The effect of badges on the engagement of students with special educational needs: A case study

This paper addresses the perceived benefits from gamification in the context of special education. It presents the findings of a study evaluating the effects of a specific gamification element (badges) on the engagement of five students with special learning needs, through online courses developed on the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). The results indicate that this particular gamification element yielded positive effects on students’ engagement and on their overall attitude towards the educational process in general.     

Student support services in open schooling: a case study of students' needs and satisfaction in India

This paper identifies the key factors that contribute to the Open School in India students' satisfaction, considering student support elements at pre‐entry, start up, learning, evaluation and certification and after certification phases. The study adapted Rekkedal and Eriksen's importance‐satisfaction model to recognise areas that are important to students as well as their degree of satisfaction with each attribute. It is found that the student group considered is generally satisfied with the support elements that they perceive to be important and there is a strong positive linear relationship (r =0.83) between importance and satisfaction. However, according to the group, priority needs to be given to personal contact programmes in the study centres, online tutorials and feedback on assignments, which are three prime support elements in the learning phase.     

Tutoring online tutors: Using digital badges to encourage the development of online tutoring skills

Online tutors play a critical role in e‐learning and need to have an appropriate set of skills in addition to subject matter expertise. This paper explores how digital badges can be used to encourage the development of online tutoring skills. Based on previous research, we defined three digital badges, which are examples of essential tutoring skills. These skills were self‐assessed during two weeks by online tutors in K‐12 mathematics, who also wrote a self‐reflection based on their experience. The digital badges motivated tutors to reflect on online tutoring practices. The tutors described that they gained a more detailed understanding of the tutoring process when continuously analyzing ongoing conversations. However, it was a challenge for the tutors to balance the private activity, reflection on tutoring skills, and the social activity, communication with the K‐12 students. It is essential to take into account when tutors will have time to reflect, for example, by scheduling time for reflection or enabling opportunities for reflection that is flexible in time. A challenge for further research is to better understand the potential benefits of different types of badges.     

Case study: use of problem-based learning to develop students' technical and professional skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy that has attracted attention for many biomedical engineering curricula. The aim of the current study was to address the research question, ‘Does PBL enable students to develop desirable professional engineering skills?’ The desirable skills identified were communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-directed learning. Forty-seven students enrolled in a biomedical materials course participated in the case study. Students worked in teams to complete a series of problems throughout the semester. The results showed that students made significant improvements in their problem-solving skills, written communication and self-directed learning. Students also demonstrated an ability to work in teams and communicate orally. In conclusion, this case study provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of PBL on student learning. We discuss findings from our study and provide observations of student performance and perceptions that could be useful for faculty and researchers interested in PBL for biomedical engineering education.     

A case study on project led education in engineering: students' and teachers' perceptions

This paper explores the extent to which students and teachers are able to acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of a shift in the approach to teaching and learning from a traditional, teacher-centred perspective towards project- and learner-centred education. It reports on a case study aimed at exploring students' and teachers' perceptions of a project-led education course carried out at an engineering course at a Portuguese university. Data were collected through questionnaires, letters and interviews. Findings suggest, in spite of some negative experiences and final results for some of the students, a clear recognition of the benefits of a project-based approach to both the teaching staff as well as the students. Both are able to identify interdisciplinarity, high student motivation and the acquisition of soft skills as key features of project-led education.     

Integration of a social skills training: a case study of children with low social skills

This study explores changes in children's social skills after a cognitive-social skills model intervention. The intervention was conducted over a period of 12 weeks within a regular preschool setting. Sixteen children including four considered to have low social skills participated in the study. Data analysis revealed that the four children with low social skills demonstrated changes in social skills through positive play behaviours such as asking positive questions, offering suggestions, initiating play episodes, and sharing play materials, although they had limited ability to maintain play episodes.     

