Higher Education Institutions Practices In Implementing Educational Innovations In Ethiopia: The Case of Cooperative Learning
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Date
2021-03
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AAU
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore higher education institutions practices of implementing
cooperative learning strategy as educational innovation. The study was conducted in three public
universities in Ethiopia and the study sites were selected using maximum variation sampling technique. The
theoretical framework used in this study was a composite of three theories: implementation, social learning
and Constructivist theories. The Academic Vice Presidents, college/institute deans, department heads,
university reform directors and experts from Ethiopian ministry of education (EMoE) reform directorate
education strategic center were participated in the qualitative phase of this study while instructors and
students were participated in the quantitative part. Semi-structured interview, document analysis and
observation were used to collect qualitative data. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. It
was distributed to 36 randomly selected instructors and 120 randomly selected students. Out of these,
responses from 35 instructors and 117 students were used for analysis. Thematic analysis was used to
analyses the qualitative data. Descriptive, multiple regression, ANOVA, chi-square, t-test analyses were
used to analyze the quantitative data. Seven categories/themes of CL implementation practices emerged
from this study: Knowledge and Perception of cooperative learning, purposes of cooperative learning,
blessings and opportunities of cooperative learning, attitude towards cooperative learning, cooperative
learning implementation practices, status of the implementation practices and challenges /curses/ in CL
implementation. Three major conclusions were drawn from this study: (1) One of the conclusions drawn
from this study is that there were lack of necessary preparations including implementation planning,
trainings for instructors, technical support and coordinated work among all parties that played the major
role was not satisfactory; (2) The respondents conceptualize CL as an accepted and preferred strategy
comparing to individual or competitive approach but the actual implementation practices of the strategy
was poor. On the other hand, there were research participants who perceive CL as governments political
tool in academic institutions; (3) there was no adequate provision of resources and facilities which better
facilitates the implementation practices of the pedagogical innovation in the case universities
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Keywords
higher education institutions, educational innovation, cooperative learning, CL implementation practices