Examining ontological and self-monitoring scaffolding to improve complex systems thinking with a participatory simulation

Instructional Science - Most of humanity’s important and difficult problems such as pandemics, environmental health, and social unrest require recognizing and understanding complex systems....     

The relationship between formative assessment and reading achievement: A multilevel analysis of students in 19 countries/regions

Despite the general consensus on the positive impact of formative assessment on student learning, researchers have not shown the underlying mechanisms between specific formative assessment strategies and academic performance on an international sample. This study examines the link between student and teacher reports of teachers’ formative assessment strategies (i.e. clarifying goals and monitoring progress, providing feedback, and instructional adjustments) and students’ reading achievement, based on data from 151,969 fifteen-year-olds in 5,225 schools in 19 countries/regions in PISA 2018 via multilevel analysis of plausible values. The results show that clarifying goals and monitoring progress, and instruction adjustments are positively linked to reading achievement, but providing feedback alone has no significant impact. These findings highlight the complexity of formative assessment as a multifaceted concept and the different impacts of formative assessment strategies on student learning. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Applying the DT-CDIO engineering design model in a flipped learning programming course

A web design course has complex and diverse skills, which may attract students with an interest in technology and art fields to learn to program. It makes a need to have a flexible learning framework to develop all students to learn in a programming course. This study was designed to develop students’ learning achievement and computational thinking (CT) abilities by using a Design Thinking (DT)—Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) engineering design framework in a flipped web programming course. The participants were 41 students (males?=?17, females?=?24) coming from a Taiwan University. All of the students (20–21 years old) had e-learning-related backgrounds in a teacher’s college. The experiment was conducted for 14 weeks. The flipped learning and flipped DT-CDIO course each had a total teaching time of 6 weeks, and the midterm exam and final exam each took one week. We used a questionnaire and formative assessment to examine the students’ computational thinking ability and learning achievement before and after the course was applied. The results showed the students significantly improved their learning achievement and computational thinking ability. There were no significant gender differences in learning achievement. Some gender differences could be seen in some dimensions of CT ability. This study shows that the DT-CDIO framework brings many benefits to promote interdisciplinary learning by attracting STEAM talent and providing evidence to support the importance of flipped web programming courses.

     

Design of an e-diploma system based on consortium blockchain and facial recognition

Education and Information Technologies - Paper certificates are difficult to carry, easy to lose, easy to forge and with other security issues, which were not solved until the emergence of...     

Teachers’ reports of learning and application to pedagogy based on engagement in collaborative peer video analysis

Given international use of video-based reflective discussions in teacher education, and the limited knowledge about whether teachers apply learning from these discussions, we explored teachers’ learning of new ideas about pedagogy and their self-reported application of this learning. Nine inservice and 48 preservice teachers participated in video-based reflective discussions and documented their learning, sources of knowledge that contributed to their learning, and application of this learning to their teaching in their practica courses. A total of 227 response sheets with this information were collected. Multilevel logit regression was used to examine how sources of learning and content learned were related to teachers’ application of learning to their teaching practices. We found that teachers reported applying 40% of their learning; particularly, what they learned about methods and materials for instruction, and that they learned from both video and discussion almost equally.     

Teacher leadership in university–school collaboration for school improvement (USCSI) on the Chinese Mainland

Educational Research for Policy and Practice - This article presents the findings of a qualitative study on teacher leadership in the context of university–school collaboration for school...     

Dissecting sequences of regulation and cognition: statistical discourse analysis of primary school children’s collaborative learning

Extending past research showing that regulative activities (metacognitive and relational) can aid learning, this study tests whether sequences of cognitive, metacognitive and relational activities affect subsequent cognition. Scaffolded by a computer avatar, 54 primary school students (working in 18 groups of 3) discussed writing a report about a foreign country for 51,338 turns. Statistical discourse analysis (SDA) of these sequences of talk showed that after low cognition, high cognition, planning or evaluation, both low and high cognition were more likely (some effects lasted 6 conversation turns). After monitoring or positive relational activities (confirm, engage), low cognition was more likely. After a denial however, high cognition was less likely. These results suggest that metacognitive planning organizes subsequent cognitive activities and facilitates the transition between acquisition of knowledge and meaning making, while relational activities help enact them. These insights can inform micro-temporal theories of social regulation and shared knowledge construction.     

