The role of students' motivation in peer‐moderated asynchronous online discussions

This study conducted a content analysis of online discussions to understand the nature of computer‐supported collaborative learning and discover how students' motivation, which is a crucial factor to the success of collaborative learning, relates with their interaction and knowledge construction in peer‐moderated online discussions. Discussion contents from 23 students in an online class were analysed. The results indicated that perceived value, competence and autonomy were critical factors that influenced lower level interactions; intrinsic motivation was the critical factor that influenced the individualistic elaboration interactions, whereas relatedness was the critical factor that influenced the collaborative elaboration interactions. The results also indicated that autonomy and relatedness were the critical factors that influenced the moderation behaviours. The findings suggest that teachers in online classes should promote students' motivation, and more importantly, scaffold student moderators in meaningful learning during peer‐moderated online discussions.     

An Analysis of Peer Assessment Online Discussions within a Course that uses Project-based Learning

In recent years project-based learning (PBL) incorporating online discussions has gradually been applied to courses that focus on writing projects. Past studies have shown that learners in PBL often face the difficulties of not having in-depth data analysis and peer discussions and how teachers design the rules and methods for online discussions has a significant influence on the quality of discussion. Since using a peer assessment strategy in the classroom could facilitate learners' critical thinking and meta-cognitive skills, this study conducts an empirical observational study in order to analyse the content and process of the discussion activities based on peer assessment without teacher intervention and tries to explore students' knowledge construction of the discussion. Sequential analysis and content analysis were conducted to observe the scale of each aspect of knowledge construction and the sequential pattern of students' knowledge construction during the discussions. Teachers didn't provide any guidance or intervention during the activity. Based on the results of the observations, this study discusses the possible difficulties that students may encounter when conducting peer assessment online discussions. Finally, this study also proposes suggestions about the timing and methods for teacher interventions.     

Learning through discussions

Students studying a third‐year e‐commerce subject experienced face‐to‐face and online discussions as an important part of their learning experience. The quality of the students' experiences of learning through those discussions is investigated in this study. This study uses qualitative approaches to investigate the variation in the students' understanding of what they were learning through discussions, and how they went about engaging in them. Quantitative analyses are used to investigate how the students' experience related to their performance. Key outcomes of the study include that the quality of the students' experience of learning through discussions is positively related to their performance and that face‐to‐face and online discussions have qualitatively different benefits for learning.     

Project-based learning and student knowledge construction during asynchronous online discussion

Project-based learning engages students in problem solving through artefact design. However, previous studies of online project-based learning have focused primarily on the dynamics of online collaboration; students' knowledge construction throughout this process has not been examined thoroughly. This case study analyzed the relationship between students' levels of knowledge construction during asynchronous online discussions with respect to engagement in project-based learning. Graduate students' online postings in a course that comprised both project-based and non-project learning activities were coded and counted for knowledge construction, teaching, and social interaction moves using computer-mediated discourse analysis. Chi-square analyses found that the instructor's teaching discourse remained fairly consistent during project-based and non-project learning. Despite this, students' online discussions during project-based learning were characterized by more advanced levels of knowledge construction, where ideas were rationalized and integrated into plausible solutions. In contrast, students' online postings outside project-based learning rarely moved beyond the lower levels of information sharing and idea exploration. Based on these results, guidelines for designing and facilitating online project-based learning are presented and discussed.     

Professional capacity and organizational change as measures of educational effectiveness: assessing the impact of postgraduate education in Development Policy and Management

We tend to measure educational performance by students' attainment in coursework or examinations. In the case of professional education, the impact of the educational programme on the students' own capacities to enhance their work practices, and the wider organizational effects of the students' education and training, are also key ‘products’ of the educational process. This is particularly important with education for Development Policy and Management (DPAM), which is directly concerned with capacity‐building. This article adopts a work‐related approach to educational effectiveness and examines four professional programmes in DPAM—three in Southern Africa and one in the UK. Through the analysis of the results of surveys and case studies, the article demonstrates how a positive learning experience is related to the application of learning at work. However the conditions for applying learning also depend strongly on organizational context, as do the wider organizational impacts of learning. The article presents a broad approach to assessing educational effectiveness in professional programmes which incorporate these factors.     

