A persuasive educational technology-based tool for motivating junior secondary school female students in Nigeria to enrol in STEM

Abstract

Background: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields have made significant contributions to our modern world's advancements. However, the number of women in STEM professions in Nigeria is overwhelmingly low. Concerns have been raised about the growing demand for STEM skills and the shortage of human resources to meet this demand. There is advocacy to encourage female students to pursue STEM disciplines to meet the demand for STEM skills. Despite this, no research has been conducted in Nigeria to increase female students' enrolment in STEM using the attitude and behaviour change approach, also known as the persuasion approach. This is despite the strong support for research that focuses on the affective aspect of STEM learning, which deals with students’ values, and believes to encourage female students' enrolment in STEM pathways. Aim: The main aim of this thesis is to develop a framework that guides the design of persuasive educational technologies (PET) based on the persuasion approach to motivate junior secondary school female students in Nigeria to enrol in STEM classes. Setting: The participants were drawn from three different secondary schools in Nigeria's Kano State. The research delved into the natural environment of the participants to ensure that contextually rich information was gathered from them to inform the study. Method: Data was collected from the research participants through interviews and a focus group session and analysed using a qualitative research approach. Following data analysis, the Design Science Research (DSR) strategy was used to guide the framework design. The DSR strategy's rigorous iteration phases ensured that the framework was redefined several times until a rigorous artefact was produced. Results: According to the study’s findings, certain external factors (school factors, family factors, and cultural factors) influence female students' attitudes toward STEM professions, and it is their attitude towards STEM professions that guides their decision to pursue a STEM pathway. A motivational push from a PET can encourage female students to pursue STEM careers. Conclusion: A PET tool developed following the PET4STEM framework has the potential to change female students' attitudes toward STEM professions and consequently their decision to pursue STEM careers in the future. The theoretical contribution of the study is the creation of a new PET4STEM framework that provides information on key components of a PET tool to promote STEM enrolment among Nigerian junior secondary school female students. Second, it establishes, empirically, the factors that influence female students' enrolment in STEM classes. Finally, it proposes convincing strategies for combating female students' negative perceptions of STEM subjects. Teachers, parents, and researchers who are unable to develop a PET tool can use these strategies.