and cultural backgrounds. As indicated throughout, Japan mustprioritize the construction of such a theoretical framework for intercultural colearning. In addition, a platform where educational practitioners exchange ideas forpedagogical improvements needs to be developed. This type of network within

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university or even inter-university collaboration would serve as resources and faculty
development opportunities. Furthermore, research looking into students’ learning
experiences as well as outcomes should be promoted.
Japan may still continue to struggle with the promotion of student mobility, especiallythe outbound. Yet there is much to expect from intercultural collaborative co-learning
as an alternative or a supplement for education-abroad. Also, with the “300,000
International Student Project” launched in 2008, higher education institutions in Japanare continuously diversifying. In order for Japan to provide an appealing learning
environment for both domestic and international students, educational practices suchas intercultural co-learning must be built into the national curriculum. This
internationalization of curriculum will lead Japanese higher education to an overallenhancement.

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References
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Beelen, J., & Jones, E. (2015). Redefining internationalization at home In Adrian
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Challenges and Opportunities to the Use of Google Docs Sharing for Realtime
Writing Task Feedback: Inclusive ESL Classroom at Jakarta Multicultural School
Athifah Utami, Jakarta Multicultural School, Indonesia
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Abstracts
The integration of technology in language learning is not something new in the formal
education context. This study explores the challenges and opportunities in realteaching and learning experiences toward the use of Google Docs Sharing for realtime feedback in writing task applied in inclusive lower secondary level context.
Through observation and experiment in English Second Language (ESL) class at
Jakarta Multicultural School (JMS), this study will evaluate the challenges forstudents to understand the feedbacks from teacher, the opportunities to apply thisapproach in inclusive classroom with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) students, andthe students’ perspective upon the lesson. The interviews will be conducted with ESL
students (special needs and non-special needs students), other ESL teachers and ashadow teacher (an assistant teacher who helps special needs student) of ASD
students. The research result will be completed after the second-semester finish andall the writing task cycles from all lower secondary levels have been done.
Keywords: writing task, real-time feedback, Google Docs Sharing, English Second
Language (ESL), Inclusive Classroom, and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The immersion of technology in language teaching and learning is not something new in theformal education context. In Indonesia education system, the implementation of technologybased integration or e-learning has been widely known in both public and private education
context. According to the survey result released by Esfindo in 2008 (E-school for Indonesia),
the number of schools that have been registered and owned a learning site was about 187
schools in 20 provinces and most of the schools are in Java region. The survey result showedthat the integration of technology in school is still very low compared to the number ofschools in the region. In addition, in the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, there are 16 schoolsthat have been implemented e-learning, yet this number is still very low compared to a total
number of schools in the city which is around 2,546 schools. (Suhartanto & Junus, 2014).
However, Indonesia’s government has been putting this technology-based education as aconcern since 2001 that specifically explained in the ICT National Plan. Based the ICT
National Plan under Presidential Instruction No. 6/2001, it is stated that there are fourpriorities for the education field: Development of ICT networks for education and research;
Development and implementation of ICT curricula; Use of ICT as an essential part of thecurricula and learning tools in schools, universities and training centers; Facilitation of theuse of internet for more efficient teaching-learning process. (Firman & Tola , 2008). Thesepriorities have been implemented through several projects and initiatives conducted by the
Ministry of Education in primary and secondary education fields, such as Wide Area
Network (the project builds wireless based connection among schools in 30 cities); ICT for
Vocational Education (established a forum and created a mailing as well as trained basic
skills of information technology); School 2000 (connected 2000 upper secondary schools to
the internet through an educational portal); Edukasi (provided internet-based learningmaterials for lower secondary, general upper secondary schools and vocational secondary
schools students in some of the school subjects, including mathematics, physics, chemistry,
biology, electronics, and information technology) (Firman & Tola , 2008).
In general, there are two purposes of e-learning integration in Indonesia based on its
implementation model, a complementary and a substitution. A complementary model of elearning applies face-to-face session and combine with the e-learning system. On the other
hand, a substitution model uses the e-learning system as the main medium of the learning
process. In Indonesia, a specific regulation made by the Ministry of Education under its
instruction No. 107/U/2001 stated that in upper secondary school, the suggested model to be
used by schools is a complementary model. This model is considered as the most effectivemodel to be implemented at schools to enhance the learning process, where teachers arehelped to deliver the additional materials through learning websites when it is not possible tobe covered during the classroom session. In addition, teachers are allowed to open a virtual
class, create quizzes for pre and post-test, open a discussion forum and create a videoconference to replace the missing face-to-face session. For students, they can upload
assignments, open the active the learning session or topic, follow and get involved in a
discussion forum, do the quizzes and get the result of the quizzes right after the test.
(Hartatik, Cahyaningsih, Purnomo, Hartono, & Tri Bawono, 2017). There are some wellknown learning websites and applications are being used in Indonesia’s schools (public andprivate school), such as Moodle, Schoology, Edmodo, Google Classroom and so forth. Those
website domain and application are used to enhance the learning process as complementaryor substation model for most of the subjects in schools.

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The varied learning websites are differed from one to another, especially their features, yet
the main functions are moderately similar, is to enhance the learning process. In order tomake it more efficient and effective, the approaches the teachers use in integrating
technology into part of learning will boost the function of the technology itself. Take forexample in the language class, there are a lot of approaches to engage students to be active
learner through e-learning as the learning medium, such as collaborative reading and writing,video teleconference or online presentation, classroom discussion and many more.
In one of the private schools in South Tangerang, Indonesia, Jakarta Multicultural School(JMS) has been integrating technology into their learning process by using Google
Classroom. In addition, this school accommodates varied students’ abilities and they are all
engaged in face-to-face and e-learning session. Therefore, this study examines the challenges
and opportunities of the technology integration in the language classroom, especially in an
inclusive classroom with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) students.
Technology Integration In Language Classroom
English as Second Language Class (ESL)
English Second Language (ESL) is generally for students whom primary language or theirhome language, is other than English and would require additional English language support
to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. There are no typical There are no
typical ESL students. They come from many linguistic and cultural backgrounds and have
had a wide variety of life experiences. They can significantly enrich the life of the school andhelp enhance learning for all students (Special Programs, 1999). The need for ESL classes is
growing throughout the world followed by the number of immigrants’ movement to English
speaking countries like England, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia (Thornton,2009).
In Indonesia public school context, the Ministry of National Education released Decree No.
22/2006 on The Structure of National Curriculum. The decree requires English as a local
content subject with an instruction period of up to 1 hour and 15 minutes per learning session.
Public schools were given the freedom to start teaching English earlier than Grade 4 and were
instructed to implement a competency-based curriculum developed at the Local Education
Unit (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Terpadu – hereafter KTSP). In the following years, in 2013
Ministry of National Education conducted the piloting of Curriculum 2013 in 2,598 model
elementary schools throughout the country, and a few months later major provinces such as
DKI Jakarta (the capital region) banned all public elementary schools from teaching English
during school hours. Recently, in 2015 the policy has changed, the Ministry of Education andCulture instructed schools to teach three languages: Indonesian as the national language, anindigenous language of the school’s choice and English as a foreign language (Zein, 2017).
On the other hand, most of the private schools in Indonesia that are using international-based
curriculum like Cambridge and International Baccalaureate (IB) program have a different
timetable for their English subject. Take for example in Jakarta Multicultural School (JMS)
that uses IB PYP Program for Year 1 to Year 5 (Primary), Cambridge Curriculum and JMS
Program for Year 6 to Year 8 (Lower Secondary), Cambridge Curriculum for Year 9 to Year
10 (Upper Secondary) and IB Diploma Program for Year 11 to Year 12 (Upper Secondary).
In this school, they conduct English lesson 5 (five) times a week for 50 (fifty) minutes perlearning session. In Lower Secondary (Year 6 to Year 8), students are divided into two
different classes for their English subject, English Second Language (ESL) and English First

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Language (EFL). The designated of students into those classes based on the result of theirEnglish Placement Test (EPT) conducted prior to the semester 1 begin. The EPT consists ofreading, writing and speaking skills.
Google Docs and Writing Task Feedback
There are numerous applications, programs, websites, and internet services that can help
students to learn better in language class, one of the services is Google Docs. This free webbased Microsoft Word offered by Google Corporation allows their users to create, edit andstore their documents online. The users can view their working document as it appeared at
any time in the past and they can choose to return to an earlier version. This service supported
by other features such as Google Documents, Google Spreadsheets, Google Presentations andGoogle Drawing (Suwantarathip & Wichadee, 2014). This review emphases on Google
Document and how the real-time writing task feedbacks are given from teacher to students in
English language class through a complementary model of the session.
Google Docs, as the online working tool, can help students in English language classespecially in the writing skills. Supported by the capability to share the online working
document to others make this service a beneficial tool to do a collaborative working and peer
editing of students’ writing task. According to Sharp (2009), the collaborative editing tools
allow a group of individuals or students to edit a document instantaneously while they canview the changes made the others in real time (Suwantarathip & Wichadee, 2014). Therefore,
as it is beneficial for collaborative working, the share document feature can help teachers aswell to assist students in doing their writing task.
There are a lot of writing assistant services that can help people minimize their technicallanguage issues (verb tenses, punctuation and spelling), such as Grammarly (to give general
feedback on technical languages such as spellings, verb tenses and word choice, with free ora paid service options that enables users to adjust the feedback according to document type;
Cambridge’s Write & Improve (to give automatic feedback to non-native writers English in
set writing assignments specified in the tool); Write-Away (an autocompletes writers’
sentences with words taken from a corpus); Write Assistant (to integrate a bilingual DanishEnglish dictionary and predictive text as an add-in to Microsoft Word) (Tarp , Fisker, &Sepstrup, 2017). However, in this research, the real-time feedback that the teacher gavethrough Google Docs is not limited to the technical language issues. The feedbacks that are
given in a time when students working on their writing task, are mainly aimed to keep
students on track with the specific writing goals (based on the given rubric for different texttype), scaffold students to brainstorm a starter ideas through online discussion (provide
suggestion of reading material), remain any missing part of their writing before it issubmitted as final work and gradually able to check students’ progress. This kind of feedback
approaches is given to only ESL students in Lower Secondary level at JMS.
Previous Studies
There are some previous studies discussed the use of Google Docs in English language classto help students improving their collaborative skill and writing skills. The latest research took
place in San Francisco, United State was conducted by Woodrich and Fan (2017) about
Google Docs and the collaborative writing in the middle school aimed to explores student
participation in anonymous collaborative writing via Google Docs can lead to more
successful products in a linguistically diverse eighth-grade English Language Arts classroom.

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The researchers conducted their study in quantitative mode through face-to-face, online, andanonymous writing activities, a rubric, and a survey, to compare anonymous collaborative
writing with other modalities, equalizes participation among students of varying language
fluencies, and if anonymous collaborative writing, compared to other modalities, affectstudent comfort levels. They found that students of varying language fluencies participatedmore equally when they were able to remain anonymous. In addition, face-to-face writing
showed the highest overall scores, and students enjoyed working on Google Docs.
Another research from Southeast Asian context was conducted by Suwantarathip andWichadee (2014) about the effect of collaborative writing activity using Google Docs on
students’ writing abilities. The research compared writing abilities of students who
collaborated on writing assignments using Google Docs with those working in groups in aface-to-face classroom. The researchers have conducted this experimental research withstudents enrolled in EN 012 course in the first semester of Academic Year of 2013. Throughwriting tests and questionnaires data collection, the researchers found that there is asignificant difference between the two groups’ writing mean score after the experiment.
Students in the Google Docs’ group could achieve higher mean scores compared to thoseworking in a face-to-face classroom setting. Moreover, students reported that they had
positive attitudes toward collaborative writing activity and high collaboration in their groups
using Google Docs.
An Inclusive English Class – Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Inclusive English Class and ASD Language Skills
There are no typical students in ESL class, especially in our school, Jakarta Multicultural
School (JMS). Some students are Indonesian-born with limited English language skills
especially in speaking and writing, some have immigrated to Indonesia with their families
after having received some formal education in their home countries (some of them havelearned English as a foreign language) and some others are Indonesian-born with special
needs, especially Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Our ESL class accommodates special
needs students by including them in our regular class with mainstream students (inclusiveclassroom). An inclusive classroom can be defined as including students of different
conditions, backgrounds, and abilities to be in the same classroom.
Theoretically, inclusion is related to philosophical decision that emphasizes ‘the importanceof bringing together diverse students, families, educators and community members’, in the
purpose of establishing supportive learning atmosphere that helps every individual student
the feeling of respect, acceptance and the sense of belonging. Inclusive education recognizes
that all students are learners who benefit from a challenging, meaningful, appropriate
curriculum (Padmadewi & Artini , 2017).
Students with ASD have some linguistic differences due to their language impairment. They
will reach the developmental indicators of their first language acquisition at different rates
than the mainstream students. Theoretically, autism had been identified of having limitation
in social interaction skills, restricted and repetitive behavior and activities. Their limitation insocial interaction skills effects their oral language skills, students with ASD has a limitationin vocabulary and syntax, as well as the presence of unnatural pitch and intonation(Szymkowiak, 2013). Dockrell, et.al (2014) explained in their research that students withlanguage impairment and ASD will experience difficulties in writing task, as well as it

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impacts their writing product. In writing, ASD students are commonly having problems inproducing a complex text with less used of difficult terms, as well as hardly able to focus on
the main topic and hardly able to write the structure the ideas smoothly (Dockrell, 2014).
Research Method
A qualitative classroom action research was adopted in this study. Through the recording ofreal-time feedback on the Google Docs screen (teacher’s screen with screen o-metic
application), interviews recordings, students' writing documents, and students' writing
progress report.

Picture 1. Research outline
Subject and Setting
The subject of this study was ESL students (with and without ASD) of Lower Secondary
Level (Year 6 to Year 8) and a shadow teacher of ASD student. There were 2 (two) students
in Year 6, 4 (four) students in Year 7 (one student with ASD) and 3 (three) students in Year 8(one student with ASD) and one shadow teacher. The participants’ English language level
was mostly in A1 – A2, it had been identified based on their English Placement Test (EPT) at
the beginning of the semester. All the participants and one shadow teacher were being
observed and interviewed in this study.

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Class

NumberofStudent

Table 1. Participants’ Information
Participants’ Native Language
ASD student
Codingand Shadow
TeacherYear 62 (two)students

Student Y6.1
Student Y6.2

Year 74 (four)students

Year 83 (three)
students

Student Y6.1:
Indonesian
Native SpeakerStudent Y6.2:
Japanese Native
speaker
Student Y7.1
Student Y7.1 –(ASD)
Y7.3: IndonesianStudent Y7.2
Native SpeakerStudent Y7.3
Student Y.4:
Student Y7.4
Japanese Native
speaker
Student Y8.1 Student Y8.1 –(ASD)
Y8.2: IndonesianStudent Y8.2
Native SpeakerStudent Y8.3
Student Y8.3:
Korean Native
speaker

Average
EPT
Score

No student with
ASD

Y6.1: 61%Y62: 23%

1 (one) studentwith ASD

Y7.1: 41%
Y7.2: 55%
Y7.3: 50%
Y7.4: 22%

1 (one) studentwith ASD and 1(one) shadow
teacher

Y8.1: 35%
Y8.2: 49%
Y8.3: 50%

Data Collection
The procedure of data collection of this study was begun by designing writing task
instruction, documenting real-time feedback on Google Docs screen, designing semistructure questions for the interview, deciding participants to be interviewed and conducting
the interview.
Data Analysis and Procedure
Over and done with theory-based analysis toward the interview result based on the theory ofElectronic feedback on second language writing: A retrospective and prospective essay on
multimodality(Chang,Cunningham,
Satar,&
Strobl,2017),
Exploring writing in products in students with language impairments and autism spectrum disorders (Dockrell, Ricketts, Charman, & Lindsay, 2014) and Using Technology to Support
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Writing Process: A Pilot Study (AsaroSaddler , Knox , Meredith , & Akhmedjanova , 2015)
Finding And Discussion
Challenges and Opportunities to the Use of Google Docs Sharing for Realtime Writing
Task Feedback in Inclusive ESL Classroom
According to the writing task cycle record (throughout the semesters) and the interview resultwith all the students (with and without ASD) in Lower Secondary Level and the shadow
teacher of student with ASD, there were some challenges happened during theimplementation of the task, as well as appeared some opportunities to develop this approach

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better in the future. This finding was focused on discussing the phenomenon on students with
ASD, students without ASD that showed significant progress and students without ASD thatshowed less significant progress in writing task throughout the semesters.
1.

Challenges for students with ASD

According to the class observation during the writing task, there were some challenges had
been found for students with ASD in doing the writing task: the problem to stay focus whenworking with computer and the need of extra supervision during the task. One of the students
with ASD easily got distracted if she/he works with a computer, especially under theminimum supervision and assistance of his/her shadow teacher. It is confirmed from theresult of the interview with the shadow teacher in responding to the question “do you still
remember Miss when I gave a writing task in the class, first I gave it on a paper and thesecond one we did it on Google Docs and I gave direct comment. Which one do you think issuitable, easier and helpful for special needs students? Especially for your student?”
The shadow teacher explained:
I prefer for him to have a handwriting task (paper-based task) because when he used
Microsoft Word, it was hard for him to stay focus, you know that right? He will busy opening
a new tab or other things on computer, so it will take a longer time for him to finish the task,
but it depends on the condition of the special needs students ya, every special need student
has different needs and for Student Y8.1, this media is not really suitable for him. He can doit, but we need to be right beside him to supervise his work progress, so he cannot do it alone.
The Student Y8.1 seems hardly able to stay focus for he must follow the fast rate of writingtask feedback because he needed to directly revise his writing when he was doing the task.
This condition supported by the student’s shadow teacher in term of the cognitive skill inunderstanding the concept. The complex process of writing task might be challenging forstudents with ASD since it involved the process of organizing ideas and presenting themessage (Graham & Harris, 2005 in Asaro-Saddler, Knox, Meredith, & Akhmedjanova,2015). Therefore, the shadow teacher suggested having a paper-based writing task, because it
might give him more time to think when Student Y8.1 needed to finish the task.
Then the shadow teacher responded to the question “based on your observation, do you think
Student Y8.1 has the same problems with Student Y7.1 (student with ASD in different Lower
Secondary level)?”The shadow teacher explained:…each of them has different problems and for Student Y8.1, his problem is in his focus andactually, he can think but his capability to understand the concept that is hard.
The shadow teacher said that every student with ASD has different needs and different
problems in the classroom. This condition is confirmed to be true in some other researchersthat explained students with ASD are not a homogeneous group, they vary in terms oflanguage development, intellectual ability and adaptive functioning (Asaro-Saddler, Knox,
Meredith, & Akhmedjanova, 2015). For the case of Student Y8.1, he is barely able to stay
focus in the classroom, not only during the writing task but also in daily session and even inother classes. However, this condition might be affected by other factors such as the student’s
interest and learning motivation.

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From two students with ASD, one student has shown significant issues in producing phrase,
sentences, and a complete thought. In addition, their level of independence, spoken language
fluency, written expression is different. Therefore, some issues were mostly found in Student
Y8.1. Minor issues have shown from Student Y7.1 such as the need to be reminded to keepon track on his writing task, the need for instruction clarification, written comment
clarification was found during the writing task cycle. The Student Y7.1 has a higher level of
independence and language skill compare to Student Y8.1.
2.

Challenges for students without ASD

The similar issues in generating and elaborating ideas had been found in a student without
ASD. One of the students from less significant progress group preferred paper-based writingtask. Based on her response to the question “do you still remember when I gave a writing task
in the class, first I gave it on a paper and you will receive the written feedback, then you will
do the revision and you give it back to me. The second one, we did it on Google Docs and I
gave direct comment. Which one do you prefer?”
She said, “the first one” Then she was asked again “so after you finish all the things, you get
the revision? Why do you think it is easier for you?”
She explained:..because the second one, I think I confuse what should I write at that time, so I will forget thestory, the things that I need to write...
She was one of the students in less significant progress group and the only student without
ASD who preferred paper-based writing task. It is true that writing considered as a complex
process of thinking and organizing ideas, then it is not only challenging for students with
ASD, but also for most of the students with minimum writing skills (especially for students
who have just learned English in less than a year). It is proven from her explanation and theclass observation result, that she looked calmer when she was doing the writing task in paperbased mode compare to online-based, because in paper-based mode she could generate her
ideas without any interruption from the real-time feedback.

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Opportunities to the Use of Google Docs Sharing for Realtime Writing Task Feedback in
Inclusive ESL Classroom
1.
The efficiency of time to finish the writing task cycle
This research had been done in two writing task cycles throughout the semesters, Semester 1(Term 1 to Term 2) for paper-based writing task and Semester 2 (Term 3 and Term 4) for
Google Docs Sharing or online-based writing task. Here is the comparison of the writing task
cycles throughout the semesters.

Picture 2. Paper-based Writing Task (Term 1 to Term 2)
The paper-based writing task basically took one to two weeks to finish the whole step (from
Step 1 to Step 3). In Step 1: Planning, they are required to draw mind-map – theirbrainstorming result, their main points and any resources that they are planning to put in theirwriting. They were expected to finish Step 1 in one meeting (one meeting equal to 50 minuteslong) or less. In Step 2: First Draft, they can start to write by following the requirements ofthe task such as topic, word count, tenses used and any specific requirements. It is called“First Draft” because this draft will be reviewed by the teacher and it will be given to thestudents to be revised and later it will be called “Final Draft”. In this task, students have amaximum of three meetings (3 times of 50 minutes) to finish the task, depends on the task
requirements and level of difficulty. After they finished Step 1 and Step 2, the teacher would
have two meetings (2 times of 50 minutes) maximum to read and give feedback of theirwriting, and after that, the “First Draft” is ready to be given back to the students. At the last,in Step 3: Final Draft, students were given one meeting only to revise their writing. In total,
there were 6 (six) meetings needed to finish the whole step of paper-based writing task cycle.
On the other hand, the Google Docs Sharing or online-based writing task can be finished in 2(two) steps only with the same content of instruct.

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Picture 2. Online-based (Google Docs) writing task (Term 3 and Term 4)
The online-based writing task only took maximum one week to finish the whole process(Step 1 and Step 2) because the feedbacks were given while students working on their writingtask, so it did not need to pass through the Step 2: First Draft (as it was implemented in
paper-based writing task).
2.

Minimizing issues on ASD students’ handwriting

According to some previous researches, it has been discussed that the handwriting of students
with ASD mostly have minor quality in letter formation compare to their peers (Fuentes,
Mostofsky, & Bastian, 2009 in Dockrell, Ricketts, Charman, & Lindsay, 2014).
The deficit may be problematic for two reasons; first, students who have difficulty withhandwriting tend to produce briefer pieces so that they do not have to endure the physicalstruggle of writing (Asaro-Saddler & Bak, 2014); and second, neatness of a written producttends to impact a teacher’s rating of a writing sample. Specifically, illegible papers tend toscore lower than those of equal quality that are written neatly (Graham, Harris, & Hebert,
2011 in Dockrell, Ricketts, Charman, & Lindsay, 2014).
It is proven that all my ASD students have problems with the eligibility of their handwriting.
Some of them have a problem in differentiating lower-case and upper-case letters and anotherone has a problem in letter construction. It was a challenge for the teacher to understand
students handwriting and their writing content. Therefore, by having the type-based writingtask using Google Docs, it is a way easier for the teacher to read and evaluate ASD students’handwriting. In addition, the auto-correct and suggested-word feature help students inspelling and word choice.
3.

Increase students’ motivation

According to the interview result, 7 (seven) out of 9 (nine) students preferred to do thewriting task in Google Docs.

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Student Y7.1 said “I prefer Google Docs, because when we use Google Docs, we can get the
feedback easily, so we do not need to wait for next week and we can change it directly”
Student Y7.2 said “In Google Docs I just need to type it and fix it, so it is easier, and I do notneed to read it all”
Student Y8.2 said, “I choose Google Docs because I can directly edit my text.”
Some students pointed out the efficiency of time in doing writing task in Google Docs
compare to paper-based and one of them pointed out her/his preference in working withelectronic, which only require them to type rather than to write. It is in line with the previous
study that explained the review features in Microsoft Word, have been shown to contribute tostudent preference for written e-feedback over handwritten comments (Ho, 2015 in Chang,Cunningham, Satar, & Strobl, 2017).
Since, all the students are exposed by technology screen in this era, which makes them easierto access any information and to do some activities online (watching, phoning, video calling),
it is not surprising that they prefer to work on screen compare on paper. In addition, there
were two different text types that students usually had in their writing task; informative text
(non-fiction) and narrative text (fiction) writing. However, only the informative text could
increase students’ motivation in doing writing task in Google Docs. It was indicated somereasons behind this preference, the informative text required them to do research (finding
facts) for their writing, to insert some graphics/illustration/photos and to interact-and-share
their writing with peers. Therefore, this integration helps them to find joy within the writingtask and as the bridging point of their preference in technology and their need for improving
their language skills.
Conclusion
Through two cycles of writing tasks from semester one to semester two, class observationand interview, it can be concluded that the challenges happened not only for a student with
ASD but also for a student without ASD with minimum experience of English language
learning (less significant progress group), to follow the pace in real-time feedback. However,the challenges were followed by the opportunities to develop this approach better in the
future, time efficiency, students’ handwriting issues, and students’ motivation were the major
opportunities can be taken as the biggest solution in nowadays language class as well as ininclusive classroom setting. It is suggested to conduct a similar research to know thechallenges and opportunities in a bigger classroom context since this study was conducted ina small classroom setting with less than 10 (ten) students in total, so it was quite possible fora teacher to give the real-time feedback.

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References
Asaro-Saddler , K., Knox , H. M., Meredith , H., & Akhmedjanova , D. (2015). Using
Technology to Support Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Writing Process: A
Pilot Study. Insights into Learning Disabilities , 104.
Chang, C., Cunningham, K., Satar, H., & Strobl, C. (2017). Electronic feedback on second
language writing: A retrospective and prospective essay on multimodality. Writing andPedagogy.
Dockrell, J., Ricketts, J., Charman, T., & Lindsay, G. (2014).
Exploring writing in products in students with language impairments and autism
spectrum disorders. Learning and Instructio: Elsevier.
Firman , H., & Tola , B. (2008). The Future of Schooling in Indonesia. Journal ofInternational Cooperation in Education, 76-77.
Hartatik, Cahyaningsih, I. J., Purnomo, A., Hartono, R., & Tri Bawono, S. A. (2017).
Pengembangan Aplikasi E-learning Sekolah Menengah Atas. Jurnal SIMETRIS, Vol 8 No 2 ,620.
Padmadewi , N., & Artini , L. (2017). Teaching English to a Student with Autism Spectrum
Disorder in Regular Classroom in Indonesia. International Journal of Instruction, 160.
Perfetti, L., Reimers, C., Boyce, C. A., DeRosa, D., & Vander, R. (1997). Teaching for
Inclusion Diversity in the College Classroom. North Carolina: UNC-CH Center for Teachingand Learning.
Special Programs, M. o. (1999). English as a Second Language Learners: A Guide for ESL
Specialists. British Columbia: Canadian Cataloguing.
Suhartanto, H., & Junus, K. (2014). Prelimina e-Learning at High Schools in JakartaIndonesia. International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning,
1-2.
Suwantarathip, O., & Wichadee, S. (2014). The Effects of Collaborative Writing Activity
Using Google Docs on Students' Writing Abilities. The Turkish Online Journal of
Educational Technology, 149-150.

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Szymkowiak , C. (2013). Using Effective Strategies for the Elementary English Language
Learner with Austism Spectrum Disorder: A Curriculum Project. Fredonia: State Universityof New York.
Tarp , S., Fisker, K., & Sepstrup, P. (2017). L2 Writing Assistants and Context Aware
Dictionaries: New Challenges to Lexicography. Lexikos.
Thornton , J. (2009). Learning English as a second language in South Korea: Perceptions of
2nd college and university students and their English speaking instructors. Queensland: The
University of Southern Queensland .
Tomlinson, A. C. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mix-Ability Classroom. USA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Zein, M. S. (2017, March). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from Elementary English
education in Indonesia: Policy developments, current practices, and future prospects: How
has Indonesia coped with the demand for teaching English in schools?:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-today/article/elementary-english-educationin-indonesia-policy-developments-current-practices-and-futureprospects/DEA0934C1A3F1FD09D1EB1A5B893922A/core-reader
Contact email: athifah.utami@outlook.com

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The Development of a Novel Using Storytelling Technique as a Learning Tool
in Promoting Student Engagement and Satisfaction
Patchara Vanichvasin, Kasetsart University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
The purposes were to 1) develop a novel using storytelling technique as a learning
too. 2) examine student engagement and satisfaction after applying a developed novel.
The purposive sample group was 24 students. The research instruments were 1) adeveloped novel 2) a questionnaire collecting expert opinions towards appropriatenessof a developed novel 3) an observation checklist towards student engagement 4) aquestionnaire towards student satisfaction. Statistical methods used were content
analysis, mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage. The research results
were summarized as following: 1) The developed novel consisted of 7 chapters with
69 pages covering content knowledge of learner characteristics, learner-centeredteaching, educational problems, and the future of education. There were 6 main steps
to develop a novel. First, the topic was chosen. Second, key concepts were used ascontent knowledge and design. Third, the plot and theme were planned. Fourth, thescenes were set. Fifth, the characters were introduced. Sixth, the story was written in aform of a novel. It was verified by experts as appropriate ( = 4.54, S.D. = 0.44) at avery high level in its content, structure and presentation. 2) Most of students engaged
in learning activities that used the developed novel as a learning tool. Student
satisfaction when using the developed novel as a learning tool was at a high level ( =4.36, S.D. = 0.49). Students found the developed novel as a new, interesting and funlearning tool to remember, understand and retain content knowledge. In conclusion,
the results suggested that the developed novel using storytelling technique yielded
positive impact on student engagement and satisfaction. Therefore, the developed
novel can be used as a powerful learning tool to engage students in learning activities
and promote student satisfaction for better learning.
Keywords: Novel, Storytelling Technique, Learning Tool, Student Engagement,
Student Satisfaction

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Introduction
There is a consensus that student learning is important (Darling-Hammond, 2000) and
if students do not learn, which demonstrated in form of not getting engaged andsatisfied with their own learning, the established learning outcomes will not be
achieved at the end of class. Fortunately, there is a variety of learning tools that canbe used in the classroom to support student learning, ranging from traditional to hightech options. Depending on course learning goals and outcomes, instructors may
choose to use one or several of these learning tools to augment the teaching andlearning environment in their classroom (Yale, n.d.) and learning can be enjoyable ifteachers use appealing methods of teaching (DiPerna, 2008). Storytelling iscommonly used in education for learning, explaining and entertaining (Li & Hew,2017) because it engages and entertains students while enabling students to easily
recall facts from the story (Rossiter, 2002). Lindesmith &, McWeeny (1994) andZhao (2012) also stated that storytelling is a teaching method which is based on acarefully chosen story to illustrate and explain the things that teachers want students
to know. This teaching method also helps students think further from the story about
the insights, ideas, feelings, and experiences that remain in the story. McDrury &Alterio (2003) agreed that when storytelling is formalized in meaningful ways, it cancapture everyday examples of practice and turn them into an opportunity to learn encouraging both reflection, a deeper understanding of a topic and stimulating criticalthinking skills. Therefore, it has become an important technique in the process oflearning (Abrahamson, 1998), which is considered as an ideal teaching and learning
tool, for it takes seriously the need for students to make sense of experience, using
their own culturally generated sense-making processes (Bishop and Glynn, 1999). By
telling stories, students are engaged in the process of their own learning. Research has
demonstrated that engaging students in the learning process increases their attention
and focus, motivates them to practice higher-level critical thinking skills andpromotes meaningful learning experiences (Center for Teaching and Learning, n.d.).
Furthermore, many studies have shown that student engagement and satisfaction can
maximize student learning as it helped reflect on students’ willingness, need, desire,and compulsion to participate in, and be successful in, the learning process (Bomia etal, 1997). According to Vanichvasin (2017), she used storytelling as a knowledge
management tool to promote student learning and as a communication tool to enhancethe effectiveness of communication and her researches demonstrated positively thatstudents were satisfied with the novel-based teaching and learning approach. If
storytelling is used as a learning tool, it is anticipated that it can yield the same
positive results. Therefore, the researcher was interested in building on her previous
studies to develop a novel as a medium using storytelling technique as a learning tool
through learning activities to promote student engagement and satisfaction as it
seemed that storytelling can engage students and bring satisfaction to them with its
entertaining characteristics. It was anticipated that the results of this research would
be useful for establishing storytelling technique as a learning tool for better learning.
Research Methodology
The novel using storytelling technique intervention was developed from documentary
review on theories and related researches. A six staged process from documentary
review was applied. First, the topic was chosen. Second, key concepts were used ascontent knowledge and design. Third, the theme and plot were planned. Fourth, theISSN: 2186-5892

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scenes were set. Fifth, the characters were introduced. Sixth, the story was written in aform of a novel. The developed novel was then examined with an appropriatenessquestionnaire by three experts with a variety of professional and personal backgroundfor its content, structure and presentation. After revising from comments of experts,
the researcher then posted a developed novel using storytelling technique online forclass learning and participation with duration of four weeks to 24 targeted samples
who enrolled in courses that the researcher, as an instructor, was responsible forteaching by using purposive sampling. The researcher then examined student
engagement and satisfaction after applying a developed novel with observation
checklist of student engagement and student satisfaction questionnaire.
Results
The developed novel consisted of 7 chapters with 69 pages covering content
knowledge of learner characteristics, learner-centered teaching, educational problems,
and the future of education. There were six main steps to develop a novel. First, thetopic was chosen by selecting the content knowledge to be the main focus of a noveland naming the topic of a novel. Second, key concepts were used by selecting key
concepts, that is, learner characteristics, learner-centered teaching, educational
problems, and the future of education to be put as key content in the developed novel.
Third, the plot and theme were planned by creating the plot about the present
educational problems with theme of finding the best practices to fix those problems
and at the same time understanding learner more to educate them better. Fourth, thescenes were set by setting the scene around the educational problems to make asequence of important events and to lead the main characters to find out the bestpractices of better education. Fifth, the characters were introduced by introducing
main characters and describing them through a sequence of actions among different
scenes to tell the story. Sixth, the story was written in a form of a novel by developinga novel to tell the story about finding the best practices to fix educational problems.
It was then verified by experts as appropriate ( = 4.54, S.D. = 0.44) at a very highlevel in its content, structure and presentation.
Table 1 Means and Standard Deviation of AppropriatenessAppropriatenessContent
Structure
Presentation
TOTAL

n = 24
C

4.67
4.33
4.67
4.54

S.D.
0.58
0.58
0.33
0.44

Interpretation
Very highHigh
Very highVery highFrom table 1, it demonstrated that mean and standard deviation of the appropriatenessof a developed novel was 4.54 and standard deviation (S.D.) was 0.44. This meantthat the developed novel was appropriate at a very high level.

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1. Student engagement after applying a developed novel
Table 2 Frequency and Percentage of Student Engagement
Student Engagement
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
TOTAL

n = 24EngagedNot engaged
Number Percentage Number
Percentage
24
100
0
0
23
95.83
1
4.17
23
95.83
1
4.17
22
91.66
2
8.34
20
83.33
4
16.67
23
95.83
1
4.17
24
100
1
0
94.64
5.36

From table 2, it demonstrated that most of students (94.64 out of 100 percent)engaged in learning activities (for example: questions, discussion and etc.) that usedthe developed novel as a learning tool.
Student satisfaction after applying a developed novel
Table 3 Means and Standard Deviation of Student satisfactionn = 24Student Satisfaction
1. A developed novel is designed on the basisof the established learning outcomes
2. A developed novel helps students achieve
the established learning outcomes
3. A developed novel is a suitable, easy andunderstandable learning tool
4. A developed novel makes the content
accessible helps give content knowledge
5. A developed novel enhances content
knowledge to a wider perspective through its
learning activities
6. A developed novel motivates students to
learn
7. A developed novel helps stimulate interest
throughout the learning process
8. A developed novel makes the learning
process much more effective through learning
activities
9. A developed novel helps remember content
knowledge
10. A developed novel helps students get
satisfied with its entertaining characteristics
11. A developed novel is used in a variety oflearning activities as a learning tool
Total

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Interpretation

4.29

S.D.
0.62

4.33

0.56

High

4.42

0.65

High

4.29

0.55

High

4.42

0.58

High

4.54

0.59

Very High

3.75

0.61

High

4.29

0.62

High

4.46

0.59

High

4.67

0.48

Very High

4.50

0.51

Very High

4.36

0.49

High

C

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The data analysis in Table 3 showed that mean was 4.36 and standard deviation (S.D.)
was 0.49. This meant that student satisfaction was at a high level. Results from open
ended answers were that students found a developed novel as a new, interesting andfun learning tool to remember, understand and retain content knowledge.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the research yielded positive impact on student engagement andsatisfaction, which supported that storytelling in a variety of forms such as a novel
can be used as a powerful learning tool to engage students in learning activities andpromote student satisfaction for better learning.

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References
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review ofstate policy evidence. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8 (1), 1-42.
Yale. n.d. Instructional Tools. Retrieved fromhttps://ctl.yale.edu/FacultyResources/Instructional-Tools.
DiPerna J.C. (2008). Academic Enablers: Assessment and Intervention
Considerations.
Retrieved from http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/DCDB0A7E9A50-4DF3-A475 EB2FEC1A30F5/0/AcademicEnablers.pdf.
Li, E.H. & Hew, H.S. (2017). Better Learning of Chinese Idioms through Storytelling:
Current Trend of Multimedia Storytelling. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning,
15 (7), 455-466.
Rossiter, M. (2002). Narrative and stories in adult teaching and learning. ERIC
Digest, 1–8. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational
Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED473147)
Lindesmith, K.A. & McWeeny, M. (1994). The power of storytelling. Journal ofContinuing Education in Nursing, 25(4), 186-7.
Zhao, Y.X. (2012). Storytelling in higher education. Logistics Engineering
Management China, 34 (2), 143-4.
McDrury, J., & Alterio, M. (2003). Learning Through Storytelling in Higher
Education: Using Reflection & Experience to Improve Learning. London andSterling, VA:
Routledge.
Abrahamson, C.E. (1998). Storytelling as a pedagogical tool in higher education.
Education, 118 (3), p. 440.
Bishop, R. & Glynn, T. (1999) Culture counts: Changing power relations in
Education. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press. Center for Teaching and Learning,
University of Washington. (n.d.) Engaging student in learning.
Retrieved from https://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engagingstudents-in-learning/
Bomia, L., Beluzo, L., Demeester, D., Elander, K., Johnson, M., & Sheldon, B.
(1997). The impact of teaching strategies on intrinsic motivation. Retrieved fromERIC database (ED418825).
Vanichvasin, P. (2017). The Development of a Novel using Storytelling Technique asa Knowledge Management Tool to Promote Student Learning in Knowledge
Management Subject. Journal of Education: Faculty of Education, Srinakharinwirot
University, 18 (2), 281-292.

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Vanichvasin, P. (2017). The Development of a Novel using Storytelling Technique asa Communication Tool to Promote the Effectiveness of Communication. Proceedingsof MEDIASIA2017: The Asian Conference on Media, Communication & Film. (pp.
61-65).

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E-learning Strategies in English Language Learning in Pre-service Teacher
Education: Comparison in Hong Kong and Mainland China
Ruiqian YANG, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Yiu Chi LAI, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The knowledge and pedagogies of English e-learning taught in teacher education
courses would assist student teachers to design their lectures. Thus, the strategies andattitudes of student teachers to the teaching education course lead a widespread
discussion for higher education in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It not only
benefits to educators and university student teachers to understand the models forteacher education development but also helps Chinese university student teachers tounderstand the advantages and shortages about their English e-learning strategies inteacher education course. Meanwhile, Chinese university student teachers could
improve and contribute to the innovative strategies and acceptable attitudes to English
e-learning in teacher education courses. This study aims to compare the difference
and commons in the strategies and attitudes of Chinese university student teachers toEnglish e-learning in teacher education courses in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
One hundred Chinese university students of English are involved. The mixed-method
approach would be adopted in the research. The study would mainly focus on
designing the framework for the research which relates to strategies and attitudes toEnglish e-learning in teacher education course of Chinese university student teachersin Hong Kong and Mainland China. The findings assist educators and Chinese
university student teachers to know the general situation of strategies and attitudes toEnglish e-learning in teacher education course in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Keywords: the comparison in teaching English as second language education,e-learning practices, pre-service teacher education in China

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Introduction
With the development of educational technology, the trend of teacher education
reform presses hard on its way both in Hong Kong and mainland China, thus teacher
professional development with e-learning implementation for 21st century which also
is called digital era lead massive debates in educational field. Shin and Crandall (2014)agreed that teaching in 21st century skills which are helpful to improve the curricula
and teaching strategies need to be emphasized to every educator especially digital
literacy including information literacy, media literacy and information andcommunication technology (ICT) literacy. Thus, it is very important to both educatorsand students to improve the English skills and knowledge by technical-mediatedinstruction. Based on the previous researches, learners’ higher learning performance isdepended on appropriated learning strategies. Learners with lower learning
performance since they did not use the suitable learning strategies, but they used theeasiest learning strategies they perceived. (Leaver, Ehrman and Shekhtman, 2005).
The goals of this research focus on designing frameworks for the research related toEnglish e-learning strategies in teacher education in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Background of e-learning and e-learning Strategies
E-learning is a complex definition in the field of education and different scholars andeducational organizations had distinguished explanation about the e-learning.
Laferrière, Lamon and Chan (2006) pointed out e-learning strategies are not only
tools but also one chance to help teacher instructors to better understand theknowledge they learnt then to improve the strategies for future teaching and learningof themselves and their students. Fee (2009) showed the clear way of thedevelopments of e-learning strategies which also could help e-leaning beginners tofind the shortcuts to access to their suitable e-learning strategies. The author
suggested that e-learning beginners could exercise the corporate strategies firstly, thenthey could summarize the learning and development strategies for improving theirlearning effectively, finally, they could clarify appreciated e-learning strategies fortheir learning needs and achievement.
The Categories and Development of e-learning Strategies
The appreciated e-learning strategies would help learners to effectively learning. Fee(2009) indicated that the development of e-learning strategies could follow thestrategies development cycle. Firstly, learners should develop their e-learning
resources and identify the quality of the e-learning resources. Second step is calledbuilding the capability which focus on both the learners themselves and e-learning
strategies. It means learners could complete the self-improvement by appreciatede-learning strategies and then to find the leaks of present e-learning strategies to fix
and improve them. Finally, learners should choose the e-learning strategies to match
their own learning needs even they may not be perfect for others. Laferrière, Lamon
and Chan (2006) believed that only teachers showed how often they use the e-learning
strategies and how they use could influence their teaching beliefs and practice during
their teaching process. Turvey (2010) researched that how to develop theunderstanding and knowledge of e-learning strategies from in-serve students to thestudent teachers, the author believed that e-learning itself is a strategy which isvaluable to research the sufficient definition and scopes of it. Based on the theory for

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cognition, the strategies could be divided into four aspects which are cognitive
strategies, metacognitive strategies, social strategies and affective strategies. English
language learners can find suitable strategies for English language teaching andlearning. Anderson (2005) showed that seven different learning strategies, which are
cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, memory strategies, compensatory
strategies, affective strategies, social strategies and self-motivating strategies.
The Implementation of E-learning Strategies in English Learning and Teaching
Curtin (2009) discussed the English e-learning strategies from two perspectives. Oneis from the perspective of teachers support strategies for English language learners.
Teachers need to be patient and keep smile when they interact with students. Teachers
should consider that students individual situation and learning abilities and diversityof teaching materials. Sternberg and Spear (1996) summarized that three generalteaching strategies which would increase the interaction between teachers andstudents. Firstly, lecture-based teaching strategies are directly pressing the teachingcontents and simply interaction between teachers and students. Secondly,
question-based teaching strategies that teachers would tell the understanding of
knowledge and skills from students by asking students questions. Finally,
thinking-based teaching strategies which focus on the discussions and debate among
students and teachers could aware the learning difficulties and problems from students
by observing and indirectly intervening.
E-learning Strategies in English Learning and Teaching in Hong Kong and
Mainland China
Littlewood and Ngar-Fun (1996) illustrated that English is one of vital characteristicof educated person in Hong Kong. Bankowski, E. (2000) summarized 21 items about
English learning skills and strategies would be referred as designed for questionnaires
for this study. In Hong Kong, the Knowledge Society Network is utilized by someteachers and would provide the chances to visitors to scan the whole designed lecture
within pedagogies, assessments and creative activities (Laferrière, Lamon and Chan,
2006). Keengwe and Kang (2013) founded that technology-rich curriculum offered
more chances to Chinese learners of English in the e-learning environment, such as
they could complete diverse teaching and learning activities and games about English
language learning and teaching.
Methodology
Macaro (2002) illustrated basic research method for studying English e-learning
strategies within two aspects. One is descriptive method which focused on thefeatures and the number of strategies. It could also be the guideline for thequantitative research method by questionnaires for this study. The other isintervention method which focused on in-depth change and reasons of strategies. It
can be the guideline for the qualitative research method by interviews andobservations for this study. One hundred Chinese university students of English are
involved. The mixed-method approach would be adopted in the research. The study
would mainly focus on the strategies and attitudes to English e-learning in teacher
education course of Chinese university student teachers in Hong Kong and Mainland
China. The findings will help educators and Chinese university student teachers to

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know the general situation of strategies and attitudes to English e-learning in teacher
education course in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study is to suggest Chinese university student teachers in Hong
Kong and Mainland China for future teaching and learning in teacher education
development. Since the data are still collected, thus the results of this research will bepresented in further papers.

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References:
Anderson, N. J. (2005). L2 strategy research. E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook in second.
Bankowski, E. (2000). Learner independence in Hong Kong: An empirical study ofthe effects of the English for academic purposes training programme on thedevelopment of autonomous learning strategies.
Curtin, E. M. (2009). Practical strategies for teaching English language learners.
Merrill/Pearson
Fee, K. (2009). Delivering E-Learning: A complete strategy for design application
and assessment. Kogan Page Publishers.
Keengwe, J., & Kang, J. (2013). Preparing in-service language teachers to design andimplement the technology-rich curriculum. Education and Information Technologies,
18(4), 609-619.
Laferrière, T., Lamon, M., & Chan, C. (2006). Emerging E‐Trends and Models in
Teacher Education and Professional Development. Teaching Education,17(1), 75-90.
Leaver, B. L., Ehrman, M., & Shekhtman, B. (2005). Achieving success in second
language acquisition. Cambridge University Press.
Littlewood, W., Liu, N. F., & Yu, C. (1996). Hong Kong tertiary students' attitudes
and proficiency in spoken English. RELC journal, 27(1), 70-88.
Macaro, E. (2002). Learning strategies in foreign and second language classrooms:
The role of learner strategies. Bloomsbury Publishing
Shin, J., & Crandall, J. (2014). Teaching young learners English: From theory topractice.
Sternberg, R. J., & Spear-Swerling, L. (1996). Goal 6: Understanding basic
principles and pitfalls in the teaching of thinking. American Psychological
Association.
Turvey, Keith. (2010). Pedagogical-Research Designs to Capture the Symbiotic
Nature of Professional Knowledge and Learning about e-Learning in Initial Teacher
Education in the UK. Computers & Education, 54(3), 783-790.
Contact email: s1121803@s.eduhk.hk
yiuchi@ied.edu.hk

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Zoo Kids Zone in Chiang Mai Zoo: Best Practice Activities
under the Concept of Edutainment
Banjaponn Thongkaw, Maejo University, Thailand
Jirachai Yomkerd, Maejo University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
In the term of edutainment which is currently defined as the helper for social andhealth problems, this paper is intended to empirically apply the conceptual frameworkof edutainment to evaluate the behavior of young tourists who attended to the Zoo Kid
Zone in Chiang Mai zoo, Thailand. Additionally, the empirical practice done in thispaper is conducted directly to investigate the capability of the students who are above
15 years old to understand the edutainment concept by doing activities in the Zoo Kidzone for suggesting efficient plans to the policy makers. Methodologically, 355 young
tourists are sampled to analyze by the descriptive and statistical approaches forclarifying the correlation between edutainment activities in the kid zone and tourists’perception and adoption. The results were obvious that the sampled people
misunderstand the edutainment concept and they did not realize this issue in daily life.
Consequently, these results will be the crucial work that empirically explains therecognition of edutainment travellers should be mentioned and implemented for
improving the higher standard of the kid sector in Chiang Mai zoo. Furthermore, thepilot practical results in this paper will be the useful application for other zoos around
Thailand that similarly have kid zone activities.
Keywords: Edutainment, Adoption, Kid activities, Choice analysis

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Introduction
What is Edutainment? Education and Entertainment can be combined as a new wordcalled “Edutainment”. This regards the study of using input factors, processes, andoutput factors in each form of communications to apply in many educationalsituations. Why we should apply edutainment in educational institutions? Inevitably,
educational activities need enjoyable things and entertainment activities needs
educational learning. So, the concept of edutainment can provide knowledge, enjoy
with environment, entertainment, relaxing, and learning by doing. Why is the Zoo
Kids Zone in Chiang Mai Zoo? Chiang Mai zoo is the worldwide zoological placethat is guaranteed by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The
Zoo Kids zone is one of spotlighted sections located in the zoo. This place wasestablished to provide kids for learning about animals, humans, technologies andecological systems. As a result, edutainment would be suitably applied to improve
services of this zone.
1. Objectives
1. To evaluate the activities in the Zoo Kids zone based on edutainment
applications.
2. To study expectations and attitudes of audiences in the Zoo Kids zone.
3. To recommend a policy “Best Practice” for planning edutainment activities
in the zoo Kids zone.
2. Review Literature
Zühal Okan (2003) studied the edutainment application to remedy children who
addicted electronic games. Vasanth Kiran and team (2012) explored the edutainment
application in how to use Hollywood movies in classrooms. Erin M. Steffes andPhilippe Duverger (2012) applied edutainment ideas combining video clips to curechildren who addicted them.
3. Research Methodologies
The methodology was implemented in this research are consist of the descriptive
statistics and logit model. The observations were collected from the sample size equal
to 355 by surveying in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 1 year
(2016-2017).

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3.1 data description
Table 1. Display the data of Gender who visited in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo
in during period of 1 year (2016-2017).
GenderAmountPercentage

Men

140

39.4

Women

215

60.6

Total

355

100

Source: surveying
From table 1 was indicated that women have already visited in Zoo Kids zone of
Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 1 year (2016-2017) more than man equal to over
60 %. From table 2, the people who were collected by surveying of this study havemostly the age of 15 to 19 is equal to 38%. From table 3, which it was presented thatthe data of the address for who visited in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during
period of 1 year (2016-2017). Most of them have address in Chiang Mai is equal to53.2%. Table 4, which it display that the data of frequency of visiting for who visitedin Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 1 year (2016-2017). Most ofthem came to Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 1 year is equal to
1 times or about of equal to 56.6%. In table 5, which it present the data of types fortraveling for who visited in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo found that most ofthem visited this place with their family is equal to more than 80%.

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Table 2. Display the data of Age who visited in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo induring Period of 1 year (2016-2017).

Source: surveying
Table 3. Display the data of the address for who visited in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang
Mai zoo in During period of 1 year (2016-2017)

Source: surveying

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Table 4. Display the data of the frequency of visiting for who visited in Zoo Kids
zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 1 year (2016-2017)

Source: surveying
Table 5. Display the data of types for traveling for who visited in Zoo Kids zone of
Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 1 year (2016-2017)

Source: surveying
From table 6, this table display about the data of education for who visited in Zoo
Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 2016 to 2017. Most of them are
study in bachelor degree is equal to 41.7% and second order of the group has visitingin this place has of education level as the firs high-school is equal to a proximally
23% respectively.

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Table 6. Display the data of education for who visited in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang
Mai zoo in during period of 1 year (2016-2017)

Table 7. Display the data of expenditure for who visited in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang
Mai zoo in during period of 1 year (2016-2017)

Source: surveying
The last table, this table displayed the data of expenditure for who visited in Zoo Kids
zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during period of 1 year (2016-2017). In terms of datacollection by surveying method was demonstrated that more than 40% of them
expend less than 100 baht per time to visit the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo induring period of this study. In addition, the visitors have to expend higher from 300
to more than 500 baht per time is equal to a proximally 12%.

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4.2 The empirical result of model estimation
Table 8. Display the result of model estimation for logit model based considers on thesocial And economic factors are influencing for revisiting of Zoo Kids zone of Chiang
Mai zoo. logit back gender age place frequence company education expenditure, robust
Iteration 0:
Iteration 1:
Iteration 2:
Iteration 3:
Iteration 4:log pseudolikelihood = -142.48558
log pseudolikelihood = -135.80585
log pseudolikelihood = -135.46644
log pseudolikelihood = -135.46521
log pseudolikelihood = -135.46521

Logistic regression

Number of obs
Wald chi2(7)Prob > chi2
Pseudo R2

Log pseudolikelihood = -135.46521

=
=
=
=

355
15.41
0.03110.0493-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Robustback |
Coef.
Std. Err.
zP>|z|[95% Conf. Interval]-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------gender |.8062772.3294185
2.45
0.014.1606288
1.451926
age |.0500574.0242832
2.06
0.039.0024631.0976516
place |
.2065725.3194333
0.65
0.518-.4195053.8326503
frequence | -.2426542.1709402
-1.42
0.156
-.5776907.0923824
company |.042845.1686434
0.25
0.799-.2876901.3733801
education | -.2251114.1335971
-1.69
0.092
-.4869569.0367342
expenditure |.0005985.0009984
0.60
0.549-.0013582.0025552_cons | -.0725908
1.269495
-0.06
0.954
-2.560754
2.415573------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: authors
From table 8, the logit model estimation was indicated that only the social factor was
influencing for who revisited the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during periodof study. In other factor is not influenced for who revisited the Zoo Kids zone of
Chiang Mai zoo in during the same period of study. In addition, the social factor
influenced of who revisited the Zoo Kids zone is consist of gender, age, and education
respectively. In term of logit model explanation for this visiting behavior give moredetail that the gender and age have a positively relationship with the probability of
who will revisit the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo. In contrast, the education of
the people visited the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo has impact of a reducing theprobability of who revisited the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo. It implied thatwhenever the people have more higher education then they will reduce of revisit in
the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo as less as they can.

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Table 9. Display the result of model estimation for logit model based consider on the
Expectation before entrance
Logistic regression

Number of obs
Wald chi2(34)Prob > chi2
Pseudo R2

Log pseudolikelihood = -104.51653

=
=
=
=

355
75.82
0.00010.2665-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Robustback |
Coef.
Std. Err.
zP>|z|[95% Conf. Interval]-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------e_hall | -.1736386.4790224
-0.36
0.717
-1.112505.765228
e_intro |.8851162.604908
1.46
0.143-.3004817
2.070714
e_greenzoo | -.2011943.5361388
-0.38
0.707
-1.252007.8496185e_manriver |.580173.68881120.84
0.400-.7698721
1.930218
e_model | -.2758029.4512227
-0.61
0.541
-1.160183.6085772
e_hunting | -.4481027.5139066
-0.87
0.383
-1.455341.5591358
e_anotomy |.2316092.4795251
0.48
0.629-.7082428
1.171461
e_consume | -1.145404.5929691
-1.93
0.053
-2.307602.0167943
e_forrest | -.1204449.6350979
-0.19
0.850
-1.365214
1.124324
e_reenergy |.7120252.8612946
0.83
0.408-.9760813
2.400132e_games | -.4932807.4649285
-1.06
0.289
-1.404524.4179624
e_elephant | -1.101026.4857365
-2.27
0.023
-2.053052-.1489995
e_royal_pro | -.2800446.6151852
-0.46
0.649
-1.485785.9256963
e_cinema | -.5888855.6974402
-0.84
0.398
-1.955843.7780722
e_library |1.530324.6848065
2.23
0.025.1881278
2.87252e_know1 |1.000163.5770582
1.73
0.083-.1308501
2.131176e_know2 | -1.539266.8047483
-1.91
0.056
-3.116544.0380112e_know3 | -.3037231.6860253
-0.44
0.658
-1.648308
1.040862
e_know4 | -.6605013.6645343
-0.99
0.320
-1.962965.6419619
e_know5 |1.55761.7536971
2.07
0.039.0803912
3.034829
e_know6 | -2.041278.6451253
-3.16
0.002
-3.305701-.776856
e_know7 |2.637487.7460321
3.54
0.000
1.175291
4.099683
e_know8 | -.3071129.760596-0.40
0.686-1.797854
1.183628
e_know9 | -.6283532.557761-1.13
0.260-1.721545.4648382
e_fun1 |
1.152594.6868282
1.68
0.093-.1935647
2.498752
e_fun2 | -2.443739
1.001005
-2.44
0.015
-4.405672-.4818057
e_fun3 | -.1913878.7936731
-0.24
0.809
-1.746958
1.364183
e_tech1 | -.1156229.670986-0.17
0.863-1.430731
1.199485
e_tech2 | -.0264962.9018746
-0.03
0.977
-1.794138
1.741145
e_tech3 |1.800919.7887904
2.28
0.022.2549187
3.34692
e_act1 |1.153986.4917386
2.35
0.019.1901959
2.117776
e_act2 |-1.64908.9338564
-1.77
0.077
-3.479405.181245e_act3 |1.189736.7858759
1.51
0.130-.3505528
2.730024
e_act4 |.1870342.6540905
0.29
0.775-1.09496
1.469028_cons |
.1197801.9344343
0.13
0.898-1.711678
1.951238------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: authors
From table 9, the results of logit model estimation was indicated that the 13 factors
were influencing on the expectation for probability of whom still never to revisit theZoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo in during period of study. In those factors consistsof two group are influencing on both the positive direction and negative direction to
the expectation of the probability of them before they revisit the Zoo Kids zone of
Chiang Mai zoo in during the same period of study. First, the positive direction
factors are affected to their expectation of probability of before to revisit again the
Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai zoo is to consist of 7 factors such as library room ofanimal (e_library), the exhibition of Chiang Mai zoo history (e_know_1), theexhibition of hunting equipment (e_ know_5), the exhibition of forest in
Thailand(e_know_7), animal game zone(e_fun_1), the exhibition of technology for
Zoo Kids zone (e_teach_3), and the last positive factor is the activity influence to selfexiting away(e_act_1). In contrast, the negative direction factors are affected to their
expectation of probability of before to revisit again the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai
zoo is to consist of 6 factors such as exhibition of displaying for wrong thinking for
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exhibition of introduction for Chiang Mai zoo (e_know_2), the exhibition of anatomyof animals (e_know_6), the exhibition of 3D drawing (e_fun_2), and the last negative
factor is the exhibition of activity to stimulate the creative thinking(e_act_2). In
conclusion, the empirical results of estimation from logit model suggested that theoverall of those factors confirmed that visitors to visit the Zoo Kids zone is satisfied
with the process of entertaining people at the same time as teaching them theknowledge together. From table 10, this table display about the result of model
estimation for logit model based consider on attitude after entrance. The factors haveinfluence on the probability to revisit of whom have ever been in Zoo Kids zone of
Chiang Mai Zoo is still decreased when compare the result of estimation fromprevious logit model. In this case, only 8 factors are affected the probability of whom
to revisit the Zoo Kids zone again. In the positive direction factors to impact theprobability of whom to revisit this place consist of 5 factors such as the exhibition ofgreen zone (a_know_3), the exhibition of forest in Thailand (a_know_7), theexhibition of VDO story of wrong thinking to consume of animals (a_tech_2), theexhibition of technology for Zoo Kids zone (e_teach_3), and the last positive factor isthe exhibition of activity to stimulate the creative thinking (e_act_2).
Table 10. Display the result of model estimation for logit model based consider on
attitude after Entrance
Logistic regression

Number of obs
Wald chi2(19)Prob > chi2
Pseudo R2

Log pseudolikelihood = -98.380331

=
=
=
=

354
82.09
0.00000.3088-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Robustback |
Coef.
Std. Err.
zP>|z|[95% Conf. Interval]-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------a_know1 |.0232708.4995383
0.05
0.963-.9558062
1.002348
a_know2 | -.8551793.4038813
-2.12
0.034
-1.646772-.0635865
a_know3 |1.359522.3678731
3.70
0.000.6385038
2.08054a_know4 |.4261774.3844959
1.11
0.268-.3274208
1.179776
a_know5 |.4916825.3655833
1.34
0.179-.2248476
1.208213a_know6 | -.3297007.3999117
-0.82
0.410
-1.113513.4541117a_know7 |1.004898.5229255
1.92
0.055-.0200169
2.029814
a_know8 | -.3913003.3835331
-1.02
0.308
-1.143011.3604108a_know9 |-.201766.4702936
-0.43
0.668
-1.123525.7199925
a_fun1 | -.5975225.3962179
-1.51
0.132
-1.374095.1790503
a_fun2 | -.8431556.5081954
-1.66
0.097
-1.8392.1528891
a_fun3 |.1238777.4290325
0.29
0.773-.7170106.964766a_tech1 | -.6552788.5029457
-1.30
0.193
-1.641034.3304767
a_tech2 |.7213414.3770774
1.91
0.056-.0177167
1.4604a_tech3 |.9925319.5934819
1.67
0.094-.1706712
2.155735
a_act1 | -.5777367.5680043
-1.02
0.309
-1.691005.5355314
a_act2 |1.192524.4898135
2.43
0.015.2325068
2.15254a_act3 |.5747984.4389425
1.31
0.190-.2855131
1.43511a_act4 | -.4406152.4094886
-1.08
0.282
-1.243198.3619677_cons |
-4.95416
1.44915-3.42
0.001-7.794442-2.113879------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: authors
For the negative factors to effect of the probability to revisits of who have everalready been Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai Zoo. The first factor is the exhibition of
introduction for Chiang Mai zoo (e_know_2) and the second factor is the exhibitionof 3D drawing (e_fun_2). And the last factor has a negative impact on the probability
to revisit in Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai Zoo is other factors are not included in the

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logit model. However, some factors in the logit model estimation are found that theywould be displayed in the same direction in both before coming and after coming tovisit the Zoo Kids zone in Chiang Mai Zoo. If those of factors have positive influenceon the probability to revisit in the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai Zoo then bothgovernment sector and privet sector must be stimulated these activities more thanpreviously for improving of the Zoo Kids zone of Chiang Mai Zoo. Which it will be
as a suitable process of based on learning by the best practice activities under theconcept of edutainment for this place.
5. Conclusion
The binary statistic model confirmed that the factors of social and economics,
activities, and audiences’ knowledge backgrounds significantly relate to their revisiting decision. It is obvious that sampled people needed to be basically improved
regarding the concept of edutainment since the results stated people raised highexpectations, but they have gained a few of good experiences after attending. The
edutainment concept really needs the rotations of creative activities, and public andpublication supports to encourage audiences to recommend to others.

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References
Duverger, Erin M. Steffes and Philippe. 2012. Edutainment with videos and its
positive effect on long term memory. journal for Advancement of Marketing
Education,20(1), 1-10.
Okan, Zühal. 2003. Edutainment: is learning at risk? British Journal of
Educational Technology,34(255-264.
Vasanth Kiran, Mousumi Majumdar, and Krishna Kishore. 2012. Management
edutainment: theory from fction, changing the way you teach. International Journalof Research and Development,1(49-55.
Zoo, Houston. 2016. Houston Zoo Kidss Website. http://www.houstonzoo.org/newat-the-zoo/kids/Zoo, Singapore. 2016. Kidzworld.
http://www.zoo.com.sg/kidzworld/kidzworld.html#ad-image

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A Study of Praise, Motivation, and Self-esteem of Low-achieving Students in
Mentoring Groups
Chun Kin Chung, Caritas Fanling Chan Chun Ha Secondary School, Hong KongPeter Lai, Teach Unlimited Foundation, Hong Kong
Raoger Ng, Teach Unlimited Foundation, Hong Kong
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The study attempts to examine the effects of evidence-based praise strategies on thelearning motivation and self-esteem in low-achieving students in mentoring groups
and study the processes that influence the corresponding changes. Participants in the
study were students from two secondary schools in Hong Kong. Thirty-two students
participated in one of the four weekly mentoring groups, each of which was facilitatedby a school-based mentor. Data triangulation and methodological triangulation were
employed in the study; data were collected from student questionnaires, observational
field notes, and interviews with mentees and mentors before and after the intervention
program. Two major findings arise from the investigation: first, the implementation ofpraise strategies, which promoted adaptive attribution patterns, was effective in theenhancement of students’ learning motivation and academic aspect of self-esteem
while no significant change was noticeable on their global self-esteem. Second, it was
found that the corresponding change processes should be understood from theinteracting forces of the environment, student personal factors, and student behavior.
In particular, mentor-mentee relationships and social climate in learning environments
emerged as key contextual factors which mediated the outcomes of praiseadministration. In conclusion, when bestowed strategically, praise can be conducive
to learning motivation and self-esteem of low-achieving students. More research isneeded to cover more diversified populations and understand the long-term
consequences of research-informed praise strategies.
Keywords: mentoring, learning motivation, self-esteem, low-achieving students

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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1.   Introduction
In an attempt to enhance the motivation and self-esteem of low-achieving students, awide range of instructional strategies have been suggested by educational
psychologists, with praise being singled out as a particularly valuable and desirable
form of reinforcement of good conduct and successful performance in the classroom
setting (Brophy, 1981). As a mentor teaching English language at a secondary schoolwith most of its students performing below average academically, I observed thatmost students did not devote time and effort to learning. It was speculated that thereason for this behavior was that they had experienced much more failure thansuccess in their academic pursuits; strongly influenced by the examination-oriented
and competitive school culture, students subconsciously equated their self-worth withthe scores they obtained from academic assessments such as tests and examinations.
However, when students were praised for positive learning behavior other thanacademic results alone on a consistent basis, their level of classroom engagement andself-confidence in learning appeared to be higher. In line with my teaching experience,a number of research have shown that praise, if effectively administered, can offer anarray of benefits on learning motivation and self-esteem, such as boosting selfefficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1997), enhancing feelings of competence (Deci & Ryan,
1985), and encouraging adaptive effort attributions (Henderlong, 2000; Mueller &Dweck, 1998). Having said that, the vast majority of previous research is primarily
based on experimental procedures that necessarily remove the actual context in which
praise is bestowed without taking the change processes of students into consideration;
little is known about the changes of beliefs, intentions, cognitions, and even behaviorof students in the natural learning environment, which is useful information forteachers in managing student learning. Furthermore, the measures of motivation andself-esteem in previous findings were mostly self-reported by research participants insurveys; the adaptation processes were often not examined and explored in detail.
Therefore, this study attempts to use mixed methods, including surveys, interviews,
document analysis, and observations, to study the changes of motivation and selfesteem in low-achieving students under the local secondary education after theintervention of praise strategies in a naturalistic setting. It then offers justified
explanations for the changes observed. It is worth noting that the research intends toprovide insights into the dynamic relationships between the instructional strategy ofpraise, learning motivation, and self-esteem of lower-achieving students such that
instructional delivery and appropriate interventions can be more effectively designedby teachers in the promotion of student learning in future.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Definition and Overview of Praise, Motivation, and Self-Esteem
Praise refers to positive evaluations made by the teachers of a student’s products,
performances, or attributes, where the teacher as an evaluator presumes the validity ofthe standards on which the evaluation is based (Kanouse, Gumpert, & CanavanGumpert, 1981). It should be noted that praise connotes a more intense and detailed
teacher response to student behavior than such terms as feedback andacknowledgment (for example, “That’s correct”; “You scored 80 marks.”), which are

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classified as neutral forms of recognition (Brophy, 1981). Moreover, thecharacteristics of praise statements may also affect children’s responsiveness to praise;characteristics of effective praise include its being contingent on desirable behavior(Shores, Gunter, & Jack, 1993; Willingham, 2005), behavior specific (Chalk & Bizo,
2004; Sutherland, Wehby, & Copeland, 2000), and focused on effort and process(Dweck, 2000; Hitz & Driscoll, 1988). Henderlong and Lepper (2002) state thatpraise is not simply a one-way transmission from the teacher to the student praised but
rather a complex social communication in which both have equally important roles toplay; the effects of praise differ depending not only on the content of praise but also
the context involved, the intended meanings of praise conveyed, and also theinterpretations of praise by students.
Motivation is one of the most important concerns that educators and teachers deal
with in order to improve student learning (Williams & Williams, 2011). It has beenfound to be essential in facilitating a desire to engage in learning and pursue
educational goals (Elliott, Hufton, Willis, & Illushin 2005; Reeve, 2006). According
to Maehr and Meyer (1997), motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain theinitiation, direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of behavior, especially goaldirected behavior. In the classroom setting, the concept of learning motivation is used
to explain the degree to which students invest attention and effort in different pursuits,
which may or may not be those desired by school teachers. Learning motivation isrooted in students’ subjective experiences and their reasons for doing so and can beunderstood as a complex construct that is contextual, domain-specific, and inherently
changeable (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002).
Self-esteem is defined as the evaluation of our own self-concept and value that eachof us places on our own abilities and behavior (Woolfolk, 1995). It can be categorized
as either global or specific; the former refers to an all-round feeling of self-worth andconfidence while the latter refers to a feeling of self-worth and confidence withrespect to a specific activity or behavior in such domains as academic, emotional,
physical, and social (Shavelson, Hubner, & Stanton, 1976). Self-esteem influences thepsychological well-being, motivation, and achievement of individuals, as suggested
by Franken (1994):“People who have good self-esteem have a clearly self-differentiated selfconcept… When people know themselves they can maximize outcomes
because they know what they can and cannot do” (p.439).
Adolescents with high self-esteem are likely to be successful in accomplishing theirlife tasks and tackling learning challenges, whereas those without healthy self-esteem
may fail to meet these challenges, withdraw socially, and even experience depression(Duys & Hobson, 2004; Moote & Wodarski, 1997; UsznyskaJaromoc, 2007; Wick,
Wick, & Peterson, 1997). A positive self-concept is therefore important because it
drives a person to achieve, develop positive social relationships, and enjoy
satisfaction in life. However, according to some researchers, self-esteem may bevulnerable during the secondary school life (Akos & Galassi, 2004; Lohaus, Elben,Ball, & Klein-Hessling, 2004). This seems to be particularly true because adolescents

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experience several transitions during this period of changes of school and changes infamily and peer relations (Akos, 2002; Chen, French, & Schneider, 2006).
2.2 Relationship of Praise, Motivation, and Self-Esteem
The potential power of praise is evident in the research literature, in which programs
are developed that involve a systematic and contingent use of praise over time for the
purpose of reducing classroom behavior problems and encouraging students to learn.
It has been demonstrated that effectively administered praise can be a successful
technique for influencing students’ learning motivation and performance, including
increase of intrinsic motivation (Corpus & Lepper, 2007; Deci, Koestner, & Ryan,
1999; Harackiewicz, 1979), academic performance (Elawar & Corno, 1985; Hancock,2002; Schunk, 1983), self-efficacy (Schunk, 1983), and decrease in classroom
behavioral problems (Harris, Wolf, & Baer, 1967; Madsen, Becker, & Thomas, 1968;
O’Leary & O’Leary, 1977). Early research has also revealed that at any grade level,
students with low socio-economic status backgrounds or from minority groups tend tobe especially responsive to praise and encouragement from teachers (Kennedy &Willcutt, 1964; Leith & Davis, 1969). However, a growing body of research has
challenged the purely beneficial effects of praise and suggested that praise may haveno observable influence dependent on the context in which it is distributed and themessage communicated (Brophy, 1981; Deci et al., 1999; Henderlong & Lepper,
2002).
The discrepancies of research findings mentioned above can be resolved by the
expectancy-value model (Feather, 1982; Pekrun, 1993; Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). The
model holds that the effort people are willing to invest in an activity is the product of(a) the degree to which they expect to be able to perform the activity successfully, and(b) the degree to which they value the rewards and the opportunity to engage in theprocess involved in carrying out the activity itself (See Table 1). In order to enhancethe expectations for success, both theory and research have illustrated that
attributional focus of praise statements may hold significant value in thedetermination of students’ motivation (Stipek, 2002; Toland & Boyle, 2008). A
number of research studies have investigated the effects of praise on motivation when
the attributional message is directed at the person and the process (Corpus & Lepper,
2007; Kamins & Dweck, 1999; Mueller & Dweck, 1998). Person praise aims atevaluating a person’s traits or the person as a whole; in person praise, the good
performance is attributed to something that the student cannot control. Process praisefocuses on recipients’ efforts or strategies; in process praise, the good performance isattributed to something that the student can control.
Table 1. Students’ Strategies in Response to Classroom Activities as Related to
Expectancy and Value Perceptions (Hansen, 1989)

Does
not
value
task/activity
Values the task/activity

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Rejection:
Refuses to participate
Dissembling:
Protects image of competence272

Has high successexpectations
Evading:
Does the minimum
Engagement:
Seeks to learn

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Experimental evidence shows that praising a child for ability or intelligence may leadthe child to attribute the success to internal, stable, and uncontrollable causes.
Whereas individuals who attribute their success to internal abilities and traits havebeen found to maintain their self-efficacy (Schunk, 1996) and motivation (Weiner,
1985), individuals who attribute their failures to abilities will develop helpless coping
strategies and a sense of self-worth contingent on external measures of success(Haimovitz & Corpus, 2011). Furthermore, it can also be seen that person praise
contributes to a self-perpetuating downward spiral of self-derogation among lowesteem children (Brummelman et al., 2014). However, when an individual is praisedfor hard work, he or she will be more inclined to interpret success as a result ofcontrollable effort and will continue to try hard when challenges and setbacks arise(Kamins & Dweck, 1999; Mueller & Dweck, 1998). Hence, effectively presented
praise is an important component for any intervention designed to promote learning
motivation and self-esteem.
2.3 Theoretical Framework of Current Research
From a social cognitive perspective, learning is described as the process of converting
information from the environment into mental representations that guide behavior(Bandura, 1986, 1999). Ormond (2008) argues that its success as a model of learning
is attributed to its basis in behaviorism and its potential for incorporating new
developments in cognitive modelling. Focusing on important theoretical issues suchas the role of reward in learning and stability of behavior, the theory offers areasonable view of human behavior and social implications. The basic assumptions of
the theory are listed as follows:
1.   Students can learn by observing the behavior of others, for instance, theirteachers and classmates.
2.   Learning is defined as a cognitive process and may or may not involve
changes in observable behavior. Whether a certain behavior can be observed
depends largely on the presence of an appropriate environment. This
underscores the importance of creating a desirable learning environment.
3.   All student behavior is directed towards a goal, which is not necessarily thesame for every student and depends on both the demands of the environment
and individual needs.
4.   Students’ behavior eventually becomes self-regulated because of theconsequences of the behavior.
5.   Reinforcement and punishment play an indirect role in influencing student
behavior, but they are important in helping to shape student expectations of
the consequences of their behavior based on what they see happening tostudents, the environment and personal preferences.
Bandura’s concept of reciprocal determinism describes the social cognitive
perspective by explaining the relationship between student personal factors, social
environment, and student behavior. The student personal factors include suchconcepts as motivation and self-esteem; the student environment includes positive andnegative reinforcements; and student behavior refers to time and effort spent on tasks,
attention in learning processes, and performance on achievement tests. With reference
to the framework, praise is considered as an intervention in the classroom

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environment, which results in a chain of changes in students, their behavior, and theenvironment itself (See Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Theoretical Framework

Given the small number of studies, however, it remains unclear how praise in actualclassrooms lead to changes cognitive processes in the person praised, and in theircorresponding behavior, suggesting the need for more research. In an effort to shedlight on the interdependence of these three components, a program which incorporates
the intervention of praise statements in the classroom setting is studied in the current
research. The key characteristics of praise include being contingent on desirable
behavior, behavior specific, and focused on effort and process. The dynamics among
student personal factors, behavior, and environment are then thoroughly investigated.
The two research questions of the present study are as follows:
1.

Were there any changes of learning motivation and self-esteem in students
after implementation of praise strategies? If yes, what were the changes?
2.
How did the implementation of praise strategies bring about the changes oflearning motivation and self-esteem in students?
3. Research Methodology
The research study was undertaken at two government aided co-educational
secondary schools in Sha Tin district. The majority of the in-take students were in thelowest third upon admission to school in terms of their academic achievements
Moreover, more than 30% of the students in each school came from low socioeconomic family backgrounds and sought financial subsidies from the government.
Both schools have participated in an English mentoring program provided by a local
non-governmental organization since the school year of 2014/15. The program
focuses on the enhancement of learning motivation and self-esteem of low-achieving
students, using mentoring in English as the point of intervention. A total of four recent
university graduates have been appointed as school-based mentors to conduct English

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mentoring in small group context during the regular English speaking lesson on a
weekly basis. The class size ranged from seven to twelve students and each weekly
lesson lasted between 35 to 45 minutes.
The study was conducted from September to December 2015. It included theparticipants of all four mentors and a sample of 32 mentees (21 males and 11 females)from both junior and senior secondary in the aforementioned two schools. All of these
32 students in the four mentoring groups took part in the survey study. Using thetypical case sampling method, one student in each group, who had an average
motivation and performance in learning, was selected by the mentor and invited to beinterviewed. All four mentors were also separately interviewed in the focus groupstudy for cross-referencing with the results from students. Finally, class observations
were arranged with each group to study the intervention impact. Permission to
conduct this study was received from the two school principals and four mentors; thestudents and parents were informed with information sheets and asked to give
permission with consent forms.
Interventions
Prior to the commencement of English mentoring sessions, mentors were offered a
training session on the administration of effective praise strategies which could
potentially enhance students’ learning motivation and self-esteem. Mentors were also
instructed to complete journal entries immediately after each mentoring session toreflect upon the administration of praise in an attempt to assist in their continuous
self-improvement (See Appendix A). Reflection items included the praise statements
administered, characteristics of the praise statements, and behavioral changes of target
students.
Instruments
Two sets of questionnaires on learning motivation and self-esteem, namely Motivated
Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (adapted) (Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990)
and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (Rosenberg, 1965), were administered
before and after the program intervention. The former survey takes into account thevalue and expectancy components of motivation in classroom learning while the lattermeasures the global self-esteem.
Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were also conducted to gauge the viewsof mentees and mentors respectively. The duration of the former ranged from 15 to 25
minutes and the latter from 25 to 35 minutes. To enhance the representation of all thesmall groups, a mentee of each mentoring group was invited to be interviewed on theexperience of the mentoring class (See Table 4). Both interviews began withquestions on demographics and proceeded with questions and responses regarding
experience on receiving and administering praise; prompts were used to probe forfurther information whenever appropriate.
Furthermore, two class observations were conducted with each of the four mentors to
obtain first-hand information on the administration of praise statements in classroom
environments and examine the corresponding responses from students. In addition to

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the field notes taken during each of the 45-minute sessions observed, the video-taped
lessons were reviewed subsequently to take note of student behavior indicative oflearning motivation and self-esteem in the hope of producing a comprehensive
evaluation of mentees’ learning performances.
Table 4. Profile of Student Interviewees
Students Selected
for Interview
GenderSchoolForm

Mentee A

Mentee B

Mentee C

Mentee D*

F
School 1
S.2
PassivelearnerwithlowconfidenceinEnglish learning,
especially public
speaking.

M
M
F
School 1
School 2
School 2
S.5
S.2
S.5
Active in extra- Poor relationship Sociallycurricularwith peers and withdrawn
andactivities, but not teachers
disengaged from
Mentorinterested
in maintained,classroom
Comments
learning English destructive
learning.
andother learning behavior
academicdemonstrated topursuits.
draw attention.
*The student was withdrawn from the mentoring class in the midst of school term. No interview was
conducted by the end of school term consequently.

4. Research Analysis and Findings
Part A – Were there any changes of learning motivation and self-esteem in students
after implementation of praise strategies? If yes, what were the changes?
The questionnaire data collected during the pre- and post-tests were then inputted into
and analyzed by the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Below
are the descriptive and inferential statistics.
Student Questionnaire – Descriptive Statistics
In the pre-test, 32 students completed the questionnaires of MSLQ (M = 42.59, SD =14.45) and RSES (M = 29.24, SD = 5.07) respectively. In the post-test, 29 students
returned the questionnaires of MSLQ (M = 47.80, SD = 13.81) and RSES (M = 28.62,
SD = 5.56) respectively.
Student Questionnaire – Inferential Statistics
Cronbach’s alphas were computed for each questionnaire set prior to conducting t-test
to ensure reliability. The values were greater than 0.9 for measurement of learning
motivation and greater than 0.8 for measurement of global self-esteem, both of whichindicated a good internal consistency estimate of reliability of test scores.
The results of paired t-test revealed that the mean score of learning motivation in the
post-test (M = 47.80, SD = 13.81) tends to differ statistically significantly (t = 1.518,
df = 28, two-tailed p = 0.140) from that of pre-test (M = 42.59, SD = 14.45). However,
the mean score of global self-esteem in the post-test (M = 28.62, SD = 5.56) did not
differ statistically significantly (t = -0.533, df = 28, two-tailed p = 0.599) from that of
pre-test (M =29.24, SD = 5.07).

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Student Interview, Mentor Focus Group Interview, Mentor Reflection Log, and Class
Observation
Consistent with the quantitative findings, the analysis of student interviews revealed
that the magnitude of changes in learning motivation had been more significant thanin self-esteem (See Table 6). The results indicated that Mentee B, who had a medium
level of learning motivation and academic self-esteem at the beginning of the schoolterm tended to show improvements in both aspects after the program intervention.
According to the student, he usually performed poorly in English learning because he
had a lack of initiative to study for the subject. He would expend some effort in taskcompletion only when his teacher offered direct and clear instructions. Although
Mentee B was a sports team member and performed quite well in the team, he
attempted to compare his strength in sports to high academic achievers anddownplayed the importance of his potential. However, in the second interview, he
appeared to be more confident and motivated to learn English. He became more awareof the appreciation of his mentor when he engaged in positive learning behavior. He
could also articulate what he did well in class with a high level of confidence, forinstance, asking questions when in doubt and helping peers with task. All these
indicated that he had been a committed and confident learner in the mentoring group.
Mentee A displayed a high level of motivation to learn and high academic self-esteem
in the pre- and post-interviews. She was very comfortable in sharing examples of her
successful learning experience and seemed to be interested and engaged in learning.
Having a high self-regard, she was able to participate in class activities actively,
display initiative in learning, and accept praise from the mentor without any
embarrassment. It could be concluded that Mentee A had maintained her motivation
to learn and positive self-concept after her participation in the program.
Among all the interviewees, Mentee C appeared to be the one who lacked confidence
and motivation to learn the most. He encountered a number of social problems at
school, such as poor teacher-student and peer relationships, which posed a threat tohis motivational and socio-emotional developments. In the second interview
following the intervention by his mentor, he was able to recall a few rare experiencesof being praised and recognized for his positive learning behavior, such as being
attentive and helping peers to answer questions. Nonetheless, his self-esteem
maintained relatively low because he often disregarded the compliments even though
he was aware of his improvements.

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Table 6. Case Studies of Individual Mentees

Mentee A
Learning
motivation

High - Enjoyment in class activities“Our lessons are not boring and we arevery happy. Sometimes we go like crazyin class and cannot stop laughing… The
same happens to teachers.”

Mentee B
Self-esteem

Medium - Negative self-image and peer
comparison“Maybe I am good at sports… Strength is
all about comparison; your (my) strengthis nothing to the student who ranks first inacademic studies.”

Year-end Assessment
High - A sense of competence“I feel happy about the mentoring
session… I have learnt a lot about
English, such as drawing mind-maps andusage of vocabulary…”
High - Initiative to learn and engagement
in class activities“When I asked her (the mentor) how to
use some vocabulary words, she also
complimented my effort. I was then busy
correcting my (writing) work…”
High - A sense of belonging andcontribution in class“Once I voluntarily helped my peers toanswer questions when they fell asleep, he(the mentor) also showed his appreciationof my behavior.”

Mentee B
Learning
motivation

Medium - Lack of initiative and effort inlearning“I have studied in this school for five
years and I think the students are
relatively lazy, including me… We arevery naughty in English lessons and we donothing in class…but we follow theteacher’s instructions in doing projects.”

High – Initiative to learn both in and outof class“He (the mentor) often appreciated us forasking questions… Last time, he praised
me for asking additional questions afterclass because it was about learning... We
were also rewarded for making attempts
to read and explain words.”

Mentee C
Self-esteem

Low - Lack of self-regard“Wisdom is always with me… But justforget it. People usually think I am
stupid.”Mentee A
Self-esteem

Baseline Assessment
High – Pride in academic accomplishment“I got a high score on a worksheet… Most
students could not do it but I completed itvery fast.”

Low - Reluctance to accept sincere praise“A few weeks ago, I was praised for being
attentive in lesson… It was true but I
didn’t have much response and I quickly
returned to the classroom.”
Mentee C
Low - Disengagement in learning due to Low-Medium - Improvement in perception
Learning
poor teacher-student relationshiptowards teachers
motivation“Teachers are quite mean sometimes and I “All teachers want to teach students
am often teased… That is, when I said well… I would give myself 50 marks onsomething
wrong
(and
stopped the performance… I was attentive 50% of
answering), they would say I used to be the time and wasn’t at the remaining
proactive in answering questions…”
time.”
Notes: Description of data elements. There are two outcomes of behavior: LM=learning motivation;
SE=self-esteem (academic). Motivation is defined as the processes that include the initiation, direction,
intensity, persistence, and quality of goal-directed behavior, while self-esteem is defined as theevaluation of self-concept and value that students place on their own abilities and behavior. Eachcomponent has three levels, non-numerically represented as low (L), middle (M), and high (H), withreference to the case-ordered descriptive meta-matrix proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994).

Part B – How did the implementation of praise strategies bring about the changes oflearning motivation and self-esteem in students?
Prior to establishing the relationship between praise strategies, learning motivation,and self-esteem, it is essential to examine the intervention – the actual administration

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during class observations and mentor reflection logs confirmed that the majority ofpraise statements could be classified as effective because they embodied thecharacteristics of being specific, effort-focused, without social comparison, contingent
upon positive learning behavior, and mentor-initiated (Brophy, 1981). It was also
observed that the praise statements administered were found to be primarily focusedon the following aspects of positive behavior: perseverance (“I notice you are on task
and have the courage to try. Well-done!”), improvement (“Good try! You tried to
speak up just now!”), engagement (“Good try! Thank you for your effort andcontribution. I appreciate that you answered today!”), and strategy (“Excellent! You
have elaborated your ideas in English. You’ve done a great job!”). All of these can be
categorized into a larger theme of “process-oriented” as opposed to “person-oriented.”
Furthermore, no overuse of praise statements was noted; on average, mentors
attempted to administer one to two praise statements to each of the participating
students within a mentoring session.
To account for the changes of learning motivation and self-esteem, two important
contextual variables, namely the perceived relationship between mentors and mentees
and social climate in classroom, emerged from the qualitative data. Upon a detailed
analysis of the student interviews, it was found that the mentorship was characterized
by trust, care, and mutual respect. According to the mentee interviews, mentors weremost often described as reliable people whom mentees could turn to when they had
academic or even personal problems. For example, Mentee B mentioned,“He (the mentor) does not only teach but he also helps us solve real life
problems… (I have also learnt from him that) the relationship between
teachers and students can be very close, unlike the traditional Chinese culturethat emphasizes the hierarchy of power and that students must admire andshow utmost respect to teachers. It is clearly not the case in this (mentoring)class… I asked him a question irrelevant to English learning once (throughsocial media). He was aware that it was very late in the night and cared aboutme…”
It was also discovered that mentors had spent a considerable amount of time to engage
and build rapport with mentees outside of regular lessons in order to nurture a caring
relationship. For instance, Mentee A recalled the experience when she and her mentor
first encountered in the school canteen and had a delightful conversation, while
Mentee C described the relationship with the mentor as excellent and cited a recent
experience in which he taught the mentor how to play the piano out of class as
supporting evidence. The findings from mentees also echoed with those from thementors. When asked about their roles, mentors unanimously agreed that they areclose friends and role models who facilitate the learning and development of students.
In the hope of fostering the change processes, they employed a variety of strategies,
which included taking an initiative in building and sustaining rapport and providing
customized learning support. It was evident that the solid relationships between
mentors and mentees added credibility to the demonstration of sincerity implied in the

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praise statements, which was stated as the single most important factor in theiracknowledgment by interviewed mentees.
In addition to the trustful relationship between mentors and mentees, mentees who
sustained a medium to high level of motivation and self-esteem also commented thatthe learning atmosphere was in general supportive and interactive. Both Mentees A
and B pointed out that the small-group learning environment had enabled mentors tounderstand and cater to individual learning and developmental needs. For example,
their mentors were reported to have adapted the pace and content of teaching toensure mentees learn most effectively. Mentees also agreed that they were provided
with ample opportunities to converse and socialize with classmates in a more casualand relaxing manner when compared to the traditional English classroom with school
teachers. The subjective learning experience of students was also in alignment withthe empirical evidence collected during class observations in which such elements as
guidance from mentors, peer support, and equal opportunities to participate wereidentified. On the other hand, although Mentee C articulated a nurturing relationshipwith the mentor, who spent out-of-the-class time to interact with him, he tended tohold a negative view of the classroom ambience. He described his peers as generally
lazy and reluctant to learn even with the dynamic learning activities in class. Lacking
a sense of belonging, he also considered it as natural for his classmates to be
distracted from listening to teachers and to keep talking on less important personal
things. There is a high likelihood that the dearth of a perceived supportive learning
community had affected his motivation to stay engaged in the mentoring class andthus not much improvement in academic self-concept was manifested in the closinginterview when compared to the preliminary one.
To further investigate into the change processes, it was found that under the
supportive mentorship in a nurturing learning environment, the administration ofprocess praise brought forth a pattern of similar changes in Mentees A and B and their
behavior. Perceiving it as sincere and non-controlling, the mentees regarded praisefrom mentors as a recognition of their abilities to complete learning tasks. During theinterviews, they described that the mentors had had clear expectations of the class,and whenever their peers had demonstrated the positive learning behavior, thementors would make equal effort to recognize it through genuine praise. In addition,
both mentees exhibited the openness to accept the praise and treat it as valuable
feedback to strengthen learning performance. The enhancement in self-efficacy
appeared to determine their choices of subsequent learning tasks and lead to an
overall improvement of the demonstrated learning performance. For example, Mentee
B had clearly demonstrated an adaptive motivational pattern in the post-interview;
when asked about the most significant changes in the attitude towards learning after
the first school term, he reflected on the value of exerting effort to improve learning
outcomes in his response:“… When I practice after thoroughly understanding the topic, the result is
usually not that bad. Therefore, I have learnt a great lesson that listening andunderstanding is very important to my motivation to learn because only thenwill I start doing.”

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Similar observations were noted by their mentors, who suggested that the learning
behavior of mentees had shown marked improvements, including a higher frequency
to ask and answer questions and an increase in effort in task completion. It was very
likely that their successful experience to manage classroom tasks along with theattributional messages embedded in praise statements by the mentors had increased
their perceived expectations for future performance. However, for Mentee C, whodiffered in the perception of social climate in the classroom when compared toMentees A and B, the impact of praise on motivation and self-esteem seemed to belimited and the no change on subsequent behavior could be observed.
5.   Discussion and Conclusio
General Discussion
The current study revealed two main findings with reference to the two researchquestions. First, the results derived from both quantitative and qualitative data
indicated that in general, mentees who completed the mentoring program in the firstschool term experienced an increase in learning motivation. While there was no
significant change in the global self-esteem as measured in the student survey, theacademic aspect of self-esteem appeared to show improvements in accordance with
the interviews with mentors and mentees. It was not a surprising finding because theimplementation of praise strategies focused on student learning, which is only one of
the many dimensions of self-esteem. Second, it was found that the causal relationshipof adaptive motivational processes and attributional messages implied in the praisestatements is not unidirectional but should be comprehended in a larger context,
which involves the mentor-mentee relationship and learning ambience. Figure 2
illustrates the conceptual framework on the application of social cognitive model toexplain the effects of praise on motivation and self-esteem and the detailed change
processes.

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework: Relationship between Praise, Motivation, and Self
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Research Implications
This study is an attempt to utilize a more sophisticated research methodology to gain
insights into the impact of praise in the classroom environment by understanding theperspectives of mentors, mentees, and researcher. The findings that research-informed
praise strategies have positive psychological effects on the learning attitudes andmotivation of low-achieving students in a classroom setting have important theoreticaland practical implications. The qualitative data collected in this research study hasdisentangled the underlying adaptive processes by providing insights into theperceptions of students towards themselves, their behavior, and the environment,
which cannot be gauged from the majority of research literature on praise. Moreover,prevention and intervention programs and other educational programs have beencommonly found to utilize praise as an instructional strategy to enhance motivationand self-esteem of different target participants (Hattie & Timperley, 2007; O’Mara,
Marsh, Craven, & Debus, 2006). In addition to the preference of process praise overperson praise in initiating changes in learning behavior, the current study has
preliminarily identified building of trustful teacher-student relationships anddevelopment of collaborative classroom environments as fundamentals fortransforming low-achieving students into more motivated and confident learners
through praise because these two contextual elements are found to be crucial to their
psychological adjustment in learning (Rohner, 2004). The study also extends thepractical implications that teachers and curriculum developers who have the intent tomotivate students to learn should focus not only on content design but also on thedelivery process and instructional strategy. In particular, recognition should be
provided for all students who make noteworthy progress, not just to the highest
achievers. Students should be praised for a broader range of achievements, such as
demonstration of perseverance and engagement, and not just for high scores on
standardized tests and examinations; recognition should be based on levels ofprogress made toward individually established goals as a result of effort. In responseto the call for research to examine praise in teacher-student interactions(Brummelman et al., 2014), the present study has provided initial answers to the roleof praise in motivation and self-esteem in naturalistic settings and enriched theunderstanding of their complex interdependent relationships.
Conclusion
The research results support the theoretical assumptions concerning praise, motivation,and self-esteem outlined in the introductory material (Ormond, 2008). The effects ofpraise on motivation and self-esteem and the underlying rationale have been found to
be complex and should be examined without overlooking the importance of context.
In spite of the aforementioned limitations, the present research indicates that praise islikely to have positive motivational consequences when attributional messages whenperceived competence and self-efficacy are heightened without social comparison andwhen realistic standards and expectations are properly conveyed. It can provide
encouragement and support when made contingent on effort and can be informativeand reinforcing when it directs students’ attention to genuine progress or
accomplishment. However, it is worth noting that the perceived relationship with

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teachers and social climate in the classroom should be both positive such that the
impact of praise on learning motivation and academic self-esteem of low-achieving
students can be achieved.
Acknowledgements
The research project could only be completed with the help and support from people I
have met all along the journey. First, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Ellen
Zhang for always providing me with another perspective to look at the problems
facing me whenever I was puzzled and confused in the research processes. This
offered me a memorable learning experience on how to mentally prepare myself toengage in rigorous academic research. Second, I would like to show my greatest
appreciation to all of the research participants. The research would not have beenpossible without their active participation and involvement. Finally, I would also liketo thank Dr. Amelia Tse and Mr. Kerry Jones for their advice on polishing myacademic writing. As a novice in the research discipline, I have realized the value oflearning by doing and learning from mistakes.

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Appendix A: Mentor Reflection Log (Template)
Research Project
Mentor Reflection Log
Program
Mentor:____________________________________________________
Topic:#)

SchoolAssignment:(Session

Date:
PraiseStatement

TargetStudent

TargetBehavior

Characteristicsof Praise*

In
the
next
Target Student(s), Replacement Behavior(s) & Praise Strategies:

session…

* S = specific, I = immediate/intermittent, T = teacher-initiated, E = focus on effort, A =sincere and appropriate voice, V = void of comparisons

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Appendix A: Mentor Reflection Log (Sample)
Research Project
Mentor Reflection Log
Program
Mentor:__________A________________________1_______________
Topic:My City – Hong Kong
1
)
Date:

SchoolAssignment:(Session #12/10/2015

PraiseStatement
I notice you are on task and havethe courage to try.

TargetStudent
Coco

TargetBehavior
Be attentive – on task

Characteristicsof Praise*
STEAV

I notice you have tried hard.

TimothyWork hard

TEAV

Thank you for telling me you
feeling.

Oscar

Participate in class

SITEAVYou gave a good suggestion.

Wincy

Offer ideas

ITEAV

Thank you for being the first one
to offer useful ideas.

Yoyo

Offer ideas

SITEAV

Very good! You helped yourclassmates.

Amy

Be helpful

STEAV

I notice you have also tried hard.
Keep it up!

Sam

Work hard

TEAV

You asked a right question for theclass progress.

Oscar

Ask questions

SITEAVIn
thenext
session…
Target Student(s), Replacement Behavior(s) & Praise Strategies:
1. Coco: address on her perseverance in time; praise her for asking her neighbor’s questions
and for help
2. Timothy: praise his willingness to offer ideas despite upon request to motivate him to give
more opinions
3. Sam: ditto* S = specific, I = immediate/intermittent, T = teacher-initiated, E = focus on effort, A =sincere and appropriate voice, V = void of comparisons

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Appendix B: Interview Protocols
Interview Protocol – Student Interview (Baseline Assessment)
I.  
General Background Information
1.   Research background2.   Student backgroundII.  
The Role of Praise in Learning Experiences
3.   Describe your school life.
4.   Doyou
havestrengths?
a.
What
are
they?
b. Describe a situation you exhibit the strengths.
c.
How
have
your
strengths
been
formed?
d. Are your strengths recognized by others, such as teachers and peers? How do you feel?
e. Is there any other thing you think should be recognized?
5.   When was the last time you were recognized or praised by teachers?
a.
What
was
the
context?
b.
What
did
you
do?
c. How would you describe your performance?
d.
How
did
the
teacher
respond?
e.
What
did
you
feel
and
respondinturn?
f. How much do you like or dislike being recognized or praised?
g. Do you think you deserved that praise?
6.   How
often
are
you
recognizedorpraisedbyteachers?
a.
What
do
you
think
about
the
frequency?
b. Is there any difference in frequency at various stages of schooling, e.g. kindergarten,
primaryschoolandsecondaryschool?
Why?
c. What kinds of behavior should be recognized and praised?

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Appendix B: Interview Protocols
Interview Protocol – Student Interview (Year-end Assessment)
I.  
General Background Information
1.   Research background2.   Student backgroundII.  
The Role of Praise in Learning Experiences
3.   How do you feel about your school learning now?
4.   Describe your school life from the perspectives of (1) academics and (2) ECA.
5.   How would you describe your performance in the above activities?
6.   What do you usually do in the mentoring sessions?
7.   How do you usually interact with peers in the mentoring sessions?
8.   How do you usually interact with mentor in and out of the mentoring sessions?
9.   What are the similarities and differences between regular English teaching and mentoring
sessions?
10.   When was the last time you were recognized or praised by mentor?
a.
What
was
the
context?
b.
What
did
you
do?
c. How would you describe your performance?
d.
How
did
the
teacher
respond?
e.
What
did
you
feel
and
respond
in
turn?
f.
Do
you
like
being
recognizedorpraised?
g. Do you think you deserved that praise? What do you learn from the mentoring sessions?
What do you like most and least in the mentoring sessions? Why?
11.   On a scale of 0-100, how would you rate your performance in the mentoring sessions?
12.   How do you feel after participating for a school term?
13.   Would you recommend the program to your friends? Why or why not?

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Appendix B: Interview Protocols
Interview Protocol – Mentor Focus Group (Baseline Assessment)Interview Protocol
Before Recording•   Remind PMs to read aloud their names and schools assigned
Opening•   Mention date, time, venue and people of the interview to be conducted•   Discuss purpose of the interview, i.e. understand more about how program mentors
conduct small group sessions
Interview Questions
1.   What is your role as a mentor in small group sessions?
2.   What is your approach to inspire and motivate students?
3.   What kinds of strategies have you adopted?
4.   Do you offer praise or recognition to students? Why?
5.   Under what circumstances do you praise or recognize your students?
6.   How often do you do so?
7.   What do you usually focus on praise or recognition?
8.   What do you intend to achieve?
9.   Do you consider them as effective? How can you tell? (Give examples)
10.   If you could do it again, how would you behave differently?
Ending•   Mention ending time and show appreciation to participants

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Appendix B: Interview Protocols
Interview Protocol – Mentor Focus Group (Year-end Assessment)Interview Protocol
Before Recording•   Remind PMs to read aloud their names and schools assigned
Opening•   Mention date, time, venue and people of the interview to be conducted•   Discuss purpose of the interview, i.e. understand how program mentors incorporate
verbal praise strategies into mentoring sessions to facilitate student learning and theimpact of their use in the practical setting
Interview Questions
1.   Describe the group dynamics and mentoring plan of targeted class.
2.   What have you been doing to achieve the intended outcomes?
3.   Describe the use of praise strategies. What are the actual outcomes?
4.   Describe the use of mentor reflection log. What are the actual outcomes?
5.   How effective or ineffective are they in initiating behavioral changes?
6.   What are the success or failure factors of the system?
7.   If you could do it again, how would you have done it?
8.   How likely or unlikely would it continue to be implemented in targeted class andother classes? Why?
9.   Other relevant issues.
Ending•   Mention ending time and show appreciation to participants

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The Academic Culture Shock Experiences of Turkish International Students inJapan: A Qualitative Study
Ayse Ilgin Sozen, Okayama University, Japan
Tomoko Tanaka, Okayama University, Japan
Sachiko Nakano, Yamaguchi University, Japan
The Asian Conference on Education, 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The present research focuses on academic culture shock (ACS) experienced by
Turkish students due to the differences between academic cultures. ACS is a novel
concept which can be described as “the shock when faced the cultural differences inacademic life”. It can be used to identify problems and challenges that international
students experience during their academic transition to a new academic culture. This
research explores ACS experiences of 21 Turkish students (12 females and ninemales, ages from 25 to 37) in the context of Japanese universities. The aim is tounderstand the ACS of Turkish students, suggest solutions to the problems and help
them to overcome the challenges for successful academic adjustment. The researchdraws on data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Turkish students to
identify the stressors, challenges and problems related to ACS. Each interview
transcript was individually examined via qualitative analysis, aiming to develop or
identify possible categories based on Grounded Theory Approach. According to theresults, there emerged some categories related to ACS. Supervision style, language
skills, laboratory/seminar system, differences between Japanese and Turkish
academic systems, stressors, coping strategies for stress, and academic-social skills
are main categories. The results showed that challenges that Turkish students
encountered resulted in ACS which might lead to difficulties in academic adjustment.
It is suggested the problems and challenges that the students experienced areassociated with their educational and cultural background. Cross-cultural differencesin educational background which resulted in problems in academic adjustment areconsidered of reasons that can explain ACS.
Keywords: Academic culture shock, academic adjustment, grounded theory approach,Turkish international students in Japan, autonomous learning

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Universities in Japan host a substantial number of international students including
Turkish students. The number of international students as May 1, 2017 was reported
as 267.042 by Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO). The number of Turkish
students in Japan estimated by The Embassy of The Republic of Turkey in Tokyo(2017) and by UNESCO (2018) is 160 and 152 respectively. Although there is a
substantial body of research that focuses on international students from Asian andWestern countries in Japan (Guo, Yiwei, & Ito, 2014; Maruyama, 1998; SimicYamashita & Tanaka, 2010), there are a limited number of studies (e.g. Boiger,
Güngör, Karasawa, & Mesquita, 2014; Güngör, Karasawa, & Boiger, 2014) available
that compares Turkish and Japanese cultures. However, these studies make crosscultural comparisons using samples directly from Turkey and Japan. Also, they focus
on topics such as interpersonal relations, interdependence, relatedness, certain
emotions and autonomy. In addition to this, there is no other available research whichinvestigates academic adjustment of Turkish people studying in Japan. In other words,
the research on Turkish and Japanese cultures in a cross-cultural academic context isvery limited. Therefore, the present research focuses on academic culture shock(ACS) and academic adjustment.
Culture Shock and Academic Culture ShockInternational students must encounter new social and educational organizations,behaviors, and expectations. Also, they must cope with the adjustment problems
common to students in general. This process is challenging even when international
students are conscious about the cultural differences. However, it is more challenging
when they are not conscious and falsely expect that the new culture operates like theirhome country. Unfamiliar experiences have a collective impact on cultural travelers
which is defined as culture shock (Zhou, Jindal-Snape, Topping, & Todman, 2008).
International students may have to struggle with potential challenges by moving to aforeign country to study. Therefore, it may result in experiencing cross-cultural stressand adjustment problems (Smith & Khawaja, 2011), which may result in experiencing
shock when faced the cultural differences in academic life (e.g. teaching style,communication with teachers) especially when there is a mismatch between cultural
facts and expectations. It can be termed “academic culture shock”.
Academic Adjustment
Adjustment refers to the responses to a new environment such as new work
procedure, a new language or a monetary system or a new academic life. Adjustment
is a dynamic process which involves a motive, goal-directed movement and an
obstacle or thwarting. International students face with the challenges of and are
expected to meet the demands of a novel academic setting. The adjustment to thedemands of a novel academic setting including teaching and learning style is definedas academic adjustment. It is a challenging intellectual revolution that takes time.
Also, it is difficult for international students to understand the changes that they gothrough (Ballard, 1987).
It is crucial to understand the adjustment problems of these students in order to frame
their unique challenges in unique academic settings and a new society, and in order to

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offer guidance for a better adjustment both to academic settings and society.
Therefore, the main purpose of the current study was to investigate the academic
culture shock which is thought to be related to academic adjustment problems of
Turkish international students studying in Japan. In addition, this study should also
provide upcoming students with an overall understanding of what to expect when theychoose to study at a university in Japan, and it should provide universities with some
implications of how to devise better support and facilities to aid international students
with their transition stages.
Research Questions
The research questions that are examined in the current study are as follows:1)
What are the academic problems Turkish international students experience inJapan?
2)
What are the similarities and differences do Turkish international students
encounter between the Turkish and the Japanese academic system?
3)
What kind of strategies do Turkish international students use to cope with the
problems and difficulties that they face with in academic life in Japan?
4)What kind of social skills do Turkish international students learn in thecontext of Japanese universities?
MethodParticipants
A total of 21 students (12 females and nine males) from Turkey who were in higher
education or graduated from a university in Japan (one bachelor’s degree, twomaster’s students, one master’s degree, 11 PhD students, four PhD degrees and two
postdoc degrees). Twenty of the students received their bachelor’s degree fromvarious universities in Turkey. Only one student received her bachelor’s degree froma university in France. Additionally, all students except one student received or werestudying to receive a postgraduate degree in Japan. One student was on one-yearexchange program in Japan and did not continue into graduate education. Of the total
sample 13 of the students were from natural sciences or engineering (five females andeight males), and the rest were from humanities or social sciences (seven females andone male). Students ranged in age from 25 to 37 years with a mean age of 29.09 years(SD = 3.30). The average length of stay in Japan was 52.14 months (SD = 32.89) atthe time of interview completion (range = 12-151 months). The students were asked
to report their Japanese language levels. Japanese language levels are distributed asfollows: Eight advanced (38 %), eight intermediate (38 %) and five beginners (24 %).
(see Table 1)
Measures
A three-page long demographic questionnaire and a two-page long interview question
sheets were employed in this study. Questions on demographics covered information
about the age, gender, major, hometown, education level, length of stay in Japan andJapanese language proficiency level. The interview was designed to assess academic
culture shock, academic problems, academic stress and coping strategies, academic

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academic expectations and so on.
The research draws on data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Turkish
students to identify the stressors, challenges and problems related to ACS. Eachinterview transcript was individually examined via qualitative analysis, aiming todevelop or identify possible categories based on Grounded Theory Approach (Glaser& Strauss, 1967). As a result, interviews were employed with the Turkish students to
identify the stressors related to academic issues that the Turkish students encounterand coping strategies that they use. It also explores the social skills that Turkish
students use while studying in Japan.
Procedures
The interviews were conducted in Turkish in 2017-2018. The participants wereinterviewed individually after they filled out the questionnaire. Participation wasanonymous and voluntary. In order to maintain anonymity, the interviewees’ real
names were not used. Of 21 interviews, 17 (81 %) were conducted on Skype and four
(19 %) were face-to-face. The interviews were recorded with a voice recorder withthe consent of the participants. The interviews lasted approximately one hour.
Table 1: Demographic information of Turkish students.
GenderAge

Major

Education
Level

Bachelors

1

F

28

Humanities

PhD Student

Turkey2F31

Humanities

PhD Student

Turkey3

M

26Engineering

PhD Student

Turkey4F

37

Engineering

5

M

37

Engineering

6

F

26

7

F

27

8

F

26

PhD
Graduate
Postdoc
Graduate
Master's
Student

TurkeyTurkeySocialSciences
SocialSciences
NaturalSciences

PhD Student

TurkeyPhD Student

FranceTurkeyTurkey9M

30Engineering

PhD
Graduate

10

F

29

Humanities

PhD Student

Turkey11F27

Humanities

PhD Student

Turkey12M

29

Engineering

PhD Student

Turkey

13
14

M
F

26
25

Humanities
Humanities

University
Graduate
Master's
Student
PhD
Graduate
Master's
Graduate

15

M

30

Engineering

16

F

30

Engineering

27

NaturalSciences

PhD Student

TurkeyTurkey17

M

TurkeyTurkey18

M

33

Engineering

Postdoc
Graduate

19

F

29

Engineering

PhD Student

TurkeyNaturalSciences
NaturalSciences

PhD
Graduate

TurkeyPhD Student

Turkey

20

M

28

21

F

30

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Japanese Language Proficiency Level

55 Months

Advanced

108 Months

Advanced (N1)26 Months

Intermediate (N3)42 Months

Beginner

151 Months

Intermediate (N2)20 Months

Beginner

30 Months

Intermediate

21 Months

Beginner

94 Months

Intermediate

56 Months

Advanced (N1)42 Months

Advanced

67 Months

Intermediate (N3 - Old)

N/A

12 Months

Advanced (N1)

PhD

Japan
(completed)Japan(completed)Japan(completed)
Turkey(completed)
Turkey(completed)Japan(ongoing)Japan(completed)
France(completed)Japan(completed)Japan(completed)Japan(completed)
Turkey(completed)Japan(ongoing)Japan(ongoing)Japan(ongoing)Japan(completed)Japan(completed)

N/A

TurkeyTurkeyLength of
Stay

MasterJapan(ongoing)Japan(completed)Japan(completed)Japan(completed)
Turkey(completed)Japan(completed)Japan(completed)
Turkey(completed)

298

N/A
Japan
(ongoing)Japan(ongoing)Japan(completed)Japan(ongoing)
Turkey(ongoing)Japan(ongoing)

N/A

28 Months

Advanced (N1)

Japan
(completed)

66 Months

Intermediate

N/A

36 Months

Advanced (N2)60 Months

Intermediate (N3)36 Months

Beginner

51 Months

Intermediate

60 Months

Advanced (N2)34 Months

Beginner (N4)Japan
(ongoing)Japan(completed)Japan(ongoing)Japan(completed)Japan(ongoing)

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Data Analysis
After all of 21 interviews were completed, the researcher compiled each audio-taped
interview transcript to ensure that the data was full and accurate. Additionally, alltranscriptions were read several times to eliminate typographical errors and to remove
any possible contradictions. As soon as all 21 interview transcripts were read several
times, the researcher began to examine each transcript individually, with the aim
being to develop or identify possible categories based on Grounded Theory Approach(Glaser and Strauss, 1967). In this type of qualitative analysis, categories that emerge
in the interviews are identified. In other words, each transcript is coded,
distinguishing important categories and each category is reconsidered as the coding
progresses. The researcher creates hierarchical organization of the categories whereappropriate. This approach is described as iterative, because it is repeated to allow
categories and organization of the categories to best fit the data.
Results
The coding resulted in two hierarchical levels of categories (i.e., categories andsubcategories), using 1008 comments by students in total. Three main categories
emerged. Within the three main categories there were 11 categories, and within 11
categories there were 51 subcategories.
Eleven categories are named as Supervisor, Academic Self-Reliance, Research,
Education, Academic Gains, Differences between Turkish and Japanese Academic
Systems, Laboratory/Seminar(Abbreviated as “Zemi” in Japanese)/Kenkyushitsu(which means laboratory or seminar room in Japanese) System, Academic Facilities
and Support, Challenges and Problems in Academic Life, Coping Strategies for Stressand Academic/Social Skills. After the analysis, these 11 categories were grouped into
three main categories which are named as “Research in Academia” (Supervisor,
Academic Self-Reliance and Research), “Education in Academia” (Education,
Academic Gains, Differences between Turkish and Japanese Academic Systems,
Laboratory/Zemi/Kenkyushitsu System, Academic Facilities and Support) and “Social
Skills in Academia” (Challenges and Problems in Academic Life, Coping Strategies
for Stress and Academic/Social Skills) (see Table 2).

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Table 2: Categories that emerged based on Grounded Theory Approach.
Research in Academia

Education in Academia

Supervisor

Academic
self-reliance

Academic
facilities
andsupportLaboratory/
Challenges
zemi/
and problems
kenkyushitsu in academic
systemlife

Supervision
style

Self-motivation

Lab utilities

Laboratory/zemi
environment

Conscientiousness

Academic
sourcesAutonomous
Learning

Academic
funding

Feedback on
academic
performance
Differences
betweenJapaneseand Turkish
supervisors

Education

Differences
between Turkish
and Japanese
academic system

Research

Academic
gains

Language related
problems

Teaching style

Information on the
differences

Pace (Low vs.
fast)

Researchexperience

Laboratory
meetings/seminars

Alienation

Class
participation

Research focused vsteaching focused

Academic
ability

Laboratory/zemi
mates

Passive supervision
style

Class
Discussions

Expectations vs reality

Closedness

Low feedback on
academic
performance

Coursecontents andrequirements

Change ofresearch theme
Lack ofinstructions/guidance onprocesses andusing labequipment

Supervision style

Publication

Lack of classes in
PhD level

Language
relatedproblems

Lab/zemi/kenkyushitsu
systemLength of PhD

Satisfaction
with academic
improvement

Change of research
theme

CoursesofferedAssertion/agreeablenessSupport towomen inscience

Satisfaction
with academic
life

Alienation
Senpai-Kohai
relationship

RelationshipSocial Skills in Academia

Professionalism

Academic facilities andsupport

Copingstrategies
for stress

Academic/
SocialskillsActive vs.
passive coping
strategies

Social skills
used inacademic life

Academic
network
Presentation
skillsResearch in Academia
The first main category Research in Academia consists of three categories which are
Supervisor, Academic Self-Reliance and Research.
The category called Supervisor related to subcategories such as supervision style,feedback on academic performance, differences between Turkish and Japanesesupervisors, relationship with supervisor and professionalism. This category refers to
the relationship with Japanese supervisors, how interviewees form a relationship withthem, how they adjust to style of Japanese supervisors, the evaluation of differences
between Turkish and Japanese supervisors, the style of Japanese supervisors andfeedback provided by Japanese supervisors on academic performance of Turkish
students. Most of the Turkish students focused on differences in supervision styles of
Turkish supervisors and Japanese supervisors saying Japanese supervisors adopt a
passive style and leave most of the work such as planning and decisions about
research to the students. The students addressed the differences in supervision style assurprising and stressful and a style that they should tailor themselves. An example ofthe comments on this category is as follows:“Of course, professors supervise you, but it seems like they supervise you a little further from the
distance. My impression is that they supervise you in a passive way. In Turkey, supervision is more
active whereas in Japan supervision is more passive. You yourself need to ask “Professor, is it alright?”
Your supervisor doesn’t directly explain. (…) Although my Japanese supervisor was already fine, I
wish he would supervise a little more actively. He’s very knowledgeable, obviously. It was a little hard
to reach the source of the knowledge if you didn’t ask for it.” (Interviewee 16)

The category Academic Self-Reliance which is closely related to the category
Supervision addressed experiences on self-motivation, conscientiousness andautonomous learning. The students mentioned that they expected active supervision
including help, knowledge and feedback on their academic performance from theirsupervisors. However, the passive style of Japanese supervisors led them to begin toplan their research, acquire knowledge reviewing the literature and reading related
papers all by themselves which helped them form academic self-reliance increasing

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self-motivation and conscientiousness. An example of the comments on this category
is provided below:“The difficulty in the academic sense, I think, is that we the Turkish need someone to push us. (…)
While writing your thesis, you need, I think, a boosting/a thrust. Because the Japanese here try to taketheir own responsibilities even if you don’t tell them what to do, maybe they think that telling an adultperson what to do hurts his/her dignity and that thought formed some kind of a habit for them, but it
doesn’t work for us. This thought forms a gap. The important part is how to fill the gap. It is up to us.”
(Interviewee 14)

The category called Research is engaged in issues associated with research pace,publication, instructions/guidance on processes and using laboratory equipment,
length of PhD, support to women in science, change of research theme. This category
covers all aspects about research which Turkish students addressed. The students not
only mentioned about the differences in research pace (slow paced- vs. fast pacedresearch), but also advantages of studying in Japan such laboratory equipment
provided or support by the government of Japan to women in science. However, somestudents addressed research related problems such as change of research theme andhaving difficulties adapting to the new theme due to lack of sufficient academic
ability. An example of the comments on this category is provided below:“Sometimes projects progress very slowly. For example, even if an experiment can be completed in six
months, it takes, like, a year and a half to complete, the professor takes things slowly. It has bothadvantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that you learn very well what you study. The
disadvantage is that it reduces productivity.” (Interviewee 9)

Education in Academia
The second main category is Education in Academia comprises of five categories
which are Education, Academic Gains, Differences between Turkish and Japanese
Academic Systems, Laboratory/Zemi/Kenkyushitsu System, Academic Facilities andSupport.
Students commented on the Education which included aspects of teaching style, classparticipation, class discussions, courses offered, course contents and requirements andlanguage related problems. Some Turkish students mentioned about the differences inteaching style of Japanese lecturers and class participation of Japanese students
addressing that both Turkish lecturers and students are more active in classes leading
to more active class discussions. Additionally, they commented on the low number ofcourses offered in English. Some students who earned their master’s degree statedthat course contents and requirements are easier than they expected saying that course
contents and requirements are almost the same as undergraduate level which they
addressed as a disadvantage. Also, some of the students in PhD commented on thelack of a sufficient number of courses which was stated as an unfavorable side. An
example of the comments on this category is provided below:“I didn’t get my bachelor’s degree here (in Japan), but I interacted with undergraduate students in thelaboratory, because they had a research presentation once, and we had twice a year. Together with anundergraduate research I had to write an undergraduate thesis. As compared to my bachelor’s thesis,
their undergraduate research was much simpler. Likewise, the difficulty and the quality of the courses
we received from the graduate school were very different. While the graduate courses I learned in
Turkey had a high quality, the level of the graduate courses I took here is below the undergraduate
courses in terms of the quality.” (Interviewee 15)

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The Academic Gains was another category that emerged as the interviewees
addressed the acquirements and their satisfaction with those while studying and doing
research in Japan; namely, research experience, academic ability, academic network,
presentation skills, satisfaction with academic improvement and satisfaction withacademic life. Most of the Turkish students commented on their satisfaction withacademic improvement and academic life in general in Japan. They stated that
opportunities and sources provided by Japanese universities are higher than Turkish
universities. However, students except to Japanese language majors and students in
English-medium programs addressed Japanese language as the biggest problems
which prevented them to benefit more from course contents, class discussions andpresentations in laboratory meetings and seminars and contribute to discussions inreturn. An example of the comments on this category is shown below:“My academic performance in Japan is much better than Turkey, but it is still below my expectation.
Obviously, as I was coming to Japan from Turkey, I had an academic expectation. I couldn’t meet it,
but I can tell that it is better than Turkey, and my performance in Turkey. I mean, I thought I would be
more productive in Japan, I mean much more productive as I left Turkey. My underperformance may
be the result of academic differences.” (Interviewee 20)

The category Differences between Turkish and Japanese Academic Systems addressed
the information on Japanese academic system before going to Japan. Also, thiscategory covers all the differences that Turkish students addressed in the interviews
with most common ones being research focused- vs. teaching focused-approach,academic facilities and support, supervision style and laboratory/zemi/kenkyushitsu
system. An example of the comments on this category is provided below:“As I observe, starting from masters in Japan, at least in field of biology, there is a research focusedapproach. There are fewer courses and students are directly affiliated with a laboratory.” (Interviewee
8)

Another category was Laboratory/Zemi/Kenkyushitsu System that emerged as theinterviewees addressed the laboratory/zemi/kenkyushitsu environment, laboratory
meetings and seminars, laboratory/zemi/kenkyushitsu mates, senpai-kohai
relationship, closedness and alienation. Laboratory/zemi/kenkyushitsu system which
is a unique part of Japanese academic system can be described as research group of aJapanese professor. This research group consists of a professor and his/her students,
and depending on department and size, it can include more than one professor,
postdoc researchers, graduate students and bachelor students. The analysis of theresults suggested differences in laboratory/zemi/kenkyushitsu system depending on
departments. For example, most of the students from natural sciences and engineering
mentioned that they are expected to go to the laboratory every day, report the resultsof experiments regularly whereas students from humanities and social sciences
commented that this type of requirements are almost non-existent. Additionally,
students from natural sciences and engineering reported that relationship in theirlaboratories being more connected while students from humanities and social sciences
stated loosely connected relationships between members. Another aspect of thissystem is the vertical hierarchy in laboratory. There is an informal hierarchicalrelationship between all members which is called senpai-kohai relationship. This typeof vertical hierarchy exists in laboratory/zemi/kenkyushitsu system and requires lower
classmates to show respect to upper classmates. Some Turkish students stated thatthey had some difficulties adjusting to this type of hierarchy between their laboratory

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Official Conference Proceedings/ zemi/kenkyushitsu mates. An example of the comments on this category is provided
below:“If you can utilize well, there is an advantage of zemi system, because when you study together, youare always in touch with many students. Assistant professor is also in the same laboratory. (…) You
live in a communal life. Also, a very good environment for friendship is built in the laboratory if you
wish. Especially among the Japanese. (…) When there is a problem they find a solution together. They
speak and discuss. They create a very nice communal life. We couldn’t benefit from it, though. Theinternational students couldn’t join if they didn’t push other students to get accepted. The Japanese takethe advantage of this very well and push it further.” (Interviewee 5)

Academic Facilities and Support category addressed laboratory utilities, academic
sources and academic funding. This category addresses the aspects of university
facilities including laboratory utilities, laboratory equipment, library, access toacademic sources and academic funding to research. Especially students from naturalsciences and engineering addressed that opportunities provided by universities with ahigh level of satisfaction. An example of the comments on this category is shown
below:“My supervisor in Turkey had very limited funding. Now being under such a professor and a biglaboratory (in Japan), these people have no account of the amount of money they can receive andspend.” (Interviewee 12)

Social Skills in Academia
The third category is Social Skills in Academia, consisting of categories called as
Challenges and Problems in Academic Life, Coping Strategies for Stress andAcademic/Social Skills.
The category called Challenges and Problems in Academic Life focused on language
related problems, alienation, passive supervision style, low feedback on academic
performance, lack of classes in PhD level and change of research theme. Some of thestudents addressed deadlines of papers and dissertations, interpersonal problems withlaboratory mates, strict attitude of supervisor, obstacles in experiments and data, andlower academic ability as challenges and problems that they had to overcome. Mostof the students addressed the passive supervision style which is also related to low
feedback on academic performance as one of the biggest problems. Following thesupervision style, the most commonly used language being the Japanese language ispresented as one of the struggles that they had to overcome. Some of the students
stated that they felt alienated during the laboratory meetings. The results suggested
that students who earned their master’s degree from a country other than Japan
reported having more problems in adapting to Japanese academic system that students
earned their master’s degree from Japan and continued into PhD. An example of thecomments on this category is shown below:“We international students feel really alienated in the classroom, because we don’t understand anyway.
We feel weird when we are there to understand, and we don’t do any English version of this activity, so
we feel a little disconnected and isolated.” (Interviewee 19)

Interviewees described how they coped with stress in Coping Strategies for Stress.
The coping strategies are classified into two strategies; namely, active coping strategy
and passive coping strategy. Active coping strategies can be exemplified as doing

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exercise, talking to supervisor about obstacles in research whereas passive coping
strategies is associated with taking antidepressants or withdrawal from social life. An
example of the comments on this category is provided below:“I have two options when I have problems with the experiments. Actually, not two options, but two
ways. Either I’m really nervous, and “I’ll troubleshoot it” I say, I work 7 days and 24 hours, or I close
myself off and stay at home. So, I can’t tell that I can cope with stress very well.” (Interviewee 17)

The final category was Academic/Social Skills consisting of social skills used byinterviewees in academic life. Some students stated that they observed and adopted
new social skills to use in academic life including class environment andcommunication with laboratory/zemi/kenkyushitsu mates whereas some students
stated that they do not regulate their actions and behaviors. An example of thecomments on this category is provided below:“I often use an indirect expression, like a Japanese. I observed the relationship between Japanese
students and teachers. When the teacher asks a question, they don’t immediately answer, or theJapanese do not respond very confident. It is what I’ve observed. They are like “Oh, isn’t it?” They
take a moment to think. I began to mimic it. I realized that when you act like that, the teachers began totreat kindlier.” (Interviewee 1)

Discussion and Conclusion
The results of this study revealed the academic experiences of Turkish students
regarding to the Japanese academic system with the evaluation of the positive andnegative aspects, differences between Turkish and Japanese academic systems,
challenges and problems encountered and coping strategies used. The results suggestthat supervision related variables are associated with academic culture shock leading
to adjustive problems. A study (Güngör, Karasawa, & Boiger, 2014) that compared
Turkish students and Japanese students in terms of autonomy revealed that theautonomy level of Turkish students is lower than Japanese students. Autonomy isdescribed as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (Holec, 1981).
Research on autonomous learning done in Turkey (Cakici, 2017; Kırtık, 2017)
suggest that although Turkish university students are aware that they canautonomously learn, and they exhibit features of an autonomous learner, they still
expect guidance and support from teachers in some areas. Also, research indicate that
education system in Turkey is not designed to promote and maintain autonomous
learning in students. The results of the present study revealed that Turkish students inJapan had problems when they encountered the Japanese style of supervision, andexperienced academic culture shock which was a challenging process that they had togo through. As mentioned previously in results section, the style of Japanesesupervisor is described as passive, and some students stated that they expected an
active guidance from their supervisors such as providing knowledge on a certain topic
or teaching a method. Most of the students addressed this issue as one of the biggest
differences between the Turkish academic system and the Japanese academic system.
Some students had problems understanding if it is the cultural difference in the
supervision style or indifference of their supervisors. The results of the analysis pointout that problems comprehending the differences between academic systems may
result in frustration and wrong attribution to the attitudes of supervisors leading toacademic culture shock. Additionally, it was revealed that students who expected
more guidance in research and feedback on their performance and had lower levels of

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autonomous learning experienced a decrease in motivation and an increase in stresslevels leading to adjustment problems to the Japanese academic system. Conversely,
the results suggest that students with higher levels of autonomous learning or students
who realized the essence of the Japanese academic system experienced lower levelsof academic culture shock and problems and adjusted more quickly to the system. To
sum up, the results suggest that the cross-cultural differences in educational
background which is related to academic culture shock resulted in some problems inacademic adjustment. The results of a study conducted by Okumuş Ceylan (2015)
with Turkish university students indicate that autonomous learning can be acquired
via student training, and autonomous learning strategies that are provided can help
make students their own teachers at universities. Therefore, a training program topromote autonomous learning in Turkish students in order for them to gain academic
self-reliance prior to their arrival to Japan is suggested for a smoother academic
adjustment.
Further research on international students from different countries is needed in orderto have a deeper understanding the current issue, for generalizability and to devise a
training program for all international students to support academic self-reliance prior
to their arrival at Japan if needed.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Turkish students/graduates in Japan or Turkey for theirinvaluable contribution to these insightful interviews. Additionally, this study was
supported by KAKENHI (Grant-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research NO.
15H0345618, representative Tomoko TANAKA).

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References
Ballard, B. (1987). Academic adjustment: The other side of the export dollar. Higher
Education Research and Development, 6(2), 109-119.
Boiger, M., Güngör, D., Karasawa, M., & Mesquita, B. (2014). Defending honour,
keeping face: Interpersonal affordances of anger and shame in Turkey and Japan.
Cognition and Emotion, 28(7), 1255-1269.
Cakici, D. (2017). An investigation of learner autonomy in Turkish EFL context.
International Journal of Higher Education, 6(2), 89-99.
Guo, Y., Yiwei, L., & Ito, (2014). Exploring the Predicted Effect of Social
Networking Site Use on Perceived Social Capital and Psychological Well-Being ofChinese International Students in Japan. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking, 17(1), 52-58.
Glaser, B. G. & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies
for qualitative research. Retrieved from http://www.sxf.uevora.pt/wpcontent/uploads/2013/03/Glaser_1967.pdf
Güngör, D., Karasawa, M., & Boiger, M. (2014). Fitting in or sticking together: Theprevalence and adaptivity of conformity, relatedness, and autonomy in Japan andTurkey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45(9), 1374-1389.
Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon
Press.
Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) (2017, May 1). International Students
in Japan. Retrieved fromhttps://www.jasso.go.jp/en/about/statistics/intl_student/data2017.html
Kırtık, B. (2017). Are Turkish university students autonomous or not? Journal of
Foreign Language Education and Technology, 2(1). Retrieved fromhttp://jflet.com/jflet/index.php/jflet/article/view/40/147
Maruyama, M. (1998). Cross-cultural adaptation and host environment: A study ofinternational students in Japan (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved fromhttps://shareok.org/handle/11244/5757
Okumuş Ceylan, N. (2015). Fostering learner autonomy. Procedia – Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 199, 85-93.
Simic-Yamashita, M. & Tanaka, T. (2010). Exploratory factor analysis of thesociocultural adaptation scale (scas) among international students in Japan. Journal of
Humanities and Social Sciences, 27-38.
Smith, R. A. & Khawaja, N. G. (2011). A review of the acculturation experiences ofinternational students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 699-713.

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The Embassy of The Republic of Turkey (2017, January 3). Turkish Community inJapan. Retrieved from http://tokyo.be.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/ShowInfoNote/133696
UNESCO (2018). Global flow of tertiary-level students. Retrieved fromhttp://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-students-flow
Zhou, Y., Jindal-Snape, D., Topping, K., & Todman, J. (2008). Theoretical models ofculture shock and adaptation in international students in higher education. Studies inHigher education, 33(1), 63-75.
Contact email: ayseilgin@s.okayama-u.ac.jp

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Preliminary Finding:
The Role of Non-Formal Education in Developing Rural Youth Empowerment
Gusti Agung Ayu Pramitasari, Charles Darwin University, Australia
Laurence Tamatea, Charles Darwin University, Australia
Nicoli Barnes, Charles Darwin University, Australia
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Abstract
High unemployment levels remain a real concern for developing countries likeIndonesia, where employment growth is much slower than population growth, withyouth experiencing the highest unemployment rate and difficulties finding a place inthe national workforce. This is often compounded by poverty which is an entrenchedsocial and economic challenge. To support poverty reduction improve employment
opportunities and facilitate empowerment for children and youth in rural GianyarBali, the non-formal education facility, the Slukat Learning Center, was established in2007. With just over a decade of operation, and a number of seemingly positive
student outcomes, it is arguably timely to reflect upon the nature of the Slukat
curriculum, with the view to informing what has otherwise being a gap in the research
literature between the theory and practices in non-formal education (Romi and
Schmida, 2009). Aiming to contribute to the research in the field on youth
empowerment through non-formal education, this paper draws on the work of
Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction Theory to explore how the Slukat Learning Centre
curriculum has evolved to provide learning experiences that challenge poverty andfacilitate employment. In particular this paper draws upon data collected from 18 SLC
alumni to unpack their understanding and experience of the curriculum. Reading thesedata through the lens of Social Reproduction theory, preliminary analysis indicate that
“SLC” comprises which is supportive of youth developing an new new habitus
through access to and acquisition of a range of economic, cultural and social capitals.
Keywords: Non-Formal Education, Youth Empowerment, Social Reproduction
Theoryiafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org
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Introduction
As a developing country and the 4th most populous country in the world, Indonesia
continues to face challenges in developing its human capital. Indonesia is ranked 74
out of 130 nations in terms of the Human Capital Index in 2016, which is ameasurement of developing and deploying human capital potential. The highest rateof unemployment is associated with the 15-24 age group, comprising 21.8 million
people or almost 10% of total population. Poverty is thus an entrenched social andeconomic challenge, which is interconnected with and compounded by unemployment(World Bank Indonesia Overview Report). Though 50% of Indonesian children andyouth living in poverty are residing in Java and Bali (SMERU & UNICEF, 2012), theimpacts of these national challenges can be observed at regional and local levels, suchas in Gianyar, in (location) Bali. A review conducted in 2004-2005, which
subsequently informed the establishment of SLC found that the number of people
looking for employment over the age of 15 had increased by 28% from 13,135 to
18,475. Moreover, 83% of this cohort had only completed primary school level
education, which limited their employment options (Gianyar Regency report in 20042005) In response to what appear to be an education related challenge to youth
empowerment, the family of I Gusti Agung Rai and I Gusti Ayu Darsini, (local
Balinese) established SLC to provide free, after school extra curriculum activities forthe children and youth in Keramas Village, in Gianyar, Bali.
With just over a decade of operation, and a number of seemingly positive student
outcomes emerging from the Slukat Learning Center, it is now arguably timely toreflect upon the nature of the Slukat curriculum, with the view to informing what hasotherwise been a gap in the research literature between the theory and practices in
non-formal education (Romi and Schmida, 2009), particularly in relation to theinclusion of disadvantaged and excluded communities (Hoopers, 2006, p.87), and interms of sustainability in conditions of limited funding (Werquin, 2010).
Aiming to contribute to the research in the field on youth empowerment through nonformal education, this paper draws on the work of Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction
Theory to explore how the Slukat Learning Centre curriculum has evolved to provide
learning experiences that challenge poverty and facilitate employment. In particular
this paper draws upon data collected from 18 SLC alumni to unpack theirunderstanding and experience of the curriculum. Reading these data through the lensof Social Reproduction theory, preliminary analysis indicates that SLC comprises
which is supportive of youth developing new habitus through access to andacquisition of a range of economic, cultural and social capitals. We hope that the
preliminary findings reported in this paper and indeed the findings of the larger
research project from which this paper emerges, can be used as a reference not only inIndonesia but also other developing countries that encounter similar issues.
The Slukat Learning Center (SLC)
Slukat Learning Center(SLC) is a free, after school, non-formal education center. Its
mission is to empower rural youth in Gianyar Bali, primarily through improving rural
students’ acceptance rates in quality schools, and provide improved education
opportunities. Since opening in 2007 approximately one thousand students haveparticipated in the SLC curriculum.

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1. The Curriculum
The curriculum is grounded in four pillars comprising: 1. globalisation, 2. information
technology, 3. local wisdom and 4. character and leadership development. These fourpillars are integrated and interconnected through the various teaching and learning
activities that included for example: the English and Computer Class. Componentsof the curriculum have often been constructed and taught by international volunteers
who provided students with access to aspects of globalization and internationalization,
which arguably facilitates in the students the development of self-confidence andmotivation. Local wisdom informs the curriculum through student participation inpracticing yoga, learning Balinese dance and engagement in activities associated with
Balinese culture and religion such as preparing Balinese offerings (Banten) andcuisine (Dapur Bali); activities that are facilitated by SLC’s alumni and parents.
Development of student character and leadership skills has occurred throughestablishment of the Slukat Student Organization (SSO) where students can construct
and implement an action-learning project. These projects’ have variously incorporated
activities associated with leadership and motivational workshops, coaching andmentoring, local wisdom, spirituality and values in order to mitigate what are often
seen in Bali as the negative impacts of globalization in Bali (L. Tamatea, 2011).
2. Youth Empowerment Program
Most families in the broad area ’serviced by SLC can be categorized as living inconditions framed by disadvantage; observable from low family income, decreased
wealth, and low levels of parental education. The significance of this in terms of
SLC’s mission and curriculum is that the “ absence of parental guidance,
nourishment, and encouragement is the most damaging condition for childdevelopment” (Kautz, Heckman, Diris, Ter Weel, & Borghans, 2014, pp. 5-6).
Moreover, (Kautz, Heckman, Diris, Ter Weel, & Borghans, 2014, pp. 5-6) explainthat:
Quality parenting—stimulation, attachment, encouragement, and support—
comprise valuable indicators of child advantage, which are not always so well
captured by the ‘traditional’ measures of poverty commonly used in policy
discussions.
Informal observations over the ten-year period since SLC was established reveal thatmany students initially engage the SLC curriculum from a position framed by little
family encouragement for ‘academic’ achievement and consequent low levels of selfwroth and motivation In response, the SLC curriculum aims to empower oftenvulnerable students from disadvantaged backgrounds by developing their agency(Mohajer & Earnest, 2009). Here, we draw upon Bowman (2010, p. 4), referencing
Sen, to understand that agency is“the capacity to act and bring about change”, such “agency is important inevaluating ‘what a person is free to do and achieve in pursuit of whatevergoals or values he or she regards as important”
Though we understand that choices are always limited, the SLC youth empowerment
program is grounded upon making more choices available to its disadvantaged

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students that may have previously been available to them, to foster improved social
inclusion and economic and social mobility (Heckman, 2000).
Our approach to youth empowerment through the provision of non-formal educationis thus aligned with the work of Morton and Montgomery (2011) who argue thatyouth empowerment is a process by which a young person’s social environment
intentionally redefines his or her role as one of value, ability, autonomy, andcontribution. Within this empowering environment, attitudes and behaviors change so
as to reflect the redefined roles in which youth may find themselves Morton andMontgomery (2011).
3. Non-Formal Education
Souto-Otero, Ulicna, Schaepkens, & Bognar, (2013) argue that the purpose of nonformal education youth organisations is to:to enhance the skills and competences that empower young people in theirpersonal development - boosting their self-esteem and awareness of theiridentity- helping them to become responsible and active citizens in theircommunities and to access and stay in labor market (16).
This view resonates with SLC’s founder mission in establishing SLC. According to
the SLC website, the founders in taking the opportunity to give back to theircommunity believed that village children could have a better future if only they had
the appropriate opportunity. And in this, they viewed education as being central through provision of a conduit to help disadvantaged students better negotiate thelocal and the global.
Research Methodology
1. Research purpose
The purpose of the research project from which this discussion paper emerges has
been to explore how the SLC non-formal education curriculum supports rural youth
empowerment. To support this investigation of the curriculum, the project aims toanswer the following research questions:・What are the capitals manifest at SLC?
・How do these capitals facilitate rural youth empowerment?
2. Research Orientation
In exploring how SLC supports rural youth empowerment the research project isframed by a broadly qualitative research orientation. It aims to generate a rich indepth description of the programs which comprise the curriculum as a whole at the
Slukat Learning Centre in so far as this concerns the empowerment of rural youth(Mertens, 2005). Thus far, this research orientation and accompanying qualitative
research methods have supported exploring students’ lives, behaviors, and indeed
their stories and meanings that are connected with their experience of non-formal
education at SLC. The research project is framed by the critical paradigm which

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allows for a better understanding of how socio-economic factors may impact thestudents’ relationship to the curriculum and learning experiences (Tamatea &Pramitasari, 2018).
3. Participants
Invitation to participate in the research project were posted in various communication
channels including SLC’s Facebook page, Instagram and the Alumni’s Network
Group. 18 SLC alumni who were SLC students between 2007- 2016 agreed toparticipate in the research. Their age ranged between 19 and 26 with the cohort
comprising 9 males and 9 females. All alumni have since graduated from High School
and are currently either continuing higher degree education, developing their own
businesses or working in an institution/organization.
4. Data Generation
Data were collected from a number of sources. These included semi-structured one on
one interviews with the alumni and reviews of their personal stories through available
on Facebook, in blogs, in Instagram, and in LinkedIn. Data were also generated
through accessing videos created by Alumni and various scholarship application
documents. Interviews were conducted online using WhatsApp as the alumni werelocated in different part of the world including:・14 are in different parts of Bali, Indonesia.
・1 in Java and 1 Kalimantan, Indonesia.
・1 in the United Kingdom and 1 in New Zealand.
5. Data Interpretation
The research project from which this discussion paper emerges is guided by
Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction theory (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990) with its
emphasis upon capital (economic, social and cultural) the field, and habitus.
Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory comprises, according to Webb, Schirato andDanaher (2002, p. 1):
the most significant and successful attempt to make sense of the relationshipbetween objective social structures (institutions, discourses, fields, ideologies)
and everyday practices (what people do, and why they do it).
For a project aiming to understand how the curriculum supports rural youth
empowerment, Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction Theory, with its emphasis upon therelationship between social, cultural and economic informants of behavior would
seem to offer a value set of tools for understanding not only the students’ initial
response to the SLC curriculum, but how the curriculum might facilitate a change insuch a response.
Key concepts from Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory are explored in brief below.

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Field
For Bourdieu a field “is always inhabited by individuals in a relationship with others
who are framed by its rules of the game or doxa (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, p.
101)”. Moreover Ignatow and Robinson (2017, p. 95) assert:
Bourdieu defines a field as a network or configuration of relations betweensocial positions in which positions and their interrelations are determined by
the distribution of economic, social, and cultural capital. Though the borders
between fields are porous, each field is characterized by its own logic (the‘rules of the game’).
Based on the above understanding of the field, we argue that the field in this research
project comprises the context of the Slukat Learning Centre. This is a context within
which students are in a relationship with others (such as other students, volunteers andprogram support staff) where in there are rules of the game or doxa. The research
project will explore more precisely what these rules of the game and doxa are.
HabitusAccording to Bourdieu, the habitus is “tied to the ‘perception and appreciation ofpractices, cognitive and evaluative structures which are acquired through the lasting
experience of a social position” (1989 p.19). Working with this understanding of thehabitus, the research project explored the alumni’s pre-SLC dispositions and thosewhich had emerge presumably as a result of participation in the SLC context andcurriculum.
CapitalAnheier, Gerhards, and Romo (1995, p. 862) assert that:
Bourdieu's concept of "capital" is broader than the monetary notion of capital
nonmonetary as well as tangible and intangible forms. Bourdieu (1986, p. 243)
distinguishes between three general types of capital, which may assume fieldspecific contents:a) Economic capital refers to monetary income as well as other financial
resources and assets and finds its institutional expression in property rights.
b) Cultural capital exists in various forms. It includes long-standing
dispositions and habits acquired in the socialization process, the accumulationof valued cultural and formal educational qualifications and training.
c) Social capital is the sum of the actual and potential resources that can bemobilized through membership in social networks of actors and organizations.
Based on the above understanding, the research investigated the most valuable
learning/experience alumni gained in SLC that impacted their life.

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Preliminary Research Findings
Working with Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction Theory to interpret the participant(Alumni) responses, it appears (at this early stage) that SLC curriculum supports
student access to a range of capitals. These capitals are identified in Table. 1. Below:
Economic Capital・English skills
・Basic IT Skills
・Leadership andorganizational
skillsTable 1
Cultural Capital・Acquired politeness andcourteousness
・Developed self- confidence
to interact with other people
from different nationalities
and culture
・Gained effective
communication skills tointeract with different typeof nationalities and (school,
workplace, conference,organization)

Social Capital
Local, national andinternational social
networks supporting:・employment
opportunities
・Education funding
opportunities
・Socio-economic projectfunding opportunities

The data show that the alumni valued their participation in the SLC curriculum for anumber of reasons. These included the:・fun and happy learning environments;
・curriculum openness and flexibility;
・guidance and encouragement from the founders' family;・mentoring from volunteers, staffs and alumni;
・international cultural interaction
・sharing of information and knowledge between SLC members;
・action leaning projects such as event organization and excursion
The Alumni report that as a consequence of their participation in the SLC curriculum
they have acquired increased confidence, motivation, creativity, innovation, courage
and resilience. Arguably these reported outcomes point to a change in student
habitus, from one initially framed by low motivation, expectations and self-belief, to
one sufficiently confident to pursue dreams:
The alumni in this participate group have since gone on to achieve outcomes thatwould have arguably been beyond their expectations upon initially joining SLC.
These have included:
・Being awarded an overseas and domestic bachelor and master degree
Scholarship (UK, New Zealand, US, India and Indonesia)
・Participation in International Exchange Programs in Japan, Singapore andUS.

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・Pursuing a ‘dream job’ in hospitality industry, military and medicine
・Becoming an entrepreneur in the creative industry, as a web developer,
professional dancer, and video and photography professional.
・Continuing on into a higher education degree.
・Financially supporting themselves and their family.
・Mentoring and inspiring other students.
・Becoming leaders in their school and communities.
・Creating a social movement to save environment and improve public health.
Conclusion
The SLC curriculum is firmly grounded in the specific context of Balinese local
wisdom; a location which it leverages to attract international volunteers, inform theutilization information technology and develop the student’s character, and leadershipas forms of capital to be used to overcome disadvantage. Grandstaff (1976) argues
that in the context of specific development programs (such as at SLC), non-formal
learning is often the most appropriate educational strategy and thus a better choicethan formal education.
These preliminary research findings indicate “SLC” comprises that makes available
access to a range of capitals that seem to have a positive impact upon students’dispositions or habitus.
More importantly the data show the SLC curriculum
provides opportunities for the empowerment of rural youth. These, however, are earlyand preliminary findings generated from a cohort of alumni. The research project will
now begin to generate data from a range of other sources including current students,
to provide a more complete (if not complex) mapping of how the range of capitals
associated with the curriculum interact.
Acknowledgement
Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship of Charles
Darwin University who sponsored and supported the research.
Slukat Learning Center Alumni as the participants of the interviews
Slukat Learning Center staff who supported the research:Ni Made Indira SantiI Dewa Gede Agus Prabawa
Gusti Agung Dwi Anggreini

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References
Anheier, H. K., Gerhards, J., & Romo, F. P. (1995). Forms of capital and social
structure in cultural fields: Examining Bourdieu's social topography. American
journal of sociology, 100(4), 859-903.
Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Gianyar (2014) Retrieved fromhttps://gianyarkab.bps.go.id/publication/2014/10/23/2a28c6914a6cc96c7be83267/kab
upaten-gianyar-dalam-angka-2014.html accessed on 10 October 2016
Bourdieu, P. (1989). Social space and symbolic power. Sociological theory, 7(1), 1425.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society and culture(Vol. 4): Sage.
Bowman, D. (2010). Sen and Bourdieu: understanding inequality. Social policy
working paper(14), 1-16.
Grandstaff, M. (1976). Nonformal education: Some indications for use. Comparative
Education Review, 20(3), 294-304.
Heckman, J. J. (2000). Policies to foster human capital. Research in economics, 54(1),3-56.
Hoppers, W. (2006). Non-Formal Education and Basic Education Reform: A
Conceptual Review: ERIC.
Ignatow, G., & Robinson, L. (2017). Pierre Bourdieu: theorizing the digital.
Information, Communication & Society, 20(7), 950-966.
Kautz, T., Heckman, J. J., Diris, R., Ter Weel, B., & Borghans, L. (2014). Fosteringand measuring skills: Improving cognitive and non-cognitive skills to promote
lifetime success. Retrieved from
Mertens, D. M. (2005). Research and evaluation in education and psychology:
Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods 2nd Edition:
Sage publications.
Morton, M., & Montgomery, P. (2011). Youth empowerment programs for improving
self-efficacy and self-esteem of. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 5(10.4073).
Romi, S., & Schmida , M. (2009). Non-formal education: a major educational force inthe postmodern era. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 257-273.
Souto-Otero, M., Ulicna, D., Schaepkens, L., & Bognar, V. (2013). Study on theimpact of Non-Formal Education in youth organisations on young people’s
employability. Paper presented at the Final report to the European Youth Forum.
Bath: University of Bath and GHK.

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Tamatea, & Pramitasari, G. A. (2018). Bourdieu and programming classes for the
disadvantaged: a review of current practice as reported online—implications for nonformal coding classes in Bali. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced
Learning. doi:DOI 10.1186/s41039-018-0068-x
Tamatea, L. (2011). Ajeg Bali discourse: globalisation, fear and Othering – online.
Asian Ethnicity, 12(2), 155-177. doi:10.1080/14631369.2011.571835
Webb, J., Schirato, T., & Danaher, G. (2002). Understanding bourdieu: Sage.
Werquin, P. (2010). Recognition of non-formal and informal learning: Country
practices. Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques OCDE.
Paris. Disonible en.
World Bank In Indonesia Overview (2017, September 19). Having maintained
political stability, Indonesia is one of Asia Pacific’s most vibrant democracies and is
emerging as a confident middle-income country. Retrieved fromhttp://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/overview accessed on Oct 1, 2017
World Bank. Poverty and Equity Portal Country Indonesia. Retrieved fromhttp://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/IDN accessed on Oct 1, 2017
World Economic Forum (2017, June 28) Human Capital Report 2016. Retrieved fromhttp://reports.weforum.org/human-capital-report-2016/economies/#economy=IDN
accessed on August 26, 2017
Contact email: ayu.pramitasari@cdu.edu.au

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The Performance of Factor and Multiple Problem-Solving
for the Fifth Grade with Mathematics Underachievers
Pei-Hsiu Chen, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The research method adopted was a survey study in quantitative research. The
purpose was to explore the performance of factor and multiple problem-solving in
fifth-grade underachievers, including performance on the tests, patterns of error andcauses of error. The participants came from a public elementary school in Tainan City,a total of 53 mathematic underachievers from 14 classes. The data were collectedusing quantitative and qualitative methods. The “learning achievement test” designedby the researcher was used as quantitative analysis and 12 students were interviewed
as qualitative analysis. The findings were as follow: (a) Regarding factor and multiple
problem-solving, the students showed poor performance on the tests; (b) Six patternsof error were identified, including “misunderstanding of prior knowledge,” “missing
concept of factor and multiple,” “fuzzy concept of factor and multiple,” “carelesscalculation and a slip of pen,” “problem-solving only by the use of keywords,” and“the lack of semantic understanding abilities;” and (c) Six causes of error wereidentified, including “the lack of prior knowledge led to the misconceptions,” “thelack of operational abilities suppressed concept construction,” “insufficient life
experience hindered conceptual understanding,” “semantic comprehension error
interfered with problem-solving activity,” “the lack of operational concept resulted inproblem-solving difficulties,” and “insufficient integration capacity affected theeffectiveness of problem-solving.”
Keywords: mathematics underachievers, factor, multiple, problem-solving
performance

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
In recent years, improving the mathematics literacy of students has become theprimary educational goal of mathematics education groups around the world. Basedon “The Grade 1-12 Curriculum Guidelines for Mathematics” in 2018, our country
focuses on the ability of students to solve problems and to appreciate and cultivate apositive attitude toward mathematics. The ultimate goal is to achieve the vision of“talent development—a fair chance for all.” In 2014, the National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published the Common Core State Standards(CCSS) for Mathematics. It was pointed out in 2010 that the mathematics curriculum
standards should include the principle, “Students shall use mathematical reasoning
from multiple sources and apply mathematics to solve problems in the real world(CCSS, 6-8).”
According to research data included in the 2015 “Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study” (TIMSS) and the “Program for International
Student Assessment” (PISA), there are great disparities between the performances ofhigh-scoring and low-scoring children in Taiwan. The most worrying of these is theexcessive number of mathematics underachievers. Furthermore, today’s inclusive
education emphasizes that teachers should provide each student with learning andinteraction with his or her peers in a natural and integrated environment. However, it
is imperative to establish the underachievers in ordinary classes to eliminate fear oflearning and to cultivate confidence in solving problems with mathematics.
In terms of the researcher's teaching practice, the application of factor and multiple
problems is one of the most difficult skills for elementary school students. The
primary reason for this is that the concept of factoring is an extremely abstract
mathematical term and quite removed from the life experience of fifth-grade students.
Modern cognitive psychologists regard learning as the process of learners actively
constructing knowledge, especially in the arena of education. The psychologists pay
more attention to process-oriented and error-patterns analysis. The results of incorrect
reaction processes can provide many rich messages for instructors and serve as areference for remedial teaching (Chyn, 1995).
In examining the domestic discussion of the factor and multiple problem-solving
process, the research object is aimed mainly at junior high school students andstudents with learning disabilities. However, few studies have been conducted on the
problem-solving performance and the patterns of error in mathematics ofunderachievers. Therefore, the researcher hopes to understand the learning difficulties
by exploring the factor and multiple problem-solving processes of underachievers and,to this end, analyzes the types and causes of errors that may arise. The main purposeof this research is to provide teachers with references in classroom teaching,curriculum design and teaching evaluation in the future. Teachers can implement
differentiated instruction according to the different ability levels of students to help
underachievers to develop their learning potential.
Purpose of the Study
The study is mainly aimed at the mathematical problem-solving performance offifth-grade underachievers in a public primary school and discusses the rate of correct

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results, the patterns of error and the causes of error in the concepts of factor andmultiple problems.
Research Questions
Based on the goals list above, the research questions are as follows:
1.What is the rate of correct results in the concept of factor and multiple
problem-solving for the fifth-grade underachievers?
2.What are the patterns of error in the concept of factor and multiple problem-solving
for the fifth-grade underachievers?
3.What are the causes of error in the concept of factor and multiple problem-solving
for the fifth-grade underachievers?
Literature Review
The Meaning of Mathematical Problem-Solving
In mathematics culture, specific activities are generated to solve problems.
Santos-Trigo (2014) asserts that “Mathematical problem solving is mainly to foster aninquisitive approach to develop and comprehend students’ mathematical knowledge.
These activities involve making sense of concepts or problem statements; looking fordifferent ways to represent, explore, and solve the tasks; extending the tasks’ initial
domain; and developing a proper language to communicate and discuss results (496).”
As can be seen from the above, problem-solving can be used as a method ofreconstructing knowledge content and testing learning effectiveness. Developing
students’ problem-solving skills is the primary goal of curriculum and teaching.
The Process of Mathematical Problem-Solving
This study combines the problem-solving theory of two scholars, Schoenfeld (1985)
and Mayer (1992). The researcher believes that Mayer explored the problem-solving
process from the perspective of cognitive psychology, focusing on the psychologicalprocess analysis between the problem-solver and the problem. Schoenfeld’s
problem-solving process described the problem-solving behavior at each stage, andfocused on the behavior analysis and verification process, and evaluated the
problem-solver’s confidence. Therefore, this study integrates the problem-solving
process proposed by the two scholars and divides it into five stages: reading (R),analysis (A), planning (P), execution (I), and verification (V).
The Meaning and Type of Misconceptions Analysis
The misconception also includes the preconception. Fujii (2014) pointed out that
misconceptions or alternative conceptions are concepts that are considered reasonable
and viable conceptions based on the problem-solver’s experiences in different
contexts or in their daily life activities from a child’s perspective, including students’mental models, children’s arithmetic, preconceptions, native theories, conceptual
primitives, private concepts, alternative frameworks, and critical barriers (453). In
1985, Mayer divided problem-solving mistakes into three patterns: (a) omission error,(b) specification error, and (c) conversion error. The most serious reason for theconversion error is that many students do not recall the relation-representationalmodel and lack linguistic knowledge.

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Methods
The purpose of this study was to understand the performance of factor and multiple
problem-solving of fifth-grade mathematics underachievers in public elementary
school. Therefore, the survey research in the quantitative analysis was used.
ParticipantsParticipant in the Paper-and-Pencil Test
The pretest phase was to select the fifth grade of the southern A school using the Hmathematical version. A total of 56 students in the two regular classes were used forthe group test. In the formal stage, a convenience sampling method was adopted to
select the required research participants. Therefore, underachievers in the fifth-grade
general class of the southern B school were selected, and a total of 53 students in 14
classes were used for the test.
Participants in Individual Interviews
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the patterns and causes of errors in theperformance of factor and multiple problem-solving, the researcher analyzed the test
contents and answers of the students after the test was completed. The 12 students
who chose various problem-solving problems were selected as representatives, andthe semi-structured interview was conducted according to the syllabus of theinterview.
Materials
Factor and Multiple Achievement Test
This study was based on the relevant literature, the Grade 1-9 mathematics curriculum
guidelines, and the contents of the three commonly used versions of the current
fifth-grade textbook.
The achievement test questions were divided into three cognitive dimensions, namely“conceptual understanding,” “procedure implementation”, and “problem-solving.”
Each dimension included five formats: “factor,” “common factor and greatest
common factor,” “multiple,” “common multiple and least common multiple” and“multiple of 2, 3, 5, 10.”In the matter of difficulty and the discrimination index of the test questions, the Pvalue of the “conceptual understanding” dimension was between 0.3 and 0.6 and the
D value was between 0.3 and 1.0. The P value of the “procedure implementation”
dimension was between 0.2 and 0.7 and the D value was between 0.3 and 0.6. The P
value of the “problem-solving” dimension was between 0.2 and 0.4 and the value of D
was between 0.2 and 0.4. All three were in line with the P and D values of the ideal
questions proposed by the experts.
Procedure
Implementation and Score
In this study, the group test method was first determined, and a total of 56 students inthe fifth grade of the southern A school were selected as the pretest participants. The
test time was 40 minutes. In succession, a total of 53 underachievers for the fifth
grade of the south B school were selected for the group test.

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In terms of scoring, this test had a total of 14 questions, and the scoring approach was
one point for each question. The highest score that could be achieved was 14, and thelowest score was 0. If the scoring principle was to write the correct answer for eachquestion, 1 point would be awarded. If the question had clerical error, calculation
error, solution process error, incorrect answers, or unanswered situation, the question
was not given.
On the subject of validity, the researcher, who prepared the test papers, invitedmathematics educational experts, senior teachers, and resource teachers to discuss,amend and review all aspects of the test questions. Finally, the researcher also invited
three underachievers in the fifth grade to take the test in order to ascertain the speed of
the students’ answers and the quality of the questions.
In order to determine the feasibility of the test questions and the required test time, thepretest would be conducted by the fifth-grade students of the A school. The
Cronbach's α value for this pretest was .75. For the purpose of understanding thepatterns and causes of learning errors, the fifth-grade underachievers of the B school
were selected for formal testing. The Cronbach's α value for this test was .80, whichmeant that the reliability of this test was quite good.
AnalysisPaper-and-Pencil Test
This study would summarize the results of the participants’ test results and calculate
the rate of correct answers for each question in the achievement test, then calculate
the correct rate, average correct rate, and total correct rate of each type according to
the type of problems, in order to ascertain the problem-solving performance of thefifth-grade students.
Interview Data
The researcher conducted qualitative interviews according to the syllabus of theinterview. During the interview, the researcher used the triangulation method ofdifferent data sources such as problem-solving performance, on-site recording, andrecording, hoping in this way to analyze the problem-solving performance of students
objectively and improve the validity of data analysis.
Results and Discussion
Student’s Problem-Solving in the Concepts of Factor and Multiple
After the collation and summary of the test papers, the researcher calculated the rateof correct answers for each type of problem, the conceptual average correct rate, andthe overall correct rate for factor and multiple problems, as shown in Table 3. It canbe seen from Table 3 that the overall correct rate of the “Factor and Multiple
Achievement Tests” for students was 47.0%, which showed that the effect of learning
factors and multiple urgently needed to be strengthened. It was worth further
discussion.

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Table 3Students’ Problem-Solving Performance in the Factor and Multiple Achievement Test

Concept
FactorCommonfactor、
Greatest
commonfactorMultiple

Commonmultiple、
Least
commonmultiple

Multipleof 2, 3, 5,
10Type of problem
Factor judgment
Factor algorithm
Factor application
Judgment ofcommonfactor and greatest common
factorAlgorithm of Common
factor and greatest common
factor
Application of Common
factor and greatest common
factorMultiple judgment
Multiple algorithm
Multiple application
Judgment of common
multiple and least common
multiple
Algorithm of common
multiple and least common
multiple
Application of common
multiple and least common
multiple2, 3, 5, 10 multiple
judgment
2, 3, 5, 10 multiple
algorithm

Question
numberCorrect rate
for each type ofproblem (%)

Conceptual
average correct
rate (%)

1
6
11

71.7%
67.9%
49.1%

56.6%

2

32.1%

7

67.9%

12

41.5%

3
8
13

71.7%
52.8%
22.6%

4

60.4%

9

22.6%

14

20.8%

5

66.0%

10

30.2%

Overallcorrect
rate
(%)

47.2%

49.1%

47.0%

34.6%

48.1%

Notes: 1. Correct rate for each question type = (number of correct answers to thequestion ÷ total number of questions) ✕100%
2. Overall correct rate = (total number of correct answers ÷ total number ofquestions) ✕100%
Students in the Patterns of Error in Factor and Multiple Problem-Solving
The researchers compared the problem-solving performance of the 53 underachieversin the test according to the three concepts of “conceptual understanding,” “procedure
execution,” and “problem-solving.” The statistics were classified into six possible
patterns:
Conceptual Understanding
In the students’ performance in conceptual understanding, the total error rate was
39.6%. Moreover, incorrect answers were more serious in the concept of common
factor and common multiple problem-solving than in other types of questions. Theseerrors mainly followed two patterns: “misunderstanding of the prior knowledge” and“missing concept of factor and multiple.”

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Procedure Implementation
In the students’ performance in procedure implementation, the total error rate was
51.7%. Moreover, incorrect answers were more serious in the concept of common
multiple and least common multiple than in other types of questions. These errors
mainly followed two patterns: “fuzzy concept of factor and multiple” and “carelesscalculation and a slip of pen.”
Problem-Solving
In students’ performance in problem-solving, the total error rate was as high as 66.5%.
Many of the students were left blank spaces on the test papers, showing that they had
given up trying to solve the problems. These errors followed two patterns:“problem-solving only by the use of keywords” and “the lack of semantic
understanding abilities.”
Causes of Error of Factor and Multiple Problem-Solving
After classifying the factor and the multiple patterns of error, the researcher further
analyzed the causes of the students’ errors through qualitative interviews.
The Lack of Prior Knowledge Led to the Misconceptions
一、40÷8=5，Is 8 the factor of 40? Is 8 a multipleof 40?

SB01

三、12Î6=72，Is 72 a factor of 12？Is 72 a
multiple of 12?

SG07

Problem-Solving Analysis
 Analysis
 Analysis
T: What is this question asking about？
T: What is this question asking about？
SB01: Eight is the factor of 40, or 8 is a multiple SG07: Seventy-two is a factor of 12, or 72 is aof 40.
multiple of 12.
 Planning Planning
T: Can you tell me what this question is being
T: Can you tell me what this question is being
asked about? How do you judge?
asked about? How do you judge?
SB01: Eight is a multiple. Because 8 multiplied
SG07: Seventy-two is a factor, because 12
by 5 is 40, when multiplication is used, themultiplied by 6 is 72, so 12 is a multiple and 72
number becomes larger, so it is a multiple.
is the factor.

It was found in the interviews that the students mistakenly believed that themultiplication was greater and the division was more and less. Therefore, as long as
the title appeared to be multiplied, it was recognized as a multiple, and if it appeared
to be divided, it was recognized as a factor. This kind of erroneous prior knowledge
led to many misconceptions in learning factor and multiple problem-solving, andindirectly affected learning outcomes. This comports with Graeber and Campbell’s(1993) argument. Most students have the misconception that “multiplication will
become larger and division will become smaller” when they solve multiplication ordivision word problems.

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The Lack of Operational Abilities Suppress Concept Construction
二、Among all the factors of the number 甲, the maximum factor plus minimum factor is 65. What is
the number of 甲?

SB02

SB03

Problem-Solving Analysis
 Planning Planning
T: What do you think is the number of 甲? What T: What do you think is the number of 甲? Whatis the maximum factor? What is the minimumis the maximum factor? What is the minimum
factor?
factor?
SB03:The maximum factor is the largest number
SB02: The number of 甲 is 65, the maximum
init, the minimum factor is the smallest number
factor is 65 (. . . Hesitate about 20 seconds) thein it, so the number of 甲 is 65.
minimum factor…… I don’t know.
T: Could you talk about why this formula is
T: Why do you write the formula 1✕65 at that
listed？
time？
SB03: I list all the factors of 65, with possible
SB02: (. . . Hesitate about 15 seconds) Because
answers of 1, 5, 13, and 65.
65 is equal to 1 x 65.

It was discovered from the interviews that students had difficulty in making
meaningful connections between factor and common factor. If the structure of thefactor was used, the student needed to have the measurement operations ability tounderstand the concept of the factor. The so-called “measurement operations” meantthat the student could grasp the two parts of the part – the whole relationship. Fromthe interviews, it was found that the students’ understanding of factor and multiple
was often lacking in a tightly connected network, so incorrect interpretations of rules
were often used to define or interpret the relationship between the two nouns, which
led to failure in problem-solving.
Insufficient Life Experience Hindered Conceptual Understanding
七 、 Please write all the common factors in 15 and 25.

SB04

SB05

Problem-Solving Analysis
 Analysis
 Analysis
T: What is this question asking about？
T: What is this question asking about？
SB05: Find common factor.
SB04: Seek common factor。
T: What do you think common factor is？
T: What do you think common factor is？
SB05: The common factor is the same number
SB04: The common factor is the same number
with both factors.
when calculating.
 Planning Planning
T: Can you talk about why this formula is
T: Can you talk about why this formula islisted？
listed？
SB05: I first find out the factors of 15 and 25,
SB04: I will write the factors of 15 and 25 first,
and then find two common factors, . . . Wow! I
then circle the same number, which is their
don't circle this number 1.
common factor.

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In the context of the life experience of students, because the concepts of factor andmultiple were more abstract these terms were rarely discussed in daily life, andbecause students did not understand these specific terms they were confused about theconcepts of factor and multiple. Finally, it was found in the interviews that it wasdifficult for students to develop an understanding of the meaning of factor andmultiple through specific activities. In terms of the lack of the relationship between
factor and multiple, the ability to link and classify was often affected by theirconfusion about the concepts of both, and indirectly led to a high error rate.
Semantic Comprehension Error Interfered with Problem-Solving Activity
十 三 、 Wei has more than 70 game cards, which are divided equally among 25 people. How many
game cards does Wei have?

SB06

SG08

Problem-Solving Analysis
 Analysis
 Analysis
T: What is this question asking about？
T: What is this question asking about？
SB06: How many game cards has Wei ?
SG08: How many game cards has Wei ?
T: Do you think that 70 game cards are more
T: Do you think that 70 game cards are morethan 70 cards or exactly 70?
than 70 cards or exactly 70?
SB06: (Mm. . . ) Because I don't know how
SG08: More than 70 game cards mean 70 gamemany more than 70 game cards there are, I use
cards.
70 game cards to calculate.
 Planning Planning
T: Can you talk about why this formula is
T: Can you talk about why this formula islisted？
listed？
SB06: Because it is divided equally, so I find the SG08: Because it is a bisector, the number will
factors of 70 and 25.
be smaller. So 70 divide by 25.

Reading and understanding the meaning of the word problem was the primary task ofthe problem-solving. When students understood the problem situation, they could
determine the best problem-solving strategy. Moreover, through the students’interview data, it was found that many students face problem-solving difficulties
because they did not think deeply enough about the problem. Students judged thesurface meaning of the keyword in the title, and then calculated or decided how tosolve the problem. For example, if the word “divide” appeared in the title, “division”
was used. This decision ignored the understanding of the overall problem situation,
which leads to an incorrect solution.

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The Lack of Operational Concept Resulted in Problem-Solving Difficulties
十 一 、 Hao harvests 56 strawberries and distributes them to the friends. Everyone will get as many
strawberries as they can. If the strawberries are just divided equally, how many strawberries can they
get? (Please write all possible answers.)

SG09

SG10

Problem-Solving Analysis
 Planning Planning
T: Can you talk about why this formula is
T: Can you talk about why this formula islisted？
listed？
SG09: Because this question is divided, the equal SG10: Because the question is said to be divided
division is the meaning of division. So it is theequally to friends. If you give it to two friends,
factor. I find the factor of 56.
you can get 18. If you give it to four friends, youExecution
can get 14. . . .
T: How do you find the answer to this question?
T: Do you think that you can send all 56
SG09: Mm. . . (After talking to myself for 10
strawberries to one friend?
seconds, write the process on paper). I use theSG10: Mm. . . .(Hesitate about 9 seconds) I thinkdivision method, because 56 divided by 1, 2, . . .
it shall be ok?
and until it is contained.
T: Why don't you think of sending all the
strawberries to one friend at that time?
SG10: Because the question say to be sent to thefriends, I think it must be sent to at least 2
friends.

It could be seen that both “factor” and “multiple” had the characteristics of an
operation concept. The learning of operation concepts was subject to complex
information processing. Learners had to undergo identification, analysis, reasoning,and other operational activities to internalize and master this concept. Throughinterviews with students, it was found that many students were often unable to follow
this process when searching for factors or that they did not develop in order toenumerate and used the “trial and error” method. Because the way to find the factor
and multiple was not correct, it was easy to find more, mistaken, or time-consuming
situations, indirectly causing the failure to exhaust all the numbers when looking for a
factor or multiple of a certain number, so that the problem-solving activities failed.

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Insufficient Integration Capacity Affected the Effectiveness of Problem Solving
十 二 、 There is a rectangular cardboard with alength of 18 cm and a width of 24 cm. The
cardboard is cut into several squares of equalsize. The length of the square is an integer
centimeter. What is the length of the side of thissquare?

十 四 、 Yun uses a number of rectangular cards
that are 6 cm long and 8 cm wide to form asquare. What is the minimum length of the sideof this square?

SG11

SB12

Problem-Solving Analysis
 Planning Planning
T: Can you talk about why this formula is
T: Can you talk about why this formula islisted？
listed？
SG11: Because the item ask the length of square, SB12: The question is what the minimum sideand the length multiplied by the width equal thelength of the square is it? So I have to find thearea. So use multiples, and then find two
factors of 6 and 8, and then figure out that theidentical numbers.
common factors are 1 and 2.
 Execution
 Execution
T: What do you think the answer you calculate
T: What do you think the answer you calculateis?
is?
SG11: It refer to the length of the square.
SB12: The side length of the square is 1 cm or 2
 Verification
cm at least.
T: Will you check your calculated answer? Why?  Verification
SG11: No, because the teacher don't teach it. I
T: Will you check your calculated answer? Why?
use the check answers only when I is calculating. SB12: No, because the teacher don't teach it.
T: Are you confident in the answer you have
T: Are you confident in the answer you havecalculated?
calculated？
SG11: (Laugh. . . .) It is fine to write. Anyway, at SB12: Not necessarily. Sometimes I will haveleast the success probability will be.
confidence when I see it very simple, but I will
have no confidence in the word problem.

From the problem-solving process and interview data of the students, it was foundthat in the analyzing stage, the students are confused and had a poor understanding of
the basic concepts of factor and multiple, and they constructed false or incorrect
representations of the knowledge model. In the planning stage, because of the lack ofbasic mathematical concepts, it was impossible to balance the correctness of the
problem-solving strategy in writing, which made it impossible to assess whether the
calculated answer was reasonable. During the execution phase, it was more likely thatthe students would complete the problem-solving task in an inefficient manner
because they could not accurately grasp the information presented on the topic, or
their understanding was affected by the mental set or the functional fixedness. In theverification phase, the students lacked the ability and method to test answers, so they
did not know how to check the calculated answers, which affected the correct rate ofproblem-solving.

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Conclusions
This study mainly focused on the results of the factor and multiple achievement test
and interviews and discussed the performance, error patterns, and causes ofunderachievement in the fifth grade. The total rate of correct student answers in themultiple achievement test was 47%, and the rate of correct answers in the factor,
common factor, and greatest common factor test was about 50%. The rate of correct
answers in the multiple, common multiple, and least common multiple test was about
50%. The results showed that the students were not well versed in overall
problem-solving of the factor and multiple concepts.
Six patterns of error were identified, including “misunderstanding of priorknowledge,” “missing concept of factor and multiple,” “fuzzy concept of factor andmultiple,” “careless calculation and a slip of pen,” “problem-solving only by the useof keywords,” and “the lack of semantic understanding abilities.”
Six causes of error were identified, including “the lack of prior knowledge led to the
misconceptions,” “the lack of operational abilities suppressed concept construction,”“insufficient life experience hindered conceptual understanding,” “semantic
comprehension error interfered with problem-solving activity,” “the lack ofoperational concept resulted in problem-solving difficulties,” and “insufficient
integration capacity affected the effectiveness of problem-solving.”
In response to the conclusions, the researcher put forward five suggestions forteachers’ reference in the teaching of factor and multiple materials, including“providing students with factor and multiple prior knowledge and experience,”“introducing the concept of factor and multiple through life situations,” “promoting
students’ reading comprehension abilities regarding factors and multiple,” “paying
attention to the development of the concept of factor and multiple operation,” and“improving students’ problem-solving beliefs in mathematic.”

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References
Chyn, L.-H. (1995). An analysis of error patterns of mathematical problem solving
performance for elementary students with mathematical disabilities. Special
Eductaion Quarterly, 55, 33-38.
Common Core State Standards Initiative (2018). Mathematics standards. Retrieved
from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Fujii, T. (2014). Misconceptions and alternative conceptions in mathematics
education. In S. Lerman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of mathematics education (pp. 453-454).
Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Reference. doi: 10.1007/9789400749788
Graeber, A. O. & Campbell, P. F. (1993). Misconceptions about multiplication anddivision. The Arithmetic Teacher, 40(7), 408-411.
Mayer, R. E. (1992). Thinking, problem solving, cognition. New York: W. H.
Freeman and Company.
Ministry of Education (2018). The Grade 1-12 Curriculum Guidelines forMathematics. Retrieved fromhttps://www.naer.edu.tw/ezfiles/0/1000/attach/49/pta_17220_2245818_14826.pdf
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2014). Principles to actions:
Ensuring mathematical success for all. Reston, VA: Author.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State
School Officers. (2010). Common core state standards for mathematics. Retrieved
from http://www.corestandards.org/wp-content/ uploads/Math_Standards1.pdf
Program for International Student Assessment (2018). PISA test. Retrieved fromhttp://www.oecd.org/pisa/test/
Santos-Trigo, M. (2014). Problem solving in mathematics education. In S. Lerman(Ed.), Encyclopedia of mathematics education (pp. 496-501). Dordrecht, The
Netherlands: Springer Reference. doi: 10.1007/9789400749788
Schoenfeld, A. H. (1985). Mathematical problem solving. Orlando, FL: Academic
Press.
TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center (2018). TIMSS 2015 international resultsin mathematics. Retrieved fromhttp://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2015/international-results/timss-2015/mathematics/st
udent-achievement/
Contact email:peihsiu0923@yahoo.com.tw

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Effects of 3d Printing Interactive Technology on Special Education for Children
with Different Disabilities

Shu-Hua Chen, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Chien-Yu Lin, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Quo-Cyuan Mao, National Chiayi University, Taiwan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Using assistive technology as a tool in special education is an important intervention
for children with special need in recent studies. This study proposes to develop aninteractive tool that functions as a low-cost, learning interface for children withdifferent disabilities. Two children from resource class in elementary schoolparticipated in this research. This research applies 3D printing technology to develop
a multi-media interactive feedback interface to train children with learning or physicaldisabilities to insert coins and improve learning motivation. Microsoft Visual C# isused for the human-machine interface. By means of inserting coins, users are able toincrease the number of points won or vision and audio interface feedback. After thetask is judged, the real-time feedback is processed by a prerecorded key wizard script
as the entire control video process. The multi-media content design as teachingmaterials to increase learning opportunities By means of this interactive technology
and Microsoft Visual C# Windows program, participants were able to use the “coininsertion” tool instead of the left key of a PC mouse. The purpose can be achieved on
the basis of the interactive content adjusted for individual needs. This research
investigate the effectiveness of a fine motor skills training process for the upper limbs
of students with physical disabilities. It involves the parents and teachers in obtaining
real feedback. The conclusions of this study are also discussed. This study also
applies low-cost technology in home-based interactive learning method for children
with different disabilities.
Keywords: 3d Printing, Interactive Technology, Special Education

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Introduction
Use of effective assistive technology can help provide special education of decent
quality for children with special needs. As a result of the rapid progress in technology,
integration of computers in education has become a worldwide tendency. Throughinteraction with computers, individualized teaching can be achieved to enhance themotivation of students to learn by practicing repeatedly and to increase theirconcentration(Lin, 1995). With instant feedback and no limitation of labor and time,computerized interactive technology can provide concrete, practical and interestinglearning for students with special needs and train them to develop different skills. For
this reason, this type of technology has become popular among teachers of special
education. However, great differences exist between students with special needs. The
teaching materials and instruments required have to be specifically designed andproduced according to such differences. Hence, good tools are rather important forteachers of special education. As far as software is concerned, if such teachers can use
the Internet properly, they can find the right resources to reduce the time needed to
produce teaching materials. They may also apply word-processing software, briefing
software and film-editing software to conduct image processing and create
multimedia with light and sound effects to stimulate the learning motivation andinterest of students (Mayer, 2009). As for hardware, since many students with special
needs have trouble using interactive devices because of their poor physicalcoordination, appropriate modifications or adjustments are needed to assure students
can enjoy the fun of interactive technology during the learning process. Nonetheless, a
lot of the push switches, wobble switches and trackball switches available on themarket are expensive and many families cannot afford them.
To overcome the problems of high costs and individual differences, this team has
adopted 3D printing techniques and developed a coin insertion system. It is equippedwith various coin insertion inlets (for regular coins, marbles, ping pong balls, etc.) andconnected to a mouse and toys for children with special needs to undergo insertion
training to interact with the computer and take courses and physical movement
training through game playing. Thus, they will be able to practice continuously
without losing interest.
Microsoft Visual C# is applied in this study to complete the software design to allow
users to operate coin insertion to score. After the mission is accomplished,prerecorded Quick Macro is applied for script processing. Children with special needs
have to use coin insertion tools to control the playing of the entire film and the film
contents or courses can be adjusted according to the needs of individual students.
There are three participants in this study. The first one is a child with severe cerebral
palsy and the second one with moderate cerebral palsy. Due to muscle tension, their
upper limbs do not function well and they have difficulty holding things. Plus,
articulation problems also exist and they have trouble communicating with others.
Therefore, this study is intended to use the coin insertion system produced with 3D
printing techniques to train their fine motor skills and also to increase their learning
motivation and effects through their interaction with computers. The last participant isa child with severe autism and unable to talk. His main problems include barriers tosocial interaction, impaired verbal communication and repetitive stereotyped behavior.
It is hoped that this study can increase the opportunity for him to learn to interact with

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the outside world by practicing with the coin insertion system and watching the films.
MethodIn recent years, 3D printing techniques have been applied extensively in different
fields. Continuous improvements and advances in 3D printing techniques haveopened a new door in development of assistive technology for special education.
Through experiences of touching objected produced with 3D printing, students’imagination can become reality. In this study, 3D printing techniques were applied todesign and construct 3D models and print out the products. In order to meet the needsof different students, models had to be constructed, printed and modified repeatedly
before the final products are completed. The process of 3D printing is (1) Use
drawings or scanning software to create digital files of objects; (2) Transform digital
files into digital slices to separate objects into layers of data; (3) Store data on SD
cards and transmit them to be read by the 3D printer; (4) The 3D printer injects out
materials in layers that stack up to form 3D objects，as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 3D Printing Process
Commonly applied 3D modeling software includes 2D drawing software (Microsoft
Paint, Paint Net, PhotoCap, Adobe Photoshop and Inkscape) and 3D drawing software(Blender, 123D Design, Sketch Up, TinkerCAD and Sculptris). In this study,
TinkerCAD was adopted to build the models. Common plastic, nylon, paraffin, foodingredients, paper, cement, metal and ceramic powders can all be used as the “inks”
of 3D printers. Polylactic acid (PLA) made by combining corn starch and sugar canederivatives was adopted in this study because it was biodegradable and would notrelease any toxic substance when printing was carried out at around 190 (Guo,
Zhang, Huang, & Huang, 2017).
The coin insertion system produced with 3D printing had to be tested and adjusted toaccommodate a number of types of training for various functions which required
insertion holes of different sizes. After repeated adjustment and trial use, several coininsertion systems of different calibers were developed in this study, as shown in Fig.
2.

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Fig. 2 Coin Insertion Devices of Different Calibers
Hardware was also needed. The models printed out had to be connected to micro
switches, audio lines, and modified mouse devices to form an interactive system withthe computer and toys, as shown in Fig. 3 ( 3dp Bubble machine designer: Chen
Wei-Zen ).

Fig. 3 Models Connected to the Mouse, Bubble Machine and Robot to Form an
Interactive System
To achieve interactive effects, contents of Chinese textbooks were adopted to produce
simple PPT files which were played to teach students vocabulary and word building
and train them to understand meanings of words. In addition, Microsoft Visual C#
was applied to develop a film control system to increase the interaction andconcentration of autistic children and allow them to wake up Quick Macro for script
processing in order to control the process of the films which were selected from
Youtube according to the needs of individual students.
Case Study
Assistive technology provides the opportunity for students with special needs toparticipate in different activities. It can also enhance their learning motivation forthem to undergo function training. The posture, muscle training, senses and cognition
are all important factors that have influence on the development of fine motor skills.
For children with poor physical coordination or concentration, we can design simple
games to train their fine motor skills. The coin insertion system developed in thisstudy for training purposes uses relatively cheaper 3D printing tools and micro
switches to allow interaction with computers and toys. In other words, the children
can simply move the ping pong ball or coin from the palm to the fingers and insert itin the coin insertion system and the interactive system (such as the computer, bubble
machine or toys) will increase the strength of the children and stimulate theirmotivation for and interest in training. This exactly is the game-based learningemphasized. Children can continue to practice without losing interest. We haveconfidence that practice makes perfect. Repeated practice is bound to produce
learning results and assure students will achieve the learning targets.

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The case study method was adopted in this study to examine the effects of students
with special needs when they used the coin insertion system produced with 3D
printing and interactive devices. The three participants in the study included one malefourth-grade student with severe cerebral palsy, one female fifth-grade student withmoderate cerebral palsy and one fifth-grade female student with severe autism.
The motor development of cerebral palsy patients can be divided into spastic, athetoidand mixed types. Such patients have problems expressing themselves verbally or inwriting and their learning can be affected by their cognitive impairment(Zeng, 2009；
Scherzer & Tscharnuter, 1990). Rehabilitation is usually difficult but necessary. To
prevent muscle degeneration, they need to undergo rehabilitation repeatedly toenhance their muscle strength. For this reason, we hoped to provide them with asimple tool to help them with their training and learning.
Due to poor cross-area processing functions in the brain, autistic children cannot
connect related information or experiences together. As a result, their development ofspeech ability and language comprehension is affected. The most effective way tohelp the language comprehension of autistic children is to link language and actual
scenarios together(Luo, 2013). We hoped to use the coin insertion system to train thefifth grader with severe autism to improve his language comprehension as well as
provide him with the opportunity to interact with the environment.
Case 1 child with severe cerebral palsy
In the future, he would be able to use what he learned in everyday life. The child withsevere cerebral palsy, case 1, as shown in Fig. 4, suffered serious muscle contracture
because of muscle tension, but the results of study showed that use of the coininsertion system and interactive games could improve his static tripod grasp ability
and movement of each finger. Dexterity of fingers and appropriate grip strength wererequired for him to adjust the angle and strength according to the material,smoothness, size and shape of the object to hold and move the object. When applying
the coin insertion system to train, he could only use ping pong balls. At first, the more
he tried to insert the balls, the stronger his muscle tension became. However, after
interactive games were adopted, his insertion movement and tension control improved
significantly.

Fig. 4 Case 1
Case 2 child with moderate cerebral palsy
The female fifth grader with moderate cerebral palsy, case 2, as shown in Fig. 5, wasright-handed and her right hand was better developed and able to grab larger objects,
such as a communication pen, but she needed training to learn to operate thethumb-index web space and finger tips. After assessment, her special education classteacher suggested to enhance her right hand finger movement and train her to practice
how to apply the correct strength to grab objects according to their sizes and shapes.

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The teacher also believed her left hand also had to be trained to increase thecoordination of both hands, so she could use both hands together. Therefore, the coininsertion system and interaction with the slides were applied to improve the functionsof her both hands while courses were also integrated to train her linguistic andcognitive abilities.

Fig. 5 Case 2
During training, she kept requesting not to turn on the speakers because she didn’tlike music. The films from Youtube didn’t have much appeal to her. However, shefound the vocabulary teaching material specifically designed for her acceptable. She
was able to use her right hand to complete a series of training smoothly. Wheninserting coins, she held the paper cup and put the coin inside easily. With marbles
that were smaller in size, she had problems. Her left hand could put in ping pong balls
but had trouble with coins. The tension in her left hand was strong and the
McDonald’s cup was too tall; therefore, it was not easy for her to put in coins. At one
point, she tried to stand up to do it. Later, the cup was made shorter to give the proper
height for her to put in coins. When interacting with the bubble machine, she got very
excited when seeing and touching the bubbles.
Case 3 child with severe autism
Case 3 is the female fourth grader with severe autism, as shown in Fig. 6. Whenlearning, she often could not have eye contact with others and it was difficult to see
her facial expressions. Her socializing and communicating capacities lacked
integration and she had no speech ability. She could get overly concentrated onsomething, some interest, conduct or action, or simply lack concentration. The teacher
hoped the coin insertion system and the film featuring children’s songs could improve
her ability to interact with the environment.

Fig. 6 Case 3
The main design for her was the coin insertion system and interaction with the film ofchildren’s songs. She had to insert coins to play the film which stopped automaticallyafter about ten seconds and she had to put in more coins to activate the film again. It
was hoped the training could increase her concentration and her ability to follow
instructions. At the beginning, there was no reaction and her eyes did not focus. The

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coin insertion accuracy was low and the teacher had to lend a hand and give
instructions repeatedly. After many tries, the teacher no longer needed to giveassistance and only provided cues verbally. Accuracy increased, her eyes became
more focused and she showed considerable interest in learning.
When the training ended, the teachers and parents of the three children wereinterviewed. They all expressed the training system was beneficial to the children’sconcentration and able to improve their learning interest and motivation. The teachers
also hoped further use of systematic methods could be adopted to train the children.
Conclusion
Besides increasing the stability of fine motor skills, the coin insertion training can also
be applied in daily life, such as using piggy banks, vending machines, coin-operated
washers, capsule toy machines, etc. ( Meng, & Jane, 2016；Waters, 2013). However,coin insertion is more difficult for some children with special needs. Different injuries
may cause children with cerebral palsy to have other impediments, including visual
impediment, aural impediment, speech impediment, low IQ, behavioral impedimentand learning impediment, etc. They need a lot of assistance and rehabilitation todevelop further and learn. Unfortunately, they often lack motivation. However, thecoin insertion system produced with 3D printing and the interaction design can boost
their motivation to undergo rehabilitation. The equipment required is cheap, easy tocarry and not difficult to acquire. For itinerant teachers, special education teachers andparents, the burden will be lighter. Moreover, it is easy to make and to use. Plus,
different teaching materials and interactive devices can be combined to give students
more opportunities to practice without getting bored. Hence, this system can bepromoted and applied in special education. Meanwhile, since computers are equippedwith simple touch-control and audio-video interfaces and all kinds of application
programs can be used to provide learning through visual, aural and touch approaches,
they can provide positive assistive functions for autistic children to learn to interact insociety, to express themselves verbally, to correct negative behavior and to develop
special talents.
The coin insertion system used in this study is produced with 3D printing techniques.
Different coin slots are connected to toys or devices to activate the mouse to allow
children with different needs to undergo coin insertion training and achieve thepurpose of controlling the toys or the computer. At the same time, the coin insertion
movement is also a type of rehabilitation. After students with special needs are trained
to use the interactive coin insertion system, their hand-eye coordination and language
comprehension become better while their short attention span and lack of motivationand patience can also improve. Because of the opportunity to learn independently,
students’ learning interest and motivation increase. In addition, during thepost-training interview, the parents and teachers gave positive responses, indicating
the interactive system can trigger the learning motivation and interest of students.
Therefore, it is worth promoting.

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References
Guo, Y. Z., Zhang, F. M., Huang, Y. R., & Huang, Q. J. Edited (2017). Draw a
dream, print your dreams, and easily create ideas from 3D printing. New Taipei City:
Tai Keda books.
Lin, H.C.(1995). A study of computer aided instruction for youth with severe
disabilities. Special educational gardener，11(1)，9-13。
Luo, Y. L. (2013). Potential development of autistic children: Combining theory withpractice. Taipei: Psychological Publishing.
Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge； New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Meng, Y. R. & Jane, Y. W. (2016). Cerebral palsy. Meng, Y. R. contained in the
Editor: An introduction to special education - status and trends, pp.303-328. Taipei:
Psychological Publishing.
Scherzer, A. L., & Tscharnuter, I. (1990). Early diagnosis and therapy in cerebral
palsy: A primer on infant developmental problems pediatric habilitation (Volume 6).
New York, NY: Marcel Dekker.
Waters, F. (2013). Understanding cerebral palsy: A guide for parents andprofessionals. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 60(2),173-174.
Zeng, J. X. (Translation) (2009). Cerebral palsy and communication disorders (2nded.). (Original author: M. J. Mecham ). Taipei: Psychological Publishing. (Originalyear of publication:2002)
Contact email : cmshi@tn.edu.tw

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A Study at the Constitution of Students’ Family Backgrounds of an Elite University
in the Perspective of Cultural Capital

JU Fasheng, Zhengzhou University, Peoples Republic of China

The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings

Abstract
According to P. Bourdieu, educational outcomes are not mainly determined by mental
abilities but habitus that develops within the social space in which parents convert
their economic capital into cultural capital. Therefore, middle/upper class students
situate a privileged position and working class students are in an unprivileged status
and such a difference, in turn, constitutes educational inequity. This relation suggeststhat the enrollment percentage of middle/upper class students at top universities
should be much higher than that of their working class counterpart. In order toexamine this possible linkage, a questionnaire, which focused on the interplay
between family socioeconomic status, cultural capital and educational achievement,
was distributed to 114 students of an elite university, who were randomly sampled.
The findings confirmed the theory of cultural capital.

