Introduction
A quantitative method will be used to study Saudi students’ perceptions about using social media to support their learning at Saudi university and examine the effect of students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of usefulness, on their intentions to use social media support their learning. The research about students’ perceptions toward using social media to support their learning in Saudi Arabia is very limited. It is expected that this current study will guide to a better understanding of students’ perceptions toward using social media in their education. It will also contribute to the field by providing results for scholars and curriculum developers in this Saudi university who are interested in contemporary educational practices and in improvements to teaching and learning.
The present chapter begins with a reiteration of the problem statement and the research questions posed for the study. It will also include a detailed discussion of the selected quantitative research methodology and design, as well as a description of the study population, sample, and selection criteria for participating teachers. Since the study uses a survey as the key data collection method, details on the validity and reliability of the chosen instrument will also be provided in this chapter. Procedures for data collection and analysis will be explained, and ethical considerations will be listed and discussed. Finally, the chapter will explore the limitations of the study.
Problem Statement
The development of social media technologies affected the process of communication between communities, individuals, and organizations (Tezci & Içen, 2017). The use of social media has become a worldwide trend, thus giving rise to new patterns of communication. This trend has a powerful influence on all aspects of people’s lives, including education (Tezci & Içen, 2017). The government of Saudi Arabia supports the use of social media and understands its possible positive effect on the entire community, including Saudi students.
Some Saudi universities have already embraced the use of social media to facilitate content delivery and the learning process. Established in 1957, King Saud University was the first university in Saudi Arabia. Today, the number of students enrolled in this institution is 61,704, making it the biggest university in the country. Because the majority of current students in Saudi Arabia are from generation Z, they rely on the use of modern technologies, such as social media, to exchange knowledge, information, and ideas.
According to Turner (2015), members of Generation Z have a strong relationship with technology and use it regularly for entertainment, information exchange, communication, and other processes. Consistent interaction with Web 2.0 technologies has also made young people proficient in using a variety of digital tools (Greenhow & Lewin, 2016). Understanding and responding to this trend can help to facilitate learning among university students in Saudi Arabia.
Contemporary Saudi students differ a lot from previous generations of learners, particularly due to their interest in technology and the proficient use of it (Van Volkom, Stapley, & Amaturo, 2014). Hence, traditional educational methods may fail to meet their needs and achieve a sufficient level of engagement. Evans (2014) states that because modern-day students spend a lot of time using social media for various purposes, they require new, creative approaches to education that would respond to their needs and fit into their preferred patterns of communication, thus supporting learning. Other researchers also share this position, and there have been attempts to introduce social media tools into school learning (Greenhow & Lewin, 2016; Mao, 2014). Nevertheless, some scholars point out that, despite the massive role of social media in contemporary society, the educational sector is making slow progress in responding to these technology-driven changes (Alkhatnai, 2016).
Based on the information above, the differences between past and current generations of learners prompt the integration of social media into classroom learning for the purpose of enhancing teaching, meeting educational goals, and responding to the needs of new student groups (Greenhow & Lewin, 2016). Some studies have already explored the use of social media in learning and found that it can improve students’ engagement and participation in the learning process (Evans, 2014; Mao, 2014).
However, there are also studies that provided evidence against social media use, showing that social media can impair the effectiveness of teaching while having no effect on students’ learning (Alwagait, Shahzad, & Alim, 2015). The conflicting evidence provided by research creates a need to examine the use of social media in classrooms from other perspectives. In particular, there is a lack of studies on Saudi students’ attitudes toward and perceptions of social media use in higher education classrooms, which could offer further insight on the subject.
Examining students’ attitudes toward and perceptions of social media use for learning is crucial because it would provide the evidence required to support the development of contemporary educational practices. Collecting reliable information on Saudi students’ perceptions and attitudes would enable university educators to balance students’ needs with benefits associated with the use of social media for learning. It would also assist Saudi higher education institutions in developing curricula and educational programs that apply contemporary trends in technology to increase learning outcomes.
Research Questions
- Q1- What are Saudi students’ perceptions of the ease of use and the usefulness of social media to support their learning?
