Effects of embedding a problem-posing-based learning guiding strategy into interactive e-books on students’ learning performance and higher order thinking tendency

Owing to the popularity of tablet computers and smart phones, e-books have become an important medium for both formal and informal learning. However, conventional e-books are mainly designed to provide information in the form of multimedia, implying that students spend most of their time memorizing and comprehending what they read from e-books, while seldom engaging in higher order thinking. In this study, a problem-posing framework is proposed for developing an interactive e-book for guiding students to observe and pose questions. An experiment on an elementary school natural science course was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The participants were 46 fourth-grade students. From the experimental results, it was found that the problem-posing-guiding interactive e-book can significantly improve the students’ learning achievements, critical thinking tendency, and deep motive. It was also found that the proposed approach did not increase the students’ cognitive load owing to the provision of proper supports during the problem-posing process, which has generally been identified as a challenging task.     

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.     

Effects of explicit and implicit prompts on students’ inquiry practices in computer-supported learning environments in high school earth science

The study explored how to best use scaffolds for supporting students’ inquiry practices in computer-supported learning environments. We designed a series of inquiry units assisted with three versions of written inquiry prompts (generic and context-specific); that is, three scaffold-fading conditions: implicit, explicit, and fading. We then examined how the three scaffold-fading conditions influenced students’ conceptual understanding, understanding of scientific inquiry, and inquiry abilities. Three grade-10 classes (N?=?105) participated in this study; they were randomly assigned to and taught in the three conditions. Data-collection procedures included a pretest–posttest approach and in-depth observations of the target students. The findings showed that after these inquiry units, all of the students exhibited significant learning gains in conceptual knowledge and performed better inquiry abilities regardless of which condition was used. The explicit and fading conditions were more effective in enhancing students’ understanding of scientific inquiry. The fading condition tended to better support the students’ development of inquiry abilities and help transfer these abilities to a new setting involving an independent socioscientific task about where to build a dam. The results suggest that fading plays an essential role in enhancing the effectiveness of scaffolds.     

Effects of different evaluative feedback on students’ self-efficacy in learning

Two studies examined the effects of four types of teachers’ evaluative feedback on Chinese students’ self-efficacy in English vocabulary acquisition. In Study 1, a random sample of Grade 8 students (N = 79) learned prefixes and received either formative or summative feedback after failure in test. The results showed that students who received summative feedback showed a larger decrease in their self-efficacy than those who received formative feedback. In Study 2, a random sample of Grade 7 students (N = 77) went through similar procedures as in Study 1 except that students received either self-referenced or norm-referenced feedback. The results showed that self-referenced feedback was more beneficial to students’ self-efficacy than norm-referenced feedback. The influences of teachers’ evaluation and feedback on students’ self-efficacy are discussed.     

Graduate students’ perspectives on using e-books for academic learning

The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore (a) how graduate students interpret their experiences with the use of e-books for learning, (b) which reasons influence their preference for e-books or printed books when they learn, (c) how they perceive the impact e-books have on their learning, and (d) how they compare learning experiences between the use of a given printed book and an e-book containing similar content but also offering additional multimedia options. Participants consisted of 20 graduate students from one midsize university in the United States. The major findings of this research were that graduate students generally prefer using e-books to printed texts. When studying and preparing for an exam, however, graduate students will only supersede their familiarity with printed text if a given e-book offers similar content as the printed text and provides additional resources. Research implications and recommendations for future research were also provided.     

Effects of online strategies on students’ learning performance,self-efficacy,self-regulation and critical thinking in university online courses

Educational technology research and development - Fostering students’ abilities to deal with practical problems is an important objective of professional training. To enable students to have...     

Activity features of high school students’ science learning in an open-inquiry-based internship programme

Science internships where students work with scientists have been suggested to have many positive impacts on students’ science learning. However, little research has been conducted to investigate the types of interactions that are beneficial for the development of science knowledge through an authentic internship experience. The purpose of this study was to illustrate the key features of dynamic interactions and activities involved in an open-inquiry-based internship programme for high school students. Drawing on cultural-historical activity theory, we aimed to describe the features of the internship activity system in terms of the moments of subject, object, tools, community, rules, division of labour, and outcome. Our analysis suggests that the activity system of the university internship has unique features that promote optimal science learning opportunities. The implications of these unique features are discussed and suggestions are made to improve K–12 science education.     

