the iafor

journal of
education
Volume 4 – Issue 2 – Summer 2016
Editor: Bernard Montoneri

ISSN: 2187-0594

The IAFOR Journal of Education
Volume 4 – Issue – 2

IAFOR Publications
Executive Editor:
Joseph Haldane
The International Academic ForumThe IAFOR Journal of Education
Editor:Bernard Montoneri, Tamkang University, Taiwan
Co-editor:
Lucy K. Spence, University of South Carolina, USA

Published by The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
IAFOR Publications. Sakae 1-16-26-201, Naka-ward, Aichi, Japan 460-0008

Executive Editor, IAFOR Publications: Joseph Haldane
Design: Bernard Montoneri

The IAFOR Journal of Education
Volume 4 – Issue 2 – Summer 2016

IAFOR Publications © Copyright 2016
ISSN: 2187-0594 (Online) JOE.iafor.org

Cover Image by:
Flickr Creative Commons: UNICEFIranWe would like to dedicate this issue of the
IAFOR Journal of Education to the lateProfessor Stuart D. B. Picken	  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

The Reverend Professor Stuart D. B. Picken (1942-2016)
Order of the Sacred Treasure (瑞宝中綬章), M.A. (Hons), B.D., Ph.D. (Glasgow), F.R.A.S.
Cleric and Philosopher
It is with sadness that we inform our friends of IAFOR that the Chairman of the organisation,
the Reverend Professor Stuart D. B. Picken, passed away on Friday, 5 August, 2016.
Stuart Picken was born in Glasgow in 1942 and enjoyed an international reputation inphilosophy, comparative religious and cultural studies, but it is as a scholar of Japan andJapanese thought for which he will be best remembered, and as one of the world’s foremost
experts on Shinto.
Picken entered University of Glasgow, Scotland aged 16, to study divinity and philosophy, andhis studies culminated with a doctorate that looked at Christianity and the work of Kant. In
1966 he was ordained in the Church of Scotland, and began his career as a minister in Orkney.
However, his curiosity led him from isolated rural Scotland to the world’s largest city, andfollowing a visit to Tokyo on a Rotary scholarship, Picken was appointed Professor ofPhilosophy at the International Christian University (ICU) in 1972. Here he turned his western
theological and philosophical training to comparative religious and cultural studies of Japan,
at a time when the country was emerging from the shadows of the Second World War.
His groundbreaking and controversial work on suicide in Japan made his name within the
country, but it was his subsequent work on Shinto that influenced the rehabilitation of thereligion at a time when it was dismissed in the west as pagan and primitive, or unjustly
caricatured for its wartime associations.
As Japan emerged as an economic superpower in the 1970s and 1980s, and given his growing
prominence as an academic, he was much in demand as part of a period where Japanese wanted
to learn more about themselves as seen through the eyes of the west, and where westernbusinesses were eager to learn from the all-conquering Japanese model. By then fluent inJapanese, Picken served as a business consultant to such corporations and also served as aconsultant to various businesses, including Jun Ashida Ltd., Mitsui Mining & Smelting Corp.,
Kobe Steel, and Japan Airlines. During this period he was active in the St Andrew Society,when he founded the Tokyo Highland Games, which is still an annual event.

The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Professor Stuart D. B. Picken (IAFOR), Professor Arthur Stockwin, OBE (The University of Oxford)
and Professor Jun Arima (University of Tokyo) discuss Japanese security at The European Conference
on Economics, Politics and Law 2014.

The author of a dozen books and over 130 articles and papers, Picken was to stay at ICU for
25 years, where he was a popular lecturer and mentor to both Japanese and visiting scholars,
serving tenures as Chairman of the Division of Humanities from 1981-1983, and as Directorof Japanese Studies from 1995-1997, as well as concurrently founding Director of the Centre
for Japanese Studies at the University of Stirling, Scotland from 1985-1988. A keen amateur
footballer, whose devotion to Japan was rivalled only with that he felt for Glasgow Rangers,
he continued to play into his fifties at ICU, encouraging many students to take up the sport.
He left ICU in 1997, and from then until 2004 was appointed the founding Dean of the Facultyof Foreign Languages and Asian Studies at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business,and the founding Dean of the Graduate School Division of Global Business Communicationfrom 2002-2004.
Upon his retirement from his academic posts, he returned to Scotland to re-enter the ministryin 2005, as minister of the linked charge of Ardoch with Blackford, yet he continued hisacademic and Japanese interests as the Chairman of the Japan Society of Scotland.
Whether in his research or teaching, Picken devoted much of his life to increasing
understanding between his adopted country and the west, and in 2007 he was recognised with
the Order of the Sacred Treasure, an imperial decoration for his pioneering research andoutstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and mutual understanding between
Japan and the UK. He also served as the International Adviser to the High Priest of the Tsubaki
Grand Shrine, one of Japan’s largest and oldest shrines.

The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

From 2009, he was the founding Chairman of The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), a
Japan-based interdisciplinary research and events organisation, where he was highly active in
helping nurture and mentor a new generation of academics, and facilitate better interculturaland international awareness and understanding, and in the years immediately preceding his
illness, he continued to lecture throughout the world, in Europe, North America, Asia and the
Middle East.
He is survived by his wife, Hong Wen, and children, Fiona, Jeannette, William and Lynn.

President & C.E.O.
Dr. Joseph Haldane
B.A., Ph.D. (London), F.R.S.A., F.R.A.S.

Table of Contents
Notes on Contributors

1

Journal of Education Editors and Reviewers

3

Editors Introduction

12

Identification of Early Predictors of Adult Learners’
Academic Performance in Higher Education
Sylvia Chong Nguik Yin

16

A Comparative Study of Discrimination in Education: The Learning
Environment and Behaviours of Students and Teachers in IranMozhgan Ghaffarzadeh

34

Assessing the Metacognitive Awareness among theFoundation in Engineering Students
Betsy Lee Guat Poh
Kasturi Muthoosamy
Chiang Choon Lai
Ooi Chel Gee

48

The Link between the Process of Change and Coachingin an Organization – A Case Study
Josephine Jim

63

Ethics Issues of Digital Contents for Pre-Service Primary Teachers:
A Gamification Experience for Self-Assessment with Socrative
Adolfina Pérez Garcias
Victoria I. Marín

80

Conspicuous Internationalization: Creating an “International
Communication Lounge” on a Japanese University Campus
Adam Gyenes

98

An Analysis of Creative Process Learning in Computer Game
Activities Through Player Experiences
Wilawan Inchamnan

119

Cultivate Mindfulness: A Case Study of Mindful Learningin an English as a Foreign Language Classroom
Yang Wang
Chao Liu

141

A Study of Comparatively Low Achievement Students’ Bilingualized
Dictionary Use and their English Learning
Chen Szu-An

157

Guide for Authors

178

The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Notes on Contributors
Sylvia Chong Nguik Yin is an Associate Professor, President’s Office at SIM University. Her
research interests are inter-disciplinary in nature, and include substantive and methodologicalareas of higher education research. She was Principal Investigator for four successful Academic
Research Funding (AcRF) projects and two Ministry of Education, Singapore commissioned
research projects. She has published in international journals and participated in various
conferences. e-mail: SylviaChong@unisim.edu.sg
Mozhgan Ghaffarzadeh (Mozhgan Alsadat Ghaffarzadeh Hassankiadeh) is an English
teacher in schools and universities in Iran. Having completed an M.A. in EFL (English as a
Foreign Language) from Azad university of Tonekabon, she received many awards for her
lesson plans and teaching. Her research interests include mind studies and bilingualism and hercurrent research is focused on discrimination in Iranian schools. e-mail:ghaffarzadeh.mail@gmail.com
Dr. Betsy Lee is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus andis currently teaching engineering mathematics at the foundation and undergraduate level. She
holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in Mathematics from University of Malaya,a Master degree in Philosophy in conjunction with a mathematical modelling research project,
and a Master degree in Information Technology from University of Malaya. She was awarded
a PCTP-Professional Certificate in Teaching Practice in 2010 from Swinburne University ofTechnology Sarawak Campus and is an associate fellow member of United Kingdom Higher
Education Academy (HEA) since the year of 2013. She is currently doing her Ph.D. in
Mathematics Education at the University Science Malaysia. Her research project looks at the
impact of mathematical writing on the metacognition and mathematical problem solving skills
among the first year university students. e-mail: Betsy.Lee@nottingham.edu.my
Dr. Kasturi Muthoosamy is an Associate Professor at University of Nottingham Malaysia
Campus (UNMC) and joined the campus in 2011. She has obtained an MSc in Medicinal
Chemistry from National University of Singapore and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from
UNMC. Apart from scientific research, she is also teaching chemistry modules to Foundation
in Engineering students. She is active in academic-related research and has published inestablished conference proceedings. Her research area includes exploring various teaching anddelivery methods to gauge interest among engineering students, especially in chemistry
modules. e-mail: Kasturi.Muthoosamy@nottingham.edu.my
Chiang Choon Lai received his Bachelor and Master of Sciences in Chemical and Process
Engineering from National University of Malaysia (UKM). He completed his Postgraduate
Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) in 2010 from University of Nottingham and is afellow member of United Kingdom Higher Education Academy (HEA). He is now a Senior
University Teaching Fellow in University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. His current
research work focuses on drying of agricultural products, exploring various teaching strategies
and student use of metacognitive practices. e-mail: CL.Chiang@nottingham.edu.my
Ooi Chel Gee is a fourth year Ph.D. Candidate at University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus(UNMC). She has obtained a MEng in Chemical Engineering degree in 2012 at UNMC under
the Nottingham Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) scholarship. She is currently working
as a research assistant in the Chemical Engineering Lab at the university and provides tutoringin several classes related to computational fluid dynamics. Her Ph.D. research project focuseson Atmospheric Science and she is expecting to complete in 2017.

1	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Dr. Josephine Jim is the Senior Programme Director at the College of Business and Financeat Hong Kong University SPACE. Josephine has over 25 years of senior management
experience in various organizations encompassing leadership in business development,
marketing and sales, staff training and development in various industries in Hong Kong andChina. Josephine holds a B.Sc. in Pharmacy from the University of Manchester, an MBA fromthe University of Warwick, and a Ph.D. from the University of Hull, U.K. Her research interests
are management learning and development, coaching for performance and change
management. Utilizing her knowledge, skill sets, experiences and passion in executive
development,
Josephine
isdedicatedto
executive
education.
e-mail:josephine.jim@hkuspace.hku.hk
Dr. Adolfina Pérez-Garcias is a University Lecturer in the Applied Pedagogy and Educational
Psychology Department at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Palma, Spain) and a researcher
in the Educational Technology Group (GTE) of the same university. e-mail: fina.perez@uib.es
Dr. Victoria I. Marín-Juarros is an Associate Lecturer in the Applied Pedagogy and
Educational Psychology Department at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Palma, Spain) andresearcher in the Educational Technology Group (GTE) of the same university. e-mail:victoria.marin@uib.es
A PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Adam Gyenes
lives and works in the Tokyo area, teaching at several universities. His research interests
include internationalization of education, critical thinking, and education policy discourse. email: adamgyenes@gmail.com
Dr. Wilawan Inchamnan is a Head of Interactive Design and Game Development
Department, Information Technology Faculty, Dhurakij Pundit University, Bangkok, Thailand
where she teaches game design and game development. She received her Ph.D. in Information
Technology from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Her research is about gamebased learning and creative process within computer game activities. e-mail:wilawan.inn@dpu.ac.th
Dr. Yang Wang received her Ph.D. in Literacy and M.Ed. in TESOL (Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages) at the University of Missouri – Columbia, USA. She is an
Assistant Professor in Language and Literacy Education at the University of South Carolina,
USA. e-mail: wang527@mailbox.sc.edu
Chao Liu is an instructor at the School of International Business and Foreign Languages ofDongbei University of Finance and Economics, Liaoning, China. e-mail: cliu1809@gmail.com
Dr. Chen Szu-An received her doctoral degree in English Language Teaching from Centre forApplied Linguistics, Warwick University, United Kingdom. She has been a full-time English
teacher in Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for six years. She
instructs various courses, such as ‘Second Language Acquisition,’ ‘Graduation Thesis’,‘Teaching Practice,’ ‘Foreign Language Teaching Integration’, ‘General English’ and so on.
Her research interests are focused on understanding EFL learners' L2 motivation, the dynamicsof L2 motivation, and L2 selves through using mixed research methods. e-mail:99033@mail.wzu.edu.tw2	  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

IAFOR Journal of Education Editors
Editor: Dr. Bernard Montoneri
Tamkang University, Taiwan
Bernard Montoneri is the co-founder of the Journal of Education. He earned his Ph.D. (African,
Arab, and Asian Words; History, Languages, Literature) and his BA in Chinese from the
University of Provence, Aix-Marseille I, France. He taught Literature (European, Children,
American, and British) and languages (French, English, and Italian) at Providence University
for 16 years. He is currently an Associate Professor at Tamkang University, French
Department, Taiwan. Bernard has around 40 publications, including journal papers (including
SSCI, SCI, and THCI), conference papers, and books and has obtained many teaching andresearch projects. His research interests include French literature, children’s literature, English
writing, automated scoring systems, teaching and learning evaluation, data envelopment
analysis, networking, and teaching methods. He is a reviewer for top academic journals such
as Review of Educational Research (ranked #1 in Education), American Educational Research
Journal, Teaching and Teacher Education, and European journal of Operational Research.
e-mail: montonerishu@gmail.com
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bernard_Montoneri
Co-editor: Dr. Lucy K. Spence
University of South Carolina, USA
Lucy K. Spence received her Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from Arizona State University,
USA in 2006 and her BS in teaching from Grand Canyon University in 1989. She has taught
multilingual students since 1989. She is currently an associate professor in the College of
Education at the University of South Carolina, USA. Her current research interests are teacher
perceptions of multilingual student writing, bilingual education, and writing instruction in
Japan and the USA. In 2013, she was invited to Kansai University in Osaka, Japan as a visiting
researcher, and then returned for a sabbatical research project in 2015. Her book on student
writing was published in 2014. She has published articles in national and international journals
and reviews books and articles for top journals related to her interest area, such as Teacher'sCollege Record, Language Arts, and English Education.
e-mail: lucyspence@sc.edu
Associate Editor: Dr. Cassandra Atherton
Alfred Deakin Research Institute, Australia
Cassandra Atherton is an award winning writer, critic and senior lecturer at the Alfred Deakin
Research Institute. She has a Harvard Visiting Scholar's position from August 2015-September
2016 to work on a project concerning public intellectuals in academe. A Visiting Fellow at
Sophia University, Tokyo in 2014 and an affiliate of the Monash Japanese Studies Centre in
2015, Cassandra is currently working on a book analysing Miyazaki Hayao's anime. Cassandra
has published eight books and was invited be on the judging panel of the Victorian Premier's
Literary Awards, Prize for Poetry in 2015.
Associate Editor: Vasileios Paliktzoglou
University of Eastern Finland, Finland; Bahrain Polytechnic, Bahrain
Vasileios has several years of experience in universities such as the University of Pisa, theAegean University, Robert Gordon University, Mediterranean University College and the3	  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

University of Wales having an active role as: Researcher, Tutor, Supervisor, Lecturer andProgram Manager. He is active in research with papers presented at international conferences,and published in academic journals. His research interests are in the fields of social media, web2.0, communities of practices, e-learning in which he is actively involved in several
international research projects. He is currently a doctoral researcher at the University of Eastern
Finland and faculty member at Bahrain Polytechnic.
Members of the Editorial Board
Dr. Santosh Kumar Behera, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, India
Santosh Kumar Behera is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education, Sidho-KanhoBirsha University, India. After completion of a Graduate Degree from Fakir Mohan University,
Orissa, he was admitted to the M.A. in Education program at Vinaya Bhavana, Visva Bharati
and then did his Ph.D. at Vinaya Bhavana. He has published several research papers and articles
in various journals and edited volumes of national and international repute across the country.
He is the Editor-in-Chief of EDUQUEST, An International Refereed Journal in Education,
International Journal of Academic Research in Education and Review and Academic Research
Journal of History and Culture.
Dr. Yilin Chen, Asia University, Taiwan
Yilin Chen (Ph.D. in Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London) is an
Associate Professor at the Department of English Language, Literature and Linguistics,
Providence University in Taiwan. She studies Shakespeare and theatre history from 1600 to
the present. She has published in several drama and theatre journals. Her most recent
publication is “Staging Sexuality in an All-male Adaptation of Romeo and Juliet” in Studies in
Theatre and Performance (Routledge 2014), which investigates the audience’s receptions anddiverse erotic tensions generated in the contemporary cross-gender Taiwanese Shakespearean
production. Her current research interests are the global dissemination of Japanese manga
Shakespeare and the representation of gender and sexuality in manga adaptations of
Shakespeare. She is also funded by the Ministry of Education to undertake a MOOCs (Massive
Online Open Courses) project on the subject of Global/Local Shakespeare in 2014.
Dr. Shiao-Wei Chu, University of Idaho, USA
Shiao-Wei is originally from Taichung, Taiwan. She received her doctoral degree (Ph.D.) with
an emphasis in professional development for ESL and EFL instructors from College of
Education at the University of Idaho in Fall of 2013. She holds her master’s degree in TESOL
from Chaoyang University of Technology in Taichung, Taiwan. Her research focuses are
English as a second and foreign language teaching and professional development for English
language teachers in both face-to-face and web-based environments. Shiao-Wei was funded by
the Ministry of Education in Taiwan to conduct a three-week face-to-face professional
development project with Taiwanese English teachers in the summer of 2012. She is currently
working on a research project regarding L2 writing and feedback and which requires a tightconceptual framework and practical knowledge of research.

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Prof. Dr. Raymond Q. Datuon, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Philippines
Prof. Dr. Raymond Q. Datuon completed Bachelor in Secondary Education, majoring in history(2002), at the Philippine Normal University, a Masters in Educational Management (2010) in
Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Open University Systems and a Doctorate in
Educational Management (2013) in Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He served as
Executive Officer and volunteer campus minister of Marian Youth Movement in theArchdiocese of Manila. Appointed as Chief Justice in the Student Government of the Philippine
Normal University in 2001-2002. Full-time Faculty in St. Mary’s Academy of Caloocan City
from 2003-2005 and presently the School of Education Dean, concurrently the Officer Incharge of the Student Life Office, Head of Faculty and Staff Development Office and SeniorHigh School Program in Chiang Kai Shek College (Manila, Philippines) and Part-Time
Lecturer in Far Eastern University-Institute of Technology (Manila, Philippines). He was also
appointed as Head of Research, Publication, and Faculty Development Office in Chiang Kai
Shek College from October 2013 – June 2014. Currently, he is looking forward foropportunities in pursuing postdoctoral studies.
Dr. Datuon is a Licensed Secondary Teacher, President of the PUP-Doctor in Educational
Management Society, member of the Board of Incorporators and PRO-External (2012-2015);
Vice-President for Internal Affairs (2015-present) of Kalipunan ng mga Guro ng Araling
Panlipunan, Assistant Treasurer of University of Santo Tomas-Santisimo Rosario Parish,
Senior Paper Reviewer in the American Journal of Educational Research. Consistent recipientof Teaching Excellence Award in Far Eastern University-Institute of Technology since 2011and he has been an Outstanding Teacher since 2010 in Chiang Kai Shek College. Recognised
and awarded by the City Government of Manila as one of the 12 Outstanding Private School
Educators in 2014.
Dr. Heloísa Orsi Koch Delgado, Pontifical University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Heloísa Orsi Koch Delgado is an English language educator and a translator of scientific
literature. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages, which she has
been coordinating for five years. She teaches the discipline Translation Practice of Specialised
Languages in the specialisation program at PUCRS. She holds a BA in Translation (PUCRS)
and postgraduate qualifications in Tertiary Education (PUCRS) and Terminology (University
Pompeu Fabra, Spain). She holds a Master degree in Education (PUCRS) and a Ph.D. in
Language Studies (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul/UFRGS). She is a researchmember in GELCORPSUL (Corpus Linguistics Study Group) and GPEOCS (Olympic Studies
and Health Sciences Research Group), contributing mainly in the areas of terminology andtranslation. She is the coordinator of DicTrans Project (Pedagogical Multilingual Online
Dictionary about the Bipolar Disorder), partially supported by CNPq, PUCRS and Universityof Turin (UNITO), Italy. She also coordinates the QualivItaBras (Multilingual Online
Dictionary about the life quality of workers from the energetic field), a project in partnershipwith UNITO and University of Sorbonne, France. She has published articles in various national
and international peer-reviewed journals in the areas of Education, Language Teaching,
Terminology and Translation. She has been a member of the Editorial team of HOW – a
Colombian Journal for Teachers of English – for ten years and an invited ad hoc reviewer fornational and international journals of language teaching and related areas. Her major fields ofinterest are medical and legal terminologies, translation pedagogy andmulticultural/multidisciplinary education.

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Dr. Alaster Scott Douglas, University of Roehampton, London
Dr. Alaster Scott Douglas is Assistant Director of Education and a Reader in Education andProfessional Practice. He worked as a teacher and senior manager in four high schools and led
an Expressive Arts faculty before becoming a deputy head teacher in two schools. Having
completed an M.A. in Education (Publishing), and an MSc in Educational Research
Methodology, Dr. Douglas earned a Ph.D. in teacher education from the University of Oxford.
He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK and holds a Teaching Fellowship.
He is also Director of the research group Teaching and Learning in Schools at the Universityof Roehampton, an associate member of the Oxford Centre for Sociocultural and Activity
Theory Research at the University of Oxford. His research interests include cultural-historicalactivity theory and developmental work research in general. Current research is focused onuniversities and schools in the preparation of teachers. Dr. Douglas has been the recipient offunded research projects on the differentiated teaching practices in UK and USA classrooms,
the relationship between teaching, learning and research and the education and learning of preservice teachers.
Dr. Leda Kamenopoulou, University of Roehampton, London
Dr. Kamenopoulou is a Senior Lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education at the University of
Roehampton and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Leda initially trained as a teacher
of classics at the University of Athens in Greece. After completing a Master’s degree in Special
Educational Needs from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol, sheobtained a Ph.D. in SEN and inclusion from the Institute of Education, University of London.
Her doctoral thesis focused on the social outcomes of mainstream inclusive education foryoung people with a dual sensory impairment. Leda has worked as a research associate,research fellow, research advisor and visiting lecturer at the University of London and otherUK-based academic Institutions. Her research expertise is in systematic literature reviews,
qualitative, mixed methods and evaluation research designs, participatory research withchildren and young people, and sensory/multi-sensory and emotional needs.
Eddy Li, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Eddy Li received his initial teaching training from Hong Kong and Cambridge. Before
rejoining The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012 as a Lecturer in its English Language
Teaching Unit, he had worked in secondary schools as a teacher of English and English
Literature. Since 2007, Eddy has served as an Examiner in various public examinations
administered by the Hong Kong Examination and Assessment Authority. In 2014, he wasappointed by the Hong Kong Education Bureau as a professional member of a territory-wide
review panel. His research interests include inclusive pedagogy in Confucian-heritage Culture,
eLearning strategies, professional craft knowledge, and second language teacher education. He
is particularly interested in constructing/deconstructing the cultural model of inclusion, andexploring how quality education for all could be fostered in Chinese communities.
Jillian Marchant, James Cook University, Australia
Jillian Marchant holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a major in Policy andis presently a Ph.D. Candidate with the School of Education at James Cook University inAustralia. She is a published author of several articles that seek to appreciate the unfolding
association between increasingly accessible formal adult learning and social development in6	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

remote and sparsely populated areas. As a resident of a community that is relatively isolated
and has a low population density, Jillian remains committed to exploring the ways in which
adult tertiary education may be facilitated to assistant the inhabitants of these fragile areas. She
is an invited ad hoc reviewer for Australian education conferences as well as recently
contributing as an associate editor at Common Ground Publishing. Her research interests
include the impact of adult education on the life chances of individuals and other practices thatinterrupt social and political stratification.
Dr. Dave E. Marcial, College of Computer Studies, Dumaguete City, Philippines
Dr. Marcial holds various positions in many professional organizations in the Philippines. He
is the founder of the Society for ICT in Teacher Education (ICT4TEd) in the Philippines. He
is the founding president of the ICT Association of Dumaguete & Negros Oriental (ICT-Dgte),
Philippines. Formerly, he is President of the Philippine Society of IT Educators (PSITE) and
Board Secretary of the Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP). He is currently Board ofTrustee of the Philippine e-Learning Society (PeLS). He is also member of the TechnicalCommittee for Information Technology of the Philippine Commission on Higher Education.
His research interest lies in e-learning, local knowledge computing, and information systems
where he has been the recipient of some local, national and international research grants. Dr.
Marcial is the dean of the College of Computer Studies, Dumaguete City, Philippines.
Dr. Yvonne Masters, University of New England, Australia
Dr. Yvonne Masters is currently a Senior Lecturer in Professional Classroom Practice in the
School of Education, UNE, a position that she accepted after five years as Director ofProfessional Experience in the same School. Prior to taking up her position at UNE Yvonne
had 30 years’ experience in secondary schools including in the roles of Curriculum
Coordinator, Deputy Principal and Principal; roles that developed her skills in leadership,project management, curriculum and assessment. Her teaching experience spans three
Australian states. Yvonne’s research interests centre on teacher education, professional
experience and virtual worlds, with a particular focus on distance education students. Yvonne
was awarded her Ph.D. in October 2010 and in the last three years she has gained, in
collaboration with other researchers, four Internal School of Education Research grants, beena partner in a $200,000 ALTC (OLT) grant, VirtualPREX: Innovative assessment using a 3D
virtual world with pre-service teachers, and in 2014 achieved a UNE Seed Grant for a one-year
project to explore teacher quality. Her most current project, a 2015 OLT project examines thereadiness of pre-service teachers for virtual teaching experiences.
Dr. Richard Mather, Buckinghamshire New University, United Kingdom
Richard Mather is a Course Leader in the Department of Computing where he teaches software
engineering and co-leads research in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). He holds
postgraduate qualifications in software engineering (MSc, Oxford) and in environmental
sciences (DPhil, Oxford; MSc, UCNW). His pedagogic research and Ph.D. supervision include
adaptive assessment practices, technologies and collaborative behaviours for learning
computer science subjects. For the past twenty years he has also provided services to education,
governments and industry concerning the development and use of Geographical Information
Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing for environmental management. In 2010 he was awarded
The Institution of Analysts and Programmers Prize for Software Engineering after developing7	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016a system to automate vegetation mapping from aerial imagery. His geospatial project outputs
provide a rich source of case studies for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
Prof. Dr. Catalino N. Mendoza, University of Batangas, Philippines
Dr. Catalino N. Mendoza “Know-Well” has been in the academe for the last 22 years. An
academic consultant, module designer and developer, writer, professor/lecturer, research editor
and thesis and dissertation consultant, he has to his credit almost two (2) doctorate degreesDoctor of Management Science, Doctor of Philosophy in Human Resource Management and acandidate for Doctor of Business Administration.
Dr. Mendoza as an HR, Management, and Effective Communication consultant (both ingovernment and private companies) was formerly the Coordinator, Head, and College Dean of
CBA, MBA, MBBA, MBBHRM, Ph.D., and PhDBM in various Colleges and Universities in
the Philippines and visiting professor/lecturer both in the graduate and undergraduate schools.
He also served as resource speaker, panel discussant and participants in various seminars in thegraduate and undergraduate programs and in the government and private agencies/companies
both local and international.
He is also an awardee in the 2009 International Business and Economics Research andInternational Teaching and Learning Research Conferences held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
last October 5-7, 2009 and published books entitled Human Resource Management Practices
in the Philippines and Phenomenological Study on the Philippine Women at Forty in Germany
by Lambert Academic Publishing Company on August 2012 and August 2013, respectively.
He is now working as the Vice President of AGP Elevator Inc. and Consultant for Human
Resource, Management and Operations of Tri-Asia Electrical Supplies and WellgrantElectrical Supply Manufacturing, Professor in the Graduate School of St. Paul University
Surigao, Professor in the Graduate School of the Philippine Christian University, former
Director for Publications, Research, Linkages and Liaison, Associate Dean and Professor of
the Graduate School, professor in college of business and accountancy, college of engineeringand college of tourism and hospitality management, college of criminal justice and college ofeducation in the University of Batangas, Philippines.
Dr. Massoud Moslehpour, Asia University, Taiwan
Dr. Moslehpour is assistant professor of Business Administration and Foreign Languages.
Doctorate of Philosophy, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri, December 1995
Industrial Technology (Support Areas: Higher and Adult Education; Curriculum Development;
Spanish). His major areas of interest are: Marketing, Management, Culture and Foreign
Languages. During the past ten years he has written several textbooks related to: Internet
English, Culture through Movies and Presentation Skills. He has also published several journal
articles in various international peer-reviewed journals in the areas of: Purchase Intention,
Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty, and Freshman English and Internet Addiction.

8	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Dr. Alice Schmidt Hanbidge, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Canada
Dr. Alice Schmidt Hanbidge, Assistant Professor in the Bachelor and Masters degree programsin the School of Social Work at Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada, combines the applied practices of community mental health within an academic setting
to effectively contribute to the advancement of knowledge, research and program delivery. Key
research areas of interest include advancing technology in the teaching of social work,community mental health children’s programming and evaluation, evidence-based group work
methodology, and furthering field education in social work. Alice’s 20-year extensive social
work practice experience includes a specialisation in community mental health that contributes
to her clinical, teaching and research social work interests.
Dr. Ilana Ronen, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Dr. Ilana Ronen earned her Ph.D. in Science Education from Tel Aviv University. Following
five years of biochemistry research focusing on bile acid synthesis and recovery of hepatic
clearance in the rat liver, she began her educational career. She headed the excellent program
and the Science specialisation at Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and Arts. She
established communities of learners as part of service learning and led changes in the practiceof pre-service students in line with the PDS model. As a member of the science faculty, she isteaching physics and chemistry courses and supervising M.Ed students who conduct researchin environmental education. Her research interests include alternative conceptions in scienceeducation; emergent knowledge in communities of learners; improving science education via
professional development schools access; community service learning; collaborative learning;and ICT implementation in education.
Dr. Raimond Selke, School of Foreign Studies, Osaka University
Dr. Raimond Selke holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Regensburg (Bavaria,
Germany), specialising in 19th-century Victorian Painting and Art of the Weimar Republic. He
is currently Associate Professor at Osaka University, Graduate School of Language andCulture. He teaches undergraduate and post graduate students in German language and inspecial seminars on Ethics in Business and Intercultural Competence and Communication plus
German Art History. He has been researching and teaching overseas for many years, including
at the University of Warwick, UK, The Cleveland Museum of Art, USA, East China Universityof Science, Technology, China, and Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. His research interests
are in Teaching German and Fine Arts and Business Studies. He publishes widely in academic
journals and professional magazines.
Dr. Andrzej Sokolowski, Texas A&M University (Integrated Math & Sci. Department)
Dr. Andrzej Sokolowski earned his Ph.D. (Curriculum and Instruction, emphasis in
Mathematics Education) from Texas A&M University and MS (Physics, emphasis in Didacticsof Physics) from Gdansk University. His interests include research in mathematical modeling,in particular, its effects on students’ learning of mathematics. He is an author of several articles
and book chapters. While in the Ph.D. program, he has published 18 journal articles, 4 bookchapters, 4 conference proceeding papers, and had 16 conference presentations at the state andnational levels. He is also a reviewer for journals such as Review of Educational Research,
International Journal of STEM Education, and Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science,9	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

and Technology Education. Dr. Sokolowski currently teaches Integrated Math and Science
course for pre-service teachers at Texas A&M University.
Dr. Anna Toom, Touro College, USA
Dr. Anna Toom is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Education at Touro College
Graduate School of Education, USA. She earned a M.S. in Computer Science from Moscow
Institute of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Automation in 1972 and a MS in Psychology
from Moscow State University, Russia, in 1978. In 1991, she attained her Ph.D. in Psychology
from Moscow State University of Management, Russia. After graduation, for 12 years, she
worked as a university researcher and taught psychology from time to time. In the USA,teaching became her permanent activity. She is a pioneer of distance education in New York
City. She has been designing, developing and instructing various online psychology courses
for 17 years. A few years ago Anna left the traditional classroom to devote her teaching andresearch to online education. Now, she teaches Child Development and Learning in Cultural
Context and History of Education Internet-based courses. Her primary scientific interest
concerns learning in the virtual environment. She studies online students’ adjustment,
motivation, cognitive activity, and communication in the virtual classroom.
Dr. Daniel Velasco, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, USA
Dr. Daniel Velasco earned his B.A. in both English and French from UCLA, and his M.Ed.
from National University. He spent the first part of his career in the field of international/crosscultural education as an instructor, administrator, student counselor, and academic director ata variety of post-secondary institutions. His role as an international student counseLlor
prompted him to diversify his education, and he soon earned an M.A. in psychology from
Antioch University, and started a private practice specialising in positive psychology. He
continued on to The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, where he earned a PhD in
International Psychology. Dr Velasco currently resides in Japan, where he is a mental healthcounsellor, associate professor, researcher, and public speaker. He regularly lectures onintercultural communication, teaching strategies, positive psychology, and counseLling
strategies with a focus on adaptation and acculturation. He is an active member of the Japanese
Psychological Association (JPA), the American Psychological Association (APA), theInternational Council of Psychologists (ICP), the International Mental Health Professionals
Japan (IMHPJ), the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT), and Teachers of English
to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Dr. Tony Yeigh, Southern Cross University, Australia
Dr. Yeigh is a Lecturer in the School of Education at Southern Cross University (SCU),
Australia, where he teaches in the areas of educational psychology and classroom management.
Dr. Yeigh has also had extensive consultancies relating to the Australian Government Quality
Teacher Programme (AGQTP), working with classroom teachers at both the primary andsecondary levels of professional development. His research interests are in the areas of working
memory (WM) and classroom instructional design, and in this respect his Ph.D. thesis
examined the relationship between cognitive load and cognitive inhibition, an executivefunction of the WM system. Dr. Yeigh is a research associate with the Centre for Children andYoung People (SCU), as well as a member of the Association for Mindfulness in Education(AME) and of the Teacher Education Research Group (SCU). He is also leader of the Schoolof Education Learning Sciences Research Group, which focuses on the cognitive-10	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

psychological, social-psychological and cultural-psychological foundations of human learning.
Based on these research affiliations Dr Yeigh has published widely in high quality education
research journals and texts, and is currently pursuing research in the areas of pre-service teacher
training, educational mindfulness and social-emotional wellbeing.
Dr. Yoshihiko Yamamotoe, Shizuoka University, Japan
Dr. Yoshihiko Yamamoto is currently teaching English at Shizuoka University and has lived
in both Australia and New Zealand for more than 10 years. He holds a PhD (Education),
University of Canberra, M.A. in TESOL, University of Canberra, B.A. in Education & in
Linguistics, Victoria University of Wellington. His research areas are Discourse Analysis(gender talk), Sociolinguistics (gender stereotypes) and Applied Linguistics (in general).