Keywords: cultural reproduction; key college students; family social backgroundiafor
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Introduction
The realization of fairness and justice in society is one of the measures of social
civilization progress. Pursuing social fairness and justice is also a relentless wish ofpeople. Education can convey systemic cultural knowledge, basic life skills and shapea healthy personality. One of the main aspects of justice. Education is also considered
to be closely related to social stratification and social mobility, mainly because:through the high degree of linkage between the education system and the professional
system and the comparability of the education diploma, higher education can enhance
the social status and income of the educated, thereby Divided into different levels, so
educational institutions are regarded as "screening machines", which is an importantmechanism to achieve social stratification [1]. Many studies have shown that education
can effectively promote social mobility and achieve intergenerational transfer ofcapital (such as occupation and class). [2][3]Generally speaking, the influence of
education on social stratification is mainly reflected in the following: first, theinfluence of family social background and other pre-existing factors on children's
educational achievements, and the other is the achievement of children's educational
achievements. The impact of social status in the future.[4][5]In recent years, with the expansion of higher education, more and more children fromrural poor families have obtained higher education qualifications. The enrollment
expansion policy for higher education is seen as an important measure to achievesocial equity and provide upward mobility opportunities and channels for theunderlying groups of society. Although many researchers such as Tang Weimin[6],Wang Yashuang[7], and Huang Silin[8] believe that the educational opportunities forchildren in the upper middle class are in an advantageous position. However, what ismore interesting is whether the expansion of higher education is narrowing or
expanding the difference in access opportunities due to family background. If suchdifferences are widened, it will inevitably inhibit the speed and extent of the bottomlevel group's movement to the upper echelons of society, so that the superiority of theupper-middle class will be reproduced, intergenerational transmission will be realized
and the class will be solidified. As a result, the re-production of the elite of the society
will replace the flow of elites, resulting in The intensification of class differentiation
has threatened the peace and stability of society.
Both the Plowden Report and the Coleman Report in the United Kingdom believe thatthe influence of family on students' academic performance far exceeds the school
factor. The family background is better than the school to better explain the
differences in students' academic performance and make people aware of the family.
The socio-economic background affects students' academic performance, not thequality of the school. Since then, there have been a lot of research results in theWestern countries on family background and children's school performance andacademic achievement. P.Bourdieu believes that only the economic action, investment
and other economic perspectives of educational actions, without incorporating social

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practices such as family tradition, class differences, social structure, etc., will
inevitably miss the most hidden and most Socially decisive investment in education isfamily culture capital[9]. Mc Pherson and Schapiro used American college freshmen
admission data to investigate student enrollment changes and found that family
backgrounds have a significant impact on children's enrollment. Children from lowincome groups are concentrated in community colleges, while children from middleand high-income groups are concentrated in universities[10]. James compared
Australia's 1991-1997 Higher Education Student Survey data with the 1991 census
data and found that although higher education enrollment opportunities haveincreased, the proportion of disadvantaged groups such as rural students has declined,
and these vulnerable groups have mainly entered new low-end categories. Secondary
university[11]. Siebert (1993) used the example of Anglo-American to study the
influence of father's occupation on the education level of children: the better thefather's occupation, the higher the education level of the children[12]. Most of theseresearch results prove that the role of education in promoting the realization of social
equality is limited, and the family social background has an important impact on theacquisition of children's academic achievements[13][14].
Li Chunling (2003) believes that the unfairness of higher education opportunities in
China is expanding day by day, and the benefits to the upper middle class are far
greater than the lower income[15]. Ding Xiaohao (2000) believes that the accessibilityof higher education institutions in China's family society is not deteriorating[16], andeven the gap between higher education and urban areas is narrowing[17]. The oppositeof the data and results of the two studies may be based on differences in time andsampling methods. Family background is also often regarded as ClassOrigin in the
study of inequality. Exploring the relationship between family background andchildren's educational achievement has become an important issue in the study ofeducational inequality. In recent years, the research on family background in the fieldof domestic education inequality has gradually emerged. Experts and scholars have
gradually shifted their attention from institutional changes and individual factors tofamily background[18], which has led to the development of domestic empiricalresearch, such as Zhou Xueguang[19][20][21], Sun Zhongxin[22], Wen Dongmao[23], Jiang
Guohe[24], Guo Congbin[25], Liu Zhimin[26], Guo Jun[27], Yue Changjun[28], etc., in the
education stage, taking the father’s occupational status and education level as animportant indicator to measure the family background, analyzing the family social
background and the achievement of the children’s academic achievement, anddiscovering the higher education enrollment opportunities and entrances of the upper
middle class children in the society. The proportion of key schools is higher than thatof low social classes. Li Wen used the data of college students' economic survey in2004 to find that the proportion of students from higher income groups in key schools
has a clear advantage[29]; Li Chunling pointed out that the factors leading to unequal
educational opportunities are mainly family background and institutional factors, after
1978. The degree of inequality in the distribution of educational opportunities has
gradually increased, and the influence of family background and institutional factors

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on education has been increasing[30]; there are cultural reproduction, resource
transformation and policy intervention in the influence of family background on
family education. In three modes, after the social differentiation intensified in 1992,
the background effect of family society was revealed, and the educational inequality
mechanism became a dual mode of resource inequality and cultural reproduction[31].
Most of these findings indicate that family backgrounds have a significant impact onchildren's academic achievement.
The research on the background of family society, education fairness and student
achievement in China is mainly based on Li Zhonglu's investigation on the growth ofcapital students[32], Xiao Rikui[33] and Wang Yuqin[34] Investigations, Shen Yan[35],
Yue Changjun[36], Du Guiying[37] and other surveys of college students across thecountry, Li Wei's analysis of the 2003 national comprehensive social survey data[38],Tan Min vs. Fujian Six Questionnaire survey of freshmen in colleges anduniversities[39], Liu Jingming's data analysis of China University Students' Learningand Development Tracking Study (CCSS)[40], Yang Qian's data analysis of 2007
freshmen in higher education research database[41] and Hou Longlong used the survey
data of 2002 graduates' employment intentions and employment behaviors[42] andother large-scale survey data. Although big data can reasonably explain thedevelopment of the current situation, it is difficult to explain the specific special
circumstances. Therefore, this study selects a key university in Henan Province toconduct a sample survey of the family background, trying to explain the “doubleclass” What kind of family background children have entered the 'double-classuniversity' question.
Second, research methods and research hypotheses
The investigation of the influencing factors of higher education enrollment
opportunities can be divided into income status, education status and occupational
status[43]. In the study of localization in combination with China's actual situation, thesocial structure formed by the social system incorporates the administrative region,
the urban-rural dual structure and the nationality into the influencing factors. For
example, Li Chunling studies the household registration system and the unit system,and takes the parental occupation status as the indicator social capital and culturallevel as the cultural capital and family income as the economic capital and family
component as the political capital[44]. In the study, Liu Jingming examined theinfluence of gender, political appearance, family affiliation, education level andprofessional class on the entrance opportunities of higher education[45]. When Wen
Dongmao studied the opportunities affecting higher education, he mainly chosefamily background, father's education level, gender, ethnicity and family address[46].
Jiang Tianhui believes that when focusing on the intermediary mechanism of thefamily field, the family and parents play the main agencies and agents of thechildren's internal thinking system and habits respectively, the father's values,
educational achievement expectations, parenting styles and learning environment

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placement and learning process participation. Both will affect the acquisition ofchildren's academic achievements[47].
This study adopts father education values, educational achievement expectations,parenting styles, placement of children's learning environment and measurement
indicators for children's learning process. In the traditional concept, the father as thefamily pillar, its social status is an important indicator to measure the total amount offamily cultural capital, which is greater than the mother's influence. In addition,
combined with the domestic mainstream research paradigm, the father's educationlevel and occupational status are taken as important reference materials.
(1) The value of father's education, different job attributes will affect the educational
values held by the social class, so parents of different classes have different views on
the importance of education. In general, the upper middle class of society shows along-term perspective on educational values, while the working class focuses on
short-term categories. This part begins with the father's different values of education
to draw the attention of different family fathers to children's learning.
(2) Expectations of educational achievement, fathers of different social classes havedifferent educational values, and differences in educational values further influence
the expectations of fathers for their educational achievements. Generally speaking, theparents of the working class do not have a complete and clear grasp of the future, sothey do not have too high expectations for their children's educational achievement
expectations, and the upper middle class can clearly realize that the educational
achievements have a vision for the future, and this vision is Real-world benefits are
not immediately available and thus hold high expectations for educational
achievement.
(3) Fathers' parenting styles. Different levels of fathers have different educational
values and educational achievement expectations for their children. Therefore, there
are differences in the strategies of action adopted in the education of children. The
upper-middle-class parents adopt a democratic management model for their children.
To create two-way communication and a more equal dialogue, so children have thedominant power to raise and discuss problems, and it is more likely to produce anelaborated code; while the labor class adopts an authoritative management mode,
which is more prone to unidirectionality. Parent-child contact and conversation are
more likely to produce a restricted code. Therefore, B. Bernstein's code theory
suggests that different families' parenting styles affect their children's language. Useand understand skills.
(4) Learning environment resettlement, the father of the working class is not fully
aware of how to assist the children to plan long-term learning because of the lack ofawareness of the importance of education. On the contrary, the upper middle classrecognizes the importance of learning, this kind of cognition Make it easier for them

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to create a positive learning atmosphere for their children. (Cohen, 1971: 98) “The
middle class people use the middle class's way of life to trap their children'ssocialization. They are more inclined to carefully design children's physicalenvironment, social situation and practice management. The toys surrounded bychildren are them. Fathers screened out by their educational values." The uppermiddle parents in the society have built a positive environment for their children's
learning. For example, the number of books in the family is rich, and children canhelp to control the abstract words and meanings with the help of books.
(5) Participation in the learning process, families of different classes have different
opinions on educational values and parenting styles, and the family social backgroundhas a high impact on children's learning achievements. However, some experts andscholars believe that the existence of social mobility does not have an absolute
relationship between the two. The important point when people who hold this view
discuss the reasons is how children learn and inherit the values of the upper middle
class, mainly focusing on the father. In the next generation of growth, attention is paid
to children to transfer human capital.
On the basis of summarizing the above research, this paper takes the parental
occupation and education level as the investigation object, and establishes fivedimensions of values, educational achievement expectation, parenting style, learning
environment placement and learning process, trying to explore the parental
occupation and education level. Relationship with the above five. The sample data of
this paper is from a questionnaire survey of students' family education resources in a
key university in Henan. The survey is conducted by full-time students. Random
sampling is used to select 144 students from different majors in the first to fourthyear.
Research hypothesis:(1) The father’s occupation and education level will affect the values of thechildren.
(2) The father’s occupation and education level will affect the children’s
educational achievement expectations.
(3) The father’s occupation and education level will affect the parenting style ofthe child.
(4) The father's occupation and education level will affect the placement ofchildren's learning environment(5) The father’s occupation and education level will affect the participation of thechildren in the learning process.
Conclusion
Because the cultural capital operation index is highly correlated, the exploratory
factor analysis method is used to obtain the factor analysis result (see Table 1). The

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Bartley sphere test results are significant (sig=0.000), and the KMO value is 0.848,
which exceeds 0.8, indicating Factor analysis works well.

Measurement index
Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor Fact
4
29. My father is particularly concerned about my growth in learning.

or 5

.757

23.My father is particularly concerned about the impact of the environment.755

on my study.
15.My father will often talks to me about life and learning.742

31. My father will often discusses with me on some issues.

.739

30.My father has been actively involved in my learning process.

.728

21.My father will works hard to create a positive learning environment for

.709

me.
4.My father will uses all the resources around him to meet my educational n .704
eeds.
14.My father often asks my opinions and suggestions during my daily life.

.665

17.My father will often discusses with me about future development.

.659

3.My Father believes that education can be used to obtain better opportuniti

.653

es.
16.My father often accompanied me during my free time.

.651

12.My father has high expectations for my future educational achievements.

-.419

7.My father is particularly supportive of my studies.

.649

2.My father has a long-term and clear plan for my future education.

.625

26. My father often urges me to study.

.624

32.My father don't care at all about my studies.

.621

11.My father is particularly focused on my academic performance.

-.483

5.My father pays attention to my academic achievements.

-.463

27.My father will helps me to improve my grades with my teacher.

.599

22.My father will often takes me to party.

.589

20. My father will often subscribes books or newspapers for me.

.436

25.My father always helps me solve problems in my homework.

.551

6.My father believes that education has little effect on personal future devel .467
opment.
24.When I was a child, my father often bought toys to develope my intellig

.588

ence.
28.My father does not pay attention to my feelings in life.

.601

8.During my study, my father supported me to participate in shadow educat

-.565

ion.

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18When I am at fault, my father often encourages me.

.449

34. I feel that the educational achievements and the efforts of working hard-.040

are more important than the influence of family’s background.

Table 1. Factor Analysis Component Matrix (N=144)
The data results are roughly as shown in Table 1. After eliminating the invalid data,according to whether the factor value is greater than 0.4 as the demarcation point, thedata is roughly divided into five dimensions, and the factor 1 problem
29.15.31.30.4.27.25.6 is more than 0.4, mainly It is related to the interaction between
father and child, participating in the study of children, paying attention to the growthof children in learning, meeting the educational needs of children, contacting teachers
to help children learn, and tutoring my homework. It can be regarded as the dimensionof father's participation in the children's learning process. The factor 2 question is
12.11.5.24. The impact factor is above 0.4. It is mainly related to the father's
educational achievements. It has high expectations for children's future educational
achievements, pays attention to their children's academic performance, attaches
importance to their children's academic achievement, and often purchases toys withincreased skills. It can be regarded as the dimension of educational achievement
expectation. The factor 3 is 28.8.18.34, the impact factor is above 0.4, mainly with thefather in his life to impose his own will on the child, the father takes the initiative toreport the child to the counseling class, the father is often encouraged Persuasion
rather than corporal punishment of children, the achievement of educational
achievements is greater than the predisposition It can be regarded as the dimension ofparenting style. The factor 4 is 23.21.22.20 The impact factor is above 0.4. It mainly
affects the influence of the father on the children's learning in the surrounding
environment, strives to create a positive learning environment for the children, often
takes the children to the party, and often gives the children Subscribing to books ornewspapers can be regarded as the environmental placement dimension of education.
Factor 5 is 14.17.3.16.7.2.26.32 The impact factor is above 0.4. It is mainly related to
the father's opinions and suggestions in the daily life study, often on the future.
Development and children's discussion, frequent accompanying children in their freetime, very supportive children's learning, long-term clear planning for their children's
future education, regular supervision of their children's learning, fathers do not careabout their children's learning, can be regarded as the dimension of educational
values.
Correlate the dimensions of the re-divided dimensions after the above factors areanalyzed. The five points are calculated in turn, and the total score is compared withthe father's education level and the father's occupation. The final analysis is tocompare the father's education level and father's occupation with the five dimensions.
In the univariate analysis, the last column shows the relationship between the
independent variable and the entire dependent variable dimension, and determines
whether there is a significant difference based on the relationship between the sig
value and 0.01 and 0.05.

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The father's occupation will affect the educational values of the children. With thesocial status of the father's occupation, the children's contact and possession oflearning resources will be relatively more, the opportunities for enrollment will also
increase, and the father's future learning plan for the children will be clearer, verifying
the society. The middle and upper classes have a clear understanding of thedevelopment of education, and can have a long-term planning and vision in education.
Father's occupation, as a kind of cultural capital, accumulates in the family and can
influence the cultural capital of the next generation through the transmission ofcultural capital within the family capital. As an initial influence on the next
generation, the father's career will affect his father's educational values.
However, the educational level of the father does not affect the interpretation of thechildren's educational values. It is presumed that the current society attaches more
importance to education, so that both the upper-middle parents and the working-classparents in society value the role of education. As an important subsystem of social
development, education plays an important role that cannot be ignored. In the social
function of meritorious education, we can see the important social functions ofeducation. The function of education change enables people to improve their selfquality and develop their potential through continuous education. Education promotes
the development of individual labor and promotes individuals. Politicization andcommunication culture play an important role; secondly, the flow function of
education. The flow function of education refers to the individual adjustment andchange of social individuals through various social, social and industrial positions.
Talent, to achieve your own life goals. In the father's educational values, the father'sconcern for the vertical flow of education is greater than the concern for the horizontal
flow of education. Because the vertical flow of education mainly refers to the fact thatmembers of society can communicate under different social levels (generally
expecting the rise of the class) under the training and screening of education, that is,
education makes the class transition into reality.
(2) The father's occupation will affect the children's educational achievement
expectations, but the education level does not affect the children's educational
achievement expectations.
In the domestic research on education acquisition, although there is a relationshipbetween family background and education acquisition, it has not been elaborated fromthe perspective of educational expectations, mainly focusing on education diversion,
cultural capital, and social capital. In general, the impact on educational
achievements, the working class does not fully recognize the long-term characteristics
of education itself, pay attention to current interests, and make them ignore the long-

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term nature of educational achievements, so they do not hold too much in theireducational achievements. High expectations. On the contrary, the upper-middle classparents clearly understand the importance of educational achievements. They
understand that educational achievements have a future vision. This vision points tothe long-term process of learning outcomes, and it is not possible to obtain benefits
immediately. Shows influence. It can also be understood that in the intergenerational
flow, the superior social status of the fathers needs to be better maintained through theeducation that is transformed into children. Therefore, in the process of children's
education, parents with higher socioeconomic backgrounds have stronger
expectations for their children to go to college. Especially parents who have hadhigher education experience can provide their children with university life learning
information and encourage their children to have school expectation. At the sametime, the social status of the father's occupation can also create more supportconditions for the children. This result is consistent with Wang Haoqin's results[48].
In the current survey, many scholars believe that there is a correlation between
father's occupation and father's academic qualifications and educational achievement
expectations. However, this survey found that father's occupation has significant
significance for educational achievement, but father's educational level andeducational achievement have not been achieved. Too high correlation. Parents withhigher academic qualifications hope to further extend their own class advantages
through educational achievements, while those with lower academic qualifications
want to achieve higher levels through academic achievement; or because therespondents are in the same school, so the students grow up in the family
environment. Similarly, the father's emphasis on education will not change due to hisfather's education. In the father's occupation, it can be seen that there is a significant
significance between the two. The more the father's occupation is in the professional
ranking, the more attention is paid to the achievement of the children's educational
achievement expectation, and vice versa.
(3) The father’s occupation and education level will affect the parenting style of thechild.
The father's occupation or academic qualifications have an important influence on thefather's parenting style. The survey data shows that the higher the father's educationand the more democratic the family atmosphere, the reason why this is because thedemocratic family is more than the authoritarian family. It is easy for students todevelop good study habits and quality, such as hard work, diligence and study, andthese good behaviors are more likely to make children's academic success. At thesame time, children with a democratic family atmosphere are more courageous andcourageous in their style of acting. In a certain sense, the family atmosphere issomewhat unique compared to other survey factors because it is more controllable
than other factors. On the other hand, in Bernstein's language coding theory, it isbelieved that the father's language structure has an important influence on the child's

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language expression and logical structure. In Bernstein's language coding theory, theupper classes in society tend to be mental labor, and they are accustomed to usingsophisticated language coding. The labor class prefers manual labor in their work andis accustomed to using limited language coding. In school education, the knowledgetransmitted by the school is a precise language code, which is more in line with thehabits of children in the upper classes of the society. Therefore, it is moreadvantageous than the children of the working class in school learning, and it is easierto achieve academic achievement. Students have extensive experience before they
arrive at school, so this is not the difference in academic achievement caused bycongenital deficiency. However, Bernstein pointed out that the code theory is not ananalysis of students' differences in language and ability. He mainly explained that thedifference in family background and the difference in the environment of children's
growth led to different language coding theories. The deeper level is due to the code.
The hidden rights and controls behind it create unequal education. Different family
culture capital will make a difference in children's future development, and family
culture capital plays an important role in the early stage of children's growth. Parentsof high-cultural capital families will first pay attention to the acquisition andaccumulation of children's cultural capital in the attitude of parenting. Secondly,
parents will make full use of their advantages in cultural capital to prepare for the
mastery of children's knowledge in advance.
(4) The father's occupation and education level will affect the placement of the child'slearning environment
The father's values will influence the action strategy, and whether the father's longterm education value directly affects the role of the father in the children's learning
process. More deeply, the father will show different action strategies for the child'slearning situation. In the survey, it was found that parents who read in key universities
often gave their children a good learning environment. Whether the father willsubscribe books or magazines for children, or the number of family collections is oneof the important indicators for measuring family cultural capital. Children can get intouch with their own reading materials in a timely manner, which not only enriches
knowledge, grows talents, enhances conservation, but more importantly, It can
improve children's grasp of language logic and understanding of abstract concepts.
Chen Haijun quoted in Western studies in 1999: the number of family books in theupper class is often higher than that in the labor class, and the carrier of books andperiodicals can significantly improve children's grasp of abstract graphics and words,
so academic achievement is significantly higher than Children of the working class.
Moreover, the upper middle class of society is in an open social network system,
which will recognize more middle-class people in society and expand their contacts
and influences, exchange information, experiences and ideas, obtain more useful
information, and further Expand horizons. On the contrary, the working class is in the
opposite situation, and the objects they are exposed to are limited to relatives andfriends, and these people are largely homogenous, especially in the middle and lower

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classes in the professional class, so they cannot bring Information, experience, andideas for expanding your business. This contrast reality, the open form allows theupper middle class of society to obtain more and more timely information, and thisinformation will help them obtain more valuable information. On the contrary, theclosed form represents the labor class. There are ways to create an auxiliary effect.
Intergenerational cultural capital transfer has largely led to unfair educational
achievements. Li Lulu found in the survey that most of the children who dropped outof school came from the cultural level of the working class, while the children of thefamily with relatively high education level rarely lost school and achieved goodacademic achievement[49]. Moreover, the survey further shows that the dropout ofchildren is not closely related to the family's economic situation, but directly linked to
the father's cultural level and education level. In addition, Linnan's research found thatchildren's educational resources are more acquired through family-owned social
capital, largely not through their own efforts and talents, but with social development,
resource accumulation, social resources gradually It shows a greater role, and after acertain period of time it will be carried forward to the next generation of non-selffactors[50].
(5) Father's occupation and education level will affect the participation of children in
the learning process
The above analysis indicates that educational achievement expectations can influenceparents' formal or informal learning situations for the next generation. Different
learning situations are derived from the different values that parents hold about
education, and values influence their action strategies. Although the family social
background has an important impact on children's educational achievements, someexperts and scholars believe that there is no absolute relationship between the two.
The reason is that no matter what kind of social class, social mobility is carried out, so
how the next generation learns The values of the upper and lower classes of society
are particularly important. Coleman believes that the transfer of such values isrealized in the interaction between people, and the long-term time is enough for thisvalue to be transmitted, so the family background is not the only guarantee for the
success of education, but the time for parents to pay attention to the children, that is,
to participate in child learning. time.
The relationship between the father's occupation and academic qualifications and theparticipation of the children's learning process is strong, that is, the higher the father's
education, the more time he spends on the child, and the amount of time parents spend
on the next generation of learning will also show a significant impact on the child's
academic performance. The influence of the child's long-term concern will have apositive effect on the child's learning. On the contrary, if the child does not pay muchattention or even pay attention, it will have a negative effect on the child's learning.
This different behavioral orientation often stems from different parental values, andthe values and social class backgrounds have a certain intertwining effect.

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Specifically, the upper-middle-level parents and the working-class parents present
long-termism and short-termism in education, so the difference in social class willaffect the time investment of the above-mentioned parents in the children's learning
process. Intergenerational cultural capital transfer affects the quality of education andeducational achievements acquired by future generations. Generally speaking,families with strong cultural capital and fathers with relatively high education level
have stricter management and requirements for future generations. The educational
achievements of future generations, actively participating in the study of future
generations, will cost a lot of money and effort in manpower, material resources andfinancial resources, and the more educational resources that future generations canuse. Family background has a great influence on children's academic achievement andis consistent with the research conclusion. The influence of family background on
children's academic achievement is mainly through family's use of their social andeconomic resources to compete and purchase quality educational resources (keyschools within the system). And educational services on the market, which in turnaffects children’s academic achievement[51]. Parents influence their children's
academic achievement through their educational participation and behavioral support
for their children's learning interests and learning habits.

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Teacher Agency in Mother Tongue: From Social Practice to Legislation
Peter G. Romerosa, Arellano University, The Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
Drawing on the lived experience of teachers in implementing the Mother Tongue
Based – Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE), this research offered a social analysisof the practice of mother tongue employing Practice Theory as a frame of analysis.
This framework suggests that shift of language policy in the Philippines frombilingual to multilingual elucidates culturally diverse ways of reconfiguring thelanguage policy, emphasizing the roles of social practice and teacher agency in policy
appropriation. The history of mother tongue as a new language policy in basic
education from grades 1 to 3 mirrors how a contextual use of language reflects theissues of power and negotiation of identities that enabled mother tongue to emerge asa key element in language policy within mainstream education. Following thedirection on language policy in basic education, teacher agency in the implementationof MTB-MLE seeks to respond to the contextual needs of the learners on the one
hand, and meet the demands of globalization on the other.
Keywords: teacher agency, mother tongue, education reform, Mother Tongue Based –Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE)

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Introduction
Mother Tongue as an Education Reform
Education is directly and indirectly associated with globalization structures andprocesses. It involves the use of a language that facilitates in meeting the goals of thestate and education. Thus, the issue on what language to legitimize as a medium of
instruction reflects not only the role of a language in the transmission of knowledge
but also its political and social functions in globalization. The institutionalization ofMother Tongue as a medium of instruction for grades 1 to 3 in the recent education
reform in the Philippines or the K-12 curriculum shows a political response to thequestion: What language enables Filipino learners to learn values, knowledge andskills to adapt of globalization?
From a historical viewpoint, Filipinos history of colonization (i..e. American
Occupation in the Philippines) has favored the use of bilingual policy (English andFilipino) in education. English facilitated the introduction of public basic educationand the construction of the nation –state. Philippines adopted the American
government model. In turn, a national identity was necessitated in the process of state
formation. Such political shift has relegated non-Tagalog languages as secondary
languages in the whole literacy development (Tupas, 2011). In some instances,
language policies contradict the use of language in practice. Philippines as amulticultural state has many languages which represent diverse Filipino identities. In
practice, the use of home language is still prevalent in learning in spite of bilingual
policy in Philippine education system.
Thus, the legislation of the Mother Tongue as a medium of instruction and as aseparate subject from Grades one to three has redefined the context of educational
reform through the collective exercise of agency of on-the-ground actors andsustained efforts of mother tongue advocates. This development gave primacy toMother Tongue as an effective medium of teaching and learning especially in earlyyears of schooling. Within this context, this paper seeks to investigate how diverse
ways agency is exercised in teaching the mother tongue as a crucial aspect in policy
formation.
Theorizing Teacher Agency in Mother Tongue
Building on Sherry Ortner’s Practice theory, the development of MTB-MLE reflects
the dialectic relationship between the structure (policy) and agency (human practice).
Such dialectic relationship elucidates that MTB – MLE as socio-cultural product is acounter hegemonic response to disabling features of bilingual policy in education in a
multicultural state. This implies that the hegemony of foreign language in Philippine
education was not totally encompassing. Local actors’ socio-cultural context, interest,
history and experience have provided space for exercise agency. Viewing thelegislation of mother tongue from practice to the implementation of mother tongue
has opened a new perspective on educational reform that recognizes power fromhuman practice that is capable to induce change within Philippine education system.

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The invincible practice of mother tongue in spite of the three decades of bilingual
policy in basic education shows diverse of literacy practices Filipino learners which
are embedded multicultural and fluid identities of Filipino learners. McCary L. T. &Warhol L. (2011) maintain,
Like orientations and attitudes, ideologies are not about language per se, butrather about individual and collective identities and power relations (pp. 182).
Indeed, teachers at the forefront of MTB-MLE implementation, exercise their agency
in order to create meaningful language learning that will respond to contextual needs
and experience of diverse Filipino learners.
Methodology
A case study method was employed to explore the lived experience of mother tongue
teachers in relation to the implementation of the K-12 reform. Specifically, thecontextual exercise of agency was examined to look into various interpretations andapplications of mother tongue in multi settings. Through narrative inquiry, theresearcher was able to generate themes which were further analyzed to theoretically
frame emergent issues and debates in the application of mother tongue as a medium of
instruction.

Figure 1. Profile of the Participants.
This study involved three teachers across Metro Manila who teach mother tongue as a
subject and as a medium of instruction. The heterogeneity of school types enabled theresearcher to look into the diverse ways and contexts of exercising agency in teaching
the mother tongue.
Exercising Teacher Agency
At the macro-level, Ortner (2006) purports that human practice is influenced bystructures (i.e, bilingual policy, history of colonization and globalization. On theother hand, human practice negotiates the policy that paved the way for the
implementation of MTB-MLE. . For Giddens, structure is constantly created throughcollective agency and agency takes inspiration and resources for further action(VandenBroek, 2011). At the micro level, agency mediates and is mediated bystructure, history, context, forms of capital, agency of other actors, constraints,

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personal goal and advocacy, and relationship as extracted in this study. This is shownin table below.

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Figure 3. Teacher Agency in Mother Tongue
Drawing on Ahearn (2001) on language as social action, mother tongue in relation to
the K-12 reform illustrates how human practice reproduces and induces change within
Philippine basic education system. Agency and culture are intertwined andrepresented in language. This resonates with the idea that the use of Mother Tongue(MT) is an assertion of cultural identity. For Davies (1991), asserting cultural identity
is an act of authority. It involves an act of perpetuating collective identity and values.
Thus, using mother tongue is not only an issue of using a language that facilitateseffective instruction, but also an issue of asserting one’s cultural identity. To speak of
one’s mother tongue is to speak and assert one’s collective identity. McCarty and
Warhol (2011) maintain,
Language reclamation is not solely or even primarily about language per se. It
is revitalizing an endangered language is an affirmation of identity,community-building, and healing from past injustices (pp.189).
Moreover, Lee (2009) argued that despite competing ideologies and debates inlanguage, many youth demonstrated a “critical indigenous consciousness,” activelytransforming the existing language policies in their homes and communities. This
argument informs that human practice involves that use of language ingrained inindigenous ways of knowing, feeling and accessing to community capital andexperience. There are certain applications of language in the community that allows
community actors to transform the language to enable their community experience.
In certain occasions, formal language learned in school becomes irrelevant in thecommunity if it deters an individual to establish community relationships that willdefine his identity and social position. These reconfigurations of language reflect an
act of asserting authority that is inseparable in creating one’s identity within acommunity where an identity is historically and culturally grounded.

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This affirms that the practice of mother tongue is an exercise of agency that allows agroup or individual to access to social and political power in order for them to makeand remake an identity within the challenges and constraints of globalization.
Previous language policies failed to incorporate contextual analysis of humanpractice.
Mother tongue as a human practice mirrors an issue of how power that has beensilenced by colonial and neoliberal policies in education. This assumption resonateswith Ortner’s (2001) notion of agency of power where agency is exercise when there
is domination and resistance.
Moreover, one’s intention is exercised in mother tongue (i.e., personal or collective)
which Ortner (2001) calls agency of intentionality. It is important to note that theindividual project is mediated by the actors’ personal history. Participant 1 narrates, I
also experienced marginalization when I was a child and social inequality continues todisenfranchise the children I am serving today. This implies that her personal history
and personal goal are concretized in the exercise of agency at present. To address thisproject, McLaren (1989) maintains that, teachers must function as more than agents ofsocial critique. They must attempt
to fashion a language of hope that points to new reforms of social and material
relations attentive to the principles of freedom and justice. In this argument, McLarenenunciates that a teacher is social and moral agent. In this regard, the exercise ofagency in MT has a moral purpose to answer, for what purpose and for who is theexercise of agency?
As participant 1 suggests, my goal is for my pupils to express their voice in theirfamily and community. Additionally, participant 2 expresses, kung matututong
magbasa ang bata, hindi siya maiiwan. (If a child has learned how to read, s/he will
not be left behind)
Mother tongue is a social and political project that results to the attainment humanempowerment. As a social and political project, Giroux maintains, the link among
language, knowledge and power, the teacher must first dignify his or position byrecognizing that the foundation for all human agency as well as teaching is steeped in
a commitment to the possibilities of human life and freedom.
The practice of mother tongue shows how actors strategize agency to achieve theirproject. Sewell (1991) suggests agency is the ability to apply creatively schemas insocial situations and resources are embodiment of schemas. He maintains
understanding schemas and the application of resources is dependent on the context.
As narrated by the actors understanding of the environment, redefining social
practices and navigating resources are crucial in understanding the power of agency.
Resources carry diverse meanings depending on their application in the environment.
These allow them to diversify the practice of their agency in order to achieve theiragency.

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The existing notions of agency lack the discourse on reflexibity. Reflexibity of agency
illuminates the actors’ redefinition of their values and ideologies in order to build up
enabling experience as part of the actor’s community integration. In this process theindividual, questions his/her own value system as part of negotiating with on the
ground experience and redefines it in order to successfully exist within thecommunity.
Participant 1 suggests, I need to redefine my views about schooling and school
success. I used to think that ability to write and speak the dominant language defines
one’s intelligence because I was taught that way but with my experience in thecommunity elucidates otherwise. There are forms of knowledge and skills taught informal schools that are not relevant in the community. I have also transcended theidea that school failure is attributed to family deficit because as I observe with theparents of my pupils, they resist family history of school failures. On the other hand,participant 2 explains, No specific learning theory exclusively fits in the context. You
have to create your own theory according to the needs of the learners.
These narratives also contradict to Bourdieu’s notion of habitus that is deeplyinternalized structured, powerfully controlling and largely inaccessible toconsciousness (Ortner 2006). Teachers as constituted by their struggles to legitimize
MT have demonstrated that they are not passive agents but authors of enabling humanpractice. This suggests Giddens and Scott’s understanding of human subjects thatemphasize they are partially knowing subjects. Actors are able to reflect to somedegree on their circumstances and by implications develop a certain level of critiqueand possible resistance which Gidden’s refers to “dialectic control” as an integral partin the process of making of the agent called “structuration” (VandenBroek, 2011).
Indeed, the diverse ways of exercising agency in different social contexts (i.e.,
community school, public school and private school) reflect that it is situated andmediated by existing forces within the context including the larger structures that
constitute the context. This rest on the notion that agency is not autonomous; it iscontext dependent and always subject to social constitution and redefinition.
Following these arguments, this paper also intends to challenge the idea equating
agency to humanness that tends to describe it as autonomous. Participant 1 shares that, agency is context dependent.
In contradiction to the chodial triad model of Emirbayer and Mische, the contextual
experience of actors in navigating the practice of MT through their agency illustrates
a different framework. In their analysis, the past (life history, professional history) the
present (cultural, structural, material), and the future (short term and long term goals)
influence agency which reduces the analysis to unidirectional relationship between
agency and social factors. In this sense, agency mediates these factors and therelationship among these factors. This implies that the relationship of social factors
and agency is not linear, chordal and deterministic. It is fluid and dynamic where
agency at the center of the framework navigating social factors that constitutes
agency. In this analysis, it is also important to implicate in the discourse that teacher
agency is mediated by the agency of different actors within the community.

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Participants 2 laments, The pupil perseveres when s/he feels that s/he is being valued.
In effect, their parents also persevere when they see the progress in the child. This
discourse enunciates that the exercise of agency is imbued with notions affect andcare.
Conclusion
My exploration of agency in this paper has challenged and redefined my own
understanding of agency and has allowed me to reflect on ways I exercise agency inthe context where I operate. Reflecting on teachers’ experience of navigating thepractice of mother tongue through their agency, has informed me of its social andpolitical functions in which the choice of mother tongue as a language speaks ofindigenous rights to participate in mainstream education and broader society.
It is situated within the context of power relationships that is subject to social
constitution and redefinition (involving the issues of race, gender, mobility, migrationand post colonialism). In this sense, mother tongue is a product of the individual andcollective agency that operates within the context of power relationships in a field
fraught with domination and inequality.Hence, speaking the mother tongue is anassertion of one’s authority, accessing the cultural capital of the community andreflecting one’s cultural identity and collective history.
Drawing on the on the ground experience of the participants in this study, agency isviewed as a complex and subjective concept. It is contingent on human experienceand the context where human experience is grounded. Its polysemous meanings andsubjectivity in relation to the practice of mother tongue elucidates culturally diverse
ways of navigating power relations and human and non-human resources in order for
mother tongue as a political project to be legitimized.
Furthermore, agency is relational, in a sense that it is mediated by agency of actors bywhom and for whom agency is exercised. Agency is relating to self, actors within thecommunity and structures. Central to the power shift of language from universal tolocal is role of teacher agency to negotiate, navigate and reconfigure power
relationships. Unlike other reforms, mother tongue stemmed from the bottom thathas challenged and redefined the language policy amidst the demands ofglobalization. The power shift in language policy from universal to local speaks ofwhat human practice and experience have to contribute in shaping and reshaping thestructure that would respond to the contextual needs and of local actors vis a vis thepolitical and cultural challenges of globalization. Hence, the trajectory of postcolonial
language politics of Mother tongue in the Philippines should answer the following
challenges and issues: how can mother tongue be reconfigured and navigated in order
to meet the demands of globalization? To what extent can mother be an effective
language in the educative process? At the forefront of implementing the mothertongue, how can teacher agency contribute to the empowerment of mother tongue? As
a new language policy, how will it illuminate linguistic justice in terms of protecting
the marginalized against the disabling effects of globalization?

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References
Ahearn, L.M. (2001) Language and agency. Annual Review of Anthropology, 30 (1),109.
Bernardo, A. B. I. (2007). Language in Philippine education: Rethinking old fallacies,
exploring new alternatives amidst globalization. In T. R. F. Tupas (Re)making
society: The politics of language, discourse and identity in the Philippines (pp 1-26).
Quezon City: University of the Philippine Press.
Cummins, Jim. Bilingual Children’s Mother Tongue: Why is it Important for
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Giroux, H.A. (1988a) Teachers as Intellectuals: Towards a Critical Pedagogy of
Learning, South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.
Lee, Tiffany S.2009 Language, Identity, and Power: Navajo and Pueblo Young
Adults’ Perspectives and Experiences with Competing Language Ideologies. Journalof Language, Identity, and Education 8(5): 307–320.
McCary L. T. & Warhol L. (2011) The Anthropology of Language Planning andPolicy. In Levinson B & Pollock M. A Companion to the Anthropology of Education.
Wiley - BlackWell. UK.
McCary L. T. & Warhol L. (2011) The Anthropology of Language Planning andPolicy. In Levinson B & Pollock M. A Companion to the Anthropology of Education.
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McLaren, P. (1989b) Life in Schools. An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in theSocial Foudations of Education. White Plains, NY: Longman.
McLaren, P. (1995). Critical Pedagogy and Predatory Culture: Oppositional Politics
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Ortner, S.B. (2001). Specifying agency: The Cammroffs and their critics:
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Ortner, S. B. (2006). Anthropology and Social Theory, Culture, Power, and theActing Subject. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Robinson, S. et.al. (2012). Understanding Teacher Agency: The Importance ofRelationships. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational
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Sewell, H.W. (1992). A theory of structure: Duality, agency and transformation.
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Tupas, F.R.T. (2011). The New Challenge of the Mother Tongues: The Future ofPhilippines Post Colonial Politics . Kritika Kultura 16(2011): 108-121
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Contact email: peterromerosa8888@gmail.com

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Multigenerational ESL Classrooms in Japan:
An Exploration of the Experiences of Adult Students
Jeremy Chambers, ADVAN College of Foreign Languages, Japan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
Japan is experiencing the benefits and problems that come with having the world’s fastest
aging population. With this aging process comes an increase in the demand for social andeducational services by the elderly. This is fast leading to a change in the composition ofclassrooms at English conversational schools across the island. Increasingly, these classes are
becoming more multi-generational. Kobayashi (2018) points out that many adults are now
returning to eikaiwas (English conversational school) in order to prepare for TOEIC exams
and other professional related tests as well as to socialize. This is especially pertinent among
non-traditional learners who have more discretionary time pre and post retirement. University
students, who are regarded as more traditional learners, also flock these schools in order togain leverage in their university exams and so change the demographic characteristics of theseclasses. In corroboration, Takahashi (2013) illuminated the fact that adults are returning toeikaiwa institutions because of the socializing component that drives the learning experience.
This research is a qualitative study that explored how adult students, ranging from 18 years
old to 72 years old, viewed their experiences in a multigenerational English conversationalclassroom at several English schools across Japan. In these classes, faculty encouraged social
interaction which complimented the learning experience. This study assessed these adultlearners’ perceptions of how the development of relationships among different generational
cohorts affected the dynamics of the classroom and impacted the learning experience. It also
examined how these relationships were encouraged or inhibited by students and faculty. The
experiences of Japanese adult students were central to this study and the researcher used aqualitative, basic interpretive research method with a descriptive case study design. The
results were analyzed using a thematic approach. The first theme focused on the first
impressions that students had of their multigenerational classroom environment. It highlighted
the perceived differences between the generational cohorts. The second theme dealt withrecognizing differences and addressed how students came to grips with the differences in theirclassrooms and how they sought to overcome them. The final theme dealt with adapting andrelationship building and looked at how students formed relationships across the generational
divide. In the end the research concluded that multigenerational classrooms add to thelearning experience of students and in the end age is not as big a barrier as some may claim it
to be.

Keywords: Andragogy, ESL, Multigenerational classrooms, Social Constructionism,
Ekaiwa, English, Japan

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Introduction
Within the last decade there has been an influx of non-traditional students attending
eikaiwas across Japan (Gromik, 2017). The author argues that this may be due toincreasing disposable income for older citizens, declining birth rate, increased
discretionary spending and the impending Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The author
highlights that approximately 32% of clients in eikaiwas across Japan can becharacterized as non-traditional learners aged 40 years and older. In tandem, Gordon(2016) pointed to the three fundamental structural changes in Japanese society that
continue to have a significant and direct effect on lifelong learning and increasing
enrollments at eikaiwas: aging population, economic and technological changes andincreasing internationalization. The author postulated that Japan’s rapidly aging
society, due to life expectancy and a declining birthrate, is creating a growing elderly
and retired population with more time available for educational and cultural pursuits.
The author predicts that by the Olympics in 2020, the proportion of elderly citizens(aged 65 years and over) will be 27% of the total Japanese population. This represents
33 million persons and so this societal change will inevitably reflect in thecomposition of English classes at English conversational schools across the island.
Because there is an increase in older adult students returning to the classroom, thegenerational mix in the classroom is also changing.
Even though this research focused on adult students as a single group it is pertinent topoint out that this group has often been subdivided into non-traditional and traditional
students (Bye, Pushkar, & Conway, 2007; Cochran, Campbell, Baker, & Leeds, 2015;
Goncalves & Trunk, 2014; Jameson & Fusco, 2014). Non-traditional adult learners
have different experiences and backgrounds when compared to traditional students ina classroom. They may have more complex backgrounds and different educational
histories as well as wide-ranging maturity levels (Kasworm 2009). Traditional
learners, who are recent graduates of universities or young working professionals,
may be more accustomed to learning in a formal classroom atmosphere and may be
more computer literate and technologically inclined. Yet, their life experiences may
be limited due to their age. Both groups are now being combined in the same classes
in the Eikaiwa classroom, in higher education settings but there is limited literaturefoundation that provides information on to how to teach learners in a
multigenerational classroom. This is further exacerbated by the sparse literature that
addresses the experiences of these adults in a multigenerational classroom,
specifically Asian/Japanese adult students. This is but one of a very few researches
that embeds the investigation in an ESL context.
This study addressed how adult students from three or more generational cohorts inJapan perceive their experiences in a multigenerational English conversationalclassroom where interaction and socialization are fundamental to the learning process.
The study explored the learners’ perceptions of their classmates who are both within
and out of their own generational cohort. It assessed how these learners adjudged thedevelopment of inter-relations based on age differences and generational affiliationand how these relationships affected the classroom climate and learning; how the
relationships between adult students grew and evolved. How adult students perceived
and interpreted their experiences in a multigenerational classroom was also
fundamental to this investigation.

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Research Questions
This study was guided by the following research questions:(1) When inter-relations develop among students across different generations in
an ESL classroom, how do these relationships grow and evolve?
(2) How do these inter-relations impact the students’ learning experiences
within the ESL classroom?
(3) What are the students’ impressions of the classroom dynamics of amultigenerational ESL classroom?
Review of Literature
Andragogy
One model of education that was useful in this study is Malcolm Knowles’ model ofandragogy. Andragogy is a Greek word from the root agogus that means to lead.
Andra is translated as the word adult which Knowles (1980) used to defineAndragogy as “the art and science of helping adults learn, in contrast to pedagogy as
the art and science of teaching children” (p.42). Knowles (1980) proposed a “newlabel and a new technology” of adult learning to distinguish it from pre-adultschooling (p. 351). Merriam and Caffarella (1991) revealed that andragogy is the best
known theory of adult learning even though it has caused more controversy,
philosophical debate, and critical analysis than any other concept, theory or model.
According to Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner (2007), Knowles’ perspective on
andragogy is based on six main assumptions:
1. Self Concept: Adult learners are self-directed, autonomous, andindependent. Knowles suggested that the classroom climate should be oneof “adultness” both physically and psychologically.
2. Readiness to Learn: Adults tend to be ready to learn what they believe theyneed to know.
3. Role of Experience: Repository of an adult’s experience is a rich resource
for learning. Adults tend to learn by drawing from their previous
experiences
4. Orientation to learning: Adults learn for immediate applications rather thanfor future uses. Their learning orientation is problem-centered, task
oriented and life focused.
5. Internal Motivation: Adults are more internally motivated than externally.
6. Need to Know: Adults need to know the value of learning and why theyneed to learn.
Pappas (2013) explained that in 1984 Knowles suggested four principles that should
be applied to adult learning. These are:
1. Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of theirinstruction.
2. Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities.
3. Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate
relevance and impact to their job or personal life.
4. Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content oriented.

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Multi-generational Classrooms
Elam, Stratton, and Gibson (2007) believed that a generation can be denoted by aspecific time period, shared experiences, a common history, and shared values andbehavior. It is not uncommon to see an increased mixture of different generations ininstitutions of higher learning within the last decade. American Council on Education(2015) expressed that within the last decade, an even greater influx of non-traditional
students in higher education has occurred. Kodira and Watanabe (2013)
acknowledged the changing generational structure of classrooms in Japan. They
pointed out however that this change is not as rapid as in other developed countries.
With this recognized change in the age and generational blend in the classroom comesa recognition that the methods used to reach traditional and non-traditional students
will have to be fused to ensure a worthwhile learning experience for all learners. The
needs of the adult students in the multi-generational classroom along with the barriers
and obstacles that adult students face have been recognized in the literature.
Authors like Dauenhauer, Steitz and Cochran, (2016) highlighted the present
generational structure in the classroom, others such as (Sanchez and Kaplan, 2014;
Reichenbach, Hagen-Jokela, and Sagor, 2013; Young and Seibenhener, 2018)
explained teaching strategies that should be used for each generation, and yet others
like (Kleinhans, Cakradhar, Muller and Waddill, 2014; Howard and Henry, 2013;
Kasworm, 2015) revealed the barriers and difficulties that may be encountered byteachers and learners in these types of classrooms. Levonius (2015) explained that
there are currently four generations that may be found in classrooms today with thelast three being the most prevalent. These are: the Silent Generation (born mid-1920s
to early 1940s), Baby Boomers (born early 1940s to early 1960s), Generation X (bornearly 1960s to early 1980s), and Millenials (born early 1980s to early 2000s).
One of the leading authors on multigenerational classrooms is Kasworm. This author
contended that students from older generational cohort would maximize the utility of
the class time to achieve the most from their interactions with faculty and peers andthey tend to use the classroom as setting the stage for meaning making (Kasworm,
1990). In a later publication, Kasworm (2015) reasoned that there is not a “monolithic
adult student identity” (p. 16), but that these adults bring to the classroom different
experiences, beliefs and actions contributing to their student identities. Students in themultigenerational classroom view their identity as interrelated but “not necessarily
embedded within their age and maturity” (p.16). Students from older generational
cohorts view younger students from three different frames: academic quality, positive
relationships and negative relationships (Kasworm, 2009).
Intergenerational Learning
Sanchez and Kaplan (2013) postulated multigenerational classrooms in formal higher
education may constitute windows of opportunity to rethink the practice of teachingas far as they epitomize venues for triggering processes of intergenerational learning.
The authors asserted that age differences among students and instructors can beframed in ways that contribute to content and interaction rich intergenerational
teaching-learning process. Wright and Lee (2014) explained that intergenerational
learning has been unambiguously considered a significant part of lifelong learning

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and as such intergenerational learning has become an important concept as thedemographics of societies continue to change.
Intergenerational learning has its distinctive feature in the consideration that it islearning produced through intergenerational relationships that are understood as social
relations mainly characterized by an awareness of generational membership (Sanchez& Kaplan, 2013). The authors also believed that an awareness of existing differences
and/or commonalities between generational positions may lead to intergenerational
solidarity, conflict or ambivalence or to any other intergenerational arrangement,
including maintenance and or transformation of pervious intergenerational status quo
and that any of these options is equally interesting in terms of actual learning and sonone should be discarded when implementing intergenerational learning initiatives. A
strong argument has been made for including generational issues when working withadults and multigenerational classrooms (Field, 2013; Pinto, 2011).
In intergenerational learning, interactions are fundamental to shaping a classroom
atmosphere that is conducive to learning. This interaction may not always be positiveand may not always produce the desired results. Differences in age, outlook, andexperience may foster an environment where unhealthy behaviors may flourish.
Gerpott, Lehmann-Willenbrock, and Voelpel (2017) contended that while there arelearning differences between generations; generational differences in learning styles
may be impacted and even changed by interaction in the classroom among
participants.
Adult Education in Japan
Ogden (2016) highlighted that Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT) takes the position that lifelong learning, or shougai
gakushuu, encompasses not only structured learning through schooling and social
education but also learning that takes place through sports, cultural activities, hobbies,
recreation and volunteer activities. The author explained that educators and thegeneral public use many different terms to refer to activities in the realm of adulteducation. Social education and lifelong learning are the terms most frequently used
to describe adult educational activities. Rausch (2013) posited that from the late 1940s
to the mid 1980s social education (shakai kyouiku) referred to organized educational
activities for adults and young people. Ogden (2016) argued that according to MEXT,
lifelong learning comprises two main aspects in Japan which include the concept tocomprehensively review various systems including education in order to create alifelong learning society and the concept of learning at all stages of life. The MEXT
believes that in order to create an enriching and dynamic society in the 21st century it
is vital to form a lifelong learning society in which people can freely choose learning
opportunities at any time during their lives and in which proper recognition isaccorded to those learning achievements. The history of contemporary adult educationin Japan can be traced back to 1949 through the introduction of the Act for Adult
Education (Fuwa, 2013). This law aimed to contribute to the building of a democratic
Japanese society following World War II. It encouraged the establishment of adulteducation centers (kouminkan) in communities throughout Japan. Fuwa (2013) notedthat the idea of lifelong education was not introduced in Japan until the 1970s. This
meant that adult education was not formalized prior to the 1970s. The author opined
the fact that even now in Japan, older adults returning to University or college

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classrooms is a rarity, and so the country is ranked the lowest in the developing world
for adults aged 40 years and over returning to formal education. The author lamented
that the concept of lifelong learning in Japan has more to do with informal learning
than formal learning through institutions of higher learning.
Ogden (2013) corroborated this fact by highlighting that the establishment of Lifelong
Learning Councils at the national and prefectural levels across the island supported
the development and promotion of lifelong learning mainly through informal
measures. Ogden (2013) pointed out that the recent MEXT survey noted that the typesof participation in lifelong learning were mainly music, fine arts, flower arrangementand dance and that formal learning and foreign language acquisition accounted for
only 4.4% of respondents. In agreement, Rausch (2013) concluded that adult learning
in formal education is still an area that is not well developed as the concept of lifelong
learning in Japan has a more social education appeal. However, the author added that
MEXT is working to enable older adults to pursue post secondary opportunities. The
author noted that for MEXT, adult learning in Japan and the concept of lifelong
learning centers on the need to create a social environment in which appropriate value
is placed on learning achievement at all stages of life, regardless of whether thelearning is accompanied by formal academic credentials. Yamaguchi (2014) revealed
that customary entrance examinations into institutions of higher learning havedeterred older adult students and the limited provision of non-degree courses atuniversities across the island has also served as a major deterrent and continue toinhibit the government’s thrust in enhancing formal adult education initiatives on theisland. One cannot negate the effects that culture has on the success of lifelong
learning efforts in any country. According to Stephens (2013), lifelong learning inJapan has not been successful in so far as building a learning ethic, one that prizes
learning, teaches creativity, includes everyone and is seamless primarily because of
the highly stratified nature of Japanese education culture. Adult education in Japan, hestated, is clearly a low priority and of low status. The author also highlighted thatbusinesses provide almost no support to employees to continue their education in
institutions of higher learning. Ogisu-Kamiya (2013) revealed that despite thepromotion of adult learning by the Japanese government, the majority of Japanesesociety continues to distinguish between two distinct stages in life: the learning stageprior to early adulthood and the working stage after university or high school
graduation. Japanese academic career society does not lend itself to successful adulteducation in addition to the effects of centralized bureaucratic control of lifelong
education.
Methodology
The basic interpretive qualitative approach was used as it is suitable for studying
problems with an aim to understanding the meanings of individuals or groups as they
identify with a social or human problem. The research design used was a descriptive
case study. In this study the inductive interpretations of the students’ experiences was
explored through several collection media such as analyzing interviews, observations
as well as artifacts within the classroom including teachers’ lesson plans. This wasdone in order to unearth themes from which conclusions could be made. A thematicpresentation of the collated data was done to categorize these meanings,
interpretations and artifacts. The researcher determined what point to end the datacollection phase using Lincoln and Guba (1985) theoretical guidelines which are:

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Official Conference Proceedings“exhaustion of sources, saturation of categories, emergence of regularities and overextension” (p. 125). The interviews were audio taped. After the interview process thedata was transcribed. Subsequently, the process of coding and triangulation began.
Coded data was sorted, ranked, and used to develop a thematic presentation.
Microsoft OneNote and SPSS software was used to help in the coding process.
Triangulation occured by reviewing the multiple sources of data collection including
journal entries from observations, the semi-structured interviews and an assessment oflesson plans from the teachers.
Analysis
Theme 1- First Impressions
One of the significant findings in this study was the anxiety that the participants felt
when they realized that the classroom has students of many different ages. Students
expressed apprehension over the age difference. Members from the Silent Generation
were apprehensive as to how they would be treated in a classroom of Baby Boomers
and Millennials. Some were concerned that they would be treated like parents or
grandparents. Older adult students recognized their limited technological prowess andmarvelled at how tech-savy the younger generational cohorts were. The participants inthis study stated they experienced feelings of anxiety when they realized that they
were in a classroom where, at times, they were the oldest student present. Many
participants expressed shock, wonder and fear when they recognized the age
difference. The participants from the Silent and Baby Boomer generations expressedthat besides age, technology was another factor that differentiated them from theyounger students.
Theme 2- Adapting and Relationship building
Participants shared how they became more tolerant and understanding of members ofdifferent generational cohorts. Older generational cohorts credited the influence of
their own children in helping them to understand younger generational cohorts. All
participants also described how they nurtured members of different generations.
Members from the Silent Generation and Baby Boomer Generation cohorts shared
how they mentored members from Generation X and Millenials by giving advice on
job and social related matters. Generation X and Millenials shared how they would
help members of the older generation by showing them how to use technology, makegreat presentations and studying tips. This act of mutual nurturing became a major
dynamic in building relationships among the different generational cohorts.
Theme 3- Impressions of the Multigenerational Classroom
The last theme dealt with the students’ impressions of their experiences in a
multigenerational classroom. All participants agreed that their learning experience
was richer for being in a multi-generational classroom. Generation X and Millenials
revealed that they learned a lot of social skills from the Silent Generation and Baby
Boomer. One theme that was constant throughout the data was that members of theyounger generation learned the importance of perseverance and loyalty from membersof the older generation. The older generational cohorts agreed that their technologicalabilities as well as their presentation skills have improved because of the influence of

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Generation Xers and Millenials. All participants agreed that in the end age does notmatter.
Theoretical Lens
Social Constructionism was used to guide this research. So, the construction of
meaning by the participants was evident from how they integrated new experiences
and content with previous knowledge to construct new meanings. Their ability toovercome their initial fear and anxiety also influenced what they learned from themembers of their classes, technology and their own self-presentation.
Constructionism also relies on direct interaction with the environment. Social
constructionism “refers to constructing knowledge about reality, not constructing
reality itself” (Patton, 2002, p. 96). Knowledge is a constant construction andreconstruction of understanding through dialogue and interaction with the social
community. People, materials and situations influence learning. Learners gain newunderstanding through the continual integration of new content and experiences withpast knowledge and construct new meaning from the experiences. Older generational
cohorts interacting with Generation Xers and Millenials helped to reconstruct theirbeliefs and understanding and caused them to develop relationships resulting in agood learning experience. All participants adapted to the issues that were present
across the generational divide. Participants accepted the differences between
generations, empathized with other members, adapted their behaviour, built
relationships and engaged to mutual nurturing. This caused them to emphaticallyagree that they had a positive learning experience in a multi-generational classroom.
This study was also framed using the Andragogy theoretical framework. The first
concept of this philosophy regarding adult learners is that as a person matures his or
her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a selfdirecting human being (Knowles, 1980). As time progressed members of the multigenerational classroom overcame their fears and anxiety and began interacting withmembers from different generational cohorts. Another concept of Andragogy
highlights the fact that adult learners have a rich reservoir of experiences. This
reservoir of experience was evident in the mutual nurturing activities that took place
between generations. Older generational cohorts would share their work and life
experiences with younger generational cohorts- teaching them worthwhile life
lessons, while the younger generational cohorts would help members of the older
generations with technologically related problems, presentation skills and study tips.
Kasworm (2003) explained that many adults bring some type of collegiate
experiences into the classroom which can add to the reservoir. The concept ofAndragogy addressed all adult students from the Silent Generation to the Millenials.
All students gained new understanding through the continuous integration of newcontent and experiences with past knowledge and created new meaning from theexperiences and adapted to this new meaning.
Conclusion
The study revealed that in the end age is not a delimiting factor in a multigenerationalclassroom but adds to a positive learning experience. Students in themultigenerational classroom will initially experience anxiety and fear because of the

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age difference but they overcome these by drawing on the rich reservoir ofexperiences that they bring to the classroom as adult students and their continuousinteraction with each other. It is also imperative that facilitators design lesson plansthat allow for this constant interaction especially within the classroom. The dynamics
of the multigenerational classroom will serve to challenge pre-existing perceptions
that members may have of different generational cohorts. However throughintegration, adaptation and relationship building new experiences are forged and newunderstandings are developed. Of important note is the fact that nurturing becomes astabilizing force in the development of relationships across the generations. The
reservoir of experiences is harnessed by all members from across the generations to
aid in the development of relationships through nurturing. In the end everyone learns
from everyone. This sustains the continued development of relationships and helps tosynergize the various inter-relations that may be present in a multigenerationalclassroom.
It is suggested that further research consider multi-ethnic ESL classrooms in Japanand how relationships develop between persons of differing ethnicity and generational
affiliation in an ESL classroom.

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Kasworm, C. (2009). Adult learners in a research university: Negotiating an
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Contact email: jeremy.g.chambers@gmail.com

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Learner Autonomy and Hand Raising in the EFL Classroom:
Exploring Willingness to Talk
Tracy Friedrich, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan
Lisa Miller, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan
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Abstract
This paper describes an ongoing, reflective-practice, qualitative study of Japanese
university students’ willingness to raise their hands and actively communicate inEnglish as a Foreign Language classrooms. We educator-researchers want tounderstand students’ motivations and the limitations to students’ willingness to share
their ideas with the teacher and classmates. Three student focus groups explored thestudents’ experiences with and interpretations of hand-raising and contributing toclassroom discussions. Coding of the focus groups’ discussions revealed themes thatcoincided with our expectations as well as ones which contradicted our expectations
and others that were unanticipated. We discuss ways this practitioner-research can beused to improve instructional practices at the institutional level.
Keywords: hand raising, class participation, focus groups, axial coding, practitioner
research, English as a Foreign Language

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Practitioner-research is promoted and encouraged as a faculty development activity bya wide range of teacher organizations, including the National Education Association(DeMott Painter, n.d.), Teachers of English as a Second Language (www.tesol.org)
and the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language(www.iatefl.org and http://resig.weebly.com/) among others. In fact, this project wassponsored and funded by our own university through a collaborative research grant as
part of faculty development. Practitioner-research is a form of action research which
encourages teachers to pose questions about how they teach and how their students
learn. It follows the process of selecting a research method appropriate to thequestions, analyzing the data, and reflecting on the outcomes to inform futureteaching practice (DeMott Painter, n.d.).
Foreign faculty in Japan often encounter a disconnect between their expectations ofclassroom participation and those of Japanese students. At our university in WesternJapan, we observed that our own expectations of students signaling a desire toparticipate in class discussions by raising their hands were not being met by thestudents. The EFL program where we teach is based on cooperative learning theory,
requiring students to participate and talk in the target language during class (Jacobs
2004; Jacobs, Power & Low 2002; Kagen 1994). This led us to question how thestudents viewed hand-raising and class participation and to examine how our own
views were informed.
Review of Literature
Cutrone (2009) reviews a number of studies which have focused on the issue ofJapanese students’ hesitancy to speak in foreign language classes. He found that somestudies focused on psychological anxiety, (e.g.: Townsend & Danling, 1998) whileothers suggest a difference in what is culturally acceptable (e.g.: Anderson, 1993).
Another explanation has been the culture of classrooms in Japan, where the ideal
student is quiet, obedient and passive (Nozaki, 1993), where ritual defines behavior(Lebra, 1976 and Doyon, 2000), or where evaluation and competition is emphasized
to the point that mistakes are feared (Nozaki, 1993 and Doyon, 2000). The demeanorof the teacher has also been pointed to as a source for Japanese students’ anxiety inlanguage classrooms (Shimizu, 1995, Hadley & Hadley, 1996, Long, 1997, Cutrone,2001).
More recent studies have examined students’ point of view through surveys. Thesestudies have focused on Japanese students’ willingness to communicate, theirperceptions of silence, and motivations. Based on a study of 63 students, Hayashi andCherry (2004) conclude that Japanese EFL learners prefer certain tasks associatedwith communicative learning styles, but many do not favor risk-taking behaviors suchas talking to friends in English or talking with a partner. Furthermore, they identify asuccessful strategy: gradually requiring students to answer questions of moredifficulty, specifically moving from questions with one word answers to those withlonger answers. Similarly, in their 2014 study on hand raising actions in different
classroom situations, Kawabe, Yamamoto, Aoyagi and Watanabe found that Japanese
students’ lack of confidence to raise hands is due to pressure associated with active
participation. Their results also showed that question difficulty and positive or

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negative reactions present in the room affect students willingness to freely raise theirhands. Likewise, Kim, Ates, Grigsby, Kraker, and Micek (2016) surveyed 45
Japanese university students and found that responses to silence were highly
individual across the students. Some students in their study perceived silence to be aform of participation – actively listening and processing information. To take thesestudents’ view of silence into consideration, the authors promote group work withrevolving roles (e.g.: leader, reporter).
Similar to these studies, our research questions focused on examining hand risingfrom the students’ point of view. We wanted to find out how Japanese university
students perceived our expectation about signaling one’s desire to participate, either
asking a question or volunteering a comment, by raising one’s hand. Specifically, we
posed the following research questions:
1.  
How do Japanese university students view hand raising in the classroom?
2.  
What encourages or inhibits hand raising by Japanese university students?
3.  
How does their view of hand raising differ by classroom context?
4.  
How does their view of hand raising differ when interacting with peers orteachers?
Methodology
Unlike previous studies, we chose not to use a survey instrument with listed response
options. Focus group data is considerably different from survey data in that it uses
group interaction to collect not only the views of individuals, but also data whichreflects their shared social reality (Williams & Katz, 2001). Like other qualitative
methods, focus groups capture responses that are unanticipated and unlikely to appear
in quantitative methods such as surveys.
As teachers in a specific EFL for academic purposes program, we chose to investigate
the beliefs of the students in that program. The program includes 12 clock hours of
instruction per week. Volunteers in the second year of the program were recruited toparticipate in focus groups. Prior to volunteering, students were informed that theywould need to speak and understand English to participate in the focus groups andthat the conversations would be recorded and used as data for a study. If the students
objected to the use of any information, they were informed that they could have it
expunged from the record.
Three semi-structured, open-ended focus groups were conducted. Group A consistedof two female and three male students, group B consisted of five female students andgroup C consisted of four female students. The students’ paper-based TOEFL scores
ranged from 467-543. They were all completing their third university semester, andwere enrolled in five different classes in the same EFL program. The focus groups
took place the last week of spring semester 2017. The students’ placement into groups
was based on their schedule availability.
The list of questions for the focus group discussion was generated by delving deeper
into the meanings of the research questions. Several revisions were made and as aresult, we asked the participants eleven questions. The focus groups were led by one
practitioner-researcher to avoid intimidating the students, and the same researcher

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facilitated all three focus group sessions for consistency. During the focus groups, theresearcher placed a digital recorder on the table in full view of the participants.
Students were asked to introduce themselves and then the researcher asked thequestions. As students responded the researcher asked follow up questions to draw out
more information from the students.
The focus group conversations were then transcribed by two professional transcribers.
The transcriptions were double checked by the researcher who conducted the focus
groups while listening to the recordings. The researcher also blinded the transcripts byremoving student names and any identifying references to their teachers.
After the transcripts were verified as accurate, we used Axial coding to analyze thedata. Axial coding refers to making connections or finding similarities in the data tocreate themes and categories (Dornyei, 2007). First, we used the search feature in MS
Word to look for keywords that appeared in the transcripts, for example “ashamed” or“nervous,” to find every instance of that word and its synonyms across all threetranscripts. We next assembled the identified words with the context of an entire
quote or turn for each word and examined them for meaning. For example, we
considered whether the student was saying “I feel ashamed when I make a mistake” or“other people seem ashamed of their mistakes” or “I’m not ashamed of mistakes.” Wethen categorized the quotes by intended meaning. For example: positive feelings
about raising hands versus negative feelings about raising hands. Then we divided thecategories into themes. For instance, “missing one’s chance” was one of three themes
within the negative feelings about hand-raising. We went through multiple revision as
we cross-checked themes and each others’ placement of student remarks and turns.
After the matrix was complete, we had a third person read the resulting table ofcategories, themes, and quotes / turns to check for consistency and how we interpreted
the students’ words. The third reader found 5 questionably placed quotes or turns. We
reexamined those and adjusted our placement accordingly.
Results and Implications
Examining the data for patterns revealed categories and themes across the threedifferent focus group conversations. We identified 6 categories and 25 different
themes within those categories. Not all of the categories or themes were equally
represented across the focus groups. Considering only the themes which wererepresented across all focus groups and reflected turns from multiple participants ineach group, we realized that we had three types of findings: those which reflected ourbeliefs about hand-raising, those which contradicted our beliefs, and those which werecompletely unexpected.
Based on our classroom experience and research conducted by others (Nozaki 1993
and Doyon 2000), we anticipated that students would report they felt negatively about
raising their hands because they were afraid of making mistakes. Indeed, the focus
group transcripts showed this. Students said they were worried about saying thewrong answer or making a mistake, so they avoided raising their hands orcontributing to class discussions. This was mentioned 11 times total: 3 times in thefirst focus group, 5 in the second, and 3 in the third. For example, in the first group, a
student recounted her first year teacher’s expectations about participating, and thensaid, “So the students feel stressed about it, and we don’t want to answer the question

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because she is so strict, and sometimes no you are not correct. So maybe we influence
to… ah her giving pressure influenced on the answering the question.” In the second
group, a participant said “I feel negative sometimes because I am afraid of making
mistakes, or when I saying was wrong I feel afraid.” In the third group, a student
reported hesitating to volunteer answers in class because “I try to answer, but I think
my answer not correct.”
However, we also found that focus group participants directly contradicted what we
expected them to say. As practitioners of cooperative learning, we often use pair /group work in class as preparation for larger full-class discussions. Yet, in these focus
groups, pair / group work was not viewed by the participants as being supportive ofvolunteering to contribute their ideas to a whole class discussion. Comments to thiseffect occurred 12 times in total: 3 times in the first group, 4 times in the second and 5
times in the third. For example, in the second focus group, a student reported duringgroup work, not all members practice speaking in the target language to prepare forlater, full class discussions: “ ...usually in my class it is prohibited to speak Japanese,but in small group they tend to speak in Japanese, so I don’t like that, so even if I
want to speak in English, my friend respond in Japanese. Some people do that, so I
feel uncomfortable with them…” In the third focus group, a participant stated, “Forthe peer group or the work group, it doesn’t matter, we are working together and weare sure with this answer. And the teacher say ‘stop.’ So and the teacher asks us, ‘doyou have any ideas?’ Even we my peer group know the answer, we are confident withit, they won’t say the answer.” This calls into question advice, such as that given by
Kim et al. (2016), to have students work in groups first to promote more speaking
time in class using the target language. Surprisingly, students may feel that group
work is a chance to avoid the target language or that they have already achieved asatisfactory answer and do not need to elaborate further. As teachers, we areconsidering ways to frame group work so that students appreciate the goal ofpracticing the target language multiple times and that sharing group answers increases
the depth of response for everyone.
The last type of theme we found were factors we had not anticipated being a part ofstudents’ views about raising their hands and contributing to class discussions. One ofthese was that students categorized teachers’ questions into “common knowledge”
and “not common knowledge.” By this they meant questions which do not involve“opinion” were easier to answer. Students repeatedly mentioned that they felt more
comfortable raising their hands and volunteering to answer if the question was asimple one: a fact that everyone in the class already knows, something that occurs
word for word in the text being studied, or an “easy topic.” They contrasted thesetypes of questions to more difficult questions which involved “having and exposing
one’s opinion.” In our data, comments in this vein were mentioned 11 times: 4 times
in the first focus group, 3 in the second, and 4 in the third. For example, in the first
focus group a participant stated, “...depends on questions. About daily life or not highacademic topics another student can answer for such questions. But teacher always
tells high academic topics, so I can’t answer or I can’t understand how to think aboutit.” In the second group a participant remarked, “For instance, in Japan the divorce
rate is high or low, related to other countries. It’s common knowledge, so it’s not mypersonal opinion, so it’s comfortable to answer.” In the third group, a student
explained, “...I think many students like to answer the comprehensions (reading
questions). We know that you can find the answer in the textbook or exactly the word,

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you can find it. But, for the discussion or your own opinion, we won’t say it aloud…”
After finding this theme in our data, we researched the more recent literature andfound that Kawabe et al.’s (2014) investigation revealed “the difficulty level ofquestions affected confidence” which changes students’ willingness to raise hands.
Completing the intricate and time consuming work of transcribing and coding the
focus groups gave us insight into our own EFL classes. Dividing the themes from ourdata into expected, contradicting, and surprising helped us as practitioners develop
ways to use these results in our teaching. As practitioners, using this qualitative
methodology yielded richer results than a survey would have. We were able toexplore students’ opinions bringing to light unexpected ideas from their responses.
This allowed us to consider the basis of our expectations and make changes to ourpractices.
Limitations
The conclusions which can be drawn from this study are severely limited in scope. As
practitioner research, it serves more to inform local practices than to contribute to
overarching language learning theory. With only fourteen participants from one EFL
program at one university in Japan, the findings are very locally situated. Thisparticular university has a student population which is 75-78% female depending on
the year. The study volunteers reflected this gender bias as 11 of the 14 were female.
Kawabe et al. (2014) also commented on the need for a more uniform study in the
future; a study in which an equal number of women and men are questioned.
The focus groups were conducted entirely in English, which is the participants’second language. As a result, at certain points in the data, it was difficult to determine
what the participants meant. Thus, some of the data was removed from consideration.
Ideally, we would ask the participants for clarification in one-to-one interviews;
however, we have not been able to do so yet. In one-to-one interviews, comments tothe original focus group discussions could be elaborated on with probing questions touncover more meaningful results. Similarly, the set of questions asked were
frequently focused on “hand raising” behavior, such as “In what situation are students
comfortable raising their hand or sharing their ideas with the class?” or “Describe atime when you wanted to raise your hand but didn’t? What happened and how did you
feel?” However, the volunteer student participants frequently talked more generally
about their “willingness to talk.” The focus group discussions may have been
influenced by this gap in researcher and participant terminology. Asking more generalquestions such as “In what situations are students comfortable asking their teacher aquestion?” may elicit different results (see Appendix 2 for a complete list of the focus
group questions).
Despite the small size and limited scope, this practitioner research project allowed us
to examine the experience of raising one’s hand in order to participate in a university
EFL class from the Japanese students’ perspectives. This allows us to reconsider our
teaching practices and make adjustments. For example, we have reduced the use of“hand-raising” in the classroom. Instead of asking students to raise their hands tosignal readiness to participate, we have started asking for students to call out answers
which can be done as one person or by several at a time. During group work, we
designate a “reporter” for each group so that the expectation to share answers is clear

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and the group member expected to speak has time to prepare. Another classroom
management idea is to remove the consequence or risk from wrong answers by not
assigning points to students who answer questions.
As a result of this study and the themes that emerged from coding the participants’
responses, we have identified a number of additional questions for further research:
1.  
How widespread or common are these students’ views and observations about
hand raising and participation?
2.  
How can teachers seeking to promote discussion as an instructional tool,
engage students in contributing to a discussion in an orderly way while
acknowledging the reluctance to raise hands?
3.  
Would training in cultural expectations about hand-raising / discussion
encourage students to participate and answer more difficult questions in front of peers
and teachers?
Conclusion
In this qualitative study of learner participation and willingness to hand raise inforeign language class, we transcribed nearly 50 pages of student focus group
discussions. The data was then methodically analyzed and coded to reveal categories
and themes. The process of qualitative axial coding was time consuming andchallenging, but the results provided insight into what a small sample of students at
this university in western Japan have to say about hand-raising to signal their
willingness to contribute to class discussion and share ideas with classmates andprofessors. The results of the study have also contributed to our development asteachers as we look for ways to encourage participation while taking the students’point of view into consideration.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded with support from the Intercultural Research Institute,Kansai Gaidai University. Additionally, we would like to thank the following people.
Dawn K. Booth, Ph.D., Independent Research Consultant and author of “TheSociocultural Activity of High Stakes Standardised Language Testing, TOEIC
Washback in a South Korean Context” (2018), for her contributions to themethodology and help with the categories and themes represented in our table.
Bruce Bottorff, Assistant Professor, Kansai Gaidai University, for validating themes
and providing input on the categorization of student turns.

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References
Anderson, F. (1993). The enigma of the college classroom: nails that don’t stick up. In
Wadden, P. (ed.) A Handbook for Teaching English at Japanese Colleges andUniversities. New York: Oxford University Press, 101-110.
Brown, J. D. (2001). Using surveys in language programs. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Brown, J. D. (2014). Mixed methods research for TESOL. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press Ltd.
Cutrone, P. (2009). Overcoming Japanese EFL Learners’ Fear of Speaking.
University of Reading: Language Studies Working Papers. Vol 1, p. 55-63. ISSN
2040-3461.
Cutrone, P. (2001). Learner attitudes towards EFL teachers in an English conversation
school in Japan. The Language Teacher 24, 21-24.
DeMott Painter, D. (n.d.). Teacher Research Could Change Your Practice, National
Education Association, http://www.nea.org/tools/17289.htm
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Doyon, P. (2000). Shyness in the EFL class: why it is a problem, what it is, whatcauses it, and what to do about it. The Language Teacher 24.
Hadley, G., & Hadley, H. (1996). The culture of learning and the good teacher inJapan: an analysis of student views. The Language Teacher 20.
Hayashi, M., & Cherry, D. (2004). Japanese students’ learning style preferences in the
EFL classroom. Bulletin of Hokuriku University, 28, 83-93.
Jacobs, G. (2004). Cooperative learning: Theory, principles, and techniques. ResearchGate,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254097701_COOPERATIVE_LEARNING_THEORY_PRINCIPLES_AND_TECHNIQUES
Jacobs, G. M., Power, M. A., & Loh, W. I. (2002). The teacher's sourcebook forcooperative learning: Practical techniques, basic principles, and frequently asked
questions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publications.
Kawabe R., Yamamoto M., Aoyagi S., & Watanabe T. (2014) Measurement of Hand
Raising Actions to Support Students’ Active Participation in Class. In:
Yamamoto S. (eds) Human Interface and the Management of Information.

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Information and Knowledge Design and Evaluation. HIMI 2014. Lecture Notes in
Computer Science, (8521). Springer, Cham.
Kim, S., Ates, B., Grigsby, Y., Kraker, S., & Micek, T. (2016). “Ways to Promote theClassroom Participation of International Students by Understanding the Silence ofJapanese University Students.” Journal of International Students, 6 (2) 431-450.
Lebra, T. (1976). Japanese Patterns of Behaviour. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press.
Long, R. (1997). Investigating and responding to student attitudes and suggestions forcourse improvement. The Language Teacher 21
MacLean, M. & Mohr, M. (1999). Teacher-researchers at work. Berkeley, Calif.:
National Writing Project.
Mills, G. (2002). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher. Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Nozaki, K. (1993). The Japanese student and the foreign teacher. In Wadden, P. (ed.),A Handbook for Teaching English at Japanese Colleges and Universities. New York:
Oxford University Press, 27-33.
Shimizu, K. (1995). Japanese college student attitudes towards English teachers: A
survey. The Language Teacher 19.
Townsend, J. & Danling, F. (1998). Quiet students across cultures and continents.
English Education 31, 4-25.
Williams, A. & Katz, L. (2001). The Use of Focus Group Methodology in Education:
Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations, International Electronic Journal for
Leadership in Learning (April).

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Appendix 1: Abridged Qualitative Axial Coding Table
This abridged version of the axial coding table focuses on the categories and themes
discussed in this paper. For a full table, please contact the authors.
Focus Group
A

B

C

Total

1.1 I am afraid/ashamed/shy/nervous/have no confidence

1

7

9

17

1.2 Have/say wrong answer/make a mistake/not correct

3

5

3

11

1.3 I missed the chance

3

3

0

6

4.1 Against Japanese tradition and culture

1

0

0

1

4.2 Working in pairs/groups/group work

3

4

5

12

4

3

4

11

Category 1: General feelings/emotions about hand raising(negative)

Category 4: Reasons or motivation for NOT hand raising

Category 6: Type of questions or topic of discussion
6.1 Common knowledge/fact/easy topic questions/answer in
text

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Appendix 2: Focus group questioning route
1.  
In what situations are students comfortable raising their hand or sharing theiridea with the class?
2.  
In what situations are students comfortable asking the teacher a question?
3.  
Do you think students like to say their ideas to the class, why or why not?
4.  
In what classroom situations do students want to raise their hand but don’t.
5.  
In what situations are students not comfortable asking a question in class?
6.  
In general, how do students feel about hand-raising in English classes to ask
and answer questions?
7.  
Can anyone here describe a time when you raised your hand during English
classes. Why did you do it and what happened? How did you feel?
8.  
Describe a time when you wanted to raise your hand in English class but
didn’t. What happened and how did you feel?
9.  
If no student in your class answers the teacher’s question how do you feel?
What do you do?
10.   How do students feel about hand-raising to answer or ask a question during a
student presentation?
11.   I’d like you to now think about hand-raising outside of English classes. In
what ways are your feelings the same or different from what you have already said
during this discussion?

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Challenges Associated with the Implementation of Active Learning:
A Small-scale Study of Japanese University EFL Teachers
Maki Ikoma, Ritsumeikan University, Japan
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Abstract
Active learning (AL)—recently described as “independent, dialogical, and deeplearning”— has been widely adopted by Japanese universities. Now, despite
reservations and anxieties expressed by high school EFL teachers, the upcoming
educational reform will also require the implementation of AL in all Japanese highschools. This small-scale study, therefore, aims to investigate specific challenges
and/or difficulties encountered by Japanese university EFL teachers in implementing
AL and provide practical suggestions for high school EFL teachers to help address
their specific concerns with AL. A questionnaire consisting of a four-point Likert
scale and open-ended questions was used and a total of 20 Japanese university EFL
teachers took part in this study. Results revealed that in implementing AL in English
classes, Japanese EFL teachers tend to experience the following difficulties inparticular: various language proficiency levels among learners in the same class,learners’ low motivation to study through AL, and lack of clear criteria for evaluation.
Based on the results, this study attempts to provide several suggestions for highschool EFL teachers, including ways to foster collaborative learning.
Keywords: active learning, EFL, teaching experience, challenges and difficulties

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Active learning (AL)—recently described as “independent, dialogical, and deeplearning”—has been widely adopted in Japanese universities. Now, with theupcoming educational reform, high schools are also highly expected to implement AL
in all subjects. However, there have been reservations and anxieties being expressedby high school EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers regarding its
implementation (Kabeya, Mineshima, Nakamura, & Mochizuki, 2016; Nakai, 2016)as many of them are still not sure of what AL means and what difficulties they might
encounter in employing AL in their English classes. This small-scale study, therefore,
aims to investigate specific challenges encountered by Japanese university EFL
teachers in implementing AL and provide practical suggestions for high school EFL
teachers to help address such challenges in their teaching context.
Literature Review“Active learning” and “Active-learning-based instruction”
One of the well-known definitions of AL can be found in Bonwell and Eison (1991),“a pioneering work that lays out the principles of active learning and one of the mostfrequently cited works (Matsushita, 2018).” They defined AL as “anything thatinvolves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing” andprovided the following five general characteristics:
Students are involved in more than listening.
Less emphasis is placed on transmitting information and more on developing
students’ skills.
Students are involved in higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, evaluation).
Students are engaged in activities (e.g., reading, discussing, writing).
Greater emphasis is placed on students’ exploration of their own attitudes andvalues.
Adding to these five conditions, Matsushita (2015) included a sixth characteristic, “Itrequires externalizing cognitive processes in the activities,” in the definition, on thebasis of Mizokami (2014). This definition, consisting of six characteristics, has beenfrequently referred to as a general definition of AL in today’s higher education(Yoshida, Matsuda, & Sato, 2017). As the educational paradigm was shifting fromteaching-centered to learning-centered (Barr & Tagg, 1995), AL was proposed as alearning which goes beyond listening to a lecture given by a teacher. Based on thisparadigm shift, Mizokami (2014, 2018) operationally regarded “listening to a lecture”
as “passive learning” and attempted to define AL as “all kinds of learning beyond themere one-way transmission of knowledge in lecture-style classes (=passive
learning).” Noting that this does not explain what constitutes “active,” he further
added that AL “requires engagement in activities (writing, discussion, andpresentation) and externalizing cognitive processes in the activities.” He stated that
activities such as writing, discussion, and presentation are representative examples oflearning which goes beyond just listening to a lecture, implying the paradigm shift at
the activity level. And by engaging students in such activities he claimed that it
becomes possible to have students use various cognitive functions that they need not
use when just listening to someone talk, making it possible for them to externalize

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cognitive processes. It is thus considered necessary that learners engage in activities
which require them to externalize all sorts of cognitive processes.
It is important to note that fostering students’ engagement in such activities does notnecessarily require the abandonment of lecture or teachers’ instruction. As Mizokami(2014) stated, since AL is one form of learning, it is not only applied to courses which
are intensively learner-centered (e.g., Project-based learning, Learning throughdiscussion) but also applied to a type of lesson which combines lecture and activities
incorporating writing, discussion or presentation. He thus introduced the term
“active-learning-based instruction (hereafter AL-based instruction)” to refer to bothtypes of course and lesson (Mizokami, 2014).
AL in the Japanese educational context
In Japan, the term AL began to gain attention in the context of higher education in2012 when the Central Council for Education (hereafter CCE), the advisory body of
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), released areport named Towards a Qualitative Transformation of University Education for
Building a New Future. The report proposed the idea of AL to foster changes inJapanese higher education where most classes tended to involve teachers’ one-way
delivery of knowledge. It defined AL as follows: “Different from the one-way
lecture-based education given by a teacher, AL is defined as the general term forteaching and learning methods which include learners’ active participation inlearning” (CCE, 2012). As the effective AL methods and/or formats, “discovery
learning, problem-based learning (PBL), experiential learning, investigative learning”
as well as “group discussion, debate, group work” were proposed in the report. A
comparison with the one-way lecture-based education as well as external factors wereparticularly underscored (Matsushita, 2018; Jiang & Mizokami, 2015).
Though it is still a relatively new concept, AL has been widely implemented in higher
education in Japan (Yamada, 2017). This boom around AL, however, does not only
remain in university today. With the upcoming changes to the university entrance
examinations which aim to assess students’ critical thinking, judgment and expression,
AL was also introduced to secondary educational policy in 2014. Regarding highschool, the newly revised Course of Study (MEXT, 2018) will require theimplementation of AL, now officially described as “independent, dialogical, and deeplearning,” in all high school subjects, starting in 2022.
AL in Japanese high school English classes
Under the new curriculum, a couple major changes will be put into action for highschool English subjects. One is the emphasis of integrative language activity.
Pointing out the students’ insufficient experience of learning through the integrationof different language skills, the new curriculum sets five language areas (listening,reading, spoken interaction, spoken production, writing) and encourages students’
active engagement in communication by integrating two or more of these areas.
Another is to cultivate students’ productive skills (i.e., speak and write). Though suchskills have been less prioritized in high school English classes, the new curriculum
will place emphasis on enhancing students’ productive skills through various
activities (e.g., speech, presentation, debate and discussion) in a newly established

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class—“Logic and Expression.” In just a few years, all high school EFL teachers will
be highly expected to foster students’ communicative, interactive and productive
skills through the adoption of AL using a variety of instructional approaches andactivities.
However, the majority of high school teachers rather seem to show passive attitudes
towards the implementation of AL while they consider students’ active engagements
in production and interaction important. The survey conducted on 2, 134 Japanesehigh school EFL teachers (Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute,2016) (hereafter Benesse, 2016) showed a huge gap between their beliefs and theiractual classroom practices, particularly regarding productive and integrated skills.
The survey results showed that while a large number of teachers consider “providing
opportunities for students to express their own opinions in English” and “providing
activities which require the use of integrated skills” extremely important, only lessthan 10% of them answered that they conduct them in class sufficiently. In fact, onlya small number of them engage their students in activities related to productive skills(i.e., speak and write): Less than 30% of them answered that they employ“speech/presentation” or “textbook summary writing in English.” As for “debate”
and “discussion,” only less than 10% of them responded that they implement suchactivities in their classes. These results suggest that though many teachers feel thenecessity to foster students’ involvements in interaction and production, they are
faced with difficulty achieving them.
Two main factors seem to contribute to this situation. One is their limited learningand teaching experience of AL both as a student and a teacher. Research on teacher
belief (Borg, 2003) showed that teachers’ prior language learning experience
influences their decisions of classroom practices. As Japanese education has
traditionally been putting emphasis on grammar translation and drill, most teachers
today have very limited experience of studying through activities such as debate or
discussion in neither English nor Japanese. Without being able to make references totheir own learning experience, therefore, incorporating such activities should bechallenging. In addition, most teachers have insufficient experience teaching
speaking or writing because they have been under significant pressure to prepare theirstudents to succeed in college entrance examinations which mainly aim at assessing
students’ receptive skills (Hagerman, 2009). As the survey by Benesse (2016)
showed, the teaching methods that high school EFL teachers want to learn the most inteacher workshops today are “speaking skills,” followed by “integrated skills” and“writing skills.”
Another is how this new term, AL, is being perceived among high school teachers.
Past studies indicated that because CCE (2012)’s report lacked detailed explanationsof “activeness” and how and why the proposed methods and/or formats would work,
many teachers in Japan are confused about this term and tend to perceive it as themere use of instructional methods and/or formats such as cooperative learning andproblem/project-based learning (PBL) (Ito, 2017; Nakai, 2016). Followings are someof the reservations expressed by high school teachers: Whether engaging students incooperative learning can help foster their language skills, whether summaries andreflections conducted by students can lead to the achievement of learning objectives,
whether students can acquire knowledge by talking to each other, and whether thelecture-based teaching methods (e.g., presentation-practice-production method) are

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not effective at all (Edagawa, Tani, & Sato, 2016; Nakai, 2016). Though AL does notmean to only have students engage in activities or require the complete abandonmentof lecture (Mizokami, 2014), teachers seem to be under the impression that theapproaches they have been using were somewhat denied under the new educational
reform and that the promotion of AL in their classes might lead to what Matsushita(2018) explained as “many activities and little learning.”
Observing such situations surrounding high school teachers today, we can see that to agreat extent their concerns and reservations have derived from the limited learning
opportunities and insufficient knowledge provided on AL practices. As is often thecase with most of us, when we face something that appears completely new, we arelikely to be at a loss, not being able to picture what could happen if we put it into
action. We tend to find it difficult to imagine what challenges we might encounter on
the way and find ourselves feeling afraid of making fatal mistakes. Japanese highschool teachers now being expected to adopt a new method and not fully
understanding what benefits or challenges would exist in implementing it, it is not too
difficult to imagine the fear they face and the reservations they have. Consideringsuch situations, the pedagogical insights gained from actual classroom practices on
AL should play a crucial role in supporting their teaching from now on. In particular,
exploring and identifying specific challenges associated with the implementation of
AL in the Japanese EFL context should help them gain practical knowledge on whatneed to be taken into consideration when they conduct AL-based instruction in theirown teaching context.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study, therefore, is to identify specific challenges and/or
difficulties encountered by Japanese EFL teachers in higher education, where AL has
been more widely practiced than high schools, and provide practical suggestions forhigh school EFL teachers.
Research Questions
The main research questions of this study are as follows:
1) What are Japanese university EFL teachers’ attitudes towards the implementationof AL?
2) What are the challenges and/or difficulties associated with the implementation of
AL in the Japanese EFL context?
3) How can we help Japanese high school EFL teachers address such challenges
and/or difficulties in their classes?
Methodology
Participants
The present study was carried out in February, 2018. Participants were all university
EFL teachers and they were selected based on the following three criteria: (a) theteachers were native speakers of Japanese; (b) the teachers have taught EFL courses atuniversity in Japan; and (c) applying Mizokami (2014)’s definition, the teachers have
had relatively rich experiences of conducting AL-based instruction in their English

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classes. The questionnaire surveys developed for this study were sent to 25 Japanese
university EFL teachers in western and eastern Japan, all of whom fulfilled the above
criteria. A total of 20 teachers (10 males and 10 females) completed and returned thesurvey, producing 80% response rate. Their experience of teaching EFL courses
spread widely, ranging from 2 to 20 years. As Table 1 shows, the majority of them
have implemented a variety of AL techniques in their classes, including thetechniques to facilitate students’ participation in discussion as well as the ones that
require critical thinking and problem-solving.
Table 1: Teachers’ experiences of implementing techniques used in AL-based instruction(N=20)
have
implemented
N

％

often
implement
N

％

Total

N

％

Think-Pair-Share
50
45
10
9
19
95
Round Robin
55
25
11
5
16
80
Buzz Groups
45
45
9
9
18
90
Talking Chips
5
15
1
3
4
20
3-Step Interview
50
10
10
2
12
60
Critical Debates
55
15
11
3
14
70
Note-Taking Pairs
35
5
7
1
8
40
Learning Cell
20
10
4
2
6
30
Fishbowl
0
15
0
3
3
15
Role Play
50
10
10
2
12
60
Jigsaw
35
20
7
4
11
55
Test-Taking Teams
5
10
1
2
3
15
TAPPS (Think Aloud Pair
20
15
4
3
7
35
Problem Solving)
Send a Problem
10
10
2
2
4
20
Case Studies
35
15
7
3
10
50
Structured Problem Solving
5
15
1
3
4
20
Analytic Teams
15
10
3
2
5
25
Group Investigation
55
25
11
5
16
80
Affinity Grouping
45
20
9
4
13
65
Group Grid
5
15
1
3
4
20
Team Matrix
0
15
0
3
3
15
Sequence Chains
20
15
4
3
7
35
Word Webs
55
10
11
2
13
65
Dialogue Journals
10
10
2
2
4
20
Round Table
5
10
1
2
3
15
Dyadic Essays
10
10
2
2
4
20
Peer Editing
50
25
10
5
15
75
Collaborative Writing
50
25
10
5
15
75
Team Anthology
5
15
1
3
4
20
Paper Seminar
20
45
4
9
13
65
Note: This table was made based on Barkley et al. (2005), Mizokami (2014) and Nakai (2016)

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Instrument
In order to explore the research questions, a questionnaire survey was developed (SeeAppendix). The survey comprised the following three sections. The first section
consisted of five questions regarding the participants’ demographic information andtheir experiences of implementing techniques used in AL-based instruction. The
latter part was made based on the 30-techniques of collaborative learning, one of the
AL-based instruction, provided in the previous studies (Barkley, Cross, & Major,
2005; Mizokami, 2014; Nakai, 2016); the participants were asked whether they “haveimplemented” or “often implement” these techniques in class. The data obtained
from this section are summarized above (Table 1). The second section dealt with twoquestions (four-point Likert scale and open-ended questions) regarding theparticipants’ attitudes towards the implementation of AL in English classes. The third
section asked about the participants’ experience of employing AL. In particular, it
asked about the challenges and/or difficulties that they encountered in implementing
AL to teach English. All questions were presented in Japanese; after the datacollection, both questions and answers were translated into English.
Data collection
Data for the current study were collected through a questionnaire survey describedabove. Both online and paper-based surveys were sent in February 2018 to eachparticipant with the explanation of the purpose of the study. The participants used thepreferred survey form to fill out their answers. The data collection took place forapproximately one month (early February to early March). Prior to the distribution of
the survey, the participants were informed that the information they provide would be
confidential and used only for the purpose of this study and that by submitting thesurvey they provided their consent.
Results and Discussion
Based on the results obtained from the questionnaire, the research questions are
discussed below. First, the participants’ attitudes towards AL are shown in order tounderstand their overall impression of adopting AL in teaching English. Second,
specific challenges and/or difficulties experienced by the participants in teaching
English are reported. Last, several practical suggestions for implementing AL in highschool English classes are discussed.
1) What are Japanese university EFL teachers’ attitudes towards theimplementation of AL?
Table 2 below shows the results of Q6-1, which asked the participants whether theyagree with the implementation of AL in English classes. It presents the descriptive
statistics as well as the number of participants who chose each answer on the fourpoint Likert scale, ranging from “disagree” on one end to “agree” on the other, as apercentage. The total percentages of the respondents who disagreed (1 and 2) andagreed (3 and 4) are shown in the columns Disagree and Agree. As indicated in thisTable, all participants showed positive attitudes towards giving AL-based instruction
in English classes.

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Table 2: Teachers’ opinions about the use of AL in English classes (%) (N=20)
MEAN

SD

1

2

3

4

Disagree

Agree

3.85

0.37

0

0

15

85

0

100

Note: 1= disagree, 2= somewhat disagree, 3= somewhat agree, 4= agree

Based on the results of Q6-2 (Please tell us your reason for Q6-1), we found that theparticipants experienced three main benefits in conducting AL-based instruction in
English classes. First, they perceive AL as effective in English classes because it can
provide ample opportunity for students to use English. Nearly half of the participantsemphasized the necessity of using the target language in order to improve one’s
foreign language proficiency and stated that AL is the most suitable for providing
such opportunities. One respondent wrote, “It is using English that leads to theimprovement of one’s language proficiency. From my experience, AL seems the mostsuitable for creating such opportunities.”
Second, they consider AL important because it can also influence students’ learning
motivation positively. Five referred to the improvement of learner motivation throughAL, for example, “Comparing with those who study in classes which do notincorporate AL, students studying through AL tend to keep their learning motivation
high,” and “As AL requires students to do more than just sit and listen, we canprevent their passive learning attitudes.”Third, they also find AL necessary because they regard AL as crucial for all kinds oflearning, not limited to learning English. 7 out of 20 respondents expressed theirpositive attitudes towards AL by writing specifically about learning in general, forexample, “In any subject, class is just one of many places to know about something.
If we truly want to learn something, we need to make efforts initiatively. In that sense,
I believe AL is the nature of all learning.”
However, a few other perspectives were also shared as three referred to the aspects
that require further attention in adopting AL. One highlighted the importance ofimproving students’ English language skills: “We cannot deny the fact that students
with low level of English proficiency tend to face great difficulty learning English
through AL.” In addition, two focused on how to adopt AL in teaching English,
commenting, “I learned that AL methods are suitable for language education, but I
also think that there are benefits in the traditional, lecture-based classes. I’d like toincorporate various methods appropriately.”2) What are the challenges and/or difficulties associated with the implementationof AL in the Japanese EFL context?
As the previous section showed, we can see that the participants felt various benefitsof adopting AL in their English classes. However, it was also indicated that somedifficulties exist as well. This section further describes specific difficulties associatedwith AL-based instruction in the Japanese EFL context based on the results of Q7,
which asked the participants to share their teaching experience of AL. It specificallyasked about the challenges and/or difficulties they have encountered in implementing

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AL in teaching English. Based on content analysis of the responses provided for Q7,
the following three major challenges were found.
1. Various language proficiency levels among learners
First and foremost, over half of the participants (11 out of 20) highlighted the issues
related to various language proficiency levels among learners in the same class.
Because students often need to acquire knowledge in English in English classes (e.g.,read an English passage, listen to a dialogue in English), the participants wereconcerned that low proficient students may not benefit from AL-based instruction
because those students tend to have difficulty acquiring knowledge (content) in
English before joining such activities as discussion or group work. In fact, mostparticipants answered that they often saw different amount of output and unequal
participation among students when they had students do group work based on thematerials students had read or listened in English. For example, one teacher wrote, “I
always find group work difficult in a reading class where students with different
levels are enrolled. Their reading comprehensions vary widely, and it tends to affecttheir output in group work.” As students can acquire knowledge (content) in theirmother tongue in other subjects, this concern seems quite unique to English subjects.
2. Low motivation to study through AL
Second, nearly half of the participants (8 out of 20) expressed reservations concerning
students’ low motivation to study through AL as it could lead to an impediment totheir active participation in learning. Regarding this issue, two trends seem to exist.
One is students’ preference of lecture-based instruction to AL-based instruction. As
pointed out in past research (Matsushita, 2015), students who do not like AL tend toshow their preference of the traditional learning style or become unwilling to study
hard in AL-based instruction. The participants of this study also found such students’learning attitudes challenging. One teacher wrote that in a class where students
tended to prefer grammar translation methods, they were unwilling to involve in ingroup paragraph reading activities. Another is students’ lack of confidence to write,
discuss, or present in English. One teacher expressed serious concerns about students
with strong anxiety: “Some students lack confidence and they have strong anxiety.
Some students can’t be motivated to speak or write in English because of that.” In
addition, three mentioned the difficulty of peer critique in regard to confidence, forexample, “Most students are not used to doing peer feedback […] So they are notconfident enough to critique others’ work. But if such situations continue, there’ll be
no point in having this activity.”
3. Lack of clear evaluation criteria for speaking tasks
Third, assessing and visualizing how students have developed their oral
communication skills were also considered quite difficult by a number of respondents(11 out of 20). As Underhill (1987) claimed that teachers’ subjective judgment is oneof the key issues in conducting speaking tasks/tests, the participants of this study also
raised their concerns about evaluating students’ oral performance subjectively,
explaining, “Evaluation criteria depends largely on each teacher’s judgment and theytend to be ambiguous,” and “Even though I use the criteria provided by the program, I
tend to evaluate students’ speaking based on my subjective judgment.”

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3) How can we help Japanese high school EFL teachers address such challenges
and/or difficulties in their classes?
1. Suggestion: Various language proficiency levels among learners
The difficulty related to proficiency levels should also be found in high school EFL
settings where, at least in most public high schools, classes are mostly homeroombased, not language proficiency-based; there will be many students with various
English proficiency levels in the same class. In order to overcome this barrier,teachers should consider making use of a flipped learning approach to ensure thatenough time for every student to understand and acquire learning contents is provided
before activities (e.g., discussion, group work). As Matsushita (2018) claimed, inorder for students to engage in higher-order thinking and externalization of cognitive
processes, it is necessary that students “acquire knowledge (content) appropriate forsuch thinking.” In other words, even though AL requires time for activities and thus
tends to require the reduction of time for students to acquire knowledge, the lattershould not be neglected. In order to achieve this condition in a class full of students
with different levels, implementing a flipped learning approach can be effective as itenables students to study various materials at their own pace outside of class invarious ways (e.g., study through recorded lectures online, read an assigned part in a
textbook, work on a worksheet) (Lee & Wallace, 2017). Utilizing this approach
would provide enough time for all students to grasp learning contents beforehand andhelp teachers set aside enough time for in-class activities.
In addition, teachers should also try to make mixed-ability groups by taking groupdynamics into consideration. Though gaps in language proficiency levels may resultin poor learning outcome as expressed by some participants, it is not always the case.
For example, in Zamani (2016), both low and high proficient students in the samegroup achieved greater writing performance through cooperative learning. Referring
to a sociocultural perspective, she argued that while low proficient learners needinteraction with their “more capable peers,” whose proficiency levels are slightly
beyond the learners’ themselves, to improve their abilities, high proficient learners
also benefit from teaching others to internalize their knowledge. As research ongroup interaction showed, the establishment of such elements as trust, respect,
acceptance and the sense of belonging in a group influences good, positive groupdynamics, helping learners benefit from interaction (Pham, 2017). It is thus crucial
that teachers understand the positive influence of mixed-ability groups on students’learning and consider ways to create an atmosphere which fosters positive groupdynamics.
2. Suggestion: Low motivation to study through AL
Because of learner diversity, there will always be a certain group of students who
would perceive AL as unpleasant or more challenging, whether they be in university
or high school. However, as students’ interaction and participation cannot be avoided
in order to cultivate their communicative, productive skills, teachers need to consider
ways to improve students’ learning motivation for AL at all times. For those who
prefer lecture-style classes, there are mainly two things that teachers can take into
consideration. One is to provide a clear explanation of the significance of interaction
or communication in activities. It is because students’ low motivation to study

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through AL may be due to the lack of understanding of how important they are.
Mizohata’s study (2016) on collaborative learning clarifies this point. Incorporating
collaborative learning requires students to understand the principle of PIES—“positive interdependence,” “individual accountability,” “equal participation,” and“simultaneous interaction” (Kagan, 1994). When employing Jigsaw methods in oneof his English classes, therefore, he first explained the importance of PIES well. As
his students kept this principle in mind during the activity, he reported that they wereable to cooperate with each other and achieve their learning goals.
Another is to find ways to make positive group dynamics because students’ low
motivation to study through AL may be influenced by their pair or group members.
As in the case of Zamani (2016), having students with mixed-abilities work together
may result in good learning outcome. In addition, if there are unmotivated malestudents, pairing up female students with them could be effective as past research on
gender trends in PBL courses (Yamamoto & Ikoma, 2017) found that female students
tended to be more motivated to study under AL-based instruction.
As for those who lack confidence to produce or interact in English, it is important toprovide them with ample opportunity to write, speak, and discuss in class becausesuch students’ reservation is often due to their lack of experience (King, 2002). In
other words, with enough practice and training they can gain confidence to do suchtasks. In Fujita, Yamagata and Takenaka (2009), the students who had almost no
experience of making presentations worked on English presentations multiple times
throughout a semester. The questionnaire results showed that their negative attitudes
towards this course task changed dramatically and that the majority of them referred
to “gaining confidence to speak in public” as one of the abilities they improved in thecourse. Also, in Nagasaka (2005), the students with limited experience of essay
writing were first reluctant to provide peer feedback, but towards the end of thecourse their negative perceptions changed greatly.
3. Suggestion: Lack of clear evaluation criteria for speaking task
As speaking tasks have not been implemented as much as reading or grammar tasks inhigh schools in Japan (Benesse, 2016), issues involving subjective judgement inevaluating speaking should also be one of the major concerns for high school EFL
teachers in the near future. As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to avoid subjective
judgement in speaking assessment (Underhill, 1987); however, it is certainly possible
to minimize it according to the study conducted by Talandis, Jr. (2017), which
proposed rich ideas on evaluating students’ speaking in the Japanese educational
context. In order to evaluate speaking consistently and effectively, he suggested thatteachers create their rating scale rubrics—the ones that clearly reflect what they want
their students to achieve through speaking tasks/tests—expressed in language that
their students can easily understand. One of his suggestions should be particularly
helpful for teachers with insufficient experience of conducting speaking tasks. That is,teachers first consult the existing definition proposed by previous research and, rather
than just “straight up using someone else’s definitions,” try to adapt it by reflecting on
how they could change the wording or scale levels to “make it fit better” in their own
teaching context (Talandis, Jr., 2017). As he claimed, by preparing and sharing suchrubrics beforehand, students will also be able to understand learning objectives moreclearly; furthermore, the rubrics will be able to serve as great feedback afterwards.

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Conclusion
This study aimed to explore specific challenges encountered by Japanese university
EFL teachers in implementing AL and, by discussing how such challenges can beovercome, to provide practical suggestions for high school EFL teachers. The results
showed that despite the teachers’ overall positive impression of adopting AL inteaching English, several critical challenges were also found in their practice. In
particular, they raised concerns about students’ proficiency levels and learning
motivation as well as evaluation criteria for speaking tasks. In other words, theteachers’ concerns focused on how to encourage students to participate in activities
and how to assess students’ oral communication skills. As students’ involvement in
activities is the first step to achieving externalization of their cognitive processes andfostering their higher-order thinking, this study proposed several ideas to scaffold
their participation: implementing a flipped learning approach, making mixed-ability
groups by taking group dynamics into consideration, giving clear explanations of thesignificance of interaction and communication in activities, and designing lessons
incorporating various activities involving student production and interaction. In
addition, as teachers’ own rating scale rubrics not only help them evaluate students’
speaking more consistently but also enable students to understand learning objectives
and serve as effective feedback, the study also suggested that teachers follow Talandis,Jr.’s idea (2017) and create their own rubrics that fit well in their teaching context.
Though this study attempted to provide insight into the challenges associated with theimplementation of AL in the Japanese EFL context, it is not without limitations. First,
as the sample size of this study was small, the future study should examine this topic
with larger sample size. Second, since the instrument for this study was limited toquestionnaire, alternative instruments such as interviews should also be included forthe purpose of investigating the challenges more deeply.

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Appendix
Questionnaire (English version)
Q1. What is your area of specialization?
Q2. Which institution do you currently work at?
College/University High school Junior high school
National institute of technology☐Language school

Elementary school
Others〔〕Q3. Please tell us your English teaching experience.
3 years or less 3-5 years
5-10 years
10-15 years
15-20 years 20 years or more
Q4. What kinds of English classes have you taught? (e.g., Writing, Reading, TOEIC
etc.)
Q5. Below are some of the existing techniques used in AL-based instruction. Pleasetell us if you “have implemented” or “often implement” the following techniques inyour classes. (If there is an item that you have never implemented, please leave it
blank.)
Explanations
Think-Pair-ShareThink individually for a few minutes, and then discuss andcompare their responses with a partner before sharing withthe entire classRound Robin

Generate ideas and speak in order moving from one
student to the next

Buzz Groups

Discuss course-related questions informally in small
groups of peers

Talking Chips

Participate in a group discussion and surrender a token
each time they speak

3-Step Interview

Interview each other and report what they learn to anotherpair

Critical Debates

Assume and argue the side of an issue that is in opposition
to their personal views

Note-Taking Pairs

Pool information from their individual notes to create an
improved, partner version

Learning Cell
Fishbowl

Quiz each other using questions they have developed
individually about a reading assignment or other learning
activity
Form concentric circles with the smaller, inside group of
students discussing and the larger, outside group listening
and observing

Role Play

Assume a different identity and act out a scenario

JigsawDevelop knowledge about a given topic and then teach it toothersTest-Taking Teams

Prepare for a test in working groups, take the test
individually, and then retake the test in groups

TAPPS (Think Aloud
Pair Problem Solving）

Solve problems aloud to try out their reasoning on alistening peer

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implemented

often
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Send a Problem

Try to solve a problem as a group, and then pass the
problem and solution to a nearby group who does thesame; the final group evaluates the solutions

Case Studies

Review a written study of a real world scenario anddevelop a solution to the dilemma presented in the case

Structured Problem
Solving
Analytic Teams

Follow a structured format to solve problems
Assume roles and specific tasks when critically reading an
assignment, listening to a lecture, or watching a video.

Group Investigation

Plan, conduct, and report on in-depth research project

Affinity Grouping

Generate ideas, identify common themes, and then sort andorganize the ideas accordinglyGroup Grid

Are given pieces of information and asked to place them inthe blank cells of a grid according to category rubrics

Team Matrix

Discriminate between similar concepts by noticing andmarking on a chart the presence or absence of important,defining features

Sequence Chains

Analyze and depict graphically a series of events, actions,roles, or decisions

Word Webs

Generate a list of related ideas and then organize them in agraphic. Identifying relationships by drawing lines orarrows to represent the connections

Dialogue Journals

Record their thoughts in a journal that they exchange withpeers for comments and questions

Round Table
Dyadic Essays

Take turns responding to a prompt by writing one or twowords, phrases, or sentences before passing the paper along
to others who do the same
Write essay questions and model answers for each other,exchange questions, and after responding, compare theiranswers to the model answer
Critically review and provide editorial feedback on a peer’s
essay, report, argument, research paper, or other writing

Peer Editing
Collaborative Writing

Write a formal paper together

Team Anthology

Develop a compilation of course-related reading withstudent reaction to the material

Paper Seminar

Write and then present an original paper, receive formal
feedback from selected peers, and engage in a general
discussion of the issues in the paper with the entire group

Q6-1. Do you agree with the implementation of Active Learning (AL) in English
classes? Please select the answer that best represents your opinion.
Agree

Somewhat agree

Somewhat disagree

DisagreeQ6-2. Please tell us your reason for Q6-1.
Q7. Please tell us your experience regarding the implementation of Active Learning(AL) in English classes. In conducting AL-based instruction, have you encounteredany difficulties or challenges that are unique to English subjects? If you have any,
please share your experience here. What kinds of difficulties or challenges have you
experienced in implementing AL in teaching English?

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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17H07248.
The author also wishes to express her deep gratitude to the teachers who kindly
participated in the survey.

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The Efficacy and Implementation of the ESP Approach:
Assessment of ESP Textbook for Physical Therapy
Minako Inoue, Health Science University, Japan
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Abstract
In response to university reform movement in 1991, in which deregulation of the
University Establishment Standards is executed, a popular practice in many Japanese
universities has been to design and implement English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
programs. One of the difficulties encountered in doing this is finding appropriate ESP
textbooks. The purposes of this study include introducing our university original ESP
textbook for Physical Therapy (PT) and revealing students’ perceptions of therelationship between English learning and the textbook. Data include descriptions of
the textbooks and the results of a questionnaire survey in which 108 PT majors
participated. Survey data were stored in SPSS software and analyzed throughdescriptive and inferential approaches. The data seem to justify the efficacy of the
ESP textbook for current English language instruction. However, although the
textbook writers carefully chose topics that they believed would be interesting forstudents and match the needs of the field as well as the course goals, the study foundthat the writers’ beliefs do not always match with students’ interests. For example,
some students labeled certain topics as very boring. The study suggests that topics
need to be carefully examined and selected for the next textbook revision. The
contents in the textbook are modified and revised every year so that it becomespractical and updated. In order to motivate students, their needs and interests should
be taken into account. Moreover, collaboration between faculty in the related field andlanguage teachers is a key for improving the ESP textbook.
Keywords: ESP approach, ESP textbooks, physical therapy, students’ perceptions

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Introduction
English for Specific Purpose (ESP) is an approach used for teaching English oriented
for specific purposes in specific fields. ESP is designed to help learners masterrelevant vocabularies, expressions, and other communication requirements needed in
specific fields so that they can gain relevant communication skills and function wellin those fields. It has gained interest due to globalization. In Japan, the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology of Japan (MEXT), has beenworking on enhancing English education throughout its educational system toimprove Japan’s competitiveness in the global business market as well as prepare forthe upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At the tertiary level, MEXT has been focused onliberalization, deregulation, and increased institutional autonomy since the reform in
1991, in which MEXT executed deregulation of the University Establishment
Standards. The shrinking number of applicants has led to many universities lowering
entry standards. These universities have to deal with a variety of students in terms of
their English proficiency, motivation, and future goals and occupational fields. In suchsituations, new methods and materials for teaching English have been sought, and
ESP is believed to be beneficial and useful for students and their futures. It is also
considered as a good strategy to prove institutional productivity and efficacy.
Currently, a growing number of universities are implementing ESP in their curriculum
to prepare students to function well in their future occupational fields as well as in the
global society.
Problem Statement
Having appropriate materials is crucial to leading a successful ESP program. One ofdifficulties in designing and implementing an ESP program is to find appropriate ESP
textbooks. ESP textbooks should be matched with students’ language proficiency
levels and their knowledge in the specialized field along with authentic and updated
materials. In many cases, the ESP instructors responsible for the decision making on
the materials actually have limited content knowledge or experience in the specificfields. In such cases, commercially available textbooks are helpful; in a few cases,
universities create their own original ESP textbooks on which language experts andexperts in the fields collaborate.
Significance of the study
Although the ESP approach is beneficial and useful, few appropriate ESP textbooks
are available in rehabilitation fields. In such a situation, our university created English
textbooks with a collaboration of English teachers, subject teachers, office workers,
and students in 2008. There are four types of textbooks: English I textbooks target thefirst year students majoring in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and welfare,and psychology. The English II textbooks target the second year students, and they are
major-specific textbooks with three versions for Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational
Therapy (OT), and Welfare and Psychology (WP) majors.
The current study evaluates the ESP approach by studying its implementation in a PT
course through the introduction of our original ESP textbook. It also intends to reveal
students’ perceptions on the textbook and instructions. The textbook is revised every
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systematic review of the textbook has been performed only once, the year after the
first textbook was published. According to the results of the placement tests, theEnglish proficiency level of students has been steadily decreasing, mainly due to thedecrease in applicants. In order to respond to such a situation, a need-analysis
regarding the textbook and instruction is necessary. Analysis of students’ learning andperceptions could provide useful guidelines for examining whether the textbook andinstruction match with students’ needs as well measuring attainment the textbook’s
aims. Since a few university produced original ESP textbook for physical therapy
major are available for review, this research will hopefully provide a stepping-stone
for those planning to create or review ESP textbooks in similar fields.
The purposes of this study
The target university has provided content-based instruction using original ESP
textbooks for the past ten years. During this time, the university has observed theissues related to students’ decreasing levels of English proficiency. Thus, it is urgent
to review the current English curriculum, including instruction and the textbook. This
study examines whether the aims and the contents of the textbook and instruction
would meet the aims of an English curriculum as well as students’ needs and interestsin this context. Ultimately, this study would provide a reassuring guide to improving
not only our program but also other programs in similar fields.
To achieve the above stated purpose, the following two objectives were formulated.
The study set out to
1. Obtain information on students’ perception and attitudes toward English learningand ESP; and2. Obtain information on students’ perceptions of the textbook and current English
instruction
Research design
To achieve two objectives, the questionnaire consisted of four multiple-choicequestions and 11 Likert-scale questions. Open-ended questions were included at theend of the questionnaire to obtain individual opinions and suggestions for the
textbook and English classes (A copy of the questionnaire is available on request).
The questionnaire was completed in class. The purpose of the study, students’
confidentiality, and the right to accept or refuse participation were explained.
Participants were also advised that responses would be anonymous and would not
influence their grades. The data were stored in SPSS software for descriptive
approaches, including rank/order, numerical interpretation, distribution, and frequency.
At the same time, correlational analysis was employed to assess the relationshipamong variables.
Participants
The participants were 108 second-year students majoring in PT, including 79 males
and 29 females.

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English curriculum
English instruction at our university has followed the principles of Content Based
Instruction (CBI) and English for Specific Purpose (ESP), using the original ESP
textbook in an effort to improve students’ practical English skills as well as theirmotivation. Almost all contents are written in English although the index page at theend contains Japanese translations.
English II-1 and II-2 are required courses for second-year students in the Health
Science Department. There are 5 classes for English II, including two PT majorclasses, two OT major classes, and one WP major class. Classes consist of mixed
proficiency level students. Each PT class has approximately 55 students. These
classes use ERP specific major textbooks for PT, OT, and WP.
The aims of English II textbooks are to help students build basic communication
skills; to improve other language skills needed in the field; and to broaden theirknowledge of the terms, phrases, and expressions in the specific fields. Materials havebeen developed through the coordinated efforts of professionals in the areas of OT, PT,social welfare, psychology, and basic medicine. In this process, English instructors
discuss with the instructors or professionals in the field to refine the content. Somematerials are chosen from news and scientific journals, government organizations
including World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN), and broadcasters
such as CNN, BBC. Dialogues are suggested by professors from the major fields.
Three ERP Part 2 textbooks include the same first three units as a common section for
all majors, covering current topics in basic medicine and rehabilitation. The common
units deal with major specific topics.
Contents of the textbook:
Units for Current Topics in Rehabilitation
Unit 1 Regenerative medicine & Rehabilitation
Unit 2 Brain & Its function
Unit 3 International Classification of Functioning (ICF), Disability &HealthUnits for Physical Therapy
Unit 1 Stroke
Unit 2 Osteoarthritis
Unit 3 Parkinson’s disease
Unit 4 Spinal Cord Injury
Unit 5 Diabetes
Unit 6 Lower Back Pain
Appendix
1. Medical terminology (Muscles)
2. Glossary
3. Physical therapy
The CD used for the listening portion of each lesson was recorded by native speakers.
Format of each lesson: Every textbook lesson is described in the unified format (1 and
2) and similar format (3 to 7) as follows.
1. Study Goals: Each lesson indicates study goals in terms of content, grammar,

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terms/expressions, and skills and activities.
2. Key terms: Vocabulary lists which are the form of the quiz in which students
required to match English and Japanese.
3. Pre-reading activity, Reading, and reading comprehension
4. Listening and listening comprehension
5. Grammar
6. Terminology (prefix, root, suffix for medical terms)
7. Expressions related to physical therapy
e.g., Body position, action, and instructions
Giving advice
Joint movement words
Range of motions
Anatomical terns and directions
Praise and encouragement words
Use of assistive devices
Adverbs of frequency
Muscles, bones, organs
Pains
Dialogues with patients
Additional contents: The followed contents are added and handouts are prepared.
Case studies (Sports injury and Physical Therapy)
Paragraph writing (Instruction for body movement)
Quizzes and final examinations
After each unit, students take a quiz. A study guide is prepared for the final
examinations, which are administered at the end of each semester.
Grading systemStudents are graded by the scores of the final examination (40%), quizzes (50%)and
writing assignment (10%).
Conclusions
Findings
The results of the study address the two objectives of determining (1) students’perspectives of English skills and (2) students’ perceptions of the textbook.
1. Students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward English learning and ESP
Perception of English skills
The following graph shows students’ perception on the most difficult skills and skills
students most want to improve. The number on the top of each bar shows percentagesof the whole.

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Graph 1 Difficult Skills and Skills to Improve
As indicated in the above graph (Graph 1), about one-third (31.4%) of students feelgrammar is the most difficult skill, followed by listening (29.4%). Only 2% students
claim reading skills as the most difficult one. Regarding skills that students want toimprove, 49% of students want to improve their speaking skills the most, followed bylistening (22.5%). The lowest responses were for reading skills (2%).
The following graph shows students’ perceptions of improved skills, in response to aquestion asking which English skills improved through the year. Multiple answers
were allowed for this question.

Graph 2 Improved Skills
All students responded that their English skills had improved after completing English
As indicated in Graph 2, about a quarter of the students believed their speaking skills
and grammar knowledge had improved over the year, followed by listening skills(22.6%). On the other hand, fewer students (16.6％) reported that their vocabulary
had improved.
Attitudes and perception toward English and English learning
Graph 3 reveals students’ thoughts regarding the necessity of English learning, ESP,
and English for future.

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Graph 3 Students’ Perceptions of English Learning
As indicated in Graph 3, more than half of the students believe that studying English
is necessary (39.2% necessary; 21.6% very much necessary), that ESP is necessary(49% necessary; 18.6% very much necessary), and that English is necessary for their
futures (32.4% necessary; 21.6% very much necessary).
2. Students’ perceptions of the textbook and instruction
Textbook
The ERP Part II is primarily written in English. Students were asked to judge theprimarily English-language textbook. The graph below shows the result.

Graph 4 Students’ Opinions of English-Language Textbook
As indicated in Graph 4, 18.7% students are not in favor of the textbook written in
English.
The graph below shows students’ perceptions of the content of the textbook in termsof difficulty.

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Graph 5 Students’ Perceptions of Textbook difficulty Levels
As the above graph indicates (Graph 5), 16.6% (13.7% agree; 2.9% strongly agree),
students feel the textbook is too difficult, and 11.8% (6.9% agree; 4.9% strongly
agree) believe it is too easy.
The following graph shows how students’ feel regarding the usefulness of the
textbook.

Graph 6 Student’s Perceptions of Textbook Usefulness
As indicated in Graph 6, 52.9% (30.4% agree; 22.5% strongly agree) of the students
reported that the textbook content is useful for their future.
The topics covered include Regenerative Medicine; International Classification of
Functioning, Health, and Disability (ICF); Stroke; Osteoarthritis; Parkinson's disease;
Spinal cord injury; Diabetes; Physical therapist; and Case studies.
The following graph shows students’ responses on interesting, boring, and difficult
topics.

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Graph 7 Students’ Perspectives on Textbook Topics
As Graph 7 shows, 25.5.1% of the students are interested in the topic of spinal cord
injury, followed by physical therapist (23.5%). The topics judged as “boring” include
Case study (28.4%) and Regenerative Medicine (10.8%). The students reported thatthe most difficult topic was Spinal cord injury (19.6%), followed by ICF (14.7%).
The following table shows the correlational analysis among variables (interesting,boring, and difficult topics).
Table 1 Correlational Analysis of Topics
Interesting
Interesting
BoringPearson’s correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
Pearson’s correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)

1
-.135
.203

Boring
-.135
.203
1

Difficult
.047
.647
.096
.365

Pearson’s correlation analysis confirmed there are no significant correlations among
the three variables as indicated in Table 3.
Instruction
The following graph shows how students feel about the level difficulty of instruction.

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Graph 8 Students’ Opinions on Instruction Difficulty
As is shown in Graph 8, 11.7% of students (7.8% agree; 3.9% strongly agree) believe
instruction is too easy, and 13.7% (10.8% agree; 2.9% strongly agree) perceive thatthe instruction is too difficult.
The next graph indicates how students view English as a Medium of Instruction(EMI).

Graph 9 Students’ Perceptions of EMI
In terms of EMI, about half of the students (26.5% strongly disagree, 23.5% disagree)
disagree with using this method.
English class involves a variety of activities for students to work in pairs or groups.
Students were asked how they feel about such group or pair work.

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Graph 10 Students’ Perceptions of Group/ Pair WorkThe results in Graph 10 indicate that approximately one third of students do not likegroup work.
Discussion and Implications
The study reveals that very few students believe the textbook or instruction is too
difficult or too easy, which appears to confirm that the difficulty level is appropriate
for the participants. When students were asked what skills they find difficult, the mostfrequent answer was grammar. However, only a few students want to improve thisgrammar skill. Instead, they want to improve listening and speaking skills, which areconsidered to be comprehension and self-expression abilities in communication. The
research found that all students who responded reported that their English skills have
improved since taking English II. During class, active learning strategies, which
include grouped or paired student activities, are implemented. Students work together
for comprehending reading materials, for listening tasks, or when engaging in practice
conversation. Such engagement in various activities may lead to improved skills.
However, compared to other skills, fewer responses pointed to vocabulary knowledge
as an improved skill. Vocabulary knowledge is essential for the ESP approach. It isbelieved that with knowledge of vocabulary, comprehension, and expression abilities
can be possible. Therefore, consideration of activities for vocabulary and grammar
improvement in the textbook and instructional activities seems necessary.
As discussed above, almost all contents of the textbook are written in English, and thestudy found the majority of students favor this. Occasionally instructors use only
English, and students do not like such approaches. As with ESP, EMI also is popular
in higher education in Japan. However, if the students’ level of English proficiency or
knowledge of the specified field is insufficient, the effectiveness of EMI remains aquestion. The results of our study show students have reluctant attitudes toward EMI
despite their positive attitudes toward the textbook written in English. This reluctance
together with their relatively lower English proficiency may influence theirmotivation for learning. Therefore, at least at this time, it seems that the safer choice
is not to introduce EMI in our university.
Regarding activities for students working in pairs or small groups, some students

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report reluctance to cooperate and depend on other students. According to our data forthe placement tests and final examinations, there is a huge gap between the highest
and the lowest scores, and students with lower scores tend to show low motivation insuch group activities. In such mixed-ability classes, there are students with different
proficiency levels, learning styles, and motivational levels. In order to respond suchdifferences, active learning practices, in which students participate in various types ofactivities, have been facilitated. However, it is not easy to have all students actively
participate in all of the activities. Designing other activities, such as engaging inresearch, discussion, or peer feedback, can improve the outcomes for greater numbersof students. Even low-stake activities may be added so that students have more
opportunities to find suitable ways to participate in activities. Moreover, introducing alearning log, in which students record their learning and reflections, might help
students to become responsible for their learning and hopefully becoming independent,
active learners.
In terms of the topics of the university’s original textbook, spinal cord injury is
perceived as the most difficult topic, but students are interested in this topic the most.
Students are also interested in the topic of physical therapists that teaches about PT
jobs, procedures of support, and uses of orthosis. Meanwhile, the students claimed
that the most boring topic was the case study, which describes the cases of athletes
and their injuries in relation to PT. Such results seem to provide a warning for
textbook writers. Our language instructors and specialists in the field carefully chose
topics that are interesting and that match with needs of the fields as well as with thecourse goals. However, the study found mismatches of writers’ intentions andstudents’ interests despite the fact that many students wish to learn ESP. Selecting
topics only from the view of practitioners may be biased or may not meet the needs
and interests of the students. For the next revision of the textbook, taking into
consideration the topics that match with students’ needs and interests is necessary.
Feedback from the students and discussion with the specialists may help solving thisissue. At the same time, keeping an eye on current news and conducting genre
analysis related to the discipline can help with finding up-to-date materials that take
into consideration students’ levels of language proficiency, knowledge in the field,
and interests.
Limitation and implication of further study
The sample size of this study was 108 PT students, which may be considered as small.
At the same time, the deviation value of the university is the lower rank and, thus,
students’ English proficiency levels are relatively low. Such conditions makegeneralization of the study results difficult. However, it has been reported that cases
related to ESP for physical therapy are rarely reported. Therefore, it is hoped that thedata stemming from this study will be able to add data for research on the ESP
approach and textbooks for physical therapy.
Another limitation of this study is an evaluation method. The study evaluated the
textbook and instruction through the students’ perception. The methodologicaltriangulation, employing surveys on instructors, conducting interviews, and using
evaluation models or criteria can be suggested for the further study. Such an approachis believed to view curriculum from different angles and therefore to enhance thevalidity of the study.

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Contact email: minoue@kenkoudai.ac.jp

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Developing and Creating Multimedia for Learning Values of Thai Literature1
Kittipong Phumpuang, Naresuan University, Thailand
Patcharin Buranakorn, Huachiewchalermprakiat University, Thailand
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Abstract
This qualitative research aimed to creating efficient multimedia for learning values ofThai literature and producing it as an innovative media. Processes of developing therequired media resulted from discussions of five scholars analyzing and sorting out
effective ways of making the multimedia. Findings of the research were concluded asthese: 1) contents of the media should focus on stories and values of the literature; and2) storyboards showed clear details of the contents and emphasized on three main
values of Thai literature, including aesthetic and social aspects and the moral. Sixclassical Thai literature selected for creating multimedia were: Niras Phukaotong; Pra
Apaimanee; Lilit Talengpai; Mathana Phatha; Khunchang Khunpan; and Sam Kokh.
Processes of developing the multimedia were: 1) writing scripts and drawing
storyboards; 2) storyboards were checked by scholars; 3) reviewing storyboards; 4)
discussions between content writers and media producers; 5) gathering of resources
for media production, including drawing characters; video filming; games designing;
animation cartoon making; graphic designing; collecting of related motion pictures,state performances, and television dramas for parts supporting; and sound making,including narrations, conversations, and prose and poetry chanting; 6) multimedia
production of the six classical Thai literature; 7) reviewing of the multimedia byscholars; and 8) revising of the multimedia and the completion media as teachingmaterials for schools and universities.
Key words: developing; multimedia creating; learning values of Thai literature

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This research was funded by The Thailand Research Fund (TRF), year 2013.

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Introduction
The general challenge of teaching literature is the dried teaching method which
creates boring learning. The teacher focuses on “story reading” by only memorizing
the content according to the course. The learner thinks that the reading story is absurd
and outdated and the learner has the bad attitude toward literature study. In addition,
the teacher becomes guide leading to limitation or blockage of learner’s judgement.
(Praphasri Seehaumphai.2007:35) The teachers trend to create learners’ stress anddifficulty of literature reading. The teachers teach the learner to learn by heart aboutlife and realize about nation’s culture and society. So after learning the literature, thelearner should be able to adapt the knowledge and idea to their daily life. This
teaching method is against the objectives and intention of the program which specify
within Thai learning group because instead of loving the literature, the learner hates it.
This is the crisis of teaching Thai literature which is struggling in the today society.
(Phannarong Rattanachai. 2012:96-98)
As mentioned problem of teaching literature, if teacher ignore problem solving and let
the literature more difficult and apart from new generation, the literature becomes thewell-kept antiques only representing the flourish of language culture in the past
without studying gratefully and seriously. So sorting out the efficient teachingstrategy is the importation and urgent mission challenging all level of literatureteachers.
National Education Act of B.E. 2542 (1999), section 4, code 22-23 and section 9 code
63-64 set the guideline of education management and technology that emphasizes theimportance of developing teaching media and learning resources in order to improve
the quality of learners and teachers (Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Development, Ministry of Education. 2001: 99) To organize teaching with a variety oflearning methods supports the learners to use the resources and medias as self-study
and be able to link their knowledge systematically. Using the learning media that is
appropriated to the learner’s capability and interest enhance the learner’s competency
and success in learning. Therefore, it is necessary to use the media in Thai learninggroup.
In the modern information technology society where the advanced knowledge, andcommunication technology are unlimited. The technology is the key component thathelps the learner learn and improve by using the learning media and various
resources. The Master plan for information technology and communication for
Ministry of Education 2011 – 2013 defines the second strategy to support the teachingwith information and communication technologies to enhance the efficiency of
education in Thailand. There are 4 measures that apply ICT in teaching in order toachieve the mentioned strategy which are 1) Improve the teaching format/methods inevery level to apply ICT as the important component in teaching 2) Increase thequantity and quality of the learners to have higher ICT skills 3) promote the educationin all levels applying ICT as teaching tools 4) develop the teaching media and contend
in term of quantity and quality. (Information and Communication Technology Center,
Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education. 2010: online)
To organize the Thai teaching activities in accordance to its master plan, it isnecessary to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and educational

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technology to support Thai education management. Information Technology andCommunication (ICT) is comprised of key technologies such as computer technology
and communication technology. It can be applied in a variety of teaching and learning
styles, such as Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), Web Based Instruction (WBI),
learning through electronic and Internet (e-learning), called as e-Learning (Electronic
Learning) and Mobile Learning (m-Learning), etc.
The use of information technology in teaching and learning is applied in various
forms according to the suitability of each subject. The popular technology in teaching
and learning is multimedia which use computers and the software programs to convey
the message through variety of multimedia such as colorful text, graphics, animation,
audio and video. When the user is able to control the media to present as desired, thissystem is called multimedia interaction. With the multimedia interaction, the user isable to manage through keyboard, mouse, pointer, etc.
(Palin Piriyasurawong. 1999: 12) So the lesson in multimedia combines the multiple
Medias to present various information including text, still images, animations,narratives, and music with interaction which make the lesson presented through themultimedia more livelily.
The lessons through multimedia is considered as one of important media because thelearners are able to interact and respond immediately. The multimedia presented withmotion, voice and illustration motivates the learning and more interest in lesson
content. Therefore, the learners achieve the targeted learning objective. Anotheradvantage of the lesson presented through multimedia is that it can be applied toanyone. Some lessons are created to interact with different level of the learners
because the lesson through multimedia focuses on self-study and the learners have to
use their on ability to understand the lessons. Therefore, designing the lesson in
multimedia is so important that the producer has to design according to content andlearning objectives. Thai literature learning has various content and aims to stimulate
the reader to appreciate the value of Thai literature on human life as aesthetic, social
aspect and the morals. So if the subject of Thai literature learning is developed as alesson through multimedia, these lessons will deeply affect Thai literature learning. In
addition, they can motivate the learner to become more aware of the value of Thai
literature on human life in three aspects efficiently.
Based on mentioned importance of this, the researcher develops the learning values ofThai literature through multimedia in order to sort out how to manage Thai learning
literature to provoke more interest in learning values of Thai literature according to its
objective. This study is to find out how to develop the learning values of Thai
literature through multimedia according to its learner’s requirement in order tosupport their learning value of Thai literature profoundly.
In addition, the research will find out how the development of the learning values ofThai literature through multimedia effect to Thai literature’s learners.

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Objectives
To sort out how to create the learning values of Thai literature through multimedia
To develop and produce the multimedia for the learning values of Thai literature
Population and Sample
1. Population and sample for objective 1
1.1 Population is the scholars in teaching Thai literature in university education
holding the academic position of assistance professor or higher level and Ph.D.
1.2 Sample consists of five scholars in teaching Thai literature in different universities
holding the academic position of assistant professor or higher level and Ph.D.
2. Population and sample for objective 2
2.1 Population is the scholars in educational technology in university education
holding the academic position of assistance professor or higher level and Ph.D.
2.2 Sample consists of three scholars in teaching Thai literature in different
universities holding the academic position of assistant professor or higher level andPh.D.
Research Tools
Questions used in the discussion of the scholar to brainstorm the opinion on thedevelopment of learning values of Thai literature through multimedia in 8 topics.
Assessment of the multimedia’s storyboard for learning values of Thai literature
Assessment of the multimedia for learning values of Thai literature
Research Processes
1) Step 1 (to reflect objective 1)
The research organizes the group discussion among the scholars regarding to thedevelopment of learning values of Thai literature through multimedia to provoke thelearner’s interest to be capable to learn the literature’s philosophies and values
profoundly. There are three group discussions among scholars and taking six hours
per time in following topics:
First Discussion: the scholars discuss on the challenges in teaching Thai literatureaccording to the survey in step 1 to conclude the solution in Thai literature teaching
Second Discussion: the scholars select 6 Thai literatures and discuss on their values
which must be taught to learners in order to create truly the learning values of Thai
literature.
Third Discussion: the scholars discuss on 6 literatures to sort out the development oflearning values of Thai literature through multimedia. The scholars present key
content and multimedia presentation strategy.

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2) Step 2 (to reflect objective 2)
2.1 The researcher creates the storyboard multimedia for learning values of Thai
literature according to the guideline of the development of learning values of Thai
literature through multimedia.
2.2 The researcher presents the storyboard of learning values of Thai literature to thescholars’ consideration, recommendation and quality assessment.
2.3 The researcher corrects the storyboard of learning values of Thai literatureaccording to the scholars’ recommendation until completion.
2.4 The Researcher produces the multimedia for learning values of Thai literatureaccording to the storyboard.
2.5 The researcher presents the multimedia for learning values of Thai literature to thescholars for their consideration, recommendation and quality assessment.
2.6 The researcher corrects the multimedia for learning values of Thai literatureaccording to the scholars’ recommendation until completion and readiness to apply toThai literature teaching classes.
Research Results
1. Guideline for managing the learning values of Thai literature through multimedia
The researcher invites five scholars in teaching Thai literature to the group discussion:
Assoc. Prof. Maneepin Phromsuthirak, Ph.D, retired, Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn
University
Assoc. Prof. Thida Mosikrat, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Huachiem Chalermprakiet
University
Assoc. Prof. Somporn Ruamsuk, Faculty of Education, Silapakorn University
Assist. Prof. Somkiat Khuthaweekul, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot
University
Assist. Prof. Mookda Liplap, Faculty of Humanities, Phranakorn Rajabhat University
The researcher organizes the three group discussions among scholars to brainstorm on
the development the learning values of Thai literature through multimedia by setting 8
discussion topics according to approved tools.
The results of the discussion were as follows. The scholars recommended thatliterature study’s important values were aesthetic value. The aesthetics in literature is
the presentation and use of the language. In tern of language usage, the researcher has
to make the learner understand the meaning and be able to select the right word forexample; ant represents the diligence, etc. For Social and cultures, the researcher has
to find how to focus on the content, life experience in literature which the learners areable to apply to their daily life. Lastly, the scholars questioned about the morals if
there is any life experience in literature which is applicable.
To select the content for multimedia, it has to cut some or add some for the benefit of
the most learner. In the storyboard, the content should consist of narrative, analysis,
synthesis of the exercise. The content should have sample and stimulation bylanguage usage for example, questioning, using references to present the values. In
Vessantara Jataka, the student told that Vessantara was the bad father because thelearner did not understand the key message of this story. The teacher could change byreferring the poem to explain or raising the questions by correct guideline of thecorrect answer but not to block their idea. To create the content, the researcher has to

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think of the values of each story and how it can be introduced. The teacher is able toanalyze, guide and use the word to present how important story and character are.
Producing the multimedia must support the learner to see the values and the teacher
must tell the students by giving example. It can combine the existing dramas and thenmake as the comic. The multimedia about the literature should promote self-study.
The multimedia should attract the learner to follow maybe by using game in different
challenge to introducing the story. As children like comics, the comic charactersshould present the values in the multimedia. The researcher must think which values
and how to introduce the values according to literature.
To produce the multimedia, there are teaching tools, narration, game to analyze,
different format in the stories to introduce the morals. In addition, it should include
analysis and synthesis in different aspects. The multimedia can also be in mind
mapping format to teach the learner in memorizing and thinking systematically. The
content is the summarized story with colorful picture that allow the learner to thinksystematically with mind mapping. The children has the liberty to think in filling
word. They will answer broadly what the value of the literature are. There arestimulator and leader. Two Medias used in teaching are 1) illustration presenting theinteresting narration, 2) introducing the content by characters or comic, conversation
should be short.
The Cognitive Domain should be measured by examination, exercise, project and theAffective Domain should be measure by observation such as reading manner,listening and watching manner. It should measure the content from the media by
asking the learners how they like the selected stories and if the stories are useful and if
the learner get any values from the stories.
In conclusion, producing the multimedia for Thai literature should begin fromselecting the stories suitable for learners and course, then creating the storyboard. The
content of literature remains in communicate the aesthetic, social and moral aspects as
per each literature’s content.
According to the scholars’ recommendation, it have to focus on thinking skill of thelearner. The success factor in multimedia for Thai literature is that the multimedia
making the Thai literature lively on computer due to its modern technology and being
right to the learner’s interest.
The scholars has selected 6 literatures to be produced in multimedia as follows:
1) 2 stories for Middle School level: Niras Phukaotong and Pra Apaimanee2) 2 stories for High School level: Lilit Talengpai and Mathana Phatha
3) 2 stories for University level: Khunchang Khunpan and Sangthong
The Scholar committee recommended that creating the multimedia should be done inaccordance of time. During teaching, there is the teaching plan with rough topics andcontent. For convenience of making the storyboard, the content, activities and literary
should be divided as chapters. Medias and activities should be related to the content
and set objectives. To create the multimedia for six Thai literatures should present
content, characters (if any), aesthetic, social and moral aspects and these three values
should be measurable.

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2. Developing and creating the multimedia for learning values of Thai literatures
2.1 Developing and creating the storyboard of multimedia for learning values of Thai
literatures
2.1.1 The researcher uses the development guideline of the learning values of Thai
literature through multimedia to create the storyboard of 6 literatures by meeting with
3 storyboard writers (2 stories each). The storyboard writers are the expert withexperiences in teaching Thai and educational technology.
2.1.2 The researcher presents the storyboard of multimedia for learning values of six
Thai literatures to three scholars for recommendation and quality assessment.
The result of the quality assessment of the storyboard of multimedia for learning
values of Thai literatures finds that:
Assessment Description

St St St St St St Averor or or or or or age
y1 y2 y3 y4 y5 y6

1. Content
1. Analysis of the content from Thai
literatures
1.2 Presentation of the concept and content ofThai literatures
1.3 Presentation of the storyline interrelated
throughout the story
1.4 Presentation of three values in Thai
literatures.
2. Use of Language
2.1 Use language following Thai language
principle
2.2 Use the polite language according tolanguage level used in mass media
2.3 Use the modern and interesting writing
strategy in description and conversation.
3. Presentation Technique
3.1 Design of angle, shooting technique andfilm locations
3.2 Design of narrative sound, interview andbackground music
3.3 Creativity, fresh idea, beautiful andadaptation in filming
Average in all areas

4.6
7
4.6
7
4.6
7
4.3
3

4.6
7
4.3
3
4.3
3
4.3
3

4.6
7
4.6
7
4.3
3
4.3
3

5.0
0
4.6
7
5.0
0
4.6
7

4.3
3
4.3
3
4.3
3
4.3
3

4.6
7
4.3
3
4.6
7
4.6
7

4.0
0
4.0
0
4.6
7

4.3
3
4.6
7
4.3
3

4.6
7
4.6
7
4.3
3

4.3
3
4.6
7
4.6
7

4.6
7
4.6
7
4.6
7

4.6
7
4.45
4.6
7
4.56
4.3
3
4.50

4.6
7
4.6
7
4.6
7
4.5
0

4.3
3
4.6
7
4.6
7
4.4
7

4.6
7
5.0
0
5.0
0
4.6
3

4.3
3
4.6
7
4.6
7
4.6
7

4.0
0
4.3
3
4.0
0
4.3
7

4.3
3
5.0
0
5.0
0
4.6
3

4.67
4.50
4.56
4.44

4.39
4.72
4.67
4.55

2.1.3 The researcher corrects the multimedia for learning values of Thai literatures
according to the scholars’ guideline until completion

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2.1.4 The researcher produces the multimedia for learning values of Thai literature bymeeting on its content with Development and production of multimedia in order tocollect the resource to create resource for the multimedia for learning values of six
Thai literature. The details of the implementation of multimedia for each story as
follows:
1) The format and production techniques of multimedia for 6 Thai literatures
1.1) Niras Phukaotong
Niras Phukaotong is presented in text, graphic, animation, photos, motion pictures,video, recorded rhythm narration, recorded narration, recorded background sound by
visual and audio computer program such as Photoshop, video editor program, mixed
sound program and animation creator program, etc. Then, it processes the multimedia
with flash animation and the interaction creator program to present the story and thecontent of the itinerary according to Niras Phukaotong such as create the map on
multimedia from Bangkok to Ayutthaya by Chao Phraya river and create matchinggames for exercises, etc.
1.2) Pra Apaimanee
Pra Apaimanee is presented in text, graphic, animation, photos, motion pictures,video, recorded rhythm narration, recorded narration, recorded background sound by
visual and audio computer program such as Photoshop, video editor program, mixed
sound program and animation creator program, etc. Then, it processes the multimedia
with flash animation and create the interaction with the lesson. Video presentation of
Phra Apaimanee is presented by the MC (Sinsamutr) at Wax museum at Nakorn
prathom province to present the story of Pra Apaimanee. Matching game also added
as exercise.
1.3) Lilit Talengpai
Lilit Talenpai is presented in text, graphic, animation, photos, motion pictures, video,
recorded rhythm narration, recorded narration, recorded background sound by visualand audio computer program such as Photoshop, video editor program, mixed soundprogram and animation creator program, etc. Then, it processes the multimedia withflash animation and create the interaction with the lesson. It includes the comic video
about Naresuan the Great (with permission of the producer) to tell the story andcontent of Lilit Talengpai. Multiple-choice exercise and a subjective exercise are also
created for Lilit Talengpai.
1.4) Mathana Phatha
Mathana Phatha is presented in text, graphic, animation, photos, motion pictures,video, recorded rhythm narration, recorded narration, recorded background sound by
visual and audio computer program such as Photoshop, video editor program, mixed
sound program and animation creator program, etc. Then, it processes the multimedia
with flash animation and create the interaction with the lesson. It include the video ofstage play “Mathana Phatha” (with permission of the producer) to present the story
and content of Mathana Phatha. Moreover; multiple-choice exercise and a subjective
exercise are also created for Lilit Talengpai.

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1.5) Khunchang Khunpan
Khunchang Khunpan is presented in text, graphic, animation, photos, motion pictures,video, recorded rhythm narration, recorded narration, recorded background sound by
visual and audio computer program such as Photoshop, video editor program, mixed
sound program and animation creator program, etc. Then, it processes the multimedia
with flash animation and create the interaction with the lesson. It includes the movie“Khun pan: Wantong was executed” (with permission from the producer). In addition,
there is the video of Khunchang khun pan’s insight by MC in Thai - central traditional
dress at Thai traditional house in Suphanburi province to present the story and content
of Khunchang Khunpan. Besides, multiple-choice exercise and a subjective exercise
are also added.
1.6) Sangtong
Sangtong is presented in text, graphic, animation, photos, motion pictures, video,
recorded rhythm narration, recorded narration, recorded background sound by visualand audio computer program such as Photoshop, video editor program, mixed soundprogram and animation creator program, etc. Then, it processes the multimedia withflash animation and create the interaction with the lesson. It also edits the comic video“Sangtong” (with permission of producer) to present the story and content of
Sangtong. In addition, multiple-choice exercise and a subjective exercise are also
included.
2) The barriers of producing the multimedia for Thai literature
2.1) To pursue the computer technicians who are able to apply the approved
storyboard and content of Thai literature in multimedia in limited time and budget. It
requires the technician who has the basic knowledge in Thai literature and education
management with assistance of the researcher and assistant researcher.
2.2) Time consumes in collecting raw material. To avoid the Intellectual Property
Violation, video, motion picture, comic and characters need to be newly made forexample; drawing characters, drawing the event in the literature, traveling to the scene
for filming. For comic videos, movie videos and background music, it requires theofficial letter to request permission of usage. Moreover; to record the narration andrhythm, the reader need to be well-trained before appointment. Raw material in each
literature is very detailed and takes a lot of time to prepare and procure. Therefore it
caused the delay than the plan.

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2.1.5 The researcher present the multimedia for learning value of Thai literature to
three scholars for consideration, recommendation and quality assessment.
The quality assessment of multimedia for the learning values of Thai literature arefollows:
Assessment Description

St St St Stor Sto St Aveor or or yry or ragey1 y2 y3 45
y6

1. Content
1.1 Multimedia content follows theacademic principles
1.2 Multimedia content follows its
objective
1.3 Multimedia content’s difficulty suitable
to media receiver
2. Language
2.1 Use language following Thai language
principle
2.2 Use polite language suitable to media
receiver3. Presentation techniques
3.1 Design is easy to understand andcommunicate to the point
3.2 There are graphic technique, size, colorand font that make the media easy to read
3.3 Quality of narrative sound, music: clear
and interesting to pursue
4. Creativity
4.1 There are creativity to make different,
beautiful and creative.
4.2 There are presentation techniques andusefulAverage in all aspects

4.6 4.3 4.3
73
3
4.3 4.64
3
7
4.6 4.6
7
7
5

4.6
7
4.6
7
4.3
3

5
4.3
3
4.6
7

4.6
7
4.61
4.3
3
4.39
4.3
3
4.61

4.6 4.3 4.3
4
73
3
4.6 4.3
4.6
4
7
3
7

4.6
7
4.3
3

4.3
3
4.39
4.3
4.39
3

4.3
3
4.6
7
4.6
7

4.3
3
4

4.3
3
4.3
5
3
4.3 4.3
3
3

4.3
3
4.3
3
4.6
7

4.6
7
4.33
4.3
4.61
3
4.6
4.61
7

4.6
7
4.6
7
4.5
0

4.6 4.3 4.6
7
37
4.3 4.353
3
4.6 4.4 4.4
3
3
7

4.3
3
4.6
7
4.5
3

4.3
3
4.50
4.6
7
4.61
4.4
7
4.51

5
5

2.1.6 The researcher corrects the multimedia for the learning value of Thai literatureaccording to the scholars’ recommendation until completion and readiness to be
implemented in teaching Thai literature to students. There are the condition to thesuccess of producing multimedia for Thai literature as follows:
1) The factor that contributed to the successful development of Thai literature were:
Multimedia is a tool making Thai literature lessons live on computer media due to its
modernization and meeting learner’s interest.
2) The factor that contributed to the successful development of Thai literature were:these tree experts have given the importance in storyboard and content of six Thai
literatures. They have reviewed and given the suggestion in details to create themultimedia that can develop the learners in aesthetics, social and morals profoundly
according to the concept of six Thai literatures.

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Result Explanation
Research result concludes that the knowledge from scholars’ brainstorming discussionis that to present Thai literature with multimedia, it should well create with modern
technology according to learner’s interest in order to communicate the knowledge inThai literature and make the learners understand and realize the values of Thai
literature in 3 aspects truly. Thai literature is Thai’s intellectual treasures which worth
to Thai youth to learn in deep the values of Thai literature by adapting the teachingaccording to learner’s date. The result form the scholars’ discussion is to create themultimedia for 6 Thai literatures, it is to present the content, characters (if any)
aesthetics, social and morals aspects and the values in three aspects in six Thai
literatures should be measured. Producing the multimedia for six Thai literatures byfocusing on Thai literature’s learning values in aesthetic, social and morals, Thaiteachers in high school and university receive teaching tools following to Thai
literature course: the students know and realize Thai literature’s values in aesthetic,
social and morals which are the key of learning Thai literature, Thai’s worthy legacy;
and being the media arousing student’s interest more in Thai literature. In tern ofmultimedia production and presentation technique, 6 multimedia Thai literatures arepresented in drawing image, drawing character, video, game, animation, motion
picture, graphic, inserting movie, play and TV drama in multimedia, using recorded
narration, conversation and rhythm reading. The research result is in line with theconcept of Sujit Peanchop and Saijai Intarumphun (1992: 230 – 238) saying that Thai
literature is Thailand’s cultural heritage. The teaching of Thai literature shouldemphasize the students appreciated in the value of literature and try to maintain thislegacy to stay forever and should use the suitable teaching materials with worth result.
In addition, it is also related to the research in applying technology in teaching Thai
literature by various scholars such as Songrit Chimmode (2010) who studied oncomparison of learning achievement by six thinking hat method and general teachingwith computer’s lesson in Samkok: Guan Yu works with Cao Cao in Matthayom 6,
Pimnicha Prommjnot (2010) studying on Lesson development in assistance ofcomputer: Thai learning group Traiphumpraruang: Manussaphum in Mattayom 6,
Piyorot Mahathunpoka (2007) researching on the development of computermultimedia lessons. "Ramayana" Thai learning group for the third level students. All
the research results showed that the students had better learning achievement and theattitude towards Thai literature improved after learning Thai literature in the form oftechnology media. It is because technology media has encouraged students moreinterested in lessons. But it is due to content of Thai literature being an inherently
valuable asset to humanity. Therefore, the introduction of Thai literature combinedwith multimedia using various technological techniques can well convey the message,
stories and values to the new generation.

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Bibliography
Department of Curriculum and Instruction Development, Ministry of Education(2001). Basic Education Curriculums 2001. Bangkok : Printing House of
Organization of Transfer Products and Packging.
Songrit Chimmode. (2010). Comparison of learning achievement by six thinking hat
method and general teaching with assistance of computer in Samkok: Guan Yu works
with Cao Cao in Matthayom 6. Thesis, Master of Education (Teaching Thai).
Nakornpathom : Graduate School Silpakorn University.
Praphasri Siha-ampai. (2007). Language Culture. Bangkok : Chulalongkorn
University.
Piyorot Mahathunpoka. (2007).Development of computer multimedia lessons.
"Ramayana" Thai learning group for the third level students. Dissertation Master of
Education (Educational technology) Bangkok: Graduate School Srinakharinwirot
University.
Phunrong Ratanachai. (2012) Problems and Suggestions for development of literatureteaching in Schools under the Office of the Secondary Education Region 16. Thesis
Master of Education. (Teaching Thai) Bangkok : Graduate School Chulalongkorn
University.
Pallop Piriyasurawong. (1999) Multimedia design and development with different
learning styles. Thesis Doctor of Education. (Educational technology) Bangkok:
Graduate School Srinakharinwirot University.
Pimnicha Prommjnot. (2010) Lesson development in assistance of computer: Thailearning group Traiphumpraruang: Manussaphum in Mattayom 6. Thesis Master of
Education (Teaching Thai) Nakornpathom : Graduate School Silpakorn University.
Information Technology and communication, Office of the Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Education. (2010) “Master Plan of Information Technology andCommunication for Education of Ministry of Education 2011 – 2013” [online] source
http://www.bict.moe.go.th/ (1 January 2013)
Sujit Peanchop and Saijai Intarumphun.(1995) Thai Teaching method in HighSchools. Second edition. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University.
Contact email: kittipongp@nu.ac.th,
patcharinburanakorn@gmail.com

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The Case Study of The Thailand Pomelo-Based Learning Model to Improve
Students' Learning Experience
Nitta Roonkaseam, Phranakhon Rajabhat University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
This research aimed to study the effect of the project-based learning (PBL) approachto students' learning experience by developing the Thailand pomelo-based learningmodel. The methodology used in this project is participatory communication.
Participants in the research process selected by using the purposive samplingtechnique consisted of three main sample groups: the academic team and the student
team from the Communication Arts program, the faculty of Management Sciences at
Phranakhon Rajabhat University, and the community team in the Rai Khing
municipality and its community philosopher. This research project can identify thepomelo-based learning model with the real pomelo fruit. The whole pomelo shows theresearch utilization of the TRF research database. The base of the pomelo in eachlayer that surrounds the fruit means engaging and supporting the allies. The pulp isdivided into circularly arranged lobes; therefore, it means that each student should be
put into small groups to produce the media based on the assigned project and to adjust
the students' roles. Finally, the stems and leaves are attached to the fruit, meaninglearning from real life in the local community context. The results showed that theThailand pomelo-based learning model helped to improve students' community media
production skills. All students in small groups can produce the media based on theassigned project in their real-life situations. Students' learning experiences andoutcomes were also enhanced through this PBL approach.
Keywords: Thailand, pomelo-based learning model, PBL

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The Thailand Research Fund (TRF) is a national organization in Thailand that has a
mission to support research that fosters knowledge, policies, and innovation anddevelops researchers, research systems, and research organizations. TRF’s primaryrole is to assist in the development of researchers and research-based knowledge
through making research grants and assisting with research management. TRF does
not itself conduct and research. The results of this research include the creation of
new academic knowledge. To make sure that knowledge is beneficial to genuine andsustainable development, the TRF has extended its focus to the management ofresearch utilization.
Communication is an essential mechanism in disseminating research results inutilizing the research of the TRF. The communication of knowledge was brought
forth from research with the Institute of Communication Arts, which was founded by
the TRF itself through a project named "Communication for the Utilization of
Research in Communities and Areas." (Eiamrerai, 2015)
This communication process is consistent with teaching in the 21st century, especiallyregarding PBL or problem-based learning. Problem-based learning (PBL) can
transform a regular classroom into a thinking classroom. It affects the development ofstudents' abilities and skills as well as the stimulation of knowledge. The researcher
found the contribution of this teaching through the research entitled "A potential
developing process of communication arts students after changing normal classroom
for thinking room" (Roonkaseam, 2014).
The study of "the case study of the Thailand pomelo-based learning model to improvestudent's learning experience" may show that all the TRF's research will be used in
the target areas and in the development of learning processes and outcomes in thefield of communication.
The phrase "pomelo-based learning" is derived from "zombie-based learning" fromthe work of Standards-based Geography Curriculum... with Zombies, initiallydesigned by David Hunter of Minnesota High School. To be able to escape thesezombies, it is necessary to use the skills of reading city plans or state maps or to haveknowledge of geography. (Zombie-Based Learning, 2018)
After reviewing the research supported by TRF, the researchers found that research on
the pomelo shows that communication will play an important role. By integrating itwith problem-based learning (PBL) in the classroom, the TRF's research results will
be disseminated in the target areas to the users for the utilization and development oflearning in the field of communication arts in the academic area. In this research,"The Case Study of the Thailand Pomelo-Based Learning Model to Improve Students'
Learning Experience," the researcher focuses on the pomelo-based learning model toteach the process of community communication.

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Objective
This research aimed to study the effect of the project-based learning (PBL) approachto students' learning experience by developing the Thailand pomelo-based learningmodel.
Research methodology
The methodology used in this project is participatory communication. Participants in
the research process were selected by using the purposive sampling technique andconsisted of three main sample groups: an academic team and a student team from thecommunication arts program, faculty of management sciences, Phranakhon Rajabhat
University, and the community team in Rai Khing municipality and the community
philosopher.
For the role of the academic team, the community team and student team are as
follows:
1. Become a research team to communicate research results.
2. Jointly develop, design, and improve research processes.
3. Create research tools and collect research data.
4. Select stakeholder groups and advocacy groups to work together.
5. Contribute to the data and review the information obtained in the research.
6. Benefit from the communication of research results.
Conclusion
The main conclusions of the research "The Case Study of the Thailand Pomelo-Based
Learning Model to Improve Students' Learning Experience" are the following:(1) Pomelo-problem based learning
Concerning the learning process in communication arts, we can use participatory
teaching methods in the target area through the "pomelo-based learning model." It is
Integrated with other subjects of the communication arts faculty at Phranakhon
Rajabhat University with the lecturers' meeting on task assignments and insertingknowledge into the goals of each subject.
The PBL starts with the introduction of integrated learning methods with the TRF's
research. Then, subjects are divided into subgroups of students for the "pomelomodel" media project.
The students must explore the problem of communities together with a media type
and the target audience of each media type. Before the production process ensues, it
must be carried out by empowering the students to be community communicators.
Then, it will go through the publishing process via the exhibition and evaluation of
the media and the teaching process.
(2) The Thailand pomelo-based learning model
Comparing the pomelo-based learning model to the real pomelo fruit is done asfollows:

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The comparison of the pomelo fruit with the use of research on the problem ofthis fruit is the basis of this research because it aims to integrate learning about
the real situation with the classroom. The results from the implementation of
the project can communicate knowledge from research. In addition to being
useful in communicating research to benefit the local community, it also
affects the students in the field of communication studies.

•

The peel in each layer means to mobilize, engage, and support allies. The
model is relevant and linked to a wide range of partners or stakeholders,
especially teachers from each related subject since the student requires all the
relevant knowledge and experience to produce media. In addition tomobilizing the participation of lecturers in each of the related subjects, it must
mobilize the participation of other sectors involved, such as the community ofthe beneficiaries of TRF research.

•

The pomelo fruit is divided into circular petals. This means that each learner isa small group in the production of media based on the assigned project and therole of the learner in learning from the real space.

Figure 1: Learning from the real space: Community lab.
Then, the process of producing the media must also be based on participatory
work and the analysis of the information, problems, and needs of the target
audience. The students have used the community diary and the community
philosophy and production calendar to collect all the information. There arevarious types of media, including infographics, books, pop-up cards, poster,
radio, and video clips. Once media has been produced, it must be disseminatedand evaluated by the target audience and must be publicly available throughonline communication channels.

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Figure 2: The student’s media production: the series of poster comment for Lineapplication.

Figure 3: The student’s media production: the story of Mr.Ubol and his pomelo.
•

The stems and leaves of the pomelo that are attached to the fruit are meant toteach about the real conditions in the local community. In this project, students
need to explore and analyze the needs of target groups and the context ofcommunity media in real situations.

Not only does learning from real contexts benefit the communication of theknowledge of TRF's research to benefit the community, but at the same time, learningand sharing of experiences in the area also leads to the self-improvement of students
and of the classroom management skills of the lecturer.
(3) The effect of project-based learning (PBL) approach on students' learning
experience
The above results suggest that the Thailand pomelo-based learning model has asignificant effect on the student. The feedback collected from students was positive,
with more knowledgeable, enjoyed learning, acquired problem-solving skills,

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communication management skills, understanding of community media production
concepts.
Suggestions
1. Future research should use experimental research to compare results between
quantitative and qualitative research.
2. It should be noted that the researcher should be very aware of what community is
involved in the learning process.
Acknowledgements
The researcher would like to thank the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) for supporting
the research budget. Also, thanks to the Faculty of Communication Arts’ lecturers andthe students who have participated in this research.

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References
Eiamrerai, T. (2015). An evaluation of becoming a local journalist through ademonstrated newspaper. Area Based Development Research Journal, 7(3), 90-105.
Roonkaseam, N. (2015). The potential development process of the students in thefield of communication by changing the classroom to the thinking room. Bangkok:
Phranakhon Rajabhat University, Thailand.
Zombie-Based Learning. (2018) Standards-based Geography Curriculum… with
Zombies!
Retrieved from http://zombiebased.com/
Contact email: ladynitta@gmail.com

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Mentorship, Global Readiness, and Student Success at South Carolina State University(SCSU): A Descriptive Study of the Emergence of the New Student Mentor
Delindus Richard Brown, South Carolina State University, United States
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Introduction
Mentorship has been viewed as a role played to advance useful advice for success to the
freshman student enrollee. It can be seen as a title that identifies a person who has shown a highcredibility of accomplishments in a highly respected place of leadership. When used as a label ortitle, the nonverbal reference of mentor given to this person is often times intended to show thatthe person is knowledgeable about forces that can impact perceived success of students in theclassroom or workplace. This reference of mentor is a word often used to convey
encouragement, regardless of its use, whether in the home, in school, in the community, or in the
global arena. Usually, the person who carries such as title is a person who has gained arecognizable image of success, especially after having been labeled as “best." (Brown)
Hypothesis
The Tenured Faculty Member and the New Student Mentor can have a positive impact on
student retention at the undergraduate level of study. The author believes that tenured associate
professors and professors can help create a new kind of student leader or reengineer the makingof what can be defined as the New Student Mentor (NSM) on the college campus. The writerbelieves that tenured associate professors and professors will be able to help the NSM create aplan of success-accomplishment for the new college enrollee. Effective interpersonalcommunication strategies and focused-groups will be used by both the tenured faculty member
and NSM. These two types of talking-skills and writing skills will be important tools in student
success. These soft skills and usage of technical skills are supported by professionals andacademic winners, especially in world of business, academia, and in all levels of American
Armed Forces.
Methodology
Feedback on research questions were collected via survey monkey (Survey Monkey, 19992018). Throughout data collection on an experimental portion of this study, the researcher andstudent experimenter for this descriptive study asked questions that elicited “pen and paper”
responses as well as survey ratings. Subjects were students either at home or housed in internshipprograms away from the campus or abroad. While not the best experimental tool for assessing
data for variability, the student researcher believed that significant percentages on researchquestions could be found using the experimental approach with data collection. Subjects wereincoming freshman and upperclassmen.
There were two separate surveys created to receive feedback; the freshmen (SCSU only) andupperclassmen had their own survey with different questions. To make the experiment moreaccurate, comparisons were made across other Historically Black College and Universities(HBCU’s).

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Results
100 percent of participation student enrollees participated in data collection. The survey
confirmed the following findings on the role of the New Student Mentor (NSM) in social,interpersonal, and group assistance to peer students on the college campus. Here are the findings.
1. Incoming freshmen showed signs of nervousness and a concern about navigation on campus.
2. Students seemed to trust a special program-setup for better campus navigation andconsultation for peer students. For example, programs similar to the Honors College (HC) and
newly established Student Admissions Ambassador Program (SAAP) were helpful in reducing
stress and cognitive dissonance for new student freshmen enrollees at South Carolina State
University.
3.The freshman believed that success would follow help and assistance given during enrollment.
4. Data showed that 93% percent of the freshmen enrollees believed comfortability and successwere enhanced by the SAPP.
5. Freshmen enrollees trust more the help of student mentors who treated them like a peer andnot like a parent.
6. Upperclassmen stated that one of their reasons for attending the college was based on theappeal of academic program and connection with student mentors.
7. Most students believed that qualities of trustworthiness, dependability, assertiveness,
communication skills, respectful, positive self-image, confidence, knowledgeable of the campus,
leadership skills, initiative, non-judgmental attitudes, patience, listener skills, and integrity offaculty were influential reasons for continuing toward the completion of academic program.
Implications for the New Student Mentor
While statistical findings were non-significant in the experimental portion of data interpretation,
researchers found that results were meaningful and could be used to implement the strategic useof the New Student Mentor (NSM) as a meaningful human catalyst in the study of retention andenrollment at the college campus. Here are the meaningful administrative projections andresearch findings.
A. NSM and tenured faculty member will be a dyad and could play formal part ofoverall plan of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).
B. NSM will be work across departments and programs, on and off campus, toachieve set objectives launched to increase the attainment of success for theundergraduate student at SCSU.
C. NSM will work in areas of academic programs that center around common
major and student programs mostly.
D. NSM will create (with advice from tenured faculty member) ways to measureprogress and process of the attainment of success. Pools of students and cohorts
may be used in data collection.
E. NSM will learn how to use the “electronic portfolio” and how to share thatknowledge with students.

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F. NSM (with recommendations and help from tenured faculty member) will use
the General Education Core (GEC) to tap a pool of students who may not havechosen a major area of study in academic programs offered at SCSU.
G. NSM will use the “survey instrument” to record the benefits of findings on
success. Item-questions will be included in the survey that can be spoken inconversation as well as recorded for meaning and measurement on paper.
H. NSM will be aware of research on success that is relevant in social, global, andspiritual communities.
I. NSM will advocate to other student-enrollees the importance of beginning andbuilding an effective business and/o academic resume.
J. NSM will learn more about CIVTAS INSPIRE—an instrument used in
predictive data analysis. NSM will be assisted by the tenured faculty member to
use this measuring tool effectively. This type of data collection might be one way
to allow the faculty and NSM to track “factors of student success.
K. NSM and the tenured faculty member will inform students about the benefitsof writing and publishing manuscripts and/or stories of success-accomplishments
while enrolled as an undergraduate student at SCSU.
L. NSM will be paid a stipend or moneys for services and data collected that showtangible accomplishments of success in the measurement of student retention andenrollment.
Conclusion
The New Student Mentor can truly help to enhance retention and success on the college campus.
By providing an expertise, stipend, and administrative understanding of the role that could beplayed by the learning and employment of student mentorship to support freshmen enrollees, the
New Student Mentor could be a key player in the growth of retention and enrollment.

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References
Brown, Delindus and Walker, Jacquelyn. Communication Skills, Student Retention, and the
QEP: A Better way to Improve Enrollment and Success at South Carolina State University,
published in ICERI Conference Proceedings, Seville, Spain, November 14-16, 2017.
Brown, Delindus. Stories of Student Learning and Academic Encouragement that Impact
Success and Retention, published in Abstract Booklet, 20th Annual Regional HBCU Summit on
Retention, Ocean City, Maryland, October 14, 2016.
Larke. A. & Larke, P. (1995). The vanishing educator. African American teacher pool is runningon empty. Vocational Educational Journal, 70(5), 38-40.
Baker, G.A. (1995, Spring). Concepts in the Administration of Adult Education: Effective
Leadership in Groups and Organizations. Raleigh NC: CAC 601 North Carolina State
University.
Survey Monkey. (1999-2018). Retrieved June 21, 2018, fromhttps://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/c9RI9qa_2FgbQcRgBocCEUUbF8JSKD2H52TlJBbuJ
IIAweobNXQDwvXu0tTqElKDS_2

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Solitude Back in Fashion: Introducing the Uses of Being Alone
Amy Lee, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
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Abstract
The state of solitude has always been associated with unusual human circumstancessuch as confinement in prison, a voluntary religious experience, or explorers chartingnew challenges in remotes lands. The contemporary global capitalist world, however,with advanced information technology and the many gadgets made available to those
who can afford them, is seen by many to have increasingly become a world whereindividuals are living in solitude among the electronic sound and fury. Our world is aworld of rising number of single-person household in major cities, increasing
ownership of mobile gadget for communication and entertainment, and ironically
escalating number of people suffering from psychological and emotional conditions.
If the state of solitude has become a norm in our world, how can we reconcile withthis condition and adapt ourselves to this new world? And is it possible to teach our
future generations how to handle this state? The presentation is a work-in-progress
report about learnings from interdisciplinary literature about solitude, and how thisstate of being can have positive “functions” in our daily life settings for leading abetter life. it is hoped that some of the insights can be developed into exercises thatcan be taught in a classroom setting.
Keywords: Uses of solitude, mindfulness, self-understanding, interpersonal
relationship, education

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Introduction
This paper is a work-in-progress report of a study which I am doing to understandmore about solitude, in particular whether solitude can help us live a better life. I can
see that some of the activities related to being alone are coming “back in fashion”,
which might suggest that more and more people are beginning to appreciate the valueof being alone. I am hoping that the findings of the study can be shared with mystudents, to help them learn more about themselves.
I will start this report with some information about how I was led to this topic. Last
year I was awarded a fellowship to sharpen my leadership skills in higher education.1
The fellowship included a semester-long stay at an Asian university to observe andlearn at first hand, which meant that for the first time in more than 15 years I did nothave to undertake any teaching for a whole semester. With more time on my hands,
and completely alone in a place which was not home, I constructed for myself a very
different daily routine. Besides my daily visits to the different administrative andacademic units at my host university, the rest of the time I was on my own. I thus
divided the time between surfing the internet for interesting things to learn, andreading books that I normally did not read when I was home preparing for classes or
writing papers.
One day I clicked into the latest clip on YouTube and it happened to be a recorded
talk given by a Hong Kong monk. In that hour-long session he was introducing his
latest project which was a collection of photos published as a book, to raise money forcharity. This monk, Venerable Chang Lin, is well recognized in Hong Kong because
he used to be a well-known professional photographer, one of the best of his
generation. His sudden renouncement of the world in 2009, giving up his very
successful business, his wife who was a popular TV artist, and his family, made quite
a few headlines then. Becoming a monk in his case does not mean hiding away andbeing detached from this world. Instead he has been very active in engaging with thelocal community through spreading the teachings of Buddha, and different kinds ofcharity work using his professional skills as a photographer and artist. In the session
I listened to, he also recounted his journey of faith, how he was led to the road of theDharma, to the point of deciding to give up all his worldly possessions including his
family.
I had never been a fan of the Venerable when he was a professional photographer, nor
had I ever tried to find out why he made the decision to practice the Dharma as amonk. But when I was alone in a foreign city, away from my family, friends andcolleagues, living in a flat where nothing belonged to me, I was in a receptive state ofmind toward this monk’s story. Therefore I watched the hour-long YouTube
recording and when finished I sought further recordings of Venerable Chang Lin’s
talks. And when I could no longer find anything from him, I started searching forsimilar kinds of talks given by other Hong Kong monastics. I ended up listening todharma talks online and reading about Buddhism every single free moment I had in
those months. I planned ahead and enrolled myself in Buddhist courses offered by aDharma hall back in Hong Kong. When the next semester began, I not only resumed
1

I was awarded a United Board Fellowship, which allowed me to be affiliated to an Asian university
for a few months to learn about management in higher education through observation and hands-on
experience.

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my teaching, but also started my new life as a part-time student of a Masters degree in
Buddhist Studies.2 I became a Buddhist and continued to learn not only the doctrines
but also the practices by participating in activities organized by a local Dharma hall.
The reason for this long personal story is to show the effect of the solitary state I wasplaced in during those months. Looking back I was very surprised by the changes thatsemester’s stay in another city had brought to me. People do change of course, but
usually we associate big changes in life with trauma. Actually many of my closest
friends were worried when I told them of the new practices in my life because they
thought my being alone during those months had adversely influenced my judgement,or something tragic had happened to me during those months. For me, it was simply
because I was alone and detached from the usual communications and engagements I
had with my family and friends. It was not tragedy that brought those changes, it wassolitude.
The purpose of this report is not to convert anyone to a particular religious faith, butrather to try to understand the original context that allows or facilitates important
decisions such as one’s faith and subsequent lifestyle. It is an interesting topic
because from my personal experience, I know that the solitary situation is an essential
factor to my change; and I am aware of some trends advocating “mindfulness” indifferent forms in our society as an “improvement” to our currently very busy,
hurried, and thus very stressful lifestyle. Here I am referring to a lot of secularized
activities being presented as beneficial to us because our participation in them
involves the cultivation of a certain mental state. Some of these activities include
calligraphy, drawing such as Zentangle, flower arrangement, tea ceremony, evencooking and more mobile activities such as dancing and of course meditation (in asecularized context). Most of these activities have a long tradition already and aretoday presented as “back in fashion”, not simply for commercial reasons, but I believe
it is because in our normal daily life the opportunity to experience an extended periodof calmness or tranquility that comes with solitude is not to be found if we do notdeliberately seek for it.
Anthony Storr wrote in his book Solitude: A Return to the Self (1988) that:
The capacity to be alone is a valuable resource when changes of mental attitude are
required. After major alterations in circumstances, fundamental reappraisal of thesignificance and meaning of existence may be needed. In a culture in whichinterpersonal relationships are generally considered to provide the answer to every
form of distress, it is sometimes difficult to persuade well-meaning helpers thatsolitude can be as therapeutic as emotional support. (Storr, 1988, p. 29)
Indeed common sense and our experience tells us that we all need different types of
support from one another, we treasure relationships and we believe that meaningfulinterpersonal relationship is much more important than possession of material objects
in contributing to a good life and happiness. There are also frequent surveys abouthappiness and their results confirm for us that those who enjoy good relationships(marital, friendship, even good working relationship) generally live longer and have a2

I enrolled as a part-time student at the Centre for Buddhist Studies, the University of Hong Kong, in
September 2017.

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stronger sense of well-being. Interpersonal relationship is a significant factor
contributing to our well-being, there is no doubt; but solitude also has anunmistakable part to play in a meaningful and happy life.
What is solitude?
A very simple definition of solitude is a state of being alone, isolated from company,
and probably disengaged from any type of communication. This description brings tomind a number of associations, some of which are not very positive. It is true that one
may think of an idyllic picture of a person enjoying a free, peaceful and fulfilling timealone in perfect beautiful nature as solitude, but it can also be a prisoner being
confined in isolation, banished from human contact and communication. To
understand the role solitude can play in a good life, it is worth trying to be a bit moredetailed in its description and to distinguish it from similar states of mind or
sentiments.
Philip Koch in his book Solitude: A Philosophical Encounter (1994) tried to come up
with a definition of solitude, by first interrogating a description of such a state. He
chose a passage from the chapter entitled “Solitude” in Henry David Thoreau (18171862)’s book Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854). The text is a reflection upon
simple living in natural surroundings. The work is described as “part personaldeclaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire,
and—to some degree—a manual for self-reliance”. The opening lines of this section,“Solitude”, reads:
This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delightthrough every pore. I go and come with a strange liberty in nature, a part of herself.
As I walk along the stony shore of the pond in my shirt sleeves, though it is cool aswell as cloudy and windy, and I see nothing special to attract me, all the elements
are unusually congenial to me. The bullfrogs trump to usher in the night, and thenote of the whippoorwill is borne on the rippling wind from over the water.
Sympathy with the fluttering alder and poplar leaves almost takes away my breath;
yet like the lake, my serenity is rippled but not ruffled. These small waves raised by
the evening wind are as remote from storm as the smooth reflecting surface.
Though it is now dark, the wind still blows and roars in the wood, the waves still
dash, and some creatures lull the rest with their notes. The repose is nevercomplete. The wildest animals do not repose, but seek their prey now; the fox, andskunk, and rabbit, now roam the fields and woods without fear. They are Nature’s
watchmen – links which connect the days of animated life. (Koch, 1994, p.13)
From this passage, he identified three features which he associated with solitude:
physical isolation, social disengagement, and reflectiveness. But at the same time hecould also think of other varieties of solitude in which one or other of these features
were absent. After some evaluation of different kinds of solitary experiences, hecame to a conclusion that of the three factors, social disengagement seems to be theessential factor for solitude to be present. “Solitude is, most ultimately, simply an
experiential world in which other people are absent: that is enough for solitude, that isconstant through all solitudes.” (Koch, 1994, p.15)

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As the twentieth century draws to a close, we are still not sure what place solitude
ought to have in our lives. We are becoming more communal, more political, morecommunicative, but we are also flying apart, fascinated with the varieties of the“return to nature” possible in activities such as gardening, wilderness camping,sunlight meditation. The divorce rate is rising but marriages are keeping pace. The
true and balanced place of solitude in a human life is a philosophical question whichhas, for us, now, urgency. (Koch, 1994, p.9)
Koch wrote in 1994, which was the end of the 20th century. Reading his conclusion
more than 20 years later, I still feel the relevance of what he wrote. Although
information technology has brought dramatic changes to ways people communicate
with one another and ways of living, to me, it has not taken away our need of solitude,
as defined by Koch (and I am sure many other writers). In the daily life of an average
working adult in Hong Kong (or a university student), being online means having
access to an overwhelming amount of information (in Chinese we have a term“oceanic amount”) from all kinds of sources, it also means that theoretically you arein connection with all your acquaintances who are online no matter where they are in
the world. Being constantly online, however, is a strange state of being as one isbombarded by information, by requests for communication, but at the same time
isolated by physical distance, and a lack of “real engagement” because theseprocesses are conducted electronically. Many people will say that our life is very
busy, overwhelming, but also very lonely and private. Many of us are trying to findways to live a better life than this, and suggestions given to us include those “back infashion” traditional practices which take place in, or even create, a state of solitude.
The Uses of Solitude
Koch observed in his book:
How indeed can solitude function as a restorative if it does not provide its own
intrinsic values? What exactly are they? As I have read over twenty-five centuriesof celebrations of solitude, through Lao Tzu, Hesiod, Plato, Jesus, Seneca, Marcus
Aurelius, Petrarch, St. Teresa of Avila, Montaigne, Rousseau, Goethe, Wordsworth,
Byron, Shelley, Hazlitt, Hugo, Emerson, Thoreau, Dickinson, Whitman, Muir,
Proust, Rilke, Byrd, Stevens, Eiseley, Carr, Tillich, Sarton, Camus, Storr, Kohák,
and Koller, certain praises are repeated again and again.” (Koch, 1994, p.6)
These praises he collected and organized them into five major ideas: freedom,
attunement to self, attunement to nature, reflective perspective, and creativity. In his
book he devoted chapters to each of these ideas and evaluate these praises noted byindividual writers.
Anthony Storr actually devoted an entire chapter in his book to “The Uses ofSolitude”, from the perspective of a psychiatrist. He began the chapter with a
discussion of bereavement and how different cultures have their own protocols of
behaviour so that the bereaved person is given time to make changes in his/her life
after the loss. As he wrote, “[m]ourning is one example of a long drawn out mental
process leading to an eventual change of attitude. Instead of regarding life asnecessarily bound up with, or even constituted by, the existence of an intimate
relationship with the deceased person, the mourner comes to see matters differently.
The mourner may or may not form new, intimate ties; but whether he or she does so

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or not, the mourner usually comes to realize that the significance of life is not entirely
constituted by personal relationships; that the life of a person without intimate
relationships also has meaning.” (Storr, 1988, p.32)
So, a “successfully” mourning period ends with a change of attitude, and to enable
this success, many cultures have prescribed behaviours that allow the mourner to have“solitude” during mourning. He continued to cite examples of lesser changes ofattitude in life: having a holiday/rest cure, having a retreat in both religious andsecular contexts, or even simply changing a habit by breaking a daily routine. All
these practices are simply providing a chance to the person involved to have the timeand circumstances to reflect on his/her own needs and come to a new understandingof life. In terms of the virtues of solitude, Storr also cited examples of great religious
leaders who emerged out of solitude enlightened and ready to share what had been
revealed to them during that extended period of time: the Buddha, Jesus (according to
St. Matthew and St. Luke), Mahomet, St. Catherine of Siena. (Storr, 1988, p.34)
Besides the long list of writers who, over the centuries have documented their praisesof solitude, I have come across an example which gives me great inspiration. Edith
Bone’s (1889-1975) Seven Years Solitary (1957) is a personal record of her
experience of solitary confinement in a prison in Hungary for seven years. Dr. Edith
Bone was accused of spying for the British government when leaving Hungary in
1949, and arrested by the State Protection Authority (AVH). I could only imagine thesituation she was in then: Dr. Bone was already over 60 years old, the prison
condition was terrible, she was isolated and kept from company, she had no access tothe outside world, and there was no certainty about what was to happen to her, she
was not even put on trial. This was definitely not the kind of situation that one would
associate with “solitude” especially when we are talking about solitude as a state thatcan give rise to positive results to the person experiencing it.
Dr. Bone’s narrative, however, is an exemplary demonstration of what the mind can
do to maintain a state of well-being even in a completely disadvantageous situation.
She drew on her mental resources to recreate the “world” that she lived in, forexample, by reconstructing the plots of the books she had read, by mentally taking
walks that she had enjoyed before through streets of the many cities that she knew
well, by translating poetry that she loved from one language to another (she knew six
languages), making a mental inventory of her vocabulary in the 6 languages that she
knew, and also by composing poetry of her own. These projects, and many others,
were her design to keep her mind focused on goals she set for herself, and theseactions successful kept her mind active, lively, and they kept her sanity during theseven long years in prison. Anthony Storr described her experience like this: “She is
not only a shining example of courage which few could match, but also illustrates thepoint that a well-stocked, disciplined mind can prevent its own disruption.” (Storr,
1988, p.48)
How in education we can make use of solitude as a concept and learning
experience
Much encouraged by these examples of people who had benefited from experiencesof solitude, I am eager to share these with my students, not only as fictional/historicalpersonalities who had had inspiring experiences in their time, but also something that

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we can “use” in our world where we are too busy, too occupied (physically andmentally), or even too ashamed to be alone. And when alone, many of us try our best
to get out of that condition because it is seen in a negative light or eyed withsuspicion. I would want to present solitude in a more positive light, and return it to its
rightful position.
A short story written by Kate Chopin in 1894 entitled “The Story of an Hour” is oneof my favorite stories to use in the classroom. It is a story about a young American
wife Louise Mallard who suffered from a weak heart, and who was told at the
beginning of the story that her husband’s name was on the list of causalities of a train
accident. She immediately broke down and then retired to the privacy of her own
bedroom, while her own sister and a good friend of the family stayed with her in thehouse. The main part of the story is a description of the mental and emotional journey
she went through while she was protected by the intimacy and solitariness of her
bedroom. Looking out from the window, she saw a vibrant scene outside, peddlers
selling their wares, new life coming out of tree tops, birds singing etc. This setting
mirrors the quiet reflection and the coming to life of the lady’s feelings, and in thissolitude, she realized something that had always been there but had been repressed
because of social expectations and probably the need to constantly interact with thepeople around her. Now in the solitary environment and the privacy of her own
bedroom, she dared to allow herself to acknowledge that she yearned for freedom, anda life on her own in the future. At this point of realization, she cried out “free, bodyand soul free” (Chopin, 1894) to herself.
After emotionally accepting this new “self”, she walked out of the bedroom, achanged person, (also because her own sister was worried about her being alone
inside) and ready for her new life. Inside her own bedroom, in that solitary condition,
she had time to focus on herself, and communicate with the depth of her being, torealize a wish that had been repressed by what was expected of her in that society.
The story had depicted very well what solitude had done for Louise Mallard.
Ironically the story ends with the unexpected return of the supposedly dead husband,and the shock simply killed the wife. The story ended with a mocking tone when thethird person narrator concluded: “When the doctors came they said she had died ofheart disease—of joy that kills.” The doctors’ views, which might pretty much
represent what everyone who didn’t witness what happened in her bedroom thought,
is of course wrong. We readers who were with Louise in her bedroom knew that she
died of a broken heart – of disappointment.
I had used the story before to discuss different things: the basic structure of a shortstory, gender relations and changes, filmic adaptation of writing, and even using it asa stimulus for students to do their own creative stories. The psychological journeyLouise Mallard had undertaken in solitude is one that students can understand,probably not from their own life experience, but from numerous other similar fictionaland non-fictional narratives. This is certainly a dimension that can enrich thediscussion and learning experience in class.

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Conclusion
The encounter with solitude has been a very exciting journey for me so far, although I
am still at a very preliminary stage in terms of finding out what it has done for manyother people. From my own personal experience, it has given me the space to see aneed for reflection and change, and indirectly encouraged me to seek more
opportunities to engage with my own self. Much still needs to be discovered, if I want
to share this with young people I work with. Let me just end this discussion with thewords of Philip Koch:
What, then, is solitude? It is a time in which experience is disengaged from otherpeople. All of the other features of solitude that come intuitively to mind, thephysical isolation, the reflective cast of mind, the freedom, the silence, thedistinctive feel of space and time – all of these flow from that core feature, theabsence of other in one’s experiential world. Of course much remains to be said
about this engaged experience, this curious region spreading out behind time’s backin which you gaze from the absolute center of the world and your thinking is the
only human voice. Perhaps, though, the possibilities – and limitations! – of doing
solitude into English have emerged? (Koch, 1994, p.27)

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References
Bone, E. (1957). Seven Years Solitary. London: Faber and Faber.
Chopin, K. (1894). The Story of an Hour. Retrieved 11 14 , 2018, fromhttps://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/Koch, P. (1994). Solitude: A Philosophical Encounter. Chicago and La Salle, Illinois:
Open Court.
Storr, A. (1988). Solitude: A Return to the Self. New York, London: Free Press.
Venerable, C. L. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 14, 2018, fromhttps://www.facebook.com/Changlinfashi/
Zentangle. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 14, 2018, from https://zentangle.com/
Contact email: amylee@hkbu.edu.hk

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Using Tech At Uni: Students Report On Their Technology Use At University
Yuwanuch Gulateee, Nakhonphanom University & Edith Cowan University,
Australia
Jeremy E. Pagram, Edith Cowan University, Australia
Barbara Combes, Charles Sturt University, Australia
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Abstract
Many universities are embracing Learning Management Systems (LMS) for thedelivery of programs to students. The LMS provides paperless modes of document
and rich content delivery such as Microsoft Word documents and video lectures. Suchdelivery modes for on-campus students are becoming the norm as more blended
learning environments are implemented in universities. This research examines how
students make use of technologies and applications, what they think about their skill
levels, and whether the online materials encourage and motivate their study. The
research also reports on how and where some students and lecturers at
Nakhonphanom University, Thailand use the technology and devices in theirclassrooms. Findings of the research will guide university educators in the
improvement and change required in their physical and virtual classrooms as they
move into a blended learning environment.
Keywords: E-Learning, ICT Technology,Online Learning, Learning Management
System, Blended Learning

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
This paper will examine and compare results obtained from a survey of all students
and education students studying at Nakhonphanom University (NPU) in 2016-2017.
The research examines technology facilities and applications provided by theuniversity, as well as the use of social media in teaching and program delivery. It also
explores students’ self-perceived technology capabilities and preferences at thisparticular Thai university. The investigation was undertaken using an online survey ofstudents at NPU. The survey sought information from students at higher educationlevel in order to address questions about student ownership of technology, technology
use and preferences towards electronically delivered learning resources between all
faculties and the Education faculty. It was anticipated that the answers to thesequestions would be useful to administrators, course coordinators and lecturers intailoring resources to student preferences and thus deliver greater student engagement
and satisfaction. The results will also provide a snapshot of technology trends and use
by students over time to see if there are any changes.
Background
Students regard themselves as multitaskers when using technology, so how they
respond to traditional textbooks and lectures is important. Lecturers need to know if
traditional ways of teaching in universities are reaching and motivating students who
use technology as part of their daily lives. This research study will provide educatorswith an insight into how this current generation of students learn in an increasingly
online environment. The adoption and impact of technology use on teaching practiceand learning achievement have driven and continue to drive policy makers, educators,
and researchers worldwide. Tertiary education around the globe is currently trying torealise and leverage the benefits of technology in the classroom. For example, inAustralia, some universities offer wholly online courses, using the delivery of course
content through LMS, while many Asian countries tend to develop blended learning
environments that include face-to-face as well as online (Gulatee, Clayden, &Combes, 2011; Gulatee & Combes, 2008; Gulatee & Nilsook 2014; Schwartz, 2010).
Some universities are using the Web to enhance and deliver existing teaching-learningmaterials, while others chose to package learning materials in an Learning
Management Systems (LMS) and develop a range of online learning approaches andteaching-learning strategies which leverage the pedagogical opportunities offered bytechnology. However, studies conducted during the last ten years indicate thatlearners do not necessarily recognise online learning to be beneficial, due to the lackof peer-to-peer interactivity between learners and instructors (Combes & Carroll,2013; Gulatee, 2010; McSporran & King, 2006; Combes & Anderson, 2006;
Muilenburg & Berge, 2005; Salmon, 2002). Although most online units provide
students with access to real-time chat and discussion forum facilities to encourageongoing interaction, finding time to participate and the lack of immediacy are barriers
to student participation. Discussion forums can be an effective tool to promote student
interaction, by providing opportunities to share information or to explore problembased scenarios (Gulatee & Nilsook. 2015), especially since they provide a permanent
record of the discussion that students can review at a later date. However, if students
and instructors do not use and actively participate in the discussion forums regularly,
the benefits of this type of communication channel will remain under-utilised. In

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addition, even when lecturers utilise a range of communications technologies such as
discussion forums or bulletin boards, email, chat, blogs and wikis to encourage
student discussion and information sharing, peer-to-peer communication and active
interactive engagement remains an issue in the online learning environment (Gulatee& Pongthanoo, 2015). Perhaps it is time to review how teachers embed this peer-topeer engagement in subjects by using alternative delivery modes such as mobile
devices.
Research about the use of technology by young people has revealed that one in four
go online using their mobile phones. They also study while listening to mp3 players,
engage in texting and chatting online with friends, and reading and posting Facebook
messages (Rosen, Carrier, & Cheever, 2010). This American research also reports that
78% of teens now have a mobile phone, and almost half (47%) of them own
smartphones. In this study young people tended to use handheld (mobile) devices forboth study and non-study activities. Research into the experiences of students andpractitioners have indicated that engagement in the participation and the provision of
online education respectively, improves the capacity of both groups to cope withchange (Pagram & Cooper, 2012).
The uptake of technology by Thai higher education organisations has meant that the
LMS has become an essential tool for students’ learning both inside and outside theclassroom (Pagram & Cooper, 2012). A variety of technologies have been used for
instruction in education, including digital cameras, laptops and interactive
whiteboards (Cassidy et al. 2011). In 2017, the LMS may contain links to Youtube
videos by experts, Facebook Live, a range of presentation tools (for example
Slideshare, Voicethread and Prezi), online chats and webinars with experts in the fieldof study, simulations and virtual worlds. The use of a range of web-based tools andutilities has also led to the production of better quality, locally produced resources
which has resulted in positive outcomes for students (Schwartz, 2010; Gulatee &Pongthanoo, 2015). Taking the above into account, these studies highlight theimportance of investigating how students utilise and respond to online materials thatare delivered to them throughout their courses. Also of interest are the technologies
owned by students and the modes and places of internet access. There is also a belief
that education students are unique in that they have the added incentive when learningtechnology in their course, to apply their skills & knowledge of these technologies
when they begin their teaching profession. This assumption has been contested inearlier research (Lei, 2009) which suggests that:“… growing up with technology, digital natives as preservice teachers are savvy withbasic technologies and social-communication technologies. However, theirtechnology proficiency is limited by both the narrow scope and the lack of depth oftheir technology activities” (Lei, 2009, p.94).
Taking the above into account, the premise for this research study was underpinned
by a belief in the importance of investigating how NPU Education students andstudents from other faculties utilised and responded to the online materials that weredelivered to them throughout their courses.

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Research Method
Population and ParticipantsParticipants in this study included students enrolled across all courses from NPU. The
total number of students surveyed online in 2017 was 380 (76% female and 24%male) using convenience sampling technique. ‘Convenience sampling (also known asavailability sampling) is a specific type of non-probability sampling method that relies
on data collection from population members who are conveniently available toparticipate in study’ (Dudovskiy, 2016), in this case the students at NPU. Of the 380
students in the sample from across the university, 165 (43%) were from the
Department of Education. Despite the disadvantages attached to using conveniencesampling, a reasonably large spread of students from across the NPU courses
participated in the survey. The large number of Education students meant that thisreasonably large subset could be compared with other students at NPU.
Approximately 80% of participating samples were between ages of 19 and 22 years
old.
Research Instruments
Students were surveyed using an online survey. There were 15 questions in the surveythat were grouped according to the following categories: demographics, digital
lifestyle: perceived skills, ownership and access, file formats, Learning Management
System (Moodle). Due to the technology focus of the study, the administration of thestudent survey online via the internet was considered appropriate. Moreover, the sizeof the potential target population also required an efficient means of data collection.
The university students were informed of the survey via a link placed on NPU
websites, which all the students could see after logging in to the university student
portal. Students were encouraged to do the survey via information on the portal pageabout the importance of the research, as well as the possibility of being awarded a giftcard to top up their phone cards (selection using a random snowball technique). The
investigation of the survey results was developed using Qualtrics software.
Data Collection
The survey was conducted using constructed questionnaires comprising of closeended questions. Both Thai and English language versions were used, and respondent
data was fed into a common database for analysis. Students were informed of thesurvey via a link placed on NPU websites. The survey and data entry included drop
down menus and radio buttons to ensure an uncluttered layout and accurate data
entry. Finally, a progress bar indicated how far participants were through the survey
to encourage them to complete the survey to the end.
Findings
The focus of the data collection was on examining trends of technology between
Education students and students across the university. What follows below is abreakdown of the results from the various sections of the survey.

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Ownership and AccessFigure 1: Students’ ownership of technologies devices
The dataset above indicates that Education students’ ownership of devices was ingeneral higher than other students in the university. Almost 100 % of Education
students owned a laptop or a tablet and a mobile phone. Only Education students
owned a scanner and less than 20% of students in other areas of the university owned
a desktop, a tablet and a printer. Results indicate higher ownership of technologies for
Education students than others across the university. These results could be due to thefact that Education in Thailand is now considered to be a desirable profession withstudents studying for five years and the guarantee of a job at the end of their studies.

Figure 2: Mean of the years student have owned the devices
The dataset above is interesting as it indicates that except for the smartphone,
Education students keep their devices longer than other students. Although theaverage length of time for renewing their smartphones is four years for all students,
updating their Laptops and handheld mobile devices has become more affordable andprovides students with access to resources, people, and their community (Pornwasin,2013). Hence, many students now possess or have access to a handheld device thatcan be used as a learning tool. Most users were using older devices which are morestable, predictable and reliable, a condition known as "comfortable to use”. The
results also show that students were not printing as much, possibly due to the fact thatprinted lecture notes are usually provided to students across the university.

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Participants were also asked to indicate their frequency of use for study purposes
during the previous 12 months for both their tablet and their smartphone. Although
results were not conclusive, using a Chi-square to analyse the results suggested that
Education students who owned both a laptop and a smartphone were also using themfor study purposes. Current trends for ownership of a smart phone and laptop device
indicate that demand for these devices will increase in the near future because
students use them for both academic and for personal use.
In Figure 3 show that it is the Education students who are using mobile technologies
such as a tablet and a smartphone for study purposes, while other students use agreater variety of technologies for their study. Use of the printer is also notable with
40% of Education students and more than 50% of other students reporting high levelsof printer use when studying. Other studies have indicated high levels of printer use
by students when studying (Pagram, et al., 2015).

Figure 3: Percentage of students that own a device and use it for study purposes
Figure 4 reports students’ perceptions of how their lecturers use technology in theclassroom.

Figure 4: Staff use of devices in the classroom
Students reported that staff do not use technology in the classroom for teaching andlearning purposes and Education staff use technology less than staff in other faculties.

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In both cases staff are more likely to use either a laptop or tablet in the classroom,
probably to present their lectures via a digital projector. Students also indicated that
staff from other faculties used their smartphones much more than those in Education.
These results may also indicate that other faculties are more likely to provide
computer facilities in the classroom than the Education Faculty’s teachers. Students
also reported limited use and application of other technologies in teaching practicesuch as smartboards and tablets (Windows and iPads). The consistent application andthe integration of other devices such as scanners, printers, digital cameras, DVDplayers and smartboards was also reported by students to be almost non-existent. The
following of results are for all students across the university and examine technology
use in class as reported by the students.

