Computers & Education最新文献

Online learning has been gaining a broad notoriety in society in the last years. The ease with which users from all over the world can learn is one of its main attractions. MOOCs are one of these technologies, which have enabled users to learn almost any subject of their interest. The use of MOOCs generates a massive amount of data that has been used by researchers with different goals: to predict dropout, predict grades and determine learning styles. Users of MOOCs face several challenges, some of which have been extensively studied. However, there are some of them, such as procrastination, whose study as a determining factor in the failure of such courses has not been addressed in sufficient depth. Through this paper, the influence of procrastination on the failure rates of users in a MOOC has been uncovered. Furthermore, by using process mining, this research has revealed the existence of a pattern of procrastination and the type of material used during study sessions by the users who fail the course. Speclifically, diverse forms of procrastination have been identified, resulting in differing effects on the educational outcomes attained by the user. These findings possess considerable implications, as they underscore the potential worth of detecting specific procrastination patterns to ascertain users who necessitate supplementary support during their educational pursuits within MOOCs.

Teachers' views impact if and how technologies are integrated into classroom practice, and research demonstrates that digital game-based learning can support student learning across content areas. Yet, quantitative examinations of teachers' views on digital game-based learning in literacy education are limited. This study establishes the Gaming and Literacy Education (GALE) Scale as a reliable and valid measure for examining literacy teachers' perspectives on digital games and learning. The GALE Scale is a 21-item five-factor model created by conducting an exploratory factor analysis with survey data from 516 literacy teachers in the central United States followed by a confirmatory factor analysis with data from another 516 teachers. While participants generally agreed that digital games can support student learning, they reported limited integration of games in their classrooms, and only 12.2% agreed they learned about game-based learning in their teacher preparation program. Given the efficacy of digital game-based learning across disciplines demonstrated in meta-analytic research, literacy teacher education and professional development on effective uses of games in literacy learning are warranted. Further, scholars can utilize the GALE Scale to examine teachers’ views on digital games and literacy learning across time and contexts.

Anthropomorphism is the act of attributing human-like characteristics to non-human objects and has played a key role in the field of emotional design in multimedia learning. Despite its significance, the relationship between animacy and anthropomorphism, particularly facial animacy, remains underexplored albeit its potential impact on learning engagement and emotional responses. Hence, this study aims to address this gap by examining the effects of facial animacy in anthropomorphised designs using a 3 × 2 design (none vs. static vs. animated) based on self-reported measure (SRM) and facial emotion recognition (FER) and how both measures are associated. The findings revealed discrepancies between both measures, with mostly moderate to weak correlations between hypothesised associations. SRM results indicated that face animacy decreased perceived boredom, while static and dynamic anthropomorphised designs increased curiosity. The FER results revealed notable similarities between designs without anthropomorphism and the static versions, highlighting that facial animacy led participants to express more joy and less neutral expressions. Additionally, neutral expressions were associated with lower enjoyment perception, while negative emotions, especially boredom, were linked to reduced attention.

Co-teaching, a partnership between professional peers with different expertise to jointly deliver instruction and divide teaching responsibility, is recognized as an effective teaching strategy that has been widely implemented. The increased use of information and communication technologies in educational practices may expand the opportunities for potentially beneficial teacher collaboration across schools. How the online teacher and the on-site teacher co-teach in blended synchronous teaching and learning, as well as its effectiveness on student engagement, remains unclear. This paper presents the results from a sequential research design from the teaching presence perspective to shed light on the characteristics of co-teaching presence and its effect on student engagement in the blended synchronous classroom. In study one, qualitative data collected through ethnographic observation and interviews exhibited how the co-teaching presence was created and its elements: instructional design and organization, facilitating discourse, direct instruction, assessment, supplementary instruction, organization and management, and affective support. Study two was a quantitative study that applied a self-report questionnaire to 268 students to further verify the effects of elements of co-teaching presence on student engagement. Based on hierarchical regression analyses, the results provided evidence that student engagement benefits from collaborative teaching; the on-site teacher's affective support had the greatest influence on sustaining student engagement. Additional findings, implications, limitations, and research directions are discussed.

Blended synchronous classrooms (BSCs) play a critical role in narrowing the educational gap between urban and rural areas in China, promoting educational equity. In BSCs, the quantity and quality of interactive teaching behaviours of urban and rural teachers may significantly influence the learning experiences of students in both urban and rural settings, and they are supposed to be different from interactive teaching behaviours that happen in traditional classrooms. However, there is limited research on the characteristics of such interactive teaching behaviours in BSCs. To address the gap, this study first proposed an interaction analysis framework for BSCs (IAF4BSCs) and then examined the interactive teaching behaviours of urban and rural teachers in BSCs using this framework, along with various learning analytics methods including lag sequential analysis, frequent sequence mining and thematic analysis. The data analysis yielded the following results: (1) Urban teachers exhibited more speech behaviours such as lecturing and providing immediate feedback, whereas rural teachers engaged more in non-speech behaviours like classroom patrols. (2) Despite the expectation for urban teachers to interact equally with urban and rural students in BSCs, they predominantly focused on urban students. (3) Urban teachers demonstrated diverse interaction sequences with both urban and rural students, whereas rural teachers primarily interacted with rural students. (4) Interviews with teachers and students revealed both positive and negative aspects of interactive teaching behaviours in BSCs. Based on these findings, the study proposed three pedagogical recommendations to enhance interactive teaching behaviours in BSCs: increasing interactive participation, integrating technology more effectively and emphasizing post-class assessment.

As societies are increasingly digitalised, digital competences are required—for citizens in general and within professions. In education, professional digital competence (PDC) for teachers has been on the research agenda for years. However, less is known about what constitutes PDC for school leaders. This paper adopts a qualitative approach to explore what constitutes school leaders' PDC. It builds on previous studies of concepts of teachers’ PDC, digital transformations in education, and school leadership, supplemented by findings from two empirical studies on school leadership in schools with 1:1 coverage of digital devices. Based on this, the paper presents an initial conceptualisation of PDC for school leaders, illustrating how digital technologies impact both administrative and pedagogical leadership. The paper has merits for the research community interested in school leadership, digitalisation, professional digital competence, education, and schools.