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Editors’ Introduction
It is our great pleasure and honour to introduce Volume 4, Issue 2 of IAFOR Journal of
Education. This issue is a selection of papers submitted directly to our journal as well as studies
presented during:
1. The Inaugural Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2015.
ACE-ID 2015 was held at the Rihga Royal Hotel, Osaka, Japan, from March 29 to April
1, 2015. Conference Theme: “Education, Power and Empowerment: Education as an
Instrument of Global Transformation”.
2. The Asian Conference on Education 2015. ACE 2015 was held at the Art Center ofKobe, Kobe, Japan, from Wednesday, October 21 to Sunday, October 25, 2015.
Conference Theme: “Education, Power and Empowerment: Transcending Boundaries”.
3. The Asian Conference on Education and International Development 2016. ACE-ID
2016 was held at the Art Center of Kobe, Kobe, Japan, from Sunday, April 3 to
Wednesday, April 6, 2016. Conference Theme: “Education and Social Justice:
Learning For Global Diversity”.
4. The European Conference on Education 2016. ECE 2016 was held at the The Jurys Inn
Brighton Waterfront, Brighton, United Kingdom, from Wednesday, June 29 to Sunday,
July 3, 2016. Conference Theme: “Education and Social Justice: Democratising
Education”.
The first paper, written by Sylvia Chong Nguik Yin is entitled “Identification of Early
Predictors of Adult Learners’ Academic Performance in Higher Education”. This study used
enrollment data from a Singapore university that focuses on adult learners. The paper describes
predictive modelling techniques developed for use in this study. The research findings highlightthe impact of students’ prior academic preparation including the quality of the school theyattended, prior test scores, and prior English and Mathematics grades. These were significant
predictors of the adult learner’s academic performance for the first semester at university.
The second paper, written by Mozhgan Ghaffarzadeh is entitled “A Comparative Study ofDiscrimination in Education: The Learning Environment and Behaviours of Students andTeachers in Iran”. This paper explores the teaching and learning environment as well as thephysical charactaristics of ten schools in Iran including public, private, and semi-private
schools. Observations were recorded in detailed notes over ten years during teaching andinspection within the schools. Findings describe differences in teaching methods and facilities
and point out possible remedies for inequities between schools in Iran.
The third paper, entitled “Assessing the Metacognitive Awareness among the Foundation in
Engineering Students” is co-authored by Betsy Lee Guat Poh, Kasturi Muthoosamy, Chiang
Choon Lai, and Ooi Chel Gee. This article describes the awareness among a group of first year
students of their metacognitive abilities throughout their first semester in the Foundation in
Engineering program. Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) (Schraw & Dennison, 1994)
was employed as a rating instrument to measure the students’ baseline in metacognition andtraced their metacognitive strength in a consecutive manner. The ten weeks of teaching andlearning sessions exposed the students to various activities and have somehow revamped thestudents’ rating in term of metacognitive knowledge and experiences. The students’ responses
showed a gradual improvement in their metacognitive abilities over the preliminary,intermediate and end of the semester surveys, with the exception of debugging skills. As afuture study, the researchers suggest an intervention on a specific module to be carried out toenhance the students’ debugging skills along with the other seven MAI components.

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

The fourth paper, entitled “The Link between the Process of Change and Coaching in an
Organization – A Case Study” is written by Josephine Jim. This article demonstrated thebenefits of coaching in supporting organizational learning and change in a lifelong learning
institution in Hong Kong. The author recorded the staffs’ responses to the change process on aseries of factors and issues in the pre- and post-coaching stages. Findings from the case study
support providing coaching to staff going through the change process of a huge project
involving changes in various levels in the organization: management, administration, operationand services. The author advocates coaching in education institutions where it is not currently
a common practice.
The fifth paper, co-authored by Adolfina Pérez Garcias and Victoria I. Marín, is entitled “Ethics
Issues of Digital Contents for Pre-Service Primary Teachers: A Gamification Experience for
Self-Asssessment with Socrative”. This study presents an educational experiment with preservice teachers for primary school from the University of the Balearic Islands, who wereinvolved in a learning activity using the webtool Socrative for quizzes to work on the topic of
ethics issues of digital contents. Based on the activity, the authors highlight the interest on
gamification strategies to encourage learning and participation.
The sixth paper, written by Adam Gyenes, is entitled “Conspicuous Internationalization?
Creating an ‘International Communication Lounge’ on a Japanese University Campus.” The
article explores the process by which a self-access center for language learning and intercultural
exchange was established on a university campus in Japan. A theoretical model of policy
borrowing is used to frame the author’s ethnographic work, supported by interview datacollected from various stakeholders in the university. The center is shown to have become a
hub for internationalization within the university: a gathering place where students are
motivated by one another to study English and find out about study abroad, and a space used
to enhance the international image of the university.
The seventh paper, entitled “An Analysis of Creative Process Learning in Computer
Game Activities Through Player Experiences”, is by Wilawan Inchamnan. This paper
describes a behavior analysis for measuring the creative potential of computer gameactivities and learning outcomes. The research approach applies heuristic checklists inthe field of the gameplay to analyze the factors in the stage of player activities involved in
the performance of the task and to examine player experiences with the Player Experienceof Need Satisfaction (PENS) survey. The findings show the creative potential that occurred toyield levels of creative performance within game play activities to support learning.
The eighth paper, co-authored by Yang Wang and Chao Liu, is entitled “Cultivate Mindfulness:
A Case Study of Mindful Learning in an English as a Foreign Language Classroom.” This casestudy investigated how mindfulness affected the learning process of college English as aforeign language in China and found that by engaging in mindful strategies, students took
ownership of their learning; the students formed a closer relationship with each other and with
their instructor. In such a community, the students became more willing to take risks,
concentrated on their learning, and became more confident about learning English language.
The students started to value their own learning process and became more motivated to learn.
The ninth paper, written by Chen Szu-An, is entitled “A Study of Comparatively Low
Achievement Students’ Bilingualized Dictionary Use and their English Learning.” This paper
presents a study on Taiwanese EFL learners’ behaviors of using bilingualized dictionaries andtheir perspectives on book dictionary. The research participants were 147 comparatively lowachievement university students. Questionnaire results present their positive reflection on the13	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

helpfulness of using bilingualized dictionaries in learning English. Their dictionary use
behaviors might be affected by classroom activities and assignments. This paper concludes byarguing that advance guidance of using dictionaries may need to be integrated into the course.
Please note that we welcome original research papers in the field of education submitted byteachers, scholars, and education professionals, who may submit their manuscripts even though
they did not participate in one of the conferences held by IAFOR.
We also welcome book reviews, reviews of the literature in the field, and contributions
introducing key educational scholars. The next issue scheduled for March 01, 2017 will also
be a selection of papers submitted during the above mentioned conferences. IAFOR
publications are freely accessible on the website (Open Access).
Moreover, there is no publication fee for authors. Please find the guidelines on our journal
homepage and at the end of this issue, and follow our guide for authors before submitting yourpaper.
Best regards,
Bernard Montoneri and Lucy Spence

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Identification of Early Predictors of Adult Learners’
Academic Performance in Higher Education

Sylvia Chong Nguik Yin16	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Abstract

Universities are inundated with detailed applicant and enrolment data from a variety of sources.
However, for these data to be useful there is a need to convert them into strategic knowledge
and information for decision-making processes. This study uses predictive modelling to
identify at-risk adult learners in their first semester at SIM University, a Singapore Universitythat caters mainly to adult learners. Fourteen variables from the enrolment database wereconsidered as possible factors for the predictive model. To classify the at-risk students, various
algorithms were used such as a neural network and classification tree. The performances of thedifferent models were compared for sensitivity, specificity and accuracy indices. The model
chosen is a classification tree model that may be used to inform policy. The implications ofthese results for identification of individuals in need of early intervention are discussed.
Keywords: predictive modelling; adult learners; higher education.

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Introduction
The ease of data collection and advances in information technologies, such as storage
capability, processing power and access speed, has enabled educational institutions toaccumulate vast amounts of data. Universities and their enrolment offices are inundated withdetailed applicant and enrolment data from a variety of sources, such as student demographics,
professional experience and academic background. However, for these data to be useful there
is a need to convert them into strategic knowledge and information for decision-making
processes. Over the past decade, data mining has gained increasing attention in academia togenerate data driven evidence (Koh and Chong, 2014). Data mining approaches can discoverhidden relationships and patterns. These relationships and patterns can, in turn, be developed
into models to predict students’ performance and behaviour. The predictive models can develop
knowledge and insights, on which informed and strategic decisions can be made.
The purpose of this study is to develop predictive models to identify early predictors ofacademic performance of adult learners who are enrolled in the part-time undergraduate
programs at SIM University, Singapore. SIM University is Singapore's only privately-funded
university dedicated to working adults. The University has provided pathways for many topursue lifelong learning and higher education while balancing career, family and social
responsibilities (SIM University, 2014).The research scope was developed in the context of the
SIM University’s enrolment process. The research is timely and significant because of thegrowing number of adult learners who are returning to higher education (Macfadgen, 2007).
his paper focuses on the factors that predict adult learners who may be academically at-risk andproposes incorporating into the enrolment process a predictive model to identify potential atrisk students.
Context of Study
The profile of students in higher education is changing (Chong, Loh and Babu, 2015). There isan increasing number of non-traditional students – these are students who are not in the groupof 18-22 year-old full-time undergraduates (Wyatt, 2011; Macfadgen, 2007). There are 13,369
adult students currently enrolled in SIM University (SIM University, 2014). This is significant,as more and more adults who have been out of school for some years are turning to higher
education institutions to start, continue or complete undergraduate degrees. In August 2012,
the Singapore government declared support for the continuing higher education sector by
expanding and diversifying the pathways in higher education (MOE, 2012). The restructuringof higher education pathways and institutions ensures that Singapore develops a morecompetitive workforce. The Singapore government, in a bid to encourage and support lifelong
learning and continuing education, has made available a range of financial support instruments
such as government subsidised bursaries and tuition loan schemes for adult learners to take up
part-time undergraduate programs in SIM University (MOE, 2012). SIM University must
modify and target their enrolment and admission strategies to better serve this growing
population of adult learners. It is important for SIM University to identify and profile students
who will eventually succeed, as well as applicants who will struggle or are inappropriate foradmission.
With growing participation adult learners in higher education, SIM University must sift throughan increasing number of applications. Making informed enrolment decisions will require
accurate data and analysis for evidenced-based insights and knowledge discovery.
Incorporating into the enrolment process predictive models to identify potential at-risk students
or student success is highly advantageous. A combination of an explicit knowledge base
together with sophisticated analytical approaches and clear domain information can uncover
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  patterns, associations and/or relationships to support enrolment management. By analysing
enrolment data, it is possible to develop models that will be able to predict the potential of incoming students.
Review of Literature
The review of literature is organized in two parts. The first section includes an overview of thedata mining process and its use in higher education. The second section provides a review ofstudies on predictors of academic performance in higher education.
Use of Data Mining in Higher Education
Data mining has emerged in the wake of higher education’s ability to capture a rapidly growing
amount of data to “develop models for improving learning experiences and improving
institutional effectiveness” (Huebner, 2013). The data mining process is often initiated without
any preconceived outcomes; it adopts a data analysis methodology (Chong, Mak and Loh,2016) and is often interchangeable with the term Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD)(SPSS, 2009) with the aim of obtaining insightful and useful findings (Giudici, 2013). In its
basic form, the data mining process is the extraction of the knowledge within large databases.
The data mining process involves several phases among which are: data acquisition, feature
selection and extraction from database, model development and pattern recognition using data
mining techniques, model interpretation and knowledge generation. Data mining, used inhigher education, can strategically combine selected institutional data and statistical analysis
to generate information upon which students, educators, administrators and management can
improve practices. This highlights the importance of data mining as an approach to build
models by transforming raw data into usable knowledge and information (Giudici, 2013).
Chang’s (2009) study used data mining techniques to develop a model to predict the academic
performance of university applicants. The predictive model was developed based on variables
taken from the university’s integrated admissions system. The integrated system included
databases on application, enrolment and student progress data. The study showed that theneural network and decision tree models developed were able to inform university recruitment
strategies, as well as support institutional research. Ramaswami and Bhaskaran (2010) used a
CHAID (Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detector) prediction model, based on aclassification tree, to identify a set of predictive variables and assess the impact of thesevariables on the academic performance of university students. A pilot experiment with 224
students from two different universities along with 35 variables was conducted. The model
showed a strong correlation between attributes such as location, school type, parents’
education, secondary school grades and the students’ performance at the universities. Kovacic(2010) developed prediction models of students’ success based on enrolment data withstatistical techniques such as CART (Classification and Regression Technique) and QUEST(Quick, Unbiased and Efficient Statistical Tree) classification tree methods. He concluded thatclassifying students based on pre-enrolment data helps to identify students who may be at risk,
and recommended orientation, advising and mentoring programs to support these students.
The literature also indicated that algorithmic or data mining approaches to develop predictivemodels could provide notable results vis-à-vis traditional statistical modelling approaches (Li,
Nsofor and Song, 2009; Bogard, James, Helbig & Huff, 2012). Vandamme, Meskens andSuperby (2007) used decision trees, neural networks and linear regression for the early
identification of three categories of first-year students: low-, medium- and high-risk students.
Some of the demographics and academic variables of these students were significantly related

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  to academic performance. Such predictions are useful to identify and support students withappropriate interventions to improve their academic performance.
Predictors of Academic Performance
The antecedents to success in university prior to students’ matriculating are well established.
Evidence exists to show that pre-university academic performance has a significant impact on
subsequent academic performance in university. The relationship between pre-university
grades and university performance has been validated in studies (Iam-On and Boongoen, 2015;
Adelman, 2006). Adelman’s (2006) research on persistence points to the importance of bothpre-university (high school) performance and the rigor of the high school curriculum. Iam-On
and Boongoen (2015) affirmed the importance of pre-university grade-point average inpredicting success in university. However, the predictive ability of pre-university school grades
is different for different individuals and groups. Power, Robertson, and Baker (1987) showedthat the correlation between pre-university/high school grades and Grade Point Average (GPA)
at university is generally about 0.5. They also found that secondary school grades are not as
predictive for mature students’ performance as they are for school leavers’ performance.
According to Bhardwaj & Pal, (2011) personal, social, psychological and environmental
variables have an impact on students’ academic performance. Other variables such as living
location, medium of teaching, mother’s qualifications, and family annual income also
potentially affects student performance (Bharadwaj & Pal, 2011). Demographic variables thathave been found to be determinants of academic performance include age, gender, employment
responsibilities, and student workload (Palmer, Bexley and James, 2011).
In addition, pre-university factors that are commonly associated with individuals most at risk
include: low pre-university school grade-point average (Adelman, 2006), low SAT/ACTscores; minority status (Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005), low family education levels, and low
family income (Eagle and Tinto, 2008). Other variables that contribute include non-cognitive
factors such as motivation, aspirations (Eagle and Tinto, 2008), and tendencies toward social
and academic integration (Braxton and Hirschy, 2005; Eagle & Tinto, 2008). These noncognitive factors are also seen as predictors of academic performance. Investigating theinteraction of more traditional risk factors, such as demographics, with early engagement
indicators can lead to a richer understanding of the predictors of success for students.
Research Objectives
The key purpose of this study is to identify early predictors of academic performance during
the adult learners’ initial semester at university using a data mining approach. Through this,SIM University hopes to identify students or applicants who are academically at risk as earlyas possible. Decision trees are used to build these models so that appropriate enrolment andintervention strategies can be designed and implemented. Specifically the study aims to achieve
the following research objectives:•   Identify characteristics that are available at application and early engagement
variables of adult learners who are academically (GPA) at-risk in higher education•   Build models for early prediction of the academically at risk with the identified
application characteristics and early engagement variables•   Evaluate these models using cross-validation

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  Research Methodology
Data Source
The target sample for this study was comprised of first-year students who started their parttime degree program at SIM University in January and July 2013. Data was extracted from an
in-house student information management system which collects and catalogues data fromnumerous sources within the admissions office as well as in other divisions of the university.
For the purpose of this study, a range of demographic and academic data was extracted for
2,392 students that fall within the target sample.
Data Understanding
In order to identify potentially useful and credible patterns in the data, several iterative steps
were taken in the development of the enrolment model. Students with missing data were
removed from the dataset because some data mining algorithms were not able to handle missing
data. To assist with data understanding, profiling was also conducted to determine theproportion of at-risk students in relation to the overall student participation rates.
Profile. Students studying in SIM University were relatively equally distributed in terms ofgender, with more than half of the sample being between 21 and 25 years of age (M = 26.5, SD= 4.98). 22.7% of the students were identified as at risk students based on their Pre-University
Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) (See Table 1 for more details).
	
  

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 1. Profile of Sample Used for ModellingN%

Female

1147

48.0

Male

1245

52.0

21 to 25

1387

58.0

26 to 30

599

25.0

Above 31

406

17.0

At Risk

542

22.7

Not At Risk

1850

77.3

SASS

546

22.8

SBIZ

848

35.5

HDSS

291

12.2

SST

707

29.6

GenderAge

At Risk Status

SIM University School

Variables. Predictors for the study can be broadly categorized into the three following
groups. The description of the variables is presented in Table 2.
•   Demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, race, length of working experience]•   Pre-SIM University academic performance indicators (prior diploma school, diploma
CGPA, years since they last studied, field of diploma study, relevance of previous
diploma study to current degree, O-Levels English and O-levels Mathematics) and•   University variables (SIM University schools and Credit Units (CUs) registered).
Demographic variables. As a university dedicated to adult learners, SIM University’senrolment is typically characterized by a diverse student profile in terms of their race, marital
status, age and working experience. In view of this, demographic variables are of particularinterest as students at different life stages handle the demands of a university program
differently.
Pre-SIM University academic performance indicators. The concept of students’ innate
academic aptitude and its impact on their ability to cope with the demands of a university
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  education has been discussed in literature (Pascoe, McClelland and McGaw, 1997). In view ofthis, proxy indicators like O-levels English and O-levels Mathematics, subjects that most
students offer at national examinations were collected to represent the students’ academic
competence. In the same token, diploma GPAs and the field of their diploma studies may also
serve as a good gauge of the student’s aptitude in respective programmes.
SIM University variables. SIM University’s programmes are offered by four schools thatcover a range of disciplines: School of Arts and Social Sciences (SASS), School of Business(SBIZ), School of Human Development and Social Services (HDSS), and School of Scienceand Technology (SST). As it is likely that programs offered by each school required andemphasised different domain knowledge and skills, it is insightful to identify and study
between-school differences on the students’ academic performance. Course workload isanother predictor of interest in this study. To capture course workload, the number of Credit
Units (CUs) that the students registered for at the start of the semester is used as a proxy.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Table 2. Variables used for data exploration and analysis
Variable Role Level
Role
Description/ TypeAt Risk Indicator

TargetDemographic Variables:
GenderPredictor Student gender (binary: male or female)

Age

Predictor Student age at intake (numeric)Marital Status

Predictor Student marital status (binary: Single or Married)

Race

Predictor Student race (nominal: Chinese, Malay, Indian or
Others)
Predictor Student length of working experience in months(numeric)

Work Experience

Student academic risk status (binary: at risk or
not at risk)

Predictor The institution that student obtained Diploma
Name of Diploma
Pre-SIM University academic performance indicatorsfrom (nominal: A, B, C, D, E)
Awarding Institution(DIP Institution)
Diploma CGPA
Years since study
Field of Diploma Study
Relevance of Diploma
Study
Mathematics “O” level
Grade
English “O” level Grade

Predictor Student diploma final CGPA attained (numeric:
0.0 to 4.0)
Predictor Number of years since student last studied(numeric)
Predictor The diploma area of study that student previously
graduated from (nominal: Engineering, Business,& student
Design,diploma
Health Science,
AppliedPredictor Media
Whetherfield of studyisSciences,
Built
Environment,
Information
relevant to the degree he/she is pursuing (binary:Technologies,
relevant or not Humanities
relevant) and Maritime Studies)
Predictor Student previous Math grades (ordinal: 1 to 9)
Predictor Student previous English grades (ordinal: 1 to 9)

SIM University Variables
SIM University School
CUs Registered

Predictor The school which the student is currently
enrolled in (nominal: SASS, SBIZ, HDSS, SST)
Predictor Number of credit units student registered for thatsemester (numeric)Modelling
A binary target variable ‘at risk’ was also constructed where students with a CGPA score of
2.3 and below is flagged as at risk while those with a CGPA score of above 2.3 is flagged as
not at risk. The threshold CGPA cut-off of 2.3 was used to be consistent with SIM University’s
practice of offering academic counselling to students with a CGPA score of 2.3 and below.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  After data preparation, a data driven approach was used to select statistically significant
predictors. Using IBM SPSS Modeler 14.1, a list of significant predictors was identified using
Model Feature Selection node, Neural Networks, CHAID, C5.0 and CRT based on theirstatistical significance (p-value <.05). As each algorithm has its own computation methodology
strengths, comparing the list of predictors chosen by different algorithms offered a balanced
and insightful approach in short listing variables that are consistently important for subsequentmodelling. This controlled for variable selection bias. The list of short listed variables was thenevaluated based on inputs from the literature as well as by subject matter experts who havecontextual knowledge of the workings of UniSIM and the Singapore education landscape.
In model building, the CHAID decision tree was chosen as the baseline decision tree among
the other decision trees that were developed via different algorithms on the full dataset (N =2,392). The selection of the baseline model was based on an evaluation of a basket of criterion
which measured the models’ specificity, sensitivity, accuracy, and G-mean (Kubat, Holte &Matwin 1997). Collectively, the different criteria represented the models’ ability to correctlyclassify at risk students, correctly classify not at risk students, and measure the degree ofcloseness of predicted values to actual values and measure the trade-off between specificity
and sensitivity respectively.
Subsequent to this, the team attempted to build a contextualised decision tree for UniSIM which
could better the predictive performance of the baseline decision tree. In this phase, greater
emphasis was placed on literature and domain knowledge whereby different predictors wereused as the first tree splitting criterion. All these predictors were selected based on theirstatistical significance (p-value < .05) as well as their influence on the students’ performanceas observed from domain knowledge. After the alternative CHAID trees were grown, a 10-foldcross validation was applied to ascertain their stability and to prevent over-fitting. In instancesof significant deviation in performance criterion the outliers were removed, a model wasreconstructed and cross-validated using the same process. Lastly, performance criteria of all
the alternative CHAID models were compared and evaluated. The final CHAID model which
presented an optimal balance in its accuracy, stability in predictive performance andexplanatory power was chosen.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Results and Discussion
Findings from Data Understanding 	
  As part of data understanding, a cross-tabulation was done for each variable listed in Table 2
to understand the proportion of at-risk students compared to the student participation rates. The
results of selected variables in Table 3 revealed some interesting patterns. 	
  	
  Table 3. Summary results of selected variables of the at-risk model
1st split
criterion:
DIP
Institution

Institution A

Institution B

Institution C

Institution D

Institution E

Probabilityof Sem1_Outcome= at-risk

0.357

0.213

0.243

0.187

0.167

2nd split
criterion:
DIP
CGPA

≤3.08

>3.08

≤2.09

2.09 to
3.30

>3.30

≤2.91

>2.91

≤2.09

>2.09

≤1.86

1.86
to
3.08

>3.08

Probabilityof Sem1_Outcome= at-risk

0.395

0.186

0.320

0.205

0.078

0.298

0.148

0.377

0.135

0.292

0.179

0

Yrs
since
study
end

‘O’
level
EnglishNo
further
split

Sch

Sch

3rd split
criterion:
Varies
4th split
criterion:
VariesNo further
split

No further split

‘O’
level
Maths

No
further
split

Sch
No
furthersplit

No further split
‘O’
level
Maths

The pre-UniSIM academic performance indicators such as Diploma CGPA, Mathematics ‘O’level grades and English ‘O’ level grades, if the students had a lower poly GPA score (< 2.00)
or weak ‘O’ level English and Maths grade (C6 or less), a higher percentage of the students
were classified as at risk. It seems that the diploma awarding institution may have had someinfluence on the students’ academic performance as a substantial percentage of graduates from
Institution C are classified at risk (21.2%) compared to their participation rate (13.5%).
Evaluation and Validation of Model
Based on the confusion matrices presented in Table 4, the three alternative CHAID models
offer a more balanced predictive performance than the baseline reference model given theirhigher G-Mean scores (defined as a Geometric mean of Specificity and Sensitivity (Kubat,
Holte, & Matwin, 1997). Out of the 3 models, the DIP Institution model was selected as it
offers comparable specificity and sensitivity indices with no significant trade-off in otherevaluation criteria. In this instance, it is important that the model has a good hit rate (evaluatedholistically based on specificity and G-Mean indices) since the practical cost of
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    misclassification would mean that actual at-risk students would not be able to benefit from
subsequent intervention strategies or support.
Table 4. Comparison of evaluation criteria on CHAID models with different factors as tree
splitting criteria

Specificity
Sensitivity
Accuracy
G-MeanError rate

Reference Model

DIP Institution

Diploma CGPAUniSIM Schools

40.8%
84.8%
74.8%
58.8%
25.2%

50.9%
76.8%
70.9%
62.5%
29.1%

50.4%
75.4%
69.7%
61.6%
30.3%

48.7%
78.4%
71.7%
61.8%
28.3%

The chosen DIP Institution model was then tested for its stability and replicability using the
10-Folds Cross Validation method. The cross validation result that is presented at Table 5
suggests a reasonably stable model and consistent predictive performance.
Table 5. 10-folds Cross Validation Performance of the chosen DIP Institution CHAID modelSensitivity
Ability to correctly identify actual cases (true positives)
Specificity
Ability to correctly identify negative cases (true negatives)
Accuracy
Closeness of its prediction to the actual values (true positives& negatives)
Error Rate
Proportion of incorrect predictions (true negative &positives)
G-MeanGeometric mean of sensitivity and specificity

Chosen DIP
Institution
CHAID model

10 Folds Cross
Validation

76.8%

77.3%

50.9%

48.1%

70.9%

70.8%

29.1%

29.2%

62.5%

60.1%

Upon examination of the final CHAID decision tree (see Figure 1), we find that the DIP
Institution (x2 = 44.66, p-value < .05) that the students graduated from is significant. It is also
observed that the CHAID decision tree divides into three branches with a few DIP Institutionsgrouped together (for example, DIP Institutions A, B and D are grouped at 1 split, while Dip
Institution E remains by itself). This could perhaps be attributed to a lack of comparable grading
criteria adopted by different DIP Institutions. This is an indication that the quality of their prioracademic preparation is an important influencing factor on the adult learners’ ability to cope inthe degree program in addition to their innate academic potential.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Figure 1. Final CHAID Model
	
  

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Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Implications and Application of Findings
In the CHAID model (see Figure 1), pre-SIM University academic performance variables: the
Pre-University institution that the students graduated from, students’ CGPA score and ‘O’ level
English and Mathematics grades emerged as significant predictors of the adult learner’s
academic performance for the first semester. The finding that the pre-university institution thatthe students graduated from is a key predictor indicates that there is a wide variation in thestandards of performance among the different diploma institutions. Singapore’s education
system is essentially centralized and standardized (Lo, 2014). This variation in academic
performance standards among feeder institutions is an issue of concern for the University’senrolment office.
The quality and strength of the students’ academic foundation prior to entering University
impacts how they cope with the demands of a university program. The finding that preuniversity diploma CGPA is a significant predictor of academic outcomes is consistent with
Geiser and Santelices’ (2007) study that concluded that high school GPA is consistently astrong predictor of four-year college academic outcomes.
The importance of a strong pre-university academic foundation is consistent with views thathigh school English and mathematics proficiencies are critical parts of undergraduate
preparation for success. Research also demonstrates that language proficiency is correlatedwith academic success (Ellis, Chong & Choy, 2013; Gottlieb, 2006). Goldinch and Hughes(2007) investigated the relationships between students' confidence in their generic skills on
entry to university, their learning styles and their academic performance in the first year. Theirstudy highlighted a link between students’ confidence with language and numeracy
proficiencies.
The model developed in this study can be of assistance to university enrolment management inmany ways. An awareness of how potential students may perform academically could lead toa more targeted marketing campaign. Promotional materials about academics, mentoring andstudent support resources can raise applicants’ awareness of how these services can aid in adultlearner transition to university. With the identification of significant factors that may affect thestudents’ initial academic performance, universities can provide timely interventions throughearly identification and monitoring of possible at-risk students. A multi-pronged support
structure may be more efficacious in assisting these students to remain in their degree program.
Concrete steps, such as academic counseling may be offered to targeted students to maximise
their learning and overall university experience. In this way, resources can be more effectively
and efficiently targeted towards a comprehensive support for these students.
Future Directions
Although this study is limited in that it is based on SIM University’s 2013 enrolment dataset
the proposed model may serve as a baseline for future research. Another limitation of thepresent study is that the academically at risk status (operationalized as CGPA) was assessedfor only a single academic year. There are three potential future research directions. Firstly,
more variables could be included to improve the enrolment models as well as to develop otherrelevant models with reduced misclassification of students’ academic performance. Other
decision tree models and ensembles of models may also be explored as educational institutions
exploit data mining for effective decision making, efficient operations and to improve teaching
and learning (Koh and Chong, 2014). Secondly, there is a need to follow various groups ofstudents, students who are at risk, transferees, withdrawals, as well as students who are high
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  performers. Including a time line in the analysis to follow these groups of students insubsequent semesters and tracking their study outcome would help to model their learning
behaviour and patterns. Thirdly, aside from enhancing the accuracy of prediction, one of thedirections for future research could be focused on using the data collected to identify anddevelop the support systems for teaching and learning.
Acknowledgement
This paper is part of an institutional research made possible through a grant (code:
RF13LSC01) provided by SIM University.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

A Comparative Study of Discrimination in Education: The Learning
Environment and Behaviours of Students and Teachers in IranMozhgan Ghaffarzadeh34	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Abstract

It is the learners' right to get an education free from discrimination. Discrimination in education
ranges from gender to race, age, social class, financial status, and other characteristics. In thisstudy the focus is on discrimination in education in regard to social class and financial status.
The paper describes observations of the school building layout and corresponding activities
and behaviours in language education classes. The researcher observed 10 English language
classes from different districts during 10 years from 2004 through 2014 and took notes on theactivities and behaviours provided in the classroom to identify whether there was any
correspondence with educational behaviours. The investigation in this study concluded that thelanguage classes of most of the public (state) schools and some semi-private schools included
a curriculum based on translation and memorization teaching methods. In these schools,
learners exhibited stress and inattention that disturbed their learning. In these classes learners
were threatened by laughing or rough criticizing by the teachers. The observation results wereanalyzed to make comparisons between schools and inform the level of equality in different
schools.
Keywords: discrimination in education; language classes; parent; social class; financial status;
curricular activities.

