1. Students’ Perceived Barriers to In-Class Participation in a Distributed and Gender Segregated Educational Environment Presented at ISECON 2007, Pittsburgh, PA Abdulrahman A. Mirza, Ph.D. King Saud University Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

2. Presentation Outline Male/Female college education in Saudi Arabia Purpose of study Related Research Program under study Students’ previous mixed-gender courses Current program Conclusion Questions

3. Male/Female college education in Saudi Segregation of students based on gender Engineering and architecture degrees not available for girls Shortage in numbers of female faculty at college level Increasing number of female students at all levels of education as more women seek jobs Need for male faculty to teach female students

4. Different forms of course delivery to female students by male instructors: CCTV recorded in a special studio at the girls campus CCTV recorded from a male students’ lecture hall Same classroom with a dividing one-way see-through glass Face-to-face interaction Male/Female college education in Saudi

5. Purpose of Study Low level of participation by female students in comparison with another course taught to female students in a Master’s IS program a few years earlier, which had: No male students No telecommunications component Interaction through one-way see-through glass barrier

6. Related Research According to relevant research, the level of students’ participation in in-class discussions is reported to be typically low. (Crombie, et. al. 2003) reports of very low in-class participation levels, in general, where 64% of the students rarely, or only occasionally, asked questions or answered questions during the class. Women in general rated less than their male counterparts in in-class discussions (Crombie, et. al. 2003; Younger, et. al. 1999; and, Canada & Pringle 1995). Where there was also a distance-learning aspect, men typically over- proportionally spoke at face-to-face classes while females were more comfortable than males in posting messages through the web-based learning environment. (Caspi, et. al. 2006)

7. Program Under Study Master’s of Health Informatics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University of Health Sciences - Started Fall of 2005 1 st of its kind in the Middle East 1 st group of admitted students: 16 female, 9 male Mostly health-field workers (students) Instructor interacts face-to-face with male students Interaction through CCTV, audio system, and smart board with female students Outside of classroom, most communications are via email Few occasions of direct face-to-face interactions with females

8. Previous mixed-gender courses For courses with males students present at other campus Barriers for in-class discussions: I did not want students from the other gender to hear my voice I did not feel comfortable speaking in the microphone I found the method to call or contact the instructor in-class was too time-consuming I did not want other students to get upset with me by stopping the instructor I did not feel any barriers to participation Other

9. Previous mixed-gender courses Types of interaction with instructor from opposite sex in previous educational programs.

10. Previous mixed-gender courses Barriers to participation in in-class discussions in previous mixed-gender programs with members of opposite gender listening in.

11. Current Program Having students from the opposite sex listening to what I might say has restricted my in-class participation.

12. Current Program Not having a microphone especially dedicated for me has been a reason for me not participating enough.

13. Current Program Current situation of keeping females in a separate classroom than the instructor while being able to view the instructor via TV and view course material via the PC is a good solution to have in comparison with other mixed-gender educational experiences that I had.

14. Not having an instructor in the same classroom causes to easily lose concentration. Current Program

15. Having an instructor in the same classroom for face-to-face interaction would be more useful for students.

16. Conclusion Use of telecommunications for course delivery is useful to an extent, however it does not replace the benefits of face-to-face interaction. At times, the improper application of technology becomes a barrier to participation. Joining males and females in the same classroom would be much more useful for the students.

17. Questions?? Thank you for listening amirza@arabgulf.net