1. Introduction
Over the past decades, with the tremendous development in science and technology and the subsequent dramatic changes in various fields, the ideas and thoughts of ancestors faced serious challenges. The advent of information and communication technology has overshadowed all aspects of human individual and social life and, with the collapse of borders and times, turned the world into a village (
Baran et al. 2011). The ease of using these tools, instead of force, have made human thinkers think about how to use technology in teaching and learning, resulting in flexibility and a transformation in education from traditional to electronic (
Rosen 2015). According to experts, the term e-learning includes a large list of applications and functions, including web-based education, computer-based and internet-based education, technology-based education, and distance-based virtual learning, which should include the quality of inputs. Virtual transactions and outputs should be evaluated as a whole to create thinking and performance capabilities (
Seraji 2016). In this regard,
Mehr Mohammadi (
2010) considers that one of the most basic goals of e-learning is to emphasize the strengthening of superior thinking capabilities and thus increase performance productivity. The research of
Hosseinjani (
2010),
Lin (
2016), and
Bailie and Jortberg (
2009) also emphasizes the link between e-learning and improving education and increasing the quality of academic performance, especially in foreign-language courses such as English.
In Iran, English as a foreign language and not a second language is taught in schools in the middle years of education.
Hosseini (
2017) believes that this prevents students from communicating with this language and because of the difficulty of learning a foreign language at this age, and of paying attention to its rules, and this in itself can be one of the causes of poor academic performance. English-language teaching in Iran has always been one of the most challenging issues in the country’s educational system. Although the quality of English-language teaching in Iranian schools has improved in recent years, there is still a long way to go between where students are in the language and where they should be. In addition, the strategies and forms of the traditional teaching of this course may be one of the reasons for this gap (
Maghsoudi 2021). As
Hyland (
2006) states, teaching strategies play a constructive role in facilitating the educational and learning process and are an important source of input for students in foreign-language courses, which require the use of new technological methods when teaching it.
Thus, e-learning is one of the most important advances in the information-technology industry, which has been able to emerge as a new paradigm by taking advantage of existing changes, so that many educational systems in the world order have called for its use because, in the modern age of education, there is no longer a question of improving presentation methods, but of improving the learning process. Now, it seems that the unique features of this educational method have caused it to gain a higher and outstanding position in school education, especially in teaching foreign languages (
Prestridge 2012). Because, among various social institutions, the school is known as the most important manifestation of the culture that governs society and a place to satisfy the intellectual and emotional needs of individuals, now that we are in the third millennium AD, the school is one of the most important social institutions. There are important functions of this institution in our time, and the use of new teaching strategies in teaching and learning can lead to the development of academic desire in students (
Parvizi 2013). Research on school and learning enthusiasm began when teachers and educators were concerned about students dropping out, poor motivation, and students not engaging in school activities (
Appleton et al. 2008). Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in studying school enthusiasm and its relationship to students’ feelings about their environment (
Libbey 2004). The educational environment causes learners to move towards valuable educational goals (
Orthner et al. 2013), to participate more in educational activities (
Li and Lerner 2011), and to have high academic well-being and performance (
Simons-Morton and Chen 2009).
Academic enthusiasm refers to the amount of energy a learner spends doing his or her academic work (
Naami and Piriaei 2013).
Mollai et al. (
2020) also concluded in a study that academic enthusiasm plays a role in academic adjustment and academic vitality. The construct of academic motivation refers to behaviors that are related to learning and academic achievement (
Pintrich 2000). Academic enthusiasm is a multidimensional structure that has three dimensions: cognitive, motivational, and behavioral (
Archambault et al. 2009): Cognitive academic enthusiasm includes the application of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in learning. Motivational (emotional) academic enthusiasm includes the three components of feeling, value, and emotion and includes loving the educational environment and interest in university work. Behavioral academic desire includes active presence with enthusiasm in the educational environment (
Linnenbrink and Pintrich 2002).
Academic enthusiasm is linked to students’ success strategies because it increases academic optimism and acts as a strong predictor of enthusiasm in school activities (
Salmela-Aro et al. 2009).