- Q2-What is the effect of students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of usefulness, on their intentions to use social media to support their learning?
H (research): Students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of usefulness have a significant effect on their intentions to use social media to support their learning.
H (null): Students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of users do not have a significant effect on their intentions to use social media to support their learning.
Research Methodology
A quantitative methodology will be used to respond to the research questions identified for the study. Quantitative instruments will be applied to collect, analyze, and interpret the data about Saudi students’ attitudes and perceptions regarding the use of social media to support learning. A quantitative methodology was selected for the study because it enables the researcher to test hypotheses and will thus assist in answering the chosen research questions.
Research Design
The primary method of data collection to be used for the study is a survey. The survey will include items to measure students’ perceptions to use social media to support their learning in Saudi Arabia. Regression analysis will be used to predict the effects of students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of usefulness, on their intentions to use social media to support their learning. The research focuses on different independent variables (students’ perceptions of ease of use and perceptions of usefulness) that may influence the dependent variable (students’ intentions to use).
Study Population and Sample Selection
The participants of the study will be Saudi graduate students since this group can help to respond to the research questions posed for the study. In particular, the sample will be selected from graduate students enrolled in one of the Saudi universities. The chosen university is among the largest educational institution in the country, thus allowing for a sufficient sample size. The study population will thus include approximately 283 graduate students who study at one of the Saudi universities, and the sample will be drawn from this population.
The techniques proposed by Creswell (2012) were applied to determine the specific sample size required for the study, and an online sample size calculator by SurveyMonkey (2019) was also used. Based on the tool, achieving a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence level would require a sample size of 164 participants with a response rate of 45%.
Enrolment of participants for the study will be carried out electronically through e-mail and social media platforms. Once the online survey is generated, the link to it will be distributed to graduate students from the sample population using students’ official university e-mail addresses. Students’ accounts on social media, including Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook, will also be used to send the link to the survey. Once the links are distributed to graduate students, they will have two weeks to complete the survey and submit their results. However, if the sample size of 164 participants (45% response rate) will not be achieved by the end of the two-week period, students will be given another week to complete the survey. The university will also be asked to send reminders to students and distribute the link to the survey again to ensure the required response rate.
Instruments
I will use an online survey to collect data from 164 participants among graduate students at Saudi universities. The survey will include questions about teachers’ perceptions of using social media to support their learning; data will be collected using a web-based survey tool that calls Qualtrics. The study will be quantitative design employing a survey as the main tool in gathering the required data.
The Survey was developed by Asians in 2015 and I obtained written permission to use and transform it into an online survey format (see Appendix A). The likert scale will be used to measure the students’ response to the survey. The Likert scale consists of five levels of responses which are “strongly agree (5), agree (4), uncertain (3), strongly disagree (2), disagree (1)”.
The survey has three sections. The first part will provide instruction and procedures to the participants so they will have a clear understanding of how to correctly complete the survey. The second section contains questions related to students’ gender, education level, and age. The thirds section comprises 21 items that are divided into three parts (Aifan, 2015). Part A, with six items, measures Saudi students’ perceptions of social media’s ease of use, or how easy it is to use social media technologies for learning purposes. Part B, with 12 items, addresses students’ perceptions of usefulness.
It investigates how Saudi students view the educational value and advantages of social media in their learning. Part C, the final part with 3 items, considers students’ behavioral intentions to use social media to support their learning (Aifan, 2015). I will also use the Arabic version of the survey developed by Alsaadoun (2017), for the use of which I have received written permission.
Reliability and Validity
The primary goal of surveys as a quantitative data collection method is to obtain a sufficient volume of relevant data that is reliable and valid. The quality of data collected using a particular survey has a significant influence on the outcomes of the study. Hence, it is crucial to assess the validity and reliability of the chosen instrument, manifested as accuracy and consistency, before implementing the methodology (Price, Jhangiani, & Chiang, 2015). Because the survey chosen as the data collection tool for this study has been tested for validity and reliability by Aifan (2015), the present section will report on the results to demonstrate the quality of the survey.
