Development and Validation of a STEM Learner Experience Evaluation Model for Learning Management Systems in East African Higher Learning Institutions
This study developed and validated a context-specific, seven-dimensional STEM Learner Experience Evaluation Model for Learning Management Systems in East African higher education institutions by integrating mixed-methods data from 871 learners and expert review to address the unique infrastructural, social, and pedagogical challenges of the region.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Imagine you are trying to bake the perfect cake. For years, bakers only checked if the oven was hot enough, if the timer worked, and if the cake came out of the pan without sticking. They called this "System Success." But what if the cake tastes like cardboard? What if the recipe is confusing, or you don't have the right ingredients, or your friends won't let you into the kitchen? In the world of digital education, there's a similar problem. Schools use big digital platforms called Learning Management Systems (LMS) to deliver lessons, like a giant online pantry. For a long time, researchers only checked if the pantry was open and if the shelves were organized. They didn't ask the students if the food was actually tasty, if they felt hungry to eat it, or if the kitchen was too hot to cook in. This paper dives into that missing piece: the "Learner Experience." It asks not just "Does the system work?" but "How does it feel to learn inside it?" especially for students studying Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), where the "cooking" often requires special tools like virtual labs and complex simulations.
The authors of this study, Bukenya Moses, Mercy Mbise, and Masoud Mahundi, noticed that in East Africa, the "kitchen" has some unique challenges. The electricity might flicker, the internet might be slow, and students might need extra help from their families or the university just to get started. They wanted to build a new, custom-made ruler to measure how students actually feel when they use these digital learning tools. Instead of just checking if the computer works, they wanted to measure the whole experience, from the emotional joy of solving a problem to the frustration of a broken connection.
To do this, the researchers gathered a massive group of 871 STEM students from two universities: the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Mountains of the Moon University in Uganda. They didn't just ask simple "yes or no" questions; they looked deep into the data to find hidden patterns. They combined what they learned from the students' answers with what experts in education already knew. The result was a new, seven-part model for measuring the "Learner Experience." Think of this model as a seven-slice pizza, where every slice is essential for a satisfying meal.
The first slice is Institutional Support: This is the university stepping up to help, like a teacher who is always available to answer questions or a helpdesk that actually fixes problems. The second slice is Social and Family Support: Learning isn't a solo act; it's about having friends and family who encourage you and maybe even share their Wi-Fi. The third slice is Hedonic and Affective Experience: This is the fun and feeling part—does the student feel excited, curious, or stressed? The fourth slice is STEM Programmatic Support: This is the most special slice. It asks if the system can actually handle the tricky stuff STEM students need, like running virtual chemistry experiments, writing code, or solving complex math equations. The fifth slice is Infrastructure Support: This covers the basics like reliable electricity and internet. The sixth is Usability and Ease of Access: Is the website easy to navigate, or is it a maze? And the seventh is Technical Reliability: Does the system crash when you need it most?
The researchers didn't just guess these slices; they tested them. They showed their new "pizza" to five experts—people who know everything about STEM teaching, digital learning, and how universities work. These experts tasted every slice and gave it a thumbs-up. They confirmed that the model was clear, complete, and perfectly suited for the East African context. In fact, the experts agreed so strongly that the model is "excellent" and should be kept exactly as is, with only tiny tweaks to the wording to make it even clearer.
The paper argues that we can no longer just look at whether a computer system is "successful" in a technical sense. If the internet is down, or if the system doesn't support a virtual lab, or if a student feels unsupported, the learning experience fails, even if the software itself is perfect. This new model suggests that to fix digital learning, schools need to look at all seven slices of the pizza. If a student is struggling, the school can use this model to figure out exactly which slice is missing. Is it the Wi-Fi? Is it the teacher's support? Is it the lack of tools for science experiments?
The study concludes that this new model is a ready-to-use tool for universities in East Africa and other places with similar challenges. It helps schools stop guessing and start fixing the specific things that make learning hard or easy. While the paper doesn't claim this solves every problem in the world, it firmly establishes that for STEM students in this region, the experience is a mix of technology, feelings, support, and infrastructure. By measuring all of these together, schools can finally serve a cake that doesn't just come out of the oven, but actually tastes good.
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