|
" Exploring the impact of learning in out-of-school time settings on Saudi university graduates' aspirations to major and work in science and engineering-related fields "
Aljuwaiber, Abdullah A. M.
Mbogo Barrett, Angeline
| Document Type
|
:
|
Latin Dissertation
|
| Record Number
|
:
|
833879
|
| Doc. No
|
:
|
TLets801574
|
| Main Entry
|
:
|
Aljuwaiber, Abdullah A. M.
|
| Title & Author
|
:
|
Exploring the impact of learning in out-of-school time settings on Saudi university graduates' aspirations to major and work in science and engineering-related fields\ Aljuwaiber, Abdullah A. M.Mbogo Barrett, Angeline
|
| College
|
:
|
University of Bristol
|
| Date
|
:
|
2020
|
| student score
|
:
|
2020
|
| Degree
|
:
|
Thesis (Ed.D.)
|
| Abstract
|
:
|
This study explores the role played by Out-Of-School Time (OST) learning-experiences in forming youths’ interests and attitudes towards Sciences and Engineering (S&E) in Saudi Arabia. The study comes as a response to the paucity of research conducted on the practice of learning S&E in OST settings and its impact on Saudi youths in light of local and international reports on the shortage of a skilled Saudi S&E workforce that can fill the occupational gaps needed to keep pace with the current rapid growth in oil and non-oil sectors in the Gulf region. The study aims to understand the impact of three forms of OST-learning interventions (Learning in designed places, such as museums; Organised learning programmes, such as camps; S&E-related media, such as TV documentaries) on how Saudi youths’ aspirations towards S&E were followed, and how these have influenced their S&E educational/career decision. The research was primarily designed based on factors and components of the Eccles et al.’s Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT), which posits that individuals’ educational and career pathways are composed of choices and achievements that commence in childhood and adolescence and are affected by a broad array of past unique events, biological, psychological, and sociocultural determinants (Eccles et al., 1983). Additionally, in order to situate and understand the participants’ selection to their S&E specialisations within the context of the phenomenon, three theoretical standpoints were adopted to understand the impact of each OST-learning interventional form (Contextual Model of Learning, Positive Youth Development approach, and Social Representation Theory). Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews of 15 S&E-specialised senior undergraduates and graduates in their 20s. The inquiry process followed a retrospective approach that invites the participants to look backwards and captures, examines, and analyses the influential OST-learning experiences during the interviewees’ schooling and college years using thematic analysis mechanism. The inquiry process resulted in identifying a variety of themes and insights about the positive impact of OST-learning interventions on Saudi youths. For example, families’ support and their scientific background and qualifications, appeared frequently to help augmenting the impact done by OST-learning interventions. Also, the salient role of broadcast media in enhancing the interviewees’ passion and aspirations towards S&E was remarkable. Moreover, social media platforms helped significantly in formulating the interviewees’ sense of belonging to S&E fields and communities of practice. The analysis and findings showed how the EVT and other theoretical standpoints elucidated the impact an accumulation of past unique OST-learning events had on the complicated process of making S&E educational/career choices. The explanatory power of these evidence-driven theories and models and the harmony that exists between them pointed to the potential of this research framework to be used by researchers, designers, and practitioners in the OST-learning field. The research also led to multiple recommendations and implications for the research and practice of this phenomenon in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region.
|
| Subject
|
:
|
Learning in Out-of-School Time ; Student enrollment behavior ; Expectancy-Value Theory ; Informal education ; Museums ; Youth programmes ; After-school programmes ; Socializers ; Social media ; TV ; Internet ; video games ; Saudi Youth ; Unemployment
|
| Added Entry
|
:
|
Mbogo Barrett, Angeline
|
| Added Entry
|
:
|
University of Bristol
|
| |