Advances in Educational Research and Evaluation

The tower of teaching-learning interactions in online live classes: Considering the impact of class size

2023-05-31T09:40:18+08:00

During the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning has become an important and widely used form of education. Many studies have pointed out that interaction is key to online learning. The Interaction Hierarchy Theory categorizes interactions in remote teaching into three types: operational, informational, and conceptual. Operational interaction serves as the foundation for all types of interactions and refers to the interface interactions that learners engage in at the behavioral level through the use of media features and tools in online learning. However, should we simply encourage higher intensity operational interaction? Specifically, live teaching, as a form of remote teaching, has a higher sense of immediacy and synchronicity compared to asynchronous learning. Should we encourage and guide students to engage in more operational interaction during live teaching? How would it affect learners' informational and conceptual interactions? In this study, 137 students from 21 live classes were grouped according to class size and operational interaction intensity, and their levels of informational and conceptual interaction were explored. The results showed that the conceptual interaction intensity of learners in live teaching was higher than the informational interaction intensity, and operational interaction intensity and class size both had an impact on informational interaction, but a weaker impact on conceptual interaction. Operational interaction can affect conceptual interaction through informational interaction, especially through the mediation of student-resource informational interaction. The contribution of this study lies in verifying the establishment of the interaction hierarchy tower in the live teaching scene, that is, there are three different levels of interactive influence chains from operational interaction, informational interaction and conceptual interaction. Operational interaction and class size have a strong influence on information interaction directly and conceptual interaction indirectly. In online learning aiming at high-level interaction such as conceptual interaction, designers should not blindly promote operational interaction, but should pay attention to the promoting effect of operational interaction on informational interaction, and the operational interaction without effect on learners' informational interaction is invalid. In addition to enhancing operational interaction, controlling class size is also a way to facilitate informational interaction.

Advancing the concept of triangulation from social sciences research to mathematics education

2022-10-26T15:48:22+08:00

The paper suggests interpreting the term triangulation, commonly used in social science research, as multiple ways of solving a problem in the context of mathematics education. The availability of different technological tools provides new perspectives on problem solving as modeling from where ideas for problem posing stem. Using topics from geometry and trigonometry, triangulation is considered through lens of teacher education. Reflections by teacher candidates on activities which are shared and reviewed in the paper indicate future teachers’ readiness to implement the pedagogy of triangulated perspectives on problem solving and posing in their own mathematics classrooms.

The use of GoSoapBox for teaching and learning

2022-05-19T08:28:28+08:00

The complexity of relationships between teaching and learning practices is increasing as we rethink higher education in the age of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The availabilities and capabilities of ICT tools enable us to explore the process of teaching and learning in a more unconventional manner. This paper seeks to share an online ICT tool, GoSoapBox, that comprises three key pedagogical ideas in teaching and learning: student interaction (via Discussion), student engagement (via Quiz), and student evaluation (via Poll). While the emphasis is not on advocating the ICT product, the recognition of the affordances of this suggested tool is significant in ensuring the pedagogical ideas could be achieved. Apart from the fundamental benefits that GoSoapBox could offer, the paper also outlines innovative ideas that could advance the process of teaching and learning by adopting the proposed tool in the classroom, including the positive sharing from the academics who had used this tool before, as well as the limitations of the tool which need to be aware of when using it for academic purposes. The paper concludes that constant analysis of practices drives the improvement of teaching and learning processes, with the possibility of incorporating a suitable ICT tool to make this process more efficient and effective.

Reflecting on the first two years of journal AERE

2021-12-09T13:52:34+08:00

To conclude my reflections on the first two years of AERE, I would like to encourage our authors to continue supporting the journal by publishing with us their wonderful papers and, as a way of expanding coverage to new disciplines and subject matters, to welcome high-quality submissions from STEM education researchers.

Como una flor/like a flower, we bloom: Memories along the community college pathway

2021-08-30T09:58:15+08:00

Previous studies on Mexican American students in community college have demonstrated a sense of resilience in completing their studies. However, such studies have been student-centric in advising that cultural capital be utilized in fostering student success. In this article, we advise the incorporation of pedagogical conocimientos as a tool for the professional development of faculty, staff and administrators in humanizing the community college experience. The findings in this article explore ways in which three students draw upon their memories in furthering their education. We analyze how students make sense of lived experiences and transmit them into their educational trajectory.

Teachers’ self-efficacy: Associations with teacher and student characteristics and effects of the anger management intervention, the Mini-Diamond

2021-11-03T14:59:14+08:00

Teacher self-efficacy (TSE) is the term used for teachers’ beliefs about their capacity to positively influence students’ learning and social environment. How TSE influences incidences of teacher burnout and student academic achievement has been the focus of previous research. Studies investigating the associations between TSE and socio-demographic characteristics are sparse, and little is known about the possible effects of school-based interventions on TSE. In order to address these areas of research, the aims of this study were twofold. First, the study examined associations between TSE and a) teachers’ socio-demographic characteristics, and b) student’s school-related well-being. Secondly, we investigated the effect of a school-based angermanagement intervention, the Mini-Diamond, on TSE. Students from grades 0 to 2 and their teachers, from all schools in two Danish municipalities, participated in the study. Teachers completed two questionnaires, including the Danish version of the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale and a questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics. All students filled out a school well-being questionnaire. The questionnaires were completed prior to and after the intervention. Positive associations were found between TSE and teachers’ age, showing that the older the teacher, the higher the TSE. Furthermore, positive associations between TSE and years of experience, as well as TSE and students’ school connectedness, were found. No effects were found of the school intervention on TSE.

