INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

 THEME:

PROMOTING STEAM EDUCATION THROUGH RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

TOPIC:

             RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SECONDARY EDUCATION

                                                               BY

 ALOZIE EUGENE IHEANYI

17/PG/PhD/Edu-Tech/5772

AT

GREGORY UNIVERSITY, UTURU

ABIA STATE

DATE: 08/11/2023

Abstract

This paper examines the idea of promoting Steam Education through research and innovation in the digital age. Its attention is on research and innovation in Secondary education. It has a comprehensive review of 14 studies which revealed a lot of key themes like: Steam Education as varied from Stem, Edtech and Steam as an innovative research, Flipped Classroom and Steam learning. The study concludes that flipped classroom is a vast active learning experience that can leverage the expected impact of Steam education on the 21^st century students. Keywords:  Steam Education,  Edtech, and Flipped Classroom.

Introduction

The world is large and life itself is complex. So, education (Rufai,2014), as an effective means of developing the full capacities and potentials of the human resource”, cannot achieve its objective if teachers continue to teach students with a unidirectional curriculum like STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology,  Engineering and Mathematics.

What is meant here is that though the educational curriculum needs to be selective, it also needs to be comprehensive.  Educational Technology is able to do its work as a potent problem solving educational tool because it is characteristically eclectic. This implies that EdTech is open to accept ideas and becomes an interdisciplinary science.

In general, this work is of the view that no single learning experience or subject can answer all the questions of the human person; especially as life becomes more complex in this digital age. This is why STEAM education has become necessary for our students and comes to us through research as a timely educational innovation. Evidently, STEAM is more comprehensive than STEM.

An online document on STEAM education (n.d), says that it is “an approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Art and Mathematics as access point for guiding students’ enquiry, dialogue and critical thinking”.

Teaching a child with STEM curriculum alone is like teaching  only in view of the workforce, without  considering  the child as a human person. At a secondary school level, the student requires a strong comprehensive and diversified curriculum that will give a strong foundation required to establish and stabilize the learner as a human being preparing to live in the 21st century environment. Such comprehensive STEAM curriculum will also require to anchor on a dynamic instructional technique which can elicit the powers in STEAM education and impact beneficially on both the students and the society of our digital age.

STEAM:  A Practical Experience

Last two years, in an educational expedition, I met a secondary school superintendent who told all his Arts students to remain in class whenever the science students had lessons, which was contrary to tradition.  I pondered over it for a while and felt that something was at the offing. I could not wait. Immediately, I climbed up to the apartment of the school Principal to ask why.  The explanation I got for such innovative school initiative sparked off a fire of information in me, which I prefer to describe as unforgettable.  The issue is that the world is so vast and complex that teaching science to students, totally apart from Art in secondary school, remains a big question mark, over the efficiency of curriculum implementation today.

The Link Between Art, Science And Technology         

There is no such effective education where only art offers what the learner requires to live in the world.  At the same time there is no such effective learning where science alone offers what is expected for a balanced life in a young school leaver.  While science tries to understand the world as method, observations, experimentation and analytic process there is always need for that effective communication skills and powers of self-expression which only art offers abundantly. More so, in this digital age, we have many cases where artists are now employing the computer science technology to produce very awesome digital artworks. As Ayushi (n.d:1) has put it,

Overall, even if art and science have different methods and objectives they both have significant social contributions to make and when combined can enhance one another.

EDTECH AND STEAM EDUCATION

Looking at the afore-said, Educational Technology as the potent educational tool that resolves problems inherent in teaching and learning, has recently evolved STEAM education as a remedy to clear gaps. This is because the clear-cut separation of STEAM from Arts has caused a wide gap in education both in Africa and beyond.  At the three levels of curriculum development – macro, meso and micro level, these problems are noticed clearly  in our traditional instructional design.  In Nigeria and beyond, schooling loses its value as students finish and cannot get a job commensurate to the energy and resources expended in education.

It is evident that many people finish secondary education and continue to stagger about because they are not sure of the next step forward or what to do next in life. Apart from those who go straight to the University, a good number who finish secondary education remain stagnant and confused almost until those who were in JSS III when they were in school, come out of school as well. What it means is that the traditional curriculum and teaching methods are far away from the realities  on ground.  This should not be so because, school is noted as the microcosm of the society.  Looking at these challenges, Medvisit (2020) noted that “ clearly there is something missing in our world which are: communication, understanding, tolerance and emotional education”. Amid these outcries to fill the yawning gaps, some educationists admit that the needs of our school children in this 21st century are similar the above catalogue of needs.   In addition to that, the required 4cs of the 21st century education are noted to include: collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication.  In an online document on STEAM Education(n.d:2),  the educator said , “They  are critical components to students’ success in a rapidly changing workforce and society.   Luckily these are easily  woven into quality STEAM lessons” .

Such quality STEAM lesson of the 21st century seems to be better unearthed and elicited in a very tactical and dynamic instructional technique known as the flipped classroom.

According to Trach (2023:2),

The flipped classroom is a blended learning model in which traditional ideas about classroom activities and homework are reverted or flipped. In this model, instructors have students interact with new material for homework first.  They then use class time to discuss the new information and put those ideas into practice.

It is like saying that a STEAM education absolutely requires an up to date instructional technique to leverage its quality impact. No doubt the flipped classroom is a powerful teaching technique that draws force from the age-old theory of Constructivism of John Dewey and Brunner. According to them, “constructivism is a learning theory that says that people try to construct their own ideas through experiencing things and having a reflection over the experience they have had.  In a digital document captioned “Concept to Classroom” (2023), it was made clear that in constructivism, When we encounter something new, we begin to try to reconcile it with the previous ideas.  If it works out well, we may eventually adjust or change what we believed previously or even discard the new idea if it lacks relevance in our lives”. In order to do this, we must engage in active thinking of asking questions, try to explore, and access what we know.

In a constructivist classroom, teachers encourage students to constantly access how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become expert learners. This gives them the over broadening tools to keep learning. And with a well planned classroom environment like the flipped classroom, the students also learn how to learn.

In the same deep document of high learning called “Concept to Classroom( 2023),  It is said that constructivist teachers  pose questions and problems and then guide the student to help them find their own answers.  So they use many techniques in the teaching process. For example, in such a classroom teachers may do the following:

1. Prompt students to formulate their own questions (inquiry)

2. Allow multiple interpretations and expressions (multiple )

3. Encourage group work and the use of peers as resources (collaborative learning)

All the aforesaid active classroom activities paint a picture of what is called a flipped learning. According to Arfstrom (2021:3),

Flapped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.  

Flipped learning is a segment of the teaching technique called flipped classroom which was originated by Jon Bergmann of Woodland Park High School, USA. It is a blended learning  model that combines the digital delivery of contents (asynchronous), with the face to face individual encounter (synchronous) with the learner, in order to bring him or her to the mastery  model or stage of the learning subject.

In this case of flipped learning in STEAM education, the teacher becomes the facilitator and a guide and not a sage on the stage.  Flipped classroom has been acclaimed as a powerful learner-centred technique of teaching and has become a very result effective instructional technique.  With its turnaround from the traditional one cap fits all soloed education, this paper advocates that flipped classroom is a possible and effective instructional technique for STEAM education in secondary schools and k-12 education.  The flipped classroom has such a dynamic and diversified instructional design whose efficacy and flexibility will prove potent in a STEAM learning that will impact on our modern education as whole. According to Panopto (2022), the flipped classroom has the dynamic activities of learning through which it can satisfy the needs of both the learner and society. And this work posits that such infinite possibilities of the flipped classroom technique is highly related to the objectives of the STEAM education. This is because, flipped classroom could be called a standard inverted classroom where the concepts are digitally presented in videos, while the in-class time is reserved for practicing the concepts. It can take the form of a micro flipped classroom when short videos are used to free up an elongated class time for practice. It can be discussion oriented, when after watching the videos, the in-class time is used to explore and for valued discussion. Flipped classroom can be demonstration-based, when after digital consumptions at home, class time is used for practical demonstrations. Flipped classroom can be faux when after watching the video in school, a guided interaction is used as a tool to clarify all doubts. It can be called group-based, when after the digital consumption, group learning is chosen afterwards to further clarifications and improve retention. Again flipped classroom can be virtual, when the learning management system (LMS) is used both for the content presentation and for assignments and guidance. The flipped classroom be called flipping the teacher, when students make their own videos and send to the teacher to show understanding. All these are the diverse models of the flipped classroom which touch on the absolute flexibility of this pedagogy and on the infinite possibilities of its instructional designs, in order to meet the diverse learning styles and effect an efficient curriculum implementation, targeted in STEAM education. It must be added that the flipped classroom is a high technology in education because it makes people to learn through technology and must emphasize the instructional factum  that media design is part and parcel of instructional design, especially in STEAM education.