Figure 5: Education Faculty students’ use of technologies during class
Figure 5 shows that students do use their devices during class to enhance their own
learning. However, the last response in this dataset is problematic and requires further
investigation as it implies that lecturers are using technology at a greater depth than
indicated in Figure 4. The response by students reported in Figure 5 refers to lecturers
using powerpoint slides, audio or video examples or demonstrations of learning
concepts (71.09%). While this is using technology for instruction it is still passive andnot far removed from the traditional lecture format (present and deliver), rather thaninteractive. Students also reported that their lecturers often used technology duringclass to break up lectures (57.03%). Students said they used online collaboration tools
to communicate/collaborate with the lecturer and other students in or outside the class(59.06%) and used their own technology devices by themselves to enhance learning
during class (59.84%). It would appear that technology use by lecturers in class islimited to the presentation of content and as a motivational tool, while students selfdirect and use technology for creative or critical thinking tasks, and collaboration or
to enhance their own learning. As a result, students seemed very satisfied with thetechnology used by their lecturers, even though they did not take advantage of the full
affordances of the technology as educational tools. It appears that the Education
faculty staff were not experienced in the use of Internet technologies as a teachingtools, as confirmed in research by Aduwa-Ogiegbaen and Wwameiye (2006) who

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found that the faculties of Education and Agriculture were the least experienced in theuse of the Internet.
Students indicated that they would like their lecturers to use a range of digital utilities
and tools that are more interactive and to enhance learning (Figure 6). Students
wanted staff to use more electronic resources such as tutorials and quizzes, searchtools to find references or other online information for class work, academic
validation software (i.e. Turnitin), greater use of the LMS, simulations andeducational games and software to make videos or multimedia resources. The results
indicate that lecturers appear to have been using the LMS as a repository for student
materials, rather than an interactive teaching and learning tool. These results also
indicate that students would like to have more technology in the classroom.

Figure 6: Student preference for technology use in class.
SkillsFigures 6 and 7 examine student perceptions of their own skill levels when using
technology.

Figure 7: Software skills of students across the University

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Figure 8: Software skills of Education students
Legend: SL - Slideshows, VE - Video editing, SS - Spreadsheets, FM - FileManagement, EM - Email, LMS - Course Management Software, IE - Image Editing,SN - Social Networking, IN - Internet Browsing, WP - Word Processing, DP - Digital
Photography.
For the software skill question, students were asked to rate themselves on what they
considered to be their skill levels using particular devices. Education students
considered they were advanced users of social networking tools. Although thisgeneration of students belong to the so-called digital natives, their perceived levels ofcompetence when using digital tools is actually quite low across the university for all
students. Other research has also produced similar findings (Combes, 2012). These
results indicate that even students recognize that their expertise when using
technology for study and learning purposes is limited.

Figure 9: Percentage of students that use applications at least 2-3 times a week
The results in figure 9 indicate that Education students were using a range oftechnologies slightly more than other students across the university. Use of
spreadsheets, video editing, social media, email and the LMS are very similar
between the two groups. While Internet browsing, word processing and using digital
photography is slightly higher for Education.

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Table 1: Location of students when using the Internet
LocationHome
3G mobile wifi
University lab
University wifi
Internet cafe

Education
students
42
64
32
39
36

Whole University students
61
76
40
61
25

The results in Table 1 indicate that Education students use their mobile devices to beconnected both inside and outside the university more than the other group who use
their devices at home and at various locations around the university (wifi and lab).
The majority of students studying at the university come from rural areas, so they
have to rent their accommodation while studying at the university which may explain
the high use of the 3G wifi and the use of university facilities to be connected.
Figure 10 indicates how students across the university feel about using technology forlearning. Most students agree that technology can be a useful teaching-learning tool in
the classroom.

Figure 10: How students feel about technology at university
Note: SA=strongly disagree, D=disagree, N=Neutral, A=Agree, SA=strongly agree
Results from Figure 10 show that 94.92% of students very strongly agreed or agreed
that technology makes learning experiences more authentic (closer to real life), while
92.37% felt that technology use in class helps to develop relevant skills that are useful
beyond university. 91.53% felt that technology enriched their learning experiences,helped them to understand basic concepts (90.68%), and make connections between
subjects (87.29%). However, only 81.35% felt that technology helped them to achieve
subject objectives. These results indicate that students perceive technology as very
important for their study and their success at university.

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Figure 11: How students describe themselves as new technology users
Figure 11 describes how students felt about themselves as users of new technologies.
Only 54% indicated that they are usually among the first people to check out a newelectronic device or gadget, while 36% said that they usually wait until they see others
trying new technology and then they will try it themselves. 10% tend to wait a longtime before trying new technology. These results are supported by earlier researchstudies which reveal young people as confident technology users (Combes, 2012).
The other 46% of students who tend to wait before trying new technology may be
inhibited by cost. Further research is needed here to determine whether cost of newtechnologies is an issue, especially since earlier results in this research indicate thatstudents across the university do not update their devices on a regular basis or when a
new version of a device is released.
Conclusion
This research demonstrated that students at university consider themselves skilled in
the use of a reasonably wide range of technologies and devices. Of interest is the factthat Education students appear to be more conversant with technology than otherstudents at this particular university. Students across the university say they are
confident users of basic web applications such social media, email and the Internet.
However, these confidence levels do not equate to proficiency when using
technology, a fact recognized by the students themselves. Students were using more
recent (creative?) applications such as web authoring, digital photography and video
editing. There may be a chicken and egg scenario going on here. Do students develop
software skills by using applications in their studies or do the students choose whichapplications to use based on existing skills? Naturally the answer is likely to be a mixof these questions, but one suspects that skill level may be the determining factor
when considered alongside a student’s busy lifestyle.
Overall, the results indicate that for the most part Education students at NPU are notembracing “cutting edge” technologies, but neither are other students. Technology use
by lecturers across the university appears to be low and at a very basic level that does
not go beyond the traditional lecture format. While computer ownership amongst
students (including laptops, tablets and mobile phones) is high, students’ desire to use
technologies in the classroom outstrips how their lecturers use it. Printing is still an
activity pursued by most students.

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It is clear from the evidence that students at NPU want to engage with technology at amore interactive level than supplied by the university infrastructure (LMS) and theirlecturers, but they also recognize that their skill levels when using technology forlearning (information literacy) are not advanced. While students indicated a desire toacquire higher order technology skills and to use a range of formats, there is no place
within either the Education courses or across NPU to learn these skills. This fact islikely to result in under-used materials and student frustration in being unable tooptimally access and use the technologies available to them. The authors believe thatwhen technologies are embedded into curriculum programs at university and new
skills taught at the point of delivery, students will have opportunities to increase theirskill levels. Certainly, when new ways (technologies, file-formats) for distributing
learning materials are introduced, some form of student support/training is requiredthat is demonstrative of the manner in which the students can optimally utilise these
new methods to enhance their learning.
The findings of this research are interesting in the context of training the next
generation of teachers. Other studies have shown that pre-service teachers andteachers are not big users of technology in their classrooms (Lei, 2009; Pagram, &Cooper, 2012). The current study also indicates that not just Education students, but
all students at NPU exhibit a comparatively low uptake of new technologies and havebasic skill levels when using technology for learning. If change is going to occur in
how young people use technology in schools and university, then new teachers
coming into the profession need to have opportunities to use a range of technologies
for learning at university. They also need lecturers to be good role models so they cantransfer how they learn at university to other teaching environments.
Overall the study has shown that there is an ongoing need to examine student use of
ICT at NPU, how this is related to the learning materials provided by the university
and how technology use is modelled by lecturers. It is can be concluded that it isincumbent upon a university of the 21st century to monitor students’ technology
ownership and use, and how they use technology for learning, thus ensuring that theuniversity has an adaptive approach to both technology and pedagogy.

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References
Aduwa-Ogiegbaen, S. E. O., & Uwameiye, R. E. O. (2006). Internet Usage Among
University Lecturers in Southern Nigeria. International Journal of Information andCommunication Technology Education, 2, 1, 28-36.
Dudovskiy, J. (2016). Convenience sampling, Research Methodology. Retrieved fromhttp://research-methodology.net/sampling-in-primary-data-collection/conveniencesampling/
Combes B. &Anderson K. (2006), Supporting first year e-learners in courses for the
information professions, Journal of Education for Library and Information Science,47, 259-276.
Combes, B. & Carroll, M. (2013). Are we there yet? ELearning in library andinformation science courses in Australia. Education for Information, 29, (3-4), 205218.
Gulatee, Y & Combes, B. (2017). Owning ICT: Student use and ownership oftechnology. Walailak Journal of Science and Technology (WJST), 15. Retrieved fromhttp://wjst.wu.ac.th/index.php/wjst/article/view/2868 (In press).
Gulatee, Y. & Pongthanoo,P. (2015). The Usage of Facebook and NPU-ELearning
Case study In Faculty of Management and Information Technology, Faculty of Art
and Science at Nakhonphanom University. Nakhon Phanom University Journal, 5, 3,
89-96.
Gulatee, Y., Clayden, J., & Combes, B. (2011). An investigation of teaching wholly
online in a School of Computer and Information Science. Journal of Innovation in
Teaching And Learning in Information and Computer Sciences(ITALICS ), 10,2.
Gulatee, Y., & Nilsook , P. (2014). Elements of Learning Design for MOOCs.
Proceeding of the Fifth TCU International E-learning Conference (84-89). Bangkok,
Thailand.
Gulatee, Y., & Combes, B. (2008). Identifying social barriers in teaching Computer
Science topics in a wholly online environment. Proceeding of the Fifth International
Conference on Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (173-182). Udon
Thani, Thailand.
Gulatee, Y. (2010). An investigation into online teaching and the delivery ofComputer Science topics: practice, content and environmental factors (Doctoral
thesis, Edith Cowan University, Australia).
Pagram, J., Cooper, M., Vonganusith, V. & Gulatee, Y. (2015). Tom Yum Tech: An
International Examination of University Student ICT Ownership and Use for Study inBoth Thailand and Australia. Proceeding of the International Conference on
Education Innovation (ICEI) (41-50). Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Lei, J. (2009). Digital natives as preservice teachers: What technology preparation is

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needed? Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 25, 3, 87-97.
McSporran M., & King C., (2005). Blended is better: choosing educational delivery
methods, Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia
and Telecommunications (1-8). doi=10.1.1.114.1257
Muilenburg, L. & Berge, Z. (2005). Student barriers to online learning: a factor
analytic study. Distance Education, 26, 29-48.
Pagram, J., & Cooper, M. (2012). Cross-cultural probing: an examination ofuniversity student ICT ownership and use of e-learning materials in Thai andAustralian Contexts. Retrieved fromhttp://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1129&context=ecuworks2012
Pornwasin, A. (2013). Affordability is the key in smart-phone market. The Nation.
Retrieved from http://www.nationmultimedia.com/technology/Affordability-is-keyin-smart-phone-market-30212439.html
Rosen, L. D., Carrier, M. L., & Cheever, N. A. (2010). Rewired : understanding theiGeneration and the way they learn (1st ed. ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Schwartz, H. L. (2010). FACEBOOK: The New Classroom Commons? The
Education Digest, 75(5), 39-42.
Salmon G. (2002). Etivities: the key to active online learning, London, England:
Kogan Page.
Contact emails: Yuwanuch Gulatee, y.gulatee@ecu.edu.au
Jeremy E. Pagram, j.pagram@ecu.edu.au
Barbara Combes, bcombes@csu.edu.au

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Academic Research in Vocationally-Oriented Higher Education:
Perspectives from Teaching Staff
Kit Yin Emmy Wong, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong
Svetlana Chigaeva-Heddad, Independent Consultant, Hong Kong
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Abstract
Academics’ need to publish research output in order to succeed in tertiary education
has been discussed extensively. Less is known about research and publication needsof staff working in vocationally-oriented higher institutes who, until recently, were
judged primarily on their teaching contribution. However, there has been a noticeable
trend across the world whereby career development of teaching staff in vocational
institutes depends on their research and ability to publish in academic journals. This
paper investigates the academic research challenges of teaching staff in a
vocationally-oriented institute in Hong Kong. Mixed research methods were adopted
to understand the prior experiences of the staff, challenges they may be facing when
doing and publishing research, and ways in which their research and publicationneeds may be supported. Questionnaire data from 21 staff members reveal that moststaff join the teaching profession after a career in the commercial sector and about
half of the respondents do not have any research experience at all. These teaching
staff hope to engage in research to enhance their future career prospects, engage inindependent professional development and support their teaching. Most staff,
however, feel that various constraints inhibit their ability to do research including lackof resources, insufficient time and limited experience with research. Three detailed
case studies are used to further understand the personal and institutional contexts ofthe participants and develop recommendations that can be applied at the institutional
policy and department levels.
Keywords: Academic research, vocationally-oriented education, publishing,professional development, teaching staff, HongKong

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Introduction
This paper investigates the academic research challenges of teaching staff in a
vocationally-oriented institute in Hong Kong. Using questionnaire data and three
detailed case studies, it highlights the need for a clear research direction which iscommunicated to staff members and is realised through a series of support
mechanisms.
Academics’ need to publish research output in order to survive in a university has
been discussed and documented extensively, to the point that the main question being
asked today is whether “Too much academic research is being published” (Altbach
and de Wit, 2018). Less is known about research and publication needs of staff
working in vocationally-oriented higher institutes where, until recently, discourse
focused on teaching and business (Chappell and Johnston, 2003), highlighting
intensified connections between education and labor market and the ensuing new
knowledge configurations (Wals et al., 2012). The focus of vocational institutes overthe last decade or so has been on competence-based education (Biemans et al., 2004),
i.e. integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to succeed in theprofessional world. The aim has been to develop integrated, performance-oriented
capabilities to handle professional problems (Biemans et al., 2009).
The vocational institute featured in this paper has a similar aim of producing “workready graduates” through the focus on real-life projects and industrial attachments. It
achieves this by closely collaborating with the local labour market and by hiring
teaching staff who have extensive experience as professionals in their fields. Founded
less than a decade ago by a major higher education provider in Hong Kong, thisinstitute offers self-financed vocationally-oriented degree programmes to secondary
school graduates and Higher Diploma holders. Around 3,500 students are currently
taking their degree courses taught by about 150 staff members.
Unlike traditional vocational institutes, this institute considers research as one of thethree “primary activities” of the teaching staff (Staff Handbook, p. 67). It describes it
as an important means of professional development which can provide professional
experience outside of the institute. Research and consultancy together are expected totake up to 20% of the staff’s total workload or not more than 8 hours per week. A listof 17 items that can be considered when evaluating staff performance under the
category of research is presented in the handbook. Examples range from physicalcreative artifacts to publications in books and journals of “high standing” (p. 9). It
appears that new knowledge configurations where research is becoming increasingly
more important are being valued by the institute, and teaching staff are expected todevelop university practice styles and engage in associated activities such as research.
As such, the institute resembles England’s “dual sector institutions” described byGale et al. (2011), where scholarship and practice styles of higher education are
increasingly more common in vocational institutes.
The study presented in this paper was motivated by the need to give voice to teaching
staff members of the institute in order to understand the following questions:
1.
2.

What do academic staff members think about the research requirement?
What kind of research experience do they have?

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What are their research-related needs?
What kind of support is needed to scaffold staff’s engagement with research?

Methods
Mixed research methods were used to address the above questions. First, the existing
policy documents were examined to understand the official expectations placed onteaching staff members with regards to research and publication. The findings of thisstage of analysis are summarised in the introduction to this paper. An online
questionnaire was then designed partly based on the document analysis. Questionnaire
items focused on the respondents’ previous professional, teaching, and researchexperiences, challenges they may be facing when doing and publishing research, andways in which their research needs may be supported. The questionnaire wasdistributed to full-time teaching staff members of the Faculty of Design andEnvironment, and 21 questionnaires were returned. The respondents represented all
the departments of the faculty and all the levels of experience across the threedomains.
Five of the respondents agreed to participate in further detailed case studies whichallowed us to examine experiences and beliefs of staff of various levels of teaching
and academic research experience as well as working and educational qualifications.
Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the case study participants using thesurvey questions and responses as a starting point. The respondents’ research output,
if any, was also examined to gain a better understanding of their experiences. Three ofthe case studies were chosen to be presented in this paper to exemplify the diversity ofexperiences and needs.
Questionnaire findings
Table 1 below summarizes the basic information about the survey respondents.
Table 1. Survey respondentsAge

25-29 (2)30-34 (4)GenderMale (10)Female (11)

Education level

Bachelor’s (2) Master’s (14) Doctorate (5)Industry experience

Yes (20)

No (1)

Teaching experience

1-2 (2)3-4 (7)5 or above (12)Research experience<1 (7)

1-2 (5)3-4 (3)5 or above (6)Publications

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More than half of the respondents were 39 years of age or older, with both genders
represented nearly equally. All, with the exception of two participants, had a Master’s
Degree or above, and all, with the exception of one, had working experience otherthan teaching. 90% of the respondents had at least three years of tertiary-level
teaching experience, with more than half having five years or above. Though theparticipants appeared to be familiar with tertiary-level education, their researchexperience at the time of the study was rather limited. One-third of the respondents
had less than a year of academic research experience. At the same time, about half ofthe respondents did not have any academic publications at all and only two of the
respondents had five or more publications. About half of those with academic
publications had engaged in collaborative research/consultancy programmes withexternal bodies, and about 40% had participated in conference presentation(s) andconsultancy projects, or had published books and articles in academic/professional
journals. Research topics typically focused on professional areas, such as fashionindustry, greenery and education.
Most of the respondents had an extensive experience in professional practice before
joining the academia. As Figure 1 below indicates, the main reason for this major
career change is the perception that teaching is a meaningful profession that can help
future generations and the world as a whole. More than 60% of the respondents werealso interested in teaching as a practice.

Figure 1. Motivation to join education
Figure 2 presents the main reasons the staff indicated for engaging in academic
research. According to the survey responses, more than half of the participants were
motivated by independent learning and professional development. They had apersonal interest in the topics they were investigating and believed that engaging inresearch would help them maintain and increase their competitiveness as a scholar
and as an educator. Overall, these responses suggest that research is seen more as ameans for self-accomplishment rather than as a response to management pressure.

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Figure 2. Motivation to do research
Even though the staff seem to be intrinsically motivated to engage in research
activities, they perceive a number of challenges inhibiting their success. These aredetailed in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3. Research-related challenges
As the figure shows, the biggest challenge faced by the Institute’s staff members islack of time. According to the staff handbook, the official workload of teaching staff
is 45 hours a week, with 8 hours out of these suggested for research-related activities.
Data from our study shows that staff have to spend 44% of their working hours on
average on teaching and 44% on other administrative duties, with only 12% of theworking hours left for academic research. A related challenge is the lack of support
manpower which is perceived to be a major hindrance.
Two other challenges highlighted by the respondents have to do with confidence intheir own ability to identify researchable and publishable topics and with the ability towrite well. Given that English is used as a second and sometimes a foreign languagein Hong Kong and that most staff have had limited exposure to advanced academic
writing, this is not surprising. An ability to conceive a good researchable topic is achallenge faced by many researchers, leave alone those who have had limited, if any,academic research experience.
The problems described above can be addressed by implementing some of thesuggestions offered by the respondents (see Figure 4). More than 75% of the staff

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surveyed indicated that they would appreciate a chance to hire research assistants,
which may be an effective way for addressing the issue of time constraint. Slightly
more than half of the respondents suggested official training in academic research.
This training should help staff members to develop a better understanding of what is
involved in doing research and how to identify researchable topics. This, in turn,should help with enhancing staff confidence in communicating their research. Abouthalf of the respondents mentioned incentives like salary increase and careeradvancement.

Figure 4. Support needed
As the survey data suggests so far, respondents are highly interested in teaching andgenerally do not oppose the idea of academic research, but fundamentally they findresearch challenging primarily due to time constraints and limited resources. Three
detailed case studies are used to further understand the personal and institutional
contexts of the participants and develop recommendations that can be applied at theinstitutional policy and department levels.
Case studies
Table 2 below presents some basic information about the three case study
participants. These participants were selected to represent a range of experiences andbackgrounds. The major difference between the case study participants is theireducational background (PhD, Master’s and Bachelor’s). All three have an extensive
experience in professional practice and, on average, 3-4 years of teaching experience.
However, while the PhD participant has some research experience, the other two havenone.

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Table 2. Case study participantsParticipant A

Participant B

Participant C

GenderFemale

Male

Male

Age

38

>50

33

Specialisation

Horticulture andLandscapeManagement

Landscape andArchitecture

New Media andTechnology

Educational
background

PhD

BSc

MSc

Professional
experience

6 years in
Horticulture and
Urban Greenery> 15 years as
LandscapeArchitectural
Consultant> 10 years in Digitaland New Media

Teaching experience

3-4 years

3-4 years

3-4 years

Research experience> 5 years

0 year0 yearPublications

2

0

0

Participant A
Participant A, a 38-year-old female, joined the Institute after a considerable amount ofdeliberation about the role of publications in an academic’s life. She had a somewhat
uninterrupted research career, starting with her Master’s work, followed by a PhD
study, which was then followed by postgraduate work. This research work, however,resulted in very few publications which, she felt, precluded her from joining theacademia. Stressed about her lack of publications and not interested in pursuingresearch any further, she decided to join the professional practice and worked inhorticulture and urban greenery for six years. This brought its own challenges,
including long working hours spent outdoors. As a junior in the field, she also had alimited choice in what projects she could engage in and felt the job lacked a creative
element. These challenges triggered her renewed interest in education, and, afterworking part-time at another local higher education institution, she joined theInstitute.
She is now a keen researcher leading two externally funded projects as a Principal
Investigator. Her primary motivation to engage in research at the moment is toincrease her competitiveness as a scholar and as an educator. She is encouraged toengage in research by the management though, at the moment, this research is not a
compulsory part of her workload. She has published her work as a book chapter andas a paper in conference proceedings.
Participant A talked extensively about two major challenges that she is facing: lack oftime and challenges related to managing research assistants. Similar to many of the

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other participants, she has to juggle teaching and administrative duties, leaving little
time for research. She mentioned that she could complete her research work only
when a deadline was set because, otherwise, it was extremely difficult for her tojustify spending the little time she had on research. As for managing research support
staff, she referred to insufficient funding and suggested that more funding is needed to
attract better qualified staff. Otherwise, time spent on training and micro managing
the staff does not justify hiring support.
To deal with these challenges, Participant A argued it was important to have a clear
division of labor within the department allowing teaching staff not to be overburdenedwith administrative duties. She also suggested that collaboration with colleagues andjoint publications should be encouraged as this would help with workload issues andincrease staff interest in research. In addition, she mentioned the more obvious
solutions such as increased funding and a better incentive system such as salary andcareer advancement opportunities.
Participant B
Participant B is an older male teacher specialising in Landscape Architecture. He
joined the Institute with more than 15 years of professional experience as a landscapearchitectural consultant. He believes his extensive professional backgroundcontributes to his teaching the most as it helps equip students with practical skills.
Though he understands the value of research and the increased importance of
postgraduate work for those joining the academia, he has no plans for furthering his
studies beyond the Bachelor’s degree.
Having said that, Participant B is interested in research which is, at least partly, due tothe pressure from the top management. He sees the value of doing research forprofessional development and for securing his competitive edge but, at the time of thestudy, he faced the same time constraints similar to those experienced by the otherparticipants. His typical working day is divided in this manner: 80% of the time isspent on teaching, while the remaining 20% on class preparation and administrativework.
If research were to become mandatory, Participants B suggests it would be necessary
to employ more staff, including research assistants, and decrease administrative
workload. He also mentioned the importance of official support such as training inacademic research and publication. One particularly important insight shared by theparticipant was the need for the Institute to differentiate itself from the other tertiary
institutes in the city and establish its own brand image that the general public will beaware of. This would need to include discussions within the Institute on what kind ofresearch would contribute to establishing this clear image.
Participant C
A 33-year-old male, Participant C is a Master’s degree holder specialising in
Multimedia and Entertainment Technology. Like the other case study participants, hejoined the Institute hoping to have better working hours while meaningfully
contributing to the development of the younger generations. As a specialist in new

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media technologies with more than 10 years of professional experience, he felt he wasworking 24 hours a day every day and was looking to have a better work-life balance.
Participant C does not have any research training and experience, and, unlike theother two participants, is essentially not interested in research. He described his
understanding of academic research as something that happens within a small circleof scholars competing for research funding and trying to create as much output aspossible. Though he is trying to do some research now, he finds it especiallychallenging to understand the research paradigms prevailing in new media studies andto conduct literature reviews. He finds this extremely time consuming and somewhat
disappointing as success cannot be guaranteed. Nevertheless, he understands that
research can reinforce his competitiveness as a teaching professional working in a
tertiary institute. He sees it as an essential part of the job requirement and feels he will
be risking his job if he does not produce any research output.
His core difficulties in doing research are a lack of time and limited knowledge of
research techniques. Based on 45 hours a week as a teaching staff, he has tocontribute 15 hours to teaching and 29 hours to administrative support, while only 1hour is left for academic research. He feels that official support such as short intensive
academic research workshops would be useful but not sufficient for enhancing theknowledge of research techniques. He also feels it would be beneficial to have a
research mentor but is unsure about the staff’s ability to find time for suchmentorship.
Additional support mechanisms that Participant C discussed were help withidentifying a research niche that would be of interest to him, ability to hire research
assistants, and incentives like salary increase and career advancement. These might
help Participant C to engage in productive research and overcome his negative
attitude towards academic research.
Conclusion and recommendations
As the sections presented above show, teaching staff working at the vocational
institute presented in this paper occupy a unique position: they join the teachingprofession with substantial professional experience and minimal, if any, university
experience (including both teaching and research). As such, they clearly need todevelop university-associated styles of teaching and, importantly, engage in academic
research. They have an access to multiple communities of practice and an ability tocontribute to discussions on multiple topics. Very often, they join the teachingprofession with the noble aim of contributing to the development of future
generations and have a clear enthusiasm to teach and even research. At the same time,
however, given the limited experience and limited support, they experience a
considerable amount of frustration and stress.
To use Gale and his colleagues’ words (2011, p. 161), engaging in research-related
activities in this context would be “a lived practice of constant becoming, based uponrisk-taking and disidentification, offering disruption, challenges to the habitual, andinvitations into the unknown.”

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Given this context, then, and using the conference questions,
How should teaching staff adopt and adapt to change outside their control? How canthey not only survive but succeed through change? How should administrators andpolicy makers nurture, encourage and maintain positive change?
The study presented in this paper has resulted in a number of recommendations. Firstand foremost, we believe that to encourage a positive change, policy makers,
administrators, and teaching staff should engage in constructive discussions aimed todevelop a vision of what constitutes good research. Given the unique context ofvocational institutes interested in research, Boyer’s (1990) notion of “scholarship ofteaching and learning” may be useful. In short, action research focused on students’and teachers’ practices and their classroom as well as professional experiences may
be one way forward. These discussions also need to consider what would makeresearch by vocational institute staff members different from research conducted inresearch universities.
This vision then needs to be communicated clearly and supported through appropriate
mechanisms. Examples of these mechanisms that came through our data include:- developing new partnerships (e.g. with research universities and individual research
consultants);- supporting collaborative research;- offering professional development workshops (e.g., on different research methods
and writing skills, on managing research staff);- providing a clear career path that promotes engagement with research;- financially supporting staff interested in furthering their education;- clarifying division of labor among teaching and administrative staff;- balancing teaching, research and administrative responsibilities.
Without a clear vision and support, teaching staff at vocational institutes will remain
skeptical about the move towards more research and negative about this change.
Support mechanisms, on the other hand, will help ensure that this change is acted onas an opportunity that may lead to positive experiences and development of new
exciting possibilities.

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References
Altbach, P.G & de Wit, H. (7 September 2018). Too much academic research is
being published. University World News, Issue 519.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180905095203579
Biemans, H., L. Nieuwenhuis, R. Poell, M. Mulder, and R. Wesselink. (2004).
Competence based vet in the Netherlands: Background and pitfalls. Journal of
Vocational Education and Training 56, no. 4: 523–38.
Biemans, H., R. Wesselink, J. Gulikers, S. Schaafsma, J. Verstegen, and M. Mulder.
(2009). Towards competence-based vet: Dealing with the pitfalls. Journal of
Vocational Education and Training 61, no. 3: 267–86
Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate.
Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Chappell, C. & Johnston, R. (2003). Changing work: Changing roles for vocational
education and training teachers and trainers. Leabrook, Australia: Australian National
Training Authority.
Gale, K. , Turner, R. & McKenzie, L.M. (2011) Communities of praxis? Scholarshipand practice styles of the HE in FE professional, Journal of Vocational Education andTraining, 63:2, 159-169, DOI: 10.1080/13636820.2011.572175
Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong. (2017). Staff Handbook.
Hong Kong: THEi.
Wals, A.E.J , Lans, T. & Kupper, H. (2012) Blurring the boundaries between
vocational education, business and research in the agri-food domain, Journal of
Vocational Education & Training, 64:1, 3-23, DOI: 10.1080/13636820.2011.586129
Contact email: emmywong@vtc.edu.hk
chigaevasv@gmail.com

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Task-Based Language Teaching in Education in ASEAN Course for Student
Teachers Mathematics English Program
Satsayamon Sangway, Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University under the Royal
Patronage, Thailand
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Abstract
Education in ASEAN means the course for students, learn about the evolution of
education management, analyze the curriculum, teaching and learning of the countries
in ASEAN and students are required to use English in this course. The objectives ofthis research were to study the achievement, to study the students’ language ability,
and to study the attitudes towards on learning by Task-based Language Teaching. The
research samples were 21 third year Mathematics English Program students from
Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University under the Royal Patronage in the second
semester of the 2017 academic year. The design of this study was the one grouppretest-posttest design. Tools used in this research were Task-based Language
Teaching Lesson plans, English language test, the achievement test and the attitudes
towards questionnaire. Time taken for this experiment was 36 hours. From evaluating
the knowledge of students on the Education in ASEAN by using Task-based
Language Teaching, students had the average score from total 50 scores in pretest andin the achievement test equal to 15.61, and 38.19 respectively. The students had theaverage language ability score from total 60 scores in pretest and posttest equal to15.90, and 43.85 respectively. After the study, the students had better achievement
and had gained abilities in vocabulary, grammar and speak English forcommunication. Students have a very positive attitude and they are highly satisfied
toward learning by Task-based Language Teaching. The highest level and high levelof their satisfaction stand at 80.95, and 19.05 respectively.
Keywords: task-based language teachingiafor
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Introduction
From past to present, teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has
had a positive impact on most Thai students’ English skills. Most students haveopportunities to learn and practice their language skills only in their classrooms,
which is one of the important reasons why they lack opportunities to practice theirEnglish in real life situations. It is evident that the provision of opportunities forstudents to practice their language skills is extremely scarce. Worse still, this problem
is exacerbated by the fact that teachers have a limited time to lay the foundation onwhich students’ grammatical knowledge is built. Despite the fact that Thai students
nowadays have more opportunities to practice their English by themselves due to theiraccess to technology and the Internet, the problem found among them is the lack of
their basic speaking skills, which is instrumentally important in communication.
According to the author’s direct experience in teaching English program's students at
the university level, one of the responses that often comes out of these university
students is “they understand what is said, but do not know how to either respond toquestions or explain in English.” This response is indicative of the inadequacy of thetime spent on practicing their speaking skills inside and outside of their classrooms,
despite them having learnt English since elementary school.
The Ministry of Education has since been aware of this existing problem andannounced the reform of the English teaching and learning geared towards Thailand’s
education, so as to enable students to utilize the English language in communication
and as an instrument to seek more knowledge in the foreseeable future.
According to the abovementioned policy, it has urged the university to plan theirlessons by focusing more on communication. A teaching approach, which focused on
pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, was changed into that which now focuseson communication skills in real life situations based on the contexts, topics, and rolesof concerned parties.
According to the abovementioned methods, they demonstrate that communicationbased language teaching does not create teaching methods itself; however, it is alanguage teaching guideline that could lead to other various teaching methods such asContent-Based Instruction and Task-Based Language Teaching. Content-Based
Instruction is a language teaching approach that encourages the use of a target
language as an instrument in a variety of subjects. With regard to Task-Based
Language Teaching, it is a language teaching approach that focuses oncommunication which varies according to particular tasks. Students will be able topractice four English skills. Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011) talked about theTask-based Language Teaching functions as an exemplary teaching method thatclearly focuses on communication as students can apply their language skills to reallife situations. In other words, students are equipped with the desired skills, especiallywhen they need to exercise them to successfully complete their anticipated tasks.
Task-Based Language Teaching is regarded as an extremely appropriate method as it
not only enables students to develop their language skills and have motivation to
study English, but this teaching approach also focuses on the processes that allow
teachers to apply it to students at all levels.

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Model of Task-Based Language Teaching
Breen (1987) perceives tasks as “any structural language learning endeavor which has
a particular objective, appropriate content, a specified working procedure, and a rangeof outcomes for those who undertake the task.”
Willis (1996) talked about the models of Task-based Language Teaching by outlining
their three steps as follows:
1. Pre task: This is a step in which teachers will get their students ready before they
carry out their tasks. For English language teaching during this step, teachers will
elicit students’ previous knowledge of grammar and vocabulary germane to thecontent, after which they will teach them vocabulary and grammar that they need touse to complete their tasks. If students are good memorizing grammar andvocabulary, finishing tasks will be easier. Therefore, if teachers realize that students
have limited English proficiency, they must spend more time on this step.
2. Task cycle: This step allows students an opportunity to put their knowledge
acquired in the first step into practice to carry out their assigned tasks. Each task may
be assigned to either a pair or a group of students so that they can practice working
with other students and attempt to be responsible for their assigned tasks. Task cycle
can be divided into three 3 sub-steps as follows:
2.1 Carrying out tasks: Teachers will divide students into groups to complete theirtasks within the specified timeframe. They will notify their students of when time isup and ask them to divide their duties within their groups to prepare for thepresentation of their reports. While students carry out their tasks, teachers are tasked
to monitor and make note of students’ use of language. If students need languagerelated assistance, they can ask their teachers.
2.2 Planning presentation of reports: When students run out of time to finish theirtasks, they can share their responsibilities to prepare for the presentation of theirreports.
2.3 Presenting reports: Students prepare the presentation of their reports in groups byusing the vocabulary and structure of language that they study in the first step. While
students present their reports, teachers will monitor and make note of their use oflanguage for future reference.
3. Post task or language focus: It is the last step in Task-based Language Teaching as
it will take place after students present their reports. It can be categorized into two
sub-steps as follows:
3.1 Language Analysis: Teachers will bring their information on students’ use oflanguage and write them on the whiteboard so that students can revise and examine
the accuracy of their use of language. Afterwards, if there are still any errors, teachers
will correct them. Again, if students have further questions, teachers can alsoelaborate further. Students will then note the vocabulary and structure of language intheir books.

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3.2 Skills Practice: This is a step in which teachers will allow students to practicetheir language skills by using new vocabulary.
In the aforementioned context of teaching learning, researcher has provided the lessonplan and activities in relation to Task-based Language Teaching by based on English
in the course of Education in ASEAN.
Objectives
The objectives of this research were as follows.
1. To study the achievement.
2. To study the students’ language ability.
3. To study the attitudes towards on learning by Task-based Language Teaching.
SampleThe research samples were 21 third year Mathematics English Program students from
Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University under the Royal Patronage in the second
semester of the 2017 academic year.
Content
This research aimed to study the achievement in the course of Education in ASEAN.
The course is offered in Bachelor of Education, learn about the evolution of education
management, analyze the curriculum, teaching and learning of the countries in
ASEAN and students are required to use English in this course.
Variables
Independent variables include the activity of Task-based Language Teaching on
Education in ASEAN course.
Dependent variables include;
1. The students’ achievement.
2. The students’ language ability.
3. The attitudes towards on learning by Task-based Language Teaching.
Methodology
The design of this study was the one group pretest-posttest design.
Research tools
Tools used in this research were Task-based Language Teaching Lesson plans,English language test, the achievement test and the attitudes towards questionnaire.
Data collection
Data was collected by researcher, applied Task-based Language Teaching in realclassroom with the students who attended the course of Education in ASEAN in thesecond semester of the 2017 academic year. Time taken for this experiment was 36
hours. Before the learning, students were required to evaluate the knowledge on the

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Education in ASEAN and language ability. The activity was divided into two parts.
The first part provided the general information, the basis of the education system ofcountries in ASEAN and the knowledge framework of Task-based Language
Teaching to students in order to make a clear understand. The students were allowed
to ask questions when they had an understanding of the framework and principles of
Task-based Language Teaching. The second part was the learning activities by using
Task-based Language Teaching. Three steps of learning by using Task-based
Language Teaching were Step 1 Pre task, Step 2 Task cycle; divided into three substeps including carrying out tasks, planning presentation of reports and presentation ofreports and Step 3 Post task; divided into two sub-steps including language analysis
and skills practice. After the learning had been finished, students were rerquired totake the English language test, the achievement test and the attitudes towards
questionnaire.
Data analysis
With regard to the analysis of data, researcher analyzed the achievement test, English
language test, and the attitudes towards questionnaire by using basic statistics infinding frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation.
Conclusion and discussion
From evaluating the knowledge of students on the Education in ASEAN and language
ability by using Task-based Language Teaching, it was found that the students had theaverage of the achievement after studying is higher than before. From total scores 50,
the average score in pretest is 15.61 whereas in the achievement test equals to 38.19.
The average of the language ability of students from total scores 60, the average scorein pretest is 15.90 whereas in posttest is 43.85. The students had better achievement
and gained abilities in vocabulary, grammar and English for communication. They
had more ability to learn and use English language to communicate after Task-based
Language Teaching was introduced to the classroom. Task-based Language Teaching
was a teaching method that allowed students to practice their language skills and learn
through their groups. In addition, not only could they practice their language, but they
could also exercise a variety of other necessary skills. Students were also moreenthusiastic about participating in activities, trying harder to communicate in English,
despite stumbling upon difficult vocabulary. Skehan (1996) said that, Task-based
Language Teaching is an attempt to address one of the dilemmas of language teaching
how, on the one hand, to confront the need to engage naturalistic learning process,while, on the other, to allow the pedagogic process to be managed in systematicmanner. Students were highly attitudes toward learning by using Task-based
Language Teaching. The highest level of their satisfaction stands at 80.95 and highlevel of their satisfaction stands at 19.05. Because they were allowed to learn, design,and plan the presentation of their reports on their own. These made them easier tounderstand the contents and found that Task-based Language Teaching enabled themto develop their English proficiency in vocabulary, grammar and speak English incommunication. Huang (2016) studied about the Application of Task-based Language
Teaching Method in a Comprehensive English Class in China, The results revealed
that the majority of the students recognized a positive relation of Task-based
Language Teaching to their motivation for English study in terms of an enhanced
interest in and enjoyment of the language itself, more active participation in

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classroom activities and strengthened study autonomy as indicated by the increased
time spent on preparation for and completion for tasks. Most students also identified agrowth in their language skills, especially their speaking and writing skills,
information retrieval abilities, and a better understanding of cultures due to thecommunicative nature of the approach.
Acknowledgement
This research was financially supported by the Research and Development Institute of
Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University under the Royal Patronage of Thailand.

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References
Breen, M. (1987). Learner Contributions to Task Design. In Candling, C. an D.
Murphy (eds) Language Learning Tasks. Englewood Cliffs, N. S: Prentice Hall, 3-46.
Freeman L., & Anderson M. (2011). Task-based Language Teaching. In Techniques& Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford, 63-149.
Huang, D. (2016). A Study on the Application of Task-based Language Teaching
Method in a Comprehensive English Class in China. Journal of Language Teaching
and Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, (pp. 118-127).
Skehan, P. (1996). A Framework for the Implementation of Task-based Instruction.
Applied Linguistics, 17, 38-62.
Willis, J. (1996). A Framework for Task-based Learning. Harlow: Longman.
Contact email: satsayamon@vru.ac.th

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A Comparative Study on Compliment Response
between Indonesian EFL Students and English Native Speakers
Maria Febriani Seran, Macquarie University, Australia
Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
While western people use more acceptance continuum on compliment response,
Indonesians utter more denial continuum which can somehow put speakers into aface-threatening situation. This study investigated compliment response employed by
EFL students and English native speakers. Two research questions were set: 1) How
do Indonesian EFL students and English native speakers respond to compliments?. 2)
Is there any correlation between Indonesian EFL students’ proficiency level and theircompliment response utterances in English?. This study involved three groups ofparticipants: 12 English native speakers, 12 high-proficiency and 12 low-proficiency
Indonesian EFL university students. The research instruments used in this study werean online grammar test and a set of ten discourse completion tasks. Participants’
responses were coded and analysed using Tran’s compliment response framework.
The study found that native speakers combined some compliment upgrades andappreciation tokens in compliment response; whereas, Indonesian EFL students
combined some compliment responses in their utterances, including, appreciation
token, return, and compliment downgrade. There is a correlation between students’proficiency level and their compliment response utterances as most high-proficiency
EFL students produced utterance more varied and more similar to those employed bynative speakers than that used by low-proficiency students. The combination
strategies used by EFL students were evidence of L2 knowledge deficiency and theinfluence of pragmatic transfer from L1 to L2. Therefore, EFL teachers should
explicitly teach more compliment response strategies to raise students’ awareness on
English culture and elaborate their speaking to be more competent as close to native
speakers as possible.
Keywords: compliment response, EFL high-proficiency students, EFL lowproficiency students, English native speakers.

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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I.

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Introduction

In L2 communication, not only non-native English speakers carry their knowledge ofEnglish language, such as, grammatical structure, vocabulary choice, pronunciation,and intonation, but they also tend to get influenced by their L1 cultures andsometimes transfer their utterance from L1 to L2 (Cedar & Setiadi, 2016, p. 63). The
influence of speaker’s L1 culture somehow can lead to a face-threatening situation forboth speaker and hearer when it comes to respond on speech acts, for example,
compliments and compliment response. It is argued that non-native English speakers
respond to compliment in a different way due to the L1 cultural and norm diversities
which bound their identity and require them to perform differently in specific acts
(Phoorcharoensil, 2012, p. 276). Compliments are used by speakers to show their
gratitude to the hearer and in return they expect a compliment response uttered by therecipient. Responding to compliments somehow can cause both positive and negative
face as one can be considered as immodest or conceited meanwhile at the same time,
rejecting the compliment can put someone at risk of face losing and impoliteness(Gajaseni, 1994, as cited in Cedar & Setiadi, 2016, p.64). English native speakers use
more acceptance continuum on compliment response; however, few studies oncompliment response revealed that Indonesians are using more denial continuum than
acceptance continuum on compliment response (Cedar & Setiadi, 2016, p.65).
Although some researchers have studied English compliment responses (CR) used byIndonesian speakers, no previous study has investigated the CRs in relation to the
proficiency- level differences of Indonesian EFL learners in which this research seeks
to address. The aim of this study is to compare the ways English native speakers andIndonesian EFL students respond to compliment and examine whether there is acorrelation between Indonesian EFL learners’ different proficiency level and theircompliment response in English. Therefore, the research seeks to address thefollowing two questions: 1. How do Indonesian EFL low-proficiency and highproficiency students and English native speakers respond to compliments in English?
2. Is there any correlation between Indonesian EFL students’ proficiency level andtheir compliment response use in English? Two hypotheses were built upon these twoquestions as follows: 1. Indonesian EFL students are more prone to denial continuum
than acceptance continuum on compliment response. 2. There is a correlation between
Indonesian EFL learners’ proficiency and their compliment response use in English inthat high-proficiency learners’ compliment response strategies are more varied andare more similar to those employed by native English speakers than that in lowproficiency learners. This research provides an exciting opportunity to advance EFL
teachers and learners’ knowledge of cross cultural understanding, learners’ awarenesson cultural differences and explicit pragmatic instruction.
II.

Literature Review

This section briefly discusses theoretical references of pragmatics, cross-cultural
studies, compliment and compliment response, and critically reviews relevant studies
conducted by earlier researchers.

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2.1.

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Discourse, pragmatic and cross cultural studies

Discourse is multiple ways of saying-doing-being-valuing in the appropriate costumeand interaction as one does not merely say the right thing grammatically correct, but
he also needs to say it at the right time and in the right time (Gee, 1990, p.137).
Meanwhile, pragmatics is the study of language in action that explores the meaning
beyond the utterances which is embedded on the basis of the social and situational
context (Stadler, 2013, p. 1). As each context demands certain functional knowledge
and pragmatic competence, the interlanguage speakers, L2 speakers, are expected topossess both competencies in order to be able to take part in communication
appropriately at the right time and in the right context (Blum-Kulka & Olshtain, 1984
p. 196). Therefore, the cross-cultural studies have been conducted in many contexts toinvestigate whether the L2 speakers have understood both functional and pragmatic
rules of use for a given language. The speech act theory is one of the main crosscultural pragmatic platforms that concentrates exclusively on specific speech events,
such as compliments, apologies, refusals, requests, greeting, complaints, anddisagreements (Stadlers, 2013 p.3). As the speech acts events vary from culture toculture, the L2 speakers tend to bring their L1 culture when dealing with those speech
act situations which somehow can lead to communication breakdown and face
threatening acts.
2.2.

Compliment and compliment response

This current study investigated one speech act that is compliment response as thisspeech act is obviously “cultural and sociologically condition” (Jucker, 2009, p. 1612)
where compliments that are appropriate in a particular situation for one language
community might be inappropriate in a comparable situation for another language
community. Holmes (1988, as cited in Phoocharoensil, 2012, p. 276) definedcompliment as an explicit or implicit speech act which are attributed to the hearer forsome goods, such as possession, characteristics, and skills. Compliment is uttered byspeakers to build or foster solidarity through showing admiration or approval(Herbert, 1989, as cited in Istifci, 2017, p. 17). In the same line, Brown and Levinson(1978, as cited in Bowe, Martin & Manns, 2007, p. 53) claimed that the act ofcomplimenting was considered as a positive politeness strategy; thus, appropriate
responses to compliments become essential. However, responding to a complimentplaces the speakers in a dilemma whether to agree with or reject the compliment(Herbert, 1989, as cited in Allami & Montazeri, 2012, p. 467).
To investigate the compliment response studies, some frameworks of compliment
response categories have been designed by previous scholars. The classic framework
was first proposed by Pomerantz (1978, as cited in Razi, 2013, p. 62) in which she
categorised the compliment response into three degrees, acceptance (appreciation
token, agreement), rejections (disagreement), and self-praise avoidance mechanisms(praise down-graders, referent shift).
Herbert (1990, as cited in Allami & Montazeri, 2012, p. 466) and Chiang andPochtrager (1993, as cited in Allami & Montazeri, 2012, p. 466) classified thecompliment responses into two levels. On micro level, there were 17 patterns, as
follows: appreciation token, politeness formula, comment acceptance, smiling,comment, offering, praise upgrade, comment history, reassignment, return, entreaty,

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scale down, question, disagreement, qualification, no acknowledgement, request
interpretation. On macro level, the responses were allocated in five classes, they are,acceptance, positive elaboration, neutral elaboration, negative elaboration, denial, andsmiling.
Another scholar, Holmes (1989, as cited in Sadeghi & Zarei, 2013, p. 34) offered thetaxonomy of CR strategies as follows: accept (appreciation token, agreeing utterance,
downgrading, and utterance), reject (disagreeing utterance, question accuracy, andchallenge sincerity), evade (shift credit, informative comment, and request
reassurance), surprising, smiling, suggestion, wish/hope, and pleasing.
Similarly, these CR frameworks above tend to separate each compliment response
into its category. However, it was found that people’s utterances on compliment
responses are not isolated, rather than placing compliment response somewhere in
between acceptances and agreements on the one side and rejections and disagreementon the other sides (Pomerants, 1978, as cited in Tran, 2010, p. 108). Therefore, Tran
(2010, p. 106) developed a new framework of compliment that connected eachcategory of compliment response and formed two continuums as follows (seeappendix 2 for more explanation).

Figure 1
2.3 Previous compliment response studies
A large and growing body of literature has investigated compliment response studies
in many different contexts. Allami and Montazeri (2012, p. 466) investigated 40
Iranian EFL males and females’ compliment responses with the consideration ofgender, age, and educational background using discourse completion task (DCT)
survey and concluded that most Iranian EFL students accepted compliments.
Nonetheless, some utterances were influenced by their culture-specific behaviouralnorms due to the lack of sufficient pragmatic knowledge. This study supported thepresent study as it examined the utterances produced by different proficiency level of
Iranian EFL students. However, the use of rating treatment as another data instrument
could lead to the inconsistent result of participants’ response and their own
judgement. Instead of using rating treatment, it could be improved by follow-up
interview to justify the reasons why they responded to the compliment in the way they
had.

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Likewise, Phoocharoensil (2012, p. 276) conducted the L2 English compliment
responses on four groups of participants: native speakers of American English, native
speakers of Thai, High-proficiency Thai EFL learners and low proficiency Thai EFL
learners and found that while Americans accepted compliments, Thais used more of
the denial end, doubting questions, compliment downgrade responses. Thai EFL
learners with high level of proficiency were more inclined to use CR whichcorresponded to the American norms, whereas learners whose proficiency was lower
apparently responded to English compliments far more differently from the America
convention. This study was in line with the proposed study as it also studied thecorrelation between proficiency level and CR strategies in English. Besides, this study
was similar to the study of Allami and Montazeri as it used DCT survey as the data
instrument. Nonetheless, the weakness of this study is that the DCT scenarios in thisstudy were not clear, particularly as, social status and social distance were notemphasized. Consequently, the proposed study will improve the DCT scenarios in theway the social status and distance are clearly stated.
Furthermore, Razi’s (2012, p. 61) contractive study of compliment responses among
Australian English and Iranian Persian speakers conducted by Razi (2012, p. 61)
showed that although both Iranian EFL students and Australians preferred to use CR
strategies, such as, accept- evade- reject, the accept strategy was less used by Iranians
than that in Australians. This finding was the opposite of Allami and Montazeri’s
study.
In a case study on the use of compliments in Persian and English, Sadeghi and Zarei(2013, p. 30) found the Iranian Persian EFL learners applied accept-evade-rejectstrategies in both English and Persian DCT survey. This result of the study
contradicted to Allami and Montazeri’s study; however, Sadeghi and Zarei’s study
supported the study of Razi (2012, p. 61). Besides, the result of the study was lack of
research implication on the pedagogical practice.
A small-scale compliment response study in North Cyprus by Sucuoglo andBahcelerli (2015, p. 3286) reached another conclusion where the non-native speakers(NNS) did not produce the target-like compliment response due to the influence of L1
culture and tended to apply silence when the compliments were given from thestrangers. The finding of this study confirmed the prior study of Allami andMontazeri (2012). The strength of this study is that the researchers conducted afollow-up interview after giving the DCT survey for the participants to find out
participants’ justification on what they wrote in the DCT survey.
In recent study, Cedar and Setiadi (2016, p. 63) examined Indonesian EFL learners
and Thai EFL learners on compliment responses in English and reported thatIndonesians were more prone to deny compliments, while, Thai learners tended toaccept compliments. The weakness of this study is that although the researchers
administered the oxford placement test to the participants to categorise students’proficiency level, the researchers did not mention how students of certain proficiency
level produced their compliment response performance.

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Research Methodology

3.1.

Participants

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This study involved three groups of participants as follows, a group of 12 English
native speakers, a group of 12 low-proficiency Indonesian EFL students, and a groupof 12 high-proficiency Indonesian EFL students. These two groups of Indonesian EFL
learners are second and third-year university students in majoring English Education
at Widya Mandira Catholic University, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
Meanwhile, native English speakers in this study are the researcher’s friends on
Facebook who are Australians, Americans and British.
The participants were recruited through the researcher’s Facebook account where
research invitation with the attachment of DCT questionnaire link was sent online.
Those who were willing to be the research participants would click the link on thesurvey. Indonesian EFL learners were instructed to work on all sections, while,English native speakers were asked to respond on section 1 and section 3 only. The
questionnaire can be accomplished in approximately 25 minutes for both native
speakers and non-native speakers.
3.2.

Research instruments

The study used an online DCT questionnaire. The DCT questionnaire consisted ofthree sections as follows. Section one contained the research consent upon
participants’ willingness in taking part in the study, subjects’ identity information
whether they are considered as native speaker or non-native speakers, and theresearch instruction. Section two was a test of 10 English grammar questions andsection three provided 8 compliment response scenarios.
Ten grammar questions taken from Barron TOEFL exercise were used to categorise
Indonesian EFL students’ proficiency level. Meanwhile, the DCT questionnaire
contained 8 items which measured the variables of compliments topics, such as
possession, skill/performance, appearance, and personality traits, with theconsideration of social distance (either close or distance), and relative power (equal,high). The design of DCT scenarios were modified from the DCT survey of two
previous studies, such as Phoocharoensil’s study (2012, p. 287) and Allami andMotazeri’s study (2012, p. 478). Although many criticisms have been raised
regarding the DCT due to the unnatural occurring data and the lack of turn-taking
elements, this test allows the researchers to control the language that appears in thesetting context and to collect a large sample of data in a short period of time
(Arcidiacono, 2013, p. 23; Martinez-flor, 2011, p. 53).
3.3.

Data collection

The study applied a coding analysis where all the responses were coded and measured
its percentage of occurrence and later described. Participants’ responses wereanalysed using Tran’s compliment response framework as it was assumed thatIndonesian EFL students might use the combination of compliment response on theirutterances. Therefore, the data was best explained using Tran’s framework to answer
these two core research questions.

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As for students’ proficiency level, Indonesian EFL students’ responses on thegrammar test were categorised into two groups. Those who gained score 6 to 10 wereclassified as high-proficiency students, whereas, those who received point below 5
were considered as EFL students of low-proficiency.
IV.

Result and discussion

Based on the data collection, there were 384 compliment response items produced bythree groups of research participants. The data was coded into each continuum;
acceptance continuum, middle continuum and the avoidance continuum. Surprisingly,
the researcher also found 4 other categories which were not classified by Tran in her
CR taxonomy, they are, hope, joking, suggestion, and offering. The following section
reviews and discuss the research findings.
4.1.
Comparison between Indonesian EFL low-proficiency and high-proficiency
students and English native speakers’ compliment responses in English.

Table 1. Percentage of compliment response among three participant groups
From the table above we can see that there were 139 items, 127 items and 117 items
employed by two groups of Indonesian EFL students and English native speakers
respectively. What is interesting in this data is that three groups of research
participants produced varying frequencies in acceptance continuum, middle
continuum, denial continuum and the additional continuum.
In general, these three groups were found to accept compliments. However, thepercentage of acceptance continuum was slightly higher in English native data than

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47.01% of acceptance, i.e. appreciation token, compliment upgrade, and agreement.
Meanwhile, Indonesian EFL low-proficiency and high-proficiency students achieved
46.05% and 45.52% respectively. This finding supports the number of earlier studies,such as, Razi’s (2012, p. 61), Phoocharoensil’s (2012, p. 276), Sucuoglo andBahcelerli’s (2015, p. 3286) study where English native speakers accepted
compliments more often than non-native English speakers did. This finding, in someways, contradicted that of Cedar and Setiadi’s (2016, p. 67) study that Indonesian
EFL students were more prone to denial continuum. This could emerge as the resultof Indonesian EFL learners’ educational background, that is English major; therefore,
they presumably already acquired certain functional knowledge and pragmaticcompetence to be able to take part in L2 communication appropriately (Blum-Kulka& Olshtain, 1984, p. 196).
Interestingly, this present study found that both groups of Indonesian EFL students
also responded to compliment by combining one compliment with other compliment
response strategies. For instance.
Indonesian EFL low-proficiency student: Thank you so much bestie, I needtime to find shoes like this. (appreciation token- compliment downgrade)Indonesian EFL high-proficiency student: Thank you, dear. I'll keep up thegood work. (appreciation token-hope)This result proves that influence of L1 occurred in L2 interaction where Indonesian
EFL students accepted other speaker’s compliment by thanking them while at thesame time justifying their utterance in order to be seen as being modest. This finding
was consistent with Istifci’s (2017, p. 21) study which found that non-native English
speakers used CRs combination strategies in their utterances.
In terms of middle continuum, these three groups produced significantly different
rates. English native speakers and Indonesian EFL high-proficiency students used
29% and 26% of this strategy respectively.
For example:
English native speaker (NS 6): Thanks! Love your scarf (Return)Indonesian EFL high-proficiency learner (HP 6): Thank you, that's a very
sweet of you. (Return)Meanwhile, Indonesian EFL low-proficiency students less favoured this CR middle
continuum (21.66%). This finding supported Cedar and Setiadi’s (2016, p. 69)
findings where there was an internal conflict faced by complimentees by either
accepting the compliment with the risk of showing off or denying the complimentwith the risk of impoliteness.
As shown in table 1, it was noticeable that Indonesian EFL high proficiency learners
produced high percentage of denial continuum (27.56%), meanwhile, English native
speakers and low-proficiency students shared quite similar overall percentage of thisstrategy by 25.14% and 25.66% respectively. These findings lend support to the paststudies of L2 English CRs (e.g, Phoocharoensil, 2012, p. 276; Cedar & Septiani,
2016, p. 69). Despite high percentage of acceptance continuum employed byIndonesian EFL students, there were still some degrees of avoidance continuum foundin their utterance due to the value of humility and modesty in L1 culture.

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For example:
Indonesian EFL high-proficiency learner (HP 10): Sir, I am eternally to you
for your attention towards me as one of your students. I am very thankful that you are
my teacher (explanation- expressing gladness)Indonesian EFL low-proficiency learner (LP 8): Yes sir, i already save a lot ofmoney for this (Explanation)
This study also found another continuum, such as, hope, joking, suggestion, andoffering which were not included in Tran’s CR strategies. These four findings werecategorised on the macro level of compliment response strategies in Holmes’ CRs
taxonomy (1989, as cited in Sadeghi & Zarei, 2013, p. 34). These four CRs strategy
were mostly preferred by Indonesian EFL low-proficiency students (7.15%),compared to 3.92% and 2.55% of this strategy in Indonesian high-proficiency
students’ and English native speakers’ data. The findings of four other CR strategies
further supported the idea of earlier studies (Sadeghi & Zerai, 2013, p. 34; Istifci,
2017, p. 21; Cedar & Setiadi, 2016, p. 69). These categories were used to accept
compliment indirectly but at the same time concerned about others’ condition.
For example:
Indonesia EFL low-proficiency student: Thanks... why you don't try this hairstyle too? i think it would be great too. (appreciation token- suggestion)
It was clearly seen, as demonstrated above, that both groups of Indonesian EFL
students were more prone to accept compliments and combine their CR strategies toshow modesty than the English Native speakers did. Whereas, the English native
speakers evidently used compliments far more other than the Indonesians. Having
said that, the middle continuum and denial continuum were more preferred byIndonesian EFL low-proficiency students than that employed by English native
speakers and Indonesian EFL high-proficiency students. This findings were the resultof lack of L2 cultural knowledge and L1 pragmatic transfer which will be discussed in
the following section. To summarise, these above findings have contradicted the first
hypothesis, which claimed that Indonesian students would go toward the denial
continuum.
4.2 Indonesian EFL learners’ CR use
This current study also aimed to examine whether there is a correlation
between the use of CR in L2 English and learners’ proficiency. As seen in table 1,
Indonesian learners of high proficiency level apparently employed CR pattern
resembling those in English native speaker forms, 54 times and 55 times. With indepth investigation, the data indicated that the high-proficiency learners uttered
10.24% of compliment upgrade, whereas, the English native speakers produced
13.68% of this strategy. As for agreement, high-proficiency learners generated 4% of
the strategy which was 1% less than that uttered by English native speakers (5%).
Despite this, both groups brought slightly similar rate of appreciation token, 29.14%
and 29.05% respectively. In terms of middle continuum, the high-proficiency student
showed slightly similar rate toward comment history (2.36%) and reassignment(5.52%) to English native speakers’ rates of these two strategies, (2.59% & 4.27%
respectively). It is worth noticing that the percentage of avoidance continuum toward

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disagreement and doubting was 2.37% and 3.14% achieved by high-proficiency
leaners. These proportions sligtly resembled the same CR categories produced by
Native speakers, 2.57% and 4.38% respectively. Furthermore, high-proficiency
learners used less additional strategies, such as hope (3.14%) and suggestion (0.78)
compared to English native speakers who employed 0.85% each for hope, joking, andsuggestion, and used 2.55% of offering.
In contrast, Indonesian EFL learners of low-proficiency level responded to English
compliment in a noticeably different manner from English native practice. That is,
22.3% of them used compliment upgrade which was the highest rate among thesethree groups. Nonetheless, only 21.5% of low-proficiency learners applied
appreciation token in their compliment response, compared to 29.05% in English
native data. This group also made up 2.17% of agreement which was three times
lower than English native speakers’ agreement rate, 5%. As for middle continuum,
particularly return, explanation, comment history and reassignment, the lowproficiency learners employed the higher rate of comment history, 6.46% compared to
2.50% in Native speakers’ data. Return was rarely used by this group as it was only
1.44%, compared to English native data, 4.27% and high proficiency student data,
5.52%. In terms of denial continuum, low-proficiency learners and English native
speakers shared quite similar proportion of expressing gladness, 6.46% and 6.85
respectively. Nonetheless, it was noticeable that compared to English native speakers
and high-proficiency students’ rate of doubting, low-proficiency produced the highest
rate of doubting strategy to deny compliment (8.62%).
In summary, the findings above supported the second claim that there was acorrelation between Indonesian EFL learners’ proficiency and their compliment
response use in English. High-proficiency learners used compliment response
strategies, for instance towards the acceptance continuum, comment history,
reassignment, avoidance continuum and other additional continuum, which were morevaried and were more similar to those employed by native English speakers than thatused by low-proficiency learners. The higher proficiency in L2 the learners have, thehigher-likelihood for L2 learners to have CR performance closer to the native
speakers’ norms (Phoocharoensil, 2012, p. 281). The following section discussed theinfluence of L1 pragmatic transfer in L2 interaction and students’ lack of L2
knowledge.
4.2.

Evidence of lack of L2 knowledge and pragmatic transfer

There were two reasons which caused Indonesian EFL learners of low-proficiency
level respond to English compliment differently from English native practice, they
are, lack of L2 cultural practice and the pragmatic transfer from L1 to L2.
The deficiency of adequate L2 cultural practice can be showed in the data where lowproficiency students overused the appreciation token, such as, thanking. This finding
was in relation to Allami and Motazeri’s study (2012, p.476) that students who werelack of L2 knowledge would find difficult to deal with real context and favourablychoose to thank other people as compliment response instead of modifying theirutterances.

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Furthermore, Indonesia society also values modesty and want to be seen humble when
responding to compliments (Cedar & Setiadi, 2016, p. 64). It was apparent that
although many low-proficiency students tried to modify their compliment response,
they still brought their L1 culture in L2 interaction; thus, they frequently employed
the denial continuum, such as, doubting and disagreement, in order to be seen as
modest.
In the contrary, students of high-proficiency less relied on L1 transfer and used morestrategies which were closer to English native practice.
V.

Pedagogical implication

Based on these finding above, two significant pedagogical implications are suggested
for EFL English teachers.
First, EFL teachers should focus not only on the linguistics knowledge but also thepragmatic knowledge. EFL teachers are advised to introduce pragmatic aspects to
EFL students through providing the authentic materials to the class, such as, English
movies, videos, clips which allow learners to learn natural English use.
Second, when English teachers use authentic material to teach pragmatics, they areadvised to design the English lesson based on the teaching pragmatic framework
proposed by Martinez-flor and Uso-Juan (2016, as cited in Taguchi, 2011, p. 297)
where it has six stages of pragmatic instruction: researching-reflecting- receivingreasoning- rehearsing- revising. The first two stages are to allow students tounderstand pragmatic concepts through analysing the L1 pragmatic data. Teachers canuse text conversation between Indonesian person meets or greets other people, likefamily, strangers. In the third and fourth stage, the teacher introduces the L2 text
which shows how the native speaker greets other people. Teacher can engage students
to both texts by comparing the L1 pragmatic data to L2 pragmatic data and examining
the similarities and differences between two cultures. More L2 communicative
activities and feedback are followed in stage six.
The consideration of teaching pragmatic is crucial in EFL class, as it not only raises
learners’ awareness on L2 target culture, but also allows learners to reflectively think
and respect their L1 culture as well as enrich their knowledge of global cultural
diversity.
VI.

Conclusion

The study shows the similarities and differences between the group of English native
speakers and the other groups of Indonesian EFL learners’ CRs in terms of strategy
use. In general, Indonesian students accepted compliments, but, students of highproficiency level tended to respond to compliment in a way closer to the targetlanguage culture, compared to low-proficiency students who still applied the L1
culture in L2 interaction due to L2 transfer and lack of L2 exposure. Therefore,
providing a lesson through a teaching pragmatics framework can be one of many
ways to introduce and exchange cross-cultural knowledge and allow learners to put
the grammar in use, make their utterance more natural and say the right thing at theright time and in the right context.

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Despite its fruitful contributions, the current study still has some limitations. First,
although Indonesian EFL students took the grammar test designed by the researcher,
the grammar test result did not simply represent students’ overall proficiency level
because there was a high possibility that students could look up the answers by
consulting a dictionary, communication devices, and friends. It is suggested that
future studies may recruit students who already took official TOEFL test to gain more
valid data on students’ proficiency. Lastly, the study applied DCT survey that has
been criticized regardless of its advantage; thus, the future studies may apply moredata collection instruments, such as, follow-up interview to discover more aspects of
CRs use.
Acknowledgement:
The author wishes to extend her deepest gratitude and sincerest thanks to IndonesianEndowment Fund for Education (LPDP) for giving financial assistance to pursue her
master degree.

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References
Allami, H., Montazeri, M. (2012). Iranian EFL learners’ compliment responses.
SYSTEM, 40(2012), 466-482. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2012.10.010
Arcidiacono, F. (2013). Pragmatics: Quantitative Methods. Chichester: WilleyBlackwell.
Blum-Kulka, S. 1984. Requests and Apologies. A cross-cultural study of speech act
realization patterns. Applied Linguistics, 5(3), 196-213.
Bowe.J., Martin, K., & Manns, H. (2007). Communication across cultures: mutual
understanding in global world. Cambridge Port Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge
University Press.
Cedar, P., Setiadi, A. (2016). Performance of Indonesian EFL Learners and Thai EFL
Learners on Compliment Responses in English. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics & English Literature. 5(7), 63-76.
Istifci, I. (2017). Comparison of Chinese and Turkish EFL learners on the use ofcompliment responses. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 13(2), 14.29.
Gee, J. (1990). Social Linguisctics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourse. Hampshire:
The Farmer Press.
Martinez-flor, A. (2011). Research methodologies in pragmatics: Eliciting refusals torequests. Estudios de lingüística inglesa aplicada, 11(2011), 47-87.
Phoocharoensil, S. (2012). L2 English Compliment Response: An Investigation of
Pragmatic Transfer. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English
Literature, 1(6), 276-287, Doi: 10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.6p.276
Razi, A. (2013). A constractive study of compliment responses among AustralianEnglish and Iranian Persian speakers. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences,70(2013), 61-66. Doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.01.038.
Stadler, S. (2013). Cross-cultural pragmatics. Chichester: Willey-Blackwell.
Sucuoğlu, E,. Bahçelerli, N.M. (2015). A study of compliment responses in English :a case of North Cyprus. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174(2015). 32853291. Doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.995.
Taguchi, N. (2011). Teaching pragmatics: Trends and Issues. Annual review ofApplied Linguistics, 31(2011), 289-310
Tran, G.Q. (2010). Replying to compliments in English and Vietnamese. The
International Journal of Language Society and Culture, 30(2010), 104-130

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Zarei, G.R., Sadeghi, E. (2013). Investigating the Use of Compliments in Persian andEnglish: A Case Study of Iranian EFL Students. Journal of Foreign Language
Teaching and Translation Studies, 2(2), 30-49.
Contact email: febrianiseran14@gmail.com

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Appendices
Appendix 1
Questionnaire:
Section 1: Background Information
Who do you describe yourself?
a.
Native English Speakerb.
Non-Native English Speaker.
Note: If you are a native English speaker, Ignore section 2 and go forward to section
3. If you are a non-native English speaker, please do the task on section 2 and section
3.
Section 2: Grammar Test
Instruction: there are 10 multiple questions below and you are asked to choose one
correct answer only based on your grammar knowledge.
1.
Almost everyone fails….. the driver’s test on the first trya.
Passingb.
To have passedc.
To passd.
In passing
2.
To relieve pain caused by severe burns, prevent infection, and treat forshock,….. immediate steps
A.
TakingB.
To take
C.
Taken
D.
Take
3.
In general, by the second year of production, the price of a new piece oftechnology…. Significantlya.
Will decreasedb.
Has decreasedc.
Will have decreasedd.
Will has decreased4.
A vacuum will neither conduct heat nor….
a.
Transmit sound wavesb.
Transmitting sound wavesc.
Sound waves are transmittedd.
The transmission of sound waves
5.
….. orangutans live alonea.
near allb.
almost allc.
the alld.
the most all
6.
The crime rate has begun to decline in New York City due to efforts on thepart of both government and private citizens to curb…
a.
Them
b.
Him
c.
Its

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d.
It
7.
It is not clear how much students learn….. television classes without
supervision and monitoring.
A.
For watching
B.
From watchingC.
By watchD.
To watch
8.
Some ancient units such as the day, the foot, and the pound,….. todaya.
Are still in useb.
That are still in usec.
Which are in use stilld.
Still in use
9.
Canada does not require that U.S citizens obtain passports to enter the country,
and…..
a.
Mexico does neitherb.
Mexoci doesn’t neitherc.
Neither Mexico doesd.
Either does Mexico.
10.
While trying to build a tunnel through the blue ridge mountaints,….
A.
Coals was discovered by workmen at the construction site
B.
Workmen discovered coal at the construction siteC.
The construction site was where coal was discovered by workmen
D.
It was the construction site where workmen discovered coal
Section 3: Discourse Completion Task Survey
Instruction: for this task, you are asked to read carefully these 8 scenarios below andimagine that you are involved in these particular situations. Write down yourresponse/reply/answer on what the other speakers have said to you. There are noright or wrong answers.
DCT Survey
1.
After having finished the dinner you had prepared for your family, your sistertells you, "You’re such a great cook."
What will you say to your sister?
2.
Your boss comes over to your house and her/his eyes fall on your beautiful
garden. She says “ You’ve grown such lovely flowers”
What will you respond to your boss?
3.
Your best friend notices that you’ve bought a new pair of shoes. She/he tells
you, "These look good on you and even the colours great on you."
What will you respond to your best friend?
4.
Your boss saw your new laptop in your office and tells you, "That’s a nicelaptop you’ve got there!"
What will you reply to your boss?
5.
Your classmate notices that you’ve had your hair cut. She says, “you lookgreat in this new hair style."

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What will you say to your classmate?
6.
You have changed your dressing style this year. On noticing that, friend’s
parent tells you “this color suits you better. What will you respond to your friend’s
parent?
7.
You have always tried to get to the class on time. One day your lecturer tells
you, "You are one of my best students because of your punctuality."
What will you say to your lecturer?
8.
Your same-aged cousin always comes to you for advice when in trouble. Onces/he tells you, "You always give the best advice. You’re great."
What will you say to your cousin?

Appendix 2: Tran’s CR Taxonomya.
Compliment upgrade: the complimentee agrees with and increases thecomplimentary force.
b.
Agreement: the complimentee agrees with the complimentary force by
providing a response which is “semantically fitted to the compliment’c.
Agreement token: the complimentee may agree with the compliment assertion
with simple “yes” or “yeah”.
d.
Appreciation token: the complimentee recognises the status of the otherspeaker’s previous utterance as a compliment and shows appreciation for it.
e.
Return. The complimentee reciprocates the act of complimenting by paying
back the compliment to the complimenterf.
Explanation/ comment history. The complimentee impersonalizes thecomplimentary force by giving further information which may frequently beirrelevant about the object of the compliment.
g.
Reassignment. The complimentee redirects the praise offered by thecomplimenter to some third person or to something elseh.
Non-idiomatic response: the complimentee implies that she does not agreewith the compliment assertion.
i.
Compliment downgrade: the complimentee qualifies the praise force.
j.
Disagreement: the complimentee directly disagrees with the praise force.
k.
Disagreement token. The complimentee may disagree with the complimentassertion with a simple “no”l.
Expressing gladness: the complimentee expresses his/her gladness that thecomplimenter likes the object of the complimentm.
Follow-up question: the complimentee responds to the compliment with aquestion which elaborates the compliment assertionn.
Doubting. The complimentee responds to the compliment with a question
which corresponds to the request for repetition and or expansion of the complimentassertion.
o.
Opting out. The complimentee responds to the compliment with mere lau

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Leagility in Education: Logistics and Supply Chain Management as a Dynamic Education
Paradigm
Roy I. Morien, Naresuan University, Thailand
Duangporn Limthamrong Morien, Naresuan University, Thailand
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Abstract
The terminology of ‘agile education’, ‘agile pedagogy’, ‘the agile classroom’, hasgained prominence in the literature in recent times. The concept of agile educationemanates from the concept of ‘organizational agility’, which has been adopted andadapted into agile shipbuilding, agile logistics and supply chain, and agile softwaredevelopment, which, together with the concepts of Lean Thinking, which has its basis
in the Toyota Way, are now being seen in combination, termed as Leagility. We seek
to apply this terminology to education. The discussion is about the applicability ofLeagilty in computer systems development education. The fundamental teaching andlearning practices in computer systems education are practical and hands-on withtheory following practice being more appropriate than practice following theory, andwith theory practiced in-situ allowing the emergence of theory based on the practicein an inductive manner. This paper is a discursive discussion, based on personal
experience and perceptions gained from 50 years of involvement in the tertiary
education sector, both as student, and academic teacher and researcher, andconcurrent or other experience as an IT/IS practitioner, to project management level.
The proposal is to radically overturn the current educational model, and implement a
hands-on, practical, ‘super-project’ as the primary learning vehicle, and incorporatinga paradigm of continuous and formative assessment, student learning teams, teachingteams, and curriculum design and development, to overcome the perceived 7 Wastesof Education, based on the 7 Wastes of Production, from the Lean Thinking model
derived from The Toyota Way of Management. (Morien, 2016a, 2016b, 2017, 2018)
Keywords: leagility, ‘agile education’, ‘agile pedagogy, education logistics, lean
education, lean management.

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The concept of agile education emanates from the concept of ‘organizational agility’,
which has been adopted and adapted into agile shipbuilding (Moura & Botter, 2012)),agile logistics and supply chain (Naim & Gosling, 2011), and agile softwaredevelopment (Poppendieck, 2001), which, together with the concepts of Lean
Thinking, which has its basis in the Toyota Way (Liker, 2004), are now being seen in
combination, termed as Leagility. We seek to apply this terminology to education.
The thesis in this paper is that universities and colleges (referred to here, generally, as
Higher Education Institutions, or HEIs) seem to be becoming endangered institutions,certainly in their current form, in many of the academic disciplines, and a radicallydifferent view of the Pedagogical processes is required: proposed here as a Logistics
and Supply Chain Management view.
Qutoing from tn the Thailand Nation Newspaper of 16th September, 2018 "Thepresident of a famous university in Japan …“We have no illusion about our future.
We may have been a top-ranked university for several decades… in the current
ecosystem, past success doesn’t guarantee future success. No institution is too big to
fail.”. This is certainly not the only statement on the perils facing HEIs to be found in
the press and the research literature. (Isaksson et al., 2013)
The solution is seen here to be a new model of HEI pedagogy that considers HEIs as
competitive, commercial enterprises whose education processes are appropriately
seen as being akin to logistics and supply chain processes. (Doman, 2011). The
computer industry, in all its manifestations, is the example high in our minds, and theauthors’ experience in higher education, over the past 50 years, and in computer
systems education over the past 30 years, allows us to consider this academic area as anindicative case.
Most, if not all, current Logistics and Suppy Chain Management practices can bevaluably applied to education: Quality Management, Quality Circles, Supplier
Networks, Just-in-Time manufacturing, eradication of waste in the manufacturing
processes under the heading of Lean Management, adaptability of processes under theheading of ‘organisational agility’, with these latter two approaches now beingcombined under the heading of ‘Leagility’. (Emiliani, 2014)
To set the scene for these proposals, a quick definition of each of these three terms isappropriate. In general terms, ‘agile’ means “fast, quick decision making andbehaviour to meet changing circumstances, implying timely decision making”. Lean,or Lean Management, is stated as “get the right things to the right place at the righttime, the first time, while minimizing waste and being open to change”, and, finally,‘leagility’ is a combination of these terms, to imply “overall efficacy, effective andefficient, behaving in an agile and lean manner”.
Continuing this notion, we state the concept of “pedagogical agility” by applying"agility" to the definition of "pedagogical agility": "The capability of an HEI to
rapidly change or adapt in response to changes in the market for Graduates. A highdegree of pedagogical agility can help an HEI to react successfully to the emergence

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sudden shifts in overall market conditions".
Further, in the HEI situation, we define "Leanness" as developing a pedagogical value
stream to eliminate all waste, including time, and to ensure the continuous andlevelled delivery of a schedule of knowledge enhancement. “A lean HEI understands
knowledge value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The
ultimate goal is to provide perfect Knowledge to the student through a perfect value
creation process that has zero waste”.
Similarly, “Leagile” is a hybrid of lean and agile systems, and a paraphrased
definition, derived from http://www.husdal.com/2009/05/28/lean-agile-leagile/).is“Leagile has emerged as an answer to the problem of reconciling long curriculum
lead times with unpredictable demand”. These definitions of Logistics, and Supply
Chain Management, drawn from the Internet, have been modified to be applicable to
HEIs, particularly by refering to ‘students’ rather than ‘customers’, extending this toinclude future employers, students’ families, and society at large as stakeholders in
the education process. The “product” can be defined as being ‘Knowledge”, or, togive it a more ‘production line’ relevant identity, the product being produced by HEIs
is a Knowledge Product constituting the entirety of the knowledge gain designed
into the ‘production line’ activity by way of the sub-assemblies, parts and componentsthat we refer to as Knowledge Units, or, in simple terms, curriculum components.
By separating the idea of a Knowledge Product as what is being produced on the HEI
education production line, and not the student or graduate as the product, allows theidea of the students themselves being active production line process workers, together
with their teachers and other curriculum providors and participants. It also allows theKnowledge Product to be seen as the product that is designed, and produced by aprocess of adding sub-assemblies and component parts, which we term Knowledge
Units, at conceptual work stations, which in today’s conceptualisation is essentiallythe subject taught in a semester.
In Isaksson (2013), the scenario now facing individual universities includes
significant competition from many different sources, with courses being available
from 3rd party online providers, and the Internet enabling the extensive availability ofe-learning materials, the most illustrious of which are so-called Massive Open Online
Courses (MOOC’s) offered by prestigious universities and world-leading lecturers,
online. Udemy offers many and varied online courses, and it seems that this is a lowcost source of academic material, competing for enrolments, thereby being
competition
fortraditional
providersofeducational
material(https://www.udemy.com/). Our experience in selecting textbooks for subjects over 3
decades includes seeing offers by textbook publishers to provide a complete,‘canned’ curriculum, requiring the teaching academic merely to set up the projector
and present the slides provided. Confronted with these situations, together with theextraordinary developments and advances in computing, information technology, andcommunications technology, by huge organisations such as Google, Amazon,
Microsoft, Tesla, and Facebook inter alia, one can only wonder at what HEIs can, andmust, do to remain viable and relevant, even to continue to exist in anything like theircurrent form.

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Discussions published in many papers on or around this scenario seem to mostly beconcerned with improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the operational andadministrative processes of HEIs as they currently operate (Doman, 2011), and do notaddress the actual education processes; the pedagogy. In our view. HEIs must makeradical changes to their academic systems, what we term here their Pedagogical
Systems. New ways to source curriculum materials, new ways to present thosematerials to students, new ways for students to access that material and learn, and new
ways to assess the learning outcomes, are required. It cannot be a mere reorganisationof current processes, but a radical change in almost every aspect.
Overall, it is suggested here that a new HEI pedagogical model is needed, and in thispaper, we present such a model that defines the Pedagogical System of HEIs as a
Logistics and Supply Chain Management model. To support this proposition, a new,more commercial view of education is needed.
Systems in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)
It is suggested that there are three different but associated systems in an HEI:
1.
The HEI General Administration System, which includes all of the generaladministrative functions necessary for the HEI to continue operations. These
functions include HR Management, Payroll, Purchasing, Accounting, Budgeting, andso on. Clearly, these are candidates for ‘lean analysis’, and are the typical systems
considered when discussing the application of lean thinking in an enterprise.
2.
The Education Support System, which we define as including all of theadministrative functions necessary for the university to accept students, enrol students,organise teaching timetables, control student enrolments in subjects, handling fee
payments, recording examination results and grades, appeals against assessment,
controlling graduate research and dissertation submission, and can also be seen to include
the decision making processes for offering new courses and subjects, and deciding on
curriculum. As essentially administrative, the Education Administration System is also
clearly a candidate for ‘lean analysis’.
3.
The Pedagogical System, which we see as including all of the processes andactivities involved in designing curriculum, sourcing, developing and presenting thecurriculum to the students, making learning materials available to students, thelearning activities of the students, and the assessment and evaluation activities
necessary to monitor student progress and to monitor the quality and success of theseprocesses. So anything to do with Teaching, Learning and Assessment are included in
the Pedagogical System.
It is this system, and all its components and activities, that we see as being ofparticular relevance when considering ‘agile education’ or, also terms used in theliterature, ‘agile classrooms’ and ‘pedagogical agility’.
In the discussion in this paper, the possibility of applying both lean and agile
principles and processes to HEIs is considered, and applications of these under theheading of ‘leagility’ are proposed. In our literature review, we identified numerous
papers with titles indicating that the topic of the paper was ‘the lean paradigm in

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higher education’. These ‘lean’ papers seem predominantly to address the General
Administration System processes and the Education Administration Systemprocesses, but seem to say little about the Pedagogical System. However, there is alsoa plethora of papers indicating by their title that they are addressing ‘the agile
paradigm in education’, with the keywords of ‘agile education, ‘the agile classroom’,and even ‘agile pedagogy’. These ‘agile’ papers are more considering the Pedagogical
System, rather than the General Administration System or the Education
Administration System of the HEI being discussed. As has been indicated in many
papers, particularly in the logistics and supply chanin management literature, ‘lean’and ‘agile’ usually are not applied separately and in the absence of the other. Thus thederived term ‘leagility’.
Considering the Pedagogical System as a Logistics and Supply Chain
Management Problem
Many papers have been published on the subject of ‘Leagility in Logistics and Supply
Chain Management’, identifying the process environment to which lean practices are
best applied, and those to which agile practices are best applied. It is not too difficult,given an appropriate set of definitions appropriate to the actors in, and dimensions of,
the Pedagogical System in an HEI, to define this system and its processes in terms of
being a Logistics and Supply Chain Management situation.
We are aware of the classical attitude towards education, referred to in Emiliani(2004) in these terms: “Administrators, faculty and staff (in higher education
institutions) must avoid the trap of viewing higher education as a special case where
Lean does not apply. People not encumbered (by this view) … accept that students
are customers”. We, the current authors, have been avoiding this trap for many years,
holding as we do the opinion that education in HEIs cannot be the ‘ivory tower
detached from the real world’ style, and must provide job skills, organisational‘social’ skills, problem-solving skills, know-how, as well as know-what and knowwhy as well as subject matter expertise. As we wrote as far back as 1994, “It is
obvious that the education of IST professionals at tertiary level must be broad. Just toteach technical and narrow skills is futile. However, there does appear to be asignificant demand for specific skills in certain areas.” (Morien & Schmidenberg,
1994).
A commercially-oriented model where students are the customers of the institution, as
has been suggested in Emiliani (op.cit) is a reasonable model of education
consumption. After all, as students pay to attend the institution, it can be suggested
that they are paying for a service, therefore they are the customers. The provision of
education is a multi-billion-dollar industry, ranking high in the importance scale ofexport industries. In 2017, fees alone paid by foreign students exceeded AU$11
billion. Clearly, HEIs are commercial enterprises operating as a competitive,commercial industry.
As discussed above, we define the pedagogical process in terms of being the activities
involved in the development of a Knowledge Product. Within this process,Knowledge Units are added to the evolving Knowledge Product, which is the workin-progress. These Knowledge units are the knowledge parts and sub-assemblies
being applied to the build of the Knowledge Product. By separating the students from

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the Knowledge Product, we can see the student as also being a knowledge providor by
virtue of their research, self-directed learning, and general realisations.
The Pedagogical System
Taking from the definitions above, this system can be defined as “a value chain
extending from secondary schools and other sources of student entrants, and includes
all aspects of the development of a knowledge product sufficient to produce
competent, well-educated graduates to meet the requirements of employers and otherstakeholders in society”. It includes all aspects of the processes of teaching, learning,
and assessment, including curriculum design, development or sourcing of curriculum,and interfacing with the suppliers of curriculum”.
A well defined and conducted Pedagogical System maximises value to thestakehoders, particuarly employers, by producing a graduate with the best set of skills
and know-how and a service mind: the Knowledge Product, thereby creating acompetitive advantage in the education marketplace, using information technology toadvantage in the support and control the teaching, learning and assessment practices
in the system, as well as the efficient and effective presentation opportunities of elearning and other information technologies.
The ‘Graduate’ as the Product
While the graduate is the visible and obvious finished product of the Pedagogical
System, it is more relevant to view the totality of the graduates knowledge gained
over the course of their study to be the Product, and refer to this as the Knowledge
Product. This Knowledge Product comprises a set of Knowledge Units presented tothe student, which is referred to in the next paragraph.
The ‘Student’ as the Work-in-Progress Product
The student, or more particularly the student’s Knowledge Product, is the partiallyassembled (partially educated, partially complete) work-in-progress, moving in anorderly fashion, from Knowledge unit to Knowledge unit (perceived in this context asequivalent to moving from workstation to workstation, and having parts and subassemblies added in a manufacturing process), and being transformed step-by-step
into the finished product; the Graduate’s Knowledge Product.
Knowledge Unit
We use the terminology of ‘knowledge unit’ as being, first, the essential ‘subassemblies’ or ‘parts’ being added to the Student’s Knowledge Product, and also to
move away from the traditional notion of a subject which is a 16-week course in asemester with final examinations deciding whether the student has passed or failed
overall (too little too late for the student to be assisted). The experience of the student
in the system, together with the inclusions in the specific curriculum represented inknowledge units, gives the graduate the many essential soft skills necessary, ensuringthat they are indeed well-rounded, well-educated products of the Pedagogical Systemof the HEI.

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Knowledge, and more particularly Knowledge Units, is, are, the ‘raw material,
component parts and sub-assemblies’ in the Pedagogical System processes. First, thesecondary school graduates or mature-age entrants, when they enter the HEI system,
bring with them knowledge, gained from their schooling. During the Pedagogical
System processes, their knowledge is extended, advanced, evolved by studying
further curriculum, presented to them in specific, discrete but associated ‘Knowledge
Units’. This is achieved in a continuous, longitudinal, ‘production line’ process. These
Knowledge Units are either produced internally or sourced externally from curriculum
suppliers. As referred to above, MOOC’s that are currently available via the Internet,
and courses from suppliers such as Udemy, as well as ‘canned’ courses from textbook
publishers, interesting videos published on YouTube, and any teaching and learningmaterials published in-house, can be organised into a learning process in which they
are considered as the raw materials, parts or sub-assemblies in the Pedagogical
System during which the final product, the Graduate, is built..
A Knowledge Unit can be a 2-week intensive classroom or seminar situation, or an
online e-learning video series, or an entire MOOC presentation, or YouTube video.
This definition provides the freedom to deliver curriculum content, or knowledge, in avariety of ways, and which can be sourced from anywhere, or developed in-house.
Also, by offering knowledge units online, with AnyWhere/Anytime access, students
remote from the university, or just in remote locations, can access the content, thus
pursuing their course in their own time, at their own location.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Although not specifically stated in the definitions given above, QA and QC measuresand processes are applied to the evolving product (the student’s knowledge) on aregular and continuing basis by virtue of assessment and evaluation processes, which
include examinations, pop-up tests, teacher reviews, peer reviews, with the production
process coming to an immediate stop when the product-in-process (again, the student)
fails the quality tests. As well, close scrutiny of the curriculum included in theknowledge units is an essential element of the QA and QC, in exactly the same waythat materials used in the manufacturing process are tested for usability and fitnessfor-purpose. Production line elements of Quality Circles, TQM etc., applicable in
Logistics, are relevant here.

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In Figure 1, we see a simplistic view of the Pedagogical System, with incoming
students entering the HEI, proceeding through a Course, gaining knowledge along theway, with that knowledge primarily provided by teachers and some others, toultimately produce a graduate. However, this is hardly a nuanced picture.

Figure 2: A representation of the Pedagogical Logistics and Supply Chain System
In Figure 2 we see a more complex representation of the Pedagogical Production
Line, but still representing students as the product.
In Figure 3, the development of a Knowledge Package as it proceeds through thepedagogical production line is envisaged.

Figure 3: The “Product” of the Pedagogical System is “Knowledge”
One useful outcome of defining the product as a Knowledge Product, and not as thestudent or Graduate themselves, is that the students can now themselves be seen as
Knowledge Providers, bringing Knowledge Units into the production line by way ofself-learning, research and their own evolving ‘realisations’ and knowledge gain.
Figure 4 illustrates students as participants in this manner.

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Figure 4: The Stakeholders (with Students as both Learners and Knowledge
Providers)
The Seven (Now 8) Wastes of Manufacturing
We now consider Lean Thinking, as applicable to Logistics and Supply Chain
Management, which we then transfer into the education environment, in thePedagogical System.
First, elimination of waste in the processes in any organisation is the most effective
way to increase the profitability of any business. Processes either add value or waste
to the production of a good or service. The seven wastes originated in Japan, wherewaste is known as “muda."
The 8 Wastes of Education
Various attempts have been made to redefine the 7 Wastes of Manufacturing into theeducation context. Various efforts have been made to transform the wastes ofmanufacturing into the wastes of education. Isakson et al. (2013) presents a model ofthe types of waste appropriate to education, Inventory is defined as “Frontloading or
storing of knowledge which is supposed to be used much later”. Overproduction isstated as “(Graduates) without employment opportunities”, which in our model would
be better considered under Defects.
Figure 5 is our attempt at defining the 8 Wastes of Education, It is a little different toour original model published in (Morien, 2016) which attempted to precisely matchthe terminology of the 8 Wastes of Manufacturing.

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Figure 5: The seven (now eight) wastes, applied to Education
The Need for a Radically Different Pedagogical Model.
The concept of viewing the Pedagogical System of an HEI as a Logisitics and Supply
Chain Management System, in the way that we have done here, suggests how theprocess can proceed, with the availability of Knowledge Units being added to the
Knowledge Product, addressing the stakeholders in the system, and so on. Our further
discussion is about the many and varied methods and tactics that can be utilised tosuccessfully build the Knowledge Product: these are the Pedagogical Methods thathave been proposed elsewhere in some profusion. These methods include “TheFlipped Classroom”, “the Agile Classroom”, “Project-Based Learning” and so on. Welabel these the production line processes and work station activities of the production
line, whereas we are considering the overall supply chain.
The fundamental problem perceived in most of those proposed methods, sometimes
termed Unconventional Methods, have mostly appeared to be proposals for making
the classroom situation more effective. Our proposal is to radically overturn thecurrent educational model, remove standup classroom teaching as the primary modeof subject matter delivery, extensively utilise modern communication and othertechnology for the provision of curriculum; the Knowledge Units, and to seek toachieve a significantly higher standard of knowledge acquisition achievement than iscurrently the case.
This can be envisaged as a continuous learning stream based on a broad front ofteaching and learning of particular and closely related curriculum, rather than thesiloed, almost bits-and-pieces of curriculum that may or may not be immediately
related and useful, and is intended often to be ‘pre-requisite’ learning for subjects
remote in time, at soonest in the next term, and often a year hence, by which time thesubject matter may well have been forgotten. One way or the other subject matter that

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is immediately unrelated and not useful in situ does not present the same learning
urgency as when it is immediately applied.
Just-in-Time Curriculum
Our suggestion as to the overall teaching and learning strategy is to base the computer
systems deveopment course (in this case) on an industry-strength project developed
over the whole course. Curriculum decisions will be based on the Just-in-Time
curriculum requirements for the continuing development of the project, rather than on
the long-horizon, batch style curriculum development extant in HEIs.
Continuous Production: No Waiting
The “production line” scenario for students is a continuous learning stream continuingfrom one Knowledge Unit to the next, sometimes with Knowledge Units in parallel,sometimes in a single Knowledge Unit. The content of each Knowledge Unit will
provide knowledge that is directly relevant to the next Knowledge Unit without
Waiting, without On-Hand Inventory. In the “super project” approach to teaching andlearning, the knowledge included in each Knowledge Unit with be immediately
applied to the project, providing immediate “hands-on” reinforcement and deeplearning of the knowledge. Over time, the project will be extended to introduce newknowledge, and also to cotinue the reinforcement of prior learning.
Quality Control and Quality Assurance: Assessment of Knowledge Gain
Continuous, longitudinal, formative assessment will confirm continuous learning success,which contributes to the students’ sense of well-being and satisfaction, and enjoyment oflearning. The ever-present problem of shallow learning and forgotten information is
overcome to a great extent by this approach. Assessment is a multi-dimensional process,relying on teacher assessment, peer-assessment, self-assessment, frequent testingsupported by online apps, all with the intention of providing educators with continuous
information on student progress to enable Just-in-Time assistance to enable student todemonstrate a level of knowledge acquisition at close to the 100% mark. Concepts of
Quality Circles (The Economist, 2009, Harvard Business Review, 1985), can be applied,
as can the concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM) (Goetsch & Davis, op.cit)
Minimally Sufficient RelevanceThe concept of Minimal Sufficiency is best stated as “All that is necessary, but nomore than is necessary”. Adding too much to a product beyond the necessaryfunctionality may be seen as desirable, even marketable, but in many ways it is awaste. To achieve a minimally sufficient Knowledge Product, careful consideration of
relevant curriculum is essential. A significant problem in course design, under theusual bureaucratic requirements of the Education Administration System, is thatcourse designers are required to foresee and prophesy requirements 7, perhaps 8 ormore years from the time that a decision is made to consider curricum content. In the
proposed approach of having an evolving “super project”, requirements can be addedin a Just-in-Time manner, right up to the penultimate semester of the course, thus
ensuring greater contemporary relevance. To label the current approach to curriculum,
it may well be seen as a Just-in-Case approach, including curriculum that might be

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relevant in 7-years’ time. As well, extra curriculum which is not contemplated in thegroup wisdom of the curriculum designers is not taught, reducing the wastefulness of“Inappropriate Processing”, “Inventory”, and “Defects”.

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Conclusion
Careful retrospection of the experience of 50 years in the HEI environment, man-andboy, so to speak, has lead us to the conclusion that education delivery has
substantially failed to keep pace with industry advances, especially in the computer
systems industry. Nor has it kept pace with educational technology, in many cases by
having, so far, not taken great advantage of the marketplace for education-support
software. HEIs are now essentially commercial enterprises, offering a product for sale(knowledge), in competition with other like-minded HEIs. The delivery of‘knowledge’ to students, with the ultimate result of producing a graduate as the final
product, has been envisioned as a Logistics and Supply Chain Management problem,that can be made more efficient and effective, therefore more competitive in the HEI
industry, by Lean and Agile processes which, together and appropriately applied, arenow being termed Leagility. As an essential uptake in manufacturing Logistics andSupply Chain Management, the Internet, the communication capability enabled bythat, the communication software and technology now readily available, the education
support software of Learning Management Systems etc., are also drivers for a newlook Pedagogical System based on Logistics and Supply Chain Management
concepts, practices and processes.
The proposed ‘production line’ of Knowledge Product, as partially completed, workin-progress product, can therefore be designed to be dynamic, quick to grasp newopportunities (which in some cases means fast changing curriculum to meet the
dynamic changes in industry), ensuring a quality Knowledge Product.
All of the Wastes of Education can be overcome, or at the very least mitigated, by
having a lean and agile Pedagogical System, with substantial hands-on skills
acquisition, together with soft skills of teamwork, creativity, problem-solving and thedevelopment of a service mind.

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References
Doman, Mark S. (2011). A new lean paradigm in higher education: a case study,
Quality Assurance in Education, Vol.19, No.3, 2011, pp.248-262
Emiliani, M.L. (2004). Improving business school courses by applying lean principles
and practices, Quality Assurance in Education, Volume 12, No.4, 2004, pp.175-187.
Goetsch, David L., Davis, Stanley B., 2018, Quality Management: Introduction to Total
Quality Management for Production, Processing, and Services, 4th Edition,
https://prkwrhnfx07.storage.googleapis.com/MDEzMDkzMzg3Mg==07.pdf, accessed
July 10, 2018
Harvard Business Review (1985, Quality Circles after the Fad,
https://hbr.org/1985/01/quality-circles-after-the-fad, accessed June 1st, 2018.
Isaksson, Raine, Kuttainen, C., Garvare, R. (2013). Lean Higher Education and Lean
Research, Proceedings of the 16th Toulon-Verona Conference, “Excellence inServices”, University of Ljubljana, Croatia, August 2013
Liker, Jeffrey K., 2004, The Toyota Way, McGraw-Hill.
Morien, Roy and Olive Schmidenberg. (1994). Educating IS Professionals: The
Tertiary Education Challenge, The Proceedings of apitite'94 (Asia Pacific Information
Technology in Training and Education), Brisbane June, 1994
Morien, Roy (2016a), Proposal for a Radical Change to Teaching, Learning,
Assessment and Curriculum Planning in Computing Education, unpublisheddocument, Naresuan University, 2016
Morien, Roy (2016b) Elaborating the Agile Education Paradigm, KSII The 8thInternational Conference on Internet (ICONI), Hong Kong, December 2016.
Morien, Roy ( 2017) Business computing education: a radical approach for efficient
streamlining of an effective education process and relevant curriculum, Int. J.
Advanced Media and Communication, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2017
Morien, Roy (2018) Pedagogical Agility, and Agile Methodologies, in Computer
System Development Education, International Journal of Advanced Intelligence
Paradigms, Volume 11; January, 2018
Moura, D.A., Botter, R.C., (2012), Can a shipyard work towards lean shipbuilding or
agile manufacturing?, Sustainable Maritime Transportation and Exploitation of Sea
Resources – Rizzuto & Guedes Soares (eds), Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN
978-0-415-62081-9, accessed September 10th, 2018
Naim, Mohamed M., Gosling Jonathon (2011), On leanness, agility and leagile insupply chains, Int J. Production Economics, 131 (2011), 342-354.
Poppendieck, M. (2002), Principles of Lean Thinking,
http://www.poppendieck.com/papers/LeanThinking.pdf, accessed May 19th, 2005

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The Economist (2009), Quality Circles,
https://www.economist.com/news/2009/11/04/quality-circle, accessed June 1st, 2018.
Contact email: Roy I. Morien, roym@nu.ac.th

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Rural Education in China in the Process of Urbanization:
Development and Reflection
Zhou Xing-Guo, Anhui Normal University, China
Cao Rong-Rong, Anhui Normal University, China
Liu Li-Na, Anhui Normal University, China
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Abstract
With the acceleration of urbanization, although the government has vigorously
promoted the balanced development of rural and urban compulsory education, thetrend of small-scale development of rural education has become increasingly
prominent. The family economic conditions of education receivers show the problemof education equity behind the small-scale development of rural education. Despite
the government’s great efforts to revitalize rural education, rural schools are notprepared to deal with the problem of small-scale development of rural education, andhave not made adjustments and changes that are compatible with it. To revitalize rural
education, reconstruct the roles and responsibilities of rural teachers and build
education capacity of rural schools, the government not only needs to re-understandand position the development of rural education, to change the system of rural school,
but also needs to change rural teachers’ educational concepts, educational methods
and techniques, to reconstruct the roles and responsibilities of rural teachers, toeffectively improve educational capacity of rural schools.
Keywords: Rural Education, Small Scale, Education Equity, the Orientation of
Development

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China divides the objects ofeducational statistics into urban areas, towns and rural areas. Rural education means
the existence of non-urbanized education. In the context of urbanization, it can befound that rural education means a kind of non-centralized marginalization5. The main
issues to be discussed in this paper are: the marginalization of rural education and its
main performance, the trend of change rural education presents from the perspectiveof historical development; the hidden problems behind the small scale of rural schools
and the rooted cause; the ways of effectively developing rural education from a given
condition. In terms of research methods, the paper uses a combination of empiricalanalysis and theoretical research to analyze the statistical data of the Ministry of
Education of the People’s Republic of China and that of Education Department in
Anhui province in the past 10 years, introducing the development trend of rural
education; a case study of a township school in W City, Anhui Province, reveals the
problems facing small schools in rural areas. The last part puts forward the policy
recommendations for the development of rural education to seek the way to the future
development of rural education.
一、Declining Rural Education and its Hidden Concerns

Before 1980, rural students accounted for 80-90%. With the popularization ofcompulsory education, in rural schools, whether in primary schools or in junior highschools, the number of students is in full scale. Especially with the development ofurbanization, the number of students in rural schools has begun to decrease. By 2000,
rural students accounted for 50-60%. Along with the reduction of its number, there is
the adjustment of the layout of urban and rural schools. Since 2001, the large-scale
withdrawal of primary and secondary schools below the county level has been carriedout. The main reasons are the declining birth rate, the decreasing of the number ofschool-age children, the rapid development of urbanization, the increasing demand forthe enrollment in urban schools, the slowdown of the development of rural education,
the low investment for education for a long time, the seriously lacking of the funds forrunning schools in rural areas, the poor conditions for running rural schools, weakteacher resources in rural schools, the widening gap of education quality between
urban and rural schools. The adjustment of the distribution and layout of schools inurban and rural areas lasted for more than 10 years, indirectly indicating that the
government is in the pursuit of efficiency because of the reduction of the number ofstudents in rural schools. In the process of adjustment, the gap in the quality ofcompulsory education between urban and rural areas has also widened. The
adjustment of more than 10 years has led to a further decline in the number ofstudents in rural schools. In 2017, the number of students enrolled in primary schools
was 2,773,600, accounting for 27.50% of the national primary school students; juniorhigh school students in rural areas were 6,643,100, accounting for 14.48% of thenational junior high school students. The number of students in rural schools only
accounts for 23.52%.2On the one hand, the urbanization rate of education is high; onthe other hand, the number of rural schools is huge. According to the statistics from
Ministry of Education, in 2017, there were 201522 schools, including kindergartens,
primary and secondary schools in rural areas. Most rural primary and secondary
schools、kindergartens present the trend of small classes, and student-teacher ratio in

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many areas dropped to 4:1 or 5:1. Among these schools, small schools are becoming acommon phenomenon in rural society. “In the end of 2017, there were 107,000 ruralschools with small scale, including 27,000 primary schools and 80,000 teaching spots,
accounting for 44.4% of the total number of rural primary schools and teaching spots;
there were 3.847 million students, 5.8% of the total number of students in rural
primary schools, and 9.346 million boarding students in rural primary schools, 14.1%of the total number of students in rural primary schools.”8
In the past ten years, in Anhui Province, a province with a relatively low urbanization
rate in the central part of China, the number of students in rural areas has also
declined year by year. The following picture shows the number of teachers andstudents in urban and rural areas since 2009.

Figure 1:

the number of students in primary schools at different levels

The development trend of small-scale rural education can be seen more clearly fromthe micro-social perspective. Take Erba Town in Jiujiang District, Wuhu City forexample. According to the “Guiding Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening theConstruction of Small Schools and Township Boarding Schools in Rural Areas”
issued by the General Office of the State Council, in terms of the definition of small
schools with less than 100 students, there are 12 primary schools in the town,
including 7 small schools and 2 schools with an excessive number of students. The
following table is for details:

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Take MN primary school and LQ primary school for example. Both are complete
schools from first to sixth grade with principals and directors for teaching affairs. LQ
primary school is a relatively large school with 207 students and has better education
quality in rural areas, so that people in the town have great confidence in this school.
The principal of LQ primary school graduated from a normal university with amaster’s degree and majored in the arts. The most of 12 teachers in total are young
and they have great enthusiasm in teaching and work. Though there are only morethan 200 students, the school conditions are up to the standards set by the Ministry of
Education. The school’s hardware facilities and functional classrooms are all set up,
Each teacher owns one computer, which can hook up to the internet and can meet therequirements of educational informationization and technical teaching. Two of theteachers participate in the teacher studio in the city and it works well.
MH primary school is a small school. The official statistics show that there are 71
students, but the principal said there are only 47 students. The fourth grade with thefewest students has only 4 students. Under the circumstances, students in the third andfourth grade usually have such lessons as sports, music, fine arts, information
technology education together. Those who have lessons together are just more than 10
students. The largest class is the first grade with 15 students. The government iscarrying out the project of shantytown rebuilding, so one of the reasons for the loss ofstudents is family relocation. Due to the proximity to the central school, many parents
expect their children to attend the central school. As for the current trend ofdevelopment, MN primary school is planned to be integrated into the central school.

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Though the school is small, the school conditions are also basically up to thestandards. Although the fact is that the number of students in this school is less than100, the government allocates the public funds on the basis of 100 students to theschool, which is able to meet its public needs.
The issue of education equity lies behind the small-scale rural education. For people
in rural areas, the flow of rural schools means making a choice, and the process ofmaking a choice is also the process of stratification based on family economic
conditions in rural society. Urbanization, on the one hand, is the integration of
resources and information, which means the market plays a decisive role in resource
distribution; on the other hand, it is the process of people’s differentiation and thereconstruction of people’s identities. Those in poverty-stricken areas have to stay inrural areas for economic reasons and have to study in rural schools, forming a dual
left-behind identity－left-behind children and left-behind students. The studies haveshown that students in a small school often come from poor families. They are mainly
the children of the disadvantaged people－20% of people with the lower social status,
who are in deep poverty and unable to attend school in a city，and obviously they are
the core target group of stopping the intergenerational transmission of poverty.9Poor
people in rural areas do everything in their power to let their children receive quality
education by enrolling into central schools or other complete schools.
As a result, small schools in rural areas are often composed of “teach-badly” teachersand “difficult-to- teach” students. In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of teachers, thegovernment makes changes in a qualification-based post employment system byimplementing the policy of “job rotation”. Excellent teachers are firstly employed byurban schools and the rest of teachers can only work in remote areas or teaching
spots。These rural teachers are often not well qualified for education because of theirpoor work ability or bad work attitude. At the same time, children in poor families areconfronted with many problems for the lack of family education. In short, since theadjustment of the layout of rural schools, “the poor groups are even more incapable ofresponding to changes in school’s position, and in the process they are further
excluded and squeezed…At this point, the policy of ‘school closures and mergers’
does not promote education equity, but brings about new form of education
unfairness.”6 Even in the context of the government’s efforts to promote the balanced
development of urban and rural education, this situation has not been reversed
fundamentally.
二、The Analysis of the Problems Facing the Development of Rural Education

In the new century, the increasingly widening gap between urban and ruralcompulsory education has caused widespread social concerns, and urges thegovernment to push forward the balanced development of compulsory education in
urban and rural areas. The balanced development of compulsory education sets thebasic goal that the conditions of school operation shall conform to the standards ofschools above the county level and the standards of the state on running schools. In
2012, the State Council issued the “opinions of the State Council on Further
Promoting the Balanced Development of Compulsory Education”. The Ministry of
Education subsequently issued “Interim Measures for the Supervision and Evaluationof Balanced Development of County Compulsory Education (2012)”, on which the

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evaluation of the balanced development of compulsory education at the county levelis based. In 2016, “Several Opinions on Coordinating and Promoting the Integrated
Reform and Development of Urban and Rural Compulsory Education in Country
Area” was issued by the State Council. In 2017, Ministry of Education issued“Measures for the Supervision and Evaluation of the High Quality and Balanced
Development of County Compulsory Education”. For the balanced development ofurban and rural education, the goal set by the government is that “within the county
area, the school construction standards are unified; the standards of budgeted posts
management are unified; the basic standards on the average public-use operating
funds for students of schools shall be unified; the standards of basic equipment
allocation are unified and the policy of ‘two exemptions and one subsidy’ (theexemption of book fees and other miscellaneous fees; provide financial aids to needy
students)covers all areas, basically realizing ‘the balanced development ofcompulsory education and the equalization of basic public education services in urban
and rural areas’”.7 It is worth noting that though the efforts of the governments at alllevels the development trend of small-scale rural education has not been controlled.
The problem reflected should be considered.
(一)   Structural Problems in the Development of Rural Education
The contradictory relationship between the balanced development and the imbalanced
structure is the reflection of urban-rural social structure in China. Therefore, tounderstand the imbalanced development of urban and rural education, theunderstanding of urban-rural social structure is needed. The structure of rural
education is closely related to that of rural society. So far, the government’s policies
on balanced education haven’t touched this area. Its political structure, economic
structure, family structure and population structure in rural areas have a high degreeof meshing and isomorphic relationship with rural education. Counties, towns andvillages are not only the political structure of Chinese rural society, but also highlyreflect the level of economic development and educational forms in rural areas.
Correspondingly, they also indicate the hierarchical relationship between families,
which generally presents a pattern of wealthier rural families, ordinary rural families,
poor families at the bottom of the line. The class relationship presented by ruralsociety and families is a reflection of political structure and economic structure inrural areas, and it shows, in terms of education, the corresponding choice of ruralschools. Clearly can be seen the pattern: town－administrative village－naturalvillage(village politics); well-off family － poor family(village economy); central
primary school (town) － rural complete school(administrative village) － teachingspot(natural village). The system, central primary school(in a town)－complete
school(primary school in a village)－teaching spot, is not only consistent with thepolitical system of rural society, but also reflects the economic gradient radiation ofrural society and the natural distribution of the population.
The structural problems of the development of rural education are also revealed in the
structural relationship between school education and family education in rural areas.
The parents of these left-behind children are usually migrant workers, so the
responsibility for raising children is given to the previous generation and schools.
Going out and staying behind, survival and education constitute the structuralcontradiction of family education in rural areas. Due to the lack of parental

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management and restraint, left-behind children often fall into a “let it be” situation.
These “difficult-to-teach” students in small schools profoundly reflect the structuralproblems of home-school.
(二)   Resource Issues in the Balanced Development of Urban and Rural
Education
Anthony Giddens pointed out that “‘structure’ refers not only to rules implicated in
the production and reproduction of social system but also to resources.” “It’s always
the case that the day-to-day activity of social actors draws upon and reproduces
structural features of wider social systems.”1 Although the government is eliminating
the institutional roots of urban-rural duality, the allocation of resources is not just the
government’s ability to dominate. The market plays an important role in it. So far, inthe policies and researches on the development of rural education, the importance ofresource problems in the development of rural education has been keenly noticed.
Both the policy formulation and the research hypothesis focus on the core issue ofresources, and all particularly stresses that a balanced allocation of educational
resources is achieved through the government’s increasing financial input to rural
education. However the composition of resources in reality is complicated.
Resources related to the development of rural education can be divided into different
subjects. At least, the concept of resources related to education is analyzed from threesubjects. Firstly, in the sense of the school as a subject taking charge of education,
educational resources are mainly related to funds, teachers, facilities and so on;
secondly, in the sense of the composition of education, educational resources are
educators, education receivers and intermediary resources that link both of them,including educational concept, technique, method, content, media and so on; thirdly,as educational resources that can be possessed by education receivers, they are usually
the combination of the above two. Different types of educational resources have theirown specific ways and means of circulation. Meanwhile, they are dominated andrestricted by different mechanisms. Generally speaking, the resources for running aschool are mainly based on government allocation and supplemented by market
mechanisms; as the constituent elements of education, resources are dominantly
allocated by the government in urban areas, while they are mainly market-oriented inrural areas. Especially for the sources, students, self-selection has become the mainmeans of mobility. Resources enjoyed by education receivers are the result of along-term accumulation. Once they form, it will be solidified into a certain brand andbecome the object of pursuit. Under the control of the conventional view of quality
education or people’s practical awareness formed by the systematical structure of
education and the structure of society, the specific educational actions are decided,
including the actions of selecting a school, the actions involved in education, theactions of school management and teaching and so on. Also the flow of resources foreducational constituent elements is determined. Among these resources, students
serve as the important educational resources, and their mobility and the direction of
the mobility directly affect whether government investment in resources can beeffectively converted into output. This is mainly because in terms of improving thequality of education, students are important participants in educational activities.
When students as main participants directly influence the quality of education, theflow of students will form the “Matthew effect”, which can in turn exert great
influence on students’ and parents’ actions of choosing a school.

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Nevertheless, on the basis of a balanced allocation of the resources for running aschool, the balanced development of urban-rural education cannot control the flow of
the resources for educational constituent elements. A peculiar contradiction in thecurrent development of rural schools emerges. On the one hand, the government hascontinuously injected resources for running rural schools, from funds, management
philosophy to new technologies and methods; the important resources of educational
constituent elements － students, as education receivers, and (or) teachers －continuously outflow. On the other hand, the conditions for running schools in rural
areas have been improved; the scale of rural schools is shrinking.
(三)   Reform Rural Education with the Experience of the Development of Urban
Education
Another problem facing the development of rural education is the trend of
urbanization in rural education. Rural education is developed and reformed withreference to the development of urban education. Some researchers point out that“urban-oriented education has brought rural education into a difficult position.”4 For
China’s education reform, all kinds of new educational concepts are gradually
introduced on the basis of the exploration and practice of urban education, and thenpenetrate into rural schools. To transform a new concept into specific daily teachingactions, the tool of the policy is used to achieve it. This tool for putting theseeducational concepts into practice is used on the basis of the conclusion of
educational practice in urban schools and the analysis of problems facing urban
education. In this way, it is conductive to solving the problems of urban education.
For example, the implementation of the burden reduction policy in rural schools has
had a tremendous negative impact on rural education. Students in rural schools are outof school too early in the afternoon, causing much time wasted, which is a problem
that is basically ignored. However, it is impossible to urbanize all rural schools.
Unrealistically improving rural education by following the standards of urban
education will certainly bring about an educational form that is superficial and has no
substantive content.
(四)   The Lack of Local Knowledge in Rural Education
The fundamental problem of rural education is the development of children. To solve
the problem of children in rural areas, it is necessary for teachers to have universal
knowledge of education and psychology, and to have the unique knowledge ofunderstanding children. However, in teachers’ training, great care was taken to
implant in teachers not the knowledge of how to understand these children, but theelite’s educational ideals, the romantic educational views, the model and experienceof urban education, the state’s will and intention of educational reform. The problems
facing children are obviously different. Educational methods and tools that can solve
the problems of children in urban areas may be ineffective for children in rural areas.
Rural teachers usually lack the knowledge of how to solve those unique problems
facing children. For rural education, especially for students in small schools, the mostpressing problem is how to make them meet the basic educational requirements ofcompulsory education, academic work and morality included.

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三、 Conclusion: The Future Development and the Orientation of Rural
Education

In 2018, according to “Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council
on Comprehensively Strengthening the Construction of Small Schools and Township
Boarding Schools in Rural Areas”, “the overall layout of small schools, townshipboarding schools and rural primary schools should be coordinated.” “In a village witha relatively concentrated population and sufficient numbers of students or in
conjunction with an adjacent village, a complete primary school shall be set up; in aremote area with a shortage of students, a small school with a lower grader in thevillage and in the township, a central boarding school are set up, meeting the needs ofstudents.” “For small schools, the informationization, facilities of sports, music andart, as well as teaching equipment, libraries and necessary functional rooms are all
ensured, and living and health conditions are improved.” Although the central
government makes a formal request for rural education, particularly for theconstruction of small schools and boarding schools in rural areas, it is not enough torely solely on the government’s financial investment in rural education.
(一)   Re-understand and Re-position the development of rural education
Different from students in urban areas, the social status of students’ families in rural
areas is usually at the bottom of society, especially those in small schools. The
educational status of these students and the level of education associate with stopping
intergeneration transmission of poverty. That is to say, if these students are not able toreceive quality education, it may lead to intergeneration transmission of poverty.
Therefore, running small schools means a lot for achieving the fairness of wholesociety. The reason why the scale of rural schools becomes so small is precisely the
result of the choice of people with the background of low quality of education in rural
areas. The key is to clarify the development orientation of rural schools, and tocontinue to increase investment in rural education, to ensure that rural schools not
only meet the national standards and requirements, but also these schools are “small
and beautiful”, “qualified”.
(二)   Reform the System of Rural Education
As for the system of rural schools, the hierarchical system－ “central primary schoolat the town level－complete primary school at the village level－teaching spot”, isreconstructed into the single flat one. Instead of setting up different schools at or
below the town level, schools should be set up with the town as the unit. The originalrural school system is the one with an individual school as the unit. Each school is
self-contained. Though entrusted by the administrative department of education, thecentral school has the responsibilities of teaching, making researches and other tasks
for the complete primary school at the village level, such tasks as the management ofbudgeted posts and the average expenditure on per enrolled students, daily
management of school education all attribute to different schools. Even a school issmall-scale and self-contained with the loose affiliation with the central primaryschool. It has caused the school to fall into a more random and non-normative state ofloose management, and also led to the lack of rural teachers’ self-development
motivation. The establishment of a single, flat school system means that the divisionof functions of schools at different levels. A complete school and a small school at the

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village level are responsible for the organization and management of school teachingactivities, while such tasks as personnel power, the right to handle matters, financial
authority are handed over to a central school, which realizes the integration of runningtownship central schools and running township small schools with the same size, thecooperative development and the comprehensive evaluation. The principal
responsibility system is adopted. Meanwhile, for a central school and a small school,
school curriculum, teaching arrangements, teaching and research activities andteacher management are unified, and teachers’ collective teaching and researchpreparations are promoted. In addition, the arrangement of classes is coordinated andteachers in music, sports, art and foreign languages can move to different teachingjobs among different schools.
(三)   Reconstruct the Roles and Responsibilities of Rural Teachers
In terms of the concept of rural schools’ development, the long-standing, deeply
rooted view of educational quality and school development shall be changed. It isneeded to re-understand the concept of teaching and learning and to change the role ofteachers from people simply transferring knowledge to instructors. Dominated by the
traditional concept of education, particularly the concept of “test-oriented education”,
small schools in rural areas still follow the pattern of the division of labor among
urban teachers. As the result of each teacher teaching only one subject or a limited
number of courses, the subject of teachers’ work is not students, but courses. The
problem lies in the fact that education is multifaceted and the division of work often
doesn’t cover all aspects of education. The growth and development of students is theresult of the joint efforts taken by many educations and by many teachers. For thisreason, a moderate division of work is necessary, but it is not unique. In thedevelopment of rural education, it is necessary to break the division of work and toregard the solutions to students’ problems as teachers’ responsibilities and tasks. Onlyin this way can schools truly realize “individualized teaching and targeted
counseling.” The situation that there are limited teachers and students with thedivision of work attaches great importance on the strength and power of the education
team. It is an organizational change within a school that echoes the changes in theschool system. Without such a change, the system of rural school reform will lose its
support and guarantee.
(四)   Vigorously Improve the Educational Capacity of Rural Schools
The issue of rural education development is fundamentally the problem of its
education ability, especially the problem of individualized teaching and targeted
counseling. It is the problem of “we need to know what we should do for children andwhat can be distinguished for them”.3 Rural education requires personalized
instruction and targeted guidance. Things have pros and cons. Without proper
guidance, children whose minds are immature are extremely vulnerable to negative
things that may contaminate children and damage their characters. Once adverse
consequences are produced, the power of education is weak and cannot integrate
positive educational power. Therefore, in Recommendation No.8 concerning theorganization of rural education, the International Bureau of Education adopts therecommendation that teachers shall “adapt their curricula to local conditions and, inparticularly, to draw their ‘centers of interest’ from the environment in which pupils
live”. 10 This is the place where rural teachers’ abilities are lacking and it is also the

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key to improving the educational capacity of rural schools in the future.
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank Professor Zheng Tianhui from Zheng Zhou
University for providing help and support. Especially in the absence of a moderator,
he hosted the conference and acted as an interpreter.
Secondly, I would like to thank Professor Zhu Jiacun from Anhui Normal University
for his comments and suggestions.
Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Wang Luxi for his support.

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References
1Anthony Giddens. (1986). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory ofStructuration. Cambridge: Polity Press, 23-24.
2 Gao Shuguo. Reevaluate the Value of Rural Education and Follow the Road ofModern Rural Education with Chinese Characteristics. People’s Education, 17, 33-37.
3Max van manen. (2003). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an
Action Sensitive Pedagogy. Song Guangwen trans. Beijing: Educational Science
Publishing House, 205.
4Qian Liqun, Liu Tiefang. (2008). Rural China and Rural Education. Fujian: Fujian
Education Press, 294.
5Rao jing, Ye Jingzhong, Guo Jingjing. (2017). A Loss of Ruralities in Chinese
Education and a Loss of Education in Rural China. The Web of Chinese Thoughts.
6Rao jing, Ye Jingzhong, Guo Jingjing. (2015) A Loss of Ruralities in Chinese
Education and a Loss of Education in Rural China－A Case Observation on a Village
in the Mountainous Area of North China. China Agricultural University Journal ofSocial Sciences Edition,（2）：18-27.
7“Several Opinions on Coordinating and Promoting the Integrated Reform andDevelopment of Urban and Rural Compulsory Education in County Areas (2016)”.
8The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Education answered the questions
on “Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Comprehensively
Strengthening the Construction of Small Schools and Township Boarding Schools in
Rural Areas”. http://chuzhong.eol.cn/beijing/bjcz/201805/t20180502_1598197.shtml
9The Ministry of Education’s Official Interpretation of “Opinions of the General
Office of the State Council on Comprehensively Strengthening the Construction of
Small Schools and Township Boarding Schools in Rural Areas”.
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2018-05/11/content_5290308.htm#1
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2016-07/11/content_5090298.htm
sThe International Bureau of Education: Recommendation No.8 concerning
theOrganization of Rural Education.
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/international-conference-education/archive-ice-sessions-and-recommendations
Contact email: Cao Rongrong (corresponding author) 930368558@qq.com

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Finding Opportunities Within a Conventional Curriculum to Provide ResearchExperience to Undergraduate Biology Students:
A Collaborative Effort with Teachers
Deepti Gupta, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, India Needa
Baghban, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, India Aakansha
Sawant, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, India Swapnja
Patil, Wildlife Conservation Trust, India
Jyotsna Vijapurkar, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, India
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Abstract
In the past decade, undergraduate courses in Biotechnology and Microbiology inIndian universities have emerged as popular choices among students for theirpotential for aiding placement into industry and research laboratories. The laboratory
curriculum for these disciplines includes an impressive list of experiments; however,they are conducted piecemeal, often by several different lecturers generally focussed
on their own narrow topic. The laboratory course thus lacks coherence. Moreover, thelaboratory routines largely follow ‘cookbook’ protocols that emphasise mechanistic
aspects, offering negligible scope for building science process skills among students.
In an attempt to address these issues, we conducted a workshop to provide a common
meeting ground for college teachers to discuss their challenges and to work together
to create course embedded research experiences for their undergraduate students.
They collaboratively designed simple research problems that integrated individual
activities and could scaffold science process skills. Forty five teachers from 23
different colleges affiliated to Mumbai University (and thus following a common
curriculum), worked in groups and came up with problems that could engage students
in small research projects. They found opportunities within the defined conventional
curriculum by either converting the existing experiments into investigative exercises
or by clubbing the experiments horizontally (within a semester) or vertically (acrossthe semesters). This exercise not only resulted in useful resource generation but also
led to the creation of a community of teachers with the shared objective of improving
the teaching-learning process within the constraints of the prescribed curriculum.
Keywords: undergraduate biology, workshop, curriculum based undergraduate
research experience (CURE)

iafor
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In the last decade, several reports have highlighted the inadequacies of scienceeducation at the tertiary level in India. These reports have concomitantly cited
deficiencies in the curriculum design, ill preparedness of the teachers and lack ofinfrastructure as primary reasons for the poor standards of science degree graduates in
the country (Mashelkar, 2005; Varghese, 2006; Balaram, 2010; Nityananda, 2017). It
has been especially noted that typical curricula for undergraduate science courses are
didactic in nature and do not include any component of research (Balaram, 2010;
Phadnis and Pandit, 2011; Nityananda, 2017; Sawant et al., 2018). It has also beenreported that practical sessions only serve to involve students in reproducing known
results by following “cookbook” protocols (Sawant et al., 2018). The students are
exposed to academic research only during post graduate courses (Master’s or doctoral
degree) which are offered by Universities where the faculty is actively involved inresearch activities. On the other hand, the faculty at the undergraduate degree colleges
is primarily limited to teaching activities with little or no involvement in research. The
undergraduate degree colleges are independent institutions which are affiliated to a
University but may not be situated in its campus; the teachers and students thus havelittle access to research facilities. All affiliated colleges follow a common syllabus,
mandated by the University, and the students undertake common semester wise
assessments, also conducted by the University. These undergraduate degree colleges
have evolved both functionally and infrastructure-wise to primarily support teachingactivities and generally do not provide for carrying out research activities. A few
undergraduate students, mostly self driven, are able to gain exposure to researchfollowing the apprenticeship model, wherein individual faculty members, mostly in
the Universities, supervise the work of one or several students during summer orwinter breaks. Apprenticeships can be beneficial, yet their one-on-one design
inherently limits the number of students who can participate in it (National ResearchCouncil [NRC], 2010; Locks and Gregerman, 2008).
Currently, in India, there are around a thousand, universities (both public and private)with a total of 39050 undergraduate degree colleges affiliated to them. Every year
around 5 million students pass out from these degree colleges but less than 20% ofthem choose to pursue a postgraduate degree (All India Survey on Higher Education[AISHE], 2017; Nityananda, 2017). It has been established that engaging science
students early in research has a positive impact on their conceptual understanding andencourages them to pursue a career in the STEM disciplines (Hathaway et al., 2002).
It has also been postulated that involvement of undergraduate students in researchincreases their self efficacy and creates a greater awareness among them regarding
their own learning (Osborne et al., 2003; Allum et al., 2008). Recent discipline-based
education studies have proposed course-based approaches for exposing more numberof undergraduate students to research. Course-based undergraduate researchexperience (CUREs) labs have been proposed as an alternative to apprenticeshipmodel: The model involves the entire class in authentic research activity embedded intheir curriculum. This approach can be a more effective and accessible starting point
for many students (Auchincloss et al., 2014; Bangera and Brownell, 2014). The focusof CURE labs is to enhance science process skills among students by involving alarge number of undergraduate students, in a collaborative manner, in research. Thismodel suggests that the laboratory curriculum be based upon research problems toallow students to be engaged in research projects during the college hours. We believe	
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context where large enrolments in undergraduate courses is common. In this regard
we examined the laboratory curriculum of undergraduate courses in Microbiology andBiotechnology, offered by several colleges affiliated to Mumbai University, India. It
was noticed that even though the syllabus for introductory laboratory component inundergraduate biology courses entails impressive lists of standard experiments, there
is a lack of coherence in the laboratory course. Each experiment is designed as astandalone activity, disconnected with others. Further, to gauge the current laboratory
practices followed in degree colleges, we conducted an online survey with college
teachers, involved in teaching Biotechnology or Microbiology courses. It was foundthat students are not involved in planning or preparation of the experiments carriedout in their colleges and follow standard laboratory protocols as suggested in thecommon laboratory journal shared by the University. Moreover, the laboratory
sessions are often conducted by several instructors who do not collaborate amongst
each other and are concerned with only the part of the syllabus which they execute in
the laboratory. The teachers reported that the syllabus was overloaded and several
experiments were done as only demonstrations due to lack of infrastructure. A lack ofinstitutional support for introducing changes in the curriculum was also noted,
although, a change in the order of practicals within a semester was permissible. We
also interacted with some teachers and found that most of them had a limited
experience of research themselves, hence were ill prepared to design research projects
for their students. Based on our earlier study (Sawant et al., 2018), interactions withthe teachers and the survey questionnaire, a SWOT analysis was done to pinpoint thestrengths and weaknesses of the current system (Figure 1).

Figure 1: SWOT analysis
The responses to the questionnaire helped the researchers in identifying aspects thatneeded to be addressed and design a workshop for the college teachers. The analysisof the curriculum revealed that individual experiments could be clubbed as steps forsolving research problems by making small changes in executing the practical	  ISSN: 2186-5892

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  sessions and making use of large numbers of student enrolment in the class. Therefore
a two-day hands-on workshop was conducted with the college teachers to serve as acommon meeting ground for teachers and encourage them to provide researchexperiences to their students by discussing their challenges and working together toseek solutions. The challenge for the teachers and researchers was to convert
weaknesses into opportunities by innovating within the constraints of a conventional
curriculum.
WorkshopParticipants
The workshop was attended by 45 teachers, from 23 different colleges in and aroundMumbai, teaching Microbiology or Biotechnology courses at the tertiary level. All
colleges were affiliated to Mumbai University and thus followed a common
curriculum. The teaching experience of these teachers ranged from less than 6months to 34 years and they volunteered to participate in the workshop. Details of theparticipants are given in Table 1.
Table 1: Participant Details
GenderNumber ofparticipants

Courses taught

Male

FemaleMicrobiology

Biotechnology

6

39

20

25

In the online survey that we conducted earlier, a major fraction of teachers reported
that their motivation to participate in the workshop was their interest in the role ofintegrating concepts in the laboratory and to gain insights on enhancement of student
learning (Figure 2). Another notable fraction of teachers reported that the workshop
was an opportunity for them to reflect on their teaching practices. A smaller fractionof teachers reported professional recognition and an opportunity to be involved insomething other than routine duties as their motivation for participation. We believethat the motivation of teachers to improve students' learning was a strength for thistask. 	  

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  Figure 2: Teachers' reports of their motivation for participating in the workshop
Planning and Preparation
Five experienced teachers from four different colleges of Mumbai helped the researchteam in designing and planning of the workshop. These teachers were well-versedwith the undergraduate biology course curricula and also had some researchexperiences. They could, thus, provide useful insights on designing practicableresearch projects in the college environment with its set of challenges for teachers.
The resource persons worked closely with the research team to design the hands-on
sessions of the workshop as well. As part of resource preparation for the workshop,
the syllabi of all the three years of the Biotechnology and Microbiology courses asprescribed by the University was retrieved from its official website. The theory as
well as laboratory syllabus were carefully analyzed and the experiments prescribed in
the laboratory syllabus were divided into appropriate subject verticals, for example immunoelectrophoresis was included under the subject head of Immunology,
restriction digestion was included under the subject head of Molecular Biology, andso on. Also, the semesters in which the experiments were prescribed to be carried out
were noted. This division of the experiments was done to aid the participants in thesubsequent tasks of the workshop; to design problems of their own by clubbing ofexperiments horizontally (within a semester) or vertically (across the semesters). The
aims of the experiments were organized on index cards (size 15 cms x 21 cms) thatwere colour-coded to represent each of the six semesters of the three-year degree
course. A description of the designed cards along with their colour codes is given in
Figure 3. Sets of these colour- coded cards were made and provided to the participants
for the tasks of the workshop.

	
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  Figure 3: Cards with their colour codes designed for the workshop
Workshop Details
The teachers were divided randomly into six groups of 6-7 participants each, as per
the requirements of the tasks/ activities designed for the workshop by the researchers.
In the first session of the workshop, the research team oriented the participants to theneed and feasibility of integrating experiments within a given semester (horizontally)
as well as across different semesters (vertically) by presenting some sample problems.
Following this, the participants were provided with sets of the colour-coded cards
containing the aims of experiments and asked to pin them on Styrofoam boards (39 in
x 19 in) such that they form the steps of approaching a simple research problem. The
participants worked together in groups and, themselves, identified small research
projects under which the experiments prescribed in the curriculum can be clubbed.
Each group was supported by a resource person. The research problems were
presented by each group during the workshop. The resource persons and theresearchers conducted different sessions on how the challenges faced by the teachersin laboratory could be turned into opportunities. One of the sessions discussed waysof accommodating negative results obtained during laboratory sessions and how theyshould be viewed as opportunities of learning for the students rather than assomething to be discarded. This was a crucial aspect to be addressed since in the preworkshop questionnaire, the teachers had mentioned that the laboratory sessions makeuse of ‘cookbook’ protocols that have been designed to give expected positive results.
Another session introduced the participants to statistical tools and how they can beused for quantification of variations in results obtained by students. This session also
discussed how a large number of students can work in groups where effectively
results from each group can serve as an iteration of an experiment. This strategy not	
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  only saves time required for repeating an experiment to confirm results but alsopresents an opportunity to enhance quantitative skills of biology students. Further, asession on bioinformatics acquainted the participants with various web-based
bioinformatics tools available and how they can be used for teaching different
concepts prescribed in the curriculum. At the end of the workshop, teachers’ change
in approach, if any, towards the laboratory sessions and strategies of student
engagement following the sessions of the workshop was assessed by written
responses to questions projected by researchers. Also, a formal feedback on theworkshop was obtained from the teachers on questionnaires distributed to them.
Outcomes and Conclusions
Although the inadequacies in the curriculum design, especially the absence of any
component of research in the undergraduate biology courses, have been widelyreported, not many efforts have been directed towards providing remedial measures
for the same. The workshop served to address these issues by encouraging teachers toprovide research experiences to their students within the limits of the prescribedcurriculum and the available infrastructure. The researchers focussed on: 1)
converting the existing experiments into investigative exercises by building a context
of a real life problem, for example (Figure 4A) Clubbing experiments within asemester (horizontally) or across a semester (vertically) as steps of solving a research
problem, for example (Figure 4B).
A.

	
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B.

Figure 4 : A. Example of a real-life problem designed by converting the existing
experiments
B. Example of a research problem designed by horizontal and verticalclubbing of experiments
The collaboration of teachers during the workshop, facilitated by tasks designed by
the researchers, resulted in the designing of about 40 simple research problems rooted
in the curriculum. The workshop provided a platform for discussing the importance ofdevelopment of science process skills among students and also resulted in useful
resource generation. Many teachers expressed that it was the first time when they
have seen the full syllabus and the workshop helped them connect with the otherfaculty members. They also mentioned that the workshop helped them build
connections between the experiments and gave them novel ideas for designingresearch projects for their students (Figure 5). An online community of teachers forsharing of ideas and improvement of the teaching-learning process could also becreated.

	
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  Figure 5: Participants’ (n=45) views on the impact of the workshop as reported
in the formal feedback
We have reports from some participants of having implemented the learnings from theworkshop. However, a systematic follow-up is required to gauge the levels andsuccess of this implementation. Although, the workshop motivated the teachers to
implement changes in their current laboratory routines, several other factors may act
as impediments to the implementation. As reported by the teachers, they areoverloaded with administrative duties which leaves them with little time for
introducing changes in their classes. Also, concurrent changes in the conventional
assessment system may be required for effective implementation of project-basedlaboratory sessions. The workshop however gave insights on how the constraints toresearch can be overcome by making effective use of the available infrastructure,resources and time.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the participant teachers for their active involvement in theworkshop. We also thank Dr. Shruti Samant, Dr. Aruna Wilson, Dr. Shiney Peter, Ms.
Norine D’souza and Ms. Shmilona Jain for their valuable inputs, as resource persons,for the workshop.

	
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  References	
  Allum, N., Sturgis, P., Tabourazi, D., & Brunton-Smith, I. (2008). Science knowledge
and attitudes across cultures: a meta-analysis. Public Understanding of Science, 17(1),35–54.
Auchincloss, L. C., Laursen, S. L., Branchaw, J. L., Eagan, K., Graham, M., Hanauer,
D. I., ... Rowland, S. (2014). Assessment of course-based undergraduate researchexperiences: A meeting report. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 13(1), 29-40.
Balaram, P. (2010). Higher Education: Rocky Road to Reform. Current Science, 98(5), 595-596.
Bangera, G., & Brownell, S. E. (2014). Course-based undergraduate researchexperiences can make scientific research more inclusive. CBE-Life Sciences
Education, 13(4), 602–606.
Department Of Higher Education. (2017). All India Survey on Higher Education(AISHE). Final report. Retreived fromhttp://aishe.nic.in/aishe/viewDocument.action?documentId=239.
Hathaway, R. S., Nagda, B. A., & Gregerman, S. R. (2002). The relationship ofundergraduate research participation to graduate and professional education pursuit:an empirical study. Journal of College Student Development, 43 (5), 614–631.
Hunter, A-B., Laursen, S. L., Seymour E. (2007). Becoming a scientist: the role ofundergraduate research in students’ cognitive, personal, and professional
development. Science Education, 91 (1), 36–74.
Locks, A. M., & Gregerman, S. R. (2008). Undergraduate research as an institutional
retention strategy: The University of Michigan model. In: R. Taraban & R. L. Banton(Eds.), Creating effective undergraduate research programs in science: Thetransformation from student to scientist (pp.11-32). New York, NY: Teachers College
Press.
Mashelkar, R. A. (2005). India’s R&D: Reaching for the Top. Science, 307 (5714),
1415-1417.
National Research Council (NRC). (2010). BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate
Education for Future Research Biologists. Washington DC: National Academies
Press.
Nityananda, R. (2017). The case for a broad undergraduate science degree. Current
Science, 112 (10), 1979-1980.
Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes towards science: A review ofthe literature and its implications. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9),1049–1079.

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  Pender, M., Marcotte, D. E., Sto. Domingo, M. R. & Maton, K. I. (2010). The STEM
Pipeline: The Role of Summer Research Experience in Minority Students' Ph.D.
Aspirations. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 18 (30), 1–36.
Phadnis, J. & Pandit, I. (2011). Assessment And Evaluation Methods – The Prime
Factors Influencing Curricular Outcomes. International Conference to Review
Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, epiSTEME 4
Conference Proceedings (Vol. 4, pp. 247-251).
Sawant, A. P., Patil, S. A., Vijapurkar, J., Bagban, N. N. & Gupta, D. B. (2018). Is theundergraduate microbiology curriculum preparing students for careers in their field?:
an assessment of biology majors’ conceptions of growth and control ofmicroorganisms. International Journal of STEM Education, 5 (42), 1-14.
Varghese, G. (2006). Declining Trends in Science Education and Research in Indian
Universities. UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge (Ed.).
Paris. Retrieved fromhttp://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.540.8459&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
Contact email: deeptigupta.connect@gmail.com

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A Descriptive Analysis on Grammatical-Morphology Patterns of the Deaf College
Students’ Indonesian Written Language
Alies Poetri Lintangsari, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
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Abstract
Along with the encouragement of Inclusive Education in Universitas BrawijayaIndonesia, the students with disability, including the Deaf, are having an opportunity
to join higher education in the mainstream educational context. It is challenging for
Deaf students, especially those graduated from Special Needs Schools since theirprevious education has not prepared them to access higher education. Previous
researches have well documented that most of the Deaf population are struggling withproducing written language. Thus, this article purpose is to seek the grammaticalmorphology patterns in Indonesian written language performed by Deaf college
students in Universitas Brawijaya. This study involves 10 Deaf college students
consist of two groups (1) 5 students graduated from Public Senior High School (PSHS) and perform oral communication, (2) students graduated from Special Needs
Senior High School and perform SIBI (Indonesian Language Signed System) insteadof BISINDO (Natural Indonesia Sign Language) (Sn SHS). The findings describe that
all of the students are struggling with Indonesian grammatical-morphology though P
SHS Deaf students show better performance on using the preposition, possessive
pronoun, conjunction and use both inflectional and derivational morphemes than Sn
SHS Deaf students. The discussion of this study related to the Deaf students’language preferences, the influence of sign language use, morphological awarenessand Deaf first language. This article will be beneficial for teachers and otherresearchers to develop strategies to improve Deaf students’ literacy and as a reference
to give literacy intervention for deaf children.
Keywords: Deaf college students, Grammatical-morphology, Indonesian written
languageiafor
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Introduction	
  Along with the encouragement of Inclusive Education in Universitas Brawijaya, thestudents with disability, including the Deaf, are having opportunity to share higher
education as students without disabilities. It is an insightful opportunity but also
challenging matters since most of students with disability are not well prepared forhigher education, especially Deaf students who are struggling with literacy issues.
PSLD (The center of disability services and studies), as the institution that provide
services to support the study of students with disability in their college study such asproviding students-assistants, interpreter, assistive technologies, and Indonesianlanguage course specialized for deaf students.
This course is needed since Deaf students are struggling in producing written text.
According to some research conducted in English-speaking countries on deaf abilities
in written language revealed that deaf students tend to construct sentences simpler
than other hearing peers. Their sentences are also syntactically simpler and they
produce lowly vocabulary and lexical inflexibility. Deaf students are also facing
difficulty with relative, subordinate, and pronominal clauses. In the grammaticalmorphology area, they are striking most with morphemes omission, substitutions, andaddition (Fabbretti, D. et.al 2015).
Unfortunately, such kind of research is rarely done in Indonesia. Researches on theinvestigations of deaf students’ language incompetency in Indonesia mostly haveconcentrated on improving deaf students’ speaking and language competency fromoralism perspective. Such as research done by Hernawati (2007) concludes that deaf
students speaking and language competency can be improved through various ways,
such as special services supported by facilities, early language intervention to the deaf
children, and maximize the remaining hearing of deaf children using hearing aid.
Another research done by Lintangsari (2013) has only focused on identifying theneeds of deaf students in written language learning in technical matters such aslearning media which is adjusted to deaf students need, adopting second language
teaching method as a method to teach deaf students, using simultaneouscommunication while teaching deaf students, and the need of gradual assessment
process to observe the development of the learning process. Recalling the fact that the
study of deaf students’ written language in Indonesia are rarely done, this researchoffers the new issues on linguistics study.
Deaf students encounter new challenge when they arrive in higher education, mainly
in terms of communication and accessing information either in the classroom or inother places. As the speech-dominated society, Indonesia people rarely apprehend
sign language, thus oral and written communication is the best alternatives for deaf tocommunicate with their hearing counterparts. On the other hand, Deaf college
students perform written language in a unique pattern which is mostly hard tounderstand and considered meaningless. This condition will indirectly have an effecton their academic futures. Therefore, this research focuses on deaf college students’Indonesian written language in the grammatical-morphological level.

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MethodThis research involve 10 Deaf college students divides into two groups with thedifferent background characteristics; (1) the Deaf students graduated from public
Senior High school and perform oral language (P SHS) and (2) the Deaf students
graduated from Special Needs Senior High School and perform Sign Language (SnSHS). They were asked to write a recount text related to their first experience in
University.
This research utilizes the descriptive taxonomy covers omission, addition andsubstitution on grammatical-morphology level (Fabbreti, 1998). Grammaticalmorphology level is related with the use of lexical and functional words, the use
inflectional and derivational morpheme, word selection and the use of punctuation.
This research examines the numerous selected Indonesian written languages
performed by Deaf students in Universitas Brawijaya divided into two groups
according to their senior high educational background and their language preference.
The first group is called the P SHS group refers to deaf students graduated frompublic high school and perform oral communication; the second group is called the Sn
SHS group refers to deaf students graduated from special needs senior high schooland perform sign language.
It is a document analysis using qualitative approach since it aims to explore andunderstand the meaning individuals or group ascribe to a social or human analysis thatbuilds the data from particular into general themes. Qualitative research involves
some characteristics such as typically data collection which is done in participants’setting, inductive data analysis, and the interpretation of the researcher on the data
(Creswell, 2007).
Review of Literature
Deaf Students’ Written Language Characteristics
Learning is considerably supported by our senses, if one of it is limited; our access to
information is also limited. Deafness chiefly limits the audio sensory that potentiallyaffect the speech ability, which lead to communication disorder that automaticallywill affect the learning process. Deaf individuals require a unique form ofcommunication. Visual communication modes such as sign language, finger spelling,
lip reading and written communication will be the most preference. In Indonesia, thisform of communication will automatically limit their process of language learningsince the sign language is not familiar to our society. Beside academic matters,
written language is the most efficient communication among deaf and hearing
individuals. Therefore, written language competence is essential for deaf individuals
to be inclusively included to the society.
A recent study engaging Gallaudet University students reveals that the estimation
number of deaf students with satisfactory skills ranged between 5 percent and 75
percent. Evidently, writing is the complex skill to be mastered by deaf students(Marschark, 1997).

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Researches reveal that deaf students’ writing competence is detained for some years
than hearing students. Some characteristics found in deaf students are they tend to use
fewer cohesive markers than hearing students (De Villiers1991 in Albertini & Schley,2003). They also use vocabulary restrictedly than the hearing students. In the spellingarea and punctuation, they perform sentence simpler than the hearing students(Albertini & Schley, 2003). Another research conducted in English-speaking
countries on deaf abilities in written language found that deaf students produce
shorter sentences and simpler syntactical structure than the hearing students. They
also display the poorer vocabulary and lexical rigidity. They stumble on relative,
subordinate and pronominal clauses. Their most difficulty subjects are in the area ofgrammatical morphology, covering omissions, substitutions, and addition of thevariety of morpheme beside lexical, morphologic, syntactic and pragmatic (Fabbretti,
D et.al, 2015). Sentence-level grammatical and semantic anomalies are found in deaf
adult and adolescents’ writing (Marschark, 1997).
Another research conducted in English-speaking countries on deaf abilities in written
language found that deaf students produce shorter sentences and simpler syntacticalstructure than the hearing students. They also display the poorer vocabulary andlexical rigidity. They stumble on relative, subordinate and pronominal clauses. Their
most difficulty subjects are in the area of grammatical morphology, coveringomissions, substitutions, and addition of the variety of morpheme beside lexical,
morphologic, syntactic and pragmatic (Fabbretti, D et.al, 2015). Sentence-levelgrammatical and semantic anomalies are found in deaf adult and adolescents’ writing(Marschark, 1997). As explained above, most of linguistic competence is not wellacquired by deaf students.
Finding
Grammatical-Morphology patterns of P SHS deaf students
The writing of P SHS students mostly written in a good morphological patterns withappropriate derivational and inflectional morphemes that function correctly in thesentences though there are found few non-standard grammatical morphologies related
to the usage of non-standardized preposition, inflection, derivation, omission andsubstitution but not in significant number.
As illustrated in table 1, there are some omission, addition and substitution ofgrammatical-morphology. Sentence in 1(a) undergo omission of preposition untuk‘for’ as the preposition. Sentence 1(a) is also syntactically non-standard, phrase
membuat buka ‘make open’ though semantically understood but it is syntactically
non-standard. The standard form to represents the phrase is membuka ‘opening’.
Another omission is also found in non-verbal sentence that involve noun clause as insentence 1(f) istilah kata disabilitas dan difabel sama ‘(literally translated) the termof disability and difabel is similar’. In standardized structure of nonverbal sentence,the subject and predicate should be separated by copula adalah that is equal toauxiliary verb in English and that sentence is missed it out.
Related to the inflection, there is omission of inflective prefix me- that derive word
into verb form in the sentence 1(b) perkenalkan diri ‘introduce myself’ and 1 (c) bericontoh ‘give example’. The words perkenalkan and beri are imperative, though this

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sentence is semantically understood but it is considered non-standard without thepresence of prefix me- , as in memperkenalkan diri ‘introducing myself’ and memberi
contoh ‘giving example’. Omission of inflective morpheme is also found in sentence1(d) ..jadi tegur tidak boleh ngobrol ‘so we are warned to stop chatting’. The word
tegur ‘warn’ is imperative, it needs prefix di- to make it passive as in ditegur ‘iswarned’. Beside inflection verb, there is inflection noun found as in the sentence 1 (e)menempuh pendidik di Universitas Brawijaya ‘taking education in Universitas
Brawijaya’. The word pendidik is equal to noun word ‘educator’ in English, while thesentence context requires other noun that is pendidikan ‘education’.
  Table 1. Omission, addition and substitution of grammatical-morphological elements of
P SHS Students
  Taxonomy
1.  Omission

2.  Addition

3.  Substitution

Grammatical-Morphologya)  Pemimpin UB telah berusaha untuk membuat buka
jalur Ø (untuk) difabel‘The leader of UB has tried to make open line Ø (for)difabled’.
b)  Saya perkenalkan diri
‘I introduce myself’c)  Beri contoh.
‘give example’d)  Dosen sempat salah paham bahwa pendamping saya
juga Maba padahal bukan, jadi tegur tidak boleh ngobrol
The lecturer has misunderstood consider my volunteer as the
new students instead she is not, so we are warned to stop
chatting’e)  ..dan menempuh pendidik di Universitas Brawijaya‘..and taking education in Universitas Brawijaya’f)  Istilah kata disabilitas dan difabel Ø (adalah) sama.
‘ the term of disability and difabel Ø (is) same’g)  Apakah ospek yang kami jalan nanti sama denganmahasiswa reguler‘Is orientation for us later similar to other (non-disabled)
students’a)  UB yang(Ø masuk ke dalam deretan kampus bergengsi‘UB that(Ø is included to a rank of prestigious university’b)  Kami disarankan untuk bertanya ke orang yang (Ø) lain
‘We are suggested to ask people who other (other people)’c)  Banyak para calon mahasiswa‘many college student applicants’a)  UB yang(Ø) masuk ke (di) dalam deretan kampus
bergengsi‘UB that(Ø is included into a rank of prestigious university’

Omissions are indicated by Ø, non-standardized forms are underlined, andstandardized form is in parenthesis.

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The omission of suffix –an in the sentence vitally make the sentence semanticallyambiguous though it is syntactically acceptable. The last is the omission of suffix –i inverb derivation as shown by sentence 1(g) Apakah ospek yang kami jalan nanti samadengan mahasiswa reguler ‘Is the college orientation for us will be similar to other(non-disabled) students’. The underlined word jalan ‘street’ is a noun, to derive verb
we need to attach suffix ¬–i in the word into jalani ‘join’.
Addition is identified with the presence of yang ‘that’ in the sentences 2(a) and 2(b).
The word yang ‘that’ is a relative pronoun used to precede relative clause toemphasize noun phrase, yang ‘that’ in the sentences is unrequired. The underlined
words banyak ‘many’ and para (preposition indicates plurality) are considered
redundant since both of words indicates plurality. In standard form, it is better to use
one of it. Substitution is also found as in sentence 3(a) as the usage of nonstandardized preposition ke ‘to’ instead of di ‘in’ in the prepositional phrase ke dalam‘into’.
Another unique characteristic found in morphological level is the usage of suffix –nya. In Indonesian, suffix –nya function to indicate the third person possessive
pronoun such as in the sentence namanya A.M ‘his name is A.M’. It also function as
ligature before possessive noun such as in rasanya ‘the feeling’ in the sentence saatsaya mengikuti PK2MU rasanya saya telah memasuki dunia baru ‘when I join
PK2MU, I feel like entering the new world’. It also can be attached to the head noun
which is equal to ‘the’ in English such as in the sentence alasannya karna terkesan
lebih sopan ‘the reason is, it sounds politer’.
In term of lexical selection, most of deaf students select the lexical semanticallycorrect though most of them use non-standard diction, such as the word sama kamu
instead of dengan kamu ‘with you’, or the word ngobrol ‘chatting’ instead of
berbicara ‘talking’.
Grammatical-Morphology patterns of P SHS deaf students
Sn SHS deaf students perform some violation in morphological level according to
non-standardized grammatical-morphology covers the usage of non-standardized
preposition, conjunction, pronoun and verb inflection, non-standardized lexical covers
the lexical selection. Besides those items, omission (the absence of obligatory
linguistics item), addition (the presence of inappropriate linguistic item) andsubstitution (the substitution of the correct item with the incorrect one) are also found.
Table 2. Omission, addition and substitution of grammatical-morphological elements
performed by SN SHS deaf students
Taxonomy
1.  Omission

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a.  
brosur Ø (nya) ke orangtua Ø (saya) ‘give
brochure to (his) parents’b.  
saya mencari Ø (materi di) internet‘I look (materials in) internet’c.  Ø (se) LanjutkanØ (nya) ada pengumuman‘Then, there is an information’d.  
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Official Conference Proceedings‘why do you laugh?’2.   Additiona.  dosen datang di kelasnya‘the lecturer comes to his class’b.   ada perasaan malu
‘there is a feeling shy’c.  masuk kuliah memang harus butuh kesabaran‘studying at university must need patience’3.   Substitutiona.   dari gruru SMALB oro-oro dowo terus saya dikasih
brosur ke orangtua‘from teacher of SMALB in oro-oro dowo then I am
given brochure to parents’b.  berkenalan teman baru tersebut D, R, and H‘be acquainted with new friend mentioned D,R and
H’c.   Saya pendaftaran kirim email ke PSLD‘I admission send email to PSLD’d.   Pertama dulu saya dapati brosur UB‘At first, I got UB brochure’
Omissions are indicated by Ø, non-standardized forms are underlined, andstandardized form is in parenthesis.
Some omission identified in the sentences produced by Sn SHS deaf students are theomission of ¬suffix –nya that indicates definiteness, the omission of dependent innoun phrase, the omission of preposition, the omission of affix that derive adverb andverb and the omission of object.
In term of addition, Sn SHS deaf students tend to write sentences redundancy byusing noun phrase instead of verb as their predicate that lead to the presence of
unrequired word. Another addition recognized is the presence of suffix –nya that do
not indicate anything in the sentence.
Substitutions of active form with passive form are found but not in significant
number. Other substitution is the substitution of apposition yaitu ‘that (be)’ withinflection verb tersebut ‘mentioned’ and the usage of noun as a verb. The substitutionof inflectional verb is also found. Beside those characteristics, Sn SHS deaf students
also produce orthographic miss-spelling in trivial number. The detail explanation iselaborated in table 2.
Omissions are mostly found in Sn SHS deaf students’ writing such as explicated intable 2 number 1. In number 1(a) the omission are found in the word nya in brosurnya‘the brochure’ that indicate definiteness and the dependent of noun phrase orangtua
saya ‘my parents’. The word brosur in the second clause (the one in bracket) is adefinite noun that indicate the first brosur in the first clause, so it should be completed
by the suffix –nya to show definiteness of the noun which is equal to ‘the’ in English.
The next word is orangtua, this word is incomplete since it doesn’t have dependent to
explain whose parents are they. This word should be completed by the pronoun saya‘my’ into orang tua saya ‘my parents’. 1(b) shows that the sentences missed out theobject and preposition di ‘in’ placed between the predicate mencari ‘search’ andcomplement internet ‘internet’. Related the omission in the use of the derivational

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adverb, 1(c) shows that the sentence missed out the circumfix se-…..-nya that derive
the adjective lanjut into adverb selanjutnya. Beside the omission on derivational
adverb, there is also omission on derivational verb as in noun tawa in 1 (d) thatmissed out derivational verb ter-. Other omission in1(d) is the absence of object as in
kenapa (kamut) tertawa? ‘Why do (you) laugh?’.
The unrequired –nya in the 2(a) is considered as addition since –nya in the sentence
do not use appropriately. Another addition is sentence in 2(b) ada perasaan malu
‘there is a shy feeling’ which is more properly changed into merasa malu ‘feelingshy’. The last addition as shown in 1(c) is the addition on harus butuh kesabaran‘need patience’ that can be changed into membutuhkan kesabaran ‘need patience’.
Related to substitution, some cases found are substitution of active verb with passive
verb dikasih ‘is given’ instead of active verb memberi ‘give’ in 3(a). dikasih thatindicate passive form while the sentence context indicates active form. The word
dikasih should be in active form that is mengasih, but this word is lexicallyinappropriate. The proper lexical item that represents the sentence meaning is theword memberi ‘give’. The next case is the substitution of apposition yaitu ‘that is’with the passive word tersebut ‘mentioned’ in 3(b). Another case is the substitution ofderivational verb mendaftar ‘enroll’ instead of derivational noun pendaftaran‘registration’ and the inflectional verb kirim ‘send’ instead of inflectional verb
mengirim ‘sending’ as shown in 3(c). Another inflectional verb substitution also
appears in 3(d) in the word dapati instead of mendapat ‘got’ because suffix –i
performs grammatical meaning to indicate; (1) repeated action (2) place of the [base],;(3) ‘feel something to’ (4) give [base]; (5) make [base] as and (6) do an act to the[base] that do not fit with the sentence context.
Other omission and addition related to the usages of suffix –nya are also found. It is
used both correctly and incorrectly such as in the sentence ketua kelasnya disuruhnya
kita menunjukkan nama ‘(literally translated) the chief of the class is asked us tomentione his name’. The suffix –nya is used correctly in noun phrase ketua kelasnya‘the chief of the class’ since it shows definiteness, but it is used incorrectly in thesentence disuruhnya ‘(be) asked’, though it is semantically understood but it is nonstandardized and linguistically incorrect because suffix –nya is only attached to noun
head. The sentence also shows the misusage of prefix –di in word disuruhnya thatshould be changed into menyuruh. The lexical menunjukan nama ‘showing name’ isalso appropriate, it should use the more proper word that ia menyebutkan nama ‘hemention his name’.
Beside the grammatical-morphology violation, there are also some orthographic
misspelling such as in the words susananya for suasananya ‘the atmosphere’, selasaifor selesei ‘finished’, and mengenti for mengerti ‘understand’.

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Conclusion
Findings of this thesis replicate previous studies regarding the grammaticalmorphology patterns of deaf college students in its relation with educational
background but it does not reveal the influence of sign language preference to thewritten language performance though it shows a significant relation according to thefindings.
This research’s finding replicates the previous finding by Fabbreti, et.all (1998) thatthe deaf Italians are also striking difficulties on grammatical-morphology area andword-order violation. Deaf college students in both of group tend to do errors in themorphological and syntactic level but the error performance is lesser in P SHS deaf
students’ writing than Sn SHS deaf students’ writing. Both of groups are having
experiences on omission, addition and substitution of inflectional and derivational
morphemes though it is not significant in P SHS deaf students’ writing but pretty
massive in Sn SHS deaf students’ writing.
Educational background may be very influential for deaf students since it evolves
students’ characteristics. These research findings replicate the previous research doneby Stinsin, M.S & Kluwin, T.N (2003) that conducted a research on educational
consequences of deaf in alternative school placements categorized into; (1) Separate
schools, (2) resources rooms and separate classes (3) general education classes and (4)co-enrollment classes. This thesis only discusses the two of the four alternative school
placements since this thesis only focuses on two educational placements that is Public
Senior High school and Special needs Senior High School that well represented byseparate and general education classes. In relation to the achievement, there are two
finding revealed that deaf students in general education class perform better English
skills than those in other classes (Kluwin & Stinson, 1993; Reich et al, 1997 in
Stinson & Kluwin, 2003). This research finding also reveals that P SHS deaf students
who graduated from Public Senior High School perform better performance thanthose who graduated in Special needs Senior High School. This significant findings
needs to take into account without undervalue the quality of Special needs SeniorHigh School since there are many factors that influence deaf college students written
language performance.
Concisely, both of students perform some violation patterns of grammaticalmorphology though PSH/O students show better performance than SN SHS students.
The results reveal that deaf students graduated from public school and perform oral
language have better skill to produce Bahasa Indonesia written language than those
who graduated from special needs senior high school and perform sign language. The
differences of education model and language modality definitely influence deaf
students’ writing skill.

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References
Albertini, J.A & Schley.S. (2003). Writing Characteristics, Instruction,
and Assessment. In Marschark, M. & Spencer, P.E. (Eds), Oxford Handbook of Deaf
Studies, Language, and Education. New York: Oxford University Press
Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mized Method
Designs (3rd ed). Sage Publication inc
Fabbreti, D, Volterra, V & Pontecorvo, C (1998). Written Language Abilities in Deaf
Italians. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 3:3. New York: Oxford
University Press
Hernawati, T. (2007). ‘Pengembangan Kemampuan Berbahasa dan Berbicara Anak
Tuna Rungu’. JASSI_Anakku Vol. 7, hal 101-110. Bandung: UPI Press
Lintangsari, A.P. (2013). Identifikasi Kebutuhan Mahasiswa Tuli dalam Pembelajaran
Bahasa Tulis. Indonesian Journal of Disability Studies (IJDS) Vol 1. Malang: Pusat
Studi dan Layanan Disabilitas Universitas Brawijaya
Marcharck, M. (1997). Raising and Educating Deaf Children. New York: Oxford
University Press
Stinson, M.S & Kluwin, T.N. (2013).Educational Consequences of Alternative School
Placements’. in: Marschark, M. & Spencer, P.E. (Eds) Oxford Handbook of Deaf
Studies, Language, and Education. New York: Oxford University Press
Contact email: alieslintang@ub.ac.id	
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The Relationship between Musical Instrument Adoption and Professions of Music
Students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in Thailand 4.0
Thassanai Phensit, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
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Abstract
This research is the integration of qualitative research and quantitative research. The
purposes are 1) to study factors and motivation when selecting musical instruments
for learning Western music of music students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
2) to study factors for making decision on music careers of music students of Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University and 3) to study relationship between musicalinstrument selection and professions. The population is 80 music students of Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University. The data are from interview and questionnaires anddescriptively-analyzed. According to the result, 1) 90% of the students has their own
preferences 2) factors such as friends’ suggestion are 5% 3) the other 5% goes tounavoidable situations. The factors for decision-making on music profession are 1)
individual aptitude by 50% 2) opportunities for being into the career by 50%.
Musical instrument adoption is positively correlated  with opportunities for being into
the career.
Keyword: Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand 4.0, Musical Instrument
Adoption

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Up to the present time, Thailand has experienced lots of development so that it canovercome obstacles for a new era which has a relation to structural changes of the 21st
century. Also, this development can help Thailand to avoid the regression from the 2nd
to the 3rd world country. In case the development is achieved, Thailand can become
the 1st world country. With all the development so far, Thailand 4.0 has concretely
been driven.
Thailand 4.0 is a policy for economic development which is initiated by General
Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister of Thailand and the head of the National
Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), who has administered the country after the longpolitical conflict. His slogan is “Stability, Prosperity and Sustainability” of which themain task is to drive reformation in all parts as well as to develop the country toprosper the same as international by using technology help develop and modernize inconsistency with the 21st century.
Thailand 4.0 is an economic model that aims to unlock the country from several
economic challenges resulting from past economic development models which placeemphasis on agriculture (Thailand 1.0), light industry (Thailand 2.0), and advanced
industry (Thailand 3.0). These challenges include “a middle-income trap”, “aninequality trap”, and “an imbalanced trap.”
According to Thailand 4.0’s policy, it has a big impact on major development inscience, creativity, innovation, technology and research and development by planningthe development through “Public-Private Collaboration.” The development focusses
on participation from private sector, financial sector, people-based sector, andacademic sector to brainstorm and join forces through projects, memorandum,
activities or research. With the reference to Public-Private Collaboration, targets areclassified into Group 1 Elevating innovation and products, adopting laws andgovernment mechanisms, and developing future industrial clusters, investment
attraction, and infrastructure Group 2 Developing modern agriculture and economic
foundations and public-private Group 3 Promoting tourism, earning, and stimulating
government spending Group 4 Developing basic education and leadership (Publicschools) as well as upgrading professional quality Group 5 Promoting export andoverseas investment etc. which have been set up systematically and specified
guidelines for intensive use under the model of Thailand 4.0.
Thailand 4.0 is really important for concrete development with the reference to its
policies, especially education which rapidly needs reforming for Thai students so thatthey can be well-prepared for Thailand 4.0 such as English skills which are the mostimportant for international communication, knowledge exchange, cooperation, andtrade. So far, the Ministry of Education has upgraded the English language
competency through important projects; for example, the development of English
teachers through the Boot Camp, the application “Echo Hybrid, Echo English,” etc.
The promotion of education in Thailand 4.0 is done equally to all subjects. They are
equally important. It depends on how curriculums and relationship will be aligned

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with society, economy, and labor market needs referring to Thai 4.0 policy in order topromote the curriculums in the same direction.
The music education program in Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is music study
under Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts. The program has been revised in 2016
according to Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education; TQF: HEd byfocusing on more development and improvement of quality of music students
consistent with changes and needs in the current society.
The instructors have the qualifications and experience as the criteria. The curriculum
is designed to provide students with knowledge and skills necessary to their music
instruments both theoretically and practically, together with management until they
can be good musicians who can creatively perform useful music to public as well asenter music profession as they choose.
Objective1) To study factors and motivation when selecting musical instruments forlearning Western music of music students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
2) To study factors for making decision on music careers of music students ofSuan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
3) To study relationship between musical instrument selection and professions.
Research Methodology
This research is a combination of qualitative research and quantitative research ofwhich objectives are to study factors and motivation for selecting musical instruments
to study Western music of students at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University and to findfactors to enter music profession and relationship in musical instruments selection andtheir professions after graduation. The process is as follows:
1. study program structure of Fine and Applied Arts, Music Study, Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University, of Western Music Skill:
1.1 MUS1501 Western Music Skill 1
1.2 MUS1502 Western Music Skill 2
1.3 MUS2501 Western Music Skill 3
1.4 MUS2502 Western Music Skill 4
1.5 MUS3501 Western Music Skill 5
1.6 MUS3502 Western Music Skill 6
According to the above courses, each course shall classify music instruments
into 7-9 groups as follows:001

Woodwind(Flute,Clarinet,

Alto

Saxophone,

002
003
004

Piano
Brass (Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba)
Classical guitar

Saxophone)

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006
007
008
009

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VoicesDrum Set
ViolinElectric guitar
Electric bass / Double bass

Selecting a Topic and an Objective
The researcher is one of the instructors of Western Music Skill and would like to
study factors or motivation in selecting musical instruments for entering music
profession after graduation or study relationship between musical instrument selection
and professions as to Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education; TQF:Hed
by focusing on Learning Outcome Management in order that the specified directions
can be achieved. Therefore, they can be brought into learning development. Then
students can apply their music knowledge and skills for their careers. It also
guarantees the quality of education of students. This result is consistent with thepolicy of quality assurance and education standards of the Office of the Higher
Education Commission.
Sampling
The target samples and the population of the research are 1st to 4th year students ofFaculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Music Study, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
Collective Data
1. Data is collected from interviews, questionnaires, and descriptively-analyzed datafrom 1st to 4th year music students of Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University totally 80 persons:
1.1 Course: 001 Woodwind 14 persons- Flute2

1.3 Course: 003 Brass 14 persons  - Trumpet3- Clarinet

2- Trombone

5- Alto Saxophone8- Euphonium

3-Tenor Saxophone2- Tuba3

1.2 Course: 002 Piano 5 persons
1.4 Course: 004 Classical guitars   1.5 Course: 005 Voices 44 persons
1.6 Course: 006 Drum set
1.7 Course: 007 Violin 6 persons
1.8 Course: 008 Electric guitars  1.9 Course: 009 Electric bass
2. Questionnaires are filled by music students of Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts,
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
3. The music study program (revised in 2016), Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts,
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is studied

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4. The learning outcome in higher education is studied according to Thai
Qualifications Framework for Higher Education; TQF: HEd
Analyzing data
The analysis is a follows:
1. The data from the interviews of 1st to 4th year music students are analyzed andsynthesized for the results of the factors and the motivation for choosing the
instrument for the study of Western Music Skill of music students, Suan Sunandha
Rajabhat University and the factors in choosing the instrument to enter the
professions. This can be brought into practice for teaching in the future
2. The collected questionnaires are for analysis and synthesis for the results of higher
education learning in accordance with Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher
Education; TQF: HEd that have impacts on the course of music study, Western Music
Skill (Practice)
3. The data from observations and note-taking are summarized the results of higher
education learning in accordance with Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher
Education; TQF: HEd that have impacts on the course of music study, Western Music
Skill (Practice) of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
Result
The results of the study “The Relationship between Musical Instrument Adoption andProfessions of Music Students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in Thailand
4.0” are as below:
According to the results, 1) 90% of the students have their own clear preferences; 2)others factors such as friends’ suggestions amount to 5%; 3) the remaining 5% comes
about because of unavoidable situations. The factors for decision-making in terms ofmusic profession are 1) individual aptitude, 50%; 2) career opportunities 50%. In the
study, musical instrument adoption is positively correlated with career opportunities.

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Samples from Western Music Skill course

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Conclusion
According to the analysis “The Relationship between Musical Instrument Adoption
and Professions of Music Students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in Thailand
4.0,” learning activities in Western Music Skill are consistent with program in Facultyof Fine and Applied Arts, Music Study (revised in 2016), Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University and Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education; TQF:HEd). The
6 desired characteristics are1) Virtue and Ethics: Honesty, Discipline, Academic and Professional Morality,
Responsibility to oneself and society, Open-mindedness to opinion of others, andPublic Consciousness
2) Knowledge: music knowledge and the related, ability to study, solve problems, anddevelop music systematically, music knowledge in connection with social contexts,
wisdom, and culture, and knowledge relating to standards and practices in music
profession3) Cognitive Skills: ability to collect, gather, propose solutions creatively, ability toanalyze, synthesize, and satisfy solutions rationally, ability to integrate knowledge
into another study in order to create academic and professional works, ability to bewitty4) Interpersonal Skills and Responsibility: leadership and good interpersonal skills,
understanding ones’ roles and being open-minded to other opinions, responsibility forones’ tasks and work with others efficiently, and expressing opinions logically andstraightforwardly and paying respect to different opinions
5) Numerical Analysis, Communication, and Information Technology: ability tocommunicate by speaking, listening, reading, and writing and presenting music
efficiently, ability to use information technology in searching for information for
creating music or presenting music efficiently, and ability to apply numeric ortechnological knowledge for music properly
6) Psychomotor Domain: ability to use voice and perform music well and skilled andgood personality to present a piece of music in public

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References
TQF:HEd B.E. (2009). Office of the Higher Education Commission. Thai
Qualifications Framework for Higher.Education; Source:http://mua.go.th/users/tqfhed/.
Kajohn, T.(2017). Classical Guitar: Important Basic Lesson for Guitar Students.
Bangkok Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Phensit, T. (2017). Teaching and Learning Euphonium Activities in Rajabhat
Universities in Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Phensit, T. (2017). Teaching and Learning Trombone Activities in Rajabhat
Universities. Bangkok, Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Phensit, T. (2016). The Effected of Learning Outcome in Term of Thai Qualifications
Framework for Higher Education to Music Teacher in Rajabhat Universities in
Bangkok. Bangkok, Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Sirima, P. (2017). Piano: Important Instrument in Teaching and Learning in Rajabhat
Universities in Bangkok. Bangkok Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University
Yatakongs, S. (2017). Teaching and Learning Violin in Rajabhat University: Bangkok
Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University
BansomdejchaoprayaRajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok,
Thailand: Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University.
Chankasem Rajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok, Thailand:
Chankasem Rajabhat University.
PhranakhonRajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok, Thailand:
Phranakhon Rajabhat University.
SuansunandhaRajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok, Thailand:
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.

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Thailand 4.0 Music Student: Study on Classical Guitar Repertoire Learning
Process
Patommavat Thammachard, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to study technique or methodology that music studentof Thailand 4.0 uses for accomplish the assigned repertoire for finding appropriate
guitar method that should be using in the future. Thailand 4.0 is the education systemthat focuses on developing and innovating knowledge for social need. Integrating andcreating the new innovation from learner knowledge principles are the result ofThailand 4.0 education. The research instruments included: 1) in-depth interview with
7 Suan Sunandha University music student (classical guitar major) 2) performanceassessment form. Both forms will be analyzed after the samples achieve the assigned
repertoire. The results are shown that the samples are using internet platform
especially YouTube about 66.6% as a channel for learning assigned repertoire, whileothers still learning the repertories by private instructor. In the conclusion, student
tend to use internet platform to study the piece, but some amount of students still learn
the repertoire by private instructor.
Keywords: Thailand 4.0, Classical Guitar, Repertory, Learning Process

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Introduction
Thailand 4.0 is the model of modern Thai economics that focus on security,prosperity, and sustainability to reciprocate 21 century needs. Of cause there was
Thailand 1.0 which focuses on heavy agricultural sector business. Thailand 2.0 was
emphasizing on light industries, while Thailand 3.0 was focusing on heavy industries
and export business. “In order to step over middle class country trap by transformingfrom traditional agriculture to new era agriculture which emphasizes on technology
management in order to turn Traditional SME to Smart Enterprises with highcapacity, low value Traditional Services to achieve high value, and low skilled labor
to knowledgeable, specialized and highly skilled labor.” (Thailand 4.0, 2017). Those
economics model is not only affect in the business field, but it also effects in
education field as well since. In educational field, Thailand 4.0 education is ideally to
improve every aspect of education that reflecting 21 century needs. The qualificationof Thailand 4.0 student is not only offer knowledge to people, but it is to humanize
people with habit of studying, integrity, analytical skill, and social skill. Also,
Thailand 4.0 population need to modernized and build-up their country to be in higher
standard. In sequence of using innovation-based concepts as a model of development
will level-up the middle-income trap eventually. (Pruekchaikul, 2017). Music
education has been change dramatically after the increasing number of the internet
platform on handheld devices uses.
Big number of both students and professors are using computing media instructions
especially on personal laptop computer or handheld devices. “Since early 1960s
educators and computer scientist began using computers for teaching purposes.
Initially it was used as reading and typing text ...However with the invention ofaffordable microcomputers and the integration of text, graphics and color there was a
rapid spread of computers in business, educational institutes and homes”(Wikramanayake, 2005) Professors use those technologies as the instructional media
to help student understand the particular subject contents more effectively. Also,
student can take the benefit of computing media for better understand both theconcept and in-depth details, but mainly student still need the experience.
4.0 students are independent learnerHighly numbers of music student now are using independent resources mainly on theinternet for their learning. In the past when the internet platform was not really
growth, student learning process is relaying on professor or the instructor resources.
Trends of external degree or “Alternative Learning” was first appears around 1850s,
and most developed in 1969. Those programs included reasonable amount of“tradition curriculum” and “external delivery method, such as computer method, orvideo platform. (Coggins & Chere C. ,1988). Most student needed to communicate ofsome sort with professors to get particular content. Either, prefer to study
independently or with knowledgeable professor mostly are learning from books or
non-technologies resources.
It is important to investigate the appropriate method for 4.0 music student because theresult will maximize the quality of repertoire learning process in different ways.
Finding the ways that students are learning the performance and repertoire learning
skill is first priority.

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Out-Source Educational Tools
Students nowadays tend to use the internet as the main resources for learning newrepertoires because it is convenient and more independent. That make the conflicts
with tradition style of learning, which the professor or the instructor play theimportant role on teaching. There are many computation media instructions, such as,
application, social media platform, or online learning site. For example, The guitar
corner: website that host by Australian classical guitarist guitar Simon Powis. In thiswebsite is combine multiple knowledge about Classical guitar. There are lots ofsection that useable for independent guitar learner, such as, books, blog, and podcast.
In each particular section indicates personnel Powis’s guitar techniques, and othersupport content like, an interview, or blogpost. This is Classical guitar by Bradford
Werner also provides similar content idea with identical interpretation. The big
difference between those two websites are Werner website tend to emphasize oncollect classical guitar music sheets and tabs. Also, those two have organized section
differently. Brandford organize free lesson section by level of player, while Powis
organizes it by playing techniques.
Literature reviews
There decent numbers of research about music education development that touch on
from different aspect. The article from David J. Hargreaves & Nigel A. Marshall,“Developing identities in music education” is indicate the distinction between “Musicin School” and Music outside school. “Concept of musical identities might enable us
to understand musical behavior from different people from inside as well as indeveloping broader conceptions of the scope of music education” (Hargreaves &Marshall, 2003)
the other study from Nicholas Michael Stefanic, Based music learning: modeling theprocess and learning outcome in massive open online course: the study is about theeffect of musical creative process lead to musical learning. The data in this particularstudy are collected by analyzing through, personality, motivation, and music
predilection. Some research study on topics that not related to music in term of skills,
but in term circumstance sets. For example, the relationship between English
language learner status and music ensemble participation by Julie A. Lorah, theresearch claimed that English language learner (ELL) or non ELL are contain thesame level of interesting, just lack of opportunity to be in the music ensemble section.
The statement shows that the opportunity also part of important topic that might affectsome aspects of student in 21 centuries particularly Thailand 4.0 student. The article
listed in this paragraph include this paper are not mean to create innovation, but it will
indicate useful evident for interested scholar or inventor.
The interesting data and result will indicate the new understanding of 4.0 student
repertoire learning process. The Professor or instructor should consider the result andapply for design teaching process model. Moreover, the value knowledge in thisresearch will be powerful tools for future methodology selection as well. All of thosechanges are effect the ways of repertories learning process of 4.0 SSRU guitar
students. Studying on classical guitar repertoire learning process is important.

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Methodology
The research question is what technique or methodology that music student ofThailand 4.0 uses for accomplish the assigned repertoire. To answer the researchquestion will need to uses the research instruments included: 1) in-depth interview
with 7 Suan Sunandha University music student 2) performance assessment form.
Both forms will be analyzed after the samples achieve the assigned repertoire.
Participants of both research instrument are 7 second year, Suan Sunandha University
music student. All of participants are Classical guitar major, male gender, and Thainationality.
Interaction or In-depth interview with experience participants is the effective ways to
get the information. In educational research, in-depth interview is popular to use. It isqualified tools for taking out data more subjective. (Rita S p.1)
Participants of the interview are from current Suan Sunandha University music
student. All of them are from Classical guitar major who have direct experience ofboth in-class and independent learning. Participants will need to achieve the solo
repertoire from Spanish composer Francisco Tarrega “Lagrima” (Figure 1).
Participants need to self-decide for what learning tools they need to accomplish theassigned repertoire.

Figure 1: Francisco Tarrega “Lagrima” excerpt
Interview discussion questions are divided into 3 categories below: 1) Participants
background analysis: This section will collect participants background especially, in
education. The result will indicate how the different educational and behavior
background affect the learning process individually. 2) Learning platform: thissection is to measure that which learning platform selection student tend to use forprocessing the assigned repertories. The result of this section will prove either where

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participants knowledge platform which beneficial for this study to be more direct, andit can define some of study behavior in deeper level 3) Instructional media selection:
the result after measuring this particular section is much like learning platform
category, which will provide more profound understand of individual participant fromeach selection their made.
Collecting data from performance assessment form (PAF) is also powerful tools
because from getting that information directly from participants. it would show theparticipants learning habits and behavior. Importantly, it will represent learning
process path of participants that will be one of significant information to have.
Participants need to record every practice section that they have attended include
rehearsal. However, participant need to design their own PAF whether be tradition or
standard format or prefer to use table or charts. To measure the quality of each student
is to analyzing through the PAF section. The qualified PAF should indicate about tone
production, intonation, accuracy, technique, and interpretation. If participants mention
about part of those 5 criterion, they will be qualified for measuring. The decision
making will indicate how participants achieve the assigned repertoire, and how
participants learning style. PAF will shows data that will improve student
individually.
Result
The result of this interview section was interesting. Each Student tend to learn fromthe instructor most of the time. Teacher or the instructors give them both advise andindividual content. Only one student that learn full-time by instructional computer
media, or method books.
The result shows that online educational technology is the most educational tools that
Thailand 4.0 music student use especially on social media. The result frominterviewing 7 participants shows that all of them spend time on social media to learn
things on social media. About 66 % of the interview participants research or study bysearching through YouTube (Figure 2). One of participant mentions that YouTube is avideo media, which it extracts them to learn more than reading from blog post or
books. Normally, videography or infographic resources are more motivated and makelearning process faster. Forrester Research claims that a minute of online video will
equate to about 1.0 million words. Also, the visualized process transmits faster thanreading process 60,000 times. (Tsur, Michal, 2014). Facebook also one of social
media that participants likely to attended. Participants about 23% study and researchlessons through Facebook post or video content. There are multiple Facebook pages
that serve specific content that will be useful for student. Also, Facebook video
contents are the most source format that participant likely to access.

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Figure 2: participant Educational Method Selection table
One participant explains that have prepared for the exam theory class. The ways thathe prepared is reading concept through infographic on official Facebook post. The
infographic represents the informative data along with drawing the relationship.
Participant prepared for the theory exam by collecting information from different
infographic photos on Facebook post. The infographic content increase students’attention which lead them to get start learning context. The down side of theinfographic is mean to show only the relationship of simplistic contents, but it leads tomore in-depth available resources which will finally improve particular skill
eventually. 11% left still tend to use others source from online resources such as,
websites, application, personal blog, or even through games. The reasons thatparticipants study using resources on website or personal blog is for the need ofdeeper understanding, and instructor assignments. Resources on website are credible
and profound, but it is unapproachable. Participants have high chance to not searchingfor it in the first place. It basically unattractive source. Only one people from theparticipant lists surprisingly prefer to study the assigned repertoire by using
applications. The application collects profound data similar to website or personalblog, but participant said “it is really accessible”. Most of music education application
are in English. This maybe is one of reason that the application learning platformgetting lower percent on the chart. The participant who use the application has reallystrong background on English study, so that explains why he is comfortable using it.
One parts of the interview is about fundamental analysis. There is only one participantthat starts lesson skill sets by online educational resources. About 6 out of 7
participants are building basic fundamental skill by advice from guitar instructor. The

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online resources or social media educational method are only need for reviewing or
research more knowledge. Participants at the beginning level were not reallysearching for something really basic or unmotivated, but were looking resources thatentertaining or things that increasing their motivation level.
Notes form performance assessment form indicates the following informative data.
First, all of participants have mentioned all 5 categories of criterion. The most aspectparticipants write in common are techniques and tone production. None ofparticipants mentions or says about music interpretation in PAF. “Interpretation isnormally last aspect of music that I will think of” one of participants said.
Conclusion
This study is mostly researching about what learning method that 7 music student
from Suan Sunandha Rajabhat university uses to accomplish assigned repertoire. The
result from the interview is interesting. Each Student start to learn from the instructor
most of the time. Teacher or the instructors give them both advise and individual
content. Only one student that learn full-time by instructional online resources, andmethod books. The most visited online resources is YouTube. YouTube is theeducational platform that get the highest number of all the lists up to about 66%. The
advantage of it is serving video content knowledge. Video content are motivated andmake them learn faster. There are many online platforms that provide video content
too. Facebook had that features that also represent it through post or specific page. On
Facebook, participants prefer to watch video more than reading or learning throughFacebook post because brain are taking less power to process. Likewise, video ismore exciting and motivating. The other kind of online educational methods are notreally attracting student to access because those resources are too specific and difficult
to use. It is appropriate only for specific situation.
The data in this research is valuable for the instructor or curriculum developer. The
result will indicate that what is the best resources that will get the best out of Thailand
4.0 student.
Moreover, it maybe someway uses in Education business. For example, making
educational contents that may sell some Educational course, which is always
beneficial for the society. Thailand 4.0 music education research need to becontinued. In further research, the prototype of classical guitar method of Thailand 4.0
music student is the topic of study that need to be concerned.
Acknowledgement
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Staff of Music Department of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

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References
Coggins, Chere C. (1988). Learner: Preferred learning styles and their impact oncompletion of external degree programs, American Journal of Distance
Education, 2(1), 25-37.
Hargreaves, David & Marshall, Nigel. (2003). Developing identities in musiceducation. Music Education Research - MUSIC EDUC RES. 5. 263-273.
Lorah, Julie & A. Sanders, Elizabeth & Morrison, Steven. (2014). The Relationship
Between English Language Learner Status and Music Ensemble Participation.
Journal of Research in Music Education. 62. 234-244.
Pruekchaikul ,Korapat Kuptametanon, Soranicha and Walker, Kenneth (2017,
October 10). Education reform & Entrance 4.0. Retrieved fromhttp://www.en.moe.go.th/enMoe2017.
Showkat, Nayeem & Parveen, Huma. (2017). In-depth Interview.
Stefanic, Nicholas Michael, "Creativity-Based Music Learning: Modeling the Process
and Learning Outcomes in a Massive Open Online Course" (2014). Graduate Theses
and Dissertations. Retrieve from https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5315.
Thailand 4.0 Model; drive Thailand with innovation (2017, January 21). Retrieved
from https://www.mmthailand.com
Tsur, Michal (2014, June 01). Research confirms video improves learning result.
Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michal-tsur.
Wikramanayake, Gihan. (2005). Impact of Digital Technology on Education.
Contact Email: patommavat.th@ssru.ac.th

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Administration Factors Affecting Student Development in Thailand 4.0 in Facultyof Fine and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Sansanee Jasuwan, Rajabhat Suansunandha University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The objectives of this research were to study main idea of Thailand 4.0 for student
developments and to study administration factors affecting student development infaculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. This study was
qualitative research, collecting data from 5 experts of Thailand 4.0, 15 lecturers offaculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University by in-depth
interview and analyze data by content analysis.The research results were as follows:
1) The main idea of Thailand 4.0 for student development were the students to haveknowledge, skills, perspective and value. Knowledge consist of Basic knowledge(self, family, community, society, language, mathematics), knowledge around theworld, Socio-economic situation, Information Technology and the knowledge needed
for a career. Skills consist of systematic thinking skills, effective communication
skills, pre-planned thinking skills, critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, theability to live in society and environmentally safe. Perspectives consist of look the
problem around, look at global issues and link them to the local level, understand the
problems and forecasts to the future, participate in problems and find solutions tosolve problems creatively. The values for a sustainable society are maintaining
abundance of resources and ecosystems, socio-economic justice and peace of mind. 2)
Administration factors affecting student development in faculty of Fine and AppliedArts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University are policy and vision of university andfaculty, competency and leadership of dean, curriculum, teacher (technique ofteaching, learning activities, ICT/Multi-Media, classroom management) facilities andlearning resources.
Keywords: Administration factors, Student development, Thailand 4.0, Faculty ofFine and Applied Arts Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.

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Introduction
Among the changes of information and technology, technological advances arechanging rapidly. The education must adapt to keep up with these changes. Thailand
has set a policy to develop Thailand into model Thailand 4.0, That aimed at Thais tobreak the trap of poverty. "Thailand 4.0" is the vision of Thailand's economic
development policy or a model of economic development depend on the mission"stable, prosperous and sustainable" to drive reforms in various system to adjust thedirection and the way developing country to prosperity cope with new and rapidlychanging threats and opportunities in the 21st century. The need to adjust education
for preparing people in the society are necessary in this changing society.
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is the one of Rajabhat University has been
operating for more than 80 years, producing graduates according to the needs of thesociety in a wide variety of fields including science and technology, education,
humanities and social sciences. industrial Technology Nursing Management,
Logistics Management, Fine Arts etc.
Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts is the one of Faculty in Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University that teaches both Fine Arts and Applied Arts. There are more than 40
technical experts in this field, aiming to produce graduates who specialize in Music,
Dance and Performing Arts, Painting, Sculpture Design, Communication Arts Design,
Fashion Design, Crafts, etc. to create works to society.
Although the science of this faculty are responsive to mental needs, to create
happiness in society. Most graduates students create jobs by themselves, but with theway of change that occurs, it is necessary to prepare graduate students to live happily
in society, keep up with the changes that occur. For this reason, researchers areinterested in studying the factors affecting student development in Thailand in facultyof Fine and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University for find a guideline forchanging the curriculum and the teaching and learning process so that students areready to step out into the society confidently and successfully.
Objectives
The objectives of this research were1.To study main idea of Thailand 4.0 for student developments
2.To study administration actors affecting student development in faculty of Fine andApplied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Literature Review
Thailand 4.0
Royal Thai Embassy, Washington D.C (http://thaiembdc.org/thailand-4-0-2/)
presented that Thailand 4.0 is an economic model that aims to unlock the country
from several economic challenges resulting from past economic development models
which place emphasis on agriculture (Thailand 1.0), light industry (Thailand 2.0), andadvanced industry (Thailand 3.0). These challenges include “a middle income trap”,“an inequality trap”, and “an imbalanced trap”.

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Four Objectives of Thailand 4.0
1. Economic Prosperity: to create a value-based economy that is driven by
innovation, technology and creativity. The model aims to increase Research andDevelopment (“R&D”) expenditure to 4% of GDP, increase economic growth rate tofull capacity rate of 5-6% within 5 years, and increase national income per capita
from 5,470 USD in 2014 to 15,000 USD by 2032.
2. Social Well-being: to create a society that moves forward without leaving anyone
behind (inclusive society) through realization of the full potential of all members ofsociety. The goals are to reduce social disparity from 0.465 in 2013 to 0.36 in 2032,
completely transform to social welfare system within 20 years and develop at least
20,000 households into “Smart Farmers” within 5 years.
3. Raising Human Values: to transform Thais into “Competent human beings in the
21sth Century” and “Thais 4.0 in the first world. Measures under Thailand 4.0 willraise Thailand HDI from 0.722 to 0.8 or the top 50 countries within 10 years, ensurethat at least 5 Thai universities are ranked amongst the world’s top 100 higher
education institution within 20 years.
4. Environmental Protection: to become a livable society that possesses an
economic system capable of adjusting to climate change and low carbon society. The
targets are to develop at least 10 cities into the world’s most livable cities, reduce
terrorism risk, and increase the proportion
Five Agendas for Thailand 4.0
Agenda 1: Prepare Thais 4.0 for Thailand becoming a first world nation
Agenda 2: Development of Technology Cluster and Future Industries
Agenda 3: Incubate Entrepreneurs and Develop Networks of Innovation-Driven
Enterprise
Agenda 4: Strengthening the Internal Economy through the Mechanisms of 18
Provincial Clusters and 76 Provinces
Agenda 5: Integrating with ASEAN and Connecting Thailand to the Global
Community
Thai Education 4.0
Teerakiet(http://www.moe.go.th/moe/th/news/detail.php?NewsID=46211&Key=news_Teerakiat) Dr. Teerakiat Chareonsetthasil, Deputy Minister of Education gave a special
lecture on "Thai Education 4.0 in the context of educational management forsustainable development" at the Teachers Council's Annual Conference on Education,
Research and Innovation Sustainable on Sunday 28 August 2019 at Vayupak
Convention Centre, Centara Hotels and Resorts Convention Centre.
He talk about preparing for Thailand education to Thailand 4.0, there are many factors
to consider, in particular, we have a lot of people in the 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 system, so thechange will be one step at a time to be sustainable. For example, the development ofeducation in Singapore, the reform of education began in 1959. The Ministry of

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Education of Singapore has set bilingual policy and professional skills for industrial
economy. The development of educational capabilities and the establishment of aThinking School, the main principle of education in Singapore is the use of English asa language of education, the use of science to learn things, the use of mathematics todevelop cognitive / cognitive abilities, reasoning, and problem-oriented mathcurriculum and analytical thinking.
So the country is Thailand 4.0, everything must be planned to build the foundationand the environment. And it requires a lot of patience, because it will take a long time.
Especially the innovation in driving the country, we have to come back to see what
the production is innovative or just an invention, because innovation is really correct
must be able to expand commercially.
For innovative approaches to education that will eventually lead to adoption, it must
be admitted that most are at the university level, which is the source of good people.
The best way to make children creative is to use a project that uses science andmathematics to address local development, such as solar cell power generation thatwill make children enjoy finding answers, prefer to study, prefer to practice thensubmit the contest. This will help to create pride for children.
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is the one of Rajabhat university in Bangkok is
located at 1 U-Thong-Nok Road, Dusit District, Bangkok 10300 Thailand. The
University campus is of a historic origin that was once a part of Dusit Palace, theRoyal Compound of King Rama V. Long before, it served as Royal Garden and theresidential compound for his visiting allies, it was named “Suan Sunandha”. Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat Institute became a University through a University Act signed by
His Royal Highness King Rama IX on June 15, 2004.
There are 6 faculties in Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University consist of Faculty of
Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Science andTechnology, Faculty of Management Science, Faculty of Industrial Technology andFaculty of Fine and Applied Arts.
Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts
Faculty of Arts Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is set up under the Rajabhat
University Act 2004, with the development from past to present for more than 30
years, from 1973 to the present.
The establishment of the Faculty of Fine Arts was a great success. With great supportand encouragement from former presidents and vice presidents. From the time it wason March 1, 2005 has announced the establishment of the Faculty of Fine Arts in the
Rajbhat University. The Faculty of Fine Arts has been officially established in Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University. It is the only one in 38 Rajabhat Universities
nationwide, appointed by the University Council.