35	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Introduction
It is important to recognize how quickly and how profoundly legal understanding of theconcepts of ‘equality’ and equality law have changed and continue to change (Mountfield &Chambers, 2009). The current study aims at identifying the level of equality and discriminationin educational settings in a province in Iran. As Isaxanli et al. (2002) have stated, “among thechanges occurring throughout the world is the requirement that social justice is gained insocieties." In recent times, different ideologies and notions about social justice througheducation have arisen. Gordon Brown, prime minister in England believed that “It is education
which provides the rungs on the ladder of social mobility.” (Brown as cited in Smith, 2012, p.
2). Smith (2012) described a political perspective on educational equality following political
economist Thurow (1980). In this perspective, the educational experiences of the poor prevent
them from competing with better educated groups and social mobility stalls. Although there isa view that poor are poor because they failed to work hard and take advantage of educational
opportunities, the moderate view is that the poor are poor because of inadequate education,
inferior schools and disrupted families.
Different people need different considerations, quoting the Roman Emperor Justinian, “justiceis the constant will to render to each his due” (cited in Miller, 2003 p.76). In other words,
everyone should receive what they deserve. Do the poor deserve to be hungry, uneducated or
sick? How can we realize who deserves what? Miller (2003) and Garner, Wagner, andKawulich (2009) provide three concepts to consider: (a) if two students behave in a similarway, the punishment or reward should be similar; (b) the treatment should be relevant, forexample a person should not be punished because his/her name begins with a specific letter;(c) the treatment should be proportionate, meaning that if we have to behave differently withdifferent people that treatment ought to be in proportion to what they have done.
This study aims at investigating whether there is justice in educational conditions for learners
in the Mazandaran province in Iran and to what extent the probable differences in social andfinancial status may be related to education discrimination.
Literature Review
The Significance of Education and Teaching Language in Particular
Education is a basic human right and very significant in the development of countries andsocieties. Having an appropriate educational situation for all children will assist in reducing
poverty, diseases related to poverty, maternal diseases, and hunger. Education can lead toeconomic growth in the country. Michaelowa (2000) declared, “Education affects the life ofindividuals, their participation in economic activities, and overall economic development” (p.
1). It has been noted in UNESCO's pamphlet (2000) that everyone has the right to educationand it shall be free.
In this paper, English language education and language classes are investigated. Language
education is the teaching and learning of a foreign or second language. Globalization has
created a need for communicating in multiple languages. An optimum learning environment isnecessary to assist learners in the language learning process.
The Significance of Teachers and the Learning Environment
Teacher quality is very important in education. Many researchers have concluded that student
achievement is affected by their teachers (Hanushek, 1971; Murnane, 1975; Amor, 1975; Parkand Hannum, 2002; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005; and Aaronson et al., 2003). A study by
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Earthman (2004) investigating student academic achievement and building conditions
concluded that the quality of the physical environment significantly affects student
achievement. In a review of school environments by Higgins Hall, Wall, Woolner, andMcCaughey (2005) significant improvements in the learning environment was identified asleading to better attitudes toward teaching and learning.
The importance of the learning environment in language education led to the current study
conducted to investigate the relationship between the possibility of education discrimination inlanguage classroomlearning environments and the educational behaviours of both teachers andlearners.
Educational Status in Iran
Education in Iran is divided into K-12 education and higher education. K-12 education underconsideration in this paper is supervised by the Ministry of Education. The structure of the
Iranian education system in schools is divided into the following stages: Pre-school Education(1 year in length, called Pishdabestan, is not compulsory), Primary Education (five years,
called Dabestan), Middle school (three years, also called Guidance or Rahnamaie), andSecondary Education (four years, called Dabirestan). English as a second language isintroduced from grade 7 (the beginning of middle school). In Iran, private schools werepermitted to re-open in 1988 as non-profit institutions. Although education is free until the endof secondary education and compulsory for the first five years of schooling, there aredifferences between different regions in the country regarding the school facilities andprograms.
The Importance of Comparative Studies on Education
Comparative education is a fully established academic field of study that examines two or moreeducational systems or situations in one country (or group of countries) by using data andinsights drawn from observing the practices and context. Comparative international research is
an attempt to understand local problems from a global perspective (Villalon, Suzuki, Hererra& Mathiesen, 2002). A list of quality measures helps to see a more comprehensive picture aswell as make informed decisions about what is important and what should be modified, addedor removed (Limlingan, 2011). As McNaught, Lok, Yin, Lee, & Song (2014) stated, althoughmost comparative education research tends to contrast different curriculum and educational
practices across different countries, internal studies are also helpful for considering thedifferences within the same national context. Attention to comparative education has increased
significantly in recent decades; however, more comparative studies that include classroom
observation are needed. This paper aims to make a comparative view in considering thesignificance of teachers and the learning environment through observations in English language
classrooms.
Methods
In this study, the researcher compared four districts in a province in Iran (Mazandaran, locatedin the north of Iran) regarding their educational status in language learning. The target was toevaluate the extent to which variations among schools may lead to learners’ and teachers'
educational behaviors and to investigate education discrimination in different schools. The
schools under study were selected based on three criteria: type and appearance. The selection
method will be presented in the procedure section. In this article, the researcher aims at
answering the following research question: To what extent do language teachers’ and learners’

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  behaviours and their educational status in classrooms vary regarding the physical environmentof the schools and the regions in which they are located?
The Participants
The language learners of ten schools in four different cities in Mazandaran province (figure 1)
were selected for the study. Two of these four cities (figure 2) are located in the west of theprovince and two others in the east. 542,549 students are educated in primary, secondary, andhigh schools in Mazandaran. This province is one of the most important provinces in the
country. There are 27,063 classes in its 6,043 schools. These four cities were selected in thisprovince for the current study because of their geographical location. Two of them are locatedin the east and two in the west. As there are some cultural differences between west and eastof this province, the researcher tried to select the schools in order to generalize the results tomost parts of the province to some extent.
The participants were 260 learners who attended these ten secondary schools in Noshahr, Noor,
Qaemshahr and Behshahr. All of them are in secondary school, year 3, and female. They werechosen among 80 secondary schools for female learners in the mentioned cities.

Figure 1. Mazandaran Province in Iran

Figure 2. Mazandaran Province and its selected cities for the study

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    The Procedure
The first step was to select ten schools out of the 80 Rahnamaei (middle schools). To do so,
the cities of Noshahr and Noor in the west, Qaemshahr and Behshahr in the east were chosenbecause of their geographical location. Afterwards, three schools in Noshahr, three others in
Qaemshahr, two schools in Noor and two others in Behshar were selected. There were twomain criteria for selection: (a) physical environment and (b) type of school. Each of these main
criteria were rated as excellent, medium or inappropriate.
Ratings and Coding
The buildings in the study were evaluated based on the layout, whether it is timeworn, new or
refreshed. The facilities were identified: projector, whiteboard, blackboard, appropriate chairs,
computer, smart board, and others. Based on these three criteria, the schools were identified as
A, B & C. A for an excellent, B for a medium and C for an inappropriate physical environment.
The locations of the schools were noted based on rural or urban. The types of schools in theprovince were coded according to public, semi-private and private schools (table 1). The school
types ranged from 1 to 3. 1 was assigned for a public school, 2 for a semi-private and 3 for a
private school. All the information were gathered by close observation.
Table 1. The selected schools in four cities in Mazandaran Province
Name of the City Kinds of schools
Noshahr

C1

B1 A2

Qaemshahr

C1

B1 A3

Noor

C1

A3

Behshahr

B1

B2

The researcher observed classes during the nine-month academic year during a period of ten
years, from 2004 to 2014. Through these ten years, the researcher observed the classroom
situations in her role as either teacher or examiner and took notes of behaviours and actions in
the classrooms. The three schools in Qaemshahr were observed from 2004 to 2007. Behshahr,
Noor and Noshar were observed from 2007-2009, 2009-2011 and 2011-2014 respectively. Allof the selected language classes were held at 8:00 to 9:15 AM to homogenize the groups andreduce the effect of time on teachers’ and learners' behaviours’ in the classroom. It should be
noted that based on the Ministry of Education in Iran, all the textbooks and contents of learningmaterials are the same, although the school facilities are different from one another.
Findings
During ten years of observing educational situations of these ten language classes, theresearcher tried to take note of every behaviour and activity in the classroom. Researcher notes
describing one session in three classes in C1, B1 and A3 types respectively are presented in thefollowing.
C1 denotes a public school with an inappropriate physical environment, B1 denotes a publicschool with a medium physical environment, and A3 denotes a private school with excellent
physical environment

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Table 2. Activities of an English class in C1 school (public school with an inappropriate
physical environment)
Activities of a sample session

Time: 8:00-9:15 AM

The English class began at 8:00 AM. The program was to ask questions about the previous
lesson. Before asking, the teacher checked the learners' assignments and put a minus markfor everyone who does not have an acceptable homework. While checking the homework, astudent was writing the proper answers of the questions of the book (page 7) on the board
and others were copying. Afterwards the teacher called some learners to get ready foranswering the previous lesson questions. The learners were asked to read the English text.
Their pronunciation was not accurate but there was no correction or attention by the teacher.
After asking questions, the teacher wrote "How many" and "How much" on the board andmade two questions by them. Then she answered the questions by "a little," "a few," "some,""much," "many," and " a lot of," respectively. Then she asked the students to read theconversation in their books using "how many" and "how much." She read aloud the sentencesin the dialogue and translated them sentence by sentence. She did the same for the readingand patterns sections of the textbook. The teacher used criticism and laughing for thoselearners who made some mistakes while reading. She used some penalties for those who did
not do their homework well that would range from writing that part twice to sending themto the dean's office for punishment. She threatened the weak students that she will read theirnames aloud in front of all of the other learners in the school as weak ones. The considerable
factor was the teacher's action toward penalties. She did not pay enough attention to themwhile checking and it caused the writing of the same errors several times by learners. Whileobserving learners' behaviors in the classroom, the observer could often see cheating,inattention and stress.
Table 3. Activities of an English class in a B1 school (A public school with a medium
physical environment)
Activities of a sample session

Time: 8:00-9:15 AM

The class began at 8:00 AM. The teacher started to teach grammar and asked the learners totake notes in their notebooks. She was teaching adverbs and adjectives. After writing thenotes on the board, she waited for some minute to let the learners write them. She walked
among learners to solve their probable problems. She taught structure deductively.
Afterwards, she asked learners to make some sample sentences with selected adjectives andadverbs. Then she referred to the sentences in the book and asked the learners to findadjectives and adverbs there. She translated the sentences after reading. Then she identified
the homework for next session. She asked them to prepare a wall-newspaper about this lessonin groups. The important learners' behaviors were memorization, and a little stress in theclassroom. The point that attracted the attention of the observer was the environment of theclassroom. All of the walls were covered by student made, colorful wall-newspapers about
different lessons.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Table 4. Activities of an English class in an A3 school (a private school with an excellent
physical environment)
Activities of a sample session

Time: 8:00-9:15

The class began at 8:00 AM. The teacher checked the learners' assignments by the help ofgroup leaders. Then she asked two of learners who did not do their homework to stay at theclassroom after finishing the session to talk about the problem. After addressing thehomework problem, she asked the class to watch a short film about time travel and asked
them to talk about it. She warmed up the discussion by asking some questions such as, "Whatoccurred in the film?" and "Do you think it is possible to travel in time?"
The learners were involved in the teaching process. They could laugh and talk aloud without
any stress. The teacher used the Smart Board to show a PowerPoint about time travel to teachfuture tense. Afterwards she distributed information about some famous teams in the country
and asked the learners to predict the probable results of the plays using future tense. The
assignments were done in groups and the best predictor group was encouraged by rewards.
The learners were collaborating with each other in the class freely. They could walk in theclass and asked the other classmates’ assistance. The teacher walked among them to solve
probable problems. After finishing the activity, for the next session, the teacher asked thestudents to write a composition about what they expect to be in the future.
Four cities were considered in this study from different geographical parts of the province. Fiveschools were selected in the west and in the east among 80 schools in the district. The
differences between these ten schools in Mazandaran province in Iran were identified.
Although there were some differences between all of the classes, the similarities between
public schools and some semi-private ones were distinguishable in contrast with private ones.
Most private schools had a well-prepared building and campus and afforded appropriate
facilities for teaching. The teacher/learner activities in private schools included cooperative
learning and rewards and discipline that fit the circumstances. The lessons were based on
Communicative Language Teaching, engaging the students in lively discussions on interesting
topics. The teacher/learner activities in the public schools and semi-private schools involved
more memorization and isolated grammar lessons.
The teaching/learning activities in the ten schools can be thought of as a continuum with theA3, or private schools with excellent physical environments on one end and public schools
with inadequate physical environments on the other end of the continuum, with some schools
falling in between these two points. The private schools with excellent physical environments
were found to have the following characteristics:
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
	
  

Cooperative learning
Understanding
Less Cheating
Considerable attention
Reasonable teacher behaviours regarding learners' mistakes
Student involvement in the teaching/learning process
Cooperative teaching
Meaningful learning41	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  •   Less stress•   Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method
Most of the private schools tried to attract the best teachers and accepted more qualified
learners. Some of the private schools had entrance examinations. The most important point was
not the exam, but the tuition the families must pay for registering their qualified learners. In
fact, even learners with excellent grades who could not afford the tuition, could not register. In
other words, it is the learners' parents who afford their children with the best school facilities.
In such schools most of the parents are educated and wealthy. Some of them even donate someequipment such as expensive Smart Boards to their children's schools.
The public schools with inadequate physical environments were found to have thesecharacteristics:
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

Translation
Memorization
Considerable Cheating
Inattention
Rough criticizing by the teachers
Boredom
Grammar teaching
Repetition
StressGrammar Translation Method (GTM) or Audio-lingual Method (ALM)

As shown in table 5, the teacher and learner activities in classrooms vary according todifferences in the physical environment and types of schools. The public schools more highly
relied on the translation method and memorization, whereas the private schools were eager toimplement Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Semi-private schools are similar to
private ones but differ in the amount of tuition and types of facilities. The tuition is less thanprivate schools and higher than public ones. Although public schools only require a small fee
for insurance and some other expenses in the beginning of the year, there are some parents in
Iran that cannot even pay the expenses of a public school.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Table 5. The main characteristics of each of ten target classes and the teacher/learner activities

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Conclusion
Quality education is the right of every child in the world based on UNESCO's disciplines andhuman rights (2000). Education can create a clear picture of one’s surroundings and kindles
the flame of curiosity and the ability to reason. Economically, the best jobs are provided forthe best educated persons and results in a better quality of life. In other words, social andcultural deficiency in a country arises from the lack or deficit of education. Education is suchan effective factor in improving society that it must be promoted through the expenditure oftime and money. In this study, observations of language class activities were related to thephysical and financial status of the schools. Based on the results of these observations, there isa considerable gap between language class activities in different schools based on their physicalstatus and the school types. This provided an answer to the research question: To what extent
do language teachers’ and learners’ behaviours and their educational status in classrooms varyregarding the physical environment of the schools and the regions in which they are located?
Limitations of the Study
More schools and classes from all over the country or even the world would allow for more
helpful and generalizable results, but it was not possible for the researcher to include more
schools or classes. Some potential school observations had to be dropped because school
cooperation was difficult to attain. A suggestion for the future is another longitudinal study ofteacher and learner behaviour in different classrooms encompassing a larger population using
comparative research methods to achieve more generalizable results.
This study attempted to identify the relationship between the physical environment and typesof schools with language learning/teaching activities in the classroom. Further research can bedone to investigate this relationship in other subjects in schools universities. The findings ofsuch research can inform the amount of discrimination in education at all levels of educationand its effect on the learning/teaching process. This study is one beginning step toward further
research on the solutions and strategies for understanding the problem of discrimination in
education.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

References
Aaronson, D., Barrow, L., & Sander,W. (June, 2003). Teachers and students achievement in
the Chicago public high schools. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Retrieved August20, 2016, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED505650.pdf
Armor, D. (August, 1976). Analysis of the school preferred reading program in selected Los
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Minority Schools. RAND. Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttps://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reports/2005/R2007.pdf
Brown, G. (2007). Gordon Brown 2007 speech on education. Retrieved August 20, 2016,
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Earthman, G. I. (January 5, 2004). Prioritization of 31 Criteria for School Building Adequacy.
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland. Retrieved August 20, 2016,
from http://www.schoolfunding.info/policy/facilities/ACLUfacilities_report104.pdf
Garner, M., Wagner, C., & Kawulich, B. (Eds.) (2009). Teaching Research Methods in theSocial Sciences. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing.
Hanushek, E. A. (1971). Teacher characteristics and gains in student achievement: Estimation
using micro data. American Economic Review, 61(2), 280-288.
Higgins, S., Hall, E., Wall, K., Woolner, P., & McCaughey, C. (2005). The Impact of School
Environments: A literature review. The Centre for Learning and Teaching, School of
Education, Communication and Language Science, University of Newcastle. Retrieved
August 20, 2016, from http://www.cfbt.com/PDF/91085.pdf
Isaxanli, H., Rust, V. D., Vahdati, Y., Abdullayev, A., Madatova, M., & Grudskaya, I. (2002).
Journal of Azerbaijani Studies, 5(3). Khazar University Press.
Limlingan, C. (2011). On the right track: Measuring early childhood development program
quality internationally. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 14(1).
Michaelowa, K. (September, 2000). Returns to education in low income countries: Evidence
for Africa. The annual meeting of the Committee on Developing Countries of theGerman Economic Association. Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttp://www1.aucegypt.edu/src/skillsdevelopment/pdfs/returns%20to%20education%2
0low%20income%20countries.pdf
Miller, D. (2003). Political philosophy: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780192803955.001.0001
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Institute of Adult continuing Education (NIACE). Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttp://www.niace.org.uk
Murnane, R. (1975). The impact of school resources on the learning of inner city children.
Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.Park, A., & Hannum, E. (2001). Do teachers affect learningin developing countries? Evidence from matched student-teacher data from China.
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Rivkin,S. G., Hanushek, E. A, & Kain, J. F. (2005). Teachers, schools and academic
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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Assessing the Metacognitive Awareness among Foundation in
Engineering Students

Betsy Lee Guat Poh, Kasturi Muthoosamy, Chiang Choon Lai,
Ooi Chel Gee48	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Abstract

The transition phase is a critical moment to students who have completed their secondary
school education and are proceeding to pre-university education in Malaysia. The long durationof exposure to rote-learning and examination oriented education systems at school has
somehow shaped these students’ perceptions about teaching and learning. Thus, this paper aims
to examine the quality of first year students’ experiences in constructing their knowledge andskills throughout the Foundation in Engineering (FIE) programme. This experience refers tometacognitive awareness, namely students’ learning experience from one mode of thinking tothe other to construct meaningful knowledge and skills. The researchers used the Metacognitive
Awareness Inventory (MAI) (Schraw and Dennison, 1994) as a rating tool to trace the students’baseline in metacognition and access their successive levels of metacognitive awarenessthroughout their first semester in the FIE program. The students showed improvements in a
number of metacognitive sub-processes. The findings provided the details of the quality of the
program’s efficacy and served as a benchmark for future development of effectiveness ofteaching and learning approaches.
Keywords: metacognition; metacognitive awareness; teaching and learning; academic
achievements; MAI.

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Introduction
The term “metacognition” was coined by John Flavell (1979) to described the state ofconsciousness of one’s own thinking and learning processes (Kayashima et al., 2004). Learners
exhibiting metacognition are acutely aware of the knowledge content in their mental resources
and possess the ability to control and monitor these cognitive activities to perform higher-order
thinking skills (Ozsoya & Ataman, 2009; Pennequin et al., 2010). Thus, two essential
components play a dominant role in the control of metacognition i.e. metacognitive knowledge
and metacognitive skills (Hollingworth & McLoughlin, 2001). Metacognitive knowledge
refers to what one recognizes about his or her own potential in processing information, aboutknowing the features of a task and also allocating appropriate strategies that can be applied tosuccessfully accomplish a task (Flavell, 1987; cited in Hollingworth & McLoughlin, 2001).
Metacognitive skills refer to the ability to use metacognitive knowledge effectively (Ozsoya &Ataman, 2009). Metacognitive activities help to control and monitor one’s own cognitive
system and functioning process. Self-regulation exercises commit one to demonstrate highorder executive skills such as prediction, planning, monitoring and evaluation (Ozsoya &Ataman, 2009; Schneider & Artelt, 2010).
Engineers by definition are real life problem solvers, critical thinkers and innovators. It is
expected from the engineers to develop solutions for various application problems. In otherwords, they are self-regulated learners and possess the ability to think metacognitively. The
path to become an engineer regardless of specialization primarily relies on engineering
education. Thus, the development of engineering students’ thinking abilities highly depends on
the teaching and learning process and the contextual learning environment during theiracademic years. This includes the exposure of students to various engineering concepts andhands-on experience to develop their technical skills. In other word, metacognitive skill is an
integral part of the knowledge development that engineering students should cultivate andmaster as early as possible starting from the Foundation in Engineering (FIE).
Problem Statement
The transition period from school to university is a critical moment to upgrade students’ ability
to university students’ status. Students’ performance at the primary and secondary school levelin Malaysia is constantly assessed by grade levels achieved in their examinations. In theprocess, they fail to develop an inquisitive mind and analytical skills as most of their time isspent attending tuition classes, extra classes, and examination workshops to better prepare themfor the upcoming examinations. As a result, these students retain a rote learning mindset andstudying pattern when they enter the university. These are the common issues observed in firstyear students at other institutions as well (Bowles et. al., 2011; Briggs, Clark & Hall, 2012). In
order to provide the academic preparation of the first year entry in the FIE programme, theFoundation Engineering School has begun to review the performance of its programme toensure that it provides students with top notch engineering education. Thus, this study aims toassess the FIE students’ baseline and follow-up levels of metacognitive awareness throughout
the program.
Literature Review
The importance of metacognitive awareness in teaching and learning has been widely
acknowledged (Hurme & Jarvela, 2001; Ozsoya & Ataman, 2009; Schneider & Artelt, 2010;
Stillman & Mevarech, 2010). Nevertheless, metacognition is an inner awareness rather than anobservable behavior which is crucial to measure such ability. Several explorations have been
carried out by researchers to discover appropriate instruments to measure the metacognitive
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  ability. Schraw and Dennison (1994) developed the 52 item Metacognitive Awareness
Inventory (MAI) to measure adults’ metacognitive awareness. The findings indicated that MAI
provides a reliable initial test of metacognitive awareness among older students. Kazemi and
Ghoraishi (2012) measured university students’ metacognitive awareness in mathematicalproblem solving by using two methods i.e., protocol analysis and self-questionnaire. A total of
64 university students were asked to write their total mental process during problem solving
and subsequently they responded to a metacognitive inventory that rated their metacognitive
abilities. The results showed that both methods were applicable for measuring metacognitiveawareness.
Self-questionnaire is the most extensively used method to measure metacognition, whereby itallows the participants themselves to rate their metacognitive skills without a researcher’sinterference. Young and Fry (2008) assessed Schraw and Dennison’s MAI to ascertain how themetacognitive rating associates to single tests and cumulative GPA as well as end-course
grades for college students within one semester. The findings revealed a significant positive
correlation between the MAI and overall academic performance. However, they were amazedto discover the insignificant correlation between the MAI scores and a single test of a course.
According to their report, single test performance might be influenced by the affective
behaviors of students over a particular course. In another study, Kesici,Erdogan, and Özteke.,(2011) examined differences in metacognitive awareness strategies in prediction of high school
students’ mathematics and geometry course achievements. Schraw and Dennison’s MAI(1994) was also adapted in the study and discovered that declarative knowledge is a significant
predictor of mathematics course achievement while evaluation and procedural knowledge ofmetacognitive awareness strategies are significant predictors of geometry course achievement.
Ciascai and Lavinia (2011) employed the Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory to
scrutinize the potential gender differences in metacognitive abilities among a group of eighth
grade pupils. Their statistical analysis indicated that the boys and girls adapted differently intheir metacognitive knowledge and skills in the learning process.
However, subsequent research reports inconclusive findings regarding the differences inmetacognition according to pupils’ gender. Abdolhossini (2012) reported the effects ofcognitive and meta-cognitive methods of teaching mathematics subject for high school
students. The results showed that cognitive and meta-cognitive methods of teaching had
positive effects on educational progress of male and female students. Nevertheless, no positive
relation was observed between the boys’ and girls’ average grades. Ayazgok and Aslan (2014)
examined science and mathematics university students’ reflective thinking skills and level ofmetacognitive awareness according to age, gender and the level of class and found that there
was no significant difference according to gender regarding metacognitive awareness orreflective thinking. Thus, there are a variety of challenges related to metacognition
investigation. For instance, Bersley and Spero (2014) compared three groups of college
students who received different instruction methods of the same course material. They revealed
that the group receiving direct infusion of critical thinking increased the students’ knowledgeof what they knew and did not know. In other word, the students’ metacognitive awarenesswas stimulated through the act of intervening. Hoorfar and Taleb (2015) studied the correlation
between mathematics anxiety and metacognitive knowledge for 323 seventh grade female
students. Results showed that mathematics anxiety was negatively correlated withmetacognitive knowledge. On the other hand, Bayat and Meamar (2016) investigated to what
extend algebra problem solving performance, metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies
served as predictors of mathematics achievement in a public university in Malaysia. The
findings revealed asignificant contribution of algebra problem solving performance and overall
metacognition in mathematics achievement.
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Thus, the purpose of this study is to trace the students’ baseline in metacognition and accesstheir successive levels of metacognitive awareness throughout their first semester in the FIE
programme. In addition to this,, the researcher would like to measure to what extent the
metacognitive awareness served as a determining factor to students’ overall academic
performance.
Methodology
In this study, a quantitative method was used. The quantitative data helped to tracestudents’baseline in metacognition and access their successive levels of metacognitive awarenessthroughout their second semester in the FIE programme. The researchers also examine to what
extent the MAI scores served as a determining factor to students’ overall academic
performance.
Participants
173 surveys were distributed to the FIE students, out of which 75 were disqualified and 98
valid surveys were analyzed. About 23.5% of the survey participants were female and the rest
were male (Figure 1). This is the usual female to male ratio in any engineering department.
Although gender is sometimes perceived to be a factor in the outcome of the MAI scorea priorreport (Abdolhossini, 2012; Ayazgok & Aslan, 2014) revealed insignificant gender differenceson metacognition abilities, thus in this present study the gender factor has been disregarded.
The programme consists of three semesters and the study was conducted when the participants
were in their second semester. There were six modules offered in Semester 2 i.e., Calculus 1,
Mathematical Techniques, Computer Method, Electricity and Magnetism A, Thermal Science
A and Study Skills. Study Skills was delivered as a project-based subject where the students
worked in groups to organize a charity event such as a marathon, blood donation drive, concert
and others. The aim of this module was to develop report writing skills and soft skills in orderto prepare them for undergraduate studies and for future careers.

Gender

23

75

Male

Figure 1. Gender Composition

	
  

52	
  

Female

The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Instruments
Schraw and Dennison’s MAI (1994) was used in this study. In the MAI inventory, there are 17
items related to Knowledge of Cognition (declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge,
conditional knowledge) and 35 items related to the Regulation of Cognition (planning,monitoring, evaluation, debugging strategies and information management strategies). The 52
items were measured by a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly
agree.” A list of abbreviations describing the metacognitive components of Knowledge of
Cognition and Regulation of Cognition is exhibited in Table 1 while Figure 2 shows thecomposition of questions in percentage for each metacognitive component.
Table 1. List of abbreviations representing the metacognitive components of MAI
Abbreviation

Meaning

IMS

Information Management Strategies

DK

Declarative Knowledge

M

MonitoringP

Planning

E

Evaluation

PK

Procedural Knowledge

CK

Conditional Knowledge

DS

Debugging Strategies

Composition	
  of	
  questions
9.6%
19.2%
9.6%

9.6%

15.4%

11.5%
13.5%

11.5%
IMS

DK

M

P

E

PK

CK

DS

Figure 2. The percentage of items for each metacognitive component

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Procedure
The participants were given the survey on the 1st, 6th and 10th week of semester two. An
introduction about the study was presented to the students before the first survey was
conducted. The participants were informed about the confidentiality of their responses and their
participation was on a voluntary basis. During the second survey, the results of the first survey
were reported to the participants and were explained briefly about their baseline inmetacognitive skills. At the final survey, the students were given a brief statement about their
metacognitive progression based on the second survey’s results before they filled in thequestionnaire.
Data Analysis
The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 to measure the descriptive status anddistribution of the data set. In order to examine the significance of metacognitive awareness as
an influential factor on students’ academic performances, Spearman’s Rho non-parametriccorrelation analysis was carried out.
Results and Discussions
Overall, there was a gradual increase in positive responses from Survey 1 up to Survey 3(Figure 3), with a significant decrease in the Strongly Disagree sector.

0.6%
Survey  3 6.2%

Responses  for  All  Three  Surveys
28.8%

49.6%

14.8%

2

1.0%
Survey  2

7.7%

29.8%

47.7%

13.9%

10.2%
0%

3
4

1.4%
Survey  1    

1

29.9%
20%

42.6%
40%
60%
Percentage  response  (%)

15.9%
80%

5

100%

Figure 3. The distribution of the agreement and disagreement scales for the three conductedsurveysNote: 1=Strongly Disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4= Agree and 5= Strongly Agree.
Though no intervention was carried out in this study, the positive response is perceived to be
due to students’ persistent exposure to and awareness of the various skills in learning. The
students were briefed about all the skills involved in metacognition during the three surveys.
For instance, when Survey 2 was conducted, the students were given feedback on the overall
MAI score in Survey 1 before they answered a series of questions reflecting their metacognitiveawareness. Similarly, prior to Survey 3, feedback on Survey 2 was given with extensive
explanation regarding the students’ strengths and weaknesses. This could have initiated thestudents to recognize and reflect on their metacognative abilities and explore unattained
metacognitive skills throughout the whole semester.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    The in-depth study focusing on the Knowledge of Cognition and Regulation of Cognitionfor
both sectors showed a gradual increase in the mean score over the three surveys conducted asshown in Table 2. As aforementioned, with three surveys conducted within a short duration(one semester), the students were constantly reminded of the learning skills available for themto explore and enhance their learning experience. This could have played a role with thepositive outcome on both sectors of Knowledge and Regulation of Cognition. Metacognition
is a self-awareness ability, and students are often not conscious about their knowledge andskillsin the learning process (Kazemi & Ghoraishi, 2012).
Table 2. Mean and standard deviation of the MAI score
Mean and standard deviation
Survey 1

Survey 2

Survey 3

Overall MAI score

3.62 ± 0.350 3.66 ± 0.322 3.72 ± 0.340

Knowledge of
Cognition

3.56 ± 0.827 3.64 ± 0.753 3.68 ± 0.702

Regulation of
Cognition

3.64 ± 0.822 3.67 ± 0.757 3.74 ± 0.713

Responses Difference between the Surveys
Figure 4 compares the score for all eight components categorized in the MAI based on Agree,
Neutral and Disagree divisions. Initially, the students revealed their strong awareness,
especially in their regulation abilities and their strength in debugging skills, which exhibitedthe highest. However, the ten weeks of teaching and learning sessions exposed the students toa variety of activities that added to their metacognitive knowledge and experiences.
InKnowledge of Cognition, the level of agreement on the subdivisions, such as declarativeknowledge and conditional knowledge showed a continuous increase. However, the students’opinion about their procedure knowledge decreased slightly after the second survey.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Figure 4. The breakdown of the responses of participants on the eight MAI skills based on three
types of crowds (Agree, Neutral, and Disagree)
Regarding metacognitive experiences (Regulation of Cognition), the students showed greater
abilities in management, evaluation and information management strategies. However,students’ awareness about their debugging skills decreased over the three surveys.
The discouraging response for debugging skills could be due to the fact that initially (during
Survey 1) the students were unfamiliar with the content and depth of knowledge required fromeach module as well as the lecturer’s expectations. However, as the weeks of teaching andlearning passed, the students began to realize the demands and challenges from each moduleand thus the low response in debugging skills. This would be especially felt in modules that
require theoretical knowledge and applications (problem solving skills), such as Calculus 1 andThermal Science A. Anxiety and low confidence has been found to be directly related tonegative metacognition (Hoorfar & Taleb, 2015).
When responses between surveys were compared, more than 5% difference in the evaluation
skills were observed between Survey 1 and 2 (Figure 5). In other word, the students showed
higher positive responses when it comes to items such as “I know how well I did once I finish
a test,” “I summarized what I’ve learned after I finish,” and “I ask myself how well I accomplish
my goals once I’m finished.” On the other hand, the students’ disagreement responses in termsof planning skills exhibited a difference of more than 5% between the two surveys.
Some students presented a lesser negative attitude toward planning when they responded in
Survey 2. They seemed confident when they answered the items such as “I pace myself whilelearning in order to have enough time,, I think about what I really need to learn before I begin
a task,” “I set specific goals before I begin a task,” “I ask myself questions about the material
before I begin,” “I read instruction carefully before I begin a task,” and “I organize my time
to best accomplish my goals.”

