Adolescents’ credibility justifications when evaluating online texts

Education and Information Technologies - Research has shown that students differ in their abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts, and, in general, many perform poorly on online...     

Predictors for students’ self-efficacy in online collaborative groupwork

Educational technology research and development - This study examines factors related to student self-efficacy beliefs in on-line groupwork. Participants in this study were 204 graduate students...     

Participation in online courses from the students’ perspective

The purpose of this study is to uncover factors that affect participation in online classes from the student’s perspective. Interest in the online environment has been increasing and renders the opinions of students participating in online courses more important since the opinions of students in this environment are closely related to interaction. It has been seen that lack of interaction creates a sense of loneliness, which causes students to drop their classes. For this reason, a qualitative study has been conducted about student experiences on the use of methods that increase interaction in an online environment and participation. Participants were given tasks based on collaboration, special attention was paid to make sure that the setting in which the participants found themselves was in accordance with the principles of the community of inquiry, computerized equipment was used to facilitate online interactions. 15 students worked based on collaboration and 15 students worked individually. Data was collected with interviews and reflection reports. Open, axial and selective coding was made by using the theorizing method. At the end of the study, it was determined that participation in online environment was affected in both groups by factors such as personal approaches, changing variables, mediated attributes.     

Teacher students’ dilemmas when teaching science through inquiry

Background: Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) is suitable to teach scientific contents as well as to foster scientific skills. Similar conclusions are drawn by studies with respect to scientific literacy, motivational aspects, vocabulary knowledge, conceptual understandings, critical thinking, and attitudes toward science. Nevertheless, IBSE is rarely adopted in schools. Often barriers for teachers account for this lack, with the result that even good teachers struggle to teach science as inquiry. More importantly, studies indicate that several barriers and constraints could be ascribed to problems teacher students have at the university stage.

Purpose: The purpose of this explorative investigation is to examine the problems teacher students have when teaching science through inquiry. In order to draw a holistic picture of these problems, we identified problems from three different points of view leading to the research question: What problems regarding IBSE do teacher students have from an objective, a subjective, and a self-reflective perspective?

Design &; method: Using video analysis and observation tools as well as qualitative content analysis and open questionnaires we identified problems from each perspective.

Results: The objectively stated problems comprise the lack of essential features of IBSE especially concerning ‘Supporting pupils’ own investigations’ and ‘Guiding analysis and conclusions.’ The subjectively perceived problems comprise concerns about ‘Teachers’ abilities’ and ‘Pupils’ abilities,’ ‘Differentiated instruction’ and institutional frame ‘Conditions’ while the self-reflectively noticed problems mainly comprise concerns about ‘Allowing inquiry,’ ‘Instructional Aspects,’ and ‘Pupils’ behavior.’

Conclusions: Each of the three different perspectives provides plenty of problems, partially overlapping, partially complementing one another, and partially revealing completely new problems. Consequently, teacher educators have to consider these three perspectives.     

Enhancing college students’ environmental sensibilities through online nature journaling

The increasing alienation of today’s children from the environment has been termed ‘nature-deficit disorder’. Research suggests this disconnect can adversely impact young people’s physical and psychological well-being. This paper explores whether online multimedia journaling about nature can increase the amount of time students spend outdoors, enhancing their environmental awareness and changing their nature-related perceptions. Students in a 60-person introductory environmental studies course at a large midwestern public university in the United States completed weekly online multimedia nature journals for one semester. A survey assessed their experiences. The median survey respondent spent an additional 11–20 minutes outdoors weekly. Seventy-four percent of respondents said that the project increased their awareness of nature, 68% said it changed the way they thought about nature, and 56% said it increased their interest in spending time outdoors. Though these findings are promising, there are some theoretical reasons for questioning their depth and duration.     

Which variables predict teachers diagnostic competence when diagnosing students’ learning behavior at different stages of a teacher’s career?