Recognizing socially shared regulation by using the temporal sequences of online chat and logs in CSCL

The increasing amount of empirical research shows that the role of regulatory processes is critical in CSCL and collaborative learning settings. However, the current conceptual definitions and specificity of the findings vary. This is most probably because of limitations in the methods investigating regulated learning in a collaborative learning context. This study aimed to provide empirical evidence for how self- and shared regulation activities are used and whether they are useful for collaborative learning outcomes. Eighteen graduate students worked in collaborative groups for seven weeks in a CSCL course and the data of this study focuses on three one week online collaborative learning phases in the course. Temporal and sequential analysis of chat discussions and log file traces were matched to find evidence about whether the students' collaboratively planned regulatory activities became shared in practice. The results show evidence that collaborative planned regulatory activities become shared in practice. The groups that achieved good learning results used multiple regulatory processes to support their learning and also reached shared regulation. The four microlevel examples demonstrate simplified patterns of the activation of self-regulation and shared regulation. In conclusion, individual socially shared regulation plays a critical role in successful collaborative learning.     

Mobile phone images and video in science teaching and learning

This article reports a study into how mobile phones could be used to enhance teaching and learning in secondary school science. It describes four lessons devised by groups of Sri Lankan teachers all of which centred on the use of the mobile phone cameras rather than their communication functions. A qualitative methodological approach was used to analyse data collected from the teachers' planning, observations of the lessons and subsequent interviews with selected pupils. The results show that using images and video captured on mobile phones supported the teachers not only in bringing the outside world into the classroom but also in delivering instructions, in assessing students' learning and in correcting students' misconceptions. In these instances, the way the images from the mobile phone cameras supported students' learning is explained using a variety of approaches to understand how images support learning.     

同伴指导对大学生学习结果的影响研究——基于30项实验或准实验研究的元分析

学界对于同伴互动对大学生学习结果的影响效用尚未达成统一结论。本研究采用元分析方法对30项实验或准实验研究展开系统量化分析。研究结果表明：同伴指导对大学生学习结果呈中等偏上的积极促进效应,合并效应值为0.782;同伴指导对大学生学业成绩和专业技能的促进作用突出,但对情感态度发展的促进作用较小;其效应受指导时长、指导形式、指导年级和课程类型等调节变量的影响。高校应优化制度环境,建立协同、可持续的同伴指导机制,选择短周期、跨年级和小组指导的同伴指导模式,从而更为有效地提升大学生学习结果。     

‘Shoot for the moon!’ Students' identities as writers in the context of the classroom

A study of students' identities as writers was carried out in the classroom of a New Zealand primary teacher who had been formally identified by a national body of teachers as having excellent practice in supporting literacy acquisition. The researchers, Professor Janice Wearmouth, from the University of Bedfordshire, Mere Berryman, from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and Lisa Whittle, from the Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand, aimed to compare high and low literacy achievers' identities as writers within the context of this teacher's pedagogy and the learning environment of her classroom. The researchers concluded that all students, both high and low achievers, were developing very positive writing identities in a context where the teacher's method of supporting her students' writing was very well planned through a process‐writing approach. This teacher had a very high degree of subject and pedagogical content knowledge and an acute awareness of her students' literacy learning needs. Her approach had an immediacy of responsiveness in relation to every student's learning and, above all, had recognition of the overwhelming importance of positive relationships in the classroom, teacher to student and peer to peer.     