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Response  Difference  between  Survey  1  and  2  15.0%Percentage  Change

10.0%
5.0%
0.0%

-­5.0%-­10.0%
Disagree  (1&2)

Neutral  (3)

PK

E
DK
MAI  Skills

Agree  (4&5)-­15.0%
M

P

CK

IMS

DS

Figure 5. Differences in students’ responses between Survey 1 and Survey 2
The students showed a decreased response in the debugging strategy after five weeks ofteaching and learning sessions. The students seemed to be hesitant about their debugging
strength when they responded to items such as “I change strategies when I fail to understand,”“I re-evaluate my assumptions when I get confused,” “I stop and go back over new informationthat is not clear” and “I stop and reread when I get confused.”
After the third survey, the students’ responses in planning showed minimal differences i.e., lessthan 1% between the Survey 2 and 3 (Figure 6). However, many students focused on theirstrengths and weakness in their regulation skills, especially on monitoring, evaluation andinformation management skills. There were some students that felt their strength in evaluation
improved over the ten weeks of teaching and learning sessions.
At the same time, some students were more aware of their information management skills andmonitoring skills when they responded to the items such as “I ask myself periodically if I am
meeting my goals,” ‘I consider several alternatives to a problem before I answer,” “I slow
down when I encounter important information” and “I consciously focus my attention on
important information.”. Nevertheless, there was a tremendous drop in the students’ confidencewith the debugging strategy.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
    Figure 6. Differences in students’ responses between Survey 2 and Survey 3
Obvious positive responses were seen for all the eight MAI components except debugging
strategy (Figure 7) over the ten weeks of teaching and learning sessions. As there are six
modules taught for the semester, there is a wide spectrum of learning skills experienced by thestudents. For instance, the Study Skills module, which is project-based, requires the students
to organize a charity event focusing on management proficiency and related skills such as
monitoring, planning and evaluation.
Response  Difference  between  Survey  1  and  3  20.0%Percentage  Change

15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%

-­5.0%-­10.0%
Disagree  (1&2)

Neutral  (3)

PK

E
DK
MAI  Skills

Agree  (4&5)-­15.0%
M

P

CK

IMS

DS

Figure 7. Differences in students’ responses between Survey 1 and Survey 3
MAI Score and Overall Academic Achievement
A Spearman’s correlation was conducted to determine the relationship between overall
academic achievement and the MAI subscales. The MAI scores were based on survey 3 where

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    the students have completed their Semester 2 teaching and learning sessions. Findings from theanalysis are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3. Correlations between MAI components’ scores and overall academic achievement
Exam   Mean   Mean   Mean   Mean   Mean   Mean   Mean   Mean  Result  Spearman's   Exam   Correlation  rho  Result   Coefficient  Sig.  (2-­tailed)  
N  

M  

PK  

1.000   -­.185   -­.037  

P  

E  
-­
*

.203   

DK  

CK  

IMS  

DS  

-­.054   -­.013  .141   -­.163   -­.066  .  

.068  

.717  

.045  

.595  

.896  

.167  

.109  

.520  

98  

98  

98  

98  

98  

98  

98  

98  

98  

*.  Correlation  is  significant  at  the  0.05  level  (2-­tailed).	
  According to the findings of the study, there was no significant correlation between overall
academic achievement and all MAI components. However, there appears to be a weakcorrelation between planning and overall academic achievement r = -0.203, p < 0.05. This
could be mainly due to the fact that this study serves only as an awareness program rather thanan intervention to the existing teaching and learning delivery system. In addition, the survey
was conducted based on all six modules in the semester, whereas a more focused survey on aparticular module might provide a significant correlation between MAI score and academic
achievement. As previously reported, interventions or direct infusion and continual
reinforcement are necessary to improve the metacognitive skills among students, especially formathematics subjects and subjects that require problem solving or critical thinking (Kesici etal., 2011; Bensley & Spero, 2014). In this case, intervention would be necessary to improve
the students’ debugging skills along with the other seven MAI skills. In addition, a mixed
methodology (protocol analysis and self-questionnaire) would be needed to validate andsubstantiate the measurements of metacognitive awareness (Kazemi & Ghoraishi, 2012).
Conclusion
Based on the findings, the aim of increasing awareness among FIE students on their
metacognitive skills is a useful tool for learning efficiency, critical thinking and problem
solving (Kesici et al., 2011). There was an obvious improvement in the eight tested
metacognitive skills based on preliminary (Survey 1), intermediate (Survey 2) and end of thesemester (Survey 3) surveys, with the exception of debugging skills. Nevertheless, there wasno relation between the MAI score and the overall academic achievement of the students.
Despite this limitation, the current study serves as an awareness program for the students andas preliminary data for the lecturers. As a future study, intervention on a specific module will
be carried out with great emphasis on improving the students’ debugging skills.
Acknowledgement
The work was supported by the Teaching and Learning Funding Scheme from the Universityof Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC). The authors are grateful to the University for theirfinancial support and for providing necessary guidance in the implementation of this project.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

References
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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

The Link between the Process of Change and Coaching in an
Organization – A Case Study

Josephine Jim

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Abstract

The aim of this case study was to highlight coaching in the process of change using a real life
information technology and operational change project in an institution. It demonstrates thecritical importance of coaching in change management, for successful change to occur.Any
sustaining change requires ongoing coaching as an integral part of the process. The study heeds
a call for adopting coaching to support organizational learning and change. It also attempts toopen further research interests in the link between the process of change and coaching, and thebenefits of coaching in change management today.
Keywords: organizational learning and change; change management; coaching for change;
empowerment.

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Introduction
Today’s dynamic world is causing organizations, groups and individuals to reframe their viewof what ‘normal’ is: ‘Change is the new normal’, or ‘the new normal is continuous change’(Jorgensen, Owens, & Neus, 2008). Drivers of change can be positive or negative. They canbe environmental or personal. They can be of external or internal environments. Changes ofexternal environment can be due to factors like markets, legislation, competition and economy
and all these will have consequences for organizations, such as its strategy development.
Changes in strategy can lead to changes in the way the organization is structured, which can
impact relationships, responsibilities and ways of working. The way in which change is
implemented and accepted through the organization will be largely influenced by its leaders,
their attitudes and behaviors as perceived by their subordinates. When there are changes in thework carried out, skills of the employees would have to be assessed. Usually, training is neededin order to cope with new skill requirements and coaching is also necessary to facilitate
mobility (Gallwey, 2000) (Burke & Litwin, 1992). Changes of internal environment can
include immediate working environment, such as a change in job, a new organization, a change
in personnel, or a change in terms of conditions of service, which are likely to invoke a rangeof emotional and political responses from relevant stakeholders. Every organization has its
unique culture, and culture change only evolves over time as a result of many other changes.
In the Executive Overview of the Best Practices in Change Management – 2014 Edition, thereport suggests that two of the greatest contributors to success are: employee engagement andparticipation; engagement with and support from middle management (Creasey & Hiatt, 2014).
The study reported that the main obstacles when implementing change projects were: changing
mindsets and attitudes; lack of motivation of involved employees. The “soft stuff” was thehardest to get right (Jorgensen, et al., 2008). Therefore, the most significant challenges arepeople oriented, motivation is the key to effective change, and to maintain motivation in the
pursuit of change is a real challenge (Burke & Litwin, 1992). Regarding motivation, a coachcan play a pivotal role in facilitating the change process (Downey, 2003).
The premise of this research was that change coaching supports effective change, among othervalid supports (Bennett & Bush, 2014). The study aimed to establish the link between theprocess of change and coaching in an organization.The organizations is one of the leading
institutions in professional and continuing education and where coaching is not a common
practice in the workplace. Using a real-life project example to demonstrate how a coachfacilitated the change process, maintained motivation throughout changing events, the study
examines change process related factors pre- and post-coaching.
Coaching for Change and its Assessment
Coaching is an effective skill for helping individuals and groups change, and coaching forchange can have an impact on the organization or system (Bennett & Bush, 2014). While theefficacy of coaching is still not well understood, the AMA/Institute for Corporate Productivity
Coaching Survey 2008 reported that two of the main reasons behind the termination ofcoaching assignments were: the inability of certain employees to change and the difficulty ofmeasuring return on investment (ROI) (Amercian Management Association, 2008). ‘Coachingengages with people, the essentially human nature of coaching is what makes it work – andalso what makes it nearly impossible to quantify’ (Sherman & Freas, 2004).
One way to track the benefits associated with coaching is through the use of assessments. The
critical lesson for coaches is to administer these assessments in a pre- and post-test format(Amercian Management Association, 2008). Though there are several different ways
	
  

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  organization can use coaching, the most commonly used method of coaching is to make it an
integral part of a supporting program.
Background of the Case Study
Introduction of a new Student and Course Record System
This case study involved a tertiary education institution in Hong Kong (called the Instituttion
hereunder). The Institution was experiencing rapid growth, therefore to support the academic
development and operation of the Institution, the Academic and Management Board had
decided to partner with Cloud Business Services to implement a new Student and Course
Record System in 2013. The author was a member of the Steering Committee participating inthe strategic planning of the project. Several rounds of discussion were held with the Institution
management to analyze the situation, plan the change process and to advise the management
on anticipated hurdles in the process of change.
Understandings from the discussions were: when introducing an initiative – a new information
technology system, it required staff to change the way they think and do things within theInstitution. These disturbances to their behavior or thinking were likely to be met withresistance in some form (Prochaska, Norcross, & Diclemente, 2006) to bring about changes inbehavior, a pervading change in context was required (Palmer & Whybrow, 2008); and tochange behavior at the individual and organization level, the expectations, individual roles,
behaviors, hierarchies and coalitions that existed within the systems of the organization needed
to be examined and made more flexible (Peltier, 2001). According to Peltier (Peltier, 2001),
below are opportunities or ways that coaches can help:a.   When big things in the organization changeb.   Skill development for individual/group transitionsc.   Specific skill developmentd.   Resolving specific problems

The Institution management, as the change sponsor, recognized the new system would be
important in the Institution, the staff would have to go through stages of learning and skill
development, and finally, they would benefit from an improved work flow with greater ease inadministration, record keeping and retrieving, and enhanced technological skills. This is adirected change project driven from the top of the organization and relies on authority,
persuasion, and compliance (Kerber & Buono, 2010, Spring).
For this project, the Institution management had established a change team infrastructure(Galpin, 1996) – Figure 1, to manage the process of change in order to make the implementationof the new system a success.

	
  

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  Figure 1. The Change Team Infrastructure (Galpin, 1996)
The author was in the Steering Committee which was guiding the coalition roles. The changesponsor appointed two Change Managers. A Project Team was also appointed since the project
was for large-scale change. The Project Team coordinated across the Implementation Teams,
identifying and resolving issues. Its members were the leaders of the Implementation Teams.
The Project Team provided a coordination function, offering a regular forum forcommunication and learning among all the teams (Bennett & Bush, 2014).
The Change Managers had conducted a few change agent engagement zessions, followed by aseries of fundamental change briefing sessions and system live demo to the change agents,
whereby the concepts of the new system were explained, and upcoming changes on theoperation processes were highlighted. In this change project, the Change Managers focused on
several critical areas: communication, employee involvement, teamwork and change
management (Palmer & Whybrow, 2008), and managing the transitions (Bridges, 2009).
During change, the Change Managers advised the Institution management to repeat themessage again and again–emphasizing the need to change and the benefits of the new system.
A website was established to introduce the background of the project and the newsystem, thechange sponsor, the change agents and the system partner, the go-live schedule of the systemand the project status. Newsletters were distributed to all stakeholders regularly to update themon the progress of the project, and to announce interim victories and the ultimate success.
Employee participation in the system design workshops and meetings were highly encouraged
during the core system design stages because the Change Managers believed that participation
gave substantive benefits for both individuals and the school. It was believed that when thestaff saw that their input was valued, they would increase their commitment, involvement, andtake greater personal responsibility for the new system outcomes (Palmer & Whybrow, 2008).
During change, people went through a series of stages and emotions (Kubler-Ross, 1973):
Pre-contemplation /Denial
The Project Team at the Institution faced a lot of changes in work load and project priorities
and they did not believe in the urgency of the new Information Technology system. Program

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  administration teams in the Institution did not want to accept the new system and expose
themselves to the new and long journey ahead.
Emotional arousal – anger, bargaining, upset
After acknowledgment, some project team members asked questions such as “Why now?”“Why me?” “Why not employing somebody else to do the additional work?” When they cameto meetings, they revealed that they did not want to accept the changes in work arrangements
and of wanted to do anything but get involved in the project. This caused frustration for thosemembers who had already been convinced of the benefits of the project – the change sponsor,
which included everyone in the management team and the change agents had the responsibility
to implement the change.
Due to insufficient manpower for redeployment, some program teams started to bargain andrequested to extend the duration of the project. This could have been due to panic, lowconfidence, or desperation. After many rounds of meetings on the project, project implementerswere convinced of the need and were not going to escape from the situation. Nonetheless, they
were still upset by the new arrangement of workload, which meant they would have tocompromise some of their routines and were grieving for the loss that they were about toendure. This upset could take the form of sadness and emotions.
Contemplation /Acceptance
The Change Managers saw many team members move out of their denial, anger, bargaining
and upset to a stage of acceptance. They were prepared to accept the reality of the situation,and the new and long journey ahead, but they were still uncertain about the impact of change
and were in a state of anxiety.
A Discovery Journey of Preparation, Action, Maintenance and Termination
The end of the contemplation stage is signalled by a change in problem behaviors (Prochaska,
et al., 2006). Helping relationships between partners, peers, team-mates, and subordinates
played an important role during the preparation stageThe buisiest period of change was during
the action stage, requiring helping relationships.
In this project, the Change Managers guided the project team to communicate and relate in a
way that engendered commitment, responsibility and accountability.
Resistance was part of the territory of change (Palmer & Whybrow, 2008). It occurred whenpeople experienced the discomfort and ambiguity associated with change. The ChangeManagers listened to all the resistance and addressed them in order to assist the staff to develop
new behaviors and thinking. The strategies and techniques they adopted were repeating thecommunication; acknowledging and legitimizing feelings; raising awareness; supporting
individual learning and development; building confidence and providing feedback; rewarding
and acknowledging progress to provide support that utilized resistance and enabled people tochange (Palmer & Whybrow, 2008). It was understood that resistance exists and and it isimportant to embrace it and use its energy to build support for change. (Maurer, 1996)
The Change Managers were leading the change by applying critical skills such ascommunication, presence, engagement, listening, showing empathy, understanding the change
curve and negotiating resistance. They also consistently used sound change management
strategies and techniques to move people through the change cycle (Palmer & Whybrow,2008). They listened and agreed with the request that the change agents would need some
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  coaching in order to do their job well. They sought approval from the Institution management
to hire an external coach to conduct a workshop – ‘Team Building with Focus on ChangeManagement’ for the change agents. The objective was to equip participants with knowledge
and skills in managing change in the teams through coaching. As the change sponsor, theInstitution management had been pleased with the progress of the changing events, and had
been very supportive in approving the recommendations made by the Change Managers.
Methodology and Findings
This article reflects on a change project in a tertiary education institution in Hong Kong from2013 to present (it was on-going at the time of writing ). The project covered changes in theprocess of a system revamp caused by drivers in the internal environment. Values and benefitsof coaching for change reflected were a collection of feedback from relevant stake holders via
formal surveys in pre- and post-workshop settings and informal sharing sessions. In this survey,
multiple questions used the well-accepted Likert-type scale, with a 1 rating designated as“lowest/least” and a 5 rating designated as “highest/most.” There were 9 questions in all, witha 10th question in the post-workshop survey. The questionnaires (Appendix I) had been
designed to include below factors related to the change process described by Prochaska et al.,(2009).
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

clarification on the change process
degree of emotion aroused in you
degree of your resistance to the change process
allowance to give feedback
helping relations with your peer in the change teamcommitment to implement the change process
sufficient knowledge and training on implementing the change process
ability to manage the change implementation process
confidence in implementing the change processenhancing the assertiveness in implementing the change process (only in postworkshop survey)

The questionnaires were distributed face-to-face before and after the one-day coaching session,
and were to be completed by all participants in anonymity. The pre-workshop questionnaire
was collected before the session started and the post-workshop questionnaire was collected
immediately after the session finished. The scores for each question were organized in tableand graphic presentation with focus on the differences in the pre- and post-workshop ratings.
There were a total of 40 participants, including 14 who attended the first workshop and theother 26 who attended the second workshop. Participants were of various positions in theorganizations: among them 13% were directors, 17% were managers, 17% were senior
executive officers, 20% were executive officer, 13% were executive secretaries and 20% were
executive assistants (Table 1). 20% were male and 80% were female (Table 2). With 36
questionnaires returned from a base of 40 participants, the response rate was 90% (Table 3).
Differences in the score ratings of each question at pre- and post-workshop settings were
presented in table 4 and graphic formats (Figure 2). And were calculated and expressed aspercentage variance (Table 4).

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 1. Background of Participants (Base: 40)
Position in the organization
Director

13%

Manager

17%

Senior Executive Officer

17%

Executive Officer

20%

Executive Secretary

13%

Executive/Assistant

20%

Table 2. Gender of Participants (Base: 40)
Male

20%

Female80%

Table 3. Response Rate (Base: 40)

	  No. of respondents

36

Response rate

90%

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 4. Survey Results: Difference in Pre- and Post-Workshop Average Score and Percentage
of Difference in Average Score
Factors related to the change process

Average Score*
Preworkshop

Postworkshop

Percentage
increase/decrease

Q1

Clarification on the change process

3.80

4.45

+17.1%

Q2

Degree of emotion aroused in you

3.06

3.21

+4.9%

Q3

Degree of your resistance to the change 2.89
process

2.61

-9.7%

Q4

Allowance to give feedback

3.92

3.76

-4.1%

Q5

Helping relations with your peer in the 3.86
change team

4.09

+6%

Q6

Commitment to implement the change 4.44
process

4.39

-1.1%

Q7

Sufficient knowledge and training on 3.61
implementing the change process

4.18+15.8%

Q8

Ability to manage theimplementation processchange 3.64

4.30

+18.1%

Q9

Confidence inchange process

the 3.67

4.15+13.1%

4.73-

implementing

Q10 Enhancing the assertiveness in implementing the change process (onlyin post-workshop survey)*	
  Likert-type scale, with a 1 rating designated as “lowest/least” and a 5 rating designated as“highest/most”

	
  

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  Figure 2. Survey Results: Difference in Pre- and Post-Workshop Average Score (Base: 40)
Remarks:	  Q1 – clarification on the change process

Q6 – commitment to implement the change
process

Q2 – degree of emotions aroused in you

Q7 – sufficient knowledge and training on
implementing the change process

Q3 – degree of resistance to the change
process

Q8 – ability to manage the change
implementation process

Q4 – allowance to give feedback

Q9 – confidence in implementing the change
process

Q5 – helping relationships with peer inthe change team

Q10 – enhancing the assertiveness in
implementing the change process (only inpost-workshop survey)72	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Upon administering the assessments in the pre- and post-workshop setting, the findings wereas below. After the coaching workshop:
1.   There was a 17.1% increase in the average score on “clarification on the change process”– the 2nd top benefit;
2.   There was a 4.9% increase in the degree of emotion aroused in participants;
3.   There was a 9.7% decrease in the average score on “degree of resistance to the change
process” – the 5th top benefit;
4.   There were only slight differences in the average score on “allowance to give feedback”(4%);
5.   There was a 6% increase in the average score on “helping relationships with peer in thechange team” – the 6th top benefit;
6.   There were only slight differences in the average score on “commitment to implement thechange process” (-1%);
7.   There was a 15.8% increase in the average score on “sufficient knowledge and training on
implementing the change process” – the 3rd top benefit;
8.   There was an 18.1% increase in the average score on “ability to manage the change
implementation process” – the 1st top benefit;
9.   There was a 13.1% increase in the average score on “confidence in implementing thechange process” – the 4th top benefit;
10.  The overall average score on “enhancing the assertiveness in implementing the change
process” after the workshop was high at 4.73, against a scale with a 1 rating designated as“lowest” and a 5 rating designated as “highest”;
Examples of feedback from informal sharing session with randomly selected participants:“I am happy being able to participate in the project from its design stage. As I have been with
the Institution for more than 15 years, I am fully aware of the downsides of the current student
record system and I do not wish to see the new system not meeting my practical needs in future.
I have always been committed in implementing the change process and help my team-mates asmuch as I can. This workshop gave me extra opportunities to share my view with peers in thechange team.” – by A. Chan (See note)“I appreciate the continuous communication and transparency of the change events so that I
could brief new staff on the prospect of the new system, as they are complaining about the timethey have to spend on working with the current system which has been obsolete for a long time!
This workshop gave me an insight into coaching and equipped me with useful tools – listening
and questioning skills, which would help me in dealing with my colleagues during theimplementation process in future.” – by B. Lee“As change agents, we would have to guide and train other programme staff in the Institution
on the new system when it is ready. We do not have any experience in handling changing
project and the resistance to change which we may encounter. We hoped to receive sometraining and this workshop has given me extras strengths. And it has enhanced myunderstanding on a change process in an organization.” – by C Cheung

	
  

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  Discussion
Coaching had been applied in the change processes in the above project with very positive
feedback and appreciation from the Change Team. However, it only served as an integral partof the support program in the change process. The Change Managers recommended hiring an
external change coach because they believed an external coach would have an independent
perspective, credibility and experience to support and facilitate effective change. In addition,
an external coach has greater financial motivation to succeed with their clients than does aninternal coach (Bennett & Bush, 2014), and after all, senior leadership have already beenheavily loaded with change work and related activities. However, the combined roles of project
leader and coach, and change manager and coach in project examples of other organizations is
not uncommon, it is common to see executives wearing more than one hat and performing
multiple functions in parallel in this fast-moving working environment.
Since the number of participants of the workshop was 40, they were divided into two groups
to attend the workshop in two separate days. Team coaching was selected due to budget reasons
and also due to its anticipated benefits as described by Clutterbuck (2007), ‘helping the team
improve performance, and the process by which performance is achieved through reflection
and dialogue’ (Clutterbuck, 2007).
According to the survey in Best Practices in Change Management – 2014 Edition, two of the
top five obstacles to success in change management in organizations are: resistance to change
from employees; and middle management resistance (Creasey & Hiatt, 2014). The project
example is a directed change project driven from the top of the organization and relies on
authority at the top, persuasion in the middle, and compliance at the bottom (Kerber & Buono,2010). In the pre-workshop survey, the resistance from staff was moderate at an average scoreof 2.89 against a scale with a 1 rating designated as “lowest” and a 5 rating designated as“highest”; and after the workshop, there was a 9.7% decrease in the average score of this factor,
to 2.61, which exceeded the medium level. It indicates that more work has to be done in regard
to persuasion in the middle. However, other supporting activities such as communication,
employee involvement and managing the transitions may attain synergy benefits as a whole.
In this change project, coaching had been made as an integral part of a supporting programme.
Change Managers listened and agreed with the request that the change agents would need somecoaching in order to do their job well. Despite it was only a one-day workshop for each of theparticipants, the benefits for the group speak for themselves through the differences in the score
rating on the factors related to the change process at pre- and post-workshop setting.
Suggestions for the Future
Further coaching intervention in future may be necessary to the processes of reinforcement andsustainment, as soft and people-related factors typically present great challenges in theseprocesses. The development of the Change Managers to become internal coaches may add
value in this situation, and using more cost-effective internal coaches would be useful for
managers and supervisors. However, when training internal coaches, using externally based
development programs or bringing in external talent as trainers may lead to higher coaching
success (Amercian Management Association, 2008).
Combining coaching and change management could be very powerful in facilitating changes
in an organization. ‘Dealing with organizational change and dilemmas is not for the fainthearted’ (O'Neill, 2007, p.19). Just as sailors learn to read the wind in order to tack and open
their sails, the Change Manager must read a few of the signs: key players, support change
	
  

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  agents, timing, go for understanding and keep moving. Only experience and a willingness to
act as a coach of change is needed to be instrumental in change. The Change Manager also
needs to have his or her own ongoing reflective space, in which to reflect on practice (Hawkins& Smith, 2006). And the Change Manager may expand this practice to include a blend of
education and coaching, which would be a very powerful tool in facilitating a change process.
Conclusion
The results of the survey in the case study demonstrated the link between the process of change
and coaching in an organization, and these linkages were as below:
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

enhance the clarification on the change processincrease in the degree of emotion aroused in participants
decrease in the degree of participants’ resistance to the change processenhance the helping relations with participants’ peer in the change teamincrease in the level of knowledge and training on implementing the change processincrease in the ability to manage the change implementation processenhance the confidence in implementing the change processachieving a high score in enhancing the assertiveness in implementing the change process
after the coaching workshop

However, any sustaining change may require ongoing coaching as an integral part of theprocess.
Change becomes more important as an organization ages, because it keeps the organizationand its management team updated, contemporary and risk sensitive. The business environment
is changing rapidly and it is important for an organization and its people to be ahead of thechanges, or at least excited to move along with them. Coaching is extremely helpful when an
organization is aware of its needs to change, no matter whether the changes are being driven
by an external or internal environment. In situations where people are trying to make changes
at the emotional level, there may be push back, panic, a lack of confidence, avoidance or
insecurity (Hawkins & Smith, 2006). A coach is a professional who has the skills to help others
effect personal change.
Organizations are using a variety of methods to measure the success of their coaching
initiatives. However, some observers believe ‘coaching is not well suited to metrics’ (Amercian
Management Association, 2008). The observations and processes described and the reflections
made in this article were based on a real life project in a sizable organization. Quantitative andqualitative reflections on practical cases can truly demonstrate the link between the process ofchange and coaching in an organization, and it is evident in this study that the link creates
positive energy in the change process, especially in raising ability and confidence.
Limitations and the Need for Further Studies
The limitations of the study were: it was case study base; the sample size was small; thequestionnaires had not been validated and the data collected had not been analyzed statistically.
Nonetheless the premise of this research has been validated – change coaching is an optimal
support to facilitate effective change (Bennett & Bush, 2014). The benefit of coaching insustaining change in the case study is to be ascertained (the project was on-going at the time ofwriting). The article heeds a call on adopting coaching to support organizational learning andchange, especially in education institutions where coaching is not yet a common practice in the

	
  

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  workplace. Further reflections, studies and or empirical research are warranted to foster thevalue of coaching in change management today.
Note
All names in the assignment have been changed to preserve anonymity.
Appreciation
The author thanks The University of Hong Kong, School of Professional and Continuing
Education management for their support in this case study.
	
  

	
  

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References
Amercian Management Association. (2008). Coaching: A Global Study of Successful
Practices. NY: AMA.
Bennett, J. L., & Bush, M. W. (2014). Essential Change Skills. In Coaching for Change (pp.
180-210). NY: Routledge.
Bridges, W. (2009). Managing transitions: making the most of change (3rd ed.). Da Capo
Lifelong Books.
Burke & Litwin. (1992). A Causal Model of Organisation Performance and Change. Journalof Management , 18 (No 3), 523-545. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639201800306
Clutterbuck, D. (2007). Coaching the team at work. London: Nicholas Brealey.
Creasey, T., & Hiatt, J. (2014). Best practices in change management. Loveland, CO: Prosci.
Downey, M. (2003). Effective coaching. London: Texere.
Gallwey, T. (2000). The inner game of work: overcoming mental obstacles for maximum
performance. London: Orion Business.
Galpin, T. (1996). In The human side of change (pp. 21-23). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Hawkins, P., & Smith, N. (2006). Coaching, mentoring and organizationsl consultancy:
supervision and development. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Jorgensen, H., Owens, L., & Neus, A. (2008). Making change work. NY: IBM.
Kerber, K. W., & Buono, A. F. (2010, Spring). Creating a sustainable approach to change:
Building organizational change capacity. SAM Advanced Management Journal , 4-21.
Kubler-Ross, E. (1973). On Death and Dying. London: Routledge.
Maurer, R. (1996). Beyond the wall of resistance (Revised ed.). Texas: Bard Books, Inc.
MOE. (2012). Pathways Beyond 2015. Report of the Committee on University Education .
Singapore.
O'Neill, M. B. (2007). Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart : A Systems Approach
to Engaging Leaders with Their Challenges (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Palmer, S., & Whybrow, A. (2008). Handbook of Coaching Psychology: A Guide for
Practitioners. London: Routledge.
Peltier, B. (2001). The Psychology of Executive Coaching: Theory and Application. Sussex:
Brunner-Routledge.
Prochaska, J., Norcross, J., & Diclemente, N. (2006). Changing for good. New York: William
Morrow.

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Sherman, S., & Freas, A. (2004). The Wild West of executive coaching. Harvard Business
Review , 82 (11), 82-90.

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Ethics Issues of Digital Contents for Pre-Service Primary Teachers: A
Gamification Experience for Self-Assessment with Socrative

Adolfina Pérez Garcias and Victoria I. Marín80	
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Abstract

The knowledge society has brought many possibilities for open education practices and,simultaneously, deep ethical challenges related to the use, sharing and reuse of digital content.
In fact, even at university level, many undergraduate students do not respect the licences ofdigital resources. As part of the contents of a third-year educational technology course forprimary teacher training at the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain), prospective teachers
learned about these ethics issues. During the 2015/16 academic year, 125 pre-service teachers
from two groups of this course were involved in a gamification experience, using Socrative inreal-time in the classroom, in which they had to answer different questions related to digital
ethics. Its aim was not only to find out what they knew before working directly with the topic– an initial self-assessment – but also to arouse interest and encourage dynamic participationand interaction. At the end of the course, the participants answered a questionnaire in which
they were asked about their perceptions of the use of this kind of educational strategy and theirtransfer in the future. Data were also collected from the same Socrative quiz and the final exam
results related to digital ethics. Overall, the assessment from pre-service teachers was highly
positive, as well as the scores of the questions related to digital ethics in the final test, and theconclusions of this study highlight both the importance of using more interactive educational
strategies in the classroom and the need for training on digital ethics issues in teacher studies.
Keywords: gamification; higher education; teacher training; digital ethics; Socrative; selfassessment.

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Introduction
The Internet has made it possible to access information and digital content to be reused in othercontexts, which creates important ethical challenges (Farrow, 2016). Open education isespecially interesting for future teachers of any level, who can create their educational materials
by readapting the already available resources–images, sounds, videos and so on–on theInternet. However, the ethical challenges suggest that many student teachers do not respect thelicences of these resources, mainly because they are not aware of them.
Digital ethics is a part of the digital competence that every teacher needs to develop (UNESCO,2011). Thus, many teacher training programmes consider modules or contents related to this
aspect. At the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain), the student teachers in the Primary
Teacher Training program must attend a course on educational technology, which includes
digital competence and digital ethics, in their third year.
During the 2015/16 academic year, pre-service teachers of two groups of this course wereinvolved in a gamification experience using Socrative – a web 2.0 technology to create
interactive tests–in real-time in the classroom to work on concepts and ideas related to digital
ethics. The aim of this experiment was to connect teachers with their prior knowledge as an
initial self-assessment, arouse interest and encourage participation. After the experiment, theparticipants were given a questionnaire in which they were asked about their perceptions of theuse of this kind of educational strategy and their transfer in the future.
Therefore, the present work describes the educational gamification experiment with Socrativeon pre-service student teachers for primary school; the results obtained from the same
experiment; a final student questionnaire and the final test scores of the course (questions
related to digital ethics). The conclusions show the value of the experiment and future lines ofwork.
Reference Framework
The educational experiment is based on two main topics: ethics issues of digital contents, aspart of the digital competence; and gamification, as the didactic strategy used for theexperiment.
Digital Ethics
The new technological and digitalized world comes with deep ethical challenges, especiallyrelated to open education (Farrow, 2016). Open education practices are based on four mainprinciples (Valverde, 2010): (a) knowledge should be free and open to be used and reused, (b)collaboration in the construction and reelaboration of knowledge should be enhanced andpromoted, (c) sharing knowledge should be rewarded for its contribution to education andresearch and (d) educational innovation needs communities of practice and reflection thatprovide free educational resources. The practices and technologies from educational contexts
considered open could include access to educational or published research, software, policies,
teaching methods, data sets or other educational resources (Farrow, 2016). However, the Open
Educational Resources (OER) which are most considered in Teacher Education, areeducational tools, learning contents/resources and implementation resources (licenses andinteroperability) (Valverde, 2010). Although there are important advantages of OER, derived
from the open education principles, there are also some concerns. Two of the main issues in
Digital Ethics, derived from ICT dissemination on a large-scale, are privacy and the protection82	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016of intellectual property (Maggiolini, 2014), which could be included as part of ethics and digitalcompetences.
On the other hand, there is a need for students from different educational levels to developthese kinds of competences, including prospective teachers. New teachers must showcompetences that allow them to incorporate the digital world into the class–the use level–and
enable them to behave coherently with the theory–the sense level (Burguet & Buxarrais, 2013;
García-Gutiérrez, 2013). In fact, one of the areas to develop within the digital competences ofteacher education (concretely framed in the information literacy) is digital ethics, which
considers intellectual property rights, copyrights and ethics (UNESCO, 2011).
However, as Burguet and Buxarrais (2013) point out, training in the ethical dimension islacking not only in the study program of teacher education but also in schools in general.
According to the same authors, teacher training should include the development of the ethicalcapacities of educational professionals, who can in turn, secure the development of theautonomy of young students so that they can think and reflect by themselves, considering
ethical issues of digital content. In this study, we focus on the work done within the university
program for primary teacher training related to digital ethics in the module of technologies
applied to education.
Gamification
Gamification is defined as the use of game dynamics, mechanics and elements in non-gamecontexts (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, & Nacke, 2011). As the main advantages in the
educational context, gamification affects students’ behaviour, commitment and motivation,
which can lead to improvement of knowledge and skills (Hsin Yuan Huang & Soman, 2013).
The game elements are shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1. The Game Element Hierarchy, adapted from Werback and Hunter (2012, p. 82)
Some of the more accepted game elements that can be used in the learning context are: points,
numerical values given for any single action or combination of actions; ranking, a classificationor comparison among students from the same class or year; levels, a system to show student’s
progress in the assigned activities; badges, distinct awards for the consecution of an objective;
and progression, a dynamic in which success is granularly displayed.