Alipour Katigari et al. (
2020) mentioned academic enthusiasm as one of the factors affecting students’ academic success in relevant courses. Therefore, the positive effects of academic enthusiasm on the involvement of students in academic activities and the increase in their effort and the factors affecting them necessitate the need to study it, even in teaching English.
Another important variable in education for which a new electronic strategy in teaching English can be used is academic vitality. Academic vitality is defined as the student’s ability to successfully meet the barriers and academic challenges that lie in the way of normal academic life (
Martin and Marsh 2008). Academic vitality also refers to a positive, constructive, and adaptive response to the types of challenges and barriers experienced in the ongoing field of study (
Putwain et al. 2012). Since academic life is one of the most important periods in the life of people, especially adolescents and young people, and they face many challenges and obstacles such as high stress, poor grades, decreased motivation, etc., it is necessary to increase the factors that pave the way for increasing the individual’s ability to meet these barriers and challenges and for enhancing his or her academic vitality (
Cho et al. 2014).
Teaching cognitive and metacognitive strategies in the electronic environment enables people to use appropriate strategies for studying and learning, to be able to cope with learning tasks, and to increase their motivation to learn. Many studies have shown that there is a relationship between learners’ learning strategies and study, and their academic performance and success (
Biabangard 2005). An example of a meta-analysis study of 58 articles showed that study and learning strategies are the most effective factor in learners’ academic achievement (
Biabangard 2011). Studies conducted in Iran on learners habits, skills, methods, and resources show that study and learning strategies play an important role in predicting learners’ academic achievement (
Hosseini Tabatabai and Ghadimi Muqaddam 2007) and learners with higher GPAs have higher reading skills (
Leondari et al. 2012). Therefore, considering the importance of the subject and also the unavailability of a study that simultaneously examined the variables of the present study in the electronic environment in teaching English, the researchers decided to examine the effect of teaching study strategies using the production of video content on academic motivation and vitality in a course, which are always a challenge in teaching in schools. This research can be important in many ways. Theoretically, this research can provide a package and appropriate tools to increase students’ academic enthusiasm and academic vitality in teaching, and in practice. This research can be a good guide for counselors, teachers, and parents who are concerned about increasing academic enthusiasm, academic vitality, and their consequences. This is because improving study approaches, such as those presented in the present study, can increase the excitement and motivation to learn and study, because improving study performance depends on both motivation and the application of mechanisms and approaches. Many students experience frustration and academic failure in English due to a lack of skills and study and learning strategies. Therefore, teaching reading skills, especially in the context of e-learning in the present age, is essential for students; this is because it can help them to learn better and achieve academic success and create interest and motivation to continue education. Therefore, the question that this study seeks to answer is whether teaching study strategies by producing video content is effective regarding students’ academic enthusiasm and academic vitality in English lessons?
2. Aims and Objectives
According to the nature of the present study, the following research objectives can be considered for this research:
- (1)
Determining the impact of using study strategies by producing video content in English lessons on students’ behavioral enthusiasm.
- (2)
Determining the impact of using study strategies by producing video content in English lessons on students’ emotional desire.
- (3)
Determining the impact of using study strategies by producing video content in English language course on students’ cognitive enthusiasm.
- (4)
Determining the impact of using study strategies by producing video content in English language course on students’ academic vitality.
3. Martials and Methods
The method of the present study was a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design with a control group. The research was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the dependent variables were tested from the control group and the experimental group. In the second stage, the educational package was delivered to the students of the experimental group and in the third stage, the dependent variables of both groups were tested. The statistical population of this study was all the twelfth-GRADE male high school students in Hamedan in the academic year 2020–2021 and the number of these students was 7302. In the present study, due to its nature, 30 students were selected using multi-stage cluster random sampling; Accordingly, after receiving permission from the General Directorate of Education of Hamadan Province, two districts were selected from among the districts of Hamadan city, and from each district, a boys’ secondary school and a total of 30 twelfth-grade students from each selected school were randomly selected to participate in the study. After this stage, the experimental and control groups, in the same conditions, simultaneously and before any training strategies, answered the questionnaire of academic enthusiasm and academic vitality because each subject was randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups with equal chance. In this study, due to coronary conditions and limitations of face-to-face training, a training package of study strategies for eight sessions was prepared in the form of electronic content produced and presented to the experimental group in cyberspace and the control group had a normal training routine. Then, in the post-test stage, a post-test was performed for both groups.
