Bekalu Tadesse Moges
10 Publications in AERD
Author Publications
Export PDFLifelong learning measurement scale (LLMS): development and validation in the context of higher education institutions
By Yalalem Assefa
Purpose: Lifelong learning has become one of the most interesting areas of research. Hence, the current study was aimed at developing and validating a tool that helps to study how well people working in higher education institutions are engaged in lifelong learning. Design/methodology/approach: A review of theories in the literature and experts' consultation were used to develop a pool of items and validate the self-assessment instrument for measuring lifelong learning. The study employed factor analytic methodologies such as principal component analysis, varimax rotation and exploratory factor analyses. Findings: The study yielded a reliable and valid lifelong learning measurement scale made up of 18 items and four underlying factors that are theoretically supported. Originality/value: The significant information is that, the current study aimed at developing a tool that could help to measure the engagement in lifelong learning of higher education institutions workers. The study found this tool to be important because lifelong learning is considered essential for personal and professional growth, and having a sound way to measure it can help individuals and organizations identify areas for improvement. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
The structural relationships between students' field of study choice, learning readiness and academic competence in higher education: the mediating role of student engagement
By Yalalem Assefa
Purpose: The main purpose of this study is aimed to estimate the mediating role of student engagement in the structural relationships between students' field of study choice, learning readiness and academic competence of undergraduate students in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: In the study process, a correlational design was employed. Data were collected from 419 participants who were selected through a simple random sampling technique. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Findings: The study findings showed neither field of study choice nor learning readiness has a significant direct effect on student's academic competence. However, when student engagement, entered the relationships between “field of study choice and academic competence” as well as “learning readiness and academic competence”, the indirect effects became significant. Both conditions, therefore, suggesting student engagement had a full mediation role in the structural relationship models. Originality/value: Based on the results, it can be concluded that student engagement is shown as one of the key variables used to comprehend how students develop competence in the teaching-learning process. Hence, teachers and academic administrators could use engagement as a strong instrument to optimize students' learning and academic competence to enhance their academic success. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
Transformation of higher education institutions from rhetoric commitment to a place of lifelong learning organizations: a meta synthesis study
By Yalalem Assefa
Purpose: The current synthesis study was conducted to locate comprehensive perspectives about the transformation of higher education institutions from being the only places where formal education programs are offered into settings where lifelong learning can be integrated. This demands an inquiry through not only instance investigation but also a more comprehensive evidence upsurge which has great importance in obtaining lessons and drawing conclusions from existing facts to show how higher education institutions can be places where lifelong learning is promoted for the good of both individuals and societal advancement. Design/methodology/approach: Using a meta-synthesis methodology, a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in the area of higher education institutions' role in promoting lifelong learning was synthesized. Findings: The study identified wide-ranging lifelong learning conceptualizations, potential beneficiaries, learning contents and ways of delivery that can be applied in higher education institutions. Furthermore, the practical challenges, partnership and coordination concerns and policy and reform issues towards promoting lifelong learning were addressed. Originality/value: This meta-synthesis provides crucial evidence for higher education policymakers and practitioners seeking to guide the transformation of their institutions into settings where lifelong learning is integrated with other forms of educational programs, thereby optimizing individual's professional development and societal progress. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
Student engagement in a differentiated higher education system in Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis
By Bekalu Tadesse Moges
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine effects of classroom-level and student-level factors on student engagement in the context of a higher education system vertically differentiated into research, applied and comprehensive university types. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a cross-sectional multilevel design to explain student engagement based on class and student variables. Specifically, the study collects data from 656 students and 61 randomly selected teachers at both levels and uses multilevel modeling to explain relationship patterns. Findings: The results show that institutions vary significantly in student engagement scores. In addition, while a significant variation is found at the student and classroom level, the effects of academic achievement, instructional quality, teaching experience and teacher qualifications on student engagement vary across classrooms in institutions. However, the interaction effect of classroom and student-level variables on student engagement remains non-significant. Originality/value: The main contribution of this lies in the explanation of student engagement using classroom and student level factors in a vertically differentiated higher education system using multilevel modeling. Student engagement varied in classrooms research universities applied and comprehensive universities. © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited.