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In the educational context, gamification includes a range of activities that cover: (a) the
incorporation of game rules and structures into class activities or management, (b) learning
activities through didactic games or serious games and (c) the gamified development ofcomplex didactic strategies, which include different activity sequences such as the resolutionof a case in a learning problem/project-based methodology. The latter is associated with agamification vision that differs from the classical vision called game thinking in which the goalof gamifying is to present a learning-teaching process centred on the students, where they (asplayers) get involved, make decisions, achieve progress, assume new roles, participate in asocial environment and receive immediate feedback (Gallego, Molina & Largo, 2014).
In recent years, the number of courses that implement gamification strategies in higher
education for different kinds of studies has been growing. These strategies are an effective wayof maintaining undergraduate students’ motivation, concentration and engagement in the
curriculum, such as in technical studies (Barragán, Ceada, Andújar, Irigoyen, Gómez & Artaza,
2015; Iosup & Epema, 2014; Villagrasa, 2016), economics (Arias & Djundubaev, 2015),
medicine (Martin, Martin, Sanz, & Martín, 2014) or educational sciences, including teacher
training (Villalustre & del Moral, 2015; Shiota & Abe, 2015).
Among the ICT tools that can be used to introduce game mechanics and dynamics into
educational contexts are webtools, platforms and software (commercial and free). Some ofthem are Badgeville (http://www.badgeville.com), Openbadges (http://openbadges.org/),
Classdojo (http://www.classdojo.com), Atta (http://www.attacommunity.com), Schoology(https://www.schoology.com/home.php),
Kahoot(https://kahoot.it)
andSocrative(http://www.socrative.com/).
Socrative is a free webtool that allows teachers to create quizzes and use them in real-time toempower the engagement and assessment of students, individually or in teams. While thestudents are answering, the results are aggregated and visualised in real-time, which enables
teachers to have instant insight into students’ level of understanding concerning a specific topic
related to the curriculum. This tool is very accessible as any device that has internet connection
can use it (the teacher needs to provide students with a code).
In the current experiment, Socrative was used to identify the initial knowledge and possible
misconceptions regarding digital ethics.
The Educational ExperimentContext and Methodology
The experiment was carried out with 125 third-year pre-service teachers in the Primary Teacher
Training program at the University of the Balearic Islands in the course Media and Technology
Resources for Teaching and Learning in Primary Education during the 2015/16 academic year.
Student teachers were organized into two groups with different teachers. The course wasorganized using a blended modality: mostly face-to-face classes and the virtual learning
environment Moodle. This support basically consisted of the delivery of online materials thatwere used for in-class work, study preparation or assignment submissions. The final assessmentof the course included a final exam, which was focused on the theoretical aspects of thecontents, and different practical activities.
The activity (described below) was done by using a computer, a projector, a whiteboard andthe student teachers’ personal technological devices (laptops and smartphones) and was84	  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

focused on a part of the theoretical aspects of the contents of the course. As in the whole studies
program, the teaching and learning language for the activity was Catalan.
A gamified quiz was created using Socrative with 27 items related to digital ethics, including
copyright and the right to use and reuse digital information, as part of the second content
module of the course. The student teachers had previously worked in the first module with theconcept of digital competence and its areas, one of them being information literacy in which
digital ethics is included.
The quiz was composed of twenty-five statements about student teachers’ knowledge, beliefs
and personal use of digital information, in which twenty-three are a “True or False” type andtwo require multiple-choice responses. The remaining two were short answer questions. See
Figure 2 for a template on the quiz in appendix 1.
Student teachers entered their names, answered questions and could not skip items or change
their answers. Some of the student teachers worked in pairs to answer the quiz because not allof them had their devices in class.
After each response, student teachers received immediate feedback on the answers chosen–thesystem showed them if they were correct or incorrect providing a self-assessment. The
feedback included a brief explanation of the correct answer and some references to consult
related to the answer. As student teachers answered the quiz, the display of their progress witha table of results was shown on the class whiteboard in real time. At the end of the quiz, student
teachers received information on their scores in relation to the scores of their peers.

Figure 3. Screen of real time results of the Socrative quiz
The purpose of the quiz was to connect student teachers with their prior knowledge, arousing
interest and encouraging participation. The didactic sequence was developed through two main
activities in a 1.5-hour session:
1) First, the Socrative quiz was applied in the face-to-face class session. The student teachers
answered the quiz individually or in pairs using their personal technological devices in 15–20
minutes. This part was related to self-assessment because student teachers received thefeedback on their answers immediately.
2) After student teachers had completed the quiz, the teacher presented and assessed the global
results by starting a dynamic participatory class on the topic. Once the questions were discussed
and the answers justified, the student teachers posed new questions in the form of examples ofuse of digital information with the aim of consolidating their learning.

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  Results and discussion
To assess the experience, information was obtained and analysed based on: (a) the opinion of
the student teachers through a final online questionnaire and (b) the score obtained by thestudent teachers in the Socrative quiz regarding prior knowledge of the ethical use of digital
information aspects and examination of the subject.
The data obtained showed that the experience allowed pre-service teachers to connect with
their prior knowledge and encourage them to reflect on it. The results of the quiz showed little
prior knowledge and false belief, but the good grades obtained in the final test show the
improvement of their knowledge of digital ethics.
About the Gamification Experiment
Data Gathered from a Questionnaire
Seventy-eight student teachers (out of 125) that participated in the educational experiment with
Socrative answered a final questionnaire.
One of its sections was directed at assessing the learning activity carried out with Socrative, by
focusing on its usefulness for encouraging learning and reflection, boosting participation andthe student teachers’ attitudes towards gamification strategies, which were the issues that theteachers wanted to enhance in their class (see Table 1).
Table 1. Questionnaire statements on the educational experiment with Socrative
Statements
The use of quiz or games to detect previous knowledge encourages learning and reflection
The use of tools to manage student participation in classes (random selection of students who will
participate) would speed things up in a fun way.
Using badges in the working sessions of workshop (in the computer lab) would be a good strategy tomotivate and track our activity in class

Therefore, first, student teachers were asked to score (from 1 to 5) their agreement with thestatement the use of quizzes or games to detect previous knowledge (as the quiz used on the
topic of ethical uses of digital information) encourages learning and reflection, 1 indicating
disagreement and 5 indicating agreement. As can be seen in Figure 4, student teachers’ answers(groups 1 and 2) show a high agreement (79.3%). To indicate if there were significant
differences between the two groups, student teachers were also asked about their perceptionsof the use of gamification strategies in other activities, such as for managing participation inclasses and monitoring by using badges. The results show less agreement with the statements.

	
  

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  Figure 4. Results from the questionnaire on the agreement with the statement the use of quiz orgames to detect previous knowledge encourages learning and reflection.
Sixty percent of respondents showed a high degree of agreement with the statement the use oftools to manage student participation in classes (random selection of students who will
participate) would speed things up in a fun way with a deviation of 1.18 points in group 1 and0.95 in group 2. Thus, there is greater variation among the responses of group 1 (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Results from the questionnaire on agreement with the statement the use of tools tomanage student participation in classes (random selection of students who will participate)would speed things up in a fun way.
Similarly, 65.9% of their answers show a high degree of agreement with the statement using
badges in the working sessions of workshop (in the computer lab) would be a good strategy tomotivate and track our activity in class with a deviation of 0.8 points for group 1 and 0.7 forgroup 2 (see Figure 6).

	
  

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  Figure 6. Results from the questionnaire on the agreement with the statement Using badges in
the working sessions of workshops would be a good strategy to motivate and track our activity
in class.
These results indicate that there are low expectations of student teachers in certain gamification
strategies. Perhaps this could be explained by the lack of experience with this type of activity
and the association of these aspects with games. This might shed light on the lack of knowledge
related to gamification strategies in education.
Class Scoring
The total, averaged score of the Socrative quiz was 64% (64.3% in group 1 and 63.7% in group2) with 16 correct answers out of 25 (15.4/25 in group 1 and 15.9/25 in group 2) (Table 2).
Table 2. Scores of the Socrative quiz on the ethical use of digital information
Total Score

Group 1 Score

Group 2 Score

64%

64.3%

63.7%

Total Correct
Answers

Group 1 Correct Answers

Group 2 Correct Answers

16

15.4

15.9

As illustrated in Table 3, items with the highest percentages of correct answers relate to broader
issues in digital ethics, and items with the lowest percentages include procedures or more
precise aspects of the ethical use of digital information, which is especially important toincorporate in their educational practices as future teachers.
	
  

	
  

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  Table 3. Questions in the quiz with higher and lower percentages of correct answers
Statements with higher percentages of correct answers
10. Using a fragment of a text segment to quote authorship is acommunication act against an author’s rights.

96.7%

16. Authors can authorise to distribute, copy or reuse the work.

92.7%

1. An author’s rights of a work recognises intellectual property as a naturalright to the individual creator.

92.2%

19. Creative Commons allows the authors to distribute their works withspecific rights under certain conditions.

92%

Statements with lower percentages of correct answers
12. A work is protected with copyright when the author registers it as such.

3.7%

6. Author rights allow the authors to adopt measures to preserve theirauthorship of the work—for example, in the promotion and recognition of
authorship.

5%

20. Which one of these uses of information is adequate?
A) Publishing a document that belongs to another person on a website or
blogB) Making a copy of a musical work that is public domainC) Accessing and downloading free content
D) Distributing our works with a Creative Commons licenseE) Creating a website or blog with links to other pages

12%

8. Making a copy of a CD is a reproduction act against author’s rights.

18%

The final exam of the course, which was a multiple choice quiz, included questions on the topic
of digital ethics. The scores of these exams are high (around 90%). Group 1 included twoquestions (out of 20) with 94% and 83% of correct answers, respectively. Group 2 included
one question (out of 20) about digital ethics with 94% of correct answers.
Conclusions
The educational experiment with Socrative has been an interesting experience that has achieved
the expected objectives of the teachers and authors of the current paper, which were: (a) to
expose the prior knowledge of student teachers on the topic of digital ethics while removing
misconceptions, (b) to motivate learning and (c) to encourage participation. In fact, the answers
to the questionnaire resulted in a dynamic participatory class that addressed these aspects indepth and in response to student teachers’ interests and/or their false beliefs.
Thehe ludic/gamified elements in the learning activity seemed useful to student teachers to bewilling to verbalize and participate. In the activity, some of the dynamics, components andelements of games were identified (Werback & Hunter, 2012), i.e., progression in the quiz (adynamic), competition among peers or collaboration in the case of working in pairs, immediate
feedback (components) and the existence of a leader board and punctuations (elements).
	
  

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  However, student teachers’ perceptions of the educational possibilities of gamified elements
were rather low. This is probably related to the fact that they had not experienced this kind ofactivity during their studies, so they did not know what the educational possibilities related to
gamification are or how to design educational experiences that use these strategies in an
effective way. Or, perhaps, they considered that these elements cannot be useful in othercontexts. Perhaps they consider the technology to not be for academic purposes. Therefore,
for future research, it would be interesting to go deeper into the reasons for these scores andsee the actual motives, contrasting with successful gamification experiences, like the one
explained in Villalustre and del Moral (2015), which show a high level of motivation andsatisfaction by the undergraduate students and the development of generic competences.
Despite the limitations related to the coverage of the educational experiment on gamification,
this study has shed light on the importance and need of teaching pre-service teachers about
aspects related to the use of digital information, as they will be the future teachers (Burguet &Buxarrais, 2013; García-Gutiérrez, 2013). Technology is becoming increasingly more present
in every aspect of life, so it is essential that every citizen now and in the future uses digitalcontents and manages licensing in a proper way, being respectful to others’ authorial rights
when using contents and conscious of the rights of their own works when creating new content.
Of course, this also applies to any educational resource:images, videos, audio, activities,
documents and so on that teachers use and/or create. This idea is also one of the trends thatwere included in the Horizon 2016 report for university teaching (Johnson, Adams Becker,
Cummins, Estrada, Freeman & Hall, 2016).
On the other hand, in the current knowledge society,where information is available everywhere,
every educational institution needs to find ways to engage students with the course content,
arouse interest in them and motivate students’ dynamic participation and interaction in theclassroom. This educational experiment has shown a successful way to do this based on asmall-scale gamification experience focused on higher education. As future work, a large-scale
gamification experience could be considered including different courses in the academic year.
Acknowledgments
This work is framed within the teaching innovation project funded by the University of the
Balearic Islands in the academic year 2015/16 called The student's participation in learningassessment through the use of formative assessment strategies.
	
  

	
  

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References
Arias, D., & Djundubaev, R. (2015). Gamification of the teaching-learning process at the
Official Master in Economics. XII Jornadas Internacionales de Innovación Universitaria,
Villaviciosa de Odón. Retrieved August 20, 2016, from http://hdl.handle.net/11268/4490
Barragán, A. J., Ceada, Y., Andújar, J. M., Irigoyen, E., Gómez, V., & Artaza, F. (2015). Una
propuesta para la motivación del alumnado de ingeniería mediante técnicas de
gamificación. Actas de las XXXVI Jornadas de Automática, Bilbao. Retrieved August 20,
2016, from http://www.ehu.eus/documents/3444171/4484747/77.pdf
Buguet, M., & Buxarrais, M. R. (2013). La eticidad de las TIC. Las competencias transversales
y sus paradojas. Revista Teoría de la Educación: Educación y Cultura en la Sociedad dela Información, 14(3), 87-100. Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttp://148.215.2.10/html/2010/201029582005/index.html
Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements togamefulness: Defining “gamification”. Proceedings of MindTrek ‘11 the 15th
International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments(pp. 9-15). New York, USA: ACM.
Farrow, R. (2016). A framework for the ethics of open education. Open Praxis, 8(2), 93-109.
https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.8.2.291
Gallego, F., Molina, R., & Largo, F. (2014). Gamificar una propuesta docente. Diseñando
experiencias positivas de aprendizaje. XX Jornadas sobre la Enseñanza Universitaria dela Informática (JENUI), Oviedo. Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttp://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/39195
García-Gutiérrez, J. (2013). Aproximación ética a la competencia digital. Los niveles de uso ysentido en ámbitos educativos virtuales. Revista Teoría de la Educación: Educación yCultura en la Sociedad de la Información, 14(3), 121-145. Retrieved August 20, 2016,
from http://148.215.2.10/html/2010/201029582007/index.html
Hsin Yuan Huang, W., & Soman, D. (2013). A practitioner’s guide to gamification of
education. Toronto: University of Toronto. Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttp://inside.rotman.utoronto.ca/behaviouraleconomicsinaction/files/2013/09/GuideGam
ificationEducationDec2013.pdf
Iosup, A., & Epema, D. (2014). An experience report on using gamification in technical higher
education. Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer scienceeducation (pp. 27-32). New York, USA: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538899
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., & Hall, C. (2016).
NMC horizon report: 2016 higher education edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media
Consortium. Retrieved August 20, 2016, from http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2016-nmchorizon-report-he-EN.pdf
Maggiolini, P. (2014). A deep study on the concept of digital ethics. Revista de Administraçao
de Empresas, 54(5). https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-759020140511
Martin, A. P., Martin, D. D., Sanz, J. M., & Martín, E. R. (2014). Experiencias de aplicaciónde estrategias de gamificación a entornos de aprendizaje universitario. ReVision, 7(2).
91	  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttp://www.aenui.net/ojs/index.php?journal=revision&page=issue&op=view&path%5B%5D=15
Shiota, S., & Abe, M. (2015). A study on teacher training to incorporate gamification in classdesign--Program development and implementation in a teacher training course. IADISInternational Conference on e-Learning, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Retrieved August20, 2016, from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED562476
UNESCO (2011). UNESCO ICT competency framework for teachers. Paris: UNESCO.
Valverde, J. (2010). El movimiento de “educación abierta” y la “universidad expandida”.
Tendencias pedagógicas, 16, 157-180. Retrieved August 20, 2016, fromhttp://dialnet.uniroja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo3341542
Villagrasa, S. (2016). Technologies enhanced learning and gamification for teaching andlearning innovation. Doctoral thesis. Universitat Ramon Llull. Retrieved August 20,
2016, from http://hdl.handle.net/10803/351961
Villalustre, L., & del Moral, M. E. (2015). Gamificación: Estrategia para optimizar el procesode aprendizaje y la adquisición de competencias en contextos universitarios. Digital
Education Review, 27, 13-31. Retrieved August 20, 2016, from http://greav.ub.edu/der/Werbach, K., & Hunter, D. (2012). How game thinking can revolutionize your business.
Philadelphia, USA: Wharton Digital Press.

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  Figure 2. Template in PDF format of the Socrative quiz (in Catalan).

	
  

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Conspicuous Internationalization? Creating an International
Communication Lounge on a Japanese University Campus

Adam Gyenes

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Abstract

Internationalization has become an important strategy for many Japanese universities as they
face falling enrollments. While some have successfully attracted students from overseas, others
seek different means by which to promote their international appeal, primarily as an attractorof domestic applicants. One way that this is highly visible is in the creation of international
communication lounges on campuses: mediated spaces for intercultural exchange and language
study that have developed out of the imported model of the self-access center. Thisethnographic study looks at the establishment of an International Communication Lounge(ICL) at a private university on the outskirts of Tokyo, where exchange activities, open-access
communication classes, and self-study facilities are provided to students in a casual setting.
Phillips and Ochs (2003) four stages of policy borrowing in education are utilized as aframework to gain insight into the motivations of various stakeholders in the development of
the facility. The ICL is shown to have had a positive impact on interest in international
exchange programs and on motivation to study English among the small group of students whomake use of the facility. Through this study, a microcosmic view of one university’s efforts tointernationalize their campus is provided, and there is an impetus for further discussion on thevalue and implementation of self-access communication spaces on university campuses.
Keywords: internationalization of higher education; Japanese universities; policy borrowing;
self-access language learning; study abroad.

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  Introduction
Internationalization Outside Japan’s Elite Universities
Case studies looking at the internationalization of university education in Japan have tended tofocus on elite public and private universities, such as those that have received Ministry of
Education (MEXT) funding, first through the Global 30 Project (G30) and more recently as
Super Global Universities (SGU) (Askew, 2011; Ishikawa, 2009; Ishikura, 2015; Shimizu,
2014; Yonezawa & Shimmi 2015). Yet efforts to internationalize campuses are being madeacross the range of universities in Japan. Much like the G30/SGU universities, attracting
students from overseas has been viewed as an important goal for many other kinds ofinstitutions as well, with the bold target set by the government of 300,000 international students
studying in Japan by 2020 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2015).
For elite national and private universities in Japan, the motivation to internationalize comesfrom a drive to compete with other knowledge-based economies and their universities to bringin the brightest international talents, a process which in turn, is expected to develop homegrown
students into global jinzai (globally-minded human resources) who can drive Japan’s economic
competitiveness in the 21st century. Yet outside of this small group of elite schools, for the bulkof private universities in Japan (of which there are almost six hundred), the motivation to bringan international student body onto their campuses is quite different.
Demographic changes in Japan have led to a diminishing pool of 18-year-old prospective
applicants and a surplus of university places. As projected by the Ministry of Education, thenumber of undergraduate places reached equilibrium with the number of Japanese of college
age around 2009 (as cited in Kuroki, 1999, p.17). For those not aiming for places at eliteschools, university application now involves contemplation of “the relative attractiveness ofcompeting admission offers from a large number of colleges and universities desperate to fillplaces and generate enough tuition revenue to avoid bankruptcy” (Kinmonth, 2005, p.106). For
these at risk schools, attracting students from overseas is commonly viewed as a way to makeup the deficit of domestic applicants. Yet in reality, bringing in large numbers of international
students is not without prohibitive costs, risks and challenges that prevent this from happening.
As a result, many of these institutions focus their attention instead on the visibility ofinternationalization on their campuses and other conspicuous means by which theirinternational profile can be raised, primarily as an attractor of domestic applicants.
This ethnographic study charts a project undertaken in one such university, to establish an
International Communication Lounge, as a hub of student led intercultural exchange andlanguage learning activities at Kita University (both the name of the university and the lounge
have been changed for the purposes of this study). The ICL has become an on-campus focal
point of internationalization for various stakeholders in the university administration and forstudents. Yet through the process by which this space was established, a number of questions
are raised. What role does a self-access space for language learning and international exchangeplay in the internationalization of a university campus? To what extent has the ICL come tomeet the differing purposes of university administrators and students and what contrasting
notions about internationalization does this suggest about each of them? Guided by thesequestions, this study aims to further discussion on the role of such communication spaces,
which are becoming an increasingly common fixture on campuses in Japan, and simultaneously
provides a window on the state of internationalization at a university on the periphery ofJapan’s higher education elites.

	
  

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  Background: Kita University and Japanese University Internationalization
Kita University has two campuses: the original campus, in a rural, prefectural setting
approximately 70 kilometers from Tokyo, opened in the 1960s. A second campus wasestablished in the 2000s in a suburb on the edges of the capital. With Japan’s demographic
changes already a concern for universities at that time, the location of the second campus within
the Greater Tokyo area was chosen as a way to gain catchment. Four of university’s five
faculties were to offer their programs at both campuses, increasing the total number of students
from around 2,500, to more than five thousand, 5,343 in 2015 (data from the university’s
website). Although some degree programs face difficulty, overall the university has
successfully maintained enrolment figures, despite the crunch that is hitting universities inJapan.
However, in the same period the university has struggled to attract international students. In
fact in 2004, prior to the new campus opening, the university had 794 international students
enrolled in their undergraduate programs, making it the fourth largest international
undergraduate student body in Japan. Figures published in 2015 show that this figure has fallen
by more than half to 326 (see tables 1 and 2). To put this in context, in the same period theoverall number of international students studying in Japan has steadily increased by more than
20,000 (Japan Student Services Organization, 2015), yet the university has struggled tomaintain the size of its international student body, despite the concurrent doubling of theircapacity through the opening of a new campus.
Sources within the university suggest a major reason behind this is increased competition
among Japanese universities for international talent. They highlight the fact that it has become
easier for students from China and other Asian countries (who have traditionally made up thebulk of the university’s international student body, and continue to do so) to access places atmore prestigious schools. Students who at one time chose this university because they faced
barriers entering other schools, are no longer coming because they now have more avenues
available to them.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 1 & 2. Ranking of Japanese universities by number of overseas students in undergraduate
programs, 2003-4, 2014-15 (Asahi Shimbun, 2004, p.147; 2015, p.162)
Japanese universities by number ofoverseas students enrolled inundergraduate programs 2003-4

	  Japanese universities by number ofoverseas students enrolled inundergraduate programs 2014-15

1.   Ritsumeikan APU

1378

1.   Nihon Keizai

3,098

2.   Josai Kokusai1058

2.   Ritsumeikan APU

2,286

3.   Takushoku

818

3.   Waseda

1,8284.   Kita University794

4.   Osaka Sangyo

1,003

5.   Osaka Sangyo

744

5.   Nihon

951

6.   Nihon

716

6.   Meiji

827

7.   Tokyo Kokusai

700

7.   Takushoku

782

8.   Jobu

647

8.   Ritsumeikan766

9.   Kokushikan

618

9.   Meikai752

10.   Jochi

528

10.   Tokyo Kokusai611

11.   Meikai496

11.   Josai Kokusai584

12.   Toyo453

12.   Doshinsha

572

13.   Ritsumeikan

411

13.   Chuo551

14.   Chuo403

14.   Kokushikan

531

15.   Kyushu Sangyo

402

15.   Kyushu Sangyo

526

16.   Ajia

395

16.   Kansai Gakuen

464

17.   Kinki

395

17.   Keio46418.   Kyushu Kokusai394

18.   Daiichi Kogyo

441

19.   Keiai

360

19.   Hokuriku

41620.   Asahi

334	
  

20.   Toyo

414

21.   Digital Hollywood

404

22.   Ryutsu Kagaku

39823.   Shisaikan

359

24.   Osaka Keizai Houka

346

25.   Osaka Kokusai344

26.   Jochi

339

27.   Osaka

336

28.   Shobi Gakuin

332

29.   Kita University

326	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  A comparison of tables 1 and 2 would seem to support this view. The total increase in thenumber of international students studying in Japan is clearly seen in the large numbers ofinternational students at the universities that top the 2015 table. As in 2004, all universities inthe top twenty for undergraduate students are private universities: the national universities ingeneral are more focused on recruitment of international students at graduate level (Huang,2015). Prestigious, private G30/SGU universities such as Waseda, Meiji and Keio occupy
places in the top twenty of the 2015 list, when in 2004 they had much smaller numbers ofinternational students. Nihon Keizai, which tops the list with more than three thousand
international students, has not received G30 or SGU funding, but is one university that has
actively sought to distinguish itself as a leader in international student recruitment within thepast 10 years. Within this milieu, Kita is a university that finds itself with a drastically reduced
international student body.
Although there may be other reasons than those cited for the decline, and it may be a different
story at other universities, the difficulties faced by many private universities in Japan arehighlighted by this case. Attracting students from overseas in order to make up for the fallingnumbers of domestic applicants is far from straightforward, and while internationalization is
generally considered to be synonymous with large increases of international students at
Japanese universities (Askew, 2011; Huang 2015), at many schools this is simply nothappening. Increased competition for international talent has left some universities without,and they instead seek other, innovative means to promote internationalization on theircampuses, as Kita University has done through establishing a prominent, on campus space forinternational communication.
Literature Review
Self-access Centers and Conversation Lounges in Japanese Universities
There has been a steady growth of self-access centers (SACs) at tertiary institutions in Asian
countries since the mid 1990s. They first appeared at universities in Hong Kong where they
were modeled on innovative centers at Oxford and Cambridge, and strategically introducedwith government funding in a top-down fashion (Fouser, 2003). In Japan, the development hascome later and mainly in the private university sector. The first SAC at a Japanese university
was established at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) in June 2001 (Cooker,
2010), which has also become a hub of knowledge about self-access through the Japan
Association for Self-Access Learning (JASAL). In the years since, a number of similar
facilities have opened at other Japanese Universities. JASAL currently has 32 university
centers listed in its registry (JASAL, 2016) yet there are certainly more at other universities
that have not registered their center to this list1.
SACs at tertiary institutions may have roots in language laboratories, libraries, language centersor computer rooms (Fouser, p.49), but they are distinguished from such facilities by theirprimary aim and benefit of promoting learner autonomy. Thus SACs can be defined by their
purpose of inspiring students to take responsibility for their own language development(Hadley & Brown, 2007). They can also simulate immersion in a native-speaker environmentby allowing learners to access authentic materials in their language of study, and offer
opportunities to communicate with native speakers or near-native speakers (Gardner & Miller,1999). As a result, they can motivate students by removing potential barriers to learning createdby the demands of university curricula, and help them to overcome the language anxiety that
	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
1

	
  

The author personally knows of four universities with self-access centers that are not listed.

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  they may experience in more formal classroom settings. Self-access also appeals to institutions
because of its flexibility:
It can be used on a large scale or a small scale. It can be conducted in a classroom, in a
dedicated self-access center or elsewhere. It can be incorporated into a language course
or it can be used by learners who are not taking courses. It can function at all learninglevels … It allows individualization but also supports groups. It is not culture specific.
It is not age specific. In effect, self-access learning can benefit all language learners.
(Gardner & Miller, p.11).
However, with a recent boom of new facilities in Japan, there is a notable shift in vision whencompared with earlier SAC models. Although a priority at earlier centers had been to provide
students with a rich variety of resources such as DVDs, graded readers, or test preparationmaterials, these are notable by their absence at many newer centers, where the aim has rather
been to create communication spaces. In fact, early proponents of self-access had tried to shed“a view of self-access which likens it to quiet study or library work” (Gardner & Miller, p.14).
In several cases, self-access center administrators sought to involve students in designing thelayout of learning spaces; an exercise that gives students a sense of ownership of the space andwhich can help to overcome the preconception of a quiet study space (Taylor, 2014). Yet while
many new centers are created in the image of cafes or lounges to promote an environment of
informal or incidental learning, if self-study resources are jettisoned in the process, then there
is a danger that students “misconstrue a SAC as more of a social space than a venue forenjoyable language study” (Hadley & Brown, p.28). A question for consideration as thenumber and range of centers grows in Japan (and one that is pertinent to this study) is whether
a conversation lounge can rightfully be called a self-access center and really shares the sameaim of promoting learner autonomy.
Development of a Conversation Lounge as Policy Borrowing”
Administrators at Kita University were keenly aware of facilities such as the SAC at KUIS andthe growth of communication spaces at other universities in Japan when they decided to import
the concept to their campus. Thus the process of establishing the facility can be viewed as aform of policy borrowing, and is framed in this study through Phillips and Ochs model of ‘Four
Stages of Policy Borrowing in Education’ (2003). This model describes the transfer ofeducation policies from one setting to another through four stages of attraction, decision,
implementation and internalization/indigenization. These are visualized and elaborated in their
cyclical diagram shown in figure 1.

	
  

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Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Stage&1:&Cross"national'Attraction!
Impulses
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Stage&4:
Internalization/
Indigenization•••

Impact!on!
existing!system!
/!Modus&Operandi
Absorption!of!
external!
features.
Synthesis
Evaluation

Political!changes
System!Collapse
Internal!
Dissatisfaction
Negative!External!
evaluation
Novel!Configuration
Knowledge/!Skills
Innovation

Externalizing1
Potentials
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•
•

Guiding!
Philosophy
Ambitions/!Goals
Strategies
Enabling!
structures
Processes
Techniques

Policy“Borrowing”
In#Education•

Adaption•

Suitability!of!

•

Theoretical•

Practical•“Quick!Fix”•“Phoney”

Stage&2:
DecisionContext•

Speed!of!Change•

Significant!Actors

Support1111111Resistance
National/!Local“Non"Decision”

Stage&3:&Implementation
Figure 1. Four stages of Policy Borrowing in Education. (Phillips & Ochs, 2003)
However, this model was developed in the field of comparative education to look at crossnational transfer, and has mostly been applied to the adaption of education systems acrossborders at the level of national policy. Phillips and Ochs conceived the model out of their own
study of transfer between England and Germany (Ochs & Phillips, 2002), and it has beenutilized in other comparative transnational studies that looked at borrowing of secondary andhigher education reforms at a national level in a number of countries (Chow, 2014; Eta, 2012;
Strouzma, 2012). Yet it has also been used at a micro level, for example to study the import of
the CEFR (Common European Frame of Reference for Languages) to an English program at aJapanese university (Rappleye, Imoto, & Horiguchi, 2011), and has been suggested as a meansof understanding how broad concepts such as learner-centered education transfer acrossborders (Schweisfurth, 2013).
Although administrators at Kita University were importing a model domestically,from otheruniversities in Japan and not directly from abroad, Phillips and Ochs cross-national transfer
model is of relevance in this case. Complexity in the field of internationalization of education
often makes it difficult to delineate clear steps in educational transfer in the current age: “acomplex sequence of ever-changing processes of regional and trans-regional, national andinternational systemization and rationalization in education, sometimes replacing, sometimes
overlapping one another” (Zymek & Zymek, 2004, p.26). Therefore, a model of educational
policy borrowing also needs to be capable of describing the indirect forms of borrowing thattake place at a micro level, often between institutions within one country. As in the case of the
ICL at Kita University, these importers may not even be aware of the outside origin of the

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  policy they choose to import, but are nonetheless bringing in foreign concepts as they makeefforts to internationalize.
Methodology
As one of the few native English teachers among the university faculty, I was asked to join the
project team to establish the International Communication Lounge at Kita University. My
direct involvement provided an opportunity to conduct ethnographic research as a participantobserver or participant as observer. Primarily a participant actively engaged in the work of the
project, the viewpoint is necessarily subjective. Nevertheless, my status as a relative newcomerat the university and the only non-Japanese member of the project allowed a shift to thepositionality of an outside observer in approaching the research questions, with the aim ofgathering qualitative data and writing a detailed narrative description of the process.
From the spring of 2014 when initial meetings took place to discuss the possibility of opening
the lounge, through to the summer of 2015, when plans had been fully implemented; records
were kept of all interactions with others involved in the project during meetings and events
held in the facility, as well as many informal discussions and conversations with staff andstudents. These field notes were then used to map out the establishment process across the first
three stages of Phillips and Ochs model: attraction, decision, and implementation.
In order to evaluate the manner in which the fourth “internalization/indigenization” stage ofthe model had been achieved, semi-structured interviews were conducted in July 2016 withfour key members of the project team, and with a focus group of four students who frequently
used the ICL. Interviewees were selected as representatives of the different stakeholders within
the university who had an interest in the ICL. These interviews help to triangulate the analysis
of previously collected observation data, and are referred to in all four parts of the analysis, as
the interview subjects were asked to reflect on the establishment process, as well as offer theirown evaluation of the role of the ICL and the importance of internationalization within theuniversity. Additionally, as a result of one of the interviews, data about study abroad program
participation was made available, and is included in the findings. Details of the interviewees
are provided in the table below:

	
  

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  Table 3. Research interview information
Interview

Interviewees

Description

Interview A

ICL administrator

Staff member responsible for day-to-day running of ICL.
Responsible for promoting the center among the student
body and the main liaison for students who use the center.