Reliability refers to the consistency of a particular measure. According to Creswell (2009), it can show whether or not a particular instrument is internally consistent, stable over time, and consistent in test administration and scoring. Depending on the type of reliability measured, there are different ways of determining the reliability of an instrument. In the present case, Cronbach’s Alpha, a common method of measuring reliability, was computed to assess the internal consistency of the survey. This method was applied to three parts of the survey, which measured perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and behavioral intention to use social media for learning (Aifan, 2015).
The author explains that Cronbach’s Alpha was calculated separately for each dimension in order to measure the consistency of scores across items. Using SPSS, the author found the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient to be.829 for the perceived ease of use,.910 for the perceived usefulness, and.916 for the behavioral intention to use social media as a learning tool. Based on these findings, the survey was adjusted and revised to improve internal consistency further (Aifan, 2015).
In addition to reliability, the validity of an instrument is a critical concept that refers to whether or not it is possible to draw meaningful and useful inferences from scores on an instrument (Creswell 2009). Some scholars also define validity as the extent to which an instrument measures the concepts or phenomena that it is intended to measure (Frey, 2006). There are different types of validity, which imply different methods of testing.
In the present case, the validity of the survey was measured using content validity. This type of validity refers to the extent to which items in a measurement instrument reflect certain content domains (Frey, 2006). According to Aifan (2015), the process of measuring the content validity of the survey involved presenting the items contained in it to experts of Educational Technology, Design and Art, and Psychology and Research in Education Departments at the University of Kansas. The experts reviewed the survey items to ensure that they measure students’ perceptions toward utilizing social media in learning accurately (Aifan, 2015).
An expert in research and survey design proposed adjustments in survey structure, which were used by the researcher to improve the quality of the survey. Furthermore, survey items were also adjusted in accordance with feedback from experts in educational technology, which also increased content validity. Feedback provided by graduate students in Educational Technology at the University of Kansas has been reviewed by the researcher, and their suggestions were incorporated into the survey design (Aifan, 2015). It should also be noted that some items used in the survey were developed as part of previous studies referred to in the literature review, which added to the content validity of the entire instrument.
Data Collection Procedures
Since the study will use the data collection instrument created by Aifan (2015), permission to use the survey has been obtained from the copyright holder. Additionally, approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the selected university to conduct the study will be received before the data collection procedures begin. The selected Saudi university will also be asked to grant a research site approval letter.
The data collection process will occur online, which is justified by the fact that online surveys allow distributing the data collection instrument to large populations, easily integrating data based on survey design, and reducing the time required to collect responses (Granello & Wheaton, 2004). As part of the informed consent process, the participants will be notified about the confidentiality measures applied in the study and the anonymity of their responses. The first page of the online survey will be dedicated to explaining the purpose of the survey and providing information about its key parts. The informed consent agreement will also be included on the first page of the online survey. Participation in the research project will be completely optional and voluntary. Eligible participants must be students at one of the Saudi universities.
The chosen Saudi university will distribute the link to the online survey to eligible participants through WhatsApp, e-mail, and social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. From the time the links are sent to eligible participants, students will have two weeks to submit their responses. At the end of the two-week period, the data will be checked to determine whether the desired sample size has been achieved. If the number of submitted responses is lower than required, the university will be asked to send a second notification through e-mail, WhatsApp, or Twitter to students who have not responded to the survey by the end of the initial two-week period. These students will then be given another week to submit their responses, after which the online survey will be closed.
Once the data collection period is finished, survey responses will be downloaded from Qualtrics in a file format that can be processed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The data will be reviewed, and analysis will be conducted to determine the results of the research. All data submitted by the participants will remain confidential. Only the calculated results of the study will be included in reports, presentations, and publications. The participants’ identifying information will not be revealed, and the documents that contain the data collected in the study will be destroyed after five years.
Data Analysis
Before any data analysis, I will run a reliability analysis on my survey and report the values. Then, I will compare them to the previously reported values. I will administer the scaling survey (Afain, 2015) to determine the student’s perceptions toward using social media to support their learning. The study addressed two main research questions. First, what are Saudi students’ perceptions of the ease of use and the usefulness of social media to support their learning? Descriptive statistics using means and standard deviations will be used to address the first research question.
