USING EQUINE ASSISTED LEARNING TO BOOST CHARACTER SKILLS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Authors

  • Rosmina Jaafar Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8019-0446
  • Siti Salasiah Mokri Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
  • Norhana Arsad Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
  • Norazreen Abd Aziz Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
  • Norbahiah Misran Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Keywords:

Character skills development, equine assisted learning (EAL), experiential learning, horseback riding

Abstract

Recreational horseback riding has been recognized for its therapeutic benefits, particularly through direct human-horse interactions. Despite known positive impacts of horse’s interactions with humans, there is no reported study discussing the relationship of equine assisted therapy and character skill development among university students. This paper examines the impact of equine assisted learning (EAL) on university students who struggled academically in the previous semester. Twelve students participated voluntarily in the program, engaging the study participants in experiential learning of EAL sessions at Majlis Ekuin Malaysia horse stable. The learning sessions, each conducted for nearly three hours, involved tasks to complete including stable cleaning, grooming, feeding, and leading horses. Study participants were requested to complete questionnaires before and after the EAL program to assess their character skill development, measured through "Habits of Minds." Students’ academic results in terms of grade point average (GPA) achieved in the previous semester before EAL were compared with their GPA for the current semester after the students had been involved in the EAL program. Results of the study revealed collective improvements in the “Habits of Minds'' attributes of Persistence, Flexible Thinking, Responsible Risk-Taking, and Empathetic Listening after the EAL program. However, the attribute Managing Impulsivity was slightly impaired. Interestingly, all students’ GPA after the EAL program had also improved compared to their previous GPA. The (mean + standard deviation) of the students’ GPA after EAL intervention (2.21 + 0.59) is significantly increased compared to that before the EAL intervention (1.66 + 0.67) with p = 0.045. The overall finding from this study suggests that the practical benefits of the EAL program can enhance character skills development that can lead to better academic results among university students.

Author Biographies

Rosmina Jaafar, Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

ROSMINA JAAFAR is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Electrical, Electronics & Systems Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She has attained Ph.D in Electrical, Electronics & Systems Engineering from UKM in 2009, M.Sc in Electronics (Medical Systems) from University of Hertfordshire (UK) in 2000 and B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University (USA) in 1991. Having exposed to almost 30 years of biomedical engineering experience from the college life, her passion towards research activities grew and expanded over the years. Her research work revolves around developing healthcare technologies that include biomedical signal processing, imaging, informatics and medical electronics instrumentation.

Siti Salasiah Mokri, Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

SITI SALASIAH MOKRI is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Electrical, Electronics & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She obtained Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Malaya in 2000, MSc in Mechatronics from International Islamic University Malaysia in 2008 and Phd in Biomedical Engineering from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2016. Her research interests are Image Processing, Biomedical Images, Artificial Intelligence, Control System and Mechatronics.

Norhana Arsad, Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

NORHANA ARSAD received the B.Eng. degree in Computer and Communication Systems and the M.Sc. degree in Photonics from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia, in 2000 and 2003, respectively. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, in 2010. She is currently a Professor at the Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia. She is the head of Centre of Engineering Education and the head of Laboratory Technology of Photonics, UKM. Her research interests include smart system, Photonics Technology, Optical Communication, fiber lasers development & application, LoRA application, sensors, ICT, engineering education, applications and entrepreneurial.

Norazreen Abd Aziz, Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

NORAZREEN ABD AZIZ is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Electrical, Electronics and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She obtained BachelorDegree in Electronic Engineering from University of Surrey, UK in 2002, MSc and Phd in Microengineering and Nanoelectronic from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2009 and 2017, respectively. During her early career, she focused on pioneering research in MEMS and BioMEMS, exploring the integration of microscale and nanoscale components into miniaturized systems for various biomedical applications. In recent years, she has embarked on an exciting new phase of her research journey by shifting her focus to the realm of two-dimensional (2D) materials for sensor applications. Recognizing the immense potential of 2D materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, she has been investigating their unique electrical, mechanical, and optical properties for sensor development.

Norbahiah Misran, Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

NORBAHIAH MISRAN received her BEng in Electrical, Electronic & System Engineering from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 1999. She completed her Ph.D. degree at the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK (2004). She started her career as a tutor in 1999 at the Department of Electrical, Electronic & System Engineering, UKM.  She later has been appointed as a lecturer (2004), an associate professor (2009) and later as a professor (2012) at the same department. Her research interest is in microwave device and system particularly in broadband microstrip antennas, reconfigurable antennas, reflectarray antennas, and metamaterials. She is also conducting some research in engineering education field. She is the author and co-author of more than 400 research articles in microwave device and system and engineering education.

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Published

2023-12-26

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 2 (2023): DECEMBER 2023

Section

Articles

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