{"title":"Learning to teach mathematics with robots: Developing the ‘T’ in technological pedagogical content knowledge","authors":"Shelli L. Casler-Failing","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2555","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2555","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90801595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article analyses students’ thoughts and feelings about online assessment. This article uses Disruptive Innovation theory as a lens through which to analyse students’ responses to online assessment, in a case study of a Leadership course. The sources of data for this article comprise annual course evaluation surveys, a one-off assessment survey and a focus group. Qualitative content analysis with a directed approach is used to analyse the data. The results show students are capable of undertaking a range of online assessments but are, in general, reluctant to utilise the innovative possibilities of different forms of online assessment. This article adds to our understanding of online assessment by placing it within a distinct theoretical framework, offering explanations for why students may not be seeking-out innovative forms of assessment.
{"title":"A Disruptive Innovation perspective on students’ opinions of online assessment","authors":"Michael Flavin","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2611","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2611","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses students’ thoughts and feelings about online assessment. This article uses Disruptive Innovation theory as a lens through which to analyse students’ responses to online assessment, in a case study of a Leadership course. The sources of data for this article comprise annual course evaluation surveys, a one-off assessment survey and a focus group. Qualitative content analysis with a directed approach is used to analyse the data. The results show students are capable of undertaking a range of online assessments but are, in general, reluctant to utilise the innovative possibilities of different forms of online assessment. This article adds to our understanding of online assessment by placing it within a distinct theoretical framework, offering explanations for why students may not be seeking-out innovative forms of assessment.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76919833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this study, the Integrated Scale of Technology Use in Physics (ISTUP) was developed to determine students’ frequency of technology use, their perceptions about the effects of technology use on physics interest and achievement, and their preferences of technological tools and applications in learning physics. The scale was administered two different times to 670 high school students in total who took physics courses. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to validate the scale. The results of the study suggest that the ISTUP is a valid and reliable scale. Students’ frequency of technology use in learning physics corresponded to ‘sometimes’. Students perceived that technology use had slightly positive effect on their interest and achievement. Findings regarding the interrelations between students’ preference for technological tools and applications were also discussed.
{"title":"The Development of an Integrated Scale of Technology Use in Physics","authors":"Fikret Korur, Sevda Yerdelen-Damar, H. Sağlam","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2432","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2432","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, the Integrated Scale of Technology Use in Physics (ISTUP) was developed to determine students’ frequency of technology use, their perceptions about the effects of technology use on physics interest and achievement, and their preferences of technological tools and applications in learning physics. The scale was administered two different times to 670 high school students in total who took physics courses. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to validate the scale. The results of the study suggest that the ISTUP is a valid and reliable scale. Students’ frequency of technology use in learning physics corresponded to ‘sometimes’. Students perceived that technology use had slightly positive effect on their interest and achievement. Findings regarding the interrelations between students’ preference for technological tools and applications were also discussed.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73534911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
During the escalating coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, attempting to contain its spread, a large number of educational institutions shut down face-to-face teaching and learning activities globally due to a complete lockdown. This lockdown revealed emerging vulnerabilities of education systems in the low- and middle-income countries of the world, with Nigeria being no exception. Given these concerns, this research study assessed parental involvement, learning participation and the commitment to online learning of adolescent learners during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. An online survey questionnaire was employed to examine the level of online learning commitment and the contributory roles of each of the factors to online learning commitment of adolescent learners. In total, 1407 adolescents (male = 38.8%; female 61.2%) aged between 12 and 20 years (mean = 15: SD = 4.24) responded to the online survey, which was open for 2 months. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency distribution and inferential statistics of multiple regression. The findings revealed that the commitment level of adolescent learners to online learning was high. The findings further yielded a coefficient of R = 0.439 and R2 = 0.192 variance in the prediction of the outcome measure. Parental involvement contributed 32% (β = 0.322, p < 0.05) and learning participation contributed 23% (β = 0.234, p < 0.05) towards online learning. The study concludes that parental involvement and learning participation played a significant and positive role in the commitment of adolescent learners towards online learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. The authors suggest that parents be encouraged to synergise with the digitalised revolution, while the need for further in-depth research on the subject is emphasised in the suggestions for future research.