Details of the training package and questionnaires are as follows:
Academic Enthusiasm Scale: This scale was developed by
Fredricks et al. (
2004) to measure students’ academic achievement, and has 15 items and three subscales: Behavioral (1 to 4), Emotional (5 to 11), and Cognitive (11 to 15).
Fredricks et al. (
2004) reported the reliability coefficient of this questionnaire as 0.86. The validity of this questionnaire was also confirmed in the research of
Abbasi et al. (
2015), where it was Persianized and the total reliability of the alpha method in their research was 0.66. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of this questionnaire was calculated to be 0.71 in the present study.
Dehghanizadeh and Hossein Chari’s questionnaire (2010) was used to measure academic vitality. The scale consists of 9 items and responses in this tool are given based on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Dehghanizadeh and Hossein Chari (2010), in their research, estimated the reliability of the academic vitality scale as 0.80 and the retest coefficient as 0.73. In this study, Cronbach’s alpha was used to obtain the reliability of the test, which was 0.82, which indicates the optimal reliability of the questionnaire.
Study strategies training: The study-strategies training package was delivered for 8 sessions based on the teachings of
O’hara and Petrick (
2005), and
Saif (
2011). According to the educational package, study strategies in the form of cognitive and metacognitive strategies are objectively realized during the interconnected stages (
Fathi Azar 2014). To evaluate the content validity of the training package, content validity ratio and content validity index were used. To calculate the CVR index, the opinions of experts in the field of content were used and, after explaining the test objectives to them and providing an operational definition related to the content of the questions, they were asked to classify each of the objectives. Then, based on the CVR formula, the content validity ratio was calculated. Based on the number of experts who evaluated the objectives, the acceptable CVR value is equal to 0.62. In this study, the content validity ratio (CVR) for all objectives in the training protocol was between 0.9 to 1. Also, the acceptable CVI value according to the number of specialists is equal to 0.79. In this study, the content validity index (CVI) for all objectives in the training package was obtained between 0.9 and 1. A summary of the content of the study strategies training package is given in the table below (
Table 1).
Method of implementation and training of study strategies package: After compiling the training package of study strategies, applying corrections based on the opinions of experts and validating it, in order to ensure complete fit of the content of the training package with the audience and recipients of training, simultaneously with the sampling process of the training package of study strategies in a pilot group, the five volunteers were intensively trained and, after reviewing the results of the pilot study, eliminating the shortcomings and more precise adjustment, it was ready to be implemented in the research group. Before starting the training and obtaining permission from the students’ parents and attracting them, while inviting them to high school, holding a briefing session, and forming a WhatsApp communication group with the researcher, their support was ensured to advance the teaching work. Subsequently, a pre-test was held for both experimental and control groups on the same day and both experimental and control groups answered the questionnaires of academic motivation and vitality. Then the training package for the experimental group was implemented for 8 sessions, one per week. During the training period, the participants in the control group did not receive any training. However, due to the observance of research ethics and to persuade the control group to participate in the study, the researchers announced their full readiness to present the required topics to the group and to the management of the high school after completing the course. At the end of the training course and after two months, the experimental group, under the title of follow-up test, again answered the research questionnaires in order to determine the extent of learning consolidation.
4. Results
In order to test the hypotheses that teaching study strategies increases academic enthusiasm and academic vitality in English lessons, first, descriptive statistics are presented. Then, in order to test the hypotheses, by examining the hypotheses, multivariate analysis of covariance was used for the scale of academic motivation, which has one component, and univariate analysis of covariance was used for the scale of academic vitality, which is one component without sub-components.
The results of
Table 2 show that the post-test scores in the experimental group are higher than the control group, which means more academic enthusiasm and academic vitality in the experimental group post-test.
To examine the question of whether teaching study strategies is impactful on students’ academic achievement, the researchers also used multivariate analysis of covariance due to the fact that academic enthusiasm consists of three components: Behavioral enthusiasm, Emotional enthusiasm and Cognitive enthusiasm.