Development of a peer‐assisted learning strategy in computer‐supported collaborative learning environments for elementary school students

This study explores the effects of Electronic Peer‐Assisted Learning for Kids (EPK), on the quality and development of reading skills, peer interaction and self‐concept in elementary students. The EPK methodology uses a well‐developed, synchronous computer‐supported, collaborative learning system to facilitate students' learning in Chinese. We first review the theoretical framework and architecture of EPK. This study aimed to compare students learning Chinese language arts activities online using EPK with students learning face‐to‐face in a classroom setting. Students' online interactions were coded into four patterns of peer interactions: task coordination, tutor behaviour, tutee behaviour and off‐task. The online activity type significantly influenced the online peer interactions. Students in the online peer‐assisted learning group outperformed the face‐to‐face group on reading skills. Students learning online showed significant growth in self‐concept, and this was especially true for students who were passive participants. These findings demonstrate that EPK is an effective tool that can enhance elementary students' reading, as well as promote positive self‐concepts.     

Overseas students' intercultural adaptation as intercultural learning: a transformative framework

In the context of increasing recruitment of overseas students by British higher education (HE) institutions, there has been a growing need to understand the process of students' intercultural adaptation and the approaches that can be adopted by British academic institutions in order to facilitate and support these students' learning experience in the UK. Drawing upon one‐year of in‐depth qualitative research investigating the experience of a small cohort of Chinese postgraduate students' in a British university, I explore the three‐fold ‘stress‐adaptation‐growth’ intercultural learning process of these participants by focusing the discussions on the their lived experience in the UK. The key argument of this article is that intercultural adaptation is in itself a process of intercultural learning, which has the potential to bring about profound changes in overseas students themselves, transforming their understanding of the learning experience, self knowledge, awareness of the Other, and values and worldview.     

Fast Kids,Slow Kids,Lazy Kids: Framing the Mismatch Problem in Mathematics Teachers' Conversations

Abstract

This article examines the social nature of teachers' conceptions by showing how teachers frame the “mismatch” of students' perceived abilities and the intended school curriculum through conversational category systems. This study compares the conversations of 2 groups of high school mathematics teachers addressing the Mismatch Problem when implementing equity-geared reforms. Although East High teachers challenged conceptions that were not aligned with a reform, South High teachers reworked a reform mandate to align with their existing conceptions. This research found that the teachers' conversational category systems modeled problems of practice; communicated assumptions about students, subject, and teaching; and were ultimately reflected in the curriculum. Because East High teachers supported greater numbers of students' success in advanced mathematics, this study considers the relation between teachers' understandings of student learning and the success of equity-geared math reforms. In addition, this study contributes to the understanding of how teacher conceptions of students are negotiated and reified in context, specifically through interactions with colleagues and experiences with school reform.     

Implementing Peer Learning Across Organisations: The development of a model

Peer learning can be implemented by individual teachers within an organisation or can be implemented across an organisation by a central implementer. In this article, it is argued that the types of approach required in these two forms of implementation are very different and whilst the former is dealt with in the literature on peer learning, the latter has been largely unconsidered. The article reports how a review of the literature on organisational change was used to develop a model of how to implement peer learning across organisations. It describes how this model was used to guide the implementation of peer learning across a UK further education college. The results of a pilot study into the model's effectiveness in this context are reported. These results suggest that the model appeared to be a useful guide to the implementation of peer learning across an organisation and, as such, is worthy of further investigation in other contexts.     

Effects of Peer-Led Online Asynchronous Discussion on Undergraduate Students' Cognitive Achievement

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of peer leadership on students' cognitive achievement in online asynchronous discussions. Undergraduate students from a large online course were randomly assigned into groups for four asynchronous discussions, with each group having two to three peer leaders. Results of the mixed-method analysis revealed that the quality of student leaders' lower-order cognitive achievement in online discussion was significantly better than that of student responders. Student leaders' higher-order cognitive level achievement in online discussion had at least the same quality as that of student responders. Moreover, both students' higher-order and lower-order cognitive achievement in discussions had positive and moderate correlation with students' course achievement. Further study should focus on methods to maximize student responders' cognitive achievement in online peer-led discussions.     

