students’ perceived barriers to in-class participation in a distributed and gender segregated...
TRANSCRIPT
Students’ Perceived Barriers to In-Class Participation in a
Distributed and Gender Segregated Educational Environment
Presented at ISECON 2007, Pittsburgh, PA
Abdulrahman A. Mirza, Ph.D.King Saud UniversityRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Presentation Outline
Male/Female college education in Saudi Arabia Purpose of study Related Research Program under study Students’ previous mixed-gender courses Current program Conclusion Questions
Male/Female college education in Saudi
Segregation of students based on gender Engineering and architecture degrees not available for girls Shortage in numbers of female faculty at college level Increasing number of female students at all levels of education
as more women seek jobs Need for male faculty to teach female students
Different forms of course delivery to female students by male instructors:
CCTV recorded in a special studio at the girls campus CCTV recorded from a male students’ lecture hall Same classroom with a dividing one-way see-through glass Face-to-face interaction
Male/Female college education in Saudi
Purpose of Study
Low level of participation by female students in comparison with another course taught to female students in a Master’s IS program a few years earlier, which had:
No male students No telecommunications component Interaction through one-way see-through glass barrier
Related Research
According to relevant research, the level of students’ participation in in-class discussions is reported to be typically low.
(Crombie, et. al. 2003) reports of very low in-class participation levels, in general, where 64% of the students rarely, or only occasionally, asked questions or answered questions during the class.
Women in general rated less than their male counterparts in in-class discussions (Crombie, et. al. 2003; Younger, et. al. 1999; and, Canada & Pringle 1995).
Where there was also a distance-learning aspect, men typically over-proportionally spoke at face-to-face classes while females were more comfortable than males in posting messages through the web-based learning environment. (Caspi, et. al. 2006)
Program Under Study
Master’s of Health Informatics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University of Health Sciences - Started Fall of 2005
1st of its kind in the Middle East 1st group of admitted students: 16 female, 9 male Mostly health-field workers (students) Instructor interacts face-to-face with male students Interaction through CCTV, audio system, and smart board with
female students Outside of classroom, most communications are via email Few occasions of direct face-to-face interactions with females
Previous mixed-gender courses
For courses with males students present at other campus
Barriers for in-class discussions:
I did not want students from the other gender to hear my voice I did not feel comfortable speaking in the microphone I found the method to call or contact the instructor in-class was too
time-consuming I did not want other students to get upset with me by stopping the
instructor I did not feel any barriers to participation Other
Previous mixed-gender courses
6
14
0
3
0
7
0
5
0
23
00
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Direct face toface interaction
Classroom withdark glass barrier
TV withinstructor in same
building
TV withinstructor on
another campus
Online/Internetinteraction
N/A
Females
Males
Types of interaction with instructor from opposite sex in previous educational programs.
Previous mixed-gender courses
1
00
4
2
6
1
44
3
0
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
I did not w antmy voice to be
heard
notcomfortablespeaking inmicrophone
contactinginstructor too
time-consuming
I did not w antto upset otherstudents for
stoppinginstructor
no barriers toparticipation
OtherFemales
Males
Barriers to participation in in-class discussions in previous mixed-gender programs with members of opposite gender listening in.
Current Program
1
0
2
6
2 22
5
1
3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
StronglyAgree
AgreeNeutralDisagreeStronglyDisagreeFemales
Males
Having students from the opposite sex listening to what I might say has restricted my in-class participation.
Current Program
Not having a microphone especially dedicated for me has been a reason for me not participating enough.
Current Program
Current situation of keeping females in a separate classroom than the instructor while being able to view the instructor via TV and view course material via the PC is a good solution to have in comparison with other mixed-gender educational experiences that I had.
Not having an instructor in the same classroom causes to easily lose concentration.
Current Program
Current Program
Having an instructor in the same classroom for face-to-face interaction would be more useful for students.
Conclusion
Use of telecommunications for course delivery is useful to an extent, however it does not replace the benefits of face-to-face interaction.
At times, the improper application of technology becomes a barrier to participation.
Joining males and females in the same classroom would be much more useful for the students.
