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Research Proposal: COVID-19’s Impact on Digitalization of tertiary education Cambodian §

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Topic: COVID-19’s Impact on Digitalization of tertiary education Cambodian.

Objective: Figure out on what fields and to what extent have digitalization improved to respond to COVID-19

Introduction/background Pok Ponnaka §

Covid’s influence on society, how students had to adapt

Why is it interesting

Abstract Choeun Chakrya §

• Past actions to deal with covid 19 for education sector

Research Problem

From the issue of the global pandemic, COVID-19 has brought many challenges towards the world globally. As for Cambodia, specifically the education sector, the situation is quite controversial to look at. Ever since March 2020, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports had announced for school closing of all level of education. It was not up until October that some schools were allowed to re-open. Unfortunately, just a few days ago, the community break out has scared many, leading to the ministry, announcing for another 2 weeks suspension of all level of education except for 12th grade in high school. Taking a look at university level, collage students are now adapting to digital learning via online platforms and webinar such as Zoom, Microsoft Team and Google Meet. Although this shift of learning style is drastically fast and different, many students are now left with no choice but to quickly adapt to it. Clearly in IFL, Department of International Studies, students have completed 1 semester online and starting off a new semester on the same platform.

Research Problem

1. What is the most preferred learning method by college students between physical and digital learning?

   Hypothesis 1: Physical learning is the most preferred learning method by college students between physical and digital learning.

   Hypothesis 2: Digital learning is the most preferred learning method by college students between physical and digital learning

2. How accessible are the learning materials through digital platform on the tertiary level?

   Hypothesis 1: Learning through the digital platform on the tertiary level is very accessible.

   Hypothesis 2: Learning through the digital platform on the tertiary level is not very accessible.

3. Have the outcomes of learning through digitalization improved compared to physical learning in universities?

   Hypothesis 1: The outcome of learning through digitalization has improved compared to physical learning in universities.

   Hypothesis 2: The outcome of learning through digitalization has worsened compared to physical learning in universities

Research Objectives + Specific Objectives Sim Sovachana §

Objectives

1. The research aims to measure Cambodia university students’ preference of digital education as a platform for their learning over the traditional physical learning.
2. The study aims to calculate the accessibility of digital learning on the Cambodian tertiary education through the perception of university students and their experiences.
3. The study also assesses the viability or possibility of digital education being the dominant form of education or possibly replacing physical education as a whole in Cambodia.

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5. Literature Review Chea Resan §

• Theory, existing study
• Existing concepts? Employability?
• Theoretical framework: levis Land, labor
• Conceptual framework: strategy to answer your research question/problem

Literature review can come from different countries and different scopes, just how they approached the topic, methods of data collection, data analysis…

Existing Studies

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dinesh_Bhuju2/publication/341188849_Academic_Institutions_at_the_Time_of_COVID-19_Pandemic/links/5ecf757a299bf1c67d23dd36/Academic-Institutions-at-the-Time-of-COVID-19-Pandemic.pdf

A research on Universities in countries (including Cambodia), how they adapted their website, app, and information sharing during COVID-19

The novel Coronavirus is relatively new. Therefore, the literature and research on the topic in Cambodia is limited, especially ones addressing digital education in the country specifically. The Journal of Social Sciences by Scientific Research Publishing took on a study of this topic on a broader scale. The study focused on the virus’s impact on developing countries’ education sector. The paper found that most of the world shutdown their schooling system and replaced it with digital system of education. This created problems of accessibility, technological illiteracy, and equality for families in dealing with digital education, especially in the country side. Therefore, this research paper will explore how the switch to digital education has affected Cambodian university students as well as the Cambodian education sector as a whole. (Scientific Research Publishing, 2020).

From a research published in May 2020, titled ‘Academic Institutions at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic’, addressed the accessibility of COVID-19 information on universities’ websites of 14 different countries. (IJSR, 2020). From each country, including Cambodia, 5 universities were picked to be examined. The institutions were checked on whether they displayed information regarding COVID-19 awareness on their webpage. Out of the five universities picked for Cambodia, only one had information regarding COVID-19 and emergency contacts. The study focused on the variable of universities’ websites to determine universities’ role in spreading COVID-19 information.

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CAN ICT HELP CAMBODIAN STUDENTS BECOME THE SOLUTION FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION IN THE COUNTRY?

