The effectiveness of mobile-assisted teaching in self-directed learning, problem-solving skills and academic performance of Payame Noor University students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of mobile-assisted teaching in self- directed learning, problem-solving skills and academic performance of Payame Noor University (PNU) students in Boukan. The study had an interventional design involving pretest-posttest with control group. The statistical population of the study comprising 120 students included all the education majors who had entered Boukan PNU Center in the academic year 97-98. In order to collect the data, sixty participants, who were homogenized based on Raven Progressive Matrices (Intelligence Quotient with 90-110), were assigned randomly into one experimental group (30 participants) and one control group (30 participants). The Self-Directed Learning Scale (Fisher et al, 2001), Problem-Solving Skills Inventory (Heppner., and Petersen, 1982) and an academic performance researcher-made scale were administered to both the experimental group and the control group as the pre-test of the study. Then the experimental group received 8 sessions (60 minutes each session) of mobile-assisted treatment in 4 weeks, while the control group underwent conventional teaching during that period. After finishing the sessions, the participants of both groups took the post-test, and the results were compared. showed significant differences in the Self-Directed Learning Scale and its components, Problem-Solving Skills Inventory and its components, and the Academic Performance Scale of the participants in the groups at 0.01 level. The findings of this study, in fact, indicate that mobile-assisted teaching can enhance self-directed learning, problem-solving skills and academic performance of Payame Noor University students.