{"title":"Parental involvement, learning participation and online learning commitment of adolescent learners during the COVID-19 lockdown","authors":"K. Lawrence, Olubusayo Victor Fakuade","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2544","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2544","url":null,"abstract":"During the escalating coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, attempting to contain its spread, a large number of educational institutions shut down face-to-face teaching and learning activities globally due to a complete lockdown. This lockdown revealed emerging vulnerabilities of education systems in the low- and middle-income countries of the world, with Nigeria being no exception. Given these concerns, this research study assessed parental involvement, learning participation and the commitment to online learning of adolescent learners during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. An online survey questionnaire was employed to examine the level of online learning commitment and the contributory roles of each of the factors to online learning commitment of adolescent learners. In total, 1407 adolescents (male = 38.8%; female 61.2%) aged between 12 and 20 years (mean = 15: SD = 4.24) responded to the online survey, which was open for 2 months. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency distribution and inferential statistics of multiple regression. The findings revealed that the commitment level of adolescent learners to online learning was high. The findings further yielded a coefficient of R = 0.439 and R2 = 0.192 variance in the prediction of the outcome measure. Parental involvement contributed 32% (β = 0.322, p < 0.05) and learning participation contributed 23% (β = 0.234, p < 0.05) towards online learning. The study concludes that parental involvement and learning participation played a significant and positive role in the commitment of adolescent learners towards online learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. The authors suggest that parents be encouraged to synergise with the digitalised revolution, while the need for further in-depth research on the subject is emphasised in the suggestions for future research.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"66 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89883099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Students perceive care as a quality of highly effective faculty, and building positive relationships is essential to a successful college experience. However, many college students report never having developed caring relationships with faculty. We propose faculty have an opportunity to use technology to help build caring relationships in an effort to improve overall academic success. The majority of research on student–faculty interaction has primarily focused on determining what kinds of interactions students have with faculty. The aim of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of care and the role safe texting and electronic feedback played in building student–faculty relationships. A mixed-methods approach was used with college student participants (n = 307) to answer the following research questions: (1) What actions by faculty constitute “caring”? (2) What role does technology play in students feeling “cared for”? The findings indicate that safe texting platforms and electronic feedback had a positive impact by increasing accessibility and direct contact.
{"title":"Improving student and faculty communication: the impact of texting and electronic feedback on building relationships and the perception of care","authors":"Jennie M. Carr, Karen S. Rogers, G. Kanyongo","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2463","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2463","url":null,"abstract":"Students perceive care as a quality of highly effective faculty, and building positive relationships is essential to a successful college experience. However, many college students report never having developed caring relationships with faculty. We propose faculty have an opportunity to use technology to help build caring relationships in an effort to improve overall academic success. The majority of research on student–faculty interaction has primarily focused on determining what kinds of interactions students have with faculty. The aim of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of care and the role safe texting and electronic feedback played in building student–faculty relationships. A mixed-methods approach was used with college student participants (n = 307) to answer the following research questions: (1) What actions by faculty constitute “caring”? (2) What role does technology play in students feeling “cared for”? The findings indicate that safe texting platforms and electronic feedback had a positive impact by increasing accessibility and direct contact.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73716169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peer-led group learning is a variation of collaborative learning and is based on ‘small groups of students meeting regularly with a peer – one who has additional expertise in the subject matter – to work on problems collaboratively’ (Pazos, Micari, and Light 2010). In this study, we explored how a Slack team environment could be used in a blended course design to support students working remotely on individual research projects, helping them in collaborative trouble-shooting and problem-solving activities with their ‘near peer’. We drew on lessons learned from an initial trial (2017–2018 cohort) to inform a revised peer-led research design (2018–2019 cohort). Our findings demonstrate the potential of collaborative platforms such as Slack to support near-peer learning, providing distinct channels for questioning, ideas sharing and agile problem-solving support in response to individual queries. The peer-led support contributed to high levels of engagement with the project work and deeper learning, helping less confident students to learn from group members and achieve positive outcomes in their own project work. We discuss the necessary conditions for effective peer-led learning to take place within a virtual space – identifying the clear communication of instructional roles, socialisation of students and responsiveness of near peers as factors influencing the adoption of the targeted learning methods – which we addressed in our revised peer-led design.
