Learning outdoors or with a computer: the contribution of the learning setting to learning and to environmental perceptions

ABSTRACT

Background: Outdoor learning and computer-based learning are two different alternatives to in-class conventional teacher-centered learning.

Purpose: This study compares the outdoor learning setting with computer-based learning in class. It examines the influence of the two different learning settings on academic achievements, the learning experience, and pro-environmental perceptions.

Sample: A total of 90 elementary school students (third and fourth-grade classes) participated in the study.

Design and methods: The academic knowledge of the study participants was tested through identical exams for both learning settings. In addition, in each group the students’ perceptions were examined by means of a questionnaire about environmental values and the learning experience.

Results: The study demonstrates that academic achievements in the two settings were similar, but the students expressed more enthusiasm about the outdoor learning experience than about in-class learning. In addition, the outdoor learning setting contributed more to promoting positive environmental perceptions even though students did not learn directly about environmental issues and sustainability.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that learning in the natural environment is valuable: Alongside the fostering of computerized learning, it is also important to promoteoutdoor learning settings and integrate both settings by implementing mobile technologies in the outdoor teaching.     

A jigsaw cooperative learning application in elementary science and technology lessons: physical and chemical changes

Cooperative learning is an active learning approach in which students work together in small groups to complete an assigned task. Students commonly find the subject of ‘physical and chemical changes’ difficult and abstract, and thus they generally have many misconceptions about it.

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the effects of jigsaw cooperative learning activities developed by the researchers on sixth grade students’ understanding of physical and chemical changes.

Sample

Participants in the study were 61 sixth grade students in a public elementary school in Izmir, Turkey.

Design and methods

A pre-test and post-test experimental design with a control group was used, and students were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Instruction of the subject was conducted via jigsaw cooperative learning in the experimental group and via teacher-centered instruction in the control group. During the jigsaw process, experimental group students studied the subjects of changes of state, changes in shape and molecular solubility from physical changes, and acid–base reactions, combustion reactions and changes depending on heating from chemical changes in their jigsaw groups.

Results

The concept test results showed that jigsaw cooperative learning instruction yielded significantly better acquisition of scientific concepts related to physical and chemical changes, compared to traditional learning. Students in the experimental group had a lower proportion of misconceptions than those in the control group, and some misconceptions in the control group were identified for the first time in this study.

Conclusions

Jigsaw cooperative learning is an effective teaching technique for challenging sixth grade students’ misconceptions in the context of physical and chemical changes, and enhancing their motivation, learning achievements, self-confidence and willingness in the science and technology lesson. This technique could be applied to other chemistry subjects and other grade levels.     

The Effects of Retelling Upon Reading Comprehension and Recall of Text Information

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of retelling (free recall) upon the comprehension and recall of text information for 93 fourth-grade students. Subjects were assigned randomly to one of two generative learning strategy treatment conditions: retelling or illustrating. Subjects participated in four training sessions and one test session. For each of the four training sessions subjects silently read a passage and then, according to treatment condition, either retold the important parts of the passage or illustrated the important parts of the passage. For the test passage all subjects silently read the passage, and then rendered a free recall. Two days later all subjects rendered a delayed free recall and answered 10 literal and 10 inferential questions about the test passage. Statistically significant differences were found on all measures of reading comprehension and recall (immediate free recall, two-day delayed free recall, and responses to literal and inferential questions) in favor of the subjects who received practice in retelling. The results suggest that retelling is a highly potent generative learning strategy and that retelling has direct, beneficial consequences for children's processing of subsequent text.     

Investigating the effects of gamification-enhanced flipped learning on undergraduate students’ behavioral and cognitive engagement

ABSTRACT

In recent years, flipped learning has attracted much attention around the world. This instructional approach is appealing because it can free up class time for knowledge application activities with help from the instructor and peers. However, its implementation can be fraught with challenges. Student disengagement in out-of-class activities, for example, is one of the major challenges of flipped learning. The purpose of this study is to examine whether gamification can enhance student engagement in a flipped course. A comparison study was conducted, involving two classes of undergraduate students in an Information Management course. The results indicated that students in the gamification-enhanced flipped learning group (n?=?48) were more likely to complete the pre-class and post-class activities on time than those in the non-gamified flipped learning group (n?=?48). Students in the gamification-enhanced flipped learning group also produced higher quality artifacts than the non-gamified flipped learning group in the pre-class thinking activities. Moreover, students in the gamification-enhanced flipped learning group scored significantly higher in the post-course test than did their non-gamified counterparts.     