An investigation into barriers to student engagement in Higher Education: Evidence supporting ‘the psychosocial and academic trust alienation theory’

2022-05-27T20:21:41+08:00

The purpose of this research was to examine the new concept of, ‘psychosocial and academic trust alienation theory’; the potential influence of self-concept, self-esteem and trust as barriers to student engagement. The study was conducted in a Higher Education University campus located within a 16-19 year old Further Education Institution.A constructivist epistemology, underpinned by symbolic interaction theory utilising a mixed methods approach formed the research design. The sample population were students enrolled at the participating institution and employed teaching staff. Quantitative surveys were completed by 39 students, supported by two qualitative staff focus groups and one qualitative student case study to examine an outlier result. Findings suggest 87% of the student participant sample aligned with the ‘psychosocial and academic trust alienation theory’. Barriers to student engagement were; specific classroom and assessment activities, relationships with teaching staff and peers, staff absences and staff turnover, all having a significant impact on students’ psychosocial and academic trust. The contribution of this research to the field of Higher Education is three-fold; firstly, findings support the ‘psychosocial and academic trust alienation theory’, secondly it provides insights into the psychological barriers to engagement for the Widening Participation student demographic, thirdly it proposes practical strategies for supporting Widening Participation students in Higher Education. Recommendations for practice include i) counselling, coaching and mentoring support from teaching staff, ii) initiatives to reduce staff turnover and sickness, iii) social pedagogical teaching approaches, iv) teacher training, and, v) peer based learning opportunities to cultivate communities of practice. These strategies could strengthen Widening Participation student’s psychosocial and academic trust, thus reducing barriers to student engagement in Higher Education, contributing to increased social mobility success rates in the United Kingdom and beyond.

Quality culture in action for a respiratory course: A dynamic CQI process at an engineering based allopathic medical school

2021-06-03T11:29:40+08:00

Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CIMED) opened its doors in 2018 as an allopathic medical school under provisional accreditation by the Liaison Committee of Medical Education (LCME) and in 2014, the LCME mandated that all U.S. medical schools implement the process of internal continuous quality improvement (CQI). Here, the authors take a retrospective look at how CIMED utilized frequent and granular student feedback to contribute to continuous quality improvement (CQI) during the school’s Respiratory course, by citing specific examples of changes and student satisfaction outcomes from the inaugural class (2018) to the second class (2019). The authors outline how this cycle of evaluation and action can effectively incorporate students into the CQI process to enhance student success via faculty-student partnership. Furthermore, the authors discuss the nuance of feedback interpretation by the involved faculty and advocate for CQI based on a deeper understanding of the student experience such that change initiated by CQI may extend beyond benchmark data collection. The authors discuss how dynamic feedback may be helpful in achieving equipoise between long-standing principles of medical pedagogy and newer trends in medical education, while still maintaining student satisfaction and continuing to develop a culture of quality improvement.

Holding teachers accountable: An old-fashioned, dry, and boring perspective

2021-04-25T15:14:18+08:00

Few would disagree with the desirability to hold teachers accountable, but student evaluations of teaching and department head evaluations of teaching fail to do the job validly. Although this may be due, in part, to difficulties conceptualizing teaching effectiveness and student learning, it also is due to insufficient attention to measurement reliability. Measurement reliability sets an upper bound on measurement validity, thereby guaranteeing that unreliable measures of teaching effectiveness are invalid too. In turn, for measures of teaching effectiveness to be reliable, the items in the measure must correlate well with each other, there must be many items, or both. Unfortunately, at most universities, those who are tasked with teaching assessment do not understand the basics of psychometrics, thereby rendering their assessments of teachers invalid. To ameliorate unsatisfactory assessment procedures, the present article addresses the relationship between reliability and validity, some requirements of reliable and valid measures, and the psychometric implications for current teaching assessment practices.

Is the Three Character Classic (《三字经》) still suitable for contemporary literacy and enlightenment education for children? Insights from the perspective of cognitive psychology and child development psychology

2021-03-25T14:30:32+08:00

The Three Character Classic (《三字经》), also translated as San Zi Jing or The Triword Primer, is the traditional Chinese Primer with the most significant influence and the broadest appeal. In the 21st century Chinese traditional cultural revival, traditional texts such as the Three Character Classic are reused as child education primer. Is the Three Character Classic still suitable for contemporary children's literacy and enlightenment? From the perspective of cognitive psychology and child development psychology, this paper used a critical literature review method to investigate the relationship between the Three Character Classic and children's language development, attention, memory, cognition, and moral development. It found that the content, structure, teaching approach of it conform to children's physical and cognitive development during early childhood. The Three Character Classic is not only the primary text for children's Chinese learning but also a valuable tool to understand the spiritual core of traditional Chinese culture. It has a particular value for children's literacy and enlightenment and those who learn Chinese as a second language.