Diagnosing is one of teachers’ key competences. Lately, a new model of teachers’ diagnostic competence and therewith a new measurement method focusing on diagnosing students’ learning behavior in an interdisciplinary approach have been developed. They can build a basis for promoting teachers’ diagnostic competence. However, some questions relevant to promoting teachers’ diagnostic competence concerning students’ learning behavior still remain unanswered: Which values do teachers-on-the-job in contrast to preservice teachers with or without teaching experience gain through experience and which are the relevant variables that lead to a high level of diagnostic competence focused on learning behavior? Thus, this study aims at enlightening these issues. In a sample of 293 participants (93 German grammar school teachers, 107 German teacher students in their second phase of teacher education, and 93 German preservice students in their first phase of teacher education), teachers’ diagnostic competence concerning learning behavior as well as teachers’ motivation, attitude, self-efficacy, knowledge, and reflection on experience concerning diagnosing was measured. Motivation, attitude, and knowledge were found to be substantial positive predictors of diagnostic competence concerning learning behavior, with differentiated predictions for teachers’ experience. Reflection on experience and self-efficacy unexpectedly was not found to be relevant. Teachers-on-the-job were generally better at diagnosing their students’ learning behavior than were preservice teachers without teaching experience. However, the diagnostic work of preservice teachers with teaching experience was as credible as that of the in-service teachers.     

Enriching students’ language skills and confidence through a university mentoring scheme

University can be a challenging learning environment for students entering with a lower level of English. This report focusses on a mentoring scheme which aims to enhance undergraduate students’ English language skills so that they gain the most from their studies. Around 200 students participate in this mentoring scheme each academic year and the programme involves around ten university English teachers who act as mentors. In this report, we describe the programme and reflect on our experience as mentors.     

Chronicling engagement: students’ experience of online learning over time

Although there is ample research into student engagement in online learning, much of this investigates the student experience through surveys administered at a fixed point in time, usually at the exit point of a single unit of study or course. The study described in this paper, by contrast, aimed to understand online student engagement over a whole semester, guided by two overarching questions: What factors impact students’ engagement over a semester? What factors account for fluctuation in engagement levels over time? This paper presents results from weekly feedback on online education students’ engagement over the length of one semester at a regional Australian university. It also chronicles in more depth the experiences of one student across the same semester. The findings offer longitudinal accounts of student engagement, demonstrating that levels of engagement fluctuate and are influenced by a variety of factors.     

Impact of online flexible games on students’ attitude towards mathematics

This study examined the effects of using an online flexible educational game on students’ attitude towards mathematics as compared to the traditional method of solving mathematical problems. Moreover, the study assessed the learning effectiveness of the game and investigated potential gender differences in the game’s effectiveness on changing students’ attitude. The participants of the study were 79 students who were randomly assigned to a control and treatment group, as well as four coordinator teachers. The game was configurable and it was used as a supplementary teaching method. The intervention lasted 14 weeks and the data collection was based on quantitative measures and interviews. The results of the analysis indicated that the game approach was effective on improving students’ attitude towards mathematics and that it also resulted in better learning outcomes in the treatment group as compared to that of the control group. Furthermore, it was shown that the gender of the students did not influence the positive effect of the game on students’ attitude. These results suggest that the incorporation of flexible games into the traditional teaching of mathematics could possibly bring beneficial effects.     

Factors enabling and constraining students’ collaborative online international learning experiences

Learning Environments Research - The Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Virtual Exchange Project (VEP) emerged as a pedagogically-innovative and low-cost initiative to...     

Instructional effectiveness of higher-order questions: The devil is in the detail of students’ use of questions

Research has repeatedly established that the theoretical benefits of various scaffolds do not match their actual impact on learning. It has been argued that the instructional effectiveness of scaffolds largely depends on very detailed aspects of the learning activities associated with the scaffolds within specific environments. From this perspective and, in order to predict and control learning outcomes in the context of specific instances of scaffolds, there is a need for a detailed cognitive analysis of learning activities (e.g. analyses of students’ scaffold use). Accordingly, the current study investigated how students actually use adjunct questions while studying a text and how the quantity and quality of usage determine students’ learning outcomes (performance). Forty-two university students in two conditions were required to study a short science text for 15 min. Results revealed that the quality of students’ use of instructional devices accounted for their final performance.     

