Correlation Between Undergraduates’ Interest in Educational ICTs and Their Academic Achievement in a Science Education Course Within a Flipped Learning Context

Abstract

This study examined undergraduates’ interest in educational ICTs as a correlate of their academic achievement in a science education course in a flipped learning context. This study adopted a correlation design. The study was guided by three research questions and one hypothesis: The study sample comprised 68 second-year students of Education and Biology, who were selected using purposive and census sampling methods. Two instruments were used for data collection: The Educational ICTs Interest Rating Scale (EIIRS) and the History and Philosophy of Biology Achievement Test (HPBAT). Cronbach’s alpha and Kuder-Richardson 20 statistics were used to ascertain the reliability of the EIIRS and HPBAT, which yielded coefficients of 0.78 and 0.74, respectively. The research questions were answered using mean, standard deviation, line graph, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, while the hypothesis was tested using simple linear regression. The researcher found that most undergraduates were highly interested in educational ICTs and performed well in the flipped learning context. However, there was a low positive and non-significant relationship between undergraduates’ interest in educational ICTs and their achievement in a flipped learning setting, and the hypothesis revealed that interest in educational ICTs does not significantly predict the achievement of undergraduates in a flipped learning context. The researcher recommended that since undergraduates’ interest in ICT was not a strong predictor of achievement in a flipped learning class, lecturers should explore other approaches, such as   the use of games and alignment of lessons to individual students’ career goals to boost students’ achievement in a flipped learning context.