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Now Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts have 7 branches such as Music Department,
Thai Dramatic Arts, Performing Arts, Painting, Fashion Design, Creative Product
Design and Visual Communication Design
Mission of Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts
1.Develop standards for educational management and production of art graduates that
focus on knowledge, to be of high quality and meet the needs of the community andsociety.To live happily with just enough.
2.Research and development of knowledge in the field of fine arts, arts and local
culture. Rattanakosin Art and Culture
3.Academic Services in Fine Arts Local culture And Rattanakosin Culture and Arts tothe community and society at the highest level. By engaging with the community.
Local and social
4.It is a learning center for conservation. Develop and disseminate local arts, art andculture. Rattanakosin Art and Culture
Student development
To prepare students to keep pace with the changing world, there are 3 importantfactors that are academic, personal and living in society.
1. Academic: students must study new knowledge, practice the skill, and creativity intheir work
2. Personal: students must have personality, expression, presentation and develop
system thinking
3.Living in society: students must study the second language, must have humanrelation, and work like a teamRoles of administrators
Administrators are an important role in supporting instructional activities that help
students develop.  There are 5 key roles of administrators. The five roles identified are
the means by which values direct processes to foster empowerment. In other words,
leaders cultivate institutional development, mentors facilitate employee development,
managers ensure institutional integrity, deciders provide alignment, and builders
expand the capacity of the students, the employees and the organization thus bringing
us full circle to a new stage of development. Though differing job descriptions within
the administrative structure will emphasize some roles more than others based on the
responsibilities, all administrators are expected to have a level of proficiency in eachof the distinct roles. (Rose Ann Findle, Carol Holmes, 2018)

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1. Leaders Cultivate Institutional Development
Administrators are expected to set the direction for the institution as a whole or for
their department as they align their work with that of the institution. In order todevelop a vision that is grounded in that which can be projected about the future, thisrole requires strong skills in environmental scanning, listening to critical stakeholders,
anticipating future conditions, and providing a mental model, that others findcompelling.
2. Mentors Facilitate Employee Development
In knowledge and talent rich organizations, a key role of an administrator is tomobilize individual commitment of other employees via a mentoring relationship that
requires a mindset of servant-leader. According to Greenleaf (2002), servant
leadership implies that leaders primarily lead by serving others: employees,
customers, and the community. Such service is realized through mentoring
relationships that require good listening, honesty, empathy, and encouragement whilechallenging performance. Mentors set high standards of performance and provide
ongoing assessment that leads to the professional and personal growth of the mentee.
Mentors provide a strong perspective, are professionally accessible to share relevant
experiences and are willing to take significant risks to support the right type of
advocacy for the mentee.
3. Managers Ensure Institutional Integrity
Administrators strive to do things right themselves and assure that those responsible
to them do so as well. Skills are applied to those things that require controls. there arethree categories of things needing control: money (costs, information, and time),
structure (systems, processes, and inventory), and physical resources (facilities andtools). Application of these skills in an effective and efficient manner leads to an
institution’s integrity, as there is evidence of responsible functioning.
4. Deciders Provide Alignment
Good administrators have a solid understanding In an increasingly complex
environment, often fraught with competing stakeholder priorities, and usuallycompounded by limited resources, the ability to make sound decisions is crucial. If
the course has been set through the visioning process and strategic planning, it isessential that decisions are made that result in alignment with priorities.
5. Builders Expand Capacity
The two skill sets most important to building both human and organizational capacity
are those that pertain to the ability to be a good team member, and having theexpertise and generosity of spirit to serve as consultant. Clearly most work cannot bedone alone. Team membership has routinely come to be seen as one of the corecompetencies for graduates.

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Objectives
The objective of this study were1.   To study main idea of Thailand 4.0 for student developments
2.   To study administration factors affecting student development in faculty of Fine
and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Methodology
This study was qualitative research. The tools used to collect data were interview
forms. There are two groups of data collection, the first were 5 experts of Thailand 4.0
who studied and understood about Thailand 4.0 well and the second were 15 lecturersof faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University who worked
here more than 5 years and analyze data by content analysis.
Results
From agenda 1 to prepare Thais 4.0 for Thailand becoming a first world nation, it is
the most important element in the development of Thailand 4.0 is Thai people totransform Thais into more competent human beings in the 21st century and develop
Thais 4.0 as first world citizens through reform education system to prepare Thais for
Thailand becoming a first world nation by transforming learning ecosystem topurposeful learning, generative learning, mindful learning, and result-based learning.
These shifts will lead to changes in goals and administration of the education system,
teachers’ skills and teaching paradigm, curriculum and teaching/learning methods.
The idea of Thailand 4.0 for student developments, after changing about teachers’
skills and teaching paradigm, curriculum and teaching/learning methods, students
were developed in 4 parts : knowledge, skills, perspective and value.
First, about knowledge, the students must learn basic knowledge, such as self, family,community, society, language, mathematics. More than that the students must knew
about knowledge around the world, Socio-economic situation InformationTechnology
and special knowledge needed for a career. That is very important in the changing
world especially in Thailand 4.0.
Second, skills are important too. The students must practice systematic thinking skills,
effective communication skills, pre-planned thinking skills, critical thinking skills,
interpersonal skills, the ability to live in society and environmentally safe.
Third is Perspectives consist of look the problem around, look at global issues andlink them to the local level, understand the problems and forecasts to the future,
participate in problems, and find solutions to solve problems creatively.
The last is values for a sustainable society are maintaining abundance of resourcesand ecosystems, socio-economic justice and peace of mind.
Administration factors affecting student development in faculty of Fine and AppliedArts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University are

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1.   Policy and Vision of university and faculty must be supported the government
aims to develop the country in the direction of Thailand 4.0.
2.   The competency and leadership of dean, dean must have leadership in thechanging world and the ability to adapt proactively abreast of the situation. Dean must
know about financial management, resource development, strategic planning, building
human capacity,   assessment, team building, coaching  and external relations.
3.   Curriculum need to be adapted to the current world situation. Teachers needadvanced teaching techniques. This is a great way for students to learn quickly.
Innovative in teaching and learning activity must change using ICT/Multi-Media inclass. Including encouraging students to learn from direct experience. It is a way todevelop students to learn new innovations for the results in rapid adaptation to thechanges.
4.   Modern learning resources, both government and private sectors, the students
need to have the opportunity to experience direct occupation. It will help the students
to enter the changing society happily.
Conclusion
The student development must have knowledge, skills, perspective and value.
Knowledge consist of Basic knowledge, knowledge around the world, Socioeconomic situation, information technology and the knowledge needed for a career.
Skills consist of systematic thinking skills, effective communication skills, preplanned thinking skills, critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, the ability to live
in society and environmentally safe. Perspectives consist of look the problem around,look at global issues and link them to the local level, understand the problems andforecasts to the future, participate in problems and find solutions to solve problems
creatively. The values for a sustainable society are maintaining abundance ofresources and ecosystems, socio-economic justice and peace of mind. Administration
factors affecting student development in faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University are policy and vision of university and faculty,
competency and leadership of dean, curriculum, teacher, facilities and learning
resources.
Acknowledgements
The research was conducted under the policy of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
The researcher would like to thanks to thanks Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University,
the Music Department, the Educational Administration Department and more
importantly, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saieewan Dubpavasu and all of faculty members of thedepartments.

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References
Greenleaf, R. K. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate
power and greatness. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Ministry of Education. (2008). Basic Education Core Curriculum, Bangkok : Ministryof Education. Royal Thai Embassy, Washington D.C. Thailand 4.0. [Online available]
http://thaiembdc.org /thailand-4-0-2/
Rose Ann Findle, Carol Holmes, (2018). Role of Administrators[Online
available] http://www.facultyguidebook.com/4th/demo/1/1_2_5.htm
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat university,(2018) Suan Sunandha Rajabhat university
history. [Online available] http://www.ssru.ac.th/
Teerakiat Chareonsetthasil, (2018). Thai Education 4.0 [Online available]
http://www.moe.go.th/moe/th/news/detail.php?NewsID=46211&Key=news_TeerakiatContact email: sansanee.ja@ssru.ac.th

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Music Curriculum Supporting Music Occupation for Music Students of Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University in Thailand 4.0
Sirima Panapinan, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
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Abstract
The objective of this qualitative research was to study music occupation for music
students in Thailand 4.0 and study music curriculum that support music occupation
for music students in Thailand 4.0. The data were collected from interviews with
university music teacher, musician and the person who are knowledgeable about
Thailand 4.0 total of 15 persons and analyze data by content analysis. The researchfound that music occupation for music student in Thailand 4.0 is a musician who isknowledgeable about the use of technology to create the sound effect, create music byused the technology, being a musician back up, repair music instrument and musicteacher. Music curriculum that support music occupation is the program allows
students to create their own work, the subject that related to technology, soundengineering and music computer. The subject should be a set of knowledge that give
students the freedom to study by interest and don’t need to register for degree. The
course is a training course and the students will be able to collect a set of subjects fortheir degree to avoid the loss of education.
Keywords: Music curriculum, Music occupation, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University, Thailand 4.0

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Introduction
From the Government policy that develop country in the direction of Thailand 4.0. It
is a meaningful as a policy vision that change old style of economic to economy thatpowered by innovative and change the process of country development by industrial
to technology and creative. For example, agricultural will change from traditional tomodern agricultural. The modern agriculture focuses on management and using thetechnology. Other than that, the modern agriculture has changing from the old service
that have a relatively low value to the service that have a relatively high value anddeveloping workers that have less skill to the worker that have knowledge and highskill. The model of Thailand 4.0 pursues Security, Prosperity and Sustainability.
Policy implementation Thailand 4.0 will impact on the education in the country.
Education in Thailand 4.0 have a guide to creating students have the knowledge,
ability and skill to application to access the technology and innovation. Improvestudent idea to high level. Improving student must improve by problem-basedlearning that is the best learning skill.
Education development under the frame of Thailand 4.0. Start by practicing thestudent to learn by themselves. The teacher changes from the teacher who focuses onteaching to be a coach who give the advice for the student when they have a problem.
The instruction of integrated, associate knowledge with imagination and create skill
that must to be, for example, working together, group working, creative thinking andgood communication. Education in Thailand 4.0, student will find the knowledge bythemselves from teaching materials in the from of media and digital. Focus on
students have skill in searching and using information technology because the current
time have many data, student must have ability to search and verify the accuracy data.
Concluded that education in Thailand 4.0 will be a learning system that teach thestudent can bring the knowledge to the creative integration to develop innovation forsupport the social needs.
Music learning in Music Department in Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University develop
from past and present. Begin ay B.E. 2516 to present. Music Department is a branchof Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
The Philosophy of Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts is Great work, Glorious Virtue
and Take the Academic.
The Vision of Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts is a center of lifelong learning in thefield of fine art and morality.
The mission of Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts have 4 missions consist of
1. Develop standards for educational management and production of art
graduates that focus on knowledge, to be of high quality and meet the needs of thecommunity and society. To live happily with just enough.
2. Research and development of knowledge in the field of fine arts, arts andlocal culture. Rattanakosin Art and Culture.

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3. Academic services in Fine Art Local Culture and Rattanakosin Culture andArts to the community and society at the highest level. By engaging with thecommunity local and social.
4. It is a learning center for conservation. Develop and disseminate local arts,
art and culture. Rattanakosin Art and Culture
The Faculty identity is an academic, expert in communication, proficient in thinking,have a great deal of public mind. The faculty uniqueness is a center for Fine Arts andApplied Arts.
Objective
1. To study music occupation for music students in Thailand 4.0
2. To study music curriculum that support music occupation for music students in
Thailand 4.0
Methodology
This research is a qualitative research by using documentary research from analyze
music curriculum, analyze the detail about Thailand 4.0 and in-depth interview 15
persons who teach music in the university, musician and expert person about Thailand
4.0
Results and Discussion
Music occupation for music student in Thailand 4.0 contains 4 careers
1. Musician knowledge about use of technology
Because of in the future when Thailand stepped into Thailand 4.0 system working or
lifestyle have technology to get involve more
2. Musician who have a good skill in music
Because of in Thailand 4.0, a high level of skill in the field of work for develop theworking that successful as the target.
3. Repair music instrument
The repair music instrument has long time but in Thailand 4.0, repair music
instrument must change from the old style of repair to the new style that have highvalue. For example, change from repair the instrument that out of order or broken tomodified the instrument that make instrument more efficiency that must use skill tomake it more that make high value of the instrument.
4. Music Teacher
Music teacher must to change from the teacher who focuses on teaching to be a coach
who give the advice for the student when they have a problem. The instruction of
integrated, associate knowledge with imagination and create skill that must to be, forexample, working together, group working, creative thinking and goodcommunication.

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Music curriculum that support music occupation contains of 3 groups
  1. The Subject about Technology
2. The Subject about Sound Engineer
3. The subject about Music Computer

From the above that talking about Thailand 4.0. Showing about the technology more
important in the future and the education curriculum must to improve the subject that
use the technology more too.
Conclusion
The   important thing that the interviewee mentions is in English.   Because of If a
student has English proficiency, it will strengthen more skills, as well as to develop
many different skills. It may sometimes be in English if a student can understand that
content can improve its skills.  As well as having the opportunity to have been chosen
to work more than those with less language capabilities.

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References
TQF:HEd B.E. (2009). Office of the Higher Education Commission. Thai
Qualifications Framework for Higher.Education; Source:http://mua.go.th/users/tqfhed/.
Kajohn, T.(2017). Classical Guitar: Important Basic Lesson for Guitar Students.
Bangkok Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Phensit, T. (2017). Teaching and Learning Euphonium Activities in Rajabhat
Universities in Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Phensit, T. (2017). Teaching and Learning Trombone Activities in Rajabhat
Universities. Bangkok, Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Phensit, T. (2016). The Effected of Learning Outcome in Term of Thai Qualifications
Framework for Higher Education to Music Teacher in Rajabhat Universities in
Bangkok. Bangkok, Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University.
Sirima, P. (2017). Piano: Important Instrument in Teaching and Learning in Rajabhat
Universities in Bangkok. Bangkok Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University
Yatakongs, S. (2017). Teaching and Learning Violin in Rajabhat University: Bangkok
Thailand: SuanSunandha Rajabhat University
BansomdejchaoprayaRajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok,
Thailand: Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University.
Chankasem Rajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok, Thailand:
Chankasem Rajabhat University.
PhranakhonRajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok, Thailand:
Phranakhon Rajabhat University.
SuansunandhaRajabhat University. (2011). Music Curriculum. Bangkok, Thailand:
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.

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The Role of Technology in Improving the Teaching and Learning Process at
Tadulako University, Indonesia
Aminah Suriaman, Tadulako University, Central Sulawesi Indonesia
Sriati Usman, Tadulako University, Central Sulawesi Indonesia
Anjar Kusuma Dewi, Tadulako University, Central Sulawesi Indonesia
Saidna Zulfiqar Bin-Tahir, University of Iqra Buru, Maluku Indonesia
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Abstract
The use of technology in language teaching is rapidly growing. Therefore, this study
attempted to explore an in‐ depth analysis of the integration of technology in theclassroom and its impact on student achievement. It applied the mixed-method which
employed questionnaire for both teachers and students, and the interview. The
questionnaire of teachers intended to find out their perception on technology
involvement in the process of teaching and learning while questionnaire for students
intended to analyze their opinion regarding the integration of technology in theclassroom and the its impact on their learning achievement. Besides, this research
employed semi-structured interview to confirm data on the questionnaire. The data
have been analyzed descriptively. The results found that the effect of innovation
demonstrates most intense when concentrated on particular, quantifiable instructive
destinations, for example, enhanced literacy. In addition, understudies exhibit larger
amounts of inspiration and commitment when utilizing innovation, which too adds toenhanced achievement. Trends in the classroom have gone from overhead projectors
to creative projects, for example, PowerPoint and whiteboards. Those findings willcontribute much information and references to the teachers, practitioners, andresearchers themselves in involving technology in their classroom.
Keywords: Educational Technology, technology integration, ICT

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Introduction
In the era of globalized technological advances that have affected all aspects ofhuman life, such in the fields of economics, politics, culture, art and even in the fieldof education, so that aspects of education must carry out positive innovations for theadvancement of education at the university and school level, not only the innovationin the field of curriculum, infrastructure and facilities, but also comprehensive
innovation by using information technology in teaching and learning activities(Suriaman, 2015)
The use of technology in education can change conventional learning to become
unconventional. In the framework of Innovative University, universities must respondto the development of an increasingly sophisticated world of technology that provides
a myriad of new and old knowledge. Learning at the university needs to use a seriesof electronic equipment that is able to work more effectively and efficiently. Even so,
the role of the lecturer is still needed in the classroom; he is a designer, motivator,
mentor, who of course as an individual must be respected (Salikin & Bin-Tahir,2017).
Information and communication technology (ICT) is a necessity towards "Innovative
University" because using ICT is expected to improve the quality of teaching andlearning, increase productivity, efficiency and access, increase positive learning
attitudes, professional development, and increase profile. These five things are both
expectations and needs that form the basis of the need for the application of ICT at the
University. Thus, it is expected that the university will experience changes that are inline with global demands but remain in line with its vision and mission which arecorrelated with the needs of the community and graduates.
Some of the previous studies recommended the use of technology in the language
teaching and learning. Ranti (2013) ICT-based learning can enhance the students’learning achievement. It is in line with the Andikaningrum et al., (2014) statementthat multimedia of e-book based learning can motivate the students’ activity andachievement in learning. Besides, Tahir (2015) suggested the use of social media thatis Yahoo Messenger as a media of teaching and Tahir & Aminah (2014) argued that
Facebook is effective to increase the students’ activeness in joining the teaching andlearning process and also improve the students’ learning achievement.
Based on the background, the researchers conducted a research concerning how to
explore the appropriate of the ICT to be used in English learning. This study
hopefully contribute to the recent use of ICT in learning as the information andreference for the lecturers, further researchers, and the researchers themselves toimplement the media in teaching
Review of Literature
Many experts defined the technology in education. According to Simon (1983),
technology is a rational discipline designed to ensure mastery and scientificapplication. According to Paul Saetiles in Andri,( 2017), technology in addition toleading to machinery, technology includes processes, systems, management andmechanisms for human and non-human control. Understanding Educational

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Technology Twentieth century includes the first projector's slide lantern, then theradio and then the live image. Whereas the 19th century down to fifteen shows that
more technologies interpreted as whiteboards and books.
According to Davies (1978) in Hartley (2016) there are three kinds of educational
technology, namely:a.   Educational technology one refers to hardware such as projectors,
laboratories, computers (CD ROM, LCD, TV, video and other electronic
devices). This mechanical technology can automate the teaching andlearning process with tools that transmit, amplify sound, distribute, recordand reproduce material stimuli that reach a large number oflisteners/students. So this one technology is effective and efficient.
b.   Educational technology two refers to "software" which emphasizes theimportance of assistance to teaching. Especially in the curriculum, in
instructional development, teaching methodology, and evaluation. So
technology two provides the need to design a new or update the present,
useful in learning experience Machines and mechanisms are seen as
presentation or transmission instruments.
c.   Educational technology three, namely a combination of two technology
approaches, namely "hardware and software". Technology education three,its main orientation is towards the system approach, and as a tool toincrease the benefits of what is around. Educational technology three canbe said to be a problem-solving approach, the emphasis is on an attractive
diagnostic orientation. Of the three types of technology above, it can besaid that educational technology in the real context is not only referring tohardware as it is commonly used as a true perception, but also includes
software and a combination of both hardware and software.
Educational Technology as a tool to support the construction of knowledge: a) torepresent students 'ideas of understanding and trust, b) To organize production, multimedia as the basis of students' knowledge. Educational technology as a means of
information to investigate knowledge that supports students: a) To access theinformation needed. b) For a comparison of perspectives, beliefs and world views.
Educational technology is social media to support learning by speaking. a) To
collaborate with others. b) To discuss, argue and build consensus between social
members. Educational technology is an intellectual partner to support students. To
help students articulate and present what they know. Educational technology can
improve the quality of education. Educational technology can improve theeffectiveness and efficiency of the teaching and learning process. Educational
technology can facilitate achieving educational goals.
While the drawbacks of technology in education are; Teachers who cannot
operate/control electronics will be left behind by students. Educational technology
requires quality human resources to accelerate school innovation, while reality islacking. Educational technology, both hardware and software requires expensive
costs. Limitations of school infrastructure facilities will hamper educationalinnovation. The use of educational technology in the form of Hardware requires highcontrol from teachers or parents, especially the internet and software. Students who
do not have high motivation tend to fail.

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MethodThis study applied the mixed-method design that is combined both the quantitativeand qualitative data. Mixed-method is an approach that combines or associates
quantitative forms and qualitative forms. Mixed methods research is a researchmethod that involves the use of two methods, namely quantitative research methods
and qualitative methods in a single study or one study. This type of research is more
complex when compared to other studies, not just collecting and analyzing two typesof data, but also involves the functions of quantitative research and qualitative
research so that overall is greater than the two studies. The use of these two researchmethods is considered to be more able to provide a more complete understanding ofresearch issues or problems than the use of one of the research methods in between(Creswell, 2010).
The subjects of the study were ten lecturers and 159 students of Tadulako University,
Indonesia which been selected randomly. The questionnaire used to collect thequantitative data while the interview employed to gain the qualitative data. The
quantitative data have been analyzed using SPSS program and the qualitative data
have been analyzed descriptively.
Results and Discussion
Data from the questionnaire of the lecturers’ perception toward the use of technology
in learning were then presented in a percentage. The percentage of the lecturers’
perception scores can be seen in table 1 below.
Table 1 The Perceptions of Lecturer on the Importance of the ICT in teaching andlearning
The Percentage ofClassification
Teaching
ICTInternet
BlendedMedia
Learning
12
3
45
Unimportant00
00
Less Important0000Important
3.7
31.4
37.1
2.5
Very Important
96.3
68.6
62.9
97.5
Total
100
100
100
100
Column 2 of the table 1 indicates that the lecturers in Tadulako University perceived
that the teaching media is very important. The column 2 of the table clearly showsthat more than 95% of the respondents stated that teaching media was very important.
While there were only 3.7% of the respondent stated that the teaching media wasimportant. There were none of the respondent either stated the unimportant or the lessimportant of this dimension.
Column 3 of table 1 above shows the perception of lecturers towards the important of
the ICT in teaching. Based on this column, it can be seen that the use of the ICT was
also perceived as being very essential. Even though the percentage the respondents
who stated that the ICT was very important was not as many as in teaching media, but
still 68.6% of respondents who stated was the majority (more than two-third) of the

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respondents. There were31.4% of respondents who stated that the ICT was importantand no respondents stated that this technology was neither unimportant nor lessimportant.
Column 4 of table 1 shows the perception of lecturers toward the importance of theinternet in teaching. Based on the column 4, it can be said that the internet wasperceived as being very decisive. As there were 62.9% of the respondents affirmedthat the use of internet in teaching was very important, while 37.1% of the
respondents affirmed that the dimension of internet was important, and neither of the
respondent affirmed that this dimension was unimportant nor less important.
Column 5 of table 1 indicates the perception of lecturers toward the importance of theBlended learning in teaching. Based on this column, it can be stated that the blended
learning was perceived as being very vital. It was almost the entire respondents(97.5%) perceived that the dimension of the blended learning was very important andthere were only a few (2.5%) of respondents perceived that the blended learning wasimportant. None of the respondent either stated that the dimension was unimportant orless important.
Data from the questionnaire were then presented in percentage. The percentage scoreof the students’ perception towards the use of ICT in teaching and learning can beseen in table 2 bellow.
Table 2 The Percentage of the Students’ Perception towards the use of Technology
teaching and learning
The Percentage ofClassification
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
12345Teaching media
0
43.51
56.49
0
ICT
0.43
51.73
47.84
0
Internet
0.3
66.9
32.8
0
Blended Learning
0
87.42
12.58
0
Total
0.73
249.56 149.71
0Divided by
Timed by
The Percentage of the
respondents

400
100
0.19

400
100
62.39

400
100
37.42

0
0
0

Table 2 indicates the percentage of the students’ perception towards the use oftechnology in teaching. From the table, it can be seen that the use of technology inteaching in Tadulako University was fair. There were no respondent perceived thatthe use of technology was Excellent. The majority of the respondents (62.39%)
claimed that the technology was fair, while 37.42% of the respondents claimed thatthe use of technology was good and only 0.19% of the respondents perceived that theuse of technology were poor. It indicates that the use of technology such the teaching
media, ICT, internet, and blended learning were important to use in teaching andlearning. It is suggested by the interview to both lecturers and students who confirmedthat the use of technology is urgent to apply in teaching and learning.

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The results show that the use of technology in education can change conventional
learning to become unconventional. In the framework of Innovative University,
universities must respond to the development of an increasingly sophisticated worldof technology that provides a myriad of new and old knowledge. Learning at theuniversity needs to use a series of electronic equipment that is able to work more
effectively and efficiently. Even so, the role of the lecturer is still needed in theclassroom; he or she is a designer, motivator, mentor, who of course as an individual
must be respected (Salikin & Bin-Tahir, 2017).
Conclusion
The lecturers and students of Tadulako University have positive perception towards
the important of the technology such as teaching media, ICT, internet and blended
learning in teaching and learning. Thus, the role of the lecturer is still needed in theclassroom; he is a designer, motivator, and mentor which can improve the teaching
and learning process with positive and high perception.
The results also found that the effect of innovation demonstrates most intense whenconcentrated on particular, quantifiable instructive destinations. In addition,
understudies exhibit larger amounts of inspiration and commitment when utilizing
innovation, which too adds to enhanced achievement. Trends in the classroom havegone from overhead projectors to creative projects, for example, Power Point, video,internet, and blended learning. Those findings will contribute much information andreferences to the teachers, practitioners, and researchers themselves in involving
technology in their classroom.

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References
Andikaningrum, L., Damayanti, W., & Dewi, C. (2014). Efektivitas E-Book Berbasis
Multimedia Menggunakan Flip Book Maker sebagai Media Pembelajaran dalamMeningkatkan Keaktifan Belajar Siswa (Studi Kasus pada Mata Pelajaran TIK Kelas
XI SMA Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga) (Doctoral dissertation, Program Studi
Pendidikan Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi FTI-UKSW).
Andri, R. M. (2017). Peran Dan Fungsi Teknologi Dalam Peningkatan Kualitas
Pembelajaran. Jurnal Ilmiah Research Sains VOL, 3(1), 23-44.
Barnhart, S. W. (1988). Commodity futures prices and economic news: An
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Mixed. Yogyakarya: Pustaka Pelajar.
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J.H. Hartley & I.K. Davies (Eds.). Contributions to an Educational Technology.
Volume 2 (pp.9-24). New York: Kogan Page.
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Pembelajaran TIK untuk Siswa Kelas 3 SD Negeri Pujokusuman 2 Yogyakarta(Doctoral dissertation, UNY).
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Contact email: amisuriaman@gmail.com

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Official Conference Proceedings'I am a Mercenary Now' International Teachers as a Global Educational
Precariat?
Adam Poole, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
International teachers still remain an under-researched group in the field ofinternational education (Bailey, 2015; Bunnell, 2016). However, recent studies (Baily,
2015; Burke, 2015; Cavendish, 2011; Poole, 2017, 2018; Savva, 2015, 2017) havestarted to focus on international teachers’ cross-cultural teaching experiences. Rather
than focusing on seemingly fixed characteristics, these studies show how teachers’
experiences play a significant role in the construction of their professional identitiesin cross-cultural contexts. As part of this turn to the international teacher, Bunnell(2016) has proposed that international teachers should be understood as part of aninternational educational precariat, a term initially proposed by Guy Standing (2011).
The purpose of this study is to substantiate Bunnell’s thesis that international teachers
are emerging as an educational precariat. It draws upon interview data from a larger
study which explored the construction of international teacher identity in a Chinesebilingual school in Shanghai. In so doing, I build on Bunnell’s work by offering
empirical data to substantiate his claim, but also extend it by questioning the extent towhich all international teachers can be said to be a part of a global educational
precariat.
Keywords: International teachers; international education precariat; the precariat;
China

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Introduction
International teachers still remain an under-researched group in the field ofinternational education (Bailey, 2015; Bunnell, 2016). They have typically been
defined from a personal perspective (Garton, 2000) or in terms of fixed character
traits (Hardman, 2001). However, recent studies (Baily, 2015; Blyth, 2017; Burke,
2015; Cavendish, 2011; Poole, 2017, 2018; Savva, 2015, 2017) have highlighted thecomplexity of international teachers’ lives. Rather than focusing on seemingly fixedcharacteristics, these studies show how teachers’ experiences play a significant role inthe construction of their professional identities in cross-cultural contexts. As part ofthis turn to the international teacher, Bunnell (2016, 2017) has proposed thatinternational teachers should be understood as part of an international educational
precariat, a term initially proposed by Guy Standing (2011).
This paper builds on Bunnell’s international education precariat thesis (Bunnell,2016) by utilising interview data from my doctoral research into international
teachers’ experiences in China. This paper also extends Bunnell’s thesis by showingthat international teachers do not necessarily form a class in and of themselves, butrather can be said to be in a state of precarity. In so doing, this paper addresses thepaucity of studies on international teachers by offering an insight into three teachers’
lives and their reasons for becoming international teachers and their experiences ofworking in international schools.
Literature review
The international education sector has seen a shift from an interpretation ofinternational education as idealistic in nature to a post-idealistic phase, in whichinternational education is understood as an industry, with stakeholders participating in
it for pragmatic reasons (Brummitt and Keeling, 2013; Bunnell, 2014). As part of thisturn, Bunnell (2016) has argued that international teachers should be seen as part ofan emerging global class – an international teacher education precariat.
The precariat has been defined as class of individuals who find themselves without an‘anchor of stability’ (Standing, 2011). This stability is said to be met in seven formsof labour related security, which include: labour market security, employment
security, job security, work security, skill reproduction security, income security, andrepresentation security. Members of the precariat occupy the margins of citizenship as‘urban nomads’ or ‘denizens’ (Bunnell, 2016; Standing, 2011). Whilst full citizens
have access to civil (equality before the law), cultural (entitlement in participate in thecultural life of the community), social (access to pension and health care), economic(equal entitlement to undertake income-earning activity) and political (equal right tovote) rights, the denizen is someone who has a more limited range of rights thancitizens. Although anyone could potentially ‘fall’ into the precariat due to unforeseen
economic reasons or even through choice, certain groups are more susceptible toprecarity than others due to their marginal status. These groups include refugee andasylum seekers, illegal migrants, temporary and seasonal migrants, and long-term
migrants (Standing, 2011). Based on the findings of this paper, international teachers
can be said to belong to the latter group, long-term migrants.

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Bunnell (2016) has extended Standing’s thesis beyond the temporary or seasonal
worker who typically characterise the precariat, by proposing that the growing
numbers of teachers who choose to teach internationally are increasingly forming a
sub-grouping of the precariat. Whilst international teaching does have its positiveside, it is also characterised by a darker, more precarious reality (Halicioglu, 2015). In
order to illustrate this thesis, Bunnell offers anecdotal evidence from analysis ofanonymous postings on message boards, such as internationalschoolsreview.com(ISR.com), that highlights destructive leadership, nepotism and passport retention as
recent evidence of an increasingly precarious international school workplace. He also
draws upon real-life incidents, such as a Tibetan-Buddhist Chemistry teacher who
was dismissed from his job for purportedly insulting Islam, in order to substantiate histhesis that international teachers are a sub-group of the precariat due to ‘employment
instability.’ Recent practitioner-focused works (Blyth, 2017; Savva, 2015) also
provide evidence to strengthen Bunnell’s thesis. Blyth’s autoethnography, forexample, explores ‘the teacher’s position in an international school as subordinate andhow [the teacher] is wronged on three counts; epistemically for being wrongfully
mistrusted, ethically for being wrongfully excluded and ontologically for being
wrongfully positioned as a lesser human being’ (p.xv). My own doctoral research has
also highlighted the ‘darker’ side of international education, such as themarginalisation of international teachers’ identities, unfair dismissal, and a paucity ofprofessional development and orientation for teaching internationally, all of which
impact negatively on teachers’ well-being and sense of self as a professional educator.
The increasing presence of precarity in the international education sector can be
attributed to the transitory and transnational nature of international schools (Hayden,2011). To quote Bunnell (2016), the notion of a transnational space ‘implies that suchinstitutions are often outside the national system yet at the same time nor do they
operate within any discernible or organised international system’ (p. 544). One
colleague once summarised this situation more laconically as ‘the wild west ofinternational education’. Whilst the anecdotal and real-life evidence that forms part of
Bunnell’s argument does not prove conclusively that international teachers are part ofan educational precariat, it certainly indicates that the subject warrants further
investigation. Hence the point of this paper – to give credence to Bunnell’s argument.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were selected as the most appropriate method for eliciting
data about how the participants articulated their experiences as international teachers.
In contrast to quantitative forms of data collection, such as questionnaires,
experiments, and surveys, interviews provide a level of depth and complexity that canallow researchers to gain access to respondents’ inner worlds so they can experience
the world as they do (Silverman, 2017). Interviews can also generate ‘thickdescription’ (Geertz, 1973) which can make participants’ inner worlds more vivid forthe researcher.
The participants were interviewed separately on two occasions, with interviews
lasting between sixty to ninety minutes. All interviews were recorded on Garage
Band (recording software) and later transcribed incorporating aspects of
conversational analysis, such as paralinguistic features. Interview questions did not
directly use the terms ‘precariat’ or ‘precarity’ but focused instead on eliciting rich

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data about the participants’ experiences of being international teachers in China.
Interview data were analysed using a framework that synthesised Standing’s (2011)
and Bunnell’s (2016) definitions of the precariat. Based on the literature review
above, being a part of an international teacher education precariat creates:•

Uncertainty which can lead to a decline in psychological well-being;•

Limited or no representation in labour disputes;•

Limited opportunities to find employment in passport country which leads toteachers becoming global exiles;•

Liminal citizenry in the form of the denizen.

The framework was employed in order to initially identify narrative chunks that
contained experiences of precarity. Once identified, the narratives were analysedusing discourse analysis in order to bring into focus how the participants constructed
their experiences of precarity.
Research context and participantsParticipants were selected from two Type C non-traditional international schools in
Shanghai China, with whom the author was affiliated. In the Chinese context, thesetypes of schools, which are also referred to as ‘internationalised schools’ or ‘bilingual
schools’ are often predominantly national, in that most of the curriculum is focusedon delivering the National Curriculum with an international curriculum reserved forthe final 3-4 years of high school (Poole, 2018). The first, WEST, was a recently
opened for-profit bilingual school that claimed to offer an ‘internationalised’
curriculum that combined aspects of ‘Chinese’ and ‘Western’ approaches to learning.
However, in practice the curriculum was blocked-out rather than integrated. For
example, students, who were primarily host country nationals, followed the Chinesecompulsory national curriculum during middle school and then transitioned to aninternational curriculum in the form of the IGCSE (International General Certificate
of Secondary Education) and IBDP (International Baccalaureate Diploma
Programme). Although the school had only been in operation for three years at thetime of this study, it had expanded to include a second campus, and appeared to be
increasing in prestige. However, the interview data indicated that the school had
trouble in retaining expatriate teaching staff, due to a lack of transparency and aperceived inequality in hiring and remuneration procedures.
The second school, SOUTH, was a non-profit school that also catered primarily tohost country nationals, although at the time of this study the school was pushing torecruit more ‘international’ students. The school was well-funded and resourced, andrecently expanded to include a third campus. SOUTH adopted a more integrative
approach to combining Chinese and Western education by offering the IGCSE andthe IBDP alongside aspects of the Chinese national curriculum. Staff turnover was
relatively low compared to WEST, with the interview data clearly indicating thatteachers were generally content with their contracts and work-loads.

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Findings
Tyron: ‘I am a mercenary now’
Before becoming an international teacher, Tyron worked in the military police inSouth Africa as a physical therapist. It was during this time that he completed a
Masters degree and a PhD in sport’s science. After retiring from the police, hebecame a part-time teacher, and later pursued a post-doctorate position in Canada.
Unable to find employment in his home country due to the complex sociopoliticalconsequences of Apartheid, such as labour laws like Affirmative Action, Tyron
became ‘unemployable in my own country’ which forced him into the global precariat– that is, into a state of permanent exile and uncertainty as an economic global
migrant. In Tyron’s own words:
I was actually immigrating to Canada, but that did not work out. I
came to China because of practical reasons. I came because I had nowork. And now I’ve been doing this for the last three years. And
somebody would tell me ‘it’s kind of funny Tyron that you would
go almost around the world to go to find a job’ because I went to
Canada from South Africa and then Canada to China.
Tyron laconically and prosaically states that ‘I had no work’ whilst ‘I had to do it’
conveys a sense of disempowerment and helplessness. The more utopian dream of
becoming an academic and making a better life for himself and his family in Canada
are replaced with a grittier and more pragmatic reality of having to find a job andcontinue making money in order to support his wife and three sons in South Africa.
After working in Tianjin for a year, Tyron moved to WEST, initially attracted by theprospect of helping to ‘start this school from scratch’:
I wasn’t very happy with Tianjin. And then I got this phone callfrom the WEST people telling me that they need a PE teacher andwould I be interested in coming for an interview. It just sounded
like Shanghai was going to be a lot more fun and a lot more modern
so that’s when I did the interview and they told me a week later that
I got the job. I was pretty chuffed about it.
However, Tyron’s initial enthusiasm soon turned to frustration. For example, hestruggled to reconcile his beliefs about international education (as embodied in theattributes of the learner profile), with the demands of WEST’s principal to construct a
Chinese curriculum ‘with a touch of international in it’. This was partly due to thehierarchical structure of WEST, where instructions were issued like communiqueswith little or no explanation or justification – as Robert explained, ‘there was this very
strict pecking order’. However, another issue was the fact that Tyron and Robert wereprecluded from understanding the organisational culture of WEST as a Chinese TypeC non-traditional international school due to an unwillingness or unfamiliarity with
Chinese culture and language. Data from a larger study found that another expatriate
teacher, Sophie, had a more positive experience of working at WEST due to her
ability, and willingness, to learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture. Thissuggests that cultural dissonance can lead to a loss of psychological well-being,
thereby leading to a state of emotional precarity.

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Tyron’s narrative also highlights how being a global exile profoundly changed histeacher identity:
I sometimes feel like I’m a mercenary now, like a mercenary
soldier. Whoever pays me well, I will go there. It doesn’t matter
where. I mean, I will go to Katmandu and Tibet or wherever. If they
pay well, I will go there. I will go to Antarctica! That’s how I see
myself now.
The word ‘now’ functions as an adverb of time underscoring the extent to which
Tyron’s identity has changed in just over a year. In contrast to the more positive toneof the interview data collected at the beginning of his time at WEST, Tyron now
presents himself as a ‘mercenary’ as a way to underscore the lengths to which he will
go in order to survive and provide for his family. The image of the globe-trottinginternational teacher is thrown into stark relief; while teaching overseas can be
exciting for some, for others it can also be precarious and uncertain in nature.
Recalling Standing’s (2011) notion of the precariat, Tyron’s existence as aninternational teacher is imposed rather than chosen, thereby leading to a loss of selfefficacy and agency.
Nora: ‘You are just a visitor when you come home’
In contrast to Tyron, who became international teachers out of economic necessity,
Nora chose to become an international teacher, having spent the best part of her
teaching career in international schools outside of her passport country, the USA.
Nora’s narrative repeatedly focuses on the ambivalent nature of international
teaching, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of an extended sojournabroad, which runs like a leit mofit through her narrative. Echoing Tyron and Robert’s
narratives, Nora initially felt excited to work at SOUTH, which she considered to be a
relatively ‘good’ school due to its CIS accreditation. However, her initial enthusiasm
had started to sour a year into her two-year contract:
You know, when I first came here, they sold me on it was new. Thatcan be exciting too. But it didn't really feel like that when I actually
got here. It didn't feel like I was involved or asked to contribute myexperience from my last school. So it's just kind of a disconnect
between what they sometimes say but what actually happens.
The verb ‘sold’ implies that Nora feels duped by the school, echoing Robert’s
narrative. Meanwhile, ‘disconnect’ accentuates the gap between what Nora expected
SOUTH to be like and the reality she found. Her extensive international teachingexperience and perception of the school as CIS accredited engendered certain
expectations that resonated with her identity as an experienced teacher, but the school
failed to live up to her expectations as it did not harness or valorise her experiences,
thereby leading to the negation of her professional identity as an educator. The
tension between idealism and reality also mirrors the changing nature of theinternational education landscape, which has rapidly changed from an idealistic topost-idealistic, where education as a passport to a top university is increasingly of
more significance than making the world ‘a better place’ by promoting greater
tolerance through intercultural understanding. Nora continued by explaining that:

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As an international school teacher, you want to feel invested inwhere you are working. And you feel that if you have something tocontribute and you’re not given an opportunity to do that you want
to start thinking about moving on.
Nora refers to herself as an ‘international school teacher’, signaling that the‘international’ aspect of being a teacher is a fundamental part of her identity as an
educator. The school’s decision not to draw upon Nora’s experiences results in her
contemplating breaking her contract, perhaps in order to find a school that valorises
her identity as an experienced international educator. However, the prospect ofmoving on to a new school and the security of being able to do that is also
empowering:
But there is that certainty of ‘I know I can find a job – I haveenough qualifications and if I wait long enough I’ll probably find apretty good job. But you can’t, you know, go playing games oflooking for a job. At some point, you just need to decide I’m goingto take a job. Here’s the date: whatever month and whatever and I
just need to have a decision made because there is all that
paperwork and everything that goes into moving.
While high mobility is empowering, it is also precarious in nature. Nora also touches
upon how being an international teacher ‘on the circuit’ has affected her sense ofidentity:
You still have your original citizenship, but you become further andfurther from that where you are just a visitor when you come home.
And you can't fully adapt to another culture unless you just stayed
there and learned everything about it and maybe married andentered into the society. But you are always going to be someone on
the outskirts of what's going on.
The narrative chunk conveys a strong sense of liminality or permanent in-betweeness:
Nora has yet to adapt to the local culture, but at the same time she also feels
increasingly alienated from her passport country. The phrase ‘you become further andfurther’ suggests that this distancing is only likely to increase the more time a teacher
spends outside of their passport country. The metaphors ‘entered’ and ‘outskirts’
vividly convey cultural space in terms of geographical space, with Nora adopting thesecond person ‘you’ in order to imply that she considers herself to still be a cultural
outsider in China (she mentioned that she felt more at home in her previous school inEurope). The term ‘citizenship’ also brings to mind Standing’s notion of the denizen.
According to Nora, this permanent in-between lead to ‘a little bit of stress’ as ‘you
don't have a base to depend on; you've got yourself.’
Alice: ‘For me, it’s more of an adventure’
Whereas the previous narratives highlight the precarious or ambivalent nature ofinternational teaching, Alice’s narrative focuses on the positive aspects of being aninternational teacher. Alice was relatively new to the international teaching scene,having given up ‘a full-time permanent long-standing position in a very prestigious
school [in Australia] where I’d been for twenty-one years’ of her own volition inorder to teach in China:

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It was most definitely a choice. And I guess too I have security
behind me in terms of experience, qualifications, finance. Like I’m
not a new teacher who is trying to save for their wedding or save for
their first home. So for me, it’s more of an adventure.
Words like ‘definitely’ and ‘choice’ convey a clear sense of agency, with Alicepresenting herself as being in control of her destiny. She is empowered due to her
experiences, qualifications, and financial security, all of which explain why her
narrative focuses on the more positive side of international teaching. The removal of
financial considerations means that she is able to appreciate her international sojournas more of an ‘adventure’ rather than an ‘exile’. She draws upon the discourse of the
globe-trotting international teacher in order to differentiate herself from the majority
of international teachers, who find themselves teaching internationally due to forces
beyond their control. Alice also offers an alternative perspective on age and precarity.
Whereas Robert equated being older with more pragmatic, economic concerns andbeing younger with wanting to have an ‘adventure’, Alice inverts this distinction bypresenting younger teachers as motivated by the need to save.
Alice also goes on to cite self-efficacy as another factor that leads to a feeling of
security:
One of things that gives me comfort is that prior to this position
maybe I was offered three other positions over the course of six
months. So, that is security. But I guess I feel like I’m confident in
my abilities.
The ability to choose from a number of jobs empowers Alice. The word ‘comfort’
resonates with other words like ‘security’ and ‘confident’ thereby creating what I term
discursive consonance. However, the word ‘comfort’ implies that her current situationis perhaps not quite as she expected it to be. Alice would subsequently go on to leave
SOUTH and China, moving to teach in another international school in South-east
Asia. Interestingly, Alice’s identity as a teacher is not connected to her cross-culturalexperiences, as was the case with Nora, but rather with her perceived pedagogicalabilities. When asked if she considered herself to be an international teacher, Alicewas adamant that she was ‘a teacher that happens to be working in China.’ She went
on to explain that:
There’s kind of a prestige, perhaps, amongst teachers that teachoutside of their home country. When they talk about the schools thatthey’ve been in. So ‘this is only your first international school?
(whispers) Ah, okay, yeah.’ And that seems to be a fairly defining
descriptor of whether you are an international teacher or not.
Once again, Alice distances herself from being an international teacher by referring tothis group using the collective ‘they’. Rather, she presents herself a teacher whoteaches internationally. From her perspective as a ‘national’ teacher who teaches in an‘international’ school, there is a kind of snobbery (prestige) that goes with being anexperienced international teacher, as revealed by the use of dialogue in which Alice’s
inexperience is met with surprise (use of the interrogative form) and disapproval (theanti-intensifier ‘only’ and the lowering of the voice into a whisper). For Alice, theinternational teaching experience may bring a certain amount of cultural or social
capital (prestige), but it is economic capital and teaching experience that brings true

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security. Overall, Alice’s narrative is striking in its absence of precarity, suggestingthat financial security and the ability to freely choose where a teacher works are
significant factors in whether or not a teacher perceives their international teachingcareer as secure or precarious.
Conclusion
The findings add to the growing literature on international teachers and international
teachers as an educational precariat by showing that precarity is a complex
phenomenon. Its exploration in educational research involves antithetical ontologicalperspectives: on the one hand, the situation of precarity can be said to exist 'out there'
in the world as structure, and therefore has empirical warrant. On the other hand,precarity is also a construction – it is constituted by an individual's experiences andthe meanings they impose on those experiences. Standing (2011) and Bunnell (2016)
have approached the topic of the precariat from a more positivist stance. However, thefindings of this paper reveal that teachers tended to narrate the ‘darker’ side ofinternational education in terms of a situation or condition of precarity. Therefore, thispaper adds to the literature by making a distinction between the precariat as a classand precarity as a situation or condition, primarily focusing on the latter and showingthat teachers’ understanding of precarity is connected to their experiences andperception of financial security.

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References
Bailey L (2015) Reskilled and ‘Running Ahead’: Teachers in an international school
talk about their work. Journal of Research in International Education, 14(1), 3-15.
Blyth C (2017) International schools, teaching and governance: an autoethnographyof a teacher in conflict. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Brummitt N and A Keeling (2013) Charting the growth of international schools. In R.
Pearce (ed.), International education and schools: Moving beyond the first 40 years.
London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Bunnell T (2014) The changing landscape of international schooling: Implications
for theory and practice. London: Routledge.
Bunnell T (2016) Teachers in international schools: a global educational ‘precariat’?
Globalisation, Societies and Education, 14(4), 543-559.
Bunnell T (2017) Teachers in international schools: a neglected ‘middling actor’ in
expatriation. Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management
Research, 5(2), 194-202.
Burke L (2017) Casting a critical eye on the positioning of the Western expatriate
teacher. Journal of Research in International Education, 16(3), 213-224.
Cavendish LM (2011) Stories of international teachers: A narrative inquiry about
culturally responsive teaching. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Iowa.
Frase P (2013) The precariat: A class or a condition? New Labour Forum, 22(2), 1114.
Garton B (2000) Recruitment of teachers for international education, in M.C. Hayden
and J.J. Thompson (eds), International Schools and international education:
Improving teaching, management and quality pp. 145-157). London: Kogan.
Geertz C (1973) The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York: Basic
Books.
Halicioglu ML (2015) Challenges facing teachers new to working in schools
overseas. Journal of Research in International Education, 14(3), 242-257.
Hardman J (2001) Improving recruitment and retention of quality overseas teacher. In
S. Blandford and M. Shaw (eds.), Managing international schools (pp. 123-135).
London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Hayden M (2011) Transnational spaces of education: The growth of the international
school sector. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 9(2), 211–224.
Minor M and Duncan KA (2017) The new normal: Tales from international teachers.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

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Poole A (2017) Interpreting and implementing the IB Learner Profile in aninternationalised school in China: a shift of focus from the ‘Profile as text’ to the‘lived Profile.’ Journal of Research in International Education, 16(3), 248–264.
Poole A (2018) ‘We are a Chinese school’: Constructing school identity from the
lived experiences of expatriate and Chinese teaching faculty in a Type C international
school in Shanghai, China. International Journal of Progressive Education, 14(1),105-121.
Savva M (2015) Characteristics of the international educator and the strategic role ofcritical incidents. Journal of Research in International Education, 14(1), 16-28.
Savva M (2017) The personal struggles of ‘national’ educators working in‘international’ schools: an intercultural perspective. Globalisation, Societies andEducation, 15(5), 576-589.
Silverman D (2017) How was it for you? The Interview Society and the irresistible
rise of the (poorly analyzed) interview. Qualitative Research, 17(2), 144-158.
Standing G (2011) The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. London: Bloomsbury
Academic.
Contact email: tyger106@hotmail.com

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The Influence of Teacher’s Role, Autonomous Learning Method and Student’s
Engagement on Student’s Learning Outcomes in Vocational High School in
Jakarta, Indonesia
Setyani Dwi Lestari, Budi Luhur University, Indonesia
Rida Pratamawati, Budi Luhur University, Indonesia
Nora Andira Brabo, Budi Luhur University, Indonesia
Bambang Agus Prasetyanto, Budi Luhur University, Indonesia
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Abstract
To create the quality of human resources and achievers, the learner is required tohave a good learning outcome. Learning outcome is the highest benchmark that
person achieves after a learning activity during a given time. Learning outcome is not
only determined by one’s intellegence capabilities but also by the other factors.
Sometimes, the learning process cannot achieve a maximum result because of theabsence of appropriate teacher’s role. This study aims at investigating (1) the
influence of Teacher’s role on English students’ learning outcome (2) the influence ofAutonomous Learning Method on English students’ learning outcome (3) the
influence of Student’s engagement on the students’ learning outcome? (4)simultaneously effect between Teacher’s role, Autonomous Learning Method andStudent’s engagement on English students' learning outcome students of class? To
answer the formulation of the problems above, this study was conducted withquantitative. A descriptive research design was conducted with population of 120
people and sample of 92 people. Sample were randomly selected proportional byapplying formula of Slovin. Collecting data in this research used a questionnaire as
the instrument. The result of descriptive analysis shows that the teacher’s role has asignificant impact on students’ learning outcome of 70 % , while the Autonomous
Learning Method had an influence of 71 % , whereas the students’ engagement
provided 71 %. The overall findings refers that those three three independent
variables, namely teacher’s role, autonomous learning method and student’s
engagement contributed an impact on students’ learning outcome of 79,90 % . while,
the remaining 20,1 % was caused by external variables.
Keywords: students’ learning outcome, influence, autonomous learning, students’
engagement, learning method

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Introduction
Improving the quality of national education is a necessity to align Indonesia withother countries. These needs will be met if the education process is able to produce
reliable human resources. The phenomenon is certainly a responsibility of many
parties, especially teacher in the world of education. The teacher is an intellectual
profession that demands comprehensive competencies, competencies and abilities.
Current conditions have not shown the maximum expectation so it is still needed avariety of efforts and appropriate strategies to improve children's learning outcomes.
There are so many factors that can affect the achievement of children in school, one ofwhich is the factor of self-learning methods that are increasingly developed, where themethod of learning is centered on the students. In addition, the activeness of students
which is very necessary in the learning process takes place to improve the creativity
and independence of students while learning in the classroom.
Education is one of the efforts to deliver students to the process of maturity in various
aspects of life. Education is a process of teaching that aims thoroughly, either in theform of knowledge transformation, appreciation and the formation of attitudes or
behavior. In line with the national education objectives contained in Law no. 20 Year
2003 on SISDIKNAS (National Education System), that education aims to develop
the potential of learners to become human beings who believe and piety to God
Almighty, have a noble, healthy, knowledgeable, capable creative, independent andbecome citizens of a democratic and to be responsible.
Education is basically an effort to provide certain knowledge, insight, skill, andexpertise to individuals to develop themselves so as to be able to face any changes
that occur. Many factors cause the emergence of learning problems. These factors
include internal factors and external factors. Internal factors are factors that arise fromwithin students, such as the level of intelligence and personality. While external
factors are factors that arise from outside the student self, such as teacher role factors,
teaching methods and student activeness.
Education within the scope of the family is the first and main educational institution.
The core family members, the elderly and other members of the family who first teachthe child the knowledge of God as the one God, the experience of human interaction,and the obligation to develop responsibility, responsibility for oneself as a religious
being, responsible As a student, is responsible as a social creature that lives in asociety and is responsible as a citizen, and is responsible as a child against parents andothers.
Because of the many factors that affect student learning outcomes, and the limited
time, energy and cost, the researcher will limit the scope of the research on 4 (four)
variables to be more focused and conclude the results of research closer to theresearch objectives. The variables that will be met include the role of teachers,
independent learning methods, student activeness, and the results of learning English
students. The research object is the students of Vocational High School in Jakarta.
Based on the background and limitations of problems that have been identified thenthe authors formulate related to the research or thesis that will be prepared by theauthor as follows:
1. Is there any influence from teacher role to learning result?

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2. Is there any influence of the independent learning method to the students' learning
outcomes?
3. Is there any influence of students' activeness toward learning outcomes of English
students ?
4. What is the factor of teacher's role, independent learning method, and student
activeness simultaneously toward English student learning result?
Literature Review
Learning
Educational experts propose a different understanding between one another, but
always refers to the same principle that everyone who is doing the learning process
will experience a change in him. Some experts in the world of education provide adefinition of learning among them is Wittig (1981) in his psychology of Learningwhich defines learning as, "Any relatively permanent change in an organism's
behavioral repertoire comes as a result of experience."
Which means that learning is a relatively settled change that occurs in all sorts orwhole behaviors of an organism as a result of experience. In this sense there is a wordchange which means change or change, which means that someone is changed whenexperiencing the process of learning, will experience the changes that make itnecessary or require a good ability of the knowledge, skills and attitude to face orovercome the surrounding environment.
Learning outcomes
Learning process culminates in student learning outcomes or student performance. As
a result then with the performance, the learning process stopped temporarily. And
there was an assessment. With the assessment in question is the determination until
something is considered valuable, qualified, or valuable. The size of something ofvalue, worth, or quality comes from others. Teachers are key learners. Teachers
design learning, implement learning and assess learning outcomes.
To be called learning, then the change must be relatively steady, must be the end of along period of time. How long that time period lasts is difficult to determine withcertainty, but that change should be the end of a month or years. This means that wemust exclude behavioral changes caused by motivation, fatigue, adaptation, sharpnessof attention or sensitivity, usually only temporarily. Behavior that changes due tolearning concerning various aspects of personality, both physical and psychological,
such as changes in understanding, solving a problem / thinking, skills, skills, habits, or
attitudes.
Independent Learning Method
The paradigm shift in the learning process that was centered on the teacher becomes
student-centered learning (Student Centered Learning) is expected to encourage
students to be actively involved in the learning process. In the SCL process, students
have the opportunity and facilities to learn independently, and ultimately can improve
the quality of students. Innovative learning with the method of Student Centered
Learning has a diversity of learning models that require the active participation of
students.

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Student activity
Active students are students who are intellectually and emotionally involved inlearning activities. According to Amir (2009), active students are students who are
involved continuously both physically and mentally in learning. According Balcikanli(2010), Active students are students who are physically, psychologically,
intellectually and emotionally involved continuously in the learning process.
According to Benson (2001), the four conclusions can be concluded that the active
students are the students who are involved continuously both physically,
psychologically, intellectually and emotionally that form the process of compiling the
subject matter received.
The activity of the students in the learning process is not only the involvement inphysical form such as sitting around, doing things, but also in the form of process ofanalysis, analogy, comparing, appreciation, all of which are students' involvement inpsychic and emotion (Brown, 2001).
Research Hypothesis
The hypothesis proposed by researchers in this research is a temporary estimate of theresearch problem formulation. Based on the theoretical review, literature review andthinking framework, furthermore the researcher wanted to test the hypothesis
concerning the influence of teacher's role, the independent learning method and thestudents' activity toward the learning result of the students grade XI IPA SMA. The
hypothesis in this study are:
1. Allegedly there is influence of teacher role to learning result of student.
2. Allegedly there is influence of independent learning method to English student
learning outcomes.
3. Allegedly there is influence of student activeness to learning result of student.
4. Allegedly there is influence of teacher role, independent learning method andstudent activeness simultaneously to result of learning English student.
Methodology
The method used in this research is quantitative research method, where themeasurement of quantitative data and objective statistics through scientific calculation
comes from respondents as samples are asked to answer a number of questions. This
research is also designed using casual design to analyze the relationship or influence
between one variable with other variables, (Umar, 2011). In this research the design isused to test the influence of 4 independent variables namely, the role of teacher (X1),
independent learning method (X2), and student active (X3) to one dependent variable
that is the result of learning English (Y). Population is a generalization area consistingof: object / subject that has certain qualities and characteristics that are set byresearchers to study and then in conclusion (Sugiyono, 2011). So the population is notjust people, but also other objects and objects. Population is also not just the numberof objects / subjects studied, but includes all characteristics / properties possessed by
the subject or object. The population in this study includes students in Vocational
High School in Jakarta. Total Population is 120 students and the number of samples
as 90 students are calculated by the Slovin formula (Umar, 2003).

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Results and Discussion
Validity Test
Validity Test Results Criteria used in this study is to compare the value of r arithmetic
and r table. If r arithmetic> r table then an item can be considered valid. R value table
can be obtained by df (degree of freedom) = n - k, where n is the number or samples,and k is the number of grains statement. The level of significance or Alpha (α) used is0.05. All the variables in this study have passed the validity test.
Reliability Test Results
One of the conditions for the test results of a test can be believed is that the test has
adequate reliability. Reliability comes from the word reliability to what extent theresults of a measurement can be trusted. The belief of the measurement results if inseveral times the implementation of measurements on the same subject groupobtained relatively similar results, as long as the aspects measured in the subject havenot changed (Suseno, 2013). In each study, there are often considerable measurement
errors. One method of calculating reliability is the method developed by Cronbach,the Alpha Cronbach coefficient (α). In this study the coefficient is obtained from dataprocessing using SPSS version 21.0. According to Kaplan and Sccuzzo reliability
coefficients of> 0.7. An instrument is said to be reliable if the respondent's answer tothe research instrument is consistent or stable.
Normality test
Inferential statistical analysis (good regression / correlation model) must meet several
requirements, in addition to data must be interval scale, also requires data to benormally distributed (Sugiyono, 2010). For that the data need to be tested normality.
Normality test of each variable is done with the intention to know whether thequestionnaire or data distribution of each variable does not deviate from thecharacteristics of data that will be normally distributed. Normality testing is doneusing SPSS V.21 computer program. Test Kolmogorov-Smirnov. By criterion if
probability value or significant less than 0.05 data is not normally distributed.
Multicollinearity Test
Multicolinearity is a condition in which one or more independent variables arecorrelated with other independent variables, or in other words a free variable is alinear function of other independent variables. To determine whether there is aproblem multicollinearity, Marquadt method can be used (Ghozali, 2011), by looking
at the value of Variance Inflation Factor (VIF). The results in the following table:
Table 1. Multicollinearity Test Results
Independent
Variable
Teacher’s role
Autonomous
learning method
Student’s Active

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Keterangan

4,981
4,530

There’s no multicolinearity
There’s no multicolinearity

3,699

There’s no multicolinearity

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Heteroscedasticity Test Results
According to Ghozali (2011) the heteroscedasticity test aims to test whether in the
regression model there is a residual variance inequality from one observation toanother. If the variance of the residual one observation to another observation
remains, then it is called homoscedasticity and if different it is called
heteroskedatisitas. Due to the occurrence of heteroscedasticity, any change in thedependent variable causes the error (residual) also changes in line or increase or
decrease. In other words the consequence if the dependent variable increases then theerror will also increase.
Hypothesis test
Table 2. Result test
Variable
Teacher’srole (X1)

Hypothesis

Coefficient

T count(Partial)

F count(Simultaneous)

Ho : β1 = 0
0,326

0,73
2

15,522

H1 : β1 ≠ 0

Autonomous
Learning
MethodHo : β1 = 0(X2)

H1 : β1 ≠ 0

Student’s
ActiveHo : β1 = 0(X3)

H1 : β1 ≠ 0

Teacher’srole (X1),
Autonomous
learning
method (X2),Student’s
Active (X3)

Ho : β1,2,3
=0

0,276

R2

0,71
4

14,807

Adjusted
R Square0,729

Conclusion
Ho : refusedH1 :accepted

0,710

Ho : refusedH1 :accepted

118,7 15
0,328

14,674

H1 : β1,2,3
≠0

0,71
0

0,707

0,80
5

0,799

Ho : refusedH1 :accepted

Ho : refusedH1 :accepted

1. Discussion The first hypothesis
To test the first hypothesis stating that there is influence of teacher role to learning
result of student is done partial regression test between technological variables withlearning result variable which produce calculation where coefficient determination
0,732 and value t count equal to 15,522 at significant level 1% greater than t-tablevalue so Ho is rejected and H1 accepted.
the model of regression equation as follows:
Y = 25,508 +0,855X1
The model explains that every 100% change in the teacher role variables (XI) will
positively affect the change in student learning outcomes (Y) of 85.5 %, With aconstant value of 25.508.
From the analysis of aggression, it was found that teacher role variables have positiveand significant influence on the learning result of Vocational High School students in
Jakarta. This can be shown from the magnitude of regression coefficient marked
positive is 0.326. This means that if the role of teachers improved, it will result in

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increased student learning English results with the assumption of other factors areconstant.
2. Discussion The second hypothesis
To test the second hypothesis stating that there is a positive influence of independent
learning methods on the results of students' learning conducted partial regression test
between independent learning method variables with learning result variable that
produces calculations where the coefficient of determination 0.714 and the t count of
14,807 At a significant level of 1% greater than the t table value thus Ho rejected andH1 accepted.
The model of regression equation as follows:
Y = 37,393 +0,805X2
The model explains that every 100% change in the variable of independent learning
method (X2) will positively affect the change of student learning result (Y) by 80,5%,
with constant value equal to 37,393.
From the analysis of aggression, it was found that the variable of independent selflearning method had positive and significant influence on the learning result ofVocational High School students in Jakarta. This can be shown from the magnitude ofregression coefficient marked positive is 0.276. This means that if the positive selflearning method is improved, it will result in increased student learning English
results with the assumption of other factors are constant.
3. Discussion The third hypothesis
To test the third hypothesis stating that there is a positive student activity influence on
the result of learning English Vocational High School students in Jakarta done partial
regression test between environmental variables with learning result variable that
produces calculation where the coefficient of determination 0, 710 and the value of t
count 14.674 at a significant level of 1% greater than the t table value thus Horejected and H1 accepted.
The model of regression equation as follows:
Y = 62,069 +0,825X3
The model explains that every 100% change in Student Activity variable (X3) will
positively influence to the change of student learning result (Y) equal to 82,5%, withconstant value equal to 62,069.
From the analysis of aggression, it was found that the positive student activenessvariable had a positive and significant influence on the students' learning outcomes ofVocational High School students in Jakarta. This can be shown from the magnitude ofregression coefficient marked positive is 0.328. This means that if the activity ofpositive students is improved, it will result in increased student learning outcomeswith the assumption of other factors are constant.
4. Discussion Fourth hypothesis
From F test known that simultaneously teacher role variable, independent learning
method and student activeness influence student english learning result. This meansthat if the role of teachers, independent learning methods and student activeness is
improved simultaneously then significantly will be able to improve students' learning
outcomes Vocational High School students in Jakarta.

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Furthermore, the extent to which the influence of the role of teachers, independent
learning methods and student activeness affect student learning English results can be
known from the adjusted R square (R2) of 0.799. This figure shows approximatelythat 79.90% students learning English Vocational High School students in Jakarta canbe explained by teacher role variables, independent learning methods and student
activeness. While 20.1% is influenced by other factors.
Thus the final discussion of the results of this study where the first hypothesis to thefourth that states that there is influence of the role of teachers, independent learning
methods and student activeness of English students learning outcomes Vocational
High School students in Jakarta, both partially and simultaneously been tested.
Multiple regression
Multiple linear regression analysis is used to determine whether the independent
variable The influence of teacher role, independent learning method and student
activeness simultaneously have an effect on to result of learning as dependent
variable. Using SPSS 21.0 is obtained as follows:
Table 4.19
Multiple Analysis Results
From the table above can be formulated model of multiple regression equation
obtained from result of analysis as follows:
Y = 29.342 + 0.326 X1 + 0.276 X2 + 0.328 X3
The model explains that simultaneously variable of independent variable The
influence of teacher role, independent learning method and student activenesssimultaneously have an effect on to learning result of english language. The amountof influence of the dependent variable on the dependent variable is indicated by eachcoefficient value of the independent variable. With the constant value of 29,342, thevariable use of teacher role (X1) with coefficient 0,326 means that every 100%change on variable of teacher role role (X1) will positively influence to change ofstudent learning result variable (Y) equal to 32.6%. While the coefficient of
independent learning method (X2) is 0.276 which means that if the variable of selflearning method (X2) changed by 100%, it will bring about 27,5% change to thelearning result. Similarly, the student activeness variable (X3) which has a coefficientof 0.328 which means that the student activity change of 100% will affect 32.8% on
student learning outcomes.

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Conclusion
Based on the results of analysis and research and hypothesis testing can be taken as
follows:••••

Descriptive analysis results show that the role of teachers give a significant
effect on the results of learning English Vocational High School students in
Jakarta of 73.2%.
Descriptive analysis results show that the independent learning method gives asignificant effect on the learning outcomes of students in Vocational HighSchool students in Jakarta of 71.4%.
Descriptive analysis results show that students 'activity influences the students'
learning outcomes of Vocational High School students in Jakarta of 71.0%.
The results of the whole analysis show that simultaneously the three
independent variables are the role of teachers, independent learning methods
and student activeness to give effect to the learning outcomes of students in
Vocational High School students in Jakarta for 79.9%. The remaining 20.1%
is caused by other variables not involved in this research.

Suggestion
With the influence of the role of teachers, independent learning methods and student
activeness of Learning Outcomes english language, then some suggestions that can begiven include:
•

•

•

•

For students need improvement and positive use for the role of teachers
because appropriate teacher role can improve learning outcomes. Students
should strive to adjust and know the appropriate role of teachers in theclassroom while learning takes place.
The importance of self-learning methods for the implementation of teaching
and learning process in this case is of course on the supervision of teachers,
because we know that science is not only obtained from books alone, but
through the role of teachers and independent learning methods are interesting,children will be more enthusiasm to learn .
The importance of providing a child's direction to do the best, always giving
more support and attention to the child. And provide opportunities / involving
students activeness in determining the learning that will take place in the class.
Because this can stimulate and stimulate children always think clearly andpositively.
Need for cooperation between teachers, parents and community, in order tocreate a comfortable atmosphere for learning children. Because the learning
process does not only happen at school, but in the environment where the childis located. Therefore we must work together to create a conducive, positive
atmosphere.

Recommendation
Based on the results of the above research then some related recommendations that
can the authors convey in this study are:

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Given the role of teachers influence the students' English learning outcomes,
then the role of teachers in the field of education is maintained and applied asa source to increase knowledge.
Given the independent learning method influences the student's learning
outcomes, let us as a member of education direct the children and guide themso that the child always has a positive thinking, perspective on something and
we direct and give examples in the application. So automatically the child will
behave well in the act.
Given the activity of students influence the student learning outcomes, it isnecessary cooperation between parents, teachers and the community to always
involve students in determining decisions in the learning process so thatstudents will feel themselves needed and important, stimulate them to beinterested in learning.

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References
Amir, M. (2009). Inovasi Pendidikan Melalui Problem Based Learning. Jakarta: Prenada
media group.
Benson, P. (2001). Teaching And Researching Autonomy 2nd (Vol. 2). United Kingdom:
Pearson Education Limited.
Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching By Principles: An Interactive Approach To Language
Pedagogy. New York: Longman.
Ghozali, I. (2011). Aplikasi Analisis Multivariate Dengan Program SPSS. Semarang: Badan
Penerbit Universitas Diponegoro.
Kaplan, R.M., Saccuzzo, D.P. (2008). Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, andIssues. Cengage Learning.
Sugiyono. (2010). Statistika Untuk Penelitian. Bandung: Alfabeta.

Suseno. (2013). Statistika Dalam Penelitian Pendidikan. Jakarta: Unindra Press.
Umar, H. (2003). Metodologi Penelitian: Aplikasi dalam Pemasaran. Jakarta: Gramedia
Pustaka Utama.
Wittig, A.F. (1981). Schaum's Outline of Theory And Problems of Psychology of Learning.
New York: Me. Graw-Hill International Editions.
Balcikanli, C. (2010, February). Learner Autonomy in Language. Australian Journal of
Teacher Education, 35(1), 90-103.

Contact email : Setyani.dwilestari@budiluhur.ac.id

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The Significance and Strategy of Innovative Learning in the Age of Intelligence
Li Zihua, Anhui Normal University, China
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Knowledge has been common interest of mankind in intelligent era, it’s complex andchangeable, and has various value orientation, we can get it by lots of ways. The factmeans more attention needs to be paid to participation and holistic practices ofinnovative learning. Participation is a kind of social activity, representing care andresonance in emotion. Only out of concern for human development, can we fulfill the
responsibility of solving human problems, truly trigger the motivation of innovation,and then turn the motivation into efforts. Integrity means the ability of cooperationand problem-solving, is the main purpose of innovative learning. Innovative learningwith the characteristics of participation and integrity, needs government to change
education view and knowledge-based view, and adjust curriculum politics andteacher training system to create an inclusive learning system. It also needs teachers
to reform their educational ideas and teaching methods and strengthen the training of
education technology to improve students’ capability of innovation learning, at lastachieving sustainable development of mankind.
Keywords: The Age of Intelligence, Innovative Learning, Participation, Integrity

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Since the Club of Rome first mentioned “innovative learning” in the report called
Knowledge was boundless in 1979, innovative learning has been an important targetof educational reformation and development all over the world, and affects the whole
educational research and decision making. However in the process of realizing
innovative learning, people pay more attention to the anticipation of innovative
learning for future problem discoveries and solutions, but ignore the participatory
feature of it. Emphasis more on independence of innovative learning than integrity.
Currently, it has been the age of intelligence, and the way of knowledge recognition
and acquisition has changed greatly, how to realize the participation and integrity ofinnovative learning is extremely urgent.
1.The significance of participation and integrity in innovative learning isemphasized in the intelligent age
Human learning mainly consists of two types: sustaining learning and innovative
learning. The former is an essential way for every society to run well and remain
stable. However, in order to survive in the long term and deal with various changes
more smoothly, innovative learning is also needed. Especially in the era ofintelligence, the core of human resource is innovation ability. It is because intelligent
promotion brings changes to production mode. At first, producing depends onabundant manpower, followed by ample funds, then technology intensive. At present,
it is the innovative application of professional knowledge, which becomes theconnotation of current human resource. Therefore, it is particularly important to get
the ability of innovative learning, especially enhance the ability from the perspectiveof participation and integrity.
1.1Challenges to learning in the age of intelligence
Nowadays, every second there are knowledge and information changing, only bylearning to adapt to changes can one have autonomy, and learn how to learninnovatively is the vital step to deal with the changing world.
1.1.1Complex and changeable resources of knowledge
It is of great importance to gain knowledge in the process of learning, and the changeof way to deliver and obtain knowledge pose an direct influence on the knowledge
acquisition. In an era of intelligence, it is inevitable for us to acquire knowledge in amore and more fragment manner. Chinese scholar Liu Tiefang held the key is, “howwe seek for a path to the completion in the fragment of knowledge acquisition to
integrate it into the growth of our life, and to make it to be the pursuit of knowledge
and truth, and to make it be open, thus arousing the sustainability of the growth oflife. Once education has become the process to seek for the conclusive knowledge
and end, the gradualness of life growth will terminate and conform to the existingknowledge and conclusion. Knowledge is the limit of individual life, so that
individual life is being divided in various imbuement of knowledge and individuallife cannot be complete in the pursuit of higher knowledge. Only when gaining
knowledge features a sustainable openness to higher matters can this process be
open-minded to the integrity of individual development. As such, knowledge

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acquisition should not have an end but to uphold a possibility to the next moment andto the future. Then, the individual that is obtaining knowledge can keep its integrity
and turn to completion.”[1]1.1.2The diverse value orientation of knowledge
Now, people who can participate in network all are spokesmen of the intelligent era.
Thus, everyone or a certain group can present their value judgement on the internet.
Seriously, the era of intelligence is an era of “truth-rebuilding”. This truth may betrue or may be “false truth” which guided by a kind of value judgement. However,
due to the rapid update of information, new events will arise before you make a
judgement of something, which brings challenges to education. Education is anactivity to teach people to seek for truth and kindness, and teach young people how tokeep original intention with holding one’s own opinion tightly.
1.1.3The various ways of knowledge acquisition
In ancient times , the younger generation gained knowledge from the older ones byword of mouth. After written language was created, we made it another carrier ofknowledge acquisition. In the era of intelligence, it is the media language that helps
spread knowledge. In terms of education, teachers started with nothing but teachingorally, the condition has changed a lot now, there are countless methods ofknowledge acquisition in school, such as Computer-assisted teaching, E-bags,
E-learning, Cloud computing, Internet＋, Internet thinking, Ubiquitous learning,
micro class, MOOC, Flipped learning, Flipped class, smart class, Maker educationand so on, not to mention daily studying. Various ways to obtain knowledge
challenged learning, so we have to think about two questions in the process oflearning--what kind of style is suitable for myself and which one can spread anddevelop my knowledge. At the same time, how to mix different kinds of studying
modes together needs innovation of learning method.
1.2Participation and integrity are the core concepts of innovative learning
In the age of intelligence, knowledge has become a common interest of human beings.
We can no longer study knowledge changelessly. Therefore, more attention should be
paid to the participatory and holistic characteristics of innovative learning.
Participation is a kind of social activity, which reflects a kind of concern andunderstanding. Only out of concern for human development, can we fulfill the
responsibility of solving human problems, truly trigger the motivation of innovation,and then turn the motivation into efforts. Integrity is the main purpose of innovative
learning, which means the ability to cooperate and solve problems.
1.2.1 Participation is the essential feature of innovative learning
The Club of Rome believes that anticipation and participation are two key
characteristics of innovative learning. "Anticipations are not limited in various kindsof desirable trends to foresee, to choose or avoid catastrophic trends, but also create
new choices". It is a mental activity, may be there is disharmony. Therefore,
participation, as a social activity, is needed to balance different anticipations. In asense, participation is the essential characteristic of innovative learning, making it

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totally different from sustainable learning. When we participate in activities
personally to help human develop better and then we can make some innovation,
which is a process of struggling creation.
1.2.2 Integrity is the ultimate goal of innovative learning
The Club of Rome held the opinion that autonomy and integrity is the main purposeof innovative learning. In fact, people pay too much attention to autonomy ofinnovative learning but neglect the integrity, which does not reject autonomy, on thecontrary to serve autonomy better. Integrity means that "access to wide relationships,
cooperation for common purposes, connection with others, understanding of larger
systems, seeing individuals as a whole as part of them" and means the ability tounderstand issues and how they relate to each other and connect with each other."
The Club of Rome believes that global issues will increasingly encourage thesenatures of integrity: the concept of mutual respect, self-discipline, common interests
and the ability to abandon selfishness. These essences are the foundation of world.
2.The essence of innovative learning
2.1Participation and integrity is beneficial to developing studying interest
In the book”Learning To Be”, The UNESCO points out that, scientific and technicalrevolution is the first true revolution, which not only gives a new meaning of
knowledge and training but also provides people with lots of new knowledge andmethods in thinking and behavior. It put forward challenge to education directly: how
to keep the balance between sense and sensibility. American scholar, John Dewey
gave an example in his book”Democracy and Education”: A man at some distance iswaving his arms wildly. One has only to preserve an attitude of detached indifference,and the motions of the other person will be on the level of any remote physicalchange which we happen to note. If we have no concern or interest, the waving of thearms is as meaningless to us as the gyrations of the arms of windmill. But if theinterest is aroused, we begin to participate.[2] After taking part in, we have our own
judgement of the whole surroundings,and then practice will happen with care andinterest. In a word, without participation, we can’t create or discover at all.
2.2Participation and integrity can help students develop their inclusiveness
The fusion of different knowledge is increasingly frequent, which needs us to get abetter understanding of them with tolerance through innovative learning. Thus,“Relevant learning must reflect how different culture and groups define the elementsof a dignified life. We have to admit there are different standards of life’s quality,
therefore, there are different definitions of necessary knowledge.” The UNESCO
emphasizes that mainstream educational thoughts of utilitarianism should accept
other definitions of human’s welfare, and focus on education as a part of human’scommon interest, which means we should listen to the silencers’ heart when others
are all going after happiness. The diversity within great treasure is able to inspire
everyone.

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2.3participation and holistic practices is benefit for culturing students
responsibility
Scientific technology brought from intelligent era is a double-edged sword, on one
side, it expanded the way people understanding and acquiring the knowledge, on theother side, it also contributed diversification and complex to knowledge, people
becoming the producers and disseminator. If lack of the responsibility for worldwide
development, excessive selfish will be easily formed, narrowly focus on self-interest,
neglect to pay attention to the global environment and the future development. The
Club of Rome has pointed out in the 1970s that "it is the key point to re-determinate
the direction from the progress of all people and the understanding of their own heartand responsibilities human should bear".[3] As the UNESCO report states, "the aim ofhuman development is to perfect their own; Make their personality rich and colorful,expression way complex and diverse; Make him as a person, a member of a family
and society, a citizen and producer, a technical inventor and a creative idealist to takeon different responsibilities." [4]Innovative learning of participatory and holistic practices helps foster a sense thatpeople care about the world, others and take responsibility for themselves.
2.4Participation and holistic practices are benefit for culturing students’practical abilities
Bernstein says "Participation is not just about discourse and discussion, it's about
practice and a practice must have output." [5]Participatory innovative learning places
more emphasis on the output of the results after knowledge and innovation in practice,which is also the inevitable requirement of innovativeness. Only throughparticipatory innovative learning that we produce innovative results is the essence oflearning. Learning should not be just matter of one personal, but also a social
experience which requires others involving, and learning through discussion anddebate with peers and teachers.
3.Conclusion: strategy of consciousness training from participation and holistic
innovative learning
Previous education is to absorb the wisdom of predecessors, but education of
intelligence era should be the wisdom of pioneer. Innovative learning needs to fresh
current education concept, curriculum concept and teacher-student relationship.
3.1 set up innovative education concept
In 2015, UNESCO emphasized in report of Education Reflection that the new
education concept should include training students to learn critical thinking,independent judgment and debate. The country, government, teachers and wholesociety should realize innovative literacy is the core of human capital, and also thefoundation of international competitiveness. Innovative learning is the main way ofcurrent learning and safeguard of future happy life. Thus we all need to establish
innovative educational concept, through innovative teaching strategy to culture
innovative talents, which not only can promote the international competitiveness,
also play an important role in positive function of education. Based on this principle,

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establish the innovative education concept is the first step to change the traditional
examination-oriented concept.
3.2Set up diverse curriculum concept
At the intelligence era, knowledge is diversified, and curriculum resources areabundant. In order to cultivate talents with innovative and integrated ideas, thecurriculum setting and content should respect its diversity. In Education Reflection,
UNESCO proposes to establish a humanistic curriculum concept, put the curriculumon the base of cross-cultural education, and admit social diversity, in the meantime,
keep the balance of diversity and universal values. This requires the course policy
coordinating with the course interest subject, legalize the course framework whensetting up, and establish processing of education goals policy dialogue which must be
universally involved and inclusive. Course policy and course content must be guided
by the principles of social and economic justice, equality and environmental
responsibility, which are the pillars of sustainable development. Intelligent
technology will not replace schools or teachers. All the teacher has to do is to becomea guide, start from childhood and traverse through the whole learning path to achieve
development and progress by constantly expanding knowledge base. Criticalpedagogy holds that it is necessary to reposition the textbook knowledge as an
explorable subject, as a learning process rather than an end point. Suchtransformation allows students to question their own life experience, and develop
their critical thinking (Freire,1990).
3.3 Set up democratic teacher-student relationship
UNESCO report Learn to Live pointed out that, in addition to the problems of form
and method, we should fundamentally re-evaluate the teacher-student relationship,
the traditional cornerstone of education, especially when it becomes into rulers andruled. The rulers and ruled relationship became entrenched by the advantage of one
party's age, knowledge and supreme authority, and the inferior and submissive
position of the other. So to achieve education democracy, we need to fundamentallychange the duty of teacher, which is should not just be a knowledge giver, but be a
consultant, an exchange participant, a person who helps find contradictory arguments.
If the relationship between teachers and students does not develop follow this way, it
won’t be truly democratic education.
The democratic teacher-student relationship helps to promote the innovative teachingof teachers and learning of students. The past relationship overemphasized the dignity,
authority of teachers, but the democracy of teachers and students suggested
eliminating the authority of teachers. When authority disappears, teachers andstudents are in the same position to explore knowledge, and teaching is no longer
one-way indoctrination, but two-way dialogue (Freire, 1998). This kind of dialogue
enables both teachers and students to explore the multiple meanings of textbook
knowledge from various perspectives. To have this function, the classroom must be
defined as either democracy and public sphere (Aronowitz and Giroux, 1991) orculture BBS (Shor, 1996). Based on the above principles, innovative teaching does
not directly tell students answers, but asks them to think, discuss and express with
open questions. Through the communication and sharing with teachers and theirpeers, each student can understand and explore the multiple meanings of textbook

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knowledge based on their own experience, and enhance their understanding of theworld and interest in learning, develop their innovative consciousness and thinking.
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank conference committee for providing me with thechance of attending the conference. Secondly, I would like to thank people who
provide me with suggestions in the process of writing this paper.

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References[1]Liu Tiefang. Searching for a full life：how can educational philosophy discuss onlife（2018）. China educational Science, 06.
[2]John Dewey, translated by Wang Chengxu.Democracy and Education(1990).
Beijing: People’s Education Press, 39.
[3]Aurelio Page（1985）, translated by Wang Xiaoping , Cai Rongsheng . Future of theworld - 100 pages on future issues. China translation and Publication Corporation,
93.
[4]UNESCO international committee for education development（1996）, translatedby Comparative education institute of east China normal university, Learn to live –education today and tomorrow, Beijing: Educational Science Press,2.
[5]Basil Bernstein（2016）, translated by Wang Xiaofeng , Wang Congcong , Li Jing ,Sun Yu etc. Education, symbol control and identification. Beijing: China Remin
University Press, 7.
Contact email: maxing@ mail.ahnu.edu.cn

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Web-Based Science Learning as Innovative Instruction
Bruce Marvin Ruaro, Urdaneta City National High School, The Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
There are so many mediums of technology, which is radically redefined to obtaincommunication and change the view of teaching and learning. The widespread use of
the World Wide Web (www) extended the capacity of the different educational
institutions involved in training to extend the possibilities of e-learning. There are a
lot of challenging points in the dynamic and challenging field of e-learning. The useof the internet to bridge the digital divide is one of the challenges which areexperienced by different educational institutions in the country. This study aimed todetermine the possibility of web-based learning in teaching science subjects
specifically in the Senior High School. Innovative instruction applied three (3)different teaching approaches namely: Inquiry-based, Problem-based, and Projectbased. Benefits of this approaches have been cited by numerous proponents which
include greater depth of understanding of concepts, broader knowledge base,improved communication and interpersonal/social skills, enhanced leadership skills,
increased creativity, and improved writing skills. Most of the extent of utilization of
web-based learning on this study along the different approaches in teaching science ishighly effective. All remaining variables are noted to be effective. Improvement of theposttest result was noted using the web-based instruction. The scores of the students
in all approaches are normally distributed. A significant difference in the pretest andposttest results along the different approaches was noted. Also, it was found out that
there is a significant relationship between the post-test result and the different
approaches that rejected the null hypothesis.
Keywords: Web-based Learning, Innovative Instruction, Science Learning, Earth
Scienceiafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Since 1990’s web-based education has become an extremely significant branch of
educational technology. Pulsen (2003) adopted the concepts of Keegan (1995) that a
web-based education is characterized by the separation of teachers and learners, theinfluence of an educational organization, the web technologies presenting educational
content, and the provision of the two-way communication via the internet. Online
learning can be considered as one of the struggling terms to define which was cited by
Oblinger (2005). Meanwhile, Lowenthal et al. (2009) defines it as a referencetechnological medium or context with which it is used.
According to Campbell (2007), maturating educational technology had identified
important issues like the academic technology profession moves to an “Instruction2.0”. Enumerated issues are: (1) establishing and supporting a culture of evidence; (2)demonstrating improvement of learning; (3) translating learning research into
practice; (4) selecting appropriate models and strategies for e-learning; (5) providing
tools to meet growing student expectations; (6) providing professional development
and support to new audiences; (7) sharing content, applications, and application
development; (8) protecting institutional data; (9) addressing emerging ethicalchallenges; and (10) understanding the evolving role of academic technologists. This
key technology-related teaching and learning issues must be addressed to maintain thecontinuity of development in transforming the academic technology.
In the educational policy research series of the UNESCO, which was conducted by
Bangkok Office of Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, it was indicatedon the mapping of the content areas taught at the lower secondary level that 9 out of
15 countries excluding the Philippines include technology as one of the prescribed
subjects in their curriculum.
In the Philippines, online learning and delivery of instructional content are associatedwith support services. The use of the internet to bridge the digital divide is one of thechallenges which is experienced by different educational institutions in the country.
Furthermore, it is the mechanism which is being used in ensuring the quality
education in e-learning in an extensively detailed manner.
This research determined the use of web-based learning in the field of teachingscience subjects specifically Earth Science Unit I for Grade 11 learners in the seniorhigh school. Respondents are the four (4) science teachers and the one hundred twenty(120) Grade 11 students enrolled in Academic Track in Urdaneta City National HighSchool, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, Philippines.
A thirty (30) items pretest and posttest will be administered. This study is delimited to
Earth Science and does not include Physical Science, Physics, Chemistry, and othercomponents of science subject.
This study aims to answer the extent of utilization of web-based learning in teachingscience subjects specifically earth science which one of the core subjects in the seniorhigh school curriculum along the different approaches namely; inquiry-based,
problem-based, and project-based.

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The sub-questions of this study include (1) level of academic performance of thelearners taught using the web-based instruction in the areas of inquiry-based,
problem-based, and project-based, regarding the pretest and posttest scores mean,
median, skewness, kurtosis, and standard deviation. The researcher also looked at the(2) the significant difference in the academic performance of the learners in thepretest and posttest along the different instructional approaches, and (3) the significant
relationship between the post-test result and the instructional approaches used by theteachers namely: Inquiry-based; Problem-based; and Project-based.
The study’s research design consisted of the distribution of checklists to the four (4)senior high school teachers at Urdaneta City National High School, while the pretestand posttest were administered to the one hundred eleven (111) senior high school
students who are currently taking earth science.

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It could be seen in Table number 1 that there are equal numbers of male and female
teachers who are teaching earth science in the Urdaneta City National High School(Senior High School). The bracket of 41-50 years old teacher has the highest
percentage (75%) compared to the (25%) on the age bracket of 21-30 years old. Three(3) out four (4) respondent teachers are married. Meanwhile, the same percentage isobservable for teachers who have a permanent appointment (75%) and provisionary(25%). The teacher-respondents are equipped with seminars and training fromregional (100%), school division (100%), and school (100%). As cited by Galloway(1998), the instructor guides students to the relevant information rather than obliging
the students to search for information. With this, it is necessary for the teachers to

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have additional knowledge and skills in instructing the learners by any means. Also,
Alfonso (2016), stated that today’s generation identifies problems in translating
research and studies that enables learning as to learner-centered, flexible, distributed,
collaborative, integrative, innovative, and creative. These characteristics were
promoted and included on the different seminars and training attended by the teachers
for the senior high school before and during teaching the respective subjects.

As shown in Table number 2, most of the student-respondents are in the age bracket
of 17-18 years old (91.89%) and 19-20 years old (8.11%). Females (60.36%) are morethan males (39.64%). Most of the learners from the group have an average rating
ranging from 81-85% (50.45%) and 86-90% (26.13%). As cited by Alfonso (2016), tobe able to work in different contexts, learners are produced to have the ability to seek
new information from different sources, translate information into applicableknowledge, and communicate the knowledge in various forms and situations that
address the challenges of the education in the 21st century.
There are 53.15% among the student-respondents with two (2) siblings, 32.44% withone (1) sibling, while the others three (3) siblings (4.50%) and 4 and above (4.50%).

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Their parents are helpers (51.35%), vendor (22.52%), teacher (16.22%), driver(7.21%), and engineer (2.70%). It could also be seen on the table that 52.25% of theirparents are bachelors degree holder, 36.94% are high school graduate and remaining
10.81% are with masters degree units. The bracket of P5,001-10,000 in the familymonthly income has the highest percentage of 27.93%, followed by P10,001-15,000(25.23%), P20,001 and above (18.91%), P15,001-20,000 (17.12%), and P5,000 and
below (10.81%).

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Table 3 presents the extent of perception on the use of web-based learning in teachingscience along the inquiry-based approach. Based on the given statements, 7 out of 10
resulted to be “Highly Effective,” while the remaining falls under the transmuted
equivalent of “Effective.” As cited by Newman et al. (2004), this kind of approach inteaching relied on the teachers’ recognition about the importance of presenting
problems to learners that will change their current conceptual understanding for they
are forced to reconcile anomalous thinking and new understanding.

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Table 4 presents the extent of perception on the use of web-based learning in teachingscience along the problem-based approach. Based on the given statements, 9 out of 10
resulted in being “Highly Effective,” and the remaining statement falls under“Effective.” As cited in the study conducted by Hmelo-Silver (2004) that suggest thelearners’ experiences of solving problems can be learned through content and thinking
strategies which can develop decision making and key skills relevant to theperformance standard. In addition, the exploratory study conducted by Sengel (2005)
states that problem-based learning provides qualitative and quantitative outputs on the
integration of a specific online information system into the science curriculum byusing authentic task in a class setting similar to simulation of useful knowledge that
can add learning to the learning with fellow learner that resulted to 4.50. As cited byMarmara et al. (2007), it was then determined that the passively affected by the
implementation of problem-based active learning model is the students’ academic
achievement and their attitudes towards the science course. It was found out that theapplication of problem-based active learning model affects students’ conceptual
development positively and keeps their misconceptions at the lowest level.

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Table 5 presents the extent of perception on the use of web-based learning in teachingscience along the project-based approach. Based on the given statements, 8 out of 10
have a transmuted equivalent of “Highly Effective,” while 2 out of 10, were
“Effective.” According to Markham (2011), this approach allows the learners learnknowledge and elements of the core curriculum, it doesn’t only integrates knowing
and doing, but also apply what they have learned in solving authentic problems andproduces results that matter. Learners take advantage of digital tools to produces highquality collaborative products which reward intangible assets such as drive, passion,
creativity, empathy, and resiliency.

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Table 6 shows the overall weighted mean of the three (3) instructional approaches
which are: Inquiry-based (4.23), of Problem-based (4.52), and Project-based (4.35)
with the descriptive equivalent of “highly effective.”

Table 7 shows the mean, median, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis of thepretest and posttest result of the learners in earth science before and after using the
web-based instruction for the subject. It is shown that in the inquiry-based pretest
have the mean of 4.87 and posttest with 9.00, problem-based pretest has 4.40 and
posttest with 9.03, and project-based pretest with 4.40 and posttest with 6.95. It is also
observable that the median scores along the different approach’s pretest and posttest
are near the mean of the scores from the pretest and posttest. The standard deviationof the inquiry-based posttest result 0.86 is higher than the pretest 0.82, while in the
problem-based posttest 0.73 than the pretest of 1.06, and on the project-based posttest with 0.80 than the pre-test with 1.10. Blumenfeld & Krajcik (2006) cite studies byMarx et al., 2004, Rivet &Krajcki, 2004 and William & Linn, 2003 state that
"research has demonstrated that students in project-based learning classrooms gethigher scores than students in the traditional classroom."
In the skewness of the pretest and posttest results, the inquiry-based questions resulted
to 0.24(pretest) and 0.00 (posttest) that indicates almost same result on the scores ofthe learners, while in the problem-based pretest with 0.14 and posttest with -0.04
skewness indicates improvement on the scores, and on the project-based pretest and

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posttest with 0.08 that also indicates same scores. On the presented kurtosis, the valueof the kurtosis of the pretest and posttest result is near zero (0) then the distribution of
the scores is normal, which is visible on the table that the overall kurtosis of thepretest result is -0.63 and posttest of -0.44, therefore the scores of the students in all
approaches are normally distributed. Olson (2002) mentioned that the use of webbased instruction recognizes the importance of evaluating its effect on students’outcome when the mode of instruction increases. Comparison of the results with theconventional classroom instruction resulted to “better.”However, major differenceswere noted in technology and presentation rather than instructional content that can
obscure the true relationship between the outcomes of the web-based instruction.

Tables 8 shows that there is a significant difference in the pretest and posttest results
along the different approaches that rejected the null hypothesis. These resultspresented that there were improvements on the scores of the learners from the pretest
to posttest examination. This is parallel to the statement of Punie and Cabrera(2006),
an environment supported by Information Communication Technologies (ICT) maybe
even possible to imagine when looking at the current widespread diffusion and use of
ICT in modern societies, especially the so-called "digital generation." Also, Collins(2006), stated that"Technology provides us with powerful tools to try out different
designs, so that instead of theories of education, we may begin to develop a science of
education. But it couldn’t be an analytic science like physics or psychology, etc.;
rather it must be a design science more like aeronautics or artificial intelligence.

Table 9 shows that there is a significant relationship between the post-test result andthe different approaches that rejected the null hypothesis. This means that inquirybased, problem-based and project-based approaches affect the posttest scores of thelearners. Science and technology are now well recognized with multi-disciplinary
pursuits essentials for the advancement of knowledge and applications. In connection,
Seng (2009) mentioned that education is all about equipping people with the cognitiveand socio-emotional skills that are highly adaptable in fast-changing environments.

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The need for new science arts of learning is futuristic with problem-based learning.
Understanding its perspective as well as the innovative design can take part in its
innovated environment.
Summary
The main problem sought to determine the possibility of a web-based instruction
possibility of web-based learning in the Science, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics (STEM) Strand in the K to 12 programs of the Department of Educationin teaching science subjects.
Specific problem #1 focused on the (1a) profile of the teacher-respondent namely:
sex, age, civil status, status of appointment, academic rank, highest educational
attainment, science subject taught, number of years teaching science subjects, andnumber of relevant training and seminar attended, (1b) profile of the studentrespondent namely: age, sex, general percentage average in the previous grade level,
number of siblings in the family, parents occupation, parents highest educational
attainment, and monthly income of the family.
Specific problem #2 determined the extent of utilization of the web-based learning inteaching science subjects along the following instructional approaches: Inquiry-based,
Problem-based, and Project-based.
Specific problem #3 determined the level of academic performance of the learners
taught using the web-based instruction in the areas of inquiry-based, problem-based,
and project-based regarding pretest and posttest scores mean, median, skewness,
kurtosis, and standard deviation.
Specific problem #4 determined the significant difference in the academic
performance of the learners in the pretest and posttest along the different instructional
approaches.
Specific problem #5 determined the significant relationship between the post-test
result and the instructional approaches used by the teachers namely: Inquiry-based,
Problem-based, and Project-based.
Salient Findings
The following are the salient findings of the study:
Finding #1a. There are equal numbers of male and female teachers who are teaching
earth science in the Urdaneta City National High School (Senior High School). The
bracket of 41-50 years old teacher has the highest percentage (75%) compared to the(25%) on the age bracket of 21-30 years old. Three (3) out four (4) respondent
teachers are married. Meanwhile, the same percentage is observable for teachers who
have a permanent appointment (75%) and provisionary (25%). There were two (2)teachers with Teacher II position and two (2) with Teacher III position. All of theteacher-respondents have units in their respective master's degree, but without
teaching, experiences and are equipped with seminars and training from regional(100%), school division (100%), and school (100%).

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Finding #1b. Most of the student-respondents are in the age bracket of 17-18 years
old (91.89%) and 19-20 years old (8.11%). Females (60.36%) are more than males(39.64%). Most of the learners from the group have an average rating ranging from81-85% (50.45%) and 86-90% (26.13%). There are 53.15% among the studentrespondents with two (2) siblings, 32.44% with one (1) sibling, while the others three(3) siblings (4.50%) and 4 and above (4.50%). Their parents are helpers (51.35%),
vendor (22.52%), teacher (16.22%), driver (7.21%), and engineer (2.70%). There are
52.25% of parents with a bachelors degree, 36.94% who graduated in high school andremaining 10.81% are with masters degree units. The bracket of P5,001-10,000 in thefamily monthly income has the highest percentage of 27.93%, followed by P10,00115,000 (25.23%), P20,001 and above (18.91%), P15,001-20,000 (17.12%), andP5,000 and below (10.81%).
Finding #2. Based on the given statements in the inquiry-based approach, 7 out of 10
resulted to be “Highly Effective,” while the remaining falls under the transmuted
equivalent of “Effective.” On the other hand, the problem-based approach has 9 out of
10 which is transmuted to be “Highly Effective,” and the remaining statement falls
under “Effective.” Lastly, the project-based approach has 8 out of 10 have atransmuted equivalent of “Highly Effective,” while 2 out of 10, were “Effective.”
Finding #3.the inquiry-based pretest have the mean of 4.87 and posttest with 9.00,
problem-based pretest has 4.40 and posttest with 9.03, and project-based pretest with
4.40 and posttest with 6.95. The standard deviation of the inquiry-based posttest result
0.86 is greater than the pretest 0.82, while in the problem-based posttest 0.73 than thepretest of 1.06, and on the project-based post-test with 0.80 than the pre-test with
1.10. In the skewness of the pretest and posttest results, the inquiry-based questions
resulted to 0.24(pretest) and 0.00 (posttest) that indicates almost same result on thescores of the learners, while in the problem-based pretest with 0.14 and posttest with 0.04 skewness indicates improvement on the scores, and on the project-based pretestand posttest with 0.08 that also indicates same scores. On the presented kurtosis, thevalue of the kurtosis of the pretest and posttest result is near zero (0) then the
distribution of the scores is normal, which is visible on the table that the overall
kurtosis of the pretest result is -0.63 and posttest of -0.44, therefore the scores of thestudents in all approaches are normally distributed.
Finding #4. There is a significant difference in the pretest and posttest results along
the different approaches with the following t-value: Inquiry-based (-36.482), Projectbased (-37.981), and Project-based (-19.827) that rejected the null hypothesis. These
results presented that there were improvements on the scores of the learners from thepretest to posttest examination.
Finding #5. There is a significant relationship between the post-test result and thedifferent approaches that rejected the null hypothesis. The following p-value wasnoted: Inquiry-based (0.003), Problem-based (0.000), and Project-based (0.004).

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Conclusions
The following are the conclusions drawn from the salient findings:
1. The teacher-respondents are qualified to teach because of their current
enrolment to their respective master's degree and engagement to different
seminars and training in the regional, division, and school level. The studentrespondents are equipped with enough knowledge which is observable on thepercentage of their general average. Also, most of the parents of the studentrespondents are with bachelor’s degree that could be a basis that they wereassisted at home.
2. Most of the extent of utilization of web-based learning along the different
approaches in teaching science is highly effective. All remaining variables arenoted to be effective.
3. Improvement of the posttest result was noted using the web-based instruction.
The scores of the students in all approaches are normally distributed.
4. There is a significant difference in the pretest and posttest results along thedifferent approaches that rejected the null hypothesis. These results presented
that there were improvements on the scores of the learners from the pretest to
posttest examination.
5. There is a significant relationship between the post-test result and the different
approaches that rejected the null hypothesis. Inquiry-based, problem-based
and project-based approaches affect the posttest scores of the learners.
Recommendations
Based on the findings and conclusions presented, the following recommendations aresuggested.
1. Continuous seminars and training for the senior high school teachers should bemaintained to equip them with knowledge in the field of teaching.
2. The researcher recommends that the used of web-based learning materials
should be used with the different approaches namely: Inquiry-based, Problembased, and Project-based in teaching earth science.
3. While the researcher found out the improvement of the learners score on the
posttest result of examination for earth science, it is still recommended todevelop different instructional materials that can aid in the development ofknowledge and skills of the senior high school's students to prepare them tothe higher educational institution standards
4. It is also recommended that the future researchers of this study will try todevelop another innovated instructional tool with another teaching approachthat will increase the competencies of the learners to the digital world.

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References
Annetta, Leonard A. et al. (2013). Video Games: A Vehicle for Problem-based
Learning, North Carolina State University
Balim, Ali Gunay et al. (2010). The Effects Of Using Problem-Based Learning In
Science And Technology Teaching Upon Students' Academic Achievement And
Levels Of Structuring Concepts, Usak University, Faculty Of Education,
Department Of Science Education, Usak, Turkey
Bayrak, BeyzaKaradeniz (2009). The Effect Of Web-Based Learning Method In
Science Education On Improving The Students’ Scientific Process Skills1, Yildiz
Technical University, Marmara University (Istanbul)
Bodzin, Alec M. Et al. (2014). Enhancing Preservice Teachers’ Understanding Of
Web-Based Scientific Inquiry, Lehigh University
Colley, Kabba E. (2005). Project-Based Science Instruction: Teaching Science for
Understanding, George Mason University
Hmelo – Silver, Cindy E. (2004). Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do
Students Learn?The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Marmara, RuhanOzkardesTandogan et al. (2007). The Effects of Problem-Based
Active Learning in Science Education on Students’ Academic Achievement, Attitude
and Concept Learning, Üniversitesi, Istanbul, Turkey
Olson, Tatana M. (2002).The Effectiveness of Web-Based Instruction: An initial
Inquiry, Purdue University
Seng, Tan Oon (2009). Problem-Based Learning: The Future Frontiers, National
Institute Of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Sengel, Erhan (2005). Effect of A Web-Based Learning Tool On Student Learning In
Science Education: A Case Study, Middle East Technical University
Shahbodin, Faaizah (2008). Evaluating The Effectiveness Problem Based Learning In
Science Teaching: Hybrid Approach, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM),
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Unlu, ZeynepKoyunlu (2015). An Action Research on Teaching Science throughTechnology Supported Inquiry-based Learning: A Pilot Study, Republic of Turkey
Ministry of National Education
Contact email: bmmr.071791@gmail.com / +63997-604-41-39

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Investigation of Grammatical Instruction on Pragmatics of Thai EFL Learners:
A Case of 1st Year English-Major Students
Arnunnit Manorom, Nakhon Phanom University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Investigation of Grammatical Instruction on Pragmatics of Thai EFL Learners: A
Case of 1st Year English-Major Students of Nakhon Phanom University, Thailand
aims to investigate whether the grammatical instruction affects pragmatic acquisitionof Thai EFL learners’ scores, and to examine what types of the request speech act
influence pragmatic acquisition of Thai EFL learners are. The samples are 31
students, categorized by the purposive sampling studying in the English Major at theFaculty of Liberal Arts and Science, Nakhon Phanom University. The intruments are
the prettest and posttest of Discourse Completion Test (DCT), grammatical tasks,
exerecises, role-plays, and interviews. Statistics used in the research conduct is t-test.
The results reveals that the posttest scores (Mean = 6.39, SD = 2.33) weresignificantly higher than the pretest scores (Mean = 3.16, SD= 1.85), indicated by t(30) = 8.05, p < .05, d = 1.53. The grammatical instruction used in pragmatics was
effective, and the students were able to ffectively improve their pragmatic acquisition
ability. There are 12 types of speech acts frequently used by learners. The three mostfrequency used by Thai EFL leaners are Attention-getter accounting for 30.28 %,Softeners accounting for 20.80 %, and Emphasis of Importance accounting for 15.90% . The three least frequency used by Thai EFL learners are Intensifier accounting for
0.91%, Hesitators accounting for 0.31%, and Disarmers accounting for 0.31%.
Pragmatic acquisition on speech act should be taught as a topic in courses and in the
curriculum for longitudinal study.
Keywords: Pragmatics, Grammatical Instruction, Speech Act

iafor
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Introduction
Pragmatics have been continuously studied and developed to enhance EFL learners
for decades. In reality, the uses of pragmatics are still unsuccessful in pedagogies
particularly in the countries where language learners use English as a foreign
language. There are several approaches based on pragmatic transfers proposed for L1
to acquire L2 properly and successfully in different ways: pragmatic transferability,
pragmatic transfer development, relationship between L1 pragmatic transfer and L2
proficiency, pragmatic awareness on L1 acquiring L2, etc. Though the wide-ranged
findings are found by many researchers worldwide, the longitudinal studies haveconstantly been conducted so as to fulfil the proper frameworks as well as methods ofteaching pragmatics suitably for Second Language Acquisition. According to theprevious studies, some theory approached by many researchers mentioned above,
pragmatics transfer is still examined around the global. Learners should acquire theproper L2 by instructors when learners utter their conversation with native speakers.
Other scholars like Harling (2001) suggested that the large effect of intensity ofinteraction on L2 pragmatic development is obvious when learners were given morechances to access the target expression, they are familiar with those expression. In
addition, to enhance learners to learn the right ways of transferring the language
appropriately, there are also other aspects influencing pragmatic acquisition oflearners. Kasper and Rose (2002) stated that learners use pragmatic functions in L2
before acquisition of linguistic forms for recognition in the correlation between
grammar and pragmatics. However, grammatical structure is one important feature
which mainly affects how EFL learners acquire pragmatics properly and nearly in thereal contexts of the native speaks. Takahashi (2017) indicated that learners who haveenough grammatical knowledge tend to notice the target forms in the input and use biclausal form in the posttest performance. Some studies of pragmatic awareness havefailed to explore how grammar interacts with various other ID factors and how thesefactors are concerned in the form-function analysis of the input overall.
Among the EFL learners of Nakhon Phanom educational institutions, private andpublic sectors, pragmatics have not primarily been put in the pedagogies overall.
Consequently, learners themselves have lacked the knowledge on how to deal withthe different persons and situations by using the accurate words in the social
contexts─ the suitable ways to utter with the persons who are at the lower, equal, andhigher status. The improper communication uttered by between EFL learners to NSs,or even by Thai EFL learners and Thai instructors is probably caused by lack oflanguage knowledge, sociocultural background, cross-cultural linguistics, etc. These
have still occurred not only in pedagogies but in daily life conversations. Moreover,according to the previous class project of the SLA course in the first semester ofacademic year 2017 on the investigate pragmatic transfer in Thai EFL learners, theresults revealed that the first year English-major students were not able to transfer L1
to L2 completely, mainly because of two factors: their L2 socio-cultural background,and grammatical structure.
Subsequently, the researcher is interested in investigating how grammatical structure
instruction enhances EFL learners on pragmatic transfer in the case of the requesting
speech acts.

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Hypothesis
1). The grammatical instruction affects the scores of Thai EFL learners.
2). There are various types of the request speech act produced by Thai EFL learners.
Research questions
1. Does the grammatical instruction affect pragmatics of Thai EFL learners’ scores?
2. What type of the request speech act influences pragmatics of Thai EFL learners?
Definitions
1. Pragmatics: Pragmatics are widely defined as comprehensible, problematic,
conventional and sociocultural definitions (Kasper, 1998). Kasper and Rose,(2002) also pointed out that pragmatics are as the study of language use
produced by the perspectives of users’ utterances when they make thecommunication with others, they face with constraints in language use insocial interaction as well as in the communication act.
2. Speech acts: Speech acts are what the users utter in a daily life conversation.
They are not only the primary sentences when the users utter to another person
but the utterances used to make communication in the various forms ofrequests, warnings, invitations, promises, apologies, predictions, etc. (Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007)
3. Request: Requests are identified as possibly face frightening acts (Brown andLevinson, 1987). It is a close relationship between the politeness degree andthe indirectness degree of requests to suggest the speakers to require face workfrom the listeners (Butler, 1988). For the literature reviews, the study will
described in the literature reviews.
Literature reviews
The Investigation of Grammatical Instruction on Pragmatics of Thai EFL Learners: A
Case of the 1st Year English-Major Students of Nakhon Phanom University isconcerned with four relevant issues reviewed as follows: 1) definitions of pragmatics,
interlanguage pragmatics and pragmatic transfer, 2) pragmatic transfer in language
proficiency, 3) pragmaliguistic awareness, and 4) effect of instruction on learners’
Pragmatics awareness.
I. Definitions of Pragmatics, Interlanguage Pragmatics and Pragmatic Transfer
Pragmatic normally is the way that learners transfer their L1 into the target language
properly. In other words, it is the Concepts, widely defined as comprehensible,
problematic, conventional and sociocultural (Kasper, 1998). Interlanguage pragmatics
are the production and comprehension of non-native speakers toward pragmatics─ tolook at how L1 learners acquire the L2 learners which is related to knowledge on
language transfer. In addition, interlanguage pragmatics plays an important role forboth instructors and learners, especially speech act intercultural misunderstanding
because of L1 background towards the sociocultural norm, and convention in thetarget language (Takahshi, 1996).

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Besides, pragmatic transfer is the sociolinguistic transfer that is the way of learners ontransferring L1 sociocultural competence in the contexts of cross-linguistic influence,
discourse analysis transfer ─transfer of conventional features (Kasper, 1998). From
another different study, interlanguage pragmatics, and pragmatic transfer are also
defined as the influence, applied by learner’ s pragmatic knowledge of language andcultures rather than the comprehension of L2, L2 pragmatic learning as well as
production (Kasper, 1992).
To sum up, pragmatics, interlanguage pragmatics and pragmatic transfer are related tosecond language acquisition among L2 on interference and avoidance language that is
to embody the learners’ competency of what the L2 is transferred or what is nottransferred. In other words, it is the language influence of positive (facilitators) andnegative (errors) transfer. Pragmatic transfer also involves an influence of L1 onacquiring L2 based on the various contexts of pragmatic knowledge, sociocultural,intercultural communication, and socio-linguistics as well as discourse analysis
transfer.
II. Pragmatic Transfer in Language Proficiency
Pragmatic Transfer has been found in many periods for developing language
proficiency of L1 to acquire L2 under particular frameworks and methods designed.
In terms of language proficiency, pragmaticS is necessary for learners due to the fact
they inevitably interact with native speakers through their utterances; therefore, theappropriate and polite words performed by learners are the important issue incommunicating successfully and avoiding confusion between the speakers andlisteners. The materials and methods used to reinforce learners were developed
continuously due to the misunderstanding of communication between L2 and native
speakers when learners need to transfer NL or L1 to L2. In other words, there is thefailure of L2 on language transfer as Thomas (1983) argued that students areoverlooked by teachers to criticize impoliteness words when communicating withothers. The example of negative pragmatic transfer is shown below when Japaneselearned needed to express gratitude in English to a native speaker:
English Speaker: Look what I’ve got for you! (maybe a gift)
Japanese: Oh! I’m sorry (thank you does not sound sincere enough in Japanese)
English speaker: Why sorry?
Another example of Patricia (1998) states in the incorporation language of how L1shows the negative outcomes of sociopragmatic transfer from L2 to L1 on expressing
gratitude in American English using the words, thank you. The Puerto Rico informant
living in the US for several years when she described thank you as the feeling of when
she felt hurt and angry her father after she said “thank you” while the father was
taking care of his grandchild.
As it can clearly be seen that pragmalinguistics and sociolinguistics consist of bothsimilar and different aspects among learners when they need to transfer their native
and target language. In the role of teacher, Patricia (1998) indicates that students
should be assisted to be aware of and enhance pragmatic knowledge in order totransfer the suitable pragmalinguistics and sociopragmatic use in the target language.

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Apart from pragmalinguistics and sociopragmatic use in the target language, after the
researcher came across the literature review, there are diverse pragmatic transfer
studies used for reinforcing learners’ L2 proficiency proposed. The studies reviewed
can be divided into two following main themes.
1). Pragmatic Transferability in Speech Act
Speech act is broadly approached to examine the language transfer in L1 to equivalent
L2. There are many research conducts designed in interlanguage to the target
language.
Takahashi (1996) studied on the problematic transferability by investigating Japanese
EFL in Tokyo to examine about a Japanese request strategy that is more transferable
when the L1 request strategy is perceived as more appropriate and its L2 equivalent isperceived in the same degree of contextual appropriateness. Besides, to study aJapanese request strategy is less transferable when the L1 request strategy isperceived as less appropriate. In addition, its L2 equivalent is perceived for conveying
a different degree of contextual appropriateness. The findings found that the students’pragmatic competency was not similar to the native speakers’; moreover, the learners
tended to use “Would you please” when encountering a L2 high-imposition situation.
They were gentle enough to the various degrees of imposition in their transferability
decisions.
The niche of this study found that the sample group is only male which might tend toinvalidate the testing the imposition aspect. Moreover, Takahashi also pointed out thatthe effectiveness of formal instruction on IL pragmatic competency development
should be further studied because of the instructional effects on the acquisition ofmorphonsyntax which will be comprehensive for pragmatics.
Another situation on language proficiency so as to aid learners in bettering thepragmatic performances in EFL and to contribute knowledge on ILP behavior of theAlgerian learners of English as a Foreign Language as Dendenne (2014) examined ontransfer in interlanguage requests performed by Algerian EFL, to know the productionof pragmalinguistics and sociopragmatic transfers presenting in EFL learners’
production, and other features that characterize ILP of Algerian EFL learners. The
results revealed that the Core Request, maintaining a higher level of directness using
simple imperatives perhaps sound rude for NSs. Asking help from a stranger may beperceived as an invasion of the stranger’s territory, signifying on rudeness. In
pedagogy, teaching the speech act and request require concern about the teachingmaterial, explicit instruction, and the effort on performing the speech. The
pedagogical method suggested to enhance learners on understanding pragmatic
comprehension is to spend more years of teaching is a better chance for teachers on
acquiring knowledge.
Based on the situation of an awareness of cultural background of people in terms ofsocio-cultural context on communicating effectively and the investigation between
native speakers and EFL learners’ recognition of the speech act, Alemi and
Khanlarzadeh (2016) indicated that in the pragmatic assessment of request speech actof Iranian EFL learners, the results showed that there are nine conditions as well as
six request situations noted by raters in the pragmailinguistic and language sociopragmatic components. Under these criteria of NNESRs, politeness, conversers’
relationship, style and register, and explanation have an abundant significance.

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Speech acts are also taught through various skills such as speaking, listening andwriting. In writing, it is complicated for EFL learners to produce their speech acts
suitably because of the diverse elements of writing to communicate with NSs.
Devecia and Hmidaa (2017) stated that in the request speech act in emails done by
Arab university students in the UAE, that the native English speakers and Arablearners of English were somewhat significant in discourse structure, strategy type,modified. Email teaching through the conventional context affected the competencyof students’ pragmatics in terms of academic feature.
Learners are enabled to transfer their native social and cultural rules into the target
language, to achieve appropriate language behavior as Jiemin Bu (2012) examined therelationship between L1 Pragmatic and L2 Proficiency by focusing on understanding
the social and cultural rules which constrain the target language and L1 pragmatictransfer on decreasing and increasing of L2 proficiency in forms of direct strategies,
lexical and phrasal downgrades, imperatives and grounders. It is found that
relationship found between L1 and pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency of the otherrequest strategies, internal modifiers and external modifiers are not clear. Highproficiency L2 learners could have less occurrence of transferring their native
language pragmatic customs, since they have not enough background knowledge of
L2.
2) Pragmatic Development in Speech Act
Among the pragmatics acquisition, pragmatic development in EFL has beencommonly focused on. Wijayanont et. al (2013) studied Pragmatic Development in a
Foreign Setting by Indonesian learners of English: Evidence from Non PedagogicalIntervention by investigating pragmatic development in non-pedagogical intervention
setting of Indonesian leaners of English L2 pragmatic aspects versus independent
implicit learning. This study focuses on investigating the development of direct andindirect strategies of complaint. It is indicated that the pattern of development wascomplicated for each individual. Indirect strategies were used in less than half of theparticipants’ strategies. L2 pragmatics are able to develop in a foreign country setting,and the pedagogical interference should be done; otherwise the development is notable take place in all language learners.
Apart from speech act studies used in pragmatic transfer a get Language Culture
Instruction and Pragmatic Comprehension Development in Malaysia to investigate theissue of the relationship between attitudes toward incorporating target language
culture into classroom instruction and the development of pragmatic comprehension.
It is revealed that positive attitude toward learning target language affects to a higher
level of pragmatic comprehension. To aid of foreign language course books and the
instruction of foreign language classroom instruction based on cultural information issuggested for further study.
Speech act production doesn’t only concern the instruction that mainly occurs
cognitive process. Nevertheless, there are few studies that proposed this assumption.
Consequently, Eva Alcon Soler et. al (2010) explore the effect of instruction onlearners’ pragmatic awareness from speech acts of learners by focusing on refusals
under the two hypotheses: learners’ awareness of pragmalinguistics and

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As it can clearly be seen, pragmatic transfer in speech act reviewed above, the request
strategy in form of indirect speech and core request are often used to transfer L1 to
L2. However, studying on multimedia design should be added as further tools to learn
ridiculous types of speech act which are from the learners’ backgrounds. Moreover,
the additional foreign language classroom instruction of the target language should be
discussed through cultural knowledge. Teachers themselves are required to be moretrained on pragmatics for learners’ empowerment.
III. Pragmalingusitc Awareness
Pragmalinguistic awareness has broadly been found from the previous studies onpragmatic investigations. Takahashi (2005) examined pragmatic linguistic awarenessto explore whether it is related to motivation or proficiency in the Japanese EFL
learners’ pragmalinguistcs awareness of L2 implicit input process and the learners’
awareness of the target features whether it is relevant to motivation and proficiency.
Japanese EFL learners tend to emphasize on discourse markers and idiomatic
expression rather than complicated request head act. For instructional settings, thecolloquial English is less possible to do than the discourse markers. Students shouldbe persuaded to be in the in-put environment of EFL classroom. Based on Takahashi(2012; 2013; 2014; 2015) initially tried to explore the effects of motivation andlistening proficiency as variables of individual differences (ID) on pragmaticawareness and the complicated request form learning. She also examined theintegrated grammatical development with obvious pragmatic competence supported
by Kasper & Rose (2002), it was found there are two standard of studies prepared forinterpreting relationship between grammar and pragmatics. Later on, Takahashi(2012) investigate the effect of the ID variables on learners’ awareness by using biclausal request form, the listening proficiency variables are two of the four motivation
subscales and the pragmatic awareness of the target forms.
In addition, Takahashi (2017) has conducted Pragmatics-Grammar Interface inPragmalinguistic Awareness and Learning by investigating the possibility and degreeof grammatical knowledge of Japanese EFL learners for the awareness of target biclausal request forms which is prepared in the implicit input and their learning of thecomplicated form. Learners who have enough grammar knowledge tend to notice thetarget forms in the input and use bi-clausal form in the posttest performance. For thevarious ID factors: motivation and listening proficiency can be brought to the in-depth
analysis of form function mapping toward autonomous learning.
Pragmalinguistic awareness is related to the learner’s motivation especially basic
motivation, therefore, to increase the chances of pragmatic feature observation basedon the implicit criteria, the learners’ motivation should be motivated in various ways.
Some studies of pragmatic awareness has failed to explore how grammar interacts
with various other ID factors and how these factors are concerned in the formfunction analysis of the input overall (Takahashi, 2017).

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IV. Effect of Instruction on Learners’ Pragmatic AwarenessInterlanguage pragmatics have been focused on the scope of language pedagogy,
suggestion are produced for techniques and activities to develop learners’ pragmaticawareness on speech acts. Speech acts are still used to approach EFL learners. There
are various techniques used to raise learners’ awareness, like TV series strategies,
films to explore the refusal teaching at the discourse level are effective as informationa and teaching at the discourse level is operative as learners’ awareness of refusals(Soler & Pitarch, 2010).
As scholars’ investigate the effects of instruction on learners there are two main
advantages of pragmatic pedagogies on learners’ attention and consciousness ofpragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic topics based on the refusal speech act. They are1) the planning of teaching actions perhaps work on pragmatic instruction in thecontext of EFL should prepare learners for audio pragmatic input, and 2) being awareof various pragmatic meaning comprehension to work with pragmatic consciousness
raising tasks. Another is an instruction refusal speech act at the level of discourse
probably assist to help learners for learning speaking skills indirectly like turn-taking
or negotiation methods; hence, instructors should not ignore bringing the speech acts
through pragmatic instruction (Soler and Pitarch, 2010).
As pragmatic concepts mentioned above, there are different gaps and limitations on
longitudinal and experimental studies, and the same number of participants should becontrolled equally. Interviews of the learners should be of one method to test theirattitudes towards pragmatic comprehension across L2 culture. Moreover, awarenessof pragmatic grammatical knowledge is important for an experiment study based onlearners’ backgrounds should be concerned. The class project was investigated onpragmatic transfers of the first-year students of English major in Nakhon Phanom
University in the first semester of academic year 2017, and found that students haveencountered low L1 proficiency and lack of L2 socio-cultural background knowledge
as well as grammatical knowledge. Thus, to fill the gap, the researcher is interested inenhancing EFL learners to acquire proper ways of transferring the L1 into L2 in thediverse situations appropriately.
Methodology
The study of The Investigation of Grammatical Instruction on Pragmatics of Thai
EFL Learners: A Case of the 1st Year-English-major Students of Nakhon Phanom
University aims to address the following two hypothesis.
1). The grammatical instruction affects the scores of Thai EFL learners.
2). There are various types of the request speech act produced by Thai EFL learners.
These lead to the two following research questions:
1. Does the grammatical instruction affect pragmatics of Thai EFL learners’ scores?
2. What type of the request speech act influences pragmatics of Thai EFL learners?
Therefore, respond to the above two research questions, the study will focus on theclass project based on the research methodology described below.

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Participants
The participants in this study were the undergraduate students. They were from thetwo groups of the first year Thai EFL students studying in the English major of the firstsemester in the academic year 2017 at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nakhon
Phanom University. These participants were 4 males and 27 females from 31 of 35 from thetwo classes, aging from 17-19 years old. The 4 students of 35 who participated in the firstweek of doing the pretest were finally cut out of the whole sample group due to their notshowing up to be tested in the second week. All participants were classified by the purposive
sampling which they have various English proficiency skills.

Instruments
The instruments used in this study were the pretest and the posttest of Discourse
Completion Test (DCT) consisting of 10 items of Thai requesting situations and 10
items of English requesting situations. The 10 situations of the posttest were different
from the pretest. The materials used after teaching comprised the 16 types of therequest speech act adapted from Blum-Kalka et al, (1989) and Alcon, (2005), model
verbs, grammatical comprehension tasks, Thai and English email writing tasks. There
were two pragmatically equivalent versions of the DCT, one in English and the otherone in Thai. Both pretest and posttest of English were edited by the American native
instructor in order to make sure that these versions were reasonable situations andaccurate structures. These ten situations were then given to students, divided based on
the social class categorized in the table below.
Test

Social status

Total
situations)

Lower

Equal

HigherPretest

2

4

4

10

Posttest

1

4

5

10

Figure 1: Size of Imposition
Frameworks
The unit of analysis requests in the discourse completion test questionnaire provided
consists of speech act which is called requested sematic formulas among theutterances or sequences of utterances. From this study, the coding scheme ofrequested semantic formulas is mostly based on the coding scheme of request fromCCSARP developed by Blum-Kulka et al, (1989) and Alco, (2005). The requested
semantic formulas are divided into two categories: request strategies, internal
modifiers and external modifiers as
indicated below.

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Modification Devices
Type
Subtype
ExampleRequestWant-I want you to help me mystrategies
statement
homework.
Hedge- I would like to ask you to
performatives
wash the dishes.
Internal
Openers-Do you think you could open
Modification
the window?
-Would you mind opening thewindow?
Softeners
Understatement -Could you open the window fora moment?
Downtoner-Could you possibly open thewindow?
Hedge-Could you kind of open thewindow?
Intensifiers-You really must open thewindow.
-I’m sure you wouldn’t mind
opening the window?
Filters
Hesitators-I er, erm, er- I wonder if you
could open the window.
Cajolers-You know, you see, I mean
Appealers-OK?, Right?, yeah
Attention-getter -Excuse me..; Hello…;Look..;
Tom…;
Mr. Edwards…; father… …
External
Preparator
May
I
ask
you
a
Modification
favor…?...Could you open thewindow?
Emphasis ofPlease clean it up. Don’t forget.
Importance
Grounders
It seems it’s quite hot here…
Could you open the window?
Disarmers
I hate botherin you, but could
you open the window?
Expanders
Would you mind opening thewindow?
...Once again, could you open
the window?
Promise
of
Could
you
open
the
rewardwindow?...if you open it, I
promise to bring you to thecinema.
PleaseWould you mind opening thewindow, please?
Figure 2: The Coding Scheme of Request Strategies of New Taxonomy adaptedfrom Bulm-Kulka et al. (1989) and Alco, (2005)

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Procedures
The study spent 4 weeks of conduct for the 31 first year English-major students.
First, the posttest of 10 Thai and 10 English situations were administrated to 31
students in the first week. The request speech act models were taught through the 16
taxonomy including the model verbs in the second week. Then in the third week andthe fourth week, students were given the grammatical comprehension tasks, pragmatic
Thai and English tasks, pragmatic email writing, random role-play and random
interview, and finally the posttest in the same day.
Data collection
One group from two classes of the first year students was collected by purposive
sampling. In this study, within one group of the research conduct, the researcher
divided students into three groups so as to order the tasks used ─ to examine whether
the material order instruction affected the scores of students. The materials order was
designed as the diagrams below.
Group 1 = Pretestè teachingèExercise 1a è Exercise 1bè Exercise 2 è Emailwriting è posttest
Group 2 = Pretestè teaching è Email writing è Exercise 2 è Exercise 1a è
Exercise 1bè posttest
Group 3= Pretestè teaching è Exercise 2è Exercise 1a è Exercise +1b è Emailwritingè posttest
Data analysis
The data collected for this study were analyzed according to models of the request
speech act. The two American-native speakers and Thai instructor are the inter-raters
for giving the model pattern based on the scores of 0 and 1. 0 means students wereable to produce pragmatics incorrectly based on grammatical context and speech act
model, whereas 1 means students were able to produce pragmatics accurately ornearly accurately, based on the speech act model and grammatical context.
To check the frequency of the request speech act produced by learners, coding wasdone in order to group the category of speech act that occurred for the research
conduct. Statistics of t-test and One-way Anowa were brought to analyze data. The
results of the study will be described in the results and discussions.
Results and Discussions
The study of the Investigation of Grammatical Instruction on Pragmatics of Thai EFL
Learners: A Case of 1st Year English-Major Students of Nakhon Phanom University
aims to two address research questions: Does the grammatical instruction affectpragmatics of Thai EFL learners’ scores? and What type of the request speech act
influences pragmatics of Thai EFL learners?
The DCT posttest used in this study consists of 10 situations of English ranging fromthe lower, equal and higher social status when the learners uttered with waiters, peers,strangers instructors, doctor, and mother. They were classified into 1 situation

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involving lower social status, 4 situations involving equal status, and 5 situations
involving higher status of the addressee. Therefore, to respond to RQ1: Does
grammatical instruction affect pragmatics of Thai EFL learners’ scores? in the Paired
Samples Test , the results showed as below.

Figure 3: The Paired Sample T-test
The results revealed that the posttest scores (Mean = 6.39, SD = 2.33) weresignificantly higher than the pretest scores (Mean = 3.16, SD = 1.85), indicated byt(31) = 8.05, p<.05, d=1.53. That means, the grammatical instruction used inpragmatics was effective, and the teacher could effectively improve their learners’
skills.
Effect size: Cohen’s d = 1.53536465
Therefore, to reply to the first research question, it is stated that grammatical
instruction affects scores of Thai EFL learners.
After the researcher tested the hypothesis that the grammatical instruction affects thescores of Thai EFL learners, it was found that learners improved their learning as thescores of between the pretest and the posttest according to the paired samples t-test.
However, the scores of the pretest and the posttest could not identified that instruction
affects the learners’ score level; therefore, the researcher tested the hypothesis byusing one-way anova in order to compare the teaching method through material orderpedagogy. It indicated that the material order did not affect the posttest scores oflearners. When looking at an individual material task used in between and withingroups shown in one-way anova table below, it indicated that there were notsignificantly different. That means the material order did not affect the learners’
posttest scores.

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Figure 4: Material Order
Thus, there were other factors involved in the influencing the learner acquisition suchas lexical use, word recognition, sentence construction, etc. involved. These werebrought to the second hypothesis that is there are other factors influencing learners on
pragmatic acquisition. Hence, to find the answer of the second research question.
RQ2: What type of the request speech act influences pragmatics of Thai EFL
learners?
The results revealed that students were able to produce pragmatics of the request
speech act differently. There were 327 frequencies used by students classified by 12
types. The three frequently used by Thai EFL leaners are ATG (Attention-getter)accounting for 30.28 % (99 times), SOF (Softeners) accounting for 20.80 % (68times), and IOI (Emphasis of Importance) accounting for 15.90 % (52 times)
respectively. Whereas the three least frequently used by Thai EFL learners are INT(Intensifier) accounting for 0.91% (3 times), HST (Hesitators) accounting for 0.31%(1 time), and DAM (Disarmers) accounting for 0.31% (1 time) respectively.
Coding
1. ATG
2. SOF
3. EOI
4. HP
5. PRP
6. OPN
7. TIT
8. MRL
9. POR
10. INT
11. HST
12. DAMType
Attention-getter
Softeners
Emphasis of ImportanceHedged performance
Preparator
Openers
Time Intensifiers
Moralizing
Promise of reward
Intensifiers
Hesitators
Disarmers

Frequency
99
68
52
32
21
20
14
11
5
3
1
1
327

Percent
30.28
20.80
15.90
9.79
6.42
6.11
4.28
3.36
1.52
0.91
.31
.31
100

Figure 5: Type of Frequency for Request Speech Act

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For the conclusion of the study will be describe in the conclusion.
Conclusion
This study explored the Grammatical Instruction on Pragmatics of Thai EFL learnersof 1st Year English-Major Students of Nakhon Phanom University by the two
hypotheses: 1) The grammatical instruction affect pragmatics of Thai EFL learners’scores and 2) there are various types of the request speech act influences pragmaticsof Thai EFL learners.
The findings of the study showed that Thai EFL learners obtained the higher scores
after leerning through the grammatical instruction on pragmatics. There are 12 typesof speech acts frequently used by learners: Attention-Getter, Softeners, Emphasis ofImportance, Hedged Performance, Preparator, Openers, Time Intensifiers, Moralizing,
Promise of Rewards, Intensifier, Hesitators, and Disarmers.
Limitations
Some week during the conduct, the researcher could not find sufficient time to meetparticipants as often as the researcher needed. Instead, the researcher had to find theleisure time after their normal classes to conduct the study. Consequently, theparticipants did not more concentration to participate this study. The learners did theThai pragmatic version before the English ones given; thus, some looked at what they
had written in Thai before then they did the English version. This perhaps caused
them to recognize their L1 context to transfer L2 for the ones. In addition, the fourweek research period as not adequate to enhance pragmatic acquisition among EFL
learners because they could not recognize all patterns of the request speech act as wellas grammatical structure acquisition. More importantly, in terms of size of impositionand social status, the comparable situations between the pretest and the posttest must
be the same amount so as to make the study more reliable, valid and accurate.
Recommendations
Before doing the posttest, students were randomized to make the role-play after theyfinished pragmatic acquisition, and about 80 % of them randomized could do orally
well. The sentences which students always used while producing pragmatics were:
could you please….?, would you like…?, would you mind….?, would you please….?,
May I…?, Excuse me, where the ….is, and please give me…, and would like…
For interviews, students need approximately four months to comprehend pragmatic
acquisition, instead of only one month. They could perceive that the request speech
act is essential to their daily life when they dealt with the diverse persons in different
situations. They were able to pick up the polite request in every day conversation.
They gained more ways and be more confident to ask the native speakers more. They
need to learn individual pragmatics with instructors, particularly with native speakers.
They also obtained more vocabularies, idioms, grammar for pragmatics. For theemail pragmatic learning 2-3 sessions of learning will be good for students tocomprehend the contents very well. To be more effective on pragmatic acquisition,
students are required to learn through the real environments, like going out-door, and

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via various materials such as Youtube videos, movies, unreal situations, and sociocultural pragmatics in the longitudinal study.
Implications
Pragmatic acquisition of the request speech act is an implication for pedagogy. Itshould be added as one of the topics in the listening and speaking courses andintegrated ith other courses in the English curriculum in the future. For further study,
the researcher will extend the scope of study pragmatics by comparing theinternational students among EFL learners: Thais, Laotians, and Vietnamese based on
the Qausi Experimental research which will be conducted in the research. The nexttime the research is conducted, the study will classify the samples and the teachingstrategies more effectively in order to accomplish students’ pragmatic acquisition
more efficiently.
Acknowledgements
This study would not be successful without a very kindness of my lecturer, Asst. Prof.
Dr. Angkana Thongpoon Phattanasorn, currently works as the chair of Apply
Linguistic Program at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen
University who suggested and commented before and after the research conduct.
Besides, I would like to thanks Ms. Wittika Thangchan, a lecturer of Department of
Hospitality and Event Management, Faculty of Business Administration andAccountancy, Khon Kaen University for data analysis suggestion. Lastly, I would liketo thanks Mr. Lloyd Wagner, a US proof reader for this research article.

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References
Abrams, Z. (2013). Say What?! L2 Sociopragmatic Competence in CMC: Skill
Transfer and Development. CALICO Journal, 30(3), 423-445.
Alcon, E. (2007). Fostering EFL learners’ awareness of requesting through explicit
and implicit consciousness-raising task. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Alemin, M. and Khanalarzadeh, N. (2016). Pragmatic assessment of request speech
act of Iranian EFL learners by non-native English speaking teachers. Iranian Journalof Language Teaching Research 4(2), (July, 2016) 19-34 19
Baba, J. (2010). Interlanguage pragmatics study of indirect complaint among
Japanese ESL learners. December 2010, Volume 7, No.12 (Serial No.84).
Blum-Kulka, S. and Elite o, (1989). Requests and Apologies: A Cross-Cultural Studyof Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP)1. p.207.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language
usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bu, J. (2012). A study of Relationship between L1 Pragmatic and L2 Proficiency.
Journal of English Language Teaching, Vol. 5 no. 5.
Butler, C. S. (1988). Politeness and the semantics of modalised directives inEnglish.
In D. Benson, M. J. Cummings, & W. S. Greaves (Eds.), Linguistics in a systematic
perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Harling, B. (2001). Evaluating the empirical evidence: Ground for instruction inpragmatics? In K.R. Rose & G. Kasper (Eds.), Pragmatics in language
teaching.Cambridge University Press.
Dendenne, B. (2014). Could you help me with these bag brother? My shoulders are
falling.” Transfer in interlanguage requests performed by Algerian EFL learners.
Journal of Language and Lingusitic Studies, Vol. 10(2), 29-47.
Devecia, T. and Hmidaa, B. I. (2017). The request speech act in emails by Arab
university students in the UAE. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 13(1),194-214; 2017
Kasper, G. (1992). Pragmatics Transfer, Second Language Research 8:3, 203-231.
Kasper, G. (1998). On Pragmatic Transfer. Studies in English Language andLinguistics.
0:5-20.
Kasper, G. (2000). Four perspectives on L2 development. Annual Conference of theAmerican Association of Applied Linguistics, Vancouver, March. 2000.

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Kasper, G., & Rose, K. R. (2002). Introduction to Second Language Pragmatic
Development. Language Learning, 52(s1), 1-11.
Patricia, B. F. (1998). On Pragmatic Transfer. Studies in English Language andLinguistics.
Takahashi, (2012). Investigate the effect of the ID variables on learners’ awareness ofbi-p. 5-20.clausal.
Takahashi, (2005). Pragmatic linguistics Awareness: Is it Related to Motivation an
Proficiency? in order to explore Japanese EFL learners’ request form. Applied
Linguistics. 26/1: 90-120.
Takahashi, (1996). Pragmatic Transferability. Cambridge University Press.
Takahashi, (2017). Pragmatic-Grammar Interface in Pragmalinguistic Awareness andLearning. Language, Culture and Communication. Vol 9. 2017.
Thomas, J. (1983). Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Failure, Applied Linguistics 4:2, 91-112.
Trosborg, A. (2010). Pragmatics across Languages and Cultures. Handbook Online.
Soler, A. E. and Pitarch, G. J. (2010). The Effect of Instruction on Learners’
Pragmatic Awareness: a Focus on Refusals. International Journal of English Studies.
IJES 10(1).2010, pp. 65-80.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (2007). Speech Acts. First published Tue Jul 3,
2007; substantive revision Thu Oct 2, 2014. Retrieved on May 28, 2018.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/speech-acts/
Wijayanont, A. and Laila, M. (2013). Development in a Foreign Setting by
Indenesian Learners of English: Evidence from Pragmatic m Non PedagogicalIntervention.
The 1st Colalite: Conference on Language, Linguistics and Literature, Jendral
Soediraman University, Purwokerto-Indonesia, 9 November 2013.
Contact email: arnunnit@gmail.com

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Comparison of the Learning Curve and Adaptive Behavior from Kids to Adults who Create
Mobile-Apps and Little Robots Using Block-Programming
Felipe Moreno-Vera, Universidad Católica San Pablo, Perú
Leonardo León-Vera, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, PerúJuan Guizado-Vasquez, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Perú
Michael Vera-Panez, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Perú
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Abstract
Block programming presents an interactive and very simple way to learn to program, today
block programming applications allow you to develop and program the electronic hardware
components such as sensors and motors, whose relationship between hardware, software andmobile applications are fundamental in this technological age. In this article we present a
study on how much the speed of learning differs and how much information retention
capacity children, adolescents and adults have in the same conditions of learning,
environment, tools and teaching system with the topic of creating robots through simulationof electronic circuits. In addition, the manipulation of electronic components such as sensors,
motors and Bluetooth is presented.
Keywords: Learning, Education, Robotics, Kids, Teenagers, Adults, Programing languages,
Block Programming

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Introduction
In the context of Peru, the education methodology is not enough to a complete a certain levelof knowledge. Our target study subjects are people between the ages of 9 and 45, because is
the 57.232% of the total population (information was collected from [1]). Kids (6-9 years old)
have more easily way to learn and play with new tools [2], Teens (10-12 years old) and
Juniors (13-17 years old) have the same capacity to learn, but they have another distractions
that causes a little reduction in the learning curve for new things [3].
Adults (from 18 years old and on) have a different way to learn things about technology,
some of them have experience working with computers but others do not use computers indaily life. We have approximately 100 children, 100 teens, 100 junior and 100 adults, eachgroup is divided into a group of 25 people with the same curriculum, the same materials, thesame teachers and the same 16 lessons (each lasts 3 hours a day).
Currently, in Perú we have a lot of devices distributed in all families, adults, teens and kids.
Is very common see a kid with a tablet or mobile phone at 8 years old playing games or usingsocial networks (with parental control like facebook) or watching videos about youtubers(gamers with minecraft channels, fornite, etc).
In this context, we have technology in our hands every day any time, but in education until
this time, schools separate technology for the classrooms, schools don't use technology toteach and don't tech how to use technology responsibly. So, this create a disorder in thegeneration gap between people who use technology only for play games and those who do
not use technology to improve techniques or methodologies to teach or learn new things.
In other words we have population that explode technology in any another aspect except in
education and our consequence is that schools don't teach programming at early ages, ouryoung people learn computer concepts or how to programming in the university at age
between 20 and 22 years old. We try to break the gap through free courses of computational
thinking and algorithm design concepts hidden in courses called "Robotics for everyone" or"game development for everyone" using different methodologies describe in the present
work, preparing people of all ages to a better understand of computer concepts and improve
computer skills.
For this situation with help of our universities we organize a course that involves learning
computer science concepts to develop simple programs using C and python language andbuild robots with Arduino board.
For that, we measure how fast is the adaptive behavior of our students and how fast increase
the understanding of these concepts. We hide the concept of Computational Thinking insideof "how to teach computer science using block programming" because computational
thinking is the way that any person can interpret the world in a computer and how canextrapolate these concepts to real world. So while we teach about how interpret computerscience concepts, we teach how is computational thinking works in our lives [4].

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Definitions and techniques
We need to understand important concepts those we use in our research, those concepts arevery useful when we try to measure and expose about the progress or difficulties of thestudents while they are learning new things with enhanced methods through technology. We
use Learning Curve to define how they understand new concepts and Adaptive Behavior todefine performance and attitude against new concepts.
Learning Curve
We introduce the concept of Learning Curve as the representation how to increases thelearning based on experience. also, measuring if the student solve problems better than before
times.
Adaptive Behavior
We introduce the concept of Adaptive Behavior as how students accept or reject new
concepts. Also, we know that adults, kids and teens have different ways to learn andunderstand things. The adaptive behavior is notorious when in the learning process they canuse examples based on computer science concepts or make jokes with computers or withsome new concepts than they never used before.
Script Language
Script Language is a technique used to explain concepts in an very short time with simple
examples, script languages are defined as a normal conversation with specific questions, theanswers could be any but in all of these answers, there is a concept hidden inside.
Metaphors
Metaphors is used to complete the understanding of the concepts givins another examples
based on the previous one, metaphors is very commonly used in the daily activity, in any
situation because is the most easy way to explain new things. we use metaphors to exaplin
computer science concepts with common examples.
Mind maps
Mind maps is a technique based in drawing a map based on a brain storming with connectedideas like a graph \cite{mind_map_ref}. We use Mind maps to teach about mathematics
concepts,
programming
concepts
andalgorithm
designconcepts\cite{teach_mindmaps_programming}.
Block Programming
Block Programming is a technique to encapsule code programming in a simple sentence andthe way to programming is just joining the blocks following a flow diagram or main idea. In
this research we try to test how efficient is teach computer science concepts and examples
using block programming in a first steps and how fast our students can improve skills
programming to jump from blocks to code in simple programs like programming sensors or
programming games, in this work we encourage to our students and our readers to practice to

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thinking in blocks \cite{thinking_blocks} and think how easy could be the learning for future
generations topics like IoT or Data Science or Machine Learning with blocks, that research
field or develop is part of challenges to learn and understand block programming and how
you can add new libraries into a sequence of blocks \cite{challenge_blocks}.
Methodology
We started the classes with the empirical methodology based on Metaphors [5] because or
students are novices in the five stage of learning programming skills: novice, advanced
beginner, competence, proficiency, and expert [6]. That means, we teach using example ofdifferent simple situations in the real life to explain what can we do to interact and which
solutions we provide to solve daily problems.
For difference age we use different methodology, as we mentioned above, there is a different
way of understanding and retention of information in all of these ages.
Learning Computer Science Concepts
To introduce computer science concepts, we starts with the main question "what is analgorithm ?". To answer that question, we use first technique called script language used in
kids [2] in all ages.
At first time adults and Teens understood very fast, kids and tweens take a time to understandthe aim of that examples. We use different asks in different ages, simple questions to explainthat an algorithm is inside in any situation and in any action.
•   Script language for kids
(Q): “If you want to go to the bathroom, what should you need to say ? How do clean
your desk ?"•   Script language for tweens(Q): “Have you ever play a game in your computer ?, do you hear about PSP or
XBOX ?, Do you know what Mario Kart is it?".
•   Script language for teens(Q): “Do you know how to solve a linear equation ?, Which rules do you need tofollow when you play foot ball ?, Have your ever play guitar ?".
•   Script language for adults(T): “Have you ever developed something ?, do you hear about Programming
languages ?, Do you know what Software means?".
These questions look different but in the background they are very similar. In all categories,
they answered "Yes!" and then explained how it works with a sequence of steps. You can see
how many time it takes for them.

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Implementing a mini Robot
In this section we introduce as the goal of the course the implementation of two mini robots
called Otto and Kyo (See Fig. 1). In this part, we use all methodologies to explain about
electronic components, the mathematical fundamentals and how they should to program thesensors.
To implement and programming these robots, their movements and their sensors we use
Block programming and C language (with the concepts explained above) for this part we use
the online platform to simulate the component programming. To programming Otto we use
the platform BitBloq and to programming Kyo we use the platform Tinkercad.
At this time, we measure how fast they understand basic electronic concepts and components
description and how fast they can imagine a solution to programming using blocks.
We starts with script language then with metaphors and finally with mind maps to get asolution for the problem of how should we programming these mini robots. But in thi part we
focus on programming skills and how they can translate their mind maps into a program(blocks or programming language).
We note that there is a improving in programming speed after they understand the logic
following in the mind map previously drawn.
Results
As definition of learning curve, we need to verify if the average time of learning in previous
works in kids [2] and teens [3] is correct in all new concepts and for computer science weneed to add mathematic, physics and electronic components concepts. So we teach and refor
this topics with different methodologies, using the formula below we approximate theaverage time to learning and we compare with the real average time get from the students.
We note that our average time in some cases is a bit less than the approximate time and also
is less than the average time mentioned in previous works.
Measuring the learning curve
As definition of learning curve, we need to verify if the average time of learning in previous
works in kids \cite{learn_kids_ref} and teens \cite{learn_teens_ref} is correct in all new
concepts and for computer science we need to add mathematic, physics and electronic
components concepts. So we teach and refor this topics with different methodologies, using
the formula below we approximate the average time to learning and we compare with the real
average time get from the students.
We note that our average time in some cases is a bit less than the approximate time and also
is less than the average time mentioned in previous works.

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Where:
K: Number of hours used to understand the first unit (or task).
: Number of hours to understand thex: Number of the unit.
b: Percent of learning.

unit.

So, we have this tables with respective approximations. We take the K value from the firstpart in script languages in Table I we take b from [7] and x is equal to 4, because is the 4thunit.
TABLE I. TABLE OF AVERAGE TIME TO DESCRIBE AND SOLVE.
How many time takes to learn a new concept with examples ?
Category

Time to describe theproblemAverage Time tosolve

Previous work time

Kids

55-65 min

66.486 min

68.64 min

Tweens52-56 min57.365 min

56.49 minTeens

42-52 min50.934 min

51.32 minAdults25-41 min42.163 min

40.89 minConclusion
This work introduces the different adaptive behavior with different methodologies in thelearning speed of kids, tweens, teens and adults. We note that tweens and teens have moreability to understand new concepts using games as metaphors. Adults have a strong learning
speed to understand new concepts based on past experience. From kids to juniors, theypresent a fast learning speed, but they forget concepts in a little period of time.
Table I shows the results of manage the learning curve after all the tasks and show us thatlearning time don't depend of an specific topic, depends of the methodology applied to teachthat.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grant 234-2015-FONDECYT (Master Program) from
CienciActiva of the National Council for Science,Technology and Technological Innovation(CONCYTEC-PERU).

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References
INEI, Population index, Lima, Perú, https://www.inei.gob.pe/estadisticas/indicetematico/population/, Last accessed 2 Feb 2018.
Shahla Gul, Muhammad Asif, Waqar Ahmad and Uzair Ahmad: Teaching Programming: A
Mind Map based Methodology to Improve Learning Outcomes. In: International Conferenceon Information and Communication Technologies (2017).
D. Pérez-Marín, R. Hijón-Neira, M. Martín-Lope : A Methodology Proposal based on
Metaphors to teach Programming to children, In: IEEE Revista Iberoamericana deTecnologias del Aprendizaje (2018).
D. Ginat: On novice loop boundaries and range conceptions, In: Computer Science Education(2004).
A. Robins ,J. Rountree, and N.Rountre: Learning and teaching programming: A review anddiscussion, In: Computer Science Education (2003).
Sajana Sigde, Technology and Learning Capacity of Children: A Positive Impact ofTechnology in Early Childhood, Johnson & Wales University - Providence.
Amanda Lenhart, Paul Hitlin and Mary Madden, Teens and Technology, PEW INTERNET& AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT.

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Kinesthetic Perception, Physical Activity and on-Task Behavior in Thematic
Learning
Eva Julianti P, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia
Heni Widyaningsih, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia
Mulyana, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia
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Abstract
Objective: To investigate associations between kinesthetic perception, physicalactivity and on-task behavior in thematic learning, and evaluate how they correlate toacademic performance in math, reading and science. Methods: This study included 25
children (age: 6-7 years, 14 girls). Kinesthetic perception was evaluated in spacevisuomotor task accuracy test (kinesthetic perception test and measurement). Level ofphysical activity was estimated from the daily activity during normal school activity
using pedometer and both relation with On-task behavior in thematic learning wasinvestigated with standard test of completion tasks and cognitive tests, in math,reading and science. Results: Kinesthetic perception was associated with better
performance in tests of completed tasks and academic performance (P<0.003),
whereas physical activity was associated with better-sustained completion tasks(P<0.038) and academic performance (P<0.047). Kinesthetic perception and physicalactivity were all associated with better performance in cognitive tests (math, reading
and science). The results expose that on the whole the academic performance wassignificantly correlated with physical activity and kinesthetic perception.
Conclusions: The data demonstrate that kinesthetic perception and physical activity
are positively correlated with on-task behavior in thematic learning and withacademic performance in math and reading. Future interventions should investigate
associations between kinesthetic perception, physical activity and on task behavior inacademic performance to expound the causation of these associations
Keywords: Kinesthetic Perception, physical activity, on-task behavior

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Introduction
Teachers have responsibility to provide their student the beneficial learning
experiences. Teachers should note all factors and variables that effect students
learning and suit student’s need in the classroom and learning. Comprises the formulafor engaging students to be more active in movement during lesson and facing
problem that students are continually being faced with mostly sitting in their seats
during classroom. Some various strategies to engaging student in physical activity,
unfortunately they do not physically stimulate students through movement
interactions.
The association between kinesthetic perception, physical activity, and academic
achievement has been studied in recent years. Some studies showing that active andfit children tend to perform cognitive test better than not active and lower fit children.
Physical activity improves and contributes to quality of life, mental health, and theability to accomplish physical task demands. Low level of physical activity can
predispose children to obesity
Prior studies have found positive associations between kinesthetic perception andphysical activity in academic performance, recent studies have also documented
positive associations between physical activity and academic performance. Further, itemphasizes a potential positive role of physical activity in preschool children,
children and preadolescence and suggests that motor skills development is positively
related to learning process at school. Other studies on aerobic fitness in children
found positive associations with performance in academic performance. The
investigation to the associations between children perceptual abilities (visual
perception, auditory perception, kinesthetic perception and tactile perception) and theacademic performance reveal that a significant percentage of the sample academic
under-achievers scored low in the three perceptual channels – visual, auditory andkinesthetic. On an average one fourth of the children were poor in these perceptualareas. Tactile perception was the only area where only a few children faced problems.
(1).
Off-task and on-task behavior during learning in class, has an association withacademic performance. There are three type of off-task behavior, including motorOTM, verbal-OTV and passive-OTP. Off-Task Motor (OTM) is the behavior ofchildren during lesson, instead of working on assigned task, the student is out of seat,
constant and noticeable fidgeting, playing with objects and/or other children, making
inappropriate gestures, acting silly, hitting, biting, or throwing things, fighting withothers, etc. While off-task verbal (OTV) is the behavior of children in class, instead ofworking on assigned task, the student is calling out, talking to someone whenprohibited, making noises, etc. And off-task passive (OTP) is when instead ofworking on assigned task, the student is looking around, daydreaming, looking out
window, skipping school, coming to class late, delaying starting assigned task, etc.

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On-Task Behavior is the behavior when student or children are: Looking at teacher
when giving lesson, directions and/or instructions (L); b. Participating in classdiscussion (P); Working on seat work (S); and Working cooperatively on cooperative
project (C)We found no previously study focused on concurrent assessment of kinesthetic
perception, physical activity and on-task behavior with academic performance forcohort children and it is the aim of this study to investigate the potential associations
between kinesthetic perception and physical activity with academic performance inchildren.
The research study then: If physical activity and kinesthetic perception affected ontask behavior therefore student with high physical activity level and level ofkinesthetic perception will reach high performance in completion of task.
Definition of term: For the purposes of this study, several terms are used inconjunction to its methods, results, and past research. Physical activity in this instancerefers to the physical movement of students' bodies, where they are up and moving
about the classroom setting. This term is specifically used in contrast to direct
instruction teaching methods. Physical activity should not be confused with physicaleducation, which refers to the supplemental class students attend in a given amount oftime throughout the school week to receive the instruction of a separate physicaleducation teacher.
On-task behavior is used as a measure of students' levels of task completion. When
students are considered to be fully on-task, they are completely focused on the given
assignment that the teacher has provided and are not influenced by any sort of
distraction within the classroom setting. In contrast, when students are considered to
be off-task they are giving into distractions around them or are in turn becoming aninterruption themselves. Off-task behavior may be categorized into three separate
categories: motor, verbal and passive. Students’ movement within their workspacethat results in their concentration being averted from the given task at hand
categorizes off-task motor.
Similarly, off-task verbal behavior describes incidences when students use verbal
language that results in their focus moving away from being on-task. Off-task passive
behavior occurs when students are not moving physically or talking verbally but isstill not actively participating to the extent that their concentration is clearly on thegiven task.
Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles
that result in energy expenditure and several elements of physical activity have been
identified. . The amount of energy required to accomplish an activity can be

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measured in kilojoules (kJ) or kilocalories (kcal); 4.184 kJ is essentially equivalent
to1kcal. Technically, the kJ is preferred because it is a measure of energy expenditure;
Expressed as a rate (kcal per unit time), the amount of energy expended by each
person is a continuous variable, ranging from low to high. The total amount of caloric
expenditure associated with physical activity is determined by the amount of muscle
mass-producing bodily movements and the intensity, duration, and frequency ofmuscular contractions. Everyone performs physical activity in order to sustain life;
however, the amount is largely subject to personal choice and may vary considerablyfrom person to person as well as for a given person over time. The most common
units of time used to refer to kcals spent in physical activity are the week and the day.
Physical activity during monthly, seasonal, or yearly periods may also be examined toestablish the stability of physical activity for longer time periods.
Physical activity can be categorized in a variety of ways. A commonly used approachis to segment physical activity on the basis of the identifiable portions of daily life
during which the activity occurs. The simplest categorization identifies the physicalactivity that occurs while sleeping, at work, and at leisure. A simple formula can beused to express the caloric contribution of each category to the total energy
expenditure due to physical activity. For this research purposes, Physical Activity
Level will measure using some test. The physical activity level (PAL) is a way toexpress a person's daily physical activity as a number, and is used to estimate aperson's total energy expenditure. In combination with the basal metabolic rate, it canbe used to compute the amount of food energy a person needs to consume in order tomaintain a particular lifestyle.
Thematic learning is the selecting and highlighting of a theme through an
instructional unit or module, course, multiple courses. It is often interdisciplinary,highlighting the relationship of knowledge across academic disciplines and everyday
life. Themes can be topics or take the form of overarching questions. Thematiclearning is closely related to interdisciplinary or integrated instruction, topic-, projector phenomenon-based learning.
The conjunction and interaction between all variables can be described in thisfollowing figure:

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Move be ore
movin !"

Body smart
Learnerkinesthetic

enjoy
learning

perception

hands on action &movement

physical activity
performing
motor task

classroom
setting

level ofconcentration &task completion

On-Task Behaviour
Figure 1: The Kinesthetic perception-physical activity and On-Task Behavior Model
Level of physical activity was estimated from the daily activity during normal school
activity using pedometer and both relation with On-task behavior in thematic learning
was investigated with standard test of completion tasks and cognitive tests, in math,reading and science.
Conclusion
The results of the study indicate that: (1) There is a relationship physical activity andon-task behavior; (2) There is a relationship kinesthetic perception and on-task
behavior; (3) Both Physical activity and kinesthetic perception are related to on-task
behavior in completing math, reading and science test. Kinesthetic perception was
associated with better performance in tests of completed tasks and academic
performance (P<0.003), whereas physical activity was associated with bettersustained completion tasks (P<0.038) and academic performance (P<0.047).
Kinesthetic perception and physical activity were all associated with better
performance in cognitive tests (math, reading and science).
The results expose that on the thematic learning academic performance wassignificantly correlated with physical activity. Reading and science both weresignificantly associated not only with one another but also with perceptual areas.
Instead, mathematics was found to be significantly correlated with kinethetic
perception. Conclusions: The data demonstrate that kinesthetic perception andphysical activity are positively correlated with on-task behavior in thematic learningand with academic performance in math and reading. Future interventions should
investigate associations between kinesthetic perception, physical activity and on task
behavior in academic performance to expound the causation of these associations

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References
Sylvia, L. G., Bernstein, E. E., Hubbard, J. L., Keating, L., & Anderson, E. J. (2013).
Practical guide to measuring physical activity. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics, 114(2), 199-208.
Castelli, D. M., Hillman, C. H., Buck, S. M., & Erwin, H. E. (2007). Physical fitness
and academic achievement in third and fifth-grade students. Journal of Sports &Exercise Psychology, 29, 239-252.
Contact email: eyulianti@unj.ac.id

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Nutritional Information Media for Elementary School Children:
A Literature Review
Ambar Yoganingrum, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Indonesia
Ratih Nurani Sumardi, Health Polytechnic of Jayapura, Indonesia
Sanya Anda Lusiana, Health Polytechnic of Jayapura, Indonesia
I Rai Ngardita, Health Polytechnic of Jayapura, Indonesia
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Abstract
This study aims to review researches on media formats applied for educating school
children about nutrition. This is an introductory research for determining suitable
media for nutritional information provision of elementary school children inIndonesia. The data is collected from database of Scopus, Indonesian Scientific
Journal Database (ISJD), Pubmed and Google scholar. This research answers somefollowing research questions: (1) What kinds of media for conveying nutritional
information to elementary school children? (2) How is the effectiveness of thosemedia? The study showed that there are 15 kinds of media for conveying nutritional
information. Then we explored whether the media has effectiveness as increasing
knowledge, motivation, awareness, changing attitude and/or changing behavior. The
practical implication of this research is conducting further research by measuring
empirically appropriate media for educating elementary school children on nutritionin Indonesia.
Keywords: nutritional information, elementary school children, information media

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Reported by Unicef (2018a) that almost half of children death is caused bymalnutrition. It is contributing to the number of child mortality about 3 million
worldwide per year. In developing countries children is the most susceptible
community group suffering nutritional problems. For example, one of three children,
who are stunted in the period of 2011-2017, is occurred in Southeast Asia (Indonesia,
Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao), South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bangladesh, and Bhutan) and most countries in Africa. Meanwhile, giving optimal
feeding to children is essential for survival, growth and development (Unicef, 2018b).
However, in some developing countries are not up to a half children benefit such as inSoutheast Asia (Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao), South Asia (India,
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan), and most countries in Africa. Furthermore,
Iodine (Unicef, 2018c) and Vitamin A (Unicef, 2018d) deficiency are major causes inchildhood illnesses in developing countries such as in some countries in Africa.
Indonesia Ministry of National Development Planning and United nations Children’sfund, (2017) reported that 8.4 million or 37 per cent Indonesian children are stunted
and suffer from chronic malnutrition. The children who suffers stunted includes
children from the wealthiest households. Meanwhile, one of ten children is acutely
malnutrition. Pahlevi and Indarjo (2012) reported that the most of elementary
schoolchildren (58%) in a school in Semarang, the sixth biggest cities in Indonesia
has malnutrition status. Meanwhile, almost a half of school kids in the district ofBolaang Mongondow Utara suffers anemia (Arifin et al., 2013).
The low level of nutritional knowledge of elementary school kids in Indonesia isassumed as a reason of inadequate nutrition intake. Conveying nutritional knowledge
to parents and also schoolchildren could prevent malnutrition through improving theirawareness, attitudes, and behaviors. De Castro Barbosa et al. (2016) argued that sinceelementary school students tend to consume unhealthy foods for breakfast and lunch,nutritional knowledge should be delivered continuously and integrated into theacademic program, therefore the behavior for eating healthy food especially in school
will be achieved. Additionally, Ghaffari et al. (2017) showed that the suitable design
and program in nutritional education will improve awareness, attitudes, and behaviors
of students. Likewise, Verawati et al. (2016) reported that based on Anova test to
student kids, nutritional education provided influence their attitudes to nutrition
intake. Soheila et al. (2016) also conveyed that nutritional education is useful toimprove nutritional knowledge, attitude and performance of primary school students.
Furthermore, tailored nutritional education for elementary-school students is effective
in changing student behaviors. In the meantime, the research result in Indonesia
showed that conveying nutritional knowledge to student influence the awareness but
not the behavior (Yulia et al., 2018).
Using media in educating nutrition knowledge would be more interesting and ease to
be understood by student kids. Rohmah et al. (2016) conveyed that demonstration
media in nutritional education for elementary school kids should be employed tomake them more interested in the material. Various media has already studied for
nutritional education among others are poster (Fitriana et al. 2015), leaflet (Fitriana etal., 2015), comic (Hamida et al. 2012)(Nugroho, 2018), games (Mellecker et al 2013),
images (Lobo & Martins, 2014), messages (Lee et al., 2017), booklet (Zulaekah,

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about nutrition to school children.
Based on several reasons aforesaid this research aims to identify the kinds andeffectiveness of the media applied to improve nutritional knowledge of elementary
school kids. The questions that would be answered are (1) What kinds of media
applied for nutritional information provision for elementary school children? (2) How
effective is the media? This paper outputs are the list of media and their effectivenessfor nutritional learning of elementary students. The output would be useful for the
media development for educating nutritional knowledge to schoolchildren inIndonesia. The implication of this research is should be comparing among media tofind the most or the combination of appropriate media. In the future an empirical
study to find media of choice is conducted.
Methods
Data Sources and Searches
Scopus, Indonesian Scientific Journal Database (ISJD), Google Scholar and Pubmed
were searched for relevant English language studies. The search included a various
combination of search terms: “nutritional education”, “elementary”, and “media”,
then followed by searching each kind of media.
Study Selection
The lead author reviewed to determine whether the articles was suitable to the criteria:(1) published at last 10 years (2) written in English; and (3) reported on the subject ofnutritional education media for elementary student. The studies with the subject were
not elementary student or student at the age of 6 to 13, and not measuring media foreducating food and nutrition were excluded. We found 15 kinds of media, which isshowed in Table 1.
Results and Discussion
Various media for educating nutrition of elementary school children
Table 1 below provides 15 kinds of media for nutritional education of the elementary
school children.

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Table 1. The list of media and sources
No
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Media nameRecall tool
Application on smartphone
PosterLeafletGame in class/room

6.

Game in computer7.

8.

Combination between gamein computer and story
immersion
Garden

9.
10.
11.
12.

Video
BookletOnline Comic
Printed Comic

13.
14.

Game board
Card

15.

Salad bar

Sources(Torres, 2017)(Lee et al., 2017)(Yang et al., 2017)(Fitriana et al., 2015)(Fitriana et al., 2015)(Katz et al., 2014)(Gambir & Nopriantini,2018)(Joyner et al., 2017)(Jones et al., 2014)(Mellecker et al., 2013)(Morgan et al., 2014)(Rosi etal., 2015)(Sharma et al., 2015)(Baranowski et al.,2011)(Cullen et al., 2016)(Wang et al., 2017)(McAleese & Rankin, 2007)(Hutchinson et al.,2015)(Davis, Martinez, Spruijt-Metz, & Gatto,
2016)(Parmer et al., 2009)(Heim, Stang, & Ireland,2009)(Bontrager et al., 2014)(P. Morgan et al., 2010)(Gaspar et al., 2016)(Zulaekah, 2012)(Thompson et al., 2013)(Hamida et al., 2012; Hartono, Wilujeng, & Andarini,
2015; Nugroho, 2018; Widajanti, Suryawati, &Sugihantono, 2019)(Leung et al., 2014)(Gunawan et al 2017)(Torre et al., 2016)(Wahyuningsih et al 2015)(Torre et al.,2016)(Lakshman et al., 2010)(Ohri-Vachaspati, P et al., 2016)

The effectiveness of the media
The effectiveness of the media based on recent study is following:
1. Recall tool
The tool is a collecting information aid about 24-hour food and nutrition practicesof students. Then teacher uses the information as discussing materials with student
aged 8–12 years at the classroom. Researcher had not explored the effectivenessof the tool.
2. Application on smartphone
Both researchers had not tested the effectiveness of the media. Lee et al. (2017)
was developing a platform, which was consisted of main features of six levels offood items (namely, vegetables, fruits, sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food andinstant food, and snacks) and behavioral change stages (namely, precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and nutrition information
contents) in the form of Trans-Theoretical Messages (TTM). Meanwhile, Yang etal., (2017) built a mobile platform system called HAPPY ME to preventchildhood obesity.

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3. Poster
Poster is used as a media aid at a lecture 45-60 min about nutrition in a class with
fifth grade students aged 10-12 years old. Respondents liked poster because thetext size, which is bigger than text of leaflet and multimedia (Fitriana et al., 2015).
Respondents accepts poster as a media for providing information about nutrition.
Based on quasi experiment technique result poster was assumed effective to
educate children about the important of breakfast and improve attitude as well aspractice of children to have breakfast.
4. Leaflet
Leaflet also is applied as a media aid to educate fifth grade students aged 10-12
years during lecture 45-60 min. Comparing to poster and multimedia, this media
has benefit could be carried easily and read at any time. The research finding
showed that leaflet was better compared to poster and multimedia in educating
nutrition and increase breakfast habit in children (Fitriana et al., 2015).
5. Game in class/room
Educating nutrition through gaming in class/room increased knowledge andchanged behavior of schoolkids. Four researchers developed a different game.
Katz et al., (2014) created a game called nutrition detective, which has objective
to increase the food-label literacy skills of children. Meanwhile, Gambir &Nopriantini (2018) created a smart ball game and counselling to improveknowledge, habit, nutritional value information, and arrangement of breakfast
food. Afterwards, Jones et al. (2014) then developed by Joyner et al. (2017)
created Fit game to improve food and veggie consumption of elementary school
children. The game consists of various activities in class/room.
6. Game in computer
Based on research, game in computer could increase knowledge and change
attitude as well as behavior of children regarding healthy food. Mellecker et al(2013) tested computerized nutritional games, which utilizing feet to control
mouse functions on a foot gaming pad. Meanwhile, Morgan et al. (2014) createdAvatar, then children could change the body size of Avatar to match theirperceived ideal and healthy appearance. Then, Rosi et al. (2015), Sharma et al.
(2015), Baranowski et al. (2011), and Cullen et al. (2016) improved children's
eating habits through an edutainment technological platform.
7. Combination between game in computer and story immersion
Further, Wang et al. (2017) tested the effectiveness of the combination between
computerized nutritional game and story immersion. They showed that the media
improved the motivation of Chinese children to Diet and Physical Activity.
8. Gardens
Research finding showed that gardening at school increase knowledge and change
behavior of the elementary students in consuming healthy food. McAleese &Rankin (2007) developed some activities of gardening such as weeding, planting,watering, and harvesting during at least 12-weeks period, as well as programs
such as a salsa making workshop, class cookbook, “add a veggie to lunch day”,
herb drying, and food experiences to improve fruits and veggies consumption ofchildren. Meanwhile, Davis et al. (2016) developed 12-week nutrition, cooking,

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and gardening trial, called LA Sprouts program and Bontrager et al. (2014)
created program of Wisconsin Farm to School (F2S) to increase students' fruit andvegetable intake. All programs showed that school gardens yielded positive
impact. However, Hutchinson et al. (2015) argued it was required specialists to
run impactful program. Nevertheless, Parmer et al. (2009), Heim et al. (2009), andMorgan et al. (2010) showed that school gardens was an effective media toincrease fruit and vegetable knowledge and behavior change among children.
9. Film Video
Gaspar et al. (2016) developed a serial of videos for lessoning about nutrition andcooking. The media had not tested yet for the effectiveness.
10. Booklet
Media could improve the nutrition knowledge of students when booklet appliedalong lecture and discussions session about nutrition (Zulaekah, 2012).
11. Online Comic
Thompson et al. (2013) created online obesity prevention program consisted of ananimated and interactive comic for reducing obesity risk among girls. The media
was still in development process.
12. Printed Comic
Applying a cross sectional research Widajanti et al (2019) argued that comic
increase the knowledge of children attitude about food and nutrition. Meanwhile,
based on quasy experiment Nugroho (2018) and Hamida et al (2012) conveyedthat comic improve the knowledge of schoolkids. Additionally, comic does not
influence the behavior of children (Nugroho, 2018). In the meantime, comparing
between lecture and comic (Hartono et al., 2015) showed that both media increase
the nutritional knowledge of school kids and there is no significant difference
between two media. Likewise, Leung et al. (2014) reported that manga comic canpromote fruit intake of minority urban youth in New York city.
13. Board Games(Gunawan et al., 2017) explained that this media increased the motivation of
students to learn and consume various kinds of fish. Meanwhile, Torre et al.
(2016) applied board games to promote physical activity to overcome obesity andoverweight in children.
14. Card
Wahyuningsih et al. (2015) argued that card was a media that is able to increasesignificantly the nutritional knowledge of studentkids. This opinion was supported
by Torre et al., (2016) with GiochiAMO program which include media of cardand Lakshman et al. (2010) with their 'Top Grub' card game.
15. Salad Bars
Ohri-Vachaspati et al. (2016) studied that growing number of schools in US
applied salad bars as a program to offer a variety of fruits and vegetables tostudents. Salad bars become a media to improve fruits and vegetables
consumption of students.

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Based on the description aforesaid, the effectiveness of media is summarized in Table
2.
Table 2. Summary of the effectiveness of the media
No

Media name

No test

1.
2.

Recall tool
Application on
smartphone
PosterLeafletGame inclass/room
Game incomputer
Combination
between Gamein computerand story
immersion
GardenVideo
BookletOnline comic
Printed comicGame board
Card
Salad Bar

√
√

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Increasing
knowledge

Increasing
motivation

Increasing
Awareness

Changing
Attitude√√√

Changing
Behavior

√
√

√

√

√

√

√

√

√
√
√
√

√

√

√
√
√

Conclusion
Media selection to educate student kids becomes a critical issue, since there arevarious media and their effectiveness. Most media have level of effectiveness inincreasing knowledge of school children. Only a few media such as leaflet, game incomputer, game in class/room and garden are claimed to be able to change behaviorof children to food and nutrition. Meanwhile, the media that studied by many
researchers are printed comic, game online, and garden. In the future, it is required to
study the media of choice to educate children kids about healthy food and nutrition.

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Acknowledgement
We would like to thank “Kementrian Riset, Teknologi dan Pendidikan Tinggi(Ristekdikti)” and “Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI)”, that enabled us topresenting this paper on ACE 2018.

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Torre, G. La, Mannocci, A., Saulle, R., Sinopoli, A., Egidio, V., Sestili, C., …
Masala, D. (2016). GiochiAMO! The protocol of a school based intervention for thepromotion of physical activity and nutrition among children. Clin Ter, 167(5)(SepOct), 152–155. http://doi.org/doi: 10.7417/CT.2016.1947
Torres, I. (2017). Teachers’ use of dietary recalls for exploratory dialogue in theclassroom. Health Education Journal, 76(7), 869–879.
http://doi.org/10.1177/0017896917718876
Unicef. 2018a. “Adopting Optimal Feeding Practices Is Fundamental to a Child’s
Survival, Growth and Development, but Too Few Children Benefit.” Retrieved(https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/infant-and-young-child-feeding/#) Accesed
date: November 12, 2018.
Unicef. 2018b. “Globally, 86 per Cent of the Population Has Access to Iodized Salt.”
Retrieved (https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/iodine-deficiency/) Accesed date:November 12, 2018
Unicef. 2018c. “Malnutrition Rates Remain Alarming: Stunting Is Declining Too
Slowly While Wasting Still Impacts the Lives of Far Too Many Young Children.”
Retrieved (https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/#) Accesed date:November 12, 2018.
Unicef. 2018d. “Today, More than One Third of Children in Need Are Not Receiving
the Life-Saving Benefits of Vitamin A Supplementation.” Retrieved(https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/vitamin-a-deficiency/) Accesed date:November 12, 2018
Verawati, B., Madanijah, S., & Syarief, H. (2016). Effect of nutritional education,
fibre food source and physical activity on nutritional status of obese students in
integrated Islamic Elementary School, Bogor. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 15(6).
http://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2016.572.579

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Wahyuningsih, N. P., Nadhiroh, S. R., & Adriani, M. (2015). Media Pendidikan Gizi
Nutrition Card Berpengaruh terhadap Perubahan Pengetahuan Makanan Jajanan Anak
Sekolah Dasar. Media Gizi Indonesia, 10(1), 26–31.
Wang, J. J., Baranowski, T., Lau, P. W. C., Buday, R., & Gao, Y. (2017). Story
Immersion May Be Effective in Promoting Diet and Physical Activity in ChineseChildren. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 49(4), 321–329.
Widajanti, L., Suryawati, C., & Sugihantono, A. (2019). Pengaruh Komik Makanan
Jajanan Sehat dan Bergizi untuk Meningkatkan Pengetahuan dan Sikap Anak Sekolah
Dasar. Indonesian Journal of Public Health, 6(1), 19–23.
Yang, H. J., Kang, J.-H., Kim, O. H., Choi, M., Oh, M., Nam, J., & Sung, E. (2017).
Interventions for Preventing Childhood Obesity with Smartphones and Wearable
Device: A Protocol for a Non-Randomized Controlled Trial. Int. J. Environ. Res.
Public Health, 14, 1–10. http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14020184
Yulia, C., Khomsan, A., Sukandar, D., & Riyadi, H. (2018). Studi Cross-Sectional:
Gambaran Perilaku Gizi Anak Usia Sekolah Dasar di Kota Bandung. Media
Pendidikan, Gizi Dan Kuliner, 7(1), 9–17.
Zulaekah, S. (2012). Efektivitas Pendidikan Gizi dengan Media Booklet terhadap
Pengetahuan Gizi Anak SD, 7(2), 121–128.
Contact email: raingardita@gmail.com/
ambaryoganingrum@yahoo.com

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Instructional Scaffolding Through Zap the Gap Approach: Bridging Academic
Achievement in Science for Students-at-Risk
Kristine Joan Barredo, Tunasan Elementary School, The Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
Student learning gaps result in today’s most serious education challenges - retention
and dropouts. This learning gap passed to the next grade become significant, often
unsolvable problems that cause teachers to intervene more. This action research was
designed to determine the effectivity of instructional scaffolding through Zap the Gap
materials in the improvement of academic achievement in Science for students-atrisk. Fifty-five (55) selected grade 6 students were selected and were divided into twogroups, the experimental group which used the zap the gap approach in retaining
Science concepts in preparation for the National Achievement Test and control groupused the reviewer in NAT Science 6. Based on the results, there was no significant
difference in the experimental and control group of the selected grade 6 students ofTunasan Elementary school. This means that pupils from both groups had the sameunderstanding of the lesson before the lesson was taught. But after the zap the gap
approach was taught, it showed significant difference. This means that theexperimental group which used the Zap the Gap Intervention was effective in creating
instructional scaffolding and mastery learning which successfully addressed thelearning gaps in science concepts.
Keywords: instructional scaffolding technique, learning gap, academic achievement,
student-at-risk, mastery learning, teaching and learning skills

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Introduction
Learning gaps result in today’s most serious education challenges… retention anddropouts. They lower student achievement in school, on assessments and in life. They
undermine our education system by turning learning into a struggle.
A learning gap is formed when a student fails to learn and apply what is expected at a
specific point in time and at a specific level of proficiency. Gaps can be identified bycomparing learning objectives against learning achievement - the "plan" versus the"actual." The specificity of the comparison determines the usefulness of theinformation. Student learning gaps passed to the next grade become significant, often
unsolvable problems that cause teachers to intervene more.
Based on the results of the 1st and 2nd grading period, It was found out that 18% or
55 out of 303 grade 6 students of Tunasan Elementary School have difficulty inretaining science concepts. These are also the students at risk of retaining, droppingout or may stop schooling.
Many of these students had difficulty in retaining science concepts or fails to learn a
specific skill. Understanding gaps, how they impact, how they form, and how they
can be illuminated is critical to student success. By minimizing the learning gaps
students carry with them, teachers have a good opportunity to succeed in transferring
the planned skills and concepts without gaps.
This is where instructional scaffolding needed to support learning. Instructional
scaffolding is a process through which a teacher adds supports for students in order toenhance learning and aid in the mastery of tasks. Larkin, M. (2002) coined the termand defined scaffolding as assistance from experts that enables children to achieve
what is beyond their ability to accomplish independently. Originally, Alibali (2006)
suggests that as student’s progress through a task, the teacher use a variety ofscaffolds to accommodate students’ different levels of knowledge which emphasizes
the teacher’s role as a more knowledgeable learner to help learners to solve problemoriented tasks. Lange (2002) states that there are two major steps involved in
instructional scaffolding: (1) “development of instructional plans to lead the students
from what they already know to a deep understanding of new material,” and (2)“execution of the plans, wherein the instructor provides support to the students atevery step of the learning process.”
According to the study of Kim, M. And Hanaffin, M. (2011), researchers haveexamined the use and impact of scaffolds in mathematics, science, and reading,comparatively little research has focused on scaffolding learning in real-world,
everyday classroom settings. They examined two key constructs (problem solving andscaffolding) and propose a framework that includes essential dimensions to beconsidered when teachers scaffold student problem solving in technology-rich classes.
They then investigated issues related to peer-, teacher-, and technology-enhanced
scaffolds, and conclude by examining implications for research.
This action research was designed to determine the effectivity of instructional
scaffolding through Zap the Gap approach in the improvement of academic

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achievement in Science for students at-risk. Specifically, the study sought to address
whether instructional scaffolding through the use of Zap the Gap approach havepositive improvement in the learning gaps in Science.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effectivity of instructional scaffolding
through Zap the Gap materials in the improvement of academic achievement in
Science for selected Grade Six Pupils.
Specifically, this study attempted to answer the following questions:
1. What is the results of academic performance of the experimental and control
group in the following:
1.1 Pre-Test
1.2 Post Test
2. What significant difference that exists between the pretest and post test resultsof the experimental and control group?
3. How would you compare the improvement of academic achievement in
Science when the experimental group were grouped according to their level ofmastery:
3.1 Beginning mastery
3.2 Approaching mastery
3.3 High degree of mastery
4. How effective are the zap the gap materials in creating instructional
scaffolding based from the gained scores?
The null hypothesis stated below was tested using a pretest and post-test on
determining the effectivity of instructional scaffolding through Zap the Gap materials
in the improvement of academic achievement in Science for selected Grade Six
Pupils: Pupils in the experimental group will have no significant change in theirpretest and posttest using zap the gap materials at the .05 level of significance.
Fifty-five (55) selected grade 6 students who were identified as at-risk were selectedbased on their knowledge level as to beginning knowledge, approaching mastery, or
high degree of mastery. The students were divided into two groups, the experimental
and control group. First, both groups were pretested to determine their level ofknowledge. The result of the pre-assessment was used as a guide in making the Zap
the Gap intervention.
In the intervention stage, each stage has given simultaneous activity to determine theirlearning pace. Series of worksheet were given and data were noted.
For the final stage, the researcher monitored and analyzed the trend and analysis of
the results between the pre-test and posttest. Data analysis of the results was taken
where the difference between the Mean Percentage score is calculated and evaluated.
Descriptive statistics such as MPS and standard deviation were used to analyze thedata. T-test of paired samples was used to find the significant difference.
The following were the research instruments used in the study:
Pretest and Post Test were used to assess the level of cognitive ability of students
before and after the intervention.

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Zap the Gap materials were used during the intervention. Zap the Gaps are referred toexterminating the learning gaps and to fill the holes created by these gaps. A gap isbeing the difference between where students currently are in their education level andwhere they should be; to determine a child’s learning gap teachers and students
should both perform and assess a variety of ongoing task. They were grouped
according to their students’ knowledge level as to beginning knowledge, approaching
mastery, or high degree of mastery.
Table 1. Zap the Gap Materials
Module
No.

1

2
3

4

5

6

7

8

9

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Topic/Title

Objectives

Describe the structure
Human Reproductive and function of the
Systemand
Their human reproductive
FunctionssystemExplain how the
The Respiratory System
respiratory
systemand their function
works.
Identify parts of the
The Urinary System
urinary system andand their function
their function.
Classify vertebrate
into: mammals, birds,
Kinds of Vertebrates
reptiles, amphibians
or fishes.
Describecharacteristics
that
Animal Adaptations
enable animals tosurviveinanenvironment.
DescribecharacteristicsofKinds of Plants
different kinds ofplants.
Differentiate
physicalfrom
Physical and Chemicalchemicalchanges/
Changeprocesses by giving
examples.
Describe
thedistinctive
Planets in the Solarcharacteristics
of
Systemplanets in the solar
system.
The Nervous System Identify major parts
and their functionsof the nervous systemand their functions.

702

Grade Level
Expectation

Code

Grade 5

SSLT-IIa1

Grade 4S4LT-IIab-1

Grade 4S4LT-IIab-1

Grade 3S3LT-IIcd-5

Grade 4S4LT-IIcd-5

Grade 5

SSLT-IIg7

Grade 5

SFMT-Icd-2

Grade 5BEC

Grade 6BEC

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Identify major parts
Circulatory System and of the circulatory
Grade 6
their functions
system and theirfunctions.

BEC

11

Grade
Energy Forms & their Identify
energyGrade
Uses
forms and their uses.
Grade 5

S3FE-IIIi3 j-3 SFFE4 IIIc-3
S4FE-IIIfg-4

12

Motion

10

13

14

15

Identify factors that
affect the motion ofan object
Describecharacteristics of the
Earth's Interior Layers
earth’s interior layers
Describecharacteristics of stars
Characteristics of Stars and how group ofstars are useful topeoplethe
Theories about the Differentiate
different
theories
Origin of the Universe
about the Universe.

Grade 3S3FEIIIc-d-2

Grade 6BEC

Grade 6BEC

Grade 6BEC

This paper adheres to the ethical standards for protection of human subjects of theAmerican Psychological Association (2010). Additionally, a research proposal was
submitted and reviewed by the researcher’s principal, and was approved.
Parents of the participants were informed during the PTA meeting that their child wasparticipating in the Zap the Gap approach in teaching. As part of the researcher’s
normal instructional process, assessment scores were reviewed and analyzed. The
parent of the participants received a copy of their scores of the pre-assessment.
Conclusions
There was no significant difference on the performance of the experimental group andcontrol group in the pretests. They were of the same level of intelligence and mastery
before they were exposed to experiment. Although there was slight difference on theirmean score, it was not that significant based on the computed t-value of 0.476 at 0.05
significance level. This attested that both groups of respondents had the same level ofmastery before an intervention was introduced to the experimental group andtraditional method to the control group.
There was significant difference on the performance of the experimental group in thepretest and posttest. The difference in the mean scores of posttest and pretest of 7.59
was indeed significant. There was a positive transfer of learning in the two groups.
However, higher mean was observed from the experimental group after thepresentation of the intervention materials.

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Zap the Gap materials were effective in creating instructional scaffolding and mastery
learning which successfully addressed the learning gaps in science concepts.
Acknowledgements
It’s my pleasure to thank those who made this study possible.
First of all, I would like to thank our Almighty Master, who guides me in every step I
take. This work would not have been possible without the financial support of the
Basic Education Research Fund and the Department of Education-National Capital
Region. To Dr. Warren A. Ramos, Regional Education Program Supervisor, Policy,
PPRD, for the approval of my classroom action research. To Mrs. Phoebe Arroyo,
Planning Officer II, SDO-Muntinlupa for the technical assistance.
I am grateful to all my family in the field of education- To Mrs. Rhodora V. Mandap
and Mrs. Jennifer Joson, my dear principals, to my co-teachers in Tunasan
Elementary School for allowing me to conduct this study.
Nobody has been important to me in the pursuit of this research than the members of
my family. I would like to thank my husband, Joey T. Barredo, whose love andguidance are with me in whatever I pursue. To my children namely Justine Joey,
Jaedane Alexander and Julia Kazzandra who provide unending inspiration.

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References
Das, R C.( 2004) Science Teaching in Schools. Sterling Publishers Private Limited
De La Cruz, Eduardo. (1990, March). Development of the Work-Text in Algebra,
PCU
Ediger, Marlow.(2005) Teaching Science Successfully, Discovery Publishing House
Garcia, Maan V.( 2003, September). Educator, Magazine for Teachers, Manila
Philippines
Kim, M and Hannafin, M (2011) Scaffolding problem solving in technologyenhanced learning environments (TELEs): Bridging research and theory with practice,
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University, Beering Hall Room
4108, 100 N. University St., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098, USA
Llewellyn, D. (2005) “Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry: A Case Study
Approach” Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Meilan Zhang, et. al (2012) Scaffolding strategies for supporting middle school
students' online inquiry processes, Computers & Education, v.58 n.1, p.181-196
Websites
Alibali, M (2006). Does visual scaffolding facilitate students’ mathematics learning?
Evidence from early algebra. Retrieved September 12, 2008
from http://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=54
Anonymous 1. (2004) Bureau of Elementary Education Annual Report. http://beedeped.tripod.com/bee2004annualreport
APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. (Effective date Jan. 1,
2010 with amendment as of Jan. 1, 2017) Retrieved fromhttp://www.apa.org/ethics/code/
Das, R C.( 2004) Science Teaching in Schools. Sterling Publishers Private Limited
Kim, M and Hannafin, M (2011) Scaffolding problem solving in technologyenhanced learning environments (TELEs): Bridging research and theory with practice,
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University, Beering Hall Room
4108, 100 N. University St., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098, USA
Lange, V. L. (2002). Instructional scaffolding. Retrieved on September 25, 2007 fromhttp://condor.admin.ccny.cuny.edu/~group4/Cano/Cano%20Paper.doc
Larkin, M. (2002). Using scaffolded instruction to optimize learning. Arlington, VA:
ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. (Retrieved September 25,
2007 from ERIC at EBSCOhost, ERIC No. ED. 474 301).
Llewellyn, D. (2005) “Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry: A Case Study
Approach” Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

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Telmo, L. et. al (2008) Workbooks on Science Grade 6. Retrieved fromhttps://swedta.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/science-6.pdf

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Social Inclusion: A Systemic Approach to Child’s Well-being
Ms. Manju Rajput, Raghubir Singh Junior Modern School, India
Ms. Ruchi Thakkar, Raghubir Singh Junior Modern School, India
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
This exploratory micro-study attempts to examine processes and outcomes aimed atsocial inclusion of marginalised children admitted in a private school under the
EWS/DG category of the RTE Act 2009. The implications of how this provision canbe meaningful in practice are explored. The present paper explores the challenges
faced in the implementation of the RTE Act 2009 at the school level. The primaryconcerns being fees compensation by the State Government, building new admission
protocols, teacher in-service training, sensitizing the Non EWS parents and children
towards the evolving socio-cultural dynamics of the school and ensuring inclusion in
the wider school ecology. A micro-study of one of the admitted children is presented.
The interpretative framework provided by Ecological Systems Theory is drawn upon
to deepen understanding of the child in the context of primary schooling. The microsystem, meso system, exo system and macro system; which refer to various layers ofinteractions in which the child grows up and survives are examined. This theoreticalanalysis deepens understanding about children enrolled in primary schooling, who
operate in a position of disadvantage. The school based interventions in curriculum,
pedagogy and classroom management are discussed. The paper concludes bypresenting the impact of these interventions at increasing learning outcomes andintegration of the child in school. The case study reveals the promise offered by the
aforesaid policy provision on school education for social inclusion of themarginalized children of the stratified, hierarchical Indian society; with the wider aimof building an inclusive society.
Keywords: Education, Inclusion, Economically
Disadvantaged Groups (DG), Systems and Well-being

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Introduction
A brief history of the Education System in India will help to understand how pastefforts shaped the present education system and the fundamental role that education
plays in the transformation of society. RTE Act 2009 serves as a building block toensure that every child gets quality elementary education and the state, with the helpof families and communities, fulfills this obligation. It mandates that the school’s
environment is transformed into inclusive and equitable learning spaces.
This paper aims to outline a strategy for making significant contribution to ‘Education
for All’ and also to serve as a guide to teachers in contributing to the child’s wellbeing. Our school follows a conceptual framework based on the Ecological Systems
Theory which clarifies the role and importance of school and teachers as caretakers ina child’s life. The examination of one child in particular, provided a wealth of data,
leading to understanding of inclusion of children admitted in our school under the
EWS/DG category of the RTE Act 2009, Section 12 (1)(c).
Educational Development in Post-Independence India
Education has always been an irreplaceable tool for social change and progress; itempowers the society to walk down the path of development and progress. Besides
being a powerful tool to strengthen democracy, it is of special importance for themarginalized and disadvantaged sections of society, traditionally deprived of access to
education and development resources.
India’s struggle for independence came to an end in August, 1947 but it’s still
clutched in the endless loop of age old, deep rooted biases and prejudices. Ours is asociety divided by an ancient caste system where only the representatives of upper
castes and classes were born with the privilege and right to be educated, while thepoor and lower castes were denied the right to education. Segregation and social
exclusion in society have been a part of Indian Culture since time immemorial. The
British rule served the same injustice, as formal education in schools was available
only to the elite and upper classes. The report of Indian Education Commission
chaired by W.W. Hunter, or other annual reports of the Provincial Governments
reveal that there were different schools for different categories of students. There isalso evidence to suggest that very often even within the compound of a single school,different sitting arrangements were made for the students of different caste
backgrounds.
The Indian Constitution was framed with the vision to eradicate the deep seated caste
based fragmentation of society. The Constitution made equality of status and ofopportunity and social, economic and political justice, Fundamental Rights for all
citizens amongst other rights.
Although the idea of compulsory education did not acquire centrality in the policy
framework of post-independence Indian nation state, nonetheless, it secured a much
faster expansion in the coming years. Eager to educate its citizens, the government
opened schools at a fast pace. However, its policies vis-a-vis primary and secondary
education were lacking in proper and adequate planning, implementation, pedagogy
and resources. Despite the resources at its disposal, the education system was

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noticeably failing to impart quality education to the masses and faced major
challenges in the name of social inclusion and low literacy rates.
In the 1970s, the private sector boomed exponentially, offering better education
facilities to the middle and upper classes. Private schools were the new age English
medium schools for the upper classes, and the lower classes were left at the mercy of
government schools. The stigma attached to government schools compelled theparents to transfer their children to private schools even with the fees being beyond
their capacity. Private schools are associated with an opportunity for upward social
mobility, and public schools, with a resignation to one’s economic reality. Since thequality of education being provided in government schools has been consistently
poor, it failed to curb the problem of social inequality and further widened the gap
between classes.
Taking full advantage of the situation, the private sector rose quickly in themetropolitan areas and targeted parents who could pay, leaving the responsibility ofcatering to the marginalised sections of society on the government. This differentiatedaccess to education fed into the system of segregation. While the marginalised
continued to look towards the state and centre for their needs, the middle classes
struggled to afford private education in order to secure the future for their children in
the growing economic landscape. This initial segregation was further perpetuatedwith a boom in the availability of low-fee private schools catering to lower income
families. The low cost private schools made a large group of population accessprivate education – an option, still unavailable to the poorest of the poor.
As the contrast between the Private Schools and Government Schools increased andthe consequent stratification deepened, there emerged a need to address thedeteriorating problem of quality education. It clearly emerged that an integrated,
equitable schooling system was necessary for a progressive, democratic society. An
inclusive system was essential to challenge existing hierarchies and inequalities in thesociety and bridge the gap between the classes. The importance of Equity, for the
purpose of delivering social justice and for the performance of an education system as
a whole, was recognized.
Education is a right that flows directly from the right to life. The right to life and the
dignity of an individual cannot be assured unless it is accompanied by the right toeducation. One of the Directive Principles of State Policy as contained in Article 45 of
the Constitution of India states:“The State shall endeavour to provide within a period of ten years from thecommencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all
children until they complete the age of fourteen years.” (Article 45, Constitution ofIndia)The Kothari Commission (1964-66) laid the foundation of the first National Policy on
Education in 1968 with the mission to modernize the Indian education system. The
1968 and 1986-1992 National Education policies in India recognized education as aprecondition for development and set out three critical issues in those policies –
equity, accessibility and quality.