Is students’ qualitative feedback changing,now it is online?

Student feedback can be used to enable institutions to achieve the best possible outcomes for students through informing changes which enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Following the introduction of an online survey platform to gather student feedback at a top-performing UK university, anecdotal concerns raised by academics suggested students were being more critical. This exploratory study investigated the effects of switching from a paper to an online survey by comparing the open-ended responses between the two methods of collection. The main contribution of this study is the development of an analytical framework which can be used by other institutions to evaluate student comments, in order to understand and improve the student experience. Three key findings in this study were uncovered. Firstly, the quality of student feedback is not undermined by a switch to a more efficient online collection. Secondly, student comments via both methods of collection predominantly continue to focus on fulfilling basic needs, such as study resources. Finally, a small number of comments online revealed a lack of behavioural constraint and were considered to be inappropriate. These findings have important policy implications for the global higher education sector, highlighting the need for students to be given guidance on providing constructive feedback.     

Predictors for Chinese students’ management of study environment in online groupwork

Management of the study environment is crucial to the learning process, and this management in an online class setting is even more challenging. This study investigates models of environmental structuring in online groupwork in China, as reported by 307 graduate students in 80 groups. At the group level, environment management was positively associated with earning-oriented reasons. At the individual level, environment management was positively associated with feedback, peer-oriented reasons and help seeking. In addition, males were less likely to take initiatives in arranging the study environment.     

Enigmas in School Science: students’ conceptions for scientifically associated words

Master's students were involved in the design, and later the administration, of a questionnaire for 500 junior secondary students in Botswana and Lesotho, to buildup a picture of student perceptions of science and technology. Responses to mainly open‐ended questions were categorised according to key phrases mentioned by the students. There was some confusion over the differences between science and technology, but they were overwhelmingly perceived as subjects appropriate to both sexes. Science and technology were seen in broad socio‐economic terms, enabling people to cope in the modern world, gain employment in both the formal and informal sectors, and contribute towards national development. Although science and technology were judged to have enhanced the quality of life, they had introduced conflicts into traditional beliefs and cultures, in part as a result of increasing female emancipation. The attitudes of the students towards the two subjects, and to the impact they have had on everyday life, were congruent with the philosophical aims of the science and technology syllabuses of both countries and with global initiatives such as Project 2000 +.     

School‐based restructuring and curriculum change: teachers’ and students’ contrasting perspectives

Abstract

This article is set within the context of a school‐based change initiative, where we studied a number of teachers and students in order to understand the ways in which they understood and experienced the complexities of the change process, and to add their voices to the ongoing discussions around restructuring and school‐based change. We found that although there were some commonalties between how teachers and students experienced the changes being implemented, there were also some profound differences between the curriculum as planned by teachers and the curriculum as experienced by students. For the teachers, the themes of caring for students’ lives, recasting themselves as classroom practitioners and of working as collaborative colleagues were identified; for students, the themes were those of getting used to the place, and of re‐establishing their preferred way of working in this new setting. In our discussion and analysis of these themes we look at the implications for future school‐based change initiatives, and at some of the complexities and difficulties which present themselves as schools take on increased authority and responsibility for self‐management and for the creation of improved learning environments for students and teachers. We suggest that future change efforts should give more importance to the perspectives of teachers and students, and to the interactive and programmatic exchanges of teachers and students. We suggest also that changed school structures should originate in a focus on the improvement of teaching and learning, and on the facilitation of teachers’ and students’ collaborative efforts to create a curriculum for the classroom and a learning community which is both enabling and transformative for both.     

