Transforming student engagement in COVID-19 remote instruction: a research perspective

This paper was developed in response to the article titled, “A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: Own it, learn it, share it,” by Eunbae Lee and Michael J. Hannafin (2016). Their work is examined through a research perspective. The authors’ discovery of the lack of a comprehensive framework to guide the design, development, and implementation of student-centered learning prompted them to develop the model. The result advances a three-stage model known as, Own It, Learn It, and Share It. The impact of the model can be understood through the simplicity of the OLSit model by how it affords educators a clear pathway for transforming instructional planning. Given the many uncertainties associated with the “shift to digital” as a result of COVID-19, the OLSit model is very applicable for action research by teachers, student teachers, and teacher educators. A critique of the model is provided along with suggested applications to extend the OLSit research base.

     

Student-centered learning: context needed

Six scholars provide their perspectives in response to Lee and Hannafin’s (Educational Technology Research and Development 64: 707–734, 2016) article describing the Own It, Learn It, Share It design framework. The framework combines constructivist, constructionist, and self-determination theories to address student-centered learning.

     

Response to “A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it,learn it,and share it”: a design perspective

This essay is a response to the special issue call on the theme of Shifting to digital: Informing the rapid development, deployment, and future of teaching and learning. In this essay, the author first described the needs of student-centered learning that emerged from the current full-scale online teaching and learning practice due to the pandemic. With these needs, the author revisited the published article of A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it, learn it, and share it (Lee and Hannafin, in Educ Technol Res Dev 64(4):707–734, 2016), discussed its value, application, and future development.

     

Online learning under COVID-19: re-examining the prominence of video-based and text-based feedback

During the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions have been faced with a rapid shift to remote digital learning across courses. The resultant proliferation of online learning in traditional, hybrid, and distance higher education courses has enhanced the possibilities for technology-supported student-centered learning design. The prominence of feedback in student-centered teaching could be argued in two ways: (1) instructed learning is based on interaction and communication in which the teacher provides personalized information to students about their progress and (2) feedback is oriented towards students’ improvements, which in turn guides student engagement. Therefore, feedback addressing students’ personal needs integrates multiple dimensions and profoundly influences learning. In response to J. Borup, R. E. West, and R. Thomas (2015)’s article The Impact of Text Versus Video Communication on Instructor Feedback in Blended Courses we discusses the efforts to prepare higher education for online learning. During the pandemic, teachers rapidly faced requirements for providing feedback to students remotely and performing all teaching roles online. The authors in this section build a strong argument that feedback with a supportive function is essential in a time when students and teacher are working remotely. They argued for personalized learning requiring feedback at different points of the learning process that utilizes a range of feedback functions and forms and, most of all, employs contextualization and a situated approach.

     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Using Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts Courses

Abstract

Mathematics for liberal arts courses are a staple of most mathematics departments and are often populated with students who have disengaged from mathematics. Inquiry-based learning is a student-centered pedagogical tool for re-engaging students in mathematics. In this paper, we introduce a Special Issue of PRIMUS on “Using Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts Courses.”     

Revisiting Vico's Pedagogy of Invention: The Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate School Internship

Debates regarding higher education's relevance and responsiveness to societal exigencies have in the past three decades resulted in the development of programs with leitmotifs such as “service learning,” “problem-based learning,” and “civic engagement” (e.g., “Scholarship on Teaching and Learning,” McNair Scholars, etc.). A recurring theme in these enterprises has been the emphasis on honing students’ capacity for criticism. And while this faculty is valuable, it may be ultimately insufficient for students’ active and productive problem-solving and concrete engagement. Heuristically employing Giambattista Vico's rhetorical pedagogy, this essay investigates a programmatic effort to respond to this overly critical orientation. I explicate a formal parallel between the criticism launched, on one hand, by the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate School Internship at the University of Texas at Austin against public research universities, specifically the elimination or reduction of structural and instructional ambiguity and prioritizing of criticism, and, on the other hand, by Vico against Cartesian skepticism, specifically the critical teaching methods generated therein. I thus articulate a model of invention as taught through practice, and advocate a pedagogy based on this revitalized invention, demonstrating its utility in students’ realities.     

A Computer Achievement Model

Summary

With over two million students projected to be enrolled in higher education distance learning courses by the year 2002, it is imperative that consideration be given to the design of high-quality online programs. Using the framework of grounded design as a context for dealing with the range of design decisions that best facilitate learning outcomes, five areas are discussed: psychological, pedagogical, technical, cultural, and pragmatic (Hannafin, Hannafin, Land, &; Oliver, 1997). Examples are provided of how each area of grounded design can be used, as instructional designers, content experts, and others establish Web-based programs in higher education.     