The Relationship between Teaching Methods and Course Objectives in Educational Psychology

Abstract

College students (N=51) read a 600-word passage. Advance organizers (Ausubel) were either interspersed in the text contiguous with related paragraphs (part method) or were presented en masse before the entire passage (whole method). Additionally, a reading-only control group was employed. The whole and part method of presenting advance organizers yielded equivalent recall of passage information and neither experimental group exceeded the control group in this regard. However, both advance organizer groups produced significantly (p>.01) more recall than the control group of the organizers themselves. These results are similar to those commonly found with another type of reading aid, adjunct questions.     

Statistical Studies of a College Freshman Testing Program

"ABSTRACT In an investigation of the improvement of mastery learning techniques through instruction based on a validated learning hierarchy, it was found that it was highly effective to present tasks in a sequence consistent with the requirements of the hierarchy, and to require learners to demonstrate clearly their achievement of each task in turn before being allowed to proceed to the next. With this technique, nearly all of a group of relatively young students were able to perform the skill better than a group of students three grades higher who had been taught the skill as part of their normal lessons.     

Facilitating deep-strategy behaviors and positive learning performances in science inquiry activities with a 3D experiential gaming approach

ABSTRACT

Facilitating students’ deep-strategy behaviors and positive learning performances of science inquiry is an important and challenging educational issue. In this study, a contextual science inquiry approach is proposed for developing a 3D experiential game to cope with this problem. To evaluate the impacts of the game on students’ science learning approaches, learning achievements and problem-solving awareness as well as the learning behavioral patterns of the students with different learning achievements, a quasi-experiment was conducted in an elementary school geoscience course. The participants were two classes of sixth graders. One class was the experimental group who learned with the 3D experiential game, and the other was the control group who learned with the conventional technology-enhanced learning approach. The experimental results showed that the students learning with the 3D experiential gaming system showed better learning achievements, problem-solving tendency, deep learning strategies, and deep learning motive than those who learned with the conventional technology-enhanced learning approach. Moreover, the higher-achievement students showed more behavioral patterns of deep learning strategies than the lower-achievement students. The findings of this study provide a good reference for helping lower-achievement students improve their learning performance.     

Linking Mathematics and Psychological Science

Abstract

We describe a successful collaboration between mathematics and psychological science faculty members to create a learning community for our students that linked sections of introductory mathematical reasoning and psychological science courses. The students in our learning community were in their second or third semester. The learning community is designed so that, throughout the semester, students regularly move across the border between the two linked disciplines by completing common assignments, including a group project. We modified our existing course topics and frameworks to be intentional about building connections between the courses.     

Learning Styles of Chinese and Dutch Students Compared within the Context of Dutch Higher Education in Life Sciences

Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which the learning styles of Chinese students differ from those of Dutch students. The study was conducted within the context of Englishlanguage Bachelor of Science programmes thatWageningen University offers together with China Agricultural University to Dutch and Chinese students. Sixteen Dutch students and 25 Chinese students completed the Inventory of Learning Styles. The Chinese students have several of the characteristics that reflect a reproduction-directed and an undirected learning style, while the Dutch students as a group do not demonstrate any one particular learning style. It would be useful and desirable to show the Chinese students, by means of specific instructions and exercises, how to use strategies directed towards deep processing and how to regulate their own learning processes more in the direction of deep processing.     

Teacher facilitating of group learning in science with digital technology and insights into students’ agency in learning to learn

ABSTRACT

The study provides an insight into how teachers may facilitate students’ group learning in science with digital technology, which was examined when Norwegian lower secondary school students engaged in learning concepts of mitosis and meiosis. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the teacher’s assistance draw on Galperin’s conceptualisation of learning.

Findings reveal patterns in the teacher’s guidance: the teacher fulfilled the orienting, executive and controlling functions while assisting students in identifying the key features of mitosis and meiosis and solving the compare and contrast task. The teacher relied on and interplayed with the available mediational resources: compare and contrast task, digital animations, and collaborating peers. However, it was the compare and contrast task that demonstrated an approach to study scientific concepts which may have contributed to the development of learners’ understanding about to engage in learning in science. By adopting such an approach, learning activity has the potential to not only help students to achieve learning outcomes but it acquires a functional significance, becoming a tool in the learning process aimed at the development of students’ as learners. The digital animations, in turn, demonstrated scientific processes that were otherwise invisible for students and triggered group discussions. The study, therefore, raises questions about the need for practitioners’ awareness of the type of support the technology and other resources provide to assist both conceptual learning and enhancing students’ agency in learning to learn.     