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In 2002, the 86th amendment to the Indian Constitution introduced Article 21-A,
making ‘The Right to Education’ a Fundamental Right. The Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 served as the enabling legislation to make theright guaranteed by the Constitution effective. Of all the other far-reaching changes
and amendments brought about by the Act, Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education(RTE) has been the most controversial by far. The Section mandates all private
unaided schools in the country to reserve 25% of the seats in Class I, or the entry
level class in their school, for students from economically weaker sections (EWS),
socially disadvantaged groups (DG), physically handicapped children and orphans
and to provide free and compulsory education to them till Class VIII. The Act has
the potential to impact 1.6 crore children from EWS and DG categories in the firsteight years of implementation. This provision of the Act ensures inclusion of children
from marginalised communities (defined as disadvantaged and weaker sections under
Section 2 (d) and (e) of the Act) in private unaided schools.
The Act was enforced in April 2010, with rules framed by the state government
regarding admission directly attacking the independence and autonomy of private
unaided schools in matters of admission policy. The RTE Act brought to the forethat equality and equality of opportunity is a fundamental principle of democracy, andthe fact that schools, all schools, serve social objectives. The intention underlying thisprovision was to ensure that all stakeholders in the field of education share theobligation of realizing the right to free and compulsory elementary education.
In its true spirit Section 12(1)(c) envisioned to create an environment that enabledchildren from different backgrounds to share knowledge on a common platform
across caste, class and gender divides, with varying interests and ability, achieve theirhighest potential by studying in a shared classroom. It aimed to narrow down the classbased division and to desegregate society. By specifying a minimum share of students
who should be admitted in schools at the entry level, the mandate ensured that thechild coming from the Disadvantaged Group is not isolated.
Recognising the challenges of social inclusion in a segregated society, the policy
mandated integration starting at the school’s entry level grade. Guarding against“quick-fix social engineering”, the presence of the requirement is attributed to the“fact that children take time to socialise and teachers take time to develop new
attitudes and pedagogic skills. With these children moving up, and a new cohort ofchildren entering pre-school and Class I in each successive year, the school will
gradually have a more diverse population spread across all classes. Progression at thispace will allow children the opportunity to grow up together and create bonds: bondsthat can survive social walls.”1
Section 12(1)(c) has a much deeper and longer lasting aim than to just level theplaying field between the rich and the poor. The thinking echoes the longstanding
belief that inclusion across classes, genders and castes does and will lead to a higher
quality of learning for all children. The inclusion of socially diverse children in thesame classroom enables children from varied socio cultural backgrounds to shareworld views. Studies and reports from all over the world show that more equitableeducation systems also achieve higher learning outcomes on an average andemphasise that inequality hurts not only the disadvantaged within a society, butsociety as a whole. Therefore, creation of a diversified and pluralist space of cultural

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interaction within school is a precondition for its intervention or participation in thelife of the outside community.
Ever since it came into force, the Act has met innumerable legal, administrative andfinancial obstacles. When The RTE bill was passed, responses to Section 12(1)(c)were quick and heated. Its inclusion in the Act and the implications it had (ofeconomic and social inclusion) for all stakeholders was questioned and debated.
Supporters of private schooling worried about financial implications due toinadequate reimbursements by the government and saw the mandate as undue
interference. Opinion was also divided on the mandate’s impact on children
themselves. A popular opinion was that potentially unbridgeable social distances
between students admitted under the mandate and the rest of the students would leadto adverse consequences for those the mandate seeks to benefit. There was likewise
worry about the potential fall in learning levels for the rest of the students as teachers
get diverted to helping children without adequate learning support and an
environment amiable to academics at home. Families from wealthier backgrounds
spoke of a drop in learning and more interestingly, their discomfort at the sharing ofresources by their children and their servant’s children. Teachers spoke of theirinability to cater to the differentiated learning speeds, fearing that curriculum would
not be completed by year-end. Finally parents from EWS and DG backgrounds
dreaded the treatment their children would receive in schools that had once fought sovehemently to keep them out.
Even as the debates continued, the Central Government exercising its power
appointed the 1st day of April, 2010 as the date on which the provisions of the said
Act would come into force. Private schools, which had previously not given
admission to children from poor families, now had to admit as many as 25% ofchildren from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups (Scheduled
Tribe, Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Classes).
At the school level, the challenges of implementation of this provision included
developing the criteria for admissions, fee reimbursement shortfalls with the State,budgetary adjustments required, overall school preparedness, in-service teacher
training, socio-cultural dynamics of inclusive education and integration of thechildren admitted in this category in the wider school system.
Following the mandate, in the year 2009-2010, 10% students under the economicallydisadvantaged category were enrolled in RSJMS in the entry level class – theNursery. 45 children from EWS and other DG were admitted, in the year 2011-2012.
Since 2011, each year, 25% seats are allotted to children coming from EWS and DG
categories, who study free of charge.
The objective of inclusive education can never be truly achieved without focussing on
concrete material and cultural experiences of the hitherto excluded groups within theframework of equality principle and redistributive justice. All schools must be madecapable of meeting individualised needs of all students and open their classroom tothe analysis of existing disparities.

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Did granting admissions address the issue of social inclusion? No. Merely giving
admission to a child in the school did not guarantee inclusion. When our school
enrolled students from the economically poor sections from the neighbourhood, wefaced numerous challenges.
•

•
•

•

The stark contrast between the students from affluent families and thoseenrolled under the RTE Act, led to their stereotyping as children who used badlanguage, were unhygienic, malnourished and messy.
Teachers expressed their concern about catering to the diverse learning abilityof children.
Language was a barrier, as children from EWS and DG used Hindi and theschool was an English medium school, leading to communication gap with
their peers and teachers.
These children came from deprived and in some cases dysfunctional
backgrounds and many displayed symptoms of behavioural, emotional andpsychological problems.

•
In order to truly include these children in the functioning of the school whereby they
could feel safe, valued and above all utilize the opportunities offered and actively
participate in its functioning, a lot of effort was made. The challenges were
overwhelming, but with each subsequent year the school machinery showedremarkable resilience and adapted itself to the new reality. The whole structure of theeducation system has and is still being modified to address these challenges.
With the enrolment of children from EWS and DG category, and keeping in mind thesocio-emotional and physical well-being of each child, various practices were adopted
to create an atmosphere of equality. Some of the notable modifications, adaptations
and accommodations are:
•
•

•

•

•
•

A uniform dress code was introduced at the entry level to eliminate signs ofvisual differences amongst students.
Being an English medium school, RSJMS had to shift the medium ofcommunication for the children and their families. The teachers graduallyswitch to English language and ensure preparedness of children for the same.
Bilingual instructions are given to parents during parent-teacher meetings andorientation programmes. School circulars are bilingual.
Weekly special classes are held for parents, wherein, teachers discuss
proposed work for the week and teaching methodology. They are encouraged
to reinforce concepts at home with help from teachers, and refrain from
appointing services of private tutors.
To facilitate understanding of parents of children admitted under the RTE Act
and plug communication gaps, a ‘Buddy’ parent system was introduced.
Parents of Non-EWS students volunteer their support as buddies to assist theparents and address their concerns.
The school provides the children enrolled under the RTE Act free books,
notebooks, stationary and uniforms.
Being truly inclusive, the children enrolled under the RTE Act are also a partof school functions and morning assemblies. Costumes for various functions
are provided to them at concessional rates.

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To combat cultural marginality, morning assemblies are planned aroundfestivals associated with various cultural and religious communities. All
festivals, be it Diwali, Eid or Easter, are celebrated with equal fervour.
• Unique talents and abilities among children are recognized and they areenrolled for training in their specific talent, be it sports, arts or/and music.
• Besides organizing motivational talks and story sessions, the schoolsupplements the educational needs of the children admitted under the RTE Act
with experiential learning, field trips and extracurricular activities.
• For classes Nursery to 2, parent volunteers bring fruits for the entire class andserve the assortment to all children in equal portions, thus providing for thedeprived too.
• Children with behavioural and psychological problems are referred to theschool’s Learning Center comprising of special educators and counsellors who
assist in the process of identification of the problem and its formal diagnosis.
All low achievers are provided counselling in equal measure, irrespective of
their background.
• Through a specifically designed life skills and value education programme, theschool is inculcating the value of social inclusion in children. A period in classtimetable has been set aside on teaching basic etiquettes and manners, throughthe school’s Education Handbook.
• Teachers are encouraged to spend time with the students in order tounderstand their interests and backgrounds. Home visits are made tounderstand the contextual influences on child’s learning. In case of
absenteeism, teachers call up the parents to enquire about the child’s
wellbeing.
• Any practice highlighting differences in the economic backgrounds of children
is discouraged. Birthday celebrations are restricted to sweets distribution.
Children are advised not to bring expensive stationary, tiffin and otheraccessories. There is a prescribed meal plan to ensure that children don’t feel
inferior due to the kind of food they get to school. Irrespective of theirbackground, all children are encouraged to keep their classrooms clean byusing the available broom, dustpan or a cloth duster. Tasks are assigned
equally to boys and girls. As biases based on gender or economic backgroundcreeps in early in the psyche of children, positive reinforcements are provided
through conscious effort.
• School offers an important public space with potential to facilitate dialogue as
it brings different socio-economic and religious groups together within thesame spatial enclosure. The school is conscious of its role as an agent inoffering a platform to foster understanding and bring together people fromdiverse groups.
• Every child is included under a health insurance scheme.
The above practices have led to improvement in the participation levels of thechildren admitted under the RTE Act. There has been a remarkable boost in their selfconfidence and self-esteem.
•

The biggest hurdle that the school faced was in dealing with behavioural, emotional
and psychological problems that the EWS children suffered from. Their problems
varied from mild manifestations to those falling in severe categories.

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Numerous studies were done and research carried out by the school counselors andteachers in order to get to the root of the problems and seek appropriate interventions.
A deeper study unfolded a complex relationship between a child and the various
environments the child moves in.
The examination of one child in particular, provided a wealth of data, leading tounderstanding of inclusion of these children in our school. This study involved aseven year old boy who has been diagnosed with ADHD and is at risk for ODD. The
case provides a conceptual framework for understanding equity and inclusivity ofchildren under disadvantaged category.
The overall experience of disadvantaged children with mental health problems is
mostly unproductive and negative. Through this case study, educators will gain anunderstanding of these children and the world within which they operate. Educational
interventions can then be implemented to meet their educational potential.
Karan’s Background (name changed)
Karan is a 7 year old boy who studies in RSJMS under the category of economicallyweaker section. In Nursery, the child was new to the system of formal education. The
teacher in-charge gave him enough time to adjust to the classroom environment.
However, certain deviations were observed in his mannerisms, such as lack of speech,
difficulty in comprehending teacher’s instructions, using abusive language, drenchinghimself, shouting and running in the corridors and class. These behavioural problems
further deteriorated with time resulting in yelling, name calling, spitting anddamaging school property.
In order to understand Karan’s deviant behaviour, the school counsellors and classteacher conducted many assessments. They visited Karan’s house and interviewed his
family members and neighbours. After all assessments, the details of Karan’s
traumatic background emerged.
Karan was living in a joint family comprising of father, grandparents, uncle and aunt
in a slum situated in Delhi. His is a dysfunctional family with an environment ofconflicts, fights, arguments and tension. His mother committed suicide due to constantfights and demand of dowry. He was one year and six months old when he lost his
mother. His father is mostly unemployed and is an alcoholic. The father has criminal
charges against him and often fights in the neighbourhood. The neighbours prefer tostay away from him and his family due to his tendency to harm people when drunk.
They reported that he often abused Karan, both physically and verbally, and foughtwith other family members over finances. Due to the tainted family background,children in the neighbourhood did not interact with Karan; as a result he becamesocially withdrawn.
Karan’s physical development was achieved at appropriate age. However, his
cognitive development has been significantly delayed. He has a short attention span,poor problem solving skills, unclear speech, and limited vocabulary. His emotionaland social development is severely affected. He is unable to manage his feelings due
to which he has frequent mood swings and emotional outbursts. He is stubborn andhas no fear of authority. His interpersonal skills are not developed. He feels insecure,

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hesitant and anxious while interacting with his peer group. He is comfortableinteracting with children older to him. He exhibits anxious attachment patterns, which
results in dependency on a few people. He is a fussy eater and does not take a proper
diet. He has frequent complaints of cough, cold and skin problems.
Karan’s case study helped the teachers understand and empathize with the causal
factors leading to behavioural deviations in such children and devise strategies basedon the ‘Systems Theory’ by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1989).

Figure 1: Ecological Systems Diagram adapted from Berk, L. E. (2000)
Home environments, schools and other places where the child spends considerable
time or which directly or indirectly affect the child’s well-being are viewed as
ecologies. What happens in one part of the system can have a ripple effect on others(Roffey, 2008). Adaptive and maladaptive behaviours may be either augmented ordiminished within the system.
Ecological systems theory provides a means to describe how a child’s behavioural
pattern is influenced by the layers of systems in his environment. It became
imperative that we examined whether the ‘systems’ provided safe, secure and positiveenvironment to the students enrolled under EWS and DG category. Examinations
were made of each child enrolled under EWS category followed by relevantinterventions to foster well-being.

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Figure 2: The ecological framework: examples of risk factors at each level (WHO)Keeping the child in the centre of his system, we examined the various systems andthe interactions between these systems, which are(A) Micro System- The micro system is the immediate setting in which the childengages in face-to-face interaction. Such a setting is considered to have a direct
impact on experience. Home is often the first and most significant micro system in achild’s life, another being his school and neighbourhood.
Most of the students from the EWS in our school have been brought up in
dysfunctional families. Due to the absence of academic inputs at home, their cognitive
skills are not well developed. In Karan’s case, prolonged marital conflict between theparents, after his birth, led to his neglect, inconsistent discipline and hostility towards
him. This resulted in his poor health, low cognitive ability, difficult temperament,
unclear speech and limited vocabulary.
(B) Meso System- The meso system comprises of the linkages and processes taking
place between two or more settings of the developing person (e.g. the relations
between home, school and neighbourhood).
Ignorant of the academic curriculum, parents are unable to assess the academic
progress of their children. There are constant conflicts between families and theneighbourhood they reside in, with fights over possession of scarce resources, such as
water and space. Their neighbourhood comprises of families who indulge in antisocial behaviours such as gambling, alcoholism, physical fights, and verbal abuse.
Due to financial constraints and lack of resources, their health and nutritional needs
are also not met.
In this case, Karan’s parents had no involvement and contribution in his academic
learning. Children in the neighbourhood did not interact with him. This explained his
insecurity, low self –esteem and social withdrawal.

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involved but in which events occur that affect what happens in the setting in which heor she is involved. Exo systems may include the parent’s place of work, network offriends, medical facilities, school and government policies.
The families of EWS children live in financial strain and parental stress, which in turnaffects their mental health. They are unable to receive appropriate health services suchas vaccinations, nutritional advice and general physical examination.
In this case, Karan and his family have been socially excluded from the community.
He did not receive health services such as speech therapy, counselling and general
physical examination which worsened his symptoms of ADHD.
(D) Macro System- The macro system is the broadest ecological contextual system,with which the child does not have any direct experience. It describes the culture inwhich individuals live. Cultural contexts include developing and industrializedcountries, socio-economic status, poverty, and ethnicity. Economic and social policies
that maintain socio-economic inequalities between people. Social and cultural norms
such as those around male dominance over women, parental dominance over children.
People from poor background are identified in urban areas with chaotic, disorganizedlives, absence of parental ambition for children and a tendency to addiction. Karanand other children from EWS background faced prejudice in class. This further
caused low self-esteem and withdrawal. On the other hand, in some cases, it
manifested in rebellious behaviour and aggression.
It will take a while to change cultural values associated with poverty. When India
becomes an egalitarian society, perceptions about poverty will also change. With RTE
Act in practice one can be hopeful that positive changes would occur in the society
making social inclusion a reality.
Interventions Done At the Systems Level
Interventions were done at each level. Interactions between the various systems were
carefully examined and better, workable and sustainable solutions were sought.

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Figure 3: Karan’s Well-being across Systems(A) Interventions at Micro Level & Meso level
To inculcate a sense of belonging and improving their self-esteem, unique talents andabilities are being recognized in each child and they are enrolled in the activities as
per their interests and capabilities. Usage of English Language has been replaced bybilingual teaching. Participation of children from disadvantaged category in various
functions and classroom activities is ensured.
In this case, Karan’s diet played a crucial role in his physical and mental health. His
basic needs of health and nutrition were taken care of. Karan is served milk and fruitsin school. He is enrolled in physical training whereby a physical trainer has been
assigned to train him in athletics. The class teacher periodically apprises hisclassmates and their parents about the problems faced by Karan and encourage them
to be sensitive towards his needs. A specialized education and behavioural
management plan was shared with his grandmother, care-givers, teachers and other
healthcare providers.
Teachers undertake home visits of these children and assess the chronic strains or
discrete life events associated with their academic and behavioural problems andcounsel family members accordingly.
(B) Interventions at Exo level And Macro level
The school implements a culturally responsive pedagogy for imparting knowledge
that respects diversity and creates a safe, inclusive and respectful learning
environment.
Karan’s grandmother was told to get the child assessed for ADHD, speech and special
needs. Required evaluations were done by medical practitioners and the school

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arranged and paid for all the expenses. The child is receiving pharmacologicalintervention to control his symptoms.
The RTE Act is a huge initiative for removing economic disparities ensuring
equalization of educational opportunities. In light of the RTE Act, the National
Curriculum Framework (2005) has laid down a clear context of inclusive educationand practices. Teachers realize the value of accepting each child as a unique
individual and educate children with economic disadvantages along with regularchildren, under the same roof.
Conclusion
Indian society continues to remain stratified as before with socio economic
inequalities. But school education has had unprecedented expansion with a demand
from historically excluded sections of society including EWS/DG’s. Today almost
every parent, from rural or urban areas, rich or poor, wishes to educate his child. The
overall structure of school education still remains stratified with graded hierarchies
between school systems (Elite private schools, Low Fee Private schools, Government
schools). The provisions laid down in the RTE Act, 2009 create some space fordisadvantaged children and provide them access, which they can never hope forotherwise. This is a progressive change. Since social inclusion means renderingclassrooms inclusive, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory provides a theoretical lensto create an inclusive space for teachers and students where ‘each’ child is included
and his well-being ensured. Not just survival in the classrooms, but thriving ininclusive classrooms.
Any change that affects the social fabric of a society seems difficult initially, but it isa gift and calls for change. If we want to catalyse a shift to thriving cultures ofteaching, we need to value and train teachers to practise and promote well-being intheir school on a daily basis. Schools have a huge responsibility of achieving thisgoal.
Based on the interventions done as per the Systems Theory to help Karan,
interventions for many other children with similar conditions and backgrounds were
done. We are happy to state that we have been receiving positive feedbacks from thechildren, their families, friends and teachers.
This is a time to question our underlying beliefs, attitudes and assumptions anddiscover ways to reinvent the system. Bronfenbrenner Ecological Theory (1977,1979) is a perfect model, which creates common spaces for teachers and students tocome together to use conversations, enquiries and well-being practices to build up ahealthy community.
We have to make a choice as to whether we want to survive or thrive.

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Footnote:
1. State of the Nation: RTE Section 12 (I)(c)- report published in 2016. pp. 15
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Patel, S. & Uys, T. (2012, August 4). Contemporary India and South Africa Legacies,
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Velaskar, P. (2013). Reproduction, contestation and the struggle for a just educationin India .In Contemporary India and South Africa: Legacies, Identities, Dilemmas.
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Contact email: manju.rajput@gmail.com

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Exploring Leadership Characteristics of Public and Private High School
Administrators in The Divisionof Malabon: A Comparative Analysis
Marivic Basilio, The National Teachers College, The Philippines
Maximo Y. Muldong, La Consolacion College, The Philippines
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Abstract
The study investigated Administrators 'Leadership Characteristics in terms of style,traits and integrity. Twenty-one (21) administrators, 145 middle level administratorsand 378 teachers were involved in the study from 12 public and nine (9) private highschools in the Division of Malabon. The descriptive method of research was used withquestionnaire as the data gathering instrument. The hypotheses were formulated andtested using t-test, ANOVA procedures and Pearson r statistical tools. The findings
showed that there was a significant difference when comparing the leadership styles,
and traits of public and private high school principals. When testing the difference
between the integrity of administrators, result showed that there was no significant
difference between the two. It also revealed that there was no significant relationshipbetween leadership style and leadership traits among public high school
administrators. There was a significant relationship between the leadership style andtrait among private high school principals. In terms of the relationship between
leadership style and integrity, both administrators showed no significant relationship.
The leadership traits and integrity showed that there was a significant relationshipamong the private high school administrator and public high school administrators
showed no significant relationship between traits and integrity. Based on the findings,
it is recommended that administrators should be aware of their leadershipcharacteristics and its effect to the organization. Training should be given to develop
and strengthen leadership traits and integrity. Finally, a Strategic Leadership Programfor administrators must be reinforced.
Keywords: Leadership characteristics, traits, integrity, style, administrators

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Educating the nation is the greatest responsibility of school leaders, specifically, theprincipals. The principals are the chief educational leaders who play significant roles
in shaping the nature of the school organization. They have the capacity to influence,
give support, build leader-follower relationship, and taking into consideration theircharacteristics as a true leader. These characteristics are very important to schoolleaders in shaping the nature of their organization. Through their leadershipcharacteristics, they can influence their organization as they aid and give support tothe people in achieving the success or and to make a difference in the organization.
The focus of this study is to explore the leadership characteristics of public andprivate high school administrators in Malabon City and have a comparative analysis.
Leadership characteristics are focused on the leadership style, traits and integrity of
the administrator.
Three groups of respondents which include the principals themselves, the middle level
administrators, and the teachers were asked to assess the leadership characteristics ofthe principals as to their style, traits and integrity in leading their respective schools.
The groups of respondents answered a questionnaire in exploring the leadershipcharacteristics of the principals. The questionnaire was to identify the style preferredby the principals in performing their duties, as well as to determine the traits andintegrity they had manifested in dealing with issues in relation to their functions. The
gathered responses were utilized in proposing a Strategic Leadership Program for
Administrators.
Leadership Characteristics
Leadership style
Leadership style is an element of administrator’s leadership characteristics thateventually the decision making behavior of the administrator. Leadership style can be
influenced by one’s personality which deals mainly with the manner of the leader on
how he/she carries his/her functions or authority and power and the decision-making
process. Leadership style is defined and identified by competencies and skills that theleader applies to guide facilitate and support the people of the organization in theirefforts to accomplish the tasks. This reveals decision-making behavior which is a
result of the philosophy, personality and experience of the leader. Consequently,
principals need adequate knowledge and skills of selecting and using leadership styleas the situations require in order to successfully achieving the goals of their schools(Wote, 2014).
Autocratic Leadership Style
Autocratic leadership style or authoritarian refers to the condition where the leader
trains the followers what to do next, when is the correct timeframe to do it, and how
to execute it. All decision-making powers were centralized in the leader with theminimal participation from the followers. This style allows quick-decision-making,since only one person decides for the whole group and keeps each decision to him
until he feels it is needed to share with the group. The leader does not entertain
suggestions or initiatives from subordinates. He does not delegate authority nor permit

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subordinates to participate in policy –making. Autocratic leaders are controlling,
power-oriented, and prefer punishment instead of reward.
In autocratic leadership, Lewin,White and Lippit concluded that autocratic leaders arefound to work harder when the group leader is present. It was also found out that
autocratically led groups experienced more resentment, aggression and indifference
than any other group (Heutt,2011). On the other hand, individuals and groups who are
not motivated, not interested or not familiar with the task benefit the most fromworking with autocratic leaders and had been found to influence multiple people andbe helpful in certain settings (Galanes and Adams, 2010 & Iqbal,et al ,2015).
Democratic leadership Style
Democratic or participative leadership style refers to a situation where there is anequal work among leaders and followers. This leadership style favors decision making
by the group. This is in contrast with the autocratic style as it often says- “I wantyou”, but in participative style, it is more of “let us”. There is a decentralization of
authority, participatory planning, and mutual communication. There is consultation
before decisions are taken, although he makes the final decisions. This is beneficial
because if the employees are not being consulted, they might just be following orders
from the leaders and sometimes secretly resist the order by insubordination (Jay,2014). A democratic leader with consultative style has a substantial but not complete
confidence and trust in the employees. More so, a democratic leader is a persuasive
leader. The leader makes a decision about new policy and then informs the membersof the organization about the decisions made and seeks their support to the decision
made by convincing them with the benefits they can get from it.
Considering these conditions, the subordinates are empowered to their maximum
capacity and desire. The democratic leaders place a strong synergy and commitment
and collaboration with team members and act as advisor to develop a natural
motivating environment in the group. However, democratic or participative leadershipstyle is appropriate when the organization have competent and skilled employees who
can be part in the organization’s planning, decision-making and evaluating results(Iqbal,etal, 2015).
Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
Laissez-faire leadership style is where the leaders provide maximum supervision,
since the group members have to work on their own, and make decisions, on the next
phases they need to take to finish their tasks. This style was defined as the manner andapproach of providing directions, implementing plans, and motivating people who
eventually promote teamwork, and good interpersonal relationship. Leaders keep off
and allow group members to make decisions. A laissez-faire leader does not lead, but
leaves the group entirely as it is such a leader allows maximum freedom tosubordinates. Freedom are freely determined by the group’s goals, techniques, andworking methods. There is autonomy among the members of the organization, thus
they have complete freedom to make decisions.
Laissez-faire leaders do not influence their subordinates and do not demonstrateabilities to lead, but rather demonstrate a lack of leadership (Northouse, 2011).

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Laissez-faire style could lead to team anarchy, chaos, and incompetence which maylead to inefficiency (Ronald, 2011). This style is not ideal in situations where groupmembers lack the knowledge or experience to complete the task and make decisions(Emery, 2015).
Putting together the three leadership styles practiced by administrators, there is no
single leadership style that a successful leader may use. Leadership style is not a one
size fits all phenomenon, rather it should be selected and adapted to fit theorganization, situations, groups and individuals. It can be applied depending on the
personality, and experiences of the leader which may influence the decision-making
process of the leaders and eventually affect the whole organization.
Leadership Trait
Leadership Trait is anchored on trait theory. It focuses on the innate qualities andcharacteristics possess by a great leader or even to anyone. Traits are characteristics
that are innate to anyone. Whether leaders are born with leadership characteristics ornot, people who have leadership potential may change their traits. Leadership traits
are essential among the leaders who are given responsibility. It paves the idea that
personality trait has an important role in leadership to manage an organization.
Consequently, it highlights the leaders’ component of the leadership process which
typically composed of the leaders, followers, and the situations.
The trait exhibited by the leaders provided a clearer picture of who they are as leadersand how they fit in the organization. Leadership traits include collaboration,commitment, trust, respect, articulation, perception, self-confidence, self-assurance,
flexibility, persistence, determination, trustworthiness, dependability, friendliness, andenthusiasm. Effective leaders have high level of commitment to the goal of improving
school readiness and to the organization’s mission. School leaders must stabilize
pleasant school culture. Leaders are committed to and believe in the benefits ofcollaboration. Studies emphasized the importance of collaborative relationshipbetween principals and teachers when they studied teacher retention strategies.
Leadership Integrity
Integrity of leaders is anchored on moral or ethical behaviors of leaders. When we
speak of ethical or moral, it encompasses actions which are in accordance with social
accepted behavior (Pillay, 2014). In dealing with conflicts, a leader must be guided by
ethical behavior in considering options, as our choices shape us as being good orbad, and whether an action that taken will harm someone or something (Van Aswegen& Engelbreecht as cited by Pillay, 2014). Effective leadership requires leaders ofintegrity, thus leaders must act following code of standard of moral virtue which
prevents undesirable behavior in thought, in words or in deed. These leaders show thedesire to excel in order to meet to achieve the school’s vision and goals. A person ofhigh integrity may be filled with challenges, but most all rewards, and the legacy of
good leadership that will bring lasting effect (Azuka, as cited by Pillay, 2014).
Lack of integrity may affect the trust and confidence of the followers or subordinates
to their leaders and believed to have an impact on the organization’s operation.
Without integrity, there will be no real success, as the leaders are more likely to

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engage in unethical or counterproductive behaviors. It is therefore vital that leaders
conduct themselves with integrity to facilitate the day to day operations and theoverall functioning of an organization.
Findings
High School Administrators Leadership Style
Teachers rated their principal Frequently True that they always try to include one ormore employees in determining what to do and how to do it, however, they maintainthe final decision making authority. It is Occasionally True that they do not consider
suggestions made by the employees as they do not have time for them. These results
convey that the teachers believed their public high school administrators consider
decentralization of authority, participatory and mutual communication. Middle level
administrator respondents rated their public high schools principals Frequently Truethat they always try to include one or more employees in determining what to do andhow to do it, however, they maintain the final decision making authority and theywanted to create an environment where the employees take ownership of the project
and they allowed them to participate in the decision –making process. It is Seldom
True that they do not consider suggestions made by the employees as they do not havetime for them. The principals rated themselves Frequently True that they wanted tocreate an environment where the employees have ownership on the projects andallowed them to participate in decision-making process, and Seldom True that they do
not consider suggestions made by the employees as they do not have time for them,with the lowest mean of 1.50. These results suggest that the administrators believedthat when employees are involved in the decision-making, the employees will feel thepower of confidence in decision-making, making them more effective in theorganization. This was supported by the findings of the study of Iqbal et al (2015)that leadership has a positive effect on the performance of the employees.
Private School Administrators Leadership Style
Teachers rated their principals Almost Always True that they always try to include
one or more employees in determining what to do and how to do it, though, they
maintain the final decision-making authority. They were rated Seldom True that they
do not consider suggestions made by the employees as they do not have time for them.
This means that the private high school administrators believed in the power ofparticipation and consultation of employees in the decision-making process. The
middle level administrators rated their principals Almost Always True that theydelegate tasks in order to implement a new procedure or process. This result is due tothe fact that the principals and the middle level administrators are working closely
together where they have developed a leader- follower relationship which resulted tothe development of trust and confidence that the middle level can do the tasks without
close supervision. The principals rated Frequently True that employees can leadthemselves just as well as leaders can.
High School Administrators ‘Leadership Traits
The teachers and the middle level administrators in the public schools rated their
public high school principals Agree to have high level of commitment to the goals of

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improving school readiness and to the organizations’ mission. The principals rated
themselves Strongly Agree in assessing their level of commitment to the goal of
improving schools readiness. They rated themselves the lowest in driving enthusiasm,
and tolerance for stress which means that they have a problem in terms of motivating
and influencing people. They felt and believed that they still need to improve their
enthusiasm and tolerance to stress to make a difference in their organization. Table 3
shows the summary of responses of the three groups of respondents on the public highschool administrators in terms of traits.
Teachers in private high schools rated their principals strongly agree in assessing thecommitment to the goal of improving school readiness and to the organization’s
mission. Further, teachers strongly agree that their principals view other stakeholders
positively and trust their positons, were respectful as they respect and appreciatediffering perspectives, have self-confidence, they are flexible as they are able to adjust
to different situations and were friendly since they show kindness and warmth.
However, teachers assessed their principal the lowest in terms of effective
communication. They perceived that their principals have difficulty in conveying themessage they wanted to disseminate which may affect the plans or projects they want
to implement. Middle level administrators strongly agree that the principals possess
all the qualities of effective leaders. This is also true with the ratings of the principals
themselves. These findings show that the middle level administrators who are
working closely with the principals know very well the characteristics displayed bytheir principals.
High School Administrators Leadership Integrity
The public school administrators, as well as the private high school principals wererated Rarely that they practiced integrity indicators based on the assessment made by
the three groups of respondents. This means that both public and high school
principals display High Integrity. These results manifested that the principals were
believed that they are doing what is right and they observe ethics to keep this integrity
intact. To get the trust and confidence of the followers, leaders should create a climatethat is fulfilling to the organization and to the school itself. It is vital that theadministrators conduct themselves with integrity to facilitate the day-to-day
operations and the over-all functioning of an organization.
Test of Difference between public and private high school administrators
leadership characteristics
Table 1 Test of Difference between the Public and Private High School
Administrators ‘Leadership Styles
SchoolMean
SD
Computed Tabular Description Decision
Administrator
t-valuevalue ats
0.05
Public
3.25
0.39
4.98
2.00
Significant
RejectHo
Private3.94
0.63
It can be observed that the computed t value of 4.98 is higher than the tabular value of
2.00. This indicates that there was a significant difference in the leadership styles of
their administrators, thus, the null hypothesis is rejected. This may be because of the

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nature, culture and climate, as well as other related factors that may affect the decision–making behavior of the two groups considering the differing environment of the
public and private school.
Table 2 Test of Difference between the Public and Private School
Administrators’ Leadership Traits
SchoolMean
SD
Computed
Tabular Description Decision
Administrators
t-valuevalue at
0.05
Public
4.19
0.13
8.86
2.05
Significant
RejectHo
Private
4.59
0.11
The computed t value of 8.86 is higher than the tabular value of 2.05. This indicatesthat there was a significant difference in the leadership traits of the public and private
high school administrators as assessed by the three groups of respondents from thepublic and private high schools. It reveals that private schools administrators strongly
agree that they exhibit the leadership traits expected of them.
Table 3. Test of Difference between the Public and Private School
Administrators’ Leadership Integrity
SchoolMean
SD
Computed Tabular Description Decision
Administratorstvalue at
0.05
Public
1.56
0.20
0.37
0.72
Not
AcceptSignificant
Ho
Private
1.54
0.21
The data show that there was no significant difference in terms of leadership integrity
as perceived by the teachers, middle level administrators and the principals
themselves with a computed t value of 0.37 and tabular value of 0.72. This indicatesthat the null hypothesis is accepted. This implies that the integrity of teachers was notaffected by where the principals are rendering their services. This is because, as an
educator, they must be guided by the Code of conduct observed by a professional
teacher and the ethical values of being a leader. A leader to be able to implementchange is a person of high integrity.
Test of relationship between public and private school administrators’leadership characteristics
Table 4 Test of Relationship between School Administrators’ Leadership Styles
and Leadership Traits
SchoolComputed r Tabular value
Description
Decision
Administrators
at 0.05
Public0.33

0.5760Not Significant

Accept Ho

Private0.86

0.6664Significant

Reject HoAmong the public high schools, the computed values of r=0.33 is less than theircorresponding tabular r values =0.5760 showed no significant relationship between
the leadership style and the leadership traits of their principals, thus the null

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hypothesis is accepted. This reveals that the leadership style or the authority of the
public school principals is not in any relation to the trait they possess. This may be
explained by the fact that public school principals are practicing not only one style ofleadership instead , they use a certain style depending on the situation they are inwithout looking into the trait they manifested. This also reveals that style and traits ofthe public high school principals were not the basis of an effective leader.
However, in the private high schools, the computed r- value of 0.86 is higher than thetabular r-value of 0.6664, therefore, there was a significant relationship between thestyle and traits of the private high school principals. The null hypothesis was rejected.
This may be explained by the fact that the private high school principals are closely
monitored by the owners of the schools and the Board of Trustees, therefore, theadministrators need to be very careful with the leadership style they practice and theleadership traits they need to manifest in performing their tasks. It denotes that thestyle of leading the school should be in accordance to the innate traits of the leader
which is dependent on the school culture and climate.
Table 5 Test of Relationship between School Administrators’ Leadership Styles
and Leadership Integrity
SchoolAdministrators

Computed r

Tabular value
at 0.05

Description

Decision

Public-0.39

0.5760Not
Significant

Accept Ho

Private0.01

0.6664Not
Significant

Accept Ho

Table 5 shows a negative correlation between the styles and integrity of the publichigh school administrators with computed r- value of -0.39 and tabular value of
0.5760, as well as the private high school principals with a computed r- value of 0.01
and tabular values of 0.6664. The obtained data shows that the styles and integrity
were not significant, thus accept the null hypothesis. This means that the leadershipstyle was independent of the leadership integrity of the administrators. The leadershipstyles practiced by the administrators may depend on other variables like the school
culture and climate. It may also shows that the leadership traits and leadershipintegrity of the principals depend upon the situations and the moral and ethicalconsiderations of the administrators themselves.
Table 6 Test of Relationship between School Administrators’ Leadership Traits
and Leadership Integrity
SchoolComputed r
Tabular
Description
Decision
Administrators
value at
0.05
Public-0.63
0.5760Significant
Reject Ho
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0.6664730

Not Significant

Accept Ho

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In as much as the computed values of r – is higher than the tabular r values, then there
is a significant relationship between principals’ traits and leadership integrity. Amongthe public high school principals having computed tabular r-value of -0.63 against thetabular value of 0.5760, thus the null hypothesis therefore is rejected. This reveals thatthe public high school principals are always guided by their traits and integrity in all
circumstances. On the other hand, for the private high schools, the computed r valueof 0.01 is lower than the tabular r value of 0.6664; thus, there is no significant
relationship between the traits and the leadership integrity of the principals. Thismeans that the private high school administrators are confident that leadership traits
they manifest is more than enough to become effective leaders. It reveals that highintegrity does not in any relation to the traits of the private high school principal’s
manifest.
Based on the findings, a Strategic Leadership Program for Administrators (SLPA)
was proposed to enhance the leadership characteristics, develop communication skills
and management, enhance the moral and ethical standards of administrators anddevelop a well-rounded, highly moral and ethical and potential leader.
Conclusions
1. Public and private high school administrators’ in the division of Malabon use
democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire leadership style in decision –making, withdemocratic style as the most commonly used in leading the organization.
2. Public high school respondents Agree that their principals possess the personal
traits of effective administrators while the private high schools Strongly Agree that
their principals possess the personal traits of an effective leader.
3. Public and Private high school principals are seen to be of high integrity based fromthe assessment made.
Suggestions
1. In as much as the leadership characteristics, administrators should be given moretrainings about leadership styles, traits and integrity to be cascaded to the community
especially to teachers and middle level administrators.
2. The researcher may disseminate the findings of the study to the Division of
Malabon enhancing administrators and middle level administrators to develop
potential leaders in the division.
3. The adoption of the crafted Strategic Leadership Program for Administrators be
tested by the organization to see the effectiveness of democratic style of leadership forschools to achieve excellent performance in education.
4. Lastly, for future researchers, due to the limitations of the study, it is recommended
that similar studies be conducted in order to strengthen and affirm its findings.

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References
Emery,E.(2015).Ethical Behavior,leadership,and decision-making. Publisheddissertation.Walden University,
Retrieved from scholarworks.waldenuni/cgi/viewcontent146.
doi:10.4172/2223-5833.1000146
Galanes, G.,& Adams,K.(2010). Effevtive group discussion, (13th ed.). New
York,NY:McGraw-Hill.Retrieved December 2017 from https://books.google.com.ph
Heuett,K.B. (2011). Preference group leadership: targeting leadership styles by
categorization of domain. Southern Utah University. Retrieved December, 2017 fromhttps://www.suu.edu/hss/comm/.
Iqbal, N., Anwar, S., & Haider, N.(2015). Effect of Leadership Style on Employee
Performance . Arabian J Bus Manaag Review 5:146. doi.10:4172/22235833.1000146
Jay,A. (2014). The Principals’ Leadership Style and Teachers Performance inSecondary Schools of Gambella Regional State. Theses, Jimma University Institute ofeducation and professional Development Studies, Ethiopia
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership theory and practice (6th ed.).Los Angeles: SAGE
Publications, Inc.
Pillay,P.(2014). Integrity leadearship.School pf Public Leadership. Stellenbosch,
African Journal of Public Affairs.
Ronald,G.(2011). Laisses-faire leadership.Retrieved fromhttp://www.uksagepub.com/nortouseintro2e/study/chapter/encyclopycloopedia3.2.pdf
Wote , E.P.(2014). Comparative study on leadership styles practiced in privates andgovernment secondary schools. The case of East Badawacho District, Hadiya Zone,
SNNPR. Haramaya University

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Beliefs, Attitudes, Challenges and Factors in The Implementation of The New
Curriculum: Basis for a Curriculum Model
Anecita Palacios, St. Michael's College, The Philippines
Apipa Masnar, St. Michael's College, The Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
This research study sought to determine the dominant factors influencing theimplementation of a new curriculum such as the K-12 curriculum. Two-hundred
ninety respondents from the four schools of Lanao del Norte participated in thisstudy to investigate their beliefs and attitudes towards implementation practices of a
new curriculum. Using factor analysis, a total of 9 most dominant factors wereextracted from the 109 indicators. The most dominant factors indicated by theteachers are: management support, teaching and learning competence, andsupervisory and social relations. The most dominant factors indicated by the students
are: subject preferences, textbook preferences, sense of achievement, relationshipwith school authorities, likability towards school environment, and teacher factors.
Majority of the teachers responded that the most important indicator is establishing amutually-respectful relationship in the school setting. The most important factor
indicated by the students is having the sense of achievement, implying that students
need to be recognized and appreciated for the tasks they do at school. The teacher
factor on supervisory and social relations at school and the student factor on teacher
relations showed to have a significant relationship. The findings of this study arecongruent with the underpinnings of Gross’ theory on curriculum implementation
and Fullan’s educational Change theory, emphasizing that management support,
development of human resources, and collaboration as important factors in
implementing change in the educational system. From these findings, the author
drafted a curriculum implementation model which could be contextually applied in
the four schools included in this research.
Keywords: Curriculum implementation, curriculum implementation model, beliefs
and attitudes, challenges in implementation, factors in implementation

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
In the Philippines, one of the major thrusts of former President Benigno Aquino’s
government was the enhancement of the basic education program known as theRepublic Act No. 10533 series 2012 which was signed into law on May 15, 2013. The
law was enacted and promulgated because the Philippines is the last country in Asiaand one of only three countries worldwide with a 10-year pre-university cycle. This
recent educational reform efforts instituted by the Philippine government intends toimprove the quality of the high school graduates. These new graduates are envisage to
become more competitive in the global business arena and to bring more success thatwould contribute towards building the nation and be at par with the rest of the world.
(Acosta, 2016). Globalization, technology explosion and information explosion were
just few of many reasons for the restructuring (Calot, 2016). This would strengthen
the education of the country which would expectedly result to production of betterand competent graduates (Combalicer, 2016).
The problem is that despite efforts at implementation, it is still not clear how thelearners, teachers and principals have perceived the new curriculum introduced in
2013. It also remains to be seen whether the school members are clear about thenature of the change, the reasons behind it and how it is supposed to be implemented.
Above all, it is not yet known if the classroom practices that have been developed byeducators really meet desired ends, and whether the schools receive the necessary
support to implement the new curriculum.
The implementation of the new curriculum has been running for five years now.
However, not all teachers, administrators and students could easily adapt to thissudden change. According to Calub (2014) different teachers with different types oflearners have various observations and experiences towards the implementation of theframework. Inevitably, there are some problems met by the teachers and the wholeconstituents of a school in implementing the new curriculum frameworks, thus theneed of this study.
These are the critical issues that will determine the success of curriculum
implementation and that have prompted this study, which sought to examine beliefs,
attitudes, challenges and the factors influencing implementation of a new curriculumin its early stages in the selected four schools in Lanao Del Norte.
This study involved four principals, 74 teachers and 212 Senior High School (SHS)
students in the four schools in the Division of Lanao del Norte under the Departmentof Education (DepEd). Quantitative approach specifically descriptive-correlational
design is utilized in this study. Data analysis was made through descriptive andinferential statistical methods. Factor loading analysis, specifically the principal
component analysis was used to extract the factors from the responses. The researcher
used a survey questionnaire designed to determine educators’ and learners’ opinions
regarding implementation of the K-12 curriculum. The quantitative instrument
consisted of items adapted from Bernhardt ‘s (1999) survey questionnaires. In
addition, one-on-one interview and focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted withthe principals.

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Specifically, the study addressed the following problems: What are the beliefs,
attitudes and challenges of the principals, teachers and Senior High School (SHS)
students in the implementation of the new K-12 Curriculum in the four public schools
under survey? In the context of the four school respondents, what are the dominantfactors influencing the implementation of the new K-12 curriculum? Is there asignificant relationship in the beliefs, attitudes and challenges of teachers and students
towards the implementation of the new K-12 curriculum?
Conclusion
The following were the highlighted findings of the study:
Principals’ belief and attitude towards the new curriculum
According to the four principals, the six highest rated educational practices orindicators are the following: 1) cultivating close relationship with teachers, other staff
members, students and parents, 2) effective professional development on new
curriculum; 3) challenging teachers and students continuously to fulfill curriculum
goals; 4) holding regular and productive staff meeting; and 5) promoting
collaboration among teachers so that they can develop new skills by sharing
professional knowledge about the new curriculum; 6)maximizing the amount ofschool time used for learning.
The school principals strongly agree that the successful implementation of the K-12
program requires the cultivation of a productive and close relationship amongst
teachers, staff members, parents and students. This view of the principals is
consistent with the theory posited by Fullan in 1970. According to Ellsworth (2001),
Fullan’s model focused on the human participants taking part in the change process;and the relationship established by the human participants contribute much to theimplementation of a new curriculum. This relationship cascades from the top
management to the bottom, creating various educational concerns based on
established working relationships in the school setting. The educational indicators thatare rated by the school principals are educational practices that necessitate strong
relationships and collaboration amongst teachers in order to increase professional
knowledge and increase skills on curriculum development. Also, effective
professional development on new curriculum is a necessary indicator for success incurriculum change implementation. According to Borich (2000) in his book entitled“Effective Teaching Methods”, effectiveness in classroom teaching is significantly
influenced by the in-depth knowledge of the teacher on the various components of thecurriculum being implemented.
Moreover, the principals unanimously believed that both teachers and students must
be challenged to continuously meet curriculum goals. Pintrich and Schunk (2002)
discussed in their book entitled “Motivation in Education” the relevance of meeting
curriculum goals by both teachers and students. The authors posited that students
must be taught self-engagement and management of one’s educational goals throughleveling of expectations, goal-setting techniques, and formative evaluation of
performance. Increasing intrinsic motivation towards meeting curricular standards is
one of the priority learning competencies that teachers should teach the students. The
school principals further indicated that it is of topmost importance to maximize the

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learning time of students while inside the school; thus, also maximizing their learning
experiences and engagement time with teachers. However, this indicator was clarified
by Moeller (2005) when she discussed in her research that teachers must not focus
only on covering the content of the curriculum but on the student’s performanceindicators which demonstrate qualitative learning and evidence-based competencies.
In a study on curriculum leadership (Parkay, et.al, 2014), the authors elaborately
discussed the challenges faced by school administrators in implementing aninterdisciplinary curriculum. The success of the implementation is largely hinged on
the leadership of school principals in providing extensive information on the new
curriculum and in training teacher competencies.
Challenges encountered by the school principals during the implementation of a
new curriculum.
In a focus-group discussion (FGD) and interview conducted to the principals, thefollowing are the curriculum Implementation concerns reported by the School
Principals.
School Administration Concerns
The school administration of each of the four schools involved in this study expressed
concerns related to the actual implementation of the K-12 curriculum. The common
problem that the school principals expressed is the lack of training in making theimplementation process and the lack of experience of school personnel in doing pilot
implementation of a new curriculum such as the K-12 program. Another concern isthe lack of collaboration amongst stakeholders. A forum involving all stakeholders at
school and in the community together with the parents was difficult to do because of
the lack of interest of some individuals to partake of this paradigm shift in the
educational system. It is also very evident that there is a shortage of personnel during
the implementation phase. The government must investigate the creation of new items
for new teachers and administrators in order to address issues on non-availability ofhuman resources who could ably assist the successful implementation of the new
curriculum. Moreover, the school administrators are oftentimes overwhelmed by the
many programs and activities that need to be implemented. With the limited personnel
and delayed downloading of funds, it is difficult to implement school programs
mandated by DepEd.
Concerns related to Teachers
There is a shortage in hiring teachers because of the national standards in hiring
Teacher 1 positions. Some who applied are not registered qualified. During the firstyear of implementation of the senior high school program, there was a shortage ofteachers so that the junior high school teachers also handle subjects in the senior highcurriculum. The trainings provided are not sufficient for teachers in developing
competencies especially in the TLE (Technology and Livelihood Education)
curriculum. Also, the teachers complain about the use of a spiral curriculum in
Science which to them seems to be ineffective. There are also curriculum materials
such as in the subject of Mathematics, which are not appropriate for learners comingfrom the hinterlands

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Concerns related to students
Learning goals of the students are not sufficiently met because of the lack of teachingmaterials. The textbooks provided for the subjects of Math, Science, TLE, Filipino,and Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) are not sufficient to be used by all students.
Students also are not exposed to science laboratories because the lack of equipment
needed to do science experimentation. The library also lacks references and books
where students could do their research in the absence of the internet. Because of thelack of learning materials, student’s academic performance is adversely affected.
Teachers’ beliefs and attitude towards the new curriculum
On analyzing the teachers’ responses on beliefs, attitudes towards the implementationof the new curriculum, the following factors were found to be dominant.
Table 1 shows both the factor loadings and communalities of each variable or beliefof the respondent-teachers. Using principal component analysis, the three factors
created in this study, which are considered as the dominant factors influencing
curriculum implementation are the following: Management support and reinforcement
system; Teaching and learning competence; and Supervisory and social relations at
school.
The results presented in Table 1 further indicated that there are three extracted factorsthat influenced the teacher-respondents’ belief and attitude towards the new
curriculum implementation. The first factor, School Management support and teacher
Motivation, is composed of 7 items. All of the mentioned items share similarities in
the aspect related to support of the management in the implementation of a new
curriculum, which also includes the intrinsic motivation of the teachers to educate
students accompanied by professional recognition and sense of personal achievement.
The variable that has the strongest correlation (0.787) with the first factor is thevariable which says that teachers feel intrinsically rewarded for a job well done in thecontext of the new curriculum. Ofoegbu in his study in 2004 articulated that teachers
have both intrinsic and extrinsic needs. A teacher who is intrinsically motivated may
be observed to undertake a task for its own sake, for the satisfaction it provides or for
the feeling of accomplishment and self-actualization. A task of implementing a new
curriculum is challenging for intrinsically motivated teachers, especially when thismotivation is further reinforced by a positive reinforcement system applied by theschool’s management (Atkinson, 2000). In a study conducted in 2014 (Parkay, et.al),it was elaborated that the role of management or school administrations is very criticalin implementing the curriculum especially during the planning stage, when level ofagreement of all school constituents must be determined. The amount ofreinforcement and motivation provided to the teachers predict the success of
implementing curricular goals in the classroom.
The second factor, teaching and learning competence, is also composed of 7 items.
All these items share similarities in terms of demonstrating professional skills
enhancement for teachers and academic achievement or learning competence forstudents. The variable that strongly correlated with the second factor is item 17, whichindicated that the teacher-respondents strongly agree that student achievement data
are an important tool for improvement of student learning. According to Marks

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Official Conference Proceedings(2000), understanding and assessing first students’ needs and prior performances arenecessary in making effective classroom strategies that lead to improvement ofstudent learning. This therefore implies that profiling student needs based on
socioeconomic status, dominant learning styles, personality types, academic
achievement in each subject, and abilities proved to be effective in managing a betterclassroom and understanding student’s concerns. Klem & Connel (2004) expoundedthat those teachers who connect and relate well with students produce more engaged
students across all basic education levels. It is therefore of paramount importance thatteachers develop themselves in both cognitive and affective aspects, in order totransfer these proficiencies to the students.
Table 1 Teacher respondents’ beliefs and attitudes towards the new curriculum
FactorCommu
Item Educational Indicators or practices
Loadings nalities
No.
Factor 1: School management Support and Teacher Motivation
I feel that school organization is changing and enabling
S2
.757
.720
successful implementation of new curriculum.
S3
S4
S5
S10
S11
S13
S14
S15
S16
S17
S18
S19
S20
S1
S6
S7
S8

I feel that teaching new curriculum is fun at this school.

.728
I feel acknowledged for good work in the context of the new .738
curriculum.

.753

I feel intrinsically rewarded for doing my job well in context of .787
new curriculum.
My principal supports me in my work with students under the.608
new curriculum.
My principal supports shared decision making.
.590
My principal is effective in helping us to realize the vision on.512
which the new curriculum is predicated.
Factor 2 Teaching-learning competence
I realized that the new curriculum has clear learning objectives.684
and that it emphasizes the acquisition of basic skills.
I realized that effective professional development is helpful in the.719
fulfilment of curriculum goals.
I realized that student achievement can increase through active.767
learning methods.
I realized that student achievement data are an important tool for.830
improvement of student learning.
I realized that effective parent involvement and otherstakeholders is needed for successful implementation of the new .794
curriculum.
I have the opportunity to develop my teaching skills individually.643
and co-operating with other colleagues on the new curriculum.
I have the opportunity to grow professionally under the new.652
curriculum dispensation.
Factor 3 Supervisory and social relations at school
I feel like I belong at this school.
.513
I work with colleagues who treat me with respect.
.874
I work with colleagues who listen if I have ideas about doing.758
things better in the context of new curriculum.
My principal is an effective instructional leader.
.712

.779

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.684

.743
.676
.717
.720
.730
.734
.749
.771
.747
.767
.559
.834
.673
.788

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S12

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My principal facilitates communication effectively.
My principal allows me to be an effective instructional leader.
Total Cumulative Variance Explained (%)
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity= 1345.998,
df = 190, p<.001

.667
.582

.702
.728
72.87
.905

The third factor which influenced teacher’s beliefs and attitude towards a creation of a
new curriculum is supervisory and social relations at school. In this study, this factor
is composed of six items. These items share similarities in terms of the fact thatteachers believed that success in implementing a new curriculum is greatly dependent
on the teacher’s satisfying relationships with supervisor and colleagues at school.
Atkinson (2000) emphasized the importance of establishing collegial relationships at
school, which serves as a strong motivator for teachers to do better even with noveltasks. The variable with the highest correlation with the third factor is item number 6,
which says that teachers find it very important to work with colleagues who treat themwith respect.
This is indicative of the fact that respect and collegial relationships at school is highly
expected by teachers so that without such indicator, implementation of a new
curriculum is difficult. Barth (2006) discussed the importance of teacher collegiality
at school. This collegiality in relating with others leads to a smooth interpersonal
relationships with supervisors and colleagues. These smooth interpersonal encounters
result to a more satisfying job experience and better teaching performance among
teachers. Curriculum implementation hinges on collaboration of human resources; sothat poor social relations definitely hamper the achievement of the school’s curriculargoals.
It is further noted that each indicator (latent variables) showed strong to very strong
correlations with the three variables of measuring same construct or factor. The
communality scores of each variable when squared actually show the varianceexplained by each item variable or indicator. From the values of the common
communality, each indicator (latent variable) ascertained that majority of them have avalue higher than 0.50 which represents satisfactory quality of the measurements ofthe extracted factors. In total, the three factors explained 73.7% of the total varianceof the belief and attitude of the teachers towards the implementation of a new
curriculum. This high percentage of variance explained implies that the indicatedvariables are indeed the dominant factors or components that influence theimplementation of a new curriculum such as that of the K-12 curriculum of the
Department of Education.
Students’ belief and attitude towards the new curriculum
On analyzing the students’ responses on beliefs, attitudes towards the implementationof the new curriculum, the following factors were found to be dominant.
Table 3 shows both the factor loadings and communalities of each variable or beliefof the 212 student-respondents. Out of the original 75 items included in the survey

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questionnaire responded by the students, only 36 are retained for interpretations
because of high factor loadings and communality scores. The six factors created are
the following:
Subject matter preferences; Textbook preferences; Sense ofAchievement at school; Relationship with school authorities; Likability of school
environment; and Teacher Factors. These factors influenced the students’ belief andattitude towards the new curriculum implementation.
The first factor, Subject matter preferences, is composed of 10 items. All the items
share similarities in the aspect related to subject matter preferences of the students
such as Oral Communication, reading and Writing, 21st Century Literature, General
Mathematics, and the like. The indicator that has the strongest correlation with thefirst factor is item 52 –Media and Information Literacy. This subject is probably rated
very high by the students because it is a newly offered subject and caters to theinterests of the 21st century learner profile who are technology savvy and modern(Walters, 2008).
Table 2. Student-respondents’ beliefs and attitudes towards a new curriculum
Factor Comm
Educational Indicators/variables
Loading unalitie
Item
No. Factor 1: Subject preferences
I think the important subjects are:
S52
Oral Communication.
.696
.544
S53
Reading and writing
.727
.606
S54
Komunikasyon at Pananaliksik saWika at Kulturang Pilipino
.701
.558
st
S55
21 century Literature
.704
.569
S56
Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Region
.574
.469
S57
Media and Information literacy
.732
.665
S58
General Math/Statistics and Probability
.611
.524
S59
Earth and Life Science/Physical Science
.602
.571
S60
Introduction to Philosophy of the human person
.672
.561
S61
Physical Education and Health
.606
.551
Factor 2: Textbook preferences
My preferred Textbooks are:
S62
Oral Communication Textbooks
.479
.628
S63
Reading and Writing Textbooks
.506
.609
Komunikasyon at Pananaliksik saWika at Kulturang Pilipino
S64
.734
.662
Textbooks
S65
21st Literature Textbooks
.773
.652
S66
Contemporary Philippine Arts Textbooks
.650
.610
S67
Media and Information Textbooks
.793
.663
S68
General Mathematics Textbooks
.562
.478
S69
Earth & Life/Physical Science Textbooks
.776
.675
S70
PE and Health Textbooks
.576
.577
Factor 3: Sense of Achievement at school
S2
I feel like I belong at this school.
.543
.429
S19
I like to learn
.646
.460
S20
Doing well in school makes me feel good about myself
.672
.529
The new curriculum will contribute to my education in reference
S37
.544
.558
to my ability to write.

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S38
S8
S9
S22
S25
S1
S3
S12
S17
S18
S31
S32
S33

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The new curriculum will contribute to my education in reference.508
to my ability to read.
Factor 4: Relationship with school authorities
School administrators treat me with respect.
.681
I am treated with respect by the office staff.
.725
Students at this school has the opportunities to learn about each
.654
other
Students at this school respect other students who are different.638
than they are.
Factor 5: Likability of school environment
I feel safe at this school.
.595
I feel challenged at this school.
.459
The work at this school is challenging.
.577
I like this school.
.643
I think this is a good school.
.705
Factor 6: Teacher factors
My teachers
Know me well.495
Listen to my ideas.638
Care about me.
.665
Total Cumulative Variance Explained (%)
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity= 3632.511, df = 190, p<.001

.520
.537
.555
.636
.526
.451
.473
.547
.482
.668
.431
.470
.599
55.17

There are nine (9) items or indicators included in factor 2 (Textbook preferences),
These items are grouped together based on their similarities in loadings as item
listings of textbook preferences such as Oral Communication books, Media andInformation Literacy (MIL) books, Gen Math books, etc. The item with the highest
correlation with factor 2 is item number (Media and Information Literacy textbooks) –which is consistent with the previous result indicating that MIL is the highest rated
subject in factor 1.
There are five (5) items or indicators included in factor 3 (Sense of achievement at
school), These items are grouped together based on their high correlations andsimilarities in terms of feeling a sense of having achieved something at school, afeeling of self-efficacy and acceptance. The variable with highest correlation withfactor 3 is item 20 which indicates that doing well at school makes the students feel
good about themselves. According to Graham and Schwarts (1991), in his study on
increasing self-efficacies of learning disabled, enhancement of sense of achievement
must be confirmed and strengthened by the teachers and all school constituents. Goodfeeling of self-efficacy results to meeting curricular standards of the school.
There are four (4) items or indicators included in factor 4 (relationship withauthorities). These items are grouped together based on their high correlations andsimilarities in terms of the student’s relationship with authorities at school, like theway they are treated by the administrators and the staff. The variable with highest
correlation to factor 4 is item 9 - “I am treated with respect by the office staff”.

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There are five (5) items or indicators included in factor 5 (Likability of school
environment). These items are grouped together based on their high correlations andsimilarities in terms of feeling secured at school and liking the general school
environment. The variable with highest correlation with factor 4 is item 18 whichsays that “I think this school is good”.
There are three items included in factor 6 (Teacher Factors). These items are grouped
together based on their high correlations and similarities in terms of their relationshipwith their teachers and on how they perceive their teacher’s ability to care for them.
The variable with highest correlation with factor is item 33 which says that “Myteachers care about me”.
It is further noted that each indicator showed strong to very strong correlations withthe six dominant factors influencing curriculum implementation. In total, the six
factors explained 55.17% of the total variance of the belief and attitude of the students
towards the implementation of a new curriculum. This high percentage of varianceexplained implies that the educational indicators are indeed the factors that influence
the implementation of a new curriculum as responded by the senior high school
students of the four involved schools.
Relationship between the beliefs and attitudes of teachers and students
Table 3. Relationship between the Beliefs and Attitudes of Teachers and Students
Correlation
Attitudes and Beliefs
Description
Coefficientp-value Remarks(Effect Size)(rho)
Teacher
Students
Subject
Not-.069
Weak relationship .561
preferences
Significant
Textbook
Not.003
No relationship.983
preferences
Significant
Sense
of
Not
.036
No relationship.764
Factor1:
achievement
Significant
Management
Respect from
Support andNotschool.203
No relationship.083
Teacher
Significant
authorities
Motivation
Likability ofNotschool.089
No relationship.452
Significant
environment
Teacher
Not.042
No relationship.724
factors
Significant
Subject
Not-.067
No relationship.568
preferences
Significant
Textbook
Not-.031
No relationship.792
Factor2:
preferences
Significant
Teaching and
Sense
of
Not
Learning.053
No relationship.654
achievement
Significant
Competence
Respect fromNot
school.158
Weak relationship .202
Significant
authorities

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Likability ofschool.110
environment
Teacher.075
factors
Subject.034
preferences
Textbook.045
preferences
Sense
of
.092
achievement
Factor
3:
Supervisory Respect from
.270*
and
Social school
Relationsauthorities
Likability ofschool.148
environment
Teacher.304*
factors*
Significant at 0.05 level

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Weak relationship .349
No relationship.525

No relationship.773

No relationship.702

No relationship

.435

Not
Significant
Not
Significant
Not
Significant
Not
Significant
Not
Significant

Weak relationship .020

Not
Significant

Weak relationship .210

Not
Significant

Moderately strong.008
relationship

Significant

Using the Spearman-Rho correlation coefficients, table 5 shows the level ofrelationship between the teacher’s and student’s beliefs and attitudes towards theimplementation of a new curriculum at school. It can be inferred from the table thatmost of factors or the perceptions and beliefs of both teachers (3 factors) and students(six factors) do not have a significant relationship to each other. A moderately strong
relationship is however observed between Factor 3 for teachers (Supervisory andsocial relations) and factor 6 responded by students (Teacher factors). Both factors
share commonalities in terms of their interpersonal– implying that both students andteachers unanimously agree to the fact that school constituents need collegial, healthy,
and satisfying relationships in the school setting. Several authors and researchers(Shapiro 2000; Borich, 2000; Klem and Connel, 2004; and Wolf, 2017) agree to thisfinding indicating that both teachers and students perform better when the social
atmosphere at school is positive and rewarding. Erik Erikson emphasized on thisfactor when he posited in his theory that man is basically social in nature; so that selfintegrity could only be achieved through an enriching social interaction.
Based on the findings of this study, the researcher concludes that majority of theschool principals consider professional development and collaboration with teachersand school staff as very important factors in implementing a successful curriculum.
Majority of the teachers agree that the factor on developing teaching and learningcompetencies was considered as very important in implementing a new curriculum.
Majority of the teachers also indicated that the educational indicator under the factor supervisory and social relations- which expresses that teachers need to feel belonged
or accepted at school was a very important indicator of a successful implementationof a new curriculum. The student-respondents indicated six relevant factors that
influence the implementation of a new curriculum: subject matter preferences,
textbook preference, sense of achievement at school, relationship with authorities atschool, likability towards school environment, and teacher factors. Of the six factors
indicated, sense of achievement was consistently considered as the most important

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factor, specifically the variable which expressed that students like to really learn at
school and doing well at school makes them feel good about themselves. The teacher
factor on supervisory and social relations at school and the student factor on teacher
relations showed to have a significant relationship.
Further, this research study concludes that Gross’ theory on curriculum
implementation is in congruent with the findings of this study. Gross emphasizes on
management support and professional development - factors which the respondents
indicated as very relevant in the successful implementation of a new curriculum. Also,
Fullan’s (1990) Educational Change Theory which focuses on human resources andcollaboration as important in implementing change in the educational systemcoincides with the responses of the respondents who indicated that collaboration andgood relationships at school contributes much to the success of a new curriculum suchas that of the K-12 curriculum of DepEd.
Part of the output of this study is a curriculum implementation model designed for thefour schools under study.
Curriculum implementation model designed based on the findings of the study
This curriculum implementation model is designed based on the findings of thisresearch study that could be contextually applied to the four schools which responded
to this study. There are four phases to curriculum development: 1) Planning; 2)
Acquisition of Needs: 3) Implementation; and 4) evaluation. Implementing acurriculum requires the following action: management initiative, collaboration,
implementation support (logistics, financial needs, equipment materials,
infrastructure), and training of human resources (Marsh, 2009; Tyler, 1990).
Curriculum objectives involve two aspects: behaviors or competencies to be
developed and area of content to be applied.
Based on the findings of this study, the following salient aspects are gathered
as bases in the creation of the curriculum implementation model (Fig. 1).
• School principals need to continuously challenge teachers and students tofulfill curriculum goals, to cultivate a proactive relationship with teachers andstakeholders and to monitor teachers in order to maximize time used forlearning.
• Teachers need a social environment at school which is defined by the virtuesof respect and acceptance, they need to develop their competencies and skills
and to understand student data in order to better understand learner’s needs• Teachers expect school administrators to provide support to them in
implementing the curriculum, need to develop their competencies and skills• Teachers have the intrinsic motivation to perform; but they also need extrinsic
support.
• Students need to have a sense of achievement and to be recognized for theirefforts.
• Students desire to learn not only intellectually but affectively.
• Students need teachers who are caring and understanding.
• Students expect school authorities to treat them with kindness.

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Figure 1. PYE’s Curriculum Implementation Model

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References
Acosta I., & Acosta, A. (2016) Teachers’ Perceptions on Senior HighAction Research, Journal of Education and Social Sciences. Vol 4.
Atkinson, E.S., (2000). An Investigation into the Relationship Between Teacher
Motivation and Pupil Motivation. Educational Psychology, 20 (1), 45-57.
Barth, R. S. (2006). Improving Relationships within the School House.
Educational Leadership, 63 (6), 8 13
Borich, G. D. (2000). Effective Teaching Methods. Merrill: Upper Saddle
Calot, E. (2016). Implementation of K-12 Curriculum and Learning. Journal of
Education and Social Sciences Vol 4.
Calub, C. (2014). Overcoming the Challenges in the Implementation of the K-12
Curriculum: Towards a
Culture of Excellence. Retrieved fromhttps://www.academia.edu/13000330/Overcoming_the_Challenges_in_the_Implemen
tation_of_the_K-12_Curriculum_Towards_a_Culture_of_Excellence.
Combalicer, L. (2016). Best practices and problems in the initial implementation of
the k+12 curriculum among teachers in Infanta, Quezon: implications to an effective
implementation of senior high school. Retrieved from http://jesoc.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/08/Edu-4.pdf
Ellsworth, James B. (2001). A Survey of Educational Change Models.
https://www.ericdigests.org/2001-2/survey.html
Fullan, F. (1990). Personalized Education for Teachers: An Introduction for
Teacher Educators. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin,Research
Development Center for Teacher Education.
Graham and Schwartz (1991), Knowledge of Revision and Revising Behavior among
Students with Learning Disabilities. Retrieved fromhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2307/1510373
Hargreaves, A. & Goodson, I (2006). Educational Change over Time? The

Sustainability and Nonsustainability of Three Decades of Secondary School Change
and Continuity Educational Administration Quarterly, v42 n1 p3-41 2006
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ723348
Klem, A.M. and Connell, J.P., (2004). Relationship matter: Linking Teacher
Support to Student Engagement and Achievement. Retrieved fromhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2004.tb08283.x
Marks, H.M., (2000). Student engagement in instructional activity: Patterns in
the elementary, middle, and high school years. American Educational Research
Journal, 37 (1), 153-84.
Moeller (2005). Refining a Stage Model for Studying Teacher concerns about

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Educational Innovations. Australian Journal of Education, 46, 305-322.
Ofoegbu, F.I., (2004). Teacher motivation: a Factor for Classroom Effectiveness andSchool Improvement in Nigeria. College Student Journal, 38 (1), 81-89
Parkay, Forrest W.; Anctil, Eric J.; and Hass, Glen,(2014) Curriculum
Leadership: Readings for Developing Quality Educational Programs. Education
Faculty Books and Book Chapters. Retrieved fromhttp://pilotscholars.up.edu/edu_facbooks/1
Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H., (2002). Motivation in education: Theory,
Research, and Applications. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill PrenticeHall.
pp. 1-17 Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.17758/URUAE.UH0516139
Shapiro, Ronald, Ph.D (2008). National Ergonomics Month: A Time for Teaching,
Learning, Networking, Service, and Fun!!! Proceedings of the Human
Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. Vol 52, Issue 11, pp. 708 –709.
Walters, Marylou. (2008). Tech savvy teachers provide students with 21st century
skills. Retrieved fromhttps://www.teachers.ab.ca/Publications/The%20Learning%20Team/Volume%2012/
Number2/Pages/Tech-savvyteachersprovidestudentswith21st-centuryskills.aspx
Wolf, 2017. Testing Times for the Implementation of Curriculum Change:
Analysis and Extension of a Curriculum Change Model.
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015581018
Contact email: smcresearchoffice102@gmail.com
anecitapalacios@smciligan.edu.ph

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Essential Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes towards
Sustainable Rural Tourism after a Decade of the Tsunami in Aceh
Jane Teng, University Pendidikan Sultan idris Malaysia, Malaysia
Afrida Yahya, Universitas Syiah Kuala Aceh Indonesia, Indonesia
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Abstract
The study investigated the rural tourism in Aceh after a decade of the tsunami.
Reports revealed that tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world that benefitsa country’s economy and local communities. Thus, the main concern should be thehuman capital and human resources to ensure successfulness and the sustainability of
the rural tourism activities. The paper aims to highlight the human capital issues
which focus on the human talent while the human resources components are skills,
knowledge and attitudes which are considered crucial for sustainable tourism in Aceh.
Seven key informants were identified for the study. Additionally, a total of 103
respondents took part in the interviews and 450 participated in the survey. However,this paper focuses on the results from the interviews amongst the seven key
informants and the participants during the interviews of the phenomenon. The results
showed that there was lack of understanding of rural tourism concept and its meaning
and also the low level of knowledge and skills in managing rural tourism. In addition,lack of local leaders and support for rural tourism add to the ineffective of its
development. The study implies that human capital for sustainable rural tourism isessential. Thus, Aceh requires broadening the context of rural tourism from its
concept to its sustainable management. Multiple means and ways need to be initiatedto secure greater measure of sustainable development in rural tourism for the benefitsof its community and its country.
Keywords: rural tourism, sustainable, knowledge, skills, attitudes

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Research on tourism and its influence as well as its impact have been considerably
conducted by many scholars around the globe due to the many benefits it contributes
to national welfare (Dimitrovski et al., 2016; Sharperly, 2014). Furthermore, tourism
contributes to the social economic benefits for its stakeholders. As mentioned by
Richardson and Fluker (2008, p.4) that “tourism is modern activities with significant
economic consequences for governments, local communities and businesses, it also
has important impacts on social, cultural and environments”. Accordingly, rural
tourism as one type of tourism, also attracts researcher attention because it provides a
new alternative of income generating, solve unemployment problems and at the sametime preserve the cultural and social heritage and environment in rural areas (Shahab
and Hashemi, 2016).
According to the World Tourist and Travel Council, by the end of 2015, travel andtourism will contribute US$7.8 trillion or about 10% of total GDP. This sector willaccount for 284 million jobs, 9.5% of total employment (WTTC, 2015). In term ofdevelopment, tourism has claimed consistent and reliable increase since 6 decades ago
until now showing the strength and resilience of this industry and will continue togrow sharply within the next 2 decades (UNWTO, 2017). International tourist arrivals
have increased from 25 million globally in 1950 to 1,235 million in 2016.
Tourism becomes more and more attractive for any nation that seek to improve theireconomic sectors through various branches of tourism activities and services that leadto economics benefit, as mentioned by Snieška, Barkauskienė& Barkauskas, (2014).
Furthermore, Cooper (2012) mentions that tourism is the fastest growing industry in
the world that benefits country’s economy and local communities. Tourism can be asignificant source of creating new work places in rural communities. Moreover, it also
helps to maintain and develop local culture in rural areas. Therefore, rural tourism not
only offers business opportunities to local residents, but also encourages rural areas
regeneration and economic development, and also increases quality of life for visitors
and rural communities. Considering the many benefit of rural tourism, it is essential
to explore how to make the most of this business as well as to assure its sustainability
in the future.
In order to run a successful rural tourism activity, the main concern should be put into
human resources promptness because tourism is a people center activities that provide
services in many divisions and subdivisions such as accommodation, transportation,
attractions as well as products selling souvenirs, culinary, etc. Tourism is a labour
intensive sector that creates many jobs at all levels. According to ILO and UNWTO,
the global tourism sector accounted for more than 235 million jobs in 2010
representing 8% of global direct and indirect employment, or one in every 12 jobs. It
is forecasted that by 2019, the global sector will grow to 296 million jobs. In
addition, tourism is a complex sector requiring many players to be involved indelivering the wide range of facilities and services that combine to provide the overall
visitor experience. UNWTO ( 2017 ) suggested that typically the strategic plan or
master plan of tourism would cover: Tourism resources which have the potential to beconverted into viable and attractive tourism products; Tourist facilities and services,and opportunities for investment; Socio cultural, environmental and economic

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impacts; Human Resources needs; and Community involvement and initiatives. Those
areas are very much related to human capital and sustainable rural tourism.
Therefore, it is crucial to examine the human capital elements in rural tourism and do
research analysis to add onto the knowledge base human capital element especiallyrefer to Romei and Tortora (2014). Although, many studies have been conducted onhuman capital that focus on improving human resource as the important assets for an
organization, however, there are rarely research related to the human capital in thescope of rural tourism community.
Hence, the aim of the study is to investigate the essential of knowledge skills andattitudes towards the development of rural tourism in Aceh after a decade of thetsunami. The findings demonstrated that the people in Aceh lack the knowledge andskills. In addition, the industry of rural tourism is not getting the support from theleaders and local community of Thus, Aceh faced tremendous pitfall in rural tourism.
Obviously, the mobility human capital components are seen not effective. The
leadership and the problems of violation of human rights is seen. The results of thestudy added knowledge to the notion of rural tourism leadership and most importantly
the insights gained serve as practical implication for the development andsustainability of rural tourism in the context of Aceh.
Rural Tourism in Aceh
Historically, Aceh had been in conflict for the past years with the Indonesia’s
military. The 30-year separatist conflict may have adversely affected the capacity of
local government. The conflict had thwarted economic and social progress andstymied the development and delivery of government services (Masyrafah &McKeon, 2008). Aceh’s great challenge is to overcome the enormous physical andpsychic problems created by the tsunami in ways that serve its entire people in thelong run. To succeed, Aceh indeed urgently required leaders and the cooperation of its
community who emulate consistently the effort to sustain and even to re develop rural
tourism as it has been reported tourism industry contributes significantly to theeconomy that elevates the whole nation to a more just path.
In Indonesia tourism sector is the fourth highest devisacontributor after oil and gasthat provides huge support for economic’s growth. Tourism sector also provide lots of
new profession and job employment for community as well as open large number ofindustry such as hotel and homestay, travel and tour operator, restaurant craft
industry, etc. These industries employ many workers and therefore reduce thenumber of unemployment which is a big problem in Indonesia. Tourism sector
employ 10,18millions workers or it is about 8,89 % of national workers in Indonesia(McCartney, 2013). Thus, Indonesia Ministry of Cultural and Tourism encourages all
kind of tourism activities that will help every potential province to jointly enjoy thisnew pervasive trend.
Aceh is one province in Indonesia that is located in the northwest of Sumatra islandwith the area of approximately 57,365.7 km square and the capital of Aceh province isBanda Aceh. It consists of 119 islands, 73 major rivers and 2 lakes. Aceh issurrounded by Malacca Strait in the north,Indian Ocean in the south and the west. In
2013, Aceh Province is divided into 18 districts and 5 cities, consisting of 289 sub

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districts, 779 Mukims and 6,474 villages. Location of natural reservation/natural
tourist attraction in Aceh are located in 12 places namely: Taman Buru LinggaIsaq
Park, Serbajadi Natural reservation, Sabang/Weh Island Marine Park, Jantho Natural
reservation, GunungLeuser National Park, Banyak Islands, RawaSingkil Wild Life,
Aceh Besar Tourism Park, PocutMeurahIntan Grand Forest, Subulussalam Park,
Simeulue Grand Forest and Lampuuk and Lhoknga Beaches (Aceh in Figures, 2016).
The fact that Aceh had been in internal conflict with Indonesian government for 31
years made this province isolated not only for international visitor but also national
and local traveler who were feared to travel in Aceh. However, when Tsunami hit
Aceh on December 26, 2004, then only Aceh start to draw attention from national andinternational communities and agencies who provided aids and assistances for thedisaster victims. The Tsunami also brought a light on the peaceful agreement
between The Acehnese Rebel Movement (GAM) who had been fighting forindependence against the Indonesia authorities for years. The signing of the peaceagreement or memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Helsinki, Sweden a year after
the Tsunami on October 15, 2005 resulted in that Aceh remain as a province ofIndonesia. Since then, the peace process has been quite smooth, without major
incidents, The AAM (Aceh Monitoring Mission) funded by the European Union
oversaw the process.
Even though, some of the most beautiful Aceh tourism and historical sites andbeaches have been damaged by the massive earthquake and Tsunami disaster,
however there are some other new tourism objects flourish that attract more tourists tocome which are the Tsunami heritages. Furthermore, Aceh also is rich of events,
attraction and unique cultures that will fascinate people. Some well known tourist
spots such as The Baiturrahman Great Mosque, The Museum Tsunami Aceh,
KapalApung heritage, Aceh State Museum, The Grave of Sultan Iskandar Muda,
UjongBatee and Lampuuk beaches, Hot water pool, GunungLeuser National Park and
Sabang island, most of the them are located in the village areas.
In Aceh context, tourism village is a village proposed to the government namely
Cultural and Tourism Board to be appointed as tourism village. This tourism village
has structured organization called tourism alert group which are consisted of one
leader, a secretary and a treasurer and some members. Then this group will propose to
Cultural and Tourism Board of Aceh to be legally appointed as formal tourism
village. Once it has legally announced by the government as tourism village then
only a village can name and publish their village as tourism village to run the tourism
activities can get some support funds and to get some fund from government. Some
activities that community can provide for tourist are homestay, art performance,
natural adventure, agrotourism, etc.
Literature Review
Rural Tourism in Aceh
Most major tourist destinations in Indonesia such as Bali, Yogyakarta, Batam,
Bandung and Jakarta, has rather relaxed modern cosmopolitan social outlook, whichis quite conducive for tourism industry. However, certain regional provinces such as
Aceh might not have that kind of luxury, and tends to be conservative. Furthermore,

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Aceh is well known for its Islamic society with Syariah law applicable to its
government constitution as part of its exclusive autonomy given by Indonesia
government. The province has a relatively strict Islamic-based law, enforced byIslamic religious police, called Wilayatul Hisbah. Thus, some certain normallyprivate matters, such as beach clothing, party and the consumption of alcohol, to adisplay of affections between couple, are discouraged, and might lead to a legal
problem.
In addition, for the past several years, most Acehnesse who live in rural area are themost reluctant to receive tourists especially tourists from non Muslim countries. They
believe that tourist will bring bad influence to their culture and standard of living aswell as people’s lifestyle. Therefore, they tend to reject tourist or tourism activities
related to non Syariah activities. This view hss gradually changed especially when
the Tsunami hit Aceh on December 26, 2004. At this time, people around the worldcome to Aceh to delivere aids and assistance for the rehabilitation and reconstructionof the area and then followed by the signing of MOU Helsinki in 2005.
The number of tourists who come to Indonesia increase sharply each year for bothnational and international tourists. However, the number of tourist who come to Aceh
increase sharply only for national tourist and for international tourist the increase isjust slowly. Figure 1.1 shows the number of tourist growth in Aceh.

Theoretical Framework
Based on the literature review, a theoretical framework is produced to facilitate in thedata collection. The framework is made up of three major components: 1) Rural
tourism; 2) human capital; 3) rural tourism management. The human capital draws on
the theory (Becker, 1993) and Brewer and Hunter (2006). The human capital theory
was further supported by Lepak and Snell (1999) who believed “two uniquedimensions of human capital are important to examine in term of managing rural
tourism which are values and uniqueness. To sustain rural tourism, it is believed
leaders and local social support is crucial in the management paradigm. Finally,
assuming that that the human capital components are significant, this research
investigates how sustainable rural tourism can be developed and also what are theimpacts toward the economy impacts for a country can filled the gap and provide
more trendy information in the rural tourism context.

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Methodology
The study employed a mixed-method design in soliciting qualitative and quantitative
data. It was envisaged that the mixed-method design would provide richer data and indepth views of the participants’ experiences. This approach consists of procedure incollecting, analyzing and integrating both quantitative and qualitative data duringcertain stages of the research process with a single study (Creswell, 2007). The firstphase consisted of the collection and analysis of qualitative data. The qualitative
results were obtained from interviews with seven key informants. All the respondents
were asked the same set of semi-structured questions. Each interview lasted about one
hour to one and a half hours. This paper highlights the experience of seven key
informants being identified and the participants being interviewed for the study.
These seven key informants consisted of five males and two females who are theofficers from the Government body, local practitioners, community leaders and thecommunity.
The key informants were identified as individuals directly responsible for developing
or implementing policies or practices that affected rural tourism development. They
included representatives from the Governor’s Office and institutions from different
agencies. The seven key informants shared an account of their experience andobservations towards rural tourism after the tsunami. Most importantly, many issues
were revealed upon their reflection after a decade of the disaster. The issue of leaders’local support towards rural tourism were revealed. The lack of understanding of its
concept and meaning of rural tourism is far below common understanding as
perceived by the communities. Thus, it was decided to investigate into understanding
the essential components in human capital for ensuring the sustainable rural tourism.
The results provided insights of rural tourism and its practices and management lies in
the knowledge skills and attitudes of the many stakeholders.
All the seven key informants were interviewed at the first phase. The face-to- faceinterviews were carried out with the all the key informants officer from the governor’s
office, managers and staff at the Institute of Human Resource Development of Aceh,
staff at the higher institution, a school principal, a community leader and a staff at theNGO. An additional visit was made to Aceh to confirm some of the initial findings.
All the seven key informants went through the second interviews. A total of 14
interviews took place during the study. The profiles of the seven key informants areshown in Table 1.

No

Name

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Ramli
Rosli
Yusuf
Suhra
Rozaih
Pak Kecil
Susan

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Age
Work Place
Educational
Background45
Governor’s Office
Master61
Institute of HRD Aceh PhD
62
Institute of HRD Aceh PhD
39Higher Institution
PhD
51
School Principal
Degree54
Community Leader
High School
44
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The key informants were asked to recall many episodes of their experience towards
rural tourism during and after the disaster. Eventually, the key informants were asked
about their experience and observation towards the rural tourism development during
and after the tsunami. In addition, the actual of the key informants’ names were notused in this report.
In this context of the other participants in the interviews conducted, the data obtained
from all the participants were collectively analysed to uncover common themes andsub-themes on the learning experience of rural tourism of the stakeholders in Aceh
after the tsunami. The data analysis involved three phases. The first phase was theanalysis of qualitative data in terms of interviews, observational notes and documents
amongst the participants. All taped interviews were transcribed. The qualitative data
were content analysed case by case, using inductive and deductive analysis. Data
reduction was then conducted to identify common themes and sub-themes in all
thirteen cases. It is the aim of this paper to highlight only the issues focused concept
and its meaning of rural tourism and also its essential components in human capital tosustain rural tourism development. Additional research needs to be carried out toinvestigate the negative and positive impacts of rural tourism towards thedevelopment of one’s economy in the country.
Findings
In line with the experience after the tsunami, a series of observations and reflective
activities took place among the key informants about the issues of rural tourism.
Many reviews had been done into re-developing the area of rural tourism especiallyrural tourism was found one of the effective ways to put people in Aceh back to theirlivelihood. People from the different level had planned various initiates to give life
again to rural tourism as a mean to boost economy to enhance the life of thecommunity in Aceh. It was found that the lack of knowledge and skills to manage therural tourism remain the critical issue as majority of the key informants uttered, “It isa country rich n culture, heritage and history”. All they did suggest at this time is torethinking of the culture of rural tourism in Aceh. The three themes demonstrate theproblems and challenges of rural tourism in Aceh:•••

Lack of understanding of rural tourism concept and its meaning
Low level of knowledge and skills of rural tourism
Positive attitudes towards rural tourism

Lack of understanding of rural tourism concept and its meaning
In the interviews, however, with government officials or local people, there were huge
confusions about the concept and its meaning of rural tourism. They key informants
were even more puzzled after the decade of the tsunami, the development of rural
tourism had not been made clear to its community. The key informants reveal, if the
below sample is indicative of the general sentiments of tsunami survivors regarding
the role of the leaders, then the government needs to re identify its accurate leadersand leadership especially in the reconstruction phase of the tsunami disaster. In nearly
every village we visited survivors complained, often bitterly. Dr Yusuf recalled hislearning experience; he convinced us that if only the leaders would have played moresignificant roles, many lives could have been saved. He said the more he thinks about

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the issues, the more he identified the importance of what he ‘reflected’ and it would
eventually lead him to compose himself and begin to act on it:
I look at rural tourism from two side,, first is the potential that
community have and how strong this potential can attract visitors tocome to the village. Is it cultural tradition, like art performing or is it the
fascinated natural beauty of the village.
Roziah, the school principal herself was saddened by some of the confusions reactionsof the people by the authority and she remembered, even things were overwhelmedand chaotic for the meanings and management of rural development in tourism as sheuttered:People want to visit village to find something that has been diminishedfrom city. Village is identic with traditional culture. The best activities
for rural tourism is keeping the originality of what the community havebeen doing for their life such as traditional farming, teaching kids toread the holy Quran so that visitors can also do it together with them.
Low level of knowledge and skills in rural tourism
It was overwhelming to find out that within the community, they argued that effective
knowledge for rural tourism is essential. For instance, they emphasized that certain
levels are not only important during the disaster; skills and methods of development
the places and people should be included in the town planning. Ramli wasdisappointed as he witnessed some irresponsible people in the industry did not pay
attention towards the development of rural after the tsunami.
We will provide the service and product as naturally as we can so that
tourist can enjoy staying in our village. However, we have to develop
new interesting way to attract more tourist by making some innovationand support local community with capacity building in rural tourism
because if community are ready to participate and involve in tourism,
they have to be trained and educated well.
Past experience had alerted the community about being equipped withcompetent, skills and knowledge in order to sustain especially in tourism as
Aceh is full of heritage and culture and the experiences of rehabilitation after
the disaster….effective management of rural tourism is considered the best way
to improve people economy. Pak Kecil who had the experience being the village
head shared his observations:
Capacity building for local community especially who runs the rural
tourism business is very important such as communication skills andpeople understanding in how to manage homestay.
Local community will need assistance in developing their knowledge andskill related to tourism management and enterpreneurship as well as
training of trainer program so that the knowledge and skills can be spread
fastly.

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Positive attitudes toward rural tourism
It is not easy to give a comprehensive evaluation how human capital can be sustained
to improve rural tourism after the disaster. However, the investigations towards someof the key informants and participants revealed that the people in Aceh has positive
attitudes towards the re-development of tourism and look forward the process ofgetting the industry to a higher level. Dr Rosli who was the former lecturer at thehigher institution had strongly foresighted that the roles and the attitudes of the people
at all levels are essential under the circumstances of a disaster.
Yes, the strength of rural tourism is the uniqueness of traditional andculture arts, I think we are proud to show people…. More, tourism is thefastest way to get the local people back to its economy.
Acehnese are real homer and respect the guests. We are also not shy
people, we want to share our rich culture with people and also our
information about the disaster so that people can learn and be prepared
for any disaster…
The positive attitude despite the lack of knowledge and skills are one of the mostimportant factors that this industry of rural tourism in Aceh should be given more
attention The lack of knowledge and skills in rural tourism management was perhaps
the greatest challenge. Although the local people had experienced some degree of
tourism, they had never faced a more comprehensive system in rural tourism in thehistory. All levels of people faced a multitude of challenges on utilizing, mobilizing
and coordinating resources in the industry of tourism. According to the analysis, theresponses to Aceh were laudable. It was in the unplanned situations, individuals in thecommunity were encouraged to assist the industry of rural tourism.
Practical Implications for knowledge and skills management for rural tourism
The findings showed that incompetence and ineffective of understanding its concept
and meaning of rural tourism is one of the major limitations towards the development
and sustainability for rural tourism in Aceh
The study also highlights the challenges of low level of knowledge and skills among
the various stakeholders of tourism. This inadequacy affect not only its sustainability
but also hider many initiatives to be developed to secure more effective rural tourism
at a better pace to elevate the standard of living of its community The results or
outcomes of the essential of knowledge, skills and attitude will be an added
knowledge not only to the notion of human capital but specifically towards thedevelopment of rural tourism in its context. However, its society should become
places where reflective thought about the effective and ineffective use promotional
programs. That requires the broadening the context of leadership to include
transformative ends and means
While, it revealed from the study that lack of the components of human capital
towards rural tourism, however, the people positive attitudes for its tourism support
the whole industry at the area of Aceh. People’s attitudes as personality, characterand behavior that are shown from people daily activity in the aspects of wanting to

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share and promote their culture and livelihood to outside people. Coupled with theright attitudes, education and training can be developed and shared amongcommunities. For example, people who already learn about tourists and tourism
activities advantages will have more supportive attitude toward tourism activities inrural areas, therefore, they will accommodate tourism activitiese most importantfactor in tourism activities are the feel of welcoming and comfortable. Especiallylocal community attitude that is displayed with the way people communicate andinteract each other that will really effect tourists intention and motivation to visit orrevisit the places.
The above findings and discussion have made it apparent that one of the aims is tochange the culture of appreciating the concept and meaning of rural tourism. It was
revealed by the study, the development after the tsunami had experienced the failureof re-inventing into rural tourism thus far. In normal circumstances, most of thepeople reject the idea that rural tourism can secure a better livelihood and also thebetter future of its community, things should be governed by a strong authoritarianleadership in the context. This implies that effective management of its human capitalhas greater impacts on increasing the standard of rural tourism. The research findings
clearly indicate that a rethinking to a new rural tourism culture is relevant for theredevelopment of Aceh rural tourism after the tsunami.
Conclusion
The study sought to explore the essential of knowledge, skills and attitudes among thepeople towards rural tourism after a decade of the tsunami in Aceh. The study
revealed that confusions of the concepts and meaning of rural tourism is still foundwithin the community. The urgent need of developing the human capital througheducation and training is required as to give light to the industry. It can be concluded
that although there is evident that there were limitations in the knowledge and skills
among all levels of the people in Aceh at this state, effective leaders and leadership is
inevitable. Therefore, it is understood, what possible should had been done remains
to be done in terms of the reconstruction and rehabilitation, the roles of leaders in thisindustry had to be revitalized. Perhaps, a strong national leadership has to be
rejuvenated within the culture for the development of its benefits for its people and its
country. Therefore, the development of human capital for effective management ofrural industry for a more equitable Aceh is indeed apt and timely. The findings add tothe growing body of research on rural tourism specifically around the theme of rural
tourism after a disaster. Future research is needed to investigate the roles andfunctions of each component of human capital in the essence of rural tourism.

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References
Aceh in Figures (2015). Aceh Province Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS).
Becker, G.S. (1993). Human Capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis withspecial reference to education. The University of Cambridge of Chicago Press.
Chicago and London.
Dimitrovski, D. D., Todorovic, A. T., Valjarevic, A.D. (2016). Rural tourism andregional development: Case study of development. Procedia Environmental Sciences
14, 288-297: 10.1111/nous/12144
Cooer, C. (2015). Managing tourisn knowledge. Journal Tourism Recreation
Research. Vol. 40 Issues 1, p 107-119.
Creswell, J.W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among
five approaches. Sage Publication, Inc USA.
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Masyrafah, H. & Mckeon, J.MJA. (2008). Post-Tsunami Aid Effectiveness in Aceh:
Proliferation and Coordination in Reconstruction. Wolfensohn Center for
Development, Working Paper 6, November 2008.
McCartney, G. (2013). Introduction to tourism management: An Asian perspective.
McGraw-Hill Education (Asia).
Richardson, J. I. and Fluker, M. (2008). Tourism on the grassroots: Villagers andvisitors in the Asia Pacific. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Romei, P and Tortora, M. (2014). An evolutionary approach to the study of rural
tourism. The case of Tuscany. Land Use Policy, 38, p. 276-283.
http:/doi.org/10.1016/jkandusepol.2014.11.009.
Shahab, M. R. and Hashemi, S. A. (2015). The impact of tourism industry on
increasing employment and income in Daylam Port. European Online Journal of
Natural and Social science, Vol. 4 No.1, p. 430-436
Snieska, Barkauskiene and Barkauskas (2014). The impact of economics factors on
the development of rural tourism: Lithunian Case: Procedia – Social and Behavioural
Science, 156,p. 280-285.
UNWTO (2015). Rural Tourism in Europe: Experiences, development andperspective.
UNWTOO (2017). Sustainable tourism: The study of the effect of tourism on theenvironment and community.

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Thai University Students’ Perceptions and Practices of Smartphone Use forEnglish Language Learning
Siriluck Wechsumangkalo, Dhurakij Pundit University, Thailand
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Abstract
Mobile learning is now a growing trend in learning languages. Mobile devices likesmartphones are commonly used by university students in their daily lives and arealso commonly allowed in classrooms. There have been an increasing number oflanguage learning applications. Previous studies have suggested that those
applications on smartphones can help develop students’ language skills. Conductedwith English major students at a private university in Thailand, the present study aims
at investigating how the students perceive the benefits of smartphones for learning
English and how they use their smartphones to improve their English skills. The
students were asked to complete the online survey, with Likert-scale items and openended questions. The data collected from 122 respondents were analyzed using basic
descriptive statistics. The results reveal the students’ positive perceptions ofsmartphone use for English language learning (average score: 4.05/5). They agree thatsmartphones can help them improve their English skills – especially vocabulary,reading, and listening respectively. The results also show that most students use theirsmartphones to improve their English skills – especially vocabulary, listening, andreading respectively. The students’ responses on open-ended questions allow teachers
and researchers to learn more about their perceptions and practices. The implicationsof the study are also discussed.
Keywords: English language learning, perceptions, smartphone use

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Mobile technology has become an essential part of our daily lives. Smartphones andother related mobile devices are widely used for social interactions. These devices arealso used for other purposes: lifestyle, entertainment, health, business, education, etc.
Smartphones are commonly used by teachers and students for academic purposes.
Teachers use smartphones to get access to academic information, classroom
management, etc. Students use their smartphones as their learning tools – to accesscourse materials, to record class notes, to access library references, etc. (Johnson andNatarajan, 2017)
Smartphones are certainly one of useful tools for language learners as they can use
their smartphones to get access to language learning practice and to gain some help on
the language use. There are also a large variety of language learning applications forthem to download. That allows people of all ages to learn languages easily on theirown smartphones.
The present study aims at investigating how Thai university students perceive thebenefits of smartphones for English language learning and how they use theirsmartphones to improve their English skills.
Literature review
Most university students nowadays possess smartphones. Reported in a study by
Alfawareh and Jusoh (2014), 94.14% of the students at Najiran University in Saudi
Arabia owned smartphones. According to a study by Hossain and Ahmed (2016),
overall students showed positive perceptions towards smartphones as a tool for
academic activities. The study also reported that most students used their smartphones
to access academic information and do other academic activities like recording classnotes.
The mobile technology is changing the teaching-learning process rapidly at theuniversity level, and one of its main purposes is to enhance self-learning (Yedla,2013). The students’ experience of self-learning can encourage them to learn on theirown for their future purposes (Yedla, 2013). With different kinds of available
applications, mobile learning is creating an interactive learning environment invarious contexts (Bachore, 2015). The two main characteristics of mobile devices –portability and connectivity – allow students to learn anywhere at any time (Bachore,2015). Mobile technology offers learners new learning experiences, flexibility inlearning, and immediate access to information (Darmi and Albion, 2014).
Mobile devices are also widely used by students for language learning. Among thosedevices the most used is the smartphone. The study by Al-Emran et al. (2016)
revealed that 99% of the students possess mobile devices. The study by Muhummed(2014) surveyed EFL university students in the English Department and found thatthe smartphone was the mobile device preferred by all students. Nurhaeni and
Purnawarman (2018) found in their study that the students considered smartphones’
functions as fast and easy for them to learn English. Their study also indicated that thesmartphone use can influence the students’ learning strategies in autonomous learning– their cognitive and social/affective strategies can be influenced the most.

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Language learning applications and websites are abundantly available for learners tolearn on their smartphones. Discussed in a study by Jati (2018), most applications andwebsites provide learners with a fun and easy learning process on different language
learning aspects.
Objectives of the study
The objectives of this study are:
1. To investigate how the students perceive the benefits of smartphones forEnglish language learning.
2. To investigate how the students use their smartphones to improve theirEnglish language skills.
Research methodology
The participants of the study were English major students at Dhurakij Pundit
University, a private university in Thailand. They were students at different years ofstudy: 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year, and graduating students.
The students were asked to complete a five-part Google Forms online survey, with
Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. In Part 1, the students provided thebackground information of their smartphones. They were also asked whether they had
smartphones. Only those who had smartphones were considered as the participants ofthe study. In Part 2, students’ overall attitudes towards learning English weresurveyed. In Part 3, students were asked about their language learning habits. Part 4
investigated their opinions on the benefits of using smartphones to learn English. Part
5 asked the students how and how much they used their smartphones to learn English.
The responses for the data were collected from 122 respondents: 22 1st year students,
20 2nd students, 26 3rd year students, 29 4th year students, and 25 graduating students.
The collected data were analyzed using basic descriptive statistics.
Results and discussion
Students’ backgroud of smartphone use:
Part 1 of the study’s survey asked the students to indicate whether they possess
smartphones. Then, only the students with smartphones (122 students) are theparticipants of the study. Table 1 shows the students’ background of smartphone use.
According to the reported data, most students tend to use English on theirsmartphones; 86.89% of them have smartphones with English learning applications
and 68.03% of them set English as the language for their smartphones.
N = 122• My smartphone has English learning applications.
• I set English as the language for my smartphone.

Yes
106 (86.89%)
83 (68.03%)

Table 1: Student’s background of smartphone use

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No
16 (13.11%)
39 (31.97%)

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As English learning applications are available in abundance for learners to download,
the smartphones of most students in this study have those applications. However, thestudents whose smartphones do not have English learning applications can still get
access to English practice on the internet with their smartphones. Moreover, it can beseen that a large number of students set English as the language for their smartphones.
This may show that they also like to use English for their daily uses on smartphones.
The results presented in the table can show the student’s readiness and intention tolearn English on their smartphones.
Students’ attitudes towards language learning and their language learning habits:
The survey investigated the students’ attitudes towards English language learning andtheir language learning habits. A five-point Likert scale was adopted – ranging from 1“strongly disagree” to 5 “strongly disagree” for their attitudes and ranging from 1“never” to 5 “always” for their learning habits. The collected data are reported here as
the students’ background on what they believe about English language learning andhow often they practice English in their free time.
1. I enjoy learning English.
2. I love to practice my English skills.
3. Learning English is important.
4. Learning English is fun.

4.47
4.27
4.48
4.30
Overall 4.47
Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards language learning

1. I practice English on my own.
3.76
2. I practice English in my free time.
3.59
3. I practice my English grammar.
3.26
4. I practice my English vocabulary.
3.65
5. I practice my English listening skills.
4.08
6. I practice my English speaking skills.
3.49
7. I practice my English reading skills.
3.75
8. I practice my English writing skills.
3.16
Overall 3.59
Table 3: Students’ language learning habits
The results presented in Table 2 show that students in general have positive attitudes
towards language learning. This might be because they all are English major students.
They tend to love to improve their English. The results presented in Table 3 show thatstudents in general do not practice English on their own very often, especiallygrammar and writing. However, they tend to practice their listening skills more often
than other English skills.
Students’ perceptions of smartphone use for English language learning:
The results presented in Table 4 show how the students perceive the smartphone use
for English language learning. A five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 “strongly
disagree” to 5 “strongly disagree”, was adopted for this part of the survey. According
to the results, the students show positive perceptions. The average score for theiroverall perceptions is 4.05. They believe that smartphones can help them learn

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English better and improve their English skills; especially on vocabulary, reading, andlistening skills respectively.
1. Students can learn English better on smartphones.
4.22
2. Students can improve their English grammar on smartphones.
3.81
3. Students can improve their English vocabulary on smartphones.
4.39
4. Students can improve their English listening skills on smartphones.
4.21
5. Students can improve their English speaking skills on smartphones.
3.66
6. Students can improve their English reading skills on smartphones.
4.27
7. Students can improve their English writing skills on smartphones.
3.56
8. Smartphones are important for students to learn English.
4.21
9. Learning English on smartphones is fun.
4.01
Overall 4.05
Table 4: Student’s perceptions of smartphone use for English language learning
Overall, the students agree that smartphones can help in learning the language. These
results on the students’ perceptions correspond with the results reported in
Muhammed’s study (2014), in which 99% of the participants considered smartphones
effective for English language learning. The study by Chhikara (2015) also confirmedthat 100% of the students showed their positive attitudes towards using the mobile
devices for language learning.
Students’ practices of smartphone use for English language learning:
The results presented in Table 5 show how often the students use their smartphones tolearn English in their free time. A five-point Likert scale was adopted for this part ofthe survey: 1 “never”, 2 “hardly ever”, 3 “sometimes”, 4 “often”, and 5 “always”. The
number of students’ answers for each scale in each item is reported. Their answers arealso presented in rating scores, and the scores are later compared with theirperceptions.
According to the results, most students reported that they “always” use theirsmartphone for vocabulary checking (in Items No. 8, 9, 10, and 11), especially forchecking the meanings of words (87 students, 71.31%). They tend to improve their
vocabulary, listening, and reading on their smartphones more often than the others.
N = 122
I use my smartphone …
1. to learn English.
2. to improve my English grammar.
3. to improve my English vocabulary.
4. to improve my English listening skills.
5. to improve my English speaking skills.
6. to improve my English reading skills.
7. to improve my English writing skills.

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(1)
1

(2)
4

(3)
27

(4)
49

(5)
41

0.82%

3.28%

22.13%

40.16%

33.61%

2

12

47

38

23

1.64%

9.84%

38.52%

31.15%

18.85%

1

2

23

48

48

0.82%

1.64%

18.85%

39.34%

39.34%

1

6

23

39

53

0.82%

4.92%

18.85%

31.97%

43.44%

6

15

41

32

23

4.92%

12.30%

33.61%

26.23%

18.85%

2

4

28

47

41

1.64%

3.28%

22.95%

38.52%

33.61%

5

14

45

37

21

4.10%

11.48%

36.89%

30.33%

17.21%

765

score

4.01
3.54
4.14
4.13
3.49
4.01
3.44

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8. to check the meaning of English words.

0

9. to check the use of English words.

0

10. to check the spelling of English words.

0

11. to check the pronunciation of English words.

1

8

26

87

0.82%

6.56%

21.31%

71.31%

1

13

36

72

0.82%

10.66%

29.51%

59.02%

1

15

31

75

0.82%

12.30%

25.41%

61.48%

1

4

17

37

63

0.82%

3.28%

13.93%

30.33%

51.64%

4.63
4.46
4.46
4.28

Table 5: Student’s practices of smartphone use for English language learning
Discussion on students’ perceptions and practices of smartphone use for English
language learning:
As compared with their perceptions of smartphone use in learning English andimproving English skills in Table 6, lower rating scores can be observed for theirpractices. This may be because of their learning habits. They view the smartphone use
as helpful for learning English, but they do not practice much on their smartphones.
Students’Students’perceptions
practice
1. learning English
4.22
4.01
2. improving English grammar
3.81
3.54
3. improving English vocabulary
4.39
4.14
4. improving English listening skills
4.21
4.13
5. improving English speaking skills
3.66
3.49
6. improving English reading skills
4.27
4.01
7. improving English writing skills
3.56
3.44
Table 6: Comparison of students’ perceptions and practices of smartphone use
in learning English and improving English skills
In terms of the smartphone use for improving English skills, the lowest scores can beobserved for their perceptions and practices on productive skills (writing andspeaking). They tend to use their smartphones more for receptive skills (reading andlistening). This may be because of a limited variety of applications focusing on
productive skills. According to a review of mobile language learning applications by
Heil et al. (2016), most applications focus on receptive skills rather than productive
skills. As speaking and writing skills require learners to express their own ideas andproduce their own language, it may be difficult to design effective applications forlearners’ practice. In terms of writing skills, some applications on smartphones canbe used for reviewing and revising process: spelling checking or proofreading
applications, for example (Muhammed, 2014).
Also, it can be seen in Table 6 that students do not gain much practice on grammar on
their smartphones. Although there are a large variety of English learning applications
or websites teaching grammar, the students in general do not spend much time in
improving their grammar. However, this result corresponds with their language
learning habits presented earlier. Some possible reasons may be that the students do
not see the importance of grammar or they believe they cannot learn the grammar on
their own.

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The results presented earlier also show that the students consider smartphones very
helpful in improving their knowledge of vocabulary and learning unfamiliar words.
They use their smartphones very often in checking the meaning, use, spelling,pronunciation of English words. Nalliveettil and Alenazi (2016) pointed out in theirstudy that students often depend on their mobile phones for word spellings, and thestudents may believe it is not necessary to learn the spellings as they can have theirmobile phones at all times. In Heil et al.’s study (2016), vocabulary instruction was
found as the main focus of the applications; however, in most applications vocabulary
was presented in isolation, not in context.
How the students practice their English skills on smartphones:
One question in the study’s online survey asked the students to report how they use
their smartphones to practice their English skills. They were asked an open-ended
question “How do you usually practice English on your smartphone?”. The question
was responded by 109 students (out of a total of 122 participants). Their responses on
this open-ended question are presented in Table 7.
Number of responses
34• Watching English movies/series/shows
28• Checking and learning unfamiliar English words
15• Listening to English songs
15• Learning from English learning applications
11• Learning from video clips teaching English
9• Chatting in English
7• Read/watch/listen to news
3
• Playing English games
3• Doing exercises on English learning websites
Table 7: How the students practice their English skills on smartphones
According to their responses, the students use their smartphones mainly to practicetheir listening and vocabulary skills. The most common way for practice is watching
English movies/series/shows. This might be the most enjoyable way for them to learn
English. The second most common is checking and learning unfamiliar words. Thismight be because knowledge of vocabulary is essential for them to learn the language
and to improve their other language skills. It is interesting to point out that students
tend to love practicing their skills in entertaining activities like watching movies andlistening to songs. This may show that students tend to learn English when they feel itis enjoyable.
Students’ additional opinions on the smartphone use for English language learning:
The last item in the study’s survey asked the students to provide their additional
opinions on the use of smartphones to learn English. Most students provide positive
opinions. They consider the smartphone use easy and convenient. They findsmartphones useful and important for learning English. They can choose to improvetheir weak points, and they can search for answers on some language points.
However, a few students reported that they prefer to learn the language with theteachers – they love to study the language in the classroom setting.

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Conclusion and recommendations
Students’ perceptions of the smartphone use for English language learning are clearlyseen in this study positive – they agree that smartphones can help them improve theirEnglish skills. In terms of their practices, students in general use their smartphones tolearn English, especially for vocabulary checking and listening skills.
The results of the study reveal that the students gain more practice on some skills thanthe others. This may be because of the availability of learning applications and thestudents’ interest. Also, the students tend to choose a fun way to learn the language;
for example, a large number of students prefer to watch movies or series for theirEnglish practice.
Smartphones are important digital devices for English language learning as they allow
language learners to get access to language resources anywhere at any time. Using
digital devices in EFL teaching and learning provides more advantages thandisadvantages as it can get students closer to real life situations and allow them tocontinually develop their language competence (Bucur and Popa, 2017).
However, the focus of the study’s survey is only on the smartphone use for the
students’ practice in their free time. For classroom use, a number of aspects should be
involved. Suggested in Ng et al.’s study (2017), for school-related learning activities
it would be more successful if the smartphone is used in combination with strategic
teacher support and social interaction among learners. For further studies, theirperceptions and practices of the smartphone use for classrooms may be investigated.
The results of the present study are limited to the analysis of students’ self-reports andto only 112 students. In future studies, other research tools may be adopted, a larger
number of participants may be involved, and the focus may be on the effects ofsmartphone use on learners’ achievement in improving their language skills.

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References
Al-Emran, M., Elsherif, H. M., & Shaalan, K. (2016). Investigating attitudes towards
the use of mobile learning in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 56,
93-102.
Alfawareh, H. M. & Jusoh, S. (2014). Smartphones usage among university students:
Najran University case. International Journal of Academic Research. 6(2). 321-326.
Bachore, M. M. (2015). Language learning through mobile technologies: An
opportunity for language learners and teachers. Journal of Education and Practice, 6,50-53.
Bucur, N.-F., & Popa, O.-R. (2017). Digital Competence in Learning English as a
Foreign Language – Opportunities and Obstacles. Proceedings of the 12th
International Conference on Virtual Learning, 257–263.
Chhikara, M. (2015). Use of tablets and smart phones towards learning English as aforeign language. Paripex – Indian Journal of Research, 4(7), 16-17.
Darmi, R., & Albion, P. (2014). A review of integrating mobile phones for language
learning. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference Mobile learning, 93-100.
Jati A. G. (2018). The use of smartphone applications in English language teaching
and learning. Jurnal Sosioteknologi, 17(1), 144-153.
Johnson, S. & Natarajan, R. (2017). Academic use of smart phones among thestudents of business schools in UAE - a study. KIIT Journal of Library andInformation Management. 4(1), 32-36.
Heil, CR., Wu, JS., Lee, JJ., & Schmidt, T. (2016). A Review of Mobile Language
Learning Applications: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities. The EuroCALL
Review. 24(2), 32-50.
Hossain, M.E., & Ahmed, S.M.Z. (2016). Academic use of smartphones by university
students: a developing country perspective. Information Science & Library Science,34(4), 651-665.
Muhammed, A. A. (2014). The impact of mobiles on language learning on the part ofEnglish foreign language (EFL) university students. Proceedings of Global
Conference on Linguistics and Foreign Language Teaching LINELT 2014, 104-108.
Nalliveettil, G. M., & Alenazi, T. H. K. (2016). The impact of mobile phones on
English language learning: Perceptions of EFL undergraduates. Journal of Language
Teaching and Research, 7(2), 264-272.
Nurhaeni, & Purnawarman, P. (2018). The use of smartphone and learning strategies
in autonomous learning. Indonesian EFL Journal, 4(1), 43-48.

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Ng, S. F., Hassan, N. S. I. C. H., Nor, N. H. M., Malek, N. A. A. (2017). The
relationship between smartphone use and academic performance: A case of students
in a Malaysian tertiary institution. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational
Technology, 5(4), 58–70.
Yedla, S. (2013). MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning): A paradise forEnglish language learners. IJ-ETS International Journal of English Language &Translation Studies, 1(2), 91-99.

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Iliganon Myths and Folklores: Its Effect to Social Culture
Joseph Michael Bentoy, St. Michael's College, The Philippines
Mitchel Garay, St. Michael's College, The Philippines
Gritchelyn Talisic, St. Michael's College, The Philippines
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Abstract
This study gathers the Iliganon myths and folklores and shows its effect to social
culture. The respondents selected are coming from the different barangays of the city.
The researchers used interviews and internet resources in gathering thesefolklores.Findings showed that there are a number of folklores that originated in thecity. Mostly are found in the rural areas and among the folklores gathered, the mostdominant is the folktales. These folklores have been one of the locals’ source ofentertainment long before the existence of technology. However, as time passes by
and with the rise of various entertainment sources, folklores are being neglected andtheir probabilities of preservation are decreasing. There may come a time that thesefolklores will no longer be accessible to man. Thus, the researchers, with a goal that is
to preserve the literature of Iligan, put it into writing and made it into something
Iliganons can read and relate. It is in this light that the K to 12 curriculum (Republic
Act 10533) otherwise known as the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013” one of
its aim is to engage in oral history research with focus on key personalities, from thestudents, regions, province/town and brought about the Indigenization or localizationof literature to make it easy for teachers to impart and transfer literature during theclass contact hour.
Keywords: Myths and Folklores, Social Culture

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Folklores have inevitably been part of human culture. Places – may it be rural or
urban, possess their own different folklores that have been passed from generation to
generation and are kept active by the folks in the culture. Sims and Stephens (2005)
noted that folklores help us to form and express identity in the midst of an always
complex, sometimes confusing social context, in which our sense of who we are isfrequently questioned and challenged. This reveals that folklore allows people to givemeaning to their lives and their surroundings.
While Iligan City has multi-cultural residents, culture is rich and folklores exist indifferent areas and aspects. Iliganon folklores would have been completely lost had it
not been for the attempt of the native Iliganons to preserve its culture. Some of thesefolklores allegedly dates from time immemorial which the natives have successfully
made known to the modern man through oral narration. Naturally, folklores are told
for entertainment on gatherings and social occasions until it becomes a source ofidentity and gives moral to the listeners especially the younger ones. Until then, theyounger ones live with folklores they tell to their children and the children of theirchildren.
The separation of society, culture and folklore in Iligan City is inviolable such that
Iliganons obtain a culture that is reflected through existing folklores. According to
Jayalxmi (2010), in the contemporary society, we are constantly struggling to go backto our own roots and to maintain our ethnical identities. This explains that folklores
originating from the past contribute to who we are today and helps define andenhance understanding of ethnical identities.
Folklore, as an academic discipline, focuses on the human creativity within specificcultural and social contexts. This includes how such expressions (i.e. stories, music,
material culture and festivals) are linked to political, religious, ethnic, regional, andother forms of group identity. As the city of Iligan, being rural, journeys through its
progress, Iliganons take their folklores along with them. Taking this into account, theresearchers seek to collect different Iliganon folklores as well as investigate how
Iliganons are affected socially with the folklores originating in the city. The result of
this study can bethebasis for the teachers as to what extent should folklores be
integrated in the study of literature.
Body
This study is anchored with Richard Dorson’s Current Folklore Theories,
Functionalist Theory by Bronislaw Malinowski, Theory-theory, and Lev Vygotsky’s
Socio-cultural theory.
Richard Dorson, a Professor of History and Folklore and Chairman of the Folklore
Program at Indiana University, speaks of the history and existence of folklore overmany years, specifically that of twentieth century. In his article in 2016, Current
Folklore Theories, he cited that there exist five points of view (or schools) related tofolklore. These five include: Comparative Folklore Theory, National Folklore Theory,
Anthropological Theory, Psychoanalytical Folklore Theory and Structural Folklore
Theory.

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Comparative Folklore Theory, known throughout Dorson’s paper as “Finnish”, isdeemed to be the most empirical theory of the five. This Finnish method takes ahistorical-geographical approach, making comparisons based on all variations of eachelement of folklore in an attempt to reconstruct its history. Focusing on common
themes, the comparative theory searches the many internationally varied tales foroldest traits. Since folklore tales vary as a direct result of geographic change inlocation and evolution of time, all variations must link back to one common time andplace. This means that folklores are being collected and compared to one another tocome up with a common theme that may help in tracing back identities and customsof the old, thus, giving the modern generation of a better picture of the past.
The conceptualization of the problem in this study has been assumed that the social
culture of the respondents was influenced by the folklores they were exposed to.
At least fifteen (15) respondents coming from different barangays of Iligan City
particiated in this study. These respondents were residents who can retell folklores
about their respective barangays. Specific barangays include only the ones accessible
to the researchers in terms of its proximity and safety. The respondents were selectedaccordingly, if not recommended by authorized personnel in barangay, i.e. barangay
chairman. The focus of this study was on the collection of folklores taking into
account the extent of its effect in the social culture.
Figure 1 showed the conceptual framework of the study. It presented three (3)components: Folklores (myths, legends and folktales) as the independent variables;
Social Culture as covariates; and the output, Iligan Anthology as Reflected in Myths
and Folkloreas the dependent variable.
INDEPENDENTVARIABLES
Folklores

COVARIATES

DEPENDENTVARIABLES

Myths
Legends
Folktales

Social Culture

Iligan Anthology
as Reflected in
Myths and
Folklores•••

Figure 1. Research Paradigm of the Study
Statement of the Problem
This study aimed to collect Iliganon folklores and to assess how it affects social
culture.
Specifically, this study sought to answer to the following questions:
1. What are the Iliganon myths and folklores?
2. How do these folklores affect social culture?
Scope and Delimitation
This study aimed to collect and compile Iliganon folkores for future references.
Involved in this research were residents from different barangays of Iligan City who
can relate folklores originating in their place. Each has contributed at least one

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folklore. The survey was conducted during midterm and semi-finals of the firstsemester ofA.Y 2017 - 2018.
This research employed stratified sampling technique in which the selection of
respondents was done through determining the common characteristics of the
respondents i.e. knowledge on folklores. The respondents were expected to respond inan actual interview conducted by the researchers. The respondents’ answers wererecorded, transcribed and/or translated.
Definition of Terms
The following terms were defined operationally and conceptuallyfor better
comprehension of readers.
Folklore. This refers to the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community
passed through the generation by word of mouth (Oxford English Dictionary, 2017).
In this study, it refered to the history that was preserved by the people of the culture
consisting of traditions belonging to a specific culture. These traditions usually
include music, folktales and other narratives.
Folk. This can automatically be identified with peasant or rural groups or with people
from the past (Alan Dundes, 1965 as stated by Simon Bronner, 2007). In this study, it
refered to a group of people who shared at least one common factor – could beoccupation, language, religion or something that they can call their own.
Social Culture.This refers to the complex set of meanings, habits, values andbehaviors adopted by one or more social formations (IGI Global Dictionary 2017). In
this study this pertained to the actions presented by the respondents in socialization.
Socialization.This refers to the continuing process whereby an individual acquires apersonal identity and learns the norms, values, behaviors and social skills appropriate
to the social position (Dictionary.com). In this study, this refered to the way a person
act during interaction among the people surrounding them in the society.
Related Literatures
The Philippines is a country that has varied cultural influences. Most of these
influences are results of previous colonization, deriving mainly from the culture of
Spain and the United States. Despite all of these influences, the old Asian cultures ofFilipinos have been retained and are clearly seen in their way of life, beliefs andcustoms. Wherever you go, Filipino culture is very evident and has largely been
appreciated and even applauded in many parts of the world. This proves that
Philippine folklores continue to exist and give pride to the Filipinos.
Folklore and folk traditions have formed a large component of emergent nationalism.
Frequently, the burgeoning interests in national language and a national folklore
reinforce each other. Concerns for national history and literature also overlap withpride in a distinctive folklore. Circumstances vary from nation to nation, but it
promotes national self-consciousness and has clearly appeared to have recognized thevalue and utility of folklore. Folklore is a national treasure, so, it should be valued and

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Iligan City is home to diverse cultural groups: Maranao, Higa-onons, Lumads andChristians. Internet site LGU Ilgan City (2012) states that for ages, they have worked
together, played together, and lived together in peace and prosperity. It is theirdiversity that makes Iligan what it is today.It is no wonder that the city boasts
different groups of artists that highlight the different talents of Iliganons in: art, music,
dance and literature.Folk narratives represent a major part of the domain of folklore.
The term ‘folklore’ is used for the verbal, spiritual and material aspects of a culturethat are conveyed verbally, by observation, or by imitation. It is significant as an
academic discipline, in the fields of literature, anthropology, sociology, art, music,
history, linguistics, philosophy, mythology and so on. Specially, in the context ofanthropology, folklore is an important means to study of man related matters. “Therelation of folklore to culture is highly concerned in anthropology because folklore
cannot be fully understood without thorough knowledge of their culture. Folklore
belongs to one branch of cultural anthropology and anthropologists consider it as apart of culture but not the whole of culture.(Bascom, 1953 as stated by Kalyani, 2009)
Folktales permit people to express emotions in a socially approved manner that would
be inappropriate in any other form. The acceptance of popular lingo and non-standard
expressions is commonplace and actually enriches folktales. People can engage inprojective fantasy by creating tales that contain realistic themes, using symbolism andmetaphoric projections on both the unconscious and conscious levels.
Folktales can be used in virtually all disciplines to convey knowledge andcommunicate ideas. Historians, for example, while questioning the historical accuracyof a tale, acknowledge that much information is contained in them. Folk history
reveals a lot about behavior during the historical period, and certainly the views of‘folk’ give insight into the time and the prevailing attitudes held by the people.
Anthropologists can study the cultures and traditions of a group. The behavior of thecharacters and the deeds performed reveal much about the lifestyle and beliefs of thecultures.
Ezeigbo (2009) stated in Language and Creativity in African Literature by Jacinta
Onyekachi (2015) thatmany children, especially those born in the urban areas, havecompletely lost touch with the oral traditions of their people. Gone are the days whenchildren grew up with deep knowledge of their culture and traditions.Indeed in the
traditional past, children were entertained and instructed with folktales. With the riseof technology comes various sources of entertainment for adults and children. This
made folkl+ores seem to be left-behind. Some writers have tried to write down andpreserve the oral tradition in books which are marketed for children with the intentionof instructing and entertaining them, for example, the ubiquitous tortoise tales whichhave found their way in some storybooks.
Praxedis L. Garay, 65, a resident of Brgy. Sta. Filomena,makes it a habit to relatefolklores, especially customs and beliefs to her grandchildren. This is her way ofshowing the younger generation the beauty and importance of the folklores of Iligan.
This made her grandchildren more careful and cautious of the way they socialize withthe people they interact with.

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Culture is a form of uniformity of mankindaccording to E.B. Tylor and J.H. Frazer,
1981 as stated by Daniel Gold in his book Aesthetics and Analysis in Writing on
Religion: Modern Fascinations,2003. Tylor provided the framework for his theories
regarding cultural diffusionism, as well as two ways wherein groups of different age
constructs can have commonalities in terms of cultural forms which are theindependent invention and the inheritance from ancestors. Tylor then states that “Theearlier conceptions of culture is that of a complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, arts, morals, laws, customs and other habits possessed by any single member ina society.”
The closest and most immediate means of transmission of knowledge, language,practices, myths, beliefs, lores and etc is through oral tradition. There are importantelements that serve as arbiters for distinguishing a folk narrative from other forms andthose are its shared experience, relevance and symbolism to the people in thecommunity.
Allan Dundes a folklorist in the University of California, in J. Bronner’s The Meaningof Folklore (2007), finally associates folklore with the society by the oral tradition,
stating “Folklore, as a mirror of culture, is as invaluable as a reflection of a particular
culture’s conditions and values.” Dundes also stated that, it was not understood inBoas’s mirror concept that an idtem of folklore can serve as a vehicle which requires
an individual to what he may not be permitted to do in everyday reality. This
argument of Dundes later consolidates the importance of folklore to reveal the trendsof changed, unchanged or even invented traditions in the culture of the community
over time.
In addition, Hobsbawm, E.J &Ranger, T.O in their book The Invention of Tradition(2012) states that “modern academic discourse on traditional lores argues that it is notculturally given but a cultural construct, invented at a certain period of time undercertain circumstances. It is not relevant to judge whether a tradition phenomenon (forexample, a folklore ensemble) is genuine or spurious. Tradition is neither genuine nor
spurious because it is not handed down from the past as a thing or collection of things,
but it is symbolically reinvented in an ongoing present. As particular lore or tradition
is not passed on from generation to generation in language, art, and music as a timehonored body of knowledge and values, but it is rather in a constant stage of disorderand confusion, about to disintegrate under the pressure of change. And members of
the society strive to restore and maintain tradition in new rituals, displays, and indiverse forms of entertainment, or in the revival of old ones.
Also According to Eugenio (2002) in his book, Philippine Folk Literature: An
Anthology,culture or traditions and folklores are both dependent on each other. Not
only does folklore shift, but it changes as it shifts between the highest to the lowest
layer of culture.
In folkloristic writing, the “mirror” concept is still applied to relate historical andcultural information about a group that has undergone change from anotherperspective, with the presumption that it is also a maker of a particularistic social
identity. Further references on the idea of folklore not rejecting culture suggest,
however, that there is the underlying psychological possibility of folklore distorting or
inverting reality.

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Lopez(2006), in her book titled “A Handbook of Philippine Literature”elaborates thatfolklore is a paradox, for it is a combination of stability and change. There is always
the conscious and unconscious introduction of new elements in a folklore item by thetransmitter of the lore. The two factors—the creative urge of transmitters of lore to
improve on a traditional material and the forgetfulness on the part of the raconteur ora creator of a material item that causes in the substitution of new elements in place ofthe forgotten ones cause innovation in folklore.
“Amazing as it may seem, however, folklore maintains and preserves itself forposterity through its stable structure. The basic skeletal pattern in folklore is constanteven if folkloric content and stylistics vary such that even character, setting and styleof narration change, the basic plot remain unchanged”,Lopez (2006) stated.
Related Studies
The first period of Philippine literary history is the longest. As literary works createdin the setting of a society where the resources for economic subsistence – land, water,
and forest – were communally owned, the oral literature of the pre-colonial Filipinos
bore the marks of community. The subject matter was invariably the common
experience of the people constituting a village – food-gathering, creatures and objectsof nature, work in the home, field, forest or sea, caring for children, etc. This isevident in the most common forms of oral literature like the riddle, the proverbs, andthe song, which always seem to assume that the audience is familiar with thesituations, activities and objects mentioned in the course of expressing a thought or
emotion.
The language of oral literature, unless the piece was part of the cultural heritage of thecommunity like the epic, was the language of daily life. At this phase of literary
development, any member of the community was a potential poet, singer or storyteller as long as he knew the language and had been attentive to the conventions of theform.
The Filipinos realized the essence of folklore as part of the Philippines’ national
cultural heritage in the nineteenth century, as a result of the nationalism of its people.
The inward relation between nationalism and its people’s interest towards folklore
was evident. Because ownership of a literary composition by the originating
individual is not emphasized in the process of oral transmission, it is conceivable thatthe receiving performer of a song or a poem often feels that the work he is performingor delivering is expressive of his own beliefs, attitudes and emotions (Lumbera andLumbera 2007).Folktales act as cultural transmitters (Leimgruber, 2010). Every
culture has long traditions of oral storytelling. Students can learn about their own
culture and transmit their own culture to others by studying folklore, by collecting
folklore from their own families and communities, and by writing or dramatizing theirown variants of traditional tales and rhymes. Hanlon (2000), as stated in Hou-rani(2015), in her article folktales, Children Literature and National Identity in the United
Arab Emirates, said that once educators and students start looking, they can findallusions to familiar folk heroes, rhymes, and sayings throughout popular culture.
Folktales are universal and enhance globalization of cultural knowledge. Although it
is interesting to compare culturally specific details in folklore from different times
and places, one of the most intriguing phenomena in human experience is the

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similarities in stories with universal themes from all over the world. For example,
there are obvious historical connections between the Appalachian "Ashpet” and theGerman “Ashputtel" that European settlers in Appalachia would have known. There
are stories that are similar to Cinderella motifs also found in ancient African andAsian traditions. There are many fascinating theories about the universal elements inworld folklore and myth, in addition to the localization and cultural unique features offolktales, but (unfortunately) this is beyond the scope of this study.
Eugenio (2008) in her journal Folklore in Phillipine Schools stated that when folklore
was first taught in Philippine schools, American teachers who collected and studied
these folktales were the ones who introduced them to the schools. During the first
decade of the twentieth century, folklores from the Tagalog were collected by
Fletcher Gardner and Lucetta Kellenbarger, and they taught them in schools. Berton
Maxfield and W.H. Millington, on the other hand, were teaching and collecting
folklore in Panay Island. Most, if not all, of the Filipino children encountered andwere familiar with folk stories such as why the sky is high and the legend of the firstbananas. Moreover, these tales were authentic folklore having been taken from such
early collectors as M.C. Cole, Alfred Worm, and some student collectors of Dean S.
Fansler and H.O. Byer.
According to Jenkins (2002) and Hanlon (2000), in Hourani’s Folktales, Childrens
Literature and National Identity (2015), folktales reflect infinitely meaningful sociocultural codes, moral and civic values. Because folktales represent human experiencethrough symbols and archetypes, there is room for endless debate about how tointerpret particular tales. These tales also provide excellent examples of thesymbolism of socio-cultural codes that may be conveyed in children’s literature.
They also tend to preserve oral history, and link oral and written literatures of theworld). According to Hanlon (2000), educators often forget that all literaturedeveloped originally from oral traditions, and that most people in human history had
no writing system to record their languages and stories. Storytelling is still alive as anoral tradition in many places. Thus folklore works well when teaching oral skills,
speech drama and social values.
Folktales are found among peoples from various cultures, all over the world. They
include fables, myths, tales of heroes, fairytales and ghost stories etc. Nevertheless,there are many reasons that limit folk narrative practices among school children.
Mainly, children always face the problem of absence of leisure for extra activities
such as practicing folk narratives due to competitive education system and electronic
media. Most of children have to spend free hours after school and weekends fortuition classes. In addition, most of them spend time on watching television. Even
though, there are some television programs of folk narratives, children are mostly
attracted by other popular programs (Kalyani, 2009).
As emphasized in UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural
Heritage (2003), folktales play an invaluable role, along with other cultural traditions,in bringing people closer together and “ensuring exchange and understanding among
them.” As globalization and social transformation demand renewed dialogue amongcommunities, educators and artists are more motivated to protect and promote oral
traditions and related cultural heritage. As pointed by Hae-ri (2003), studies offolktales never cease to be relevant even today and will remain so in the future.

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Moreover, the indigenous knowledge and wisdom found in the folktales keep us
connected to our traditions and indeed help shape our culture. Today’s children may
think of folktales as old-fashioned or even irrelevant. However, the influence offolktales is alive and well even today. Despite these stories’ age, they still carry
important messages to learners today.
Conclusion
A folklorist, Margaret Read MacDonald (2004) wrote in her tale, “Once the story
leaves your mouth, it is carried away in the hearts of your listeners”. This is one of themost appreciated attribute of folklores, that once it is told, it tends to live in the heartsof the listeners - it is remembered. When remembered, one can tell it to the other andthe story live longer. But with the rise of multi-media, younger generations arebowing their heads into watching and listening to their gadgets that they forgot tolook up and listen to what the elderlies has to say.
As fearful as it could get, there may come a time when folklores will no longer beaccessible to man. In this regard, this study promotes the Iliganon folklores with agoal which is its preservation. Through “Iliganon Folklores, A Local Anthology”,
Iliganon stories and legends from the past is made accessible in printed material. Thiscan be very helpful not only to the researchers seeking for these stories for academic
purposes but also to the commoners in most common occasions when entertainment isneeded.

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Acknowledgement
Genuine gratification and profound appreciation are hereby lengthened by the
researchers to the following individuals who have made the substructure of this thesis
credible:
Esmeralda P. Ege, MAEd, Coordinator of the College of Education for theunwavering guidance, patience, and encouragement toward the completion of thestudy;
Ms. Ivy Eumel T. Daligdig, Esmeralda P. Ege, MAEd the members of the panel, andRitzcen A. Durango, Ph. D., the chairman, for their preeminent sagacity in imparting
comments and suggestions for the enhancement of the study;
The barangay officials and the different informants, their names cannot be disclosed,
who are the respondents of the study, for rendering their time and transparency during
the research, there information’s helped this research to continue and prosper.
Mr. Judito G. Bentoy, Mrs. Ve Cecilia T. Bentoy, Mr. Dionesio P. Talisicand
Mrs.Dioscora S. Talisic, Mr. Procoilo L. Garayand Mrs. Maria Christine I. Garay,
their parents for giving them courage, constant prayers, moral and financial support,
to whom their work is dedicated;
Above all, their utmost gratitude is given to the Almighty God, the source of divine
grace, for keeping them safe in gathering the data and making everything possible
with his holy presence.
JM, Mitchel &Gritchelyn

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References
Eugenio, D. (2002). Philippine Folk Literature: The Legends,University of thePhilippines Press, I. Delos Reyes Street, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila.
Eugenio, D. (2008). Folklore in the Philippine School, Philippine Studies volume 35,
no.2, Ateneo De Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.
Dorson, R. (2016). Current Folklore theories, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Feb., 1963), 1 pp. 93112,The University of Chicago Press, Hyde Park, Chicago.
Lopez, M (2006). A Handbook of Philippine Folklore,University of the Philippines
Press, I. Delos Reyes Street, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila.
Lumbera&Lumbera (2007), Philippine Literature: A History & Anthology, Anvil
Publishing,Inc., 125 Pioneer St. Mandaluyong, Metro Manila.
Neri, A.D, (2013), Extracting Tribal Philosophy from the Stories of their past andtheir prevailing Folklore: The case of the Higaunon of Barangay Rogongon In
Iligan City and Barangay Lubilan in the Municipality of
Naawan.(Unpublished Thesis, St. Michael’s College, Iligan City)
Sims, M. & Stephens, M.,(2005) Living Folklore: An Introduction to the study ofpeople and their traditions, Utah State University Press, Logan, Utah,
UnitedStatesTylor& Frazer (1981) Building of British Social Anthropology, Springer Press
Publications Pp. 57-60, Salmon Tower Building, New York City, United States
Wendt,R. (2008), Philippine Studies: Philippine Fiesta and Colonial Culture,
Vol.46 no. 1, Ateneo De Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
Contact email: jmbentoy@smciligan.edu.ph

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The Role of Informal English Language Teaching in Childhood on English
Knowledge and Attitude towards English Language in AdulthoodMarzie Mobtada, Islamic Azad University Science & Research Branch, Iran
Aliakbar Saif, Islamic Azad University Science & Research Branch, Iran
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  Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of informal English language
teaching in childhood on English knowledge and attitude towards English language inadulthood. The research design was of a causal-comparative nature. The statistical
population included	
   all the first year undergraduate students of Islamic Azad
Universities who had been studying humanities in the academic year of 2015-2016. A
sample size of 200 students were selected by multistage cluster sampling method. The
research tools were English knowledge test and attitude questionnaire which weredeveloped by the researcher. Statistical analyses using MANOVA was implemented.
Findings revealed that the informal English language teaching in childhood, as
compared to its absence, leads to more English knowledge and improves attitude
towards English language in adulthood. Based on the obtained results, it isrecommended that English language learning should be started at an earlier age.
Keywords: English language, English Education, informal teaching, English
knowledge, attitude towards English language
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  

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Introduction
In the learning process as well as the success of learners in the second language
learning [and foreign language], emotional variables such as attitude, orientation,
motivation, and anxiety (Noels, Pelletier & Vallerand, 2000), are as important as othervariables such as talent, intelligence, age, and personality (Zainal Abidin, PourMohammadi and Alzawari, 2012). In most researches in the field of foreign andsecond language learning among the various factors mentioned, the age starting of
language learning and the attitude of learners towards language learning are
considered to be the most important factors involved.
Attitude plays an important role in language learning. Success or failure of learners inlearning a language is not just related to learning capacity and cognitive abilities ofpeople, attitude also plays a very important role (Zainol Abidin, Pour-Mohammadi
and Alzawari, 2012).
Even the attitude towards a language influences one's orientations towards thatparticular language. According to Karahan (2007), a positive linguistic attitude allows
learners to adopt a positive orientation towards learning English.
Due to the importance of individual's attitude towards language learning process andthe success and failure rates in this field, many related studies have been carried out
over the past years. Researches have been done by individuals such as Gardner(1985), Yang (2012), and Ahmed (2015) to highlight the key role of this variable in
the process of learning and teaching foreign and second languages. Various studies
have shown that age and its related factors are considered as the most importantvariables in the field of language learning. The early years of life are the mostinfluential years in human life for the acquisition of languages. In the early years oflife, emotional, physical, cognitive, psychological, and also linguistic changes takeplace very rapidly. Foreign language education is expanding to children all over theworld, and as a result, the age of language learning has also declined in many
countries for a variety of reasons, such as political, economic, and educational ones.
Although the results of language teaching have not been completely discovered in theearly years of life, education is still widespread in the early years of life (Gursoy,2011).
There is no consensus on the teaching of English as a foreign or second language inchildhood between specialists and researchers. A group of them defended education inthis era, and the other group is opposed to it. Researches have done by Fathman(1975), Dominguez and Pessoa (2005), Orhan Kocaman, Nurgul and Kocaman (2012)and Li (2014) support foreign and second language learning in childhood. In addition,individuals such as Johnson and Newport (1989), Asher and Garcia (1969; quoted by
Marinova-Todd, Bradford Marshal and Snow, 2000), Khalifa Gawi (2012) who
advocate a critical period hypothesis (CPH), and agree to learn English in childhood.
Another group of professionals, such as Snow and Hoefnagel-Hohle (1978), Rivera(1988), quoted by Marinova-Todd, Bradford Marshall and Snow (2000) who oppose

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the critical period hypothesis, consider adults in comparison with children as having
great advantages in learning foreign and second languages.
In addition to the starting age of education, it is also very important to consider thetype of attitude that individuals are taking with regard to the time they start teachingas well as the environment and the instructor. In relation to the points discussed above
was decided to investigate the	
   role of informal English language teaching inchildhood on English knowledge and attitude towards English language in adulthood.
	
  MethodSociety and Statistical Sample
The research design is a causal-comparative. The statistical population of this study isthe first year undergraduate students of Islamic Azad Universities based in Tehran,who had been studying humanities in the academic year of 2015-2016. The sample
size was calculated based on Krejcie and Morgan table to be 200 people. The
sampling method was a multi-stage cluster type. The sample was randomly selectedfrom all the branches of Islamic Azad University located in Tehran, according to thenumber of sampled students (Islamic Azad University- South Tehran Branch andIslamic Azad University- Central Tehran Branch).
Tools
English Language Knowledge Test: In order to prepare the English language test
and determine its content validity, first of all the table of specifications for asummative test in English was prepared; English books of second and third grades ofsenior high school of old system of Iran’s education. To prepare English language
test, the following books were used according to the specifications table: English
books of second grade of senior high school; second and third grades of senior highschool and college English books of old system of Iran’s education, complementary
books, preparation books for university entrance examination, and final examquestions. Later on, a test of four option multiple choice according to the rules for
preparing multiple choice questions (Saif, 1395) was designed. This test taking into
account the psychometric criteria included 100 questions for implementation andpreliminary study (Pilot Study) were designed. Then, this test was carried out after theconfirmation of professors on a small group of statistical sample of educational
science students from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Islamic
Azad University- Central Tehran Branch involving 26 students. Later on, in order toanalyze the test questions, the difficulty coefficients and the discriminant coefficientsof the questions were calculated. Therefore, very difficult or very easy and defective
questions were removed and the final test in the form of 50 questions test for runningon two groups of the main sample from the statistical population was prepared. The
validity of this test was also considered through content validity using thespecifications table as well as the opinion of the experts in this field (supervisor
professor). This test has a decent validity. The reliability of this test was also reported

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through the internal consistency method, using the Kuder-Richardson method (KR21)of 0.91.
	
  Attitude Questionnaire: In order to prepare the survey questionnaire, theAttitude/Motivation Test Battery (Gardner, 2004), an English version of 104 items,
was selected among the available tools. Gardner's questionnaire (2004) has beendeveloped and expanded to address the need to measure emotional variables, and has
evolved following long-term researches which many of them are based on Englishlanguage students who have learned French as a second language. According to theliterature review of the present study, this questionnaire was used more than otherones and also by various researchers. Then, from different items of this questionnaire,
those who were appropriate with regard to the title, goals, and questions of the present
research were selected, and other appropriate items were added to them. This
questionnaire is a self-reporting tool and is a closed-ended response test. Therefore,
the questionnaire consisting of 20 items was developed to assess the attitude towards
foreign language, with a focus on English. Each item is a simple sentence that is set
in the form of a Likert scale with four-choice responses. The entire spectrum is totallyin agreement to completely disagree; I completely disagree with number 1 and I
totally agree with number 4 points. This process of counting according to the items
meaning are reversal in questions numbers 3, 7, 14, 15, and 16; therefore, theminimum score is 20 and the maximum one is 80. Validity of this questionnaire wasdetermined through content validity by using the opinion of experts in this field, it has
a proper validity. Its reliability was also reported through the internal consistency
method and using the Cronbach's alpha of 0.92.
Methods of Data Collection
In order to collect information, two groups of first year undergraduate students ofIslamic Azad University were selected randomly from Tehran branches, who had
been studying humanities in the academic year 2015-2016. The first group consistedof students who had done English studies before formal education, so that when they
entered the English language classroom at school, they had a background in learning
English and the other group included students who entered the English language classof school without any prior English language learning. A questionnaire withdemographic information was distributed amongst students. The data were coded andlater analyzed by SPSS software.
Data Analysis Method
In order to analyze the data, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) wasused. Bartlett, Box’s M, and Levene tests were also used to examine the assumptions.
Findings
In order to answer the research questions, the Multivariate Analysis of Variable(MANOVA) was used. Before using MANOVA, the assumptions were checked. The
results of Bartlett's test (F= 17.99, P< 0.001) shows that there is a sufficient

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correlation between dependent variables. The results of Box’s M test were significant
for the variance-covariance matrix homogeneity assessment in dependent variables(F= 0.33, P< 0.05); accordingly, homogeneity condition of the variance-covariancematrix was not observed, but due to the equality of group size versus failure to adhere
to this assumption is not sensitive.

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Table 1: Leven’s Test Results
Variables
F df1
Df2
English  
24.31
1
198
Language  Knowledge
Attitude  
0.14
1
198
Towards  English  LanguageSig
   0.001
0.70

As it can be seen in Table 1, the results of Leven’s test for defining the assumption ofequality of dependent variables variance indicates that the variances in attitude scores
are equal and there is no significant difference between the two groups (P> 0.05), but
the variances are not the same in knowledge scores (P <0.05). Multivariate analysis ofvariance is not sensitive to the lack of compliance with this assumption due to theequality of group size. Currently all the assumptions are examined and the next tableshows the main result of the multivariate analysis of variance.
The results of the Wilk’s Lambda test show that the difference between the groups
mean in the composite dependent variable is significant [F=(2 & 197) 23.43, P<0.001,
Partial =  0.19].  This means that there is a significant difference between the linear
composition of the mean of dependent variables in the two groups. After applying
Wilk’s Lambda, which is meaningful, the results of the analysis related to the effects
between the subjects were examined, which can be seen in Table 2.
Table 2: Results of multivariate analysis of variance of group effects (teaching) on
dependent variables
Resources
Dependent
SS
df
MS
F
Sig
Eta
Variable
SquaredEnglish 5110.605
1 5110.605 44.208
0.001
0.183
Knowledge
Group
Attitude1250
11250 12.52
0.001
0.060
Towards
EnglishEnglish 22889.75 198 115.605
Knowledge
Error
Attitude 19757.68 198
99.786
Towards
EnglishAs it is seen in Table 2, there is a significant difference between the two groups oftrained and not trained subjects in English knowledge [F = (1 & 198) 44.208, P<0.001, Partial
0.183]. In this way, the English knowledge scores of people

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trained in childhood are significantly higher than those who have not been trained inchildhood. The group variable explains 18.3% of variance of English knowledge.
There is a significant difference between the two groups of trained and not trained
subjects in attitude towards English [F= (1 & 198) 12.52, P< 0.001, Partial
0.060]. In this way, attitude towards English score of those who are trained inchildhood are significantly higher than those who have not been trained in childhood.
The group variable represents 6% of variance in attitude towards English.
Discussion and conclusions
According to the results of this study, those who studied English in their childhood (6to 12 years old) had more English knowledge than those who began to learn fromschool. The results of this study are similar to those of Orhan Kocamen and Nurgul
Kocamen (2012), Dominguez and Pessoa (2005), Li (2014), and Khalifa Gawi (2012),
but they were not consistent with the research of Gorjian, Mahmoudi and Mir (2010).
In the study of Gorjian, Mahmoudi and Mir (2010), there was no significant
relationship between attitude, age, gender, and English language learning; in thisstudy, although age does not affect the language learning, but in Iran, the age variable
can be associated with social and psychological limitations which is examined that it
may affect the process of language learning, so it may not be coherent because ofvarious factors, such as differences in statistical populations and samples, time andenvironment of testing and ignoring some other influential factors.	
   Therefore, theresults of these studies indicate the success of children in learning English.
Considering childhood as a golden age to learn a variety of concepts and subjects,
including foreign or second language, it is vital to take advantage of children's
abilities at this time. Also, according to critical period hypothesis that children's
success is due to neurological and biological factors, during this period, children havevery good rote memory and this ability is very effective to help success. In addition,
the children's rote memory capacity is also high and does not let them rely on rotelearning. Also, the child's brain in the early stages of adolescence absorbs new sounds
and patterns easily; thus, learning English as a foreign language plays a key role inchildren’s educational programs. In addition, children can learn other languages
similar to their mother tongue without the need to use the grammatical rules
consciously; similar to the mother tongue, hearing is the first source of children's
learning, which first only stored what they heard and then they speak of what they
have only heard for a long time, precisely the process that they adopt in native
language (there are differences of opinion with respect to different theories). With
using natural approach, English language environment and not teaching in classroom,children learning process is more successful than adult, although children are notready for classroom learning and will not succeed. It should also be considered thatage is only one of the important factors in learning a language and neglecting othereffective factors leads to deceptive conclusions. Factors such as teaching method and,the learning strategies adopted, and the learning environment are also very important;
therefore, given the role that the age factor plays in learning English, starting to teachEnglish to children of ages under 12 years old, in order to enhance their English

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knowledge in adulthood, it is essential that the results of this study have been in thesame direction.
	  One of the other studied variables is attitude towards English. According to the resultsof present study, those who studied English in their childhood (6 to 12 years old) had
better attitude towards English language than those who had started their learningfrom school. The results of this study are consistent with Karahan’s research (2007).
As a matter of fact, age was the only factor which have been used by Karahan, but inthis study, in addition to considering the age, the place where the training began;
school or institute, it was considered as the main factor. Attitude is considered as an
essential component of language learning. Teachers and educators of English as aforeign language need to be aware and respect students’ feelings, beliefs, orientations,personality traits, and behaviors before thinking about their cognitive abilities. Also,
educational programs and classroom activities should be created and implemented
according to the students' individual needs and differences in order to create a positive
attitude towards English. Therefore, due to the important role that the attitude plays in
the academic achievement of learners, various studies and researches in this field is ofgreat importance; consequently parents and educational leaders are encouraged tostart teaching English from childhood. It is also suggested to English teachers andeducators not to ignore learners' attitudes towards English language, but to respond tothem and be aware of students’ prior perceptions and attitudes towards English
language.	
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References
Ahmed, S. (2015). Attitudes towards English Language Learning among EFL
Learning at UMSKAL. Journal of Education and Practice, 16(18), 6-16.
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language Learning. GreatBritain: Edward Arnold.
Gardner, R. C.(2004). Attitude/Motivation Test Battery: International AMTB
Research Project (English Version). Retrieved February,24, 2016, from University ofWestern Ontario Canada, Website: http://publish.uwo.ca/~gardner/
Gorjian, B., Mahmoudi, Kh., Mir, F. (2010). Students’ Individual Differences and its
Relationship with English Language Learning. Journal of Social Science, 8, 111-130.
Gursoy, E. (2011). The Critical Period Hypothesis Revisited: The Implications for
Current Foreign Language Teaching to Young Learners. Journal of Language
Teaching and Research, 2(2), 757-762.
Johnoson, J. S., Newport, E. L. (1989). Critical period effects in secondlanguage
learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second
language. Cognative Psychology, 21, 60-99.
Karahan, F. (2007). Language Attitudes of Turkish Students towards the English
Language and its use in Turkish Context. Journal of Arts and Sciences, 7.
Khalifa Gawi, E. M. (2012). The Effects of Age Factor on Learning English: A Case
Study of Learning English in Saudi Schools. English Language Teaching, 5(1), 127139.
Marinova-Todd, S. H., Bradford Marshall, D., Snow, C. E. (2000). Theree
Misconceptions about Age and L2 Learning. Tesol Quarterly, 34(1), 9-34.
Noels, K. A., Pelletier, L. G., Clement, R., & Vallerand, R. J. (2000). Why Are You
Learning a Second Language? Motivational Orientations and Self-Determination
Theory. Language Learning, 50, 57-85.
Saif, A. A. (2016). Measuring, assessing and educational evolution. (6th ed.). Tehran:
Doran.
Snow, E. C., Hoefnagel-Hohle, M. (1978). The Critical Period for Language
Acquisition: Evidence From Second Language Learning. Child Development, 49,
114-1128.
Yang, X. (2012). Attitudes and Motivation in L2 Learning among University of
Malaya Master Sudents. International Journal of Management and Sustainability,
1(1), 13-22.

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Zainol Abidin, M. J., Pour-Mohammadi, M., Alzawari, H. (2012). EFL Students’Attitudes towards Learning English Language The Caseof Libyan Secondary SchoolStudents. Asiam Social Sciencr, 8(2), 119-134.
Fathman, A. (1975). The relationship between age and second language productive
ability. Language learning.25(2), 245-253.

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The Use of 'Kebudiluhuran' Aspect as a Curriculum Development in
Budi Luhur University
Bintarto Wicaksono, Universitas Budi Luhur, Jakarta-Indonesia
Nawiroh Vera,	
  Universitas Budi Luhur, Jakarta-Indonesia
Haronas Kutanto, Universitas Budi Luhur, Jakarta-Indonesia
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Abstract
Budi Luhur University located in Jakarta is a private university that has a basic
principle in the learning process. Budi Luhur University uses the philosophy of"Cerdas Berbudi Luhur". based on that in the application of the curriculum thatemphasizes on the achievement of learning, Budi Luhur University includes theelement of kebudiluhuran in each subject. The concept of "cerdas berbudi luhur" arethe two inseparable, intelligence without based on noble character will tend to be used
to oppress others, on the contrary noble character without intelligence would betargets of crime and oppression of others. the aims of this paper is to give an idea
about noble character and how its implementation in student learning plan. noble
character is the human behavior based on the values, norms and culture of Indonesia
in accordance to ideology of Pancasila. Budi Luhur University applies the concept ofkebudiluhuran as a means of strengthening student attitude. The most important thing
an intellectual generation must have is smart and "berbudi luhur", known asemotional intelligence, social intelligence, and spiritual intelligence. Data arecollected from the curriculum of the Faculty of Communication science with an indepth analysis of the aspects of kebudiluhuran, through good case examples in theteaching practice, field assignments and final examination.
Keywords: noble character, curriculum development, character development

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Introduction
The curriculum of higher education is a series of planning and regulation on goals,
contents and materials of the learning process as well as methods used as thereference guideline of implemementing the learning activities to achieve the goals of
the higher education (Article 35, Law of Higher Education Number 12 Year 2012).
Curriculum is the education program containing a variety of teaching materials andlearning experiences which have been programmed, planned and designed
systematically on the basis of the existing norms which must become the reference
guideline in the learning process for education staff and educating participants toreach the education goal (Dakir, 2004: 3).
Curriculum is dynamic. It means that it has to be frequently developed and improved
to follow the development pace of science and technology. With education, it isexpected that human beings with high quality being born can understand and build
their society. Therefore, education goal, content and process must be adjusted to theexisting condition, characteristics, wealth and development of society.
The Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Higher Education gives freedom to each
university to develop each curriculum in accordance with each basic principles.
Therefore, when implementing a curriculum in each higher education institution, it
likely uses different principles with the curriculums used in other higher education
institutions.
Budi Luhur Univeresity located in Greater Jakarta Province as the Capital City ofIndonesia, is the private university that has the basic principle of the learning process.
The basic philosophy of Budi Luhur University is "Intelligent and Virtuous".
Therefore, the curriculum development in University Budi Luhur which started from2017 has entered the elements of virtue in each subject to be taught. "Intelligent andVirtuous are two unseparated aspects because intelligence without being based on
virtue will tend to be used to fool and injure others, and otherwise, virtue without
being balanced on intelligence will be the target of crime and oppression of others."
This article aims at describing the principles of virtue which have been applied in thelearning curriculum in Budi Luhur University in accordance with the national
standards for higher education in Indonesia. The methods which would be used here
were research desk with the data collecting technique taken from the curriculum ofCommunication Science Faculty with in-depth analysis on the aspect of virtue with
examples of cases in the practice of learning process, field task and semester final
exam.
Literature review
Curriculum with the Basis of The KKNI (Indonesian National Qualification
Framework) and The SN Dikti (National Standards for Higher Education)

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Curriculum is a program or learning plan that does not only contain the program of
activities but also goals to be achieved as well as evaluation tools to determine thesuccess of achieving the goals. Moreover, it also contains tools or media which are
expected to be able to support the achievement of these goals. Curriculum as a plan isdesigned to speed facilitate the learning-teaching process under the guidance andresponsibility of school or education institutions as well as their teaching staff(Mudlofir, 2012, 2).
The KKNI (Indonesian National Qualification Framework) is the reference
framework that is used as a measure in the recognition of educationg ratings. The
KKNI is also called the framework of competency qualification rating scale that canjuxtapose, equalize and integrate among the sectors of education, job training andexperiences in order to provide the recognition of work competencies in accordancewith the structure of work in various sectors.
As the form of measurement in the KKNI, it is divided into four aspects, i.e. Attitude
and Value Standards, Authority and Responsibility, Job Ability, the Mastery ofKnowledge. Moreover, of the four measurement aspects, it will be described as theoutcome learning.
The description for Attitude and Value Standards is among others : Faith in God
Almighty; Having good morality, ethics and personality in accomplishing their duties;
Serving as citizens who feel proud and love their motherland as well as support world
peace; being able to work together and having social sensitivity and high concern forsociety and the environment; respecting the diversity of cultures, viewpoints, faiths
and religions as we as opinions or original findings of others; upholding the law
enforcement as well as having spirit to give priority to the interests of nation andsociety in general.
Moreover, in formulating the achievement of the learning process, in addition to thebasis of the KKNI, it must be in accordance with the reference guideline of National
Standards for Higher Education in 2015 called (the SN DIKTI 2015). In this matter,
the SN DIKTI 2015 also formulates four aspects to achieve the learning process, i.e.
Aspect of Knowledge, Aspect of Attitude, Aspect of General Skill and Aspect ofSpecific Skill. In formulating the aspect of attitude that each graduate has to have inaccordance with the SN DIKTI 2015, among others these include: Being faithful anddevoted to God Almighty and being able to show religious attitude; Upholding
humanitarian values in carrying out duties on the basis of religion, morality andethics, contributing to the improvement of life quality in society in general, nation,state and civilization on the basis of Pancasila; Serving as citizens who feel proud andlove their motherland, having nationalism and a sense of responsibility to the state andnation; respecting the diversity of cultures, viewpoints, religions and faiths as well as
opinion and original findings of others; Making cooperation and having social
sensitivity as well as high concern to society and the environment; Obeying the law
and having discipline in social and state life; internalizing academic values, norms
and ethics; showing attitude of job responsibility in the field of each expertise
independently; internalizing the spirit of independence, fighting and enterpreneurship.

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Of the above description on the achievement that definitely must be included in theformulation of achieving the learning process in higher education, in the applicationof university and in this matter the study program it can include some additions inorder to provide the characteristics of graduate of university or study program inaccordance with respective characteristics.
With the enthuasiasm to provide a specific characteristics of graduate of university or
study program, moreover, Budi Luhur University has given some additions orpressures in aspect of attitude by including the attitude of virtue. In this matter, in
accordance with the philosophy of Budi Luhur University : Intelligent and Virtuous.
Intelligent without virtuous is intelligence without being based on virtue will tend to
be used to fool and harm others, and otherwise virtue without intelligent will become
the target of crime and oppression of others. Furthermore, intelligence can be meant
intellectual intelligence and Virtous can be interpreted as emotional and spiritual
intelligence (Drs. Djaetun, HS).
The attitude of Virtue which will be included in the achievement of the learning
process particularly in the aspect of attitude is the derivative form of the philosophy of
Budi Luhur University, i.e. Virtue in the scope of attitude: Sympathy, Empathy,
Compassion and Love. It is appropriate to the goal of learning or education process in
Budi Luhur University, i.e. to make Intelligent and Virtuous Humans with theeducation pattern of sharpening, fostering and compassion which applies the virtue
curriculum.
With the basis of the KKNI, the SN DIKTI 2015 and the Philosophy of Budi Luhur
University, in this matter it is the attitude of virtue, and furthermore as the form ofinterpretation in the curriculum i.e. by including the attitude of virtue (sympathy,
empathy, compassion and love) in achieving the aspect of attitude in the achievementof the study program learning process which is brought down into the achievement oflearning each subject and can be also interpreted further in the achievement or output
of tasks per subject. The goal of placement or addition for the attitude of virtue in theachievement of the study program learning process and subject is to provide further
the specific characteristics of graduate of Budi Luhur University either from the
aspect of attitude to the form of output of tasks or activities and works which reflect
the attitude of virtue.
Virtuous Concepts in Curriculum
In the technical level of curriculum design, Budi Luhur University Jakarta brings
down it in the form of a joint guideline for all faculties and study programs which canenter the virtue elements in each Semester Learning Plan/RPS and can be alsointerpreted in the form of Student Task Design/RTM. Lecturers present the virtue
materials generally and apply them specifically in the daily life as a human in theform of learning materials and contents. Moreover, the aspect of attitude with theadditional attitude of virtue is interpreted in the form of outcomes or achivement of
the attitude and in the form of works which definitely contain the virtue content.

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Instead achieving attitudes and outcomes in the form of work, the aspect of virtue isalso interpreted in the form of activities which require students to apply directly theattitude of virtue to other humans and creatures as well as the surrounding
environment.
In this article we will present the description of some subjects which the final results
are activities that contain the aspect of virtue, such as the attitude of empathy,
sympathy, love and compassion. The Faculty of Communication Science is a part of
Budi Luhur University. With the Communication Science Study Program which havefour concentrations : Broadcast Journalism, Public Relations, Digital Advertising,Visual Communication Design, Tourism Communication, and Digital Media, thecurriculum application with the basis of KKNI, SN DIKTI and the virtue will be
carried out from the Achievement of the Study Program Learning to the achievementof subjects and per subject materials or ouput of subject tasks.
As the form of applying the virtue curriculum, Budi Luhur University makes
provisions for the technical and measurable application as follows :1.   There is content of virtue in achieving the learning process or per subject inaspect of attitude.
2.   It is brought down into the presentation of subject materials or discussion atleast two meeting times
3.   It can be brought down into the output of task which reflects the context of
virtue.
4.   It enter into the student assessment component (aspect of attitude) totalingaround 25%.
5.   It also includes the list of reference on the virtue books in each semester
learning design.
Result and Discussion
Berbudi luhur / Virtuous Values globally
Berbudi luhur/Virtue is human behavior that is guided by values, norms and culture ofIndonesia in accordance with the state ideology of Pancasila. The founders of Budi
Luhur Cakti Education Foundation have applied the virtuousness concept as a meansof strengthening students' attitude. The important things that an intellectual generationmust have is intellectual and virtuous intelligence known as emotional, social andspiritual intelligence.
Application of Virtuous Values in Achieving the Learning Process
In the context of applying the virtuousness curriculum is to provide the achievementof the learning process in each subject. In the Communication Science Study
Program, Faculty of Communication Science has 13 semester credit units/SKS for thegeneral basic subjects (MKDU), 70 semester credit units for the compulsory subjectsof communication science, 54 semester credit units (SKS) for the core concentration
subjects (for each concentration), 12 semester credit units (SKS) for the specialised

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subjects of the communication science and 13 SKS for the specialised concentration
subjects (in each concentration).
An example for the compulsory subject for communication science is the subject
Intercultural Communication;Ø  Description of the Subject: The subject discusses the relationshipbetween communication and culture, it aims at learning interculturalcommunication in the context of Indonesian situation and cultural factors that
underline and influence communication process. Some study topics: the basic
concepts of intercultural communication, intercultural perception, verbal andnonverbal communication in intercultural communication and how to become
intercultural humans in the contemporary era of globalization.
Ø   Achievement of Subject Learning
Aspect of Knowledge: Students understand and comprehend definitions
to intercultural communication, the components of communication andculture.
Aspect of Attitude: After accomplishing the subject, students are able tochoose a sense of intercultural tolerance, mindfulness attitude, so they
will become intelligent and virtuous humans.
Aspect of General Skill: Students are expected to be able to understandand comprehend the basic principles of intercultural communication,
analyze and accomplish important problems and issues in theintercultural interaction.
Aspect of Special Skill: Students can implement theories, models andconcepts of intercultural communication in their daily social life,
understand cultural differences in the local and global level which finally
can make them the intercultural humans.

The following example is the core concentration subject, i.e. Documentary Film
Production :Ø   Description of the Subject: Through the study, students are expected to beable to understand documentary concepts and approaches as communication
works. Moreover, they can carry out research, planning and production of
documentary works as a journalistic activity in the scope of media
communication and journalism.
Ø   Achievement of Subject Learning :Aspect of Knowledge: Students can have the understanding ofconcepts in documentary production as the journalistic works.
Aspect of Attitude: Students can have an attitude of social sensitivity
to problems that occur in society and have an attitude of cooperation,
empathy and sympaty with other students in the documentary
learning process.

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Aspect of General Skill: Students can carry out research and plan
documentary production works in the form of production design.
Aspect of Specific Skill: Students can produce and apply theconcepts in documentary production as the journalistic works in thescope of communication.
The above two subjects are a part of subjects in the Communication Science Study
Program that entirely have entered the methods of applying the virtuousness
curriculum in achieving the learning process of the subjects.
Application of Noble Virtous Values in the Subjects
The next phase is the application of learning outcomes or the achievement of thesubjects which become the achievement per meeting or lecture. In this phase, it
definitely can become a variety of contents and outputs which are the application of
the virtuousnes curriculum. An example is the Inter-Cultural Communication;
Courses
ChargeInter-Cultural
Learn about tolerance inCommunication accordance with Indonesia's
diversity.
Process of adaptation,
assimilation and culturalacculturation.

Outcomes
Cultivate an attitude / sense ofsolidarity, respect for differences, loveand nationalism.
To grow attitudes and knowledge of theprocesses of cultural formation in asociety

Activity
Field Study in Cetho Tample ,Karanganyar, Central Java.

Documentation

Field Study in Intercultural Communication to be growth love attitude among fellow
students and tolerance attitude, affection to learning object in the field and different
cultural.

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The next example is the Documentary Film Production course, for Broadcast
Journalism concentration;
CoursesDocumentaryFilm
Production

ChargeHow to be plan and create audio
visual works base on researchfrom the probelm to evocative
public concern

Activity
Documentary Film Works theme
Local Wisdom

Outcomes
Attitude aspect : empathy andsympathy the with problem arroundand a sense of belonging the culture
Indonesian.
Produce audio visual works with theme
local wisdom
Documentation

For courses from the concentration of Visual Communication Design, one of them is
Visual Identity;

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ChargeUnderstanding the identity of an
object,pouringitinarepresentative visual work.
Training an open attitude andempathy with the needs of thecommunity

Activity
Outcome works design logo

Outcomes
Students are able to design visuallanguages through symbolism andimagery which can later be applied as
an element of branding fromcompanies, organizations in thecommunity.
Documentation

In the level of University, there are subjects carried out together from different study
programs. The lectures are in the form of community service, i.e. Real Work Lecture.
The essence of the program is the community service program as the form of applying
subjects conducted by students in groups across different study programs tocommunity in some period of time. Is a form of community service activities by
students with a cross-scientific and sectoral approach at certain times and regions.
With KKN, it can foster and apply the attitude of morality among students and thecommunity.

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Activity
Kuliah Kerja Nyata 2017-2018(Community Service Program)

Documentation

Conclusion
The curriculum has a close connection with the learning process. The curriculum
relates to the learning materials that must be learned, while the learning process
relates to how to learn the learning materials. The curriculum becomes a guideline,
direction, or sign for the implementation of the teaching and learning process.

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References
Direktorat Akademik, Direktorat Jendral Pendidikan Tinggi, 2000: Curriculum
Development, EEDP (Enginering Education Development Program).
Dakir, Perencanaan dan Pengembangan Kurikulum, (Jakarta: PT. Rineka Cipta,
2004), h. 3.
Djateun. Buku Saku Menuju Cerdas Berbudi Luhur, Jakarta, PSBL. 2016.
Djaetun, Memahami Hakekat Budi Luhur, Jakarta, Yayasan Pendidikan Budi Luhur
Cakti. 2015
KEMDIKBID-Republik Indonesia. (10 Juni, 2013). Permendikbud No.73 Tahun
2013, Tentang Penerapan Kerangka Kualifikasi Nasional Indonesia Bidang
Pendidikan Tinggi. Jakarta, Indonesia: Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik
Indonesia.
https://geotimes.co.id/opini/penerapan-kurikulum-berbasis-kkni-di-perguruan-tinggi/
Mudlofir,	
  Ali. Aplikasi Pengembangan Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan Dan
Bahan Ajar Dalam Pendidikan Agama Islam, (Jakarta: PT Raja Grafindo Persada,
Jakarta, 2012) h. 1-2.

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Reading as a Problem Solving Task and Digital School
Rosanna Tammaro, University of Salerno, Italy
Concetta Ferrantino, University of Salerno, Italy
Francesco Milito, University of Salerno, Italy
Maria Tiso, University of Salerno, Italy
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Abstract
The renewed school idea, understood as an open learning space that allows students todevelop life skills, imposes an overview of reading in a new epistemological andcultural dimension. Within the European educational systems, among the skills
considered essential, a prominent role is occupied by the reading comprehension andmastering the language. In fact, reading literacy is a cognitive life-skill that structures
thought and reasoning (Olson, 1994) and is perhaps the most precious of the goals toachieve in today's school. As well, the use of technologies, digitalization, now
structural components of the curriculum, have put exactly the reading into the centerof the learning experience. The general aim of this work is to investigate, through abibliographic detailed study, the relationship that there is between digital reading andtextual comprehension skills. Methodologically we will proceed with the sistematic
review, with particular attention to the sources to identify and evaluate the relation
between the reading and the digital support. Digital devices can favor active,reflexive, conscious reading, as they provide dynamic reading functions that support
the adjustment of the analysis processes. The idea is to value these references,emphasizing the essential role of reading comprehension. Resuming the cognitivist
matrix, reading can be seen as a problem solving task where the reader is called to use
the information contained in the text, using his declarative and procedural knowledge,
to construct more accurate hypothesis about the meaning of the text. The perspective
considered in this work identifies the "know how to read" as the tool to become amore experienced navigator of contemporary society with the ability to discern,interpret, and propose.
Keywords: reading literacy; reading comprehension; problem solving; digital reading;life-skill.

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The reading literacy is a distinctive element for social inclusion or exclusion ofhuman being. The possession of this ability is a main aspect for the development of areal democratic conscience and for a significant participation of every citizen towards
the debate of political life as well as the transformation and the renewal of thecontemporary knowledge society. The acquisition of skills as: reading, understanding
and interpretation of texts and of various kinds is an essential objective that every
student has to acquire at the end of compulsory education (D.M. 139, 2007). The
reading literacy is the training goal par excellence, it is a fundamental learning forschool and extra-school life, it is essential for the knowledge in all subject areas.
Actually, without a sufficient experience in this area, none can attempt to solve
problems of mathematics, physics, or deal with aspects of geo-historical or politicalrelevance (Bottani, 2011).
It is not correct to suppose that learning to read is similar to learning to walk, or to
distinguish, visually, the distance and depth in the space around us; really the learningof reading is much more similar to the acquisition of math or chess game. Althoughlearning to speak and to read is understood both as forms of linguistic development in
the generic sense, it does not mean that they are equivalent forms of development.
Calvani affirms (2018): “it is wrong to think that learning to read is a natural aspect of
linguistic development, as the learning to speak. It is quite obvious that oral language
is biologically primary in the human being, but the reading and writing literacy
obviously are not” (p.16). According to Dahene (2009) the right technique to teachreading is the syllabic method, then the correspondence of a phoneme to a specificgrapheme, proceeding from the simple to the complex. From learning to read to thedevelopment of reading competence, can be traced three fundamental phases which,partly, overlap. In the first phase of learning the student’s efforts are directed to thedecoding operation of the graphic signs, this phase ends with the achievement of
automatism. This is the moment of instrumental aspect of reading skill, it represents
basic and necessary condition for every type of reading. In the second phase, thestudent develops cognitive and metacognitive skills involved in the fullcomprehension of a text and in its literal meaning, to the point of acquiring the ability
to immerse oneself in reading for personal interest and pleasure. Finally, in the third
phase, the student learns to distance himself from the text in order to examine it
critically: the reading literacy must lead the reader to develop a critical sense towards
what he has read. In this phase the reader is able to differentiate his point of view
from that of the author, to analyze the text, to evaluate it in content and form, to makecomparisons between different points of view. Moreover, it is important to rememberthat for a long time the school has been interested in new technologies as tools toimprove the learning experience of students. As a consequence, reading and reading
mode deal with profound changes.
Reading and understanding
Nowadays we speak of reading, meaning it as a dynamic process that develops
throughout life and which does not take place only in formal learning contexts, butalso in non-formal and informal contexts (OECD, 2009).

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Reading literacy is a transversal cognitive competence that structures thinking andreasoning (Olson, 1994), it is perhaps the most precious achievement that schools
intends to pursue, in fact scholastic institutions have accepted to respond to thechallenge of acquiring competence (Spencer & Spencer, 1993; Perrenoud, 1997;
Pellerey, 2004).
The school of competence is a school that has the duty to train competent readers if it
wants to act as a formative place oriented to the development of democratic
participation, in order to favor the improvement of an equitable social growth.
The original definition of reading literacy, formulated starting from the studies of theInternational Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEAReading Literacy Study, 1992) and of the Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD-International Adult Literacy Survey, 1994, 1997, 1998)
was integrated in 2009 with motivational and metacognitive aspects.
Currently reading literacy means “to understand and to use written texts, reflect onthem and engage in their reading in order to achieve their goals, to develop theirknowledge and their potential and to be an active part of society” (OECD, 2009,p.23).
The definitions of reading and literacy in reading have changed over time, they haveadapted to changes of society, economy and culture. The concept of learning and, inparticular, lifelong learning, have expanded both the definition of literacy in reading
and its components. Literacy is no longer considered a skill that is acquired only inchildhood, during the first years of school, but rather as a set of knowledge, skills andstrategies in continuous evolution, which individuals develop in the course of life,
through the interactions with peers and with the larger groups they are part of.
This definition intends to overcome the notion of literacy in reading as mere decoding
and literal understanding in favor of an interpretation that implies comprehension, use
and reflection on written information for a variety of different purposes. This
description considers the active and interactive role played by the reader in deriving
meaning from the written text.
The definition also contemplates the plurality of situations in which literacy inreading plays a role in the life of a young person: from the private sphere to the publicsphere, from school to work, from the sphere of active citizenship to learning
throughout the life.
According to this new vision, literacy permits to realize one's own individual
aspirations, whether these are well-defined aspirations, such as obtaining a diploma or
obtaining a job, or whether they are less immediate objectives as to improve and toenhance the personal life of each one.
Literacy also provides the reader with the linguistic tools that modern society - with
its institutions, its widespread bureaucracy and its complex legal systems - requires
with ever increasing insistence.

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Readers, while attempting to understand what they read and use, react to texts that are
confronted in different ways.
But what are exactly comprehension and awareness in the field of reading?
Mialaret (1996), maintains that: “to be able to read is to be able to transform awritten message into a sound message following precise rules; it is to understand thecontent of the written message; it is being able to judge it” (page19). To understandsignificantly, the reader must have an active role, decode what he reads and to plan
his cognitive process, through cognitive and metacognitive strategies (Cornoldi &Colpo, 1981). Among the cognitive strategies we can find: the ability to know how tofocus the words in bold, the use of dictionary to understand the meaning of theunknown terms, to take notes, to make use of the context, to synthesize, to underline,
etc. For metacognitive strategies, instead, we mean the reader's ability to perceive theneed for additional information and to reflect on what has been read and understood(Brown, Bransford, Ferrara & Campione, 1983), that is, to realize and to implement
all those useful actions to monitor and plan the reading process. More specifically:
different reading modes in relation to the purpose, slow reading, read the text several
times carefully, in general put oneself in a condition of active and critical reflection
during the act of reading (Morini, 2017).
In an effort to develop authentic reading situations, PISA (Program for International
Student Assessment) notes the following five aspects associated with a fullunderstanding of a text. Students must demonstrate their level of competence for eachof the following aspects: identifying information; understand the general meaning of
the text; develop an interpretation; reflect on the content of the text and evaluate it;reflect on the form of the text and evaluate it.
Full understanding of a text implies the activation of all these processes. It is expectedthat all readers, regardless of their overall reading capacity, are able to demonstrate acertain level of competence in each of these aspects.
Although the five aspects are inter-related (as they are based on a common core ofskills), a good result in one of them is not necessarily related to success in others.
Some believe that these aspects are part of each reader's repertoire at every level of its
development, rather than constituting a hierarchical set of skills that develop
sequentially.
In order to evaluate the skills of the reader with respect to the ability to read andunderstand a text, it is appropriate to define, in a clear manner, the evaluation
methods, the methodologies and the tools that will be used, so as to guarantee thevalidity and reliability of the survey.
Lucisano (1989) argues that: “the measurements we can make have many limitations,but the possibility of defining skill models, identifying strengths and weaknesses, andcomparing the student's profit with the class and national standards, constitute anindispensable reference both for research and for didactic intervention” (page 21).

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Reading and digitization
The reading competence, according to the Recommendation of the European Councilof 22 May 2018 on the key competences for lifelong learning, falls within the first of
the eight key competences outlined in the reference framework, that is in functional
alphabetic competence. The latter, in fact, distinguishes, among the different aspects,
the knowledge of reading and writing and a good understanding of the written
information and therefore presupposes the knowledge of the vocabulary, thefunctional grammar and the functions of the language. This involves the knowledge ofmain types of verbal interaction, of a series of literary and non-literary texts, of main
characteristics of different styles and registers of the language.
However, reading and its different modalities have changed and have evolved
profoundly along with the progress of society, the pervasive diffusion of technology
and the resulting cultural changes. Changes in the distribution and use of the media
have also produced consequences on the cognitive level.
To define, today, what it means to be able to read and what presupposes to be acompetent reader remains a very complex task, but it is clear that this concept can nolonger disregard the comprehension and use of online texts and how an insufficientlevel of these skills becomes an element of marginalization. social, as limiting theeffective participation (European Commission, 2012a, Jenkins, 2010; OECD, 2011).
With the technological development are generated the new forms of textuality
characterized by multimedia, that is by the integration of different codes present on
the same support and, from hypertext, that is the reversal of the linear order in favorof more free and flexible reading paths, in which the reader can choose which order tofollow for the use of the contents organized in blocks of text (Notti, Calenda, 2016).
Hypertextuality, due to its natural openness, is based on the centrality of the role ofthe user and on the reticular structure of the text. For this reason, it is possible to talkabout interactivity, the reader is free to choose routes to activate (Livolsi, 2011).
The definition of reading literacy, mentioned earlier, refers precisely to the interactive
nature of the process, since when readers engage in reading a text, they do so by
drawing on their own experiences and way of thinking, affective aspects andbehavior, motivation, commitment to reading, the pleasure of reading, interest andcontrol of strategies in relation to reading purposes (Cataldo et al., 2012). The reading
activity connected to a digital text requires the reader the ability to construct personal
paths much more than is required in the case of printed texts.
The ability to decipher is not, therefore, a skill that is acquired once and for all; it is aprocess that never ends because, once learned, it is self-reinforcing and modifying
with the exercise and adapts to the various requests: it contemplates the developmentof other capacities such as inference and integration that they imply the existence ofcomplex perceptual complex automatisms.
Online reading can solicit a higher cognitive load. Digital texts require to search theinformation distributed between a heterogeneity of links and in specific textual
situations of the electronic medium: the understanding of a list of information
provided by search engines or the contents published in a blog, for example,
unequivocally identify a typical online reading only.

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To retrieve the information useful are required to assess the relevance of the materials
and to understand the hierarchical structure of the site. Integration, defined as thecompletion and comparison of information from various textual genres, invites similar
processes, whatever the medium.
However, because the digital medium makes it so easy to cross-talk between various
texts, readers are much more likely to find themselves crossing different text types ina single reading episode.
Consequently, an ability to reorder information that requires sophisticated reading
skills is required.
The open nature of online publication also requires the ability to evaluate texts.
Collecting information on the Internet requires the skimming and scanning of a large
amount of material and the immediate assessment of its credibility.
During access and use of information on the web interact in a complex way uniqueoperations, such as those related to navigation, others in some respects similar to
those typically associated with the reading of paper and others, however, specific to
the new medium, in addition to involving the processes involved in learning from thewritten text (Carioli, 2013).
Conclusion
At school students learn the instrumentality of reading procedure and activate
numerous cognitive processes necessary for understanding. Therefore, actions that
school must necessarily promote, through educational mediation, concern the
improvement of comprehension processes of digital natives, which instead have intheir experience mainly an instrumental reading, mostly directed at communication
only, and their approach with the written text is mostly casual, involuntary, unaware.
To stimulate the student to pass from a mechanical reader, who only searches explicit
content, to a reader who searches for meanings in what he reads, didactic mediation
should be directed towards the synthesis between two elements that are the text andthe act of comprehension (Lumbelli, 2009). The main objective, for the school, is tomake sure that the reader is able to search for a meaning that passes fromunderstanding to interpretation; only later it will be possible to find emotions andevasions in reading. Reading process can be seen as a problem solving task, in which
the reader is called to use the information contained in the text, using his own
declarative and procedural knowledge, to construct more accurate hypotheses on themeaning of the text (De Beni, Pazzaglia, 1995). In didactic practice, therefore, it isnecessary to be aware that, by approaching digital reading, modifying the medium
and modality with which the message is structured, complicate understanding andthat, to become competent online readers, it is not enough to transfer the skills learnedin reading of printed texts (Carioli, 2013, p.43).
The student must become aware that, by improving his ability to understand and tointerpret, he will be a more experienced “navigator” able to move in the sea ofcontemporary society with his ability to discern, to interpret and to propose.

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References
Bottani, N. (2011). Come si impara a leggere nei paesi europei. Una indagine di
Euridyce sulla lettura, http://www.adiscuola.it/adiw_brevi/?p=5911.
Brown, A.L, Bransford, J. Ferrara, R.A., Campione, J.C. (1983). Handbook of childpsychology.P.Mussen, JH Flavell & EM Markman (Eds.), 2, 77-166.
Calvani, A. (2018). Introduzione. In A. Calvani, L. Ventriglia (2018). Insegnare aleggere ai bambini. Gli errori da evitare. Roma: Carocci Faber.
Carioli S. (2013). Dalla lettura del testo stampato alla digital reading: una nuova
sfida per l’educazione primaria. TD Tecnologie Didattiche, 21 (1), pp. 41-45.
Cataldo, A., Freddano, M., Ravizza, G., Siri, A. (2012). Riflessioni metodologiche: lalettura come competenza trasversale. In M. Palumbo (Ed.). Le competenze di lettura
dei quindicenni liguri. L’indagine PISA 2009 (pp. 165-191). University Press:
Genova.
Cornoldi, C., Colpo, G. (1981). Prove di lettura MT: guida all’uso. Firenze:
Organizzazioni speciali.
De Beni R., Pazzaglia F. (1995). La comprensione del testo.Torino: UTET.
Dehaene, S. (2009). I neuroni della lettura. Milano: Raffello Cortina.
European Commission (2012a). Europa 2020.
http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_it.htm (ultima consultazione 06.11.2018).
Halpern D.F. (1989). Thought and knowledge: An introduction to critical thinking.
Hillsdale. NJ, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Jenkins H. (2010). Culture partecipative e competenze digitali. Media education per
il XXI secolo. Milano: Guerini e Associati.
Livolsi, M. (2011). Manuale di sociologia della comunicazione. Roma-Bari: Laterza.
Lucisano, P. (Ed.) (1989). Lettura e comprensione. Bologna: Il mulino.
Lumbelli, L. (2009). La comprensione come problema. Il punto di vista cognitivo.
Roma- Bari: Laterza.
Mialaret, G. (1996). L’apprendimento della lettura. Roma: Armando Editore.
Morini, A.L. (2017). Leggere in digitale. Nuove pratiche di lettura nel contesto
scolastico. Roma: Anicia.
Notti, A. M., Calenda C. (2016). Lettura e nativi digitali. Formazione &Insegnamento. Pag.171-185 ISSN:2279-7505. doi: 107346/-fei-XIV-02-16_13.

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OECD (2009). PISA 2009 Assessment framework. Key Competencies in Reading,Mathematics and Science. Paris: OECD. Available at:https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/44455820.
OECD (2011). PISA 2009 Results: Students on Line. Digital Technologies andPerformance, VI, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/55/ 48270093.pdf.
Olson, D.R. (1994). The world on paper. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Olson, D.R. (1994). The world on paper. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Perrenoud, P. (1997). Construire des compétences dès l’école. Paris: ESF.
Raccomandazione del Consiglio relativa alle otto competenze chiave perl’apprendimento permanente (2018/C 189/01). Gazzetta ufficiale. https://eurlex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018H0604(01)&from=EN.
Shetzer H., Warschauer M. (2000). An electronic literacy Approach to network-based
language teaching. In M. Warschauer, R. Kem (eds.). Network-based language
teaching: concepts and practice. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press, pp.
171-185.
Spencer L. M., Spencer S. (1993). Competence at Work. Models for Superior
Performance. New York: John Wiley.
Warschauer M. (1999). Electronic Literacies: language, culture and power in online
education. Mahwah, NJ, USA: Erlbaum.

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Exploring The Effective Dimensions Of Engaging Students in Contemporary
Architecture Design Studios in Times Of Change
Naima Iftikhar, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Philip Crowther, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Lindy Osborne Burton, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
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Abstract
The architecture design studio is the pedagogical platform for the majority of learningand teaching experiences that take place within architecture design education. The
traditional architecture design studio pedagogical model, signified as ‘signaturepedagogy’, has gradually shifted away from its conventional forms of engaging
students. Since the turn of the millennium, the studio has transformed into acontemporary form of design learning and teaching space based on several factors
such as reduced contact time between academics and students, changes in studiospatial typology and a change in the hierarchy of academics that are involved in
student engagement. These shifts have had a major impact on the ways in which
students and teachers conduct dialogic interactions with one another and perceive
their learning and teaching experiences. A qualitative case study at an Australian
University undergraduate school of design seeks to explore and link the componentsof the interaction between the different stakeholders of contemporary architecture
design studio pedagogy. The research seeks to verify and extend Laurillard’s
conversational learning and teaching framework, to elaborate the theory and practicearound contemporary design studio pedagogy. The components of the dialogic
interaction between the different stakeholders form the basis for academics andstudents to reflect on their learning and teaching interaction informed by theoreticalknow-how and awareness rather than solely relying on intuition. The unpacking andunderstanding of these interactive components can inform design academics to adapt
effective ways of engaging their students in architecture design studios.
Keywords: Signature pedagogy, contemporary studio pedagogy, conversational
interaction, effective design pedagogy

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Architecture education is centered around both didactic and dyadic forms ofeducation. Didactic forms of delivering knowledge are the lecture systems where thestudents are the passive receivers of knowledge while dyadic forms of teachingengage students actively in learning activities. The architecture design studio is an
educational environment primarily used to learn and teach the process of architecture
design. Design education in architecture design studios is based on these dyadic formsof teaching and learning (Rogers, 1996). This places emphasis on the educators tounderstand their students better and the ways in which the students can be engaged
effectively (Khorshidifard, 2014).
Research to date has focused more on the design studio models focusing on theinteraction between the tutor and students in the architecture design studio as being a
two-way interaction process – with some focusing on the coordinator and curriculum
aspects. The traditional design studio model characterized primarily as a signaturepedagogical model (Crowther, 2013) has transformed in a contemporary model but
minimal research has been done on this critical aspect and detail of the interactive
process between the unit coordinator, tutors and students in the contemporary
architecture design studio pedagogy. The transitional years of undergraduate atuniversity are critical in students’ retention and effective learning (Tinto, 2002).
Understanding the interactive nature of the learning and teaching process, equips thedesign educators with an informed approach to enable the students succeed in theirlearning.
1. Literature Review:
1.1.
Architecture Design Studio And Its Primacy In Design Education:
The purpose of architectural education like any professional education is to create
professionals suited to the demands of professional practice (Salama, 2015).
The creation of an architect is guided by three main components: professional
education, then internship followed by an accreditation exam. The process of thislifelong learning profession begins with Architecture education. There are two
major determinations of architectural education: 1) the education of architects tobe and 2) to help create ‘good, educated, citizens’ (Glasser, 2000, Teymur, 2002).
The architectural curriculum is constituted of three classes of educational work
(Kurt, 2009, Dinham and Stritter, 1986):
1. fundamental courses on liberal arts,
2. second is about professional & environmental courses,
3. third is about ‘apprenticeship’ experiences that take place in the studio.
The architectural education curriculum is centered around the core subject‘architecture design’ and its supremacy is verified by the design studio that is themode to teach architecture design throughout the degree program. Over the past
five centuries, architectural knowledge has been established institutionally. It is no
more the scenario of an apprentice learning from a master, rather students work on
their desks within the universities in classes called ‘design studios’ which involves
the basic and traditional approach to design education as previously withexperienced designers’ staff working with less experienced ones (Mewburn, 2011,
Glasser, 2000). Students create a design project with the guidance of a studio

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tutor. The design studio pedagogy model emphasizes learning by experimenting(Kurt, 2009).
Architecture design studio teaching occupies about 38% of the entire curriculum& since 2006 in Australasia the Atelier models of studio shifted into
contemporary studio models supplemented by lecture programs (Ostwald et al.,2008). The importance of the design studio in the Architecture education
curriculum was supported by a survey of Academics across Australian
Universities in 2007 on the relative importance of the ranges of studies where
design studio was the ‘only’ area rated “extremely important” (Ostwald et al.,2008).
1.2.

Signature Pedagogy:

The studio is extensively used in schools of design as the foundational mode of
instruction and education. Such universal forms of learning and teaching, which
are associated with particular professions, have been researched by (Shulman,2005) and come to be referred to as signature pedagogies (Crowther, 2013).
If one wants to comprehend why professions develop as they do, studying theirprofessional forms of preparation will reveal that insight. In doing so, Shulman,(2005) argues that certain characteristic forms of learning and teaching will be
detected, which he called ‘signature pedagogies’. These teaching types organize
fundamental ways in which future practitioners are educated for their new
professions. (Shulman, 2005) elaborates the stance further that ‘these signaturepedagogies, the novices are instructed in critical aspects of the three fundamental
dimensions of professional work –to think, to perform, and to act with integrity’(p.52).
Crowther, (2013) elaborates the notion of signature pedagogies, as a type oflearning design for a particular profession, and supports it by referencing the termby (Laurillard, 2013b) “the best teaching ideas are most likely to be developed invery specific subject matter contexts. They have been referred to as the ‘signaturepedagogies’ of a discipline” (p. 220). Architecture design studio is the dominantenvironment of architectural education. It is both a physical space and a mode ofengagement that integrates the physical space, experiential learning activities,
problem based tasks and assessment with the teacher/student relationship (Lane etal., 2015). The studio pedagogy is defined as a ‘signature pedagogy’; a form of
pedagogical practice that is only associated with the discipline and its profession(Lane et al., 2015).
1.3.

Existing Models Of Design Studio Education – Signature PedagogicalModels:

The idea of signature pedagogy of the design studio can be traced back to thehistorical times when the studio started as a Master Apprentice Model (Mewburn,2011). The students modeled the Masters behavior and approach. After this, themodel shifted to the Ecole De beaux Arts model in the 19th century, where it was
still master centered but entered a form of professional training (Powers, 2016).
The first University model of studio pedagogy appeared with Donald Schon’s idea

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1985, Schon, 1987).
Table 1 Transformation of design studio's signature pedagogical model - fromteacher centered to student centered

The focus of design higher education across these models over time as shown intable 1, have shifted from teacher centered pedagogy to student centeredpedagogy which is the need for maintaining current quality higher education
practices (Webster, 2004, Belluigi, 2016).
1.4.

Roles Of Students And Teachers And Interaction Process Between
Them In Existing Models:
The transformation of the roles of teacher and students based on the nature ofinteractions between them within these models as shown in table 2 are explained
as follows:• In the Ecole De Beaux Arts model, the student followed the master’s practiceand worked in the atelier as an apprentice working on drawings and wasmodeling the master’s practices (Powers, 2016).
• As design pedagogy was institutionalized within a teaching school through ataught design studio, the idea of design teachers and students emerged through

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the Bauhaus (Powers, 2016). This transition resulted in the roles of thiseducational institutional relationship to be modified to those of a teacher and a
student.
The idea of having an explicit theoretical basis for design studio pedagogy
came through Schon’s (Schön, 1984, Schön, 1985, Schon, 1987) theory ofreflective practice where design studio was considered an ideal model forteaching professionals to utilize reflection on action as a way to problem
solve. The roles of the teacher and student developed as a coach and student
respectively. One that shows, demonstrates and tells the student and develops
the solution to the problem with the student through ample time and effort.
But it fails to address of how the teacher can make his design process explicit
to the student rather than just telling him/her what to do.
The hidden curriculum proposed by Dutton, (1987) argued for a balance in theteacher centered approach to give a voice to the students in the design studio.
To enable student’s role to have the capacity to reflect and critique the work of
their peers and also become a collaborator in the design teaching and learning
process with their peers and teachers (Dutton, 1987).
Helena Webster, (2004) used the student’s voices to depict the three roles theysaw of their tutors in the studio based on the tutor to student relationship. One
being the entertainer that told historical stories and gave examples of theirown work to the students – these were not interested in the students learningand interacted minimally with the students. The next called hegemonic
overlord was seen as one that corrected students work, even drew for them toallow for the students to have a similar approach to the design work as theirs.
The third was the liminal servant which students idealize as one being
enthusiastic, understanding the student’s learning pattern and perspective,
having acceptability of student’s individuality as a designer and gave feedback
that the student could understand (Webster, 2004). This insight remarkably
explains the role for an ideal tutor but the next step helpful for design
academics will be to have an understanding of how this ideal role can be
opted, what process to opt and how to examine their pedagogy based on thestudent to teacher relationship within the contemporary scenario for designteaching.
Ashraf Salama, (2015) argued that the awareness of professional practice forstudents shall transform the learning experience of students as being
professional colleagues in the practice and shall have ample awareness of thepractice (Salama, 2015). Still the clue, missing is the actual lived experiencesand voices of the students and the nature of relationship and interaction that
results from such approach to design studio activities.
The next model chosen for comparison is by Powers, (2016). The model(Powers, 2016) reveals the roles of students as ones that can contribute to theirdesign learning through their active contribution through self-regulated
learning. The role of the teacher reveals itself as one that has to design thestudio objectives corresponding to each student separately. This model
demands high level of subjective approach from the teacher which in thecontemporary scenario of reduced time and limited contact with students isn’t
practical.

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Table 2 Transformation of the roles of teacher and student with transformationof signature pedagogical models – further adaptation from table 1

1.5.

Shifts In Contemporary Architecture Design Studio Education And
Challenges In Times Of Change:
The shift in the ways, universities in Australia in the early 2000’s, designed
Architecture programs informed by reduced university funding and recruitment ofpart - time academics created a shift in the ways the design studios wereconducted (Ostwald et al., 2008). With this shift, there was an introduction ofpart-time sessional academics working with full – time academics (Marshall,2012) to cater to the changed signature pedagogy in design education. While thestudents increased in number, the face to face time between the studio instructor
and student reduced (Tucker and Rollo, 2006), and as a consequence, design
lectures were embedded to supplement the design studio teaching. Part time
sessional academics were employed from the industry to bring knowledge ofpractice in the studio teaching and learning (Ostwald et al., 2008, Marshall, 2012).
In addition to part time teachers, the student cohort sizes have increased(Australian Institute of Architects, 2015) and there is a hierarchy of teaching teamthat is unit coordinators that conduct design lectures, recruit and manage a team oftutors while the tutors undertake design studio tutorials with the students (Pepper

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and Roberts, 2016). Other factors include the introduction of the online learning
media (Lane et al., 2015).
Together all these factors led to the studio signature pedagogy being shifted into a
different contemporary blended model of design teaching (Crowther, 2013, Laneet al., 2015). Ostwald’s et.al, (2008) study of this shift of Architecture design
studio in the Australian context revealed three studio models based on the type ofstudio space, media of communication and nature of interaction between the tutors
and the students as represented in Figure 1 created by the researcher along with aforth one which is an online mode of studio teaching.

Figure 1 Various Studio Models Being Adopted in Australasian Schools ofArchitecture and the second one ‘Time-tabled tutorial session’ is the one relevantto the case study(Created by researcher and adapted from (Ostwald et al., 2008)
2. Research Problem And Questions:
Based on these contemporary challenges, this research project argues that
contemporary design studio education requires this dual relationship as shown infigure 2, to be transformed into a triadic relationship to inform current designteaching practices (Sodersten, 1998).

Figure 2 The simplified dual relationship between the teacher and student
suggested in Signature pedagogical models
The aim of this research is to:• portray the interaction between the design studio stakeholders’ roles incontemporary studio model;

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understand the interaction process in different learning and teaching modes
between teachers and students during different stages of design project
execution to inform effective learning and teaching practices incontemporary design studios; andto build the theory around the interaction process and the relevant learningand teaching partnerships.

Therefore, the research questions that this paper answers are:
1. How does the interaction unfold between contemporary design studiostakeholders in times of change?
2. What are the key components of interaction between these stakeholders inthis evolved scenario?
3. Theoretical Persepctive Of This Research:
This research seeks to utilize the Conversational Framework as a model ofteaching and learning developed by Dianna Laurillard based on the ideas of social
situated learning developed by Lev Vygotsky (Laurillard, 2013a). It is atheoretical framework proposed for effective academic teaching and learning inhigher education. The conversational framework will be utilized in the research inorder to highlight the communication and interactions between the threestakeholders in the design studio that are, the students, tutors and coordinators.
One of the major gaps in the research according to Laurillard, (1999) on academic
teaching has been in teachers being unreflective of their teaching practices. Thereis an absence/lack of explicit theoretical frameworks that would explain how theuniversity academic can approach the objectives and ideals of higher educationand connect these to the activities of the student and teacher to the broader
structure of systems they are working in (Laurillard, 1999). There are theories
about children learning and how learning occurs in non-educational contexts(Laurillard, 2013a) but clear theories about the way university design students
learn and how tutors engage them in effective design learning is missing(Musgrave and Price, 2010, Oh et al., 2013, Powers, 2016).
According to Laurillard’s learning theory for the conversational framework, thestudents must take responsibility of what they know and how it comes to be
known (Laurillard, 2013a). Thus teaching can be seen as a form of a mediation oflearning rather than an ‘action’ on the students.

