Effects of interactive teacher-generated drawings on students’ understanding of plate tectonics

Instructional Science - We investigate an interactive teacher-generated drawing strategy in which the teacher constructs a drawing with the help of the students. The students contribute their ideas...     

Students’ use of the interactive whiteboard during physics group work

This paper presents a case study of how the interactive whiteboard (IWB) may facilitate collective meaning-making processes in group work in engineering education. In the case, first-year students attended group-work sessions as an organised part of a basic physics course at a Norwegian university college. Each student group was equipped with an IWB, which the groups used to write down and hand in their solutions to the physics problems. Based on a Vygotskian, dialectical stance, this study investigates how the students used the IWB in the group-work situation. From qualitative analysis of video data, we identified four group-work processes where the IWB played a key role: exploratory, explanatory, clarifying and insertion. The results show that the IWB may facilitate a ‘joint workspace’, a social realm in which the students’ dialogues are situated.     

Why support students? Using the past to understand the present

This paper examines why students are supported, taking an historical approach to analyse the influence of former, or longstanding, practices on current practice and to identify repeating themes. Documentary evidence shows that students have been supported because they are young, vulnerable or because studenthood is considered to make unique demands on individuals. Ideas of danger and the need for protection are persistent and can have effects that contradict the educational purposes of higher education. Underpinning rationales result in particular forms of student support, each with its own intended and unintended consequences.     

Primary teachers’ understanding of the interactive whiteboard as a tool for children’s collaborative learning and knowledge‐building

This paper reports on the second phase of a joint teacher/researcher project that explored teachers’ understandings of the potential of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) as a tool for primary school children’s collaborative group work. By examining teachers’ written analyses and discussions of work carried out in their own classrooms, the paper seeks to contribute to the debate about the ways in which the use of IWBs can contribute to changes in pedagogy. It highlights the interrelationships between collaborative learning and factors identified as important in the research carried out by teachers, amongst them the children’s technical skills and confidence, the mediating role of the teacher, the IWB affordances for knowledge‐building and the teachers’ own knowledge, attitudes and professional development. The paper also provides an account of how participation by the teachers in a course with Faculty staff, focused on the collaborative co‐construction of knowledge related to learning and to classroom research grounded in the values and principles of socio‐cultural theory, supported changes in pedagogic practice.     

Using I poems to illuminate the complexity of students’ mathematical identities

In this article, we demonstrate how I poems, part of the Listening Guide method, can help researchers to better understand the multiple voices that might comprise a student’s mathematical identity. We provide an analysis of one student’s interview as an example of this method. We argue that the use of the Listening Guide method illuminates the complexity of students’ mathematical identities, especially their fluid, negotiated, and sometimes contested character. In the example shared here, we show how others’ discourses become part of a student’s developing mathematical identity, as well as highlight how the addition of drawings enhances the Listening Guide method.     

Using video analysis to support prospective K-8 teachers’ noticing of students’ multiple mathematical knowledge bases

As part of a larger research project aimed at transforming preK-8 mathematics teacher preparation, the purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which prospective teachers notice children’s competencies related to children’s mathematical thinking, and children’s community, cultural, and linguistic funds of knowledge or what we refer to as children’s multiple mathematical knowledge bases. Teachers’ noticing supports students’ learning in deep and meaningful ways. Researchers designed and enacted a video analysis activity with prospective teachers in their mathematics methods course. The activity served as a decomposition of practice in order to support prospective teachers in engaging in an approximation of the practice of noticing. Our findings showed that prospective teachers evidenced noticing of mathematics teaching and learning as early as the mathematics methods course. We also found that the prompts and structure of the activity supported prospective teachers by increasing their depth of noticing and their foci in noticing, moving from attending primarily to teacher moves (and merely describing what they saw) to becoming aware of significant interactions (and interpreting effects of these interactions on learning). Implications for teacher educators interested in designing and enacting activities to support noticing are discussed.     

Emergency management students’ perceptions of the use of WebEOC® to support authentic learning

This study investigates the use of software technology that is used by emergency management professionals to create an authentic learning environment in emergency and disaster management courses in the classroom. Participants were 235 upper-level students enrolled in residential and online emergency and disaster management courses at a mid-sized public university in the southeastern USA. Students participated in simulated disaster exercises that were presented through the software; further, as part of the exercise, students used the software to respond to the simulated disaster. Students then completed a survey to assess their perceptions of whether the exercises and software created an authentic learning environment and enhanced learning.     

Fostering the use of pedagogical practices among teachers to support elementary students’ motivation to write

Based on self-determination theory, this research aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the CASIS professional development (PD) program for fostering (1) teachers’ use of five recommended pedagogical practices during a writing lesson and (2) students’ motivational resources (intrinsic, identified, and controlled regulations) toward writing. Two quasi-experimental studies with two-time points were conducted among preservice (Study 1, n = 32) and inservice (Study 2, n = 111) elementary teachers and their students (Study 1, n = 559; Study 2, sample 1, n = 1779; sample 2, n = 1471). In both studies, the CASIS PD program appeared to foster the use of two of the five recommended pedagogical practices. For the other three, some effects were observed in one study but were not always reproduced in the other. Although the CASIS PD program fostered greater use of the pedagogical practices, this effect did not always translate directly to the students’ motivational resources. However, some significant differences were observed between students of the CASIS and the control groups on identified and controlled regulations, as a function of the socioeconomic background of the schools in which teachers and students were sampled. The results are discussed in light of past research and relevant theories.     

