An Investigation of Teacher's Use of Elearning in Science Olympiad in Russian Schools

Abstract

Science Olympiad has become an integral part of Russian education. In the last decades various steps have been taken to improve various aspect of Science Olympiad. Politicians, administrators and teachers are looking for a better alternative to increase participation and improve the quality of Olympiads. With the development of new technologies eLearning is becoming increasingly important in Science Olympiads. The aim of this research was to investigate teacher's use of eLearning in Science Olympiad in Russian Schools. For the purposes of this study, in 2013 an on-line survey was conducted to collect data from the Chelyabinsk state secondary schools in Russian Federation. A total of 433 teachers from the Chelyabinsk State secondary schools participated in the survey. Data analysis was done using T-test, descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation. According to the result, science Olympiad teachers have positive opinion toward using eLearning in science Olympiad. A significant difference was found between teachers’ opinion about using eLearning in Science Olympiads and variables such as subject, teacher's educational qualifications and location of school (p<0.05). The correlation analysis indicated statistically significant relationships between teacher eLearning level and their opinion about using eLearning in Science Olympiads (r=0.565, p=0.000). No significant relationship was found between teachers’ opinion about using eLearning in Science Olympiads and variables such as teachers’ gender, years of teaching experience and age (p>0.05). Based on the results of the survey this researcher created a website, a repository to provide a variety of resources to facilitate training in Science Olympiad.