Impact of an Interactive Educational Desktop Application of Science on Student Engagement

Abstract

The primary reason for dropping out of school is associated with student disengagement in classrooms. Almost 25 million girls and boys aged 5 to 16 are out of school in Pakistan and this percentage further elevates as the education level increases. Integrating technology in education not only enhances student engagement, but also boosts academic achievement. However, Science revolves around the abstract concepts that are hard to comprehend by most of the students. Instead of teaching science concepts through conventional instruction, educational technologies are embedded in Science education to make learning more fun and engaging. To boost student engagement and learning performance, an educational app on Science was developed targeting 8th grade students. This study is quasi experimental with convenience sampling of the participants. This study includes four phases. In phase 1, an educational app on Science was developed targeting misconceptions regarding patterns of reactivity. In phase 2, pre test based on content knowledge was conducted. In phase 3, intervention started which lasted 3 weeks. In phase 4, post test similar to pre-test was conducted followed by focus group discussions. The outcome was analysed and it was revealed that the learning app on science “patterns of reactivity” has a significant effect on student engagement. Moreover, this app promoted significant gender disparity among students. Contrary to these outcomes, this app does not result in significant gain in the learning outcomes of experimental groups. However, no significant difference was found in the student achievement between control and experiment groups. To gain insights and study the trends of various engagement factors, qualitative analysis was collated with quantitative data collection methods. This study contributes significantly to the existing literature in terms of student engagement and gender difference. Apart from this, the present study could be an alternative solution for the children who do not attend the schools especially in Pakistan due to certain reasons. Moreover, this study suggests future researchers to minimize the gender gap and further, deduce a solution that promotes low cost but a quality education enhancing retention and eradicating illiteracy particularly in the context of Pakistan