Mapping the quality of feedback to support students’ learning in lower secondary classrooms

Feedback, talk and joint activities that build on knowledge and shared aims are powerful supports for learning. However, several studies of lower secondary students’ perceptions of teachers’ support indicate low teacher support. To investigate the quality of learning support, a content analysis instrument (CLASS) was used in analyses of 56 video-recorded lessons from 28 teachers in four lower secondary schools. This has allowed for a mapping of dimensions of quality feedback interactions, and results show significant and very strong inter-item relationships. The lessons analysed are characterized by a positive climate, and teachers emphasize encouragement, but feedback is found to be more encouraging than learning oriented. The results support previous studies based on students’ perceptions, but provide insights into practices that are necessary if a goal is to influence teachers’ professional learning.     

Using word clouds to support students’ knowledge integration from online inquiry: an investigation of the process and outcome

This study reports the effects of using word clouds to support students’ knowledge integration from online inquiry as demonstrated by blog posts, tags and concept maps. Fifty-four undergraduate students from a medium-sized university in the northwestern United States were randomly assigned into two groups and blogged for five weeks. To support students’ online searching activity, the treatment group was provided a list of concepts in the format of a word cloud. The control group received the same list of concepts in an alphabetic order. Data analyses included comparing participant-attached tags and individual concept maps to the instructor’s keyword list. Results revealed that the word clouds facilitated the construction of schema in a top-down deductive approach, which could be a meaningful and efficient way of learning.     

ICT in the classroom: Primary education student teachers’ perceptions of the interactive whiteboard during the teaching practicum

A literature review on perceptions of the interactive whiteboard during the teaching practicum shows that there has been insufficient analysis of student teachers’ perceptions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). However, these perceptions are highly useful to create a full picture of the effectiveness – and indeed the drawbacks – of using ICT in the classroom. In this study, we examine and analyse evidence from teaching practica to assess the success of ICT – specifically the interactive whiteboard – as a teaching tool, using a qualitative method. The accounts are first-hand, scientific reflections made by student teachers from La Serena, Chile, during their teaching practicum in primary schools; for this reason they are extremely useful in analysing this teaching tool’s effectiveness in the classroom. Among the main results for students’ perceptions of incorporating technology as part of their training, we found a set of variables for good practice when using the interactive whiteboard, including: incorporating technology as an engaging didactic resource; making the most of technology for improving learning; determining when best to use the whiteboard; and identifying any limiting factors together with students’ suggestions for improvement.     

Rhetorical meta-language to promote the development of students’ writing skills and subject matter understanding

Background: Feedback is one of the most significant factors for students’ development of writing skills. For feedback to be successful, however, students and teachers need a common language – a meta-language – for discussing texts. Not least because in science education such a meta-language might contribute to improve writing training and feedback-giving.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore students’ perception of teachers’ feedback given on their texts in two genres, and to suggest how writing training and feedback-giving could become more efficient.

Sample: In this study were included 44 degree project students in biology and molecular biology, and 21 supervising teachers at a Swedish university.

Design and methods: The study concerned students’ writing about their degree projects in two genres: scientific writing and popular science writing. The data consisted of documented teacher feedback on the students’ popular science texts. It also included students’ and teachers’ answers to questionnaires about writing and feedback. All data were collected during the spring of 2012. Teachers’ feedback, actual and recalled – by students and teachers, respectively – was analysed and compared using the so-called Canons of rhetoric.

Results: While the teachers recalled the given feedback as mainly positive, most students recalled only negative feedback. According to the teachers, suggested improvements concerned firstly the content, and secondly the structure of the text. In contrast, the students mentioned language style first, followed by content.

Conclusions: The disagreement between students and teachers regarding how and what feedback was given on the students texts confirm the need of improved strategies for writing training and feedback-giving in science education. We suggest that the rhetorical meta-language might play a crucial role in overcoming the difficulties observed in this study. We also discuss how training of writing skills may contribute to students’ understanding of their subject matter.     

What predicts adult readers’ understanding of STEM texts?

The current study examined the relations among key variables that underlie reading comprehension of expository science texts in a diverse population of adult native English readers. Using Mechanical Turk to sample a range of adult readers, the study also examined the effect of text presentation on readers’ comprehension and knowledge structure established after reading. In Study 1, ratings of situational interest, select reading background variables, and select measures of readers’ knowledge structure accounted for significant variance in comprehension. In Study 2, the knowledge structure metrics of primacy, recency, and node degree as well as several text ratings were found to be comparable across text presentation formats. Participants who read the text sentence-by-sentence obtained higher scores on measures of comprehension and provided higher ratings of situational interest than those who received the whole paragraph text at once. Knowledge structure measures for the sentence-by-sentence and paragraph formats were similar (68% overlap). We discuss implications for future research examining factors that underlie the successful comprehension of science texts.     

