Effects of Computer-assisted Teaching Strategies on Students’ Social Behaviours in Rural Learning Ecologies: A Model for South Korea’s Rural Schools

ABSTRACT Researchers have stressed the importance of civic education in finding solutions to civic problems. This paper examined the upshots of computer-aided and blended teaching strategies on students’ civic attitudes, as well as the confounding effects of cognitive ability and gender. The study adopted the pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design using 3 × 2 × 3 factorial matrix. Seventy-eight students were selected in six intact classes in rural learning ecologies and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The research instruments utilized were: Students’ Civic Attitudes Questionnaire (r=0.88), Cognitive Ability Test (r=0.72), Computer-aided and Blended Teaching Instructional Programme in Civic Education for experimental groups and Teachers Instructional Guide on Conventional (Class) Lecture Method for the control group. Three research questions were answered. Data was subjected to Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Estimated Marginal Means, and Scheffe's Pairwise Comparison. There was a significant effect of treatment on students’ civic attitudes (F(2; 61) = 3.82, p < 0.05; η2 =.10). The students’ taught with computer-aided teaching strategy had higher adjusted attitude mean score (χ̄= 106.02), than the control group (105.61), and the blended teaching strategy group (= 75.73). It was, therefore, recommended that teachers in rural learning ecologies in South Korea should explore the utilities inherent in Information and Communication Technology based strategies to teach civic education concepts.