STEAM AS INNOVATIVE EDUCATION

Secondary education has been beset by so many instructional challenges  which result to societal problems. Loss of interest in schooling has grown in Nigeria  and other places as schooling seems to lose relevance. As mentioned earlier, those who finish secondary school in Nigeria find it difficult to get fixed up in life or have a life they cherish. Those who move forward the  University education experience job scarcity afterwards and lack of fulfilment, which lead to rampant search for for visas to travel abroad. In Europe and America the stories are not too exciting, as animation, robotics and artificial intelligence take over many workplaces leaving many unemployed at times. All these call for more need for innovation and better creativities in the educational enterprise.

According to Nasseri and Vichos (2021:3).

A radical change approach is recommended. Increasingly students will need to be able to respond to a job market that values creativity, collaborations, social intelligence and empathy, the teaching pedagogy of constructivism and STEAM are evidence based methodologies that may offer a higher success rate in meeting existential challenges of the climate change.

As mentioned earlier, the flipped classroom is a likely the pedagogical approach, up to date in efficacy, which can liberate the world from this quagmire of educational drawbacks, through STEAM learning. Flipped Classroom is a veritable toolkit for STEAM education especially in secondary schools. It is a potent constructivist approach which when combined with an accurate design thinking procedures will leverage on education meaningfully.  Some Educators agree that a design thinking process is a set of structured strategies that can identify challenges, gather information, generate potential solutions, refine ideas and test solutions. It builds a creative and innovative mind-set in the student. As Shulman (2018:4) said, design innovative thinking pattern has five phases which both students and teachers can follow in the classroom:

1. I have a challenge, how do I approach it?
2. I learned something now, how do I interpret it?
3. I see an opportunity, what can I create?
4. I have an idea. How can I build it?
5. I tried something new. How do I make it evolve?

The flipped learning is such a great pedagogical approach that turns the Blooms’ Taxonomy upside down putting “to create” at the epicentre of every learning experience. It is a good and fertile ground to foster the spirit of innovation, design thinking and creativity in the child. A mind-set that has the power to learn and to create through STEAM education can face the challenges of our time.

Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) in STEAM Education

The Flipped classroom is one instructional technique that places the challenge-based learning at the forefront, and this will favour STEAM education. According to Lockwood (2023), challenge-based learning(CBL) is practiced when teachers challenge students to solve a specific open ended problem. It is a part of problem based learning(PBL), which includes introducing students to a big idea, asking them the essential question or questions (EQ), on a topic and presenting students with a challenge to solve. As Lockwood (2022:1) said,

Many researchers have demonstrated that in CBL, students are more motivated at a deeper level of learning with increased collaborations which showed learning experiences, positive attitude increase in class, and the practice of using a growth mind-set. Those researches on CBL are more related to improving STEAM education than the traditional school education.

STEAM EDUCATION AND STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE.

While the entire world complains of child delinquency and student tantrums, it is important to note that STEAM education could be the solution. This work proposes such type of STEAM that can happens in a flipped classroom. Flipped learning as a classic example of Progressive Education makes students learn by doing and are encouraged to make sense of the world around them by entering it and engaging with it.

An online document on Progressive education(n.d:3  ) says it better,

Through deep connections with teachers and peers, children develop an appreciation for human differences that enable them to work collaboratively and effectively, towards common solutions to shared challenge.

This work is of the opinion that with such deep seated inter-disciplinary STEAM education anchored on the virile teaching technique as the flipped classroom, which considers growth mind-set and emotional intelligence; there would be a great and favourable change in education. This is because the meaning of life and success will expand for the human person, at one and the same time when the labour markets will become more viable. Invariably there will be a possible decrease in the rate of wickedness on earth as life becomes more and more meaningful for many. Thus, there will be a true accountability in education.

Conclusion

Many years ago, President Abraham Lincoln may have  envisioned the negative effects of the separate handling of STEM and Art subjects, and so he chose to write a memorable letter to the teacher of his child. No doubt Abraham Lincoln was in quest for a more comprehensive learning like in STEAM education. He wrote, indicating that more subjects should have been included in the curriculum of his child as recorded thus; Team( 2021:1),

Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him that they are wrong. Teach him to listen to all men, but teach him also to filter all  that he learnt on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.

The issues on ground here is that a straightjacket type of learning cannot suffice again because of the complexity of life and the world. According to Nasseri and Vichos(2021),using a meta analysis, they said that today’s education should work out designing a curricular informed by latest research, engage learners in research-based activities and still encourage creativity or creative thinking. It should build learning communities that foster inclusive learning environments  that are active, blended, where teachers and students work as collaborators or partner.

Finally, the case of the child of Abraham Lincoln could be the same case with all our students today. So, while what the child requires to have faith in his ideas  may come from art, what he/she requires the filter the varieties of what he/she observes may come from the sciences. It is like saying, while what he/she requires to have a positive mind-set for a meaningful courageous life is found within the arts, he/she requires the STEM subjects to find real, technological solutions to his many day to day dilemmas. Hence this work advocates that STEAM education found through the flipped classroom technique is richer than mere Art or pure STEM learning, especially for our secondary school students. STEAM education is more comprehensive and better for our students; to enable them do well in the workplace and still have a better understanding of themselves and a meaningful life in general.

Refe rences

Arfistrom, K.M.  (2021). An introduction to flipped learning. Retrieved from Lesley.edu.article/,on 5/11/2023

Ayushi (n.d).  What is the Relationship of Art and Science and Technology? Retrieved from medium.com/,                       on 2/11/23.

Concept to Classroom Construction As paradigm to Teaching and Learning(2014). Retrieved from thirteen.org.endol ine/, on 1/11/2023.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York, NY: Collies

Lockwood .D. (2023). Challenge Based learning & steam Curriculum. Retrieved from scholarship.claremont. edu/, On 30/10/23.

Medivisit (2020). Technology in Schools. Retrieved from medvisit.io/, on  6/1/2023

Nasseri D. & Vichos .R. (2021). Construction and STEAM, working with learners  as partners to explore perceptions and attitudes towards innovative pedagogies. Retrieved from pure.sruc.uk/, on 28/10/23

Panopt o (2022). 7 Unique Flipped Classroom Models which are Best for you. Retrieved from Panopto.com/on 21/11/2023

Rufai, A.R. (2023). Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Policy on Education, Nigeria; NCRDC press.

Shulman, D.R. (2018). 10 Ways Educators Can Make Classrooms More Innovative. Retrieved from www. Forbes.com/on 2/11/23

Team (2021). A must Read letter Written by Abraham Lincolyn to His son’s teacher. Retrieved from www. Heritage times on 3/11/23

Trach (2023). A beginner’s Guide to flipped Classroom. Retrieved from www. Schoology.com/,on 3/11/23

What is Progressive education (n.d). Retrieved from school.bank.streets.edu/, on  1/11/23

What is STEAM Education?, The definitive Guide For k-12 Schools.(n.d) Retrieved from www.artsintegration.com/, on 03/11/2023

3^RD

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

THEME:

PROMOTING STEAM EDUCATION THROUGH RESEARCH                      AND INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

 TOPIC:  RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SECONDARY          EDUCATION

BY

ALOZIE EUGENE IHEANYI

17/PG/PhD/Edu-Tech/5772

AT

GREGORY UNIVERSITY, UTURU

ABIA STATE

DATE: 08/11/

  Abstract

This paper examines the idea of promoting Steam Education through research and innovation in the digital age. Its attention is on research and innovation in Secondary education. It has a comprehensive review of 14 studies which revealed a lot of key themes like: Steam Education as varied from Stem, Edtech and Steam as an innovative research, Flipped Classroom and Steam learning. The study concludes that flipped classroom is a vast active learning experience that can leverage the expected impact of Steam education on the 21^st century students. Keywords:  Steam Education,  Edtech, and Flipped Classroom.

Introduction

The world is large and life itself is complex. So, education (Rufai,2014), as an effective means of developing the full capacities and potentials of the human resource”, cannot achieve its objective if teachers continue to teach students with a unidirectional curriculum like STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology,  Engineering and Mathematics.

What is meant here is that though the educational curriculum needs to be selective, it also needs to be comprehensive.  Educational Technology is able to do its work as a potent problem solving educational tool because it is characteristically eclectic. This implies that EdTech is open to accept ideas and becomes an interdisciplinary science.

In general, this work is of the view that no single learning experience or subject can answer all the questions of the human person; especially as life becomes more complex in this digital age. This is why STEAM education has become necessary for our students and comes to us through research as a timely educational innovation. Evidently, STEAM is more comprehensive than STEM.

An online document on STEAM education (n.d), says that it is “an approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Art and Mathematics as access point for guiding students’ enquiry, dialogue and critical thinking”.

Teaching a child with STEM curriculum alone is like teaching  only in view of the workforce, without  considering  the child as a human person. At a secondary school level, the student requires a strong comprehensive and diversified curriculum that will give a strong foundation required to establish and stabilize the learner as a human being preparing to live in the 21st century environment. Such comprehensive STEAM curriculum will also require to anchor on a dynamic instructional technique which can elicit the powers in STEAM education and impact beneficially on both the students and the society of our digital age.

