An Improving Second-Year Midwifery Female Students’ Classroom Participation at Wollega University: An Action Research

Improving Second-Year Midwifery Female Students’ Classroom Participation

Abstract

Background: Active student participation in the classroom is crucial in today’s education system. There are various ways to facilitate student engagement, including by offering high-impact practices. However, higher education institutions are facing different challenges regarding student engagement in the teaching and learning process. Among them, the most basic one is student participation in the classroom, particularly among female students, who are not active participants. Thus, there is a strong need to create active and responsible citizens who could participate in achieving core objectives. Therefore, this study aims to improve the participation of female students in the classroom by creating different mechanisms.

Methods: This action research was conducted on second-year Midwifery female students to improve classroom participation. The data was collected through observations and interviews using a mixed method of data collection. The collected data were analyzed, and the identified gaps indicated potential areas for intervention. Finally, the educational intervention was implemented; activities in learning progress were monitored and the final outcome was analyzed using SPSS version 25 and qualitative data was thematized.

Results: Nearly one female student participated in the course each day which accounts for 7% during baseline assessment. The absence of proper guidance was the main factor (48.79%) that influenced female involvement followed by a lack of confidence. Moreover, lecture technique was the most frequently used method of teaching. To enhance student engagement during class, the implemented strategies involved presenting the upcoming session's topic and encouraging students to prepare a brief note on it, which they would read aloud. This process aimed to stimulate idea generation. Additionally, students experiencing anxiety due to various factors received tailored psychological support. As a result of these interventions, female students’ participation in the classroom saw a 36% increase.

Conclusion: Student’s level of class participation is highly affected by different factors such as   lack of confidence, language difficulties, lack of follow up of teachers, delivery of teaching material in advance, applying different active teaching methods by the instructor and availability of different rewarding mechanism. The finding before the intervention was 7% of classroom participation from the total number of female students in the classroom per day. The finding after the intervention showed that the overall participation of female students in the class increased by 36% from the total number of female students in the classroom per day.