Application of experiential learning to improve student engagement and experience in a mechanical engineering course

ABSTRACT

This paper introduced how a mechanical engineering course was redesigned by applying experiential learning theory to improve student engagement and learning experience. Design of machine elements has been considered by students to be a difficult course. Traditional teaching methods tend not to be effective in engaging students. Experiential learning is a philosophy of learning by doing. In applying an experiential learning approach to the course, the design project and workshop activities were restructured in such a way that students were engaged in direct experience and focused reflection to construct knowledge. By exploring a physical gearbox model, working on subtasks for the design project, having group discussions, raising questions, getting feedback, and moving forward for next subtasks, students experienced the learning cycles of ‘DO, OBSERVE, THINK, and PLAN’ many times. Course survey results showed that application of experiential learning helped to improve student engagement and learning experience significantly.     

When is the best time to use rubrics in flipped learning? A study on students’ learning achievement,metacognitive awareness,and cognitive load

ABSTRACT

Rubrics can guide teachers to provide effective feedback and students’ peer- and self-assessment. This paper examines the effect of rubric use in flipped learning activities on students’ learning achievement, metacognitive awareness, and cognitive load through a quasi-experiment. A total of 83 university students were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The students in the experimental group were given rubrics in performing pre-class learning activities on the cloud platform, while those in the control group used rubrics in post-class assessment and modification of their finished works. The results show that rubric use can assist flipped learning by improving students’ learning achievement and metacognitive awareness, while reducing their cognitive load. Using rubrics before in-class work can yield stronger benefits in raising metacognitive awareness and lessening cognitive load. Moreover, the study reveals that students tend to hold a generally favorable attitude toward rubric use. These findings imply that appropriate use of rubrics in flipped learning has the potential to create a more efficient and learner-friendly condition to enhance self-regulated learning.     

Effects of mobile apps for nursing students: learning motivation,social interaction and study performance

Abstract

This study examined the effects of mobile apps on the learning motivation, social interaction and study performance of nursing students. A total of 20 students participated in focus group interviews to collect feedback on their use of mobile apps for learning and communicative activities. Two consecutive cohorts of students in a nursing programme, each with about 200 students, were recruited for assessing their learning motivation through a survey and study performance by two tests. The results showed that the students actively used the mobile apps for studying supplementary materials as well as participating in in-class activities and clinical assessments. The students had a relatively high level of motivation for performing and learned well, but relatively low perceived satisfaction and self-efficacy with mobile learning. They showed better study performance after practising mobile learning. The results also suggest that students’ perceived intrinsic value with mobile learning has to be enhanced for improving study performance.     

The effectiveness of problem-based learning on teaching the first law of thermodynamics

Background: Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching approach working in cooperation with self-learning and involving research to solve real problems. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but that energy is conserved. Students had difficulty learning or misconceptions about this law. This study is related to the teaching of the first law of thermodynamics within a PBL environment.

Purpose: This study examined the effectiveness of PBL on candidate science teachers’ understanding of the first law of thermodynamics and their science process skills. This study also examined their opinions about PBL.

Sample: The sample consists of 48 third-grade university students from the Department of Science Education in one of the public universities in Turkey.

Design and methods: A one-group pretest–posttest experimental design was used. Data collection tools included the Achievement Test, Science Process Skill Test, Constructivist Learning Environment Survey and an interview with open-ended questions. Paired samples t-test was conducted to examine differences in pre/post tests.

Results: The PBL approach has a positive effect on the students’ learning abilities and science process skills. The students thought that the PBL environment supports effective and permanent learning, and self-learning planning skills. On the other hand, some students think that the limited time and unfamiliarity of the approach impede learning.

Conclusions: The PBL is an active learning approach supporting students in the process of learning. But there are still many practical disadvantages that could reduce the effectiveness of the PBL. To prevent the alienation of the students, simple PBL activities should be applied from the primary school level. In order to overcome time limitations, education researchers should examine short-term and effective PBL activities.     