STEAM:  A Practical Experience

Last two years, in an educational expedition, I met a secondary school superintendent who told all his Arts students to remain in class whenever the science students had lessons, which was contrary to tradition.  I pondered over it for a while and felt that something was at the offing. I could not wait. Immediately, I climbed up to the apartment of the school Principal to ask why.  The explanation I got for such innovative school initiative sparked off a fire of information in me, which I prefer to describe as unforgettable.  The issue is that the world is so vast and complex that teaching science to students, totally apart from Art in secondary school, remains a big question mark, over the efficiency of curriculum implementation today.

The Link Between Art, Science And Technology         

There is no such effective education where only art offers what the learner requires to live in the world.  At the same time there is no such effective learning where science alone offers what is expected for a balanced life in a young school leaver.  While science tries to understand the world as method, observations, experimentation and analytic process there is always need for that effective communication skills and powers of self-expression which only art offers abundantly. More so, in this digital age, we have many cases where artists are now employing the computer science technology to produce very awesome digital artworks. As Ayushi (n.d:1) has put it,

Overall, even if art and science have different methods and objectives they both have significant social contributions to make and when combined can enhance one another.

EDTECH AND STEAM EDUCATION

Looking at the afore-said, Educational Technology as the potent educational tool that resolves problems inherent in teaching and learning, has recently evolved STEAM education as a remedy to clear gaps. This is because the clear-cut separation of STEAM from Arts has caused a wide gap in education both in Africa and beyond.  At the three levels of curriculum development – macro, meso and micro level, these problems are noticed clearly  in our traditional instructional design.  In Nigeria and beyond, schooling loses its value as students finish and cannot get a job commensurate to the energy and resources expended in education.

It is evident that many people finish secondary education and continue to stagger about because they are not sure of the next step forward or what to do next in life. Apart from those who go straight to the University, a good number who finish secondary education remain stagnant and confused almost until those who were in JSS III when they were in school, come out of school as well. What it means is that the traditional curriculum and teaching methods are far away from the realities  on ground.  This should not be so because, school is noted as the microcosm of the society.  Looking at these challenges, Medvisit (2020) noted that “ clearly there is something missing in our world which are: communication, understanding, tolerance and emotional education”. Amid these outcries to fill the yawning gaps, some educationists admit that the needs of our school children in this 21st century are similar the above catalogue of needs.   In addition to that, the required 4cs of the 21st century education are noted to include: collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication.  In an online document on STEAM Education(n.d:2),  the educator said , “They  are critical components to students’ success in a rapidly changing workforce and society.   Luckily these are easily  woven into quality STEAM lessons” .

Such quality STEAM lesson of the 21st century seems to be better unearthed and elicited in a very tactical and dynamic instructional technique known as the flipped classroom.

According to Trach (2023:2),

The flipped classroom is a blended learning model in which traditional ideas about classroom activities and homework are reverted or flipped. In this model, instructors have students interact with new material for homework first.  They then use class time to discuss the new information and put those ideas into practice.

It is like saying that a STEAM education absolutely requires an up to date instructional technique to leverage its quality impact. No doubt the flipped classroom is a powerful teaching technique that draws force from the age-old theory of Constructivism of John Dewey and Brunner. According to them, “constructivism is a learning theory that says that people try to construct their own ideas through experiencing things and having a reflection over the experience they have had.  In a digital document captioned “Concept to Classroom” (2023), it was made clear that in constructivism, When we encounter something new, we begin to try to reconcile it with the previous ideas.  If it works out well, we may eventually adjust or change what we believed previously or even discard the new idea if it lacks relevance in our lives”. In order to do this, we must engage in active thinking of asking questions, try to explore, and access what we know.

In a constructivist classroom, teachers encourage students to constantly access how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become expert learners. This gives them the over broadening tools to keep learning. And with a well planned classroom environment like the flipped classroom, the students also learn how to learn.

In the same deep document of high learning called “Concept to Classroom( 2023),  It is said that constructivist teachers  pose questions and problems and then guide the student to help them find their own answers.  So they use many techniques in the teaching process. For example, in such a classroom teachers may do the following:

1. Prompt students to formulate their own questions (inquiry)

2. Allow multiple interpretations and expressions (multiple )

3. Encourage group work and the use of peers as resources (collaborative learning)

All the aforesaid active classroom activities paint a picture of what is called a flipped learning. According to Arfstrom (2021:3),

Flapped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.  

Flipped learning is a segment of the teaching technique called flipped classroom which was originated by Jon Bergmann of Woodland Park High School, USA. It is a blended learning  model that combines the digital delivery of contents (asynchronous), with the face to face individual encounter (synchronous) with the learner, in order to bring him or her to the mastery  model or stage of the learning subject.

In this case of flipped learning in STEAM education, the teacher becomes the facilitator and a guide and not a sage on the stage.  Flipped classroom has been acclaimed as a powerful learner-centred technique of teaching and has become a very result effective instructional technique.  With its turnaround from the traditional one cap fits all soloed education, this paper advocates that flipped classroom is a possible and effective instructional technique for STEAM education in secondary schools and k-12 education.  The flipped classroom has such a dynamic and diversified instructional design whose efficacy and flexibility will prove potent in a STEAM learning that will impact on our modern education as whole. According to Panopto (2022), the flipped classroom has the dynamic activities of learning through which it can satisfy the needs of both the learner and society. And this work posits that such infinite possibilities of the flipped classroom technique is highly related to the objectives of the STEAM education. This is because, flipped classroom could be called a standard inverted classroom where the concepts are digitally presented in videos, while the in-class time is reserved for practicing the concepts. It can take the form of a micro flipped classroom when short videos are used to free up an elongated class time for practice. It can be discussion oriented, when after watching the videos, the in-class time is used to explore and for valued discussion. Flipped classroom can be demonstration-based, when after digital consumptions at home, class time is used for practical demonstrations. Flipped classroom can be faux when after watching the video in school, a guided interaction is used as a tool to clarify all doubts. It can be called group-based, when after the digital consumption, group learning is chosen afterwards to further clarifications and improve retention. Again flipped classroom can be virtual, when the learning management system (LMS) is used both for the content presentation and for assignments and guidance. The flipped classroom be called flipping the teacher, when students make their own videos and send to the teacher to show understanding. All these are the diverse models of the flipped classroom which touch on the absolute flexibility of this pedagogy and on the infinite possibilities of its instructional designs, in order to meet the diverse learning styles and effect an efficient curriculum implementation, targeted in STEAM education. It must be added that the flipped classroom is a high technology in education because it makes people to learn through technology and must emphasize the instructional factum  that media design is part and parcel of instructional design, especially in STEAM education.

STEAM AS INNOVATIVE EDUCATION

Secondary education has been beset by so many instructional challenges  which result to societal problems. Loss of interest in schooling has grown in Nigeria  and other places as schooling seems to lose relevance. As mentioned earlier, those who finish secondary school in Nigeria find it difficult to get fixed up in life or have a life they cherish. Those who move forward the  University education experience job scarcity afterwards and lack of fulfilment, which lead to rampant search for for visas to travel abroad. In Europe and America the stories are not too exciting, as animation, robotics and artificial intelligence take over many workplaces leaving many unemployed at times. All these call for more need for innovation and better creativities in the educational enterprise.

According to Nasseri and Vichos (2021:3).

A radical change approach is recommended. Increasingly students will need to be able to respond to a job market that values creativity, collaborations, social intelligence and empathy, the teaching pedagogy of constructivism and STEAM are evidence based methodologies that may offer a higher success rate in meeting existential challenges of the climate change.

As mentioned earlier, the flipped classroom is a likely the pedagogical approach, up to date in efficacy, which can liberate the world from this quagmire of educational drawbacks, through STEAM learning. Flipped Classroom is a veritable toolkit for STEAM education especially in secondary schools. It is a potent constructivist approach which when combined with an accurate design thinking procedures will leverage on education meaningfully.  Some Educators agree that a design thinking process is a set of structured strategies that can identify challenges, gather information, generate potential solutions, refine ideas and test solutions. It builds a creative and innovative mind-set in the student. As Shulman (2018:4) said, design innovative thinking pattern has five phases which both students and teachers can follow in the classroom:

1. I have a challenge, how do I approach it?
2. I learned something now, how do I interpret it?
3. I see an opportunity, what can I create?
4. I have an idea. How can I build it?
5. I tried something new. How do I make it evolve?

The flipped learning is such a great pedagogical approach that turns the Blooms’ Taxonomy upside down putting “to create” at the epicentre of every learning experience. It is a good and fertile ground to foster the spirit of innovation, design thinking and creativity in the child. A mind-set that has the power to learn and to create through STEAM education can face the challenges of our time.

Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) in STEAM Education

The Flipped classroom is one instructional technique that places the challenge-based learning at the forefront, and this will favour STEAM education. According to Lockwood (2023), challenge-based learning(CBL) is practiced when teachers challenge students to solve a specific open ended problem. It is a part of problem based learning(PBL), which includes introducing students to a big idea, asking them the essential question or questions (EQ), on a topic and presenting students with a challenge to solve. As Lockwood (2022:1) said,

Many researchers have demonstrated that in CBL, students are more motivated at a deeper level of learning with increased collaborations which showed learning experiences, positive attitude increase in class, and the practice of using a growth mind-set. Those researches on CBL are more related to improving STEAM education than the traditional school education.