以同伴为主导的小组学习是协作学习的一种变体,它是基于“一群学生定期与一个在某一主题上有额外专业知识的同伴会面,共同解决问题”(Pazos, Micari, and Light, 2010)。在这项研究中,我们探索了如何在混合课程设计中使用Slack团队环境,以支持学生远程进行个人研究项目,帮助他们与“近同龄人”合作解决问题和问题。我们从最初的试验(2017-2018年队列)中吸取了经验教训,为修订的同行主导的研究设计(2018-2019年队列)提供了信息。我们的研究结果证明了Slack等协作平台在支持近同伴学习方面的潜力,为提问、想法分享和敏捷解决问题提供了独特的渠道,以响应个人问题。同伴主导的支持有助于高水平地参与项目工作和深入学习,帮助缺乏自信的学生向小组成员学习,并在自己的项目工作中取得积极成果。我们讨论了在虚拟空间中进行有效的同伴主导学习的必要条件-确定教学角色的明确沟通,学生的社会化和近同伴的响应能力作为影响采用目标学习方法的因素-我们在修订的同伴主导设计中解决了这些问题。
{"title":"Facilitating peer-led group research through virtual collaboration spaces: an exploratory research study","authors":"Richard Walker, Setareh Chong, J. Chong","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2520","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2520","url":null,"abstract":"Peer-led group learning is a variation of collaborative learning and is based on ‘small groups of students meeting regularly with a peer – one who has additional expertise in the subject matter – to work on problems collaboratively’ (Pazos, Micari, and Light 2010). In this study, we explored how a Slack team environment could be used in a blended course design to support students working remotely on individual research projects, helping them in collaborative trouble-shooting and problem-solving activities with their ‘near peer’. We drew on lessons learned from an initial trial (2017–2018 cohort) to inform a revised peer-led research design (2018–2019 cohort). \u0000Our findings demonstrate the potential of collaborative platforms such as Slack to support near-peer learning, providing distinct channels for questioning, ideas sharing and agile problem-solving support in response to individual queries. The peer-led support contributed to high levels of engagement with the project work and deeper learning, helping less confident students to learn from group members and achieve positive outcomes in their own project work. We discuss the necessary conditions for effective peer-led learning to take place within a virtual space – identifying the clear communication of instructional roles, socialisation of students and responsiveness of near peers as factors influencing the adoption of the targeted learning methods – which we addressed in our revised peer-led design.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83458879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent years have seen a growing interest in augmented reality (AR) technologies due to their potential for simulating real-life situations and creating authentic learning tasks. Studies have shown that AR enables engaging and interactive learning experiences (e.g. Bressler and Bodzin 2013; Klopfer and Sheldon 2010) and can benefit student learning (e.g. Bonner and Reinders 2018; Siegle 2019). However, although research in AR for education is not scarce, educators often do not have a learning experience design (LXD) approach that is supported by the recent findings of learning sciences and instructional design models. To bridge this gap, the present study introduces an AR-learning prototype developed by using SAM I (Successive Approximation Model I), and the Threshold Concepts Framework, employed for meaningful integration of AR into the learning process. A pre-survey and a post-survey method were utilised in the data gathering process to gauge students’ experience with the AR module. The findings show that the majority of students have not had educational experiences with AR prior to the study, and they struggled to find ways to incorporate this technology into their content areas in a meaningful way. Nonetheless, participants realised the value of AR and stated that they most likely would use this technology in the future. Based on the findings, the authors present a set of suggestions for instructors and LXDs, and provide recommendations for future research. This article is part of the special collection: Mobile Mixed Reality Enhanced Learning edited by Thom Cochrane, James Birt, Helen Farley, Vickel Narayan and Fiona Smart. More papers from this collection can be found here.