A comparative study of effect of new and old science curriculum on Chinese junior high school students’ abstract thinking

“Teenagers’ abstract thinking ability test” was designed in accordance with the structure and performance of teenagers’ ability to think abstractly. 138 Chinese junior high school students who learned New curriculum and old curriculum separately were measured. A comparison between the two kinds of students shows that abstract thinking ability of the former is notably higher than that of the latter. However, the performance of differences varies by school and gender.     

Effects of interactive teacher-generated drawings on students’ understanding of plate tectonics

Instructional Science - We investigate an interactive teacher-generated drawing strategy in which the teacher constructs a drawing with the help of the students. The students contribute their ideas...     

An investigation of Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy in relation to their conceptions of learning science

Background: Past studies have shown significant associations between students’ conceptions of learning science and their science learning self-efficacy. However, in most of the studies, students’ science learning self-efficacy has often been measured by a singular scale.

Purpose: Extending the findings of these studies, the present study adopted a multi-dimensional instrument to assess Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy and investigate the relationships with their conceptions of learning science.

Sample: A total of 488 Taiwanese high school students (265 male and 223 female) were invited to participate in this survey.

Design and method: All the participants responded to the Conceptions of Learning Science (COLS) questionnaire regarding ‘Memorizing’, ‘Testing’, ‘Calculating and practicing’, ‘Increase of knowledge’, ‘Applying’ and ‘Understanding and seeing in a new way’ and the Science Learning Self-Efficacy (SLSE) instrument, including ‘Conceptual understanding’, ‘Higher-Order cognitive skills’, ‘Practical work’, ‘Everyday application’ and ‘Science communication’.

Results: The path analysis results derived from the structural equation modeling method indicated that, of all five SLSE dimensions, the ‘Understanding and seeing in a new way’ COLS displayed as a positive predictor, while the ‘Testing’ COLS was a significant negative predictor. The ‘Applying’ COLS item can only positively contribute to the SLSE dimensions of ‘Higher-Order thinking skills’, ‘Everyday application’ and ‘Science Communication’.

Conclusions: In general, students in strong agreement with learning science as understanding and seeing in a new way or the application of learned scientific knowledge are prone to possess higher confidence in learning science. However, students who consider learning science in terms of preparing for tests and examinations tend to hold lower science learning self-efficacy.     

High school students’ acceptance and use of mobile technology in learning mathematics

The purpose of this research is to investigate factors affecting the acceptance and use of mobile technology in learning mathematics based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model. The study group comprised of 1640 students attending different types of high schools and grade levels. The results of the study revealed both direct and indirect effects of exogenous variables on Behavioral Intention and Use Behavior in mobile technology acceptance of high school students in learning mathematics. It was also found that the theoretical model was confirmed adequately based on the regression coefficients, the significance of the regression coefficients, and the goodness of fit indices obtained from the SEM analysis. The strongest predictors of Behavioral Intention were Hedonic Motivation and Habit, respectively. Exogenous variables of the study together explained 76% of the variance in Behavioral Intention and 13% of the variance in Use Behavior.

     

The effects of self-regulated learning training on community college students’ metacognition and achievement in developmental math courses

The effects of training in self-regulation on metacognition and math achievement were investigated. The participants were 116 community college students enrolled in developmental math courses. Students enrolled in 16 classrooms were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups. Participants in the treatment group completed four self-regulated learning (SRL) exercises based on Zimmerman’s (2002) cyclical model. The exercises were completed weekly and repeated for a total of 3 weeks. During the last week of class, participants completed a final exam to measure math achievement as well as the metacognitive self-regulation and time/study environment management scales on the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire ([MSLQ], Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991). There were significant differences between the two groups, indicating that training in SRL improved math achievement and metacognitive skills assessed on both MSLQ scales. The findings suggested that training in SRL improves math achievement, metacognitive self-regulation and time/study environmental management skills of students enrolled in developmental math courses.     

The influence of extracurricular activities on middle school students’ science learning in China

ABSTRACT

Informal science learning has been found to have effects on students’ science learning. Through the use of secondary data from a national assessment of 7410 middle school students in China, this study explores the relationship among five types of extracurricular science activities, learning interests, academic self-concept, and science achievement. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the influence of students’ self-chosen and school-organised extracurricular activities on science achievement through mediating interests and the academic self-concept. Chi-square tests were used to determine whether there was an opportunity gap in the student’s engagement in extracurricular activities. The students’ volunteer and school-organised participation in extracurricular science activities had a positive and indirect influence on their science achievement through the mediating variables of their learning interests and academic self-concept. However, there were opportunity gaps between different groups of students in terms of school location, family background, and especially the mother’s education level. Students from urban areas with better-educated mothers or higher socioeconomic status are more likely to access diverse science-related extracurricular activities.     

