Teaching Environmental Education through PBL: Evaluation of a Teaching Intervention Program

If our chosen aim in science education is to be inclusive and to improve students’ learning achievements, then we must identify teaching methodologies that are appropriate for teaching and learning specific knowledge. Karagiorgi and Symeo (2005) remind us that instructional designers are thus challenged to translate the philosophy of constructivism into current practice. Thus, research in science education must focus on evaluating intervention programs which ensure the effective construction of knowledge and development of competencies. The present study reports the elaboration, application and evaluation of a problem-based learning (PBL) program with the aim of examining its effectiveness with students learning Environmental Education. Prior research on both PBL and Environmental Education (EE) was conducted within the context of science education so as to elaborate and construct the intervention program. Findings from these studies indicated both the PBL methodology and EE as helpful for teachers and students. PBL methodology has been adopted in this study since it is logically incorporated in a constructivism philosophy application (Hendry et al. 1999) and it was expected that this approach would assist students towards achieving a specific set of competencies (Engel 1997). On the other hand, EE has evolved at a rapid pace within many countries in the new millennium (Hart 2007), unlike any other educational area. However, many authors still appear to believe that schools are failing to prepare students adequately in EE (Walsche 2008; Winter 2007). The following section describes the research that was conducted in both areas so as to devise the intervention program.     

以教育游戏方式进行外语学习的思考——基于RPG游戏

教育与游戏的结合开拓了新的学习途径,RPG游戏由于其角色的体验特性将学习活动融入游戏的过程中,以体验学习的方式激发学习者的学习兴趣。文章基于教育游戏概念,在建构主义和体验主义学习理论的框架下,从学习过程、学习资源、学习环境和学习方式的层面探究了通过RPG游戏开展外语学习的可行性,讨论了外语学习的交际情景和兴趣驱动,以期为教育游戏和外语学习相融合的研究提供借鉴。     

The relationship between performance on mathematical word problems and language proficiency for students learning through the medium of Irish

Ireland has two official languages—Gaeilge (Irish) and English. Similarly, primary- and second-level education can be mediated through the medium of Gaeilge or through the medium of English. This research is primarily focused on students (Gaeilgeoirí) in the transition from Gaeilge-medium mathematics education to English-medium mathematics education. Language is an essential element of learning, of thinking, of understanding and of communicating and is essential for mathematics learning. The content of mathematics is not taught without language and educational objectives advocate the development of fluency in the mathematics register. The theoretical framework underpinning the research design is Cummins’ (1976). Thresholds Hypothesis. This hypothesis infers that there might be a threshold level of language proficiency that bilingual students must achieve both in order to avoid cognitive deficits and to allow the potential benefits of being bilingual to come to the fore. The findings emerging from this study provide strong support for Cummins’ Thresholds Hypothesis at the key transitions—primary- to second-level and second-level to third-level mathematics education—in Ireland. Some implications and applications for mathematics teaching and learning are presented.

Teaching mathematics in/for new times: A poststructuralist analysis of the productive quality of the pedagogic process

Mathematics educators and researchers generally recognise the importance of students' active involvement in learning processes; this active engagement is positively thought of in relation to the development of understanding and the construction of mathematical knowledge. However, it is often not well understood, nor perhaps even considered, how engagement in these learning processes also produces the learner and his/her feelings of competence and confidence in/with mathematics. In this paper I undertake, from a post structuralist perspective, a meta-analysis of two short episodes from a paper by Manouchehri and Goodman (2000). I use these interactions to explore (a) how mathematical knowledge and identities are produced in teaching/learning interactions in the classroom and (b) the wider practical implications of this productive power ofprocess for mathematics education and research. Through analyses such as these it may be possible to breathe new life and purpose into mathematics education in the twenty-first century; not by negating what has come before, but in moving on to explore the exciting possibilities that present themselves when taken-for-granted assumptions of a rational, freely choosing proficient (NCTM, 2000) humanist subject are interrupted and revised.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A systematic review of the role of learning games in fostering mathematics education in K-12 settings

In the recent decade, a number of literature reviews were conducted to examine the effectiveness of learning games. However, prior reviews typically focused on providing a synopsis of the overall research trends and the games’ impact on cognitive and non-cognitive learning, without providing critical and contextual information of learning-gameplay integration or the game design features. The current review focuses on recent empirical studies that implement learning games for K-12 mathematics education during the time period of 2008–2021 via a systematic search of the databases. Forty-three papers were identified as the result of a three-stage data extraction process. We identified the trends of implementing learning games in mathematics education and the ways to designing and integrating math content in gameplay. We propose that more research is needed to examine the design and use of learning games for math learning in K-12 settings. Recommendations for future game-based learning design and research are presented.     