Learning through Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities in Facilitating Student Learning in Food Science and Nutrition by Using the Interteaching Approach

ABSTRACT: Interteaching is a new pedagogical strategy for classroom instruction that demonstrates great effective student learning outcomes in the field of psychology. It is a 20 to 30 min student‐to‐student discussion addressing the main points in a specified body of reading materials. Interteaching includes elements such as reciprocal peer tutoring, cooperative learning, and problem‐based learning. These elements have been well theorized and their effectiveness has been empirically documented. To date, little is known about the effects of interteaching on students' perceived learning outcomes in food science and nutrition. This case study describes how the interteach method was employed in an undergraduate nutrition and food science course with specific examples of the tools used, such as interteach preparation guides, the interteach record form, and the peer assessment form. Based on the continuous feedback provided by the students during the course work, several specific modifications were made from the conventional interteaching methods, including 4‐person interteaching instead of one‐on‐one interteaching, as well as the use of in‐class thought‐provoking “synthesis” questions. At the end of the course, we assessed the students' perceptions of interteaching, as well as the students' perceived learning outcomes. The method generally fostered critical thinking and enhanced their motivation, which led to their perceived learning. On the other hand, some of the students expressed challenges in learning from peers due to their peers' varied preparation levels, as well as tackling complex scientific concepts prior to lectures. Further investigation is needed to develop possible strategies for accommodating the challenges among students with different learning styles.     

“Applying anatomy to something I care about”: Authentic inquiry learning and student experiences of an inquiry project

Despite advances to move anatomy education away from its didactic history, there is a continued need for students to contextualize their studies to make learning more meaningful. This article investigates authentic learning in the context of an inquiry‐based approach to learning human gross anatomy. Utilizing a case‐study design with three groups of students (n = 18) and their facilitators (n = 3), methods of classroom observations, interviews, and artifact collection were utilized to investigate students' experiences of learning through an inquiry project. Qualitative data analysis through open and selective coding produced common meaningful themes of group and student experiences. Overall results demonstrate how the project served as a unique learning experience where learners engaged in the opportunity to make sense of anatomy in context of their interests and wider interdisciplinary considerations through collaborative, group‐based investigation. Results were further considered in context of theoretical frameworks of inquiry‐based and authentic learning. Results from this study demonstrate how students can engage anatomical understandings to inquire and apply disciplinary considerations to their personal lives and the world around them. Anat Sci Educ 10: 538–548. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Progression in Ethical Reasoning When Addressing Socio-scientific Issues in Biotechnology

This article reports on the outcomes of an intervention in a Swedish school in which the author, a teacher-researcher, sought to develop students' (14–15 years old) ethical reasoning in science through the use of peer discussions about socio-scientific issues. Prior to the student discussions various prompts were used to highlight different aspects of the issues. In addition, students were given time to search for further information themselves. Analysis of students' written arguments, from the beginning of the intervention and afterwards, suggests that many students seem to be moving away from their use of everyday language towards using scientific concepts in their arguments. In addition, they moved from considering cloning and ‘designer babies’ solely in terms of the present to considering them in terms of the future. Furthermore, the students started to approach the issues in additional ways using not only consequentialism but also the approaches of virtue ethics, and rights and duties. Students' progression in ethical reasoning could be related to the characteristics of the interactions in peer discussions as students who critically and constructively argued with each other's ideas, and challenged each other's claims, made progress in more aspects of ethical reasoning than students merely using cumulative talk. As such, the work provides valuable indications for the importance of introducing peer discussions and debates about SSIs in connection to biotechnology into the teaching of science in schools.     

Silenced Truths: Relational and Emotional Dimensions of a Beginning Teacher's Identity as Part of the Micropolitical Context of School

This article focuses on teacher identity. Based on two small stories told in a peer group by a beginning teacher, we ask: How does a beginning teacher tell about her identity as part of the micropolitical context of school? Theoretically and methodologically, the research is committed to a narrative approach in understanding teacher identity. The material consists of small stories based on videotaped peer group discussions of 11 Finnish teachers. The results of the research illustrate the micropolitical context at the heart of how a beginning teacher's identity is constructed through diverse emotionally significant relationships. Narrative ways of working, such as group discussions, can offer teachers an opportunity to recognize different dimensions of their identity.