Using peer assessment of fieldwork to enhance students’ practical training

Fieldwork training is a key component of several practical disciplines. In this study, students’ peer assessment of fieldwork is explored as a method to improve their practical training. Peer assessment theories are first discussed. A framework for peer assessment of fieldwork is proposed, and the steps taken for preparation of students for this task are discussed. A developed marking, feedback and moderation tool of assessment are presented. Application of peer assessment in the field was investigated over a period of two years in one undergraduate unit in the geospatial discipline as an example. Reliability of peer assessment was estimated by measuring the difference between assessments carried out by groups of peer assessors, and its validity was measured by comparing students’ marks with those given by tutors. Results show that students have gained from the peer assessment process, mainly as a formative form of assessment, by better understanding and endeavouring to achieve the objectives of field tasks. Tutors use differences among assessments made by groups of students compared to tutors’ assessments to identify field components that need better explanation of their content and assessment criteria.     

Engineering students’ experiences of interactive teaching in calculus

This study reports on an educational development initiative where peer instruction was used instead of traditional lectures in a calculus course for first-year engineering students. The aim of the study was to explore students’ experiences of this method. Data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire on two occasions: early and late in the course. The data were analyzed with an inductive content analysis. The findings comprise three qualitatively different ways to experience the interactive teaching method in calculus: (1) enthusiasm, (2) nuanced skepticism and (3) aversion. The categories differed regarding emotional reactions to the teaching, experiences of learning, conceptions of teaching and learning, and experiences of meaningfulness. Many students expressed enthusiasm for learning with peer instruction and noted that the method gave both teachers and students feedback on what students have difficulties with. These students perceived that they were responsible for their own learning. Other students experienced that peer instruction had some advantages and disadvantages, and preferred a mix between traditional lectures and peer instruction sessions. They seemed to believe that teachers and students share responsibility for learning. Some students expressed an aversion for peer instruction and the method seemed to challenge their beliefs of how teaching and learning is best conducted. Our study illustrates that educational development initiatives, even though based on research on student learning, do not benefit all students. One of the major obstacles seems to be that students’ underlying beliefs regarding teaching and learning may be counterproductive to the ideas behind the educational initiative. We suggest that beliefs regarding teaching and learning need to be addressed when introducing new teaching and learning methods.     

Using concept mapping to improve poor readers’ understanding of expository text

The present study examined whether the use of concept mapping is more effective in teaching expository material in comparison to a traditional, lecture only, approach. Its objective was threefold. First, to determine if multimedia concept mapping produces differential learning outcomes compared to digital text-based concept mapping. Secondly, to compare the above experimental approaches to traditional teaching and finally to demonstrate if there are significant differences in the level of satisfaction reported by children under the three instructional approaches used. Thirty fifth grade children participated from which three groups of poor readers were formed, matched on age, gender and reading ability. The two experimental groups were taught with the use of digital text-based and multimedia concept maps respectively and the control group was subjected to the traditional teaching method of expository material. Each group had three sessions of instruction on three different expository texts. The results indicated that concept mapping can be an effective means for teaching expository content. However, there were no differential learning outcomes when adding multimedia elements to concept maps. Moderate satisfaction was reported for all three approaches. The findings coincide with the body of literature emphasizing the importance of concept mapping in the learning and instruction of children with reading difficulties. The study’s results inform potential educators on the use of multimedia with poor readers in elementary school.     

Using an epistemic game to facilitate students’ problem-solving: the case of hospitality management

Hospitality students are required to be able to address challenging cases or problems in the work environment. However, traditional lecture- or exam-based instruction leaves a gap between theory and practice. On the other hand, modern youth live and socialise in an increasingly digital environment, and one of their biggest pastimes is playing games. This study employs a game environment to improve students’ problem-solving abilities; the purpose of this article is therefore to determine if the game is effective in this regard. This study selected two classes of hospitality management students as subjects, and randomly assigned them as the control group and the experiment group. The entire process of the study consisted of the pre-test, game training and the post-test. Only the experiment group participants were trained with the game. The quantitative and qualitative results indicate that the use of the game is beneficial in improving students’ problem-solving performance.     

Holding the severed finger: Korean students’ understanding of historical significance

This study investigated students’ ideas about historical significance in Korea. Using qualitative, task-based interviews, I interviewed 28 secondary students who had taken Korean and world history courses. In response to various historical contexts, these Korean students relied primarily on a schematic narrative template consisting of ‘tragedy,’ ‘struggle,’ and ‘freedom and equality’ to judge historical significance. This schematic narrative template reflected the national identity which Korea established in the postcolonial context after independence in 1945. By applying this template to world history, moreover, students showed strong sympathy towards the oppressed, and this reflected their resistance to colonial and class hegemony. However, imposing this template resulted in significant omissions and distortions that might hinder the development of critical historical thinking. These findings suggest that a variety of cultural tools are necessary for Korean students to develop more complete and nuanced historical understanding.