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Figure 3 Conversational Framework developed by Laurillard – components of
the iterative dialogue between teacher and student for learning to be possible
Laurillard’s conversational framework is based on certain components
necessary for the academic learning to be possible in an iterative
conversational manner. The epistemology underlying the conversationalframework situates learning as a relationship between the learner and theworld, which is mediated by the teacher. Therefore, the teacher’s constructedenvironment resultant of social interactions between the learner and theteacher results in successful academic learning. The components of theconversational framework are as follows:
3.1. Discursive Process:The activities 1 to 4 in figure 3 occur in a series that relate to thediscursive process which takes place between the teacher and thestudent at the level of the accounts of the topic goal – both negotiate ina dialogue to agree on a topic goal.
3.2. Adaptive Process:This is represented by the activities 5 and 10 in the figure 3 of theframework which are both internal to the teacher and student, where
each one adapts their actions at the task level in the light of the
discursive process at the description level.
3.3. Interactive Process:
The interactive process is represented by activities 6-9 in figure 3
which occur in a series between the teacher and the student at the levelof the task environment, the teacher sets the task goal, the student aims
to achieve the goal by producing action on task, the teacher gives

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feedback related to the task goal on the student’s action, the student
modifies the action in light of the feedback by teacher.
3.4. Reflective Process:The reflective process is again internal to both student and teacher
represented by activities 11 and 12 in figure 3, each reflects on theinteraction occurring between them at the task level in order to redescribe their understandings at the level of the descriptions of the
topic goal.
Interpreting the ideas of the conversational framework in the context of design
learning and teaching can be seen as an interaction occurring between the threestakeholders that take place in the studio and lectures respectively in the following
ways and environment:
1.
2.
3.
4.

verbal, (studio and lectures both)graphical (studios)
online medium
and the non-verbal form of communication unfolding as non-verbal
ques of the play between the teacher and students as a form of thehidden curriculum (Dutton, 1987)of appointing roles.
Considering the contemporary architecture design studio learning and teaching
challenges and shifts in signature pedagogy in times of change, the dual
relationship between the teacher and student as a result of two-way dialogic
process can be expanded to incorporate the hierarchy of the teaching team i.e.
the unit coordinator and tutors interacting with the students to extend
Laurillard’s framework to create a learning and teaching model forcontemporary architecture design studio education as shown in figure 4.
According to (Laurillard, 2013a), this conversational framework that describes
the learning process is intended to be applicable to all academic learning
situations, subject areas and topics.

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Figure 4 Transformation of the studio model from signature to the proposedcontemporary model - incorporating the third member and extended
relationships based on Laurillard’s conversational framework
4. Methodology:
To address the research questions this research implemented a case study
technique, employing qualitative case study research methods for data collection
and analysis.
Yin, (2013, 2009) offers an explanation for the use of case study research whichsuits the choice of this methodology in the design of this research. He describesthat case study research shall be opted when: 1) the researcher asks ‘how’ and‘why’ type questions, 2) the investigator has minimal or no control of theparticipants’ actions and 3) the focus of the research is on a contemporary
phenomenon in contrast to some historical event or phenomenon (Yin, 2013, Yin,2009). In educational research, the case study is utilised for mapping different
qualitative ways, in which participants experience, understand and perceive social
phenomena regarding learning and teaching around them (Merriam, 1998).
In this research, different ways in which the stakeholders perceive their respective
interactions in relation to other stakeholders in design studio learning and teachingwere explored. The case study chosen for this research project is a wellestablished Architecture School’s undergraduate program at a major university inAustralia. The design school follows one of four contemporary studio models
implemented in Australasian schools of Architecture (as shown in figure 1) andhas a four years long architecture degree program followed by one year of
masters. There are around 130 - 180 students in each undergraduate year and ateam of six to ten tutors is employed with a single unit coordinator to conduct

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architecture design unit/subject for each respective year. The students undertakean academic design project with the tutors in the studio tutorials which mirrors areal-life architecture design project and the unit coordinator provides design
knowledge through lectures. The investigation of this case study and its
implications may not be relevant to other forms of prevalent design studio models.
Data was collected through face to face, open ended interviews from a purposive
sample, representative of each stakeholder of the architecture design subject, fromfirst to fourth year. The particular number and characteristics of participants foreach stakeholder group from first, second, third and fourth year, for the purpose ofdata collection was as follows:•••

one unit coordinator who was teaching the second semester,
two tutors: one experienced tutor teaching for more than two years and 1
novice tutor that has up to or more than one year but less than three yearsof experience to see the difference of perceptions.
four students in their second semester of architecture design subject.

Figure 5 The undergrad design studio case - Hierarchy of the learning
community within the QUT’s case study
In the context of design lectures and studio tutorial learning and teaching settings
the interviews in this research were intended to capture the retrospective accountsof:Ø students’ perceptions of their experiences of learning and teachinginteractions in design lectures and studio tutorials in relation to the tutors
and the unit coordinators.
Ø tutors’ perceptions of their experiences of learning and teachinginteractions in design studio tutorials in relation to the students and theunit coordinators.
Ø unit coordinators’ perceptions of their experiences of learning and teachingin design lectures and studio tutorials in relation to the tutors and thestudents.

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5. Analysis And Findings:
All the interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed. Each undergraduate
year’s members’ data was collected and analysed using thematic analysis. Fourdata sets were created related to each undergraduate year from first to fourth year.
Each data set included the unit coordinator, tutors and students for each respective
year. These data sets were then used for analysis to observe repetitive patterns
regarding the perceptions of collegial communication forms in the design studioand lecture settings.
Thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998, Braun and Clarke, 2013) can be used toanalyse qualitative data. It is an anlaytic process that includes searching forrecurring ideas (patterns) referred to as themes within a data set. Thematic
analysis allows researchers to use diverse or varied information in a systematicway. This systematic information in turn develops and heightens theirunderstanding and interpretation of accounts about events, organisations, social
situations and people (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Putting it in the words of Jason
and Glenwick, (2016) ‘people attribute meaning to a particular phenomena ininteraction with those around them in context-specific settings (Jason and
Glenwick, 2016)’ .

Figure 6 Process of thematic analysis
The process of analysis as shown in the figure 7 was as follows:
Step 1: Coding Process – initial and axial coding:
Each data set was subjected to initial coding. Then the initial coding was comparedacross data sets and further processed through axial coding.

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Step 2: Axial coding and categorisation:
The axial coding of the initial codes led to the creation of categories in the form ofconcepts related to the design learning and teaching phases, roles of stakeholders andtheir respective interactions. Each stakeholder described the roles relevant to threedifferent stages within the design learning process and the changed nature ofinteraction along the three phases. This led to the creation of three themes related to
one another.
One theme related to the phases of the design learning process of the design project,
the second theme was based on the adaptation of the nature of these roles to thelearning phases and the third described the changed nature of interaction between thestakeholders in different learning and teaching settings as shown in figure 7.

Figure 7 The correlation between the 3 phases of the design learning process, theadaptation of roles and the interaction process
Step 3: Emerging themes:Thus, three interrelated themes that emerged from the data are as follows:
Theme 1: Design learning process:This theme describes interactions of the design learning process which unfolds as
three overlapping phases within the execution of an academic design project:Ø the first phase relates to the clarity of the unit/subject’s structure, intent
of project, curriculum, cohorts (number and nature of students andtheir prior assumed knowledge), responsibilities, learning and teaching
objectives/goals, learning needs/challenges. This phase sets thefoundation for the design process to unfold with clear expectations
regarding the aims, structure. This phase requires setting clear and

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distinct learning and teaching partnership goals between academics
and students.
Ø the second phase relates to the development and iteration of design
through collaborative efforts between students and teachers. This phaseis successful if the learning and teaching partnership is built on clear
learning goals. The students learn effectively by working on theirdesign projects while being inspired by their teachers who enable thestudents find their individuality. The collaboration between learners
and teachers has to be established on trust and honest feedback to build
confidence among learners.
Ø the third phase relates to the transformation of thinking and selfefficacy of the students and academics. This is when the students
consolidate the learning in the previous two phases and present theirwork to complete the design project’s final goals.
Theme 2: Role construction:
The nature of the roles of each of the unit coordinator, tutor, and student,
described as their identities and responsibilities constructed the theme onroles. The nature of these roles gets adapted to the three phases of the design
learning process. In each learning phase, the roles of the three stakeholders
along with the interaction process is shown in figure 7.
Theme 3: Interaction Process:
The interaction process between the three key members is the ways, when(time), where (modes of learning and teaching) and how (unfolding of theprocess) the three members interact with one another in a sequential manner.
The ways mean the modes of interaction, the when means what learning phasealong the sequential path, the timing of how what happens and the how
determines the factors or steps or activities which constitute the interaction
process. The interaction process for design is iterative in nature, builds
incrementally on the last interaction and has several layers of processcomponents. Some are evident through tangible actions and some are the ones
that take place within the individuals minds or intellectual capacity themselves
and are intangible.
It is impossible to imply that a given set of sequential step by step processes
can objectively define the interaction that exists between key members, but isrepresentative of the perceived, experienced and lived examples of the context
or the case study under research. The interaction between the stakeholders is
cyclical, repetitive and incorporates the changing needs of each learning
phase. The interaction gets adapted in different ways in each learning phase byhaving some differences across the learning phases in the interaction processcomponents - with some new steps along the interaction and some similar to
Lauriallard’s framework but not an exact replica of the conversational modelfor each phase or set of members interaction.
Ø Interaction cycle in design learning phase 1:
The first design learning phase is about setting the foundation for the design

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project so consensus of the learning objectives among the three key members
is vital. The cycle of learning and teaching design begins with the interaction
between the coordinator. The concepts eminent in interaction here areconveying conceptions, revealing conceptions, interpretation, reflection,
explanation description, and querying to make conceptions clear.
The coordinator introduces the unit content through the lecture mode to thestudents and finally the tutors set major goals with the students in tutorials.

Figure 8 Design learning and teaching phase 1 - interaction process components
Ø Interaction cycle in design learning phase 2:
The interaction cycle in learning phase two begins with the unit coordinatorand the student, followed by interaction between tutor and student and thenamong students themselves. The components of interaction build aroundsetting sub goals that feed off the major goals set in phase 1 and thenexecution of those sub-goals by the unit coordinator telling explanatory stories
of architectural precedents to students to inspire them, the tutor mentoring thestudents to not only complete their own work through the action feedbackreflection cycle of teaching but also through acting as a life coach byproviding students the support they need and to build a sense of community byencouraging students to interact and share ideas with each other.

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Figure 9 Design learning and teaching phase 2 - interaction process components
Ø Interaction cycle in design learning phase 3:
The cycle of interaction in phase three begins with the tutor empowering thestudent through interaction to present their final project with efficacy. The
leading to student presentations which enabling them to reflect on theirlearning in the entire project, followed by interaction between tutor and unit
coordinator to assess, moderate and reflect on the students’ progress as ameasure of their own teaching success.

Figure 10 Design learning and teaching phase 3 - interaction process components
6. Conslusion And Way-Forward:
The research findings have provided a foundational ground for understanding theextensive interactional relationships between these three stakeholders for thecontemporary design studio pedagogical model. The understanding of the shift in
the design learning process for a design project, the variation in roles and the

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relevant interaction process between the roles sheds light on the complexity ofknowledge that surrounds the nature and modes of the communication platforms
between the coordinators, tutors and students. This highlights the demands ofeffective communication considering the contemporary design studio learning andteaching settings and their inherent challenges.
The unpacking of the interaction process enables academics to dissect, reflect andunderstand their own communication patterns objectively and to improvise thedialogic process to benefit students through effective engagement - under changed
circumstances of architecture design learning and teaching in times of change. In
times where effective interaction equates to efficient response and is one of the
major answers to effective design pedagogy.
The findings show that Laurillard’s framework can be extended to incorporate theconversational forms of interaction between the stakeholders and that theframework gets adapted along the design learning and teaching phases in different
ways with some differences. It also brings out the importance of understanding the
aspects of the learning and teaching interactions to foster clarity, collaboration andpositive transformation among students, tutors and coordinators in a similar
learning and teaching setting for design education to be effective.

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References
Australian Institute Of Architects. 2015. Architecture Schools Of Australasia
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Dutton, T. A. 1987. Design And Studio Pedagogy. Journal Of Architectural
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Khorshidifard, S. A Paradigm In Architectural Education: Kolb’s Model And
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Laurillard, D. 2013a. Rethinking University Teaching: A Conversational Framework
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Sodersten, K. P., A. T.; Ancher, C. 1998. The Go-Between : The Influence Of The
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Contact email: Naima.Iftikhar@Hdr.Qut.Edu.Au

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Content Design of Virtual Game for Elementary School Students:
Using Circle and Compound Graphics of Circle as an Example
Shih-Ju Weng, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
Shwu-Ching Young, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
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Abstract
Recently how to take advantage of digital games to enhance learning has become ahot issue in the area of learning technologies and attracted much attention. If being
well designed, we cannot only help students immerse themselves in the learning
activities, but also promote students’ motivation. Hopefully, we can improve students’learning outcomes. Thus in this study, we, through the design of the scenario-basedlearning content, aimed to transform students into leading roles in the virtual game. In
this designed environment, students could play as a warrior to save the victims via
problem solving in the critical situations and, meanwhile, could learn about theknowledge of circle and compound graphics of circle. Moreover, to achieve this end,
we have implemented the situated mathematics digital game system used on thetablets, based on situated-learning theory, Van Hiele geometric thinking level theory
and ARCS teaching mode. In order to make sure that the content design and learning
process of virtual game are suitable for the study and the needs of the target users.
Researcher adopted the questionnaire survey, including the feeling of using a situateddigital game and views on the use of situated digital games to learn mathematics. This
study is in stage of system development. We hope we can build a better content
design of virtual game by the result of questionnaire to enhance students’ knowledge
and learning motivation of mathematics.
Keywords: Digital Game-Based Learning, Situated-Learning, Van Hiele GeometricThinking Level, Compound Graphics of Circle

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Introduction
Today, for the “Digital Natives” elementary school students who live in the internet
generations, their growing processes are often accompanied by 3C. Furthermore,visual stimulation floods video websites and digital games, so they become one of themain activities for children to use internet (Taiwan Child Welfare League Foundation,2015). Successful game experience is from the accumulation of continuous practice.
Learn is also like this. If the students have enough practice and interesting situations
immerse them in it, I think it will provide positive support to learning motivation andlearning outcomes.
The evolvement of students’ geometry abilities will influence each other withdifferent grade. When students face graphic area problems, they will ignore thesituation and how to extract and apply relevant mathematical knowledge. Then, thismistake may cause students to be computer robots. It’s difficult to build a solid
mathematical concept for students and they will gradually lose motivation to learn(Confrey, 2012). As a result, circle and compound graphics of circle is hard to learn
for elementary school students, they may use formulas directly without theunderstanding of compound shapes’ composing (Chen, & Wu, 2016). Hoffer (1977)
thinks learning geometry concept will influence each other with improving the abilityof visual consciousness. If we can improve students’ visual consciousness, they willlearn better in geometry. ZHANG (2009) also proposes if students operate geometry
activities (translation, rotation, superposition, decomposition and recombination), they
will get basic geometric concept better and calculate the area of compound graphics
successfully.
In order to solve students’ problems in circle and compound graphics of circle, thisresearch plan to interview the present teachers in elementary school first, thendiscussing with research group and expert teachers, then literature review for proper
teaching material design and teaching method application. At last, this research aims
to develop a scenario-based learning with digital game. Specially, the scenario is
adapted from “Taiwanese folk tales - Aunty Tigress”. We expect students can not
only increase learning motivations and achievements in mathematics, but also
understanding local culture by the scenario-based learning with digital game.
This study will discuss related literature sequentially, then, presenting the teachingcontent design of the situated mathematics digital game and the outcome ofrequirement analysis. At last, we will discuss the future usability of situatedmathematics digital game teaching mode.
Current Study
Digital game-based learning is a combination of “learning content” and “digitalgame”. Prensky (2001) expected to combine learning contents with digital games tomake the same or better learning outcomes than traditional teaching. In recent years,
Game-based learning has become an important research topic in learning (Cheng et al,2013; Hsu, Tsai, &Wang, 2012). Liang, Chen, Young, & Yang (2008) indicate that
we can live up to educate children while having fun with them at the same time andincrease their learning achievement by game-based learning. Some related researches
show many benefits in learning with game, for example, Chen (2009) had used the

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game on teaching of addition and subtraction. She found that the experimental group
had reached a significant level in mathematics learning; the traditional group didn't
seriously answer questions. YE(2017) considers games can stimulate students'
intrinsic motivation, and overcome the difficulties to open the books to find theanswers.
Brown, Collins and Duguid(1989) considers knowledge is produced by the interaction
with learner and situation. For the sake of this, the best way to learn is in the specificsituation (Lave & Wenger，1991). Chan, & Lee (2005) think situated mathematics
teaching is an important teaching approach. They advocate provide meaningful
situational questions, let students explore various types of math problems in thesituation. The more mathematics questions close to students’ real live, the better
students can achieve effective mathematics learning. Furthermore, situated teaching
through the text, actual or simulation let students entering math problems and get themathematics concept by interaction and experience. Scott（1985）thinks storytellingin the classroom can promote a relaxed and intimate atmosphere. The students in theatmosphere, their mind will up and downs with the characters. At the same time, itwill initiate students’ learning interest and generalization concept.
Netherlands mathematics educator Van Hiele (1986) proposed the geometric thinking
level theory, divided into five levels. It follows as visualization, analysis, informal
deduction, formal deduction and rigor. These levels are sequential and Van Hiele(1986) thinks learner should be taught from a level to the next level. Then, theirgeometric thinking level will be already from the basic level “visualization” to the top
level “rigor”. Wu (1995)’s research illustrated most of the elementary school students
in lower grades are belong to level 1 “visualization”, the middle grade students almost
can be level2 “analysis”, and the high grade students are approximately between level2 “analysis” and level 3 “informal deduction”. Therefore, this research will apply Van
Hiele geometry development theory in the game design and follow the geometricconcept to arrange operational activity sequentially. We hope students can upgrade
their geometric ability by this game.
The curriculum policy of primary and junior high schools in Taiwan, geometric unit isconsidered very much. According to the curriculum’s synopses of Ministry of
Education, the five topics in the mathematics learning of Nine-Year Curriculum
include “Number and Quantity”, “Geometry”, “Algebra”, “Statistics” and“Connection” (Ministry of Education, 2009). Under this structure, there are threeteaching objectives of students’ geometric curriculum in the elementary school asfollow: 1) Level 1 (The first and second grade): students can grasp the preliminary
concept of Number, Quantity and Shape, 2) Level 2 (The third and fourth grade)
students gradually acquire the abilities of knowing the geometric property byoperating, 3) Level 3 (The fifth and sixth grade) students can know the geometricproperty of plane and stereo figures and understand about calculating area or volume.
For students, conservation of area is the basis of area learning. However, when thefifth and sixth grade students solve the problems of area, they are still effected byvisual sensation. In other words, only the figures slightly rotate, it will effect students’conservation concept (Tan, 1998). Tan (1998) indicated that, area instruction should
be divided into three parts: Form the concept in conservation of area, establishment of
the area measurement concept and training of area estimation ability. When students
solve the problems of the area of compound graphics, teachers should stimulate them

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to think about the strategy of “split, combine, shift and fill”. Thus, students will learn
the geometric concept more complete (Confrey, 2012). Wu (2016) also figures that if
students use the strategy of “split, combine, shift and fill”, they can round-off thecompound graphics of circle. By the strategy, the compound graphics of circle will beeasier figures. At the same time, the process will improve students' confidence andaccuracy.
MethodThis research aims to develop a scenario-based learning with digital game, which isbased on situated-learning theory and Van Hiele geometry development theory, taking
the sixth grade math “Circle and Compound graphics of Circle” unit as an example toresearch and discussion. Specially, the scenario is adapted from “Taiwanese folk tales- Aunty Tigress”. We expect students can not only increase learning motivations andachievements in mathematics, but also understanding local culture by the scenariobased learning with digital game.
In order to make sure that scenario-based learning content design and learning process
of virtual game are suitable for the study and the needs of the target users. This study
adopted the questionnaire survey (5-point Likert scale), including two parts the
feeling of using a situated digital game and views on the use of situated digital games
to learn mathematics for a total of 30 questions. The 5-point Liker scale questionnaire
ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Each part of the questionnaire
has 13 positive questions and 2 reverse questions. Researcher invited 24 students innorthern Taiwan who are the same grade with target students to interview byquestionnaire. As showed in Figure 1, there are 14 males (58%) and 10 females (42%)
included. All of participants are between eleven to thirteen years old.

Figure 1: Gender Distribution
Results
In the research stage of system development, we expect to design a digital gameteaching that meets current student needs and preferences. we have conductedquestionnaires from one elementary school in Hsinchu, Taiwan. For the following
were on the questionnaire of views on the use of situated digital games to learn
mathematics and the feeling of using a situated digital game to analysis. The results ofthis formative evaluation questionnaire will be described as follows. The overall

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positive question of this questionnaire is on average 4. This shows that the students'
feeling about this situational digital game and view of applying it to learn
mathematics are both satisfied. In the feeling of using a situated digital game part, a
total of 15 questions, including 13 positive questions and 2 reverse questions. The
average of the positive questions is 3.5~4.3, and the average of the reverse questions
is 1.5~2. This shows that the student is satisfied with this situated digital game, butthere are still some parts that need to be adjusted. Among them, “Overall, I think it isvery helpful for me to learn circle and compound graphics of circle through thissituated digital game.” get the highest score (4.3) of this part. In the views on the useof situated digital games to learn mathematics, a total of 15 questions, including 13
positive questions and 2 reverse questions. The average of the positive questions is3.7~4.5, and the average of the reverse questions is 1.7~2.1. It indicates that students
are positive about using this situated digital game to learn mathematics. “I feel that I
can use the tablet to learn math, which makes me feel very novel” get the highest
score of 4.5 in this section.
Conclusion and Future Study
This research explores the impact of integrating virtual games into situatedmathematics teaching, on the learning outcomes, attitudes, and analytical problembased skills of the sixth grade students in the circle and compound graphics of circle.
In order to design a digital game teaching that meets current student needs andpreferences and integrates situated-learning theory, Van Hiele geometric thinking
level theory and ARCS teaching mode, we conducted this survey. According to theresults of this formative evaluation questionnaire, students are quite satisfied with the
integration of virtual games into situated math classes. Among them, they are evenmore novel about the teacher's use of stories and tablets to take math classes. The
game design of this study incorporates Van Hiele Geometric Thinking Level andTaiwanese folk tales - Aunty Tigress, Students focus on the learning and challengesof circle and compound graphics of circle units in a step-by-step level arrangement
and interesting story scenarios. Most students agree that this situated digital gamesystem is fun and helpful for their learning.
This research is in the stage of system development now. However, the research teamwill follow the result to improve the game based on students' learning requirement
and preferences as well as feedback and discuss with the expert team to help students
improve their learning. Looking forward to the future, this situated digital gameteaching can be applied to more units or other subjects, so that technology is nolonger just the object of student play, but also the best assistant for growth.
Acknowledgements
Thanks for the grant support from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST),
R.O.C., under the grant no. 105-2511-S-007-002-MY3.

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References
Brown, J. S., et al. (1989). "Situated cognition and the culture of learning."
Educational researcher 18(1): 32-42.
Chan, S.Y., & Lee, H. L. (2005). Application of Situational Mathematics Teaching inMath Learning of Students with Learning Disabilities-Breaking through learning
difficulties - discussion and assessment (pp.215-246). Taipei:Xinli
Confrey, J., et al. (2012). TurnOnCCMath. net: Learning trajectories for the K-8
Common Core math standards.
Chen, J. H., & Wu, B. C. (2016). Teaching Students How to Calculate the Area ofComplex Figures With Circles by Using Learning Trajectories. Journal of Research in
Education Sciences, 61(1), 1-41.
Evensen, E. A., et al. (2009). Crafting a Design Concept Prototype for an Educational
Game Design.
Hung, H. M. &ZHANG, W. H. (2009) A study on the area Curriculum andInstruction in the Elementary School.The Elementary Education Journal,56(3),113123
Keller, J. M. (1987). "Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional
design." Journal of instructional development 10(3): 2
Lave, J. and E. Wenger (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation,
Cambridge university press.
Liang, C. Y., Chen, H. D., Young, S. C., & Yang, J. C. (2008). “Digitalgame-basedlearning” research declaration. Retrieved June 19, 2016, from http://elearning.nutn.edu.tw/
Ministry of Education (2008).Grade 1-9 Curriculum Guidelines - Mathematics
Learning Areas.Taipei:Author
Prensky, M. (2007). "How to teach with technology: Keeping both teachers andstudents comfortable in an era of exponential change." Emerging technologies forlearning 2(4): 40-46.
Tan, N. C. (1988) A Study on the Students' Misconception of Area in the Elementary
School.Journal of National Taipei Teachers College,11,573-601.
Van Hiele, P. M. (1986). Structure and insight: A theory of mathematics education,
Academic Pr.
Wu, D. B., Ma, H. L., Chen, T. L., & Sheu T. W. (2011) The Distributions of the Van
Hiele Geometrical Reasoning Level of High-Grade Elementary School Students.
Journal of Research on Measurement and Statistics,(19),51-71.

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The Study on Teaching of Practice Skills in a Drum Set at Suan Sunandha
Rajchapat University, Bangkok, in Thailand 4.0
Rungkiat Siriwongsuwan, Suan Sunandha Rajchapat University, Thailand.
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Abstract
This research’s objectives were (1) to study on teaching of practice skills in drum set
at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University, (2) to study problems and obstacles inteaching of practice skills in a drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University and(3) to study guidelines of teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha
Rachapat University. The sample group that was used in this research was students ina field of Music who studied “Practice Skills in Drum Set”, year 1-3 of Suan
Sunandha Rachapat University. Data collection by using interviews and then thesedata were used for analysis. The summary of this research was 1). An overview ofteaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University was
found that the teaching status in all aspects were excellent, the teaching was plannedsystemically, 2). An overview of Problems and obstacles in teaching of practice skills
in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University was found that most problems andobstacles mainly occurred from the students i.e. learning attention, study hour andfinancial aspects, 3).An overview of guidelines of teaching of the practice skills indrum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University, Bangkok, Thailand was found thatthe teachers should pay more attention to the students both in learning and consulting
in various aspects. They should have teaching technics to increase motivation withmore interesting and should arrange teaching with modern styles in accordance withThailand 4.0 policy.
Keywords: Teaching, Practice Skills in a Drum Set, Suan Sunandha Rajchapat
University, Thailand 4.0

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Introduction
Thailand in the present day, Music is one of subjects, which was assigned at all levelsof education. It was accepted that music was both science and art, Veha Lataivittaya(2011, Online) said that music was both science and art. It was science because it
could be proved and was realistic.
Suan Sunandha Rachapat University has admitted students since 1980, starting fromteacher profession courses in Higher Education Certificate, 2 Years Continuous Study
Program in 1986, and admitted students in 4 years course with major of music in
1987, after that this was developed into Liberal Arts majoring in music, and then to
Fine and Applied Arts majoring in music in 2006. In present day, the major of music
curriculum was improved in accordance with the Institutes of Higher Education’s
standard criteria during the curriculum improvement plan in 2011. Studying in majorof music, apart from studying in theories, music skills were also taught too. One ofmusic skills was Western Music Skills in Drum Set. To success in study on a major ofmusic, it was very necessary to understand in skills of music instrument playing andmusic theories, for creating good works or correct music performance, and forestablishment of major of music’s standard. This research was to study teaching ofpractice skills in drum set for finding out problems and obstacles in teaching ofpractice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University including guidelinesof teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University. The
sample group of this research was students majoring in music who studied Practice
Skills in Drum Set year 1-3 at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University. To develop thecourse of Practice Skills in Drum Set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University into
standard in accordance with the Institutes of Higher Education’s criteria andcorresponding to the university’s goals.
Objectives
1. To study teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat
University.
2. To study problems and obstacles in teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan
Sunandha Rachapat University.
3. To study guidelines of teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha
Rachapat University.
The Scopes of ResearchThis research was studied in students majoring in music who studied Practice skills indrum set year 1-3 at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University.
Basic Agreements
This research would study teaching of practice skills in drum set only at Suan
Sunandha Rachapat University.
The Expecting Benefits from the Research
1. To understand teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat
University

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2. To understand problems and obstacles of teaching of practice skills in drum set at
Suan Sunandha Rachapat University
3. To know guidelines of teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha
Rachapat University
Literatures Review
In the study of teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat
University, Bangkok, in Thailand 4.0, the researcher studied on the related documents
and researches in the following aspects:
1. Concepts of teaching
2. Knowledge in drum set
3. Methods of teaching practice skills in drum set
4. The results of the related researches
Summary, Discussions and Suggestions
The study of teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat
University, Bangkok, in Thailand 4.0 to know teaching methods, problems andobstacles in teaching, and search for guidelines of teaching of practice skills in drum
set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat University.
The sample group, which was used in this research, was students majoring in music
who studied Practice skills in drum set year 1-3 at Suan Sunandha Rachapat
University. The research data were collected during 2018-2019 by interviews andwere used for analysis.
The researcher collected data and they were analyzed for understanding in various
aspects of data. From the data, the research’s results could be summarized according
to the objectives as follows:
The Research Summary
The research’s results could be summarized by categorizing in various topics asfollows:
Teaching
1. The Methods of Teaching
The methods of teaching drum set of the instructors could be summarized into 1)
teaching in group and teaching one by one, 2) teaching with the individual instructor’s
method, this method would be changed and improved for appropriate to an individual
student’s needs and conditions of problems. However, it still contained main subject
contents for each level of classrooms e.g. first year students would study contents foradjustments of their fundamental knowledge and basic drum set rhythms. The
purposes and details of teaching topics of all instructors should be in the same
direction, which contained 2 main topics as follows:
1. Theories of basic notes of drum set, the method of teaching by lecturing contents inthe assigned topics and let the students remember essential contents and skills, by

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familiarizing each other from the beginning of a class between students andinstructors, and by mention to importance of theories and practices - how they were
important and why each content must be learned. These were regarded as importantmatters attracting the students’ interests and giving more precedence to the songs. In
addition, the instructors also used another technic in teaching that was encouraging
and admiring the students who performed well as which was assigned.

Figure 1. Practice.

Figure 2. Exercises used in teaching.

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2. Contents of drum set practices for learning, the instructor’s teaching method bylecturing contents in the specified topics for the students to remember important
contents of the skills and then most instructors demonstrated by playing examples invarious forms in those topics. In addition, they played songs or videos related to thoseteaching topics. The songs used as instrument, which was complementary to theteaching, were well known and liked by the students. For videos, the instructor
intended the students to observe characteristics of drum set drumming of the
drummer. Using these media as teaching materials were essential parts to motivate thestudents to pay more attentions in learning and practicing.
In each teaching period, most teachings were planned and recorded to know thestudents’ developments and problems, for teaching improvements appropriate to thestudents, and more effective.
Example of teaching plan in the first period
Details of Teaching- Subject introduction

Hours
4 hours

Teaching Activities- Tests before learning- Tests before leaning- Explanations of basic
music theories- Details explanations,names of drum set
components and theirfunctions- Basic knowledge ofdrum set

Figure 3. Example of teaching plan in the first period.
2. Teaching media and instruments
From the study, teaching media and instruments could be categorized into 2 maingroups as follows:
2.1. Media and instruments provided by the university such as:- Drum sets
- Amplifiers- Metronomes- Boards
Media and instruments as mentioned above were very important, any could not belacked but some of these did not match the number of classrooms, the instructors had
to prepare some of these things themselves to solve this problem.
2.2. Instructors’ personal media and instruments, these things the instructors had tobring with them such as:- Music notes for drum sets
- Complementary books- Metronomes
Teaching media and instruments must be adjusted appropriately to the lessons.
3. Evaluations and estimations of results
Evaluations and estimations of the research’s results of teaching of practice skills in adrum set at Suan Sunandha Rajchapat University, Bangkok, in Thailand 4.0 could besummarized as follows:

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3.1. Strategies for evaluations of effectiveness on each course by the students

Figure 4. Exercises used in teaching.
- Evaluations from skill developments in the students, that how much their skills
could be developed- Evaluations from the “Music Band Assembly” course- Evaluations from interviewing for the students’ feelings
3.2. Strategies for evaluations of teaching- Presenting musical performances and provided opportunities to the students toperform their musical talents for evaluations of the results after studying throughout asemester
3.3. Reviewing effectiveness standards of the students in each course- Presenting musical performances for all students to show
3.4. Reconsiderations and planning for improvements on effectiveness of each course.
- Searching for new songs or exercises to be used for the students’ skills
enhancements.
- Analyzing defects on the students’ skills and then corrected them
3.5. Improvements of teaching- Study and searching for new songs or exercises and let the students to play

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4. Problems status and obstacles in teaching
Problems status in teaching, from the study and interviewing the instructors, thefollowing problems and obstacles were found:4.1. Problems in teaching which originated from the students such as.
- Students were absent from classes.
- Students came to university late or not on time.
- Students paid no attentions to the classes and did not practice as which wereassigned by the instructors.
4.2. Problems in teaching due to teaching media and instruments- Supplementary teaching instruments were insufficient for instructors and students’requirements or lacked e.g. double pedals, stereos, Amplifiers, computers or mirrors.
- Classrooms were not soundproof enough, and then noises happened.
Results
Discussions of the Research’s Results
From the research of teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha
Rachapat University, Bangkok, in Thailand 4.0, the results were discussed as follows:
1. Methods of technics teaching and motivations
Methods of technics teaching and motivations were regarded as the importance ofteaching process and activities arrangement in classrooms for the students to learn andunderstand according to the instructors’ objectives.
The main contents were discussed in brief and in corresponding to the theories asfollows:
1. Teaching by demonstrations and then let the students to practice by imitating the
instructors. This method corresponded to Sukri Charoensuk (2014: p.59), who statedthat learning by imitating was instinctive, natural, and it was a traditional method.
This was learning by imitating the instructors. It also was corresponded to Tissana
Khammanee (2010: p.330), who interpreted teaching by demonstrating as a processthat the instructor used for help learner to be learned according to the specified
objectives by demonstrating or doing what he wanted the learner to be learned.
2. Methods to teach technics and build up motivations, instructors would teach how topractice simultaneously with learning theories in every period. This corresponded to
Narut Suttajit (2002: p. 8), who stated that musical matters composed of 2 parts i.e.
musical contents and musical skills. The instructor gave the most precedence to basic
musical theories learning. All students must be able to read music notes, whichcorresponded to Narut Suttajit (1988: p.12), who stated that skill of musical signs
reading was one of the important basic skills in music study.
3. In each teaching period, the instructors would plot teaching plans every time.
Mostly, they plotted teaching plans for a short period, week by week. It might have

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long-term plans, which mainly depended on individual student. In the first teaching
period, most instructors gave the most precedence to this period. This period would bea chance to learn each other i.e. asking the students for personal data such as ages,
which schools they graduated from, their reasons for study drum set, why they liked
drum set, which types of music they preferred to listen, which drummers they liked.
This was a technic and method for motivating, teaching, and familiarizing between
the instructor and the students for learning and teaching with more effectiveness,
which corresponded to Tissana Khammanee (2011: p.415), who stated that technicteaching was a tactic to enhance process, step, or any action to be more quality andeffective. Teaching technic was a necessity to enhance teaching with more
effectiveness.
4. In each teaching, most instructors gave exercises to students to practice, whichcorresponded to Boonchom Srisa-ard and Nipa Sripairoj (1988: p.20), who stated thatexercising was an activity that helped learners to review knowledge andunderstanding, and practice to use knowledge in any situation, increase experiences inthose lessons broader and deeper, get more skills. They might exercise in classrooms
after understanding the lessons or after schools such as at homes or both. In addition,
the instructors suggested the students to practice every time when they had free time
because music was a skillful subject, which needed practices for being skillful, whichcorresponded to Sukri Charoensuk (2001: p.116), who stated that music was a matterof skills related to practices.
5. In the beginning of each teaching period, the instructors would motivate thestudents on those lessons by using psychology, mentioning to the importance of thelessons and their impacts on the students, or motivating by playing music for the
students to listen. Teaching with music notes, which the students were familiar to, or
they could play or let the students watch concerts or performances of their favorite
artists. These would be motivations for interesting teaching, which corresponded to
Tissana Khammanee (2011: p.474), who stated that knowledge and knowledge
applications such as psychology of learning, methods and various technics in eachteaching situation helped make teaching was interesting, joyful and lively, and helped
the learners to learn easily, conveniently, quickly, smoothly and happily, whichcorresponded to Daldy Max F. (1993: pp.60-63), who briefly stated that attentions
made motivations. Selecting songs, which were appropriate to the musicians ormatching with their imaginations was one of the good methods to create motivations.
Another motivation creating, which the instructors used in teaching was
encouragement. Admiring students who could practice well in which the instructors
had assigned corresponded to Walberg (1984: p.22), who stated that reinforcement
was a very important activity for learning. Walberg had collected the researches from1970-1983, around 3,000 topics, he found that reinforcement was an importantcomponent which affected learning most. There were 2 types of reinforcements i.e.
positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement focused on
making the learners to know what they did correctly and they were acknowledged andpraised e.g. admiring with wordings (good, skillful, excellent, splendid etc.)
2. Teaching media and instruments
Teaching media and instruments were categorized into 2 main parts:

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1. Teaching media and instruments those provided by the university e.g. drum sets,
stereos, music note stands, which corresponded to Rungkiat Siriwongsuwan (2018,
pp.86-94).
2. Teaching media and instruments that the instructors took to the university bythemselves, were those supplementary instruments, which were not available at theuniversity, and needed to be additional teaching media for the students to understandthe lessons easier, which corresponded to Srimongkol Thep-re-nu (2002: p.192), whostated that teaching media meant the media, which were used in teaching for making
teachers and students well understood what they transferred to each other, and they
were in accordance with the objectives of teaching.
3. Evaluations and estimations of the research’s results
From study of the research, the evaluations and estimations by the instructors could be
categorized into the following topics:
3.1. Measuring from developments of the students’ skills
3.2. Measuring from the “Music Band Assembly” course
3.3. Measuring from interviewing the students

Figure 5. Measuring from developments of the students’ skills
Those mentioned above corresponded to Orawan Bunjongsillapa (Khantasiri), (n.d.,p.69), who stated that in evaluation of the children’s progressions, the teacher should
evaluate both in concepts and skills , and should do continuously to know thechildren’s effectiveness in each classroom, which would help setting up plans for the
next lessons.
Suggestions
1. Reviewing and planning for improving effectiveness of each course
1.1. Searching for new songs or exercises to be used for enhancing the students’ skills
1.2. Analyzing defects on the students’ skills, and then corrected them
2. Improvements of teaching

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2.1. Study and searching for new songs or exercises and let the students to play2.2. Study and searching for new related evolutions for using to teach skills
Conclusions
This research in qualitative research. The summary of this research was
1. An overview of teaching of practice skills in drum set at Suan Sunandha Rachapat
University was found that the teaching status in all aspects were excellent, theteaching was planned systemically.
2. An overview of Problems and obstacles in teaching of practice skills in drum set at
Suan Sunandha Rachapat University was found that most problems and obstacles
mainly occurred from the students i.e. learning attention, study hour and financial
aspects.
3. An overview of guidelines of teaching of the practice skills in drum set at Suan
Sunandha Rachapat University, Bangkok, Thailand was found that the teachers should
pay more attention to the students both in learning and consulting in various aspects.
They should have teaching technics to increase motivation with more interesting andshould arrange teaching with modern styles in accordance with Thailand 4.0 policy.
Acknowledgements
The research was conducted under the policy of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
in promoting and enhancing the faculty members’ potentials in term of research. The
budget was allocated research and development Institute and granted to researchers
qualified. The researcher would like to express my grateful thanks to Suan Sunandha
Rajabhat University the research and development Institute and more importantly,
All of faculty members of the music division.

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References
Boonchom Sri-sa-ard and Nipa Sripairoj (1988). Styles of teaching statisticalmethodology for the effective research. Maha Sarakham: Prida Printing.
Daldy Max F. (1993). Band Rehearsal Techniques. Illinois: The Instrumentalist
publishing company.
Narut Suttajit (1988). Music activities for teachers. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn
University Press.
Narut Suttajit (2002). Music contents. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.
Orawan Bunjongsillapa (Kantasiri) (n.d.). Music teacher association (Thailand),Music teaching in primary education: theory and practice. (n.p.)
Rungkiat Siriwongsuwan. How to play drum set for teacher in private Schools. The
Asian Conference on Education & International Development (ACEID2018). (2018):
86-94.
Srimongkol Thep-re-nu (2002). Teaching sheets of “Skills and teaching technics”.
Bangkok: Faculty of Education, Baan Somdej Chao Phraya Rajchapat Institute.
Sukri Charoensuk (2001). Gift study. Bangkok: Jongjaroen Printing.
Sukri Charoensuk.(2014). Handbook for music teachers. Bangkok: Yin-Yang
Printing.
Tissana Khammanee (2011). Science of teaching. (14th print). Bangkok:
Chulalongkorn University Press.
Veha Lataivittaya (2011). Music is science and art. Searching on March 25, 2012
from http://www.thaiblogonline.com/wehaltw.blog?PostID=35857
Walberg, Herbert J. Improving the Productivity of American’s School Educational
Leadership. 41, 8 (May1984): 19-26
Contact email: jo.drum@hotmail.com & rungkiat.si@ssru.ac.th

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Status of Traditional Thai Music Education in Thai Universities
Pongsilp Arunrat, Silpakorn University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
The study of Thai music in the past was in oral form of Residence-style musiceducation or called "The House".When the House is very famous, they may have theopportunity to be recruited as part of an ensemble of any top noble royal palace, who
regularly hosts the band at their own place. This opportunity is to be an honor for theHouse. The period between 1857-1932, is the golden age of Thai music. Since 1932,
when administration change in Thailand was influential, the administrative power andregime were transformed into the democratic regime. The constitution became themost powerful law from the absolute monarchy regime and the cultural popularity
shifted from the royalty. The government then established a school of music, theCollege of Dramatic Arts, and introduced Thai music into the university curriculum.
The Thai musicians in the Residence-style music education were fading away under
the rising new Institution, which was training the musicians in the “School-Student”
system. Nowadays, many universities have begun to offer Thai music as a major
course of study and have expanded rapidly throughout the country. These problems
over the curriculum by departing from “Thai music,” from the listening and nurturing
the culture into the lives of the Thai people. This article is an introduction to theteaching of Thai music from the past to the present, the current situation of the Thaimusic, the problems of teaching Thai music in universities, and the solutions to these
problems, which are sustainable.
Keywords: Thai music in Education,Thai music in university,Thai Education

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The Development of the Thai Music Education
The study of Thai music in the royal courts in the past was divided. Since the
Ayutthaya period (1350-1767), the selected ladies of the palace were divided into
three categories: high class, middle class and ordinary class. The status and theopportunity with the education of the three categories vary. The high class ladies,such as the daughters of the King, were born and educated in the Royal Palace. They
practice both manners and etiquettes. Their studies are the various types ofembroidery, knitting, cooking, and even the teachings of Buddhism. Teaching would
be terminated after they can read and write. Then the adult ladies will choose who are
doing good and which ones can continue. Then they bring them to the inner court
section, where they receive a pension depending on their duties. The main duty of thecourt ladies at that time was only for the royal palace. There is a wide range ofstudies, but the first is Writing and Literature. The court ladies will learn how to writeand compose poems. As a court staff, they work on a regular basis in the imperial
court. Advanced studies are learning music and dramatic dance, called Lakorn-nai. To
be selected to enter these studies, they are often chosen as intelligent at a young age,
because these studies are difficult. The learning and practice of these studies in dance
and music take time before they are ready to entertain the palace people.
Whereas, the music education for the common people is training for theatricalperformances, such as theatrical plays and puppetry. The music that is played is notvery difficult for the audience to focus on and understand the story. The emphasis ison beat, dance or chorus. The education is a residence-host form that covers bothmusic and dance. Income comes from the hiring of the host to play on various
occasions, both sacred and secular. There is a Thai Music House in every community
to entertain the community, and teach music to the children in their own communities
and create their own disciples to continue and maintain the core of their music. In the
Ayutthaya period, communication between the communities was rather difficult.
People during this period communicate and travel by long boats and/or on foot.
Larger communities have more people practicing the art of music and dance.
This teaching style and schooling continues until the Rattanakosin period (1782present) by the community-based Music and Dramatic Arts, but there are more formsof entertainment. In addition, the new music style called Pleng Sepa in the reign ofKing Rama 3, in which the role of the Pipat (a Thai traditional band) began
performing concert music. People listen to the Pleng Sepa, which is a narration withverse. Sepa is the narrative form of storytelling but switching to the music of Pipat.
Pleng Sepha started to gain popularity quickly, causing the birth of many housesaround Bangkok (Phra Nakorn), including the Pipat of the royals and the noblemen.
These musicians learn musical instruments from their teacher and followers musthave faith and confidence as well as practice so that they can play a key role inearning for their houses. When their house become famous, they will have theopportunity to become a band for high-ranking palace royalties, who regularly hostconcerts in their own palaces. It is an honor for the Thai Music House to dream ofgoing to the palace as a master, because it would make for them a very comfortableliving.

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King Rama VI, who reigned in 1910–1925, upheld the education of dance and drama
during his reign. His Majesty the King founded the school called Pran Luang HighSchool that was inherited from the Royal Military Academy under the royal
patronage, to conduct education as an example in the country. The idea came fromthe public schools in England. The educational management of Pran Luang HighSchool focused on the teaching of Thai music, western music and dramatic arts.
Students must study common subjects. It is the first institute of music and dance
education in Thailand. Upon graduation, students of Pran Luang School have thestatus and role as students under the patronage of the Royal Thai Chamberlain, who
serves close to the King and as an artist in the Department of Arts. It made the period
between 1857-1932 the golden age of Thai music that flourished in the teaching andlearning system of the Royal Department of Music and Dramatic Arts and theeducational system in the same way as foreign countries.
Later in the reign of the 7th King, a school of Music and Drama was established,which later became the College of Dramatic Arts, using the same teaching style as theroyal school. There are three levels of admission to the elementary school. Graduatesof the sixth grade receive a diploma in basic music and dramatic arts. If students wantto continue studying, they will study for another three years to get intermediate music
and dramatic arts diploma, which is equivalent to upper secondary school. At the endof the intermediate class, students can study for another two years. Most of thegraduates at the advanced level are often taught in the field of dance, which have been
established in various regions of the country and some of them work as artists in the
Department of Fine Arts.
Music in Thai’s Democratic Period
In the early stages of music education, there was no bachelor degree at that time. The
Naval Music Academy recruited students who are talented in Thai and Western musicat the end of elementary school (6th grade) to play recreational music forgovernmental offices and for the general public. In the early stages of Thai music,
Thai music was taught in the form of a closed society for students to spend their free
time. Teachers are invited from government agencies such as the Fine Arts
Department and teachers from the famous music houses to train. Later, Thai music
was established for higher education, so that various musical societies in theuniversities could meet and perform Thai music as an activity that has continued up to
the present day.
Until about 1970, M.L. Pin Malakul, the Secretary of the Ministry of Education at thattime, foresaw the beginning of a serious music instruction in the secondary school
curriculum in 1960 (BE 2503), and instructed the curriculum of music instruction in
the secondary schools and in the Department of Teacher Training to be considered.
At present, Ban Somdet Chaopraya Rajabhat University offers high school diploma
programs. By 1979, it has become the first teacher training institute in Thailand. The
undergraduate program majors in Thai music and followed by the International Music
major program. Later, the undergraduate program of the Teacher’s College began tobe taught in major provinces around the country. For the music courses in theuniversity, a general education in Thai Music History is the first stage, and Thai
Music Practices was offered as a selection.

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In 1977, when the demand for school music teachers increased, Chulalongkorn
University opened the undergraduate music program, majoring in Thai and WesternMusic. The system of learning is Thai music theory and practice with other
undergraduate studies. Teachers and students provide hands-on experience tostudents. The faculty members are Thai professional musicians. The ambition of thestudents is to graduate as a teacher of Thai music. At that time, around 1973, theUniversity of Education, Srinakharinwirot University launched a two-year program ofmusic education to complete a bachelor's degree.
For Thai musicians, they have a lot of talent because they can take part in musicalperformances, including ceremonial and ritual events. It was found that in that period,
there are still many bands in the community able to feed themselves, and encouragechildren in the community to apply as students. As a result, there are more children
demanding to enter the educational system than professional musicians and attend
regular classes. Entering the education system, their qualifications can be packaged
into becoming a public school teacher. However, university music courses is degradedin musical skill improvement because in the university curriculum, the students are
required to study ordinary subjects and other specialized subjects.
The Change of Thai Music Education System (1988-2018)
The demand for Thai music graduates is growing. Many schools lack music teachers.
Most of the music teachers want to enter only the big school for career development.
Most institutions receive no more than 15 students on a score-based system. The
proportion of general studies to music is three to two in general. Most candidates withThai music skills achieve the intermediate level from the School of Music and Drama,
which is not good in general studies and much less than those who study westernmusic from a school with a good foundation in general studies, and who are more
selective than Thai music candidates. On average, 15 students major in Thai music to
10 in Western music.
When the demand for Thai music graduates is high, they produce less. Universities
cannot proceed to increase the number of students. They have limited space, as wellas the inability to set up integrated faculties. Many universities tried to solve this byfounding the Faculty of Fine Arts, with a guideline for producing music graduates but
using the concept of producing graduates as professional artists. The Faculty of Fine
Arts teaches the Arts. Music and Performing Arts, in accordance with the university’s
ability. Some colleges with a Faculty of Arts are covered by Silpakorn University.
The Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Architecture are not under the Faculty of Fine
Arts. And Thai music was opened under the Faculty of Arts. Later, the Faculty ofMusic was opened, but there was no curriculum in Thai music.
The opening of music courses with the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Faculty of
Humanities made the old Thai university's aspirations disappear. The universities, thatare clearly defined as a university, such as Chulalongkorn University and Thammasat
University, focus on law. Mahidol University focuses on medicine. Kasetsart
University focuses on agriculture. Silpakorn University emphasizes on arts.
Srinakharinwirot University and Rajabhat University focus on the production ofteaching students. Every university is comprehensive and open to extend, and many
courses are overlapped.

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Although Thai music is becoming more and more popular in many universities, it
only focuses on the qualifications or training of teachers who need a degree. The
foundation of Thai music comes from the practices in training. The emphasis on
training the traditional Thai musician’s skills is divided into other subjects such as
English, the Thai language, and social studies. Thai music studies is majored in thesame way as other majors. They must follow the course of the university, but is not in
the matter of practicing skills. Therefore, the practice of Thai music skills is less.
Other basic subjects must be taught in accordance with the curriculum set by each
university.
Later in the year 1990, Mahidol University launched a master's program in the field ofmusical cultures. Many universities have begun to offer Thai music as a major andhave expanded rapidly throughout the country. There are also many master's anddoctoral programs. The program includes music education, ethnomusicology andmusicology. This is an option for those who want to study at a higher level, but notThai music performance which is the root of Thai music. Problems over the course isalso caused by the growing disappearance of Thai music and Thai ceremonial culture
as the Thai’s way of life. Many music graduates do not have the proper Thai musicskills.
“Thai Music Criteria” was created by the Office of the Higher Education Commission(OHEC) in 1990. The criteria is classified into 12 steps, based on basic music toadvanced music and also classified by instruments, which currently are not beingbrought to force the educational institutions with Thai music majors seriously.
Concluding the problems of learning Traditional Thai music today
1. The Thai music program is unnecessary.
All courses are focused on the Thai teacher. The course overlaps. Even if theThai teacher's music course is successful, not every student cannot get a placeat the available positions. Some provinces lack Thai music teachers becausevery few, if not no one, can pass the test.
2. Low Number of FTES (Full Time Equivalence of Students)
Normally, the number of students must be 8 students per teacher, and if it is auniversity level, it must include a teacher who has completed a doctoral
degree. Back to the main problem, the cost of studying a doctorate is quite
high. At present, each university is focused on providing scholarships toteachers who want to study. Those who are not teaching must pay their own
tuition fees. When this teacher graduates, there is no more demand to study
and run the course at this level.
3. Number of students is not equal in each university.
Major universities are more prestigious than some of the lesser-known
universities, which receive less than capacity almost every year. When there
are less students, the university has to solve the problem of teaching. By theway, every music teacher does not have the aptitude to teach in every subjects
and the income of the faculty is not enough to hire the need of a specialist

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teacher. And if the teacher's workload is reduced, this will impact on the salaryscale.
4. Scholarships are waived such as in universities with a good income.
For example, universities with income from hospitals or from the land’s rent.
This draws competent teachers and students from remote areas. This affects
the quality assurance in each institution and leads to the closure of the facultyin the future.
Ways to solve the problem

1. Establishing Thai Music Foundation
Although this may be difficult because the current basis of Thai music is not
the same in each institution, there are many Thai music teachers who are betteroff than the ones from small schools. The solution is to train Thai musicteachers throughout the country continuously. The training should be under
the standard Thai professional music, in order to allow the teacher to have asimilar background and students will be able to develop the same foundationbasis.
2. Inputting the other academic cultures such as English to theteaching process
The disciplines should provide students with more knowledge. At the sametime, these other knowledge has to be integrated into the knowledge of Thaimusic.
3. Building up confidence in Thai Music
It is difficult however because nowadays the way of Traditional Thai music is
not part of the Thai society already. At present, Traditional Thai music
students only need to be teachers to ensure that they are not unemployed upon

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graduation. There are teachers who do not have confidence in Thai music.
When they go to work, they cannot build up their belief. Therefore, thecreation of Thai music faith is difficult, time-consuming and has to be done inaccordance with various policies. Whether it is mass media must be importantto Traditional Thai music. Not showcasing Thai music only by focusing on thenovelty but more on disseminating its own unique aesthetics and knowledge.
Nowadays the channel of the Traditional Thai culture is very limited. Without
these things, believing in Thai music can be difficult.

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References
David Morton.The Traditional Music of Thailand. Berkeley ;University of California Press, 1976.
The Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) Thai Music
Criteria. Bangkok : MUA Press, 1990
Vichitra-Vadakarn.H.E. The Evolution of Thai Music . Bangkok :Fine Arts , 1942.

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Digital Technology Use of Teachers and Students and Their Perceptions ofTechnology Integration into English Curriculum in Thailand
Pornnicha Weerakanto, University of Arizona, United States
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
In this digital age, many CALL scholars have affirmed the leverage of digitaltechnologies and social media to access a multitude of authentic online resources.
Moreover, technologies can increase students’ motivation, their learning outcomesand make teaching and learning more constructive and engaging. However, noresearch to date has explored digital technology use of students and teachers and theirperceptions about technology integration in Thai education. In response to awidespread call for teachers to incorporate digital technologies into curricula, thisdescriptive study investigated how English language in-service teachers and students
at a Thai private university use digital technologies for academic and non-academic
purposes. The study also explored their perceptions of technology incorporation into
English curriculum. The study’s objective is to raise the awareness of practitioners,
researchers and policy-makers to create innovative technology-enhanced language
learning activities to develop students’ digital literacies. It is widely accepted that
digital literacies are essential skills to survive in the age of emerging digitaltechnologies. For data triangulation, the findings derived from five sources including
teacher and student surveys, teacher interviews, student focus group discussions, classobservations and artifact review. The findings revealed that teachers and students felt
positive with technology integration into the classrooms, but some hurdles anddiscrepancies were discovered. The students were more skillful in using more andvarious types of digital technologies and social media than the teachers. Overall, thisstudy will fill a gap of literature on digital literacies, teacher education andtechnology-enhanced language teaching and learning in Thailand.
Keywords: digital technologies, teachers’ and students’ perceptions, Thailand

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Introduction
The leverage of Web 2.0 digital technologies is widely accepted, and many scholars
have called for new literacy teaching and learning approaches. Digital technologies
have exposed students to a broad range of authentic online resources and haveempowered them to create digitally mediated texts (Paesani, Willis Allen & Dupuy,2015) in a gigantic globalized community. In response to evolving digitaltechnologies and new definitions of literacies in an era of digitalized globalization, aplethora of new literacy studies (Dudeney et al., 2013; Eshet-Alkalai, 2004; Kessler,
2013; Kramsch, 2014; Lotherington & Jenson, 2011; Prensky, 2001, 2010; Willis
Allen & Paesani, 2010) have argued for a paradigm shift from teacher-centeredapproaches, grammar-translation methods and communicative approaches to apedagogy of new literacies. Prensky (2001) urges teachers to change their oldteaching methods and incorporate digital tools to match with new learning patterns ofdigital natives. Many scholars (Baker & Jarunthawatchai, 2017; Chun, Kern & Smith,
2016; Erstad, Eickelmann & Eichhorn, 2015; Khamkhien, 2012; White, 2015) also
agree that preparing teachers to teach digital literacies is urgent and crucial. Bates(2015) and Erstad et al. (2015) maintain that teachers in the cyber age requireinnovative teaching approaches to cope with advancing educational technologies.
In Thailand, too, social media and digital technologies play an important role inenhancing teaching and learning. Kitchakarn (2013) found that students significantly
improve their writing when using blogs and peer feedback, claiming that the students
develop critical thinking and autonomous learning. Moreover, Van De Bogart (2014)
discovered that the LINE chat application facilitates English as a foreign language(EFL) class discussions and collaboration, and it creates a motivating and comfortablelearning environment for Thai undergraduates.
However, challenges in technology integration into pedagogy are prevalent.
Khamkhien’s (2012) study reveals the “failure of integrating (computer-assisted
language learning (CALL) in English classrooms” (p. 59), caused by teachers’
insufficient information and communication technologies (ICTs) knowledge to selectappropriate technological tools, large class sizes, and teaching overloads. An
OECD/UNESCO (2016) study further indicates many problematic issues of Thai
education, such as inadequate teacher education, lack of holistic strategies forteachers’ professional development, teachers’ administrative pressures, the poor
infrastructure of ICTs, and teachers’ lack of confidence and skills in using ICTs.
Thus, It is crucial that English language teachers should offer students an opportunity
in using digital tools to enhance new literacies. Hongprayoon (2016) recommends thatto address the demand of being a digital citizen following a new digital policy ofThailand called “Thailand 4.0”, there is a need to raise awareness of English language
teachers towards the value of integrating digital technology into their curricula. Thai
educational institutions should provide work-related knowledge and technologicalskills for future members of the workforce. Thus, it seems necessary that future
research should explore strategies that develop teachers’ technological skills inapplying digital technology effectively in teaching. It is also essential to spark theinterest of practitioners, researchers and policy-makers in finding strategies toimprove the digital literacies of Thai citizens to fulfill the goals of the Thailand 4.0
policy.

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This study, which is part of the author’s dissertation research, responds to a call forteachers to incorporate digital technologies into curricula. The findings are expected
to raise awareness of teachers to find the value in technology integration to increase
students’ motivation and improve their digital literacy skills in the age of digitallearning.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study aims at examining the problem that many Thai teachers are
reluctant to incorporate technology into their curricula in spite of policy mandates that
all teachers integrate new technologies into their classrooms to enhance students’digital literacies. Thus, the study’s objective is to explore digital technology use ofEnglish language teachers and students and to investigate their perceptions oftechnology integration into English curricula. Two research questions are employed to
guide the study as follows:
1. What digital technologies do teachers and students use for academic and nonacademic purposes?
2. What are teachers’ and students’ perceptions of technology integration into
English curriculum?
Literature Review
Potential benefits of digital technology integration into curricula
A number of studies have proven the affordances of social media and Web 2.0
technologies for teaching and learning. Siricharoen and Siricharoen’s (2012) findings
indicate that social media are the most popular media in comparison with print,
television and radio for Thai youths. The authors argue that the social media have agood, powerful impact on learning of the young Thai generation. Van De Bogart(2014) integrates the LINE mobile app in English language teaching by creating aLINE group for his class as an alternative communication tool. The results reveal thatthe students are very responsive to LINE discussions, so they use English more.
Facebook has also been found to be beneficial in increasing writing quantity (Wang &Vasquez, 2014), enhancing class discussions (Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman &Witty, 2010), developing writing skills (Suthiwartnarueput & Wasanasomsithi, 2012),
and in improving identity and peer interaction (Reinhardt & Zander, 2011). Hafner(2013) and Kessler (2013) maintain that it is crucial to incorporate technologies forpedagogical potentials in a world of social media to enhance interaction andnegotiation of meaning. Roblyer et al.’s (2010) study reveals that students feel
comfortable with Facebook in supporting learning communication, while the faculty
members preferred emails. Wang and Vasquez (2014) report that Chinese learners
improve their writing quantity on Facebook. They also have a positive attitude
towards using Facebook as it offers good opportunities to retain Chinese characters,
expand vocabulary and practice syntactic structures. Khamkhien (2012) found, after
implementing blogs and a peer feedback activity, that Thai students significantly

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improve their English language writing. Khamkhien makes further claims about thestudents’ development of critical thinking and autonomous learning.
The leverage of iPads as mobile technology has been acknowledged in many ways,
such as creating satisfactory learning outcome (Cochrane, Narayan & Oldfield, 2013;
Kinash, Brand & Mathew, 2012), increasing motivation and student satisfaction(Perez, Gonzalez, Pitcher & Golding, 2012; Theerathean & Srikulwong, 2015),
enhancing creativity (Cochrane et al., 2013; Kim, Park, Yoo & Kim, 2016),
improving interaction and collaborative work (Cochrane et al., 2013; Hargis,
Cavanaugh, Kamali & Soto, 2014), and offering authentic teaching materials (Riley,2013). Chen and Tsai (2009) argue that an interactive location-based game could
support English vocabulary learning efficacy and increase motivation of students inlearning English. Elias (2011) states that mobile technologies support “continuous andsituated learning” and facilitate “ongoing learning to occur in multiple locations” (p.
146).
Challenges of digital technology integration into curricula
There are a few challenges of integrating digital technologies into classrooms. First,
using technology can be frustrating. Tan and McWilliam (2009) found that teachers
think it is difficult to integrate technology into their classes. The teachers feel
frustrated when dealing with technology literacy over print literacy. Nguyen et al.
(2015) add that teachers did not know how to incorporate iPads to align with thecurriculum in higher education. Van De Bogart (2012) found that Thai primary school
teachers lack technological skills in using a tablet computer. The study suggests thatthe teachers require a certain level of digital technology familiarity to teach students
new literacy skills and behavioral patterns on multi-tasking competence.
Second, technical problems of technology use and its novelty hinder technology
integration into instruction. Culén and Gasparini (2011) raise problematic issues about
iPad use regarding note-taking features, waste of time loading webpages, and lack ofFlash support. Hutchison, Beschorner and Schmidt-Crawford (2012) add that it isdifficult to resize texts and images and control the sensitive touchscreen of iPads.
In addition, a plethora of scholars have reported the recurring problem of teachers’
inadequate technological skills and their need for additional technology training andsupport (Dudeney et al., 2013; Hague & Payton, 2010; Hutchison & Reinking, 2011;
Kessler, 2013; Nguyen, Barton & Nguyen, 2015; Pang, Reinking, Hutchison &Ramey, 2015; Prensky, 2001, 2010; Strickland & O’Brien, 2013; Tan & McWilliam,
2009; Van De Bogart, 2012). Hargis et al. (2014) assert that students and teachers at acollege in the United Arab Emirates would like technological training because “somefaculty members are not technologically inclined” (p. 52). Hutchison and Reinking(2011) call for professional development workshops for teachers to increasetechnology integration into pedagogy. In addition, Nguyen et al. (2015) suggests thatpolicymakers and administrative boards should provide technological support toteaching faculties, staff and students towards mobile technologies. These findingsalign with Prensky’s (2001) statement that teachers are “digital immigrants”.
In order to teach and study with technologies, open-mindedness and a positive attitude
are vital. Pang et al. (2015) raise the notion that “teachers’ beliefs are an important

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factor” (p. 11). They reported that although South Korean teachers encounter lesstechnical support, such as lack of Internet access than their USA counterparts, theKorean teachers have higher ICT integration into literacy pedagogy more often. The
authors argue for more studies on beliefs about the importance and the objectives oftechnology use. Lakarnchua and Wasanasomsithi (2013) found that 26 Thai EFL
students feel negative about using blogs because of technical problems, and lack ofunderstanding towards blogging. Lee, Cerreto and Lee (2010) use the theory ofplanned behavior (TPB) to explore Korean teachers’ intentions to use computers todesign and deliver teaching. They conclude that attitude toward behaviors (i.e., thebetter quality of teaching and student achievement) impacts teachers’ intentions to use
technology much more than either subjective norm (i.e., school administration) or
perceived behavioral control (i.e., reliable hardware and software, skills and training
and support.
Regarding technology use of students, some research has shown that new generation
students are familiar with technology use, but they still need digital literacy training.
Dudeney et al. (2013) reconfirm Tan and McWilliam’s (2009) findings that students
are comfortable with technology use and can use the technology much better thanteachers. Dudeney et al. (2013) suggest that teachers can learn new technologies fromtheir students. However, the authors found that many young people from the Net
generation still require teachers’ guidance in using technologies. This is supported by
the study of Williams, Abraham and Bostelmann (2014) who found that 50 percent of
800 undergraduates at an American university are young students do not consider
themselves as “digital natives” with expertise in digital innovations.
Overall, it can be surmised that technology integration into curricula is valuable inpromoting teaching and learning outcomes and in improving students’ digital
literacies as well as teachers’. However, despite the challenges of integrating
technologies and digital literacy into the classroom, it is also important that teachers
be more open-minded and take additional technological training for their professional
development in order to deliver constructive and engaging lessons with emerging
digital technologies.
Methodology
The research design of the study is descriptive, using mixed methods. The datacollection consumed nine weeks starting from January 8th to March 7th, 2018, during
the Spring 2018 semester. The data collection started with a pilot study of the teacher
questionnaire. The data were collected from five sources: 1) two attitudinal surveys of
in-service English language teachers and EFL Thai university students; 2) classobservations of three focal teachers; 3) teacher interviews; 4) student focus group
discussions; and 5) a review of artifacts of the three English courses and theresearcher’s reflective journals.
Setting
This study was conducted at a non-profit private university in the center part of
Bangkok, Thailand. The university, founded in 1984, offers bachelor’s, master’s anddoctoral degree programs and has an undergraduate enrollment of about 6,000
students each year. Since 2011, the university has established an innovative iHybrid

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learning system, iPad 1:1. The university has provided iPads to 17,000 students and
450 faculty members. At the university, teaching and learning are afforded by a wellestablished and well-integrated information technological infrastructure, including acomprehensive IT department, student and staff support and help desks, modern andtechnologically equipped classroom facilities, and professional development training
from Apple Distinguished Educators.
Participants
The participants were 37 English language in-service teachers, both Thai and native
speakers of English, and 58 EFL Thai university students from various years andprograms of study. In addition to general aggregate data, the study focuses on thecases of three teachers by exploring in-depth their digital literacy skills, digitaltechnology use, and perceptions of technology integration into English curricula. The
three instructors were selected based on dissimilar characteristics in terms of age,gender, teaching expertise, teaching styles and technology skills. Moreover, five
students from each class were recruited to participate in focus group discussions.
Data collection
Crucially, prior to data collection, all prospective participants were asked to sign an
Institutional Review Board (IRB) consent form of the University of Arizona. The
surveys were developed and adapted from the studies of Ertmer, Ottenbreit-Leftwich,
Sadik, Sendurur and Sendurur (2012), Hargis et al. (2014), Karabulut, Levelle, Li and
Suvorov (2012), Pang et al. (2015), Reinhardt and Nelson (2004), and Williams,
Abraham and Bostelmann (2014). A pseudonym was assigned to each participant for
the use of reference. In addition, the participants’ identities were anonymous. The
quantitative data from the surveys were analyzed by descriptive statistics: mean scoreand percentage.
In addition, 16-hour class observations were conducted to explore the three teachers’
use of digital technologies for teaching and the researcher’s role was as a nonparticipant observer (Marshall & Rossman, 2015). Some short videos and photos weretaken with the participants’ permission. Based on Marshall and Rossman’s (2015)
topic approach, six sessions of individual semi-structured interviews with threeteachers took place. Each teacher was interviewed twice around the first two weeks
and the week before the midterm exam. The semi-structured interview approach wasappropriate to elicit responses from the teachers. Due to busy teaching loads, eachinterview session took 40-60 minutes, adapted from Seidman’s (2013) 90-minutelength recommendation. Besides the student questionnaire, three student focus group
discussions with five students per group were administered in Week 6 of the semester.
Moreover, the secondary data of three courses – course syllabi, teaching materials
uploaded to iTunes U, and the students’ finished assignments related to technologyenhanced language learning and teaching – were collected and analyzed. An open
coding strategy was used to interpret the open-ended responses in the surveys, teacher
interviews and student group discussions. In addition, content analysis was utilized forthe artifact review.

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Results and Interpretation
Prior to presenting the main findings, it is helpful to describe the backgroundinformation of teacher and student participants in this study for better understandingof the findings analysis. The student participants (n = 58) are 38 female and 20 male.
About 70 percent of the students were 19-21 years old. The students were from threeprograms of study: English (29), Japanese (28) and Logistics (1). About 50 percent of
the students were freshmen and the rest were juniors and seniors.
The teacher participants (n = 37) are 31Thais (84 percent) and six native speakers
from the United States and Great Britain. There are 25 female and 12 male teachers. It
is interesting to note that all six foreign teachers are male. About half of teachers aresenior teachers whose age was above 50. Almost all teachers (92 percent) have had
more than ten years of teaching experience. About half of the teachers taught 15-19
hours per week. This implies they must be busy and work hard, which may contributeto having little time for additional learning about and training in use of newtechnologies, not to mention integrating them into the classroom.
The results of the study will be divided into two topics based on the two researchquestions.
1. Digital technology use of teachers and students for academic and non-academic
purposes
The following findings will answer the first research question: “What digitaltechnologies do teachers and students use for academic and non-academic purposes?”
Teachers’ and students’ digital technology use for academic purposes
In this study, both teachers and students used digital technologies and social media for
academic purposes less than for non-academic purposes. The survey findings showedthat students in generation Z who were brought up with access to technology weremore comfortable with digital devices and used various technological tools and social
media more than the teachers. The student discussion results indicated that students
were also better at multitasking on digital devices. The students admitted that they
were very addicted to social digital platforms and devices; one remarked, “I can’t live
without it [smartphone]”. The teachers mainly used websites and YouTube videos as
resources for teaching, while students learned English from broader and more various
sources, such as YouTube, mobile apps, iTunes U courses and Facebook.

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Table 1: Teachers’ digital technology use for academic purposes(Teacher Survey, Item 7, mean = 2.37)
Rank
1

Technology type
Websites

Mean
4.14

Rank
9

2

Emails

3.62

10

3
4
5
6
7
8

YouTubeiTunes U
Mobile apps
iPads
LINE
Wikis

3.49
3.30
3.24
3.00
2.73
2.38

11
12
13
14
15
16

Technology type
FacebookSocial Network Sites for
Language Teaching
Web blogs
Online games
Pinterest
Skype
Twitter
Instagram

Mean
2.30
2.22
1.62
1.27
1.22
1.14
1.11
1.11

The teacher survey results in Table 1 show that the average group score for teachers’
use of digital technology for academic purposes is 2.30. The top three ranked digital
tools were websites (4.14), emails (3.62), and YouTube (3.49).
Table 2: Students’ digital technology use for academic purposes(Student Survey, Item 12, mean = 3.04)
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Technology Type
YouTubeMobile apps
iTunes U course
Websites
iPads
FacebookSocial Network Sites
for Language Learning
Online games

Mean
4.10
4.05
3.84
3.66
3.60
3.33

Rank
9
10
11
12
13
14

Technology typeInstagramLINE chat app
Twitter
Wikis
Blogs
Emails

Mean
2.88
2.81
2.78
2.62
2.48
2.43

3.04

15

Pinterest

2.38

2.95

16

Skype

1.74

The student survey results in Table 2 show that the average group score for students’technology use for academic purposes is 3.04. The students always used YouTube(4.10), then mobile apps (4.05), and iTunes U (3.84) for learning English.
Teachers’ and students’ digital technology use for non-academic purposes
For non-academic purposes, the teachers and students in general shared the same
preference of technology use. Both groups enjoyed surfing websites the most andwatching YouTube videos for pleasure. Students also frequently used mobile apps
and played online games. The focus group discussion findings revealed that students
became more interested in Instagram and Twitter. The students found Skype the least
popular technology for both learning and entertainment. On the other hand, theteachers were not interested in using Instagram and Twitter or online games both foracademic and non-academic purposes. Interestingly, teachers mostly relied on
Facebook and LINE, and it is surprising that they used LINE more often thanstudents. This may be because the students are more interested in using Instagram andTwitter.

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Table 3: Teachers’ digital technology use for non-academic purposes(Teacher Survey, Item 10, mean = 2.85)
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Technology type
WebsitesLINE
YouTube
EmailsFacebook
iPads
Mobile apps
Wikis

Mean
4.62
4.51
4.32
4.05
4.05
3.68
3.43
2.11

Rank
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Technology type
Skype
Pinterest
InstagramWeb blogs
iTunes U
Twitter
Online games

Mean
1.95
1.86
1.84
1.78
1.68
1.46
1.38

The teacher survey results in Table 3 show that the average group score for teachers
in using digital technology for non-academic purposes is 2.85. The teachers often
surfed websites (4.62) for fun, then used LINE (4.51) and watched YouTube videos(4.32). On the other hand, playing online games was not their favorite choice (1.38).
Students’ digital technology use for non-academic purposes
Table 4: Students’ digital technology use for non-academic purposes(Student Survey, Item 13, mean = 3.44)
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Technology type
WebsitesYouTubeMobile apps
LINE
Facebook
Online games
Instagram

Mean
4.86
4.70
4.47
4.37
4.21
4.02
3.91

Rank
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Technology type
Twitter
iTunes U
Web blogs
Wikis
Pinterest
Email
Skype

Mean
3.47
2.74
2.60
2.52
2.48
2.16
1.63

The student survey results in Table 4 reveal that students’ average score for digitaltechnology use for non-academic purposes is 3.44, which is higher than the use foracademic purposes (Q12 = 3.04). The students most enjoyed searching for news andinformation on websites (4.86) for pleasure. They also watched YouTube videos(4.70) very often. They liked to watch series and movies, read novels and listen tointernational songs.
2. Perceptions of technology integration into English curriculumThis section will answer the second research question: “What are teachers’ andstudents’ perceptions of technology integration into English curriculum?” It will be
divided into two sub-sections: teachers’ perceptions and students’ perceptions.
Teachers’ perceptions of technology integration into English curriculum
Based on the teacher survey and interviews, digital technology was primarily
integrated as a tool for communicating, facilitating learning and teaching, and

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searching for learning resources. Many teachers valued technology that could increase
students’ motivation, improve their learning proficiency, and make the class fun andinteresting. However, some teachers were highly concerned with students’ distraction
caused by technology and the unreliability of technology if they would integratetechnology into teaching. It appeared that some teachers were aware of their limited
digital technology skills and their negative attitude towards technology integration
into curriculum. The teachers reported that the biggest obstacles that impeded themfrom incorporating technology were their low technological skills, lack of sufficient
time for class preparation, students’ low English proficiency skills, and students’motivation. However, most teachers were willing to receive more technologicaltraining. As presented, these issues are worth serious consideration by teachers,
teacher educators and policymakers to find practical and accommodating solutions for
effective technology integration in the future.
Students’ perceptions of technology integration into English curriculum
100 percent of students (n = 58) believed that digital technology should be integrated
into English curriculum because technology facilitated their learning and made theclass more enjoyable and engaging. The students showed a positive attitude towards
emerging technologies. About 31 percent of students believed technology was easy to
use and convenient to access a rich variety of online information and up-to-dateresources. Twenty-nine percent of students found technology to be useful for them toexpand their new knowledge and make learning easy and ubiquitous. However, thestudents reported their frustration of the unreliability of WiFi connectivity in thecampus. The students were also worried about losing their finished work on iPads
before submission because of dead battery. They were also afraid of losing their iPadbecause they must pay its depreciation to the university. Furthermore, the students
said that using iPads for learning could give trouble to some students who use a
Samsung smartphone. They must learn new technology skills in order to operate the
IOS on an iPad. This suggests, however, that students have learned to solve technicalproblems by themselves.
In addition, students believed they had more expertise and confidence in websearching skills and their technical skills for using digital tools and social media thantheir teachers. The students reported that they took a course about operating ICTs.
The students found many teachers still lacked adequate technological skills when theyused technology, such as computers and iTunes U courses in the class. A student
complained that it was a waste of class time when some senior teachers did not know
how to solve basic technical problems in the class. The students then requested
teachers to take a course on technology use to better integrate technology into
teaching and learning. Nevertheless, the students showed positive attitude about theteachers’ effort of using technology. They realized that teachers from an older
generation may not be familiar with digital technologies as much as themselves.
Additionally, the students acknowledged that teachers could teach them criticalthinking skills and they knew a number of useful digital tools for learning
development. Thus, most of them expected teachers to guide them to use technologies
productively for self-development in learning and living in the age of enormous
digital information and ubiquitous social media.

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Discussion
Digital technology use of teachers and students
This study’s findings have confirmed Roblyer et al.’s (2010) findings that teachers
preferred emails to Facebook. This study has revealed that the teachers used emails
most, then LINE and Facebook for communication for academic purposes. Moreover,this study supports Roblyer et al. (2010) that students liked to use Facebook to learn
and communicate with teachers. However, they also used LINE, Instagram andTwitter for academic purposes. The students also felt positive towards Facebook, asconfirmed in the findings of Reinhardt and Zander (2011) and Wang and Vasquez(2014). This study also supports the potential of LINE use, such as in Van De
Bogart’s (2014) study that it afforded collaboration between teachers and students.
In contrast to Reinhardt and Zander’s (2011) results, however, the students did not
like a traditional teaching style anymore. They preferred teachers to incorporate
engaging technology-enhanced learning activities in the classroom. It is worth notingthat the student findings in this study support Dudeney et al.’s (2013) argument thatstudents still need teachers’ guidance about technology use. However, this study
slightly differs in that students in generation Z or iGeneration can research and teachthemselves about using technology.
Teachers’ and students’ hurdles of technology integration into English curriculumThis study’s results that the teachers encountered many difficulties in applying
technologies and they needed additional technology training align with other studies(Blake, 2016; Dudeney et al., 2013; Hague & Payton, 2010; Hutchison & Reinking,2011; Nguyen et al., 2015; Pang et al., 2015; Tan & McWilliam, 2009). Even though
this study was conducted in 2018, well into the age of digital technologies, someteachers still preferred print literacy as reported in the study of Tan and McWilliam(2009). The study’s findings imply that many Thai teachers were not confident tointegrate technology into the class, and they thought digital technologies were too
difficult and overwhelming. These common obstacles coexist in the studies of
Hutchison and Reinking (2011), Prensky (2001) and Tan and McWilliam (2009).
The results that most Thai teachers in this study claimed technical problems, such as
the technology unreliability and Internet inaccessibility were their big barriers fortechnology use, are similarly presented in the studies of Lakarnchua and
Wasanasomsithi (2013). However, this argument counters Pang et al.’s (2015) study.
They found Korean teachers do not think lack of technical support is a barrier tointegrate technologies into their teaching. This implies that teachers’ willingness andopen-mindedness are crucial. Moreover, the findings of this study regarding teachers’
complaint of limited class preparation time align with Khamkhien’s (2012) findingsthat teaching overload was a major obstacle for technology integration into instructionin Thailand.
Conclusions and Suggestions for Future ResearchThis qualitative study provides insights of teachers’ and students’ digital technology
use and their perceptions of technology integration into English curriculum. The

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study’s objective is to raise awareness of teachers to embrace digital technologybased learning and teaching to improve students’ digital literacy skills and theirautonomous learning in the era of emerging digital technologies and ICTs. Despite theearnest effort of developing the well-designed research, it took only a nine-weekperiod of data collection, which might not have provided a complete investigation of
the teachers’ and students’ technology use and their perceptions of technology
integration into pedagogy. Hence, future research should conduct a longitudinal studyof a whole semester. For triangulation of reliability, it would be productive that future
research includes policy-makers as participants besides teachers and students to
explore their perceptions about language policies of promoting technology integration
across the university.
Overall, this study may be helpful for teachers who aspire to integrate digitaltechnologies in their classrooms that they can be aware of technological potentials
and limitations. In addition, this study’s findings may spark an interest for a future
research on examining the use of popular learning apps among students and theirpotential in language development.
Acknowledgements
I would like to convey my appreciation to my editors, Thomas and Jim. They gave
valuable suggestions to improve this study and actively edit and proofread the paper.

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settings New literacies, new basics, new pedagogies. Annual Review of Applied
Linguistics 31, 226-246.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2015). Designing Qualitative Research, 6 ed. Los
Angeles: Sage.
th

Nguyen, L., Barton, S. M., & Nguyen, L. T. (2015). iPads in higher education—hypeand hope. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46(1), 190-203.

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OECD/UNESCO. (2016). Education in Thailand: An OECD-UNESCO Perspective.
Reviews of National Policies for Education. OECD Publishing, Paris. Retrieved fromhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264259119-en
Paesani, K., Willis Allen, H. Dupuy, B. (2015). A multiliteracies framework forcollegiate foreign language teaching. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Pang, S., Reinking, D., Hutchison, A., & Ramey, D. (2015). South Korean teachers’
perceptions of integrating information and communication technologies into literacy
instruction. Education Research International, 2015, 1-13. doi:10.1155/2015/783593.
Perez, O. A., Gonzalez, V., Pitcher, M. T., & Golding, P. (2012). Work in progress:
Analysis of mobile technology impact on STEM based courses; specificallyintroduction to engineering in the era of the iPad. In American Society forEngineering Education. American Society for Engineering Education.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the horizon, 9(5), 16.
Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching digital natives: Partnering for real learning. Corwin
Press.
Reinhardt, J., & Nelson, B. K. (2004). Instructor use on online language learning
resources: A survey of socio-institutional and motivational factors. ReCALL, 16(2),292-307.
Reinhardt, J., & Zander, V. (2011). Social networking in an intensive English
program classroom: A language socialization perspective. CALICO Journal, 28(2),326-344.
Riley, P. (2013). Teaching, learning, and living with iPads. Music Educators Journal,
100(1), 81-86. Retrieved fromhttp://www.jstor.org.ezproxy3.library.arizona.edu/stable/43288776
Roblyer, M. D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J. V. (2010).
Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty andstudent uses and perceptions of social networking sites. The Internet and Higher
Education, 13(3), 134-140.
Seidman, I. (2013). Interviewing as qualitative research. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Siricharoen, W. V., & Siricharoen, N. (2012). Media and information literacy (MIL)
for Thai youths. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology,
International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business andIndustrial Engineering, 6(7), 1897-1901.
Strickland, B., & O’Brien, M. G. (2013). A review of the literature on technology insecond and foreign language learning. The Language Research Centre at the
University of Calgary.
Tan, J. P. L., & McWilliam, E. (2009). From literacy to multiliteracies: Diverse
learners and pedagogical practice. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 4(3), 213225.

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Theerathean, T., & Srikulwong, M. (2015). Pedagogy enhancement with mobile
learning: A case study of the university of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. The
Second International Conference on Education Technologies and Computers (ICRTC2015).
Van De Bogart, W. G. (2014). Evaluating digital literacy skills of EFL Thai students’using LINE chat application. Executive Journal, 34(1), 166-176.
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SAGE/Learning Matters.
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Foreign and Second Language Education, 29(12), 42-67.
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Contact email: jeabpornnicha@gmail.com

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APPENDIX A
TEACHER SURVEY
Digital Literacies and Perceptions on Technology-enhanced Language TeachingThis survey should take you about 20 minutes to complete. Thank you very much forproviding information that will be used to improve digital literacy education.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Email address: ___________________________
Please circle your responses.
1. What is your gender?
FemaleMale
2. How old are you? 25-29
30-39
40-49
Above 50
3. What is the highest degree you have completed? (Indicate the name of yourprogram)____________________________________________________________________
4. How many years of English teaching experience have you had?
1-4 years
5-9 years
10-14 years
15-19 years
20-25 years
More than 25 years
5. How many hours a week do you teach?
5-9 Hours
10-14 hours
15-19 hours More than 19hours
6. Please write the course name(s) you are teaching.
____________________________________________________________________
7. Please circle the position on the continuum that best describes your technology use
for academic purposes.
Never (1)
Always (5)Seldom (2)Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)a) I use Websites as sources to teach English.
12345b) I use iPads to teach English.
12345c) I use ITunes U to teach English.
12345d) I use mobile apps / software for teaching (e.g., online dictionary). 1 2345e) I use social network sites for language teaching (e.g., Duolingo). 1 2345f) I use Wikis to teach English.
12345g) I use blogs to develop my writing.
12345h) I use emails to communicate with students.
12345i) I use Twitter to teach English.
12345j) I use Instagram to teach English.
12345k) I use Skype to communicate with students.
12345l) I use LINE to teach English.
12345m) I use Facebook to teach English and communicate with students. 1 2345n) I use virtual games (e.g., Second Life, World of Warcraft) to teachEnglish.
12345

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12345p) I use YouTube videos to teach English.
12345q) I use Clickers to teach English.
12345
8. What is the most frequent technology you use for teaching? (e.g., ITunes U
course management, Facebook, YouTube, Dictionary app, Line, Google (Safari),
Mail, Game apps)____________________________________________________________________
9. How do you apply the technology you mentioned to teaching?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Please circle the position on the continuum that best describes your technology
use for NON- academic purposes.
Never (1) Seldom (2)Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)Always (5)a) I surf websites for fun to read interesting things.
12345b) I use iPads for fun.
12345c) I use iTunes U course to read for fun.
12345d) I use mobile apps for living and fun.
12345e) I use emails to communicate with family and friends.
12345f) I read and write on the Wikis for fun.
12345g) I read and write blogs for fun.
12345h) I use Twitter for fun.
12345i) I use Instagram for fun.
12345j) I use Skype for fun and communication with family and friends.
12345k) I use LINE chat app for fun and communication with family and friends. 1 2345l) I use Facebook for fun and communication with family and friends.
12345m) I play virtual games (e.g., Second Life, World of Warcraft).
12345n) I use Pinterest for fun.
12345o) I watch YouTube videos for fun.
12345
11. What is the most frequent technology you use for fun? (e.g., Facebook,YouTube, Dictionary app, Line, Google (Safari), Mail, Game apps)_______________________________________________________________________

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12. How do you use technology you mentioned for fun?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13. What are your assumptions on how your STUDENTS use technology inlearning English?
Never (1) Seldom (2)
a)
345
b)
345
c)
345
d)
345
e)
345
f)
345
g)
345
h)
345
i)
345
j)
345
k)
345
l)
345
m)
345
n)
345
o)
345
p)
345

Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)Always (5)They use Websites to learn English.

12

They use iPads to help them learn English.

12

They use iTunes U course to learn English.

12

They use mobile apps to learn English (e.g., online dictionary)

12

They use social network sites for language learning (Duolingo)

12

They use Wikis to learn English.

12

They use blogs to learn English.

12

They use emails to communicate with teachers.

12

They use Twitter to learn English.

12

They use Instagram to learn English.

12

They use Skype to communicate with teachers and classmates.

12

They use LINE to learn English.

12

They use Facebook to learn English.

12

They play virtual games (e.g., Second Life) to learn English.

12

They use Pinterest to learn English.

12

They watch YouTube videos to learn English.

12

14. What are your assumptions on how your STUDENTS use technologies for fun?
Never (1)
Always (5)Seldom (2)Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)a) They surf webs to read interesting information for fun.
345b) They use iPads for fun.
345c) They use iTunes U course to read for fun.
345

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12
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12345e) They use Wikis for fun.
12345f) They use blogs for fun.
12345g) They use emails to communicate with family and friends.
12345h) They use Twitter for fun.
12345i) They use Instagram for fun.
12345j) They use Skype to communicate with family and friends for fun. 1 2345k) They use LINE for fun.
12345l) They use Facebook for fun.
12345m) They play virtual games (e.g., Second Life, World of Warcraft). 1 2345n) They use Pinterest for fun.
12345o) They watch YouTube videos for fun.
12345
DIGITAL PARTICIPATION
15. How many hours per day do you participate in the digital community?
0 = Never
1 = less than 1 hour
2 = 1-2 hours
3 = 2-3 hours
4 = 3-4 hours
5 = more than 4 hoursa) Facebook
012345b) Twitter01
2345c) YouTube
012345d) Instagram
012345e) Line012345f) Web blog
012345g) Online news and updates
012345h) Online games
01
2345i) Other online communities (e.g., Pantip)
01
2345
ENGAGEMENT & COMFORT WITH TECHNOLOGY
16. How do you engage and feel about the following?
Never / Very Low (1)High (5)Low (2)Medium (3)High (4)Verya) I took college courses devoted to technology-enhanced language teaching. 1 2345b) I have had sufficient training with technology usage from the university. 1 2345c) I collaborate with other teachers to design technology -enhanced language

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teaching activities.
12345d) I am interested in learning more about technology -enhanced language
teaching.
12
34
5
12

e) I prefer to develop my technology skills by doing.
345f) I prefer to receive technological trainings and support.
12345g) I am comfortable with using digital technologies for teaching.
12345h) I am comfortable with using digital technologies for fun.
12345i) I am confident about choosing appropriate digital tools to support teaching. 1
2345j) I am confident about designing innovative teaching materials with digitaltechnologies.
12345
17. What are your perceptions on different barriers to integrate technology into
curriculum?
(5)

A Very High Barrier (1)

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

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a)High (2) Medium (3) Low (4) A Very Low Barrier

Personal Motivation

1 2

3 4

b) Collaboration with other teachers

1 2

3 4

c)

Technological training and support

1 2

3 4

d) University infrastructures and facilities

1 2

3 4

e)

Budgeting for new technologies (apps)

1 2

3 4

f)

Technology and Internet access

1 2

3 4

g) Time for teaching preparation

1 2

3 4

h) Classroom management

1 2

3 4

i)

Assessment aligned with technology use

1 2

3 4

j)

Technical problems in the classroom

1 2

3 4

k) Institutional policies and administration

1 2

3 4

l)

1 2

3 4

m) Teaching methods and styles

1 2

3 4

n) Teaching loads and responsibilities

1 2

3 4

o) Technological skills of my own

1 2

3 4

Subject content

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5
5
5
5

Official Conference Proceedingsp) Technological skills of students

1 2

3 4

q) English proficiency of students

1 2

3 4

r)

Motivation of students

1 2

3 4

s)

Learning styles of students

1 2

3 4

18. What might be the biggest obstacle that impede your technology integration into
curriculum?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19. What are your perceptions on your institution related to technology integration
into teaching?
(5)

Very Low (1)Low (2)Medium (3)High (4)Very Higha) I am satisfied with the university’s technological support and training.
1 2 3 45b) I am satisfied with the university’s technological infrastructure. 1 2 3 45c) I am satisfied with the university’s policy about increasing technology
integration.
1 2 3 45d) I am satisfied with the university’s policy about taking online exams on
iPads.
1 2 3 45e) I am satisfied with the university’s policy about creating iTunes U courses.
1 2 3 45f) I am satisfied with the university’s policy about encouraging the use of
iPads and other technologies.
1 2 3 4 5
20. What are your perceptions on these technology-enhanced language teachingactivities aimed to promote your digital literacies?
Strongly disagree (1) Disagree (2)Neither Agree or Disagree (3)Agree (4)Strongly Agree (5)a) Having a technology mentor/ tutor.
5b) Creating an e-teaching portfolio.
5c) Creating a YouTube video project.
5

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1 2

3 4

1 2

3 4

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1 2 3 45e) Creating a teacher blog.
1 2 3 45f) Creating a Twitter.
1 2 3 45g) Creating a Facebook page for teachers who are interested in technology.
1
2 3 4 5h) Creating a teacher website.
1 2 3 45i) Creating a LINE group to discuss technology use.
1 2 3 4
5
DIGITAL LITERACIES
21. In your own words, how would you define digital literacies?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22. What is your level of digital literacies (according to your own understanding of
this term)?
Very Low (1)(5)

Low (2)Medium (3)High (4)Very High

23. Generally, what is your digital literacies compared to typical undergraduate
students?
Much Lower (1)Lower (2)Medium (3) Higher (4)MuchHigher (5)24. Generally, what is your digital literacies compared to people around your age?
Much Lower (1)Lower (2)Medium (3) Higher (4)MuchHigher (5)25. In your opinion, are digital literacies necessary to be taught in your course? Whyor why not?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26. What factors influence you to select particular technology in teaching? (e.g.,
students’ need, students’ motivation, your interest, your expertise, your institutional
policy)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27. How do you apply iTunes U course management to your teaching?
__________________________________________________________________

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28. How do you apply iPads to your teaching?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
29. What are the benefits and drawbacks of technology-enhanced language
teaching?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30. What do you think can help you become more confident and comfortable withtechnology integration into English teaching?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Would you like to participate in an in-depth interview session? If yes, please write
your contact information below:
Phone number: _____________________Name: ___________________________
Thank you very much for your participation in this survey!

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APPENDIX BSTUDENT SURVEY
Digital Technology use and Perceptions of Technology-enhanced Language
Learning
This survey should take you about 20 minutes to complete. Thank you for providing
information that will be used to improve digital literacy education.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. Please write your course code or course name: _______________
2. Gender (circle one):
FemaleMale
3. How old are you? _______________
4. What is your program/ major of study? ______________
5. What is your academic level? (circle one) Freshman / Sophomore / Junior / Senior
TECHNOLOGY PROFICIENCY
6. Generally, what is your skill level as a user of desktop /laptop computers
compared to typical undergraduate students? (circle one)
Much Lower (1) Lower (2)Average (3) Higher (4)Much Higher (5)7. Generally, what is your skill level as a user of desktop/laptop computers
compared to people around the age of 50? (circle one)
Much Lower (1) Lower (2)Average (3) Higher (4)Much Higher (5)8. How often do you access iTunes U courses? (circle one)
Never
Once a week 2-3 times per week 4-5 times per week Every day
9. What do you usually do on iTunes U? (Please specify)_________________________________________________________________
10. What is the most frequent thing (app / tool) you use your mobile device for whenlearning a language? Please DO NOT include ITunes U.
_________________________________________________________________
11. What is the most frequent thing (app / tool) you use your mobile device to do forfun? Please DO NOT include “talking on the phone”.
_________________________________________________________________
Technology use for academic purposes
12. Please circle the position on the continuum that best describes your technology
use in learning English
Never (1)Seldom (2)Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)Always (5)a) I use the Internet to get access to news and videos in English.
12345b) I use iPads to help me learn English.
12345c) I use iTunes U course to read materials, do assignments and view thetest scores.
12345d) I use mobile apps for learning (e.g., online dictionary)
12345e) I use social network sites for language learning (e.g., Duolingo)
12345f) I use Wikis in learning English.
12345g) I use blogs to improve my writing in English.
12345h) I use emails to communicate with teachers in English.
12345i) I use Twitter to learn English.
12345

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12345k) I use Skype to communicate with teachers and classmates in English.
12345l) I use LINE chat app for learning (e.g., communicate with teachers andparticipate in group discussions)
12345m) I use Facebook to learn English and communicate with teachers. 1 2345n) I use virtual games (e.g., Second Life, World of Warcraft) to improve
my English.
12345o) I use Pinterest to learn English.
12345p) I watch YouTube videos to learn English.
12345Technology use for non- academic purposes
13. Please circle the position on the continuum that best describes your technology
use for fun.
Never (1)Seldom (2)Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)Always (5)a) I surf the web for fun to find interesting things to read and watch
videos and listen to music.
12345b) I use iTunes U course to find books to read for fun.
345c) I use mobile apps for living and fun.
345d) I use emails to communicate with family and friends.
345e) I read and write on the Wikis for fun.
345f) I use blogs for fun.
345g) I use Twitter for fun.
345h) I use Instagram for fun with family and friends.
345i) I use Skype for fun and communication with family and friends.
345j) I use LINE chat app for fun and communication with family andfriends.

12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12

12
345
k) I use Facebook for fun and communication with family and friends.1 2345l) I play virtual games (e.g., Second Life, World of Warcraft).
12345m) I use Pinterest for fun.
12345n) I watch YouTube videos for fun.
12345

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14. Explain in detail in the space below how you would define digital literacy.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15. Please indicate your level of digital literacy (according to your own
understanding of this term).
Very low (1)Low (2)Medium (3) High (4)(5)

Very High

16. Please indicate your ability to do the following. (Circle your response)
On a scale of 1 to 5 to indicate how difficult or easy it isvery difficult (1)difficult (2) average (3) easy (4)very easy(5)a. Type English texts
1 2 3 4
5
b. Create a multimedia presentation.
1 2 3 4
5c. Upload a video to YouTube.
1 2 3 4
5
d. Use the main features of Facebook.
1 2 3 45e. Use the main features of Twitter.
1 2 3 4
5
f. Use the main features of Line Chat.
1 2 3 4
5
g. Use the main features of Instagram.
1 2 3 45h. Use a search engine (Google, Safari).
1 2 3 4
5
i. Create/ send / receive phone text messages.
1 2 3 4
5
j. Take photos and record videos with smartphones.
1 2 3 4
5
k. Download and use mobile phone apps.
1 2 3 45l. Use computer programming to create software.
1 2 3 4
5
m. Decide if online information is accurate.
1 2 3 4
5
n. Identify the original source of online information.
1 2 3 4
5o. Determine the viewpoint/bias of online information
1 2 3 4
5
17. In your opinion, should social media or technology be integrated into English
language curriculum? Why or why not?
YES because _______________________________________________________NO because _______________________________________________________
18. Is it important for you to receive digital literacy instruction for learning English?
YES because_______________________________________________________NO because _______________________________________________________
19. How often do you create projects that use videos, music, images for school andwork?

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Never (1)
Always (5)Seldom (2)Official Conference Proceedings

Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)20. How often do you create projects that use videos, music, images for fun in yourfree time?
Never (1)Seldom (2)Sometimes (3)Frequently (4)Always (5)21. Would you like to participate in a focus group discussion session?
No
If yes, please write your contact information below:
Phone number: ________________
Email: _______________________
Thank you very much for your participation in this survey!

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Collaborative Assistive Technology in Mathematics Learning for Students with
Special Needs
Rou-Rou Sung, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Shu-Wen Lin, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Chien-Yu Lin, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
This study is an interactive and collaborative assistive technology in mathematics
learning for students with special needs. The participants in this study were 3 first
grade of elementary school students who with autism spectrum disorder, intellectualand developmental disability and developmental delay respectively. The purpose wasto promote interpersonal interaction, active participation, and understanding inmathematics for students with special needs. The researcher has used 3D printing
adaptive switches and modified toy combined with addition and subtraction arithmetic,
to advance their interpersonal interact, participative of initiative, and comprehensionof mathematics. Description of design activity：1. Introduced students to 3D printing
adaptive switches and modified toy. 2. Guide students to calculate the number ofsmall fish on the modified toy. 3. Game descriptions. 4. Students are divided into 2
groups, one person operates the adaptive switch and the other is responsible forfishing (This section has student assistants participating in the grouping). 5. Writemathematical problems on the blackboard. 6. Assist students to operate and compete.
7. Sharing and giving feedback after the event is over. During the process, improvestudents' learning performance through specific operations; the emphasis on teamcooperation, to cultivate more cooperative behavior; improve learning motivation
through interesting teaching materials. Via case study paradigm, collect professional
advice and feedback from their participants and special education teachers.
Keyword：assistive technology, adaptive switch, students with special needs

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Technological advancements have been achieved one after another in the 21st century.
The number of users of assistive technology continues to increase and this makes
choice and application of appropriate assistive technology devices and services all themore important. The condition of each user has to be taken into account, including
individual characteristics, preferences, perception and attitude, in order to prevent
users from abandoning assistive technology as consequence of unsatisfactory results.
It is pointed out in the study by Badian (1999) that close to 7% of students havetrouble learning math. Among students with special needs, whether in learning mathor other subjects, the ratio of learning difficulty is even higher. Unified teaching andprogress is often emphasized in the courses of regular classes and the individual
differences and needs of students with special needs are neglected (Hou, 2004). Under
such circumstances, students with special needs are unable to catch up with theprogress and eventually have to be removed from regular classes and put in special
education or resource classrooms for individualized instruction.
At present, application of assistive technology in special education continues todevelop and bring a variety of positive influence on learning and everyday life forchildren with special needs. However, considerable differences exist between suchchildren. They face dissimilar problems and needs. For this reason, particular design
and modification are required in application of assistive technology in special
education, whether regarding teaching materials and instruments or teaching strategies,
to help children with special needs to learn more effectively.
Studies conducted by scholars have indicated there are four reasons why students
have low achievements in math learning, including math being difficult tocomprehend, math learning being boring, math learning making them feel lonely andmath being inapplicable in daily life. Therefore, improving learning motives,
simplifying math-teaching strategies, increasing the fun in learning and applicability
in everyday life, and making it possible for students to learn through teamwork can
improve the effect of learning for students (Liang, 2011). Meanwhile, games are an
important part in children’s life. Incorporation of games in teaching can achieve thefollowing: 1) making learning more fun, 2) eliminating external purposes, 3) turninglearning into a voluntary, active and free choice, 4) stimulating enthusiasm inparticipation and 5) linking learning to things in daily life (Liebmann, 1991).
Integration of technology and games is bound to become an important direction in
special education. The authors of this paper have applied the abovementioned
concepts in special education. Through integration of assistive technology and games,
the motives of students for learning math have been improved. Learning throughteamwork has promoted interactions between children with special needs. Students
have improved their ability to comprehend mathematics and associate their learningwith everyday life.
MethodThe case study method was adopted. Teaching activities were particularly designed
while assistive technology and toy games were integrated to conduct learningintervention. Special switches produced with 3D printing were used in combination
with modified toys and applied in addition teaching for first graders. Students

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cooperated to calculate and answer math questions. Afterwards, the professionalsuggestions and feedback from special education teachers participating in the activity
were obtained.
Study Subjects
The study was performed on three first graders with special needs. Their handicaps
were respectively autism spectrum disorder(ASD), developmental delay (who wassuspected as intellectual and developmental disability), and intellectual anddevelopmental disability(IDD). The two students with development al delay andintellectual and developmental disability had been pulled out of regular classes andput in the special education classroom for math learning. The other student with
autism spectrum disorder had been assessed by the special education teacher as
needing interaction ability enhancement and was therefore included in this study to
improve the ability to interact with others.
Study Instruments
1. Special switches produced with 3D printing
The team called Excellent Assistive Technology, AxcellenT for short (see Fig. 1),
created by the graduate institute the authors are attending designs and produces
various special switches in accordance with the conditions of different children withspecial needs, including push switches, wobble switches and pull switches (see Fig. 2).
Such special switches are pressed to activate modified toys. In this study, theparticipants had to activate modified toys through teamwork to execute their missions.
In order to help more children with special needs, AxcellenT offer the public to use its
special switches design for free service (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 1 Axcellent website

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Fig. 2 Various Switches

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Fig. 3 Public Special Switches Design
2. Fishing toys available on the market
The power source for the motor of fishing toys available on the market was modified(see Fig. 4), so that a special switch could replace the power source and the toy could
be activated by pressing the special switch

Fig. 4 Toy Modification

3. Audio cables
The audio cable is an important medium to connect and activate special switches andmodified toys. After each end was hooked up, the participants could activate the toy
by pressing the special switch (see Fig. 5).

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Fig. 5 A modified Toy and a Special Switch
Connected with an Audio Cable
Teaching Process Description
1. Introducing the special switches and rotating fishing toys
In their daily life, many people with physical and mental disabilities are unable tooperate different objects, such as household appliances, toys, environmental control
equipment, etc. With special switches complying with their needs, these people will
be able to reduce the gap between them and the environment and even improve theirconnection with the outside world. Hence, it is particularly important that the
purposes of special switches and how they are to be used have to be explained to theparticipants (see Fig. 6).

Fig. 6 Introduction of Special
Switches and Rotating Fishing Toys
2. Guiding students to count the quantity of fish in the fishing toy
Many people have the experience of counting from one to one hundred in childhood.
Learning math is learning language. Making the participants count the quantity of fish
can help develop their mathematical language and improve their calculation ability
and cognitive integration (see Fig. 7).

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Fig. 7 Students Counting the Quantity of Fish in the Fishing Toy under Guidance
3. Game explanation:
Due to the disability and age of the participants, the game was explained without
using difficult words. Simple and structural explanations were given to assure theparticipants could fully understand the rules of the game and how the game should beplayed (see Fig. 8).

Fig. 8 Game Explanation

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4. Grouping
The participants were paired up, one to operate the special switch to activate the toy
and the other to do the fishing. Since there were three participants, a volunteer who
was a university student had to be included to complete grouping (see Fig. 9).

Fig. 9 Grouping and Discussion
5. Display of mathematical questions on the blackboard
Initially, a simple one-digit addition question (2+1=) was written on the blackboard
for demonstration. After it was certain that the participants really understood the gameand how to operate the toy, the actual teaching began and questions were given (seeFig. 10).

Fig. 10 Game Explanation
6. Students operating the fishing toy under assistance to engage in a competition
Addition questions appropriate for first graders were written on the blackboard for theteam members to discuss and find the solutions before the number of fishcorresponding to the solutions were to be fished out. The participants had to activate
the modified toy and start fishing through teamwork. The team member responsible

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for pressing the special switch had to continue to press the switch for the fish to turnand open their mouths, so that the one in charge of fishing could catch the fish (seeFig. 11).

Fig. 11 Students Operating the Fishing Toy under Assistance and to Engage in aCompetition

7. Participants sharing experience and giving feedback after the activity ended
After the competition ended, the participants were praised for their performance andalso given the opportunity to share experience and give feedback about the activity(see Fig. 12).

Fig. 12 Experience Sharing and Feedback
Giving

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Conclusions and Suggestions
Application of assistive technology integrated with games in special education has
gradually become a tendency. Based on the study process, observations and feedback
from the special education teachers of the participants, the authors have come up withthe following conclusions and suggestions:
Conclusions:
1. Design of interesting teaching materials and teaching methods in combination
with integration of assistive technology and games can improve the motives ofchildren with special needs to learn.
2. When teamwork is stressed to encourage children with special needs tocooperate, such cooperative learning can increase the opportunity and ability ofstudents with special needs to interact with others.
3. Actual operation of assistive technology devices, besides improving the ability ofchildren with special needs to comprehend and calculate, can also help them apply
what they learn in daily life and upgrade their cognitive abilities.
4. This teaching method is easy to understand. Parents of students with special
needs can learn to apply it to allow their children to operate the game at home.
5. Post-activity reflection is emphasized, so that related experiences can beaccumulated to lay the foundation for improvement of mathematical knowledge.
Suggestions:
1. The instruments used in this study can be adopted to develop more teachingapproaches, such as for subtraction calculation, continuous application of addition andsubtraction, etc. to enhance the mathematical comprehension and application of
students with special needs.
2. The teaching method using games is not suitable for every student with special
needs. Assessment of the condition of each student is required to determine whether
the method is appropriate.
3. The time of teaching method using games also needs evaluation. If students withspecial needs have other classes afterwards, learning by playing fun games may cause
them to make comparisons with subsequent classes and they might not be able tolearn effectively as a result of loss of attention or physical exertion. For this reason, it
is recommended that the teaching using games can be conducted before lunch breakor during the last class of the day.

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References
Badian, N. (1999). Persistent arithmetic,reading or arithmetic and reading disability.
Annuals of Dyslexia, 49, 45-70.
Fuchs, L. S.,& Fuchs, D. (2001). Principles for the prevention and intervention ofmathematics difficulties. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 16(2), 85-95.
Gersten, R., Jordan, N. C., & Flojo, J. R. (2005). Early identification and interventions
for students with mathematics difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38(4),293-304.
Hou, C. T. (2004). Mathematics learning difficulties, teaching strategies and creative
game mathematics application for child with special education need. Taichung City:
National Taichung University of Education.
Liebmann, M. (1991). Art therapy for groups: A hand book of themes, games andexercises. London: Routledge.
Lee, L. (2011). A Study on the Use of Technology of Sounds and Physical Movementwith Visually Impaired Children. Chaoyang Journal of Humanities and Social
Sciences, 9(2), 1-22.
Liang, S. K. (2012). Strategies for mathematics learning low achievers remedial
teaching. Journal of Education Research, 221, 25-36.
Yang, K. T. (2003). Curriculum and Instruction for students with mathematics
Learning disabilities. Taipei City: Special Education Center, University of Taipei.
Contact Email: srj1216@gmail.com

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Manufactory: Promoting 3D Spatial Skills with Productive Failure and
Educational Games
Nana Tian, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Vinayak Teoh Kanappan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Jeffrey Hong Yan Jack, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Ayesha Fathima, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Owen Noel Newton Fernando, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Hock Soon Seah, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Anupam Chattopadhyay, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Abstract
This research study investigated an innovative teaching and learning framework thatincorporated educational games utilizing the proven concept of Productive Failure(PF). The aim of the research study was to enhance students' learning experience andimprove their understanding in the threshold concepts of product design,
manufacturing and assembly. As a measure to promote active learning, an educational
game was introduced in the problem-solving phase of PF. A 3D puzzle game titled“Manufactory” was designed, developed and implemented to assist students inimproving their 3D spatial abilities. In order to test the presented framework, an
experiment was conducted where students were allocated to either a Productive
Failure (PF) or Direct Learning (DL) group. For the PF group, students were firstrequired to solve problems in the puzzle game independently during the problemsolving phase, before instructions were given in the second delayed instruction phase.
A conventional teaching approach was conducted for the DL group. Results from theexperiment reflected that students in the PF group achieved a distinctive improvement,
raising their average score by 40 percent and outperforming students in the DL groupwith 22 percent greater progression during the post-test. The experiment displayed
evidence that the 3D educational game design provided an engaging environment forthe problem-solving phase, which served as the primary motivation for effective
absorption of the concepts in the delayed instruction phase.
Keywords: Productive failure, 3D spatial skills, Educational games, Game basedlearning.

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Cultivating and improving 3D spatial skills is crucial for students studying in thefields of product design/ industrial design/ mechanical engineering and is the mostfundamental determinant of future success (Sorby & S.A., 2009). 3D spatial ability is
one of the most important factors that can influence a students’ design performance(Liao & L.H., 2017). In product design, the ability can be represented as the capacity
to imagine 3D models or shapes in the mind (Martín-Gutiérrez, J., Saorín, Contero,
Alcañiz, Pérez-López & Ortega, 2010). Specifically, spatial conversion ability (Liao& L.H., 2017), reflecting transformation between 3D perspective and 2D perspective,
is claimed to be the most critical among the spatial abilities.
However, students often have trouble visualizing a two-dimensional blueprint
drawing of a three-dimensional object, which severely affects their understanding on
how features of a product like case walls, bosses, snap fits and ribs are drawn.
Additionally, students may overlook including one or many of these features in theirdrawings, which is detrimental to designing high-quality products.
Conventional instruction for creating two-dimensional blueprint drawings did notnecessarily bridge the gap between students’ academic backgrounds and the subject
matter and principles. These gaps can be reduced by first creating a cognitive
connection between the academic content and the student’s ability, the method
proposed for this project was to transform the learning content into a playful medium
to attract students’ attention. A second method of giving detailed instructions was also
employed to help students to consolidate knowledge and develop their learning
abilities. This learning design was inspired by a scientifically proven theory called“Productive Failure” (Kapur, 2008).
Productive failure (PF) is a recently proposed learning design that encourages
students to get involved in searching and generating original solutions to complex and
ill-structured problems before the instructional course (Jasper, 2013). PF has been
applied and tested in the British Advanced level (A-Level) curriculum; therefore thesame benefits are expected when integrating PF design in tertiary education. Since
failure is an integral and unpleasant part of both learning and playing video games(Jasper, 2013), there is a prospect for mapping failure in games and failure in
productive failure from a psychological perspective. What is relevant for this research
project is that the approach to a product design consists of the abilities to address illdefined problems, apply solution centered strategies, use productive thinking andadopt spatial modelling techniques (Cross, 1990).
Previous research has identified the importance of 3D spatial skills for product design
students, along with the demand to figure out the relationship between 3D spatial
ability and design performance in 3D product design (Liao & K.H., 2017). With thisis mind, an educational game combined with productive failure learning design titled
Manufactory was developed with an aim to help students in improving their skills inorthographic projection, sectioning visualization and spatial awareness.

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To answer those assumptions, we listed the following three pertinent researchquestions:• Can the concept of Productive Failure be successfully translated to tertiary
education?
• To what extent can tertiary educational content be transformed into
educational games?
• Can educational games serve and function as ill-structured problems in the
productive failure design phase?
The methodology involves three key constructs: The first challenge is to translate thekey learning contents of product design into an attractive game that could foster
cognitive absorption and comprehensive understanding. The second consideration is
to use the game as an ill-structured mediator nested in the productive failure design
structure. Finally, in the third phase of the project, an evaluation is carefully planned
to test the overall effect of the game and productive failure.
Related work
With the rapid development of multimedia technology, educators have developed
creative solutions and training approaches to help students develop their spatial
visualization skills.
Jorge Martin and his research group developed a book based three dimensional
visualization tool using Augmented Reality (Martín-Gutiérrez et al, 2010) where
fiducial markers on the book were captured by webcams and 3D models weredisplayed through the markers. Students could observe different perspectives ofvirtual models by turning or rotating the book, this tool was perceived positively by
students. However, the system lacked interaction, and the indirect interaction could
cause a disconnection between what was seen and what could be manipulated. The
system mainly relied on camera detection, which could have lighting issues anddistortion problems. Furthermore, vision was constrained to limited areas (marker size)and could cause strain on eyes (Van Krevelen, D. W. F., & Poelman, 2010).
Ahmad Rafi (Rafi, Anuar, Samad, Hayati, & Mahadzir, 2005) introduced a web-based
virtual environment, which was designed to provide an immersive learning system
and improve students’ spatial ability. The students could involve themselves ininteractions like rotating virtual objects to identify orientations or folding andunfolding 2D surfaces that could be transformed into 3D models. Overall, learningwith web-based virtual environment turned out to be more efficient than the
traditional learning practices. However, the system offered very limited interactions.
It is hard to conclude that the operations are intriguing and engaging from a long-term
perspective.
Apparently, learning games have gained widespread popularity in educational fields.
Stephen W. Crown (Crown & S.W., 2001) developed a well-received web-based
game to help students improve their visualization skills through instant feedback andinstructional puzzles. It shared mixed features of a puzzle game and a visualized quizand had gradually increasing levels of difficulty. It could be noted that the challenges
in puzzle formats had motivated students to develop a more profound understandingof difficult concepts.

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Manufactory: The game design
The game includes many features and interactions that are familiar to students
studying product design and provides a controlled environment where they can
explore elements of the game on their own and use different strategies to complete thegame. In such a controlled environment, students can fail and have a chance to learn
from their failures and discover what is needed to succeed. Students are encouraged torefer to their learning materials based on hints that the game provides and findsolutions to areas in which they are unsuccessful.
Technology
The game was developed in Unity, a popular game engine among the independent
game developer community. Unity was chosen due to its low learning curve, powerfulscripting engine and asset store containing many useful scripts and game assets, agood community and reliable answers-solution forum. The engine allows quick
prototyping and has helped during the development of the game where design results
can be seen rather quickly and be iterated.
Mechanics
Manufactory contains 11 levels, arranged in ascending order of difficulty, where eachlevel is a product, which students must assemble from pre-built parts by selecting
appropriate blueprint images on the left, as seen in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: A level being played in the game.
The images are rendered in 2D orthographic views, in both cross-sectional andorthogonal views, ranging from bad quality to good quality, which can be seen in
Figure 2 below. The goal of the player is to identify blueprints drawn in the highest
quality and selecting them to fabricate the parts and assembling them into a set ofelectronic components to create the product, an example of which can be seen in

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Figure 3 below. A sound cue is played when parts are correctly assembled in place. Inan event of a misjudgment or carelessness, players can detach and or delete parts.

Figure 2: Dialog that appears when a blueprint image is selected.

Figure 3: Assembling fabricated part onto electric components.
A button to complete the level will reveal once the product is assembled and clicking
on the button will reveal a result screen displaying the completion time, score, andmistakes. The result screen as seen below serves as a form of feedback from the gameand the consequence of their actions in the game.

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Figure 4: Feedback window after players complete the level.
The students are familiar with 3D computer-aided design programs such as
Rhinoceros, Keyshot, and Solidworks for modelling and creating renderings, thus thegame’s control scheme operates in a similar fashion to those programs. Controls
include:1. Viewport navigation controls such as zoom, dolly, and rotation using the mousebuttons.
2. To move objects around, common controls found in such 3D programs like thetransform gizmos, object translation and rotation are provided. This createsfamiliarity and reduces the learning curve for the game.
A manual as seen in Figures 5 to 7 is included in the game to guide players who are
new to the game. It introduces all the interactive elements in the game, the controls,
rules and objectives of the game. The manual presents itself in a book like manner,
introducing each element in a guided, progressive way.

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Figure 5: User’s manual showing the objectives of the game.

Figure 6: The manual showing the game’s interactive elements.

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Figure 7: Camera controls in the manual.
The mechanics were designed in such a way to cultivate the improvement on threedimensional spatial skills and projection skills of students. The game contains similar
control schemes to Rafi’s (Rafi et al, 2005) work. However, in contrast to Rafi’s
solution, ours comes with added interactions like the puzzles and providing playerswith goals that create better long-term engagement. Our game includes roughly thesimilar kind of mechanics in Crown’s solution (Crown & S.W., 2001) including
puzzle-based levels, increasing level of difficulty and instant feedback. However,there was no emphasis on making failure of students as part of the motivation
required to further understand the subject on a deeper level. Our solution highlights
this, so that students can create a more profound understanding of their subject andbecome better at their craft in the long term.
Aesthetics
Creating immersion and suspension of disbelief among players is important as it
creates the perception and illusion among players that they are involved in the gameworld, which can further increase motivation to complete the goals in the game
(Schell, 2014).
With the target audience being product design students, the game needs to fulfill their
expectations of what a product design game should look and feel like. With that inmind, the game world is set in a modern product design studio environment. The
game intends to emulate elements of a product design studio, primarily the interior
design, lighting and color scheme and feel.
As a result, the game uses a simple color palette filled with whites, greys, subtle
yellows, subtle blues and purple tints and is littered with things that can be typicallyfound in a design studio.

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By creating an environment, which the target audience can relate to, they can feel
more connected and involved in the world. Combined with the standard 3D programlike controls, which should be familiar with the target audience, as well as themechanics where players’ goals are to assemble the product from parts through athorough selection of sectioning images further amplify the immersion because
players can interact with the world in a meaningful way.

Figure 8: The main game screen.
In the figure above, the game utilizes the minimalist approach in its aesthetic toreduce clutter, be in the game world or its user interface. Animations and soundcontribute to the overall aesthetic in a meaningful manner as well. An animation of an
injection molding machine included in the game is played along with sounds themachine makes when players construct a part from selection of a blueprint image.
Since many product designers will be working with such a machine in their industry,
resulting in an even more relatable environment to the target audience.

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Figure 9: Building animation showing the injection molding machine.
Many of the solutions mentioned do not seem to have a world or space specifically
crafted to create additional immersion to create engagement among players. For
example, with Martin’s AR solution (Martín-Gutiérrez et al, 2010), there was theissue of disconnection between the interaction and visuals on the screen whereparameters and variables of the real world can affect how the players perceive
themselves in the game. They may not feel part of the game as the digital and physicalrealms are clearly divided in AR. Other solutions such as Rafi’s (Rafi et al, 2005) andCrown’s (Crown & S.W., 2001) also do not offer a world but just the learning content,
which can be fine on their own but may not offer the long-term engagement that canbe beneficial in the goal of making students learn and understand the subject at a
deeper level.
Experiment design
Theoretically, it looks promising that educational games and productive failure aresomehow compatible with each other, practically however, there is no precedent, thisexperiment design presents an attempt to assess their compatibility.
Participants
The experiment was conducted in a product design classroom with an experienced
tutor. Due to limits in class size, there were 14 participants in the entire experiment.
Students aged from 20 to 27 who were enrolled in the course voluntarily took part in
the experiment. The participants were naturally divided into two groups based on
different schedules. The control group consisted of 6 students (67% of all theattendees) were given the traditional instruction by the tutor. Meanwhile, theexperimental group consisting of 8 students (67% of all the attendees) followed the

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new learning design.
Process
It was very difficult and challenging to come up with a solid experimental scheme
especially when we need to embody the duality of the game associated withproductive failure along with the students’ schedules. Students in the experimentalgroup were only available on Tuesday, and students in the control group were only
avialable on Thursday. The conceptual experiment procedure is illustrated in Figure
10. The learning time for both groups is balanced so that their performance can bemeasured fairly.

Figure 10. The experiment flow of two groups. PF phases (Kapur & Bielaczyc, 2012)
At the beginning of the experiment, both groups were notified of the upcoming
process. A pre-test was conducted for both the experimental and control groups to
examine the innate spatial ability and related prior knowledge of the students.
In the following week, the experimental group was asked to partake in playing the
Manufactory game. They were given 45 minutes to play while there were no
instructions related to the learning concepts or game provided during the play. The
students were expected to navigate through the game using the tutorial provided
within. There was also no assistance from the tutor or experiment designers. The
students played in isolation and silence, such that no external factors would cause
disturbance or affect their performance. If the students were stuck on a level, they
were expected to analyze their mistakes by reading the level report and re-attempting
the levels. The students were also free to stop playing whenever they wanted if theyfelt tired, frustrated or bored. Once they finished playing, they were asked to fill out auser experience survey. Meanwhile, the control group did not engage in the game andhad their regular classes for the same time interval as the experiment group.
After this, the experimental group is given an examination as post-test 1. This is tounderstand how the learning game and resulting occurrence of failures could help
students to understand concepts like visualizing sectioned views of object/models
without explaining it using traditional textbook or slides in classrooms.

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Following this test, the experimental group is given an instructional study by the tutor.
Equally, the control group shares the same amount of instructional time. Finally, bothgroups participated in post-test 2 to test their knowledge from the instructional study.
The scores of these tests are tabulated and compared for discussion and results.
Data collection
Game Data
Score - A performance metric for a level the players have played in. It can be used tomeasure the understanding of players when making choices in the level.
Completion Time - Used to measure how fast a player completes the level. It is usedin conjunction with the score to assess player behavior in the game.
High Score - The overall performance of players in the game. It is the cumulativescore of all levels that players have played.
Drawing Test Scores
The drawing tests were scored on a scale of 1 to 10, with a good drawing reflecting ahigher score.
As described in the experiment design, for the pre-test (Figure 11), both experimental
and control groups were given a series of tasks to create 2D section sketches of an
existing product. Students’ performance in the exam can sufficiently reveals their 3D
spatial ability. Scores for the pre-test were given based on the orientation of thedrawings in relation to the joining of parts in either a top/bottom or left/rightconfiguration, and on the line-work representing where the parts were cut in section
view.

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Figure 11: Sample pre-test Drawing
For post-test 1, after playing Manufactory, the experimental group was given a seriesof tasks to create 2D section sketches of the similar existing product used in the pretest. Scores for post-test 1 were given based on the same criteria as the pre-test.
For post-test 2 (Figure 12), both experimental and control groups were given a seriesof tasks to create 2D section sketches of a different existing product than that used in
the pre-test.

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Figure 12: Sample post-test 2 drawing
Questionnaires
Game experience is vital as it determines user engagement and learning efficiency.
Thus, through questionnaires, we can better understand users’ subjective feelings
during the gameplay and reflect on the answers of their learning outcome.
Functionality, usability and aesthetics are three essential properties defining thequality of game experience (Calvillo-Gámez, E. H., Cairns & Cox, 2015). Since ourgame resembles a puzzle, the questions have more focus on usability, engagement andaesthetics.
In this study, we designed two questionnaires to collect user information and feedback
after each learning phase.
The first questionnaire presented to the experimental group immediately after the 45minutes gameplay was the usability questionnaire. It consists of four sections; the first

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section was used to collect basic user information like age, gender, and their previous
game experiences. The questionnaire was modified from a Game Engagement
Questionnaire from a journal article in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology(Brockmyer, Fox, Curtiss, McBroom, Burkhart & Pidruzny, 2009). The second andthird section was designed to evaluate the usability and aesthetics from the Human
Computer Interaction perspective. The questions in these two sections are referenced
from papers in the Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on
Human Factors in Computing Systems (Bernhaupt & Mueller, 2016) and Computersin Human Behavior (Aldemir, Celik & Kaplan, 2018) and adjusted accordingly.
Finally, there’s a fourth section including questions associated with the learning effect.
The second questionnaire is used for an overall study of the learning experiences after
the instructional phase. Questions were selected and modified from the paper(Bernhaupt & Mueller, 2016).
Results
We carried out a systematic analysis after collecting all the data from the experiment.
Since the study involves with-subject and between-subject design, the statistics andanalysis methods, therefore, include the average values, paired t-test, and One-way
ANOVA. Paired t-test was used to compare the before and after game performance ofthe experimental group. One-way ANOVA was performed to understand whether
exam scores statistically differed between groups. The statistical analysis was
conducted with IBM SPSS.
Results of Experimental GroupThe results are presented in the following tables. The examination scores measured
the mastery of the procedural knowledge of 3D spatial visualization. And thequestionnaires are designed to reveal the usability of the game and quantify students’attitude toward such learning experiences.
Experimental GroupPre test
Post test
Mean
5.50
6.13
SD
1.92
1.88
Table 1. The average scores of three paper exams
Exam score
Pre-test
Post test1

Post test 2
7.75
0.71

N
Mean
P-Value85.50
0.33>0.05
8
6.13
Table 2. Paired t-test result of Pre-test and post-test 1

Exam score
N
Mean
P-Value
Post test1
8
6.13
0.042<0.05
Post test2
8
7.75
Table 3. Paired t-test result of post-test 1 and post-test 2
Exam score
Pre-test
Post test 2

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Mean
P-Value85.50
0.005<0.05
8
7.75
Table 4. Paired t-test results of pre-test and post-test 2

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Table 1 shows all the learning outcomes in sequential order. The results indicate a
gradual improvement on the average scores of the students, and show significant
improvement after they played the game with an average difference of 0.63 points.
The performance continues progressing with an average difference of 1.62 points.
Paired t-test results in Table 2 shows that in comparison with the pre-test, statistically,
there is no enhancement on the learning outcome right after they experienced thegame. Interestingly, the p-value in table 3 and 4 indicates statistical improvements
after they complete the follow-up instructional courses.
Results of Control Group
Control GroupMean
SD
Exam score
Pre-test
Post test 2

Pre test
Post test 1
4.83
_
1.72
_
Table 5. The average score of two paper exams

Post test 2
5.67
2.76

N
Mean
P-Value6
4.83
0.54>0.05
6
5.67
Table 6. The paired t- test of pre-test and post-test 2

The result shows that the improvement of the average score with traditional learning
structure is limited (0.84). Meanwhile, the p-value further indicates that averagescores of the pre-test and post test 2 were not significantly different.
Comparing two groups
We also conducted a between-group study to layout the difference after they’ve
experienced the different learning strategies.
Pre testExperimental Group
Control Group

N
Mean
8
5.50
6
4.83
Table 7. One-way ANOVA of pre-tests

P-Value0.52>0.05

Post test 2
Experimental Group
Control Group

N
Mean
8
7.75
6
5.67
Table 8. One-way ANOVA of post-tests 2

P-Value0.02<0.05

Although we can observe a small difference (0.67) between the pre-test means of twogroups, the p-value shows statistically, there’s no difference. A greater variation could
be observed with a difference of 2.08 points. The p-value of the two post tests results
is seen as a strong indicator of the experimental group outperforming the control
group.

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Results from the questionnaires
Detailed results collected from the questionnaire are presented as follows:
1. Basic user information: Among all the eight test subjects, three of them are maleand five of them are female. Two of them often play games and 3/8 students consider
themselves good at playing games and five of them prefer puzzle games. Although wehave a very small sample size, it is interesting to find that there’s gender difference inthe favorite game genre.
2. Engagement and usability: The answers imply a more neutralizing attitude.
Although the game is not as appealing to the students as we expected, 7/8 students
have confidence in complete the whole gameplay. Six of them believed that theirability enhanced through the gameplay. Additionally, all of them agreed that the gameobjectives are very clear.
3. Learning Effect
All of the eight students agreed that through the gameplay, they could comprehend
the importance of 3D spatial ability in practical application. And six of them thoughtthat they could learn 3D sectioning ability more efficiently with the game. Six of them
could correlate the virtual sectioning diagrams and 3D models with their visualization
ability.
Discussion
Study within the experimental group
The significant differences in the results confirm the positive effect of our learning
design. The progress of learning outcome is incremental. Although superficially, thepotential impact of the game is limited from the test result, students shared positive
comments on the intriguing game experience compared to the traditional experiences.
The immersive gameplay activated players’ inherent nature to investigate newknowledge and to keep pursuing correct answers. The challenges and levels ofdifficulty in the game established the proper atmosphere to engage students
continuously. Game score points and level reports displaying mistakes andinstructions served as efficient feedback for the students to maintain their focus on thegame objective. The role of different designs of 2D sectioning images is not only
applicable to puzzles or traps in the game, but also an indirect instruction of productdesign. Students agreed that the transformation from 2D section views to 3D models
deepened their knowledge of 3D visualization. The game is designed as a medium toactivate the notion of key learning concepts in developing 3D visualization skills.
More importantly, students also shared feedback that the interactive learning
experiences in the game had contributed to a reflection of the relation between 2D
sectioning view and 3D perspective view. As shown in the results, students had
achieved a much higher score after they received the instructions from the tutor. Suchsignificant improvement implies a positive effect of productive failure learning design.
The follow-up instructions were perceived by students as a reinforcement strategy toconsolidate and enhance their 3D spatial ability.
Though the students could not directly master the entire concepts through the game,the impact of the game on developing the interest of 3D visualization could leverageknowledge and skills in the instruction phase. The correct solutions given by the tutor
after post-test 2 further helped to redefine and enrich students’ comprehension of 3D
spatial skills.

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On the one hand, students displayed relatively positive attitudes to the educational
quality of the game. Yet, students also criticized that the game experience wascomparatively boring. Students suggested that the game design needs further
improvement to make it more appealing. One issue with the game design is that thelevels were exposed to players at once. The paradox is that such design allows more
freedom of choice, but the game appeared to be less mysterious and challenging.
Different solutions could be attempted to address this issue. We could either unlock
the levels by increasing difficulty or group the levels by difficulty and make players
choose the difficulty while starting the game. As the game is structured as a puzzle,
the number of solutions is limited and the best/ correct answer can always be foundthrough several trials. As there is little narrative content in the game, it is a potential
area to explore to maximize the potential power of narrative to immerse students morein the game.
Contrast between experimental group and control group
We also compared performances between two groups. Since there is no significant
difference in the pre-test, it is reasonable to conclude that students in both groups had
the same level of knowledge before the experiment. Thus, the significant difference inpost-test is strong evidence indicating that the Manufactory game is effective in
learning key concepts in university classrooms.
The positive feedback from the final questionnaire also indicated that students’learning experience was augmented with the game.
Furthermore, despite the opinions from some participants that failure in the game isfrustrating, the students still appreciated the challenges and were motivated to find thebest solution. Ultimately, the result demonstrated that game technology has potential
to provide problem-solving contexts in PF phase while enhancing user engagement. It
suggests that the medium to deliver the questions in PF was no longer constrained toplain text, as it could be more dynamic or interactive like a game.
Due to the limitation of data collection from games, we cannot statistically correlate
the game performance with the learning outcome. Meanwhile, it is arguable thatwhether success could be allowed in the problem-solving phase of productive failure.
Theoretically, playing a game is often a continuous process of alternating failure andsuccess; it is difficult to capture the exact moment when a player fails and to keep
tracking the performance after the failure. The team was unable to collect suchdetailed level of data and provide more precise analysis based on objective figuresfrom the failure perspective. The results are limited to subjective opinions fromstudents.
Conclusion
The purpose of the study was to explore the potential of a unique learning design
incorporating educational game to enhance students’ mental faculties, including
abstract 3D visualization and learning ability. The study is a compound learning
design. To weigh the impacts of game and PF, further study is recommended to obtain
more detailed data collection relating to game elements and failures in games. The

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study also needs a bigger sample size, for better comparison and analysis. In addition,
we can observe different behaviors between male and female students during
gameplay. The answer from the usability questionnaire implies gender preference.
Thus, a reliable survey on user gender or player type will be interesting. The gamedesign can be further improved to make it more appealing by maximizing thenarrative component of the game; increasing challenges and difficulty in levels andimproving the aesthetics and UI design. For this study, game technology was nested
within the productive failure learning phases. Further studies could consider
investigating the possibility of including productive failure mechanisms in games.

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References
Aldemir, T., Celik, B., & Kaplan, G. (2018). A qualitative investigation of student
perceptions of game elements in a gamified course. Computers in Human Behavior,78, 235-254.
Bernhaupt, R., & Mueller, F. F. (2016, May). Game User Experience Evaluation. In
Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in
Computing Systems (pp. 940-943). ACM.
Brockmyer, J. H., Fox, C. M., Curtiss, K. A., McBroom, E., Burkhart, K. M., &Pidruzny, J. N. (2009). The development of the Game Engagement Questionnaire: A
measure of engagement in video game-playing. Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 45(4), 624-634.
Calvillo-Gámez, E. H., Cairns, P., & Cox, A. L. (2015). Assessing the core elementsof the gaming experience. In Game user experience evaluation (pp. 37-62). Springer,
Cham.
Cross, N. (1990). The nature and nurture of design ability. Design studies, 11(3), 127140.
Crown, S. W. (2001). Improving visualization skills of engineering graphics students
using simple JavaScript web based games. Journal of Engineering Education, 90(3),347-355.
Juul, J. (2013). The art of failure: An essay on the pain of playing video games. Mit
Press.
Kapur, M. (2008). Productive failure. Cognition and instruction, 26(3), 379-424.
Kapur, M., & Bielaczyc, K. (2012). Designing for productive failure. Journal of the
Learning Sciences, 21(1), 45-83.
Liao, K. H. (2017). The abilities of understanding spatial relations, spatial orientation,and spatial visualization affect 3D product design performance: using carton box
design as an example. International Journal of Technology and Design Education,27(1), 131-147.
Martín-Gutiérrez, J., Saorín, J. L., Contero, M., Alcañiz, M., Pérez-López, D. C., &Ortega, M. (2010). Design and validation of an augmented book for spatial abilities
development in engineering students. Computers & Graphics, 34(1), 77-91.
Rafi, A., Anuar, K., Samad, A., Hayati, M., & Mahadzir, M. (2005). Improving
spatial ability using a Web-based Virtual Environment (WbVE). Automation inconstruction, 14(6), 707-715.
Schell, J. (2014). The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses. AK Peters/CRC Press.
Sorby, S. A. (2009). Educational research in developing 3 D spatial skills forengineering students. International Journal of Science Education, 31(3), 459-480.

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Van Krevelen, D. W. F., & Poelman, R. (2010). A survey of augmented reality
technologies, applications and limitations. International journal of virtual reality, 9(2),1.

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Improvement of Listening Skills of Thai Elementary Japanese Learners
Using the Top-down Shadowing Approach
Chinnawat Ninmote, Silpakorn University, Thailand
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Abstract
A common problem for Thai elementary Japanese learners is a failure in listening
comprehension despite learning quite a lot of vocabulary and grammar. Thus, theauthor conducted a study by using the top-down shadowing approach forapproximately three months to develop the listening skills of a group of Thaielementary Japanese learners. This study found that this approach could improve theirlistening skills, which enhanced their listening comprehension. A significant change
involved the scores they achieved on the post tests, including the SPOT Test and the
JLPT Test (Level 3). Based on an inquiry with the learners, they believed thatshadowing was beneficial for the improvement in their listening skills and they would
practice it on their own in the future.
Keywords: Listening Skills, Thai Elementary Japanese Learners, Top-down
Shadowingiafor
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Introduction
Communication plays a key role in human life, especially at the present time with anoverload of information, which is called the globalization era. Beneficial to both toindividuals and society, communication broadens knowledge and worldviews.
Language is a critical factor in communication, especially with respect to both spoken
and written language. In the globalization era, Thais need to communicate withforeigners more than in the past, for trade and investments, education, tourism, anddaily activities. This has alerted Thais to the development of skills in foreign
languages, e.g. English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
According to a survey of Japanese language institutes overseas in 2015 by the JapanFoundation (2016: 1), in Thailand, there were 173,817 Japanese language learners,
606 Japanese language institutes, and 1,911 Japanese language instructors. Thesefigures showed an increase from the 2012 survey. Across the country, there are many
secondary schools and universities where Japanese is taught as a major subject. Moreand more Thai Japanese learners take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test
(JLPT), which measures and certifies Japanese proficiency for non-native Japanese
speakers held both inside and outside of Japan. Developed for measuring the overall
Japanese communication proficiency level, the test consists of three parts – Language
Knowledge (Japanese characters, vocabulary and grammar), Reading, and Listening.
There are a lot of Thai Japanese students who have passed the JLPT at the N4 or N3
Levels but are poor in listening comprehension in actual conservations. Some mayunderstand what is being said when they converse with others, but they are unable torespond, failing to communicate using their knowledge about Japanese grammar,
vocabulary, or idioms in an appropriate manner in actual situations.
To develop learners’ Japanese communication skills, different foreign language
learning strategies are utilized, e.g. role play, listening skills training using computer
programs, and shadowing. Tamai (2005: 37) defines shadowing as repeating what one
has heard correctly immediately or a little while after, which is a basic technique forthose who will become interpreters.
1.Related Research
There are a significant number of research works on shadowing-based language skill
development for English learners, while that for Japanese learners is limited. Below is
a discussion on the research on Japanese skill development using the shadowing
technique.
Sakoda and Matsumi (2004) investigated the effects of shadowing of four native
English speakers who studied in Japan, whose Japanese proficiency was at anintermediate level. They all had to practice shadowing in Japanese class once a week
for a period of 10 months, during which their instructor recommended that they
practice it every day, if possible. These learners were lent a portable audio recorderfor shadowing practice. The 10-month experiment was divided into four periods. The
experiment showed a dramatic increase in the number of words and parts of speechwhich they used from the first week to the fourth week. Furthermore, their working
memory was assessed using the reading span test, which was held one month after theend of the shadowing practice. The test revealed an improvement in their Japaneseskills at the end of the shadowing practice. Later, Sakoda & Matsumi (2005) carried

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Official Conference Proceedingsout an experiment to compare the effects between the shadowing and reading aloudtechniques. The samples in this experiment consisted of 29 Korean university students
who took a one-month Japanese course. They were divided into two groups, withGroup A practicing shadowing and Group B practicing reading aloud approximately
15 minutes before and after class. The materials involved upper basic Japanese
articles, each containing 500-600 characters. After the end of the practice, their
Japanese proficiency was evaluated using the following tests: 1. SPOT Test, 2.
Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT, Level 3, Vocabulary, Grammar, andReading Parts), 3. Dictation, 4. Digit Span Test, and 5. Listening Span Test. The
finding was that the post-test scores of Group A learners were higher than their pretest scores for the SPOT Test, JLPT Test, and Dictation. Group B learners’ post-testscores were significantly higher than their pre-test scores for the SPOT Test andDictation. The JLPT pre-test and post-test scores were similar. The post-test scoresfor the Digit Span Test were significantly higher than the pre-test scores for bothgroups, while their pre-test and post-test scores for the Listening Span Test weresimilar. Given the scores, shadowing and reading aloud resulted in an improvement intheir Japanese proficiency and memory span. However, only shadowing enhanced
their vocabulary, grammar and reading proficiency – it provided them with the
improvement in their semantic processing proficiency.
Sakoda, Furumoto et al. (2006) investigated the effects of shadowing in a group ofJapanese language learners with different Japanese proficiency levels. They weredivided into three groups – elementary, intermediate, and advanced learners. In thisexperiment, the learners had to practice shadowing for 15 minutes before and after theJapanese class every day. This experiment utilized two sets of articles, the first one
featuring a speed of 3.5 characters per minute and the other, five characters per
second. After the end of the practice, they were evaluated through the following tests– 1. SPOT Test, 2. Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) (Level 3, Vocabulary,Grammar, and Reading Parts), 3. J Test, 4. Digit Span Test, and 5. Listening Span
Test. A significant difference was only found between the pre-test and post-testscores of the JLPT Test (Level 3) and the J Test of elementary learners. This showedthat even one-month shadowing dramatically affected their Japanese proficiency. The
impact of the difficulty levels of these articles was assessed on 30 Korean Japaneselearners, whose Japanese proficiency was at the same level. They were divided into
two groups, with Group A using an immediate learner textbook and Group B using an
advanced learner textbook. The speed and the number of words were controlled to beat the same level. The pre-test and post-test based evaluation involved the following
tests: 1. SPOT Test, 2. Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), Level 1-2, 3. JTest, and 4. Listening Span Test. The post-test test scores for the SPOT Test and
JLPT Test for Groups A and B were significantly higher than their pre-test scores. For
Group B, which used the advanced learner textbook, their post-test scores for the JTest and JLPT Test were significantly higher than their pre-test scores in the listening
and vocabulary sections. Given the scores, Sakoda & Matsumi (2007) concluded thatusing a textbook, the level of which is above learner proficiency (i+1), can improvelearner proficiency.
Only one study on the effects of shadowing on Thai Japanese learners is available,
which was conducted by Methapisit, T. (2011). This study investigated the impact of
shadowing among Thai Japanese learners in terms of speaking skills improvement.
The speed of reading aloud before and after shadowing and the accuracy of

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pronunciation during shadowing served as indicators of speaking skills. The study
found that: 1) Shadowing was beneficial to the improvement of speaking skills interms of speed and fluency; 2) Shadowing helped to correct inaccurate pronunciation,and in particular, the accuracy of pronunciation was significantly better in the second
practice; 3) Errors found in pronunciation included stress, intonation in compoundwords, pronunciation of words with ち or つ, pronunciation of loan words, andpronunciation of expressions at the end of a sentence.
2.Research Objectives
This research aimed to study the effects of shadowing through the use of twoquestions, as follows:
1) How much can shadowing improve Japanese listening comprehension?
2) What are the learners’ views about the outcomes of shadowing?
Research Methodology
The research was divided into two parts – 1. Experiment and 2. Questionnaire-based
survey. The experiment consisted of the following:
2.1 Sample group
The samples of this research consisted of 27 Thai elementary Japanese learners, fourof whom passed the JLPT Test, Level 5.
2.2 Lessons in the experiment
The lessons in the experiment consisted of text and audio files from the textbook
entitled “Listening Tasks For Beginners Everyday Listening in 50 days Vol.2”『初級日本語聴解練習 毎日聞き取り50日 下』 (L), published by BONJINSHA.
4.3 Shadowing process
1) Listening
2) Mumbling3) Synchronized reading and checking meanings.
4) Prosody shadowing.
5) Content shadowing.
The learners practiced shadowing for 10-15 minutes at the beginning of the class
twice a week for a period of 10 weeks. For each class, the learners were given an
assignment to practice shadowing. In the subsequent class, each of the learners was
asked to shadow the article they had reviewed in class.
2.3 Data collection and analysis
The assessment of the listening skills development of the experimental group was
conducted using the following pre-test and post-test questions:
1) SPOT (Simple Performance-Oriented Test)
Developed by Tsukuba University, this test aims to evaluate the actual Japanese
proficiency of learners. A sentence with one pair of brackets appears on the screen
and the audio track for the sentence is played simultaneously. After listening to thetrack, they have to select one of four hiragana choices to fill in the brackets (Obayashi
et al.: 1995).
2) Old JLP Test (Level 3, Listening Part)
3) Statistical analysis and questionnaire-based inquiry.

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2.4 Results and Discussion
Shadowing helped to develop Japanese listening comprehension based on the pre-test
and post-test results.
1) SPOT pre-test and post-test results
Table 1: SPOT Pre-Test and Post-Test Results (27 Samples)
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Mean (M)
71.59
81.70
Standard
deviation 6.27
3.48
(S.D)
The mean post-test scores of the SPOT Test had approximately a 10 point increase.
The standard deviation (S.D.) of the pre-test scores was 6.27, and that of the post-testscores had a 3.48 decrease, which showed that the listening ability of the sample
group had a similar increase.
2) JLPT (Level 3) pre-test and post-test results
Table 2: JLPT (Level 3) Pre-test and Post-test Results (27 Samples)
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Mean (M)
81.15
86.07
Standard
deviation 2.78
3.60
(S.D)
The post-test score of the JLPT Test, Level 3 test showed a significant increase (2.78→ 3.60, df = 26, t = -5.93, p≺0.05).
1) Summary of shadowing in the experimental group.
Table 3: Summary of the Results of Shadowing Practice in the Experimental Group

No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Item
Mean score (Out of 5)
I feel that my listening skill after shadowing is better
4.32
than before shadowing.
While shadowing, I think of the content of the article I
4.21
have listened to.
While shadowing, I understand the content without
3.98
translating it into Thai first.
While shadowing, I think of the sentence structure at the
4.35
same time.
While shadowing, I use the basic knowledge about that
3.72
matter to improve my comprehension.
Difficulty and easiness of the content affects shadowing
4.24
practice.
Speed of reading of the content affects shadowing.
4.16
Shadowing allows me to have better comprehension of
4.58
what I have listened to.
I like shadowing and will practice it on my own.
4.45

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The questionnaire used for surveying the experimental group’s opinions about theeffects of the shadowing technique consisted of five rating-scale points (1-5):
Strongly disagree, Relatively disagree, Neutral, Relatively Agree, and Strongly
Agree. There were 27 respondents. The mean scores are presented in Table 3.
As it can be seen from the above table, the group of learners strongly agreed that theirlistening skills were better than before shadowing. They believed that shadowing
provided them with a tool to have a better comprehension of what they had listened
to. This was because while shadowing, they thought of the sentence structure, which
provided them with listening comprehension without having to translate it into Thai.
This enhanced their overall Japanese listening skills. They also believed that the levelof difficulty of the content had a great impact on shadowing and that the speed of theaudio tracks affected their shadowing practice.
Conclusion
Based on the two objectives of the study, the following conclusion was developed:
1) Shadowing helped to improve listening skills of elementary Japanese learners,
which resulted in improved listening comprehension. A clear improvement was
witnessed through the post-test scores for the SPOT Test and JLPT Test (Level 3).
This was because top-down shadowing practice helped the learners to observe
sentence structures and understand the overall contents of the articles without having
to translate them into Thai first.
2) According to the inquiry with the learners, they felt confident that shadowing was
beneficial to the improvement of their listening skills. More importantly, they liked topractice shadowing and said they would practice it on their own in the future.
This research was experimental research, which had the following limitations:1) The number of samples was limited, which made it impossible to compare twogroups: with and without shadowing practice. In addition, the results between thebottom-up shadowing and top-down shadowing should be assessed in order to
identify how the shadowing practices will have an impact on listening skill
development. Furthermore, the experimental group’s proficiency should be evaluatedusing standardized tests to ensure that they do not have a different Japanese
proficiency level.
2) The evaluation of learners’ language proficiency should include a test which
encompasses all skills, e.g. role-play.

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References
Japan Foundation (2016). Survey of Japanese Language Institutes in Foreign
Countries, 2015. Japan Foundation.
Methapisit, T (2011). The Effects of Using Shadowing on Improving Oral Skills:
Emphasis on Speed and Accuracy. jsn Vol.1 No.1 2011:78-89.
Miyachi Sachie, Mitsui Akiko,Makino Keiko,Shibata Masako (2012). Listening Tasks
for Beginners Everyday Listening in 50 Days. Bonjinsha.
Sakoda & Matsumi (2004). Research on Shadowing for Japanese Teaching:Experimenting Class Activities from “Comprehension” to “Ability,” Proceeding forInternational Conference on Japanese Language Teaching in the Fall Semester 2004:
223-224.
Sakoda & Matsumi (2005). Research on Shadowing for Japanese Teaching 2:
Comparison of the Impacts of Shadowing and Reading Aloud. Proceeding forInternational Conference on Japanese Language Teaching in the Fall Semester,
2005: 241-242.
Sakoda, Furumoto et al. (2006). Effectiveness of Shadowing in Japanese Teaching:
Learners with Different Proficiency. Proceeding on the Conference on Japanese
Teaching Psychology 49: 477.
Sakoda, Furumoto (2007). Level of Difficulty of Texts Used for Shadowing i+1 or i1. Proceeding for International Conference on Japanese Language Teaching: 393396.
Tamai Ken (2005). Research on the Effects of Shadowing in Listening Teaching
Kazamashobo.
Contact email: chinnawat@ms.su.ac.th

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The Context of Curator in the 21st Century: A Study at Museums in Bangkok Area
Anantachai Aeka, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Wimonchat Lerdkochasri, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to study the context and progression of curator in the
21st century. Since the millenium, the flood of technology and economy growthsignificantly affected the context of curator. The curator is not only a keeper orcollector of digital data cultural heritage as before, but must also be a marketer andorganizer as well. The research instrument is the in-depth interview with curatorsfrom 4 museums located in Bangkok: 1) Museum Siam 2) Rattanakosin Exhibition
Hall 3) Suan Pakkad Palace Museum 4) Sai Suddha Nobhadol Building MuseumTheresult are that 3 out of 4 (75%) agreed that the stream of technology and economic is
the main factor affecting the curator context. All about 100% agreed that marketingand coordinative skills are required as a context of the 21century curator. In
conclusion, the context of curator is not a curator literally, but additionally businessknowledge especially marketing and coordinative skill must be cultivated.
Keywords: the 21Century Curator, Museum, Museums in Bangkok

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Introduction
Since the millennium, the flood of technology and economy growth significantly
affected the context of curator. The curator is not only a keeper or collector of digital
data cultural heritage as before, but must also be a marketer and organizer as well.
Curator now can’t be only experts in their own field, but curator need to be tech
operator, researcher, statistic planner, marketer, project manager, and more with
underpaid salary. (Museum association, 2004) This situation decrease work
concentration of curator in general.
Technology plays the important role in the world society now, especially computermediated technology and taking time to develop overtime. “A good number oftechnologies now coming into use will take years or even decades to reach the pointof significant consequence for society. On the other hand, the history of technology inthe industrial era tells us that it is usually fifteen to forty years from the time of afundamental scientific discovery to its effective application in society” (Coates,
Joseph & Jarratt, 1998). Curating context also change over time in term of characterand data collecting. Curator context of 21 century might be affected by stream oftechnology and economic. It is important to know what is particularly the main factor
that cause significant change.
The Visitor
Museum visitor is also changing attitude or purpose of museum visiting over the time.
Each visitor has individual reason that incurs them to visit the museum, which meandifferent ages or gender is part of individual decision making.
Katie Gillespie and Dr. John H. Falk analysis from 22 museum visitors
revealed that four factors seemed to influence the memories of all 22 of thesevisitors are things or activities that interests and support their needs, things
that were novel, things that had high individual emotional content, things thatwere supported by later experiences (John H. Falk, 109)
Knowing what the museum visitor needs is meaning the same thing that knowing
what is your customer needs.
Digital Museology
Data collecting and searching of museum now is digital, which mean most of museum
now need to compete in term of data collection standard. In term of economy, thegrowth of computer media makes a change in economic system too. “Museums are an
enlightenment dream that has prospered in the face of capitalism and globalization,and now needs to find a new way to prosper in the age of digital economics” (Chris
Michaels, 2017). Curator is really important part of building the core and develops
data collection system, which is different from curator context in the past. The result
from interview specialties and expert curator in Bangkok will be valuable.
The purpose of this research is to study the context and progression of curator in the
21st century. And by in-depth interviewing with curators from 4 museums in
Bangkok, will indicate better and deeper understanding to 21 century curator in real

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time. What curator needs to develop or manipulate in the future. Nowadays, curator is
not only a keeper or collector of digital data cultural heritage as before, but must also
be a marketer and organizer as well. The museum itself is a business company.
Curators need to adapt the different role depend on the situation. Sometime, they need
to be organizer, marketer, or even the dealer of the event or activities, or even manyothers. (Museum association, 2004) Curator now need to develop knowledge in thisresearch to give most direct solution for both develop curating society and be satisfied
the future visitor as well.
Methodology
The reach out the most accurate information in-depth interview with specialty. The
research instrument is in-depth interview with curators from 4 museums located in
Bangkok:
1) Museum Siam, this museum was found in 2007 by Thai government. The conceptof this museum are play and learn philosophy. The exhibition in this museum is allabout Thailand social history. “The Museum has also presented a series of temporary
exhibitions, ranging from “Beads of Southeast Asia,” ”The Portugese: At World’s
End,” to the recent ”The Body Project: Rethinking the Concepts of Beauty”. It has
also created a large museum network in Thailand to help each other in many aspects”(Asemus, n.d.).
2) Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall is a museum that collects the history of Rattanakosin
era and also represent in many different type of exhibitions. On March 9, 2010, themuseum had been launched officially and represent cultural legacy and Rattanakosin
resources for the first time.
3) Suan Pakkad Palace Museum, this museum represents the royal highnesses prince
and princess Chombhot of Nagara Svaga private residences. There are 4 Thai tradition
houses collect historical Thai Traditional items, such as BanChiang and Marsi gallery.
4) Sai Suddha Nobhadol Building Museum is the resident of royal family. The
museum is the building itself that represent beautiful architect. Highlight of thismuseum is Duriya Kastra exhibition. All of the museum have its their own identityand qualify for being parts of the interviews.
The question of the interview is about the personal opinion on curator context of 21
centuries. The discussion questions divide into 3 different categories, personal
information, experiences and proficiency, and context of curator in 21 centuries.
For personal information, the question will discuss on different background ofinterviewed participants to get point of view on how to become a curator. The
experiences will be also discussed with most following questions. It really importantto understand participants because It will be used in case of comparing. By
comparing, we will eventually get the best result out from the interview. The final
category remains most important interview section because this section experienced
curators will represent their opinion on context of curator in 21 centuries.

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This is the part of interviewed questions: 1) what is your definition of Curator? 2)
What you need to do as a curator in your museum intuition, and Global context is
continued changing? 3) How is it affect the contextualization of the curator? 4)The
result will indicate the skill that curator in 21 century need from experience curator
perspective? The results will indicate the skill that curator in 21 century need fromexperience curator perspective.
Result
The result are that 3 out of 4 (75%) agreed that the stream of technology andeconomic is the main factor affecting the curator context (Figure 1). Participants
strongly agree that those skills are needed. Nowadays, technology and online
communication are become everything. One of interviewed participants mentions that“to work in 21 centuries, you need to know staffs online.” By this statement, it means
curators also need to know at least some aspect of technology. Technology topic thatwill be discussing in this paragraph are marketing and coordinating. In one section of
the interview is about working as business people. All of interview participants has
experience in the world of business. Museum is now a business, and need to promote
for getting more visitors. (Chris Michaels, 2017)

Figure 1: Result from curator in-depth interview
Curator need to have that skill in order to maintain the growth of theaudience. Moreover, curator now need to organize the event, so coordinative skill isrequired too. One curators from the interview section mention interesting opinion,“Curator is not a curator anymore. We are an entrepreneur” The tone of the opinion

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set really strong emotion on work responsibility. “Curator responsibility is not to run
the business or sells like an entrepreneur” said interviewed curator”. It means curator
contexts from what we know need to change now.
Some of interviewed participants still not think that telecommunication or technology
growth is not the main cause of curator context change. Those don’t need to bechange just need to be improve to be more conservative. 25% still think that curator
context should remain the same as before because others category of technology andeconomy jobs in the museum require specific skill. When curators can focus on theirtradition contexts, they are likely to work professionally. If curator took many part ofit. It might have negative effect on the main character of context.
In question no. 3 of the interview most of interview participants suggest thatmarketing and collaborating skill are important context of 21 century curator. And,the result are about 100% participants agreed that marketing and coordinative skills
are required as a context of 21 century curator.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the context of curator is not a curator literally, but additionally businessknowledge especially marketing and coordinative skill must be cultivated. The result
make researcher understand that future curator need to be multi skills based. They
need to do those in order to maintain the condition of museum in general. Although,many curators disagree on doing others tasks that they aren’t related to traditional
curator context. Those others skills include IT operator or accouter require specificskill sets. So, those skills need some experts to be in charge. In further research, oneof participants suggest that researching on museum visitor behavior pattern is might
be another great topic to touch on. We understood how curator thinks now. It times tounderstand your future visitor.

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Acknowledgement
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Staff of Music Department
Staff of Sai Sunandha Noppadol
Museum Siam
Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall
Suan Pakkad Palace Museum
Sai Suddha Nobhadol Building Museum

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References
Coates, Joseph & Jarratt (1998). The next 20 years of technology: opportunities andrisks. 21st Century Technologies: Promises and Perils of a Dynamic Future.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 33.
Falk, John H. & Gillespie, Katie L. (2009) Investigating the Role of Emotion in
Science Center Visitor Learning, Visitor Studies, 12(2), 112-132.
Michaels, Chris. (2017), “Museum business models in the digital economy”. Creative
economy & Culture. Retrieved from www.nesta.org.uk/blog.
Museums Association. (2004). Pay in Museums. London: Museums Association.
"Museum Siam, Thailand - Asia-Europe Museum Network". Asemus.museum.
Retrieved February 10, 2017.
“Specifications”. Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall. Retrieved fromwww.nitasrattanakosin.com.

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The Effects of Software Interaction Mode on Nominal Group Creativity in
Online Classes
Janejira Sutanonpaiboon, Sonoma State University, United States
Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
When students work together in a group in an online class, often times they work in a“nominal group”—a term used to address the situation when individuals work
separately—rather than an actual group. This paper focuses on an electronic
brainstorming task in nominal groups in online classes, where group members canwork from their own location and generate ideas independently rather than sharing
them with other group members. A facilitator, or one of the group members, is
responsible for collecting and collating the ideas at the end of the brainstorming
session. Some research has shown that nominal group can result in higher
performance than actual groups. This paper also examines creative softwareinteractive mode, the factor that is believed to influence group performance inelectronic brainstorming, and its effect on idea creativity in nominal groups in online
classes. There are two major software modes: graphic and outline, and users can
switch between the two modes or stay with one mode. We aim to investigate how
three different uses of the interaction mode (graphic, outline, and switching between
the two) can affect group performance of online nominal groups. Group performanceis assessed by four aspects of idea creativity (fluency, flexibility, elaboration, andoriginality). We believe that our findings will have an academic implication for
educators who are teaching ever-growing online classes, as well as for researchers
who are interested in electronic brainstorming or other Group Support System (GSS)
tasks in different time/place settings.
Keywords: Nominal group, idea creativity, online classes, electronic brainstorming,
software interactive mode

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Students often work in groups when they are enrolled in a class, whether it is a
traditional face-to-face or an online class, and students’ group work often involves
idea generation. Idea generation has been described as a process that produces a list ofideas—either by a group or by an individual. Of all the idea generation techniques,brainstorming is the most basic and most frequently used technique (Hender, Dean,
Rodger, and Nunamaker, 2002). Brainstorming is the implementation of the freethinking technique originally proposed by Osborn (1957). Researchers (Hender et al.,
2002; MacCrimmon and Wagner, 1994) have reported that brainstorming is a usefultechnique for organizations seeking to be more innovative.
Several Group Support Systems (GSS) studies have investigated the impact ofbrainstorming tools in electronic brainstorming. The use of electronic brainstorming
tools can resolve several issues, including anonymity and evaluation tone (Connolly,
Jessup, and Valacich, 1990), group size (Gallupe, Dennis, Cooper, Valacich,
Bastianutti, and Nunamaker, 1992), production blocking (Valacich, Dennis, andConnolly, 1994), and facilitator effects (Anson, Bostrom, and Wynne, 1995). Thoughpast GSS studies have focused on different aspects of electronic brainstorming, noneof these studies has investigated in depth the use of various software interactivemodes in different group settings, the features that help facilitate the brainstorming
process on nominal and actual brainstorming groups in online classes.
Electronic brainstorming can be done both in a virtual group and in nominal group.
Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a systematic approach to soliciting individual
inputs into group project design and planning (Asmus and James, 2005). In online
classes, students typically participate from different locations, whether synchronouslyor asynchronously, resulting in nominal group work rather than actual group work.
Studies (Kramer, Fleming, and Mannis, 2001; McGlynn, McGurk, Effland, Johll, andHarding, 2004; Rietzschel, Nijstad, and Stroebe, 2006) have shown that nominalgroups outperform face-to-face groups and generate more ideas than interactive
groups. Also, the ideas generated by nominal groups are more original than the ideas
generated by interactive groups. Like computer-mediated communication, NGT canbe used to hide or avoid the identification of the source and thus reduce process loss
or production blocking because the group members do not have to wait for their turnto contribute their ideas (Dennis and Reinicke, 2004).
This study addresses the software interactive mode and group settings as an importantfactor that influences idea creativity in both nominal and actual groups. In thiscontext, group performance is assessed via four aspects of idea creativity: idea
fluency, idea flexibility, idea elaboration, and idea originality.
Nominal Group Technique in Electronic Brainstorming
When it comes to group work, most people tend to think about actual groups rather
than nominal groups. However, the concept of nominal groups has been examined in
GSS research. The term “nominal group” is used to address the situation when

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individuals work separately (Gallupe and Cooper, 1993; Gallupe et al., 1992). In
nominal brainstorming, group members can work in the presence of each other orwork from their own location. The members generate their ideas independently rather
than sharing them with other group members, and a facilitator or one of the groupmembers is responsible for collecting and collating the ideas at the end of thebrainstorming session (Dennis and Reinicke, 2004). Thus, there can be very little oreven no communication within the group in the idea generation stage. However, whena facilitator collects the generated ideas, she has to communicate with the other groupmembers and the level of communication in this stage can be high or low.
Nominal group technique has several advantages over actual group technique. For
example, all group members have equal opportunity to participate in the group
activity and thus participation is balanced among group members (MacPhail, 2001).
Production blocking and/or process loss cannot occur in the nominal group setting,and no one can dominate the group activity. Hence, both nominal group technique andcomputer-mediated communication (such as electronic brainstorming) have advantageof avoiding the blocking effect or the identification of the source (Pissarra andJesuino, 2005). However, group members’ evaluation apprehension depends on the
structure of the brainstorming session. Evaluation apprehension will decrease if theideas are submitted anonymously, and evaluation apprehension will increase if theideas are not submitted anonymously (Dennis and Reinicke, 2004).
Several researchers have reported that nominal groups generate more ideas than actualgroups. Dennis and Valacich (2001) pointed out that the synergy or cognitive
stimulation that group members received in an [actual] electronic brainstorming group
was an important difference between electronic brainstorming group and nominalgroup. Synergy is from the pool of ideas generated by and shared among the groupmembers in electronic brainstorming. This is similar to the concept of group memory
discussed by Satzinger, Garfield, and Nagasundaram, 1999. Nominal groups do notinteract and thus do not have the synergy, cognitive stimulation, or group memory.
However, Dennis and Valacich (2001) claimed that nominal groups generated as
many or more ideas than [actual] electronic brainstorming groups for groups of eightor fewer members. Actual electronic brainstorming groups outperformed nominalgroups only when there are nine or more members in the groups. Similarly, a study by
McGlynn, McGurk, Effland, Johll, and Harding (2004) also reported that nominalgroups of four individuals outperformed face-to-face groups of four individuals inbrainstorming performance, yet the advantage of nominal groups declined whenbrainstorming took place later in the task where there was a large amount ofaccumulated evidence to consider.
A study by Dowling and St. Louis (2000) explored whether computer-assisted
asynchronous (CAA) implementations of the nominal group technique (NGT) were aseffective as noncomputer-assisted synchronous (NCAS) implementations of thenominal group technique. An experiment was performed to compare the outcomes forgroups that used the nominal group technique both synchronously andasynchronously. Their study reported that computer-assisted asynchronous
implementations of the nominal group technique were more effective than

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noncomputer-assisted synchronous implementations; that is, they generated more andbetter ideas in less time. According to these authors, the results implied that if meeting
participants did not have to come together at the same time and were spending moretime than was necessary in meetings, then organizations were wasting substantial
economic resources in the form of travel expenditure and time spent arranging,traveling to, and participating in meetings.
Barki and Pinsonneault (2001) used four brainstorming technologies: nominal
brainstorming, verbal brainstorming, electronic brainstorming-anonymous, andelectronic brainstorming-non-anonymous, and compared the effectiveness of thesetechnologies in terms of idea quality. In their study, nominal brainstorming sessions
allowed each participant to generate ideas individually and keyboard them without
interacting with other members of their group. The results indicated that nominal
brainstorming groups generated ideas that were at least as good as electronic
brainstorming groups. The authors explained that the participants might haveperceived the brainstorming topics as being socially more or less sensitive dependingon their individual experiences; that group members might have generated theconnection and involvement as a group since they brainstormed four times during theexperimental session, and ad hoc groups did not remain “purely ad hoc” after the firsttask; that the synergy and stimulation effects of electronic brainstorming might not
actually be as strong as they were initially believed; and that small electronic
brainstorming groups might not be able to produce ideas of better quality than small
nominal brainstorming groups (Barki and Pinsonneault, 2001).
Other researchers have also reported similar results. For example, a study by Kramer
et al. (2001) revealed that actual, face-to-face groups generated as many ideas asnominal groups when the face-to-face groups were assisted by a trained facilitator.
Rietzschel, Nijstad, and Stroebe (2006) also indicated that nominal groups generated
more ideas than interactive groups and the ideas generated by nominal groups weremore original and less feasible than the ideas generated by interactive groups.
The aforementioned results seem to indicate that in participating in online class group
work, nominal groups can result in greater performance than actual groups. However,
we believe that it is appropriate to conduct our research on both nominal and actualgroups in order to investigate the impacts of different software interactive mode indifferent group settings.
Software Interactive Mode
This study explores a specific feature of idea generation software, the softwareinteractive mode, and examines how different software interactive modes affect theoutcome performance of electronic brainstorming in nominal as well as actual group
work in online classes.
Software Mode: Graphic and Outline

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Different idea generation software provides different features; nevertheless, there arefeatures they have in common. Examples include anonymity of group members,
graphical aid in the brainstorming session, a tutorial on the problem-solving process, astorage area for recording ideas, etc.
Most creativity software contains a feature that organizes ideas in outline or graphic
interaction mode. The software’s outline mode is a text-based configuration thatfacilitates users in prioritizing and rearranging ideas or topics by using notes text,
toolbar, and checklist features. The graphic mode is a graphical configuration that
includes diagrams, pictures, icons, symbols, arrows, etc.; hence, users candifferentiate the generated ideas with colors, shapes, patterns, shadows, fonts, andstyles. The software’s outline mode allows users to transform their thoughts into
written statements, while the graphic mode enables users to create diagrams, concept
maps, and transform their ideas into different graphic forms. The graphical aid,sometimes referred to as a “Diagram View,” can help “visualize” the idea generation
process and hence provides better understanding for the group members. The outline
feature, referred to as an “Outline View,” allows users to transform their thoughts into
the foundation of written projects. Both graphic mode and outline mode are believed
to result in clearer thinking, more creative projects, better organized writing, andimproved group performance. Figure 1 shows the graphic and outline modes of acreativity software package.

Figure 1: The Graphic/Outline Interaction Mode of Creativity Software.
Besides the problem statement and emerging pool of ideas, additional stimuli such asideas generated and browsed by other group members can influence group members’
creativity. Productivity can be increased by utilizing the stimuli that intentionally lead
users’ attention to different parts of the solution space (Hender et al., 2002). The
software’s graphic/outline mode can demonstrate the problem statement and the ideas
generated by other group members, which can act as the creative stimuli for the

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creation of further ideas. A single stimulus often activates different associations
across group members because each member has already developed a different set of
associations, and the stimulus then exposures to others’ ideas activates additionalframes (Hender et al., 2002).
Madsen and Finger (1978) suggested that the written feedback procedure—groupmembers generating ideas independently (as in nominal groups), receiving written
copies of each other's ideas, and then resuming to work independently—yieldedhigher productivity than group brainstorming does. Similarly, a study by Paulus andDzindolet (1993) indicated that performance levels in brainstorming groups werestrongly affected by exposure to information about the performance of others, and thatsocial matching of low performance levels by interactive group members might be an
important factor in the productivity loss observed in group brainstorming.
In one experiment, presenting three subproblems instead of a combined intact
problem resulted in an increase in three combined quantity/quality measures: numberof unique ideas, total quality, and number of good ideas. In addition, the production of
more unique ideas with a higher concentration can be achieved by providing verbal
and visual cues—question derived from criteria for effective solutions (Hender et al,
2002)
Even though both graphic mode and outline mode are believed to enhance theperformance of electronic brainstorming, the graphic mode is more visual than theoutline mode and studies have shown that high visual subjects perform better than low
visual subjects (Davis and Bostrom, 1992; Hawkins, 1999; Marinilli, 2003; Virvou
and Kabassi, 2002).
Perception of Group Performance in GSS Research
Various measures of the performance of groups have been discussed in the literature.
Some example are quality of group discussion (Benbunan-Fich et al., 2002); taskcompletion (Fisher and Kingma, 2001; Holsapple and Joshi, 2002; Kamel andDavison, 1998; Lee, Strong, Kahn, and Wang, 2002) process satisfaction (Connolly etal., 1990; Mejias, Shepherd, Vogel, and Lazaneo, 1997; Miranda and Bostrom, 1999;
Reinig, Briggs, Shepherd, Yen, and Nunamaker, 1996; Reinig 2003) and outcome
satisfaction (Mejias et al., 1997; Huang, Wei, and Tan, 1999) However, this paper
focuses on the idea generation task and proposes that idea creativity is an important
indication of group performance in the idea generation setting. Idea creativity is
discussed in the following section.
Idea Creativity
Creativity is defined as the quality of creating rather than imitating, and creative ideas
are original rather than regular, newly created rather than “picked off the shelf”(Gautam, 2001). Sosik, Kahai, and Avolio (1998) define group creativity as a group’s
divergent production of ideas and claim that researchers have paid much attention togroup creativity when examining groups interacting in face-to-face meetings. ThereISSN: 2186-5892

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are four basic categories of divergent thinking: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, andoriginality (Sosik et al., 1998). Idea fluency is the number of ideas generated bygroups, idea flexibility is the number of approaches used to produce solution units,idea elaboration is the number of comments that add detail of new features to asolution, and idea originality is the number of original solutions (Sosik et al., 1998).
We assess idea creativity using all four aspects of divergent thinking.
Even though the notion that there is a positive correlation between idea quantity andidea quality has not yet been theoretically supported or empirically examined,
researchers have proposed this relationship. While the notion of a constant proportionof high quality ideas to all ideas generated has yet been refuted, we believe it isacceptable to include idea fluency as one of the four dimensions of idea creativity.
Research Questions
This research suggests that group setting (nominal or actual) in online classes, as wellas idea generation software interactive mode, can significantly influence idea
creativity inelectronic
brainstorming—assessed by idea fluency, idea flexibility, idea
Softwareinteractive
elaboration, and idea
originality.
Our research model and research questions are
mode
Idea creativity
stated below.
•   Fluency•   Flexibility•   Elaboration•   Originality
Group setting

Figure 2: Research Model.
   Question 1: How does idea generation software interactive mode
(graphic/outline/switching between the two) affect group’s idea creativity?
   Question 2: How does group setting (actual/nominal) affect group’s idea
creativity?
   Question 3: How does the interaction between idea generation softwareinteractive modes and group setting affect group’s idea creativity?
Conclusion
This study focuses on the effects of the use of software interactive modes on different
group settings—nominal and actual groups—in online classes. We plan to employ anexperiment using undergraduate and graduate students enrolling in an online class and
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engaging in a specific idea generation task. Students will be randomly assigned to anominal or an actual group. The idea generation software modes will be manipulated
such that groups will be provided with graphic mode, outline mode, or switching
between the two modes. In addition, idea creativity (idea fluency, idea flexibility, idea
elaboration, and idea originality) will be assessed through existing measures in the
GSS field (Connolly, Jessup, Valacich, 1990; Sosik, Kahai, and Avolio, 1998;
Torrance, 1965), and data will be analyzed to identify the significant relationships
within and between each experimental condition.
This study is not without limitations. First, this study assumes a one-time meeting of
the electronic brainstorming groups while in reality there could be multiple meetings,
which may increase or decrease the effectiveness of the brainstorming session. This
repeated usage could create “group history” which affects group members’interaction, perception, or sense of belonging to the group. A longitudinal study may
provide different results (Giovagnoli and Romano, 2004; Huntley, 2003; Kemerer,
1992).
Another limitation is the use of university students. However, this study focuses inelectronic brainstorming in online classes and university students are an appropriategroup of users. We also employ a simple task (idea generation) and thus assumes thatstudents can accurately represent business people that conduct electronic
brainstorming in their job. Therefore, we believe that using students should have anegligible effect on the result’s generalizability when applying the results of this study
to practitioners outside of classroom.
We believe that the results of this experiment will have both practitioners andacademic implications. Practitioners such as managers and educators can use theresults of this study when brainstorming in different group settings (nominal and/or
actual groups), especially in online classes. These practitioners will be able to identify
the best software interactive mode (or a combination of modes) and best groupsetting, according to their group setting in order to achieve the highest degree of idea
creativity. Researchers can further investigate the interaction and correlation between
the software modes, group settings, and idea creativity. The results of this study canbe used as a guide for future research in GSS-support activities such as multiple useof software, which will create group history. Future research can also examine
different subject pools such as managers, designers, etc. instead of students. This
stream of research can also help our understanding of group performance in bothonline classes and business settings.

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Workload and Performance in Combat Aircraft. Ergonomics, 40(3), 362-380.
Torrance, E. (1965). Rewarding Creative Behavior. Englewood Cliff, NJ: PrenticeHall.
Valacich, J., Dennis, A., & Connolly, T. (1994). Idea Generation in Computer-BasedGroups: A New Ending to an Old Story. Organizational Behavior & Human
Decision Processes, 57(3), 448-467.
Wood, R. (1986). Task Complexity: Definition of the Construct. Organizational
Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 37(1), 60-82.
Wu, J., & Yuan, Y. (2003). Improving Searching and Reading Performance: The
Effect of Highlighting and Text Color Coding. Information and Management, 40(7),617-637.

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A Study on a Method of Integrating AR Markers into a Foreign
Language Learning System for Task-based Activities
Harumi Kashiwagi, Institute for Promotion of Higher Education, Kobe University,Japan
Min Kang, Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Kobe University, Japan
Kazuhiro Ohtsuki, Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Kobe University, Japan
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Abstract
In this paper, we investigate a method to integrate Augmented Reality (AR) into aforeign language learning environment for task-based activities. We accomplish thattask by focusing mainly on two objectives. First, AR markers can be applied tointegrate some objects into the language learning environment as learning materials.
Second, movement of an AR-tagged object used in the activities can be recognized
and tracked, based on the AR marker’s positional information. AR technology is theintegration of digital information with the user’s environment in real time. AR uses
the existing environment and overlays digital information on it. We developed aprototype tool with the AR markers, and conducted an experiment to investigate theobjectives mentioned above. In the experiment, 22 university students participated in
the activities with the prototype tool. Concerning the first objective, the results of theexperiment suggest that the prototype tool is easy to use as learning materials. The
tool with the AR markers shows the possibility of achieving task-based style activity
objectives. Concerning the second objective, an AR-tagged object moved by thelearner was successfully recognized and tracked by the system in the activities. The
results suggest that the AR marker’s positional information could help track thelearner’s movement in the learning activities. It should be noted that the ability to
track an AR marker sometimes suffers from the problems caused by the amount oflight in the classroom. Evenly distributed light is preferable when trying to identifying
and detecting AR markers.
Keywords: augmented reality, tasked-based activities, foreign language learning
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Introduction
With the rapid advance of globalization, the development of proficiency in English as
a common international language is crucial for Japanese students. In 2020 the Tokyo
Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held. With an eye to those events, theMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology-Japan (MEXT)(2014a, 2014b) will proceed with studies on new reforms of English language
education.
In order to promote foreign language communication skills, providing students withmore opportunities to use English should be considered. The TPR (Total PhysicalResponse) approach and task-based foreign language activities are expected to beamong the methods employed to improve oral proficiency in English.
Constructing a foreign language learning environment could be one of the measures tosupport task-based activities based on the approach mentioned above. In particular, if
we apply Augmented Reality (AR) technology, it is possible to embed real-world
objects into the language learning system as learning materials.
AR technology is the integration of digital information with the user’s environment inreal time. AR uses the existing environment and overlays digital information on it.
There are two main approaches to generate events from AR: marker-based andplaced-based. Placed-based AR uses GPS-supplied locations, similar to Pokémon GO.
Marker-based AR relies on optical sensors and uses a camera with some type of visual
marker to produce a result only when the marker is sensed by a reader (Kato, 2002).
Distinct, but simple, black and white square printed patterns are used as the markers.
These patterns are used because they can be easily recognized and do not require agreat deal of processing power to read. The position and orientation are also
calculated, using a process in which some type of content or information is then laid
over the marker.
Research projects with AR applications have been conducted to help teach vocabulary
in situated, task-based language learning (Li et al., 2014; Valle, 2014; Godwin-Jones,
2016; Santos et al., 2016). In these projects various types of multimedia information,such as text, audio, images, and animations are associated with physical objects
attached to the AR markers in order to enhance language learning.
In our study, we consider applying the positional information of AR markers to thelearner’s activity logs. Based on our previous research (Kashiwagi et al., 2013), in thispaper we investigate a method of implementing a task-based foreign language
learning system by using AR markers. In doing so we focus on the following two
objectives:(1) The AR markers can be applied to integrate some objects into the language
learning system as learning materials;(2) Movement of an AR-tagged object used in the activities can be recognized andtracked by the system, based on the positional information of the AR marker.
With regard to objective (1), we use some objects as learning materials by attaching
AR markers to them. That way, learners can interact with the system using these

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objects. Learners are required to respond to the instruction from an instructor. An
instruction might be the following: “First, go to the department of internal medicine,then go to the department of otolaryngology.” The learner would then move an ARtagged object to the appropriate places on the map. Interaction between a learner andthe system’s AR-tagged object implements task-based activities that differ entirely
from repetitive model conversation practice. We anticipate that learners will graduallyacquire words and expressions using such activities in a simulative manner.
With regard to objective (2), the AR marker’s current position is recognized.
Movement of the AR-tagged object and the time logs are tracked and saved in thesystem. These activity logs are expected to allow teachers to better understand
individual learner’s learning process.
In the next section, we describe the prototype tool. The experiment, its results and a
discussion are included in the following sections. Finally, we present our conclusions
and recommendations for further studies.
Prototype Tool
In this section, we present a prototype tool in which AR markers and a map are
integrated.
AR Markers as Learning Materials
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the prototype tool developed in this study. As shown in
Figure 1, this system consists of a PC, a USB document camera, an AR marker, a map,and a projector for displaying a computer screen. The tool was implemented using
Processing (a programming language).

Figure 1: A prototype tool
The interaction between a learner and the tool is implemented using an AR marker on
the map (Figure 2) in the process described below.

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Figure 2: An AR-tagged object on the map of a hospital(1) An instructor gives an instruction to a learner. As an example, the instructor
might say, “You are at the reception desk of a hospital. First, go to thedepartment of internal medicine, and then go to the department ofotolaryngology.”(2) The learner listens to the instruction and responds to it, by moving an ARtagged object to the appropriate places on the map as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3: Example movement of the AR-tagged object

Figure 4: Example recognition of the movement of the AR-tagged object

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Official Conference Proceedings(3) The AR marker’s current position is recognized by the system. The movementof the AR-tagged object and the time logs are tracked and saved as describedlater in this paper.
Recognition of the Movement of the AR-tagged Object
The movement of an AR-tagged object used in the activities can be recognized andtracked by the system, based on the AR marker’s positional information. An area map,shown in Figure 4, is employed to recognize and track the AR-tagged object’s
movement. When the AR marker’s specific positional information is detected, thecorresponding area number on the map is acquired. For example, in Figure 4, the area
number 52 is detected from the positional information of the AR marker.
Activity Logs
The AR-tagged object’s movement and the time logs are tracked in the system. As
shown in Figure 5, when the AR marker’s movement occurs, the time, the AR
marker’s identification number and the area number on the map are saved as activity
logs in a CSV file. With these logs, we can observe the learner’s detailed behavior in
the activities, such as when the learner hesitates over whether he or she should go toarea A or area B.

Figure 5: Example activity log in a CSV fileExperimentParticipantsThis study’s participants consisted of 22 second-year students at a university in Japan.
They used the prototype tool and evaluate the activities with AR markers. Theirevaluations were assimilated with the help of a questionnaire.
ProceduresFirst, each participant used the tool and experienced the activities with an AR marker
after receiving the necessary instructions on its use. Subsequently, they were asked to

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complete a two-item questionnaire and to comment on the potential use of applying
AR markers to various educational applications.
Results and Discussion
Here, we discuss the introduction of AR markers into task-based foreign language
learning activities.
Introduction of AR Markers into the Language Learning System as Learning
Materials
Twenty-two participants were asked to select the statements that best described what
they had observed. Q1 in Figure 6 concerns their experiences in using AR markers. In
the bar graph, blue represents “This is my first time using them,” and red represents “Ihave heard about them, but this is my first time using them.” Green represents “I haveused them before.” According to the results of Q1, 41% of the participants agreed
with the statement, “This is my first time using them,” while 36% agreed with thestatement, “I have heard about them, but this is my first time using them.” Finally,
23% agreed with the statement, “I have used them before.” A total of 77% tried theAR markers for the first time.
Q2, shown in Figure 6, concerns using the tool with AR markers. According to the
responses to that question, a total of 81% (36% strongly agreed and 45% agreed)
agreed with Q2, “The tool with AR markers is easy to use.” Meanwhile, 14% chosethe statement, “Neither agree nor disagree,” and 5% chose the statement, “Disagree.”Figure 6: Results of the questionnaire on the tool with AR markers

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The results indicate that the tool with AR markers was easy to use as learningmaterials for many participants, although for nearly 80% it was their first time. The
participants who did not agree with Q2 proposed some ideas on the application of AR
markers. Based on these comments, AR markers had a positive impact on them.
Regarding the activities with AR markers in this experiment, some participants stated,“These activities with physical responses might help elementary school children toconcentrate on their activities.” In this experiment, a map of the hospital printed on
paper was used. These maps can be easily replaced to produce various locations, suchas a school map, a building map, and a town map, and so on.
Furthermore, regarding the comments on the possibility of the application of AR
markers to various educational fields, several application fields were mentioned.
These included educational uses such as problems concerning plain/solid shapes,
multiplication tables, special local products found on the map of Japan, an escaperoute in the event of an emergency for children, and confirmation of daily/weekly
schedules for elderly people.
These results suggest that the activities with AR markers had a positive impact on theparticipants. This conclusion demonstrates the possibility of implementing task-based
activities with AR markers. That possibility would broaden the variety of activities
not only in language learning but in other educational fields as well.
Movement of an AR-tagged Object
In the experiment, the time logs and the positional information of the AR markers
were successfully tracked and saved. The results of the experiment show that thesystem recognizes the current position of the AR marker. The movement of the ARtagged object and the time logs can be tracked and saved in the system.
These logs show learners’ detailed performance. That information will assist teachers
to understand the behavior of the individual learner in these activities. For example,
although a learner was eventually able to reach the appropriate destination on the map
in the experiment mentioned above, we can observe that it may take some time to getto that destination. These logs may help understand learners’ current level in detailand provide learners with sufficient feedback. The logs may offer a good approach toevaluate and support learners’ growth.
From the learners’ perspective, they can also monitor where they need improvement,
determine what they already know, and what else they need to know in any given
situation. These logs may help learners to know more about themselves.
Meanwhile, the ability to track an AR marker sometimes suffers from the problems
when the marker is occluded and cannot be seen in its entirety. AR technology relieson optical sensors for the marker tracking, most commonly by using a web camera.
Good results can be achieved with evenly distributed light. Fluorescent lamps on theceiling of the classroom, however, may prevent AR-marker identification anddetection. We should take measures to prevent occlusion problems. Evenly distributed
light is preferable in the classroom environment in order to facilitate AR-marker
identification and detection.

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Conclusion
In this paper, we investigated a method of implementing a task-based foreign
language learning system by using AR markers. That method focused on two
objectives: (1) AR markers can be applied to integrate some objects into the language
system as learning materials in task-based language activities; (2) Movement of an
AR-tagged object used in the activities can be recognized and tracked by the system,
based on the positional information of the AR marker.
In the experiment, 22 participants used the tool and experienced the activities with an
AR marker after receiving the necessary instructions on its use. Subsequently, they
were asked to complete a two-item questionnaire and to comment on the potential
application of AR markers to various educational fields.
We found that the tool with AR markers was easy to use as learning materials formany participants, and had a positive impact on their experience. This result suggeststhat the tool with AR markers has the potential to achieve task-based style activities
and would broaden the variety of activities in other educational fields in addition tolanguage learning.
The learning logs including time logs and the positional information of the AR
markers were successfully tracked and saved in the system. These logs show learners’
detailed performance, and will assist teachers and evaluators to understand a part ofthe learner’s behavior in these activities. From the teachers’ perspective, these logs
may help provide learners with sufficient feedback. Further, they may offer a good
approach to evaluate and support learners’ growth.
At the same time, AR-marker tracking sometimes suffers from the problems causedby the amount of light. Fluorescent lamps on the ceiling of the classroom may prevent
AR-marker identification and detection. We should seek to resolve occlusion
problems. For example, evenly distributed light is preferable when trying to
identifying and detecting AR markers.

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References
Godwin-Jones, R. (2016). Augmented reality and language learning: From annotatedvocabulary to place-based mobile games. Language Learning & Technology, 20(3),9–19.
Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2014a).
English Education Reform Plan corresponding to Globalization
http://www.mext.go.jp/en/news/topics/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/01/23/134359
1_1.pdf (accessed September 2, 2018)
Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2014b)
Report on the Future Improvement and Enhancement of English Education (Outline):
Five Recommendations on the English Education Reform Plan Responding to the
Rapid Globalization
http://www.mext.go.jp/en/news/topics/detail/1372625.htm(accessed September 2, 2018)
Kashiwagi, H., Ohtsuki, K., & Kang, M. (2013). A study on the interactive teachingmaterials using augmented reality. Proceedings of the 38th annual conference of
JSiSE, Kanazawa, Japan, 53–54. (In Japanese)
Kato, H. (2002). ARToolKit : Library for vision-based augmented reality. IEICE
technical report. Pattern recognition and media understanding, 101(652), 79-86. (InJapanese)
Li, S., Chen, Y., Whittinghill, D. M., & Vorvoreanu, M. (2014). A pilot study
exploring augmented reality to increase motivation of Chinese college students
learning English. Paper presented at the 2014 ASEE Annual Conference. Indianapolis,
IN. Retrieved from https://peer.asee.org/a-pilot-study-exploring-augmented-reality-toincrease-motivation-of-chinese-college-students-learning-english.pdf(accessed September 2, 2018)
Pokémon GO [Mobile software]. (2016). San Francisco, CA: Niantic.
Santos, M. E., Lübke, A., Taketomi, T., Yamamoto, G., Rodrigo, M., Sandor, C., &Kato, H. (2016). Augmented reality as multimedia: The case for situated vocabulary
learning. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 11(4), 1–23.
Retrieved from http://telrp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41039-016-0028-2(accessed September 2, 2018)
Valle, R. (2014). Teaching with augmented reality is here. Retrieved fromhttp://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1503-teaching-with-augmented-realityit-s-here(accessed September 2, 2018)
Contact email: kasiwagi@kobe-u.ac.jp

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All On Screen: The Effects of Digitized Learning Activities
on Increasing Learner Interest and Engagement in EFL Classroom
Jaiake Ritthipruek, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
With digital natives as learners, today’s EFL classroom has become a challenging
field for teachers to design a lesson which will effectively capture and maintainlearner attention and engagement. This study attempts to elaborate a technology-basedlearning environment in order to increase learner interest and deeply engage them inclassroom activities. “All On Screen” scheme is developed by transforming paperbased exercises into interactive digitized learning activities (DLA). On-screen drills
and game-based practices created on digital platforms are used as tools to trigger
learner intrinsic motivation which eventually leads to increasing interest and learning
engagement. The study examines an English classroom of first year undergraduate
students at the researcher’s faculty, in perspective of (1) the effects of DLA on
students classroom behaviours -- to what extent DLA can retain learner attention
throughout the whole lesson, (2) students perception of DLA -- how DLA increase
learner interest and engagement in classroom, and (3) students academic performance-- to what extent DLA can enhance learner language learning. The result of the study
reveals positive reactions from learners: increasing interest, longer attention span, andhigher level of participation and engagement. Nevertheless, it is suggested that theimplementation of digitized learning activities will be more effective in terms ofimproving learner language learning when enhanced and well-balanced with teacher’s
scaffolding strategies. This implementation could be a considerable strategy for EFL
classroom design.
Keywords: ELT, EFL, digital learners, digital natives, learner interest, learnerengagement, digitized learning activities, technology-based classroom

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Introduction“You can’t spell TEACH without T-E-C-H!”-- Kevin Jarrett -(International Society for Technology in Education, 2008)
Forget about the time when we were in classroom and the teacher, before starting theclass, told us to turn off our mobile phone for that the ringing or beeping sound would
not interrupt the ongoing class. In this Digital Age, mobile phone, instead of being a
distractor, has turned into a learning device where students can look up for the
information they need right at the instant their doubt arises. They do not need theteacher’s revelation of the meaning of the words anymore when they can google
search it right away.
In today’s language classroom, media and technologies are powerful tools whichcannot be neglected when the classroom involves young learners in this age who are
all digital natives, or in another words, the “native speakers” of the digital language ofcomputers, video games and the Internet (Prensky, 2001). Teachers of the 21stCentury therefore have to embrace the changes. Teaching must be transformed tobetter meet the needs of a digital learner (Prensky, 2005).
Embedding information technology (IT) in language classroom is not new. English
language teachers around the world have been using media in their classroom for
decades. As well as researchers continue their study on investigating the effects ofimplementing IT in EFL classroom in every aspect. Thailand in particular has
embraced technology-assisted learning since its kick starter, as evidenced by the ICT
Master Plan (2009-2013) announced by Thailand Ministry of Information andCommunication Technology in 2009 to promote the e-Education framework.
Technology has been proved to support interactive and collaborative learning(Richards, 2006; Voogt & Plomp, 2010). Therefore, implementing technology inlearning is considerably essential for today’s classroom.
In case of Prince of Songkla University International College (PSUIC), new students
are recruited into the program from various admission channels. The diversity of thestudents ranges from their interests, their background knowledge, their expectation
towards the program, to various other aspects including their English proficiency
level, which is one of the most crucial factors affecting students learning performance.
Every year there are numbers of students whose English proficiency is quite low(CEFR A2-A2+). The problem of this group of students is that they have to learn all
courses in English, while their English proficiency is insufficient to execute it.
it is discovered that the true cause which hinders student development in English
learning is rooted in student attitude toward language learning due to their pastexperiences, their interest and also their motivation to learn. As a consequence,
students with language challenges suffer in understanding other courses content andfind it is difficult to improve their English skills because they have to learn English in
English which makes things more complicated when it comes to technical terms orgrammar explanation. This results in a demotivational effect on student’s learninginterest and engagement in class. The mentioned effect can clearly be seen through

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students’ classroom behaviors like when they avoid teacher’s eye contact, do notvolunteer or hesitate to express themselves, or even end up missing classes.
With the purpose to cope with the aforementioned problem, the researcher attempts todesign a constructive sequence of lesson and create a motivational classroom
atmosphere by implementing digitized learning activities (DLA) to trigger students
learning motivation and maintain their concentration throughout the whole classsession. The study examines the effects of DLA on increasing students interest andengagement through an analysis of students’ perception of DLA and their classroom
behaviors, including whether DLA can enhance students’ academic performance.
Methodology
This study was carried out in two consecutive English courses for first year students
in an international program throughout two semesters (15 weeks per semester) at
Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, in Thailand. The two courses were
taught by the same teacher. The content of both courses followed the scope andsequence of a selected course book, but the delivery methods were designed
differently. The data were collected through two sources: teacher’s observation on
student’s classroom behaviors and an insight interview with each individual on theirlearning experiences and perception towards the introduction of technology inclassroom.
Participants
The participants in this study are Thai, both male and female, first year undergraduate
students (N=15) whose English proficiency is lower than TOEIC 450 or IELTS 4.5
which is considered A2-A2+, according to the Common European Framework ofReference for Language (CEFR). They can use simple English language incommunication. Mostly they are good at listening but not productive skills. CEFR has
provided the description of A2 level users as follows:
A2 (Basic User)Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of mostimmediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local
geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring asimple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can
describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment andmatters in areas of immediate need.1
All of the participants are in Digital Media program. Their interests always concern
technology and media development. Therefore, of all the learners in this digital age,
Digital Media students are very tech-savvy, keen on games and programming. Theireveryday lives and classes always involve computer-assisted learning, electronic
gadgets and technology.

1

University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, Using the CEFR: Principles of Good Practice, October
2011: 7-9.