Fuel to the fire: Gender inequality in achievement in secondary school national examination in conflict-affected areas, North Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia
By Bekalu Tadesse Moges
Government reforms such as the general education quality improvement program for equity are implemented to address concerns about educational inequality. However, studies advancing understanding of the patterns of gender inequality in achievement in conflict affected areas are rare. The purpose of this article is to examine patterns in gender inequality in General Secondary Education Certificate Examination results in Math, English, and Aptitude for 2021, 2022 and 2023 academic years in conflict affected areas. The data consist of achievement scores from 45 schools and a total of 32,528 students, obtained from the Education office of North Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia. Using multilevel modeling, within- and between-school inequalities, achievement inequalities in gender, effects of teacher qualifications on achievement, and variations in gender-achievement relationships are examined. Student performance has been found to have consistently declined in the last two years in math, English and aptitude scores. On average, boys perform significantly higher than girls on these subjects consistently during the normal and conflict seasons. Inequality has decreased in conjunction with declining student performance, and inequalities due to school characteristics are much lower than inequalities due to student differences. School inequality declines in years of conflict compared to normal ones. The relationships between gender and achievement also vary statistically from school to school, with the conflict exacerbating existing inequalities. Based on the results, it is suggested that equity strategies should consider inequalities with declining student performance as opposed to conventional inequalities with high and low performing groups. Future research may isolate the effects of conflict and reforms in national testing procedures to account for gender inequalities. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd
The mediating role of lifelong learning in the structural relationship between workplace environment and staff engagement in higher education
By Yalalem Assefa
When considering staff engagement in higher education, scrutinizing the issues of nurturing a healthy workplace environment as well as valuing lifelong learning and professional development opportunities cannot be overstated to enhance both personal and institutional effectiveness. In this sprite, the main objective of this study is located to estimate the mediating role/effect of staff involvement in lifelong learning on the structural relationship between workplace environment and staff engagement in higher education context. A correlational research design was employed in the process. Data was collected from a total of 280 participants through a questionnaire and the collected evidence was analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results indicated that both workplace environment and lifelong learning have significant and direct effects on staff engagement. In addition to the direct effects, when lifelong learning entered the structural model as a mediator variable, the workplace environment has still a significant indirect effect on staff engagement through the mediating role of lifelong learning.This suggestes that lifelong learning had is a partial mediation role in the relationship between these two variables. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that higher education institutions should secure a welcoming workplace environment where staff demands both learning and employment are likely to be met and satisfied, which will ultimately result in positive outcomes. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Promoting facilitators’ career development and workplace engagement: a missing link from the provision of adult education programs in Ethiopia
By Yalalem Assefa
The quality of adult learning depends on the professionalisation of individuals who are involved in the adult education programs provision. The delivery of adult education programs is mainly supported by facilitators. Increasing the amount of time and effort put into developing and acknowledging their contributions can aid in motivating and extending the duration of their work as program facilitators. Hence, promoting the professional profile of facilitators in the workplace is crucial to ensure the effective provision of adult education. Considering this premise, the current study was conducted to scrutinise how adult education facilitators’ training, career development, and workplace engagement have been incorporated into adult education provision. In doing so, a cross-sectional study design was employed. A simple random technique was used to select 200 participants. Data was collected through a questionnaire and analysed using a one-sample t-test, correlation, and chi-square. The study found despite increasing emphasis being placed on facilitators’ professional development, the practice and effort made to train, promote, and encourage them were found to be deficient in certain regards. This may account for a high turnover rate of facilitators which in turn, creates risks for the provision and management of adult education programs. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
The impact of armed violence on educational institutions, students’ educational attainment and the role of actors in governance of the education process
By Yalalem Assefa
The main purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) armed violence on educational institutions, students’ educational attainments, and the role of actors playing in school governance and redirecting the education process. This study was positioned to yield preliminary evidence which can serve as input for concerned bodies when designing intervention programs in the study area that aims to give a response to the spoiled education system brought by the violence. In doing so, a convergent mixed-method research design was used. The study sample was bounded to n = 398 participants. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously, and the analysis was drawn upon both strands in search of patterns. As a result, the following findings were obtained. The TPLF armed violence instigated the destruction of school infrastructures and generated substantial impediments to the supply of schooling. As a result, students’ educational attainment and learning outcomes were significantly lowered as compared to before the violence. As well, students’ dropout rate, out-of-school students’ rate, and related educational wastage have been amplified. This, in turn, requires sound school governance and the active participation of all actors including parents and the local community at large be part of the solutions for those educational issues hampered by the TPLF violence. In the end, possible conclusions and suggestions were made. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Modelling the predictive effects of social media on the relationship between students’ engagement and academic achievement in higher education institutions
By Yalalem Assefa
Social media is becoming more popular, and its resourcefulness has given students new opportunities to learn as well as broaden their academic horizons in various ways assumed if social media is handled appropriately. The main purpose of this study was positioned to estimate the predictive mediating effects of social media on the relationship between students’ engagement and academic achievement of undergraduate university students. In doing so, a correlation study design was employed. Data was collected from 395 participants who were selected through a simple random sampling technique. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the study data. As a result, the study findings showed both social media and student engagement has a significant direct effect on academic achievement. However, when social media entered the structural relationship between students’ engagement and academic achievement as a mediator variable, the mediating effect was no longer significant, indicating social media played a direct-only non-mediation role. This may be due to social media allowing for students’ minimal engagement. The result demonstrates the need for critical consideration when social media and instruction incorporated into educational activities for students’ benefit. This suggests more research is required to confirm the all-round effects of how social media influence students’ engagement in learning, even though in some literature the results are encouraging. More initiatives are essential because they may reveal efficient intervention tactics for integrating social media into higher education systems. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Psychosocial role of social media use within the learning environment: Does it mediate student engagement?
By Bekalu Tadesse Moges
The use of social media within the educational research space has recently received attention for determining interactions within educational contexts. Multidimensional constructs such as student engagement and the learning environment that affect learning have also been pronounced recently. However, the place of social media use within the psychosocial learning environment and dimensions of student engagement in the context of higher education in Ethiopia remain less understood. This article sought to examine the mediating role of social media use by placing it within the formal psychosocial learning environment through moderation. Using a correlational design, 403 randomly selected undergraduate students are involved to examine the direct and indirect effects of psychosocial learning environments and social media use on student engagement employing structural equation modeling, particularly path analysis. Results indicate that social media use mediates the relationship between the learning environment and affective, cotgnitive, behavioral, and agentic engagement. Moreover, social media use appears to be as statistically and positively significant as the dimensions of the learning environment. This finding suggests that social media use can be positioned as a formalized aspect of the psychosocial learning environment rather than an informal and ancillary alternative. These findings challenge the traditional belief that social media is a random, unplanned and optional element of the learning environment. As such, these findings are useful because they inform higher education teachers and administrators to formalize the role of social media use in the designing of structured learning environments in higher education institutions. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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