STEAM EDUCATION AND STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE.

While the entire world complains of child delinquency and student tantrums, it is important to note that STEAM education could be the solution. This work proposes such type of STEAM that can happens in a flipped classroom. Flipped learning as a classic example of Progressive Education makes students learn by doing and are encouraged to make sense of the world around them by entering it and engaging with it.

An online document on Progressive education(n.d:3  ) says it better,

Through deep connections with teachers and peers, children develop an appreciation for human differences that enable them to work collaboratively and effectively, towards common solutions to shared challenge.

This work is of the opinion that with such deep seated inter-disciplinary STEAM education anchored on the virile teaching technique as the flipped classroom, which considers growth mind-set and emotional intelligence; there would be a great and favourable change in education. This is because the meaning of life and success will expand for the human person, at one and the same time when the labour markets will become more viable. Invariably there will be a possible decrease in the rate of wickedness on earth as life becomes more and more meaningful for many. Thus, there will be a true accountability in education.

Conclusion

Many years ago, President Abraham Lincoln may have  envisioned the negative effects of the separate handling of STEM and Art subjects, and so he chose to write a memorable letter to the teacher of his child. No doubt Abraham Lincoln was in quest for a more comprehensive learning like in STEAM education. He wrote, indicating that more subjects should have been included in the curriculum of his child as recorded thus; Team( 2021:1),

Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him that they are wrong. Teach him to listen to all men, but teach him also to filter all  that he learnt on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.

The issues on ground here is that a straightjacket type of learning cannot suffice again because of the complexity of life and the world. According to Nasseri and Vichos(2021),using a meta analysis, they said that today’s education should work out designing a curricular informed by latest research, engage learners in research-based activities and still encourage creativity or creative thinking. It should build learning communities that foster inclusive learning environments  that are active, blended, where teachers and students work as collaborators or partner.

Finally, the case of the child of Abraham Lincoln could be the same case with all our students today. So, while what the child requires to have faith in his ideas  may come from art, what he/she requires the filter the varieties of what he/she observes may come from the sciences. It is like saying, while what he/she requires to have a positive mind-set for a meaningful courageous life is found within the arts, he/she requires the STEM subjects to find real, technological solutions to his many day to day dilemmas. Hence this work advocates that STEAM education found through the flipped classroom technique is richer than mere Art or pure STEM learning, especially for our secondary school students. STEAM education is more comprehensive and better for our students; to enable them do well in the workplace and still have a better understanding of themselves and a meaningful life in general.

                                         References

Arfistrom, K.M.  (2021). An introduction to flipped learning. Retrieved from Lesley.edu.article/,on 5/11/2023

Ayushi (n.d).  What is the Relationship of Art and Science and Technology? Retrieved from medium.com/,                       on 2/11/23.

Concept to Classroom Construction As paradigm to Teaching and Learning(2014). Retrieved from thirteen.org.endol ine/, on 1/11/2023.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York, NY: Collies

Lockwood .D. (2023). Challenge Based learning & steam Curriculum. Retrieved from scholarship.claremont. edu/, On 30/10/23.

Medivisit (2020). Technology in Schools. Retrieved from medvisit.io/, on  6/1/2023

Nasseri D. & Vichos .R. (2021). Construction and STEAM, working with learners  as partners to explore perceptions and attitudes towards innovative pedagogies. Retrieved from pure.sruc.uk/, on 28/10/23

Panopt o (2022). 7 Unique Flipped Classroom Models which are Best for you. Retrieved from Panopto.com/on 21/11/2023

Rufai, A.R. (2023). Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Policy on Education, Nigeria; NCRDC press.

Shulman, D.R. (2018). 10 Ways Educators Can Make Classrooms More Innovative. Retrieved from www. Forbes.com/on 2/11/23

Team (2021). A must Read letter Written by Abraham Lincolyn to His son’s teacher. Retrieved from www. Heritage times on 3/11/23

Trach (2023). A beginner’s Guide to flipped Classroom. Retrieved from www. Schoology.com/,on 3/11/23

What is Progressive education (n.d). Retrieved from school.bank.streets.edu/, on  1/11/23

What is STEAM Education?, The definitive Guide For k-12 Schools.(n.d) Retrieved from www.artsintegration.com/, on 03/11/2023

TOPIC: THE PLACE OF TEACHING IN THE SOCIETY

                                                           BY

                              FR. DR. ALOZIE EUGENE. I

                                       NOVEMBER, 2023

THE PLACE OF TEACHING IN THE SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION

In a short page dedicated to teachers, a question was posited who is a teacher? Immediately many descriptions and qualifications followed as follows; “some say a good man or woman, fun loving, passionate and very curious. Another group says a rock star and game changer anywhere anytime. Others say awesome and goofy. And for many other folk, an artist and an engaging magician etc” (Alozie, 2015). The writer ended by saying that teachers are world builders, which directly catches a glimpse of the link between teaching and the society.as another author put it; “if you think that you can work alone and achieve success in your life without needing the help of anybody, then you are wrong. That is because when you are stuck in the middle of something, you look up to that one person who can guide your way (Ievedshedid, 2017). And that one person is no other but your teacher.

MEANING AND NATURE OF TEACHING

In education (Infoscipedia2013), teaching is described as the concerted sharing of knowledge and experience which is usually organized within a discipline, and more generally the provision of a stimulus to the psychological and intellectual growth of a person by another person or an artifact.

In the real sense, educating is wide than teaching, almost in the same way that student-based learning is wider than teacher- based learning. That is why every teacher should aspire towards being an educator. According to Rufai(2023) education is an effective means of developing the full capacities and potentials of the human resource, as well as the development of the competent workforce, through the acquisition of practical life skills relevant to the world of work; as a veritable means of developing sound, intelligent, learning societies, fit and relevant in the 21^stcentury. As already indicated, teaching is related to a learning which invariably can influence the society. According to Pushkaragarwa(2023),”teaching and learning are a process through which the teacher, the learner, the curriculum and other variables are organized in a systematic manner in orders to attain the pre-set goals”.

Bothering about this interlink between teaching and learning, some educators have affirmed that teaching and learning are vital processes in survival as the both comprise the foundations of growth in the society. Teaching and learning are the methods which are necessary to achieve development by seeking to actualize significant change in behaviour. Teaching and learning are so interconnected that you have to learn something before you can teach it, and that the act of teaching can make you learn something as well. Whether we teach or learn, the end goal is always the behavioural and a positive societal change. That is why the curriculum for teaching must continue to be relevant by being able to achieve the national policy of education in the nation. Where this is not possible for whatever reason, there comes the need for curriculum improvement or development. The most practical part of any curriculum development is its implementation or teaching, which is the medium through which it impacts on the society.

Finally STEAM education which comprises: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, has come in vogue as an improvement on STEM by an inclusion of Art into the sciences. STEM ever excluded it till now. Putting this into practice and trying to bridge the gap between society and education, the Nigerian educational system has brought in a concrete measure recently, to see that teaching and learning have direct link with the society. it is understandable that these emerging improvements need to anchor on a more practical, modern and dynamic instructional pedagogy like the flipped classroom, in order to yield all the expected maximal result in our society.

      THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING IN THE SOCIETY

Teaching uses curriculum development as a tool for societal development and for the development of the individuals within the society. Curriculum has been described as a “planned and guided learning experience provided by the school to help the learner to develop” (Mkpa(1988). Another author added the word a systematic reconstruction of knowledge and experience, under the auspices of the school for the learner’s continuous growth and personal competences. (Onwuka, 1981).Usually the word used her ‘personal competence’ is naturally related to an ability to perform effectively in the satiety. The word here ‘systematic reconstruction’ naturally implies that curriculum is not a dogma. It is not static. The question is why is curriculum not static? It is because the society always undergoes some changes every now and then, changes that arise from within and from without. an example of such change is the recent explosion of digital gadgets in all spheres of our human endeavors, from banking, transportation to communication etc. what it means is that schools and teaching will become inadequate if it fails to recognize that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has to be integrated in teaching and learning in order to produce graduates who can fit into the society of today. On the other way round when a society and her citizens become incompetent to measure up with the global or the environmental challenges and expectations, such ripples are well addressed through the enterprise of teaching and learning. This is done through an adjustment of teaching curriculum called curriculum review. In most case there would be need for a paradigm shift in what is taught in schools to meet up. In general every nation has educational goals. Such goals are expected to correspond with the global educational expectations. However, all these goals of nations automatically have to be re-adjusted as problems arise either for the individual or for the society in question. The last 10^th International Conference held in the Abia State University Uturu, Nigeria was titled: Revitalization of Education in a Distressed Economy. This important international conference held in the faculty of education already unveils the close relationship between education and her society and how each affects the other either positively or negatively.