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Classroom Design
In the first semester, classroom activities were based on worksheets, role plays andtasks without technology assistance, except classroom audio and visual media like
videos. The teaching strategy relied on the teacher as a facilitator and discussion
leader. On the other hand, in the second semester the ‘All On Screen’ model was
implemented with the idea of using media after media to extend the interactive
atmosphere and retain students interest and engagement. Digitized Learning Activities(DLA) were introduced instead of worksheets on the purpose to change students’
perception of ‘more exercises’ into ‘interactive tasks’. However, DLA were appliedon biweekly basis in order to avoid the overuse of the tools (See Figure 1).

Figure 1:Digitized Learning Activities implementation on biweekly basis.
In both semester, unlike language classes in general which are organized twice a week
(2 hours’ lecture and 2 hours’ practice on different day), the studied class wasarranged only once a week and extended to 4 hours long with 10-15 minutes break at
half of the whole session. This purposeful long hour was aimed for allowing a huge
scenario for students to get tired or distracted, and also expanding the time forteacher’s observation on the effectiveness of DLA tools. The structure of the classes
was designed as an interval session of teacher’s teaching and practice time. On thecontrolled week, the DLA tools are implemented in the sessions where practices are.
The division of the 4 hours class is as demonstrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Digitized Learning Activities in replacement for paper-based practices.

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The 4-hour session combines both teaching and practice together. The practice tasks
occupy longer session than the teaching as to reduce teacher talking and expand
students’ engagement time. The duration of time students exposed to the paper-based
exercises is controlled to be the same as the DLA exposure to avoid invalid results.
DLA Tools
In general, DLA refer to any types of learning activities facilitated by technology,
basically operated on digital platform such as on internet, mobile application, social
network, online educational quizzes or games, etc. For this study, the researcher
exploits different types of DLA like multimedia, audio-visual reading, but the twomain tools were on-screen drills and game-based practices on online platform.
On-screen drills are worksheets or paper-based exercises which have been ‘digitized’;
they were recreated on digital format, transformed to be displayed on screen. This ismeant for the students to gain the sense of doing the practice as a whole class, notindividual worksheet. On-screen drills are expected to help in enhancing students’
discussion as a whole class and diverting students’ perception of ‘exercises’ to ‘wholeclass tasks’. On-screen drills in this study were both created by the researcher andadapted from the course books iTutor program2. The characteristics of the on-screen
drills appear basically like worksheet exercises, but appearing on projector screen andassisted with sound and animation effects when inserting the correct or wrong
answers. Figure 3 is the example of on-screen drills adapted from the iTutor programof New Headway Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book, Oxford University Press.

Figure 3: On-screen drills adapted from the selected course book resources.
Game-based practice is designed to higher up the level of classroom interaction.
Exercises and quizzes were turned into challenging quizzes on free online educational
platform like Kahoot! (www.kahoot.com) and Socrative (www.socrative.com) . Thesewebsites allow teachers to create their own interactive and entertaining, yetconstructive quizzes and games for students to challenge themselves against the clock
and their peers. When playing, the drills or questions will be displayed on projector
screen for the whole class to see. Students, using the Kahoot application on their
2

Soars, J. & Soars, L. (2015) New Headway Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book. Oxford University
Press, Oxford.

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mobile phone, will get an access code to join the game. The teacher will control thegames pace and normally each question is time-controlled. The quizzes can be playedin both individual and team mode. After each question, students will receive an
instant feedback which is the answer to the question, so they know what to improve in
the next question to come. The score will be displayed after each question as well, so
the students can see the ranking, who have got the score and who is the fattest to
answer. By this means, there are opportunities for students to practice the skills orcontent learned in classroom, correct themselves when making wrong answers, andhave fun while learning both individually and through team discussion. Figure 4
demonstrates game-based quizzes created by the researcher on Kahoot.com.

Figure 4: Screen captures of quizzes created as DLA on online platforms.
The ideology in creating these digitized learning activities is the idea of speaking thesame language with the learners. Since the audience of the class are all digital natives,
they are familiar with technology-assisted tools, the method to communicate withthem effectively is to communicate in the same channel to tune our mutual interests.
DLA tools are designed for students to feel familiar and comfortable in their
physiological routine contexts like using mobile phones, sliding and touching thescreen and being embraced in multimedia.
Results
Teacher’s observation
Based on teacher’s observation on students’ classroom behavior, DLA have changed
students’ behavior in a positive way. First of all, students were more attentive andfocused when DLA were introduced. They were more engaged in on-screen drills thateveryone participated. There were times that students who always sat in the back row
of the class moved to the front row to help their peers solve the problems. Second,
discussion came natural. When they were really engaged in the tasks and were reallymotivated to solve the problem, they asked for their friends to brainstorm and discuss
without necessity of teacher encouragement. The discussion leaders have shifted fromthe teacher to students themselves. It is observed that passive learners who were quite

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shy and quiet in classroom showed signs of learning from their peers’ discussion overthe problem. Instead of ignoring what was going on in class, passive learners turned tolisten to what their friends were discussing, nodding their head for understanding,comparing the suggested answers with their own ideas, sometimes murmuring what
they thought was the correct answer. It is obvious that they are still shy to speak out,
but they learned. When the teacher revealed the correct answer, the whole class would
continue the discussion for more clarification. This brightened up the classatmosphere to be more collaborative and constructive. Third, when Kahoot andSocrative were introduced, students showed eagerness to play. Even if the quizzes
were simply questions about grammatical features or normal exercises, they were still
active to play. Online game-based practices have drawn attention and retain students
interest and engagement the best.
Insight Interview
From the insight interview with each individual, firstly, students were asked tocompare their learning experience between the two semester, the classroom with andwithout the presence of technology. 100% of the students preferred the presence oftechnology. Some of them find using technology in classroom more interesting andattractive to learn. Some of them feel that technology-based classroom is more
modern. Some of them feel it is easy to do the tasks since it is their familiar behavior
to use mobile phone, sliding and tapping on the screen.
Then, students were asked to rank which DLA tools they find interesting andengaging them in the activities the most. They were asked to rank all the tools usedthroughout both semester: worksheet, multimedia, audio-visual reading, game-based
practice and on-screen drills. The result came as expected; the online game-based
practice was the most popular one. However, it was followed by the multimedia in thesecond place, the audio-visual reading in the third place, on-screen drills in the fourth
place and lastly the worksheet. The percentage of the students ranking of eachlearning activity is demonstrated in the following Figure 5.

Figure 5: Students ranking of their favorite learning activities

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From the revealed result, students have given an interesting comment that game-based
practices were really enjoyable and could really raise their interest and engagement,even if they knew well that all the quizzes were basically exercises, but when it comesin form of challenges, it intrigues them to participate and learn. On-screen drills wereranked in the first and second place by some of the students, but not the majority ofthem. Those who preferred this tools have commented that on-screen drills were funand constructive, they can do the tasks with the whole class which make them feelless stress. There was no pressure as they usually feel when doing the paper-based
exercises.
In order to assess their learning performance, students were also asked to rank thetools from which they could learn the most. The result is as shown in the following
Figure 6.

Figure 6: Students ranking of the most effective tools in terms of learning
Surprisingly, the result revealed that more than 50% of the students admitted that they
can learn the best when they study on their worksheets. They still preferred to jot
down the knowledge while they are learning, which on-screen drills or game-based
practices could not allow them to do so. In the learning improvement aspect, onscreen drills rank the second as same as the audio-visual reading. Students havecommented that on-screen drills really enriched the discussion and knowledge
sharing. They could compare different ideas. It was like a debate of different thoughts
and perspectives, so they really enjoyed it. Another interesting result was the gamebased practice that came last in the ranking. The students most favorite tools did notenhance much of their learning because they were really into competing andexcitement that they would not memorize what they had learned from the games.
Some of the weak students who did not learn much from games mentioned thatsometimes that wanted to take time thinking about the questions, but their friends
were faster and they answered the questions without any discussion, so they could not
get to really learn. This annoyed them quite a lot. They prefer to play in individualmode.

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Conclusion
As the result of the study has shown, the DLA tools succeeded in increasing learnerinterest and engagement in classroom. However, in terms of learning, students stillneed the traditional way of taking notes and having some materials for revision at
home. It is obvious that students know well that traditional worksheets are best for
their learning, but in their perception, they are not quite welcome in classroom. From
all the reflections, it can be concluded that even digital learners find a well-balanced
between technology and traditional learning, enhanced with teaching techniques
improve their learning the best. Therefore, for more effective implementation oftechnology, a blended learning model could be a considerable way to increase andmaintain learner interest and engagement while also enhancing their learning
performance.
Acknowledgement
I would like to dedicate this work to my family who are always there to cheer me up
in my hard times. Also, thanks to all my colleagues for always be of a good support.
Assistant Professor Dr. Wiphada Wettayaprasit, Dr. Tanate Panrat and Mr.Hambalee
Jehma.

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Reference
Brewster, C., & Fager, J. (2000, October). Increasing Student Engagement andMotivation: From Time-on-Task to Homework. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional
Educational Laboratory. Retrieved fromhttp://educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/byrequest.pdf
Brown, H. D. (2015). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. NY: Pearson.
Dudeney, G., Hockly, N. and Pegrum, M. (2014). Digital Literacies. Routledge.
Hafner, C. A., Chik, A., & Jones, R. H. (2015). Digital Literacies and Language
Learning. Language Learning & Technology, 19(3), 1–7. Retrieved fromhttp://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2015/commentary.pdf
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). 2007-2008 Annual Reportof the International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/iste_annual_report_2007-2008.pdf
Parker, L. (Ed.). (2008). Technology-mediated learning environments for young
English learners: Connections in and out of our schools. New York: Erlbaum.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part, On the Horizon, Vol.
9 Issue: 5, pp.1-6, Retrieved fromhttps://www.mnsu.edu/cetl/teachingwithtechnology/
tech_resources_pdf/Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants.pdf
Prensky, M. (2005) Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning.
Retrieved from http://marcprensky.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PrenskyTEACHING_DIGITAL_NATIVES-Introduction1.pdf
Richards, C. (2006). Towards an Integrated Framework for Designing Effective ICTSupported Learning Environments: The Challenge to Better Link Technology andPedagogy. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 15(2), 239-255.
University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. (2011). Using the CEFR: Principles ofGood Practice. Retrieved from http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/126011-using-cefr-principles- of-good-practice.pdf
Voogt, J., & Plomp, T. (2010). Innovative ICT-Supported Pedagogical Practices:
Results from the International Study of Information Technology in Education. Journalof Computer Assisted Learning, 26(6),449-452.
Contact email: Jaiake.rc@gmail.com

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The Effectiveness of Gamification in Finance Education
Lewis Teo Piaw Liew, Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia
Normala bt Jaya, Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia
Saripah Siti Zuliani Wan Abd. Rahman, Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia
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Abstract
The Finance educators today face many challenges in providing an effective learning
environment to their students: the millennials, who are the digital natives. They havedifferent learning styles and require new teaching and learning process that havetriggered the main problems in education today. It is no longer possible to assume thatthe learning could be accomplished solely by linguistic resources and/or crowded
slides of confusing texts and formulas. Hence, this study investigates the effectivenessof gamification in finance education. The participants in this study were 50 students
from two classes who registered Financial Management course at Politeknik Kuching
Sarawak. One class of 26 students was randomly selected as the experimental groupwhich employed the gamification technique in teaching and learning while anotherclass of 24 students was assigned as the control group with normal traditional
curriculum activities. The formative assessment indicates that learning via
gamification result in higher learning performance. A questionnaire was also
developed to elicit the participants’ views towards the gamification technique. The
results reveal that the gamification technique allured their interest and enhanced theirmotivation to learn. It is hoped that the findings of this paper will contribute to theimprovement of quality in finance education by incorporating the gamification
whenever applicable.
Keywords: Gamification, Game Based Learning, Finance Education, Blind Kahoot!

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Introduction
The today’s students, the millennials, who are the digital natives, are brought up withvisual practices and digital technologies. They have different learning styles andattitude towards the learning process that have triggered the main problems in
education today. Yap (2016) found that many lecturers are still using conventional
teaching and while they are explaining and writing on the board, some of the students
will copy the same thing onto their notes, some are day dreaming or even sleeping.
There are several reasons for drop-outs or low performance especially in TVET
education: the students’ boredom, lack of engagement and absenteeism that caused
the students less willing to attend the lecture. Hence, the educator should identify
pedagogically which content are difficult to learn and how gamification can tackle theissue of students’ motivation and engagement during their learning process.
As the concept in Finance is difficult to comprehend, the students may adopt strategy
like memorizing the formulas in order to achieve good grades at the expense ofunderstanding the rationale of doing so. For instance, even though the students havelearnt the standard deviation in statistic course during semester one in polytechnic andalso during their secondary school, most of them still do not understand the meaningof standard deviation. Therefore, they are not able to understand how the standard
deviation can be applied to measure risk. These obstacles may cause them to feeldepressed, frustrated or cynical which are not present in the gaming environment
where the students who had done with the work, will leave the game and go toanother level of game that’s more challenging. This is further enhanced by instantgratification to keep them engaged and motivated.
Effective pedagogic approaches are vital in Finance education to maintain highquality teaching and to engage and motivate students in learning. Gamification offers
a new approach that can help the educators in finding the balance between achieving
their objectives and catering to evolving students’ needs. As such, it is vital to identify
what are the gamification elements that enhance learning engagement in Financial
Management course and how to construct a new learning approach in Financial
Management course through gamification. Hence, this study intends to explore theuse of gamification as a pedagogic approach to engage and motivate the students’learning in Finance education. The hypotheses that there is no significant difference instudents studying with gamification between treatment and control group is tested.
Literature Review
People like playing games as it is fun and entertaining. These features grab hold theplayers and motivate them to keep playing (Hamari et al., 2014). Gamification
involves the use of game elements in non-game context (Deterding et al., 2011). The
gamification guru, Yu-kai Chou defines gamification as “the craft of deriving all the
fun and addicting elements found in games and applying them to real-world or
productive activities”. In the context of learning, gamification is an application of
gaming elements to real life tasks to influence behavior, improve motivation andenhance engagement (Marczewski, 2012).
In today’s digital generation, gamification has become a popular tactic to encourage
specific behaviours, and increase motivation and engagement (Dominguez et al, 2013;

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Huang and Soman, 2013; Paisley, 2013). In support, Hamari et al. (2014) showed thatgamification has considerable potential in enhancing students’ motivation andengagement in the learning task as well as enjoyment over them. Graziela (2014)
further highlight that gamification can provide an innovative, creative and investor
student who actually tries, takes risk and in time makes mistakes. This is supported by
Kapp (2014) who showed that the gamification promotes motivation and facilitateseffective learning via the adoption of game elements, mechanics and game-based
thinking.
As gamification serves the purpose of mitigating the negative emotions and feelings
that the students usually come across in traditional forms of education, it encourages
the students to learn by employing the learn-by-failure technique that is popular ingame-like environments, where students can make mistakes and try again without theembarrassment factor that they usually face in classroom education. This is proposedby Lagendahl et al. (2016) that the gamification elements in education can beclassified into three types: the surface elements are visuals that quantify the player’s
performance; the underlying dynamics are the elements that summarize the conditionof a game including freedom to fail, feedback, progression, narrative and choice; andthe gaming elements that create the gaming experiences for players in non-gameactivities like challenge, competition and enjoyment. However, it does not mean that agamified learning program must possess all these elements.
Another strand of studies focuses on the effectiveness of gamification in enhancing
the students’ learning performance. There are several studies that demonstrate
gamification as a powerful learning tool which could result in higher students’learning performance (Divjak & Tomic, 2011; Ashraf et al., 2014; Hung et al., 2014;
de-Marcos et al., 2016). Researchers found that gamification provides a learning
environment that promotes students’ interest and motivation in learning which
subsequently result in good learning achievement. However, it should be highlighted
that gamification has to be appropriately designed in order to exert a positive impact
on the realization of educational goals.
Methodology
There are many gamification platforms available nowadays which are freely available
for everyone. This study adopts Kahoot! which allows students to join the Kahoot!
session by entering the code given by the instructors using their smart phones, tablets
or ordinary computers. In addition, the Kahoot! platform encompasses all the fivefactors that determine learning engagement as described by Whitton (2011). This is
supported by the past findings that demonstrate the effectiveness of Kahoot! inproviding positive impact on motivation and engagement of students in learning as
they perceived Kahoot! has made their learning enjoyable, easy to use, interactive andhelping them to understand their subjects better (Zarzycka-Piskorz, 2016; Plump &La Rosa, 2017; Tan, Ganapathy & Manjet, 2018).
Nevertheless, the past literature has mainly focused on the use of Kahoot! for review,formative assessment or to re-energise the class. This study looks into the new idea in
Kahoot!, the Blind Kahoot! proposed by a science teacher Stephanie Castle in New
York, in teaching the measurement of risk and return in Financial Management
course. The Blind Kahoot! is designed to induce the students’ curiosity, promotes

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understanding and reinforcement in learning a new concept. Compare with theconventional use of Kahoot!, Blind Kahoot! employs assessment to learn instead ofassessment of what has been learned. It is all about building and reinforcing
knowledge brick by brick in a single game.
The Blind Kahoot! session in this study consists of 21 questions. The opening of theBlind Kahoot! session is designed with the introduction of the game to enable theplayers to know what are expected to learn. This is done by using a “Blind” question
to ask something completely new (how to measure the risk) to the players to spark
their curiosity. The answer is explained by the instructor and this is followed by aseries of questions focused solely on what they have just learned. Another “Blind”
question is then raised to teach the subtleties (how to measure the return). This isfollowed by another series of questions escalating in difficulty to let the students
apply what they have learned. The cycle repeats for the concept of coefficientvariance and finally, the questions aim to instill compound reinforcement are raised tohelp the players consolidate everything they have learned in the Blind Kahoot!
session.
The real teaching situations in Financial Management course are used to analyse thegamified learning program. Students who enrolled in Financial Management course
are selected. One class of 26 students was randomly selected as the experimentalgroup which employed the gamification technique (Blind Kahoot!) in teaching andlearning while another class of 24 students was assigned as the control group withnormal traditional curriculum activities.
The same lesson was presented to both classes but only the experimental group was
exposed to the Gamification technique. On the other hand, in the control group, thecontent was conveyed verbally and the same content was used during both lessons to
avoid confounding effects on the experiments. A formative test was then administeredto gain the students’ learning outcomes from both classes. The purpose was to
identify whether the learning outcomes from the experimental group made differences
as compared to the control group.
Ronald (2005) proposed to use multiple sources of evidence such as student’s
performance and student’s ratings in measuring the pedagogical effectiveness. By
drawing on different sources of evidence, a more accurate and reliable decision can bederived as the strengths of each source will outweigh the weaknesses of the othersources. Hence, the observation of student behaviour during the gamified lesson was
conducted while a questionaire was also developed to elicit the participants’
perceptions from the experimental group towards adopting Gamification in learning
Finance. The questionnaire comprised of 10 questions which were rated on a fivepoint Likert Scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Findings
The mean scores of the quiz in Risk and Return Measurement are tabulated in Table
1. The experimental group recorded remarkable higher means than the control group.
This supports the hypothesis that using the Gamification technique enhances students
performance.

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Table 1: Mean score of the formative testGroup
Mean score
Standard Deviation
Experimental
87.5
2.26
Control
79.6
5.34
In regards to the classroom observation of students’ behaviour, it is noteworthy tohighlight that the majority of the students demonstrated the immediate indicators ofengagement (Mandernach et al., 2011) as in Table 2 during the Blind Kahoot! session.
Table 2: Observation of students’ behaviour during the Blind Kahoot! session
1. Actively listened and looked at the screen
2. Highly focused attention
3. Actively responded to each of the questions
4. Questioned or discussed with their peers
5. Demonstrated body language that it was fun and interesting with smiles
and laughter
The results pertaining to the perceptions of the experimental group towards
Gamification technique were also inspiring (as in Table 3), indicating the usefulnessof Gamification technique in enhancing their learning. Almost all students werestrongly agreed that the Blind Kahoot! session is interesting and they have fun playing
the game. The most encouraging findings would be the high scores in the students’
engagement where almost all focus on each item in the Kahoot! session and respondto it. Students also like the fun and excitement from the competitiveness feature andwere motivated by the prospect of winning. This has fostered them to pay more
attention during the lecture.
The interest, engagement and motivation fostered thus help the students to understandthe lesson. They also agreed that the Kahoot! session successfully reinforce theirlearning. Almost all strongly agreed that Gamification should be used as a learning
tool in Finance.
Table 3: Perceptions of the experimental group towards Kahoot!
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

I find Blind Kahoot! interesting
I have fun playing the Blind Kahoot!
I focus on each item or question in the Blind Kahoot! session
I respond to each item or question in the Blind Kahoot! session
I like the competitiveness in the Blind Kahoot! session
I am motivated by the prospect of winning in the Blind Kahoot! session
I pay more attention during lectures because I hope to win in the Blind
Kahoot! session
8 The Blind Kahoot! session helped me to understand the Risk and Return
Measurement
9 The Blind Kahoot! session helped me to reinforce my learning of the Risk
and Return Measurement
10 Blind Kahoot! should be used in other finance modules

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Mean
4.96
4.96
4.96
4.96
4.96
4.96
5.00
4.96
4.96
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Conclusion
This study shows how gamification could be coupled with mobile learning in higher
education to engage learners and enhance the learning performance. The results shedlight on the adoption of Gamification in Finance education that contains the gameelements: the combination of challenge, competition and interaction to make thestudents enjoy the process of learning. It is proven to be effective in fostering thestudents’ engagement and interest to learn in Financial Management course and leads
to a higher academic performance. Specifically, this study demonstrates that Blind
Kahoot! enables the players to master a new finance concept relatively quickly
through a fun and engaging atmosphere. It is not only a great tool for learningterminology but can also be used to introduce a new topic.
From the pedagogical perspective, this study provides useful insights into the learning
styles required by the millennial students. By testing the effectiveness of gamifiedclassroom over traditional classroom, it reveals important information about whatworks. It is hoped that the findings of this paper will encourage the Finance educators
to integrate the gamification into their pedagogy to maximise the learning experience.
Finally, it should be noted that there is possibility that the increased students’ interest,
engagement and motivation are simply due to the short term novelty factors generally
associated with the introduction of new technology and learning techniques. Besides,
this study examined one mode of gamification only and the sample for this study was
drawn from one polytechnic. Hence, further study across a number of institutions isneeded to assess whether it is sustainable and applicable to other context.

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References
Ashraf, H., Motlagh, F. G., & Salami, M. (2014). The impact of online games onlearning English vocabulary by Iranian (low-intermediate) EFL learners. ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 286-291.
De-Marcos, L., Garcia-Lopez, E., & Garcia-Cabot, A. (2016). On the effectiveness ofgame-like and social approaches in learning: Comparing educational gaming,
gamification and social networking. Computers & Education, 95, 99-113.
Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R. & Nacke, L. (2011). From Game Design
Elements to Gamefulness: Defining “Gamification”. In A. Lugmayr, H., Franssila, C.
Sarfan & I. Hammouda (Eds), Mind Trek (pp. 9-15).
Divjak , B., & Tomic, D. (2011). The impact of game-based learning on theachievement of learning goals and motivation for learning mathematics – Literature
Review. JIOS, 35(1), 15-30.
Domínguez, A., SaenzdeNavarrete, J., deMarcos, L., FernándezSanz, L., Pagés, C., &MartínezHerráiz, J.J. (2013). Gamifying learning experiences: Practical implications
and outcomes. Computers & Education, 63, 380-392.
Graziela D. S. S., Vania R. U. and Waléria K. H. (2014). Games and Gamification: A
Proposal for a Creative Learning Process in Education. Journal of Education and
Human Development, 3(4), 117-129.
Hamari, J., Koiristo, J & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does Gamification Work? A Literature
Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification. 47th Hawaii International Conference
on System Science.
Huang, W.H.Y & Soman, D. (2013). A practitioner’s Guide to Gamification of
Education. Research Report Series Behavioral Economics in Action. University ofToronto.
Hung, C. M., Huang, I., & Hwang, G. J. (2014). Effects of digital game-basedlearning on students’ self-efficacy, motivation, anxiety, and achievements in learning
mathematics. Journal of Computers in Education, 1(2), 151-166.
Kapp, K. (2014). Gamification: Separating fact from fiction. Online: CLOmedia.
Langerdahl, P.A., Cook, M. & Herbert, C.M. (2016). Gamification in Higher
Education – Towards a pedagogy to engage and motivate students. Working Paper
Series 2016:6, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Marczewski, A. (2012). Gamification: A Simple Introduction. Raleigh, NC:Lulu.
Mandernach, B. J., Donnelli-Sallee, E. and Dailey-Hebert, A. (2011). Assessing
Course Student Engagement, in Miller, R.L., Amsel, E., Kowalewski, B., Beins, B.,
Keith, K. and Peden, B. (Eds.), Promoting student engagement, volume 1: Programs,
techniques and opportunities, Syracuse, NY: Society for the Teaching of Psychology.
Paisley, V. (2013). Gamification of Tertiary Courses: An Exploratory study oflearning and Engagement. 30th Ascilitate Conference 2013 Proceeding, 671-675.

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Plump, C.M., LaRosa J. (2017). Using Kahoot! in the classroom to create engagement
and active learning: a game-based technology solution for e-learning novices.
Management Teaching Review,1-8.
Ronald, A. Berk (2005). Survey of 12 Strategies to Measure Teaching Effectiveness.
International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 17(1), 48-62.
Tan D.A.L., Ganapathy, M. & Manjet K. (2018). Kahoot! It: Gamification in Higher
Education. Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum., 26 (1), 565-582.
Whitton, N. (2011). Game engagement theory and adult learning. Simulation &Gaming, 42(5), 596–609.
Yap, W. L. (2016). Transforming conventional teaching classroom to learner-centred
teaching classroom using multimedia-mediated learning module. International
Journal of Information and Education Technology, 6(2), 105-112.
Zarzycka-Piskorz, E. (2016). Kahoot it or not? Can games be motivating in learning
grammar? Teaching English with Technology, 16(3), 17-36.

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Principal Leadership Practices, Teacher Morale and Performance of Elementary
Schools
Abegaile B. Brazil – Rodrigo, Division of Tacloban City, DLC V
Department of Education, Philippines
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Abstract
Teacher morale and principal leadership are relevant to educational researches
because they are critical to school’s success; hence, these are considered in this study.
The study determined the relationships among leadership practices, teacher moraleand schools’ performance in Tacloabn City Division during the school year 20142015. It involved 40 school principals and 456 teachers as respondents. The
Leadership Practices Inventory, and the Purdue Teachers Opinionnaire were used as
the data gathering tools. The data were statistically treated using percentage, weighted
mean, Pearson r, eta correlation, and single analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study
found that the principals’ extent of leadership practices was generally high. The
principals best leadership qualities were fostering collaboration and empowerment(enabling others to act), and encouraging and motivating people to achieve the goals
set by the organization (encouraging the heart). Overall, the teachers had generally
moderately high morale; though, they showed high morale on the following: teacher
rapport with the principal, satisfaction with teaching; rapport among teachers, teacher
salary, curriculum issues, teachers’ status, community support of education, andcommunity pressures. The schools’ performance was generally moderately high only.
The level of morale of teachers was positively associated by the principals’ leadership
practices. Thus, it was concluded that principals could positively influence theirteachers though their leadership styles. It was recommended that: principals should
enhance their leadership practices to increase the level of teachers’ morale; teachers
loading must be considered by the principals so as not to overburden teachers.
Keywords: principal leadership, teacher morale, school performance

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Introduction
The school’s performance is measured in terms of learners’ achievement. Therefore,
the ultimate goal of all educational efforts is the high achievement of the learners –the students/pupils. Students’/pupils’ achievement, on the other hand, is influenced byseveral factors. Considering that teacher is considered the agent in the educative
process, teacher is one of the factors, which is believed to greatly influence learners’
performance. Specifically, teacher’s morale can be a very potent factor that could
influence the learners’ performance. Correspondingly, teachers’ performance is also
affected by many factors. One of these could be principal leadership.
Both teacher morale and principal leadership are relevant to educational researches
because they are critical to school’s success. It is hypothesized that teacher morale
directly influences pupils’ achievement and school’s performance in general. Teacher
morale is also hypothesized to be influenced by the leadership behaviors of theirprincipals or school heads. Thus, it can be safely assumed that principal leadershipalso affects pupil’s achievement and school’s performance in general.
Indeed, the principal has a very important role in the improvement of the whole
school operation. Considering that the school is the focus for the students to develop
themselves, the principal has that great responsibility in the students/pupils’
development, which could be made possible through its profound influence on theteachers’ competencies.
This researcher, as a principal in one of the elementary schools of Tacloban City
Division, has observed the need to identify factors which may be contributory to themorale of teachers, as well as the academic performance of the pupils. This is for thefact that she has observed that there is a need to improve teachers’ performance andpupils’ academic achievement, and the school’s performance in general. This
researcher believes that this could be possible by improving teachers’ morale throughexcellent principal leadership. Furthermore, the schools’ performance in Tacloban
City Division still needs improvement in terms of increasing pupils’ grades andpromotion rate; and reducing dropout rate, failure rate, and repetition rate. Also, it has
been observed that teachers had manifested dissatisfaction vis-à-vis low morale insome aspects like salary, work load, among others. These manifestations of low
morale had been evident in some teachers’ meetings and other gatherings – in schoollevel, district, or division level meetings, where complaints had been raised.
Considering the above observations; and the possible links among the principal
leadership, teachers’ morale, and pupils’ performance, the researcher found it
imperative to conduct this study to assess the principals’ leadership practices, teacher
morale and school’s academic performance; and to determine their relationships so as
to draw pedagogical implications and propose an action plan.
Moreover, based on the literature review, there had been a dearth of researches
conducted about the interrelatedness of these variables in the local setting, specificallyin Tacloban City Division. There had been studies which were conducted related tothese, but these were conducted outside the country. It is hoped that this study will
benefit the elementary schools of Tacloban City Division. Specifically, it is also

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expected to benefit the following in different ways: school principals, teachers,
students and future researchers.
Conclusion
This study determined the relationships among leadership practices, teacher morale andschools’ performance in Tacloabn City Division during the schools year 2014-2015.
Specifically, it determined the principals and teachers profiles, the principals extent ofleadership practices, the teachers’ level of morale, the schools’ performance, and therelationships among these variables.
The study was conducted in Tacloban City Division covering six district learning centers with
40 elementary schools. All the 40 school principals and 456 teachers were involved in the
study. Two standard questionnaires were adopted for the study as data gathering tools such as
the Leadership Practices Inventory, and the Purdue Teachers Opinionnaire for the morale ofthe teachers. The data were statistically treated using percentage, weighted mean, Pearson r,
eta correlation, and single analysis of variance (ANOVA)

The following were the major findings of the study:
Profile of the Principals
The 40 principals were mostly middle aged, mostly females, married; lacked
advanced studies; and with limited relevant trainings.
Profile of the Teachers
The teachers were mostly middle aged; females dominated; mostly were married;
generally lacked advanced degrees and were quite experienced.
Leadership Practices of Principals
In general, the principals’ extent of leadership practices was very good as perceived
by themselves; and good as perceived by the teachers. In modeling the way, the extent
of leadership practices was very good according to the principals themselves andgood according to eth teaches. In inspiring a shared vision, both principals andteachers had given very good rating. In challenging the process, the principals had
given themselves with very good rating, while the teachers had given a generally agood rating. In enabling the heart, the principals had rated themselves with very good,which was confirmed by the teachers. In encouraging the heart, the mean ratings ofthe principals and teaches were both interpreted as very good.
Teachers Level of Morale
The teachers’ level of morale was only moderately high. The factors which indicatedhigh level of morale were the following: teacher rapport with the principal;
satisfaction with teaching; rapport among teachers, teachers’ salary, curriculum
issues; teachers’ status; community support of education, and community pressures.
On the other hand, the factors which showed low morale among the teachers wereteacher load and school facilities and services.
Level of Schools’ Performance.
The schools performance level were as follows: in terms of pupils’ academic
performance (GPA) the schools’ performance was moderately high; high performancein terms of dropout rate as manifest by the very low dropout rate; low performance interms of failure rate as substantiated by the high average failure rate; high

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performance due to the high promotion rate; moderately high performance due to the
low repetition rate; and high performance in terms of faculty performance asevidenced by the very satisfactory average rating.
Relationships among Profiles, Leadership Practices, Level of Morale, andSchools’ Performance.
Each profile of the principals had no significant relationship with their leadership
practices. Also, there were no significant associations between each teacher profileand their level of morale. Civil status of the principal was significantly associatedwith promotion rate. Number of relevant seminars was significantly associated withdropout rate; and experience as principals was associated with dropout rate. The levelof leadership practices of principals was significantly and positively associated withteacher morale. There were no significant relationships between the principals’leadership practices and schools’ performance.
Differences among the Six School Districts in terms of Leadership Practices ofPrincipals, Teacher Morale, and School Performance.
There were no significant differences among the six school districts in terms of thefollowing: leadership practices of principals, teachers morale, and all the school
performance indicators.
The following conclusions were drawn out from the major findings of the study:
It was deduced based on the results that the principals’ extent of leadership practices
was generally high. It can be further inferred from the results that the principals bestleadership qualities were fostering collaboration and empowerment (enabling others
to act), and encouraging and motivating people to achieve the goals set by theorganization (encouraging the heart).
Generally, the teachers had moderately high level of morale. It was also concluded
that the schools’ performance was generally moderately high only. Finally, the levelof morale of teachers was positively influenced by the principals’ leadership
practices. Thus, it is concluded that principals could positively influence their teachers
through their leadership styles.
Recommendation
Based on the findings of the study and its conclusions, the following arerecommended: principals should enhance their leadership practices to increase thelevel of teachers’ morale; teachers loading must be considered by the principals so as
not to overburden teachers; and principals need to attend more seminars related toschool leadership as this was effective in reducing the school’s dropout rate. Most
importantly, the implementation of the action plan which is the output of this study isstrongly recommended. It is also recommended that similar studies be conducted by
future researchers.

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Acknowledgements
The researcher, with great pleasure, acknowledges her indebtedness to some persons
whose individual assistance and service were extended to her from the conception up
to completion of this research.
With deepest gratitude, the researcher expresses her sincerest thanks above all to the
Father Almighty who gives her the courage to work on this dissertation.
Heartfelt thanks are due to DR. LOUISE ANNE D. LIBRANDO, Dean of the
Graduate School, Southwestern University, Cebu City, for his valuable guidance andsuggestions to facilitate the preparation of the research proposal and the dissertation.
The researcher is likewise indebted to DR. CLEMENCIA V. GATPOLINTAN, heradviser, who has been very instrumental and influential to the researcher’s graduate
school career.
Grateful acknowledgement is also given to DR. DELETAH D. G. POLINAR,
Chairman, DR. ALICIA B. PLANTAR, DR. LEOVIGILDO A. MANALO, and
DR. THELMA P. BARTIDO, member of the Panel Examiners, for theirconstructive comments and suggestions for the refinement of the manuscript.
Profound gratitude is also extended to DR. NILO M. EDER, and DR. LILIA P.
ADRALES for his professional expertise and involvement in this study.
Elementary School Heads/ Principal and Elementary Teachers of the Division of
Tacloban City, for their cooperation in the success of this endeavor.

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Some Challenges with Opportunities of Introducing International Baccalaureate
Programmes into Japanese Schools
Carol Inugai Dixon, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Jun Kawaguchi, University of Tsukuba, Japan
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Abstract
The rapid changes in our world today mean that education must now serve an
increasingly complex set of purposes. The Japanese government has recognized theneed for changes in the traditional educational system, and the necessity tointernationalize so as to develop human resources for a competitive globalized world.
The introduction of International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes into article 1
schools is intended to generate deep change. In liaison with this initiative, theUniversity of Tsukuba has inaugurated since 2016, a Master’s in International
Education program that provides students with the opportunity to obtain an IB
Educator’ Certificate while at the same time conducting research within the field ofinternational education. The program is of significance in that it brings together
perspectives from Japanese educators, from educators in other national systems andalso those from international educational backgrounds. The IB is an international
education that has built its reputation in international schools. How then can it help
internationalize the traditional Japanese national system? The Japan Association of
Research into IB Education (JARIBE) was established in 2015 to promote and collate
research nationwide to answer such questions about the introduction of IB
programmes into Japanese schools. Input from the two cohorts of students on the
Master’s in International Education Program at the University of Tsukuba, and frompresentations and discussion forums from three JARIBE annual conferences havebeen collated in this paper to consider the broad challenges and opportunities arisingfrom the introduction of IB programmes into Japanese national schools so far.
Keywords: internationalization, education, international baccalaureate, pedagogy,inquiryiafor
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Introduction
The Japanese national educational system is built around a transmission model ofteaching and learning. Typically, canonical knowledge in text books is memorized
for standardized tests. Classes are large with around forty students sitting in rows ofdesks with the teacher at the front of the class. Today however, inquiry based learning
is considered to be a more relevant way of teaching and learning for our present times
and in order to implement such a model in the Japanese context various school change
initiatives have been introduced by the government. The introduction of International
Baccalaureate (IB) programmes is one such initiative. There are challenges involved
in implementing such changes but at the same time they provide opportunities forrevitalization. These will be considered here.
The Challenges
The two major challenges of introducing IB programmes into Japanese national
contexts are concerned with first, how the programmes are conceptualized, andsecondly how the programme pedagogies can be implemented. Each of these will beconsidered separately.
Other practical challenges will also be considered.
1. Conceptualizing IB
When a board of education, or a school or a governmental body is considering the
introduction of IB and is involved in various discussions about its nature and thenecessary processes, then being clear about shared understandings of the nature of IB
programmes is crucial. Otherwise, as so often happens, there may appear to beconflicts and confusions which on closer examination turn out to be based on different
assumptions and interpretations of key concepts. Considering how the IB is being
conceptualized in terms of purpose can help clarify understandings of shared intent
and subsequent possibilities of implementation. For example, depending on
experiences and knowledge about the IB Diploma Programme (DP) which is a twoyear university preparation programme, the ideas of what it may offer can vary quiteconsiderably. The DP may be seen, for example, as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
•

as an elite qualification for entry to prestigious universities
as an incentive to save time and money in university
as an inclusive programme to raise national standards
to transform national education for the twenty first century
as an international programme that develops high level English skills
as an education to make the world a better and more peaceful place

Let us consider some of these conceptualizations in more detail.
The IBDP as an elite qualification for entry to prestigious universities
For many parties interested in the IB diploma programme there is an idea that it is anelite education for students who will be well prepared to enter prestigious universities.
The background to this image and understanding of the IBDP is that, as the first IB

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programme launched fifty years ago, it was well suited to the developing phenomenaof international schools which flourished worldwide in the wake of World War 2.
Geneva International school was the first to offer the IBDP and YokohamaInternational School the second. Such schools served the children of well off, middle
class, ambitious parents. Classes were small and well resourced. The IBDP
qualification was recognized by universities in the countries that international school
graduates wished to attend. There was a perfect congruence of many factors for
success. The reputation of the programme was assured, but there is little doubt that itwas very much due to the international school context. Nonetheless, this is not always
considered carefully and it is easily assumed that the IBDP will generate similar
results in other contexts, including national schools. But this can be a challenge,
especially if classes are large and resources limited.
One solution to this challenge is to target students who show early promise of success.
Such a solution has been successful in a national context in the UK in Sevenoaks
School for example. This is a flagship IB school where all students are highly
successful in the DP. The students are meticulously screened for ability andmotivation at entrance and consequently most succeed. The school’s reputation forsuccess attracts those with high capabilities in a self-fulfilling prophecy. The
limitation of such an approach, of course, is the narrow focus on academic prowess as
displayed through examination success.
But there is absolutely no necessity to conceive of the IBDP as being for an academic
elite. The IBDP has always emphasized academic rigour but not elitism. Creating acontext for the success of the IBDP in schools which want to be more inclusive
although a major challenge has been attempted in various ways.
The IBDP as an incentive to save time and money in university
In some places, such as Canada, a DP subject certificate model is popular. This modelallows students in IB accredited world schools to study individual DP subjects for acertificate rather than take the full six subjects and core courses required for a full
diploma. Universities recognize the subject certificates as high level study and socount them towards credits for undergraduate courses. This saves the students time aswell as money in university. Of course students tend to select the IB subjects
compatible with those that they will pursue at university so the holistic nature of the
DP is compromised as other subjects are omitted. Although some schools insist thatthe core of the DP is compulsory in such models, not all do. So actually in some cases
it is possible to do IB subjects without studying Theory of Knowledge (TOK) or
participating in Creativity, Activity and Creativity (CAS) or writing the Extended
Essay (EE). These three areas are the core of the DP and are so named because that isexactly what they are. They are considered central to the development of international
mindedness which is the major goal of the IB mission and it has been argued that an
IB education without them neglects the mission. But certainly if the core is offeredalong with subject choices this model goes a long way to provide IB opportunities to awider range of students.

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The IBDP as an inclusive programme to raise national standards
In the USA, in 2010, the IB entered into a project, funded by the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation, to expand access to the IB programmes for under-represented
students The project sought to expose low-income and minority students tochallenging and rigorous educational opportunities in years 9 and 10, leading up to
the IB DP. The project recognized the potential effectiveness of the rigour of the IB
pedagogy for everyone to improve standards. Success was measured by improvement
rather than high scores.
The IBDP to transform national education for the twenty first century
In Equador, the national education system was completely reformed at the highschool level with the implementation of the DP which replaced the previous national
curriculum and became the general graduation certification for all. Such a radical
approach means that the complexities of grafting a new system onto the old, which isindeed a complicated task in the case of Japan and the IB, can be avoided. But there isa place for real concern about losing traditions which are an integral part of cultural
identity.
The IBDP as an international programme that develops high level English skills
International Education is a general term that covers a vast field of theories, practices,
and ideologies. Nonetheless as a general term it has become increasingly associatedwith a positive status and with suggestions that it is an education that promises wellfor the future of students. Schools as businesses for profit making have promoted
these ideas and many offer IB programmes in English in non-English speaking
national contexts such as in China. English, as the major global language, is of course
seen as an important aspect of international education. Developing communicative
English skills in Japanese schools teaching the IB in Japanese is a particular challenge,in terms of available time as well as the development of teacher resources who
understand communicative pedagogies.
The various examples described so far illustrate that the IB programme frameworks
are adaptable for different purposes. In actual fact they have been deliberately
designed to be flexible to suit various cultural contexts. This is a great advantage asmodels are developed to suit the particular purposes of Japanese contexts so that they
can provide opportunities to maximize student potential.
2. Implementing IB pedagogy
Whichever model a Japanese school chooses in implementing IB programmes it must
consider how to incorporate the IB pedagogy. Fundamentally this involves aparadigm shift from a transmission model of teaching and learning to an inquiry basedmodel of teaching and learning. Some of the differences between these two models
are shown in figure 1. The differences are considerable and call for investment inteacher training and development as well as whole school changes such as library
resourcing and IT provision. The role of the teacher in an inquiry based model oflearning is that of a mentor and facilitator rather than a transmitter of canonicalknowledge from set text books. Developing the students’ research skills and higher

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order thinking skills such as critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis are important.
Concepts that enable the transfer of learning become core to learning. Assessment, as
an integral part of the learning process is criteria based and transparent.
It is the IB pedagogy which develops the various skills, knowledge and dispositions
which are considered crucial for the twenty-first century context of globalization. But
these require a particularly careful consideration with regards to Japanese contexts
since they have been manifested so far in a western cultural context. Separating theskills from the particular cultural context in which they have grown, so that they canbe applied effectively and appropriately in another very different culture is a difficultand perhaps sometimes delicate matter. For instance, it is often claimed that Japanese
students do not question or contradict the teacher’s viewpoint out of a sense of respect
for the teacher and because they value harmony. Surely respect and harmony are twovalues that have not only been endorsed throughout time but are currently
encompassed in the IB mission to make the world a more peaceful place. In many
schools outside Japan these two very important values remain aspirational eventhough students may be skillful in debating and critical thinking. Introducing an IB
pedagogy into a Japanese context requires careful thought about how to maintain wellestablished worthy values while allowing for the development of other skills deemed
relevant for today. This is certainly one of the major challenges in implementing IB
programmes in Japanese schools and calls for scrupulous attention.

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Figure 1. Differences between an inquiry model of learning and a transmission
approach
3. Other challenges
The development of the IBDP was informed by the UK educational system whereby
between the ages of approximately 16 to 18 students study advanced levels in alimited number of subjects for two years in preparation for university. This does not
fit with other systems that have a junior high school system and high school systemwith different time frames. For instance, Japanese high school is three years not two.
The academic school year in Europe is from September until June. The IBDP
examinations are therefore in May. There are also examinations in November toaccommodate the Southern Hemisphere where the academic year is reversed. There isno accommodation for the Japanese academic year which begins in April however.
Because of IB regulations designed around Western time zones of Northern

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and Sothern hemispheres Japanese IB students may be under extra pressure from time
constraints. Are there creative solutions for this?
The Opportunities
There is no doubt that the IB programmes develop skills and attributes that are
pertinent to our times. And their flexibility for adaptation to various contexts reflects
the vision of international education as recognizing and honouring multiple
perspectives and their commitment to a value of diversity. Diversity provides
opportunities for creative synergies.
The IB programmes develop a critical thinking mind set. This is essential in a world
where media power must be negotiated. They aspire to develop skills andunderstandings for peaceful recognition of difference and inclusion. Again, these arearguably essential skills in a world that so easily has access to diverse world views.
The IB programmes are rigorous and their implementation requires attention to thedetailed Programme Standards and Practices. The challenges of meeting thesestandards and practices are an excellent opportunity for pertinent questioning,
dialogue, analysis and consideration of what is considered to be a proper path forwardwith regard to reform in the Japanese educational system. What should be changed?
What should be retained?
The considerations are wider than the implementation of the IB programmes. The IB
programmes however, can provide a framework or scaffold that can serve to contain
important discussions about the purpose of education in Japan in the twenty first
century.
There are opportunities within these discussions for a purposeful renewal andrevitalization of skills, traditions and values indigenous to Japanese culture that havebecome hidden but which are actually just as pertinent to present day contexts ascritical thinking and valuing multiple perspectives. Respect and harmony have alreadybeen highlighted. There is also a deep sense of ecology in every day Japanese culture,
where nature is appreciated, and where waste is avoided. Social mores that seek to notcause others discomfort are well established. The opportunities for creative synergies
between traditions in Japanese culture and ideas brought from IB programmes are rife.
With careful consideration and research there are exciting possibilities for newmodels of learning that may benefit not just Japan but other countries that are seeking
change in their educational systems.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to students on the Master’s in International Education at the University ofTsukuba and JARIBE members who have shared their thoughts and observations
about IB programmes in Japanese contexts.

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Resources
International Baccalaureate public website, www.ibo.org
Japan Association for Research into IB Education www.jaribe.org
Sevenoaks School https://www.sevenoaksschool.org
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation www.gatesfoundation.org
IB in Equador www.ibo.org/globalassets/publications/ib-research/ecuadorsummary_eng.pdf

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What are Missing on the English Teacher Preparation Programme at Japanese
Universities in Terms of Pronunciation Instruction?
Akihito Desaki, Waseda University Junior and Senior High School, Japan
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine how English pronunciation instruction is dealt
with in the teacher preparation programme at Japanese universities and to suggest
how the trainees can be better prepared for instructing pronunciation before they startteaching in classroom settings. The literature review verifies a vicious cycle ofpronunciation instruction, where 1) teachers are not confident in pronunciation
instruction, 2) teachers cannot teach pronunciation sufficiently, 3) secondary school
students do not learn pronunciation sufficiently from their teachers, 4) university
students cannot pronounce English correctly, 5) pronunciation instruction is notmandatory for obtaining a teaching licence and 6) the curriculum for the teacher
preparation course is insufficient; that is, university students do not learn about
pronunciation instruction. These stages 1)-6) circulate and it is obviously necessary to
end this circulation at some point. Thus, the previous literature stressed theimportance of teaching university students on teaching courses the skills to instructpronunciation to their future students. These skills include ‘how they should deliver
the knowledge of pronunciation to students so that they can understand it fully’ and‘how they should correct students’ inappropriate pronunciation into a pronunciationthat is intelligible’. However the author doubts that these suggestions are enough forthe trainees to prepare for teaching in classroom settings, and therefore proposes thatthey should be given opportunities to consider and practise 1) choosing appropriate
teaching materials, 2) giving ‘clear instructions’ of tasks to students and 3) making
pronunciation tasks student-centred and communicative with adequate student-talking
time.
Keywords: pronunciation instruction, English phonetics and phonology, teacher
training, syllabus design

iafor
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Introduction
In April, 2018, English language teaching began to be aimed at third- and fourthgrade pupils, aged 8-10, at public primary schools in Japan. Currently these lessons
are held fifteen times a year, and in 2020, they will be increased to thirty-five. Thismeans that primary school pupils in Japan will experience more and more exposure to
English and its sounds at an early age of learning. In addition, MEXT (2017), in the
New Course of Study, states that we should focus on ‘contemporary standard
pronunciation’ and that we should instruct ‘basic phonological features’ of English at
primary schools (p. 33). This means that pronunciation instruction is likely to be ofmore importance at Japanese schools. However Zielinski and Yates (2014, in Murphy,
2017; 16) claims that ‘leaners’ spoken intelligibility may suffer long-term negative
effects if attention to pronunciation is neglected during the initial stages’. Therefore
pronunciation has to be taught very carefully in these classes.
The importance of pronunciation instruction is also supported from learners’
perspective. Ota (2013) reports that pronunciation instruction leads to theenhancement of learners’ motivation and confidence in learning English and Ota(2012) reveals that students are in favour of being taught pronunciation at an earlystage of their career in learning English. These findings indicate that teaching English
pronunciation cannot be ignored in classes and it is likely that teachers are expected to
be able to instruct it.
Then, who is supposed to be in charge of teaching English pronunciation? Of course it
is Japanese English teachers in most cases. As Murphy (2017) states, in EFL settings,
there are more learners taught by non-native English speakers than native speakers(p.16), and this is also the case in Japan. Japanese English teachers cannot leave theteaching of English pronunciation to native English counterparts; they themselves
need to be in charge of it.
All these facts above considered, it is essential that Japanese teachers should bewell-prepared for teaching English pronunciation, and for this goal teacher
preparation programmes at universities will inevitably play an important role.
However very little research has been conducted on what constitutes adequate
preparation for pronunciation teaching (Brinton, 2018; 1860). Therefore, this paper,
referring to various literature, will examine how English pronunciation instruction isdealt with on the English teacher preparation programme at Japanese universities anddiscuss how it could be improved.
The status of pronunciation instruction on the teacher preparation programme
in Japan
Kochiyama et al. (2013) investigated the syllabuses of modules on the teacher
preparation programme offered by universities in Japan. According to their survey,
75.2% of the 1,084 syllabuses did not focus on English pronunciation at all. That is,
those syllabuses did not deal with English pronunciation even in one lecture of thewhole module. In addition, 40.2% of 289 departments offering teacher preparation
programme do not provide English pronunciation modules. This is because such
modules are not compulsory in obtaining a teaching licence in Japan and it is up to theuniversity whether they offer those modules. It is clear that there is some defect

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regarding the teacher preparation programme in Japan with respect to English
pronunciation instruction, which leads to Japanese English teachers’ lack ofconfidence in teaching pronunciation and their being unable to teach it. This results inthe fact that secondary school students do not learn pronunciation in the classroom
and that they continue to be incapable of pronouncing English properly when they
become university students, some of whom will take the English teacher preparation
programme. This vicious cycle of pronunciation instruction is demonstrated by
Kochiyama et al. (2013) as in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The vicious cycle of pronunciation instruction(Kochiyama et al., 2013; 128, translation by the author)
For the purpose of improving the current situation of pronunciation instruction at
school, we must take action to end this cycle and 6) in Figure 1 will be the stage weshould work on.
Kochiyama et al. (2013) and Arimoto and Kochiyama (2015) identify three factors in
Figure 2 as essential in order for Japanese English teachers to be able to instructpronunciation in classrooms and propose that these factors should be targeted on theteacher preparation programme.

Figure 2. Skills necessary for pronunciation teaching(Kochiyama et al., 2013; 123, translation by the author)a) refers to a type of knowledge traditionally taught in English phonetics andphonology modules, such as vowels, consonants, connected speech phenomena and

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prosody. b) is likely to be acquired in the course of learning a) with some amount oftraining. c), which is labelled as ‘procedural and pedagogical knowledge about how toteach pronunciation’ by Murphy (2017; 23), is rather a broad category and tends to bevague. In addition this category is ‘more difficult to acquire than reading anddiscussion alone’ (ibid). Therefore, regarding c), it is necessary to investigate what
factors and stages are important in instructing pre-service teachers how to teachpronunciation and to investigate what techniques and materials help them to beprepared for and confident in teaching pronunciation in classrooms. The following
section will discuss the importance of offering pre-service teachers the opportunity toconsider and practise 1) choosing appropriate materials, 2) giving clear task
instructions to students and 3) making pronunciation tasks student-centred andcommunicative with student-talking time secured.
Suggested contents and stages of a pronunciation instruction module
1. Choice of appropriate materials
In the first place, the type of tasks or materials must be discussed. The conventional
way of teaching is ‘listen and repeat’ but it is out of context and is not communicative.
Jones (2018) emphasises that teaching materials should be contextualised and Farrely(2018) claims that the activities should be implemented ‘in a way that impacts
meaning’ (p. 1711). In terms of another aspect of communicativeness, each activity
could be processed individually first and in pairs next, in which case learners use
English during the activity. The importance of such communicative pronunciationteaching is supported by Henrichsen and Frizen (2000), who found that students who
had experienced it had positive attitudes towards it. The activity must also beinteresting so that it can ‘maintain their overall involvement in English learning’(McVeigh, 2018; 1620). Thus pronunciation activities should be contextualised,communicative and interesting.
With regard to the preparation of teaching materials, it is necessary to bear in mind
that teachers do not have to design these activities by themselves. The use of existing,published materials is encouraged by researchers (e.g. Jones, 2018; Murphy, 2017;
Ota, 2013) and Murphy (2018) attaches importance to giving pre-service teachers
access to activity recipe collections, the examples of which are Hancock (1995; 2017),
Miller (2007) and Henrichsen et al. (1999). They even may not know the existence ofsuch useful collections of activities. Using these materials also saves novice teachers alot of time when planning lessons (Marks 2014).
With these premises of teaching materials discussed, then what process enables
pre-service teachers to make full use of above materials? First, Japanese pre-service
teachers listen to L2 speech, which is available online through sources such as
YouTube video clips and International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA), as well as
by recording their friend’s and peer trainee’s speech. In the next stage, they analyse
the L2 speech, employing English phonetics and phonology knowledge. In thisanalysis, they need to focus on the sound that lowers intelligibility (‘the extent towhich a listener has understood what a speaker said) and/or comprehensibility (‘thedegree of effort required by a listener to understand an utterance) (Downing andMunro 2015). This stage trains pre-service teachers spotting learners’ pronunciationneeds. Trainees may find this difficult, in which case they can work with their peer

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trainees. The next is the actual teaching phase, consisting of five stages in
Celce-Murcia et al. (2010)’s communicative framework. This is comprehensively
summarised by Nazari and Mirsaeeidi (2017) as in Table 1. Step 1 is rather explicit
but it becomes more contextualised and communicative as the step advances. Even
minimal pair exercises can be contextualised and communicative. For example, as forthe sounds /l/ and /r/, Stage 2 sets a contextualised activity, where learners listen to
the sentence ‘The teacher collected/corrected the homework’ (Celce-Murcia et al.,2010; 53). It is a minimal pair exercise but it is presented in a certain context and it
impacts the meaning. Miller (2007) also includes similar communicative minimal pair
activities.
Table 1. Celce-Murcia et al. (2010)’s communicative framework
summarised in Nazari and Mirsaeeidi (2017; 862)
Steps Activities
1
Description and Analysis – oral and written illustrations of how the feature is
produced and when it occurs with spoken discourse.
2
Listening Discrimination – focused listening practices with feedback onlearners’ ability to correctly discriminate the feature.
3
Controlled Practice – oral reading of minimal pair sentences, short dialogueetc., with special attention paid to the highlighted feature in order to raiselearner consciousness
4
Guided Practice – structured communication exercise, such as
information-gap activities, cued dialogues, and cued strip stories, that makes
the learner monitored for the specified feature as he/she engage in controlled
5communication.
Communicative Practice – less structured, fluency-building activities (e.g.
role-play, problem solving, interviews) that require the learner to attend toboth form and content of utterances.
In order to instruct pronunciation in the classroom, (pre-service) teachers need to plana lesson by considering which sounds should be stressed and which material is bestused in a particular lesson. This cannot be done on the spot. It is also necessary toplan at which stage of a lesson pronunciation instruction should be given. Marks(2014) claims that it should not be planned at the end of the lesson because it is likely
to be omitted when the time is running out.
So far, how pre-service teachers practise choosing appropriate materials has been
discuses. However, this is not the end of a series of stages that the author proposes.
Teachers must give feedback to students after tasks and activities. Usuallypronunciation instruction is followed by corrective feedback and this is effective
indeed, but Foote et al. (2016) insist on its insufficiency. Corrective feedback is likely
to be reactive and it tends to deal with an individual student. They suggest that
feedback should be proactive and target the whole class. Another feature of feedback
is whether it is immediate or delayed. In order not to interrupt learners’ activities, i.e.
the communication with their conversational partners, pre-service teachers also mustpractice giving delayed feedback.
This is the cycle of training pre-service teachers to teach pronunciation of particularsounds or features and once this is done, it proceeds to the next target.

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2. Clear instructions of tasks and activities
When the use of existing materials is discussed, it is also significant to mention the
instruction of tasks and activities. As Sowell (2017) states, ‘mastering
instruction-giving is a fundamental aspect of good classroom teaching practice’ (p.10).
It is often the case that teachers believe they give a clear instruction on the task whilestudents are at a loss what to do with it. Therefore pre-service teachers need to raise
their awareness of the importance of good instruction-giving. One good approach may
be having the module instructor give an unsuccessful task instruction to pre-service
teachers, who then evaluate it and discuss how it will be improved. Once theirawareness is raised, they are provided with a workshop activity, where they practise
giving instructions. Giving good instructions results from practising classroom
language, writing clear and simple instruction, timing for giving handouts, modelling,giving time limit and instruction checking question (Sowell, 2017; 17) and this whole
activity can be instructed between groups of pre-service teachers within the module.
3. Student-centred, communicative tasks with adequate student-talking time
Lastly, as is discussed above, a communicative task can be retrieved from activity
recipe collections by carefully examining whether it is contextualised and impacts ameaning. A task can be done individually first and in pairs afterwards or in pairs fromthe start, depending on its type. The key is to get learners to work in pairs so that they
will have more student-talking time than otherwise. Another key is that pre-service
teachers ‘abandon the traditional director role’ (Henrichsen and Fritzen, 2000; 71) andpractise playing the role of facilitator by monitoring how engaged their fellow trainees
are in the task and by preparing for delayed feedback.
It is also helpful to get pre-service teachers to design a tailor-made task according to
the proficiency level of learners so that they will be more engaged. If a task is
modified into a personalised one, learners are likely to be more engaged, for example.
In order to put into practise the three points discussed above, the module instructor
must plan each lesson thoroughly and establish a good rapport with pre-service
teachers.
Conclusion and suggestions for a future pronunciation instruction training on
the teacher preparation programme in Japan
This paper emphasised the importance of pronunciation instruction modules on theteacher preparation programme in Japan and posed problems regarding the current
situation of pronunciation instruction at the secondary school and university levels.
The author proposed three points that would enhance pre-service teachers’ proceduraland pedagogical knowledge about pronunciation instruction. In order for these points
to be implemented on the teacher preparation programme, an English phonetics andphonology module or a pronunciation instruction module should be compulsory ingetting a teaching licence. In an ideal situation, it will be at least one year long tocover both English phonetics and phonology knowledge and procedural andpedagogical knowledge. The whole module should also treat topics such as
pronunciation instruction model and its goal, assessment, integration into otherlessons, designing tailor-made tasks and the use of technology. If all the

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above-mentioned items are implemented on the teacher preparation programme withthe module convenor’s enthusiasm about instructing pre-service teachers, the author
feels confident that the vicious cycle of pronunciation instruction will end.

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References
Arimoto, J., and Kochiyama, M. (2015). A survey on students’ pronunciation ability
and attitude in teacher-training course. Studies on Communication, 13, 28-33. Kansai
University of International Studies.
Brinton, D. M. (2018). Teacher preparation for teaching pronunciation. In Liontas, J. I.
(Ed.), The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 3 (pp. 1859-1865).
Malden, MA: Wiley.
Celce-Murica, M., Brinton, D. M., and Goodwin, J. (2010). Teaching pronunciation:
A course book and reference guide (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Derwing, M. T., and Munro, J. M. (2015). Pronunciation Fundamentals:
Evidence-based Perspectives for L2 Teaching and Learning. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins.
Farrelly, R. (2018). Lesson planning for teaching pronunciation. In Liontas, J. I. (Ed.),
The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 3 (pp. 1711-1716). Malden,
MA: Wiley.
Foote, A. J., Trofimovich, P., Collins, L., and Urzua, F. S. (2016). Pronunciationteaching practices in communicative second language classes. The Language
Learning Journal, 44, 181-196.
Hancock, M. (1995). Pronunciation Games. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hancock, M. (2017). PronPack, 1-4. Hancock McDonald ELT. Chester.
Henrichsen, L, E., Green, B.A, Nishitani, A., and Bagley, C. L. (1999). Pronunciation
Matters: Communicative, Story-Based Activities for Mastering the Sounds of North
American English. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Henrichsen, L., and Fritzen, A. (2000). Communicative pronunciation teaching and its
effects on learners. Deseret Language and Linguistic Society Symposium, 26, 69-81.
Jones, T. (2018). Materials development for teaching pronunciation. In Liontas, J. I.
(Ed.), The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 3 (pp. 1725-1731).
Malden, MA: Wiley.
Kochiyama, M., Arimoto, J., and Nakanishi, N. (2013). English pronunciationteaching in teacher’s license courses. Language Education & Technology, 50,
155-162. The Japan Association for Language Education and Technology.
Marks, J. (2014). Being trained and being prepared: challenges for pronunciationteacher training. IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group Newsletter Issue
Speak Out 50, 59-62.

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McVeigh, J. (2018). Choosing texts for teaching pronunciation. In Liontas, J. I. (Ed.),
The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 3 (pp. 1617-1622). Malden,
MA: Wiley.
MEXT. (2017). The Corse of Study for Junior High Schools Foreign Languages(English).
Miller, S. F. (2007). Targeting Pronunciation. (2nd ed.). Boston: Heinle.
Murphy, J. (Ed.). (2017). Teaching the Pronunciation of English: Focus on Whole
Courses. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Murphy, J. M. (1997). Phonology courses offered by MATESOL Programs in the U.S.
TESOL QUARTERLY, 31, 741-764.
Murpny, J. M. (2018). Teacher training in the teaching of pronunciation. In Kang, O.,
Thomson, R. I., and Murphy, J. M. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary
English Pronunciation (pp. 298-319). New York: Routledge.
Nazari, N. S. M, and Mirsaeeidi, A. S. (2017). The Effects of Communicative
Pronunciation Instruction on Suprasegmental Performance in an EFL Context. Theory
and Practice in Language Studies, 7, 860-867.
Ota, K. (2012). The present situation of pronunciation instruction in English language
teaching in Japan: aiming for introduction of pronunciation instruction at the earlystage of English language teaching and establishment of its methodology. Shakai
Bunka Kenkyujo Kiyo, 69, 53-73. Kyusyu International University.
Ota, K. (2013). The blinds spot in English language teaching in Japan: the present
situation and challenges in pronunciation teaching. Kokusai Kankeigaku Bulletin, 1,
37-69. Kyusyu International University.
Sowell, J. (2017). Good instruction-giving in the second-language classroom. English
Teaching Forum, 55, 10-19.
Zielinski, B., and Yates, L. (2014). Myth 2: Pronunciation instruction is not
appropriate for beginning-level learners. In L. Grand (Ed.), Pronunciation myths:
Applying second language research to classroom teaching (pp. 56-79). Ann Arbor:
Michigan University Press.

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The Dynamical System of Character Education in Indonesia
Yulianto, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
There has been growing interest in Indonesia’s character education, especially after
The Presidential Regulation no. 87 of 2017 on Strengthening Character Education and
The 2003 National Education System Law. Indonesia is predicted will be a great
industrial country in 2045. A stable education system is essential to build a nation andaccelerate Indonesia’s development to have political, social and economic
advancements. Making changes of character education is essential, but is also boundand fraught to have challenges, supporters, detractors, and obstacles. The education
system is becoming more complex, interconnected and dynamic because of thesurroundings of constant changes and uncertainties. The system thinking (causal loop
diagram) is used in this paper to describe, model and analyze these complex issues interms of the processes, information, organizational boundaries and strategies ofCharacter Education in Indonesia. This paper shows it is necessary to observe thewhole system as a cyclic feedback loop, not just observe variables as separate things
independently and linearly. The education system is not linear, it is cyclical. Finally,goals be well defined, actors, be rational and know their parts, threats, and challenges
are anticipated and the ‘best’ solution be chosen in order to implement character
education quickly and efficiently.
Keywords: Character Education, System Thinking, Development and Policy
Evaluation

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Indonesia has the vision of the Indonesia Golden Generation 2045 on their 100th
independence day. In 2045, Indonesia is predicted will be a great industrial country in
the world. The vision is also to build a nation and accelerate Indonesia’s development
to have political, social and economic advancements. There are 4 pillars ofIndonesia's vision of 2045: (1) human resource development and mastery of scienceand technology, (2) sustainable economic development, (3) equitable development,and (4) national security and governance (Bappenas, 2018) Indonesia is predicted to
be ranked 6th as the country with the most population in the world in 2050 with apopulation of 321 million people or 319 million people in 2045 (United Nations, 2015
and BPS, 2018). Indonesia has a "demographic bonus" with 63 million young people(citizens aged 18-30 years) or 26 percent of the total population (238 million) in 2014
(UNFPA, 2014).
Character quality is one aspect of building the 2045 Golden Generation, accompanied
by abilities in basic literacy aspects and 21st century competencies. The people ofIndonesia needs to have these skills to support this vision to face the changing trend
and global competition. The common skills that needed for success in the 21st century
are creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication,
collaboration, information management, effective use of technology, career and life
skills, and cultural awareness (Beers, 2018). In fact, Indonesia ranks 113th out of 188
countries with HDI score of 0.689 or as ranked 5th out of 10 ASEAN countries(UNDP, 2016). A low HDI score will affect the nation's competitiveness in global
competition. Indonesia also faces problems of intolerance, acts of violence, drugs,
criminal acts, and other youth problems. The development of a stable education
system is very important to do as an investment in the quality of human resources toimprove economic growth, reduce poverty and unemployment. Indonesia translates
the resolution of this problem through a policy of strengthening character education in
Presidential Regulation No. 87 of 2017 and Ministry Regulation on strengthening
character education in formal school No. 20 of 2018.
A policy has seven important characteristic: (1) policy involves government, (2)policy is a stated intention or commitment, (3) policy involves hypothesizing, (4)policy is any action that brings about an effect or outcome, (5) Policy is a response to
an issue or situation, (6) policy is about the choices that are made, and (7) policy
involves mediating the values and interest (Dredge & Jenkins, 2007). A policy model
can help us understand how these seven characteristics correlate in a policy. Tasrif(2014) said that the model, qualified and capable to be used as a means of analysis toformulate (design) the policy, must be a vehicle to find effective ways, and means ofinterventions in a system (phenomenon). In through this intervention, the desired
system behavior can be obtained (Tasrif, 2014). Therefore, I will discuss thephenomenon’s structure of character education in Indonesia. First, how the elements
constructing the character education in Indonesia?. Second, how the interactions
among this element in strengthening character education in Indonesia?.
Character Education
In the context of The National Movement on Mental Revolution, Indonesia tries touse education as a means of shaping the character and personality of students by

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integrating character education in the curriculum and school learning system(Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018). Education is a cornerstone of economic andsocial development; primary education is its foundation (Lockheed & Verspoor,
1991). In June 2018, 9 months after “Presidential Regulation no. 87 of 2017 on
Strengthening Character Education” Ministry of Education determines “Ministerial
Regulation no. 20 of 2018 on Strengthening Character Education In Formal Education
Unit” from primary to secondary education. Strengthening character education is acontinuation and revitalization of the national character education movement thatbegan in 2010. The education of children must nurture the creativity that will
determine their ability to survive and flourish in a chaotic world (Jackson, Oliver,
Shaw, & Wisdom, 2006). Character education is an educational program in schools tostrengthen the character of students through harmonization of the heart (ethics andspiritual), sense (aesthetic), thought (literacy and enumeration) and sports(kinesthetic) in accordance with the philosophy of Pancasila (Peraturan Presiden No
87 Tahun 2017).
The regulation stated that character values are the result of the actualization of the
Pancasila, the 3 pillars of the national mental revolution movement policy, local
wisdom of Indonesia and future challenges. The value of character education thatmust be integrated in the school curriculum consists of 18 character values(Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018), namely: (1) Religious, (2) Honest, (3) Tolerance,(4) Discipline, (5) Hard Work, (6) Creative, (7) Independent, (8) Democratic, (9)Curiosity, (10) Sense of Pride, (11) Patriotism, (12) Respect for Achievement, (13)Friendship/ Communicative, (14) Peace-loving, (15) Fond of Reading, (16) Caring
Environment, (17) Social Care, and (20) Responsibility (Peraturan Presiden No 87
Tahun 2017 and Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018). The 18 values is the embodimentof 5 main values, namely religiosity, nationalism, independence, cooperation (gotong
royong) and integrity that is integrated into the curriculum. These values areconnected and reflex by their ability with one’s self, others, nationality, god, andenvironmental awareness. The school needs to apply these 18 values in school.
Character education is carried out through class- based, school-based and communitybased management.
MethodProblems are things or states that someone thinks are worthy of attention or
investigation (Jackson, Oliver, Shaw, & Wisdom, 2006). Problems might bevisualized from two very different perspectives: (1) sees a problem as an issue thatneeds to be resolved or rectified, and (2) there is an opportunity for something
different (Jackson, Oliver, Shaw, & Wisdom, 2006). Structure in a social
phenomenon consists of two structures, (1) physical structure formed by theaccumulation (stock) and flow network of people, goods, energy, and materials, and(2) decision-making structure formed by the accumulation (stock) and information
flow network used by actors (human) in the system those describe the rules of theirdecision-making processes (Tasrif, 2014).
The system thinking is used in this paper to describe, model and analyze thesecomplex issues in terms of the processes, information, organizational boundaries andstrategies of Character Education in Indonesia. System thinking is a methodology forstudying and managing complex feedback systems, such as one finds in business or

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other social systems and system dynamics is used to takes the additional step ofconstructing computer simulation models (Sterman, 2000). The feedback loop
represents the circularly link cause and effect of the variables, not the statisticalcorrelation relationships. The cause-effect link of a pair of variables, in aphenomenon, should be viewed with a concept that the influence of other variables tothe considered effect variable does not exist (Richardson, Alexander, & Pugh, 1981).
A causal diagram consists of variables connected by arrows denoting the causal
influences among the variables. Each causal link is assigned a polarity, either positive(+) or negative (-) to indicate how the dependent variable changes when the
independent variable changes (Sterman, 2000). There are 2 types of feedback loops,
positive feedback loop (growth), and negative feedback loop (goal-seeking)(Richardson, Alexander, & Pugh, 1981). The important loops are highlighted by aloop identifier which shows whether the loop is a positive (reinforcement) or negative(balancing) feedback (Sterman, 2000). In this discussion, I explained about balancing
and reinforcing loop that affects this phenomenon. After that, I presented the maincausal loop diagram of character education in Indonesia.
Discussion
In this discussion, there are 4 main elements related to character education as aphenomenon. First, related to school focus and policies on character education.
Second, related to proper teaching and learning strategies of character education.
Third, related to character competencies of students in school. Fourth, family andcommunity engagement.
School Focus and Policies on Character Education
Educational policies on character education (The Presidential Regulation No 07 of
2017, Ministry Regulation No 20 of 2018 and other relevant national or regional
policies) increase the school’s focus on character education. This focus will reduce
the gap of character based on character competencies of student in school. These
character of student are the potential that we called as good human resources for theIndonesia Golden Generation in 2045 that support by Indonesia National Movement
on Mental Revolution (Figure 1). The first loop is balancing-loop or goal-seeking ofcharacter education, that is how to make students have character competencies
following the expectations and goals of the school. School must be able to use theavailable resources in school to reduce the gap.
Collaboration between school committee and principal is essential to keep an eye on
the agenda in its path which will influence the role of the school principal inmanagement related to the implementation of character education or what we called
as school-based management (Figure 2). School-based management provides
authority and responsibility to the school principal, teachers, and school supervisorsand education staff together with school committees according to the needs andcontext of the education unit (Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018). School committee
is an independent institution consisting of parents/ guardians of students, schoolcommunities, and community leaders or public figure who care about education(Permendikbud No 75 Tahun 2016).

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Partnerships among schools to complement strategies in applying characters need to
be done (Figure 3). Partnership will help the schools to hand in hand create thefoundation about the goals to be achieved, how to achieve and how to measure thisachievement. The problems faced by the school can also be solved by resolutions that
other schools have done, learning by others problems or addressing school problems
together. Good partnership increase demand for strengthening character values andeducation. Teacher competencies of teaching and learning strategies play an essential
role in the implementation of character in students learning process. Teacher
competency will increase the number of teachers concerning about character
education, but this is not automatic. In many cases, teachers need to experience theimportance of character education through training and mentoring from the education
office. The proportion of training and mentoring depends on the policy itself (Figure4). The training also can be done by organization that related to education.
School's focus on +character education

Character competenciesof students in schools
Gap of student's
character and reality in
one's school
National Movement on
Mental Revolution

Figure 1:

Educational policies
based on character
education
B1+
Demand for strenghtening
character values and+ education++

The need's of preparing
Indonesia's Golden
Generation of 2045

Balancing loop of reducing the gap of student’s character and reality in school
Awareness of local
community aboutcharacter education++

Cooperation between
school committee andprincipal

Family support+
The role of the principal inschool-based management+
R1
School's focus on
character education+

Figure 2:

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Educational policies
based on character
education

Reinforcing loop of cooperation between school committee and principal

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School's focus on+
character education+
Schools partnership incharacter education
management

R2+

Educational policies
based on character
education+

Demand for strengthening
character values andeducation

Figure 3:

Reinforcing loop of schools partnership in character education management+
Educational policies
based on character
education+

Training and mentoringfrom the education office+Teacher experience inunderstanding and applying
character education

R3+
Teachers competencies ofteaching & learning
strategies

Demand for strengthening
character values andeducation +Number of teacher+
concerning about character
education

Figure 4:

Reinforcing loop of teachers competencies and educational policies

Proper Teaching and Learning Process
Proper teaching and learning process always deal with development and adjustment tokeep up with changes and needs. The culture-lag between what is needed in thepresent and what the schools offer has always existed (Jackson, Oliver, Shaw, &Wisdom, 2006). One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is to generate goals
and processes that are in reach of the students but not beyond their grasp (Joyce, Weil,& Calhoun, 2011). There are 7 reinforcing loops about proper teaching and learning
process. The process of learning must be able to facilitate students to be able to ask
questions, and not just how to answer questions. The intensity of character educationin class also dependent on character content volume in learning time at school. We
must not forget that there are also lessons that must be delivered related to science andother material, time is crucial. The content needs to be integrated in teaching andlearning process in class (Figure 5). If the proportion of character content volume inclass is definite, the teacher will have the motivation to achieve or complete thelearning plan. Teacher motivation for applying strategies also depends on theirexperience in understanding and applying character education. Motivation plays acritical role in guiding student behavior (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, &ISSN: 2186-5892

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Norman, 2010). The critical role of motivation is also happening in teachers to apply
these strategies. The experience support teacher to understand why students needcharacter and lead them to easily apply the strategies (Figure 6).
The teacher experience increases teacher competencies in teaching and learning. Ifthey have the experience and competencies, they know the path and tools to apply
these strategies. Just like before, the education office can intervene in teacher
experience with training and mentoring (Figure 7). Indonesia is a diverse country withdifferent cultures, races, and religions. What is important is that their local knowledge
and characteristic are part of the education agenda of Indonesia. One way is from cocurricular activities related to local culture activities, such as religious activities inBali, the use of traditional school uniform (batik) in Yogyakarta, traditional gamesand dances. Co-curricular activities are activities related to the subject of local content
determined by the local government following the provisions of the law(Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018). Thematic teaching and learning are also can bedone by learning in a particular context or providing a context for character values,
such as real-life scenario to encourage tolerance (Figure 8).
Curriculum is a set of plans and also arrangements for the learning purpose, content,
and also teaching materials and the method used as a guideline in the implementationof activities in the learning process. Troublesome assumptions exist in curriculum
design; that knowledge can be owned and distributed; that all individuals learn in thesame way as receivers of knowledge; that the time it takes someone to learnsomething is important; that error is negative, revealing one's lack of intelligence; andthat knowledge is owned and disseminated according to the rules of individual
academic disciplines (Cullen, Michael, & Hill, 2012). These assumptions must be
broken to make sure that education is applied properly. Character education is not justabout the change in one lesson activity, but throughout the curriculum, even in all
school activities. The school must consider what material to teach, how best to teachit, and how to ensure that students what is being taught (Davis, 2009). In the learning
process, students must be able to do 4 main activities: watching, thinking, doing, andfeeling (Saeed, 1997). Curriculum becomes a guideline to teacher about strategies andactivities plan in class. The proper curriculum will help teacher to able to determine
assessments of the character values of students in a class (Figure 9).

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Content integrated inteaching and learning +process in class<Learning time>+- Character content

Curriculum andlearning plan+

R4

volumeLearning time

Applying proper teaching and learning strategies for character+
education
Motivation of applying teaching++
and learning strategis forcharacter education
Cooperation between+
school committee andTeachers competencies ofprincipal
teaching & learning
strategies++
The role of the principal inschool-based management

Figure 5:

Reinforcing loop of character content volume in school’s learning process
Applying proper teaching andlearning
strategies for character+
education
Motivation for applying teaching
and learning strategies forcharacter education+

R5+

Teacher experience inunderstanding and applying
character education

Figure 6:

Reinforcing loop of teacher experience of understanding and applying
character education<Educational policies
based on character
education>+
Training and mentoringfrom The Education Office

Applying proper teaching andlearning strategies for character
education+
R6++
Teacher experience inunderstanding and applying
character education

Figure 7:

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Reinforcing loop of teacher competencies of teaching & learning strategies

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Co-curricular+ activities
Curriculum andlearning plan+

Figure 8:

R7+
Thematic teaching
and learning in class+

Applying proper teaching andlearning strategies for character
education
Reinforcing Loop of Thematic teaching and learning in class
Teachers-Students
ratio+
Teacher+ The ability of teachers todetermine assessments++
Number of teacher
concerning about character
education
Curriculum andlearning plan
+
+

R8

+
Applying proper teaching andlearning strategies for character
education+

Teachers competencies ofteaching & learning
strategies
Figure 9: Reinforcing Loop of curriculum and learning plan

We cannot be focused on student learning if we are not checking to see if learning istaking place (Cullen, Michael, & Hill, 2012). Learning outcomes, instructional
activities, and assessments of student learning are consistent and reinforce each other(Davis, 2009). The level of ease of assessment depends on the comprehensive
curriculum design and teacher ability (Figure 10). Measures of learning can be ofmany kinds, from school grades, content analysis of student work, up to curriculum
relevant tests (Joyce, Weil, & Calhoun, 2011). The proper teaching and learning
strategies also depend on the facilities and learning time. The less school time, theless time to learn in class and the less of content volume can be taught. The use of
facilities in schools will also increase, not to mention the number of students who are
not balanced with the number of facilities.
The ratio of teacher-student in Indonesia is 1:16. In some schools, the teacher-student
ratio is 1:35 or even more. The student-teacher ratio reflects the average number ofstudents faced by a teacher (whether the teacher is eligible to teach or not) at a certain
level of education (Subdit Statistik Pendidikan dan Kesejahteraan Sosial, 2017). The
assessment help school to understand if the values of character education have owned

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by student or not. The ability of teachers to determine assessments practices vary
among teachers, so the school principal and educational office can train andmentoring teacher about how to assess and what criteria that need to be asses. This
assessment ability is linear with the content and outcomes that will establish bycharacter education. The monitoring and evaluation will help the school to manage
the implementation next year (Figure 11). Applying appropriate teaching and learning
strategies for character education is not just the individual's efforts in the classroom.
Teachers need to connect with students, school principals, school administrators,
schools commit, community, accompanied by training and mentoring from theeducation office to determine how to accomplish its purpose.

+
The ability of teachers todetermine assessments

The level of ease ofcharacter educationassessment
R9

School facilities+

School time+
+ Applying proper teachingandlearning strategies for character
education-

Learning time-

Figure 10: Reinforcing Loop of The level of ease of character education assessment
Monitoring andevaluation
Final assessment
by teacher+
The level of ease ofcharacter educationassessment

Number of teacher
concerning about character+
education

Teacher

Total Student in
one class+++
Teachers-Students
ratio

+
+

-

R10

Student enrollment
in school+ The ability of teachers todetermine assessments

Figure 11: Reinforcing Loop of Teacher-Students ratio and Final Assessment

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Character Competencies of Students
After policies has been made, the school has focused on the application of character
education, teaching and learning strategies has been applied properly, and there has
been the ability of teachers to conduct final assessment, the engagement with local
community and family has been done, next we will need to focus on the improvementof students character. This changes is not constant, and not just based on teaching andlearning process in one class. The improvement of student character will indicate theachievement of good education and character education, so students can apply thischaracter in real life. Learning is not something done to students, but rather something
students themselves do (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & Norman, 2010).
Character is closely related to the environment around the students themselves.
Student learning activities about character education in school also influenced byextracurricular activities, co-curricular activities, and their interaction outside theclassroom. Facilities, the ratio of student enrollment in one school and school time
affects this interaction. Academic staff can see the character competencies of students
also from the feedback given by students. Yet for various reasons again – time,quantity of students, discomfort with personal, face-to-face contact with students, his connectivity is inhibited (Jackson, Oliver, Shaw, & Wisdom, 2006).
<Co-curricularStudent interest in
activities>
extracurricular activities
ExtracurricularStudents enrollment+
activities
in one school++<School facilities>+

Student interaction+ ++outside of classroom at++Student learning activities
schoolTeachers-Students
about character education inratio
school+++Character
Final assessment by+ competencies ofstudents in school
the teacher+

Monitoring andevaluation-<Learning time>
Perceived quality ofteaching by the Students
Character educationachievement
+

+
R11
+
Application of character+ +Good educational
education in real life
<Family support> achievement+

Partnership with local
community+
National Movement on
Mental Revolution

Figure 12: Reinforcing Loop of Character Education Achievement by The Students
Family and Community Engagement
When we discuss education, it cannot be separated that the first environment ofstudent life is their family and community. In this part, we not only discuss theawareness of parents or students' fathers and mothers. The family environment ofstudents is now more diverse, there are people who live with single parent, theirwhole family, grandparents, uncles and aunts, other close relatives or even inorphanages. Still, we call it family. Family awareness is influenced by their trust in

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school based on the quality of teaching and expectations by the family related to theirchildren development in school. Trust is a critical component of collaborative
partnerships between families and teachers, and trusting relationship begins withteachers who are committed to and respectful of all families (Grand & Ray, 2013).
When the trust and awareness is established, family will increase the family supportin every school event involvement, such as their role in school committee. Indonesia
is a diverse and complex society with different race, culture, socio-economic, religion,
we can see this diversity on the reason why we have 18 character values to implementin school. This diversity also happens in the family background of students (Figure
13).
Implementation of character education also involving and empowering thecommunity as learning resources (Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018). The community
can volunteer in school activities or become part of the school committee. Family andcommunity members can also be asked to participate in developing standards andcurriculum for the local school district (Grand & Ray, 2013). Unlike family
involvement, the community doesn't have much interest in school activities if it's not
related to their children or their children not in that school. Partnerships with thecommunity need to be done to increase awareness about character education. This canbe done by principals, administrators, and academic staff, teachers, districts,
education offices, or organizations related to education (Figure 14). Existing loops
will be interrelated to create an environment that supports the implementation ofcharacter education and becomes a unified whole as a causal loop diagram ofcharacter education in Indonesia (Figure 15).

<Final assessment
by teachers>
Family's
background

Level of perceived quality+ of teaching by The Family+<Character competenciesof students in schools>+
Expectations fromschool by the family +++Awareness of family
about character+
education+

R12

Cooperation between
school committee and+ principal

Family support

Figure 13: Reinforcing Loop of Family Engagement
Partnership with local
community+
R13
Awareness of local
community about character
education+<Cooperation between
school commitee andprincipal>

Local community
engagement++

Figure 14: Reinforcing Loop of Local Community Engagement

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Causal Loop Diagram of Character Education in Indonesia
Finally, from the part to the whole we can understand that the implementation is notjust about the policies or just teaching and learning strategies. What students learn
from the learning process in school must support student ability and competencies inreal life, especially with the 18 character values. Applying Character education is notjust the individual's efforts in the classroom. Education involves all agents (people,
organization, networks, and other collaborative associations) continually interacting
and influencing each other in ways that cannot be conceived or explained in detail,but from which new forms of organization, new relationship, and patterns of behavior
emerge. (Jackson, Oliver, Shaw, & Wisdom, 2006). The implementation meets the
problems, such as less support from family, lack of facilities, human resources
problem, even the learning process and methods. Character education faces a lot ofdifficulties to be applied, but it is still possible.
Every aspects, actors, and action have their role to make sure the vision of Golden
Generation of Indonesia in 2045. Every actor needs to develop awareness and engage
with everyone about character education. The government as the policymakers must
include every actor, not just the teachers and schools committee to make sure thatcharacter education is correctly done. Teachers in school must have the ability to
manage the teaching and learning process from the curriculum plan until final
assessment. The Principal must have good management (class-based, school-basedand community-based management) (Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018). Family andcommunity involvement must be done (Figure 15). It is very clear about existing
regulations, the government does not explicitly involve students in existing
regulations. Students are still objects, while subjects consist of principals, teachers,
and academic staff, community and government. Students should be the subject aswell as the object of activity and consider interactions and factors that influence theircharacter and personality in school.

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Student interest in
extracurricular activities<Character competenciesof students in school><Final assessment by
the teachers>++

Family's
Backgrounds+
Total Student in
one class

Level of perceived qualityof teaching by the family+++ +Expectations from+
Awarness of family about school by the family
character education<Cooperation between
school committee andTeacherprincipal><Teachers competencies ofteaching & learning
R13+
strategies>
Number of teacher+ concerning aboutcharacter education<Co-cullicular
activities>++
Extracurricular
activities

Students enrollment
R10 in one school+++ Teachers+ Students ratio

Student interaction
outside of class at school<School facilities>++ +Student learning activities
about character education inschool++Perceived quality ofteaching by the Students++ +Curriculum and<Applying proper teaching and+<Learning time>learning plansecompetenci
Characterlearning strategies for character+schoolnistudents
ofeducation>
+
+
+ +
+in
+
Co-cullicular R8 +Content integrated+
The ability of teachers
Family support
teaching and learning
activities
to determine<Teachers competencies ofprocess in class+
R7+
assessments<Family Character education+teaching & learning
Thematic teaching and+
Final assessment by
support> achievement
strategies>
learning in class+ +the teachers
R9 ++Cooperation between
+
+
- +
R11
school committee andCharacter content++ The level of ease of
Applying proper teaching +Apply character
principal
R4character education+
volumeforsestrategi
g
n
arni
e
l
and
on in real life
educatiGood educational
The role of the principal inassessment+noeducaticharacter<Character competencies
achievement
school-based management++
R1+of students in school>
and
g
n
ori
t
moni
Motivation of applying
evaluation+ teaching and learning
School's focus on +character education+
strategis for character+<Students enrollment
R5
National Movement on
education>school
one
n
i
e
m
ti
g
n
Learni
Mental Revolution
R6+
Educational policies
School facilities
cal
o
l
h
t
wi
p
Partnershi
based on character+
Gap of student's
Teachers competencies of community<Number of teacher
education
Teacher experience in teaching & learning+
character and reality in B1
characteraboutgn
concerni
+
g
n
i
y
appl
and
g
n
understandi
one's school
strategies
education>
R3+
character education
R13
Demand for strengthening ++++character values andeducation
Awareness of local
Local community
The need's of preparing +Training and mentoring
School time
characteraboutyt
communiengagement+
Indonesia's Goldenfrom the education office+noeducati
+
2045
of
n
o
Genenati+<Awareness of local
community about character
education>+<National Movement on
Mental Revolution>

Schools partnership incharacter education
management +R2<School's focus on
character education><Educational policies
based on character
education>

Figure 15: Causal Loop Diagram of Character Education in Indonesia

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Conclusion
We can see elements related to the implementation of character education from thecausal loop with 4 major elements, (1) school focus and policies on character
education, (2) appropriate teaching and learning strategies, (3) character competenciesof the student, and (4) family and community engagement. Every actor needs todevelop awareness and engage with everyone. The government as the policymakers,
teachers, the principal, academic staff, families, communities, and students. Character
education is about change throughout the curriculum, even in all school activities
because all elements are inseparable. Character education is an interaction of every
element that takes times and not constant changes. If the interactions of each element
done correctly, the gap of student's character and reality in one's school will reduce.
The improvement of student character will indicate the achievement of goodeducation and character education, so students can apply this character in real life.
Further questions are how and what is the right model of teaching and learning, whenor how long it takes to achieve or see the result of character education and is every
teacher have the same opportunity to implement the character values in their lesson
materials?
Acknowledgements
This research was funded and supported by The Indonesia Endowment Fund for
Education (LPDP). In this great chance, researchers want to say thanks to LPDP for
all the helps.

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References
Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K.
(2010). How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Bappenas. (2018, September 10). Visi Indonesia 2045. Retrieved fromhttps://luk.staff.ugm.ac.id/
Beers, S. Z. (2018, September 1). 21st century skills: preparing students for THEIR
future. Retrieved fromhttps://www.mheonline.com/glencoemath/pdf/21st_century_skills.pdf
BPS. (2018). Indonesia Population Projection 2015 - 2045 : Result of Supas 2018.
Jakarta: Badan Pusat Statistik.
Cullen, R., Michael, H., & Hill, R. R. (2012). The learner-centered curriculum:
Design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Davis, B. G. (2009). Tools for Teaching : Second edition. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.
Dredge, D., & Jenkins, J. (2007). Wiley Australia Tourism Series : Tourism Planningand Policy. Milton Queensland: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
Grand, K., & Ray, J. (2013). Home, School, and Community Collaboration :Culturally Responsive Family Engagement. 2nd Ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE
Publications.
Jackson, N., Oliver, M., Shaw, M., & Wisdom, J. (2006). Developing Creativity inHigher Edcuation : An Imaginative Curriculum. London: Routledge.
Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2011). Models of Teaching. Eighth edition.
Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Lockheed, E. M., & Verspoor, M. A. (1991). Improving Primary Education in
Developing Countries. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Peraturan Presiden No 87 Tahun 2017. (2017). Penguatan Pendidikan Karakter.
Jakarta: Kementerian Sekretariat Negara Republik Indonesia.
Permendikbud No 20 Tahun 2018. (2018). Penguatan Pendidikan Karakter pada
Satuan Pendidikan Formal. Jakarta: Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan
Republik Indonesia.
Permendikbud No 75 Tahun 2016. (2016). Komite Sekolah. Jakarta: Kementerian
Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia.

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Richardson, G., Alexander, L., & Pugh, I. (1981). Introduction to system dynamics
modeling with DYNAMO. Cambridge: MIT Press/Wright-Allen series in system
dynamics.
Saeed, K. (1997). System Dynamics as a Technology of Learning for New Liberal
Education. FIE conference proceedings. Pittsberg: PA.
Sterman, J. (2000). Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for aComplex World. Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Subdit Statistik Pendidikan dan Kesejahteraan Sosial. (2017). Potret Pendidikan
Indonesia : Statistik Pendidikan 2017. Jakarta: Badan Pusat Statistik.
Tasrif, M. (2014). System Dynamics Methodology for Policy Modeling : An
Introduction. Retrieved from http://forum2014.asialeds.org:
http://forum2014.asialeds.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/System-DynamicsMethodology-Asia-Leds-Forum-2014-Yogyakarta.pdf
UNDP. (2016). Human Development Report 2016 : Human Development for
Everyone. New York: United Nations Development Programme.
UNFPA. (2014). Indonesia Youth in 21st Century. Jakarta: United Nations.
United Nations. (2015). World Population Prospects : 2015 Revision Data Booklet.
Geneva: United Nations.
Contact email: Yulianto_pwk@yahoo.com

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Eliciting Colloquial English Expressions in EFL Classrooms: Are Voice-Over
Activities More Effective than Dubbing Activities?
Mariko Takahashi, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan
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Abstract
This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of voice-over activities compared todubbing activities in eliciting and having university students practice colloquial
English expressions inside EFL classrooms under communicative and task-based
approaches. Seventy-six Japanese university students prepared, practiced, andpresented an English voice-over for a Japanese video clip shown without any audio.
Twenty Chinese students also participated for intercultural comparison. The data wasanalyzed statistically and qualitatively and was also compared with the dubbing data
in a previous study, which used the same material with Japanese audio. For theJapanese data, the average number of word types, tokens, and sentences as well as the
distribution of sentence structures did not differ significantly from the dubbing data.
However, more diverse and creative expressions frequently occurred in the voice-overdata, whereas the same expressions repeatedly appeared in the dubbing data likely due
to the accessibility to the original Japanese lines. Differences between Japanese andChinese students diminished in the voice-over data, indicating that voice-overactivities can sufficiently eliminate the influence of the original language of thematerial, while maintaining a certain level of linguistic complexity of the output.
Feedback from participants was quite positive, suggesting that voice-over activities
can be a highly effective and engaging way to elicit colloquial expressions in EFL
contexts.
Keywords: English education, EFL, communication, colloquial expressions,classroom activity, voice-over, dubbing

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction“Is there a fun and effective activity to have students practice colloquial English
expressions inside the classroom?” This question, which was one of the questions
emerged from teaching English communication classes in Japan, was the starting
point of the current research. Communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based
language teaching (TBLT) have been popular in Asia (Butler, 2017). Japan has beenno exception to this trend although the extent of their implementation in reality hasremained somewhat unclear (e.g., Humphries & Burns, 2015; Nishino & Watanabe,2008). As Japan is in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context (Seargeant, 2009,
p. 60), or in the Expanding Circle (Kachru, 1985, pp.12-13), English is not widelyused outside of English classrooms.
According to Savignon (2005), the key of CLT is “the engagement of learners incommunication to allow them to develop their communicative competence” (p. 635).
One of the elements of communication is producing output. Swain (2005), promoting
the output hypothesis, stated that “the act of producing language (speaking or writing)constitutes, under certain circumstances, part of the process of second language
learning” (p. 471). In an EFL context, activities and tasks can be helpful for increasing
the amount of English output inside the English classroom.
Under TBLT, a task is defined as “a workplan that requires learners to process
language pragmatically in order to achieve an outcome that can be evaluated in termsof whether the correct or appropriate propositional content has been conveyed” (Ellis,
2003, p. 16). Bygate (2016) further explained tasks as activities in the classroom
which require learners to use the target language in a pragmatic way (p. 381). In
English communication classes where the current study took place, various tasks andactivities which matched the objectives of the course were utilized including
problem-solving tasks, information-gap activities, discussion, presentations, anddebate. The instructor occasionally taught colloquial expressions to students, yet how
to have students practice colloquial expressions effectively inside the classroom
remained as an unsolved problem on the part of the instructor.
In the literature, researchers have long emphasized the necessity of teachingcolloquial expressions. For example, Engkent (1986), more than 30 years ago,
claimed the importance for students to learn the difference between formal andinformal ways of speaking. Rühlemann (2008) further emphasized the importance ofteaching conversational features. Although it is still not very common, there are
English textbooks which have included a chapter on introducing and explaining
colloquial expressions, for instance Beglar and Murray (2016).
Researchers have investigated and suggested various methods for teaching colloquial
expressions. Taking advantage of technology and the Internet, some researchers havefound the potential of online communities for language teaching (e.g., Sockett &Toffoli, 2012). This includes platforms such as videoconferencing (Loranc-Paszylk,2015) and Facebook and its messaging functions (Acharya & Mohanty, 2013) for
learning foreign languages. Recently, AI-based more flexible and realistic chatterbots(e.g., Sha, 2009) and free-talking dialogues systems for teaching conversational
English (e.g., Mazur, Rzepka, & Araki, 2011) have been developed and being tested
as well.

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Other methods have included the use of music, films, and television series. For
instance, Lems (2016) has outlined possible ways of using music for language
teaching, that is, responding to performance, using karaoke, and using lyric
visualization videos. Films, or movies have also been used, and for example,
Seferoğlu (2008) found that watching movies helped students learn about
conversational cues and informal English. Television series have also been used forsimilar purposes, especially the American drama series Friends; for example, Baños(2013) analyzed the translation of intensifiers in informal language from English into
Spanish.
Subtitles of movies and dramas have also been used as teaching materials. Subtitles
refer to the texts that appear on the screen based on the dialogues and commentary.
According to Frumuselu, De Maeyer, Donche, & Plana (2015), subtitles are primarily
in viewers’ first language, which are added to help them understand the foreign
language audio (interlingual subtitles), but they can also be in the same language as
the original audio (intralingual subtitles) (p. 108). Two related concepts to subtitles
are dubbing and voice-over. Both dubbing and voice-over are audio aids for movies
and videos. Dubbing, on one hand, replaces the original dialogues and commentarywith the translated version. Voice-over, on the other hand, refers to someone not on
the screen describing the scene or giving voice to someone or something which does
not speak. This includes voice acting, and it can be in any language.
There have been many studies on subtitles and subtitling and some positive effects on
language learning have been revealed. Subtitles usually mean using subtitles as an aid
of listening, and subtitling refers to the process of making subtitles. For example,
Talaván (2010) explored the potential of subtitles and subtitling as an activity to
improve oral comprehension skills. Čepon (2011) tested effects of reversedinterlingual subtitles for incidental foreign language learning through surveys andobserved that they had positive effects on retention of phonological information.
Frumuselu et al. (2015), through an experimental study, then confirmed that
intralingual subtitles were actually more effective than interlingual subtitles. In
relation with subtitling, there is a genre of it called “fansubbing,” resulting from the
popularity of Japanese anime, and this phenomenon has also been receiving
researchers’ attention (e.g., Bold, 2011; González, 2007; Lee, 2011).
Research on dubbing has mainly been conducted as part of translation studies.
However, some studies have investigated the use of dubbing as a language teachingactivity. For example, Chiu (2012) analyzed students’ perceptions of dubbing
activities and found that the students felt dubbing helped them improve pronunciation,
intonation, and fluency. Danan (2011) was a detailed exploratory study on the use ofextensive dubbing projects as part of the coursework. Through observation,questionnaires, and casual interviews, he found that dubbing activities had linguistic
and motivational benefits. Takahashi and Taniguchi (2017) has analyzed linguistic
aspects and cultural differences of an English dubbing activity of a Japanese anime
clip in English communication classes. The results of this study are integrated in thecurrent study in order to compare the effects of a voice-over activity with a dubbing
activity. Although translation is now considered as a communicative act (e.g., Danan,
2010, p. 442), there is likely to be influence of the first language in case of subtitlingor dubbing activities which use materials in participants’ first language because they

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can access to the original dialogues.
Voice-over activities can potentially eliminate an overt influence of the first language
by not allowing participants to access the original dialogues in their first language.
However, there has not been much data-based research on the effects of voice-overactivities in having students practice colloquial English expressions. Takahashi (2018)
was an exploratory, preliminary study on this topic and identified some preliminaryfeatures of voice-over activities with regard to linguistic features, cultural differences,and differences from dubbing activities. However, different materials were used forthe comparison of voice-over and dubbing activities, resulting in the need of a morestructured research.
In order to explore the use and effectiveness of voice-over activities to have students
practice colloquial English expressions, four research questions were set: (1) Whatlinguistic features can voice-over activities elicit? (2) How are the expressions
observed in voice-over data different from those in dubbing data? (3) Are there any
cultural influence and differences? (4) How are students’ reactions?
Methodology
Participants
For this study, 76 first-year Japanese university students from 4 English classes took
part. They were taking English communication classes whose main medium of
instruction was English. Three classes were upper intermediate level, and one class
was intermediate level. In addition to Japanese students, 20 Chinese university
students participated in the study for a brief cultural comparison. They were exchange
students at a different Japanese university, and they were taking an English language
seminar. The main medium of instruction was also English, and the English level ofthe class was upper intermediate.
Materials
For the material, a two and a half minute video clip from the first episode of the anime
series Tamako Market (2013) was selected. The anime was based on the everyday lifeof a high school student, with some unusual twists involving a messenger bird from afaraway kingdom. This material was chosen for the current study because it was thesame material used in Takahashi and Taniguchi (2017), which was a study on a
dubbing activity, so that the data and results would be directly comparable. The initial
reason for the selection of the video was based on the request by participants and theclarity of the original lines. This length was the maximum length which did notinterfere with the flow of the course schedule. Two sets of worksheets were also
prepared. The first worksheet included a brief instruction and the list of the charactersat the beginning. It then provided the timeline of the storyline, indicating the speaker
and the timing of the utterance in the video [e.g., Tamako (0:30), Florist (0:33)]. There
were 38 lines in total. The other worksheet provided 14 screenshots of the video, eachfor a set of lines, which students could refer to as an aid in addition to the video. It
also included a brief comment section at the end. Both worksheets were collected
after the class, and the first worksheet was returned to the students the following weekwith feedback from the instructor. The video clip and screenshots were used only for

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this academic purpose.
ProcedureFirst of all, the anime clip was shown to participants once without any audio. The twoworksheets were then distributed and participants and the instructor went over the firstworksheet together. The instructor paused the video at every line on the worksheet
and made sure everyone understood which line corresponded to which scene of thevideo. The instructor also provided an explanation of the second worksheet.
Participants were then given approximately 50 minutes and were asked to prepare avoice-over script in pairs (Japanese students) or individually (Chinese students)
without using a dictionary. Throughout the preparation time, the video clip was kept
playing on the large screen in the front with the time indicator but without any audio.
Participants were given approximately 10 minutes to practice the voice-over, and thenthey performed the voice-over in front of the class or in medium-sized groups
depending on the remaining time of the 90 minute class time. The instructor thenasked the participants to fill in the comment section and submit the two worksheets.
Participants had an opportunity to watch the video with the original Japanese audio atthe very end of the class.
Results and Analysis
The collected data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Two types ofsoftware were used for analysis: AntConc (Anthony, 2017) and SPSS (ver. 23). As
mentioned above, the results were also compared with those in Takahashi andTaniguchi (2017), which used the same material for a dubbing activity. A brief
comparison with the preliminary study (Takahashi, 2018) was also included.
Here is an example of a voice-over script produced by a pair of Japanese students in
one of the upper intermediate classes. Good afternoon/ Good afternoon. Good to see
you/ It’s been a while since I came here last time/ How about today’s final assembly?/
Quite good. Can I put my bag somewhere?/ Of course. This way/ These flowers arereally beautiful/ These are new arrivals today/ They seem nice/ They smell sweet in
the evening/ There’s something here/ A bird?/ Oh my god, are you OK?/ This bird
blocks my eyes! I can’t see anything!/ Where did it come from on earth?/ Why it wasin this shop?/ It’s amazing/ Let me look closer/ Hello/ It can speak!/ Yep. Let’s gooutside/ What?/ Wait!/ Where do you wanna take me to?/ I wanna go home first/ Youwill take me home?/ But my mother won’t allow me to keep a pet/ So what do you
gonna do/ I don’t know. We’ll see/ It’s that your pet?/ No, it’s not/ Your bird it’s socute/ It’s not my pet/ Can you do this?/ Yes, I can teach you if you want to/ What’s
this?/ Wait! What are you doing?/ Welcome. Thanks.
Word CountIn total, 33 sets of data were gathered from Japanese university students. Data fromthree pairs had to be eliminated from analysis because they had only finished the firsthalf of the script. There were five pairs (four pairs in the intermediate class, one pairin one of the upper intermediate classes) who had left some blanks toward the end, but
their data was included as long as the total number of blanks was less than seven. In
total, 5079 word tokens and 535 word types were produced, which added up to 1557

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sentences, phrases, and sentence fragments. On average, one pair produced 151.4
tokens (min: 107, Max: 226), 81.5 types (min: 63, Max: 123), and 46.9 sentences,
phases, and sentence fragments (min: 38, Max: 65). The average type/token ratio, or
TTR, was 53.8%. In the dubbing data (Takahashi & Taniguchi, 2017, p. 289), basedon 16 sets of data (52 students), 2599 word tokens, 292 word types, 699 sentences,phrases, and sentence fragments were produced, with the average of 162.4 tokens(min: 145, Max: 195), 84.9 types (min: 74, Max: 99), and 43.7 sentences, phrases, andsentence fragments (min: 40, Max: 51). TTR was 52.3%. Compared with the dubbing
data, the average number of tokens and types appeared slightly lower, but thedifferences were not significant (χ2=.387, df=1, p=.534; χ2=.054, df=1, p=.816). TTR
also only differed by 1.5%. For the voice-over activity, students in the intermediatelevel class on average (126 tokens/ 74.5 types) produced less number of tokens
compared to students in the upper intermediate level classes (157.3/ 82.9, 157.4/ 82.9,
165/ 85.8), but this may have to do with four pairs having left some blanks toward theend of the script due to lack of time as mentioned above. In Takahashi (2018),
students produced a significantly less number of tokens and types on averagecompared to a dubbing activity, but the results of the current study indicated that the
choice of the material was an important, influential factor.
Compared with Chinese university students (195 tokens, 97.9 types), the average
number of tokens produced by Japanese university students for this voice-overactivity was significantly lower (χ2=5.595, df=1, p=.018). As the total number ofsentences, phrases, and sentence fragments did not differ significantly (χ2=.011, df=1,
p=.918), this shows that Chinese students produced longer sentences and phrases thanJapanese students. This tendency has been consistently observed in Takahashi andTaniguchi (2017) as well as in Takahashi (2018).
High Frequency Words
Table 3.1 shows the high frequency words in the voice-over data produced by
Japanese university students per 1000 tokens. Table 3.2 shows the high frequency
words in the dubbing data of the same material based on Takahashi and Taniguchi(2017).
Table 3.1 Top 30 High Frequency Words in the Voice-Over Data by Japanese Students
1

I

55.3

11

flower

16.9

2

you

50.0

12

no

16.7

m (I’m)

3

is

38.2

13

are

15.9

me

4

this

35.0

14

s (it’s)

15.0

24

have

10.2

5

it

27.4

15

oh

14.6

25

your

9.6

6

bird

25.6

16

hello

14.4

26

why

9.5

7

do

22.1

17

to

14.0

27

ok

9.3

8

what

21.3

18

The

13.6

9

nt (not)

18.7

19

a

12.6

29

did

8.3

10

my

16.9

20

today

12.4

30

wow

7.7

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can

10.4

yes

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Table 3.2 Top 30 High Frequency Words in the Dubbing Data
1

you

59.6

11

are

17.7

21

why

11.9

2

I

44.2

12

what

16.5

22

Tama

11.5

3

It

43.9

13

can

15.8

23

hi

10.0

4

bird

34.6

14

a

15.0

5

oh

33.1

6

nt (not)

26.9

16

no

14.6

7

do

26.5

17

today

13.5

8

s (it’s)

23.9

18

good

13.1

in

9

is

22.7

19

sorry

12.3

so

8.8

10

my

20.8

girl

8.5

me

this

surprised
25

did

9.6

m (I’m)
27

30

face

9.2

Table 3.3 compares these two sets of data, focusing on words ranked from rank 1 torank 50 in each set of data. Words which were commonly observed high in frequency
included function words, first and second person pronouns, auxiliary “be” verbs, andtopics of the story visible on the screen. In the dubbing data, Japanese students tended
to use the same words at a high frequency, for example, most students chose “hi” as agreeting word, probably reflecting the casual greeting word in the original Japaneseline. In the voice-over data, the number of word types itself did not differ significantly,
however, there were more words which were used high in frequency, indicating thatstudents tended to choose some different expressions to describe the same scene.
Table 3.3 Comparison of the High Frequency Words in Voice-Over and Dubbing
Commonly observed high in frequency (Rank 1 to Rank 50)
I, you, is, it, bird, do, what, nt (not), my, no, are, s (it’s), oh, a,today, can, m (I’m), me, have, why, did, ok, put, beautiful
Voice-Over> Dubbing (+15 Ranks)
this, flower, hello, to, the, your, yes, wow, of, kendama, please,tamako, want, cute, head, know, at, very, here, in, see, like, nice, pet,was
Dubbing> Voice-Over (+15 Ranks)
sorry, tama, surprised, face, girl, not, with, speak, tama-chan, cold,
love, night, fall, praise, and, get, he, hi
Table 3.4 shows the high frequency words in the voice-over data produced by Chinese
university students per 1000 tokens. Table 3.5 compares the voice-over data by
Japanese university students with the voice-over data by Chinese university students,
focusing on words ranked from 1 to 50. More than 30 words within rank 50 werecommonly observed high in frequency in both sets of data. The difference between
the two groups was actually smaller compared with the difference between Japanese
university students and Chinese university students in the dubbing data (see,ISSN: 2186-5892

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Takahashi and Taniguchi, 2017, p. 287). This indicated that voice-over activities could
potentially eliminate the influence of the original language well. It also showed thatthe choice of English expressions became more similar when the original Japaneselines were not provided.
Table 3.4 Top 30 High Frequency Words in the Voice-Over Data by Chinese Students
1

you

46.2

11

oh

16.0

2

I

43.7

12

to

15.1

22

your

10.9

3

it

41.0

13

the

13.9

23

today

9.4

4

is

27.8

24

m (I’m)8.7

5s (it’s)

26.8

15

can

13.6

25

here

8.4

6

a

23.8

16

me

13.0

26

flower

8.1

7

bird

21.1

17

nt (not)

12.7

of

8

my

20.5

18

do

12.4

that

9

are

18.7

19

so

12.1

10

what

17.8

20

good

11.2

this

Tamako

29

have

7.5

why

Table 3.5 Comparison between Japanese and Chinese Students Regarding Voice-Over
Commonly observed high in frequency (Rank 1 to Rank 50)
you, I, is, it, bird, do, what, nt (not), my, are, s (it’s), oh, to, a, today, can, m(I’m), me, have, your, why, ok, yes, put, good, so, of, on, want, head, hi, at,beautiful, in, see, like, wasJapanese> Chinese (+15 Ranks)
flower, no, hello, did, wow, thank, kendama, please, cute, know, very, nice, pet
Chinese> Japanese (+15 Ranks)
here, that, flowers, there, not, god, from, new, home, go, just, Tamako
Characteristic Expressions
High frequency words reflect characteristic expressions in the data. In the voice-overdata by Japanese university students, characteristic expressions included expressions
with first and second person pronouns [examples (1) and (2)], expressions based on
information visually and directly retrieved from the screen [examples (3) and (4)],descriptive adjectives (e.g., beautiful, cute, nice), and response words (e.g., yes, ok).
(1) Why do you put a bird on your head?
(2) I’m better at speaking language than you are.
(3) Oh, there is something in the flower.
(4) But this bird is so cute.

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Compared with the dubbing data by Japanese students, the voice-over data included
more “extras” such as interjections (e.g., oh, wow), intensifiers (e.g., so, very), andresponse words, which were not included in the original Japanese version. The choiceof greeting words also differed, with the dubbing data directly influenced by theoriginal Japanese greeting word as mentioned above. To be more specific, the greeting
word “hi,” which reflected the casual greeting word in the original Japanese version,
was at rank 41 in the voice-over data (5.1/ 1000 tokens) but at rank 23 in the dubbing
data (10.0/ 1000). The word “hello” was more commonly observed in the voice-overdata (rank 16: 14.4/ 1000), whereas it was not a preferred choice in the dubbing data
(rank 78: 2.7/ 1000). Similarly, the voice-over data included her full name for themain character, while the dubbing data included her nickname because it was
repeatedly mentioned in the video. In addition, the dubbing data included expressions
which were difficult to speculate from the video clip without audio [examples (5), (6),and (7)].
(5) I’m afraid and I wanna you to get off my head.
(6) Sorry, bird. Did you have a pain?
(7) Hey girl, it’s bad to fall in love with me.
As stated above, there were smaller differences between Japanese and Chinese
university students regarding the voice-over data compared with the dubbing data. In
case of dubbing, both groups of students were strongly influenced by the original
Japanese lines. Although the Chinese students were advanced Japanese speakers, thechoice of English expressions corresponding to the original Japanese expressions stillclearly differed between Japanese students and Chinese students (Takahashi &Taniguchi, 2017, p. 288). In case of the voice-over activity, some greetings (e.g., hello,
thank you), adjectives (e.g., cute, nice), and response words (e.g., no) were morecommonly used by Japanese students. However, noticeable differences were based on
cultural references, such as “kendama” (a Japanese toy), “karaage” (Japanese friedchicken), and “korokke” (Japanese croquette).
Sentence Structures
Table 3.6 summarizes the total number of sentences (with a clear or implied subject
and a verb), phrases, and sentence fragments (others). In total, Japanese university
students produced 931 sentences (with a clear or implied subject and a verb), 483
phrases, and 143 sentence fragments for the voice-over activity. As mentioned abovein Section 3.1, Chinese students tended to produce longer sentences and phrases, but
the proportion of sentences did not differ significantly between Japanese and Chinese
students in the voice-over data (χ2=4.549, df=2, p=.000). However, the proportion ofsentences in the voice-over data by Japanese students was significantly lower thanthat in the dubbing data (χ2=53.04, df=2, p=.103) despite the small difference in the
total number on average per script (46.9/ 43.7). In the original Japanese version, there
were 33 sentences and 5 sentence fragments. This indicated that students had atendency to choose phrases rather than sentences when they were asked to do avoice-over rather than dubbing by using conversational, casual expressions.

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Table 3.6 Distribution of Sentences, Phrases, and Sentence Fragments (Others)
Japanese University Students (Voice-Over)(Total: 1557)
Total
Average
Sentences
931 (59.8%)
27.8
Phrases483 (31.0%)
14.7
Others143 (9.2%)
4.4
Japanese University Students (Dubbing)(Total: 699)
Total
Average
Sentences
520 (74.4%)
32.5
Phrases117 (16.7%)
7.3
Others62 (8.9%)
3.9
Chinese University Students (Voice-Over)(Total: 884)
Total:
Average:
Sentences
561 (63.5%)
33.0
Phrases260 (29.4%)
15.3
Others63 (7.1%)
3.7
Table 3.7 summarizes the distribution of sentence types classified according to four
sentence types, that is, declarative sentences, interrogative sentences, imperative
sentences, and exclamatory sentences. This categorization was based on the sentence
types outlined by Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, Svartvik, and Crystal (1985). The
proportion of sentence types did not differ significantly between Japanese andChinese university students with regard to the voice-over data (χ2=4.762, df=3,
p=.190). As seen on the second and fourth rows of the table, the dubbing data clearlyreflected the sentence types of the original Japanese sentences, but the sentences types
somewhat deviated from them in the voice-over data. This showed that students had
more freedom on how to develop the conversations between the characters. Most of
the sentences were simple sentences, and compound and complex sentences wererarely observed (see, Table 3.8).
Table 3.7 Distribution of Sentence Types
Declarative
Japanese Students 517(Voice-Over)(55.5%)
Japanese Students 268(Dubbing)(51.5%)
Chinese Students
320(Voice-Over)(57.0%)
Cf: Original
17
Japanese Version(51.5%)

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Interrogative294(31.6%)
195(37.5%)
182(32.4%)
12(36.4%)

1032

Imperative
113(12.1%)
55(10.6%)
51(9.1%)
4(12.1%)

Exclamatory7(0.8%)
2(0.4%)
8(1.4%)
0(0.0%)

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Table 3.8 Distribution of Simple, Compound, Complex Sentences
Japanese Students(Voice-Over)Japanese Students(Dubbing)
Chinese Students(Voice-Over)

Simple912(98.0%)
399(96.4%)
532(94.8%)

Compound8(0.9%)
8(1.9%)
9(1.6%)

Complex
11(1.2%)
7(1.7%)
20(3.6%)

Students’ reactions
Comments from students were gathered at the end by using the comment section on
the second worksheet. Their comments could be categorized into positive comments
and points for improvement. Here are examples of comments from students on what
they liked about the activity. It was fun coming up with the lines by ourselves. We
could use expressions for conversations. It was a new and different type of activity. We
had to come up with English expressions creatively. It was nice working with apartner. It was a good experience thinking about English expressions without using a
dictionary. It trained our imagination. I learned how important it is to know
conversational English. To summarize the keywords of the positive comments, thevoice-over activity was perceived by students as a fun and engaging activity which
required them to think about English expressions creatively without relying on adictionary.
Feedback for further improvement included following comments. I wish each scene
was a bit longer. The scenes changed a bit too fast. It was difficult to match the timingof the lines with the video. The story turned out to be somewhat different from what
we imagined. It would be better if more examples were provided. In other words, someparticipants found the development of the scenes somewhat too fast to follow.
Discussion
The four research questions of the current study were as follows: (1) What linguisticfeatures can voice-over activities elicit? (2) How are the expressions observed invoice-over data different from those in dubbing data? (3) Are there any cultural
influence and differences? (4) How are students’ reactions?
For the first research question, students tended to rely on basic words and expressions
despite their vocabulary repertoire. The majority of the high frequency words weremainly at level 3 or below (elementary level) on ALC’s standard vocabulary list
(https://www.alc.co.jp/vocgram /article/svl/). As this was consistent with thepreliminary study which used a different material (Takahashi, 2018), this is probably anature of voice-over activities. At the same time, as differences in the word countdiminished between voice-over and dubbing activities when the same material wasused, it is likely possible to improve linguistic complexity by providing morechallenging materials. Participants tend to choose words and expressions to explain
concrete things and ideas directly observed in the video rather than abstract thoughts.
Other salient features include first and second person pronouns, short phrases,
intensifiers, and interjections. In other words, voice-over activities tend to yield

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For the second research question, the following tendencies emerged from thevoice-over data. The results of the current study on a voice-over activity was directlycomparable with the results of the study on a dubbing activity in Takahashi andTaniguchi (2017) due to the use of the same material. The voice-over activity
produced shorter and smaller number of sentences, but a wider range of vocabulary
was observed at a higher frequency compared to the dubbing activity. The majority ofthe sentences were simple sentences in both activities and the distribution of sentence
types did not differ significantly. The differences between the voice-over data and thedubbing data were smaller compared to the preliminary study (Takahashi, 2018),
which used a different material for the voice-over activity, indicating again thatvoice-over activities can maintain linguistic challenges for students if materials arechosen carefully. In addition, by doing a voice-over activity rather than a dubbing
activity, students received less influence of the original Japanese lines, producing
more creative expressions freely as a result.
For the third research question, Chinese students tended to write longer lines, which
has been a consistent result in the author’s previous studies (Takahashi & Taniguchi,
2017; Takahashi, 2018). There were smaller differences between the two groups in thevoice-over data compared with dubbing except for cultural references, indicating once
again that voice-over activities seem to be a good way to eliminate the direct
influence of the original language.
For the fourth research question, students’ reactions, especially Japanese students’reactions were majority positive, indicating that voice-over activities would be aneffective addition to an activity and task based English communication class. Bothstudents’ satisfaction level and effectiveness of the activity are likely to further
increase by choosing a material whose scenes are clear enough for voice-overactivities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, voice-over activities and dubbing activities can both be effective for
eliciting and having students practice colloquial English expressions in EFL
classrooms in Japan, and possibly in other Asian EFL contexts. Voice-over activities
seem to have an advantage over dubbing activities because they have more room forcreativity, more potential for pushed output, and more possibility of eliminating thedirect influence of the first language. Dubbing activities, on the other hand, have an
advantage of integrating more linguistically challenging contents. By adjusting thecontents to increase linguistic complexity, it would be possible to further increase theeffectiveness of voice-over activities.
One possible limitation of this study was that an “everyday” life story with an unusual
twist was chosen as the material, which may have been somewhat unrealistic for someparticipants. In addition, for a more thorough intercultural comparison, approximately
the same number of Chinese students should have ideally been included in the study.
Possible topics for future investigation include ways to elicit more linguisticallycomplex and diverse conversational expressions by using voice-over activities andidentification of suitable materials for voice-over activities by comparing materials of

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different genres.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the audience of the 10th annual meeting of the North East AsianRegion Language Education Conference for their feedback on the preliminary study,
which motivated the current research. I would also like to thank the audience of the
Asian Conference on Education 2018 for their insightful comments and feedback.

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Rühlemann, C. (2008). A register approach to teaching conversation: Farewell toStandard English?. Applied Linguistics, 29(4), 672-693.
Savignon, S. J. (2005). Communicative language teaching: Strategies and goals. In E.
Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp.
635-651). London: Routledge.
Seargeant, P. (2009). The idea of English in Japan: Ideology and the evolution of a
global language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters
Seferoğlu, G. (2008). Using feature films in language classes. Educational Studies,34(1), 1-9.
Sha, G. (2009). AI-based chatterbots and spoken English teaching: a critical analysis.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22(3), 269-281.
Sockett, G., & Toffoli, D. (2012). Beyond learner autonomy: A dynamic systems viewof the informal learning of English in virtual online communities. ReCALL, 24(2),138-151.
Swain, M. (2005). The output hypothesis: Theory and research. In E. Hinkel (Ed.),
Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp.495-508).
London: Routledge.

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Takahashi, M., & Taniguchi, E. (2017). A comparative analysis of the use of English
colloquial expressions by Japanese and Chinese university students: Insights from ananime dubbing activity. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Association
for Natural Language Processing (pp.286-289).
Takahashi, M. (2018, June). The use of Anime voice-over activities for practicing
English colloquial expressions: Is it effective for Japanese university students? Paper
presented at the 10th annual meeting of the North East Asian Region Language
Education Conference, Niigata, Japan.
Talaván, N. (2010). Subtitling as a task and subtitles as support: pedagogicalapplications. Approaches to Translation Studies, 32, 285-299.

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Understanding & Applying Character Education In Chemistry:
A Case Study Of 10th Grade High School In Indonesia
Ahmad Ma'ruf, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Yulianto Yulianto, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
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AbstractIndonesia tries to balance the quality of content learned and the quality of thecharacters one’ develops. Character education implemented to prepare good humanresources in the future as golden generation of Indonesia 2045. Based on The
Presidential Regulation no. 87 of 2017 on Strengthening Character Education, there
are 18 character values that related to environment, nationality, connected with god,connected with others and connected with one’self. Understanding and applying
character values in academic subject matter is very important, such as in chemistry.
This paper focused on the integration of character which connected with one’self inchemistry lesson for 10th grade high school student and the respondents are chemistryteachers. 33,3% of respondent never read about the policy and 66,7% can not mention
the total of character values. There are 9 chapters of chemistry and 9 values thatassessed in this paper. The average is 50% for the dependability and ease ofdepoloyment of character values in every chemistry’s material, where the highest
scores are curiosity and fond of reading. 43% of respondents had difficulty measuring
and applying character values and 33,3% had not understood the assessment. These iscaused by the lack of training and socialization, no assessment guidelines, the numberof student in 1 class and the difficulty determining the benchmark of each student’s
character.
Keywords: Character Education, assessment, teacher experience, chemistry, practiceand praxis.

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Introduction
The development of an increasingly advanced era is characterized by the increasingly
rapid development of science and technology increasingly, especially information
technology. The development of science and technology has a positive impact onhumans, which makes it easier and makes human life more comfortable. For example,
the invention of computers makes it easy for humans to write writing, store data, andeven listen to music and movies. But on the other hand, the development of scienceand technology also has a number of negative effects on humans (Sultoni, 2016).
The problem of education in Indonesia is very complex because in all aspects there
are problems that need to be resolved. Moral decline has become rampant in the worldof education, making it a blurry portrait in the world of education. This can be seenfrom the proliferation of pornographic videos played by students, rampant student
fights, cheating in national examinations, the number of drug cases that ensnare
students, the number of motorbikes played by students and various other negativeroles that can lead to national morality increasingly deteriorating (Maunah, 2015).
Character is a form of character, character, character inherent in one's personality thatis formed from the results of internalization which is used as a basis for thinking andbehaving so as to create individual characteristics (Tim Kompilasi, 2008: 682).
Individual characters will develop well, if they get the right reinforcement, namely inthe form of education.
The world of education today still has many problems. Even the distribution andquality improvement programs have not shown results as expected. The number ofchildren of basic education outside the national education system is still very large.
The quality of education is still relatively low. On the other hand, the challenges invarious fields of life are getting heavier. The development of science and technology,
especially in the fields of information, communication and transportation is very
rapid, the escalation of free markets between countries and countries is increasing,and the climate of competition in various aspects of life is getting tougher (Suyitno,2012).
The Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National
Education System (National Education System) has formulated the functions andobjectives of national education. Article 3 of the Law states, "National education
functions to develop the ability and shape the character and civilization of the nation
with dignity in the framework of educating the life of the nation, aimed at developing
the potential of students to become faithful and devoted to God, noble, healthy,knowledgeable, capable, independent, and become a democratic and responsible
citizen. "The article is the basis for the development of character education for theformation of human character, especially the younger generation. This character
education is expected to be applicable in all high school (SMA) subjects including
chemistry subjects considering how important character education is.
MethodSeeing the implicit meaning of the title and the problems studied, this research is a
type of quantitative research based on the experience of high school teachers

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throughout Indonesia in teaching chemistry class X subjects which were studied using
a questionnaire. The primary or primary literature reviewed in this study is Perpres
No. 87 of 2017 concerning strengthening character education and character education
journals (Bahri, 2015).
ResultCharacter education in learning must be prepared from the planning, implementationand evaluation stages of learning. In the planning stage, material, methods, media,
learning resources, stages of learning, and evaluation must be prepared to support theimplementation of character education. The learning component can help develop thetypes of characters that have been set according to the learning objectives to beachieved (Dianti, 2014). The questionnaire was filled by 39 respondents fromchemistry teachers in Indonesia, 61.5% men and 38.5% women, aged 20 to 63 years.
Most of the teaching of chemistry subjects in high school are S1 graduates withpresentations as much as 79.5% while S2 graduates are as much as 17.9%.
Character education for students in teaching and learning activities is by integrating
character values in each subject. The character values delivered are adjusted tocharacter values based on Perpres 87 of 2017 (Santoso, 2014). Character values thatneed to be invested in students from Religion, Pancasila, Culture, and National
Education Goals. The eighteen values are: 1) religious, 2) honest, 3) tolerance, 4)discipline, 5) hard work, 6) creative, 7) independent, 8) democratic, 9) curiosity, 10)
national spirit, 11) love of the homeland, 12) appreciate achievement, 13) friendly /communicative, 14) love peace, 15) love to read, 16) care for the environment, 17)care for the social, 18) responsibility (Supranoto, 2015).
Conclusion
33,3% of respondent never read about the policy and 66,7% can not mention the totalof character values. There are 9 chapters of chemistry and 9 values that assessed inthis paper. The average is 50% for the dependability and ease of depoloyment ofcharacter values in every chemistry’s material, where the highest scores are curiosityand fond of reading. 43% of respondents had difficulty measuring and applying
character values and 33,3% had not understood the assessment. These is caused by thelack of training and socialization, no assessment guidelines, the number of student in
1 class and the difficulty determining the benchmark of each student’s character.
Acknowledgement
This research was funded and supported by Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education(LPDP). In this great chance, researchers want to say thanks to LPDP for all the helps.

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References
Bahri, Saiful. (2015). Implementasi Pendidikan Karakter dalam Mengatasi Krisis
Moral di Sekolah. IAIN Tulungagung.
Dianti, Puspa. (2014). Integrasi Pendidikan Karakter Dalam Pembelajaran Pendidikan
Kewarganegaraan Untuk Mengembangkan Karakter Siswa. JPIS, Journal Pendidikan
Ilmu Sosial. Bandung: Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia.
Maunah, Binti. (2015). Implementasi Pendidikan Karakter dalam Pembentukan
Kepribadian Holistik Siswa. Jurnal pendidikan karakter. Tulungagung: IAIN.
Presidential Regulation Number 87 of 2017 concerning character education.
Santoso, Sugeng. (2014). Implementasi Pendidikan Karakter di Sma Negeri 3
Surakarta. Surakarta. Solo: Universitas Sebelas Maret.
Sultoni, Achmad. (2016). Pendidikan Karakter Dan Kemajuan Negara: Studi
Perbandingan Lintas Negara. JOIES: Journal of Islamic Education Studies. Indonesia:
Universitas Negeri Malang. Vol. 1. No 1.
Supranoto, Heri. (2015). Implementasi Pendidikan Karakter Bangsa Dalam
Pembelajaran SMA. Journal Pendidikan Ekonomi UM Metro. Vol.3. No 1. 24-40
Suyitno, Imam. (2012). Pengembangan Pendidikan Karakter dan Budaya Bangsa
Berwawasan Kearifan Lokal. Journal Pendidikan Karakter. FBS Universitas Negeri
Malang.

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Student Ambiguity Tolerance as Predictor of Problem-Solving Ability inMathematics
Buela, Mabel S., University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines
Joaquin, Ma. Nympha B., University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
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Abstract
Development of problem-solving ability among students is one of the main goals ofmathematics education.This study investigated the relation between student ambiguity
tolerance and their problem-solving ability in mathematics. In particular, it sought todetermine whether or not students’ positive reaction toward unfamiliar or uncertain
stimuli predict their ability to solve non-routine word problems. A total of 182 juniorhigh school students participated in the study. Two instruments were used namely, theMcLain Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance (MSTAT-II) Scale and aproblem-solving ability test. Both tests were subjected to validity and reliability
analyses. Results showed that ambiguity tolerance predicts problem-solving ability inmathematics. In addition, ambiguity tolerance and problem-solving ability havemoderate and positive association. A detailed analysis of student solutions andempirical evidences suggest that the use of open-ended problems be employed acrossvarious subject matters in mathematics to develop not only problem-solving skills but
critical and logical reasoning as well as creativity among students.
Keywords: ambiguity tolerance, non-routine word problems, problem-solving ability

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Introduction
According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000), emphasisshould be given on the development of problem-solving skills in the realm ofmathematics. There have been a number of researchers who conducted studies on
problem-solving in relation to mathematical standards, curriculum, and pedagogies(Sriraman, 2005). In the typical classroom set-up, it was found out that students are
more accustomed to dealing with routine problems that are usually found in the
textbooks (Lee, 2011; Sibbaluca, 2009). This type of problems is content-specific andusually requires multiple steps that call for a structured solving process. This suggests
lack of creativity in the teaching and learning of mathematics. On the other hand,
non-routine problems that use ambiguous situations could be helpful in addressing
issues related to problem-solving abilities of the students. Researchers affirm thattolerance for ambiguity positively influences one’s performance and adjustment incross-cultural settings (Furnham & Marks, 2013; Jokinen, 2005; Yamazaki & Kayes,
2004). Eisinger (2011) noted that understanding of the abstract and the ambiguous isoftentimes missing both in the K-12 and university classroom.
In the usual classroom set-up, learning ambiguity and accepting the abstract are notbeing emphasized inside the classroom, yet most of the time, certain attributes of
uncertainty are involved in one’s daily life encounters, as well as in researches aroundthe world. In addition, open-ended views in mathematics are being neglected in the
conduct of pedagogical approaches inside a mathematics classroom. It is a common
observance that teachers/ facilitators/ educators often do not use open-ended problems
in the set of exercises or tasks given to the students. The teaching practices most often
than not deal with textbook mathematics problems that are routine and do not involve
engaging activities that will provide opportunities for students to think deeply andperform independently (Lee, 2011).
Considering a comprehensive research about ambiguity tolerance as a means toevaluating students’ abilities creates openness for different points of views in theteaching and learning process (Eisinger, 2011). Solving ambiguous problems inmathematics will provide opportunities for the students to think of different solutions
and will make way for their creative juices to flow in generating novel ideas andmeaningful answers (Tallent, 2016).
Ambiguity and Tolerance
According to Arquero and McLain (2010), ambiguity can be most suitably defined as
the lack of necessary information to understand a specific circumstance and come up
with comprehensible decisions with expected outcomes. While the definition of
ambiguity is closely tied to concepts of generality and indeterminacy, it relies heavily
on basic concepts in semantics such as: meaning, denotation and connotation. An
expression is ambiguous if and only if the expression has more than one meaning.
Another technical definition by linguists is that an expression is ambiguous if andonly if the expression can accommodate more than one structural analysis. Toleranceof ambiguity “indicates the capacity to live with ambiguity, endure ambiguity, tooperate with and within ambiguity” (Stoycheva, 2011, p.1).

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Ambiguity tolerance is considered to be an intrinsic psychological characteristic of aperson (Brown, 2007; Steenkamp & Wessels, 2014). It is also defined to be thetendency of an individual (group) to perceive and process information on ambiguoussituations. An individual with high ambiguity tolerance may contradict positively or
tolerate contradiction in his/ her beliefs and understanding. Individuals with lowtolerance of ambiguity view ambiguous situation as a threat that causes them to react
hastily and avoid such stimuli. On the other hand, individuals with high-tolerance of
ambiguity could view the situation as an interesting encounter (Brown, 2007 andMcLain, 2009).
Since 1990, there were many studies that focus on the relationship of ambiguity
tolerance to several fields of interest. In particular, in the realm of foreign language
reading and learning, research showed that the ambiguity tolerance of the students,
their self-perceived success and strategy training in reading were significantly
correlated to each other. Further, research results indicate that the more ambiguity
tolerant the learner is, the more successful he could be. This underscores the role oflearner training in improving the ambiguity tolerance of the students (Erten &Topkaya, 2009). Since abiguity demands evaluation or choice, it may pose as acognitive challenge (Arquero & Tejero, 2009) and therfore more assistance andencouragement from the teachers are needed in learning among low ambiguity
tolerant individuals (Chu et al., 2015).
Mathematical Problem-Solving Ability
Problem solving is one the most important components of mathematics. It requires
combined creative skills and concepts to deal with specific mathematical situations
called real-world problems. However, many researchers acknowledge that most of
the students encounter difficulties in solving such problems. Problem-solving is ahigher-order thinking process composed of major intellectual abilities and cognitive
processes. It is not just about recalling simple facts or applying well-learned methods.
Factors that are deemed significant in the problem-solving performance include
intelligence, creativity and originality, spatial ability, verbal ability, working memory,and knowledge, all of which are identified as cognitive abilities (Bahar, 2015).
Solving problems involves both analytical and creative skills. Through problem
solving, students can understand and develop innovative solutions to problems orchallenges that may vary in context.
There have been a lot of discussions on the restrictions involved in solving problems
inside a mathematics classroom. Sriraman (2005) noted that there are particular waysof solving being prescribed and a standard procedure in teaching how to solve a
problem. However, the basic idea of the existing problem-solving models has not yet
been defined properly and is being used in a shallower approach. He further explainsthat the skills intended to be learned by the students in problem-solving have been
overshadowed by universal standards and considerations. Unfortunately, the means tounderstand the process of deepening, synthesizing, and analyzing problems has been
ignored and put aside behind the curriculum.
Bahar (2015) also investigated the influence of cognitive abilities on mathematicalproblem-solving performance of elementary students, separating their performance in
open-ended and closed problems. Results showed that mathematical problem-solving

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performance can be explained by open-ended (32.3%) and closed (48.2%) problems
in variance. Considering the results, general creativity and verbal ability weresignificant predictors of mathematical problem-solving performance in open-ended
problems. On the other hand, mathematical knowledge and general intelligencecontributed significantly to closed problem-solving performance.
There have been studies conducted on the use of open-ended questions inmathematical problem solving. Lumpas (1997) identified mathematical errors,difficulties and thought processes of students when he analyzed their solutions to
open-ended mathemaitcs problems. He found out that the students had difficulty inthe basic concepts such as measurement, perimeter, length of a side of a square, linear
equation, ratio, and proportion. Students’ lack of understanding in these concepts
resulted from their use of wrong mathematical operations, misapprehension of themathematical language, English language deficiencies, difficulty in translating verbal
phrases to mathematical expressions or equations, lack of completeness in the learned
concepts, wrong use of data given, defective and incomplete algorithm, computational
errors and random responses in the study. Moreover, because of their misconceptionsin the lessons learned prior to the conduct of the study, the students were not able togenerate or provide correct responses to some questions.
Open-ended problems give much emphasis on the real world and daily experiences ofthe students. Using these kinds of problems will definitely provide them an
opportunity to think deeply and critically as if solving real life problems involving
logic and critical thinking. The students are given opportunities to reveal theirconceptual understanding through experiences with open-ended problems (Mann,
2006).
Ambiguity Tolerance and Problem-Solving Ability
Ambiguity tolerance helps students handle challenging tasks, cognitive and emotional
complexity, and thus enables them to have personal, intellectual and social growth(McLain, 2009). Students with high ambiguity tolerance attain higher scores on tests,
produce unique solutions to open-ended problems and perform better in answeringvarious types of puzzles. In addition, ambiguity tolerant students were observed “todeal better with vague language, partial information, tasks with little structure, andmultiple perspectives in problem solving” (Williams, 2006, p.85). Teachers therfore,
have important roles in helping students cope with ambiguity and use it to theiradvantage. Teachers’ underscoring the importance of critical and creative thinking
even when encountering ambiguity offers a good opportunity for the students to
extract their creativity and participate in solving complex problems (Eisinger, 2011).
In another study, Dianco (2014) determined the moderator effects of gender andschool type on ambiguity tolerance and mathematical ability among students fromprivate and public schools. He used a problem-solving ability test that includes someambiguous problems, a reasoning skill test and an ambiguity tolerance test. The
findings showed that student gender and school type did not moderate the effects ofambiguity tolerance on students’ reasoning skills and problem-solving ability.
However, results showed a significant difference between public and private highschools in terms of their ambiguity tolerance. He attributed the difference in the
ambiguity tolerance of the students from the two schools to the diverse experiences

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and social life of the students. Dianco further emphasized that the “complexity of thepersonal experience and social life brings confusion to the young generation therefore
challenging their abilities to deal with uncertainty” (p. 53). Furthermore, his study
concluded that ambiguity tolerance correlated negatively with problem-solving
ability.
Methodology
This study aimed to determine whether ambiguity tolerance predicts students’problem-solving ability in mathematics. It is a non-experimental research that
employed mixed methods wherein both quantitative and qualitative data collection
and analyses were utilized. Data were collected among 182 grade 8 students. Two
instruments were used namely, the Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance(MSTAT-II) Scale (McLain, 2009) and the Problem-Solving Ability Test (PSAT).
The MSTAT-II is a 5-point Likert scale developed by David L. McLain in 2009 tomeasure the ambiguity tolerance of individuals. It is a 13-item scale with an internalconsistency reliability of .83. MSTAT-II was a modification of MSTAT-I, which was
likewise developed by McLain in 1993. In this study, the latter was used to obtain the
ambiguity tolerance of each student. On the other hand, the PSAT is a researchermade test composed of six open-ended problems on intermediate algebra. The topics
covered are: basic mathematical operations, order of operations, algebraic
expressions, set of real numbers, exponents, mathematical sentences, factoring,
quadratic polynomials, and complex fractions. All the items in PSAT were devised tostimulate critical thinking and generate creative mathematical solutions and answers.
The PSAT was subjected to content validation of mathematics experts. It had
reliability coefficient of α = .518 when pilot-tested to students after revisions on thewere done.
Prior to the administration of the first instrument, the researcher informed the studentsof the goals of study and their significance in the study. The respondents were also
rest-assured of the confidentiality of the information that they will provide to theresearcher through the instruments.
Results and Discussion
A simple linear regression analysis was applied to the Problem-Solving Ability Test
(PSAT) scores with ambiguity tolerance scores from MSTAT-II as the predictor
variable. Table 1 presents the results.

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Table 1
Simple Linear Regression on Problem-solving Ability Test Scores Using MSTAT-II
Scores as Predictor
Figural Creativity
Variable
Model 1 B
Std. Error
Constant-2.07
1.22
MSTAT-II
.27
.035
R
.50
R2
.25
ΔR2
.24
F
59.1
Note. *p<.05, N=182

Beta
.50

T
-1.69
7.69

p
.093
<.001*<.001*The model summary table shows the simple correlation coefficient between ambiguity
tolerance and problem-solving ability, R (181) = .50, p<.001, which indicates that
there is a significant positive association between the two variables. Adjusted R
Square value is .24, which means that only 24% of the variation in the problemsolving ability scores can be explained by ambiguity tolerance. The result of theanalysis of variance indicates that the regression model is significant, F(1,180) =59. 1, p<.001. Therefore, problem- solving ability can be predicted by ambiguity
tolerance, significantly.
The linear regression model for Problem-solving Ability Test score in terms of
Ambiguity Tolerance Test score is given by:
PSAT score = -2.07 + .27 MSTAT-II score
A point increment in the MSTAT-II score will yield to an increase of .27 in the PSAT
score. The ambiguity tolerance score from MSTAT-II has a significant positive
weight on problem-solving ability indicating that those students with higher MSTATII scores are expected to have higher PSAT scores. Moreover, there is a moderate
strength and positive association between ambiguity tolerance and problem-solving
ability.
McLain (2009) suggested that students with high ambiguity tolerance attain higherscores on tests, produce unique solutions to open-ended problems and perform betterin answering various types of puzzles. In addition, ambiguity tolerant students wereobserved “to deal better with vague language, partial information, tasks with little
structure, and multiple perspectives in problem solving” (Williams, 2006, p.85).
The results somehow contradict the result obtained by Dianco (2014) wherein
problem-solving ability correlates negatively with ambiguity tolerance.
Thedifference in the result of the present study and that of Dianco’s can be attributed tothe difference in the instruments used in measuring the ambiguity tolerance of thestudents. Moreover, the sample in the present study came from the set of Grade 8
students who came from a public (laboratory) and a private school whereas inDianco’s study, the sample came from the set of fourth year students from a regularpublic and a co-educational private high school. Hence, the background of thestudents from the two sets of samples might have affected the contradicting results.

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Conclusion
This study aimed to determine if ambiguity tolerance is a significant positive predictorof problem-solving ability. After analyzing all the relevant information quantitatively
and qualitatively, it was concluded that ambiguity tolerance was a significant positive
predictor of problem-solving ability in mathematics, specifically with the use of openended problems. Ambiguity tolerance and problem-solving ability have moderate andpositive association.
It can also be inferred that the use of ambiguous open-ended problems provided
opportunities for students to think critically and creatively, hence providing
meaningful solutions. Moreover, the conceptual understanding of the students can berevealed with the use of open-ended problems in mathematics.
Taking into consideration the results and the conclusion, the researcher recommends
the following: The use of open-ended problems should be employed by the teachers
across various subject matters in Mathematics across grade levels so as to encourage
critical and logical reasoning as well as creativity among students. School
administrators should create extension/ training programs that will equip their faculty/
personnel as well as other neighboring schools the know-how of ambiguity tolerance,
its effects and usability to better enhance approaches and techniques in the teaching
and learning process. The Teacher Education Institutions should create programs thatwill expose pre-service and in-service teachers to the idea of incorporating ambiguous
open-ended problems in their lessons in mathematics. Moreover, they should
encourage their teachers to also measure their ambiguity tolerance so that they can beequipped with the appropriate tools needed in teaching diverse types of learners.

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References
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The Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-II (MSTAT-II).
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Contact email: msbuela@up.edu.ph

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Efficacy of Moodle Forum in Teaching and Learning
Min Prasad Gurung, Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
Rajan Kadel, Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
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Abstract
Lecturer-centered pedagogy of teaching and learning is becoming less effective todeliver courses. This paper will examine the efficacy of forum to attain higher
retention and better learning outcomes in the higher education sector. Focus is also on
how to improve students’ participation and engagement using forum as a tool - afactor all employers and academic institutions expect of current students. Thematic
analysis indicates that the design of Moodle application with device responsivenessand user-friendliness contributes to enhance the use of forum. Research outcome also
shows that the inclusion of forum as formative assessment in all the units in theirprogram assist to improve effectiveness of forum use.
Keywords: Moodle, Forums, Teaching and Learning

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Introduction
Teaching and learning recently face a lot of challenges in present context regardlessthe size of learners, area of knowledge or the institution – public or private alike.
Major issues impeding the welfare of all stakeholders are low student retention, lowprogression and high attrition rate. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is
tools used by academician and academic institute to mitigate those risks if noteliminated.
SoTL is perpetual inquiry into teaching and learning practices to engage, motivate andretain students (Felten, 2013; Hubball & Clarke, 2010; Kern, Mettetal, Dixson, &Morgan, 2015; Starr-Glass, 2011). As the time evolved, there existed a number ofactivities related to SoTL: Learning Management System (LMS), e-learning, online
learning, problem based learning, project based learning, flipped learning and forum
and discussion blog integrated within LMS are just a few to mention.
LMS are of different kinds and two popular LSM are Moodle and Blackboard. A
comparison study of these LMSs are found at (Bremer & Bryant, 2005). The historyof Moodle dates back to 1999. Since then, it is ever evolving and now it is in current
form of version. Many Australian Universities have adopted Moodle as LMS.
Regardless the name, both systems consists of repositories of teaching and learning
resources including but not limited to quizzes, forums, blogs, wikis and otherassessments and modules to mark various assessments online. Melbourne Institute ofTechnology (MIT) has adopted Moodle as its LMS. The version of Moodle usedduring this research work is “Moodle 3.4.1+ (Build: 20180308)”. Moodle provides
variety of engagement tools including forum in the current version.
Forum is defined as an online space to promote communication among multiple
stakeholders such as instructor and students. Moodle forum provides various benefits
including able to create dynamic webpages that allow content contributions from thestakeholders, able to link to a particular posting – technically known as permalink,
export to Word application, able to view the discussion by all users regardless theircontribution and it also support cut off time to edit the post. Besides those all benefits
it has some drawbacks. Moodle forum is unable to post additional materials directly
to discussion. Extra materials that contributes to richness of information/post is notpossible (for example images and other auxiliary documents need to be downloaded
as attachment) this drawback directly hampers the testers to test its usability. In
addition, image only posting is impossible – it always have to be accompanied bycorresponding text.
Moodle supports different type of forum activities including a standard forum forgeneral use, a single simple discussion, each person posts one discussion, questionand-answer forum, and standard forum displayed in blog-like format. In this researchwork, we have selected question-and-answer forum of the moodle.
Research Background
MIT, now well over 15 years in business as private higher education provider boast
multiple streams of Masters and Bachelor’s Degree courses in IT, Business andEngineering. In addition, MIT also run both IT and Business courses affiliated with

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Federation University Australia. It houses mostly international students and few
domestic students.
Our experience indicated that the majority of international students at MIT are
unfamiliar of teaching pedagogy adopted in Australian Universities/Institution. They
make a big jump from purely lecturer-centered pedagogy where lecturer takes the leadof teaching with zero input from the learners to active learning where lecturer isnothing more than a facilitator (though there are many institutions depending much on
PowerPoint presentation).
In addition to pedagogical gaps in teaching and learning, international students arealso burdened by task of cultural assimilation process (e.g. doing and presenting
assignments on time, getting involved in active learning, referencing skills etc.). They
also face myriads of other problems such as working part-time to cover basic living
and tuition fee and full-time study that is a requirement from Australian immigration
department.
Experience shows international students lacks knowledge of use of LMS of any
form/types. Consequently, students need to rely on rot-memorization of contents fromthe PowerPoint slides pushed to them by their respective lecturers. The gap of cultureof teaching and learning prevalent in Australia along with many problems mentioned
above results in low pass rate, low progression rate and high attrition rate.
In this research work, we are evaluating the effectiveness of the forum in the context
of teaching and learning and possible remedies to enhance the use of Moodle forum.
Therefore, the outcome from the research work will contribute to mitigate theproblems including high attrition and low retention.
Related Works
In this section, a brief review of current literature is performed to understand thescenarios of use of forum in student teaching and learning. The paper (Muñoz,
Delgado, Rubio, Grilo, & Basto-Fernandes, 2017) presents usefulness of forum or
discussion to improve and promote student engagement in teaching and learning. The
authors use social network analysis technique during the analysis. The authors in thispaper (Pong-inwong & Rungworawut, 2012) analyzed the student attitude to toward
instructor during teaching and learning using data mining technique. The authors
presented the effectiveness of student perception and opinions on forum discussion in(Martinho, Almeida, & Teixeira-Dias, 2014). The paper (Yang & Lin, 2010)
examines the relationship between students’ perceptions on internet and their online
contribution an online writing for exchange program for nursing students. The study
found that there is a strong correlation between students’ perception on internet andonline participation during learning.

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Research Methodology
This research work is performed using qualitative research methodology using
thematic analysis. The research process is shown in Fig. 1 and it involves several
steps:

Figure 1: Research method used
i.
ii.
iii.

iv.

Literature Review: A review of current literature on SOTL, use of LMS
specifically use of forum in teaching and learning is conducted.
Unit Selection: Web System of Bachelor of Networking (BNet) is selected fortesting effectiveness of forum at MIT.
Forum: Students are advised about the use of forum on the selected unit at the
beginning of the semester. No mark allocated for forum discussion as it is an
optional for the student but student are encourage to use during the semesterfor discussing several issues. Most of the student make response on the forum
discussion once but the frequency of use of forum discussion is very low.
Therefore, the focus of the research lead to why the student used once forum
but not multiple times on the Moodle.
Data Collection: The data is gathered from students using semi-structured
individual interview and group discussion at the end of the semester (Gill,
Stewart, Treasure, & Chadwick, 2008). The semi-structure interview allows abalance between the flexibility of unrestricted interviews and the applicationof a structured survey whereas opinion seeking group discussion is conductedto acquire the problems and ideas informally (University). Researchers
collected the data from the individual interview and group discussion using
notes taking in diary manually. The interview and group discussion is focus on
the following broad areas:a. Previous experiences with LMS and forum.
b. Difficulties and problem associated with forum- technical aspects.
c. Difficulties and problem associated with forum- academic and general
aspects.
d. Any other contributing factors.

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Thematic Analysis and Reporting: The thematic analysis is performed using
following steps (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017; Nowell, Norris, White, &Moules, 2017; Thomas & Harden, 2008):
a. Familiarizing with data: First, the data from the individual semistructured interview and group discussion is gathered from bothresearchers. Then, both researchers read those collected data
extensively before generating initial codes.
b. Generating initial codes: Initial coding is performed manually as thenumber of participants are less than 15. For each participant student,
researchers prepare a table with data item and initial codes during thisprocess using colored pen independently.
c. Searching for themes: The theme is generated using repetition,
similarities, differences and pattern in the data. The themes are
generated by both the researchers independently.
d. Reviewing and naming themes: The themes generated by bothresearchers are compared and adjusted after discussion for consistency.
Finally, the themes are generated and named.
e. Report writing: Finally, the outcome from the thematic analysis isconveyed in form the writing.

Findings and Discussion
The outcome from the thematic analysis is presented in Fig. 2. The thematic analysis
indicates that the effectiveness of the forum is broadly measured by technical andacademic factors. The key technical constraints raised by student on effectiveness offorum is user-friendliness and device sensitive on the Moodle application. The
notification of Moodle forum is performed by emailing to student on student email
account only when there is new forum question is posted. The students expect thatthey are notified on personal email as soon as new post is made available on forum.
They would even more appreciative if they receive SMS one their mobiles. This will
ensure students are instantly alerted and prompted for quick response on the forum
discussion. Another concern raised by student is that the Moodle email notification
process is slow.
Another technical issue raised by students for poor response is device responsiveness.
Many students convey that mobile devices are used for study and instant responsesuch as forum discussion and social conversation. Additionally, many students lackproper laptop and desktop in their residence. Above suggestions strongly warrants aneed of web-based Moodle application - an app similar to Facebook Messenger withinstant alert system.
The key academic and general constraints raised by students on effectiveness offorum is its non-formative nature and previous experience of their senior fellows.
Students raised issue of no mark allocation for forum and it is optional as negative
contributing factor. In addition, student raised issue of using forum on only in one
unit of the course (program) as contributing factor for the poor response. Therefore,
students suggest to apply this approach to all of the units with some marks allocation
as one of the formative assessments. Furthermore, some student raised the issue oflack of proper knowledge on the use of forum on Moodle. Therefore, student expects
a short training on the use of forum on Moodle before implementation. Some students

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provide opinion that another contributing factor for poor response on Moodle forum isnegative feedback from the previous students. Negative feedback from previous
student means they have not used earlier and may not require to use.

Figure 2: Thematic outcome from the analysis
Conclusion and Recommendation
We have conducted the effectiveness of forum on the private education provider withmostly international students and observed that there is good response rate from thestudent on the forum discussion once but the frequency of the response is very low.
Then, we shifted focus on analyzing the cause of poor frequency of response on the
Moodle forum discussion. To determine the cause, we conducted individual interview
and group discussion. Next, we perform thematic analysis of data and capture thethemes for poor effectiveness of the forum in our research context.
The thematic analysis indicates that there are two major causes for low frequency rateof student response on the forum discussion. First, the analysis reveals that the webbased Moodle application lacks of responsiveness to the variety of devices and very
poor notification systems in technical side. Second, the absence of allocation marks
for forum discussion and the application to only one unit on the whole course
contribute to undesirable outcome on the forum participation.
The outcome from the thematic analysis recommends that the institute should develop
Moodle app similar to Facebook Messenger that has instant notification andmessaging system. Alternatively, device responsive web-based Moodle application
with instant notification as SMS or email notification to private email instead of
student email. These are two recommendations in technical aspects to enhance theforum participations. Furthermore, student also mentioned that Moodle forum should
applied to all units and marks should be allocated for forum participations to improve
the participations on forum.

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Acknowledgments
We will like to acknowledge Dr. Nalin Sharda from MIT, Melbourne for fruitful
discussion and encouragement.

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References
Bremer, D., & Bryant, R. (2005). A Comparison of two learning management
Systems: Moodle vs Blackboard. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 18th
Annual Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing
Qualifications.
Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching and Learning
Inquiry, 1(1), 121-125.
Gill, P., Stewart, K., Treasure, E., & Chadwick, B. (2008). Methods of data collectionin qualitative research: interviews and focus groups. British dental journal, 204(6),291.
Hubball, H., & Clarke, A. (2010). Diverse methodological approaches andconsiderations for SoTL in higher education. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship ofTeaching and Learning, 1(1), 2.
Kern, B., Mettetal, G., Dixson, M., & Morgan, R. K. (2015). The role of SoTL in theacademy: Upon the 25th anniversary of Boyer’s Scholarship Reconsidered. Journal of
the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1-14.
Maguire, M., & Delahunt, B. (2017). Doing a thematic analysis: A practical, step-bystep guide for learning and teaching scholars. AISHE-J: The All Ireland Journal of
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 9(3).
Martinho, M., Almeida, P. A., & Teixeira-Dias, J. (2014). Fostering students
questioning through Moodle: does it work? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,
116, 2537-2542.
Muñoz, A., Delgado, R., Rubio, E., Grilo, C., & Basto-Fernandes, V. (2017). Forum
participation plugin for Moodle: Development and Discussion. Procedia Computer
Science, 121, 982-989.
Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis:
Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative
Methods, 16(1), 1609406917733847.
Pong-inwong, C., & Rungworawut, W. (2012). Teaching evaluation using data
mining on moodle LMS forum. Paper presented at the Information Science andService Science and Data Mining (ISSDM), 2012 6th International Conference on
New Trends in.
Starr-Glass, D. (2011). Reconsidering Boyer's reconsideration: Paradigms, sharing,and engagement. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,
5(2), 21.

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Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative
research in systematic reviews. BMC medical research methodology, 8(1), 45.
University, T. O. 6 Methods of data collection and analysis. Monitoring, Evaluation,
Accountability and Learning (MEAL).
Yang, Y., & Lin, N. C. (2010). Internet perceptions, online participation and language
learning in Moodle forums: A case study on nursing students in Taiwan. ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 2647-2651.
Contact email: mingurung@mit.edu.au, rkadel@mit.edu.au

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Multilingual Education in Linguistically diverse Nepal: The Role of Mother-tongue
based Education for Better Learning OutcomesPrem Singh Shintan, United Mission to Nepal (UMN), Nepal
Elizabeth Cozens, United Mission to Nepal (UMN), Nepal
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Abstract
Linguistically diverse, Nepal has 123 different mother tongues and for 55% of thepeople, Nepali (national language) is their second language of communication. This
context poses a serious constraint on learning achievement for early grade students as
the primary teaching language in all government schools is Nepali. Realizing thisproblem, Nepal has recently prioritized multilingual teaching at early grades ingovernment schools. There are good intentions in adopting this approach to education,
however there are limited studies on whether multilingual education (MLE) reallycontributes to learning outcomes of early grade children. This study is an attempt to
explore the effects of providing MLE to pre-primary students. This study was
conducted in Magar ethnic group in Rukum and Tharu in Kapilvastu districts of Nepal
where the Khan Magar and Awadi are the mother tongue languages respectively. The
data was gathered from the children, parents, teachers and school management
committee members who were engaged in various MLE interventions at those
districts. Semi-structured questionnaires were developed to obtain the informationfrom the respondents. Out of wide contributions, this study found that multilingual
education had positively contributed in four aspects of school education; i) students'
performance, ii) teachers skills; iii) parents involvement in children's education, iv)
classroom learning environment. These contributions were further seen to be longterm in nature and directly related to the children's dynamic educational achievement.
To a broader extent, the multilingual education also contributed to preserving thevalue of ethnic language and culture.
Keywords: Multilingual education, ethnic language, student performance, ethic group,
teacher skills, learning achievement

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Introduction
United Mission to Nepal is an International Non-governmental organisation which
has been working in community development in Nepal for over 60 years. The focus ison helping the poorest people living in poverty (PPLP). Mother tongue based
Multilingual education was incorporated into its Integrated Education projects (IEP)
after requests from ethnic minority communities in its working areas of Rukum andKapilbastu who had identified language as a barrier to the effective learning of theirown children when they started school. The aim of the project was to improve accessto quality education of children from ethnic minorities through the provision of
mother-tongue based multi-lingual education (MTB-MLE).
Background and Context
Nepal is a linguistically very diverse country. According to the 2011 census ( GoN
2011), there are 126 ethnic groups and 123 different mother tongues. 55% of the
Nepalese people do not speak Nepali as their first language although this is thelanguage of education in the government schools (Pradhan 2016). The original
rationale for this “one nation, one language “policy in 1969 was that it promoted anational identity and that students would learn Nepali faster if they were immersed init from the start of their schooling. However, increased awareness developed among
ethno-linguistic groups of the need to preserve their cultural identity and agitation
increased throughout the 1990’s during the civil war (Yadava 2007). Language issues
became politicised at this time. The constitution of Nepal 1990 recognized the rightsof people to their own language and script. The reports of the national Education
Commission (NEC) and National Languages policy recommendation commission(NLPRC) also recommended mother tongue education. Subsequently, the Education
Act 2007, the National framework for Education for all (EFA) and the national
curriculum all now have provision for mother tongue education (Ghimire, 2011).
Following the restoration of democracy in 2006 the revised Education Act of 2007
stated that primary education should be in the mother tongue for grades 1-3 in all
subjects except English and Nepali. (Yadava 2007) The Department of Education has
implemented MLE programmes since 2006 . In 2012 the MLE framework of GoN
gave guidance on MLE in schools. More recently, the 2015 Constitution of thecountry states in Article 31, section 5 (Government of Nepal, 2015) children in every
Nepali community have a right to education in their mother tongue and that it is thestate’s responsibility to provide this. Nepal is a signatory to many international
policies safeguarding the rights of ethnic minorities, for example the UN declarationon the rights of Indigenous Peoples 2008 which includes the right to culture, identity
and language. The most recent Government of Nepal (GoN) school sector
development plan (SSDP) 2016-2023 prioritises MLE and classifies schools on thebasis of the mother tongue of their students ( GoN 2016).
Mother tongue based –multilingual education in Nepal
Ghimire (2012) defines mother tongue as the language of one’s ethnic group andrefers to the language of instruction as being the language used for teaching. Mothertongue based Multilingual education (MTB MLE) is the use of the student’s mothertongue and two or more additional languages as the language of instruction in schools(Malone 2007). It is a method by which students start by learning in their mother

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tongue language (L1). In this context, pre-primary and early primary students thenlearn to read and write their own language in the Devanagari script before moving to
the second language (L2), in this case Nepali. They then learn the Nepali vocabulary
and grammar when they can already read and write using the phonetic Devanagari
script. It is based on the “first language first” principle (UNESCO, 2011) which is thatchildren make a better start in school, and continue to make better progress, if theylearn in their mother tongue when they enter school for the first time.
Nepalese children start school in pre-primary grade full time from the age of four
without any pre-school transition and this is particularly challenging for those fromethnic groups who do not understand Nepali which is the language of instruction. The
Nepali language is written in the phonetic Devanagari script and has a literate
tradition unlike all but 8 of Nepal‘s indigenous languages. Some communities likeTharu have a predominantly pictorial, rather than a written culture. Awadhi has aliterate tradition and the Magar community has its own Sino-Tibetan Akkha script(Yadava, 2007). The Tharu and Magar groups are in the process of standardizing theirwritten language by deciding, for example, which dialect words to use. (Turin 2004).
Some communities, such as Magar, have a script which only a few older members of
the community are able to read and therefore, when considering how to help nonNepali speaking children to access the Nepali curriculum and textbooks, the choice ofscript is a crucial one. Multilingual education (MLE) textbooks and teachers for thisproject were provided up to grade 3. By grade 4 children are expected to be
sufficiently competent in the Nepali language to be able to access mainstream
education in Nepali. Because Devanagri is a phonetic script, it lends itself to Mothertongue based (MTB) MLE because children can learn to read and write in phonetic
Devanagri script but using their own first language words and sounds. Once basic
reading and writing have been mastered, Nepali words are introduced, and children
start to read and write in both languages and by grade 4 (aged 8) they are educated in
Nepali language except for weekly subject classes in their own ethnic language.
Teacher training in scaffolding both languages was therefore an essential part of thisproject.
Key components of MTB-MLE are teacher training, provision of MTB teaching andlearning materials, classroom management and set up, parental involvement, literacy
assessment curriculum and transition management (Pinnock, 2011). This projectfocussed on the first four of these components. Local Khan Magar or Tharu/Awadi
speaking Teachers were recruited after consultation with community stakeholders
including parents and school leaders. They were trained to teach in the ethnic
language while scaffolding Nepali literacy skills and verbal Nepali throughout thefirst four years of schooling with the aim that by grade 4 the students would be able toaccess the curriculum and textbooks in Nepali. From grade 4 their ethnic language
and culture is taught as a single subject only. The teachers were also taught to produce
their own MLE materials. UMN, in collaboration with GoN Curriculum development
centre in Kathmandu (CDC 2007), worked with communities in the working areas toproduce contextualised, locally produced MLE text books for grades one to three.
These had each line of text printed in Nepali in one colour print and one or more local
languages in a different colour. Devanagari script was used throughout. The
contextualised illustrations and stories were by local authors in the local context andprinting and binding was done locally.

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The two project working areas were ethnically and geographically very diverse.
Kapilbastu is situated on the southern Terai plains which border India and school
students are 60% Tharu and 30% from the Awadhi ethnic group. In contrast, Rukum
district is in the high foothills of the Himalayas where access to many areas ischallenging and 90% of school students are from the Magar Kham ethnic group.
Research question and purpose of the study
The purpose of this study was to determine whether MTB-MLE in this context reallycontributed to the learning outcomes of the children, and in what ways did it affectdifferent aspects of school education.
The research questions addressed here are 'Does the MTB-MLE in our context reallycontribute to increase the learning outcomes of the children?' and 'How does MTBMLE affect different aspects of school education?'
Methodology
In this research, a mixed methodology was used. The annual examination scores ofchildren in the major three subjects of math, science and social studies from grade one
to three were evaluated using descriptive analysis (Bickel & Lehmann, 2012). Thisdata was used to analyze the progress in learning achievements of the children in
multilingual education implemented schools. Qualitative analysis (Wylie, 1999) wasused to examine other aspects of school education such as student performance,teacher skills, parents' involvement in children's education and classroom learning
environment. Focus Group Discussion (FGD), Key Informant Interview (KII) andobservations were used to collect the information from teachers, principals, school
management committee, students and parents of MLE schools of Rukum andKapilvastu district of Nepal. The content analysis (Elo, & Kyngäs, 2008) method was
adopted to analyze the data. 3 schools out of eight 8 schools in Rukum and 2 schoolsout of 5 schools were selected for this study using the purposive sampling method(Tongco, 2007).
Key Findings
The research findings in five different areas are discussed and presented below:
Learning achievement
Learning achievement in three subjects; math, science and social study of children
from grade 1-3 of three schools of Rukum was analyzed using the average annual
examination percentage scores, (verbal and written) of the three years before theintroduction of MTB-MLE and for the three years afterwards (figure 1). The
presented average scores clearly show that there is progress in learning achievementsof the children in all three subjects. Because of the MLE interventions children haveincreased their learning achievements by 8.6-13.5% in three subjects and children
have scored particularly highly in science subject.

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Figure 1: Effect of MLE interventions on learning achievement (percentage
examination score) in Rukum District
In the same way, annual exam scores obtained in three subjects; math, science andsocial study of children from grade 1-3 of two schools of Kapilvastu are presented infigure 2. The learning achievement scores are the average annual exam percentage
scores. The presented average scores clearly show that there is progress in learningachievements of the children in all three subjects because of MLE interventions. The
children have increased their learning achievements by 4.9-9.9% in three subjects andchildren have scored highest in social studies.

Figure 2: Effect of MLE interventions on learning achievement (percentage
examination score) in Kapilbastu District
When comparing the effect of MTB-MLE interventions in Kapilbastu district withthat in Rukum( Figure 3), it was found that MLE interventions had had a greater
positive effect on learning achievement in Rukum (10.6) than in Kapilbastu.(6.7).

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Figure 3: Comparison of the effect of MTB-MLE interventions (percentage
examination score) in Rukum and Kapilvastu Districts
Students' performance
It was found that MLE interventions had positively contributed to increase students'
performance and active participation in different activities. The participation of thestudents in learning activities such as quizzes, speaking competitions and games wasincreased. Their level of understanding has also increased, teachers reported that“they understood their lessons well as their textbooks have both mother tongue and
Nepali texts”. A teacher said, “Mira* could not recognize and read letters in the past,sometimes she even missed class, but she is good these days and her Nepali
vocabulary has also improved. She is now in 4th position when she used to be in thelast position.”*name changed. The curiosity to learn new things has increased andcomprehension ability was enhanced after the schools started the MLE. In addition,
the enrollment rate of students in the MLE school areas increased from 90% to 98%
and student dropout decreased from 13% to 5% in year 2017. The MLE classes also
helped them to learn Nepali language.
Teachers skills
Teachers built their capacity and developed skills because of MLE interventions inthe schools. It was found that because the teachers were given training on childfriendly teaching learning, they were using child friendly teaching methods such as
songs, games and activities instead of traditional lecture based and rote learning
approaches. A teacher said, “I was myself a teacher at a school nearby I had noexperience (of child friendly teaching) before this training, we just had the children
parrot the content.” Teachers learned material development skills and produced theirown big books and posters with text in different languages. Classroom management
skills such as classroom set up, group work and class monitoring were learnt andpracticed by the teachers. Because the subject textbooks were revised based on local
contexts, local teachers were more confident with teaching the subject content andillustrating it with local examples. Additionally, through the process of using themother tongue to scaffold the learning of Nepali, teachers have learned transferable
language teaching skills.

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Classroom learning environment
Because of the MLE-MTB interventions, traditional early grade classrooms withconcrete floors and rows of high wooden desks were converted into child friendly
classrooms with carpets, cushions and low tables and posters on the walls. In addition
to an improved physical environment, the classroom learning environment alsochanged. Because the medium of instruction was in the student’s mother tongue, they
were much more confident confident to ask questions and interact with teachers ifthey had any concerns. Local materials were collected and used in teaching learning
activities in conjunction with the contextualized MLE text books. Because thosematerials were familiar to children, this increased the children' engagement in theteaching and learning process. A corner library was also provided to each class so thechildren borrowed books to read at home. Therefore, the MLE programme has had atransformative effect on the classroom teaching and learning environment.
Parental involvement
Another important result of the MLE programme was increased parents' involvement.
This study found that parents had been involved in identifying MLE needs at the
beginning, providing inputs to contextualize the textbooks, improving classroom set
up and learning environment such as providing locally made cushions. Mothers werealso involved in forming mothers' groups to support children’s learning at school.
Because early grade teaching was taking place in the mother tongue, parents havebeen able to support their children’s learning at home with homework, stories andlistening to them read aloud.
Conclusion
MTB-MLE has positively contributed to increase students learning outcomes. The
study showed an improvement in student learning achievement, teacher’s skills, theteaching learning environment and parental engagement in children’s education.
These contributions were further seen to be long term in nature and directly related tothe children's dynamic educational achievement. To a broader extent, the multilingual
education also contributed to preserving the value of ethnic language and culture.
Different dialects from a mother tongue need to be considered while developing
curricula and textbooks. MLE is easier to implement if the local language is morehomogeneous. The active involvement of parents, teachers, community leaders andgovernment officials in implementing MLE gives them a greater sense of ownershipand makes for sustainability (e.g. financial support from the community for
publication of books). Schools should give priority to local language speakers whilehiring new teachers for the primary grades. Due to high teacher turnover, it is better tohave at least two teachers trained in MTB-MLE per grade to avoid disruption to
students.
This study was limited in scope because it was a retrospective analysis and therefore amore detailed study has been instigated recently in Rukum District which will takeplace over the next three years.

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Acknowledgements
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to school teachers, principals, school
management committee members, students, parents and partner staff including UMN
cluster team members in Rukum and Kapilvastu.

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References
Bickel, P. J., & Lehmann, E. L. (2012). Descriptive statistics for nonparametricmodels I. Introduction. In Selected Works of EL Lehmann (pp. 465-471). Springer,
Boston, MA.
Curriculum Development Centre (CDC). 2007 (2064 BS.) Guideline for developmentof mother-tongue textbook and curriculum. Ministry of Education. Sanothimi
Bhaktapur: Government of Nepal.
Elo, S., & Kyngäs, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal ofadvanced nursing, 62(1), 107-115.
Ghimire, L. (2011). Ideologies in the educational language policies of
Nepal. Nepalese Linguistics, 26, 36, 44.
Ghimire, L. (2012). Mother tongue instruction in multilingual schools of
Nepal. Nepalese linguistics, 27, 53-59.
Government of Nepal. (2007). Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007. Kathmandu,
Nepal retrieved from:http://www.constitutionnet.org/sites/default/files/nepal_constitution__official_translaiton_eng_mljpa.pdf
Government of Nepal (2011) Central Bureau of Statistics, National Planning
Commission Secretariate, Government of Nepal (2011) National Population andHousing Cencus 2011 (National Report). Available at: http://cbs.gov.np/wpcontent/uploads/2012/11/National%20Report.pdf.
Government of Nepal (2015) official English translation retrieved fromhttp://www.constitutionnet.org/vl/item/constitution-nepal-2015-official-englishtranslation-ministry-law-justice-and-parliamentary
Government of Nepal (2016) School sector development plan 2016-2021Retrieved
from http://doe.gov.np/article/277/school-sector-development-plan-2016-2023.html
Government of Nepal Flash reports: retrieved from: http://doe.gov.np/category/flashreports.html
Malone, S. (2007, September). Mother tongue-based multilingual education:
Implications for education policy. In Seminar on Education Policy and the Right to
Education: Towards More Equitable Outcomes for South Asia's Children (2007
Kathmandu).
Pinnock, H. (2011). Reflecting language diversity in children’s schooling: movingfrom “Why multilingual education” to “How?”. Washington, DC: RTI. Available
online at www. rti. org/brochures/eddata_ii_mother_tongue_instruction. pdf.
Pradhan, U. (2016). New Languages of Schooling: Ethnicity, Education and Equality
in Nepal. HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan
Studies, 36(2), 6.

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Tongco, M. D. C. (2007). Purposive sampling as a tool for informant selection.
Ethnobotany Research and applications, 5, 147-158.
Turin, M. (2004). Minority language politics in Nepal and the Himalayas. Digital
Himalaya Project.
United Nations. (2007). United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous
peoples. New York: UN. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/
unpfii/en/drip.html
UNESCO. (2000). Education for all. Dakar Framework for Action. Retrieved
from http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/ed_for_all/dakfram_eng.shtml
UNESCO (2011). Multilingual education in Nepal: Hearsay and reality? A Report.
Kathmandu: UNESCO.
Wylie, C. (1999). Key aspects of school quality. NZCER.
Yadava, Y. P. (2007, August). Linguistic diversity in Nepal: Perspectives on language
policy. In International Seminar on Constitutionalism and Diversity in Nepal.
http://www. uni-bielefeld. de/midea/pdf/Yogendra. pdf.
Yadava (2017) Mother tongue based multilingual education in Nepal: A framework in
the context of federalism: Kathmandu, N., & Embassy, U. S. (2017). Transcend
Vision Nepal (TVN) Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved from:http://www.yogendrayadava.com.np/downloads/MTB_MLE_Framework_Final_Versi
on_Yadava.pdf
Contact email: prem.sintan@umn.org.np
elizabeth.cozens@umn.org.np

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A Study of Satisfaction of Students Towards the Bachelor of Science in Medical
and Public Health Secretary, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha
Rajabhat University
Jirawat Sudsawart, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Phannee Rojanabenjakun, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Pradapet Krutchangthong, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Veena Chantarasompoch, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Kullaphat Pochanakul, Phranakhon Rajabhat University, Thailand
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Abstract
This research was aimed to study the student satisfaction towards the Bachelor of
Science (new curriculum in 2016) in Medical and Public Health Secretary, College ofAllied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University Academic Year 2017. It
was the descriptive research by using the questionnaire as the tool for data gathering,
the population was 46 undergraduates in Academic Year 2017 which it was retrieved
45 questionnaires as 97.83 percent. The statistics for data analysis were mean,
percentage and level of satisfaction which it was divided by gender and year of study.
The findings revealed that it was in the high level (X = 4.21, S.D. = 0.591) which
consisted of 1. curriculum administration, 2. student selection process, 3. lecturers, 4.
learning environment, 5. learning management, 6. measurement and assessment and7. learning achievement, to adjust, improve, promote and develop the learning
management system as the quality assurance of university by defining the indicator
standard which consistent with the university development, and link with the internal
quality assurance of the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) and theexternal quality assurance of the Office for National Education Standards and Quality
Assessment (ONESQA).
Keywords: Study of Satisfaction, Student, Medical and Public Health Secretary,
College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Bachelor of Science in Medical and Public Health Secretary is a new curriculum
which focuses on providing the quality graduate with knowledge, experience, skill,
management, communication, culture, wisdom, integration of public health andcurrent medicine to apply for the general health care including good moral, ethics andattitude for the profession.
The 20-Year National Strategic Plan (2016 – 2036) in Public Health is aimed topromote the healthy citizens, staff, and sustainable health system for the stability ofnation which affected to the development of curriculum to respond the nation’s needby developing the health system, promoting the health services and quality products
for the global standard, developing the system of medical and public healthadministration. They have been developing the system of health promotion anddisease prevention, improving the proficiency to enhance the standard quality of
medical and public health services, improving the organization for being outstanding
and the efficient administration. Due to keeping the leading position, it should havethe skilled executive for medical services by providing the skilled person in medical
and public health administration to support the National Strategic Plan and the 12th
National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021) which would develop
in health, provide the environment and innovation for living, and improve the staff inpublic and private section to enhance the proficiency of adaptability to support thechange and growth for being the leader of efficient medical and public healthadministration.
Due to there are many integration of subjects in medicine, public health and various
sciences, the secretary is needed to support the data and communication
systematically and accurately including the appropriate health care. Moreover, themedical and public health secretary is a person who links the system of current
medicine, public health and Thai traditional medicine to cooperate and apply theknowledge for people, and then the proficiency development is needed. In the 21st
century students have to learn new knowledge all the time including the skill ofanalysis and creativeness for new innovation (Wijarn Panich, 2013).
The integrated medical system in public health services is appropriate and consistent
with the context of Thai society to apply Thai wisdom and natural methods for healthcare. It could decrease the deficit balance of trade for the import of medicine andsupplies, and disperse medical and public health to people in the wide borders which
the government has focused with Thai traditional medicine and defined, “Medicine
First, Doctor Later”
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University has realized the significance as mentioned above,and then developed the Bachelor of Science in Medical and Public Health Secretary tosupport the 20-Year National Strategic Plan (2016 – 2036) and the 12th National
Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021) for self-dependence and holistic
health care to be consistent with Thai society. The learning management is needed toprovide the cooperation of executive and students in creating the curriculum andlearning patterns for their life-long learning which the learning process is learning by
experience (Suwit Mesinsee, 2013), students are significant for the quality assurance
process as it could provide the efficient curriculum that it has to survey the opinion of

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students towards the curriculum to improve and develop on the quality process andlink with the indicator standard of the internal quality assurance of The Office of theHigher Education Commission (OHEC) and of the external quality assurance of The
Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA).
Objective of the Study
1. To assess the student satisfaction towards the Bachelor of Science in Medical andPublic Health Secretary.
2. To apply the information for the curriculum improvement and development.
Literature Review
Pongsak Jaroenngarmsamer (2018), said, the highest medical standard is the topmost
issue in this century. The higher number of lawsuit in medical field is a big problem
in both practitioners and the hospitals. Private hospitals have more impact on thisissue compare to the public hospital. To reduce this problem, the hospitals need to
improve their quality to reach the international standard of care. These processes need
the staff with the knowledge of administration, medical and public health system andmedical terminology. In Thailand, nurses are the first team of the most hospital. They
are expected to do these processes because of their knowledge about the hospital andmedical terminology. However, the administration processes are lacking of the skills.
Isaree Chowiwattana (2013), A Study of Student Satisfaction Towards the Bachelorof Accounting, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) in 5 aspects
consisted of curriculum, learning activity, lecturer, learning assessment and learning
support included the comparison of satisfaction of students towards the Bachelor of
Accounting, UTCC which divided by gender, place of birth, educational achievement,
program of study, workplace and current position. The findings revealed that thegraduates were satisfied with curriculum, learning activity, lecturer and learningassessment in the high level, and were satisfied with learning support in the moderatelevel. The comparison of satisfaction of students towards the Bachelor of Accounting,
UTCC revealed that the difference of gender, educational achievement and current
position would not affect to the satisfaction of students towards the Bachelor of
Accounting, UTCC but the difference of place of birth, program of study andworkplace would affect to the student satisfaction towards the Bachelor of
Accounting, UTCC.
Anchalee Primpray and et al. (2005), A Study of Satisfaction of Students Towards the
Teaching Quality and Learning Support of Faculty of Industrial Technology, Nakhon
Si Thammarat Rajabhat University in 4 aspects revealed that; 1. Person, the students
were satisfied with person and teaching quality in the high level which consistent witheducational background of the lecturers that affected to their teaching techniques, andthey had described the objectives and assessment criteria of their plan to the students,
2. Place, the students were satisfied with place such as buildings and number of chairsin the moderate level, 3. Materials, the students were satisfied with materials such as
modern media in the moderate level, and 4. Budget, the students were satisfied withbudget in the moderate level.

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Wiphawan Paimueng (2002), A Study of Assessment of Continuing Education
Curriculum of Business Administration Program, Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai
University which was aimed to assess and study the suggestion for improving thecontinuing education curriculum of Business Administration Program, Faculty of
Education, CMU. The findings revealed that the context of curriculum and objectives
were clear, practical, consistent with Thai society and the need of students, it was in
the high level. The appropriateness and sufficiency of covered structure and content
of subject, curriculum support and building, it was in the high level. The quality andconvenience of learning materials and media, they were in the moderate level. The
quality and sufficiency of science source for learning support, they were in the highlevel. The qualification of students, educational achievement of lecturer in A-Level,
academic title in D-Level, academic paper in B-Level and appropriate learning
management, they were in the high level. The appropriateness of measurement,
assessment and covered public relations, it was in the highest level. The educational
achievement was 3.00 or above in 2.5 years with the performance quality in the highlevel, up-to-date knowledge and adaptable for the current situation.
Mukda Tosaeng and et al. (2017) said, the suggestion from the result of the Research:gives some suggestions that it should be considered with the result of this study todevelop guidelines for opening traditional Chinese medicine course in Thailand.
There should be a learning activities that focused on practical training research alongwith teaching and learning in the class. It should set the basic traditional Chinese
medicine in according to the labor market and should be willing to reach the local
area for collecting the data.
Population
The population of this research was 46 undergraduates from the 1st and 2nd year
students.
Research Tool
The questionnaire was used as the research tool to assess the satisfaction of students
towards the curriculum as following;
Tool Design
1) Studying the data and relevant theory.
2) Designing the questions to be consistent with the objectives.
3) Bringing the questionnaire for the completion proof by 3 experts.
4) Checking the reliability by 30 persons excluded the sample group to
calculate the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient.
5) Arranging the questionnaires for data gathering.
Tool Characteristic
The questionnaire was used in this research which divided into 3 parts asfollowing;
Part 1 – General information consisted of gender and year of study
Part 2 – Student satisfaction towards the curriculum quality
Part 3 – Suggestion towards the curriculum development

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Data Gathering
The data was gathered from the 1st and 2nd year students of Bachelor of Sciences in
Medical and Public Health Secretary, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Analyzing the data after gathering and checking the questionnaires as following;
Part 1 – General information by analyzing the frequency and percentage, andpresenting graphs and description.
Part 2 – Student satisfaction towards the curriculum quality by analyzing the meanand standard deviation.
Part 3 – Suggestion towards the curriculum development by analyzing the open-ended
questions.
Statistic for Data Analysis
1. Frequency and Percentage
2. Mean ( )3. Standard Deviation (S.D.)
Result
The data analysis of “Study of Satisfaction of Students Towards the Bachelor of
Science in Medical and Public Health Secretary, College of Allied Health Sciences,
Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University” was divided into 3 parts as following;
Part 1 – General information
1. Percentage of general information divided by gender

Figure 1: Number of gender
From Figure 1, it revealed that most of them were female (41, 91.11%) and male (4,8.89%).

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2. Percentage of general information divided by year of study

Figure 2: Number of year of study
From Figure 2, it revealed that most of them were the 2nd year students (16, 35.56%)
and 1st year students (29, 64.44%).
Part 2 – Student satisfaction towards the curriculum quality
The Absolutes Criteria was used in this research to interpret the mean of data as
following;
4.50 – 5.00 represented to highest level
3.50 – 4.49 represented to high level
2.50 – 3.49 represented to moderate level
1.50 – 2.49 represented to low level1.00 – 1.49 represented to lowest level
Table 1: Level of satisfaction of students towards the curriculum administration
Question
Mean
Standard( )Deviation (S.D.)(1)The learning management is consistent with the 3.89
0.706
philosophy and objectives of the curriculum.
(2)There is the learning plan throughout the curriculum. 4.07
0.680(3)There is the learning calendar and program of each 4.53
0.686
semester.
(4)The curriculum is up-to-date and consistent with the 4.33
0.596
need of labor market.
(5)The subject is appropriate and consistent with the 4.13
0.618
need of students.
Total
4.19
0.657
From Table 1. indicated that the satisfaction of students towards the curriculum
administration was in the high level ( = 4.19, S.D. = 0.657), when it has analyzed ineach item revealed that;
1. There is the learning calendar and program of each semester, it was in the highest
level ( = 4.53, S.D. = 0.686).

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2. The curriculum is up-to-date and consistent with the need of labor market, it wasin the high level ( = 4.33, S.D. = 0.596).
3. The subject is appropriate and consistent with the need of students, it was in thehigh level ( = 4.13, S.D. = 0.618).
4. There is the learning plan throughout the curriculum, it was in the high level ( =4.07, S.D. = 0.680).
5. The learning management is consistent with the philosophy and objectives of thecurriculum, it was in the high level ( = 3.89, S.D. = 0.706).
Table 2. Level of satisfaction of students towards the student selection process
Question
Mean
Standard Deviation( )(S.D.)(1)The appropriateness of defining student’s 4.16
0.631
qualification.
(2)The appropriateness of student selection.
4.22
0.629
(3)The appropriateness of student selection 4.18
0.607
process.
Total
4.19
0.622
From Table 2. indicated that the satisfaction of students towards the student selection
process was in the high level ( = 4.19, S.D. = 0.622), when it has analyzed in each
item revealed that;
1. The appropriateness of student selection, it was in the high level ( = 4.22, S.D. =0.629).
2. The appropriateness of student selection process, it was in the high level ( = 4.18,
S.D. = 0.607).
3. The appropriateness of defining student’s qualification, it was in the high level ( =4.16, S.D. = 0.631).
Table 3. Level of satisfaction of students towards the lecturers
Question
Mean
Standard( )Deviation (S.D.)(1)The educational achievement and experience of 4.16
0.556
lecturer are consistent with the subjects.
(2)The content is consistent with the objectives and 4.18
0.569
focus on the learner by various teaching methods.
(3)The regularity of learning promotion and 4.13
0.452
development for the students.
(4)The appropriateness of academic consulting and 4.13
0.499
student development.
(5)The moral and consciousness of the lecturer.
4.22
0.466
Total
4.16
0.508
From Table 3. indicated that the satisfaction of students towards the lecturer was in
the high level ( = 4.16, S.D. = 0.508), when it has analyzed in each item revealedthat;
1. The moral and consciousness of the lecturer, it was in the highest level ( = 4.22,
S.D. = 0.466).

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2. The content is consistent with the objectives and focus on the learner by various
teaching methods, it was in the high level ( = 4.18, S.D. = 0.569).
3. The educational achievement and experience of lecturer are consistent with thesubjects, it was in the high level ( = 4.16, S.D. = 0.556).
4. The regularity of learning promotion and development for the students, it was in
the high level ( = 4.13, S.D. = 0.452).
5. The appropriateness of academic consulting and student development, it was in thehigh level ( = 4.13, S.D. = 0.499).
Table 4. Level of satisfaction of students towards the learning environment
Question
Mean
Standard( )Deviation (S.D.)(1)The classroom materials are appropriate for learning 4.13
0.581
and sufficient for students.
(2)The operating room materials are appropriate for 4.02
0.683
learning and sufficient for students.
(3)The information system is appropriate for learning 4.24
0.523
and sufficient for students.
(4)The library is appropriate for learning and sufficient 4.07
0.646
for students.
(5)The facility is appropriate for learning and sufficient 4.00
0.596
for students.
Total
4.09
0.606
From Table 4. indicated that the satisfaction of students towards the learning
environment was in the high level ( = 4.09, S.D. = 0.606), when it has analyzed ineach item revealed that;
1. The information system is appropriate for learning and sufficient for students, it
was in the highest level ( = 4.24, S.D. = 0.523).
2. The classroom materials are appropriate for learning and sufficient for students, it
was in the high level ( = 4.13, S.D. = 0.581).
3. The library is appropriate for learning and sufficient for students, it was in the highlevel ( = 4.07, S.D. = 0.646).
4. The operating room materials are appropriate for learning and sufficient for
students, it was in the high level ( = 4.02, S.D. = 0.683).
5. The facility is appropriate for learning and sufficient for students, it was in the highlevel ( = 4.00, S.D. = 0.596).

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Table 5. Level of satisfaction of students towards the learning management
Question
Mean
Standard( )Deviation (S.D.)(1)The learning management is consistent with the
4.20
0.581
characteristics and objectives of the subject.
(2)The media is appropriate for learning.
4.13
0.653
(3)The teaching method has promoted the application of
4.24
0.523
profession sciences which related to the learning
development.
(4)The information technology is appropriate for
4.40
0.646
learning.
(5)The learning management has promoted the
4.42
0.577
international language skill.
(6)There is the special class for students.
4.18
0.607
Total
4.26
0.598
From Table 5. indicated that the satisfaction of students towards the learning
management was in the high level ( = 4.26, S.D. = 0.598), when it has analyzed ineach item revealed that;
1. The learning management has promoted the international language skill, it was in
the highest level ( = 4.42, S.D. = 0.577).
2. The information technology is appropriate for learning, it was in the high level (= 4.40, S.D. = 0.646).
3. The teaching method has promoted the application of profession sciences which
related to the learning development, it was in the high level ( = 4.24, S.D. = 0.523).
4. The learning management is consistent with the characteristics and objectives ofthe subject, it was in the high level ( = 4.20, S.D. = 0.581).
5. There is the special class for students, it was in the high level ( = 4.18, S.D. =0.607).
6. The media is appropriate for learning, it was in the high level ( = 4.13, S.D. =0.653).
Table 6. Level of satisfaction of students towards the measurement and assessment
Question
Mean
Standard( )Deviation (S.D.)(1)The measurement and assessment are consistent
4.27
0.573
with the characteristics and objectives of the subject.
(2)The measurement and assessment are on the
4.20
0.499
regulation.
(3)The measurement and assessment are efficient and
4.20
0.581
fair.
Total
4.22
0.551
From Table 6. indicated that the satisfaction of students towards the measurement andassessment was in the high level ( = 4.22, S.D. = 0.551), when it has analyzed ineach item revealed that;
1. The measurement and assessment are consistent with the characteristics andobjectives of the subject, it was in the high level ( = 4.27, S.D. = 0.573).

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2. The measurement and assessment are on the regulation, it was in the high level (= 4.20, S.D. = 0.499).
3. The measurement and assessment are efficient and fair, it was in the high level ( =4.20, S.D. = 0.581).
Table 7. Level of satisfaction of students towards the learning achievement
Question
Mean Standard Deviation( )(S.D.)(1)The moral and ethics.
4.24
0.564
(2)The knowledge.
4.27
0.573
(3)The skills.
4.31
0.551
(4)The relationship of person and responsibility.
4.38
0.607
(5)The skill of numeric analysis, communication and 4.47
0.581
information technology.
Total
4.33
0.575
From Table 7. indicated that the student satisfaction towards the learning achievement
was in the high level ( = 4.33, S.D. = 0.575), when it has analyzed in each item
revealed that;
1. The skill of numeric analysis, communication and information technology, it was in
the high level ( = 4.47, S.D. = 0.581).
2. The relationship of person and responsibility, it was in the high level ( = 4.38,
S.D. = 0.607).
3. The skills, it was in the high level ( = 4.31, S.D. = 0.551).
4. The knowledge, it was in the high level ( = 4.27, S.D. = 0.573).
5. The moral and ethics, it was in the high level ( = 4.24, S.D. = 0.564).
Part 3 – Suggestion towards the curriculum development
1. Curriculum and learning management- The curriculum is appropriate for the timetable.
- It should have the priority of subjects for each year of study, especially the
subjects of each program.
- The number of subjects could affect to the educational achievement.
2. Lecturer / consultant- The attention of lecturer on teaching and consulting.
- The lecturer is friendly.
- The lecturer has consulted on learning.
Discussion
From the study of Student Satisfaction Towards the Bachelor of Science in Medical
and Public Health Secretary, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha
Rajabhat University revealed that when it has analyzed in each item, it should adjust
some items due to there were both of low and high score as the Standard Deviation(S.D.) has shown, and then the researcher conducted the improvement anddevelopment for the completion of curriculum and the efficiency of quality process.

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Conclusion
The study of Student Satisfaction Towards the Bachelor of Science in Medical andPublic Health Secretary, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University Academic Year 2017, the descriptive research by using the questionnaireas the tool for data gathering, and the population was 46 undergraduates from the 1st
and 2nd year students in the Academic Year 2017 which was retrieved 45
questionnaires as 97.83 percent, it revealed that most of them were female (41,91.11%) and male (4, 8.89%). The statistics for data analysis were mean, percentage
and level of satisfaction, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.21, S.D. =0.591) which consisted of;
1. Curriculum administration, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.19).
2. Student selection process, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.19).
3. Lecturers, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.16).
4. Learning environment, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.16).
5. Learning management, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.26).
6. Measurement and assessment, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.22).
7. Learning achievement, it revealed that it was in the high level ( = 4.33).
To adjust, improve, promote and develop the learning management system as thequality assurance of university by defining the indicator standard which is consistent
with the university development, and link with the internal quality assurance of The
Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) and the external quality
assurance of The Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment(ONESQA).
Acknowledgement
The researcher would like to thank the students who participated in this data
gathering.
This research was supported by Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, the researcher
would like to thank College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University, Samut Songkhram Education Center for supporting this achievement.

