Scaffolding middle school students’ content knowledge and ill-structured problem solving in a problem-based hypermedia learning environment

This study investigated the effects of domain-general and domain-specific scaffolds with different levels of support, continuous and faded, on learning of scientific content and problem-solving. Students’ scores on a multiple-choice pretest, posttest, and four recommendation forms were analyzed. Students’ content knowledge in all conditions significantly increased from pretest to posttest. However, the continuous domain-specific condition outperformed the other conditions on the posttest. Although domain-general scaffolds were not as effective as domain-specific scaffolds on learning content and problem representation, they helped students develop solutions, make justifications, and monitor learning. Unlike domain-specific scaffolds, domain-general scaffolds helped students transfer problem-solving skills when they were faded. Several suggestions are discussed for making improvements in the design of scaffolds to facilitate ill-structured problem solving.     

Teachers’ and students’ perspectives on teaching and learning through virtual learning environments

The aim of this investigation was to get an insight into how teachers and students responded to the use of virtual learning environments (VLE) in engineering education and what their expectations were from online courses. Teachers designed their online courses with the assistance of a support e-learning team and questionnaires were used for teachers and students to express their views on the online courses. Teachers pointed out that the online courses by themselves would be able to tackle limited lecture time and strengthen the students’ background knowledge. Students, on the other hand, stated that their difficulties regarding the courses could be facilitated by using a more interactive teaching approach with the use of collaboration tools and receiving individual feedback. Thus, students suggested that teachers adopt a more student-centred approach by using VLE. Teachers’ and students’ perspectives were related to their personal characteristics, as students were more familiar with everyday e-communication tools.     

Effects of integrating an active learning-promoting mechanism into location-based real-world learning environments on students’ learning performances and behaviors

Engaging students in real-world learning contexts has been identified by educators as being an important way of helping them learn to apply what they have learned from textbooks to practical problems. The advancements in mobile and image-processing technologies have enabled students to access learning resources and receive learning guidance in real-world contexts. However, when interacting with such a rich information environment that contains real-world and virtual-world learning resources, students might feel confused and frustrated owing to the lack of appropriate instructional design. Therefore, in this study, an image recognition-based mobile learning system with an active learning-promoting mechanism was developed for supporting field trips for local culture courses. An experiment was executed to examine the effects of the proposed approach on students’ learning achievement, learning motivation, and local culture identity. Moreover, the students’ learning behavioral patterns were probed. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach not only improved the students’ learning achievements as well as their learning motivation and local culture identity, but the students who learned with the proposed approach also demonstrated more active behavioral patterns than those who learned without the active learning-promoting mechanism. Based on the findings of this study, some recommendations for those who plan to develop effective learning strategies for conducting AR-based mobile learning activities are proposed.     

Using students’ motivational and learning profiles in investigating their perceptions and achievement in case-based and lecture-based learning environments

A teaching method may not work for all students. Therefore, attention should be paid to the type of students entering the learning environment in order to explain how they perceive the learning environment and achieve. This study investigates students’ perceptions and achievement in four learning environments that differed in the degree to which case-based and lecture-based learning were implemented (either separately or combined), hereby making use of students’ motivational and learning profiles. Participants were 1098 first-year student teachers who took a course on child development. Results showed that autonomously motivated deep-strategic learners were significantly more positive about each type of learning environment than little motivated and less pronounced deep-strategic learners. However, with regard to achievement, student profiles did not differ. Instead, the learning environment proved to be of significant influence: students in a gradually implemented case-based setting and a completely lecture-based setting scored significantly higher than students in a completely case-based setting.     

Assessing students’ experiences of teaching–learning environments and approaches to learning: Validation of a questionnaire in different countries and varying contexts

The study examined the use of the modified Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ) in the Finnish context by focusing on its factor structures and comparing them with those for British data. A total of 2,509 Finnish and 2,710 British students completed the questionnaire. The comparison of the factor structures were conducted using exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) and a transformation analysis. Although the differences between the factor structures prevented a combined analysis, the structures were highly similar in the two contexts. The ETLQ appears to be a sufficiently robust and reliable instrument for use across countries and, in addition, at either the level of the degree subject or the single course module.     