Interview B

Admissions
staff

officeRepresentative of the university admissions office, involved
in initial meetings to establish the ICL.

Interview C

ICL English instructor

Part-time instructor who conducts extracurricular English
conversation lessons in the ICL

Interview D

DeputychiefInternational
exchange CenterofProfessor who heads the committee of the international
exchange center. Assigned to the position one year after the
ICL had opened, following the retirement of anotherprofessor (referred to as Professor M.).

Interview E

Focus group of four
students.

Members of the student group that organizes events in the
ICL and frequent participants in extracurricular English
classes. All four major in tourism studies, and the group
included one freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. They
are referred to as “freshman student”, “sophomore student”
and so on. All four of them had experience of studying
abroad.

All interviews were conducted in English, but as all of the interview subjects except interview
C were speaking English as a second language, there was some editing for legibility whentranscribing the interview data.
Findings
Stage I: Attraction
When Kita University opened a new campus in 2005, the design of the building included alarge ‘English and Internet café’, which students could use for self-study. However, save forproviding a few computers and English language newspapers, there was little intervention
made to moderate the use of this space, and it received little attention from students for its
intended purposes. In spring 2014, three sections of the university came together with the aimof renovating it: the international exchange center, admissions office, and English faculty. It
was renamed as the International Communication Lounge and activities that would attract
students to use the facility were discussed. Referring back to figure three, the main impulses
from Phillips and Ochs’s model that motivated each of the three sections can be considered asinternal dissatisfaction and negative external evaluation.
The international exchange center’s internal dissatisfaction stemmed from low interest in study
abroad programs among students. The center has exchange agreements in place with
universities in countries including the United States, China, Korea and Portugal. However, few
students at Kita took advantage of these opportunities, and in particular, no student had everbeen sent to the USA as an exchange student. A handful of students each year participated in
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  short-term study abroad programs of up to one month. By increasing student interest in study
abroad through the ICL, and providing English classes in the space to help students prepare fortests such as TOEFL, they hoped to promote both long and short-term exchange programs:
Professor M. … He especially wanted some students to go to the USA as an exchange
student, but the students … they need to pass the English exam to be an exchange
student. So he decided that we will make a place for, how do you say that … students
who want to go abroad, so they can study English if they want or whenever they want.
(Interview A)
For the admissions office, the impulse was a perceived negative external evaluation, especiallyin the eyes of potential students and their parents who might visit on open-campus days.
Members of the office were aware of similar spaces at other Japanese universities, yet notedthat many of those universities they were in direct competition with lacked such facilities. Thus,
developing the visual impact of the ICL as a prominent and vibrant part of the campus was a
strategy whereby they could distinguish Kita from local competitors and make the campus
appeal to prospective students with interest in languages and international exchange:
I guess for nyuushi (admissions) it is for parents of high school students. They reallywant that their son or daughter will have international skills. Like, not only studying
their major, but learning English and some skills to be able to work in an international
environment. They really want their children to be that kind of person. Probably fornyuushi, it is a good thing to attract those high school students. (Interview A).
For nyuushi, it’s a kind of promotion, and we have a tourism department, so it is very
attractive for high school students who want to major in tourism. I think it is the mostimportant for us that we could connect it to the department. (Interview B).
My personal involvement was as a representative of English teachers, for whom internaldissatisfaction stemmed from the difficulty of reforming the university’s English curriculum.
Although the university has no language majors, languages are given importance within the
curricula of all departments and English classes are a requirement for all first and second year
students in every department. This however, results in large classes of between 40-60 students
with varying levels of ability and motivation, as more than a thousand students must beprocessed through several required English courses each year. Motivating students to be willingto communicate in class under these circumstances can be a challenge, and it can also be
difficult for those students who do have ability and an interest to fully benefit from the classes,
as students attested to during the focus group interview:
I sometimes feel those [required] classes are too easy or it is just useful to revise my
English … My major is international tourism, but I think it’s not enough to touch theinternational, because almost all students are Japanese and can’t speak English well in
the class. So I wonder about is it is really international? I think it is not so international.
(Interview E, freshman student)Interviewee: It was difficult for me to ask a question [in required classes]. That is thedifference.
Interviewer: Why do you think it was difficult to ask questions?
Interviewee: The atmosphere is like… very strict. If I say something then everyone will
pay attention to me. (Interview E, sophomore student)
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  While many English teachers among the faculty are interested in reforming the English
programs, institutional constraints make it difficult to enact the large structural changes thatwould be needed for any significant impact. The ambition therefore, with the ICL was toprovide small, student-centered classes that are a supplement and alternative to the compulsory
classes in the English curriculum to benefit those students with high motivation who were being
let down by the curriculum.
Stage II: Decision
From these initial impulses that were discussed informally in spring 2014, the three sections
came together to make plans to renovate the English and Internet café and launch theInternational Community Lounge from September.
The Four Stages Model suggests four possible reasons that bear on the decision to import aforeign model: theoretical, practical, quick fix, or phoney:
Is it used to illustrate a theoretical solution to improve the situation at home, or toinnovate reform? Is the foreign education policy or practice discussed as a realistic andpractical solution, or as a ‘quick fix’? Or is it used in the decision-making process as a‘phoney’ solution to ‘scandalise’ or ‘glorify’ current practices at home? (Ochs andPhillips, 2004, p.10-11)
Given some of the impulses discussed in the previous section, it could be construed that thedecision to open the ICL was a quick fix, or phoney decision. Rather than tackling the problems
that were the causes of dissatisfaction with the English curriculum, was this just an attempt topaper over cracks? Was the purpose to create an image or façade of internationalization forparents of prospective students, rather than something that would genuinely benefit students?
While the respective incentives of each stakeholder can be interpreted in this way, the mostbasic reason for the decision was the fact that a space already existed on the campus and was
not being used. For this reason, it can be said that ultimately the decision to establish the ICL
was made for practical reasons. As noted in the literature review, self-access centers operate
on a principle of autonomous learner participation. Therefore, once the decision was made toopen the ICL in the autumn semester, the major concern for all stakeholders was how students
could be attracted to the space, and motivated to continue to use it:
Before we had the space called English café there, but actually if we go there we could
just see some students eating or sleeping or chatting with their friends in Japanese ... So
we really wanted to change this atmosphere when we opened the ICL and we worried
how we can get students to go there. (Interview A)
Stage III: Implementation
The ICL was officially opened in September 2014, for the start of the fall semester. The room
was divided into two sections: a lounge area with sofas, computers in private booths, a selectionof English language magazines and television screens that stream English language content;
and a study area with a whiteboard and round tables to accommodate small group classes.
The first semester was something of a trial period in which the aim was to promote the space
widely on campus and gauge how many students could be expected to participate in classes
and events. From the start of the 2015 academic year, plans would be consolidated.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  Three activities were trialed in the first semester. First, a native English instructor was hired
part-time to provide English communication classes three evenings a week. These classes wereextra-curricular, but were provided for free and were open-access. At first these classes werequite unstructured, as it was difficult to gauge how many students would be interested andwhether they would keep attending. There were numerous challenges as the instructor noted:
I didn’t know how many students were going to be there week to week. We had lots ofstudents show up for the initial introduction classes, and then far fewer actually coming
to the lessons, and also a real mixture of levels in the classes which made it moredifficult to prepare for… there was no real way to prepare for it in the beginning.
(Interview C).
Once it was clear that there were enough students to make it viable to run the classes, acurriculum could be developed and these challenges were dealt with:
We ironed those things out and there is more structure now as well, and that helps
students because they know what to expect as well. Now we have split it into threelevels so we have a beginner class that is really for beginners… Separating the
beginners and the intermediate has encouraged more students to keep coming.
Interview C).
Secondly, a committee of student volunteers was formed and initially tasked with arranging
themed lunchtime events and parties. Over time, these events have become more ambitious andfrequent and include a weekly English lunch, lessons run by students, an annual speech contest
and excursions to sightseeing spots in Tokyo where students volunteer to assist tourists. The
committee has also gradually taken over the responsibility of recruiting students to the ICL,and taken control of the space, making requests to the university administration about how thespace is used:
They really wanted to have a place to learn by themselves: collecting and eating andlearning together like that. So their first request was to use the ICL only for themselves,
without other students. A space only for ICL students… Then they said they want tohave someone always in the ICL to help for English or learning English, like a staff
member. (Interview A).
Thirdly, online conversation lessons were provided on computers in the center. Students could
sign up for these and access these lessons via a video conferencing software platform.
However, these did not prove to be popular and were phased out from the 2015 academic year.
Referring back to the third stage of the model, the transition from decision to implementationis met with support and resistance. In this case, the establishment of the ICL happened quickly
and with little resistance. In a sense, this was possible because the motivations of the threemajor stakeholders supported each other. Before the ICL was established, without the mutual
benefits that were garnered from it, their agendas each faced significant resistance within theuniversity. Reforming the university English curriculum for example, to create smaller, morecommunicative classes has met with resistance to treating English differently from otheruniversity classes, and as a result institutional constraints limit and shape what is possible
within university language classes.
However, these barriers do not apply in the context of the ICL, where greater freedom andflexibility are allowed, due to the classes being held outside of the curriculum, and this wasmade possible because of the agendas of the other two stakeholders. Likewise, the admissions

	
  

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  office and international exchange center were constrained in their ambitions to attract
internationally minded students or to promote exchange programs, but were able to further
these aims through their mutually supportive agendas.
Stage IV: Internalization/ Indigenization
Criteria for attainment of this fourth stage of Phillips and Ochs model include synthesis,
absorption or impact on the existing system. In order to evaluate these impacts, semi-structured
interviews were conducted as a follow-up to the initial study, two years after the ICL opened.
Two themes that emerged from these interviews were the effect of the ICL on student
motivation to study English, and to study abroad.
Motivation to study English
On average between twenty and thirty students a week join the English classes and events in
the ICL, and there was some concern that this was not enough, and that more could be donebroaden the appeal of the ICL and engage students:
I hope that more students are interested in the ICL or English or the opportunities,
because we prepare opportunities, but the students don’t respond very much to ouraction. I think we can do more. (Interview D).
However, there was recognition that the student committee had a positive impact onmaintaining the motivation of the group of students who use the ICL:The committee is really important for ICL. Because the students … how do you say
that? This is really difficult to keep their motivation for learning English because
English is a language and today if I learn ten words, probably tomorrow I will not use
these ten words. When they join the group they have an opportunity to use English with
their senior or when they go to a volunteer activity. The opportunity is really important.
(Interview A).
As well as motivating each other, individual students show the self-motivation to take chargeof their own learning that self-access centers aim to promote:The biggest stand out student in terms of utilizing my being there would have to be K.
He was already one of the best students in terms of ability, on top of that he is very
motivated and if no-one else is around when he shows up he is always ready with a listof specific things he wants to talk about like grammar points or vocabulary or someother problem. There is him, and one or two others like that. (Interview C).
However, for the majority of students this is not the case:
A lot of them are still quite intimidated by learning English. Without a teacher there I
don’t know how many would be there off of their own backs. (Interview C).
Therefore, while some students show the characteristics of self-motivated, autonomous
learners and are attracted to the space, it is questionable whether the ICL as a conversation
lounge actually develops these characteristics in students. Perhaps if the space had dedicatedfull-time staff, or a library of self-study materials as traditional self-access centers do, learnerautonomy would be promoted more effectively. Nevertheless, it has become a gathering place
for students with an interest in English, and as a social space, it has created an atmosphere inwhich they motivate one another.

	
  

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Data on the number of students studying abroad each year was made available as a result of
one of the interviews, and is shown in table 4:
Table 4. Annual student participation in study abroad programs (university’s own data usedwith permission)
2007

2008

2009 201020112012 2013

2014

2015

Long-term university exchange
Programs (up to 1 year)

1

1

2

2

1

3

1

1

1

Independently arranged study
abroad (2 to 6 months)

3

4

5

0

2

1

6

7

3

Short-term programs (up to
one month)

1

3

4

4

16

9

4

20

17

Total

5

8

11

6

19

13

11

28

21

While participation in long-term exchange programs remains limited to one or two students ayear, the table shows a notable rise in the number of students participating in short-term study
abroad programs of up to one month since the ICL opened in 2014. However, given that there
are only two years showing this increase, those interviewed were hesitant to attribute this riseto the effect of the ICL:Many students go and went abroad who are studying in ICL. It means if someone comesto the ICL they are interested to go abroad. But the number of students … although thenumber of students studying abroad increased in the last two years, I cannot say if it isreally because of the ICL. (Interview A).
We should take into consideration that the number of students studying at this campus
increased since 2007, so perhaps we cannot say if the ratio is larger. (Interview D).
Changes in the data over a longer period are needed before a positive effect on the number ofstudents studying abroad can be claimed as a result of the opening of the ICL. However, what
can be claimed is that the ICL has given students who are interested in studying abroad a place
to meet and gather information from one another:
After I enrolled in the university I found out about that ICL system. I thought it sounds
good, so I tried to go. And I can practice conversation there and develop my English.
Also, I was able to share information about how to go abroad or how to improve English
skills. There are motivated students in the ICL so they made me more motivated ... I
wanted to go abroad but I just didn’t know how to go abroad. After I went to ICL I met
one older student, and he taught me a lot about how to go abroad, so then I went to thePhilippines last year. (Interview E, sophomore student).

	
  

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  Discussion
Utilizing Phillips and Ochs model of four stages of policy borrowing in education as a lensthrough which to view qualitative data about the establishment of an international
communication lounge provided some insights into the broader questions about
internationalization that preface this study, and certain conclusions can be drawn about them.
What role does a self-access space for language learning and international exchange playin the internationalization of a university campus?
It can be concluded the main impact of the ICL becoming “internalized” on the campus has
been to bring together students with an interest in languages and study abroad, where they
motivate each other and exchange information. Indirectly, the agendas of the three major
stakeholders have created a cycle of attraction: Students with an interest in languages andforeign cultures are attracted to the university by this prominent international space; they areprovided with classes to improve their English communication skills and a social environmentthat encourages them to communicate, and become interested in studying abroad. This in turnraises the international profile and visibility of internationalization on the campus, which is an
attractor of new students.
The visual representation of Phillips and Ochs model (figure 1) also represents policy
borrowing as a cycle, in order to illustrate the fact that once a system or program becomesinternalized or absorbed, then in turn it becomes a catalyst for new impulses for change. These
impulses can be the new knowledge and skills that administrators have gathered from theestablishment process, and also new internal dissatisfactions, as they look to broaden the appealof the ICL and increase student participation in classes and events, or develop the facilities tosupport autonomous learning more effectively.
To what extent has the ICL come to meet the differing purposes of university
administrators and students, and what contrasting notions about internationalization
does this suggest about each of them?
Insights relevant to this question emerged from the interview data, as all interviewees wereasked why they thought it was important for the university to be more international. Theiranswers provide insights on their differing viewpoints as stakeholders. For the administrator
who works closely with students on a day-to-day basis in the ICL, internationalization of theuniversity gives students a more broad-minded way of thinking, and is linked to cross-cultural
understanding:This goes for all universities in Japan I think, but after graduating university they reallyneed the way to think about something… I want them to have a skill to think aboutsomething not only for the Japanese person, but for everybody. The ICL is really helpful
for that kind of thinking. Like, many students are there and many countries students are
there and they have an opportunity to talk with them. Many students haven’t been to
somewhere outside of Japan in our university. Learning other countries language is not
only the way to understand what do you say, but also why do you think so. (Interview
A).
For the representative of the admissions office the benefits of internationalization are moreclosely related to the employability of students, who need direct experiences, in order todevelop their identity:

	
  

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  Interviewee: The ultimate goal of university is that finally we have to work … jobhunting. So the activities of ICL should become the advantage for students when they
are job-hunting.
Interviewer: So you would like the ICL to support students, for example for TOEIC?
Interviewee: TOEIC is important but it is more important for them to understand othercountries’ cultures and they can get their Japanese identity as well. In the future wehave to work with the other countries so we have to get used to the circumstances orsituation. We should challenge them to have more experiences. (Interview B).
For the professor who heads the international exchange center, internationalization is of
intrinsic value as a learning experience:
It is basically a very natural thing to me. It is a basic thing to be open. Globalizationmeans normalization for me. It is very natural … If you see people, you learn. If you
see different people you learn more. So as university students or teachers or staff, an
opportunity to see a more global world is a learning opportunity, so why not? … If they
speak and understand English, they can get more opportunities, they can understandmore deeply how the others see the world. So it is just important. It is very natural forme. (Interview D).
While the perspective and emphasis of each stakeholder is slightly different, there is a common
theme running through the three quotations and they are all essentially saying something very
similar: All of them view internationalization as an asset to students in the future, not simply
in terms of gaining language skills or higher test scores, but through experiences that broaden
their perspective and give them a stronger understanding of their identity in the world.
Conclusion
The question in the title of this paper,“conspicuous internationalization?” was the spark forundertaking this research, and essentially it is a question of whether this communication lounge
was developed to internationalize the university campus or just to give the appearance ofinternationalization: a kind of tatemae internationalization to appropriate a Japanese term forcontrasting a person’s true feelings with displayed behavior. A narrative was constructed
through Phillips and Ochs model of education policy borrowing, which gave insights into theimpulses, decision-making, implementation and internalization of the ICL. While some of theimpulses for this may have been superficial: to create a highly visible international space on
the campus; the ICL has developed into a hub for students who are attracted byinternationalization, where they can improve their language skills, gather information about
studying abroad, and motivate one other.
This narrative is limited by the subjectivity inherent in a participant observer approach, yet it
is an approach that has generated a rich, qualitative description of the process, which would be
useful to other university administrators in Japan or elsewhere interested in developing similar
spaces. Although it has been possible to map out the complete cycle of the establishment
process in the two-year period covered by this study, the conclusions are somewhat tentative,
and potential areas for future research would be to look at the longer-term effect that this space
has on study abroad rates or actions that are taken by administrators to promote autonomous
learning. Furthermore, as demographic changes in Japan start to affect universities in Japan
more severely, the strategies and stances that are taken towards internationalization will be aninteresting area for future research.

	
  

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Zymek, B., & Zymek, R. (2004). Traditional- national- international: explaining theinconsistency of educational borrowers. In D. Phillips & K. Ochs (Eds.), Educational
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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

An Analysis of Creative Process Learning in Computer Game
Activities Through Player Experiences

Wilawan Inchamnan

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Abstract

This research investigates the extent to which creative processes can be fostered throughcomputer gaming. It focuses on creative components in games that have been specificallydesigned for educational purposes: Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL). A behavior analysis
for measuring the creative potential of computer game activities and learning outcomes is
described. Creative components were measured by examining task motivation and domainrelevant and creativity-relevant skill factors. The research approach applied heuristic checklists
in the field of gameplay to analyze the stage of player activities involved in the performanceof the task and to examine player experiences with the Player Experience of Need Satisfaction(PENS) survey. Player experiences were influenced by competency, autonomy, intuitive
controls, relatedness and presence. This study examines the impact of these activities on theplayer experience for evaluating learning outcomes through school records. The study isdesigned to better understand the creative potential of people who are engaged in learningknowledge and skills during the course while playing video games. The findings show thecreative potential that occurred to yield levels of creative performance within game play
activities to support learning. The anticipated outcome is knowledge on how video games foster
creative thinking as an overview of the Creative Potential of Learning Model (CPLN). CPLN
clearly describes the interrelationships between principles of learning and creative potential,
the interpretation of the results is indispensable.
Keywords: creative potential; learning model; digital game based learning; player experience;
game; creative component.

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Introduction
A digital game involves role-play characters, complex problems to solve, and compellingmusic and graphics (Shute, 2011), with knowledge and skills being learned during the courseof playing. Games, in general, support the development of critical thinking throughvisualization, experimentation, and creativity (Amory, 2007). Game elements often provide
problem solving experiences as players try to break down the tasks, engage meta-cognitive
skills, and think critically (Turcsányi-Szabó, Bedő, & Pluhár, 2006). Games also offer an
opportunity to explore new ideas and actions through the diversity of game play opportunities
generated by communities of players. While there has been significant growth in game-basedlearning research in the past two decades (Habgood and Ainsworth, 2011), this research focuseson the games that have been specifically designed for educational purposes and facilitate
problem-solving skills. This study investigates how video games foster creative problem
solving and learning processes.
Creative Potential
To identify the potential of games to engage the players in creative processes, criteria related
to the activities undertaken need to be clearly defined. As mentioned in the works of Paras andBizzocchi (2005), games have great potential to support creative processes (Paras andBizzocchi, 2005). Furthermore, creative ideas resulted from the novel combination of ideas(Spearman, 1930). This creativity involves a process of divergent and convergent thinking(Amabile, 1996), in which problem solving plays an important role (Clark, Veldman, &Thorpe, 1965).
Divergent and convergent thinking are the core elements of the creative process. Divergent
thinking is important for idea generation (Amabile, 1996) and is necessary to produce many
alternative solutions to the problem (Gordon, 1961). Convergent thinking, as a creative process,occurs in the idea validation stage (Amabile, 1996). It allows an individual to select the correct
way to approach the task at hand (Sviderskaya, 2011), with the ability to select a single response
from a series of alternatives (Clark et al., 1965). To develop interactive experiences thatincorporate these valuable and educative learning processes, a clear understanding of how
different game elements are combined to produce the creative potential is needed.
Game Activity Components for Creative Gameplay
The creative game potential measures can be identified by analyzing game activities. The gameplay activities and the creative process components can facilitate creative processes, and thegame activities related to the creative potential during game play. Thus, these activities are able
to support the learning of individuals (Inchamnan and Wyeth, 2013). Playing games has asignificant role in learning to solve problems (Myers, Well, & Lorch, 2010). Game activities
have influences on creative potential through creative gameplay. For example, game activity
facilitates creative-relevant skills and provides greater opportunities for players to take a wide
focus when engaging in gameplay with open-ended goals. The feedback activities provide
positive reinforcement, which enhances free-choice and self-awareness (Inchamnan andWyeth, 2013).
Self-Motivation Reports
The game environment is the medium that allows players to achieve self-motivation. Gamessignificantly extend the range of experiences available to an individual. Enjoyable game

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  experiences result from players being able to work through the game interface to become
immersed in playful activity. Within this study, measurement of player experience is based on
self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan, 2000). SDT has been successfully applied in many
study discipline such as sports, education, and leisure domains. Przybylski, Rigby and Ryan
(2010) applied SDT to video game player motivation. Based on SDT and other relevant theories(e.g., presence), Przybylski (2010) and his colleagues developed the Player Experience of Need
Satisfaction (PENS) measure, which assesses the game play experiences in terms ofcompetence, autonomy, relatedness, intuitive controls, and presence/immersion (Przybylski etal., 2010). The PENS measure the individual player experience by assessing the interface
between the player and the action taking place within the game environment and how the action
and reaction between player and game satisfies specific psychological needs (Rigby and Ryan,
2011).
In this study, to assess game play experiences, the 21-item PENS survey was adopted. It
evaluates game play experience from five dimensions: competency, autonomy, relatedness,presence, and intuitive controls. Each item consists of a statement on a seven-point scale,ranging from 1 to 7. The interactive experience with the game environment allows players to
express their creativity and intentions (Sweetser and Johnson, 2004). This learning experience
allows players greater freedom in terms of decision-making.
Game Based Learning
There are many new approaches towards education, teaching and learning. Young people arechallenged and engaged to identify rewarding learning experiences that will inspire them in the
21st Century (Perrotta, Featherstone, Aston, & Houghton, 2013). The use of video games in
education is focused on the emergence of new trends like Game-based learning that support
teaching and learning. Game-based learning refers to the use of video games to support
teaching and learning (Perrotta et al., 2013). Game environments influence learners to foster
their skills, are an essential part of child development today (Prensky, 2005a). and provide funand engagement (Prensky, 2002).
Games for Learning
Learning experiences allow players greater freedom in terms of decision-making. Games offer
an opportunity to explore new creative uses through the diverse ideas generated bycommunities of players. Learners gain meta-cognitive skills and group identity that could
influence experiences for life through motivating game play (Turcsányi-Szabó et al., 2006).
Games keep learners motivated (Prensky, 2005b). The main reason that people play games isbecause the process of game playing is engaging.

	
  

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  Table 1. Principals and Mechanics of Learning (Perrotta et al., 2013)
Principals–   Intrinsic Motivation–   Enjoyment and fun–   Authenticity–   Autonomy–   Experiential Learning by doing

Mechanics–   Rules: simple and binary–   Clear and challenging goals–   Fantasy and difficulty–   Self-control and feedback–   Social element

Table 1 shows the principals of learning based on game activity. The principles refer to theunderlying assumptions and concepts. Mechanics refers to processes and dynamics involved
in game-based learning, which are interdependent (Paras and Bizzocchi, 2005). The principals
and mechanics involved in game-based learning are studied based on the extent that video
games can impact overall academic achievement. The majority of the studies examine theimpact of video games on student motivation and their school record: programming, math andart subject areas. Video games allow learners to engage with topics and ideas throughinteraction and simulation, rather than through the conventional materials and formats ofschooling: textbooks, lessons, assignments and so forth (Perrotta et al., 2013). To understandto what extent gaming impacts learning outcomes, this study examined the relationships
between participants’ self-reports and academic learning outcomes.
Behavior Analysis
Behavior is the activity of living organisms including how they move, what they say, what they
think, or how they feel. The experimental analysis of behavior has uncovered a number of basic
principles about how behavior works as a function of environmental variables (Cooper et al.,2007). Behavioral assessment involves a variety of methods including direct observations,interviews, checklists, and tests (Cooper et al., 2007). Direct measurement is concerned withmeasurement of the specific behavior to be taught. For example, direct measurement must
provide data on student response to the actual materials used in the instructional setting(Cooper, 1982). Applied behavioral analysis is concerned with the manipulation ofenvironmental stimuli (Cooper, 1982). Games create environments where each challenge
stands alone and is addressed that way by a player. This study focuses on the gameenvironments that foster creative processes by using behavior analysis. Behavioral assessment
allows analysis of creativity from a divergent thinking and convergent thinking perspective.
Measurement of divergent and convergent thinking can be used in the identification anddevelopment of creative potential (Schaefer, 1969).
Factor Analysis
Factor analysis is one of the most commonly used procedures in the development andevaluation of psychological measures (Floyd and Widaman, 1995). The factor analysis method
is used to divide criteria into groups (Tzeng et al., 2007). Factor analysis is particularly usefulwith multi-item inventories designed to measure behavioral styles, cognitive schema, and othermultifaceted constructs of interest to clinical psychologists (Floyd and Widaman, 1995).
Assessing creative potential requires a focus on how and why an individual responds toactivities (Kaufman et al., 2011). The behaviors that are related to the creative activity must be
clearly stated and readily translated into the assessment (Amabile, 1983).

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  This study used three main factors. The first factor comes from the model proposed by Ruscio,
Whitney, and Amabile (1998), to identify task motivation as a measure of involvement in tasks.
Behaviors such as set breaking, task pace, exploration, enjoyment, and concentration are
identified as the ways in which intrinsic motivation manifests itself within the creative process.
Second, domain-relevant factors determine the initial set of pathways to search for a solution
and the ability to verify an acceptable solution (Amabile, 1983) through assuredness, difficultyand exhibited uncertainty activities within gameplay. Third, the ability to break away fromstandard thinking, approaches and solutions during problem solving. Individuals can gain
experiences from idea generation that may inform their own strategies (Amabile, 1996).
Creativity-relevant skills are measured through the specific process factors of concrete focus,
concept identification, wide focus and striving (Ruscio et al., 1998).
Methodology
The study methodology was broadly divided into two stages. The first stage involved a gamestudy adapted from an existing creative potential method (Inchamnan et al., 2012). This
creative potential method examines players by using established creativity criteria in order todetermine the levels of creative activity. The process focused on the reliability of the factors
used for measurement determining those factors that are more strongly related to creativity.
The second stage involved the determination of relationships of game play elements. The
objective of this stage was to investigate and establish related elements that supported creative
performance and learning outcome.
To examine the creative process, participants were video recorded while playing the games anda video coding scheme was used to capture the type and frequency of observable behaviors andparticipant verbalizations. To assess the game experiences, this study used the 21-item PENS
survey that consists of five dimensions: competency, autonomy, relatedness, presence, andintuitive controls. Each item consisted of statements on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 to
7. Specifically, the research reported in this paper examined the relationship between creative
game play processes and game play experience as measured by the Player Experience of Need
Satisfaction (PENS) survey: in-game competence; in-game autonomy; in-game Presence; ingame intuitive control and in-game relatedness. This paper examines the relationship between
creative game play processes and game play mptivation experience as measured by the Player
Experience of Need Satisfaction (PENS) survey:•   In game Competence. This scale measures participants’ perception that the gameprovides a competency.
•   In game Autonomy. This scale assesses the degree to which participants felt free, andperceived opportunities to do activities that are interested in them.
•   In game Presence. This scale measures the sense of immersion in the gaming
environment. Three items considered are: physical presence, emotional presence andnarrative presence.
•   In game Intuitive Control (IC). This scale assesses the degree which participants control
their character’s actions in the game environment.
•   In game relatedness. This scale assesses the desire to connect with others in a way thatthey feel authentic and supportive.
	
  
	
  

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  Study Procedure
To explore the relationships between the uses of creative processes during game play and theplayer experiences, this study focused on four games, that is, Portal 2, I-Fluid, Gunz 2: The
second Duel, and Braid. While these games had different mechanics, goals and settings, they
all required the players to solve problems in the game tasks to progress through the game play.
Evaluation methods involved examining the creative process as measured by task motivation,
domain-relevant skills and creativity-relevant skills. Game task behaviors and verbalizations
were coded to obtain the empirical indices of the creative processes in which game players
were engaged. Participants (N=120) were observed during play of the four selected games. To
examine the creative process, participants were video recorded while playing the games. A
video coding scheme was used to capture the type and the frequency of the observablebehaviors and verbalizations. This coding scheme was implemented based on the criteria belowthat were developed for analyzing creative process (Inchamnan, Wyeth, & Johnson, 2012). The
results from stage 1 were used to establish the extent to which the games facilitated creativity
and how the components of creativity were involved. A video coding scheme was used tocapture the type and the frequency of the observable behaviors and verbalizations in which
participants engaged. The coding used items that were identified as significant in the creative
process (Ruscio et al., 1998). The coding was performed using both 7-point Likert scales andfrequency counts.
In terms of learning, the pilot study included 15 students. The unit outcomes of participants
during the study period were observed in order to evaluate logical skills (math andprogramming) and creative art skills (i.e., animation drawing). The study examined the impactof video games on the students’ motivation and their school records: programming, math andart subjects. The participant group played the game Gun Z 2: The second, Duel online between
their friends and Bots. In the experiments, gameplay finished in approximately 15 minutes intotal and completed a Player Experience Needs Satisfaction (PENS) questionnaire (Przybylski
et al., 2012) after playing.
Results
Factor Analysis of Creative Potential Game Activities
The levels of creative problem solving that occured during game play and the determination of
the game design elements were necessary in facilitating creative game play. Objects andresource manipulation within the games were a source of behavior variation across allcomponents. Table 2 shows the actual factors that were extracted from all 16 variables. In table2, all factors account for 72.51 percent of the variability in all 16 variables.
The pilot testing of items performed to ensure a common construct are moderately correlatedwith one another and are correlated with the total scale score. If one item does not satisfy themoderate correlation constraint (e.g., r ≥ .20) to other items in the construction process, that
item tends to perform poorly in a factor analysis. Kaiser-Meyer > .5 (.789, n=120) is acceptable
for this factor analysis technique.
	
