Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/10
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Item Restricted Examining the Usage of Persuasive System Design to Drive Motivation for Learning Programming(RMIT, 2024-06) Alyounis, Essa Saleh A; Dick, Martin; Peszynski, KonradLearning to program is challenging, and the dropout and pass rates in programming courses have remained an issue for several decades. Many students experience difficulties in gaining the necessary programming skills. Hence, students in programming courses need to be motivated to maintain the required effort to develop programs. The current problem is that not all students—in particular, non-computer-science majors—have the same motivation or interest to pursue programming as part of their studies. Therefore, there is a need to keep students motivated while they pursue programming activities. Accordingly, this research aimed to examine the impact of applying persuasive system design (PSD) principles to develop the instructional design of a programming course in order to improve students’ motivation for learning programming. This study followed the design science research (DSR) methodology by adapting Peffers et al.’s (2007) model to develop the instructional design for an introductory online programming course, into which it incorporated PSD principles. The programming course was deployed in a free Canvas account and covered the fundamental topics in introductory programming. Mixed methods were employed for data collection, encompassing pre-test and post-test assessments, log-system analysis and semi-structured interviews with voluntary participants to assess the influence of the course design on their motivation. First, a Programming Motivation Questionnaire, adapted from the Science Motivation Questionnaire-II, was used to measure their motivation before and after they took the designed programming course. This adapted questionnaire consists of five subscales: intrinsic motivation, career motivation, self-efficacy, self-determination and grade motivation. Second, a thematic analysis was conducted to identify the themes that emerged from the interviews. The results showed that the intervention had a positive impact on the participants’ motivation. Analysis of data from the 89 participants completed pre- and post-questionnaires revealed a significant enhancement of their motivation level (from a mean of 3.62 and median of 3.96, respectively, to a mean of 4.08 and median of 4.28, respectively). Further, a Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed a statistically significant increase in motivation after taking this course, with a medium effect size. Moreover, the thematic analysis identified various themes, which supported the quantitative results. The themes identified that the effects of the course on the participants’ experience, such as motivation, encouragement, self-efficacy and satisfaction, were prevalent among the 10 interviewees. Thus, this research contributes to the literature that addresses issues surrounding learning programming. It provides an alternative solution to stimulate students’ motivation and avoid increasing instructors’ workload. This study also reveals the role of various PSD principles in developing the instructional design and the impact of an instructional design decision on students’ motivation. Future research should examine the application of PSD in traditional courses in higher education. Conducting the study during an academic semester will provide a more comprehensive understanding of how PSD influences the motivation of students from various domains.81 0Item Restricted An Exploration of the Suitability of Pharmacy Education in Saudi Arabia to Prepare Graduates to Meet Healthcare Needs: a Mixed-Methods Study(2023-08-01) Alfaifi, Salihah Hadi; Bridges, Stephanie; Arakawa, NaokoThe key role of pharmacists within the health system, particularly in optimising safe, responsible and effective use of medicines, underpins the demand for a highly skilled and competent workforce. Therefore, developing the capacity of pharmacists to attain and maintain essential competencies relevant to the population’s health needs is required to ensure a high standard of patient care, thereby helping to improve patient and population health. In Saudi Arabia, little evidence exists regarding the assessment of national educational programmes’ structure and outcomes. Moreover, no national competency framework exists for pharmacists in any sector or stage of practice. In the absence of such core quality elements to inform pharmacy education assessment and development, the extent to which pharmacy schools in Saudi Arabia prepare competent pharmacists to address societal needs from pharmacy services is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the extent to which pharmacy education can prepare competent pharmacists to address the healthcare needs for pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia. An exploratory sequential mixed methods research design was used to address the aim of this study in three phases: individual interviews and focus groups were employed with a purposively selected sample of pharmacy policy makers, pharmacists and the public to explore societal healthcare needs and the roles required of pharmacists to meet those needs; a national online survey of pharmacists and an online nominal group consensus method of pharmacy experts were used to identify competencies considered essential to develop a profession-wide national foundation level competency framework; and a case study in which curriculum mapping of two purposively selected Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curricula was used to assess the extent to which the current pharmacy programme in Saudi Arabia meets the identified competencies of the developed national competency framework. Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of societal healthcare needs, pharmacists’ roles, core competencies and curricular contents within the local context of Saudi Arabia, findings showed that there is a mismatch between initial education and real practice needs and expectations. While the country’s current needs from pharmacists are to optimise health system capacity and increase access to primary care services and medicines expertise in community pharmacies, the study indicated local education is product-oriented with a focus of curricular content and experiential training opportunities in most schools on preparing future pharmacists for hospital pharmacy practice. The study also identified several gaps between current initial education programmes and the competencies required to practise the expected roles, suggesting that current initial education might not prepare the students sufficiently to provide the full range of quality pharmaceutical services as per the country’s pharmacy practice needs. The study provided a new understanding of graduates’ readiness to practise as per the country’s pharmacy practice needs, the quality of educational programmes and pharmacists' professional development opportunities in Saudi Arabia. Findings maybe used to inform the development of competency-based education and maximise graduates’ capacity to deliver and develop pharmaceutical services effectively to best meet societal healthcare needs in Saudi Arabia.42 0