Distribution of lower extremity work during clean variations performed with different effort

The purpose of this research was to investigate how lower extremity work was distributed during the pull of cleans performed lifting the barbell to the minimum height required to receive it in a full squat (minimal height clean); or with maximum effort to elevate the barbell as high as possible and receiving it in either a full (maximal effort clean) or partial (power clean) squat. Eight weightlifters screened for proficient technique performed these clean variations at 80% of one repetition maximum. Work performed on the barbell and by the lower extremity net joint moments (NJM) was computed from marker trajectories and ground reaction forces. Total barbell work, lower extremity NJM work, knee extensor work, and knee joint excursion during the second pull was lower in the minimal height clean than the maximal effort and power cleans (P < 0.05). This research demonstrates that more knee extensor work is performed in the second pull of maximal effort and power cleans compared to the minimal height clean. The larger knee extensor work performed is due to larger knee joint excursion during the second pull of the maximal effort and power cleans, but not larger knee extensor NJM.     

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI-SP) in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to translate Arnold and her colleagues’ (Arnold, Fletcher, & Daniels, 2013) Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI-SP) into Chinese and examine its psychometric properties with Taiwanese athletes. In study 1, the psychometric properties of the items and the underlying structure of the translated Chinese OSI-SP were examined. In study 2, we used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the factorial structure and examined measurement invariance across genders. In study 3, we examined concurrent and discriminant validity via correlations among the Chinese OSI-SP, coping self-efficacy, perceived stress, and burnout to provide further evidence of criterion validity. Study 4 examined the test-retest reliability of the Chinese OSI-SP. Across these phases, results showed the 5-factor, 16-item Chinese OSI-SP had adequate factor structure, measurement invariance, criterion validity, and reliabilities. We suggest future studies may use this revised Chinese OSI-SP in Taiwan and other Chinese athletic settings.     

The mediating effects of needs satisfaction on the relationships between prior knowledge and self-regulated learning through artificial intelligence chatbot

The anthropomorphic characteristics of artificial intelligence (AI) can provide a positive environment for self-regulated learning (SRL). The factors affecting adolescents' SRL through AI technologies remain unclear. Limited AI and disciplinary knowledge may affect the students' motivations, as explained by self-determination theory (SDT). In this study, we examine the mediating effects of needs satisfaction in SDT on the relationship between students' previous technical (AI) and disciplinary (English) knowledge and SRL, using an AI conversational chatbot. Data were collected from 323 9th Grade students through a questionnaire and a test. The students completed an AI basic unit and then learned English with a conversational chatbot for 5 days. Confidence intervals were calculated to investigate the mediating effects. We found that students' previous knowledge of English but not their AI knowledge directly affected their SRL with the chatbot, and that satisfying the need for autonomy and competence mediated the relationships between both knowledge (AI and English) and SRL, but relatedness did not. The self-directed nature of SRL requires heavy cognitive learning and satisfying the need for autonomy and competence may more effectively engage young children in this type of learning. The findings also revealed that current chatbot technologies may not benefit students with relatively lower levels of English proficiency. We suggest that teachers can use conversational chatbots for knowledge consolidation purposes, but not in SRL explorations.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can potentially support students' self-regulated learning (SRL) of disciplinary knowledge through chatbots.
• Needs satisfaction in Self-determination theory (SDT) can explain the directive process required for SRL.
• Technical and disciplinary knowledge would affect SRL with technologies.

What this paper adds

• This study examines the mediating effects of needs satisfaction in SDT on the relationship between students' previous AI (technical) and English (disciplinary) knowledge and SRL, using an AI conversational chatbot.
• Students' previous knowledge of English but not their AI knowledge directly affected their SRL with the chatbot.
• Autonomy and competence were mediators, but relatedness was not.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• Teachers should use chatbots for knowledge consolidation rather than exploration.
• Teachers should support students' competence and autonomy, as these were found to be the factors that directly predicted SRL.
• School leaders and teacher educators should include the mediating effects of needs satisfaction in professional development programmes for digital education.