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References
Anchalee Primpray and et al. (2005). The Satisfaction of Students Towards the
Teaching Quality and Learning Support of Faculty of Industrial Technology, Nakhon
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Technology, Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University.
Bureau of Standards and Assessment, Office of the Higher Education Commission(OHEC). (2014). Manual of Quality Assurance in Higher Education. (ed.).
Isaree Chowiwattana. (2013). The Satisfaction of Students Towards the Bachelor of
Accounting, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC). Journal of
University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, 33, 1 – 12.
Jaroenngarmsamer P. (2018). Proceedings form The 2018 ICBTS International
Academic Multidisciplinary Research Conference: Medical and Public Health
Secretary in Thailand’s Private Hospital. Vienna, Austria.
Mukta Tosaeng. (2017). Proceedings form 2nd USM-International Conference on
Social Sciences (USM-ICOSS) 2017: Research Employment status of the traditional
Chinese medicine Graduates in Thailand. Penang, Malaysia.
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB). (2016).
The Draft 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021).
Bangkok. [n.p.].
Office of the National Education Commission (ONEC) (2002). National Education
Act B.E. 2542 (1999) and the Additional Amendment (3rd ed.). Bangkok: Prik Wan
Graphic.
Strategy and Planning Division, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public
Health. (2018). The 20-Year National Strategic Plan (2016 – 2036) in Public Health
Fiscal Year 2018. [n.p.].
Suwit Mesinsee. (2013). The Arrangement of Thai Citizens for the 21st Century.
Bangkok: Post Today.
Wijarn Panich. (2013). The Learning Arrangement for the 21st Century. Bangkok:
S. Charoen Printing.
Wiphawan Paimueng. (2002). The Assessment of Continuing Education Curriculumof Business Administration Program, Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai University(Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Education, Chiang Mai University.
Contact email: jirawat.su@ssru.ac.th, kullapaht.p@pnru.ac.th

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Top Future Skills in Cross-Disciplinary Design Education
Mike Oustamanolakis, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
Cross-disciplinary education is increasing in popularity. According to the World
Economic Forum report, “The Future of Jobs”, the top skills in the future will becomplex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity (Forum, 2016). Universities
expect graduates to be leaders and innovators in the workplace and society (Gross &Do, 2009). Are Design Schools currently cultivating skills such as those mentioned
above? Attempting to answer requires an examination of the design education atpresent. We analysed the core values and design pedagogy of the world’s top ten
design schools ("QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018,"), as presented
through the respective websites of these schools. Our exploration provides an
overview of the varying approaches to design education. The primary purpose of thisstudy is to determine how aligned are the leading design schools with the projected
top future skills. This work contributes to an understanding of the cross-disciplinary
design pedagogy in the world’s leading design schools, as communicated throughtheir publicly accessible, online prospectuses.
Keywords: Design education, design schools, skills

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
It is argued that we face a systemic failure in leadership today and as such, a societal
change is crucial. (Dean,2015). It is also suggested that a new generation ofpassionate designers is emerging. This generation desires to match its talent with aworld desperate for solutions (Lawrence, 2014). There are many significant
challenges in the world. We do have the tools to help solve them. (Dean, 2015).
Design schools and universities around the world are now shaping the minds that willaddress those challenges. Universities expect graduates to be leaders and innovators in
the workplace and society (Gross & Do, 2009).
Simultaneously, increasing demand for a capable workforce of creative problemsolvers is underway. This workforce exhibits the ability to produce bolder,meaningfully grounded, effective ideas (Lawrence, 2014). The quickly emerging, a
new generation of creative leaders is eager, energised, and enthusiastic to growpersonally. They are looking forward to creating change. They often struggle tointegrate into organisations. Ironically, many corporate executives and employees ofan older generation, struggle as well to utilise this young talent and to harness its
energy (Dean, 2015). There are also challenges in design education. Althoughtechnical skills should remain at the core of design education, soft skills such as
empathy, collaboration, and leadership are the most important (Hardin, Westcott, &Berno, 2014).
Context
Nixon (2014) points out that formal degree curricula generally lag industry by ten
years. Another remark from the same author is a mismatch between business
managers and designers. Business managers do not learn design and designers do notreceive business training which creates a knowledge and communication gap between
the two fields. Such an issue indicates that changes in education are needed.
The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based, international organisation with themission to “engage foremost political, business and other leaders to shape global,
regional and industry agendas”. The Forum published in 2016 the report “the Futureof Jobs” in which it claims that the top (three) future skills will be complex problem
solving, critical thinking, and creativity (Forum, 2016). These skills are defined below.
2.1 Research Questions
We raise two questions in this study. R1. Are the world’s leading design schools
promoting the top future skills to students? R2. Which skill(s) is promoted the most?
R3. Which future skill(s) is the least promoted?
2.2 Working Definitions
Interdisciplinarity “includes an interaction, sharing of insights, overlapping or
bridging two (or more) disciplines from a practical-outcome, problem-oriented ortheoretical approach. It applies or borrows tools between various subjects.
Interdisciplinarity may lead to the emerging of new fields of knowledge and a new
discipline, as it unifies and integrates knowledge (Franks et al., 2007).

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Multidisciplinary is positioning of each discipline (their associated knowledge,
frames-of-reference, approaches, methods, accepted practices) alongside one another;
the fruits and their position are distinct and separate. (Self, Evans, Jun, & Southee,2018)Complex problem solving is referring to resolving issues that are complex by theirnature. Dörner & Joachim (2017) define the complex problem as an Ill-definedproblem that has no apparent problem definition. The goal state is not clearly defined,
and the means towards the goal state are not clear either. The authors mention as an
example the Israel-Palestine conflict as a complex problem. The goal state for solving
this political conflict is not clearly defined, and even if the conflict parties come to anagreement and accept a two-state solution, such a goal would leave many issues
unresolved.
Problem-solving (without any reference to it being complex) has been defined inmany ways, as there are multiple angles one can tackle problems. Issues arise whensome use the term “design” and “problem-solving” interchangeably (McCade, 1990).
The working definition that we adopted for this study is from Britannica
Encyclopaedia ("Problem Solving," 2018) which defines the concept as “process
involved in finding a solution to a problem”.
In academic, university environments, students are expected to read critically and to
think and use logic while solving complex problems (Rotherham & Willingham,2009). Assuming that complexity is one more factor to consider about upon the
problem-solving procedure and taking in consideration that the skills that we examinein this paper are inseparable, we investigated two terms “Complex problem-solving”
and “problem-solving”. We did not find much evidence of “complex problemsolving” being taught. However, upon examining the wording “problem-solving”, wehave seen plenty of material.
Creativity is a concept that can be understood when it is clearly defined. In this paper,
we operationalise the definition of Creativity by Runco and Jaeger, in which
originality and effectiveness (or usefulness) are required (2012).
Content Analysis Methodology
In this study, content analysis is the primary methodology. Content analysis is a
flexible, systematic and rigorous approach to analyse documents. It is a researchtechnique that helps us to make replicable and valid inferences from texts(Krippendorff, 2013). There are six components in content analysis. The first four canbe summed up as data making. These are unitising, sampling, recording, and reducing
data. The fifth component is abductively inferring the data, and the last one isnarrating.
Unitising is systematically distinguishing segments of text that are of interest for ouranalysis. In this study, we only looked at the publicly accessible, textual
representation of the selected institutions. We were looking for the skills developed
and taught by these institutions, more specifically on creativity, problem-solving, andcritical thinking skills. All the texts come from on the official websites of theinstitutions, mostly through their “About” page or a similar introductory page. In

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some cases that we did not find information about the skills developed and taught, wecollected Strategic plans and downloadable prospectuses in PDF format, if such
documents were available. Sampling. We only look at the top 10 institutions on the
QS World University Rankings 2018, at the “Arts and Design Rankings”. Perhaps thisis one of the most prominent university rankings that also publishes what
methodology was used to determine the ranks and is specifically looking at art anddesign schools.
Recording
To preserve the text in its original form and prevent any possibility that it may change
throughout this study the text from each university was saved separately.
Reducing
To avoid any duplicates and to narrow down the material we had in hand, we focusedon the text that gives a good understanding of the skills developed and taught by these
institutions. We eliminated any text that focuses on any individual from a faculty or to
any individual program or degree or facilities.
Abductively inferring the data
In this stage, we examine contextual phenomena. The working definitions are used as
analytical constructs (also called rules of inference) to help us move from the text toanswer the research questions. There are two logically independent domains; these are
the text and the context. When inferring the data, we are concluding one independent
domain (the text) to the other (the context) (White & Marsh, 2006).
World’s Top Design Schools
In this study, the world’s top design schools are determined by the QS World
University Education Rankings, by “Arts & Design” subject ("QS World University
Rankings by Subject 2018," 2018). The table below indicates the schools by ranking,as well as their location, degrees offered and the web address of each school.
Table 1. World’s Top Art & Design Schools
Rank

Name of InstituteDepartment

Location

1

Royal College of Art(RCA)
The New School

School of Design

London, UK

Parsons School of
Design-

New York City,
USA
Rhode Island,
USA
Massachusetts,
USA

UN, GR

UN, GR,
PhD

https://design.mit.edu

School of Design

Milan, Italy-

London, UK

UN, GR,
PhD
UN, GR,

http://www.design.polimi.it/enhttps://www.arts.ac.uk

2
3

5

Rhode Island Schoolof Design (RISD)
Massachusetts
Institute ofTechnology (MIT)Politecnico di Milano

6

University of the Arts

4

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Degrees
Offered bytheInstitution
GR, PhD

UN, GR

URL

https://www.rca.ac.uk/sc
hools/school-of-design
https://www.newschool.e
du/parsons
https://www.risd.edu

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8

London (UAL)
Pratt Institute9

School of the Art
Institute of Chicago(SAIC)
Aalto University

10

Stanford University

School of Design
Department of
Designd.School

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New York City,
USA
Chicago, USA
Helsinki, Finland
Stanford, USA

PhD
UN, GR
UN, GR
UN, GR,
PhD
UN, GR

https://www.pratt.edu/ac
ademics/school-of-design
http://www.saic.edu
http://design.aalto.fi/en
https://dschool.stanford.eduSix schools are in the USA; two are in the United Kingdom, one in Italy and one in
Finland. All schools speak predominantly English except two (in Italy and Finland).
About half of them offer research degrees in PhD level, and all of them are in the
Northern Hemisphere, in just two continents, Europe and America. Only three carry
the “Arts” in their title, whereas eight carry the “Design” in the institution or
departmental name.
Keyword Research Pilot-Study
Google was used to determine the frequency of certain keywords on the websites ofeach school. Each school was separately examined to identify how many times the
keywords “Creativity”, “Complex Problem Solving” and “Critical Thinking” occur.
These terms correspond to the skills that we are particularly interested in this study.
Additional terms with similar meaning were also examined such as “Innovation”,“Design Thinking” and “Problem Solving”. All searches were performed in quotation
marks to eliminate disconnected words. Searching in quotation marks returns resultswith the exact word combination. For instance, in the case of design thinking, if apage had the word design and the word thinking but not as the word group “design
thinking” this page was not included in the search results, as we explicitly instructed
Google to return only connected, combined word.

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5
6
7
8
9
10

Creativity

SUM

4

CriticalThinking

3

ComplexProblemSolving
ProblemSolving2

School of Design - Royal College of https://www.rca.ac.uk/scho 428
ols/school-of-design
Art (RCA)
Parsons School of Design -The New https://www.newschool.ed 155
Schoolu/parsons
Rhode Island School of Design
https://www.risd.edu
155(RISD)
Design Lab - Massachusetts Institute https://design.mit.edu
1of Technology (MIT)
School of Design - Politecnico di
http://www.design.polimi.i 39
Milanot*
University of the Arts London
https://www.arts.ac.uk
3960
(UAL)
School of Design - Pratt Institutehttps://www.pratt.edu/acad 19
emics/school-of-design
School of the Art Institute of
http://www.saic.edu
408
Chicago (SAIC)
Department of Design -Aalto
http://design.aalto.fi *50
Universityd.School - Stanford University
https://dschool.stanford.ed 44
u
5259
526

DesignThinking

1

Domain Searched

Innovation

Table 2. Google hits of selected terms, as of September 10, 2018
Rank School

415

303

0

4

1

1151

272

75

0

58

35

595

223

116

0

86

195

775

89

7

1

0

3

101

196

63

5

24

3

330

4120

143

2

292

175

8692

6

2

0

5

3

35

408

51

0

116

116

1099

179

94

0

5

-

328

300

226

0

17

2

589

6208
621

1080
108

8
1

607
61

533
59

SUM
Average*Politecnico di Milano and Aalto University are the only two institutions in which thedefault language on their websites is other than English.
This pilot study is not highly conclusive (for various reasons) and cannot be theprimary source for substantial findings. Nonetheless, it overall indicates how
frequently the websites of those institutions communicate certain concepts. Perhaps
these indicators may show the focus of those institutions or maybe give hints of theoverall relative importance of these terms. The table can be viewed by row and bycolumn.
The column indicates the number of skills mentions by the school that corresponds toeach column. For instance, UAL has the highest frequency of “Problem Solving”
mentions. The row indicates which skill is the most popular on the website of a given
school. For instance, MIT appears to be talking mostly about innovation. Numericallyspeaking, the web pages of MIT that are indexed by Google mention Innovation 89
times more than what they do of Creativity. Innovation is the most popular term inmost cases.
UAL, an art school from London, has the most “Innovation” mentions. RCA which isanother art school from London comes in second. The same schools share the sameranking in “Creativity”. Perhaps it is coincidental that UK schools top these mentions
in our list. It is also a possibility that the UK has a developed a digital culture where
schools ought to generate content and provide news, blogs and other pieces of content,
which subsequently is indexed by Google and provide the results shown above.

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Another observation is that “Complex Problem Solving” is almost not mentioned atall. Removing the “Complex” and looking upon “Problem Solving” without thecomplexity factor, we can see that there are significant mentions but not as many
Creativity and Innovation which are the most popular terms. A thought-provoking
remark is that UAL and SAIC (both are art schools) have the most mentions ofproblem-solving, which could mean that design schools do not address those skills asmuch as art schools (this is only a hypothesis, not a finding). Besides Parson and
RISD other schools do not have significant remarks on problem-solving whichindicate that it is not a popular term.
On the term “Critical Thinking” the art schools of UAL and SAIC have notable
mentions. RISD carries the most mentions. Besides these three schools, there are no
significant mentions elsewhere. Similar to “Problem Solving”, “Critical Thinking”
appears to be not very popular.
A significant restraint in this pilot study is that Google partially indexes informationand occasionally excludes information. For example, Pratt Institute would appear as apoor performer with only three mentions of “Critical Thinking”. Upon looking at the“Undergraduate Bulletin 2018-2019” document that is available from the site in PDF
format, we can see that critical thinking was mentioned 14 times in that document.
Therefore this pilot study does not provide a very detailed, in-depth understanding of
the situation. We use it to examine whether these concepts are mentioned in the firstplace and obtain a basic idea of which skills appear more often in the texts from theinstitutions. No conclusive finding can be drawn. Perhaps a substantial finding fromthis pilot study is that as University of the Arts London has the most search engine
results, it is the most content-rich and web-optimised school thus the depth of the site
makes it more likely to have organic traffic, compared with the other websites. Thisfinding is not highly relevant to this study though.
Profile of the World’s top Art & Design schools
This section provides a brief presentation of each school. Also, there is a brief
description of the Creativity, Problem-solving and critical thinking skills by eachschool as well.
1

Royal College of Art claims it is the world’s oldest Art and Design University incontinuous operation. It offers only post-graduate programs, and it encourages
interdisciplinarity. It aims to advance art and design education. One of the goals of theinstitution is to create new knowledge in art and design through research andscholarship. (Royal College of Art Strategic Plan, 2016–21, 2016).
Creativity is at the core of the RCA research. There is an emphasis on innovation as
well.
Problem-solving and critical thinking are mentioned numerous times in the news
section of the website. However, they do not appear to be prominent concepts in the
textual representation of the school.

2

The New School Parsons Parsons acknowledges the interdisciplinary nature of
problem-solving in contemporary society. They offer practice-based, collaborative

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learning through a range of university disciplines. The school is leveraging to adiverse faculty as well as to the New York City which is home to a robust ecosystemwith creative practitioners and industries. They do challenge conventional thinking.
Parsons integrative curriculum is helping students to elevate their creativity skills.
Critical thinking and problem-solving are core values embedded in the vision of theschool. The school strives to produce critically engaged citizens, dedicated to solving
problems for the public good.
3

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) RISD Pushing the individual limits of each
student while applying a critique culture is at the core of the RISD philosophy. They
promote entrepreneurship and support critical thinking. The institution advocatesadding art and design to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths), tofoster innovation. Flexible thinking, risk-taking, to solve pressing challenges fromurban revitalisation to global warming.
Creativity, Problem Solving and Critical Thinking are skills that are mentioned
explicitly through the RISD website and ingrained in their curriculum.

4

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) MIT Design Lab is deeply rooted intechnology. Design is taught from a lab and not from a school. Therefore it appears tobe leaning more to scholarship and criticism than teaching the hard design skills. They
do multidisciplinary research with critical reflection. Their approach to problemsolving
involves
redefining
thequestion/problem
statement
first.
Problem-solving and critical thinking are aligned together at the Design Lab. The lab
is challenging the status quo and given assumptions with ongoing critical reflection.
They do not only focus on problem solving, but also on “problem making” skills.
Creativity is indirectly mentioned, and it does not appear to be a core component of
their curriculum.

5

Politecnico di Milano Milan is a city with a long design practice tradition which
derived from the material culture of craftsmanship that the region of Lombardy has
had since the beginning of the last century. A meeting point for different cultures, theschool has a constant desire to experiment with innovation and experimental
development lines to match the real market needs of contemporary society. All
courses deploy a multi-disciplinary approach to design.
Creativity appears to be present from an artistic angle. It is unclear whether problemsolving and critical thinking is taught, due to lack of information in English.

6

University of the Arts London UAL is a group of 6 renowned colleges. Each college
has a different domain-specific focus, even though there are commonalities among thecolleges and they share the same strategy. A large body of students with 18 thousand
individuals from 130 countries provides multi-culturalism which is a core strength of
the university.
Creativity is well embedded. UAL is using teaching methods based on the best
creative practices and is adapting the methods accordingly to ensure that their students
will possess future-proof skills in their future careers. There is little evidence that

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UAL is teaching problem-solving skills. Curiosity, making and critical questioning
are at the core of the curriculum; thus, Critical Thinking skills are in the curriculum.
7

Pratt InstituteThe school is confident about its competencies and is proudly being part of the New
York City, a multicultural world centre for arts, culture design and business. The
curriculum is interdisciplinary and promotes creative strategies for design thinking.
The school aims to develop the students with professional competences, including
establishing a critical judgment and historical perspective. The school believes thatthese skills will equip students with the right tools and mind to become creative
problem solvers.
Pratt Institute is devoted to the transformative power of creativity. Problem-solving isa core component of the foundation year while critical thinking with deep
understanding develops throughout the entire curriculum.

8

School of the Art Institute of Chicago: SAIC
SAIC advocates self-directed study curriculum with interdisciplinarity as a core value
for exploration. Critical thinking, rigorous investigation and creativity are wellingrained in their core values too. Critique is also a fundamental component of theircurriculum.
Creativity is well ingrained in the curriculum. Problem-solving is not explicit on the
text. Therefore it is unclear whether they teach it. Critical thinking seems integrated
well in the curriculum.

9

Aalto University
Aalto university puts a greater emphasis on humans though technology-driven
thinking and interaction among different disciplines. It claims that it is a meeting
point where science and art meet business and technology, it is an institution with ahuman-focused, user first philosophy.
We did not find mentions of creativity; however, it appears that the university strives
for novelty. Problem-solving is not stated either, yet; it seems to be present. CriticalThinking is offered by placing students to think of new artistic and scientific ways ofseeing the world.

10 Stanford University
A school with a wide-open policy, welcomes anyone to join and become an innovator.
Interdisciplinarity is deeply rooted here, as the school serves Stanford students
regardless of their major or discipline. Their inclusive approach aims to help people
unlock their creative potential and apply it to all kinds of problems, including messy
and complicated issues.
Creativity is embedded very well in the d.school curriculum. Problem Solving is at
the core of the projects that the d.school students are working on, as all projects comefrom the real world and are not student assignments, they are actual problems.
Critical Thinking appears not to be part of the curriculum.

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Table 3. Skills taught, as observed by their publicly accessible online prospectus.
September 14, 2018
Rank School

Creativity

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

School of Design - Royal College of Art(RCA)
Parsons School of Design -The New School
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Design Lab - Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT)
School of Design - Politecnico di Milano
University of the Arts London (UAL)
School of Design - Pratt Institute
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
Department of Design -Aalto Universityd.School - Stanford University

Taught(Complex) Problem
Solving
UnclearCriticalThinking
UnclearTaughtTaughtTaughtTaughtTaughtTaughtTaughtTaughtUnclearUnclearTaughtTaughtTaughtUnclearTaughtUnclearSeems not taught
TaughtSeems not taught
Seems taught
Taught8/10

5/10

UnclearTaughtTaughtTaughtTaughtSeems nottaught
6/10

Conclusions & Discussion
In this section you can read the main conclusions of this study. Limitations of thestudy are further below. The paper concludes with two suggestions for further, future
research.
Main findings
Creativity is the top promoted skill, and it integrates well across the board. Every
single English-speaking institution has creativity in their texts. Critical thinking is also
encouraged by a little over than half of the institutions. Complex problem-solving
appears to be missing entirely. We failed to find any reference to the exact wording“critical problem-solving”. Nevertheless, upon looking at “problem-solving” without
any reference to complexity, we can see that about half of the schools advocate
problem-solving. Many schools are aware that this skill is a definite asset for theirstudents, and the lack of any reference to complexity may worth further investigating.
Creativity appears to have a similar connotation across all universities (withusefulness or novelty mentioned at times) even though slight nuances emerge,depending on the university. For instance, MIT is a school with a solid foundation inengineering, and it seems to have a definition of creativity that is leaning towards
innovation whereas some art schools seem to lean towards inventiveness orimagination. Overall, creativity does appear to have a meaning that is analogous to
our working definition.
Critical thinking appears a looser and more unrefined concept throughout the texts
examined. For instance, RISD labels it as “Critical Making”, and it correlates it withcraftsmanship, whereas Aalto University encourages the freedom to be creative andcritical. Parsons and Pratt Institute, on the contrary, promote critical thinking as
independent skills. We can observe that the same concept slightly varies frominstitution to institution.
Perhaps the variety of definitions may be attributed to the fact that many and design
schools are operated independently without seeing any analogy of themselves with

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any academic counterparts (Abel, 2013). It is understandable that different schools arealigned towards their specific area of expertise and approach the same concept from aslightly different angle. Different angles provide multiple perspectives and make thefield deeper. However, it is crucial to have a common ground with solid definitions.
For instance, problem-solving has many definitions (McCade, 1990) which makes it
possible that the universities may refer to different meanings of a similarly labelledconcept. Such phenomena make this study more difficult but also more critical andrelevant.
Another finding in this study is a great emphasis on interdisciplinarity and crossdisciplinarity from multiple colleges. Sarah Stein Greenberg (2014), an educatorfrom Stanford University argues that the world is changing rapidly, and it is possiblethat the skills students receive now may become outdated quickly within a few years
after students graduate. Educators ought to prepare students adapting to new
circumstances over their lifetimes. This skill is labelled as “adaptive learning” in
Stanford (Greenberg et al., 2014). The world’s top design universities are exposing
their students to multiple educational experiences, providing a rich-learning
environment.
Limitations of the study
A significant limitation of this study is that the website or the prospectus of an
educational institution may not necessarily reflect the program content and whatcourses they teach. It is possible that a university aims to attract prospective students
through these pages and as such they portray an optimistic idea that is relevant to
fresh school graduates. Judging an institution from its promotional material is perhaps
superficial because we only see the image that the university wanted us to see. Thus
this information may be fundamentally biased. Judging module syllabuses or course
handouts would have been ideal. However, this information is publicly available forall universities.
A reflection that we must mention in regards of the textual analysis that we performedis that we have been looking for specific strings of texts or their synonyms, such as
creativity, complex problem solving and critical thinking. The issue with thisapproach is that we are looking for precise terminology and we may have misjudged
some institutions due to the colourful complexity of words having multiple meanings.
For example, a school may be teaching problem-solving skills, and they have beenlabelling the same skill as analytical thinking. Therefore we may have missed it withthe method that we pursued.
Another issue is that of the temporal nature when surveying websites. As websites
continuously adapt to new circumstances and frequently change with dynamic content,
our observation in this study is temporal. That means our findings now may beincorrect shortly. For this reason, this study only assesses the situation as is, at thetime of publishing this paper.
Another problem that we ought to mention is that of the QS World Ranking List. The
theme examined is Art and Design. Art and Design are two separate domains withdifferent characteristics and motives, even though they share some commonalities.

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That means it is -somewhat- flawed to consider this list as the list of the world’s top
design schools.
Suggestions for future studies
This paper presents an initial, exploratory study. There are many possible directions
for future research. In this section we offer two suggestions for future studies, the firstone is to pursue a more extensive look at complex problem-solving in design
education. The second one regards design being as an academic discipline.
Complex problem-solving in design education
As we are facing many complex problems in the world today, it takes more than justtroubleshooting to address complex issues. It is possible that universities are tacklingcomplex problem-solving through an interdisciplinary approach or perhaps complex
problem-solving skills are fostered through design thinking. A more in-depth, more
extensive study could provide more insights in this area.
Design as an academic discipline.
About half the world’s top art and design schools offer a PhD program. PhD studies
may imply a particular type of skill-set, that can include skills such as project
management, knowledge and information or communication skills. Some argue thatdesign is as a hands-on, practical skill. At the same time, design is also emerging as
an academic discipline. It may worth investigating whether the schools that offer PhD
studies in design are promoting a different skill-set to their design students, comparedto schools that have been traditionally teaching design as an applied arts and crafts
discipline.

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References
Abel, T. D. (2013). Design Education: Out Of The Studio And Into The Research Lab.
Online Journal of Art and Design, 1(1).
Dean, C. (2015). Developing the Next Generation of Creative Leaders. Design
Management Review, 26(3), 44.
Dörner, D., & Joachim, F. (2017). Complex Problem Solving: What It Is and What It
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Forum, W. E. (2016). The future of jobs: Employment, skills and workforce strategy
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(2007). Interdisciplinary foundations: reflecting on interdisciplinarity and three
decades of teaching and research at Griffith University, Australia. Studies in Higher
Education, 32(2), 167-185.
Greenberg, S. S., Flowers, W., Plattner, H., Miller, R. K., & Arthur, S. M. D. (2014).
Q&A. Design Management Review, 25(1), 4.
Gross, M. D., & Do, E. Y.-L. (2009). Educating the New Makers: Cross-Disciplinary
Creativity. Leonardo, 42(3), 210-215. doi:10.1162/leon.2009.42.3.210
Hardin, D., Westcott, M., & Berno, T. (2014). Redesigning Graduate Education.
Design Management Review, 25(1), 12.
Krippendorff, K. (2013). Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology (3rd ed.
ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif. London: SAGE.
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Design Management Review, 25(2), 42.
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By Thomas Lockwood. Design Management Review, 25(4), 57.
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Self, J. A., Evans, M., Jun, T., & Southee, D. (2018). Interdisciplinary: challenges andopportunities for design education. International Journal of Technology and Design
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Contact email: mike.oustamanolakis@connect.polyu.hk

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The Root of Spiritual Education: Chinese Culture’s Guigu Spiritual Method
Chen-Mei Li, Weixin Shengjiao College, Taiwan
Li-Yueh Chen, Weixin Shengjiao College, Taiwan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
Spiritualism is the faith or belief that an individual maintains concerning life’s
ultimate value. Out of the world’s four ancient civilizations, only the Chinese culture
has remain fairly unbroken in its continuity, and the I Ching can be found at the rootof Chinese philosophy and thoughts. All that governs Chinese culture can be traced
back to I Ching, which describes the laws of harmony for the universe at large, and is
the path for returning spirituality to the empty space (akasadhatu). I Ching originatedfrom the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors, inherited by the master of wisdom
Wan Chan Lao Chu and nurtured into the Guigu culture. The spiritual method is theorigin, which is the root and source of I Ching, truth and wisdom, is both of Master
Wang and Mentor Guigu, and is the awareness of the self. Spirituality is gained
through the method. The truth from the universe’s law of harmony is our origin andthe infinite depth of our spirituality. The origin and root of spirituality is also the lawof harmony, under the pseudonym of Guigu. The Guiguzui spiritual method using I
Ching teachings, a superior spiritual method to true peace where man is taught peace
can only be achieved through peace. This is the key to why the energy of Chinese
culture has continued and flourished through time. This article describes the essenceof Guigu spiritual method in Chinese culture, and what is the root of spiritual
education in Chinese culture.
Keywords: Guigu spiritual method, Guigu culture, weixin divination, the Middle path,spiritual education

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org
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Introduction
Pursuing economic and social progress is often a necessary direction for state
governance. Looking back at the Asian financial turmoil in 1997, the global financial
crisis in 2008 and the European debt crisis in 2011, the global economic environmentis turbulent. The first issue to be confronted is the unemployment rate, which affects
the stability of social security. The consequence is the issue of the physical and mental
health on the individual level. According to the World Health Organization, in 2018,
the burden of depression and other mental health conditions is on the rise globally.
Depression is a common illness worldwide, with more than 300 million people
affected. Depression results from a complex interaction of social, psychological andbiological factors. People who have gone through adverse life events (unemployment,
bereavement, psychological trauma) are more likely to develop depression. At its
worst, depression can lead to suicide. Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide
every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15 to 29-year-olds.
Depression is an issue that is not limited by countries, ethnicities, genders, ages,
occupations, and wealth, which is influencing different regions of the world at speeds
and at a level of crisis that we can't imagine. From the macroscopic perspective, theexternal environment is reflected in the political, economic, societal and scientific andtechnological aspects, but from the microscopic perspective, it is the meaning andvalue of life truly hidden within human beings.
Therefore, Gawain (1996) believes that much of the chaos in society is rooted in "thedeepest level of spiritual alienation and deprivation." Miller (2000) points out that theworld's interest in spiritual affairs is increasing day by day. Miller defines spirituality
as: if the existence of "spirituality" can be found in life, it is certain that therelationship between heaven and man is not a broken one. Any action that can belearned by the top and passed down to the bottom is certain to magnify life, andinspire spirituality, which in turn promote being serious about life, to live ameaningful life so as to affirm oneself. Spiritual education is one with highexpectations. Spiritual learning seeks to restore the balance between external andinternal life.
With regards to discussions of spirituality in the field of education, the 74th issue of
the New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education series published in the U. S.
in 1997 focused on the topic of spirituality to explore many adult learning andspiritual issues. Perterson (2002) consider that the term spiritual not only includes theomnipresent, boundless, immutable Principle pervading the universe that many callGod, but it also includes forces and beings that are so subtle in their energetic fieldthat they are rendered imperceptible to gross, physical senses. He assumed that the"outside environment" that we perceive with our senses is merely the outer crust of avibratory reality that contains worlds within worlds of objective, "spiritual" existence.
The many layers of subconscious and unconscious mentality of human beings,
according to this view, also exist in these inner, subtle worlds. Perterson formulated
the view about spirituality is everywhere in education and all work with children is, inessence, spiritual. A statement such as "all education is spiritual" can be substantiatedby his own research documented in the secret life of kids.Perterson scholar's point ofview is that the purpose of education is essentially the same as the spiritual purpose oflife itself. The Latin term educare, meaning to “draw out from within,” gives a
spiritual context to all education. Education is meant not simply to prepare children	
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for adult careers or to initiate them into the ways of society. Rather, education should
help children unfold their inner, human potentials so that they can be of service to theworld around them.
The relationship between education and culture is one that connect them to one
another and is cooperative. The transmission and innovation of culture depend on theimplementation of education. Culture should be regarded as education, and education
as culture, such that the two are in a position of unity. Culture is the past experience ofmankind, the societal tradition, the heritage of history, or even learned behaviors. The
function of education is the process to transfer and sustain the past experience ofhuman beings, societal traditions, and historical heritage, so that every member ofsociety, as well as individuals who will become members of society, can learn andshare. Therefore, the process of education is the process of culture. The form ofeducation is the form of culture; the content of education is the content of culture.
However, from the perspective of oriental culture, what are the roots and connotationsof spirituality, education, and culture? Looking at the four ancient civilizations of theworld, only the Chinese culture has maintained a continuous history, innovating andrefreshing itself. Nowadays, Chinese culture is in the center of the world economy.
Therefore, this study uses Chinese culture as the research theme to explore the origins
of spiritual education.
The origins of the orthodox Chinese culture
Chinese culture has a long history and its philosophical foundation is in the I Ching,
the Book of Changes. The Book of Changes is the oldest book of Chinese culture. It is
the head of the classics and the origin of the grand ways, which has deeply influenced
the development of Chinese culture. In order to further understand the roots ofChinese culture in spiritual education, this article is based on the literature review of
the 15615 volumes of Collected Taoist Scriptures and 23 volumes of idealism classicsof Weixin Shengjiao.
“Tiande Scriptures” of Mentor Guigu states:「無極天帝伏羲氏。心傳天機。畫卦作易。妙述天地法則。傳至今日已
有七千年。悠悠歲月。人事山河大地文化變遷無量劫。但真理永恆不變。
易之妙。道之妙。天地無常之道也。」“Fuxi the Wu-Ji Celestial emperor passed on the secrets of the heaven, drew
Bagua and wrote the Book of Changes. He wonderfully taught the rules ofheaven and earth. It has been passed on for seven thousand years. The
Changes in people, things, mountains and rivers, and culture have been
tremendous in the innumerable eons. But the truth is eternal. The wonder of
Changes and paths represents the impermanence in heaven and earth.”
Grand Master Hun Yuan of Weixin Shengjiao described that prior to the innumerable
eons, the origins of wisdom, nature and life were a peaceful heaven full of vigorous
Yang Chi and light. Fuxi drew the Primordial Bagua of Tai Chi, and comprehended
through his heart the secret of heaven represented by Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan,
Gen, and Kun of Primordial Bagua, which is of the void of the grand universe. The
Changes are the exchange of Yin and Yang. The rule of heaven and earth is therelative communication of Yin and Yang. The Yin and Yang are the ways. The law of
Yin and Yang is the abundant native truth and wondrous method of the void of the	
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grand universe. It has been passed down from Fuxi for more than seven millennia. Allof the world's laws and things are the Changes, all governed by exchanges andalterations. Every living being and thing in the world, every change, and every goodand evil are all laws evolved from the impermanence.
“Tiande Scriptures” of Mentor Guigu also states:「心易大道。不離八卦。乾兌離震。巽坎艮坤。位位天機。位位天德。
妙不可言。不可思議。」“The grand path of the heart and the Changes do not deviate from the Eight
Diagrams. Each position of the Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, andKun are the secret of the heaven, and represents the virtue of the heaven,which is incredulously wonderful and unbelievable.”
In 2003, Grand Master Hun Yuan explained the spirit of the grand path of the heart
and the Changes as the life of all sentient beings. The hearts of all sentient beings
comprise our lives, and our lives comprise the lives of all beings. This also reveals theintricate life concepts and experiences of the Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, andKun. "Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun" are the eight wonderful methods
that the void of the trisahasra-maha-sahasra-lokadhatu can't leave. They are the basic
conditions for the structure of all sentient beings and things, and the eight elements offamily ethics in the secular world. They are the basic elements and forces of humanlife and they are also the element of earth’s reconciliation. The heavenly secrets of
Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun of Bagua evolved into sixty-four
trigrams and three hundred and eighty-four lines of a trigram, and evolved intoboundless sentient beings in the Dharma realm in time and space2.4 billion and 6,400
rounds. The grand path of the heart and the Changes is return to the origin from theheart, the path to any heaven and the world. Therefore, the Dharma between heavenand earth cannot be expressed, discussed and imagined in words. It can only be
experienced and practiced by oneself with the combination of knowledge and actions.
Grand Master Hun Yuan explains the Zen interpretation of Bagua of the Book of
Changes, and states:☰ "Qian as the sky"; the sky is wide and boundless; one needs to learn theforgiveness and generousness of the sky.
☱ "Dui as the pool"; there are many lives and energies in the pool, and it also
contain every sentient beings and things, which means one needs to learn
to transform this into life, and turn into wisdom, confidence, and strength.
☲ "Li as fire"; fire symbolizes the light, and the heart contains the lightwhich shines upon the earth. One shall have good understanding of
everything and learn the enlightened heart of sages.
☳ "Zhen as thunder"; thunder is the voice of Dharma, and the thunder between
heaven and earth reminds everyone to do things with wisdom and courage,
to be more understanding, recite more of Buddhist mantra, and speak
good words;☴ "Xun as the wind"; the wind is the energy of breathing, and if the earth iswindless, all beings would be lifeless. The wind is the great mentor of all
beings and therefore, the wind is joy.
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wise and grateful upon seeing water, and needs to learn the flexibility of
the water.
☶ "Gen as the mountain"; the mountain is life, Buddhist nature, gorgeous
genuine nature, and steadfast as can be. One needs to learn the stillnessof the mountain, and the steadiness of the mountain.
☷ "Kun as the earth"; the earth bears and carries all the sentient beings andthings. One shall learn, reflect, and repent to accommodate all beings as
the earth does.
Given the aforementioned, Grand Master Hun Yuan revealed that the origin of theorthodoxy Chinese culture is the Book of Changes. 7352 years ago, Fuxi created thesky in one stroke and founded the earth with a second stroke, which is known as the
Wu-Ji, is the Primordial Bagua and the nature of void. There then came the fairy of
ninth heaven, which is Tai-Ji, as the Manifested Bagua. The Two Forces and Four
Symbols were generated from thence. Later, the Three Emperors of China, the Yellow
Emperor, the Emperor Yan and the Emperor Chi-You subsequently emerged .The
Yellow Emperor and the Emperor Yan inherited the Primordial Bagua of the ancestor
Fuxi, which is emptiness, the Feng Shui of the mountains and rivers and the methodsof Lianshan and Guizang, as the "body"; Emperor Chi-You inherited the Manifested
Bagua of the fairy of ninth heaven, which is the three elements and nine operations
with the flow of fate and the law of movement for the nine planets, as the“application”; Thereafter, the Kunlun civilization, Fuxi civilization and Sanzu
civilization was passed down along Taihang Mountain to Yunmeng Mountain in
Qixian County, Henan Province. It was passed down from the ancestors to theBodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu, and was developed as the Guigu Culture. It beganwith the Primordial and Manifested Bagua Culture of the Three Sovereigns and Five
Emperors. The physical form and practical application for both were wellestablished. Guigu Culture was passed from Yunmeng Mountain in Qixian County,
Henan Province, through Magong City, Penghu County, to Mt. Chan-Chi in Taiwan. It
was passed down to Grand Master Hun Yuan of Weixin Shengjiao, which thenestablished itself and became rooted in Taiwan.
Chinese culture is spiritual education“Scripture of Peace of Mind” of Weixin Shengjiao states:「唯心聖教 法源易經 伏羲氏祖 一畫開天 再畫闢地 人立其中 萬法
生成 先天河圖 後天洛書 體用兼備 法古今來 未有變化 一以貫之 人
之生命 亦復如是。」“The doctrines of Weixin Shengjiao originated from the Book of Changes.
The Ancestor Fuxi created the sky with one stroke, founded the earth withthe second stroke, and then sentient beings stood in between. All laws were
formulated. Both the physical form and practical application of Primordial
Bagua in the illustration from the Yellow River and Manifested Bagua in thebook from Luoshui were well established to be consistently observed
through the ages without change. It is also true to human life.”
In 2014, Grand Master Hun Yuan explained that the Book of Changes demonstrates
everything from the cause to the result, which is the most serious religious treasure forcausality. The Book of Changes is the supreme wisdom that is so large to have	
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nothing going beyond and so small to have nothing going within. The Dharma sourceof the Book of Changes is the wisdom of 7,354 years. It is the grand wisdom of 2.4
billion and 6,400 rounds of Bagua, which can relieve 84,000 troubles. Therefore, theBook of Changes is the source of Weixin Shengjiao. Ancestor Fuxi is the same as
Wu-Ji the ancestor, meaning that Wu-Ji (Limitlessness) is our ancestor, our root andorigin. Striking once to create the sky means that the sky is pure and radiant, which is
our spirituality and indicates that everyone is equal; striking twice to found the earthmeans our physical and darkness, which comprises greed, anger and ignorance, thethree poisons in the human mind. There is heaven and earth and there are sentient
beings in the middle. There are all the laws that are boundless between heaven andearth. The primordial in the Primordial Bagua in the illustration from the Yellow
River is our wisdom, and it is as steady as can be. The illustration from the Yellow
River is our emptiness, focusing on the spirituality and emphasizing the emptiness.
The manifestation in Manifested Bagua in the book from Luoshui represents theapplication. The book from Luoshui is the Bagua of Jiugong, namely, Qian, Dui, Li,
Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun, which are constantly changing. Therefore, thespiritual wisdom of our entire thinking is the knowledge, and our internal organs, eyes,
ears, and limbs are the utility, and we must be able to make use of both the physicalform and practical utility, and integrate our knowledge and actions. Heaven, earth, andsentient beings are all in one place. This is Zen, which represents our heart and life.
The human body will eventually be decayed and destroyed, which is in the world ofform, but life is eternal is the empty space (akasadhatu). We are constantly in thewheel of reincarnation circulating through the worlds. From this, it can be seen thatthe Dharma origin of the Chinese culture is the Book of Changes. Human being is lifeand culture is also life.
“The True Scripture of the Mysteries” of Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu
states:「靈性稟自無極 惟人得厚 物僅得微 故人微為萬物靈長 能致知格物
自三皇迄至於今 生生不息 其數難稽」“Spirituality originates from Wu-Ji (Limitlessness).Only human beings are
bestowed the rich natures from the world, while the other sentient beings
obtained only very little of it. Therefore, the human beings are at the top
level of sentient beings, who can exploit knowledge and research things.
Since the Three Emperors, they have continued to perpetuate and theamount is countless.”
Human life includes the access to and the departure from the world. The life of humanbeings is the Buddha's nature, the universe's void is infinite, and the human life is oursoul. There are three lives in a human being, the first one is the life of the body that is
temporal ; the second is the life of the soul, which is the Sipa Bardo; the third is thelife of wisdom, which is the infinite life and eternal wisdom. The life of the wisdom
and the life of the soul contained in the life of the body are integrated as one. If aperson does not have the "essence of life", he cannot master his own life.
In 2014,Grand Master Hun Yuan explained "Scripture of Peace of Mind in True Zen"of Weixin Shengjiao regarding the importance of studying the Book of Changes.
Through the study of the Book of Changes, the use of the Book of Changes tosolemnize our hearts, the truth of the law of Yi Jing, the solemnity and achievement of	
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our sacred self-Buddha. When we know both ends, we realize that success, failure,from birth to death, arrival and absence, the coming and going, and whether or not weshould be able to return to the sun and the moon.
Therefore, Grand Master Hun Yuan of Weixin Shengjiao revealed and enlightenedwith an ink treasure at the Origin of the World Peace Dharma meeting in TaichungBodhimanda of the Weixin Shengjiao: "Buddhism and Taoism both start from eachend of the Yin and Yang, with no good and evil. The good and evil in one heart, they
all return to the stillness and purity without the controversy between the cleanness andfilthiness, which can then realize the true Zen of Buddhism and Taoism." In addition,
the ink treasure states: "concentrating wholeheartedly on the Changes to maneuver the
openness and closeness of the Yin and Yang. The rise and diminishment of the ideas
shall not reside at both ends. The presence and absence of the ideas exist in the mindsof the secular persons and the saints. All of the beings improve intensively and neverretreat. Such is the oneness." All of the above are the grand path of the Changes andthe true Zen and Truth.
The inheritance of Chinese culture is the Guigu spiritual method
The “Perfect Scripture for Calming the Mind” of Weixin Shengjiao states:「鬼谷仙師 王禪老祖 始自三祖 軒轅黃帝 神農炎帝 九黎蚩尤 三皇
五帝 列祖列宗 億萬子孫 生生不息 三世因果 一以貫之 即名王禪 心
法是祖 真理是祖 亦名鬼谷 佛曰佛子 無始無終 故名老祖 王禪老祖
鬼谷仙師 本是如一 故有真禪 了知法界 三千世界 萬法歸宗 萬法唯
心 即是易心 古往至今 一炁呵成 即名易經 生命如是 萬法如是 空無如是。」“The Mentor Guigu and Wang Chan Lao Zu originated from the threeancestors: the Yellow Emperor, the Emperor Yan and the Emperor Chi-You.
The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, every ancestor and billions ofdescendants are endlessly living on. The three generations of causes andeffects resulted in a constant outcome as the name of Wang Chan. With thespiritual method and the truth as the ancestral origins, he is also known as
Guigu. Just like the offspring of Buddha, who has no beginnings and no end,
he bore the name of Lao Zu. Wang Chan Lao Zu is the Mentor Guigu; they
are the one and the same. Therefore, there is the true Zen that thoroughly
comprehends
the
realm
of
Dharma.
Inthetrisahasra-maha-sahasra-lokadhatu, every law pertains to this origin; every
law originates from the heart, that is, the heart of Changes. From ancient
times to the present, the truth is realized in one action, and its name is I
Ching - the Book of Changes, as is life, as is every law, as is the emptiness.”
In 2014, the Grand Master Hun Yuan explained that Mentor Guigu is the Wang Chan
Lao Zu. Wang Chan Lao Zu is the heavenly realm, the empty realm and the sage of
wisdom. The Mentor Guigu is the mentor of the man and the heaven. Guiguzi
represents the man and the earth, the Mentor is the heaven, a practitioner, a teacher for
people, and a teacher for the secular world. Therefore, the Mentor Guigu is our spirit.
The human heart contains the spirit of heaven and the spirit of the earth. The heaven,the earth, and the people are united as one, which is Wang Chan, representing wisdom,
consciousness, light and nature.
	
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Official Conference Proceedings"Three generations of causes and effects" are all the causes and effects, first the cause
then the effect, the good causes and good effects, and evil causes and evil effects.
Only when we let go can we return to find our own spirituality, nature and Amitabha.
This is called Wang Chan. The spirit in "spiritual method" is the accumulation of life
experience. The method is the joy, anger, sadness, and happiness of the world, favors
and grudges, affection and hatred, as well as the formation, existence, destruction, andemptiness. The spirit is the process of the method, and therefore, the method is theorigin of the spirit and the spirit is the origin of the method. The spirit and the method
are thus our origins as well as our roots and source. he spiritual method is the origin
and hence, the Book of Changes, and the origin of the truth and wisdom. That is, theancestors of Wang Chan Lao Zu are also the Mentor Guigu. The self-consciousness
means the real realm of conscience and peace of mind. With the real understanding,actual practice and wisdom, it is true Zen.
Therefore, the spirit is of such a principle, the past, the present and the future is a longflowing path , which is also the spirit of Changes. From the past to the present, ourspiritual life wisdom forms in one action, which is called the Book of Changes. Life is
the grand path of the Changes as mentioned above, and all laws are also the grandpath of the Changes, in addition, when the physical body perishes, the spiritual nature
return to the empty space (akasadhatu), which is also the grand path of the Changes.
Therefore, Chinese culture is named as Wang Chan, also known as Guigu, the spirit of
Changes, also as the Book of Changes. The Grand Master Hun Yuan thus explained
the true Zen of fortune telling: one is the secrets of heaven, two is the hearts of people,
and three is the righteous outcome. The connotation of the above classic text reveals
to the people that the orthodoxy Chinese culture is the Book of Changes. It is awell-established grand path of Changes. It is the law of the grand universe. It is the
grand path for the spirituality to return to the world of emptiness. It is the truth of the
middle and true Zen that are not attached to both ends. However, how does one findan unbiased central point of the true middle? The only way is the spirit method of
the Book of Changes. The ancient wisdom is applied for present use, and it uses
the Changes. The true Zen in the realm of peace of mind can only be realized byapplying the ancient wisdom to the present. Therefore, the Grand Master Hun Yuan
revealed that "Guiguzi’s spiritual method is to use the Changes. Therefore, teaching
mankind to achieve peace from peace is the ultimate spiritual method....the promotionof Guiguzi’s spiritual method in Taiwan is an illuminating lighthouse of Chinese
culture for the past five millennia."
Hence, this article is complimentary of Wang Chan Lao Zu;s Buddhist hymn:“The Yin and Yang and the sun and moon have the longest existence.
Unfortunately, the heavenly principles are difficult to comprehend. If there
is a true sage such as Guiguzi, the world shall come to peace once such anindividual emerges.”
In 2003, Grand Master Hun Yuan of Weixin Shengjiao elaborated on the Buddhist
hymns of Wang Chan Lao Zu. The so-called "Changes" means exchange. Everything
in the world and every law of the world will exist forever. From birth to death andfrom death to life, life and death are all of "the Yin and Yang and the sun and moon
have the longest existence", and they will always exist.
“Unfortunately, the heavenly principles are difficult to comprehend.” Heavenly	
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principles are principles of human beings. Our life is in the pursuit of a middle path.
No matter the modulation of the one Yin and one Yang or one sun and one moon, themost important thing is our heart.
“If there is a true sage such as Guiguzi,” The so-called "sage" is our heart and ourconsciousness. They are the true sage because they are pure and clean. The holiness ofthe sages is from those who have come to a realization, have become enlightened. Our
nature and our characteristics are called Guiguzi. Guiguzi shows us enlightenment:in the middle of a thought, where is the beginning and ending of our thought? It is thecharacteristics of our souls in our nature, that is steadfast, and it is called Guiguzi.
"The world shall come to peace once such an individual emerges,” If our conscienceappears, our own little world will be peaceful, our little spiritual world will be serene.
The family will be peaceful, the work will be smooth, the society will be safe andhappy, and the country will be strong and stable. Therefore, it is called "The world
shall come to peace once such an individual emerges.”
SummaryThis article is based on the literature review of the 15615 volumes of Collected Taoist
Scriptures of Weixin Shengjiao, which are lectured on and edited by Grand MasterHun Yuan. The doctrine of Weixin Shengjiao is the Book of Changes, that is, topromote the orthodoxy of Chinese culture. Therefore, the collection of classic
literature of the Collected Taoist Scriptures is based on the orthodoxy of the Chinese
culture, the Book of Changes, and Feng Shui. This article is based on the four mainclassics of the Weixin Shengjiao. The article essentially draws on the content of thescriptures as evidence to demonstrate the root of Chinese culture is the Book of
Changes. The spirituality of humanity is derived from the Wu-Ji (Limitlessness),which is the primordial of all things. At the same time, it consolidates the classics
lectured on and enlightened by Grand Master Hun Yuan, and establishing the corevalue of the inheritance of the orthodoxy Chinese culture as the Guigu spiritual
method. Finally, supplemented by the law of Feng Shui, it constructs a idealistic pureland in the form realm, and through the use of Changes in the heart returns one to thewisdom of own-being and world of emptiness, such that the life of wisdom can be
eternal so as to implement the true meaning of education. It can be seen the Guigu
spiritual method of Chinese culture is ever-proliferating, with a long history and is theroot of the spiritual education.

	
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References
張淑美等 (譯)學富。

(2007)。J.P. Miller 著。生命教育-推動學校的靈性課程。台北

張淑美等 (譯)心理。

(2009)。J.P. Miller 著。生命教育-全人課程理論與實務。台北：

混元禪師，《風水真經（卷一至卷六）》，南投：唯心宗禪機山仙佛寺，1995 年。
Master Hun Yuan (2006), “the "Tiande Scriptures" of Mentor Guigu, (Volume I of
III),” Nantou: I-Key Publication of Hsien-Fo Temple of Mt. Chan Chi.
Master Hun Yuan (2006), “the "Tiande Scriptures" of Mentor Guigu, (Volume II of
III),” Nantou: I-Key Publication of Hsien-Fo Temple of Mt. Chan Chi.
Master Hun Yuan (2006), “the "Tiande Scriptures" of Mentor Guigu, (Volume III of
III),” Nantou: I-Key Publication of Hsien-Fo Temple of Mt. Chan Chi.
Master Hun Yuan (2013), “"True Scripture of the Mysteries, (Volume I)" of
Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Chu,” Taichung: Wei Xin Zong Cultural
Communication Co. Ltd.
Master Hun Yuan (2013), “"True Scripture of the Mysteries, (Volume II)" of
Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Chu,” Taichung: Wei Xin Zong Cultural
Communication Co. Ltd.
Master Hun Yuan (2013), “"True Scripture of the Mysteries, (Volume III)" of
Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Chu,” Taichung: Wei Xin Zong Cultural
Communication Co. Ltd.
Master Hun Yuan (2013), “"True Scripture of the Mysteries, (Volume IV)" of
Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Chu,” Taichung: Wei Xin Zong Cultural
Communication Co. Ltd.
Master Hun Yuan (2014), “the "Perfect Scripture for Calming the Mind" of Weixin
Shengjiao, (Volume I of IV),” Nantou: I-Key Publication.
Master Hun Yuan (2014), “the "Perfect Scripture for Calming the Mind" of Weixin
Shengjiao, (Volume II of IV),” Nantou: I-Key Publication.
Master Hun Yuan (2014), “the "Perfect Scripture for Calming the Mind" of Weixin
Shengjiao, (Volume III of IV),” Nantou: I-Key Publication.
Master Hun Yuan (2014), “the "Perfect Scripture for Calming the Mind" of Weixin
Shengjiao, (Volume IV of IV),” Nantou: I-Key Publication.

	
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Official Conference ProceedingsPeterson, J. W. (2002). Honoring the Spiritual in Education. Paths of Learning, 12,5-8. World Health Organization (2018, September 28). Statistics. Retrieved fromhttp://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression	  ISSN: 2186-5892

	
  

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Using Social Innovation to Implement Weixin Shengjiao Doctrine in Lifelong
Education
Li-Yueh Chen, Weixin Shengjiao College, Taiwan
Chen-Mei Li, Weixin Shengjiao College, Taiwan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
In the past decade, the concept of social innovation has been constantly looked at andexamined by scholars, for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations as well as thegovernment, and has been widely explored and applied. Taiwan is facing the problemof an aging population and low birth rate. It is therefore of the essence to be able tomaintain harmony and stability in society. This study conducts individual case studies
to explore how the new religious group, Weixin Shengjiao applies the concept ofsocial innovation to implement its doctrine through lifelong education, and to help thegovernment create a harmonious society. The research found that the central tenet of
the Weixin Shengjiao is the fusion of I Ching and Feng Shui, with the thoughts ofConfucianism, Taoism and Buddhism in Chinese culture, to pass on and further
promote Chinese culture in modern society. In 1994, the founder of Weixin Shengjiao,
Grand Master Hun Yuan, created a lifelong education platform known as I Ching
University. The university has three major foci, which implements the core essencesof the Weixin Shengjiao of moral, life, environmental, filial piety and cultural
education. Based on the local humanistic, social and economic features, I Ching
University uses practical, current, realistic innovations for widespread distribution, inorder to nurture talents and create a harmonious society.
Keywords: social innovation, I Ching University, I Ching, Feng shui, Lifelong
education

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
In the past few decades, the concept of social innovation has continuously attracted
attention from scholars, for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations or
government bodies, and has been widely explored and applied. The emergence ofsocial innovation lies in the use of innovative methods to solve social and economic
problems, and potentially affect the well-being and sustainable development of
individuals or groups in a positive manner. Over the past 10 years, the world has been
facing various challenges, such as typhoons and hurricanes caused by changes in theenvironment, earthquakes, tsunamis, air pollution, terrorist attacks, nuclear andmilitary threats, wars, religious ideology struggles, hunger, poverty, drug trafficking,virus transmission, state-scale financial crisis, corporate labor disputes, disseminationof fake news, food safety, demographic changes and so on.
Therefore, it is imperative for individual countries to maintain harmony and stabilityof nation and society. This study takes "social innovation" as a theoretical point ofview and explores how to apply the concept of social innovation in the emerging
international religious group "Weixin Shengjiao" in Taiwan through a case study
method, and implement the doctrines of the religion in the way of lifelong learning toachieve the purpose of universal harmony and peace of the world and help thegovernment to create a harmonious society based on the power of the private sector.
Social Innovation
Drucker (2002) defines innovation as a tool used by entrepreneurs to exploit a change
as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. The Oslo Manual(1997, p.22) states that “innovation can occur in any sector of the economy, including
government services such as health and education.” Social innovation is a process
initiated by social actors to respond to a desire, a need, to find a solution or to seize an
opportunity of action to change social relations, to transform a frame or propose newcultural orientations to improve the quality and community living conditions (Crises,2014). O’Byrne et al. (2013, p. 54) defined social innovation as the “successful
implementation of activities, such as ideas, practices, or objects, through newcollaborations and partnerships, in ways that positively impact society by improving
the delivery of public services.” Social innovations encompass “changes in thecultural, normative or regulative structures of the society which enhance its collective
power resources and improve its economic and social performance” (Heiskala, 2007,
p. 74). Social innovation can be defined as the “development and implement of new
ideas (products, services and models) to meet social needs” (Mulgan, Ali, Halkett, &Sanders, 2007, p. 9, cited by Howadlt & Schwarz, 1010, p. 25); be concerned withgeneration of social value (Cloutier, 2003; Saucier et al., 2006; Phills, Deigmeier, &Miller, 2008; Assogba, 2010; Herrera, 2015) for social actors and society; and also“create new social relationships or collaborations” (Murray, Caulier-Grice, & Mulgan,
2009, p. 3).
At present, it can be stated that social innovations are becoming more and moresignificant for economic growth (Mulgan et al., 2005). This is partly due to the factthat some of the economic growth barriers such as climatic changes or aging ofsocieties, may be overcome only by implementation of social innovations, which
reinforce human relations and well-being instead of straining these. Social innovation

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is innovation in social relation as well as in meeting human need (MacCallim et al.
(eds), 2012). Moulaert, Martineli, Swyngedouw, and Gonzalez (2005) identify threemain dimensions of social innovation: (1) satisfaction of human needs that are notcurrently satisfied; (2) changes in social relations, especially with regard to
governance, that not only enable the satisfaction of needs, but also increase the levelof participation, especially of deprived groups in society; (3) increasing thesocio-political capability and access to resources required to enhance rights to needs’
fulfillment and participation.
The Weixin Shengjiao Doctrines
The source of the study in the doctrines of Weixin Shengjiao is mainly based on the
Tiande Scriptures of Guiguzi enlightened by Grand Master Hun Yuan in the 99
Dharma meeting in 2003, a Zen version of interpretation for the “Chapter of Great
Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” in “Book of Rites” enlightened in 2007, the“True Scripture of the Mysteries” of Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu enlightened in
the 99 Dharma meeting in 2013, “Perfect Scripture for Calming the Mind” of Weixin
Shengjiao enlightened in the Thousand years of Prays for Peace and Praise of Heaven
Dharma meeting in 2014, and the “Praise of the Almighty Bodhisattva Wang Chan
Lao Zu” in the Nation Protection, Disaster Relief, and Peace Pray Dharma meeting in2017.
What is a doctrine? According to the “Revised Mandarin Dictionary” by the Ministryof Education of the Republic of China, a doctrine is defined as "the meaning, reason
and purpose of a religion." Grand Master Hun Yuan points out that “The heart of
Weixin Shengjiao is the heart of heaven. All doctrines in the secular world all
originated from the heart. All the Dharma doctrines of the saints are created by theheart of heaven and expressed to the world by words. The doctrines of Weixin
Shengjiao is inclusive of all the mantras of the saints and the universe: the foundation
is founded by the heavens and the earth, and the teachings and doctrines are
established by the saints; the ancient saints and sages stand on the earth and live
beneath the sky, consulting and measuring the sky and the earth to observe the orbitsof the sun, moon, and stars, such that they comprehend that everything in the universe
is contributing their duty for harmony and maintaining the relationship among people.
The rise and fall of human beings and things in the universe all sprout from the heart.”
Grand Master Hun Yuan further indicates that “Weixin Shengjiao implements thepath of compassion on behalf of the heaven. Every magi and sage of idealism shouldcultivate the paths for the country, pray for the people, study the holy doctrines for thegreater harmony of the peoples, and to turn the holy Dharma wheel together for world
peace.” Therefore, on the main gate of Weixin Holy Hall of the Hsien-Fo Temple at
Mt. Chan Chi, Grand Master Hun Yuan wrote the following couplet in ink "Weixin is
the foundation to cultivate principles of self for the country so as to facilitate thepeople and heaven; Shengjiao as the words of truth to pray for the people in order torealize peace." It can be seen that the core doctrines of Weixin Shengjiao are"cultivation of principles the self for the country, prays for the people, and realizationof world peace."
This study summarized the enlightenments of Grand Master Hun Yuan, anddiscovered that the doctrines of Weixin Shengjiaoare based on the I Ching - The Book
of Changes and Feng Shui of the Chinese culture, integrating Confucianism,

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Buddhism and Taoism. In addition, this study finds that with the core of "cultivationof principles of self for the country and prays for the people", we have developed five
major Dharma teachings, such as the Dharma teaching of filial piety and for tracing
the ancentral roots, the Dharma teaching of peace of mind, the Dharma teaching of
altruism, the Dharma teaching of disaster relief, and the Dharma teaching of the“Chapter of Great Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” in “Book of Rites”. With
the substantive purposes of "cultivating talents, cultivating morality, cultivating noble
aspiration, and realizing world peace", the ultimate goal is to achieve true peace in theworld.
What is the cultivation of self for the nation and praying for the people? The so-called"cultivation of self" in the “Xiang Jun” chapter under the “Nine Songs” section of"Songs of Chu” in Qu Yuan is: "Beauty as delicate as can be, shall be cultivated.""Cultivation" has the meaning of conservation and practice. According to the “On
Five Levels” section in "Anthology" written by Lu Chi: "cultivating principles of selfand bringing comfort to the common people…” there is a sense of study and researchin cultivation. The "Five Fish Moths" chapter in "Han Fei Zi" states:" cultivate theliterature and learn speeches today." The term “cultivate” as a noun refers to a personwith virtues. The "principles" refers to a common code of conduct. In the section“Ta-ya” of "The book of Odes and Hymns", it is stated that "the path of Chou is as
hard as a whetstone, and as straight as an arrow" The "path" here refers to the "road",which can be extended to mean reasons, laws, principles, and other connotations. The
country following the right path and implementing etiquette and righteousness togovern the world in a grand manner is the so-called path. Thus, the "Principle" are"Etiquette and Righteousness." The so-called "pray" means praying for the blessingsof Heaven. In the chapter “Order of Month” of the “Book of Rites,” it is said: "Let thepeople all contribute their power to support the royal heaven, the gods, the great
mountains and rivers, and worship the spirits of the ancestral temple of a ruling house,in order to pray for blessings for the people."
The doctrines of Weixin Shengjiao: The Dharma teaching of great filial piety for
tracing the roots.
This study summarizes the views of Grand Master Hun Yuan on the Dharma teachingof great filial piety for tracing the roots and discovers that, for example, Grand MasterHun Yuan revealed the essence of the “True Scripture of the Mysteries” ofBodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu enlightened in the 99 Dharma meeting in 2013 as:“The Shengjiao was founded based on the Dharma teaching of the filial piety for
tracing the roots and returning to the hearts for all the spirits. The doctrines of Weixin
Shengjiao is to trace the roots.” This study observes that Weixin Shengjiao
established the Taiwan Weixin Shengjiao Chinese peoples' joint ancestor worshipassociation and held the first Chinese nationwide grand ceremonies of joint ancestor
worship at the National Taiwan Sports University Sorts Center on January 1, 2004.
Since then, the association has invited all the decedents of the three Chinese ancestors
to join the ancestors worship, and the subsequent events were held on the New Year's
Day in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Thus, in 2017, Grand Master Hun Yuan revealed the enlightenment in the Praise of
the Almighty Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu” in the Nation Protection, Disaster
Relief, and Peace Pray Dharma meeting in 2017 as: "honoring the glory of the

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Chinese nation in centuries, internationally praising the virtues of the ancestors,
remembering our origin even in daily actions, and the joint ancestors worshipdeserves to be praised.” There were four major ancient civilizations on Earth. The
only one that prevailed is the Chinese culture. The reason why the Chinese culture canprevail is the filial piousness of the Chinese peoples." “The entire nation mustworship our ancestors, starting from filial piety. We must work hard to promote filial
piety. Through the path of grand filial piety, the world will be at peace. The "path of
grand filial piety" is the best treasured weapon for world peace.”
The Weixin Shengjiao doctrines: The Dharma teaching of peace of mind
This study’s conclusion regarding Grand Master Hun Yuan's views on the laws forpeace of mind found that the Zen Master is constantly revealing the desires of thepeople so that they can reach the realm of peace through various methods. They must
start from reflection, repentance, practice, and at the same time, cultivate and practice
the heart, the mouth, and the true spirit. Grand Master Hun Yuan encourages the
public to practice diligently. He believes that "People at the age of sixties should be
diligent in cultivating the self; there will be no great promotion and no greatergrievance if people fail to achieve enlightenment." Cultivation is “the act of correcting
the deviant minds and behaviors accumulated in the many life cycles by an individual,
and frequently reflecting on their past and present daily life to see whether it aligns
with righteousness. If there is a deviation, it is necessary to repent and reflect upon it,
and then work hard and earnestly practice in daily life according to the revealed
Dharma teaching, so that they can reach to a state of peace of mind and obtainhappiness."
In 2017, Grand Master Hun Yuan also revealed the enlightenment in the “Praise of
the Almighty Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu” in the Nation Protection, Disaster
Relief, and Peace Pray Dharma meeting as: "Only the heart is the true doctrine. How
can we settle our hearts to have peace of mind? The solution lies in learning I Ching:"Everyone learns the Book of Changes, and you can have peace of mind when you areinteracting with people or doing things. You learn from the Book of Changes, andthings will go smoothly no matter what you are doing." Grand Master Hun Yuan
pointed out that the public can understand how to achieve peace of mind from themeaning of Baguain the Book of Changes. Grand Master Hun Yuan revealed andenlightens: "What kind of mentality can we find in Weixin Shengjiao? What is our
teacher? Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, and Kan; the streams, the air, daylight,
wind, water, and earth are all our teachers."
The Weixin Shengjiao doctrines: The Dharma teaching of altruism
This study summarizes the view of Grand Master Hun Yuan on the Dharma teachingof altruism. It finds that Grand Master Hun Yuan frequently reminded people with therevelation of the founding father of the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, that "thepurpose of life is to serve others" as well as the importance of altruism, as stated in
the “Tiande Scriptures” of Guiguzi: "People of virtue are blessed and protected
wholeheartedly.". Grand Master Hun Yuan revealed the enlightenment of the “Tiande
Scriptures” of Guiguzi in the 99 Dharma meeting in 2003 that: "For the people ofmoral, we try to help them, however, for people without morality, we also help him.
Why should we help people without morality? Because the person is in trouble,

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making him confused and do immoral things. Our Dharma teaching provides aids topeople regardless of whether they are rich or poor, virtuous or without virtue. Theirconfusion is because they have shortcomings. We need to help him more to get overthis troubled realm and get over the troubles of life and death.”
Grand Master Hun Yuan subsequently revealed the enlightenment of the “True
Scripture of the Mysteries” of Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu in the 99 Dharma
meeting in 2013 as: “The Dharma approach of Weixin Shengjiao is based on the"benefits", using the orthodoxy cultural system of the I Ching - The Book of Changes
and Feng Shui to let everyone enter the state of peace of mind, peace for the family,
peace for career, and people will be able to have peace in the heart after that. Even if
you don't become a Buddha, you can achieve the Buddha in your own hear on thespot, achieving the stability in your family and harmony around you. It is the only
way to become a Buddha.”
The Weixin Shengjiao doctrines: The Dharma teaching of disaster relief
This study summarizes the views of Grand Master Hun Yuan’s on the Dharma
teaching of disaster relief. Weixin Shengjiao is based on the principle of "cultivationof principles of self for the country and prays for the people ". Grand Master Hun
Yuan encourages the disciples to chant the Buddhist scriptures and follow the Dharma
etiquette to turn the Dharma wheel to eliminate disasters together.
This study observes that Weixin Shengjiao to eliminate disasters through theperspective of resolving injustice and absolving feud. Grand Master Hun Yuan
believes that the crux the Chinese peoples have encountered countless wars lies. in the
restlessness of the ancestors and the unresolved injustices in history. The origin can betraced back to injustice suffered by the ancestor Chi You, and the enmity has kept
brewing in generation after generation, which leads to 3,762 wars of various sizes
among the Chinese peoples. Therefore, Weixin Shengjiao put forward the concept of"resolving injustice and absolvinging feud," searching the past, the present and thefuture in order to solve the national injustices to accomplish the wish of world peace.
In addition, Grand Master Hun Yuanbelieves that "冤" (injustice) can be between
people, between people and animals, and between people and nature. And Grand
Master Hun Yuan believes that it is necessary to diligently recite the scriptures andDharma teachings to practice transference to the enmity person so as to resolve
injustice and release feud among those that is suffering the injustice.
The Weixin Shengjiao doctrines: The Dharma teaching of Chapter of Great Harmonyin the Operation of Etiquette
This study found that Grand Master Hun Yuan began teaching Confucius's “Chapterof Great Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” of “Book of Rites” since 2007.
Grand Master Hun Yuan provide his revelation and enlightenment on "Chapter ofGreat Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” of “Book of Rites” as: "“Chapter ofGreat Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” of “Book of Rites” is in Confucius’doctrines, the most excellent approach for governance of a nation, governance of afamily, governance of a career, and governance of insecurity, injustice, anddissatisfactory in our mind.” “At the time of Confucius, the greatness of “Chapter ofGreat Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” of “Book of Rites” has already been

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recognized and has been passed on to the present time. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding
father of the Republic of China, then promoted the “Chapter of Great Harmony in the
Operation of Etiquette” of “Book of Rites” to the whole world.” “The “Chapter ofGreat Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” of “Book of Rites” is a heavenly path
to open the Dharma approach for human peace of mind.... This is the truth that theancient sages have realized. It is a very good scripture for people to practice; it is thetrue scripture for the nation establishment, world peace, and the future hopes for the
Chinese descendents; it offers the broad direction, policies and grand wisdom for state
governance; it is the wondrous method for the country’s leader to govern the country;
if people can understand the wondrous methods of “Chapter of Great Harmony in
the Operation of Etiquette” of “Book of Rites” for governance of the heart, family,society and country, I believe that the world will become peaceful.” "Modern life andsocial phenomena are inseparable from the word "etiquette." The “Chapter of Great
Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” in “Book of Rites” is mainly based on
etiquette, prioritizing the etiquettes. "Etiquette" is used to run our lives, our destiny
and maintaining harmony in our society." "Therefore, we carry forward the truths of
the “Chapter of Great Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” in “Book of Rites”, andthe main focus is to establish human dignity of every individual, to establish dignityof society and the dignity of all human beings."
The Case Study: Weixin Shengjiao Lifelong Education
In 1994, the then President of the Republic of China, Mr. Teng-Hui Lee, made a clear
policy statement on "lifelong education": "The concept of lifelong education is torecognize the need for education at every stage of growth in life and to open up asociety of learning." This study finds that Grand Master Hun Yuan, the founder andleader of Weixin Shengjiao, at that time also proposed that "everyone has the basic
right to learn" and created "I Ching University" in the same year to inherit andpromote Chinese culture in the way of lifelong learning in religious education andencourage people to learn I Ching. Therefore, "I Ching University" is the pioneer ofthe promotion of lifelong education in the history of education in the Republic ofChina. It is based on the principle of "cultivating talents, cultivating morality,
cultivating noble aspiration, and realizing world peace."
Nowadays, I Ching University takes the doctrines of Weixin Shengjiao as the sourceof religious education, and teaches the sacred Dharma doctrines: the Dharma teachingof filial piety for tracing the roots, the Dharma teaching of peace of mind, the Dharma
teaching of altruism, the Dharma teaching of disaster relief, and the Dharma teachingof the “Chapter of Great Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette” in “Book of Rites.”
The five aspects of lifelong learnings, such as moral education, life education,
environmental education, filial piety education and cultural education, are designed to
be specifically practiced for the implementation of the Weixin Shengjiao doctrines foraccomplishing "cultivation of principles of self for the country, prays for the people”
to fulfill the ultimate goal of realizing world peace. Up to now, I Ching University has
42 Learning Hubs in the whole Taiwan, and 33 classrooms in various townshipcommunities. In addition, learning classrooms have been established in overseas
regions including Hong Kong; Vietnam; Japan; Spain; Los Angeles, New York, U. S.,
and Toronto, Canada. At the same time, Weixin Shengjiao has established a dedicatedTelevision station, the Wei Xin Television Station, in its philanthropy system, andcourses of I Ching University is spread to the world 24/7.

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Conclusion
In this paper, actual observations and literature analysis was used to discuss theapplication of social innovation in the emerging religious group in Taiwan, Weixin
Shengjiao. The doctrines of Weixin Shengjiao are specifically spread through themodel of lifelong education to achieve the purpose of world peace. This study findsthat with the core of "cultivation of principles of self for the country and praying forthe people", Weixin Shengjiao has developed five major Dharma teachings, such as
the Dharma teaching of filial piety for tracing the roots, the Dharma teaching of peaceof mind, the Dharma teaching of altruism, the Dharma teaching of disaster relief, andthe Dharma teaching of the “Chapter of Great Harmony in the Operation of Etiquette”
in “Book of Rites”.
Weixin Shengjiao founded I Ching University in 1994. This study discovers thatusing I Ching University as a platform, Weixin Shengjiao specifically practice thefive lifelong learnings of moral education, life education, environmental education,
filial piety education and cultural for the implementation of the Weixin Shengjiao
doctrines. Therefore, this study finds that in the five lifelong learning orientations
described above, Weixin Shengjiao use the perspective of social innovation todevelop new initiatives, so as to put forth the greatest effort for solemnity,
achievement and perfection of all beings. These efforts will enable all sentient beings
to gain peace of mind, and thus settle their hearts to arrive at the pure land of thesecular world, and the ultimate goal will be to achieve the goal of world peace. This isthe very enlightenment of the “Chapter of Great Harmony in the Operation of
Etiquette” in “Book of Rites”: "When the grand way prevails, the world community isequally shared by all. The worthy and able are chosen as office holders. Mutual
confidence is fostered and good neighborliness cultivated. Therefore, people do notregard only their own parents as parents, nor do they treat only their own children as
children. Provisions are made for the aged till their death; adults are given
employment, and the young is abled to grow up. Widows and widowers, orphans, theold and childless, as well as the sick and disabled are all well taken care of. Men havetheir proper roles, women homes. While one hate to see wealth lying about on the
ground, one do not necessarily keep it for one’s own use. While one hate not to exert
one’s own effort, one do not necessarily devote it for one’s own ends. Thus, evil
scheming is supressed, and robbers, thieves and other lawless elements shall fail toarise. So that outer doors do not have to be shut. This is called "the Age of Great
Harmony."

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Reference
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Collection Études Théoriques, ET0314. Québec: Centre de Recherche sur lesInnovations Sociales.
CRISES - Centre de recherchesur les innovations sociales. ANDREW, Caroline;
KLEIN, Juan-Luis. Social Innovation: What is it and why is it important tounderstand it better. Online: <http://www.crises.uqam.ca/
upload/files/publications/etudes-theoriques/CRISES_ET1003.pdf>. Aces: 20 July2013.
Drucker, Peter F. (2002). Inovação e espírito empreendedor. Tradução de Carlos
Malferrari. São Paulo: Pioneira Thomson.
Heiskala, R. (2007). Social innovations: Structural and power perspectives. In T. J.
Hamalainen & R. Heiskala (eds.), Social innovations, institutional change, andeconomic performance. Making sense of structural adjustment processes in industrial,
regions, and societies sectors (pp. 52-79). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.
Mulgan, G., Ali, R., Halkett, R., & Sanders, B. (2007). In and out of syne. The
challenge of growing social innovations. Research report. London: NESTA.
Moulaert, F., Martinelli, F., Swyngedouw, E., & Gonzalez, S. (2005). Towards
alternative model (s) of local innovation. Urban Studies, 42 (11), 1669-1990.
Norman Longworth & W. Keith Davies (1996). Lifelong Learning: New Vision, New

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Implications, New Roles for People, Organizations, Nations and Communities in the
21st Century. Kogan Page. ISBN: 0749419725, 9780749419721.
O’byrne, L.; Miller, M.; Douse, C.; Venkatesh, R.; Kapucu, N. (2014). Social
innovation in the public sector: The case of Seoul metropolitan government. Journalof Economic and Social Studies, 4, (1), 53-71.
OECD. Proposed guidelines for collecting and interpreting technological innovation
data: Oslo manual 2. ed. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-Operation andDevelopment – OECD, 1997. Traduced: Finep, 2004.
Zhu, E. & Baylen, D. (2005). From learning community to community learning:pedagogy, technology and interactivity. Educational Media International.42 (3),251-268.
Contact email: Li-Yueh Chen Liyueh@wxc.org.tw
Chen-Mei Li Ljm.dh68@wxc.org.tw

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The Study of Clinical Observation of Acupuncture Therapy in the Treatment ofMotor Aphasia after Cerebral Infarction
Suwanna Hadsamad, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Tawat Buranatawonsom, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Orawan Sinpaiboonlert, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Shen Pengfei, Tianjin Traditional Chinese Medicine University, China
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture on post- cerebral infarction
aphasia. Methods: The clinical study was based on the comparison of results pre andpost treatment. 83 Patients, diagnosed as acute cerebral infarction with motor aphasia,
were enrolled. They had 6 treatments per week with a day rest, 4 weeks treatment
course. They had language abilities assessment according to the Chinese Aphasia
Assessment Method by Gao Su Rong of Beijing Medical University. The Barthel
Score was used to assess the ability to carry out daily activities. The degree of loss inneurological function was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke
Scale (NIHSS). The results were considered statistically significance at P < 0.05.
Results: Acupuncture increases the language ability of the patients suffering frompost-cerebral infarction aphasia; the total efficacy was 87.95%. It also increases thepatients’ ability to carry out daily activities, and significantly improve theneurological functions of the patients. Conclusion: Acupuncture is significantly
increasing the language ability, communication ability in daily living, lowering thedegree of aphasia and improving the neurological functions of patients. Acupuncture
should be used widely in the clinical setting.
Keywords: Cerebral Infarction; Aphasia; Acupuncture

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Language ability is the uniqueness that creates reaction of mental intelligenceprocesses of complicated human. Center that controls language are mouth, tongue,pharynx and other organs which work together effectively. But especially the part
where the cerebral artery can cause damage to the cortex structure which is thelanguage control center, causing differences in aphasia. Research shows that stroke
patients around 1/3 or more can have different co-occurring symptoms and different
levels of speech loss. The most common language loss are patients that havecommunication obstacles often comes with some symptoms like irritability, shorttemper, self-deprecation, depression etc. patients might have negative thoughts. If nottreated immediately or wrong treatment have been given, aphasia may be life-long.
This will reduce the quality of daily life and mental health of patients.
Currently, the mechanism on post- cerebral infarction aphasia has not been fully
explained. Clinically has not yet been approved or agreed on efficacy of the treatment.
There are still lack of drugs use to treat aphasia. Currently medical treatment of thisdisease is in use of language as a basis for practice and rehabilitation to stimulate andreplace some of the abilities of the language control center. Originally thisintervention although it has definite result but it is low efficiency it takes a long time
so as to shorten the disease. For higher medical performance it was focus on the
research in the past year for Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has gained widespreadattention and has been developed in this research study using of Chinese Traditional
Medicine technique theory and modern medicine as the guideline. Based on clinical
trials through research study comparison, analysis, examination and experimentation.
Using acupuncture to awaken the mind and open orifices effects together
Acupuncture is a commonly used, simple and safe therapy, easily acceptable by mostpatients. Acupuncture can improve circulation, balance yin and yang, increase
immunity to dispel external pathogenic factors.(Tosaeng,M., Hadsamad,S.,
Buahom,W,.Putak,A,. & Buranatawonsom,T,2018).With treating with medicinal
capsules (Danqipiantan). Rehabilitation therapy with speech practice as well as
treated loss of speech after stroke for clinical effectiveness and increase in clinicalrehabilitation.
Information and Methods
1. Design and Experimental
In patients with post- cerebral infarction aphasia in study before and after
Acupuncture treatment has been use to open orifices and awaken the mind.
Information available from June 2012 to December 2013 from Tianjin University ofChinese Medicine, Specialized acupuncture department and out-patient clinic.
Patients treated with cerebrovascular disease in total of 192 patients.
2. Diagnostic Criteria
2.1. Thicken of the arteries wall and less elasticity according to the research criteria ofwestern medicine
According to "Chinese approach to treatment of acute cerebral ischemia 2010"

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(Chinese ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack,2010)(1) Onset of acute symptom(2) Specific damage of Nervous system(3) Symptoms and how long will the symptoms last?
(4) CT scan or MRI scan or proven non-hemorrhage in the brain or other diseases.
(5) Photos from CT scan or MRI scan that have clear image of stroke.
2.2. Diagnostic criteria of stroke
Refer to "Clinical Research Guidelines of Traditional Chinese Medicine" edition
2002. (Smith WS, Johnston SC, Easton JD. Cerebrovascular diseases. In: Kaspers DL,
Fauci As, Longo DL, 2005).
(1) Main symptoms: Hemiplegia, weakness of the four limps, loss of control in the
speech or disable to speak, deviation of the mouth.
Secondary symptoms: headache, dizziness, change of the size of pupils, chock, tilted
eyes no blinking, hemiplegia and poor balance.
(2) Onset of acute symptoms(3) Before symptoms occurs usually are due to cause(4) Age of 40 years old and above
2 or more of the above main symptoms or 2 secondary symptoms according of theoccurrence the disease. Factor that causes the signs and symptoms of age-related
diagnosis. Image of (CT scan or MRI scan) an obvious view of vessel constriction
leading to stroke so it can be diagnose.
2.3. Standard disease stage(1) Acute phase within 2 weeks after onset of symptoms occurs.
(2) Rehabilitation phase within 2 weeks to 6 months after onset of symptoms occurs.
(3) Complications that persist beyond 6 months after onset symptoms has occurs.
2.4. Diagnostic criteria for post- cerebral infarction aphasia
According to Professor Gao Su Rong, uses “The method to check the Chinese
language for motor aphasia condition" (Gao, SR.,1993). (Aphasia Battery of Chinese,
ABC) content includes: easy and understandable conversation, repeating of words,
calling of an objects, reaction when calling, capability to read the character or write
the letters, use of language to calculate and scoring orderly so it can be finalize todiagnosis of aphasia.
The diagnostic criteria for aphasia are as follows:(1) Inability to speak fluently, Stuttering;(2) After hearing the language there are good understanding, but as soon as theconversation starts there will be wrong grammar to make it hard to understand;(3) Language that was heard when repeating, there are difficult;

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Official Conference Proceedings(4) There are obstacles in calling the name of the objects;(5) Difficulty to read;(6) Difficulty to write.
3. Admission Criteria(1) To comply with criteria for Western medicine diagnosis of cerebrovasculardisease.
(2) In accordance with Chinese Traditional Medicine diagnosis criteria for diagnosis(中风) in Jing Luo type (中 经络)(3) For the first time, the disease period is between 15 and 180 days.
(4) The criteria for diagnosis of aphasia.
(5) Age between ≥40 years to ≤75 years(6) Clear conscience mind test to show the size of MMSE shown no dementia and nomental disorders.
(7) Before the onset of symptoms, obstructive vision and unclear hearing occurs;
4. Selection Criteria(1) Does not meet the criteria for admission.
(2) Severe vision and hearing impairment;(3) There is aphasia proficiency from other causes before stroke;(4) Serious complications such as: respiratory failure, heart attack, acute myocardial
infarction, renal failure, liver failure, severe pulmonary infiltrates, and cancer, etc;
(5) Basic treatment can not be performed. Heading towards the bad prognosis.
Do not follow admission criteria, or in cases patient are selected mistakenly and do
not follow acupuncture rules or incomplete information and other factors that affectthe treatment should be eliminated.
5. Quitting Criteria
If the symptoms of the disease get more severe. The physician should ask the patient
to stop clinical trials and withdraw from the study;
Patients with severe illness and complications should be judged. Any non-suitableparticipant in the study should be withdrawn from the research;
Patients who are reluctant to continue treatment on clinical research study, if theacupuncturist leaves the clinical trial the patient have rights to leave the clinical trial
as well.
6. Termination Criteria
Serious adverse events. Clinical research design or performance deviation causing
difficulty to evaluate the treatment result.

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Treatment Patterns
1. Basic Treatment according to the formulas
Refer to the "Chinese Prevention Stroke Manual Guide" for blood pressure control,
control of glucose in blood, control cholesterol in the blood and blood coagulation.
The treatment using medicine to prevent thrombosis
2. Acupuncture technique for opening orifices and awaken the mind. (醒脑 开窍 针刺法)
Treatment: Opening orifices and awaken the mind, nourish the liver and kidneys anddredge the meridians.
Indication:
Main point ; 内关 (Neiguan,PC6) (both sides), 水沟 (Shuiguo, DU 26), 三阴交(Sanyinjiao, SP 6) (both sides), 金津 (Jinjing ,EX-HN 12), 玉液 (Yuyue ,X-HN 13),
上廉泉 (Shanglianquan, X-HN21)
Secondary point; 极泉 (Jiquan, HT 1) ,委中 (Weizhong, BL 40), 尺泽 (Shizhe, LU 5)(affected side)
Extra points; 风池 (Fengshi, GB 20) , 翳风(Yifeng, SJ 17) , 完骨(Wangu GB 12)(both sides)
Muscle spasm or paralysis on the upper limps: 肩髃 (Jianyu, LI 15) , 合谷 (Hegu, LI4), 八邪 (Paxue EX-UE 10) (affected side)
Muscle spasm or paralysis on the lower limps: 阳陵泉(Yanglingquan, GB 34), 丘墟Qiuqu, GB 40), 照海 (Zhaohai, K 16) (affected side)
Methods:
At first puncture Neiguan on both sides, embedded needle perpendicular in 0.5-1
inches, using the method of sedation technique by rotating the needle together withpulling the needle up and down for 1 minute.
Puncture Yingtang oblique upward of 0.3-0.5 inches use sedation technique by
pulling the needle up and down, give the acupuncture area a tight feeling.
Puncture Sanyinjiao, obliquely along the inner bone with the skin making the an angleof 45 degree with the depth of 1-1.5 inches using the reinforcing method of pullingthe needle down causing the affected leg to contract 3 times.
Puncture Jiquan avoid the axilla hair, embedded needle along the same meridian
down from the same point 1 inches below, puncture perpendicular 1-1.5 inches, using

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the sedation method of pulling up and down the needle making the arm muscle
contracted 3 times. Puncture Shije arm bent and insert the needle in a straight line 1
inch, using the sedation method of pulling the needle up and down, causing themuscle to contract 3 times.
Puncture Weizhong, patients lay facing upward straighten the leg and put it higher
insert 0.5-1 inches using the sedation method by pulling the needle up and down,
make the muscle on the affected leg contract 3 times.
Puncture Fengshi, Wangu, Tianju, insert the needle in the opposite direction to theouter canthus, in-depth of 2-2.5 inches choose the reinforcing method of rotate theneedle in small degrees with high speed, in 1 minute.
Puncture Jianju, embedded the needle obliquely in the direction of towards down sidein depth of 1.5-2 inches, use of reinforcing needle by pulling the needle up and down,
stimulate the needle to make the sensation down to the Hegu together with rotate thearm outwards, make the arm muscle contract for 1 minute.
Puncture Hegu, insert the needle in the direction of the San Jia point depth of theneedle is 1-1.5 inches using the sedation method and make the patient's fingers wiggle
by its own.
Puncture Baxue 0.5- 1 inches in-depth using the reinforcing method by pulling theneedle up and down make the sensation down to the tip of the fingers and make thepatient's fingers wiggle by its own.
Puncture Yanglingquan insert the needle obliquely in the direction downwards to theskin making an angle of 45 degrees, depth of 2-2.5 inches make the needle sensation
down to the tip of the toes.
Puncture Qiuqu and make it pierce through Zhaohai shifts the patient’s affected feetto straight post, insert 2-2.5 inches deep and making the end of the needle point toZhaohai and withdraw the needle back to1.5 inches.
2.3 Chinese patent medicine
Danipiantan capsule (丹 芪 偏瘫 胶) 4 tablets / time 3 times / day
2.4 Rehabilitation with practice. (Zhong, DL. ,2001)
2.4.1 Muscle Training by Pronunciation: Choose one of the pronunciation methods
when training focus on the use of tongue and oral muscles. Exercise the tongue, thepatient put the tongue in and out then up and down, left and right respectively, follow
the steps from slow to fast practice every day 6-9 times, 6-10 minutes each time.
Repeat by pronouncing "ah" or other expressions such as blow the air out, blow thecheeks with close mouth, bending up the tongue, showing the teeth etc..
2.4.2. Language training: The key to restore speech is to let the patient open themouth and speak simple word that use in daily life like sit down, thank you, hello,
goodbye and so on. Besides also set up a simple problem for the patient to solve.

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Patients should be careful when talking slowly and clearly, giving the patient time tothink and be prepared to answer the question.
2.4.3. Analyze and understanding: Looking at an image and analyze and speak out
can be used. Patients will remember familiar names, colors, or what patients areinterested in. It also allows patients to view newspapers, magazines, or singing, tohelp in restoring memory function.
2.4.4 Body language training: The body refers to the human body in accordance withthe expression, including the external body, gesture, facial expression, movement of
the eyes and posture.
2.4.5 Language training at the same time with total rehabilitation: Combined therapy
is very important including rehabilitation and training of limbs, language,
psychological and other aspects. Rehabilitation in combination with other methods
along the way.
Standard of treatment effect
1. Speech assessment: By Beijing Hospital " Method to Check Chinese Language
Speech Loss" (ABC Measurement Table), patient evaluation; listening, repeating
lecture, reading aloud, understanding of writing and calculating.
2. Evaluation of the ability to communicate in everyday life
Method use to examine the capability of communication skills (The Chinese
functional communication) CFCP, communication skills of patients in everyday life isdivided into 5 parts. 25listed
CFCP scoring:
Mild loss should have the total score of less than 200 points.
Moderate loss should have the total score of less than 150 points.
Severe loss should have the total score of less than 100 points.
3. Assessment of aphasia level
By using standard aphasia grading (Boston Diagnostic Apnea Assessment.BDAE)(Grades 0-5):
Level 0: Expression and understanding are both obstacles.
Level 1: Ability to speak and understand little vocabularies.
Level 2: Ability to express and understand simple words, but often make grammar
mistake.
Level 3: Expressions and understanding of everyday vocabulary are rarely
wrong. Level 4: Extreme complex language is expressed well through patients. Level
5: Expression and understanding have a little difficulty, but the patients are able tonoticed by themselves.

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Evaluation of treatment
Patient pre- post treatment with all methods has been use “The Chinese functional
communication test” method. The CFCP scoring method.
Proceeded the test to evaluate the language proficiency assessment.
Basic treatment: Score 90% or more, CFCP total score of 50 points or more. Clear
results: Score between 60-90%; CFCP total score of 36 points. Effective: Score
between 30-60% CFCP total score of 26 points, or language spoken 10 points andabove.
No result: Score less than 30%, CFCP total score of 10 points and below or no spoken
language.
1. Criteria for assessing daily activities:
Using Barthel index score(People’s Republic of China and Ministry of Public Health “Chinese ClinicalStandard For Medical Rehabilitation” Beijing: Publisher. Huaxia 1999: 220-231)
Assessing daily activities 100 is normal score: ≥60 points basic self-care, 41-59 points
moderate score for abnormal life that need assistance, 21-40 points severity disorderlife must rely on, ≤20 points life are fully to rely on.
2. Evaluation of neurological impairment:
Use of United States, National Health Facility Evaluation of National Institution of
Health Stroke Scale (NIH
Statistical
Microsoft Excel was used to collect data to create a database containing all of the
input data into SPSS13.0 for statistical analysis. Mean ± Standard deviation ( x ± s) )pre-post treatment using the t-test, p <0.05 was considered statistically.
Results
1. General conditions of the patient: 192 patients
In patients with stroke in the hospital that consistent with the diagnosis according tostandard admission criteria and ejection criteria 83 patients were enrolled. Out of 83
patients, 47 were male patients and 36 female patients. The mean age was (65.32 ±9.63) years old. Mean disease duration was (42.77 ± 13.26) days.
2. Improved speech skills after treatment.

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Language Assessment: See Table 1.
Table 1 Change in heaviness in speech using ABC score pre-post treatment ofpatients.
List
Listening
Understandable
RepeatingSpeaking
Reading aloud
ReadingCalculating

BeforeTreatment
51.72±15.36

After
Treatment
65.77±21.42

P Value

46.53±9.72
21.37±5.74
29.98±10.13
48.22±20.05
42.70±21.11

74.91±13.61
34.03±12.56
42.72±18.33
57.88±23.42
58.41±22.76

<0.01
<0.05
<0.05
<0.05
<0.05

<0.05

From table 1 It is clearly shown that post treatment of patient's with aphasia havebeen improved.
Patient comparison pre-post treatment in using of speech skills: Table 2
Table 2 Pre-post CFCP treatment ( x ± S)
No. Of patients83

BeforeAfter Treatment
Treatment
119.67±68.29
188.77±81.30*
Note: * Before treatment P <0.05

P Value<0.05

The statistical analysis after CFCP treatment has improved significantly compare to
before treatment (P <0.05).
Evaluation pre-post treatment for aphasia condition: Table 3
Table 3 Comparison of scores pre-post treatment for aphasia.

Beforetreatment
Aftertreatment

Level 0
11
3

Level1
19

Level2
22

Level3
14

Level4
6

Level5
11

6

11

13

25

25

Table 3 can be seen that post treatment of patients with aphasia have been improving
significantly.

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Evaluation: Table 4
Table 4 Performance Testingn

Fully recoverd %People（%）
ObviousAffective %Result %83

4（50.60）21（25.30）10（12.05）

Not Affective Rate of%Effectiv
eness
%
10
87.95
%
（ 12.05）

3. Daily Use (BI Index) to improve the situation: Table 5

No.
patients
83

Table 5. After treatment change in patients with BI index ( x ± S)
of Before
After Treatment Variable
P Value
Treatment
Value
50.2±20.4
86.2±19.0
36.0±20.5<0.05

From Table 5 It can be seen that after the treatment the quality of daily life have been
improved.
4. Improvement of nervous system (NIHSS): Table 6
Table 6 after treatment in patients with changes NIHSS scores ( x ± S)
No.
of Before
After Treatment Variable
P Valuepatients
Treatment
Value
83
8.1 ±3.0
3.8 ±2.7
4.3 ±2.3<0.05
Table 6 can be seen. After treatment for impaired vision.The nervous system is clearly
improved.
Discussion
1. Condition on post- cerebral infarction aphasia in the Western Medicine
perspective
Cerebral infarction also known as Cerebral Ischemic Stroke is caused by several
reasons of brain damage that further causes cerebral thrombosis, obstruction or vessel
narrowing leading to lack of blood and oxygen. As a result the affected brain tissue
get lack of blood and oxygen supply making the brain cells around the area become
dead cell. It is a bad prognosis and high mortality rate.
After stroke occurs it usually accompanies with destruction of the nervous system,aphasia disorder is commonly found. When the disease has taken place language is
defected and brain tissue is destroyed resulting in impediments, understanding and theloss of ability to communicate. (Zhang,Y. , W ,YJ . , Zhu ,YL . , Ma, RH. ,2005).

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The key is to reduce the ability to use terminology, the use of grammatical errors etc.
Condition of aphasia can be divided to Broca type and Wernicke type. Patients haveinability both in spoken and written languages, difficulty in speaking and inability to
speak at all, difficulty in repeating words and enable to follow the instruction,
inability to call an object or enable to call an object at all. Broca is most commonly
seen language impairment after a high risk of stroke both domestic and foreign reports
are up 30% and above. (Pedersen PM, et al. ,1997; Li , HL. , LIU, YL. , Ren,L., andother. ,2003; Xu, ZY. , Chen, JL. ,2001).
Language barriers affecting the ability of patients to communicate also reduce thequality of life of patients and social skills. Currently, medical research in treating ofaphasia disorders majority use rehabilitation with language training together withpsychology to measure. Using of photography (iconography) bring the disease
condition to aphasia with anatomy. Traumatic brain injury are link together. (Zhou Y,
Chen HY , Wang LM, the column Han , Wang ,YJ. ,2006).
Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment of this disease in the past year are consideredsuccessful. Most treatments include Chinese medicine and acupuncture etc. withoutpausing to do research study on Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese Medicine forthe treatment of post- cerebral infarction aphasia make it even more acceptable.
(Chang, JL., Gao,L., 2006).
2. Causes and mechanisms of post- cerebral infarction aphasia occurs according
to Chinese Medicine point of view
Chinese medicine considered occurrence of Zhong feng (中 风) or stroke of thepatient usually caused by the weakness of the body, deficiency of qi, blood, heart,
liver, kidney, yin and yang. Along with anxiety, anger, alcohol, too much consuming
or too much sexual activity, excessive work. Invasion of pathogens from outsidecauses impairment of qi and blood, skin and tendons lose of nourishment.
Hyperactivity of liver yang and yang transformed into wind causing adverse flow ofqi and blood. Fire and phlegm close the orifices leading to upper access and lower
deficiency. Yin Yang does not work together making it dangerous. Condition ofaphasia "comes from modern western medicine main symptom of stroke which cause
is aphasia symptoms of hemiplegia of one side. Which is not mentioned in ancient
Chinese literature. However, the disease of speech impediment after stroke happen in
Chinese Medicine is known as "stiff tongue", "stuttering", "cerebrovascular disease","stiff jaw", and so on.
3. Analysis of Acupuncture Treatment and Therapies of Condition of postcerebral infarction aphasia
3.1 Acupuncture to open orifices and awaken the brain. (醒脑 开窍)
The concept of Professor Shi Xue Min emphasizes on "Shen" (神), especially "shen",in the broad sense refers to the brain, mind, spirit including other expression of the
body which is control by "Shen". The basic mechanism of the disease occurrence isblood stasis, liver wind, phlegm turbidity is the factor that causes the closure oforifices. " When the orifices close shen are hidden it does not bring the qi with (窍 闭

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神 匿, 神 不 导 气) "and" Brain is the sea of the bone marrow, and it is home of shen(脑 为 髓 海, 为 元 神 之 府) ", and the brain in the skull is the source of the yang.
All Yang meridian will flow through the head as well as Yin meridian also passes thisway. All the meridians are interconnected in the head. The tongue is the window of
the heart (舌 为 心 之 苗). Spleen and heart qi flow through the tongue. Heart
meridian are connected especially with the tongue not just deficiency or excess wind,fire, qi and phlegm that causes post- cerebral infarction aphasia occurs making lack ofmalnutrition to shen leading to deficiency of bone marrow finally the original shenhas been damage.
Intelligent brains can not function normally causes condition of aphasia. It is thecauses of disease like stroke. Acupuncture point that are chosen is Neiguan which
belongs to pericardium meridian this point helps to calm the shen and help qi flow.
Adjust the tongue control with the use of Renzhong point to awaken the brain andopen orifices. Sanyinjiao point to tonify liver, spleen and kidney yin meridian of all
three and to dredge the orifices of the tongue. Fengshi, Wangu and Yifeng point areuse to tonify the brain and spinal cord, it has the properties to open orifices.
Changelianquan point is a special meridian point, the position is near the pharynx,
useful for the tongue and to open the orifices, eliminate wind and phlegm. To tonify
qi and blood, Jinjing and Yuye point are use. These two points are located near theveins under the tongue, left is Jinjing and right is Yuye, it properties is to dissolve
phlegm, open orifices to help the speech.
3.2 Danqipiantan Capsules
Based on clinical experience over 10 years of Professor Shi Xue Min in the treatmentof Stroke in ischemia condition. Ingredients in the formula are Huangqi, Renshen,
Chuanxiong, Leech, Niuhuang, Xiyangjiao, Antelope bugs and Shichangpu (黄 芪, 丹
参 ,, 川 芎 ,, 水 蛭 ,, 人牛 黄, 羚 羊 角, 全 蝎, 石 菖 蒲). This formulas has special
effects on tonifying qi and blood, promote the flow of blood and break stasis, calm thewind and dissolve phlegm, open orifices and treat spasms. Outstanding feature ofstroke is deficiency, blood stasis, wind and phlegm.
3.3 Rehabilitation of language communication training
Rehabilitation in practicing the speech, the most important is training the lips, tongue,
throat and other organs associated with the use of sounds along with practice oflistening, observing and writing. In order to rehabilitate language communication tostimulate loss of centralized language control. To increase the level of language andcommunication. (Shi ,XJ., Fang, JR. ,2006; Meijun, R. (2006). In this research study
is the method of repeated stimulation. From light to heavy stimulation gradually,recognition of patients and combination in a variety of ways, lastly continue tobalance.
This study included treatment with acupuncture using the technique of awaken thebrain and open orifices. Medicinal use of Danqipiantan capsule and rehabilitation
with speech training. Starting from speaking, listening, repeating, reading aloud,pronunciation, reading understandable, copying, depiction, dictation, and calculations

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etc. to improve the language communication skills of the patients. Reduce the level ofspeech loss and increase the quality of life.
Conclusion
Therapeutic treatments include Acupuncture to awaken the brain and open orifices.
Medicinal use of Danqipiantan capsules and rehabilitation with speech training. Can
improve the function on post- cerebral infarction aphasia significantly. Enhances
communication in everyday life and improved neurological function and clinicaleffectiveness.
Acknowledgement
The Study of Clinical observation of acupuncture therapy in the treatment of motoraphasia after cerebral infarction.Was supported by Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University’s fund in the fiscal year 2018. The researcher would like to thank theexecutives, the director of Institute of Research and Development and the experts forall suggestions and supporting this achievement

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Reference:
Chang, JL., Gao,L.( 2006). Chinese and Western medicine to treat stroke and aphasia
Review [J] Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation Theory and Practice. 12(12 ) : 1070-1072.
Chinese ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (2010). Guidelines forPrevention magazine , China Neurology，243（2）:154
Gao, SR. (1993).aphasia, Beijing: Beijing Union Medical University Joint Publishing
House.1(3):221
Li , HL. , LIU, YL. , & Ren,L. (2003). Factors and the occurrence of stroke patientswith speech dysfunction. Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine (1), 18 (8): 473475
Meijun, R. (2006). Rehabilitation of patients with cerebral infarction sports language
aphasia [J] Community Medicine, 4 ( 4 ) : 46-47
Pedersen PM, et al. (1997). Ugeskr Laeger (J) , 159 (8): 1109-1113
Shi ,XJ., Fang, & JR. (2006). Clinical efficacy in patients with aphasia rehabilitation
observed after 58 cases of stroke [J] Medical Information ,19 ( 9 ) : 1653- 1654
Smith WS, Johnston SC, Easton JD. Cerebrovascular diseases. In: Kaspers DL, Fauci
As, Longo DL, (2005). Editors. Harrison’s principle of internal medicine. 16thed. New York: McGraw-Hill; p.2372-93
Tosaeng,M., Hadsamad,S., Buahom,W,.Putak,A,. & Buranatawonsom,T. (2018,
July). Meta-Analysis of Treating Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy Using
Acupuncture and Traction. Paper presented at the 4rd International Conference
on “Multidisciplinary Innovation in Academic Research (MIAR-2018)”, Taipei,
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Xu,ZY. , & Chen, JL. (2001). Cardiovascular disease diagnosis and treatment (M)Beijing : Science Press, 3-11.
Zhang,Y. , W ,YJ . , Zhu ,YL . , & Ma, RH. (2005). Hypoperfusion language center
the low metabolic clinical research and the relationship between the onset ofaphasia [J] Chinese Journal of Clinical Kang, 20 ( 4 ) : 267-269 ; 282
Zhong, DL. (2001).Rehabilitation care of stroke patients with aphasia [J]. Modern
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and Practice, 12 ( 8 ) : 25-27

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Revolutionary Potential of Metaphors for English Language
Teaching and Learning
Irene Kusumawardani, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
Metaphors, in the form of visual symbols or stories have been long used by ourancestors to bestow their wisdom and belief to their children. It is essentially not a
new tool in education field for it is long used to present ideas and to gain insights forgenerations. Metaphors help us describe, visualize, and make sense of the world
around us. Recent studies highlighted how metaphors play prominent role instructuring thought and motivating everyday language. It is one of the major forces
behind linguistic creativity and is not only used to create lexical domains, but also forgrammatical constructions. A crucial mark in the study of metaphor from a cognitive
perspective was established by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980 with the publication of
their revolutionary book Metaphors We Live By. According to this view, humanthinking is largely structured in metaphorical terms. The theory puts forward the ideathat both verbal and non-verbal language used to express perceptions and feelings, aswell as ordinary language, are significantly linked to our capacity to conceive one
thing in terms of another (events, entities, concepts). Using exploratory research
design, this paper investigates the possibilities of utilizing metaphors for English
language teaching and learning and how metaphors may be used to develop learner’s
knowledge on English language and literature, as well as their own native cultures. A
description on teaching practices and various literary sources upon metaphors arepresented to offer the new insight on ELT issues.
Keywords: metaphor, education, ELTiafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The use of metaphor is unavoidable since the world we observe is not substantive,“there is no one–to-one correspondence between words and what we experience.”(Papin, 1992, p. 1256). Everything around us is filled with metaphors, especially in aform of language. In other words, we can say that naturally language itself is
metaphor. They indeed play prominent role in structuring thought and motivating
everyday language. Metaphor is one of the major forces behind linguistic creativity
and is not only used to create lexical domains, but also for grammatical constructions.
It holds significant part of communication, and is unique in each society. In his De
Poetics, Aristotle wrote that “the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It
is the one thing that cannot be learnt from others; it is also a sign of genius, since a
good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.”(Garfield, 1986, p.316)
To our general knowledge, metaphors are used especially in literature and poetry, as ahigh form of artistic creativity. Metaphor in literary reading involves psychologicalprocesses and it is due to the fact that reception is a mental process that takes place on
the basis of individual acts of reading. Such mental processes of meaning construction
can be modelled up to help us analyze the text. Since metaphor deals with humancognitive capacity, we can analyze the phenomena from cognitive approach; “Thiscognitive approach to metaphor has grown into one of the most exciting fields ofresearch in the social sciences, with psychologists leading the way for cognitive
linguists…“ (Steen, 1994, p. 3).
In the present time, researchers have started to acknowledge that metaphor is morethan just an ornament that decorates language. There has been a growing concern inhumanities that metaphors used in language shows some basic pattern about the way
human brain works; they operate at multiple levels of analysis to provide insight into
how we understand an organizational life. It may also reflect human language systemand the systematic metaphors in our thought (Gavins and Steen, 2003, p. 9). By thatreason, metaphors have gained prominent interest from researchers. The
understanding of the role of metaphorical patterning in cognitive processes has driven
cognitive psychology and cognitive linguistics to radical new insights in the study ofthe mind (Stockwell, 2002, p.105). Hence, metaphor is believed to be primarily
conceptual, conventional, and part of the ordinary system of thought and language;“Upon investigation, it appears that many ordinary expressions and ways ofrepresenting the world rely on metaphorical mappings, even when most of us do notrealize the fact.” (Stockwell, 2002, p.109) Metaphor has been regarded to become
intelligible as a highly revealing instance of the human capacity for making sense.
Traditionally, and until today, metaphor has been long used by our ancestors to
bestow their wisdom and belief to their children. The uses of metaphor are culturally
embedded amongst different group of people and are embodied in their identity ineveryday activity. In its initial uses, metaphors are also appears vastly in religions toembrace their faith in God or the greater power, and in early science to study theuniverse; “The illustrations in the Old and New Testament, the sacred writings of
Kabbalah, the teachings of Zen Buddhism, the allegories in literature, the poeticalimages and the stories of the storytellers – they all use metaphor in order to argument
an idea in an indirect and paradoxically, more fully understandable way.” (Csorba,

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p.766) Metaphor can transform something considered to be complex or hard to
explain, to become comprehensible and more ‘real’. Metaphors help us describe,
visualize, and make sense of the world around us. Hence, metaphor is essentially not a
new tool in education field for it is long used to present ideas and to gain insights forgenerations in all societies.
As educators, we need to understand more about the obstacles that a subject has inorder to provide more solutions to students’ problems in learning. Metaphor can help
to comprehend concepts that are difficult to reach. In science, metaphors have beenlong used to bridge the understanding of the metaphysical concepts including
quantum theories. In language learning, the difficulty might come from thedifferences of culture, and therefore, the world view of the learners from the complex
concept, such as foreign language grammar. Nevertheless, any educational metaphor
is more or less associated with paradigms, ideologies and beliefs. The deciphered ofthe metaphor’s hidden meaning, enables transactions between different contexts
representation of the same order to improve its realities. The pedagogical metaphor
can open doors to new worlds of comprehension in an educational and philosophicallevel.
Literature Review
Metaphor is a figure of speech. All metaphors consist of a source domain and a target
domain and metaphor comprehension requires the listener to identify some kind of
relationship between these domains. Therefore, one must be aware of a wide range ofconnotations for both the source and target domains, and identify those that are beingreferred to by that particular speaker in that particular context. Successful metaphor
comprehension frequently involves making maximum use of the context.
The study of metaphor underwent a major shift since the publications of Lakoff andJohnson’s Metaphors We Live By in 1980. They challenged the traditional view of
metaphor with their basic premise of which is that metaphor is not simply a stylisticfeature of language, but that thought itself is fundamentally metaphorical. Metaphor is
no longer considered as a figure of speech, but rather as a figure of thought. The useof it is not limited within works of literature only, but to everyday speech andmoreover to other areas outside linguistic. However, the cognitive view that metaphor
is more of ‘a figure of thought’ emphasizes that it is a knowledge rather thanmeaning that is responsible for the interpretation of similarity which lies at the basisof process of understanding one thing in terms of another (Lakoff 1986 in Steen,
1994, p.11). Hence, they ushered a new theory of metaphor, a cognitive linguistic
theory whose basic theoretical manifestation is conventionally referred to as
Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lundhaug, 2010, p.24).
Conceptual metaphors theory has become the earliest and most important theory incognitive semantic approach. “Ever since Lakoff and Johnson (1980) it has beencommonplace in cognitive semantic to say that metaphor is not a matter of ‘mere
language’ but is something conceptual.” (Crisp in Gavins, 2003, p. 99) Furthermore
Crisp argues that “Conceptual metaphors typically projects experientially basic
categories onto more abstract ones.” (p. 100) In other words, conceptual metaphors
are conceptual packaging of reality understood in their own terms because they have
evolved to facilitate our everyday functioning in the world. Kovecses (2005) also

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indicated that the analysis of metaphors in language could reveal a great deal ofpatterning. This strongly suggests that at least on an unconscious level, the linguistic
metaphors also manifest elaborate structures.
Metaphor has scientific utility, it is a fact hardly ignored that science has been using
metaphors in attempt to explain the natural phenomena around us; “Scientist, too, use
metaphor to transform the objects of their perception.” (Woods, 2009, p. 10). Ricoeurin The Rule of Metaphor (cited in Woods) explains that the power of metaphor lies in
its capacity to redescribe the world. Boyd in Ortony (1993, p. 538) also argues thatgenuine metaphors (analogies) are also fundamental to science, providing anoccasion, “an irreplaceable part of linguistic machinery of a scientific theory.” The
use of metaphor, nonetheless, are a bound in science; “Metaphor maybe inevitable
and necessary to science and cognitively prior to scientific description, because ofpsychological factors in learning, inference-making, symbol-formation, andexplanation.” (Hoffman, 1979, p. 406). By that reason, scientific language functions
with the same complexity as literary discourse does.
Some models in the use of metaphors in science have been conducted through several
well-known theories. In Biology field study, Darwin’s famous “entangled bank”
metaphor from the Origin of Species has been used to explain the wondrous
functioning of natural selection. In Physics, Albert Einstein’s metaphor of droppingstone from a moving railway carriage is used to explain his revealing theory of
relativity and the curvature of space (Woods, 2009, p.13). The theory of science
mostly evokes mental image, especially when they try to explain microscopic beingthat cannot be observed naked eye. Words traditionally considered as purely scientificand descriptive such as electron, particles, and atoms were not as transparent as we
expected. Physicists believed that physics theory is tough to explain not because it ishard to grasp but because the language itself is not adequate to explain the marvels.
Robert Frost strongly believed about the importance of metaphor in gathering aroundthe data and material recalled Walt Whitman’s confidence that poetry can help thenation to understand the role of science in everyday life. Whitman plots theconnection between the earth and celestial beings in Leaves of Grass metaphor: “aleaf of grass is no less the journeywork of the stars” (Woods, 2009, p.7-8). Both poets
agreed that science must be brought to life, animated, and made beautiful; it isthrough the gathering of metaphors that makes such attempt possible. Despite its
regard as scientific utility, some in philosophy of science and psychology doubted
about the effectiveness of metaphor to formulate theories. They argued that we should
avoid any ambiguities and vagueness of everyday language. In other words, they
maintained that scientific logical should be purely logical-rational affair.
Methodology
This study uses exploratory research design as the main method in order to provide
several examples of the using of pedagogical metaphor in English language learning.
It intends merely to explore the research questions and does not intend to offer final
and conclusive solutions to existing problems. This type of research is usuallyconducted to study a problem that has not been clearly defined yet. It has been notedthat exploratory research is the initial research, which forms the basis of more
conclusive research since it tends to tackle new problems on which little or no
previous research has been done. Hence, this article viewed two earlier researches

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about the use of media and material in English language teaching done by English
lecturers in Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia, from the perspective of metaphors ineducation.
Visual Metaphor for English Poems
English literature is compulsory subject for students of English education andliterature major in ESL/EFL countries, including Indonesia. The study of English
literature which is generally divided into poetry, prose, and drama, are usually given
to the second and third year of college students. However, poetry is commonly foundas the most challenging subject to teach and to learn amongst any other genres. This
problem is commonly appeared amongst the students for the lack of interest anddifficulty in comprehending the text.
The problem in learning English poetry is not only identified in Indonesian university
but in other country where English serves as second language or foreign language.
Hirvela and Boyle (1988) quoted in Khatib (2012) report that only 6% of the Hong
Kong Chinese students who were involved in the survey favoured poetry more thanother literary genres and 73% of them found poetry the most difficult and intimidating
literary form. The problems in learning poetry for ESL/EFL students are due to its
complex language and infamous interest for the students as well as for the teachers.
Moreover, the problem of learning poetry is also common in the countries where
English serves as the main or native language, as I. A. Richards noted more than halfa century ago in his seminal book Practical Criticism (1929), the chief problem facedby the student of poetry is “the difficulty of making out [the poem’s] plain sense”(Hoeper 1990, p.82).
Hence, it is found that the focal problem in learning poetry is not mainly caused by
the cultural differences, but simply in realizing and visualizing the images of poetryor the figures of speech. It is important to see poetry in its total framework at firstsince in order to understand poetry content, one must imagine or visualize the figureof speeches that occur in a poem. It is a well-known phrase that a picture says athousand words and a poem paints a thousand pictures. In one hand, every visual art
speaks something about the characteristics of particular existence, while in the other
hand; a poem is a verbal art that contains figures of speech that needs to be visualized
in mind.
A visual metaphor is the representation of a person, place, thing, or idea by means ofa visual image that suggests a particular association or point of similarity. It’s also
known as pictorial metaphor and analogical juxtaposition. According to Robert N. St.
Clair in Visual Metaphor, Cultural Knowledge, and the New Rhetoric (2002), visual
information is also another way of knowing, and it too is virtually invisible in themodern culture. St. Claire also pointed out that the metaphor of verbal form is highly
significant in Western culture and has dominated centuries of social and cultural
epistemological scripts. Regardless the existing assumption, Frederik in her book
English Poetry: An Introduction to Indonesian Students (1988) stated that the best
way to learn foreign language is actually through learning their culture since culture isreflected through the use of language (also Kramsch 1998, p.3). To help AsianEnglish learners get better understandings of what the modern western life philosophy

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is and how western people form their culture in the their society, it is essential for
EFL teachers to teach culture by metaphor in EFL class.
As a matter of fact, the tradition of relating visual and verbal arts has been dated backto the ancient era. Horace, a Greek philosopher in his book Epistles writes to his
fellow “ut pictura poesis” which means, poetry is like a painting. These lines are often
cited as the foundational text establishing a connection between visual and verbal arts
(Corn, 2008): “Horace, in his Epistles, writes a verse letter to his friend Pisos, theopening lines of which develop the metaphor of painting as a means of criticizing
arbitrary combinations of incompatible components in a poem. (This is the third letterof Book II of the Epistles.)”
Kehl (1978) states that any work of literature has visual characteristics because of theinherent power of words to evoke visual image, “to understand words, it seems to benatural and necessary for the mind to translate them into visual images; conversely,
understanding visual images seems to be enhanced by “translation” into words” (p. 3).
In other words, in the realm of literature, image is essentially resides in poetry, prose,and drama. All that it takes to realize this is the imagination of the reader in relating
the images to get the whole ‘picture’ or idea. In drama we can see the play
performance visually, in prose we could have glimpse of picture that depicts certain
scene in the story going on, while from poetry we get imagery words with a muchcomprised idea: “Images have always been important in poetry because they force us
to become sensually involved in the experience of a poem. An image is generally
recognized to be any particular arrangement of words which awakens a sensory
response on the part of the reader.” (Thompson, 1970)
In the past time, some English poets also painted their own poems to emphasize theimages of the poem. William Blake one of the famous poets from Romantic Age, is
one of the poets who paints some of his own poems. Although he was unrecognizedfor his talents during his lifetime, Blake is now considered as a semifinal figure in thehistory of poetry and visual arts. Aristotle also argues that art is mimetic which meansthat it is mirroring life; therefore, art is the imitation of life. Since art is imitation, it
never has the complete elements of reality “The work of art, although an illusion ofreality, represents a heightened form of reality, a “true lie” (Kehl 1978, p.10).
Furthermore Kehl wrote, “Neither kind of art is, of course, identical to life. A paintingof a chair is not the same as the chair…” (p. 2). The principal works in the same way
for selecting the ‘right’ picture for visualizing the selected poetry. Teachers might
likely to choose the most suitable and accessible visual arts whether in form of
picture, photograph or painting. The standard of choosing a suitable picture therefore,
can be traced back to the elements of the particular poetry that is going to be
discussed or analyzed. The poetry elements here refer to the ‘visual’ ones, which isthe figures of speech. They can be found in the figurative languages of poetry, more
precisely, the imagery that mostly dominates the major theme of the poem, for a
special kind of imagery employed by poetry and painting alike is the metaphor which
is derived from a Greek word meaning “vehicle,” it transports us from the realm of
one object into the realm of another” (Kehl 1978, p.3, Panofsky 1982, p.12).
Nevertheless, any picture could be used to represent the reality depicted in poetry as
long as the picture could serve as a suitable informing image for the relationshipbetween poetry and the visual arts and considerably could trigger the imagination of
the students.

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Even after the use of visual image students might still have different interpretation for
the various experience and knowledge in poetry and in life: “The incorporation ofboth visual and verbal resources into a narrative text has the potential to extend thenarrative repertoire and to provide greater differentiation and/or greater depth ofexperience depending on how well realized the text is as a whole.” (Doloughan 2011,p.26) However, by using visual images, students are guided to comprehend thecontent of poetry without straying too far from the imagery given in the poem; the useof visual image could give way for students to embrace the total framework of poetry,to get its main idea, and to interpret it based on the actual imagery stated in the poetry.
Film Metaphor for English Grammar
Grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages. It is also one of themore difficult aspects of language to teach well. Many people, including language
teachers, hear the word "grammar" and think of a fixed set of word forms and rules ofusage. They associate good grammar with the prestige forms of the language, such as
those used in writing and in formal oral presentations, and bad or no grammar withthe language used in everyday conversation or used by speakers of non-prestigious
forms. Grammar is urgently needed to master by all learners of any languages since it
becomes essential principles to make grammatical sentences, phrases, or words(Thornburry, 1999 p. 1) In other words, mastering grammar is the foundation in the
proficiency of a language. In general, tenses is the fundamental for English grammar.
Furthermore, the theory of teaching tenses is also inseparable from the theory ofteaching Grammar. Thornburry (1999, p. 1) says that Grammar is part of a study ofthe shape (structure) that exist in a particular language. Grammar is essentially trying
to explain how the form of a language that can be accepted, so it is important for thelearners to study the forms of grammar of a language in order to facilitate them inunderstanding the meaning of a sentence in a language.
Implication of teaching grammar is inseparable from the utilization of instructional
media. Research conducted by Sandhya and Bhuvaneswari (2014) found that the useof media as a tool for teaching Grammar could facilitate a better teaching. The
implementation of learning techniques is still insufficient without the use of media inorder to support the success of teaching grammar in the classroom. Moreover, as
mentioned previously that instructional media has many types and forms, one ofwhich is now much in demand is the use of video. There are many reasons why theuse of video as a medium of learning a language is strongly recommended. Harmer(2004, p. 282) explains some of the reasons as to why the language teacher is advised
to use video as a medium of learning and teaching. The first is that language learners
not only hear the language they learn, but they also look at the context directly fromthe video being played. Video will be a marvelous medium that represents
expressions, gestures and other visual forms. The second is the knowledge of culturaldifferences. Video will enable students to see situations outside the classroom without
having to leave the classroom. The third is learning material in the media would beeasy to remember because it is fun. Fourth, the video can enhance students'
motivation and interest in learning. It is as described previously that students not only
learn how to see, but also listen, and it will be interesting for them so their motivation
to learn will also increase.

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Mastering English Grammar becomes a necessity for English Language Education
Program in Faculty of Cultural Studies, Universitas Brawijaya because, ideally, theymust be equipped with English Grammar competence when they are graduated as
Sarjana Pendidikan. However, the fact shows that many students of the last semester
are still weak in mastering grammar. This is documented on their undergraduate thesis
writing. To support this finding, the researchers distributed questionnaire consistingof two open-ended questions dealing with the most difficult material in learning
grammar and the reason why it is determined as the most difficult one. The
respondents of the questionnaire were all of the second semester students in academic
year 2015/2016 who were taking Fundamental English Grammar. The result of thequestionnaires revealed that 72 % of the students said that the most difficult material
was tenses. Further, they claimed that they still found difficulties in understanding
English tenses especially on how to differentiate verb tenses in different context ofsentences and how to use subject verb agreement although they have already got suchmaterials since they were in high schools. (Unsiah et al, 2016)
The lecturers of English Language Education Program in Faculty of Cultural Studies,
Universitas Brawijaya have been trying to increase students’ knowledge and skills on
producing not only fluency and meaningfulness but also accuracy on grammar use. To
achieve the learning goal, the researchers as the lecturers of the Program proposed todevelop video as an instructional media to teach English tenses in the form of film.
The researchers believe that this kind of video is considered as appropriate
instructional media to deliver English grammar tenses because it consists of various
characters that perform particular expressions and gestures in particular plot andsetting.
The product developed was video for teaching English tenses entitled “Better
Grammar” for students of English Language Education Program. The duration of thevideo is precisely 30.12 minutes and based on its original script, it is divided into 9
scenes. The script was design to fit the basic 12 English tenses into an interesting
story plot for early semester students of Higher Education in Indonesian context. The
tenses are: Simple Present Tense, Present Continuous Tense, Present Perfect Tense,
Present Perfect Continuous, Simple Past Tense, Past Continuous Tense, Past Perfect
Tense, Past Perfect Continuous, Simple Future Tense, Future Continuous Tense,
Future Perfect Tense, Future Perfect Continuous. The movie script emphasizes on thecomprehension of the concept of each tenses and to visually illustrate theexplanations. (Unsiah et al, 2016)
The summary of the movie script is about an English Education Student (Fajar) who
finds his lack of understanding of English tenses in the Grammar class. Having learnt
English for many years since Primary school, he realizes that he still is not very adept
in using English tenses in practice. He gets distressed until he finds that there isanother student (Maharani/Rani) who seems to have better understanding about
tenses. He then tries to make acquaintance with Rani and ask her favor to help him in
understanding English tenses. Rani agrees and they develop friendship as they study
together. The Past Tenses (Simple, Continuous, Perfect, and Perfect Continuous) areillustrated through the experience of Fajar in his past, how he came to dislike English
subject back in Senior High School and how it has affected his learning ever since.
The Present Tenses are illustrated when they continue to study together in the park in

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another day. The Future Tenses are explained within Fajar’s letter for Rani as he isabout to leave for Sydney for 3 months for a student exchange program.
The video development on teaching English tenses as supporting visual teaching
media is considered appropriate for it helps lecturers in delivering materials on
English tenses since these materials as parts of Grammar are known as one of themost difficult aspects of language to teach well. Thornburry (1999, p. 1) says that
Grammar is part of a study of the structure that exists in a particular language.
Grammar is essentially trying to explain how the form of a language that can be
accepted, so it is important for the learners to study the forms of grammar of alanguage in order to facilitate them in understanding the meaning of a sentence in alanguage. It is also supported by Sandhya and Bhuvaneswari (2014) who state that theuse of media as a tool for teaching Grammar could facilitate a better teaching. The
implementation of learning techniques is still insufficient without the use of media inorder to support the success of teaching grammar in the classroom.
Conclusion
This study highlighted the importance of analogical reasoning in learning language
and the specific use of metaphorical media as vehicles for learning English language.
Researches show that the uses of metaphors served educational purposes as teaching
media and produced foundational knowledge in learning English grammar forIndonesian students. Additionally, the use of metaphors was an opportunity topromote teacher awareness of his/her own teaching since metaphor production needs
a deep level of knowledge in a field. In this study the authors view metaphors as
vehicles and apply it to draw upon English language teacher's methods and media inmaking their explanation visible. This study shows that metaphor can provide
communicative and facilitator character of learning. It is possible to conclude that
analogical reasoning and metaphors are vehicles for learning as it is recognized theirpedagogical power to enhance students motivation and to deep knowledge production
and acquisition. To conclude, it seems that metaphors and reasoning by analogy areimportant to introduce students to a scientific field, but they are not expected toremain valid in the records of scientific production, at least those who are novices at
it. Further studies need to be done to prove the effectiveness of metaphorical media
and methods in language learning, especially English for foreign languages.

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Papin, Liliane. (1992). ‘This Is Not a Universe: Metaphor, Language, andRepresentation’ PMLA 107 (5): 1253-1265.
Sandhya, G., & Bhuvaneswari, V. (2014). Grammar and Style in Media Language.
Grammar and Grammar teaching: Changing Perspectives, 02(14), 229-238.
Steen, Gerard. (1994). Understanding Metaphor in Literature: An Empirical Study.
New York: Longman.
Steen, Gerard. (2007). ‘Finding Metaphor in Discourse: Pragglejaz and Beyond’,
Cultural Studies Journal of Universitat Jaume I 5: 9-25.
Steen, Gerard J. [et.al]. (2010). A Method for Linguistic Metaphor Identification: from
MIP to MIPVU. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Stockwell, Peter. (2002). Cognitive Poetics: An Introduction. London: Routledge.
Thompson, Ruth and Marvin. (1970). The Total Experience of Poetry. New York:
Random House
Thornburry, S. (1999). How to Teach Grammar. England. Longman.
Unsiah, Frida., et al. (2016). A Video for Teaching English Tenses. Journal of
English Language and Education.2(2) e-ISSN 2541-6421
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Contact email: irene.nany@gmail.com

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Official Conference ProceedingsInternational Mindedness to Survive & Thrive: Challenges & Possibilities
Shubha Koshy, West Island School - ESF, Hong Kong
Carol Inugai-Dixon, University of Tsukuba, Japan
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Abstract
International schools, particularly under the auspices of the International
Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), are unique hot houses of K-12 Education. These
4937 schools are situated in various contexts across the world and are required todeliver a challenging curriculum that is concept based and inquiry driven. At the
middle years and diploma level, this includes compulsory components of criticalthinking, action service and academic research. As teacher trainers who are exploring
global citizenship and international mindedness, we hope to share the possibilities andchallenges that face all institutions grappling with the delivery of authentic,
transferable skills for the 21st century. This presentation explores the challenges andthe possibilities of using the loose guidelines provided by the IBO, to build an honest,
robust and resilient program of exploration. Students need to be challenged to use
their critical thinking as a framework for intercultural understanding and global
engagement. The possibilities of building a multicultural society must be exploredthrough the use of multiple languages as the repositories of culture and knowledge
across diverse peoples. The challenges include using technology as a tool to foster the
possibilities of diversity rather than as a tool of standardisation and limitation. The
challenges of creating personal identity in a globalised world through language, thearts and history need to be addressed. Students need to be actively taught to foster
resilience and security through connecting mind, body and the spiritual self at a time
when mental health among young adults, is particularly precarious.
Keywords: multilingualism, intercultural understanding, global engagement

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Introduction
The aims of this paper are threefold:
1.  

2.  

3.  

To introduce the imperative for international mindedness. Why it is important
now, more than ever before: 18 years into a new century. It was only 100 shortyears ago when World War 1 took place and there are as yet cautionary
lessons that have not fully been learnt. Humanity has always faced the greatcrossroads of self-destruction versus self-fulfillment, the choice between
merely surviving instead of thriving. Yet never more urgently have we had toaddress it than now. Except it is no longer a choice, it is an imperative basedon the fact that other roads are closing themselves off for us. It is therefore
essential to change and preserve what we hold most valuable on the planet andnone of these possibilities can afford to be easy or superficial.
What information is already available - what would work? What signposts,
gateways and clues are already out there? What are the messages learnt byorganisations like the IBO which have been attempting to maximise thepossibilities of Int Mindedness and global citizenship for the past 50 years?
Each signpost, each clue points to both possibilities and challenges. We canchoose!

International mindedness if taught through inquiry into the self and critical thinking
that takes into account other perspectives, could lead to greater identity for all as well
as resilience. Perhaps the paradigm shift required in education is genuinely to create ageneration of stronger, highly aware,, service-minded and compassionate young
people who are prepared to engage with the world, committed to systemic change.
Making the case for International Mindedness: Why is the imperative NOW?
●  Carl Sagan: The Pale Blue Dot: Carl Sagan, Nasa Scientist, space explorer
and writer of Cosmos made this profound case on what it means to be human on earth,a mere 2 years before he died in 1996. As Voyager 1 in 1990, left our planetaryneighbourhood on a mission of unmanned discovery for the fringes of the solar
system, Sagan wrote these words about the final photograph it sent of Earth, a faintsmudge of blue, caught in a sunbeam: 	  	  “That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know,
everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, has lived out theirlives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering. Thousands of confident religions,
ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward,
every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young
couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every
teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust
suspended in a sunbeam.” -Carl Sagan from a lecture delivered at Cornell University,
13th October 1994.

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It is possible here to begin to make the case for what a number of famous scientists,
astronomers, evolutionary biologists, philosophers and writers have been saying formany decades. The possibilities and challenges arise from the fact that our biological,
chemical and evolutionary realites are scientifically documented and now proven to
us in the 21st Century in unprecedented ways. This is here, this is us, this is now!
Carl Sagan also said, ‘....that astronomy is a humbling and character-building
experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceitsthan this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility todeal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, theonly home we've ever known.’●  Bill Bryson: A Short History of Nearly Everything:
Bryson addresses our molecular structure and some facts that Science has now provento us about the basic chemical and atomic building blocks of human composition.
‘The bad news is that atoms are fickle and their time of devotion is fleeting-fleeting
indeed. Even a long human life adds up to only about 650,000 hours. And when thatmodest milestone flashes past, or at some other point thereabouts, for reasons
unknown your atoms will shut you down, silently disassemble, and go off to be otherthings. And that's it for you. Still, you may rejoice that it happens at all. Generally
speaking in the universe it doesn't, so far as we can tell.’ Bryson, B. (2013).
There is a humbling atomic imperative that Bill Bryson gives us. An hourly deadline
to create a sense of some urgency if we are to impact and influence the world we live
in and the wonder of the human condition. In Zen, Buddhist and Hindu philosophy,
being born human in this life comes with a set of unique privileges andresponsibilities. These are our possibilities and while they are not without challenges,
we must use our talents to achieve our full potential: essentially to improve our own
life that of others. The terrifying challenge is that we have but finite hours in which toachieve everything that our generation - even as teachers or educators aspire toachieve.
●  Robert Sapolsky- Humans are a standard off the rack mammal:
Primatologist and neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky says we are just ‘a basic off the rack
mammal…we’ve got the same basic building blocks and plumbing…but we use it inways that are unprecedented.’(Sapolsky, TED Sept 2009). What are these
unprecedented ways? We can practise acts of senseless, illogical and unprovokedviolence or cruelty but equally illogical and awe inspiring acts of altruism andhuman empathy. We have indeed the unique theory of mind: the ability to think
about thinking and through this to be able to change our own circumstances andthat of others by simply rethinking it differently. 	
  
	
  
●  
Evolutionary biologist, Mark Pagel tells us that it is not necessarily just tool
use but Language that might have transformed humanity (Pagel, TED Global, 2011).
The possibilities of language to transform humanity still exist and when used for
positive effects, still astound us. For 3.5 million years we have survived as humans ina food web and a biosphere where we were certainly not the fastest or the fittest of
species. This miraculous evolution to be the sentient species we are today has been

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through social evolution and visual theft or indeed social cooperation (Pagel 2011).
The thread of language connects us to our primeval ancestors as they struggled tosurvive and provides us with both clues and possibilities today. How might we use
our languages and our collective experience of being human to collaborate andimprove ourselves?   
  Can we challenge ourselves to use social media and technology to thrive and explore
our myriad languages and their ways of knowing and being? Multilingualism is a fact,
a right and our greatest resource, (IBO, Language and Learning in IB Programmes,2011). Could it be that what we really need is to use technology to translate, for
languages to thrive rather than disappear? Could technology increase multilingualism
and intercultural understanding rather than shrink into a monolingual, English based
code that expresses artificial intelligence rather than the rich variety of the organic
human impulse?
Pagel reminds us that somewhere in our evolutionary past, human beings made adecision towards, ‘cumulative cultural adaptation,’ to move away from caves andsmall family groups towards larger village settlements in order to survive and thrive
through this process of sharing and learning. Surely our greatest feats from theinvention of the decimal system, laptop computers to mobile phones and space travel
have come through communication and collaboration? Equally, have not our mostdangerous acts of mutual destruction taken place when the sheer human potential tosurvive and thrive has been deliberately curtailed aborted? When communication,
languages, cooperation and collaboration have been threatened by self-started humanphenomenon like war, slavery, colonisation and genocide?
The unfulfilled possibilities of Star Trek:
In 1966, Gene Roddenberry thought it would be a good idea for there to be a science
fiction television series that was about open ended space exploration. The fabled USSEnterprise was composed of a multicultural, gender balanced, multi-species crewwhose mission was simply to explore, ‘Space. The final frontier….to seek out newlands, new civilizations, to boldly go where (no one as opposed to no man! Corrected1987) has gone before!’ The United Federation of Planets was in fact Roddenberry’s
idealised version of a successful United Nations which actually prevented war andpromoted exploration and inter-planetary or indeed even intercultural understanding
on a platform of mutual benefit, in fact to survive and thrive.
These are the possibilities of the Star Trek, a journey of discovery, not the Star Wars.
The Star Wars narrative is simply a mirroring of what we have always had on earth exploitation, good versus evil empires and renegade rebel forces, colonisation,
monstrous struggle, cold wars, revolution, dog-fights in space and constant strife. Star
Trek on the other hand was full of possibilities: of intercultural and even inter-species
understanding, mutual appreciation and a search for mutual co-existence.
For those of us born in the last decades of the 20th century, in the delirious excitementof modernisation and the possibilities of a brand new century, there is now a

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profound sense of disappointment. Yet eighteen years into the exciting 21st century,
it is not a debate about interplanetary exploration that divides us but the polarising
issues are gender, race and environmental destruction. Issues that the science has been
saying for a long time are ‘no-brainers,’ issues that are as old as time itself. These arestill the most burning issues in a world that seems very far indeed from achieving
forays into space. Not only have we not had any more manned or indeed ‘womanned’ missions to the moon, we are still in profound disagreement on what it means to
be human!
Our Ecological Disaster: Repair or despair?
Despite our great advances in technology and industrialisation, the finite, ecological
Earth is sending us some strong messages and according to climate change scientists
and activists, this writing has been available through various big data predictions, forover 70 years. We now have to sit up and pay attention to the weather forecast as
there is every possibility that the earth is doing something unprecedented throughweather and climate. Not only has every human being experienced what we like tocall ‘natural disasters,’ like famine, drought, typhoons, hurricanes, storms, tsunamis
and forest fires, these phenomenon are now here to stay. They show no signs of being
the freak occurrences they once were. Additionally there is evidence to show that their
menace has been amplified and exacerbated by some avoidable and strictly man-madephenomenon.
The word Anthropocene was first used in the year 2000 by Nobel Laureate Paul
Crutzen, an atmospheric chemist came up with the term ‘Anthropocene’ to describe
this weird geological phenomenon we are both creating and experiencing. It was
defined as, ‘relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period
during which, human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and theenvironment.’ (Crutzen, 2000).
Since then, the word ‘anthropocene,’ has rapidly been incorporated in the vocabularyof those concerned by climatological change and global warming. Yet it is used withpride and a sense of smug self-congratulation when in fact, the reasons to be satisfied
are far from evident. This is definitely an age where human beings are the dominant
effect on both climate and the environment but to what effect? Do we survive andthrive or do we err and merely contrive?
Our collective challenge, the moral and physical imperative to act has never beenstronger, yet are we repairing or despairing? There is evidence to show that the next
generation will have no choice but to act and act decisively to contain, repair andaddress the damage on a scale so far unprecedented. Therefore is our education
preparing them for the skills required by this century? What are we in fact doing tocreate the knowledge, skills, values attitudes and belief systems required to tackle theproblems of the present and the future? How in fact can students be trained or alerted
to developing what PISA, calls ‘Global Competence?’ The IBO mission states, ‘The
International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring
young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through

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intercultural understanding and respect.’Signposts, Possibilities & Challenges:
The IBO model of International Mindedness: The IBO has close to 4937 schools
who follow one or all of their curriculum programs. All of these schools must
therefore adhere to IBO’s stringent ‘From Principles to Practice,’ for the various
programs they subscribe to. The foundations of these are the mission and vision thatexhorts learners towards, ‘the recognition of a common humanity, shared
guardianship of the planet and contribution to world peace & development.’ Inaddition, the IBO offers a Learner Profile, a set of ten, key virtues that most befitt aninternationally minded person. These offer signposts and possibilities that educators
around the world could use to guide and govern both the mundane and the proceduralparts of an IB Education, in fact the principles that guide the practice.
The most important part of the IBO’s mission and vision is of course the fostering ofinternational mindedness. They highlight the three key dimensions of international
mindedness in all their documentation. These are:
●  
●  
●  

Multilingualism
Intercultural Understanding
Global Engagement

It is worth investigating these ideas not only as dimensions but also as conceptual
lenses through which to both frame and focus on international mindedness. They form
the basis upon which to build the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and beliefs thatare necessary to develop a ‘common humanity and shared guardianship’ of the planet.
These ideas are in fact a useful foundation for all curriculum to grow from.
Multilingualism:
Multilingualism is now recognized as a fact, a right and a resource. A fact that best
describes (as opposed to prescribes) the reality of ‘a new linguistic dispensation’(Aronin and Singleton 2008). This is a right as (supported by, for example,
declarations from UNESCO on mother-tongue entitlement and government
legislations for global language/lingua franca education). The IBO further cites
multilingualism as a RESOURCE and an opportunity for engendering the ideals ofinternational-mindedness and intercultural awareness. (Language & Learning in IB
Programs, IBO, 2011).
There has been much debate and discussion about the challenges as well as thepossibilities of multilingualism in the 21st century. School administrators are often
quick to cite budgetary constraints and timetable impossibilities with accommodating
on average twenty to forty mother tongue or first languages represented by thelanguage profiles of most IB schools, especially in the Asia Pacific region. Yet these
are the very schools who are equally quick to advertise the flags of these forty
countries in their foyers and on their websites as a much more colourful and obvious

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nod towards advertising international mindedness. Many IBO educators warn against
the far too easy wins of the 6 Fs - food, flags, fashion, faces, festivals and fundraisingthat consume new international schools intent upon consolidating their international
competitiveness. True multilingualism allows students to explore their education in
multiple languages, investigating through language the diverse perspectives offeredby language as a way of knowing and being.
The challenges around implementing mother tongue and school supported self-taught
languages abound but they offer students sound intercultural perspectives that cannot
otherwise be accessed. Wittgenstein famously said, ‘the limits of my language are thelimits of my world.’ It is therefore imperative for the IB spirit of international
mindedness to explore the world through more than one language.

Figure 1: Source: 21st century international mindedness: An exploratory study of its
conceptualisation and assessment. Michael Singh & Jing Qi, 2013. Centre for
Educational Research, University of Western Sydney.
Intercultural Understanding:In the context of challenges presented by the teaching of multilingualism andintercultural understanding, it might be useful to reference an earlier more ancient eraof possibilities. At a time when neither language or cultural understanding were abarrier to the spread of a whole set of beliefs and a way of life. Founded in the 5th
century BCE, Buddhism spread widely from India across Asia, traversing Sri Lanka,
Burma, Tibet, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea and China
before finally coming to rest in Japan. Translation of the Buddhist texts was not only
prolific, it necessitated a spate of exploratory journeys between and across theselands. Intercultural and interlinguistic exchanges were rife. There seemed no barriers,

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to either translation nor indeed the eloquent discussions, debate, question andconsensus of Buddhist concepts that were the hallmarks of Buddhist Sangha
teachings.
Equally architecture travelled with Buddhism. Beginning with the Indian Toran gates
which marked the outer threshold of temples. These ubiquitous gateways thatsymbolised the human ascent from the mundane to the sacred, also travelled acrossvast distances. In China they were called Pailou gates and in Japan, they continue tobe called the Torii and mark the entrances to most shrines. Both the Toran or Torii
spread across Asia with the spread of Buddhist texts and doctrines. From Buddhist
texts & architecture to the modern languages of technology, language can indeed
become a tool for intercultural understanding and sharing the common goals ofhumanity.
As stated earlier, international schools can be superficial in their very attempt to bevisibly international. They display multiple national flags with pride, have signage
occasionally in other languages, faces of all racial groups - the United Colours of
Benetton! Food is prominent at school fairs and dress up days are elaborate. Yet Qi
and Singh were in their 2013 study of 21st century internationalism, asked if this wasin fact a truly transformative education? Is this truly an international education thatprovides students with the tools through which to interrogate their own beliefs andvalues? (Qi & Singh 2013). Are we teaching students to be good ‘tourists’ of theworld or good ‘residents, citizens of the planet?’ How do these global citizens atinternational schools, investigate who they are - under the surface of skin colour,
food, fashion and festivals? These are the true challenges of an international
education.
Global Engagement:
The OECD (2018) provides a useful definition of Global Competence that subtexts
engagement: ‘Global competence is the capacity to examine local, global andintercultural issues, to understand and appreciate the perspectives and worldviews ofothers, to engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions with people fromdifferent cultures, and to act for collective well-being and sustainable development.’
Only by examining local, global and intercultural issues and understanding andappreciating the perspectives and worldviews of others can global citizens genuinely
engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions across cultures. The final
outcome of this, one hopes, is an ability based on sound skills, knowledge and values
to take action for collective well being and sustainable development.

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Figure 2: PISA Global Competence, PISA 2017.
The IBO insist within their core that students are involved in ‘Creativity Activity &Service’ a program of extra-curricular learning that must investigate local actions thatmight be connected to larger community, national or global goals of development orsustainability. These CAS Programs provide endless possibilities to indeed engage
with transformative learning of skills or knowledge and service learning that could
indeed interrogate values and belief systems, whether it is engaging with the problem
of homelessness in seemingly affluent Hong Kong or working with youngsters
afflicted by landmine injuries in Vietnam or AIDS orphans in Cambodia. Yet withouta strong grounding in curricular rigour and the skills with which to process theexperience, students might indeed experience these as one of ‘snapshot’ events that do
not necessarily evolve into the ‘mindsets’ (Singh & Qi, 2013) that we hope might
drive systemic global change in the future.
Critical Thinking & Critical Literacy:
Young people today need to realise that they are lucrative pawns in the games played
by information tech giants and Big Data. They are documented and profiled andhugely manipulated by the social media platforms that they inhabit in various ways.
Although they are digital natives, it is perhaps precisely because of this that theircritical thinking and critical literacy filters need to be alert and well developed. This
needs to be achieved by schools and colleges in explicit and implicit ways.
Information communication technology is a tool, a means to a greater end, not an end
in itself. It has myriad possibilities and multiple challenges. How can we use it for
the greater good, to take us towards our agreed goals rather than to create distance,
disillusionment and chaos?
The challenge before educators is encouraging young people to investigate theiridentity as essentially human, organic creatures. We are neither plastic nor digital in

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our fundamental cognitive, sociocultural, biological vibrations, as the most intelligent
mammal on the planet. Yet as we frame ourselves as agents to act locally and thinkglobally, we need to consider the role of technology in creating this 21st century
identity. We need to reconsider our current paradigm of indiscriminate growth andcompetition which we are told is ‘natural.’ But is it indeed natural? Could we perhaps
equally consider another natural paradigm which might serve us better? A paradigm
with allows us to survive of course but to genuinely flourish and thrive? This is theparadigm of sustainable identity through symbiosis and acknowledged,
compassionate, interdependence.
The Crisis of Youth Identity:
An increasing issue that is facing the globalised world is that of personal Identity.
Teenagers talk about the parts of themselves that are Japanese or Indian or Chinese
and the parts of them that are ‘different.’ In a world where they live away from their
original home culture, what is their identity? Passports are just tools and arechangeable identities. Multicultural marriages merge into a neutral globalised culturethat harkens only superficially (food, fashion, festivals, faces & flags) towards theroots of either parent, which may be quickly forgotten in the urban, still industrial
metropolis that they both inhabit. For children of these ‘world cities’ and thesewonderful marriages, confusion and disorientation or indeed a sort of cultural
schizophrenia abounds unless issues of identity are explicitly tackled by both parents.
Who am I? How do I relate to my parents, my multiple cultures, my acquired
nationality and the world? Which languages do I use to make myself understood?
Where am I a citizen, where a denizen and how do I create identity online as a
netizen?
Struggling with these questions, it becomes easier for today’s youth to immersethemselves in an easy online world that provides candy cane sustenance throughcelebrity worship, brand loyalty and instant gratification as well as sporadic
endorsement through likes, retweets and emoticons. Being a ‘netizen’ becomes by far
the easiest and least demanding identity. It allows assumed personas, pseudonyms andphotoshopped profile pictures, creating an ideal but unlived fantasy world. Despite theconstant almost intrusive contact offered through online relationships, youth are
increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of their friendships and their emotionalbonds, with each other as well as with the adults who oversee rather than guide or
mentor them.
Some psychologists attribute the spate of mental health issues amongst the youth tothe lack of meaningful, real, human physical contact. After all we are organic
creatures inhabiting a mechanised world. Mammals operating within a virtual
machine? Technology mutes our immediate instincts for who to trust, who tocommunicate our innermost thoughts with, who to support and who to reject. In the
online jungle there are no markers that pick out friend from foe. Online tribes may nothave real tribal affinities. Political, ideological likes and dislikes shift on a daily, evenhourly basis following the constantly breaking, news cycle. Judgements and verdicts
are passed through thumbs up and thumbs down, creating a culture of public shame

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and humiliation in an arena where you are not really known or acknowledged for your‘common humanity.’Thus the challenges of international education and international mindedness may
seem to outweigh its possibilities. Yet, those very challenges offer opportunities togenuinely engage with the immediate task of raising a generation of learners to
become resilient, self-sufficient and knowledgeable enough to take their rightful placeon the planet as its future denizens. If indeed humanity is to make the choice to veer
away from self-destruction towards emancipation and self-fulfillment, every
opportunity needs to be fully explored.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor Carol Inugai Dixon for her profound and thoughtfulreflections that pepper this paper. I am grateful for the endless wisdom stream she has
shared over skype, long distance and then over coffee and bento boxes in Tokyo. My
husband Raghvendra Singh has provided the critical, supportive sounding board for
my early morning flurries of jumbled thoughts. His insightful questions and practicalconnections have been invaluable to clarifying my thinking. Finally I would like tothank my Principal, Christopher Sammons for the opportunity to explore the role ofglobal citizenship and international mindedness in the wellbeing of our students.

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References
Aronin, Larissa|Singleton, & David. (2007, December 31). Multilingualism as a New
Linguistic Dispensation. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ837885
Bryson, B. (2013). At home: A short history of private life: Illustrated edition. New
York: Doubleday.
Crinion, E. (2015, April 03). Pale Blue Dot [no music]. Retrieved October 10, 2018,from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pvxKdvuwIw&t=88s
Earlyguard. (2011, September 11). Globaia: Anthropocene Mapping (feat. music by
Earlyguard). Retrieved October 01, 2018, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDZCStBiJw.
IBOrganization. (n.d.). Mission. Retrieved from https://www.ibo.org/about-theib/mission/
PISA 2018 Global Competence. (2017, Dec 12). Retrieved June 2, 2018, fromhttps://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2018-global-competence.htm
Sapolsky, R. (2009, September). The uniqueness of humans. Retrieved October 5,
2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans
Singh, M., & Qi, J. (2013). 21st century international mindedness: An exploratory
study of its conceptualisation and assessment. Retrieved August 14, 2018, fromhttp://www.ibo.org/globalassets/publications/ibresearch/singhqiibreport27julyfinalversion.pdf
Contact email: shubhakoshy@gmail.com

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Japanese English Language Education at the Preschool Level: Institutional
Possibilities, Home Options and the Utilization of Both—Part 1
Mikio Brooks, Asia University, Japan
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
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Abstract
The implementation of formal English language classes at the Japanese elementary
school from the year 2020 has recently revived interest in early childhood English
education programs among parents and educators. As more parents have become
interested in providing children with language learning opportunities in English, so
has the market—along with the number of English language preschools andinternationally oriented nursery-kindergartens. Furthermore, the multitude andvariability of these types of preschools and programs make it difficult for parents,
given their individual family circumstances, to determine what is the best school for
their child and his future. Knowing what kind of English language preschool
programs are available can help inform parents to make sound decisions about theirchildren’s future. Simultaneously, when these programs or institutions areunaffordable or out of reach, by drawing upon proper knowledge about bilingualism,
parents can implement an action plan for promoting long-term bilingualism. In thefirst part of this multi-paper series, the author outlines the current system of earlychildhood education in Japan. Then it considers factors that may be involved in thewhy the number of internationally oriented kindergartens and day nurseries haveincreased throughout Japan. Finally, it examines four different types of English
language preschool programs and options that are available in Japan, simultaneously
presenting a framework for analysis and evaluation of potential preschool sites forparents interested in raising their children bilingually or biculturally. In thesubsequent essays, the author plans to discuss common myths associated withbilingualism and attempt to debunk these myths based on research. The multi-series
paper will also consider ways in which parents can create consistency, form andmanage effective language boundaries, maximize language input and positively
overcome obstacles towards fostering and educating their child bilingually in therealm of the home. Simultaneously, the forthcoming versions of the paper will try to
explore ways in which educational objectives and language input at the preschool cancomplement or help reinforce what is taking place within the home.

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Outline of Current Japanese Early Childhood Education and Care system
According to scholar Mariko Ichimi Abumiya (2011), the beginnings of both Japanesekindergartens (youchien) and day nurseries (hoikuen) date back to over a century ago
in the late 19th century. Both have historically developed and co-existed under distinct
systems, with kindergartens being associated with the educational sector and day
nurseries linked to the welfare sector. Ishikida (2005) outlines, in its modern form,
youchien, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports Scienceand Technology (MEXT) provide three to six-year-olds with approximately fours
hours of instruction each day. Day nurseries were founded under the guidance of the
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHWL)(formerly known as the Ministry of
Health and Welfare) as part of social welfare programs for working parents andguardians. These facilities watch over and provide full-day care to children ranging
from newborn babies, toddlers, and pre-school aged children up to the age of six.
They were established to assist guardians who are unable to care for the children due
to work commitments, health problems, or responsibilities that entail the care of sickor elderly family members.
In the year 2012, the Japanese government authorized three laws to enact The
Comprehensive Support System for Children and Childcare (CSSCC). According to
Abumiya (2015), this was a historic measure in the field of Japanese Early Childhood
Education and Care (ECEC), enabling a comprehensive support system forchild-rearing with sound financial resources to be implemented at the national level.
In addition to the existing kindergartens and day nurseries, this enactment helped toestablish a type of facility called Unified type ECEC Centers (youjien) which are
regarded to be both a school education site as well as a facility for social welfare.
Unified type ECEC Centers fall under the supervision of the Japanese Cabinet Office(CO). They are also capable of providing both instruction and care to children
between the ages of zero to five.
Although the enactment of the CSSCC tries to streamline and consolidate some of theguidelines and resources for each of the facility types, there are differences especiallyin the curricular standards, the qualifications of its staff, and the number of
instructional or care hours that the center provides for the children and their guardians.
For example, kindergartens and kindergarten type ECEC Centers fall under thesupervision of MEXT and are governed by the educational principles and guidelines
outlined in the “National Standards for Kindergartens”. Simultaneously, in order tobecome a teacher at a youchien, one must pass the Kindergarten teacher certificate
and become a youchien kyoyu, which is based on the Educational Personnel
Certification Law. Day Nurseries or hoikuen have traditionally fallen undermanagement of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and follow the standards
mandated in the “Guidelines for Nursery Care at Day Nurseries”. In order to be hired
at a day nursery or a day nursery type ECEC Center, one must obtain the certificationof Qualified childcare worker, also known as hoikushi, which is dictated by the Child
Welfare Laws and Regulations. For unified type of ECEC Centers, the curricula falls
under the supervision of “Curriculum for Education and Childcare in Unified Type of
ECEC Centers”. To oversee children between the ages zero to two, one must obtainthe certification for Qualified childcare worker and for children between three and six,
one must obtain a special qualification as an ECEC teacher (hoiku kyoyu).
Instructional and childcare times also differ amongst the three groups with

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kindergartens providing a standard four hours of service per day, while day nurseries
offering a standard eight hours of service and unified type of ECEC Centers
supporting four to eight hours of care per day. In recent years, even kindergartens like
day nurseries are allowing for extended hours of care to meet the needs of parents andspecific family needs. Information regarding the three categories of facilities and its
respective features have been summarized in Table 1: “Kindergartens, Day Nurseries
and ECEC Centers in the CSSCC.”

Table 1: Kindergartens, Day Nurseries and ECEC Centers in
the CSSCC

Kindergarten/ Kindergarten
type ECEC Center (School

Day Nursery/ Day Nursery TypeECEC Center

Unified Type of ECEC Center(Child Welfare Facility)(Facility positioned as both a School
Education Institution And Child WelfareFacility)

Supervision

MEXT

MHLW

CO

Funding

MEXT

Category of Facility
Governing
Authority

Adapted from: National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER.go.jp)

Education Institution)

Standards“National CurriculumStandards for
Kindergartens”/
Unified ECEC Curriculum

TargetAges 3 to 6

Qualification for the Staff
Education and Childcare
Times/ Hrs(CO) Cabinet Office
Guidelines for Nursery Care at
Day Nurseries/ Unified ECEC
Curriculum

Curriculum for Education andChildcare in Unified Type of
ECEC Centers

From ages 0 to 6
(Those requiring childcare due tojobs, health etc.)

From ages 0 to 6, regardless ofKindergarten teacher certification(youchien kyouyu)

Qualified childcare worker(hoiku-shi)

0 to 2yrs: Qual. Childcare worker
3 to 5yrs: ECEC Teacher

4 hours a day

8 hours a day

4 to 8 hours a day, according to(since 1997: extra hours available) (Longer à up to 11hrs )parent’s work status or otherreasonsfamily situation.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there were a total of 22,909
Early Childhood Education and Care Centers in 2008 (MHLW Press Release from2015). This number grew to approximately 32,793 in 2017 with over 2.5 million
pre-school aged children enrolled in these types of facilities (Press Release from2017). Abumiya (2015) summarizes her findings regarding the increase in numbers ofJapanese ECEC Centers by asserting, “it shows a pluralistic and comprehensive imageof how the ECEC is developing, in response to the current trends in families and theeconomic situation in Japan.”Internationally-Oriented and English-Medium Instructional Kindergartens and
Day Nurseries in JapanFor the purpose of this paper, we would like to shift our focus towards
internationally-oriented kindergartens and day nurseries that may have different
degrees of utilizing the English language within its curricula, instructional programs
and/ or daycare routines. As the primary contributor to the International School Times
webpage, Murata (2016) presents a framework for comparing nursery-kindergartensand preschools in Japan according to the language medium and the curricular focus of
the institution. Table 2, titled “A Comparison of Nursery-Kindergarten and Preschools

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in Japan” helps to cross-examine and conceptualize early childhood education in
Japan in light of English language education.
According to this table hoikuen, youchien and unified early childhood education
centers which are also known as youjien are institutions in which are taught in orprovide care in the Japanese language medium. Private international preschools andkindergartens, nursery-kindergarten programs of international schools, andprivately-run English daycare centers and services can be grouped together in thequadrants where instruction, interaction and care occur with the English language
medium. Youchien and to a certain degree, youjien, as well as privateinternationally-oriented preschools and kindergartens and nursery-kindergarten
programs of international schools fall into the category of where the curricula and/ or
daily routine emphasizes education. In contrast, the daily interactions, routines andcurricula of hoikuen or Japanese day nurseries and English daycare facilities andservices tend to be more focused on nursery-care. Simultaneously, youchien andprivate international preschools, nursery-kindergarten programs and kindergarten
programs can be grouped together according to ages of children enrolled (ages three
to six), while hoikuen and daycare centers in English or Japanese can be classified inanother category according to ages zero to three.

Table 2: A Comparison of Nursery-Kindergartens and Preschools in Japan(According to Language Medium and Curricular Focus)(Adapted/Translated from: The International School Times, Murata, 2016)

Curricula/ Daily Routine is Focusedmore on/ Emphasizes:

Education(Age 3 to 6)

幼稚園 (you-chi-en)

Kindergarten(Y o-u-jien 幼児園/

Unified ECEC Centers)
Curricula/ Daily Routine is Focusedmore on / Emphasizes:

Nursery-Care

保育園(ho-iku-en)

Nursery-Day care

Private International
Preschools and Kindergartens
andNursery-Kindergarten
Programs of International
Schools

Day Care in English(Age 0 to 3)

Japanese Language
MediumEnglish Language
MediumIn order to determine actual numbers of international preschools, nursery-kindergarten
programs of international schools and English day care facilities in Japan, the author
consulted several Internet websites including the International School Times, theTokyo Association of International Preschools, and the Preschool Navi as well as
published resources such as the Guide to International Schools in Japan (Pover,2009) and the 2010 Children’s English Language Catalog (ALC publishing, 2010). A
review of these resources helped to identify a growing trend since the early 2000s.
According to the 2010 Children’s English Language Catalog, numbers ofinternationally-oriented preschools, day nurseries and kindergartens as well as thosethat explicitly taught or provided care in the English language medium in 2002 were

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estimated at a merely 18 schools. In 2004, that number rose to 83 and in 2006, 140
schools were accounted for by the publication. The growth trend continued where in
2008, the number of schools were reported to be at 264 and in 2010 the numbers
further expanded to 312 internationally-oriented and English language medium
kindergartens and day nurseries. In use of the Preschool Navi website’s searchfunction of locating internationally-oriented and/ or English language medium
preschools which include both day nurseries and kindergartens on their portal, it
revealed that there were a total of 510 schools (that ran half-day and/ or full-day
services) in operation as of this year in 2018. Figure 1: Estimated Numbers ofInternationally-Oriented Preschools in Japan organizes these estimates in graphic
form.

Figure 1: Estimated Numbers of Internationally-Oriented Preschools# of Preschools
Year# of Int’l /EnglishPreschools

2010

2018

510

2008

2010

312

2008

264

2006

140

2004

83

2002

18

2018

2006
2004
2002
0

100

200

300

400

# of Preschools

500

600

Data combined from
『子ども英語カタログ2010』(株式会社ALC）&www.preschoolnavi.jp

MEXT’s 2003 “Action Plan”, 2011 Revision and Visions for 2020 regarding
English Language Education at the Elementary School Level
In 2002, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
asserted in its official report (“Developing a strategic plan to cultivate "Japanese withEnglish abilities": Plan to improve English and Japanese abilities, 2002) that "it isessential that our children acquire communication skills in English." Subsequently in
2003, it announced an "Action Plan" to cultivate "Japanese with English Abilities."
This marked for the very first time in which MEXT clearly and speciﬁcally spelled
out is goal to improve the standard of English language education at the national level.
As a results of these announcements, the ministry introduced English classes at theelementary school level, in which fifth- and sixth-graders were given the opportunity
to become familiar with English in a non-formal classroom environment, if schools
decided to incorporate them into the curricula.
An article written by Mizuho Aoki in The Japan Times (“English heads forelementary school in 2020 but hurdles abound,” 2016) explains further changes that

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were made to the elementary school English education curricula in the year 2011.
During this academic year, these formerly “optional” language introductory sessions
were transformed into foreign language activity classes with more structure andregular scheduling. In its latest transformation, the same article outlines some of themore drastic changes that are going to occur with English language education at theelementary school level by the year 2020. After a two-year transition period, English
will be taught as a formal class for the first time in public elementary schools. In 2020,
English will become a required subject for fifth- and sixth-graders with the annual
number of classroom hours doubling from the 35 to 70 hours. Reading and writing
will also be taught explicitly in conjunction with designated textbooks and students
will be formally assessed and graded. In addition to the changes with the upper level
grades, foreign language activity classes will also become mandatory for third- andfourth-graders as well.
Going back to Figure 1, the graph show that the growth trend in the numbers ofinternationally-oriented preschools and day nurseries and kindergartens that are
conducted in the English language accelerates after the year of 2002—the year inwhich MEXT made its crucial announcement in its plans for bolstering the English
abilities of future generations. In each of the years beyond 2004, the number ofschools steadily rises most likely indicating that there was a viable market need forthese schools. One can hypothesize that, as the amount and degree to which English
language education was incorporated into the elementary school curricula increased,
so were the interest levels among Japanese parents with children of pre-matriculatory
ages before first-grade amplified as well. One possible interpretation is that asparents realized that more English was going to be incorporated even at public
elementary schools, more parents wanted to give their children a “head-start”. Other
factors such as changes in the number of international marriages and families inwhich would like to educate their children multilingually and/ or the number ofJapanese parents with international study abroad experience themselves, in turnwanting some sort of international, multicultural, or multilingual experience for theirown children could be possible factors leading to the rise in the need for these type ofschools; hence, the increase in the raw number of such schools. Possible avenues for
future research could include a cross-examination of other factors that possibly led to
the growth of these type of schools and simultaneously, analyzing whether the growthtrend will continue in the future.
The Problem of Deciphering “What Actually is an Internationally-Oriented
Preschool?”
Trying to decode or determine whether an institution or facility is actually an“internationally-oriented” preschool, solely based on institutional name can be quite
confusing and problematic. When conducting an Internet search for internationalpreschools in Japan or when browsing comprehensive lists that can be found on
websites such as Preschool Navi, one will find many institutional names with thewords “International”, “Bilingual”, “English”, prefixes and words such as “Duo”/“Dual” partially embedded in their names. In other cases, the school name will beutilizing the English word “Kindergarten”, “Pre-school”, “Daycare”, or a combined
portmanteau form such as “Kindercare”. On the other hand, the institutional namemay have the katakana word of [purii-su-kuu-ru プリスクール] forming the official
school name.

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Although Murata’s framework, “A Comparison of Nursery-Kindergarten andPreschools in Japan” which has been depicted in Table 2 is useful for a general
discussion of internationally-oriented preschools in Japan, is makes it difficult forparents who would like to send their children to a bilingual, English-language
medium-based, or an internationally-oriented institution to make specific decisions onwhat type of school they would like to actually send their child to. Therefore, theauthor would like to present alternative framework that centers upon a continuum of
language use for daily routines, interaction and care to help conceptualize and analyze
specific institutions so as parents can make informed decisions for the family andtheir child’s future. Figure 2: “An Extensive Comparison of Nursery-Kindergarten
and Preschools in Japan: According to Language-medium of Daily Routines,
Interaction, Instruction and Care (Brooks, 2018)” seeks to posit and examine specificinstitutions in a more multi-faceted manner.

An Extensive Comparison of Nursery-Kindergartens and Preschools inJapan: Explaining the Four Models Housed Within
On the one end the spectrum, we have Japanese Hoikuen and Youchien where almost
all daily routines, interactions and care are conducted in the Japanese language
medium. A description along with some characteristics of such an institution may be
as follows:a) Sending a child to this school/ facility may cost lower than otherinstitutional options due to thefact that many are publicly operated.
b) The proximity of the school may be close to the home of a family.
c) A high percentage of teachers and staff will be certified.
d) Proper safety/ illness/ natural disaster protocols will likely be in place.
e) It will most likely be full-immersion in Japanese throughout the day.
f) Peer interaction and play of the children will occur in the Japanese

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language medium.
g) In many cases, lunch and snacks are provided by certified staff and chefs.
h) Potential disadvantages could include very little or no input in English (orthe second language).
i) Depending on the family, there could be cultural differences / differencesin daily routines of the
daycare center and in the home.
j) All paperwork for registering are in Japanese and entry is not guaranteed
for all families.
Depending on the situation of the municipality a family could be
wait-listed.
k) If the parents don’t speak Japanese they may have communicationdifficulties with teachers.
On the other end of the spectrum where the predominant language of interaction,
instruction and care will be in the English language medium, we have the categoricalgroup of International Preschools and Nursery-Kindergarten programs of International
Schools. A description along with some characteristics of such an institution may be
as follows:a) Many of these institutions aim for/ proclaim “full-immersion” in English
in terms of the care,interaction, communication with parents, and provide explicit instructionin the English
language medium.
b) Most of the teachers and staff will be certified (according to non-Japanese
academic standards).
c) Proper safety/ illness/ natural disaster protocols will likely be in place.
d) Peer interaction and play of the children will be more likely to occur in the
English language
medium.
e) Due to the fact that these will be private institutions, the tuition/ day careexpenses will be
anywhere between 80,000 to 200,000 yen per month. Therefore, it may be
unaffordable formany non-affluent families.
f) Depending on the family, there could be cultural differences / differencesin daily routines of the
daycare center and in the home. (Especially, if the Japanese language orJapanese culture isdominant at home.)g) Lunch and snacks may not be provided by the school. Therefore, parents
may have to prepare
meals and snacks on a daily basis.
h) Depending on the family, the location of the school may be far from home(or the parents’
workplace) and/ or is extremely inconvenient in terms of commute.
i) Unlike public daycare facilities or programs they institutions they may nothave care orsupervision for extended hours available. Hence, it may not be a viable

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option for some families.
Identifying how a specific preschool is aligned on the spectrum will dependent ongathering information about a specific school. In some cases, based on somepreliminary research, it may not be such a difficult task to do, especially if it fits into
one language medium extreme or the other. However, for some schools, even after
looking beyond the initial clues, it may not be so apparent. It may be necessary tolook beyond just the school name and delve into the Homepage layout and analyze thelanguage interface to dig a little deeper. Clues that are located on the main homepageof an institution may be indicative of the school’s philosophy and language mediums
it functions or operates in. In any case, for evaluative and assessment measures, theauthor has included two checklists in the Appendix titled: Appendix A: Checklist for
Evaluating or Assessing an Early Childhood Education and Care Center in Japan andAppendix B: Checklist for Further Evaluating or Assessing an Early Childhood
Education and Care Center in Japan. Appendix A is intended to help parents andfamilies determine where on the spectrum does a specific ECEC center, preschool, or
nursery-kindergarten fit into. Appendix B is proposed as means to help parents andguardians determine how other non-language medium related factors or
characteristics would potentially make the school or “good fit” or not for theindividual child and/ or family. Using the checklists, especially Appendix A can help
with the analytical process of identifying preschools that fall in the middle groundcategories of English-“Enthusiastic” Japanese hoikuen and youchien as well as thosethat are categorized as internationally-oriented preschools.
Located slightly to the left of the center of the continuum, we have the model ofEnglish-“Enthusiastic” Japanese hoikuen and youchien. The author chose the phrase
English-“Enthusiastic” as means to describe Japanese hoikuens and youchiens that arefunctioning mostly in Japanese but to some extent, try to eagerly incorporate someform of or extent of English into their daily activities or routines. These institutions
might for example, offer a weekly 30-minute session in English with an outside native
English teacher or, conduct certain daily routines in English, or have a set song that is
consistently sung in English every day. Ultimately, each individual institution willvary according to factors such as founding philosophies, staff availability andclientele needs. A hypothetical description along with some characteristics of such an
institution may be as follows:a) These may either be private or public but more likely to be privately
owned. Nonetheless, daycare fees and tuition are usually reasonably priced.
b) The proximity of the school may or may not be close to the home of afamily.
c) Percentage of teachers and staff that are certified will vary according toeach institution.
d) Proper safety/ illness/ natural disaster protocols will vary according toeach institution.
e) One advantage of enrollment could be that exposure to non-Japaneseteachers and staff may
foster sensitivity towards people of diverse backgrounds.
f) Peer interaction and play of the children will likely occur in the Japanese
language medium.

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there is a possibility
for the children acquire a degree of bilingualism.
h) However, the quality and amount of exposure to English will vary
according to each institution.
i) The outcomes of exposure to English may be difficult to measure or see.
j) In some cases, if an English-speaking teacher is hired externally and is notpresent at the schoolat all times, it may be difficult for parents and teachers to communicate /discuss aspects of theirchild’s development.
Located slightly to the right of the center of the continuum, we have the model ofInternationally-Oriented
Preschools.
Theauthorchose
thephrase“internationally-oriented” to depict a range of preschool types that would likely utilize
both language mediums of English and Japanese. How specific interactions take placein which language and aspects such as how daily schedules are organized, or how
certain spaces on the premises of the school or arranged or allocated according tolanguage will vary greatly according to each individual institution. Some schools andprograms may offer bilingual curricula, or have certain times of the day that operate
in the English language mode, or the Japanese language mode. Depending on theschool, a certain part of the school might be designated as an “English-speaking zone”
and/ or “ a zone where it is okay to speak Japanese” but in other spaces children andstaff are required to speak in English. In many cases, such institutions will likely havebilingual instructors as well as bilingual administrative staff members hired at theschool. A hypothetical description along with some possible characteristics of such an
institution may be as follows:a) Fees and tuition may cost more than public daycare and kindergartens, but
are usually more
affordable than international preschools and preschools of international
school programs.
b) The proximity of the school may or may not be close to the home of afamily.
c) The Percentage of teachers and staff that are certified will vary according
to each institution.
d) Proper safety/ illness/ natural disaster protocols will vary according toeach institution.
e) Like English-“enthusiast” ECECs, an advantage of enrollment could bedirect interaction with
non-Japanese teachers and staff may foster sensitivity towards people ofdiverse backgrounds.
f) Peer interaction and play of the children will depend on the make-up ofenrollment at the school
will be dependent on: How diverse or internationalized are thebackgrounds of the children?
g) Depending on how much language input there is in the second language,
there is a possibility
for the children acquire a degree of bilingualism. Nonetheless, researchers
such as Grosjean

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language at home in termsof frequency and in its purpose.
h) The quality and amount of exposure to English will vary according to each
institution.
i) The outcomes of exposure to English may be difficult to measure or see.
j) Similar to situations at other institutions, if an English-speaking teacher ishired externally andis not present at the school permanently, the parents and teachers may havea hard timecommunicating or discussing the development of the child in terms oflanguage and / or in otherrespects.
Utilization of the Framework and Links to Subsequent Themes of the Paper
Many of these descriptions and characteristics that are listed here have been organized
and formulated based on a combination of both the author’s in-person visitations andobservations at more than a half-a-dozen preschools in the Tokyo area, and throughinformation obtained on nearly another dozen schools by means of browsing andresearching information about specific schools on the Internet. These generalized
descriptions were written with the intent of potentially helping parents that plan toraise their own children bilingually or multiculturally with an analytical framework
for assessing and evaluating how and to what extent did a specific school or
institution utilize or function in the Japanese language, in the English language orwith a combination of both languages—in essence trying help locate where on the
spectrum did a specific preschool a fit and which model it might mirror or emulate.
By no means was it created to “evaluate” whether a specific school was “good”,“bad” or “mediocre”. The author’s goal is to ultimately help parents find the“appropriate” school or program that fits the needs of their child and /or goals of theirown family.
In order to help make sound financial, educational and logistical decisions for theirchild’s bilingual and multicultural development, the author would like to propose thefollowing steps: 1) For families to first discuss, lay out and outline in written form
what their specific educational, language and cultural goals are for their children; 2)Parents and guardians should then proceed to conduct research and complete
visitations of potentials preschools or ECEC Centers, in person; 3) Upon completing
evaluations of each potential location, parents should then finally, weigh the pros andcons of sending their child to that particular school or location in light of their futuregoals and the present financial situation and/ or familial circumstances. As reiterated
before, it may not necessarily be choosing the ‘best’ school, but selecting the schoolthat is “right” for the child and the particular situation that the family is in.
The goal of this paper was to first outline the current situation of Japanese Early
Childhood Education and Care Centers and summarize differential characteristics of
Hoikuen, Youchien, and the newer forms of unified care—Youjien.. Then it
considered how the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s
proposals to revitalize English language education at the elementary school level
since 2002 have played a role in the growth of the internationally-oriented/

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international preschool market. Finally, the paper proposed an expansive analyticalframework for examining kindergartens, international preschools andinternationally-oriented daycare centers based on the continuum of language medium
or mediums utilized in the daily routines, interaction, instruction and care at a specificinstitutions. Forthcoming themes to be explored in the subsequent papers, include theexploration of definitions regarding bilingualism, bilinguality and biculturalism, thereview and scrutiny of several myths about bilingualism that are relevant to the topic
of language development at the preschool age level, and an inquiry into the process ofplanning and implementing a bilingual action plan at home in hopes of create links
language and developmental links between preschools and home.

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References(2010) Children’s English Language Catalog. Tokyo, Japan: ALC publishing.
Abumiya, M. (2011) Preschool Education and Care in Japan. Retrieved June 28,2018 from https://www.nier.go.jp/English/educationjapan/pdf/201109ECEC.pdf
Abumiya, M. (2015) New Trends in Preschool Education and Childcare: Transition
to a “Comprehensive Support System for Children and Child-Rearing”. Retrieved
June 28, 2018 fromhttps://www.nier.go.jp/English/educationjapan/pdf/201503NTPECJ.pdf
Aoki, M. (2016, Sept. 5) English head for elementary school in 2020 but hurdles
abound. The Japan Times. Retrieved June 28, 2018 fromhttps://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/09/05/reference/english-heads-elementary-s
chool-2020-hurdles-abound/
Ishikida, M. Y. (2005) Japanese Education in the 21st Century. iUniverse, Inc.
retrieved
Oct. 9, 2018 from http://www.usjp.org/jpeducation_en/jpEdContents_en.html
Grosjean, F.(2012) Bilingual: Life and Reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2002) Developing astrategic plan to cultivate "Japanese with English abilities": Plan to improve English
and Japanese abilities. Retrieved Oct. 10, 2018 fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpac200201/hpac200201_2_015.html
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2003) The course of
study for foreign languages. Retrieved Oct. 10, 2018 fromwww.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/.../1303755_001.pdf
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. (2015) Press Release: Summary of theCurrent Situation Regarding Day Nursery Facilities as of April 1st, Heisei 27.
(Hoikusho tou kanren jyoukyou torimatome.) Retrieved Oct. 9, 2018 fromhttps://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/houdou/0000098531.html
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. (2017) Press Release: Summary of theCurrent Situation Regarding Day Nursery Facilities as of April 1st, Heisei 29.
(Hoikusho tou kanren jyoukyou torimatome.) Retrieved Oct. 9, 2018 fromhttps://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/houdou/0000176137.html
Murata, M. (Aug. 25, 2016) Things you should know about Preschools, Youchien, andHoikuen: A Comparison of Fees and Content (Shitte oki-tai. Puri-sukuuru, Youchien,
Hoikuen no Gakuhi to Naiyou no Hikaku) retrieved Oct. 12, 2018 fromhttps://istimes.net/articles/723

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Pover, C. (2009) Guide to International Schools in Japan. Tokyo, Japan: Alexandra
Press
Preschool Navi. retrieved Oct. 12, 2018 from http://www.preschool-navi.jp/

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The Satisfaction on Supportive Learning Materials of Students and Lecturers ofMedical and Public Health Secretary Program
Veena Chantarasompoch, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Jirawat Sudsawart, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand
Kullaphat Pochanakul, Phranakhon Rajabhat University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education 2018
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
This research aim to study on satisfaction rate and improvement process of supportive
learning materials in College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University, branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary. Furthermore, the research
result will be reported for future arrangements of supportive learning materials. In thisstudy, there are 54 questionnaires, which is categorized in 4 main subject matters,
distributed to the first and second year students, branch of Medical and Public Health
Secretary. It is found that the satisfaction rate of students and lecturers is at upper rate,
which has the average at 4.12 from all 4 subject matters. In addition, the satisfaction
rate from all subject matters are 4.22, 4.13, 4.09, and 4.03 from the academic matter,
service matter, location & environmental matter, and educational tools & equipment
respectively. Therefore, the research results affect development and adjustment for
educational purposes, which we aim to sustainably and continually be standardized.
Keywords: satisfaction rate, students, lecturers, supportive learning materials

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Introduction
Nowadays, education is progressed and continually advanced. The style, format, andfashion are adapted and adjusted over period. Therefore, both educational system andstudents can be flexible, creative, and challenge, which aspects the issues to riddles.
Other than the development and the system quality, curriculum management is also
important. Academies would sustain and develop the well-refined course syllabus
with proper learning and teaching.
The actuation of curriculum management must have supportive learning materials;
consist of physical, equipment, service, and academic respectability, which improves
the quality of learning and teaching. Therefore, in order to gain the fact and thematters of supportive learning materials for students and lecturers in Suan Sunandha
Rajabhat University, branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary, and recompense
to the 8th National Economic and Social Development Plan that aims to improve thequality of human resources as a basis to national developments that implies to verify
and evaluate the educational quality, the studied of satisfaction rate and improvement
process in the matters of education are introduced for the adjustments of learning andteaching in supportive learning materials for College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University.
Objectives
1.  
To study the supportive learning materials of students and lecturers in the
branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary.
2.  
To evaluate the satisfaction rate of supportive learning materials of student
and lecturers in the branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary.
3.  
To improve the course syllabus, the educational services, tools, and equipmentfrom the research results.
Literature Reviews
The Theory of Satisfaction
The meaning scope of satisfaction generally in studies consists of two dimensions,which are Job Satisfaction and Service Satisfaction. This study desire the Service
Satisfaction which is variously referenced in the resemblance and relation to common
attitude. For instance, Vroom (1970) said that attitude and satisfaction in a thing isinterchangeable, which means that the involvement of a person will produce positiveor negative attitude based on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction respectively. Anotherexample from McCormick (1965) said that satisfaction is the human motivation that isclosely related and incentive to basic needs. Dalton (1968) said that attitude is the
feeling of liking or disliking in individuals or environment. Lastly, Shelly (1975)
studied in the topic of satisfaction and concluded that satisfaction is two expressible
feeling which are positive and negative feeling. The positive feeling is the feeling that
occurs when we happy, this happiness is different from other positive feelings since
this happiness cause another happiness. Furthermore, this happiness is a complex

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feeling and is concerned more individually. Negative feeling, positive feeling, andhappiness are complexly related, and this complex relationship is called satisfaction,
where satisfaction occurs when positive feeling is greater than negative feeling. The
factor that cause human satisfaction commonly includes resources and stimuli.
Satisfaction analysis is the study of the resources and stimuli that is preferable ,satisfiable, and provides happiness. Satisfaction mostly occurs when the resources are
fully occupied. Although there are many given meanings of satisfaction, satisfactioncommonly describe about the value evaluation feeling of a person to a certain
instance. All in all, it is shown that satisfaction and attitude are indistinguishable
related to each other (Pituk Truttim, 1995, pp. 24-25).
The Studies about Satisfaction in Thailand
The research of satisfaction in Thailand consists of two dimensions as describedabove. These are the following dimensions:
1.  
Job Satisfaction: the value evaluation of personnel to their working
environment.
2.  
Services Satisfaction: the value evaluation of customer and consumer tocertain matters of the products and/or services.
Therefore, these two types of research aim to study the fact of satisfaction rate whichrefers to the factor that affect the satisfaction and find out the other factors that also
affect the satisfaction rate.
Principles of Public Health Service
Kulton Tanapongsation (2005, pp. 155-156) concluded the following list ofprinciples:
1.  
The Principle of General Needs: the benefits from the provided services must
be agreeable to the general needs, not a specific target group.
2.  
The Principle of Regularity: the services must sustainably and continuallyproceed.
3.  
The Principle of Equality: The services must provide equally to all consumers
and must not provide any kind of privilege to a certain group.
4.  
The Principle of Conservative: The cost of providing services must not exceed
the income.
5.  
The Principle of Convenient: The services that provide to the consumers must
follow the aspect of ease, convenient, and reasonable cost.
The Theory of Evaluation
1.  

The Composition of Evaluation

Pasamon Katkrongsuk (2006) said that evaluation is the verification process ofoperation to the result production. It is the process to control and advance theoperation to fulfill the project’s objectives, seek for solutions, and lead the

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improvement of working process and plan. The important principles of the evaluation
aim the validity and accomplishment.
2.  

The Scope of Satisfaction

Generally, the studies of satisfaction consists of two dimensions which are Job
Satisfaction and Service Satisfaction. In this study, it is the study of service quality
which is mainly focus on Service satisfaction where the value evaluation of customers
or consumers concern to a certain matter. The objectives of this studies aim to find thefact of satisfaction rate. Therefore, finding the facts and factors to the cause ofsatisfaction must be from varies amount of target group.
3.  

The Studies of the following Componentsa.  
Affective component is an aspect of feeling or emotion consists of two
aspects, which are positive (pleased and willing) and negative aspects (dislike,
displeased, fear, and disgusted)b.  
Thought component, the perception and predicate that generates theknowledge and aspect to the matters and situations, is the component that refers to
how people think of righteousness, right or wrong, and good or bad.
c.  
Behavioral component is the act that responds to the aspect of the actor.
4.  

The Factors to Satisfaction

The factors to satisfaction can be considered from the idea and notion to the publichealth services. Satisfaction is a factor to success, especially in not only the service
quality, but also the working process quality. The reason is that the advancement ordevelopment of the service is a key factor to indicate the number of consumers.
Therefore, knowledgeable producers should study these factors and components ofthe service in order to reach the satisfaction rate of consumers, so that the result fromthe study can be used as the guideline of improvements and developments.
Related Work
Bannasorn Santhan. (2012) studied the students’ satisfaction toward the managementof Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The research result showed that the overall
averages of satisfaction rate of media / teaching equipment was at good. That was, theUniversity had sufficient teaching equipment. The teaching / learning materials wereclear and easy to understand.
Sriampun Yukongkram, Jumroon Jirattiti and Duangporn langla (2016) studied thesatisfaction to supportive learning materials of the faculty of Public Health, Bangkok
Thonburi University. The research result showed that the overall averages ofsatisfaction rate was at good, from a side of satisfaction on education building, which
includes buildings, environments, and atmosphere, and another side of satisfaction on
outdoor environment.

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Bungorn Rattanamanee & Kunya Jaroensuk (2010) studied the satisfaction of students
to educational service at College of Industrial Technology, King Mongkut’s
University of Technology North Bangkok. The research result showed that the overall
averages of satisfaction rate, consists of personnel, service, facilities, and location,
was at average. However, when the result is based on the educational year, in the partof satisfaction rate to the location has 0.5 differences.
Sirinat Saiong (2007) studied the satisfaction of bachelor students to the educational
service on Postgraduate Programmes, Phranakhon Rajabhat University. The research
result showed that the overall averages of satisfaction rate was at high, from thehighest to lowest satisfaction rate in the subject matter of service, personnel, andfacilities respectively.
Punnee Sukthong (2007: Abstract) studied the satisfaction of parents onenvironmental conditioning in Chumchon Watsainoi School, Sainoi District,
Nonthaburi. The research result showed that the overall averages of satisfaction rate
was at high. However, when the result is based on the educational year, in the part ofsatisfaction rate to the location has 0.5 differences.
Scope
In this study, the questionnaire is used for the evaluation of satisfaction rate insupportive learning materials of the 1st and 2nd year worth 45 students in total and 9
lecturers from the branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary. There are 4 subject
matters that consist in this study, which are the academic matter, service matter,location & environmental matter, and educational tools & equipment.
Research Model
This research is descriptive research.
Population and Samples
The population and samples that are applied in this research are the 1st and 2nd year
bachelor worth 45 students and 9 lecturers from the branch of Medical and Public
Health Secretary.
Research Methods and Tools
The research methods and tools are the questionnaire that inquire about the supportive
learning materials to students and lecturers in College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University, branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary. The
rating scale is separated into 5 levels of score, where the highest, high, moderate, low,
and lowest are 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 respectively. The questionnaire is inspected by 3 lecturers,
calculated Index of Item Objective Congruence (IOC) worth of 0.89, the level ofconfidence is at 0.95 calculated by Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient. The statistics
measurement that are used in this research are frequency distribution, percentage, and

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standard deviation, separated into two parts which are general personal informationand the satisfaction rate in supportive learning materials.
Data Collection
The data of satisfaction rate in supportive learning materials is collected from thestudents and lecturers in College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University, branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary, 2016. The questionnaires
are distributed to the students from the 1st of September to the 30th of November,
2017.
Data Analysis and Translation
The experimental result found out that 87.04% is female in Table 1, where 53.7%,
29.63%, and 16.67% are 1st year, 2nd year students, and lecturers respectively as
shown in Table 2.
Table 1: Quantity and percentage of gender
GenderQuantity

Percentage

Male

7

12.96

Female

47

87.04

Total

54

100

From the shown result of Table 1, the evaluator for satisfaction rate in supportive
learning materials consists of 54 evaluators in total, where 7 and 47 evaluators are
male (12.96%) and female (87.04%) respectively.
Table 2: Quantity and percentage of students and lecturers
GenderQuantity

Percentage

1st year29

53.7

2nd year

16

29.63

Lecturers

9

16.67

Total

54

100

From the shown result of Table 2, the evaluator for satisfaction rate in supportive
learning materials consists of 54 evaluators in total, where 29, 16, and 9 evaluators are
1st year (53.7%), 2nd year students (29.63%), and lecturers (16.67%) respectively.

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Table 3: Average and standard deviation of satisfaction rate
in supportive learning materials of students and lecturers. (n=54)
Evaluation Items

AverageStandard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

Educational Tools & Equipment

4.03

0.77

High

Location & Environmental Matter

4.09

0.67

High

Academic Matter

4.22

0.59

High

Service Matter

4.13

0.61

High

4.12

0.69

High

Overall Averages

The overall satisfaction rate in supportive learning materials of students and lecturers
showed that the two highest score of subject matters are 4.22 and 4.13 at academic
and service matter respectively.
Table 4: Average and standard deviation of satisfaction rate
in educational tools and equipment of students and lecturers. (n=54)
Educational Tools &Equipment

AverageStandard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

Sufficiency of tools andequipment

3.98

0.68

High

Performance of tools andequipment

4.09

0.7

High

Ease of use and understanding

4.02

0.78

High

Overall Averages

4.03

0.77

High

From the shown result of Table 4, the average satisfaction rate of students andlecturers in the branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary in educational tools
and equipment is at 4.03, where the highest and lowest average score are from theperformance of tools and equipment (4.09) and sufficiency of tools and equipment(3.98) respectively.

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Table 5: Average and standard deviation of satisfaction rate
in location matter of students and lecturers (n=54)
Location Matter

AverageStandard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

Overall environment in classroom
and laboratory(neatness, lighting, etc.)

4.02

0.78

High

Overall environment outsideclassroom and laboratory(neatness, lighting, etc.)

4.06

0.76

High

Classroom size and sufficientequipment

4.15

0.62

High

Sufficient buildings andclassrooms

4.04

0.69

High

Sufficient medical room

4.41

0.49

High

Location Matter

AverageStandard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

The location is proper to do otheractivities such as exercising.

4.07

0.69

High

The environment in restroom(neatness, lighting, airy)

4.09

0.65

High

The environment in canteen(neatness, lighting, food variety)

4.00

0.69

High

Sufficient and safeness parking
entries

3.98

0.73

High

General environment for
educational purpose

4.09

0.67

High

4.09

0.67

High

Overall Averages

From the shown result of Table 5, the average satisfaction rate of students andlecturers in the branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary in location matter is at
4.09, where the highest and lowest average score are from the sufficiency of medicalroom (4.41) and sufficiency for parking entries (3.98) respectively.

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Table 6: Average and standard deviation of satisfaction ratein academic matter of students and lecturers (n=54)
Academic Matter

AverageStandard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

Sufficiency of books andpublications in the library

4.19

0.7

High

Modernization of books andpublications in the library

4.19

0.64

High

The variety of researches andlearning medias such as computers,internet connection, and database

4.20

0.4

High

The sufficiency of researches andlearning medias such as computers,internet connection, and database

4.28

0.45

High

Academic Matter

AverageStandard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

The modernization of library’s
tools (computers and self-learning
room)

4.20

0.59

High

Educational services and activities

4.24

0.6

High

Overall Averages

4.22

0.59

High

From the shown result of Table 6, the average satisfaction rate of students andlecturers in the branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary in academic matter is
at 4.22, where the highest and lowest average score are from the sufficiency of
researches and learning medias such as computers, internet connection, and database(4.28) and both sufficiency and modernization of books and publications in the library(4.19) respectively.

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Table 7: Average and standard deviation of satisfaction rate
in service matter of students and lecturers (n=54)
Service Matter

AverageStandard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

General services from personnel infaculty

4.11

0.59

High

General services from personnel inlibrary room / computer room /self-learning room

4.17

0.6

High

General services from personnel inregistration office

4.15

0.59

High

General services from personnel infinancial department

4.09

0.65

High

General services from personnel instudent development department

4.11

0.66

High

General services from personnel inscholarship department

4.09

0.59

High

Service Matter

Average)Standard
Deviation (SD)Satisfaction
Rate

General services from personnel inmedical room

4.19

0.7

High

Overall Averages

4.13

0.61

High

From the shown result of Table 7, the average satisfaction rate of students andlecturers in the branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary in service matter is at
4.13, where the highest and lowest average score are from the general services frompersonnel in library room / computer room / self-learning room (4.17) and both infinancial department and scholarship department (4.09) respectively.
Conclusions
Concluding from the research result, it was shown that the overall satisfaction rate on
supportive learning materials to students and lecturers in the branch of Medical andPublic Health Secretary is at high ( = 4.12, SD = 0.69). When it was sorted from thehighest and lowest average satisfaction rate in each subject matter, these are thefollowing list of results.

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In academic matter, the result showed that it is from the sufficiency of researches andlearning medias such as computers, internet connection, and database ( = 4.28, SD =0.45) and both sufficiency and modernization of books and publications in the library(4.19) respectively. The cause of the lowest satisfaction rate may come from thelocation of the department which move to education center in Samut Songkhram.
Therefore, books and publications are still insufficient within the institution.
In service matter, the result showed that it is from the general services from personnel
in library room / computer room / self-learning room ( = 4.17, SD = 0.6) and in
scholarship department ( = 4.09, SD = 0.65) respectively. The reason that thescholarship department has the lowest satisfaction rate may be caused from thestrictness of the rules and regulations which affect the aspect of the person who would
like to use the service.
In location matter, the result showed that it is from the general services from thesufficiency of medical room ( = 4.41, SD = 0.49) and sufficiency for parking entries( = 3.98, SD = 0.73) respectively. According to the new and early construction of the
branch of Medical and Public Health Secretary, the reserve slot for car parking may
not be sufficient.
In educational tools and equipment matter, the result showed that it is from theperformance of tools and equipment ( = 4.09, SD = 0.7) and sufficiency of tools andequipment ( = 3.98, SD = 0.68) respectively. The number of the tool usages is notconsistent, while the number of the new incoming students rose since the starting of
the semester. Therefore, it would be better if the tools and equipment are graduallyimported yearly.
Discussions
According to the research result, the overall satisfaction rate from students andlecturers in the branch of Medical and Public Health is at high, where averagesatisfaction rate of the academic, service, location, and educational tools andequipment matter are at 4.22, 4.13, 4.09, and 4.03 respectively. In addition, the lowest
satisfaction rate is also from the educational tools and equipment matter where theaverage satisfaction rate of 3.98 is from the sufficiency of tools and equipment. To
sum up, the college of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
should improve the quality of tools and services that also includes the learning andteaching within the sufficient books and publications. Moreover, it would be betterwith the guidelines in order to recondition for the better and more appropriate learning
environment.

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Acknowledgement
The researcher would like to thank the students and lecturers of Medical and Public
Health Secretary Program who participated in this data compilation.
This research was supported by Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, the researcher
would like to thank College of Allied Health Sciences, SamutSongkhram Education
Center for supporting this achievement.

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References
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Tiffin, J. & McCormick, E.J. (1965). Industrial psychology. (5th ed.). New York:
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Contact email: veena.ch@ssru.ac.th

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