A recent study was conducted in 2019 named ‘Can ICT help Cambodian students become the solution for improving education in the country?‘. The study brought up one of ‘the seven principles of learning, where effective learning must be from ‘cooperative group learning that is well organized and challenging’. Cambodian college school system should have the standard practice of practical learning, where students are teach other students to apply their knowledge, either face to face or digitally. Public high school students could also learn from college students presentations.

Currently there lack a critical understanding of the proper methodology in implementing or utilizing a fully digital education system. There are few research that delve into the nitty gritty of a university system where all forms of teaching and learning is conducted virtually, either through the face-to-face method of video-calling or through pre-recorded lectures and pre-written materials. This is not to mention digital education’s role in the developing country of Cambodia, as it possess even less data and analysis on this certain topic.

A 2010 study named ‘Exploring a new learning landscape in tertiary education’ found that students are increasingly integrated technologies into their learning. These new learners, coming into the tertiary education level, utilizes a wide range of digital technology. However, they still require more guidance in dealing with critical comprehension that technology cannot be of much help. On the other side, the study also found that teachers tend to underutilize digital technology in managing the classroom, the use of online resources for students, and normally are resistant to changes from the traditional face to face education process that teachers were used to. (NLW, 2010)

In the 2019 paper named ‘Student Perception of Digital Technology Usage in Higher Education Classrooms at Seattle Pacific University’, only a minimal fraction of students desired heavy integration of technology in their school curriculum. Furthermore, only 7% of students preferred an all digital course for their major.

The study from the University of Chicago Press was published in 2011 discussing the challenges of adopting new technology for education in lesser developed countries, while focusing on the case of Cambodia. The study used the Roger’s model, which divided the characteristics of an invention that impact the likelihood of adoption of that certain innovation. The study found several problems with Cambodia adoption of digital education in 2011. First, the lackluster quality of computers available, the limited knowledge of usage and repair skills hindered the adoption of computers. Second is that electricity outages destroyed teachers works leading to frustration. In addition, the lack of computer units led teachers to not gain practice or produce reliable results from them. Third, the issue of trialability, meaning ability of users to test out the product to see its value, is not there due to the lack of computer units, electricity outages, and the knowledge required to operate. Therefore, computers in schools are usually in disrepair and overlooked for more ‘convenient’ alternatives. (Jayson W. Richardson, 2011).

Conceptual Framework §

In the time of crisis, such as the on going COVID-19 pandemic, much processes in society is switched to digital. With the aim to study the new emergence of digital aspect of every field in society, digital education must also be considered upon it’s potential and viability as compared to the traditional face-to-face teaching. In order to achieve this, this paper aims to collect data from IFL university students in Phnom Penh. University students are evaluated upon their experience in adapting to the new method of studying and their opinion on the benefits of an all digital tertiary system of teaching.

In the process of analyzing students’ experiences with digital education we can then comprehend the

Many research point to the same conclusion that learning technologies imported from developed countries might not work for developing countries such as Cambodia for several reasons. The economic cost required for each student’s studying, the cost and accessibility of critical resources such as internet access, and accessibility of physical infrastructure of electricity (Sharma, RC). Therefore, jumping the gun on adopting new learning technology for the sake of keeping up will not be effective.

Research Methods §

Method should correspond to how we go about answering the research question

Collect and compare data of universities students, specifically IFL students of how they adapted and how they think they benefited from the switch to digital education.

Data collection method §

Consistent point scale for survey.

Differentiate between different measurement format (ordinal, nominal…)

• Put choices properly in their respective format.
• make several question items for each variable you’re measuring
• To what extent do you agree?

Accessibility

• How many technology devices do you have?
  • Which or how many do you actively use for your study?

Data analysis method §

revise

Discussion §

Put all survey, theory, framework, past studies together to link together and make a completed conclusion

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Survey §

Satisfaction §

1. How satisfied are you with online learning on a scale from 1 to 5?
   • Not satisfied
   • Not very satisfied
   • Neutral
   • Somewhat satisfied
   • Extremely satisfied
2. Do you like studying from home? (to what extent)
   • Yes, I do like studying from home.
   • No, I want to study on campus.
3. Which do you prefer for studying, online learning or physical learning?
   • Online learning.
   • Physical learning.

School Performance §

1. What was your GPA for last semester?

   Answer: ___ .