  

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 2. Behavioral Factor Total Variance Explained
Factor1
2
3
4

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
Total% of Variance

Cumulative %

6.231
2.470
1.618
1.282

38.94754.38664.49572.50838.94715.43910.1108.012

Strong Factor Component
According to table 2, Factor 1 accounts for 38.95% of the variance value of all 16 variables.
Ten variables that are loaded strongly on this factor are involvement (task), set breaking (task),
pace (task), planning (task), playfulness (task), exploration (task), enjoyment (task),
concentration (task), assuredness (domain), difficulty (domain) and wide focus (creative).
Table 3. Components Matrix of Creative Components
Component Matrixa
FactorCreative Component
1
2
Involvement (Task).753 -.257
Stability (Task).232 .705
Set breaking (Task).863
Pace (Task).787 -.246
Planning (Task).888 .149
Playfulness (Task).830 .361
Exploration (Task).843 .317
Enjoyment (Task).804 .384
Concentration (Task).790
Exhibited uncertainty (Domain).605
Assuredness (Domain).748 -.506
Difficulty (Domain).298 -.461
Wide focus (Creative).329
Striving (Creative)-.257 .834
Concrete focusses (Creative).131
Concept identification (Creative) .248 .295

3

4
-.131

.314

.127
-.111
.111
.118
.569
.185
.574 -.157-.556 -.321-.215-.328 .860-.515 -.328

This issue regarding measured variables concerns the scale on which scores fall. Factor 1
finding refers to the player who can work on solving problems (involvement game activity).
The game play gives players the opportunity to manipulate materials; uses or attaches them in
new combinations (set breaking game activity). Speed while playing the game allows theparticipant to work on tasks/challenges (pace game activity), allows players to organize
material, to establish an idea, and to order to build on (planning game activity). Playfulness(playfulness game activity) activities engage the player in tasks in a curious manner; trying out
ideas in a carefree way and exploration (exploration game activity), being curious, or playful,
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    while testing out new ideas. The enjoyment (enjoyment game activity) refers to the fact thatthe player has a pleasant experience, finds pleasure in the task/challenge and focuses on thetask; not distracted (concentration game activity).
The task motivation game activities relate to the learning domain-relevant skills during gameplay. The results in the domain-relevant skills categories might be expected. Players are
confident: certainty of ability to complete tasks; assuredness in going about the task; notdoubtful, timid, or anxious (assuredness game activity). The player faces the problems within
the game activities and reflects on the game tasks by making a negative statement (difficulty
game activity). The creative-relevant skill has a relationship between the effect of intrinsic
motivation and domain-relevant skill required during game play activities. The creativerelevant skill allows the player to have a future oriented; restatement of the problem given, theself-imposed goal, and statement dealing with a desired final goal (wide focus).
Player Experiences Have an Influence on Creative Process Skills
The significant mean differences of PENS scores (player experience) across creative
components shown in Table 4 point out that players felt competence during involvement in thegame. The autonomy scale assesses the degree to which participants felt free, and perceived
opportunities to do activities that interest them with striving. In game relatedness, the scaleassesses the desire to connect with the others in a way that feels authentic and supportive.
These results show significant (α < .05) player experiences that are significant to the concept
identification within the game play. The intuitive control scale aims to assess the degree towhich participants control their character’s actions in the game environment. These results
show significant (α < .05) player experiences that were significant to the concept identificationand striving within the game play activities. These findings show that player experiences havean influence on creative process skills.
Table 4. The significant mean differences of PENS scores across creative components
ANOVA Between Group

Df. F

Sig.

Involvement and Competence

97.698 .018

Striving and Autonomy

95.301 .040

Concept identification and Relatedness

75.003 .025

Striving and Intuitive Control

106.587 .042

Concept identification and Intuitive Control 106.305 .045

Game Activities Encourage Efficient Learning
The significant mean differences of school record scores across creative components shown in
Table 7 point out that players adjusted speed at particular tasks, in a slow to a fast gradient oftask rate. The logical skills as programming subjects related how students organize gameelements; establishes an idea, order to build in, and steps to take within game activities.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 5. The significant mean differences of school record and creative components
ANOVA Between Group

Df. F

Sig.

Programming and Pace

5

4.104 .032

Programming and Planning45.649 .012

Art and Concept Identification 84.406 .044

These results show significance (α < .05) in the relationships between the Art subject andcreative-relevant skill as concept identification within the game play activities. These findings
show that game activities encourage learning in this domain.
Game Activities Facilitate the Creative Process During the Game Play Experience
The finding identifies (in Table 6) a significant (α < .05) player experience of playing games
that were coded with involvement (task motivation), exhibited uncertainly (domain-relevant
skill) and concept identification (creative-relevant skill) within the game play. The
programming and mathematics results aim to assess the degree that a player has logicalthinking about learning. These results show a significant (α < .05) playful learning that was
signed with exploration, wide focus, and concept identification within the game play.
Table 6. The significant mean differences of PENS scores across creative components
ANOVA Between Group

Df. F

Sig.

Involvement and Year of Game Experience

3

8.103

.004

Exploration and Programming

5

7.784

.004

Exhibited uncertainly and Year of Game Experience

3

5.721

.013

Concept identification and Year of Game Experience 3

14.707 .000

Wide focus and Math

4

6.424

.008

Concept identification and Programming

5

9.068

.003

Creative Potential and Learning Outcome
The creative-relevant skill encourages learning activity through the degree to which player has
logical thinking of learning (involvement, concept identification and year of game experience).
It appears that the ideal conditions for creativity are achieved within self-initiated backtracks
by using intentional moves to previous locations or by revisiting a particular gametask/challenge (exhibited uncertainly and year of game experience).

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 7. The significant mean differences of PENS scores across creative components
ANOVA Between Group Df. F
GPA and Competence

Sig.

9

8.361 .015

GPA and Intuitive Control 10

5.977 .050

Table 7 shows a significant difference of learning outcome (GPA) within the players’ feelingof competence and intuitive control during play games. These findings refer to game activities
that can facilitate an individual’s learning outcomes by using creative process skills.
Guidelines for Digital Game Based Learning
As aforementioned, the guidelines presented herein are used to assist game developers to
produce games that facilitate creative problem solving. First, learning outcomes have to bemapped to the mechanisms of learning that are identified as facilitating creative potential.
These conceptual guidelines are shown in figure 1 as an overview of the Creative Potential of
Learning Model (CPLN). In the figure, one can see that all principle concepts are linked into
the circular module. In order to clearly understand the interrelationships between principles oflearning and creative potential, the interpretation of the results is indispensable. A game’s
ability to facilitate task motivation centers on the creation of an environment that instills
confidence to complete tasks and ensures that players have logic skills to explore theirexperiences.

Figure 1. The Creative Potential of Learning Principles Model (CPLN)
Creativity-relevant skills provide greater opportunities for players to strive to engage in
gameplay. This can be achieved by allowing activities such as Striving and Autonomy and
Striving and Intuitive Control. The results refer to game activity experiences as intuitive control
affects the learning outcome.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  This can also be achieved by allowing activities that are future-oriented, to let players workthrough problems which require facilitating interactions with others, and require a feeling of
intuitive control (concept identification and relatedness; concept identification and intuitive
control). Creative-relevant skills encourage learning activities related to logic, such as concept
identification and creative art skill, wide focus and math, and concept identification andprogramming.
The tension parameter has been identified between providing an experience that encourages
striving (creative-relevant skills) and producing gameplay where the player finds it straightforward to understand what they are required to do and how they might go about doing it(domain-relevant skills). In identifying processes, it appears that the ideal conditions forcreativity are achieved within self-initiated backtracks by using intentional moves to previous
locations or revisits of a particular game task/challenge (exhibited uncertainly and year of game
experience).
Task motivation activities results showed that game challenges effectively allowed forcognitive and logical thinking and strategic planning. There were multiple types of challenges
available that players could approach in their own way and at players’ own pace. The level ofchallenge was well matched to player skill level.
The subsequent step of the producing a guideline is to map the game activity components tothe mechanisms identified (Inchamnan et al., 2014), and learning skills in Figure 1. These
guidelines are outlined below. Please notice that creative components which are facilitated areincluded in brackets.
•   Ensure that the class includes clear goals that allow students to develop their own subgoals and problem solving skills (wide focus, math skill).
•   Create challenges in the class that require logical thinking, involvement and strategicplanning in the class (complexity in problem solving, planning, refining problem
solutions)•   Implement challenges that develop at an appropriate pace and match a student’s skill
level (facilitate striving activity, environments that instill feeling autonomy)•   Implement rules that offer freedom of choices, where students have the options about
what actions to use to solve a problem in the class lesson (wide focus, object use andmanipulation, planning)•   Manage student errors by allowing supports for the recovery from errors, and by
ensuring that the impact is minimal (facilitate striving activity, environments that instill
confidence)•   Allow students to receive immediate and continuous feedback on their actions(environments that instill competence, understand what is required, clear pathways tocomplete lesson)
Conclusion
This study examines the aspects of game playing that might help people learn more effectively.
The study maps the results of the analysis of players engaging in creative problem solving
during online game play. Data analysis helps us to better understand how in-game activities
influence a player’s engagement in creative activity and learning. Furthermore, this study
developed preliminary guidelines. The guidelines consider the specific ways that gamedevelopers might align learning mechanisms to support creative problem solving processes.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  The activities should provide involvement, exploration and planning. Players should beengaging problem solving skills, concept identification and wide focus. They should be
striving, and exhibiting uncertainty.
Future studies should investigate the applicability of the Creative Potential of Learning Modelto other game genres. Furthermore, the guidelines proposed in this study could be applied andevaluated in game development to support creative activity for educational purposes. Finally,
future works could focus on larger samples in order to find out how games have the potential
to help people to learn more effectively in terms of creative processes.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

References
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Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context. Boulder, Colorado. Westview Press Inc.
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Cooper, J. O. (1982). Applied behavior analysis in education. Theory into practice, 21, 114118.
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Floyd, F. J., & Widaman, K. F. (1995). Factor analysis in the development and refinement ofclinical assessment instruments. Psychological assessment, 7(3), 286-299.
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Gordon, W. J. J. (1961). Synectics, the development of creative capacity. New York: Collier.
Habgood, M. J., & Ainsworth, S. E. (2011). Motivating children to learn effectively: Exploring
the value of intrinsic integration in educational games. The Journal of the Learning
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Inchamnan, W., Wyeth, P., & Johnson, D. (2013). Does activity in computer game play havean impact on creative behaviour? Proceedings of the Games Innovation Conference(IGIC), 2013 IEEE International. https://doi.org/10.1109/igic.2013.6659169
Inchamnan, W., Wyeth, P., & Johnson, D. (2014). Design for creative activity : A framework
for analyzing the creative potential of computer games. Procedings of the Lecture Notes
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Myers, J. L., Well, A. D., & Lorch, R. F. (2010). Research design and statistical analysis. New
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Latest Evidence and Future Directions (NFER Research Programme: Innovation in
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Prensky, M. (2005). Computer games and learning: Digital game-based learning. Handbook ofcomputer game studies, 18, 97-122.
Przybylski, A. K., Rigby, C. S., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). A motivational model of video gameengagement. Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 154-166.
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Przybylski, A. K., Weinstein, N., Murayama, K., Lynch, M. F., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). The
ideal self at play: The appeal of video games that let you be all you can be.
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Schaefer, C. E. (1969). The prediction of creative achievement from a biographical inventory.
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Shute, V. J. (2011). Stealth assessment in computer-based games to support learning. Computer
Games and Instruction, 55, 503-524.
Spearman, C.E. (1930). Creative mind. New York: Cambridge.
Sviderskaya, N. (2011). The EEG spatial pattern and psychophysiological characteristics ofdivergent and convergent thinking in humans. Human Physiology, 37, 31-38.
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Turcsányi-Szabó, M., Bedő, A., & Pluhár, Z. (2006). Case study of a team challenge game—e-PBL revisited. Education and Information Technologies, 11, 341-355.
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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Appendix 1. Example of School Record

	
  

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Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Appendix 2. The Pens Questionnaire
ID__________________
	
  

PENS

1= Do Not
Agree(ไม่ เห็นด้ วย),7=Strongly
Agree(เห็นด้ วย)
1 2 3
7

PENS: Competence
C1. I feel competent at the game. ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกเชื.อมัน. ว่าสามารถเล่นเกมได้
C2. I feel very capable and effective when playing.
ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกว่าสามารถเล่นเกมได้ดีและมีประสิ ทธิภาพ
C3. My ability to play the game is well matched with the game's
challengesความสามารถของผูเ้ ล่นเหมาะสมกับด่านต่างๆในเกม
PENS: Autonomy
A1. The game provides me with interesting options and choicesในเกมเตรี ยมทางเลือกต่างๆ ให้ผเู ้ ล่นอย่างน่าสนใจ
A2. The game lets you do interesting things เกมให้ผเู ้ ล่นรู ้สึกสนใจที.จะเล่นเกม
A3. I experienced a lot of freedom in the gameประสบการณ์ในเกมรู ้สึกผูเ้ ล่นมีอิสระในการเล่น
PENS: Relatedness
R1. I find the relationships I form in this game fulfilling.
ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกมีความสัมพันธ์กบั เกมและเติมเต็มผูเ้ ล่น
R2. I find the relationships I form in this game important.
ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกมีความสัมพันธ์กบั เกมมีความสําคัญ
R3. I don’t feel close to other players. (-) ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกไม่รู้สึกใกล้ชิดกับผูเ้ ล่นคนอื.น
Presence/Immersion
P1. When playing the game, I feel transported to another time and place.
ขณะเล่นเกมผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกปิ ติยนิ ดีในช่วงเวลาและสถานที.นO นั ๆในเกม

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  P2. Exploring the game world feels like taking an actual trip to a newplace.
การท่องและค้นหาในเกมผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกเหมือนได้ไปในสถานที.ใหม่ๆ
P3. When moving through the game world, I feel as if I am actually
there. ในขณะที.ผเู ้ ล่นท่องไปในโลกของเกมผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกเหมือนอยู่ ณ ที.นO นั ๆ จริ งๆ
P4. I am not impacted emotionally by events in the game (-).
เหตุการณ์ในเกมไม่มีผลกระทบต่อจิดใจของผูเ้ ล่น
P5. The game was emotionally engaging. เกมโน้มน้าวใจผูเ้ ล่น
P6. I experience feelings as deeply in the game as I have in real life.
ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกว่าเกมเหมือนในชีวติ อย่างมาก
P7. When playing the game I feel as if I was part of the story.
ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกว่าเป็ นส่ วนหนึ.งของเนืOอเรื. องในเกม
P8. When I accomplished something in the game I experienced genuine
pride. ประสบการณ์ในการเล่นเกมทําให้ผเู ้ ล่นมีความภาคภูมิใจที.สามารถเล่นและแก้ปัญหาภายในเกมได้
P9. I had reactions to events and characters in the game as if they werereal. ผูเ้ ล่นตอบสนองเหตุการณ์และตัวละครภายในเกมเหมือนในชีวติ จริ ง
PENS: Intuitive Controls:
I1. Learning the game controls was easy. สามารถเรี ยนรู ้การควบคุมเกมได้ง่าย
I2. The game controls are intuitive. การจัดการในเกมสร้างความคิดริ เริ. มให้กบั ผูเ้ ล่น
I3. When I wanted to do something in the game, it was easy toremember the corresponding control.
เมื.อผูเ้ ล่นต้องการจะทําอะไรบ้างอย่างในเกมสามารถทําได้สะดวกเนื.องจากอุปกรณ์ควบคุมในเกมสอดคล้องกัน

	
  

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  Appendix 3. Observations Checklist
Participant number______________Part 1
CodingStrongly disagree - > Strongly agree

CODE (1-7)(1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
1.   ผูเ้ ล่นพยายามแก้ปัญหาภายในกิจกรรมในเกม (Participant works on solving problems
within the game. [involvement]
2.   ผูเ้ ล่นเสี ยสมาธิหรื อมีส.ิ งรบกวนเพียงเล็กน้อยในขณะแก้ปัญหาThere is minimal distraction fromsolving problems in the game. [concentration]
3.   ผูเ้ ล่นสนใจแต่ภารกิจในเกมParticipant becomes focused on the tasks in the game.
[concentration]
4.   ผูเ้ ล่นสามารถปรับดุลความสเถียรภาพของปั ญหาภายในเกมParticipant can work on refining the
integrity or stability of a problem solution within the game. [stability]
5.   อ็อบเจกต์ และ เครื. องมือในเกมพร้อมให้ผเู ้ ล่นใช้ได้อย่างเหมาะสมIn-game objects and materials
are able to be readily manipulated. [set breaking]6.   ผูเ้ ล่นสามารถปรับอ็อบเจกต์ และ
เครื. องมือในเกมตามแนวทางของตนเองเพื.อบรรลุวตั ถุประสงค์เบืOองต้นในเกมParticipant manipulates
objects and materials that can be used in different ways to the primary
purpose. [set breaking]7.   ผูเ้ ล่นสามารถเร่ งความเร็ วจากช้าไปเร็ วตามระดับภายในเกมThe speed at which participant isrequired to interact within the game progresses from a slow to fast gradientof working rate. [pace]8.   การวางแผนคือส่ วนสําคัญในการเล่นเกมPlanning is an important part of game play.
[planning]
9.   เกมขึOนอยูก่ บั การจัดการภายในเกมThe game relies on the organization or manipulateof objects as a part of game play. [planning]
10.  ผูเ้ ล่นสร้างแนวความคิดของตนเองได้ขณะเล่นเกมParticipant is able to establish ideas
within the game. [planning]
11.  ผูเ้ ล่นสามารถวางแผนเป็ นขัOนเป็ นตอนขณะเล่นเกมParticipant can plan the order of actions
and steps to take within the game. [planning]
12.  ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกอยากรู ้อยากเห็นขณะเล่นเกมParticipant can engage in game tasks in a curious
manner. [playfulness]
13.  เกมสามารถตอบสนองการลองคิดสิ. งใหม่ๆ หรื อทดลองแนวคิดของผูเ้ ล่นได้The game provides
opportunities to try out ideas in a carefree way. [playfulness]
14.  ความอยากรู ้อยากเห็นทําให้ผเู ้ ล่นค้นหาแนวทางต่างๆภ่ยในเกมCuriosity during game
exploration is encouraged. [exploration]
15.  เกมสนับสนุนการทดทองแนวคิดของผูเ้ ล่นThe game encourages playful testing out ofideas. [exploration]
16.  ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกเป็ นช่วงเวลาที.ดีในการเล่นเกมThe game allows players to have a good time.
[Enjoyment]
17.  กิจกรรมในเกมสร้างความสนุกGame play tasks are pleasurable. [Enjoyment]

	
  

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A11
A21
A22
A31
A41
A42

A51

A61
A62
A63
A64
A71
A72
A81
A82
A91
A92

The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  18.  เกมให้ผเู ้ ล่นรู ้สึกมัน. ใจในการเล่นThe game allows participant to feel assured in going
about required tasks. [Assuredness]
19.  ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกมีความสามารถในการเล่นได้ดีParticipant feels certain about his/her ability tocomplete tasks in the game. [Assuredness]
20.  ผูเ้ ล่นสามารถเดากิจกรรมต่างๆได้ภายในเกมขณะเล่นParticipant demonstrates little doubt
about what she/he required to do during the game play [Assuredness]
21.  ผูเ้ ล่นไม่รู้สึกท้อแท้ขณะเล่นParticipant doesn’t feel anxious or timid as participant
plays the game. [Assuredness]
22.  ผูเ้ ล่นเผชิญปัญหาภายในเกมขณะเล่นเกมParticipant encounters problems as participant
plays the game. [Assuredness (-)]
23.  กิจกรรมภายในเกมยากต่อการเล่นของผูเ้ ล่นIt was difficult to complete tasks in the game.
[Assuredness (-)]
24.  มีความยากในการจัดการกับ Object ในเกมIt was difficult to work with theobjects/resources in the game. [Assuredness (-)]

B11
B12
B13
B14
B15
B16
B17

Part 2
Coding

CODE นับครัOง

25.  ผูเ้ ล่นย้อน ยกเลิกกิจกรรมบางกิจกรรมในเกมParticipant reverses or undoes
steps/actions performed in the game. [exhibited uncertainty (-)]
26.  ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกไม่มน.ั ใจที.จะสามารถเล่นเกมได้จนผ่านเสร็ จParticipant feels uncertain
completing tasks in the game. [difficulty (-)]
27.  ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกสามารถเดากิจกรรมในเกมได้Participant has feelings of self-doubt while
playing the game. [difficulty (-)]
28.  ผูเ้ ล่นส่ งเสี ยงในทางลบขณะเล่นเกมParticipant produces negative statements about
his/her ability as participants play the game. [difficulty (-)]
29.  ผูเ้ ล่นส่ งเสี ยงที.แสดงไม่พอใจกับเกมParticipant produces negative exclamations(e.g. curses) as participant plays the game.
[difficulty (-)]

B21
B31
B32
B33
B34

Part 3
CodingStrongly disagree - > Strongly agree

CODE(1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
30.  ผูเ้ ล่นเผชิญปั ญหาภายในเกมขณะเล่นให้ผา่ นแต่ละด่านParticipant encountered problems
while completing tasks in the game. [Striving]
31.  ผูเ้ ล่นมีอุปสรรค์ในการผ่านด่านต่างๆParticipant encountered obstacles while
completing tasks in the game. [Striving]
32.  ผูเ้ ล่นมีคาํ ถามที.จะผ่านแต่ละด่านParticipant questions what to do at particular
stages in the game. [Striving]

	
  

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B41
B42
B43

1-7

The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Part 4
Coding

CODE

33   ผูเ้ ล่นแก้ปัญกาที.ละด่านโดยแก้ปัญหาที.ละจุดจนกว่าจะสําเร็ จThe current problem thatneeds to be solved in the game requires more than one step. [widefocus]
34   ปั ญหาที.พบแต่จะจุดเป็ นการนําไปสู่ การแก้ปัญหาด่านต่อไปThe current problem in thegame is future oriented. [wide focus]
35   ผูเ้ ล่นกลับมาแก้ปัญหาเก่าที.ผา่ นมาหลังจากที.ผา่ นบางจุดไปแล้วParticipant restates the
problem presented by the game. [wide focus]
36   ผูเ้ ล่นสามารถพัฒนาวัตถุประสงค์ของตัวเองได้ในขณะเล่นParticipant is able to develop
his/her own goals within the game. [wide focus]
37   ผูเ้ ล่นทําบางอย่างที.ไม่เกี.ยวกับกิจกรรมในเกมParticipant is performing actions not
related to game tasks/goals. [wide focus]
38   ผูเ้ ล่นเปลี.ยนกิจกรรมหรื อทําบางอย่างขณะเล่นเกมParticipant transitions to a new
topic area or action in the game. [Striving]
39   ผูเ้ ล่นรู ้สึกสงสัยว่าจะผ่านแต่ละด่านอย่างไรParticipant questioned how to completetasks in the game. [Striving]่ articipant questions his/her current actions
40   ผูเ้ ล่นสงสัยว่าตอนนีOกาํ ลังทําอะไรอยูPin the game. [Striving]41   ผูเ้ ล่นพูดหรื อทวนคําพูดบางอย่างตามเหมือนที.เกมพูดParticipant repeats instructions,words or concepts presented in the game. [Striving]42   ผูเ้ ล่นควนครางคําพูดบางอย่างในเกมParticipant makes exclamations, as apositive or negative outburst. [Striving]
43   ผูเ้ ล้นพูดว่าชอบหรื อไม่ชอบเกมParticipant makes statements of like or dislike
about game tasks. [Concrete focus]
44   ผูเ้ ล่นพูดถึงคุณภาพของเกมในเรื. องการออกแบบParticipant talks about the qualitiesof the materials, objects or attributes of the game world. [Concrete
focus (-)]
45   ผูเ้ ล่นบรรยายการเล่น กิจกรรม หรื อประโยคต่างๆในเกมParticipant describes
action/tasks/goals in terms of analogies or metaphors. [Concept
identification]
46   ผูเ้ ล่นอุทานออกมาขณะเล่นเกมParticipant had eureka-type moments in thegame. [Concept identification]
47   ผูเ้ ล่นหยุด เปลี.ยนกิจกรรมบางอย่างเพื.อให้เล่นเกมได้Participant has an abrupt changein activity designed to help complete a task. [Concept
identification]

C11

	
  

	
  

139	
  

C12
C13
C14
C15
C21
C22
C23
C24
C25
C31
C32

C41

C42
C43

นับครัOง

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  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

Cultivate Mindfulness: A Case Study of Mindful Learning in an
English as a Foreign Language Classroom

Yang Wang and Chao Liu

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  Abstract

This case study investigated how the use of mindfulness affected college English as a foreign
language (EFL) students learning and how mindful learning strategies supported their learningof English. Mindful learning considers the students’ abilities to be aware, perceive andconceive. Mindfulness results in an increase in competence, memory, creativity, and positive
affect based on the previous studies. In this study, 24 undergraduate freshmen participated at a
Northeastern University in China. The data collection included those undergraduates’ presurveys, post-surveys, work samples, the instructor’s observation notes and the researcher’sreflective journal entries. This practice found that by engaging in mindful strategies, EFL
students took ownership of their learning in the following ways: students built and becameaware of a comfortable learning environment in their classroom through mindfulness; mindful
writing helped students generate new thoughts and become aware of their thinking;mindfulness facilitated their learning process, cultivated creativity and intelligence; mindful
cooperative learning provided students with an opportunity to discover their awareness, learn
from others, reflect and think critically.
Keywords: mindful learning; mindfulness; English as a foreign language learning; college
learners; case study.

	
  

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  Introduction“Many of my students don’t seem to care about learning a foreign language. They are sitting
in my classroom; however I don’t think they are aware of what they are learning.” Mr. Liu
brought this up when we chatted about teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) overcoffee. Mr. Liu is an English language instructor at a northeast university in China and we havebeen working together and sharing ideas on teaching and learning EFL for many years. Bothof us realized learning English as a foreign language has been a great challenge for thoselearners who live in a non-native-English-speaking environment. We have had many EFL
students learn English language in this way: they spent plenty of time and effort in memorizing
vocabulary and grammar rules, practicing reading comprehension skills, writing threeparagraph-essays, listening to audio recordings, imitating after video clips, and seeking chances
to speak English or converse with a native speaker. However, little attention is given to theawareness processes during the learning of English. Many EFL learners compliantly follow
their teachers’ instruction, keep notes andmemorize the lectures. They passively deposited the
input that was passed by their teachers like a banking system (Freire, 2000), without paying
much attention to their awareness or mindfulness.
At all the universities and colleges in the mainland of China, English language is one of themandatory courses. EFL learners are eager to boost their knowledge of English language andculture, in order to become competitive globally. Thus, many teachers and educators practiceand search for effective instructional strategies forcollege EFL learning. Both of us, as
researchers and teachers, believed using mindfulness would help the adult EFL learners
become aware of their learning process and make achievements. However, little work has been
done using mindfulness with adult EFL learners.
The purpose of this case study was to explore mindfulness in an English as a foreign language
classroom at a Northeast university in China. At this stage in the research, we define
mindfulness as the ability to be aware and inquire (Cooper & Boyd, 1996; Hassed & Chamber,
2015; Siegel, 2007). Mindful learning means learners have the ability to be aware, to perceive,and conceive during their learning process (Cooper & Boyd, 1996). This research investigated
how mindfulness affected adult EFL students learning English in class, and what mindfulstrategies supported their learning.
Literature Review
Mindfulness may be simple but it is not easy. Mindfulness is “not just about meditation; it isalso a way of living with awareness” (Hassed & Chamber, 2015, p. 7). It is an intrinsic process
requiring effort and discipline (Siegel, 2007). In the book The Mindful Brain, Siegel (2007)
stated that mindfulness enlightens us to come to a deeper understanding and lead us to new
ways of living in this world. Mindfulness appreciates our feelings and empowers us to explore
our creativity and intelligence. It guides us to reflect on our own life and learn from it.
However, mindfulness does not happen automatically. This process takes effort.
Cooper and Boyd (1996) discuss their thoughts about using mindfulness in teaching andlearning. They consider teaching is a process of facilitating and uncovering skills. Also, to be
mindful means to expand students’ thinking. They state, “Mindfulness takes into account thestudent’s inclination to search, to inquire. It considers the student’s ability to be aware, toperceive and conceive” (p. 9). Mindfulness involves refining, thinking, formulating meaning
and benefiting from learning. In an effective mindful class, the teacher helps his/her students
build meaning, reflect on their learning, and make use of their learning.

	
  

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  Mindfulness creates other benefits for learning. Langer (2000) presents that mindfulness canresult in “an increase in competence; a decrease in accidents; an increase in memory, creativity,and positive affect; a decrease in stress; and an increase in health and longevity” (p. 220). In
addition, Brady (2004), a meditation practitioner as well as a teacher, agrees that if we becameaware of the negative thoughts and feelings and developed ways to replace them with positive
ones, we would live happier lives. Students could appreciate mindfulness in class and teachers
would benefit from the advantages of mindfulness.
Mindful learning relates to reflection. Cooper and Boyd (1996) state that “mindful learning isdependent upon learner reflection and mindful reflection requires mindful learners” (p. 61).
Meanwhile, they point out that teachers play various roles in a mindful class: they display
interpersonal skills, think critically, exhibit creativity, communicate effectively, develop
personal wellness, demonstrate global responsibility, and assess and use information.
Additionally, the authors affirm that teacher and students need to build a mindful learning
environment in class, where students are encouraged to think, are interested in studying andworking, are respected and respect each other, and are continuously supported and challenged.
Numerous instructional strategies can be applied to support mindful learning in the classrooms.
For example, Campbell (2009), along with Cooper and Boyd (1996) include using graphicorganizers, asking and improving questioning skills, and using mindful assessments in theirstrategy lists. Also, Campbell (2009) incorporates technology for students who are interested
and enjoy using technology to learn mindfully. Boice (1994) studies that mindful free writing(writing about whatever comes to mind) helps with writing fluency and creativity. Moreover,
Brady (2004, 2007, and 2008) practices cooperative learning, writing prompts, as well as freewriting in his class, and proves that those strategies all facilitate the students’ learning.
Furthermore, Langer (1997) discusses that many indirect factors contribute to mindful learning:
openness to novelty; alertness to distinction; sensitivity to different contexts; implicit
awareness of multiple perspectives; and orientation in the present. Goguen-Hughes (2011),
working at a contemplative teaching and learning institute, states that mindfulness helps
learners become more reflective and accept diverse views.
Our study was inspired by Richard Brady (2004), who worked with high school teachers andstudents. Brady brought meditation to a high school classroom where the practices of mindfulstrategies improved the students’ learning. We shadowed Brady’s work and our goal was toexplore how mindful learning would affect EFL students’ English learning. Our case study(Creswell, 2007; Merriam, 2009; Yin, 2014) was guided by the following questions: How did
the use of mindfulness affect college EFL students learning of English? How did the mindfullearning strategies support college EFL students learning of English? This article weaved
together the voices of various participants – the researcher, the teacher, and the students.
Methodology
This qualitative case study was conducted in a freshmen’s EFL classroom at a Northeast
university in the Mainland China. Our bounded unit of this case study is the group of EFL
students learning English mindfully with their teacher’s facilitation. We framed our workwithin constructivism and believed that people co-construct their theories and knowledge by
experiencing and reflecting (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). We construct our beliefs and knowledgeof learning English language in a mindful way through this study.
Mr. Liu obtained a Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Master Degree and was an English
language instructor for eight years at the study univeristy. H continually explored effective
instructional strategies to use with his EFL students. He was a yoga practitioner and practiced
	
  

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  meditation in a weekly yoga class. He was willing to implement meditation in his class after
we talked about the possible outcomes of this mindful learning project.
Mr. Liu’s students in this comprehensive English class all participated in the study. They
majored in International Business, were about twenty years old and had been learning English
language for nearly nine years in a non-native speaking environment. Seventeen participants
were female and seven were male. Mr. Liu and his students met three times a week, one and ahalf hours each time with a ten-minute recess. The learning content focused on a textbook titled
Contemporary College English (Yang, 2009), which was widely adopted at universities andcolleges in the Mainland China. Each unit included a vocabulary learning section, reading
section, interactive activities section, unit review section, worksheet section, and test section.
At most class meetings, before we introduced mindfulness, Mr. Liu played music, mainly
popular songs in English, when the students walked into the classroom in order to create alighthearted English learning environment in his classroom. In addition, he often played video
clips to preview a new unit, prompt a discussion, or review the learning material. His classroutine included his lectures of the new knowledge, the students’ individual reading time,worksheets and exercises, group discussion, and the time set for questions and answers. The
teacher taught to the test and the students memorized vocabulary and got ready for the test.
Mr. Liu generally held the role of authority figure in the classroom...
We practiced mindful strategies in Mr. Liu’s classroom for three months in a spring semester.
The strategies we incorporated in class included graphic organizers (Campbell, 2009; Cooper& Boyd, 1996), word definition diagram (Campbell, 2009), improving questioning skills, using
mindful assessments (Cooper & Boyd, 1996), cooperative learning (Brady, 2004, 2007, 2008),
and mindful writing (Boice, 1994). We integrated all the strategies along with guided
meditation (Brady, 2004). Students did meditation before or during the classroom activities atleast once a week. Mr. Liu led a one-minute meditation in the beginning of the study and thenslightly extended the time length of meditation when the students became familiar andcomfortable with meditation.
The data collection included students’ pre-survey, work samples, semi-structured interviews,
the teacher’s observation notes, and researcher’s reflection journals. The pre-survey was
conducted before this study to learn about the students’ learning strategies, attitudes on learningand working in this EFL classroom. Throughout this study, we collected the students’ work
samples, including in-class graphic organizers, writing reflections, and presentation slides. Theinterviews, conducted after the study, aimed at finding out how mindfulness affected and how
mindful strategies supported the learning process. Mr. Liu kept his observation notes, and I
kept reflection journals related to applying mindfulness in this study. The data analysis started
along with data collection and all data were open coded for patterns (Creswell, 2007; Merriam,
2009; Yin, 2014). The themes that emerged from the data answered our questions.
Results
The pre-survey revealed the participants’ attitudes in learning English as a foreign language.
The participants reported that they were satisfied with their current learning methods: theylearned mainly from their teacher’s lectures, joined the class discussion and group work, did a
few hands-on activities, and used technology assistance, for instance, playing English songs,
the PowerPoint slides, and video clips. The students also reported in the pre-survey that theywould like to learn through interesting activities, such as listening to popular songs in English,
watching Hollywood movies and popular television shows, reading authentic novels andmagazines, having more opportunities to speak in English, and communicating with English
	