近年来,人们对增强现实(AR)技术的兴趣日益浓厚,因为它们具有模拟现实生活场景和创建真实学习任务的潜力。研究表明,AR可以实现引人入胜的交互式学习体验(例如Bressler和Bodzin 2013;Klopfer and Sheldon 2010),并对学生的学习有益(例如Bonner and Reinders 2018;Siegle 2019)。然而,尽管增强现实在教育方面的研究并不稀缺,但教育工作者往往没有学习体验设计(LXD)方法,这种方法得到了学习科学和教学设计模型的最新发现的支持。为了弥补这一差距,本研究引入了一个使用SAM I(连续逼近模型I)和阈值概念框架开发的AR学习原型,用于将AR有意义地整合到学习过程中。在数据收集过程中,采用了预调查和后调查方法来衡量学生对AR模块的体验。研究结果显示,大多数学生在研究之前没有接受过AR的教育经历,他们努力寻找方法,以一种有意义的方式将这项技术融入他们的内容领域。尽管如此,参与者意识到增强现实的价值,并表示他们很可能在未来使用这项技术。基于这些发现,作者为教师和lxd提出了一组建议,并对未来的研究提出了建议。本文是由Thom Cochrane, James Birt, Helen Farley, Vickel Narayan和Fiona Smart编辑的特别集合:移动混合现实增强学习的一部分。更多的论文可以在这里找到。
{"title":"Learning experience design for augmented reality","authors":"Betul C. Czerkawski, Margherita Berti","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2429","url":null,"abstract":"Recent years have seen a growing interest in augmented reality (AR) technologies due to their potential for simulating real-life situations and creating authentic learning tasks. Studies have shown that AR enables engaging and interactive learning experiences (e.g. Bressler and Bodzin 2013; Klopfer and Sheldon 2010) and can benefit student learning (e.g. Bonner and Reinders 2018; Siegle 2019). However, although research in AR for education is not scarce, educators often do not have a learning experience design (LXD) approach that is supported by the recent findings of learning sciences and instructional design models. To bridge this gap, the present study introduces an AR-learning prototype developed by using SAM I (Successive Approximation Model I), and the Threshold Concepts Framework, employed for meaningful integration of AR into the learning process. A pre-survey and a post-survey method were utilised in the data gathering process to gauge students’ experience with the AR module. The findings show that the majority of students have not had educational experiences with AR prior to the study, and they struggled to find ways to incorporate this technology into their content areas in a meaningful way. Nonetheless, participants realised the value of AR and stated that they most likely would use this technology in the future. Based on the findings, the authors present a set of suggestions for instructors and LXDs, and provide recommendations for future research. \u0000This article is part of the special collection: Mobile Mixed Reality Enhanced Learning edited by Thom Cochrane, James Birt, Helen Farley, Vickel Narayan and Fiona Smart. More papers from this collection can be found here.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79146969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zilong Pan, Mary Frances López, Chenglu Li, Min Liu
Augmented reality (AR) as an emerging technology has gradually been incorporated into educational contexts; however, the cases that incorporate AR into early childhood contexts are underrepresented and especially scant in the literacy domain. Aiming to measure the impact of AR on early childhood learning and motivation in the literacy domain, this study brought an application into six pre-kindergarten classrooms by introducing three experimental classrooms to an AR centre while others engaged with a two-dimensional (2D) version of the same material. Bayesian analysis revealed that rapid letter naming rates grew for all children involved in the study. It increased by 6.28% among children in the experimental AR group and 3.35% in the control 2D group. Growth in rates of motivation was similar among experimental (11.5%) and control (10.9%) groups. These findings suggest that three-dimensional images of letters might help with rapid letter naming skills, and animations available in both versions may be the reason of increases in motivation. Teacher interviews presented positive views towards AR, and instructional implications were provided by teachers for incorporating the technology into early childhood classrooms.
{"title":"Introducing augmented reality in early childhood literacy learning","authors":"Zilong Pan, Mary Frances López, Chenglu Li, Min Liu","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2539","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2539","url":null,"abstract":"Augmented reality (AR) as an emerging technology has gradually been incorporated into educational contexts; however, the cases that incorporate AR into early childhood contexts are underrepresented and especially scant in the literacy domain. Aiming to measure the impact of AR on early childhood learning and motivation in the literacy domain, this study brought an application into six pre-kindergarten classrooms by introducing three experimental classrooms to an AR centre while others engaged with a two-dimensional (2D) version of the same material. Bayesian analysis revealed that rapid letter naming rates grew for all children involved in the study. It increased by 6.28% among children in the experimental AR group and 3.35% in the control 2D group. Growth in rates of motivation was similar among experimental (11.5%) and control (10.9%) groups. These findings suggest that three-dimensional images of letters might help with rapid letter naming skills, and animations available in both versions may be the reason of increases in motivation. Teacher interviews presented positive views towards AR, and instructional implications were provided by teachers for incorporating the technology into early childhood classrooms.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84392583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Collaborative learning offers benefits but there is insufficient information on how students perceive specific digital tools supporting collaborative learning and whether there are content-related differences in students’ perceptions. Here, we utilised Padlet to mediate collaborative learning amongst undergraduate students from two distinct disciplines, Dentistry and Bioscience to examine students’ perceptions of Padlet-mediated learning and identify any content-specific differences. Data distribution was assessed via Shapiro–Wilk test, Mann–Whitney U test was used to assess distribution of responses and correlations were studied via Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (ρ). Data revealed that majority of students across both cohorts perceived Padlet as easy to use and beneficial to learning. Dentistry students perceived Padlet to be more beneficial to learning and easier to use than Bioscience students (p < 0.01). Most Bioscience students liked to undertake collaborative learning via Padlet, whereas most Dentistry students felt more confident to ask questions and better understood content via Padlet. In the Bioscience cohort, perceived benefit-to-learning strongly correlated (ρ = 0.75; p < 0.01) with fondness to use Padlet, whereas in the Dentistry cohort, it moderately correlated (ρ = 0.5; p < 0.01) with better understanding of subject content. Thematic analysis of students’ textual responses revealed anonymity, peer-learning and engagement as key benefits. Thus, this study strengthened the evidence for using Padlet for collaborative learning in a wider context. Moreover, it uncovered significant disparities in students’ perceptions of the tool, when used to foster learning of different subject contents.