Assessing and tracking students’ problem solving performances in anchored learning environments

The purpose of this randomized experiment was to compare the performance of high-, average-, and low-achieving middle school students who were assessed with parallel versions of a computer-based test (CBT) or a paper-pencil test (PPT). Tests delivered in interactive, immersive environments like the CBT may have the advantage of providing teachers with diagnostic tools that can lead to instruction tailored to the needs of students at different achievement levels. To test the feasibility of CBT, students were randomly assigned to the CBT or PPT test conditions to measure what they had learned from an instructional method called enhanced anchored math instruction. Both assessment methods showed that students benefited from instruction and differentiated students by achievement status. The navigation maps generated from the CBT revealed that the low-achieving students were able to navigate the test, spent about the same amount of time solving the subproblems as the more advanced students, and made use of the learning scaffolds.

Classroom learning experiences and students’ perceptions of quality of school life

It is generally believed that classroom learning experiences very much influence students’ academic development. However, relatively little is known about whether classroom learning experiences have much effect on students’ affective and social development. In this study, we argued for the importance of learning experiences on students’ affective and social development. From research on Accelerated Schools Project and active learning, we conceptualised Positive Learning Experiences, Teacher Support in Learning, and Active Learning Experiences as three components of learning experiences and developed relevant measures to tap these learning experiences. Using research data from a large-scale student survey in Hong Kong (N = 19,477), we examined the construct validity of learning experiences and quality of school life. Confirmatory factor analysis provided very strong support for the measures and the underlying constructs that they tap. In two-way analysis of variance, the effects of gender and school level (secondary versus primary) on learning experiences and quality of school life were examined. Significant gender and school-level main effects, as well as gender by school-level interaction effects, were found for students’ ratings of their learning experiences and quality of school life. Female students gave more favourable ratings than male students, and primary students gave more favourable ratings than secondary students. In addition, gender differences in these ratings in secondary schools were relatively smaller than in primary schools. In subsequent multilevel modelling, learning experiences were strong predictors of quality of school life after controlling for the effects of gender, school level and average school achievement. These findings provide strong empirical support for the significance of classroom learning experiences for students’ social and affective development.

Effects of conceptual knowledge and availability of information sources on law students’ legal reasoning

Due to the complexity of the legal domain, reasoning about law cases is a very complex skill. For novices in law school, legal reasoning is even more complex because they have not yet acquired the conceptual knowledge needed for distilling the relevant information from cases, determining applicable rules, and searching for rules and exceptions in external information sources such as lawbooks. This study investigated the role of conceptual knowledge in solving legal cases when no information sources can be used. Under such ‘unsupported’ circumstances, novice and advanced students performed less well than domain experts, but even experts’ performance was rather low. The second question addressed was whether novices even benefit from the availability of information sources (i.e., lawbook), because conceptual knowledge is prerequisite for effective use of such sources. Indeed availability of the lawbook positively affected performance only for advanced students but not for novice students. Implications for learning and instruction in the domain of law are discussed.     

The affective domain of junior high school students in an audio‐tutorial biology setting

The learning unit, ‘The Cell’, was implemented in a ninth grade junior high school biology course using an individualized audio‐tutorial (IAT) method of instruction. Students’ learning environment their attitudes toward the method and toward science and the understanding of the process of science were investigated. The sample consisted of 105 students in the experimental group and 65 in the control group which was instructed in a traditional lecture‐laboratory method. Data were treated by analysis of covariance and the t‐test results indicate that aspects of the learning environment, such as cooperation and cohesiveness did not diminish in the IAT group, and that factors such as cliqueness, favouritism and competition did not increase. While students expressed favourable attitudes toward some aspects of the IAT method (performing experiments individually, development of independent thinking, self‐examination, rate of learning and self‐achievement), no changes occurred in their attitudes toward science and their understanding the processes of science as a result of being instructed in an IAT setting. Regarding differences between girls and boys, girls expressed more favourable attitudes than boys toward the individualized aspects of the IAT method.     

Asking students to be active learners: the effects of totally or partially self-generating a graphic organizer on students’ learning performances

Instructional Science - We compared performances on a learning task in which students (N?=?81) viewed a pedagogical multimedia document without (control group) or with a readymade...     

Effectiveness of digital education shifting model on high school students’ engagement

Education and Information Technologies - Digital learning has often been criticized due to its lack of student engagement, which results from the physical absence of teachers and the lack of direct...