2. How many times were you absent in the last month?

   Answer: ___ .

3. How well were you able to meet deadlines for assignments, presentations, and homework?

   • I miss 75% of deadlines
   • I miss 50% of deadlines
   • I miss 25% of deadlines
   • I miss 10% of deadlines
   • I do not miss any deadlines

4. In your opinion, how well do you understand information you learn from online lectures?

   • I remember 0% of information from lectures
   • I remember 25% of information from lectures
   • I remember 50% of information from lectures
   • I remember 75% of information from lectures
   • I remember 100% of information from lectures

5. Which do you prefer, physical lectures or online lectures?

   • Physical lectures. (Skip question 7)
   • Online lectures. (Skip question 6)

6. In what way are physical lectures better than online lectures? §

7. In what way are physical lectures better than online lectures? §

Accessibility §

1. To what extent are you able to study online during this school shut down?

   • I am fully able to study online without any difficulties
   • I am mostly able to study online without much difficulties
   • I am able to study online with some minor difficulties
   • I am able to study online with many difficulties
   • I am unable to study online due to inaccessibility

2. What do you think is the percentage of university students in Cambodia having access to digital education?

   Answer: ___ %

3. How many types of internet access do you have access to at your home? Select multiple if applicable.

   • Wifi
   • Cellular Phone Data

4. How much does your wifi cost per month? (Skip if irrelevant)

   Answer: $____ .

5. How much do you spend on cellular data? (Skip if irrelevant)

   Answer: $____ .

6. How many types of devices are in your home? Select multiple if applicable.

   • Laptop. Quantity: ___ .
   • Desktop. Quantity: ___ .
   • Phone. Quantity: ___ .
   • Tablet. Quantity: ___ .
   • E-book. Quantity: ___ .

7. How many types of devices do you personally own? Select multiple if applicable.

   • Laptop . Quantity: ___ .
   • Desktop. Quantity: ___ .
   • Phone. Quantity: ___ .
   • Tablet. Quantity: ___ .
   • E-book. Quantity: ___ .

8. How often do electrical outages happen?

   • Multiple times a week.
   • Once a week.
   • Once a month.
   • Once a year.
   • Never.

Challenges of digital learning in developing countries

Search more about keywords

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KbyNpEfBtN3tnPNxMdFHYSUW2_nVtmqi/preview

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Gender

• 1: Male
• 2: Female

How satisfied are your school’s online learning system?

• 1: Very Unsatisfied
• 2: Not Very Satisfied
• 3: Neutral
• 4: Somewhat Satisfied
• 5: Extremely Satisfied

Which do you prefer for studying, online learning or on-campus learning?

• 1: On-Campus Learning
• 2: Online Learning

Which do you prefer, physical lectures or online lectures?

• 1: Physical Lectures
• 2: Online Lectures

How well are you able to meet deadlines?

• 1: 100% (meets all deadlines)
• 2: 75%
• 3: 50%
• 4: 25%

In your opinion, how well do you remember information you learn from online lectures?

• 1: I remember 100% of information from lectures
• 2: I remember 75% of information from lectures
• 3: I remember 50% of information from lectures
• 4: I remember 25% of information from lectures
• 5: I remember 0% of information from lectures

To what extent are you able to study online during this school shut down?

• 1: I am fully able to study online without any difficulties
• 2: I am mostly able to study online without much difficulties
• 3: I am able to study online with some minor difficulties
• 4: I am able to study online with many difficulties
• 5: I am unable to study online due to inaccessibility

How proficient are you at using digital software such as Microsoft Office, Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Search that is required for online study?

• 1: I am capable of using digital software to the fullest extent
• 2: I can do most of what is required through digital software.
• 3: I can do just enough through digital software to study online
• 4: I have difficulties completing school tasks through the digital platform
• 5: I have minimal knowledge about digital software for online education.

How often do electrical outages happen?

• 1: Multiple times a week
• 2: Once a week
• 3: Once a month
• 4: Once a year
• 5: Never

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Income + correlate with internet access (0-2)

Z = $\frac{\bar{X}-\mu }{\frac{\sigma }{\sqrt{n}}}$

calculate the average or one value for all the accessibility questions

Do the same for

• Satisfaction, preference
• Performance

Simple regression: using one Independent Variable (one that is the predictor) to predict the outcome of the Dependent Variable (that depends on the IV).