Multidimensional profiles of learning orientations and school achievement: a person-oriented approach in middle-school students

A person-oriented approach was applied to the study of early adolescents’ learning orientations to identify different profiles and their association with school achievement. A total of 244 middle-school students (male: 128; female: 116; M-age ± SD = 12.51 ± .93) completed a self-report questionnaire to explore cognitive, metacognitive, and affective dimensions of learning orientations. School achievements were collected in a range of school subjects. Cluster analyses and one-way MANOVA were carried out to verify the existence of profiles. Chi-square tests were used to test the association between profiles of learning orientations and school achievement. The results showed two profiles differently associated with school achievement: students “Dragged by the current” (Profile 1) showed low school achievement across school subjects, meanwhile students “At the helm” (Profile 2) reached excellent school achievement. In promoting middle-school students’ achievement, it is important for teachers to consider students’ profiles of learning orientations.

     

翻转课堂教学模式下的学习投入研究

翻转课堂作为信息技术与教育深度融合的一种新型教学模式,是教育教学改革研究的重点之一。翻转课堂的实质是颠倒教学流程,由被动学习转向主动学习,关注学习过程中学生的“做”或“活动”,在很大程度上弥补了传统教学单一授课的缺点。学习投入不仅关注外显的行为投入,还关注情感、认知方面的投入,能够较为全面地反映学生的学习收获。探讨翻转课堂教学模式下的大学生学习投入水平以及影响因素,设计学习投入维度量表与调查问卷。实验结果表明,翻转课堂中丰富的交互活动与多样化的学习途径,能够有效支持教师引导学生进行自主学习、协作学习与答疑讨论等,对提升大学生行为、认知、情感层面的学习投入水平可起到显著作用。     

Teachers as Designers of Learning Environments

Abstract

This study examined how six Singapore teachers approached the design and implementation of a unit of work (topic) to demonstrate exemplary classroom practices that engage learners and use ICT in knowledge-generative rather than presentational activities. After a reflection and feedback session on the first lesson observation involving the researcher and the teacher, the teacher redesigned the lesson to enhance ICT use and involve students more actively in their learning. Our study revealed that there is a difference between students' physical engagement and cognitive engagement in a task and that the teacher, as a designer of the learning environment, needs to make explicit the cognitive processes involved in using the tool to ensure students' effective use of ICT. The teachers' understanding of what constitutes effective learning and their roles in students' learning determine how they design the learning environment. In essence, it is the teacher's skill in managing the “tripartite” partnership of IT tool, learning task, and teacher support that brings about higher levels of student engagement.     

Uncovering Malaysian Secondary School Students’ Academic Hardiness in Science,Conceptions of Learning Science,and Science Learning Self-Efficacy: a Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between academic hardiness in science, conceptions of learning science, and science learning self-efficacy among Malaysian middle school students. The respondents were 320 eighth-grade students from two selected Malaysian middle schools. Three questionnaires were used for this survey: Academic Hardiness in Science (AHS) regarding “commitment,” Conceptions of Learning Science (COLS), including “memorizing,” “calculating and practicing,” and “understanding and seeing in a new way,” and Science Learning Self-Efficacy (SLSE), consisting of “cognition,” “practical work,” “everyday application,” and “science communication.” These three questionnaires were validated and found to be reliable for measuring students’ AHS, COLS, and SLSE. Pearson’s correlation findings indicated that AHS was significantly and positively correlated to all the factors in COLS and SLSE, and all the factors in COLS were significantly and positively correlated to all the factors in SLSE. The relationships among AHS, COLS, and SLSE were then identified by the structural equation model technique. Students with a high commitment to learning science, and who perceived learning science as understanding and seeing in a new way are prone to have confidence at all levels of science learning self-efficacy.

     

The effect of authentic m-learning activities on student engagement and motivation

Authentic collaborative m-learning activities were designed, developed and implemented for a computer networking course. The effect of the activities on student engagement and motivation were analyzed using a mixed method research design. Moreover, the effect of the iterative design of the content and instructional process of authentic m-learning activities on students' engagement and motivation were analyzed in the study. The activities were implemented for two consecutive semesters and were modified based on the findings from the first semester. Student engagement survey and motivation questionnaire were used to collect quantitative data, student interview protocol was used to collect qualitative data for further investigation. The findings from the first semester indicated that the engagement categories “personal development” and “satisfaction from the course” had the highest mean scores. In the second semester, the highest mean score belonged to the “personal development” category, followed by “collaborative learning.” Comparison of the results from two semesters revealed that the improvements in the content of the activities and instructional process increased the “collaboration” among students as well as their “interaction with instructor.” Paired sample t-tests revealed a difference in indicators of student motivation within groups in both semesters. Analysis of the interview data showed that students perceived the authentic activities as an appropriate tool for enhancement in “communication” and “collaboration” opportunities.     

