Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies

Introduction: Most medical educators agreed that e-Learning is a necessity nowadays and not a luxury shift. Smartphones contribute to the educational process to a great extent. Integrating the use of smartphones in the curriculum has an important innovative role in medical education and health care services. Currently, medical students are using smartphones as part of their daily routine and learning activities. A study guide is a tool designed to facilitate students' interaction with the various components of the curriculum. The idea of using a mobile application in providing information through a study guide to facilitate learning was reported by different studies.

Aims: This study aims at designing, implementing and evaluating smart-phone based study guide using mobile enhanced learning technology for the 1st year medical students at Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University (FOM-SCU) in order to enhance students' learning experience.

The Study Objectives: Design a study guide using mobile application for the 1^st year medical students. Implement the newly designed study guide on 1^st year medical students (2017-2018). Evaluate the students' performance during PBL tutorial sessions before and after implementing Smartphone based study guide. Assess students' satisfaction regarding the study guide application. Identify challenges of using mobile application in medical education.

Study Design:  A quasi-experimental (pretest-posttest), using a non-probability convenience sampling, 105 students (response rate 84%), and 16 class tutors (response rate 100%).

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medical Education, FOM-SCU, Egypt during the academic year 2017-2018.

Methodology: Using a non-probability convenience sampling technique, 105 students (response rate 84%), and 16 class tutors (response rate 100%).

Results: Most of the students (94.3%) stated that smartphone (m-learning) is useful in Medical Education, 80.9% of them agreed that the module objectives can be met through m-learning and 61.9% of the students agreed on recommending m-learning as an innovative method of learning to others. The evaluation of students' performance in the context of Problem Based Learning (PBL) by their class tutors showed a statistically significant improvement in all items regarding the four factors assessed "independent study" (p-value <0.001), "group interaction" (p-value <0.001), "active participation" (p-value <0.001), and "reasoning skills" (p-value <0.001) when comparing pre and post-intervention scores. 

Conclusion: This study concludes the m-learning has a positive effect on the students’ performance in the PBL context. It is remarkably significant to integrate smartphone-based learning activities in the undergraduate Medical Education curriculum. Our results can encourage other health professions institutions to apply m-learning in different educational situations.

The study assessed the Competency-based Approach (CbA) in public universities in Anglophone Cameroon, notably the Universities of Bamenda and Buea (UBa and UB); within the framework of the Bachelor, Masters and Ph.D. (BMP/LMD) system and its implications for the Tuning Africa project. Inspired by Vygotsky’s social constructivism, Dewey’s progressivism and Fullan’s change theories, the study; was guided by three objectives, answered three research questions and tested three hypotheses. The evaluative and descriptive survey designs were applied, and with a structured questionnaire known as the Competency-Based Education Questionnaire (CBEQ), data was collected from 200 persons (staff and students) sampled using the purposive sampling technique. Applying descriptive (frequencies, mean scores and standard deviation) and inferential (Independent T-test) statistics to analyzed data, the results revealed the following: Curriculum planning/design processes in public universities under study were not reflective of CbA (UBa X̅ = 2.9010 & UB X̅ = 2.7595*) and the mean score responses of academic staff and students (3.148 & 2.703 respectively) relating to the adoption of CbA in the curriculum planning/design processes were significantly different (p<0.05) at the 0.05 significance level. Secondly, the two institutions relatively embraced CbA in their teaching-learning processes and the mean score responses from both institutions (UBa = 3.3681* & UB = 3.2354) relating to the teaching-learning processes within the framework of CbA were not significantly different (p>0.05) at the 0.05 significance level. Thirdly, students’ assessment in both institutions significantly reflected CbA (UBa = 3.9028* & UB = 3.5979) and the process in UBa appeared better than that of UB. However, the mean score responses from both universities within the framework of CbA were not significantly different (p>0.05) at the 0.05 significance level. The implication of the results for the Tuning Africa project rested on the necessity to explore possibilities of partnership between the Tuning Africa project and any of these institutions, so as to share ideas and experiences on implementing the CbA in difficult areas of HE practices, and make improvements in areas where successes are already being registered.

As recommended by the Education Blueprint 2014-2020, education system in Bhutan transformed from traditional instructions to technology-enriched and enabled teaching and learning environment with adoption of emerging and relevant technology to produce the globally competent learners. The integration of educational technology in the teaching and learning of definite integral creates a conceptually rich learning environment. From this perspective, this study aims to ascertain the effectiveness of a computer-assisted instruction method using GeoGebra in developing the conceptual understanding of definite integral for grade 12 students. This study employed a quasi-experiment static-group comparison design with 60 students from Gongzim Ugyen Dorji Central School in Haa. The students were divided into two equal groups. Group ‘A’ used the GeoGebra software, while group ‘B’ used the conventional method to learn definite integral. The data were collected through Definite Integral Knowledge Test. An Independent sample t-test was employed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0). Findings of the study showed that students who were taught using GeoGebra outperformed those who learned through conventional methods. The results confirmed that GeoGebra software is capable of enhancing and significantly improving students’ conceptual understanding of definite integral.

Students’ learning outcomes and performance are dependent on many factors from student-factors to teacher-factors, method of instruction, environmental and management factors. Given the falling standard in education in Nigeria, managing students’ factors are becoming more crucial success factor in academic performance and achievement in subjects. Against this backdrop, this study investigated the effect of academic ability and group instruction technique on secondary school students’ achievement in Civic education in Anambra State, Nigeria. In the method section, non-randomized control group, pre-test, post-test quasi experimental design was adopted as the design for the study. Six co-education schools in Anambra State were sampled using multi-stage sampling technique. From the area of study, 193 Senior Secondary 2 students as participants were drawn from one co-education school in each of the six education zones that make up 258 public secondary schools in the State. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used as statistical tool for analyzing experimental data obtained from the field. Findings indicated that there were significant differences in Civic achievement test across high and low academic ability groups and experimental and control groups. The experimental group (taught with Group Instruction Technique) achieved better than the control group (taught with Lecture Method), while high ability students outperformed low ability students. The observed significant differences across groups indicate that student factors and teacher-factors have learning and achievement outcomes on Civic education in Nigeria. It is recommended that, stakeholders especially, secondary school principals and teachers evaluate students’ academic challenges and proffer ways to improve achievement.

Motivating the learner to learn is pertinent to curriculum implementation. This is because motivation is an influential factor in the teaching-learning situations. The success of learning depends on whether or not the learners are motivated. Motivation drives learners in reaching learning goals. It is important to recognize the fact that motivating learning is a central element of good teaching. This implies that learners’ motivation is probably the single most important element of learning. Learning is inherently hard work; it is pushing the brain to its limits, and thus can only happen with motivation. Students’ motivation to learn is of special importance because students’ mere presence in the class is of course, not a guarantee that students want to learn. It is only a sign that students live in a society where children are required to attend school. Highly motivated learners are likely to learn readily, and make any class fun to teach, while unmotivated learners may likely learn very little and generally make teaching painful and frustrating. Since modern education is compulsory, teachers cannot take learners’ motivation for granted, and they have a responsibility to ensure learners are motivated to learn. Teachers must persuade learners to want to do what they ought to do. This task— understanding and therefore influencing learners’ motivations to learn—is the thrust of this article. In order to ensure that the aims and objective of the curriculum is achieved, this article focuses on providing the teachers and educators with insight to the concept and types of motivation, motives as a goal, factors affecting motivation, importance of motivation, and strategies for motivating the learners.