An Investigation into Secondary School- age Learners’ Out -of-class (Community and Home-based Settings) STEM Learning Experience with Digital Technology

Abstract

Digital learning resources are commonly employed to support learning in out-of-class contexts, either as a complement to the learning in formal classrooms or as an alternative that can be used by learners to pursue personal learning goals. This study identified a significant gap in the literature concerning children's use of digital technology to support STEM (science and mathematics in particular) learning outside of the classroom. To develop a framework for further research in this area, this study adopted a multiple case study design using semi-structured interviews and observations as data collection methods. Following a sociocultural framework, this research primarily confirmed existing work regarding the identification of motivational factors and concluded that the user interface (UI), all-in-one features of digital technology, simulation and alternative learning experience were factors that influenced the learning motivation of secondary schoolage learners when learning science and mathematics with digital technology in out-of-class contexts.