Improving primary students’ collaborative problem solving competency in project-based science learning with productive failure instructional design in a seamless learning environment

The paper reports on an empirical study adopting a mixed research method, aiming at improving primary students’ collaborative problem solving competency in project-based learning with productive failure (PF) instructional design in a seamless learning environment. Two Grade Six classes participated in a project-based learning of “Plant Adaptations”. In Class 1 with 27 students, the project-based learning was conducted with PF instructional design; in Class 2 with 26 students, the project-based learning was conducted without PF instructional design. The learning activities spanned across farm, class, home and online spaces supported by mobile devices. Data collection includes various students’ created artifacts in groups in the inquiry process, student reflections, student focus group interviews and pre- and post-domain tests. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were employed. The research findings show that compared to Class 2, the students in Class 1 gained deeper understanding of conceptual knowledge and produced better group artifacts in collaborative problem-solving quality than those in Class 2; and the students in Class 1 were more positive in facing the challenges in their project-based learning process, and developed a sense of ownership of their learning. The findings imply that PF instructional design is conducive to developing primary students’ collaborative solving competency in science learning in a seamless learning environment.     

Self-regulated learning and students’ perceptions of innovative and traditional learning environments: a longitudinal study in secondary education

This study investigated the relationship between the development of students’ self-regulated learning and students’ perceptions of the learning environment in terms of autonomy support, the emphasis on relevance and collaborative learning. In addition, we compared innovative learning environments that aim to enhance self-regulated learning with traditional learning environments. Questionnaires for measuring self-regulated learning and perceptions of the learning environment were administered by 648 students. Self-regulated learning was measured at the start of secondary education and again half way through the first year. The results point to the importance of how students perceive the learning environment for self-regulated learning. There was a positive relationship between autonomy support and relevance and self-regulated learning. Furthermore, students in innovative environments perceived more autonomy support, more emphasis on relevance and more collaborative learning than those in traditional environments. Students in innovative environments, however, reported no more self-regulated learning than students in traditional environments.     

Analyzing the temporal evolution of students’ behaviors in open-ended learning environments

Metacognition and self-regulation are important for developing effective learning in the classroom and beyond, but novice learners often lack effective metacognitive and self-regulatory skills. However, researchers have demonstrated that metacognitive processes can be developed through practice and appropriate scaffolding. Betty’s Brain, an open-ended computer-based learning environment, helps students practice their cognitive skills and develop related metacognitive strategies as they learn science topics. In this paper, we analyze students’ activity sequences in a study that compared different categories of adaptive scaffolding in Betty’s Brain. The analysis techniques for measuring students’ cognitive and metacognitive processes extend our previous work on using sequence mining methods to discover students’ frequently-used behavior patterns by (i) developing a systematic approach for interpreting derived behavior patterns using a cognitive/metacognitive task model and (ii) analyzing the evolution of students’ frequent behavior patterns over time. Our results show that it is possible to identify students’ learning behaviors and analyze their evolution as they work in the Betty’s Brain environment. Further, the results illustrate that changes in student behavior were generally consistent with the scaffolding provided, suggesting that these metacognitive strategies can be taught to middle school students in computer-based learning environments.     

Learning environments’ influence on students’ learning experience in an Australian Faculty of Business and Economics

Learning Environments Research - We investigated how learning environments–involving their physical, pedagogical, and psychosocial dimensions–influence students learning experiences in...     

VET students’ integration of knowledge engaged with in school-based and workplace-based learning environments in the Netherlands

In vocational education, students learn in different school-based and workplace-based learning environments and engage with different types of knowledge in these environments. Students are expected to integrate these experiences and make meaning of them in relation to their own professional knowledge base. This study focuses both on what types of knowledge students learn in these environments and how they integrate these different types of knowledge. Individual and group interviews were conducted with students, teachers and workplace supervisors in a vocational programme in the Netherlands. Results show that students recognise the importance of vocational knowledge learned in school-based learning environments while they are in the workplace and vice versa, and continuously contextualise knowledge to make it applicable for new circumstances. Also, students learn differently at school due to their experiences in the workplace.     

Does the extent of problem familiarity influence students’ learning in problem-based learning?