A longitudinal study of handwriting skills in pre-schoolers: the acquisition of syllable oriented programming strategies

Previous studies have shown the relevance of the syllable as a programming unit in handwriting production, both in adults and elementary school children. This longitudinal study focuses on the acquisition of writing skills in a group of preschoolers. It examines how and when the syllable structure of the word starts regulating motor programming in handwriting. Eighteen five year old preschoolers copied six-letter Catalan words (disyllabic and trisyllabic) on a digitiser at three different times over the academic year (January, March, and May). The words were written in uppercase letters. We measured the duration of the inter-letter intervals (ILI) to gather information on the timing of motor programming. The results indicated that from January to March the children were mostly focused on movement proficiency. The results also showed different profiles of ILI duration for the two types of words over the three sessions. For disyllabic words, the syllable regulated movement programming in January; for trisyllabic words, this happened in March. This suggests that the syllable already plays a role in the programming of handwriting movements in kindergarten.     

Teachers' and students' views and attitudes towards a new mathematics curriculum: A case study

The education system in Portugal is in the midst of a period of intensive reform. This paper describes the findings of a qualitative case study focusing on the views and attitudes of teachers and students participating in a pilot curriculum development programme stressing active methodologies and group work, conducted by the Ministry of Education. In particular it discusses their views and attitudes about mathematics, mathematics teaching and curriculum innovation. The teachers were found to struggle with a contradiction: whilst they approved the new orientations, which were seen as adequate and innovative, they complained strongly about the design and implementation of the programme — Students had a generally positive attitude towards mathematics, although there were differences among them. The 7th graders were satisfied with their mathematics classes and with the new curriculum. The 10th graders did not consider the changes as significant in themselves, but expressed concern for their academic progress.     

A theory of instruction for introductory programming skills

ABSTRACT

Background and Context: Current introductory instruction fails to identify, structure, and sequence the many skills involved in programming.

Objective: We proposed a theory which identifies four distinct skills that novices learn incrementally. These skills are tracing, writing syntax, comprehending templates (reusable abstractions of programming knowledge), and writing code with templates. We theorized that explicit instruction of these skills decreases cognitive demand.

Method: We conducted an exploratory mixed-methods study and compared students’ exercise completion rates, error rates, ability to explain code, and engagement when learning to program. We compared material that reflects this theory to more traditional material that does not distinguish between skills.

Findings: Teaching skills incrementally resulted in improved completion rate on practice exercises, and decreased error rate and improved understanding of the post-test.

Implications: By structuring programming skills such that they can be taught explicitly and incrementally, we can inform instructional design and improve future research on understanding how novice programmers develop understanding.     

Computer-based basic skills instruction in a CETA funded project: A case study

This study investigated the question, Can computer-based education be used to develop literacy and mathematics skills in young adults so that they can pursue job and career opportunities that are not subsidized by agencies and the public and private sector? It also examined issues related to the motivation of students whose training was subsidized by CETA funding and that of learners who sought training voluntarily. In general, the study did not yield the results the program administrators expected. The computer-based instruction seemed to have little effect on program participants. Discussion probes at issues related to similar failures in CETA-funded projects and makes specific recommendations about the conditions of learning that must be present and the types of incentives necessary for the successful implementation of job skills training.     

Perceptions of faculty evaluation in the soft sciences: A case study

There has been considerable debate on the evaluation of faculty performance by administrators. Much of the research has focused on the publish or perish issue on a university-wide basis rather than considering differences between disciplines which might invalidate the effectiveness of a global evaluation policy. This paper is a case study of three areas (Business, Psychology, and Sociology/Anthropology) at Kansas State University. Significant differences were found in the orientations of the different areas and in the criteria that are being used and that should be used (according to the respondents) for performance evaluation. Despite the significant differences in the departments' orientations, all of the faculty tended to agree strongly that teaching should be an important evaluative criterion.     

