COMPUTER - ASSISTED LEARNING

Saudi Female Students' Perceptions of Learning with Computer Assisted Concept Maps within Higher Education Environment

Abstract

The higher education deals with difficult knowledge and teaching in universities that must be focused on conceptual understanding. Therefore, various software packages are developed in recent years, which enable the visual display of information, concepts and relations between ideas. Similarly, computer - assisted learning is one of such software that allows Saudi women to learn with ease in higher education. For this purpose, the paper will try to explore the concept of Computer - Assisted Concept Mapping applications in Saudi female students in a holistic context. There are few studies that focus on Computer - Assisted Concept Mapping applications regarding higher education of Saudi Arabian females. The purpose of the study has been lessened for including female students in two distinct age groups of postgraduate and undergraduate that will help for comparing the results and findings. It is hoped that the study would be helpful for adding the knowledge and pave the way for further studies in this context.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction1

Aims1

Review of Previous Research & Theories2

Use of Concept Mapping in Higher Education3

Accessing Representations3

Communicating3

Assessment Tools4

Planning Tools4

Cultural Influence4

Paper- Pen Concept Map and Computer - Assisted Concept Mapping5

Impacts on Learning and Motivation5

Saudi Arabian Society6

Brief History of Saudi Women in Higher Education7

Innovation in Saudi Higher Education7

Saudi Women's Experiences of Technology in Higher Education8

Barriers & Enablers to Use Saudi Women's Experiences of Technology in Higher Education8

Related Theories9

Constructivist Learning Theory9

Social - Cultural Theory10

Proposed Methodology and Method10

Participants11

Setting11

Data Collection Methods and Tools12

Interviews12

Think Aloud12

Focus Group13

Data Analysis Methods13

Reliability / Integrity14

Trustworthiness14

Ethical Considerations15

Timetable16

Resource Requirements16

References17

Saudi Female Students' Perceptions of Learning with Computer Assisted Concept Maps within Higher Education Environment

Introduction

The learning of students at the university level is dealt with complex and diverse topics. Promotion of domain specific issues and their solutions are based on meaningful, conceptual understanding of central ideas of the topic. For this purpose, technology has played a significant role to promote the understanding of students in Saudi Arabia for higher education level. The use of technology in higher education has become an essential part for female students in Saudi Arabia. It allows the females students to learn in the actively engaged environment with the assistance of a well-defined learning process (Hwang, Tsai & Yang, 2008; Hwang, Shi & Chu, 2011).

With the help of computer - assisted concept mapping, students are able to externalize their original knowledge for combining it with new knowledge to rearrange and internalize both old and new knowledge (Lim, Lee & Grabowski, 2009; Trundle & Bell, 2010; Countinho & Bottentuit, 2008; Schaal, 2010; Wu, Hwang, Milrad, Ke & Huang, 2012).

In this paper, we will be proposing the research in the context of aims and objectives, review of previous research and theories that relate to the topic and methodology that will be used for conducted the research.

Aims

The aims or specific objectives of this study are to:

Analyze the view of Saudi students about the usage of CACM (Computer - Assisted Concept Mapping) in higher ...