Effects of type of exploratory strategy and prior knowledge on middle school students’ learning of chemical formulas from a 3D role-playing game

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the type of exploratory strategy and level of prior knowledge on middle school students’ performance and motivation in learning chemical formulas via a 3D role-playing game (RPG). Two types of exploratory strategies—RPG exploratory with worked-example and RPG exploratory without worked-example—and two levels of prior knowledge—high prior knowledge and low prior knowledge—were examined in the study. The 5E Instructional Model was employed as a learning framework in the RPG game design of The Alchemist’s Fort. One hundred and fifteen eighth-grade students from a Taiwanese school voluntarily participated in the 3-week experiment. The results indicate that (1) significant worked-example effect was revealed on knowledge comprehension and marginal worked-example effect occurred on knowledge application; (2) regardless of the type of exploratory strategy employed, learners showed mild positive motivation toward learning chemistry via a 3D RPG game; (3) higher prior-knowledge learners outperformed their lower prior-knowledge peers on performance measures; and (4) high prior-knowledge learners showed a higher degree of motivation in self-efficacy and science learning value than did the low prior-knowledge learners; however, lower prior-knowledge learners revealed higher learning environment stimulation than did their high prior-knowledge peers.     

Toward a framework for the development of mathematical knowledge for teaching

Shulman (1986, 1987) coined the term pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to address what at that time had become increasingly evident—that content knowledge itself was not sufficient for teachers to be successful. Throughout the past two decades, researchers within the field of mathematics teacher education have been expanding the notion of PCK and developing more fine-grained conceptualizations of this knowledge for teaching mathematics. One such conceptualization that shows promise is mathematical knowledge for teaching—mathematical knowledge that is specifically useful in teaching mathematics. While mathematical knowledge for teaching has started to gain attention as an important concept in the mathematics teacher education research community, there is limited understanding of what it is, how one might recognize it, and how it might develop in the minds of teachers. In this article, we propose a framework for studying the development of mathematical knowledge for teaching that is grounded in research in both mathematics education and the learning sciences.

Using Massively Multiplayer Online Role‐Playing Games for Online Learning

This article addresses the use of a massively multiplayer online role‐playing game (MMORPG) to foster communication and interaction and to facilitate cooperative learning in an online course. The authors delineate the definition and history of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), and describe current uses of MMORPGs in education, including their experiences with constructing and using the MMORPG Second Life. In addition, the authors detail with practical examples the process of using MMORPGs to support cooperative learning activities, and explore future uses and research questions for using MMORPGs in education and training.     

"第二人生"与数字化游戏式学习环境

“第二人生”（Second Life）是一部模拟真实的大型多人在线角色扮演游戏，它巧妙融合了联网游戏和在线虚拟社区的诸多概念，创造了一种新型的网络空间。SL为信息时代的学习、教育提供了积极的、浸润式的数字化游戏式学习环境，一些大学和教育机构已经开始使用SL，鼓励师生探索、学习和合作。基于人与人、人与对象、对象与对象三种活动方式，SL中的教育潜力可以被不断发掘出来。     

The nature and development of middle school mathematics teachers’ knowledge

In this article, we report on the use of a teacher profiling instrument with 62 middle school teachers at the start of a 3-year professional learning programme. The instrument was designed to assess the aspects of teachers’ knowledge identified by Shulman (1987) refined by Ball et al. (2008) and extended to include teachers’ confidence to use and teach various topics in the middle school mathematics curriculum and their beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning. Based on a hierarchical coding of items, the application of the partial credit Rasch model revealed that the profile items were measuring a single underlying construct and suggested that the various facets of teacher knowledge develop together. We describe the characteristics of four levels of the hierarchical construct measuring teacher knowledge and understanding for teaching mathematics in the middle years of schooling, and discuss the unique affordances of a holistic view of teacher knowledge in contrast to considerations of multiple knowledge categories.     