Investigating the Effectiveness of Desktop Virtual Reality for Teaching and Learning of Electrical/Electronics Technology in Universities

Abstract

This study compared efficiency of desktop virtual reality with a conventional classroom learning practice for the teaching and learning of electrical/electronics technology. This was measured through academic achievement, learning interest, and engagement. A quasi-experimental design was employed for this study. Four universities were used for the study. The students were within the ages of 17 to 24?years. Students were assigned to either an experimental or comparison group based on intact classes. A total of 149 students participated in this experiment; however, only 142 samples could be analyzed. Seven samples were not analyzed due to incomplete instruments answered and absenteeism. Seventy-four students were in the virtual reality group while 68 students were in the non virtual reality group. The sample was 78.52% and 21.48% in males and females, respectively. Analysis of covariance was used to test three formulated hypotheses on effects of desktop virtual reality on the learning effectiveness of the students. There was a significant difference in academic achievement, learning interest, and learning engagement between the two groups. It was established that desktop virtual reality positively affected students’ academic achievement, learning interest, and engagement of students in electronics technology. It was suggested that virtual reality should be adopted to augment laboratory practices for the teaching and learning of electrical/electronics technology in Nigerian universities.     

Effects of a linked data-based annotation approach on students’ learning achievement and cognitive load

ABSTRACT

In this study, a linked data-based annotation approach is proposed. A learning system has been developed based on the approach by providing an annotating function, a linked data enrichment function, a sharing function and faceted search function. To evaluate the effectiveness of this innovative approach, an experiment was carried out in which two classes of students participated. The first class served as the experimental group, in which the students learned with the proposed approach, and the second class served as the control group, in which the students learned with the conventional annotation approach. The experiment results show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group. Moreover, the cognitive load of the students in the experimental group was significantly lower than the ones in the control group. This implies that the linked data-based annotation approach not only reduced the students’ cognitive load, but also improved their learning achievement.     

How autonomy support mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and approaches to learning

Abstract

The significant interplay between self-efficacy, autonomy support and approaches to learning in adolescent students is widely recognized. However, less is known about whether substantial differences exist between early and middle adolescent students from schools with different environments. To close this research gap, this study used latent mean comparison and multigroup structural equation modeling with questionnaire data from a sample of German adolescent students (N?=?1153; M_AgeT1?=?13.97, SD = 1.37; M_AgeT2?=?14.27, SD = 1.25) in two waves. Multigroup structural equation modeling reveals that autonomy functions as a mediator in the association between self-efficacy and approaches to learning only for students from schools with a student-centered learning environment based on competence-matrices in contrast to a teacher-directed learning environment, particularly for early adolescent students. More specifically, adolescents’ approaches to learning can be enhanced through autonomy-supportive learning independently of their self-efficacy.     

Intelligence Examinations for College Entrance

ABSTRACT

Sixty-one elementary school students who had never participated in cooperative learning lessons before were included in this study. Students were randomly assigned to the conditions of cooperative learning with and without group processing and participated to 5 instructional sessions during a period of approximately 15 instructional days. Results on achievement show that by the end of the study students assigned to group processing condition achieved higher than did students assigned to no processing condition. Results on perception of peer academic and personal support and teacher academic and personal support do not show significant differences between the experimental groups.     

High school students’ approaches to learning physics with relationship to epistemic views on physics and conceptions of learning physics

Background and purpose : Knowing how students learn physics is a central goal of physics education. The major purpose of this study is to examine the strength of the predictive power of students’ epistemic views and conceptions of learning in terms of their approaches to learning in physics. Sample, design and method : A total of 279 Taiwanese high school students ranging from 15 to 18?years old participated in this study. Three questionnaires for assessing high school students’ epistemic views on physics, conceptions of learning physics and approaches to learning physics were developed. Step-wise regression was performed to examine the predictive power of epistemic views on physics and conceptions of learning physics in terms of their approaches to learning physics. Results and conclusion: The results indicated that, in general, compared to epistemic views on physics, conceptions of learning physics are more powerful in predicting students’ approaches to learning physics in light of the regression models. That is, students’ beliefs about learning, compared with their beliefs about knowledge, may be more associated with their learning approaches. Moreover, this study revealed that the higher-level conceptions of learning physics such as ‘Seeing in a new way’ were more likely to be positively correlated with the deep approaches to learning physics, whereas the lower-level conceptions such as ‘Testing’ were more likely to positively explain the surface approaches, as well as to negatively predict the deep approaches to learning physics.