NIGERIAN EDUCATION  AND THE PROBLEMS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Educational challenges are not limited to the Nigerian society. It is a global matter. This is because change can happen so fast in the society and school is a microcosm of the society. The ripples of any change may begin to affect the society at large. What it means is that something has to change in the school too. As Nigeria schools grapple with the problems of integration of technology in education in order to meet the requirements of the digital age, many other rifts seem to existbetween the education and the society at large. After graduation many educated ones cannot find jobs about which they have been tarrying the schools. Those who stop at the secondary school level find it very difficult to fit into any particular sector of the society for job opportunities and or for self-fulfillment. The nation cannot give enough financial support either to her school institutions nor give job opportunity for her mammoth crowd of graduating students. Nigerian schools are full of highly certified professors and teachers, as well as students who could have filed at a high wavelength, had there been a good remuneration and rewarding employment. The society wobbles with a distressed economy and students graduate and begin with cueing up around the foreign embassies in order to escape from hopelessness and seek greener pastures with their highly valued education. However, there is still life in Nigeria. It is not as if everything has failed. In the most part rather, there seems to be a gap between teaching and learning,the national education goals and the reality on ground. As Elekwaand Eze(2012) pointed out, problems of this nature can arise “whenever the curriculum of an educational system fails to satisfy the current reeds of the society and, of the individual within the society” and this brings us to recall once again a nexus that exists between educational technology and curriculum improvement.

Being at the epicenter of the learning sciences that resolves educational problems, EdTechemploys systems approach to troubleshoot and spot out whatever must have gone wrong in the educational system and proffer the accurate solutions. In such case, it is now time to recline once again to the expertise of the science of the EdTech since it has the powers to analyze, and identify problems, then to deconstruct, reconstruct and update teaching curriculum whenever there is need. As pointed out already, a need such as this arises whenever there is an unsuspected societal evolution in philosophy and or life in general. Coming back to our real problems globally today, an educator said, no doubt “our children want to live in atechnological world; what we need to ask ourselves is, what do they really need to be taught” clearly, there is something missing in our world which are: communication, understanding, tolerance and emotional education (Madvisit, 2020).

GAP BETWEEN SOCIETY AND TEACHING; A PEDAGOGICAL SOLUTION.
All forms of curriculum planning or organization has no effect until it reaches its goal in curriculum implementation. Curriculum implementation is the classroom instruction or teaching proper. It is this memorable learning experience between the educator and the learner that leverages its impact on the society. However, curriculum improvement comes in varied forms. When curriculum development bothers about finding out whether the national policy on education mirrors what is expected in the society, it is called curriculum improvement at the macro level. When it bothers about if the school modules punctuate adequately what is slated on the national policy in education, this is called curriculum improvement at the mezzo level. And whencurriculum instructional systems designers are at work finding out whether the instructional techniques and efficacy are all at par with the overall school curriculum description and if the objective of teaching are met in the classroom of learning, this is called curriculum development at the micro level. It is at this level of curriculum implementation or teaching proper that the positive objectives of teaching are felt by the society at large and for her citizens. It is important to note here that curriculumimplementation cannot work well if it stands alone. It must have an eye at the macro and mezzo level just as the macro and mezzo level must have an eye on the micro level. In actual fact, instructional system design is made of cyclic functions that make it to function effectively.
The basic and most common flow chat of instructional systems design in educational technology is the ADDIE model. ADDIE is an acronym that represents: Analyse, Develop, Design, Implement and Evaluate. In the practical sense what it means is that while you analyze the objective of teaching, you must watch the efficacy of the teaching materials, you must at the same time beevaluating what you are indeed doing to make sure it is in line with the four elements of curriculum improvement: objectives of the lesson, content or learning experiences, media, and the general evaluation. Curriculum at every stage of its development has an obligation to undergo evaluative assessment at each stage. Practically, in analyzing objectives and goals, you have to
evaluate, in developing, you have to re-evaluate, in designing the media/techniques, you have to constantly re-evaluate and in
implementing, you have to evaluate. All these constant evaluations can have their effect either in the formative or in the summative assessments. In the implementation stage which is teaching proper, you have to constantly re-evaluate what you are doing until there is the expected behavioural change in the learner as well as the society following the core curriculum. This is why it is better for any teacher to as well be an educator to be more abreast. This looks like recasting and re-printing in our mind the ancient poetic dictum which says “let us never rest, until our good is better and our better, best”. Evidently, teaching work can imply this and so, calls for a continuous cyclic process.

        TEACHING IN DIVERSE AREAS OF THE SOCIETY

It has been strongly noted by many educators that though the primary idea of teaching remains constant, it can acquire new connotations and implications when applied to diverse areas of the society and disciplines like Religion, Health, Politics, Business and Entrepreneurship etc. While the basic ideas of the meaning of teaching revolves around conveying knowledge, facilitating learning and so on, the methods and areas of emphasis may vary when applied to varied disciplines that influence the society. According to ……

1. Teaching and Religion:

In the area of Religion, teaching could have special implications and involvements like interpreting sacred texts, promoting adherence to accepted doctrines, or principally guiding individuals in their spiritual growth. In the areas of Religion teaching could be preoccupied with shaping people in moral values and beliefs. In most cases great teachings in the area of Religion, teaching can influence the society by modifying some cultural practices and traditions adequately.

1. Teaching and Health:

In an important area of health or healthcare, the concept of teaching can entail some varied efforts like promoting healthy behaviours, educating patients, training Professionals like Nurses and Medical Doctors etc. In the aspect of having some influence in the society, teaching can really empower citizens on how to take control of their health and safeguard them from upcoming disease.

1. Teaching and Politics

In our very sensitive area of Politics, teaching can actually be a tool that shape public opinion, education of citizens in the aspects of their political rights like franchise and so on. Teaching in Politics can really be a tool towards influencing policy decisions. In the areas of how teaching of Politics can affect the society, it is evident that teaching can impact on voter turnout and some civic engagements. Teaching in this area can also influence social justice amid the populace and be a veritable instrument of enlightenment on the general human rights.

1. Teaching and Business.

In Edtech, teaching is understood as something that extends to the areas of business and industry. Here teaching comes in form of training. It is an extension of teaching to the wider society just because the word learning is also necessary in the area of business as well. Industries and small scale businesses often have the need to train their workers especially when new skills have become necessary. Managerial trainings come up every once in a while and all trying to serve the need of the society as one or two changes emerge. Such training could come in the form of sales and marketing education as well as financial literacy at times.

1. Teaching in Entrepreneurship

Once some aspects of entrepreneurship involves learning, then teaching becomes involved too. Such teachings may come in the form of business mentorship. In the Eastern part of Nigeria called Igbo, there is a powerful form of business mentorship called Igba boi. It has been regarded as a world class idea in Entrepreneurship teaching or training in Africa but useful globally.  It is a kind of business startups incubation. Teaching or training in entrepreneurship could lead to entrepreneurial new ideas and accelerate growth in the society.

In the final analysis teaching in these aforementioned areas of the society can furnish individuals with the knowledge, skills and mindsets required to effect a societal positive change. In these facets as well, teaching could come in form of coaching, training sessions, workshops or online courses. It is notable here that teaching in these areas can successfully lead to influencing government policies and important decisions, business best practices as well as job creations and economic growths in the society. Robinson(2011) is one of those popular Edtech authors who have been profusely quoted as saying that teaching must be a broad concept encompassing creativity, critical thinking and personal growth.

CONCLUSION
This work agrees with Medvisit(2020) who said that, “clearly there is something missing in our world of teaching today which include: communication, understanding. Tolerance and emotional education”.In Nigeria and beyond, we observe a number of young people who can simply say yes to you without really thinking of any commitment to those words in action. A polite ‘no’ could be better. We observe a number of girls who talk down and look down on those who approach them for friendship in our African world where non marriage can cause a lot of distress on the life of a woman. A better flavor of effective communication principles can handle such dilemma that can result to a violent psychological malady. In Nigeria and beyond, we observe young students who practice a superfluity of obeisance, without a commensurate decision to learn the skills that can bring them to the expected, similar, self-efficacy that can earn them such competences for the workforce. In actual fact, many of the non-employment syndromes among graduate youths arise as a result of lack of emotional skill, understanding, that is required to click well with some business tycoons and entrepreneurs. In Nigeria and beyond we notice an unruly and impersonal use of phones among youths, which detach them from the favorable assessments of others, who desire to rather enjoy free warmth of sharing of their gifted social life. at times quality heart to heart discussion with a fellow humans can be richer, more collaborative and can earn someone a soft spot in the hearts of other quality persons. Such effective communications can become gainful immediately of later. In Nigeria and beyond, we have so many learned men and women who have no respect for a sense of time, which can deny them their own personal goal accomplishment as well as the required inter-personal considerations that can fuel a very quality and gainful relationship. In general, this work thinks that an update in the training of attitude or soft skills are required today in our teaching, in order to harmonize the students improved behavior with the constantly emerging modern realities of our digital civilization.