Why not? Examining college students’ reasons for avoiding an online course

A large number of studies have compared learning outcomes in fully online courses to those in face-to-face courses. Fewer studies have examined why students choose to enrol in fully online courses to begin with, and no study has yet addressed the question of why some students choose not to register in online courses. This study contributes to scholarly understanding of online education by examining for the first time why students may choose to take a large lecture course face-to-face, when they know that the same course is offered by their institution online in the same semester, for the same credit and at the same tuition cost. Through a survey, 48 students in a face-to-face offering of an introductory Educational Psychology course reported why they chose to attend lectures and tutorials in person when they could have earned the same credit without doing so. A majority of respondents suggested that they believed they would learn better face-to-face, and expressed informal theories about why this would be the case. We examine these informal theories, and the possible implications they may have for future research and institutional planning with regard to online course offerings.     

An instrument for analysing students’ argumentative reasoning when participating in debates

The aims of this paper are twofold. First, we present, justify, and characterise an instrument for analysing students’ argumentative reasoning developed from Walton’s ideas. Then, from the analysis of students’ argumentative discussion about a socio-scientific controversy, we identify the advantages and disadvantages of using the instrument. The results show that the analysis of students’ argumentative reasoning require nine stages, which have logical and pragmatic criteria that should be used in order to decrease the subjectivity of the analysis. The analysis sheds light on the characterisation of students’ argumentative reasoning by supporting the understanding of the move of students’ argumentative clusters, since it enables us to understand that: the argumentative quality depends on the relations between arguments and other statements; and an argumentative cluster can be developed according to the frequency of refutations or attacks by means of questions involving its constituents. This is because when arguments, questions, and/or claims are evaluated, the individuals have the possibility of bringing other reasons and/or arguments that support them in the discussion. Therefore, the main contribution of this study is the development of an instrument, based on dialectical principles, that contributes to analyse students’ argumentative discuss and to support discussions of their argumentative quality.     

Interrogating students’ perceptions of their online learning experiences with Brookfield’s critical incident questionnaire

This article discusses whether the very act of accessing online students’ experiences of teaching may itself foster students’ sense of belonging to a learning community. The article reports and reflects on the application of Brookfield’s critical incident questionnaire (CIQ) in postgraduate courses delivered online in 2008–2010 through the University of Newcastle in Australia. The anonymous CIQ is designed in part to access students’ views of teaching practice, and was deployed as part of an ongoing interest in quality teaching. The article makes recommendations for deploying the CIQ in online learning spaces and concludes with some reflections on unexpected opportunities thoughtful CIQ deployment may provide. The practice of sharing students’ anonymous responses may have helped to foster students’ sense of a shared learning community. This may be particularly valuable in an asynchronous online learning context where students are typically geographically isolated from one another.     

Persistence factors revealed: students’ reflections on completing a fully online program

Despite their rapid growth, online programs routinely face student attrition. How to retain students and help them successfully complete is usually a top priority for online programs. This study investigated persistence factors that contributed to students’ successful completion from one of the largest and most successful online programs in the United States of America. Results show that both personal and program attributes contributed to students’ successful completion of a fully online program. Main individual attributes include interest in or career goals related to technology, time and effort invested, and perceived utility of learning. Main program attributes include relevancy of courses to individual or professional needs, satisfaction with courses and program, and ties between coursework and job promotion. Results of this study have implications in terms of prioritizing different attributes and strategizing resources to improve completion and graduation rates for fully online programs.     

Using socrative as an online homework platform to increase students’ exam scores

Socrative is an online assessment and student response tool that provides opportunities to increase student engagement in the classroom. We used Socrative as an online homework completing platform to increase students’ exam scores in physics. To explore the relationships among factors and the educational effectiveness of Socrative, data from 85 undergraduate students’ final and midterm grades, and their responses to an attitude survey were used. The ANCOVA results demonstrated that the use of Socrative positively influenced students’ exam scores and a fairly significant correlation was found between students’ attitudes toward Socrative and final exam scores. Moreover, the results of the survey showed that students have moderately positive attitudes toward the use of Socrative as an online homework assignment platform. This empirical study indicates that the use of Socrative can go beyond engaging and motivating students and can be used as an online homework completing tool.