Re-situation challenges for international students ‘becoming’ researchers

This paper presents data generated during a semester-long programme to support international students from countries in Melanesia and Asia embarking on masters research in education in a New Zealand university. All were scholarship recipients. The researcher-and facilitator-of the programme, was interested in documenting and understanding the nature of the students’ experience as they planned and wrote research proposals. The process of developing a research proposal, as one of the early stages of ‘becoming’ a researcher, highlighted a number of challenges for the six case study students. The challenges are viewed from a transition or ‘resituation’ perspective (Eraut in Stud Contin Educ 26(2): 247–74, 2004, 2008) rather than an adjustment one. A resituation perspective assumes that students brought with them “personal expertise, practical wisdom and tacit knowledge” (Eraut 2008, p. 42) which needed to be reconciled with what was demanded of them by different aspects of the research planning process. The resituation challenges experienced by the students included situating a perceived problem or issue in the research literature; reconciling personal research goals with the limitations of one’s own agency as a researcher; integrating new learning with research goals; and reconciling the new role or identity as a researcher with the previous role as colleague or community member. The paper presents a case for providing a context for postgraduate students in which explicit recognition of what they bring to the research task, and acknowledgement of the resituation challenges can take place.     

Using communities of practice as a tool to analyse developing identity in online discussion

In this article, we address the methodological implications of analysing online discussion boards with a focus on participants' changing identities. More specifically, we propose the use of a Communities of Practice framework as a heuristic method for considering how participants' contributions to online discussion play a role in changing who they become, as opposed to what they learn. We argue that many analyses of online communication fail to take account of learning as a change in identity – what/who the learner is (becoming) – and focus mainly on the opportunity for cognitive development – what they know. In doing so, we use a single case study from a discussion board for secondary-aged students of mathematics which acts as a ‘telling case’ before demonstrating what this might say about other contexts for online learning. We argue that this has important implications for both research into, and the design of, online education.     

The rise of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">blended professional</Emphasis> in higher education: a comparison between the United Kingdom,Australia and the United States

This paper builds on earlier work by the author to explore the international dimensions of a study of the changing roles and identities of professional staff in higher education (Whitchurch 2008a, b). It further develops the concept of the blended professional, characterising individuals with identities drawn from both professional and academic domains, and examines the institutional spaces, knowledges, relationships and legitimacies that they construct. Comparisons between the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States are used to provide indicators of possible futures for this group of staff, including their positioning in the university community, the challenges they face, and the potentials that they offer to their institutions.     

任务驱动式教育游戏设计

针对国内高职院校教育游戏开发匮乏的现状,提出了以RPG为载体的任务驱动式教育游戏系统——《计算机信息技术基础》教育游戏的设计方案。系统从课程教学的内容和目标出发,实现在虚拟现实环境中对不同基础的学生进行有针对性的优化学习。     

Creating an Online Learning Community: Is it Possible?

As institutions are moving towards offering more online and distance education courses, scholars have reported that instructors may have difficulty developing learning communities among students enrolled in these courses (DiRamio and Wolverton 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in students’ perceptions of a learning community when enrolled in an online or on-campus introduction to counseling course. Participants were beginning graduate and advanced undergraduate students interested in pursuing a higher education degree in counseling. Results indicated no significant difference in students’ perceptions of learning communities based on course format.     

网络学习共同体的构建与培育

网络学习共同体将网络空间变为一个开放的、多元的社会活动文化场域,是由对共同主题感兴趣的一群人聚集在一起,通过团体成员之间的对话、协商或辩论、争执等社会性活动进行知识建构的过程。它不仅具有网络学习的特征,而且具有社会性学习特征。因此,采取营造特定文化氛围、构建社会性交流场、培育社团领导意识等策略,有助于网络学习共同体的构建与培育。     

Using Technology to Enhance Higher Education

Whether our students are sitting in the room with us as we teach, sitting in their home listening, participating by video-conference, or answering discussion questions on an online platform, technology can play a pivotal role in student learning. In this article we discuss technology in higher education, specifically its role in hybrid or online formats. As Renard (2005) so eloquently stated, "No generation has ever had to wait so little time for so much information" (p. 44). Presented here is a discussion of the types of students who benefit from distance learning, the factors that prompt instructors to engage in distance learning, and what instructors should know about distance education before they begin teaching with this kind of delivery.     

Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds

In today’s increasingly “flat” world of globalization (Friedman 2005), the need for a scientifically literate citizenry has grown more urgent. Yet, by some measures, we have done a poor job at fostering scientific habits of mind in schools. Recent research on informal games-based learning indicates that such technologies and the communities they evoke may be one viable alternative—not as a substitute for teachers and classrooms, but as an alternative to textbooks and science labs. This paper presents empirical evidence about the potential of games for fostering scientific habits of mind. In particular, we examine the scientific habits of mind and dispositions that characterize online discussion forums of the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. Eighty-six percent of the forum discussions were posts engaged in “social knowledge construction” rather than social banter. Over half of the posts evidenced systems based reasoning, one in ten evidenced model-based reasoning, and 65% displayed an evaluative epistemology in which knowledge is treated as an open-ended process of evaluation and argument.