Ageing and skills: The case of literacy skills

The relationship between ageing and skills is of growing policy significance due to population ageing, the changing nature of work and the importance of literacy for social and economic well‐being. This article examines the relationship between age and literacy skills in a sample of OECD countries using three internationally comparable surveys. By pooling the survey data across time we can separate birth cohort and ageing effects. In doing so, we find that literacy skills decline with age and that, in most of our sample countries, successive birth cohorts tend to have poorer literacy outcomes. Therefore, once we control for cohort effects, the rate at which literacy proficiency falls with age is much more pronounced than that which is apparent, based on the cross‐sectional relationship between age and literacy skills at a point in time. Further, in studying the literacy‐age relationship across the skill distribution in Canada we find a more pronounced decline in literacy skills with age at lower percentiles, which suggests that higher initial literacy moderates the influence of cognitive ageing.     

Learning disabled students' interactions with commercial courseware: A naturalistic study

A naturalistic study investigated the interactions of learning disabled students and their teachers with instructional elements of commercial courseware. During two academic years, 62 students aged 9 to 18 and seven teachers from five subject areas were observed and interviewed with regard to their day-to-day uses of 26 packages. Findings reported here relate to students' interactions with the stimulus, response, and feedback/reinforcement dimensions inherent in those packages. Details of students' problems and strategies with verbal, numeric, graphics, and problem-solving courseware are explored to elucidate the role of courseware design in students' pervasive reading difficulties, overreliance on teacher assistance, introduction of competition to provide motivation, and limited strategies for using courseware independently. Implications are noted for improving course-ware design not only for LD students, but also for others who would profit from more carefully designed packages. The relationship of design to the overarching issues of student independence, motivation, and strategy development for computer-based instruction is discussed. The original research upon which this article is based was supported in part by a Presidential Fellowship awarded by the Graduate School of The Ohio State University. Additional work was supported in part by a grant from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research of The University of Maryland, College Park.     

Motivating students of mixed efficacy profiles in technology skills classes: A case study

Students usually enter technology skills courses with varying experience and self-efficacy with technology. Teaching classes with mixed-efficacy at the same pace and level of contents may not ensure that all students would be equally motivated. This qualitative study explored strategies for motivating mixed profile classes by comparing learning behaviors of high and low efficacy students in an undergraduate technology skills course. It was found that low-efficacy students could be motivated by providing them with opportunities to acclimatize to the use of technical vocabulary and a technical environment. On the other hand, high-efficacy students could be motivated with opportunities to learn new technical contents. The study identified three critical stages of motivation and the strategies that could be adopted by instructors.     

Use of Facebook: a case study of Singapore students' experience

Facebook has become one of the most popular social network sites among many students. However, current research on Facebook use has focused mainly on Anglo-American students. Relatively little is known about Facebook use in Singapore. Data were collected from 83 students (ages ranged from 15 to 23). This study uses a naturalistic case study wherein the students' decision to use Facebook is a personal decision and on a voluntarily basis; their participation is not a required or graded component. The specific objectives of the study are first, to examine Singapore students' motives for using Facebook; second, to investigate the types of friends they communicated with on Facebook; and third, to examine how students manage their privacy on the social networking site. Findings suggested that the current sample of Singapore students used Facebook primarily for non-educational purposes. Specifically, Facebook was used to maintain relationships with existing known friends such as former or current schoolmates. Respondents also reported using Facebook for entertainment purposes and to vent their emotions. No respondent reported using Facebook for educational purposes. The most common strategy for privacy protection utilized by the respondents was to decrease profile information visibility through restricting access to only known friends. Educational implications of the findings as well as suggestions for future research are provided.     

Test-taking skills: a missing component of deaf students' curriculum

Often, conclusions about what students have learned in school are based on their performance on standardized or informal tests. For several reasons, these tests may not accurately reflect deaf students' learning. The author discusses the limitations of tests and other "products" administered to students during or after reading that are interpreted as reflecting comprehension of what is read. The author also reviews documented differences in test-taking abilities of deaf and hearing students, and describes specific compensatory test-taking strategies used by deaf readers. A rationale is provided for including a formal test-taking skills component in the curriculum for deaf students. Finally, the author discusses portfolio assessment and contemporary societal forces working against academic testing.