The professional student program for educational resilience: Enhancing momentary engagement in classwork

Abstract

The Professional Student Program for Educational Resilience (PROSPER) was designed to increase students’ ability to stay momentarily engaged in classwork, thus promoting educational resilience. Participants (N?=?277, 51% male, 74% Irish) from two low-income schools in Dublin, Ireland (School A n?=?158; School B n?=?119), were assessed using the intervention’s theory of change: (1) change in knowledge of how to stay engaged in classwork, (2) subsequent change in momentary engagement in classwork, and (3) subsequent longer-term change in dispositions for engagement (i.e., tendency to enjoy learning). Qualitative results demonstrated that PROSPER facilitated students’ knowledge, momentary engagement, and teachers’ involvement with students. Quantitative analyses uncovered changes in knowledge and momentary engagement for both the higher and lower ability tracks in School A. The results give refined information on how this universal-school based program increased students’ momentary engagement and supported their educational resilience.     

从“自知”到“自觉”的高职学生英语自学能力培养

为提高高职学生自主学习英语的能力,要从重视对学生学习策略和自学能力培养入手,贯彻以学生为中心的理念,开展以小组为单位的合作学习,构建任务型教学模式。从而实现学生由“自知”到“自觉”的转变,形成符合高职英语教学特点的英语自主学习能力培养模式。     

Place-Based Stewardship Education: Nurturing Aspirations to Protect the Rural Commons

In this mixed-methods study, we examine the potential of place-based stewardship education (PBSE) for nurturing rural students’ community attachment and aspirations to contribute to the preservation of the environmental “commons.” Analyzing pre- and post-experience surveys (n = 240) and open-ended responses (n = 275) collected from middle school students in a Northeast Michigan school district, we found significant increases in students’ environmental sensitivity, environmentally responsible behaviors, community attachment, and confidence in their capacities for civic action. Analyses of open-ended responses pointed to the potential of PBSE to nurture students’ identification with their community and to increase their commitment to stewardship of their community's natural resources. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature on rural schools by focusing on the environmental commons and younger generations’ commitments to preserve it as an asset of rural communities. By linking students’ learning with collective action to preserve the environmental commons, PBSE can expand students’ aspirations for the kind of world they want to live in and the roles they might play in it.     

Does it matter how Molly does it? Person-presentation of strategies and transfer in mathematics

Educational materials often present general concepts or strategies via specific people. Although this practice may enhance interest, it may also have costs for learning and transfer. Linking a strategy to a person (e.g., “Molly’s strategy”) could result in narrower transfer because students infer that the strategy is specific to the person, rather than a general strategy they should adopt. The present study tested this hypothesis among middle school students (N = 191) who learned a novel strategy for solving a mathematics story problem. For some students, the strategy example was presented via a specific person, and for others it was not. Students then solved posttest problems and rated the generality of the strategy. Students who saw the example without the person were more likely to transfer the strategy to new problems, and this effect was mediated by students’ perceptions of the strategy’s generality. Thus, associating information with a person substantially limits the extent to which students transfer their knowledge.     

Community College Student Perceptions of Their Experiences Related to Global Learning: Understanding the Impact of Family,Faculty, and the Curriculum

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this mixed-method research study was to better understand community college students’ engagement in global learning. The study, supported by the Florida Consortium for International Education, was conducted during the 2015–2016 academic year in Florida across nine community colleges drawing from a 55-question survey with an 11% response rate (n = 175). Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used, with data analysis conducted using NVivo and SPSS software. An electronic survey was piloted with one institution, and a refined version was sent to select professors across nine community colleges in the state for distribution to students in the fall semester of 2015. A total of 175 students completed the survey. The majority of students responding were interested in global learning; however, they reported that this interest stemmed primarily from family encouragement and personal experiences rather than from their academic experiences. Students did report that professors were promoting global learning in their classes, although the results were not statistically significant. Students who did not express an interest in global learning felt as though it was not important because it was unrelated to their daily lives. It is the hope that this study will inform community college administrators and faculty to better understand how and why students become interested in global learning to more effectively promote their engagement both on and off campus.     

USING COMPUTER CONFERENCING IN TEACHING

For 3years, I have been teaching neuroscience courses by using computer conferencing to complement the traditional lectures. Typically, the conferencing involved local, on‐campus students, although one semester the class was combined from on‐campus and off‐campus students. For most of my 33‐year teaching career, I had used the teaching approach that most professors use, which is what educational theorists call “instructivist.” Critics call that “stand and deliver.” Lecturing is an efficient way to dispense organized information, but it does not ensure learning nor is it very effective in showing students how to learn on their own.

Instructivism can be enriched by complementing it with “constructivist” approaches. Constructivists argue that there is a direct relationship between the amount of learning that occurs and the extent to which the environment provides a rich source of engaging experiences in which students construct their own knowledge and understanding. I have found that such an environment is readily provided by computer conferencing.

In my teaching of neuroscience, I have used a network software system (FORUM) for small student groups to conduct a variety of constructivist learning activities. Within weekly deadlines, students worked in groups at their own pace and time of convenience. My impression of the advantages of such conferencing for constructivist activities include the promotion of socialization in “cyberspace,” providing an environment for team learning, the reduction of social problems in face‐to‐face instruction, increased teaching and learning efficiency, more comprehensive means for assessing student learning, and improved quality of student work.