This study investigated the relationship between problem familiarity and students’ learning in a problem-based course. Problem familiarity in this study refers to the extent to which a problem fits with students’ prior knowledge and experiences. As part of regular course work, 172 students were given two problems on different occasions. These problems varied in the extent of problem familiarity. Students’ report of their learning activities and tutor’s assessment of the students’ learning were collected at the end of the problems. Results showed that both the students and tutors found the familiar problem to be better for learning. However, some elements of unfamiliarity may not be all that bad. For instance, unfamiliarity may result in more questioning, thinking and reasoning. However, this did not contribute to significant difference in terms of overall critical reasoning. Results also indicated a need to closely examine students’ critical reasoning (in terms of evaluating multiple perspectives) and students’ collaborative learning (in terms of brainstorming and discussion) when given familiar/unfamiliar problems.     

Assessing high-school students’ ability to direct their learning

Theory on student learning provides that students are able to direct their learning when they have metacognitive knowledge about their own learning processes. In this article, a preliminary attempt to assess untrained high-school students’ metacognitive knowledge of learning processes as an ability through multiple-choice questions is reported. In three studies, item selection was established for ninth graders at the end of their school year. Also, in the final study the results showed that the ninth-grade students’ self-reported use of learning and studying strategies, study techniques, school learning and tiresome academic subjects related significantly to their metacognitive knowledge regarding learning processes. In the discussion, the practical consequences for school assessment are explicated and future research questions are raised.     

Assessing collaborative work in a higher education blended learning context: strategies and students’ perceptions

This study examines students' views on a blended learning module developed and offered at the University of Aveiro. The paper presents the module and the strategies, tools, activities and assessment. In order to examine the effectiveness of the module, data were collected from reflections, postings and questionnaires. Findings document students’ opinions concerning the module, the activities and their learning. Students valued the module but expressed concerns in using the wiki tool, assessing collaborative work and in engaging in peer assessment activities. The results have practical implications for the design of collaborative activities and innovative assessment in blended learning environments.

Bewertung kollaborativer Arbeit in einem gemischten Hochschulbildungs‐Lernkontext: Strategien und Wahrnehmungen der Studenten

Diese Studie untersucht die Ansichten von Studenten auf einem gemischten Lern‐Modul, entwickelt und angeboten von der Universität Aveiro. Das Papier stellt das Modul und die Strategien, Tools, Aktivitäten und Bewertung vor. Um die Wirksamkeit des Moduls zu untersuchen, wurden die Daten von Reflexionen, Notizen und Fragebögen gesammelt. Die Ergebnisse dokumentieren die Meinungen über das Modul, ihre Aktivitäten und ihr Lernen. Studenten schätzten das Modul hatten aber Bedenken beim Wiki‐Tool, bezüglich des kooperativen Arbeitens, Bewertungen und Peer‐Bewertungs‐Aktivitäten. Die Ergebnisse haben praktische Folgen für das Design gemeinsamer Aktivitäten und innovative Bewertungen ?gemischter Lernumgebungen”.

L’évaluation du travail collaboratif dans un contexte d’enseignement universitaire mixte: le strategies et les perceptions des étudiants

La présente étude examine les opinions des étudiants sur un module d’apprentissage mixte (blended) mis au point et assuré à l’Université d’Aveiro. Cet article présente le module et les stratégies, les outils, les activités et l’évaluation. Pour déterminer l’efficacité de ce module, on a rassemblé des données à partir des réflexions, des envois et des questionnaires. Les éléments recueillis illustrent les opinions des étudiants à propos du module, des activités et de ce qu’ils ont appris. Les étudiants ont apprécié le module mais exprimé leur inquiétude quant à l’usage de l’outil wiki, de l’évaluation du travail collaboratif et de l’engagement dans des activités d’évaluation de leurs camarades. Ces résultats ont des retombées pratiques pour la conception des activités collaboratives et d’un mode d’évaluation innovant dans des environnements d’apprentissage mixte.

La evaluación del trabajo colaborativo dentro de un entorno de aprendizaje mixto (Blended Learning) en la enseñanza superior: estrategias y percepciones de los estudiantes

El presente estudio examina las opiniones de los estudiantes acerca de un módulo de aprendizaje mixto desarrollado y propuesto por la Universidad de Aveiro. El artículo presenta el módulo y las estrategías, herramientas, actividades y evaluación. Para determinar la eficacia del módulo se hizo una recogida de datos, basandose en reflexiones, mensajes y cuestionarios. Los resultados ilustran las opinones de los estudiantes acerca del módulo, de las actividades y de lo que han aprendido.Los estudiantes valoran el módulo pero expresaron su preocupación acerca del uso de la herramienta wiki, de la evaluación del trabajo cooperativo y de la dedicación a actividades de evaluación mutual. Esos resultados conllevan consecuencias prácticas para el diseño de actividades cooperativas y la evaluación innovadora en entornos de aprendizaje mixto.     