Good enough,recently in Nigerian education, an intervention has been made to ameliorate these challenges and disparities between education and society. The most resent of such interventions is called CCMAS. It implies core curriculum academic standard. In the practical sense, from September, 2023, it is required in Nigerian education that 30% of the teaching curriculum must evolve from the background of the learner, at least in the tertiary education for now. The objective is for the students to have a deeper understanding of the sociocultural environment where they find themselves and make it part and parcel of their learning. as an online document captioned CCMAS education (2022) outlined, overall, such curriculum improvement will include “a competence in computer literacy skills, quantitative skills, communication skills, information technology skills and entrepreneurship”. Based on this,this work recommends that an applicability of real CCMAS in Nigeria can only be achieved with a positive or growth mindset. There must be an addendum of the required solution oriented mind frame; otherwise we may end up fixated in the perpetual syndrome of recounting Nigerian innumerable problems and blame-shooting them on the political hijackers, which has always dissuaded so many talents around to uplift Nigeria and the world. At the mention of the need for entrepreneurship skills by CCMAS, this work adds the need to look into “Igba-boi” in Nigerian Igbo land, as a place of special attention. Igbaboi which is a recently acclaimed, but age-old method of Nigerian entrepreneurship, has to be upgraded with some bits of personal and professional development curriculum. Igbaboi, an Igbo world class entrepreneurship development for raising younger stars has succeeded over the years in Nigeria. in an impotent online document captioned Igbo Apprenticeship System (2023),it was said that Igbaboi which originated from Eastern Nigeria has been described worldwide as “a spur of economic of growth and stability; and a sustainable level of financing and investing on the human resource through vocational trainings”. However, it is important that those young boys who involve in it could be assisted with some form of formal or non-formal instructional resources rather than rely only on what their master has to tell them. Some audio books, simple business guides or constant soft-skill seminars could be good for a beginning for them. This is important today as business takes a new turn in the digital world.

Finally, as STEAM education has evolved, it is another great power to enhance teaching efficacy and curriculum implementation. STEAM education with its evolving inclusion of arts and science can anchor on a dynamic teaching technique like the flipped classroom in order to delve into the new problems of the modern education and resolve them. In the real sense, education and teaching do not need to be detached from the society. This is because teachers teach for the society while learners learn about the realities of the society and life, in order to build the society and enrich their own lives through their quality contributions. This is the rightful place of teaching in the society.

REFERENCES

Alozie E.I (2015). Be a Modern Teacher with Emotional Intelligence..United Kingdom; Author House Press.

Azzam A.M. (2011). Why Creativity Now? A conversation with Sir Ken Robinson. Retrieved from www.edp.ascd.ord/LMScourse.

CCMAS education (2023). Retrieved from mcc.ccmas.ng, on 16/11/2023

Ievedshedid.S(2017).Teaching is A Mother of All Other
Professions. Retrieval from Ikonoficial.wordpress.com, on
16/11/2023
Pushkaragarwal2l(2023). Relationship between teaching and learning; important questions for B.E.iedExams. Retrieved from www.beled.in, on 14/11/2023

Infoscipedia(2023).What is teaching ?Retrieved from igiglobal.com/, on 6/11/23

Medvisit(2020).Technology in schools.Retrieved from medvisit. 10/technology.in.school/, on 16/11/2023

Mkpa M.A. (1988). The system’s Concept in Curriculum Development, in Onyemezi D.A (ed); Nigerian Education.
Onitsha: Summer Educational Publisher (Nig) Ltd.

Onwuka.U (ed) (1981). Curriculum Development for Africa.
Onitsha: Africana Publishers (Nig) Ltd.

Rufal, A. R (2013).Federal Republic of Nigeria.National policy on Education.Nigeria; NCRDC Press.

Wikipedia (2023). Igbo Apprenticeship System. Retrieved from en.m.wikipeida.org/, on 17/11/2023.

ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UTURU;

THEME:

 REVITALIZATION OF EDUCATION IN A DISTRESSED ECONOMY

 TOPIC:

EFFECTS OF FLIPPED CLASSROOM AND GLASER’S TEACHING METHODS ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH IN ABIA STATE

BY

ALOZIE EUGENE IHEANYI

17/PG/PHD/Edu-Tech/5772

 ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of the flipped classroom and Glaser’s teaching methods on secondary school students’ achievements in Literature in English in Abia State. The study adopted a quasi experimental design using pre-test, post-test and control group. The research used two research questions and two hypotheses. The population of the study is 7,648 which consisted of all the Senior Secondary School students offering Literature in English in Abia State. The sample of the study comprised 80 SS 11 students. The sample comprised both rural and urban students and was obtained through purposive sampling technique. In the urban school the boys were 28 in number while the girls were 12, while in the rural school, the boys were 26 in number and the girls were 14. The instrument for the study was researcher made Literature in English Achievement Test (LEAT). The achievement Test consisted of 50 multiple choice items with five options (A-E). The research instrument was validated by four experts in the Department of Curriculum and Teacher Education and Measurement and Evaluation from Abia State University Uturu. A reliability instrument used was Spearman Brown coefficient. Spearman Brown coefficient revealed .730 and when converted to Guttman Split-Half coefficient revealed .724. Research questions were answered using Mean and Standard Deviation while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and the t. test were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.The major finding of the study is that the flipped Classroom Technique is effective in improving students academic achievement in Literature in English. Similarly, the study revealed that in a process of teaching and learning where students are likely to absent themselves once in a while for whatever reasons, the flipped Classroom Technique is an adequate teaching Technique. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that Teacher Preparation Institutions should incorporate the Flipped Classroom Technique in the relevant areas of their Curriculum units and expose both pre-service and in-service teachers to the use of the  flipped Classroom Technique in order to enhance teaching and learning.

 Introduction

Change happens every day. Today the use of technological gadgets has overtaken over every aspect of our lives. Amidst all these in our country Nigeria, we are recently facing the worst heat of distressed economy, which affects us as well as our education

Whichever is the case, education is one thing that remains constant all through life; and it is our duty to revitalize education in a distress economy. This is why the rise of educational technology (Edu-Tech) isn’t just about the availability of advanced tools; it’s also rather about addressing some of the challenges inherent to education (Tierney, 2020). This paper presents the Flipped Classroom Technique as one possible part way towards the victory of our educational revitalization.

My teaching subject Literature in English is my area of concern in this research. Literature in English Language is one of the areas of education that may require immediate application of some new edu-tech dynamic tool-kits for a more efficient pedagogy and for better performances. In Nigeria in fact, the role of Literature in English Language in the classroom has been re-assessed; and many view literary texts as providing rich linguistic input, effective stimuli for students to express themselves; it is also viewed as a potential source of learner motivation (Ugoiyi, 2016). Some educational authors think that the flipped classroom can leverage a positive impact on the students achievement in the  teaching and learning of Literature in English.

According to Trach (2023:1),

The Flipped Classroom is a blended learning model in which traditional ideas about classroom activities and homework are reverted, or flipped. In this model, instructors have students interact with new materials for homework first. They then use class time to discuss the new information and put those ideas into practice.

Comparing the flipped classroom with Robert Glaser’s Teaching Method, it is believed that the former may have a more positive effect on the students achievements in teaching and learning Literature in English. Robert Glaser’s teaching method is called the basic teaching model in education. This is because, it is akin to lecture method

However, many educational theories and educators have agreed for Flipped Classroom as a more dynamic approach in teaching. This is particularly because every student  learns differently and at their own pace(Skooler, 2018). People differ and so particular individuals are more responsive to specific stimuli or information processing.  Using the flipped classroom approach is a way to address each child’s unique needs, while preparing them for collaboration with others. In fact, flipped classroom has been categorized by educators as a high technology teaching approach. Unlike the traditional schools using technology, high-tech pedagogy does not only use technology to teach students, but allows students to learn through technology. The beauty of this teaching philosophy is the flexibility it offers since no two flipped classrooms look alike. Each flipped classroom always looks different as a result of the dynamic tactics of the teacher to meet the diverse learning styles and the needs of the students or learners.

Thakare (2018), has exposed the dynamic activities of the Flipped Classroom through which it can satisfy the needs of the learner and the society. In fact Flipped Classroom can be called a standard inverted classroom where concepts are digitally presented in videos, while the in-class-time is reserved for practicing the concepts. It can take the form of a micro Flipped Classroom when short videos are used to free up an elongated class time for practice. It can be discussion oriented, when after watching the video, in-class-time then is used to explore and for valued shared discussion. This design is used more for the subject, literature in English. Flipped classroom can be demonstration-based when after digital consumption at home, class time is used for practical demonstrations. This applies more to Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Flipped classroom can be Faux, when after watching the video in school, a guided interaction is used as a tool to clarify all doubts. It can be called group-based, when after the digital consumption, group learning is chosen afterwards to further clarifications and improve retention. Furthermore, flipped classroom can be virtual, when the Learning Management System (LMS) is used both for content presentation and for assignment and guidance. Finally, a flipped classroom can be flipping the teacher when students make their own videos, send to the teacher to show understanding (Thakare, 2018). All these diverse models of the flipped classroom touch on the absolute flexibility of this pedagogy and on the infinite possibilities of its instructional designs in order to meet the diverse learning styles and effect efficient curriculum implementation.