{"title":"Content-specific differences in Padlet perception for collaborative learning amongst undergraduate students","authors":"Kosha J. Mehta, I. Miletich, Michael Detyna","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2551","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2551","url":null,"abstract":"Collaborative learning offers benefits but there is insufficient information on how students perceive specific digital tools supporting collaborative learning and whether there are content-related differences in students’ perceptions. Here, we utilised Padlet to mediate collaborative learning amongst undergraduate students from two distinct disciplines, Dentistry and Bioscience to examine students’ perceptions of Padlet-mediated learning and identify any content-specific differences. Data distribution was assessed via Shapiro–Wilk test, Mann–Whitney U test was used to assess distribution of responses and correlations were studied via Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (ρ). Data revealed that majority of students across both cohorts perceived Padlet as easy to use and beneficial to learning. Dentistry students perceived Padlet to be more beneficial to learning and easier to use than Bioscience students (p < 0.01). Most Bioscience students liked to undertake collaborative learning via Padlet, whereas most Dentistry students felt more confident to ask questions and better understood content via Padlet. In the Bioscience cohort, perceived benefit-to-learning strongly correlated (ρ = 0.75; p < 0.01) with fondness to use Padlet, whereas in the Dentistry cohort, it moderately correlated (ρ = 0.5; p < 0.01) with better understanding of subject content. Thematic analysis of students’ textual responses revealed anonymity, peer-learning and engagement as key benefits. Thus, this study strengthened the evidence for using Padlet for collaborative learning in a wider context. Moreover, it uncovered significant disparities in students’ perceptions of the tool, when used to foster learning of different subject contents.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"421 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84922361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Digital media assignments empower students to become co-creators of knowledge rather than passive consumers of content. The Internet explosion and the affordability of digital technologies and devices such as smartphones, tablets and action cameras have created opportunities to use digital media in the classroom. This article aims to present an evidence-based approach to help educators to design, implement and evaluate digital media assignments in the classroom. For this purpose, four theoretical models were tested to inform the design of digital media assignments in undergraduate science education. These models helped to identify the student training in digital media needed, develop effective marking rubrics, and inform the design, implementation and evaluation of digital media assessment tasks. Trials were conducted in Spring 2016 (n = 458) and Autumn 2017 (n = 1329), respectively. Data collection used a mixed-methods approach, including a qualitative survey, open-ended questions, group contribution data and marks attained. Data analysis showed positive outcomes of the systematic implementation of digital media assignments. In conclusion, students enjoyed the support they received, being creative, working in groups and learning with digital media. To date, this intervention is one of the most comprehensive and practical approaches to digital media assignments in the classroom, which has been undertaken.
{"title":"Digital media assignments in undergraduate science education: an evidence-based approach","authors":"Dr Jorge Reyna","doi":"10.25304/RLT.V29.2573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25304/RLT.V29.2573","url":null,"abstract":"Digital media assignments empower students to become co-creators of knowledge rather than passive consumers of content. The Internet explosion and the affordability of digital technologies and devices such as smartphones, tablets and action cameras have created opportunities to use digital media in the classroom. This article aims to present an evidence-based approach to help educators to design, implement and evaluate digital media assignments in the classroom. For this purpose, four theoretical models were tested to inform the design of digital media assignments in undergraduate science education. These models helped to identify the student training in digital media needed, develop effective marking rubrics, and inform the design, implementation and evaluation of digital media assessment tasks. Trials were conducted in Spring 2016 (n = 458) and Autumn 2017 (n = 1329), respectively. Data collection used a mixed-methods approach, including a qualitative survey, open-ended questions, group contribution data and marks attained. Data analysis showed positive outcomes of the systematic implementation of digital media assignments. In conclusion, students enjoyed the support they received, being creative, working in groups and learning with digital media. To date, this intervention is one of the most comprehensive and practical approaches to digital media assignments in the classroom, which has been undertaken.","PeriodicalId":46691,"journal":{"name":"Research in Learning Technology","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90284106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}