Design principles for support in developing students’ transformative inquiry skills in Web-based learning environments

The aim of this explorative study was to find the factors limiting sixth-grade learners’ outcomes in acquiring skills related to the transformative inquiry learning processes as well as to analyse the interrelations between inquiry skills in order to develop an optimal support system for designing Web-based inquiry learning environments. A Web-based learning environment ‘Young Scientist’ was developed and applied to the domain of integrated science. The skill of identifying the correct research questions appeared to be a prerequisite for formulating research questions. When students understand how to identify the research questions correctly, there is no need for supporting formulation of research questions or hypotheses. We have found that at the stages of analysing data and inferring, students have to be provided with the tools to activate their prior knowledge, assignments help to organize their work into manageable sections, and reflective support or adaptive feedback to relate the results achieved with the process of inquiry. Our findings demonstrate that the effectiveness of inquiry learning can be strongly influenced by regulative support; however, a particular level of initial inquiry knowledge in theoretical context is also needed in order to develop inquiry skills in a situational context.     

Approach to mathematical problem solving and students’ belief systems: two case studies

The goal of the study reported here is to gain a better understanding of the role of belief systems in the approach phase to mathematical problem solving. Two students of high academic performance were selected based on a previous exploratory study of 61 students 12–13 years old. In this study we identified different types of approaches to problems that determine the behavior of students in the problem-solving process. The research found two aspects that explain the students’ approaches to problem solving: (1) the presence of a dualistic belief system originating in the student’s school experience; and (2) motivation linked to beliefs regarding the difficulty of the task. Our results indicate that there is a complex relationship between students’ belief systems and approaches to problem solving, if we consider a wide variety of beliefs about the nature of mathematics and problem solving and motivational beliefs, but that it is not possible to establish relationships of causality between specific beliefs and problem-solving activity (or vice versa).     

Impacts of learning inventive problem-solving principles: students’ transition from systematic searching to heuristic problem solving

This paper presents the outcomes of teaching an inventive problem-solving course in junior high schools in an attempt to deal with the current relative neglect of fostering students’ creativity and problem-solving capabilities in traditional schooling. The method involves carrying out systematic manipulation with attributes, functions and relationships between existing components and variables in a system. The 2-year research study comprised 112 students in the experimental group and 100 students in the control group. The findings indicated that in the post-course exam, the participants suggested a significantly greater number of original and useful solutions to problems presented to them compared to the pre-course exam and to the control group. The course also increased students’ self-beliefs about creativity. Although at the beginning of the course, the students adhered to ‘systematic searching’ using the inventive problem-solving principles they had learned, later on they moved to ‘semi-structured’ and heuristic problem solving, which deals with using strategies, techniques, rules-of-thumb or educated guessing in the problem-solving process. It is important to note, however, that teaching the proposed method in school should take place in the context of engaging students in challenging tasks and open-ended projects that encourage students to develop their ideas. There is only little benefit in merely teaching students inventive problem-solving principles and letting them solve discrete pre-designed exercises.     

Procedural and conceptual changes in young children’s problem solving

This study analysed the different types of arithmetic knowledge that young children utilise when solving a multiple-step addition task. The focus of the research was on the procedural and conceptual changes that occur as children develop their overall problem solving approach. Combining qualitative case study with a micro-genetic approach, clinical interviews were conducted with ten 5–6-year-old children. The aim was to document how children combine knowledge of addition facts, calculation procedures and arithmetic concepts when solving a multiple-step task and how children’s application of different types of knowledge and overall solving approach changes and develops when children engage with solving the task in a series of problem solving sessions. The study documents children’s pathways towards developing a more effective and systematic approach to multiple-step tasks through different phases of their problem solving behaviour. The analysis of changes in children’s overt behaviour reveals a dynamic interplay between children’s developing representation of the task, their improved procedures and gradually their more explicit grasp of the conceptual aspects of their strategy. The findings provide new evidence that supports aspects of the “iterative model” hypothesis of the interaction between procedural and conceptual knowledge and highlight the need for educational approaches and tasks that encourage and trigger the interplay of different types of knowledge in young children’s arithmetic problem solving.