In teaching Literature in English as a subject the opportunities offered by the discussions and reflections at the in-class-time is where the power of the flipped classroom lies. This active phase of the flipped classroom is known as flipped learning. It is really the special time when the students of Literature in English can speak out and show understanding or mastery. A blend of the powers of digital applications and the active learning of the in-class-time of the flipped classroom, enables the educator to implement the important four CS of learning required in the 21^st century. The four C’s are: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication. This paper  will reveal how the benefits of this active in-class-time can join with its possibility of personalized creativity to revitalize education in our distress economy.

Flipped Classroom has been discovered to anchor on constructivism. This constructivist learning theory holds the opinion that students are active constructors of meaning, the leader and controller of the learning process; while teachers assist students in developing their autonomous learning. This also proves the point why good teachers-not good videos are key to the Flipped Classroom(Strokes, 2012). There is a small difference between flipped classroom and flipped learning. Flipped learning is an important part of the flipped classroom which is a reversal of the well known Bloom’s taxonomy, putting “to create” at the epicenter of every learning experience. No doubt, it is generally understood that active learning is anything that helps students in doing things and thinking deeply about the things they are doing or learning. This type of technique advanced by the flipped classroom pedagogy seems to reduce the gap between education and training. This is because, with the Flipped Classroom and its active learning and mastery phase, learning will surely end up on a hands-on exercise, training and creativity. Most recently, a student educator found out that a brain scan showed that students who took a hands-on approach to learning had an activation of the sensory and motor-related part of their brain when they later thought about concepts. Hence they had a better performance (Inqumire, 2015), Combination of this synchronous and asynchronous powerful learning environment of the flipped classroom will lift up the hearts and minds of students; in a positive sense and academically; especially at difficult times as they relate education to their practical reality. The predominant teaching method in Secondary Schools which is Glaser’s traditional classroom approach is no longer adequate in this age for such creative subject like Literature in English. The problem is that with the Glaser’s Basic Teaching Model, instructional goals and entry behaviours are determined before coming to see the students who must adhere and confirm to them. The study focuses on ascertaining the effects of the flipped classroom and Glaser’s teaching method on secondary school students’ achievement of Literature in English, in Abia State.

Evidently, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the Flipped Classroom technique and Robert Glaser’s teaching method on Secondary Schools Students Achievement in Literature in English in Abia State. The findings of this study when published would benefit a number of education stakeholders: Teachers, Proprietors, Instructional Designers, Students, Parents, and the Society, even future Researchers.

To guide the study, the researcher used the following research questions:

1. What differences exist in the mean achievement scores of students taught Literature in English using Flipped Classroom Techniques and Robert Glaser’s Teaching Method in Abia State.

2. What are the mean achievement scores of absentee students exposed to the Flipped Classroom in Abia State.

The following hypotheses are stated in the null form in order to guide the study at P<0.05.

Ho1. There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught Literature in English using with flipped classroom technique and those taught with  Robert Glaser’s teaching method in Abia State.

Ho2. The mean performance scores of absentee students in the flipped classroom technique do not differ significantly from absentee students  in the Robert Glaser’s  group.

The researcher also thinks that this study may be an extension of the frontiers of knowledge in  which knowledge travels from the domain of mere ideas to the domain that bridges the gap between what is learned at school and what is seen in the  realities of the work place and life in general the end  point of this practicality is to better our lives. It is noted in this research that there are so many learning styles each of which at times overlap with one another. We have Visual, Auditory and kinesthetic;

1. Auditory Learning Style: (those that learn better through the spoken word)
2. Kinesthetic Learning Style: (Those that learn better by doing and interacting)

Putting all these into consideration, this paper posits that the flipped classroom is a more advanced and more effective teaching approach in the education of today, because it takes care of all the learning styles; and considers the reality of the students.

Furthermore, some have asked can flip classroom  function in Africa? amidst these facts, some educators believe the Flipped Classroom innovation remains an advantage to the students of poorer countries and districts since it enables curriculum equality through Khan Academy provisions and other digital content deliveries that assist learning and up to date curriculum. It effects curriculum equality. However, Karen Cator – director of the office of Educational Technology in U.S Department of Education accepts that poor location problem is an obstacle. He went on to say all the same,  that we do need to figure out ways that students can learn; regardless of Zip code, regardless of their parents income. The researcher thinks that flipped classroom brings that curriculum equality.

It is important to note that there is  a difference between English Literature and Literature in English. According to Ekeoma (2018:15), any type of literature takes its name from its origin, from the language of the participants which includes the writers of such literature, materials and the settings of the materials written. In order words, any work of art written or produced by an English man about the English people or English society is regarded as a form of English Literature. Likewise, if an African writes about Africa and probably in an African language like Igbo, such work is regarded as African Literature; this is one of the basis for the classification. According to Ekeoma, Africans had their own Literature but had not evolved the written forms of their languages before they became colonized. Then during the period of colonialism, the white or the British for example colonized Nigeria and made their values permeate into the mainstream of our society. The British for example taught us how to read and write the English Language. This development gave the Africans the opportunity to explore into British literature whether African or Western, in the English Language. This imported Literature and the local literature fused together to form the syllabus for students studying literature in our land. So according to  Ekeoma what we are studying now is neither a clear-cut English Literature nor a clear-cut African Literature. This then culminates into what we call or refer to as Literature in English which means various works of Literature done in English language. It is really in this sense that Literature in English evolved and became my teaching subject. It is a part of English Language Art.

There has been some parches of knowledge of the flipped classroom from the ancient School days. In a document captioned “The History of the Flipped Class”  Jon Bergman, the initiator of the idea of the Flipped Classroom was recorded to have acknowledged some words from, Jobu (2011:3),

As a colleague of mine pointed out “We flipped our lesson while (sic) at boarding school 40 years ago, they (people)called it “Prep” – true they had no video or You Tube but then the ‘Flipped Classroom’ does not need to hinge on these forms of multi-media. What I admire about your version of the ‘flip’-Jonathan; are steps you have taken towards a richer fuller pedagogy by pursuing the ‘mastery’ model.

Flipped Classroom is also related to taking care of absentee students.

In the same 2007, Bergmann and Aaron (2011:1), wrote:

In all honesty, we recorded our lessons out of selfishness. We were spending inordinate amounts of time re-teaching lessons to students who missed class and the recorded lectures became our first line of defense. Our absent students loved the recorded lectures. Students who missed class were able to learn what they missed, students who were in class and heard the live lectures began to re-watch the video. Some would watch them when reviewing for exams.

Flipped Classroom is related to curriculum development. In summary, what it means is that whenever the philosophy of a nation changes, the relevance of the previous Curriculum becomes questionable like in a distress economy; then Educational Technology comes in with its powerful methods of Systematic Approach and its curriculum development elements to identity the cause of the problem and fix it. In the case of the flipped Classroom, the world has changed and this teaching technique has come to change and update the way we learn. In the present era as well, the psychology of our younger ones and students keep changing. What it means is that there must be a curriculum updating on the part of the learners and teachers to meet this target, all around the globe. The flipped classroom is also the ideal model to invest in 21^st century skills, and provide students with a one-to-one learning experience, that works out for them. The Flipped Classroom is related to virtual classroom. Both the world of Actual Reality and Virtual reality are linked. This is the main goal of the flipped classroom. It allows the digital classroom to leverage on the face to face classroom and in fact assist in solving problems of the student in his or her own situation as a learner. It is student centred.

Flipped Classroom also brings what happens in the class back home  to the parents. Ravuri (2015) told his story; “When my kids started school this year, their teachers didn’t simply send them home with a paper syllabus and textbooks; communication between teacher and student and parent was established through mobile apps.  Google Classroom, for instance, helps my daughter’s teacher organize and communicate homework assignments, send feedback and keep the class organized.  My son’s teacher also integrates Class Dojo which can be used with Google Classroom to communicate with parents about their students’ classroom behavior.” In our distressed economy, there should be no fear as to where to find these instructional facilities, because in Educational Technology, media design is part and parcel of instructional design.

The Flipped Classroom provides some ease to instructors who apply differentiated learning principles.  By flipping the differentiated classroom, students complete their individualized activities in their personal time.  As long as there are clear expectations and students understand the end goal, you can offer more freedom and leeway in how particular students consume the learning material.

Thinking of how technology can enhance differentiated instruction, some educators suggested that three tech tools: SAS Curriculum Pathways, Newsela and Edpuzzle can help differentiate instruction by showing where students are and offering appropriate formative assessment.  These are the updates in digitized differentiated instruction, which are useful to the flipped classroom as well. But the Flipped Classroom is not limited to any of this facilities. This is  where the creativity of the teacher comes in.