Multiple regression: using multiple Independent variables to predict the outcome of one Dependent Variable

• R Squared: is the amount 0 to 1, determining the percentage that the independent variable account for the change in the dependent variable

Performance:

• Deadline_Total_Average (0-1) %
• GPA (0-4) (interval)
• Remember (0-1) %

Accessibility:

• Absents (0-$\infty$) (DV)
• Electrical_Outage (IV)
• Home_Devices_Score (IV)
• Personal_Device_Score (IV)

Regression Analysis §

Checks if Independent Variable(s) affect Dependent Variable

• $R^2$ (0-1) the % that the IV(s) account for the changes in the DV >0.5
• Significance (Sig.) must be <0.05 to be statistically significant
• Coefficient: the percentage of each the independent variables is responsible for changes in the dependent variable
• Standard Error: amount by which the coefficient varies across different cases
• t-value of the test and its value: is equal to the coefficient divided by the standard error.

Standard Deviation §

$$\sigma =\sqrt{\frac{\sum (x_i-\mu {)}^2}{N}}$$

$\sigma =\sqrt{\frac{(0-3.3{)}^2+(12-3.3{)}^2+(18-3.3{)}^2+(36-3.3{)}^2+(10-3.3{)}^2}{23}}$

$\sigma =\sqrt{\frac{10.89+75.69+216.9+1069.29+44.89}{23}}$

$\sigma =\sqrt{\frac{1417.66}{23}}$

$\sigma =\sqrt{61.6373913043}$

$\sigma =7.85$

$\sigma$ if it’s low the value between the frequency value is not very spread out (0-1)

• If its low peoples opinion is similar
• If it’s high people opinion is divided.

Likert Scale Test §

Likert Scale: to measure the individual perception of something usually

• 1: Very Unsatisfied
• 2: Not Very Satisfied
• 3: Neutral
• 4: Somewhat Satisfied
• 5: Extremely Satisfied

Correlation Analysis Test §

Pearson’s $r$ describes the relation between two variables

ranges from -1 to +1

• 0 means no correlation
• Significant (two-tailed): if <0.05 it’s statistically significant

Means: the average between option from ranges from 1-5 for example

Chi Square Test §

How to Report a Chi-Square Result (APA Style)

X2 (1, N = 54) = 6.7, p < .01

$X^2(D{f}^{(row-1)\times (col-2)},\text{Sample Size})$, 0.072>0.05

Compare Means Test §

• Standard Deviation: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
  • Means 3
  • Standard Deviation: 1
  • 2 - 4: 3+-1

t table test §

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Report §

1. Give the demographic of sample
   • Any relevant info
2. Objectives
   • Use headlines to show what you’re studying
   • Use sub-headlines to show the results you compiled
3. Analyze to prove or disprove your hypotheses
4. Conclude and rewrite objectives that are wrong

Lessons learned

• Future points to look out
• What is left to be answered
• What could have been done better

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Correlations Analysis §

Accessibility §

Knowledge accessibility §

Table 1

Var1: Ability to study online

Var2: Proficiency of using technology

Significant: 0.032604879

Correlation: .447*

Account for 44.7% of changes in each other

.Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

Not only does physical and financial obstacles obstruct students from online education, there also exists another, ones of knowledge, familiarity, and intangible challenges to digital education as well. By the analysis method of Pearson’s Correlation, Table 3.1 shows that technological knowledge did in fact affect school performance during the lock down. With the significance of p=0.32<0.05, the data shows that the ability to use technology, such as computers, phones, and digital software such as Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Microsoft Office, did positively account for 44.7% of the changes in student’s ability to study online.

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Table 2

Var1: GPA

Var2: Family Income

Method: Chi-Square Test

• The proportion of subjects reported GPA did not differ by family income, X${}^2$=(3, N=23)=8.32, p>.05
• There is a significant relationship between the two variables. Students in richer families did have higher

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Table 3

Var 1: Electrical outage frequency

Var 2: Absents

Method: Correlation analysis

There is a positive correlation of 45.4% between electrical outage frequency and the number of absents of students with a satisfactory significant of p=.029.

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Table 4

could be used for a section that connects Performance and Accessibility together.

Method: multiple linear regression

Chea Resan

• Accessibility
• Appendix: add the whole survey at the bottom of the document

Deadline: February 25, 2021