In this section, the assumptions of multivariate analysis of covariance are examined. First, the hypothesis of homogeneity of slopes, which is one of the basic assumptions of analysis of covariance, is examined. To perform analysis of variance, the slope of the regression line between the co-occurrence and the dependent must be the same at different levels of the independent variable (control group and control). The aim is to determine that the covariate variables are not related to the independent variable. Therefore, to check the equality of variance–covariance matrix of dependent variables, the box test was used, the results of which are presented in
Table 3.
The test results show that the assumption of equality and homogeneity of the variance–covariance matrix is established for performing covariance analysis.
To test the same hypothesis of variance in the studied groups, which is another assumption of analysis of covariance, the Leven test was used, the results of which are presented in
Table 4.
The results of
Table 4 show that the same assumption of variances is established in the studied groups for covariance analysis.
To test the hypothesis, the researchers chose the Lambda Wilkes statistic to calculate among the four statistics (Pillay, Lambda Wilkes, Hotline, and Root).
Based on
Table 5, it can be said that Wilkes’s Lambda statistic (
p/0.05, F = 11.809) shows that the hypothesis of similarity of population averages based on dependent variables for control and experimental groups can be rejected.
The results of the post-test intergroup effects test by removing the pre-test effect, in
Table 6, show that there is a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of the means of the experimental and control groups in the component of behavioral desire (Eta = 0.227,
p ≤ 0.05, F = 91.11), emotional desire (Eta = 0.031,
p ≤ 0.05, F = 14.516) and cognitive enthusiasm component (Eta = 0.289,
p ≤ 0.05, F = 12,600).
To examine the question of whether teaching study strategies is impactful on students’ academic vitality, assumptions of analysis of co-variances such as data normality, homogeneity of variance, and regression line slope need to be considered. Because the data must be multivariate normal, there must also be a linear relationship between each pair of dependent variables for each group of independent variables. If the variables are not linearly dependent, the test power decreases. Therefore, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to check the normality of the data. The results are shown in
Table 7 and the Levin test was used for homogeneity of variances (
Table 7).
The results of
Table 7 showed that the value of significance level in the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test for checking the normality of variables is greater than 0.05 and, therefore, the distribution of data is normal. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test is not significant for the variable of academic vitality and therefore the variable of academic vitality has a normal distribution and parametric analysis (analysis of covariance) can be used for it.
The Levin test was also used for homogeneity of variances and the results are listed in
Table 8.
Based on the Levin test and the lack of significance for the variable of academic vitality, the condition of equality of intergroup variances is observed and the groups are homogeneous, so analysis of covariance can be used.
According to the data obtained from
Table 9, after adjusting the pre-test scores, there was a significant effect on the factor between the subjects (Eta = 0.158,
p ≤ 0.05, F = 6/170). The scores show that the average of the experimental group who were trained has increased. Therefore, it can be concluded that teaching study strategies has an effect on students’ academic vitality and increases it significantly.
5. Discussion
This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of English-language teaching using study strategies by producing video content on increasing students’ academic enthusiasm and vitality. For this purpose, two hypotheses were studied. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the means of the experimental and control groups in the components of academic motivation (Behavioral academic enthusiasm, Emotional academic enthusiasm, and Cognitive academic enthusiasm), meaning that the study strategies training program was able to increase the academic enthusiasm of experimental subjects compared to the control group. Increase language lessons: The results of this study are consistent with the findings of
Nakhostin Goldost et al. (
2019). Therefore, in explaining the effectiveness of teaching study strategies by producing video content on academic achievement, it can be said that as a result of education, students acquire skills to supervise cognitive and metacognitive strategies in language lessons, and by mastering strategies for planning, controlling, supervising, and regulating methods, they successfully apply learning and study methods and apply them with continuous supervision. They identify the problems of their learning methods and strategies and try to correct them. For example,
Nakhostin Goldost et al. (
2019) specified that teaching metacognitive skills significantly increases academic enthusiasm and its components among subjects in the post-test stage in such a way that students gain ability and skills by teaching cognitive and metacognitive strategies and by applying them, their desire and interest in education increases. In other words, during the study of students’ learning strategies, they learn practical and behavioral strategies that include planning, monitoring, organizing and organizing, and during this learning, they gain a positive feeling and attitude towards the English-language lesson, and by using them, their desire and interest in education increases. Therefore, the reason for the consistency of the results is that teaching discipline or organizing strategies leads to flexibility in the learner’s behavior and helps him/her to change his/her learning method and style whenever necessary. Regulatory strategies work in tandem with monitoring and evaluation strategies. The discipline strategy helps students to refine the way they study, re-examine and address deficiencies in their comprehension, which, in turn, increases students’ desire for learning.