Such techniques that enhance the expected active learning in the Flipped Classroom are said by some educational experts to include the following:

1. Project-based learning
2. Collaborative group projects
3. Practical tasks
4. Making Students create Their Own content
5. Using Reflective Learning
6. Teacher Circulation, as a Guide to Learning
7. Giving Tips That Prepare Students for the Discussion Time

Many educationists believe that such activities of active learning in the flipped classroom go better with emotional intelligence and growth mindset. While emotional intelligence is related to adequate management of emotions for success in relationship, work place and learning, a growth mindset is related to a positive openness of the mind for a general human progress. Hence, Flipped Classroom is a home base for creativity, through a design thinking process. The design thinking process is a set of structured strategies that identify challenges, gather information, generate potential solutions, refine ideas, and test solutions. There are five phases to the process:  discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation, and evolution.  This is related to the present idea of  maker movement. Maker movement is a forum, platform, or community activity whose major goals are to create. Edu-tech has it as its goal to translate education from mere content consumption to content and product creation, design, manufacturing, producing and making.  Flipped classroom technique is a method per excellence to boost maker movements in schools, and personalized education which is the in-thing in a valued education of today. Personalized education is like asking how does the learning make meaning to the students in his or her present life problem or situation.

Many have asked how to ensure that students consume the digital content at home. Kirch’s (2015) generated the technique popularly known as WSQ Technique.  W = Watch, S = Summarize, Q = Question.  This technique can be applied to help ensure that students consume any type of digital learning content. It is a technique that makes the students to watch the digital content, write a brief summary of it and ask some questions online or indirectly to the teacher. Such questions and summaries may attract some marks as the teacher may decide. Thus the Flipped Classroom gives all the advantages of the constructivist classroom. In Constructivism teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding of both study content and their own personal lives.  By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become “expert learners.”  This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning.  With such well-planned classroom environment, the student learns HOW TO LEARN, especially because of the opportunity of delivering the learning content at home with such activities beefed up with personal involvement.

In chapter three, procedure and methodology of the study would be presented under these sub-headings; research design, area of the study, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, instrumentation, validation of the instrument, reliability of the instrument, experimental procedures, method of data analysis and control of extraneous variables. The design adopted in this work is quasi-experimental design using pre-test, post-test and control group. The area of the study is Abia State. Abia state is at the South Eastern part of Nigeria. The population of the study was based on all the students who offer Literature In English, in Abia state. They are about 7,648 in number. The study was centered on the 80 students who offer Literature in the two chosen Senior Secondary schools. 40 students were from each school. With regard to the instruments of research, the researcher prepared 50-item achievement test. This was based on the topics that all students had done in SS1 and SS2 in the course of the lesson, the content was sent to the students through WhatsApp, while the students returned to class to discuss and apply the lesson. So the reliability co-efficient of the 50 multiple choice test items was .730. All the data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and the analysis of covariance. Secondly, the administration of research was carried out under the same classroom conditions.

4.1 Research Question One: What differences exist in the mean achievements score of the students taught Literature in English using Flipped Classroom Technique and Robert Glazer’s Teaching Method.

N = 80

Table 4.1 shows that the pretest mean scores of students taught literature in English with flipped classroom technique and with Robert Glazer’s teaching method are 41.80 and 42.30, with their respective standard deviation being 5.16 and 5.21 respectively. The posttest mean scores of students taught literature in English with flipped classroom technique and with Robert Glazer’s teaching method are 62.05 and 45.35 respectively, with their respective standard deviation being 8.92 and 6.18.

4.2 Research Question Two: What differences exist in the Mean Achievement Scores of absentee Students Exposed to Flipped Classroom Technique.

N = 12

Table 4.2 shows that the pretest mean scores of absentee students taught Literature in English with flipped classroom technique is 41.83 with standard deviation 2.88. The posttest mean score of absentee students taught Literature in English with flipped classroom technique is 67.50 and standard deviation of 5.26. The result reveals a mean gain of 25.67 favouring absentee students at posttest, this is an indication that the flipped classroom technique is suitable to use for improving absentee students’ performance in secondary schools in Abia state.

Hypothesis

4.1 Hypothesis One: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught Literature in English using with flipped classroom technique and those taught with  Robert Glaser’s teaching method in Abia State.

Table 4.6 shows the summary of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) which assumed that the mean achievement scores of secondary school students taught literature in English with flipped classroom technique and Robert Glazer’s teaching method do not differ significantly.The result shows f-value of 1001.233 and p-value of 0.00 at 0.05 level of significance. Since the p-value is less than 0.05(p<0.05) significance level.

 4.2 Hypothesis Two: The mean performance scores of absentee students in the flipped classroom technique do not differ significantly from the pre-test scores.

Table 4.7 shows the summary of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) which assumed that the mean achievement scores of secondary school absentee students taught literature in English with flipped classroom technique in pretest and posttest do not differ significantly.The result shows f-value of 1125.238 and p-value of 0.00 at 0.05 level of significance. Since the p-value is less than 0.05(p<0.05) significance level.

The Findings of the Study

5.1.1 Differences in the mean achievements score of the students taught Literature in English using Flipped Classroom Technique and Robert Glazer’s Teaching Method.

The study revealed that Flipped Classroom Technique is an effective method of teaching Literature in English in Secondary Schools . What it means is that the Flipped Classroom Technique can be used to improve students’ academic achievement in Literature in English Language. It was shown that students taught Literature in English had a better performance after being exposed to the treatment. This implies that the Flipped Classroom approach is a good instructional method and that it can be used to improve students’ performance in Literature in English.

5.1.2 Differences in the Mean Achievement Scores of absentee Students Exposed to Flipped Classroom Technique.

The study revealed that students who were at times absent in School while being exposed to Flipped Classroom Technique performed better in Literature in English than in their normal performance in the pre-test. What it means is that Flipped Classroom Technique enhances the performance of students who could be constrained to be absent from class, than those who could be absent in the class at times while being taught with the traditional method. Flipped Classroom Technique is an advantage to students who may be absent awhile in class than the Conventional Method. Based on the above findings it is concluded that the Flipped Classroom Technique is very effective in improving students academic achievement in Literature in English. This means that students taught with Flipped Classroom Technique had higher mean academic achievement scores than those taught with Robert Glazer’s Teaching Method. Therefore the Flipped Classroom Technique is effective in improving student’s academic achievement.

The findings also revealed that absentee students who were taught using the flipped classroom technique performed significantly better than in the pre-test. What it mean is that students who may have one reason or the other to be absent in class are better to be taught using the flipped classroom technique.

Educational Implication of the Findings

The findings also revealed that absentee students who were taught using the flipped classroom technique performed significantly better than in the pre-test. What it mean is that students who may have one reason or the other to be absent in class are better to be taught using the flipped classroom technique. In cases at times in Abia state where students with school phobia keep away from school at the earliest re opening times of the schools or for some other more genuine reasons, teachers at such circumstances can better teach some select subjects preferably with the flipped classroom. Other critical times like fee drive periods could better be handled with the flipped classroom at least for some important subjects. There are other occasions like late admissions at times caused by a distressed economy. In such cases, teachers are better with the flipped classroom; at least in some key subjects for a more justifiable formative and summative students achievement assessment.

5.5   Recommendations

The following recommendations are made on the finding of the study:

1. Teacher preparation institutions should incorporate flipped classroom technique in the relevant areas of their curriculum units and expose both pre-service and in-service teachers to the use of the flipped classroom approach to enhance teaching and learning.

2. Though without encouraging absenteeism, wherever some students are likely to absent themselves from important lessons, let the flipped classroom approach be used as a better option for teaching and learning.

Finally, School as a microcosm of the society had not been passive over the bad situation affecting teaching and learning like in a distressed economy, rather can employ the techniques of the Flipped Classroom in a move towards revitalization of education.

REFERENCES

Bergmann, J. (2011). The History Of The Flipped Class. Retrieved from https://flippedclass.com/the-history-of-the-flipped-class/, on 4/12/2017.

Ekeoma. C.C. (2018). A Guide to Success in Literature in English,Umuahia: Bon Publications.

Inqumire (2015). Learning By Doing Helps Students Perform Better in Science. Retrieved from news.chicago.edu/story, on 20/06/22

Kirch, C. (2015). Episode 024: Crystal Kirch and the W-S-Q.Retrieved from flippedlearning.org/ask-the-fin-procast/, on 28/10/2018.

Ravuri, L. (2015). Mobile Is Changing Everything And Education Is No Exception. Retrieved From emergingtech.com, on 23/2/2021.

Skooler (2018).  The “Flipped Classroom” Supports Multiple Styles of learning. Retrieved from https://skooler.com, on 17/4/2020.

Strokes. K (2012). Why Good Teachers Not Good Videos-Are Key To The Flipped Classroom. From https;//indianapublicmedia.org, on 12/5/2021.

Thakare, R. (2018). 8 Types of Flipped Learning Classroom and Tools To Build Them. From https://e-learningindustry.com, on 23/5/2021.

Trach, E. (2023). A Beginners Guide to Flipped Classroom-AIRS. Retrieved From https//www.schoology.com, on 23/5/2021.

Ugoji, S.C. (2016). Literature In English As Tool for Teaching English as Second Language in Nigerians Schools. From https:www.researchgate.net, on 29/1/2021.

What is  Educational technology (n.d), Retrieved from jotform.com/, on 15/02/23