The second research question is: What is the effect of students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of usefulness, on their intentions to use social media to support their learning? After the analysis of data for the first question is finished, multiple regression analysis will be utilized to address this second research question. Multiple regression analysis will be applied to predict changes in related variables, thus allowing determining the effects of predictors on the dependent variable. The predictor variables are perceptions about the usefulness and ease of use of social media, and the outcome is the students’ intentions to use social media.
The Qualtrics Survey software will be used to download the data from the online survey. Then, assumptions will be tested to ensure their clarity and simplicity. The assumptions are based on four cores: normal distribution, homoscedasticity, significant outliers, and multicollinearity. Once the process of assumption testing is finished, regression analysis will be carried out using the SPSS software. The analysis will produce the final results of the study, thus responding to the research questions posed.
Ethical Considerations
As part of the research, the author will strive to maximize advantages and minimize disadvantages and risks for the participants by following the ethical principle of beneficence in all aspects of research. The written approval from the university’s IRB will be obtained prior to beginning the study, and the author will ensure the quality and integrity of all procedures contained in the research protocol. According to the Belmont Report (1979), research involving human subjects has to include several ethical elements. With regard to respect for persons, this study will protect the participants’ autonomy by ensuring voluntary participation.
Before the data collection process begins, the participants will receive full information about the study’s purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, and the limits of confidentiality through a signed consent form.
The informed consent form will also explain that the study will be impartial and independent and that the participants have a right to withdraw from the study or refuse to complete the survey at any time. With regard to beneficence, it is expected that participation in the study will have no negative physical or psychological effects on the subjects. All results will be kept confidential, and the responses will not include identifying information that would allow attributing them to a specific individual.
Limitations
The primary issue that affects survey research in the social sciences is the reliability of results, which depends on the authenticity and trustworthiness of responses. Additionally, the study will consider the perceptions of students from a single university in Saudi Arabia. Another limitation is that the survey is expected to be distributed at the end of the fall semester, and this time is usually busy for students, which may delay the process of data collection. Finally, the design of the study, which is based on an online survey, does not allow carrying out a probing discussion with participants regarding their responses.
Summary
At the beginning of Chapter Three, the problem to be addressed by this study was discussed to remind the reader about the significance of this study and the method that was used to review the literature that contextualized the problem. Chapter Three included the study’s two research questions: What are Saudi students’ perceptions of the ease of use and the usefulness of social media to support their learning? What is the effect of students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of usefulness, on their intentions to use social media to support their learning?
The proposed study’s research methodology will be quantitative and will involve the use of a survey to study Saudi students’ perceptions about using social media to support their learning at Saudi university and examine the effect of students’ perceptions of ease of use, and perceptions of usefulness, on their intentions to use social media to support their learning. The sample for the study will include 164 graduate students enrolled in one of the Saudi universities, who will provide responses to an online survey concerning their perceptions about social media use in learning. The survey will utilize the Qualtrics software, and the results will be analyzed using the SPSS program.
As discussed above, there are no known risks to participants associated with taking part in the study. There are no financial or personal conflicts of interest that could affect the research. Participation in the study will be voluntary, and the participants’ anonymity and confidentiality will be protected to adhere to the principles of ethics in research. Chapter Three also contained information about the selected instrument, its validity, and reliability, as well as the details of data collection and analysis procedures. Ethical considerations and limitations of the study were also discussed. Chapter Four will present the findings and discuss the results of the data analysis.
References
Aifan, H. A. (2015). Saudi students’ attitudes toward using social media to support learning. Web.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (3rd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Frey, B. (2006). Statistics hacks: Tips & tools for measuring the world and beating the odds. B. Sawyer (Ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media.
Granello, D. H., & Wheaton, J. E. (2004). Online data collection: Strategies for research. Journal of Counseling & Development, 82(4), 387-393.
Price, P., Jhangiani, R., & Chiang, I. (2015). Research methods in psychology (2nd Canadian ed.). Victoria, Canada: BCcampus.
SurveyMonkey. (2019). Sample size calculator. Web.