The results of univariate analysis of covariance on the second hypothesis also showed that there is a significant difference between the means of the experimental and control groups in academic vitality in English-language courses, which means that the program of teaching study strategies by producing video content was able to increase the academic vitality of the experimental group compared to the control group. This result is consistent with the findings of
Strang (
2014),
Lee (
2008),
Pintrich (
2000),
Mousavi et al. (
2012), and
Dehghanizadeh and Hossein Chari (
2012). Considering the above result and on the basis of
Zimmerman’s (
2000) theory, it can be said that students who have study strategies try to achieve their goals by properly organizing and they adapt or cope with the pressures and challenges that arise by applying thoughts, feelings, and actions, and by anticipating the situation and facilitating the situation.
Mousavi et al. (
2012) showed, in their research, that under the influence of motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies on academic performance, all paths are significant and the components of emotional intelligence and motivational beliefs, and self-regulated learning strategies with academic performance in all paths, showed a significant relationship, which explains the present statistical results. In this regard, the majority of studies show similar results because study and learning strategies are systematic processes that are used by learners and cause a deep and wide understanding of what is read and includes the use of some behaviors, thoughts, and actions during learning to gain more information and store new knowledge in the memory and improve skills, which increases the effort and vitality of education. Since academic life is one of the most important periods in the life of people, especially adolescents and young people, and they face many challenges and obstacles such as high stress, poor grades, reduced motivation, etc., it is necessary to identify the factors that increase a person’s ability to cope with these obstacles and challenges and increase his/her academic vitality. The most important factors are study guides, especially using e-learning.
Alipour Katigari et al. (
2020) concluded in their study that the implementation of an e-teaching method has a significant effect on students’ academic motivation, self-efficacy and self-regulation, because in e-learning, learners participate in the learning process with greater enthusiasm and eagerness to facilitate access to information and educational content, which leads to improved self-efficacy and self-regulation.
6. Conclusions
Based on the obtained results and comparing them with the research background, it can be stated that study and learning methods are used as tools to solve academic problems and help students develop the skills they need during their studies. Therefore, teaching reading skills to students, especially in English, is necessary due to the volatile content. Accordingly, it can be argued that teaching reading skills can lead to better learning and academic success and create interest and motivation to continue education. On the other hand, a review of the research background in Iran shows that, so far, no research has examined the effectiveness of English-language teaching using study strategies by producing video content on increasing students’ academic enthusiasm and vitality simultaneously. Iranian studies have dealt with various issues in this regard. These issues have some positive and important points. An overview of these contexts reveals that the subject of the present study has dealt with newer discussions than its predecessors; this is because most of the previous research was conducted with a general or partial view and they neglected to simultaneously address students’ academic enthusiasm and vitality in a focused research and with a new way of producing video content. Therefore, the present study is new research in this regard.
Therefore, according to the results of the research hypotheses that showed that teaching study strategies increases the desire to learn a language, especially in the individual dimension, it is suggested that school psychologists use the educational package of study strategies in academic counseling. Education officials can also hold workshops on study strategies to increase the awareness of teachers and other educators in the country. Therefore, teaching strategies and holding training workshops on enthusiasm and its dimensions and academic vitality will increase these skills in students and increase their academic vitality. Based on the second hypothesis, which showed the impact on the academic vitality of the language course, it is suggested that self-directed learning education be included in the extracurricular activities of schools as a necessary academic skill and training. It is also necessary to provide the necessary training for teachers and counselors in order to successfully deliver self-directed-learning training for students to apply cognitive and metacognitive strategies because it is one of the most important ways to increase academic enthusiasm and vitality. Therefore, considering the importance of academic vitality and the fact that this research was conducted in a high school, it is necessary to obtain more reliable results in other courses as well. Also, the lack of research conducted in the field of academic vitality and variables of academic motivation and the lack of appropriate and comprehensive background were the limitations of this research.