  

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  native speakers. Their surveys revealed that whenever they were motivated in learning, they
were able to concentrate and achieve more. Additionally, they reported that improving theirindividual learning was a critical step before they contributed to group work. Moreover, theysaid that they appreciated when the teacher made more connections to the real world and theirprior knowledge. Those responses helped Mr. Liu and I learned about the students’ interests,
and their English learning. Based on what we knew about the students, Mr. Liu and I borrowed
some mindful learning strategies from the literature and modified them for his students.
Meditation
The first time Mr. Liu brought meditation into class was when the students responded to theirreading in small groups. His students, in groups of six, read a text named More Crime and Less
Punishment from their textbook (Yang, 2009). After the students read it aloud in small groups,
Mr. Liu brought them together in a large group and led the meditation. Mr. Liu let the students
sit in comfortable positions on their chairs and take deep breaths. They sat still in silence andclosed their eyes for a one-minute meditation. Mr. Liu guided them to relax and let their minds
wander. After the meditation, the students free wrote about their thoughts for five minutes.
Then they shared their writing in a large group. Since it was the first time for the students to
do meditation and free writing, Mr. Liu allowed them, if they struggled writing in English, to
use their first language – Chinese. In that way, they were more comfortable writing about theirawareness and expressing their thoughts. About half of the students free wrote in Chinese, andthen we translated their free writing to English. For example, one student wrote:
When the teacher asked us to close our eyes, I was nervous. Our group workedon the fifth paragraph. I just scanned it and there were so many words that I’m
not familiar with. And I didn’t read the other paragraphs carefully. When it’stime to open my eyes, I notice that this paragraph is about …… [Translated
from the student’s response.]
Some other students like the one above reported that they were nervous and curious about how
this would work. Several responded they did not spend enough time reading and the new words
were distracting. However, they still grasped the main idea of the text and reported in theirfreewriting. Another student wrote:
Actually I think we should have more metaphors, analogy, and examples in the
texts. The big theories and persuasive language are so boring and make us
struggle with understanding. The metaphor in the fourth paragraph really stoodout. I like it. [Translated from student’s response.]
This student critiqued about the text she read and discussed the way to improve the text. Bothof those two students seemed to filter the useful information when they closed their eyes andreported in their writing. Their freewriting responses showed their cognitive reading strategies
as well as their comprehension of what they had read. The meditation activity helped thosestudents focus on their work and reflect on their own reading, which was also reported in theirpost-survey.
KWL Chart
The pre-survey revealed that the students loved doing group work, hands-on activities, andusing visual aids. So the next instructional strategy Mr. Liu brought in class was doing a KWL
chart. In this three-column chart, students listed: What do I Know? What do I Want to Know?
What have I Learned (Fisher, Brozo, Frey & Ivey, 2014). After reading another piece from the

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  textbook, the students did a two-minute guided meditation. Again, Mr. Liu reminded them torelax and be mindful of what they were doing. Then the students, in groups, filled in a threecolumn chart of “what I know, what I want to know and what I learned.” During the group
discussion, one member volunteered to be the recorder, and filled in the chart for what thegroup members already knew about an upcoming lesson, what they wanted to know, and what
they have learned after the lesson. Here’s one example (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. KWL chart from one group.
Figure 1 presents the KWL chart from one small group’s work. When this group of students
discussed their chart, they described how more than one recorder contributed to filling in thechart. Mr. Liu observed that they had a discussion which accurately expressed their thoughts
and reflection after reading the given text. As figure 1 presents, they revised their written
sentences and improved them for clarity. For example, under the What I learned column, one
member first put in “All men are created equal.” Then they seemed not satisfied with that so
another member changed it to “All people should be treated equally.” This shows that throughthe group discussion, their thinking and understanding went deeper and they expressed theirthoughts in a more accurate way that they agreed upon. Mr. Liu also reported that after
meditation his students concentrated more on their group work and more critical conversations
emerged out of their group discussion. Nearly all students reported in their post-surveys thatthey loved discussing and working in groups. One student explained, “because everyone has
different views, and it can also promote our friendship.” The students became aware of theirown learning and acquired new input in a comfortable environment.
Free writing
Besides group work, the students also achieved more outcomes in their individual work throughmindfulness. After they read the text The Man in the Water (Yang, 2009), depicting a man who
gave up his life to save others in an airplane crash, the students meditated for two minutes andthen free wrote their individual responses to this story. Since they had experiencewith freewriting by then, they were comfortable writing all their responses in English this time. Here

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  are some selections from the students’ writing pieces (All the following selections are thestudents’ original words, so please forgive any misspelling and grammar mistakes.):
Maybe human is powerless comparing to nature, but human has emotion andkindness. When the man in the water handed life over to a stranger, he made agreat impact on the total society. He won the fight. (From Student Tiange, allpseudonyms)
What we learn from the man is that when you are in trouble, you can still bewilling to help others which is one of the greatest conduct. (From Student
Shiying)
This reminds me of Huang Jian Xiang. (His reference to football). Nobody is aborn hero, at the right moment everybody will be the hero. You cannot judge aman by his look. The real hero does not want to get any rewards when he makes
contribution. (From Student Deyang)
Like every other person, he was desperate to survive. However, facing withdanger, he didn’t hesitate and give the living opportunity to others, no matter
how slow the effect of the cold. The spirit of commitment is worth to learn.
But, in our opinion, life is precious, we can’t risk our lives to try to be brave.
We must make sure that we have the capacity to save others. We shouldn’t act
without reflection. So we should do everything with intelligence. (From Student
Qianqian)
Similar to the above selected responses, many other students agreed on helping others andcommitting to society. Several students made connections to their real life. A couple otherstudents, like Qianqian, criticized risking personal life to be brave and thought he should beconcerned about his own safety and evaluate conditions before taking any initiatives. Fromtheir response sharing in class, Mr. Liu found that they understood the texts deeply after doing
meditation and when they were mindful. The students not only learned the facts of the text, butalso formed their own opinions. Additionally, they enjoyed joining in the group discussion
while respecting each other’s words. Students also reported that when they were mindful, they
concentrated on writing, thought independently, and learned more.
Found Poem
The other mindful strategy Mr. Liu used was creating found poems. A found poem is one
created by taking words, and phrases from the original resources and reorganizing them into apoem (Fisher, Brozo, Frey & Ivey, 2014). First, the students read an essay titled Quick Fix
Society (Yang, 2009), from their textbooks. They volunteered to take turns reading the texts
out loud in a big group. Mr. Liu reminded them to read slowly and be aware of what they werereading. During reading, they underlined or highlighted the words, phrases, and sentences towhich they related or echoed. Then Mr. Liu guided them to do a two-minute meditation
followed their reading. After the meditation, the students worked in groups of four to create
one found poem with the texts they had marked. When Mr. Liu walked around the classroom,
he noticed that the students were highly engaged. They shared their favorite words andexpressions, discussed the theme of the text and the poem they wanted to create, then selected
the words and organized them in the poem. They even varied the spacing and lines of theirpoems as shown in the examples.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Selected Poem 1 Untitled
The sky is crying,
And the wheels are spinning,
Across the gorgeous farms peasants working,While my heart is paining.
I tried to defer the gratification,
But I couldn’t help speeding imagination.
You said you didn’t have affection,
However, I believe you are my destination.
Selected Poem 2 Untitled
Look at the rear-view mirror
There are herds
Remember how it makes us feel
And we will have to leave the quick fix society
We follow our hearts, now
Instead of later and faster
Instead of slower, superficially
Instead of thoroughly
That is gorgeous
Selected Poem 3 UntitledLife is a journey
Everything passing by is gorgeous
But not everyone can catch it
We are always so anxious that we miss some of it
So please slow down
And appreciate it that we can find subtle changes
Selected Poem 4 Changing LifeTo admit or not
the world has changed
we cannot escapeantique cars, Polaroid, chalkboards
are in history
also in my memory
ATM, where I get money
VCR, which I use to record life
are in my mind

	
  

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Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  in my dream
I may sigh even cry
for missing the old life
but as time can fly
when tomorrow comes
I’ll smile to the sky
After they created their poems in groups, the students shared them in one large group. They all
volunteered to share and enjoyed the poem sharing time. It seemed that they started to embrace
writing in English and gain more confidence in it. Mr. Liu commented that the found poem
was his favorite strategy with mindfulness. Though it was the first time they created English
poems in class, the students were highly involved in this activity and created beautiful poems.
During group work, the students were aware of what they were doing; they cooperated witheach other to select their words and sentences in groups; they all expressed their opinions
actively; and they discussed the organization of the poem and edited them. The students also
reported that they were “happy with their discussion and group work” and they benefited frombeing aware of what they did and how they did it.
Technology ProjectIn the pre-surveys, students reported that they would love the teacher to incorporate technology
into their learning. Mr. Liu never considered himself to be a tech-savvy person; however, heincorporated as much technology assistance as he could in his class. Usually he represented his
lecture through PowerPoint slides. In order to engage his students, he assigned them two
technology projects. One was an individual task of teaching a vocabulary mini-lesson througha PowerPoint presentation; and the other was a collaborative project of creating a campus-lifethemed short film.

The students accomplished the first individual project in the computer lab at class time.
Following a three minutes meditation, the students did individual brainstorming about theirpresentation plans. They listed out the meanings of their target words, made new sentences as
	
  

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  examples, differentiated them from other words with similar meanings, found more oral andwritten expressions using the new words, and gave real world examples. They used an online
dictionary and resources as references. The students brought their awareness of learning towork on this project. They reported in their survey that when they became interested, their“mental power kept (them) focused.” After they created their PowerPoint slides in the computerlab, they volunteered to teach the vocabulary mini-lessons to the big group during the nextclass meeting time. Here are two examples of the students’ PPT slides (see Figure 2). The
first one presents the differences between “appoint” and “assign.” This student used Chinese
to explain the word meaning, gave one example of each word in a sentence, and translated thesentence into Chinese. She color-coded the key words and selected the template by herself. The
second slide presented the expressions of “breath.” This student listed out 12 expressions using
breath and their Chinese translations. When they taught in class, they projected the slides on
the screen and shadowed how Mr. Liu taught vocabulary lesson. They explained the key points,
asked interactive questions to the audience, and shared their slides on their campus drive sothat the other students could get access.

Figure 2. Students’ PowerPoint slide examples
The students developed the other technology project of making movies as their homework andpresented in class. They self-selected any topic of campus life, wrote the scripts, did theirrehearsal, filmed, and edited after class. Mr. Liu reminded his students to work on their groupprojects mindfully throughout the entire process. He checked their progress in class. The
students brought their group films to share in their last class. This collaborative video projectturned out to be a great success. They were engaged in this interactive group work. The students
reported that they “loved learning through these interesting activities” and were able toconcentrate on their work when they were aware of what they were doing. In addition, Mr. Liucommented favorably on his students’ magnificent film pieces. He said, “this couldn’t beaccomplished without mindfulness.”
Discussion and Conclusion
Engaging in mindful strategies, the students took ownership of their learning. Throughmindfulness practices, the EFL students built a learning community and became aware of this
	
  

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  comfortable social environment; mindful writing helped students generate new thoughts andbecome aware of their thinking; mindfulness facilitated the learning process, cultivatedcreativity and intelligence; mindful cooperative learning provided the students with anopportunity to discover their awareness, learn from others, reflect and think critically.
Mr. Liu and his students reported that they built up a stronger mutual respect between theteacher and the students and among the students. The students formed a closer relationship witheach other. In such a community, the students became more willing to take risks, concentrated
on their learning, and became more confident about learning English language. The students
became aware of the process of learning English, they started to value their own learning
process and became more motivated to learn and engaged in this process than before.
The EFL students generated new thoughts and became aware of their thinking through mindful
experiences. When they read and discussed in small groups, they concentrated on constructing
deeper meaning from the text rather than only decoding the word meanings. Their discussion
expanded their thinking of the text meaning (Cooper & Boyd, 1996). In addition, during thepractice of free writing, the students had a chance to cultivate new ideas, think deeply about
their reading, think critically, and improve their writing skills. In the beginning, half of thestudents free-wrote in Chinese as they felt more comfortable expressing their thoughts in theirfirst language; while toward the end, all of them wrote their reflections in English. Thissuggests they became comfortable and confident writing in English marking significant
progress in learning English as a foreign language.
Mindfulness facilitated these EFL students’ learning process, cultivating their creativity andintelligence (Siegel, 2007). When the students were mindful and the learning process wasinteresting, they became more concentrated and productive. All the mindful strategies adopted
in Mr. Liu’s class were introduced to his students for the first time. When they did the foundpoems, they were highly engaged in their reading, marking up the text, and creating their poems
mindfully. The students focused on their tasks, were aware of the meaning of their reading,worked with their group members, and created their poems in a focused manner. They proudly
shared their products and valued their mindful learning experience. Additionally, they createdvocabulary lessons and taught them to their peers. Many students reported that they acquired
more than what they expected from the mindful strategies. These findings suggest that
mindfulness resulted in the students’ creativity and positive learning effects (Langer, 2000).
The EFL students collaborated with their peers for many of the mindful strategies weintroduced and we found that cooperative learning provided those students with an opportunity
to discover their own awareness, learn from the othersand to reflect and think critically (Cooper& Boyd, 1996). The students were highly involved in group activities and they enjoyedworking with their peers. Meanwhile, they acquired the English language from each other inthis social environment (Vygotsky, 1978). When discussing and working on tasks in groups,
the students had strong motivation to get involved and express their opinions on the texts theyread. The exploratory talk (Barnes, 2009) in their discussion inspired their critical thinking,which led to a higher level of understanding and learning. For example, when they discussed
the text, they read and filled in the KWL chart, they talked back to the author, questioned thecontent, and considered multiple perspectives. The students’ mindfulness contributed to thisachievement.
Introducing meditation and mindfulness, the teacher played a key role in the beginning phase,since this was an initial mindfulness study in this group and the teacher needed to facilitate andlead the process. Mr. Liu modelled and demonstrated for his students before asking them to

	
  

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  act. When the students built a meditation routine and became familiar with mindful strategies,
Mr. Liu released the responsibilities and encouraged the students’ involvement in their own
learning process. Thus, the students became more independent and gained agency in theirlearning (Johnston, 2004; Lewis, Enciso & Moje, 2007). That is to say, the students learned
actively and took ownership of their English language learning.
Limitations
During our practice of mindful learning, we have seen limitations along with this study. As acase study, the intent is to provide a rich, contextualized account. In this classroom, the teacher
and the students already knew each other well. The rapport between the teacher and students
definitely contributed to this practice. In other cases, it the relationship between the teacher andstudents and among the students will also contribute to outcomes. Also, Mr. Liu led the students
to do a weekly short meditation. The length and frequency of meditating practice could possibly
influence the students’ learning.
Implications
This study explored a group of college EFL learners practicing several mindful learning
strategies under their teacher’s guidance. The study provides teachers with some insights inusing mindfulness in college EFL learning. This study would be beneficial for learning English
mindfully, improving English language skills via helpful strategies, arousing student interest,
developing awareness, increasing confidence and increasing efficiency. In addition, college
EFL teachers could use mindfulness to facilitate enhancing student awareness of learning,
reducing stress, creating a comfortable environment, enhancing concentration, learning
efficiently, and increasing achievement. Other EFL teachers could also borrow mindful
instructional strategies for learners of different ages and from different cultural backgrounds.
Classroom teachers could introduce meditation, and apply mindful strategies as we did. In
doing this, teachers need to constantly remind the students to be aware of their learning andrelease the responsibility for mindful learning when the students start to take ownership.
Further research could examine mindfulness in reading and writing areas respectively, forexample, the relationship between mindfulness and metacognition of reading comprehension.
Final WordAs teachers and researchers, Mr. Liu and I learned about the benefits of cultivating mindfulness
in an EFL classroom. We would like to explore and practice more instructional strategies thatwould be helpful for EFL students to be aware of their learning. Brady’s (2008) metaphor of
the mind provides insight into this process:
The mind is like a television set. It has many channels, including, for example, thehappiness, the boredom, the confidence, and the anxiety channels. Each person has thesame channels, but some channels have better reception than others. The strongest one
are default channels, ones that tune in automatically a lot of the time. (p.96)
We want to offer our EFL students the opportunities to be mindful of their awareness and of
their English language learning process. Through resolving their own default learning channels,
students will value their own learning and achieve more in their learning.
*Acknowledgements to Dr. Donna Strickland at the University of Missouri for inspiring thisresearch and her help during the research.

	
  

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References
Barnes, D. (2009). Exploratory talk for learning. In N. Mercer & S. Hodgkinson (Eds.),
Exploring talk in schools (pp. 1-15). London: Sage.
Brady, R. (2004). Schooled in the moment: Introducing mindfulness to high school students
and teachers. Independent School, 64(1), 82-87.
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Brady, R. (2008). Realizing true education with mindfulness. Journal of the Sociology of SelfKnowledge, 6(3), 87-97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344607313250
Boice, R. (1994). How writers journey to comfort and fluency. Praeger Publishers. Campbell,
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Merriam, S. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San
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Siegel, D. (2007). The mindful brain. W.W. Norton & Company.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological process.
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Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016

A Study of Comparatively Low Achievement Students’ Bilingualized
Dictionary Use and their English Learning

Chen Szu-An

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  Abstract

This study investigates bilingualized dictionary use of Taiwanese university students. It aims
to examine EFL learners’ overall dictionary use behavior and their perspectives on bookdictionary as well as the necessity of advance guidance in using dictionaries. Data was collected
through questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS 15.0. Findings indicate that the subjects held
positive perspectives towards the helpfulness of using bilingualized dictionaries in learning
English whereas only roughly half of them formed the dictionary use habits out in theclassroom. Frequency of looking up aspects of word information might be determined byclassroom activities and assignments, in which both L1 and L2 information of head words wereconsidered useful. This paper concludes by arguing that low proficiency students may needsolid training in using L2 information in bilingualized dictionaries to expand their knowledgeof English vocabulary. Implications and suggestions for classroom practice will also be made.
Keywords: EFL learners; comparatively low achievement students; bilingualized dictionary;book dictionary; dictionary use behaviors.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Introduction
Choosing the most appropriate dictionaries for language learners to accommodate theirdifferent needs in the EFL classroom is a common and recurrent problem for language teachers.
When target language inputs are quite limited in real life, Taiwanese learners seldom have thechance to acquire English vocabulary in a natural environment. In order to expose learners tomore of their target language, dictionaries might be an invaluable source of and effective
reference to English as they can solve learners’ problems by providing them with useful
linguistic information and cultural insights. Especially when teachers are unavailable for
immediate consultation, English dictionaries can serve as a means to filling this void. For nonnative English speakers, advancing their English proficiency might be a life-long learning task
and should not be merely confined to formal school education. When they proceed with English
learning throughout their lives, learners need reliable information that they can refer towhenever they encounter and want to solve problems related to their use of the target language.
Not only can good dictionaries provide learners with English cultural knowledge but also
intrigue their long-lasting interest in learning the language. Hence, dictionaries can be a useful
tool in turning users into independent problem solvers and autonomous language learners.
In the language classroom, learners are likely to make further progress in developing theirtarget language if dictionary use can be integrated into their learning process. However, leaving
students, especially beginning and lower proficiency level learners, to choose dictionaries forthemselves might not cause an equally positive effect on their language learning. Many
researchers such as Fan and Xiao (2006), Lou and Li (2012), Shi and Pan (2005), and Wang(2007) all argue that English learners need to choose the dictionaries in which the contents andcharacteristics can accord with their different English levels. Without being aware of how
dictionary use can assist them in learning a language, learners might trap themselves into justgetting by whenever they need to consult dictionaries. Hence, to such students, English teachers
turn into a role model of successful English learners and professional dictionary users. Basedon their teaching and learning experience, English teachers can advise students to choose
dictionaries, compensate their lack of familiarity with English dictionaries, and improve theirdictionary reference skills through proper training and exercises specifically arranged in theclass.
Significant research related to the effectiveness of using dictionaries in boosting learners’ L2
vocabulary and reading comprehension has been accomplished in Taiwan. The majority of theresearch focuses on educators’ evaluative perspectives, whereas an understanding of actual
dictionary users’ perspectives is still limited and needs to be crystallized. Therefore, thepurpose of the present study is to explore comparatively low English proficiency level students’
perceptions towards their use of Longman Active Study English-Chinese Dictionary(LASECD) for one year in their general English courses at Wenzao Ursuline University of
Languages (Wenzao, former Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages), Taiwan. This group of
students’ overall College Student English Proficiency Level Test (CSEPT) scores ranged from
120 to 150. In this study, data was collected through questionnaires in order to elicit
information concerning the subjects’ dictionary use behavior and their overall perceptions of
LASECD. The questionnaires consisted of 29 items and were administered to 147 students.
The findings revealed that about one-half of the participants perceived that they have formed
habits of using LASECD in studying English. The findings also indicate the types of word
knowledge which these students frequently sought out when they used LASECD. In addition,
most of the participants held positive perceptions toward LASECD and their use of this
dictionary. Please see the research results in the section of Findings and Discussion.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  Literature Review
Many dictionaries are available in a variety of formats today: online dictionaries, dictionary
APPs for smartphones, book dictionaries, hand-held pocket electronic dictionaries, and CDROMs. In explaining the main function of dictionaries in language learning, Béjoint (2002)
and Lou & Li (2012) claim that after readers find out and check the meaning of unknown or
unfamiliar words, they will not only read and comprehend the text but also improve theiracquisition of vocabulary. Expanding the bank of vocabulary can move learners toward theirlong-term learning goals of using their L2 spontaneously and expressing themselves explicitly
and completely. Tomaszczyk (1979, citing from Ryu 2006) pioneered research into dictionary
use and investigated 449 Polish university students of English, foreign language instructors,
and translators. The results showed that dictionaries were mainly used for translation, which is
not a rare situation at all in EFL contexts. Bilingual dictionaries can quickly provide L1
equivalents of L2 words, making them popular among learners at all levels (Atkins andVarantola 1998; Baxter 1980) and particularly useful to L2 beginning learners (Béjoint andMouli, 1987).
Among research into bilingual dictionaries, Knight’s (1994) study showed lower proficiency
learners’ improved reading comprehension by using bilingual dictionaries to look up totally
unfamiliar words. Other researchers, such as Hulstihn, Hollander and Grenadius (1996), foundthat learners of all levels can use bilingual dictionaries to learn vocabulary while advanced
learners are more likely to use bilingual dictionaries to confirm their understanding of partiallyknown L2 lexical items (Atkins and Varantola 1997; Hulstijn 1993; Knight 1994). In spite ofquick consultation of L2 words and L1 equivalents, bilingual dictionaries have attracted
criticisms as low level L2 learners might be put under wrong impression that they can findperfect equivalents in both languages. Due to limited information provided in bilingual
dictionaries, Hunt (2009) argues that this weakness of bilingual dictionaries may transform
language learning into “a matter of one-to-one word translation,” (p.14 ) and in turn students
might prefer to employ this strategy to deal with the meanings of unknown words directly. The
advantages of quick consultation of L2 words and L1 translations in bilingual dictionaries
should be acknowledged as they indeed help learners quickly understand the gist of new words.
But, simplistic translations are very likely to blur learners’ view of the correct concept of L2
knowledge and block their progress in developing L2 proficiency level.
On the other hand, monolingual dictionaries contain rich information of L2 words and usages,
including definitions, word classes, example sentences, phrasal verbs, idioms, synonyms, etc.
all presented in L2, which can deflect L1 translations of L2 words. By using monolingual
dictionaries, learners can receive more L2 reading input, eliminate the possibility of making
interference errors, train their thinking in English, and enhance their comprehension of L2 (Louand Li 2012). Despite more reading that L2 learners can access through using monolingual
dictionaries, the content of monolingual dictionaries used by native speakers and advanced L2
learners might lead to information overload to learners of L2 at the low proficiency level. Whilethey are busy identifying the correct meaning of a new word, they might need to work out manyother unfamiliar words suddenly appearing in an entry, without much benefit. In order tocounterbalance the cons of bilingual and monolingual dictionaries and combine their pros,bilingualized dictionaries are published and growing in popularity. As Hartman (1994, p.243)
suggests, bilingualized dictionaries are a “hybrid dictionary type” and “a compromise” between
two types of L2 dictionaries so that learners can get the best of both worlds.
Laufer and Hadar (1997) claim that bilingualized dictionaries give low proficiency learners anadditional choice of which types of information they need to refer to (e.g. L1, L2, and both).

	
  

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  Various aspects of L2 words are provided in bilingualized dictionaries. In addition to L1
equivalents, the definitions, example sentences, phrasal verbs, idioms, etc. of L2 words are allpresented in both of learners’ L1 and L2. Hence, unlike monolingual dictionaries, L2
information on L2 words provide an alternative to L1 explanations for lower proficiency
learners. Also, they can enhance their understanding of L2 word knowledge and refine theirability to define L2 words by using L2. Other than that, for higher proficiency learners,
bilingualized dictionaries can be used to ensure that their knowledge of L2 vocabulary is
accurate (Laufer and Hadar 1997).
In the present study, LASECD (please see one page of the dictionary contents taken fromLASECD in Appendix A) was chosen to help the comparatively low achievement university
students at Wenzao become familiar with the wealth of information that bilingualized
dictionaries offer. At the beginning of the fall semester in 2011, the participants’ English
teachers provided their students with a training session on dictionary use and exercises for aweek. Then these teachers assigned the students to work on individualized glossaries of headwords that these students learned in English classes. In their glossary, they wrote down English
words, Chinese equivalents, parts of speech, example sentences, family words, and so on. In
addition, the three teachers often designed and arranged activities which were relevant to thelearning materials in class. They expected to help the students establish their habits of using
LASECD, increase their experience of using bilingualized dictionaries to comprehend thereading text, and build vocabulary in order to have a positive influence on the students’vocabulary knowledge. The goal was for these students to reduce their reliance on Chinesetranslations of words and enrich their understanding of other kinds of knowledge concerning
the words to be learned. Around the end of the spring semester in 2012, questionnaires were
distributed to 147 students to generate their overall opinions of dictionary use.
To reiterate, as the dictionary is an indispensable instrument for L2 learning, how learners
perceive their dictionary use behavior and their perspectives towards the dictionary which they
are using can shed light on the instruction of dictionary use for educators.
Objectives of the Study
The present study aims at researching into comparatively low achievement university students’
perceptions towards using bilingualized dictionary-Longman Active Study English-Chinese
Dictionary-when they study English at university. Their perceptions will be identified to findanswers to the following questions:1.   What is students’ dictionary use behavior?
2.   What types of information in the bilingualized dictionary do students look up?
3.   How do students perceive their bilingualized dictionaries?
4.   How do students perceive the helpfulness of using bilingualized dictionaries in learning
English?
5.   How do students perceive the instruction of dictionary use?
The findings of this study are expected to provide valuable information to understand how
comparatively low achievement students evaluate their dictionary use in learning English. This
study may also serve as a pilot study for further research into dictionary use in the university
EFL context in Taiwan.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  Research Methodology
The participants in this study were 81 freshmen and 66 sophomores, who were attending therequired General English Level II Course, constituting a weekly five-hour integrated English
skills class, in the 36-credit English program at Wenzao during the academic year 2011/2012.
All these comparatively low achievement participants had roughly a homogeneous backgroundin terms of their first language (Mandarin Chinese) and the amount of formal English
instruction at Wenzao. Their overall College Student English Proficiency Test (CSEPT) scores
were between 120 and 150, which are considered an indicator of their English proficiency. The
anonymity of the questionnaire respondents was established by specifically asking them not towrite their names on the questionnaires unless they were voluntarily willing to be interviewed
in the future if necessary. Questionnaires were used as the initial survey instrument and thefinal questionnaires were composed of 29 items including two open-ended questions. The
finalized questionnaires were written in Chinese (shown in Appendix B). Questions 1 to 27
used a five-point Likert scale, (item 1~4 and 19~27: 1=strongly agree; 2= agree; 3=somewhat
agree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly agree; item 5~18: 1=always; 2= nearly always; 3=half of thetime; 4=seldom; 5=never), and asked about the respondents’ experience and perceptions ofdictionary use. In addition, question 28 and 29 were two open-ended questions to elicit opinionsfrom the students concerning the effectiveness of using dictionaries in English learning and thenecessity of receiving instruction in dictionary use at the initial stage of the English course.
The reliability of the questionnaire was established using test-retest on 46 EFL university
students who were excluded from the sample. Chronbach alpha was calculated and found toequal .868 in the pilot study and .883 in the survey. The questionnaire data were gathered in
the last 10 to 15 minutes of the students’ class time, via prior agreement with the teachers. Of
the 152 copies distributed, 147 copies were returned to the researcher, yielding a response of
rate of 96.71%. Questionnaire data was analyzed through using the statistical software SPSS
15.0.
Findings and Discussion
In this section, questionnaire data is presented describing the habits and perceptions of usingbilingualized dictionaries of 147 Taiwanese EFL university students under study. The researchfindings will be discussed by answering the five research questions mentioned earlier. In
presenting the results of the study, the percentages of each item were calculated to describe andsummarize the responses of the students. The results of the items that relate to each researchquestion are presented in tables, and explanations are provided accordingly. For the purpose ofillustration, Longman Active Study English-Chinese Dictionary will be abbreviated as
LASECD in the following. The first research question: “What is students’ dictionary use
behavior?” was measured through 4 items (item 1~4) in the questionnaire and the responses
are presented in Table 1.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 1. Habits in Using the Dictionary (response frequencies in percentages)
Item

Statement

1

2

3

4

5

1

I am in the habit of using LASECD.

2.8

16.6

37.2

40

3.4

2

I look up unknown English words in the LASECD.

2.7

19

29.3

45.6

3.4

3

I use LASECD when I study English at home.

2

9.5

27.9

54.4

6.1

4

I find LASECD helpful to me.

7.6

28.5

40.3

22.9

0.7

(1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=somewhat agree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)

As Table 1 suggests, 56.6% of the students agreed that they were in the habit of using LASECD.
Though it cannot be sure whether these students used LASECD only for their English course
use or also for their personal self-study purpose, around half of the students (51%) tended tolook up unknown English words in this specific bilingualized dictionary. On the other hand,
Table 1 also reveals that more than 60% of the students disagreed that they used LASECD at
home, which might imply that these students saw using LASECD as a classroom requirement
and yet learned how to make good use of this language learning tool to improve their English
proficiency. The researcher believes this percentage is not satisfactory if students are expected
to expand their word knowledge through using dictionaries as frequently as possible.
Whereas many of the students did not use LASECD outside the classroom, 76.4% of thestudents confirmed the helpfulness of LASECD. Based on this the researcher speculates thatthe students acknowledged the effectiveness of using LASECD in completing the task at handno matter what it was. Indeed, during the past year the English teachers kept designing activities
to focus their level-2 students’ attention on vocabulary learning, to familiarize them withLASECD, and to improve their dictionary-use skills. By so doing, their students were explicitly
informed and guided to experience how to learn English words, which might result in better
retention and employment of vocabulary in their English outputs through using dictionaries. In
response to the first research question, the above findings might suggest that thesecomparatively low achievement students coming from different learning backgrounds andfields of study would like to use LASECD, and the majority of them perceived it relatively
helpful in their English study.
The second research question: “What types of information in the bilingualized dictionary do
students look up?” was measured through 14 questionnaire statements (item 5~18). The
percentages of their responses are presented in Table 2, and information students looked up in
the dictionary are ranked in Table 3.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    Table 2. Types of Dictionary Information (Response frequencies in percentages)
Item

Statement

1

2

3

4

5

5

I use LASECD to find out Chinese equivalents of words.

9.5

24.5

40.1

25.9

0

6

I use LASECD to find out English definitions or words.

8.8

30.6

33.3

27.2

0

7

I use LASECD to find out pronunciation of words.

6.1

17

25.9

43.5

7.5

8

I use LASECD to find out derived verb forms.

2.7

22.4

40.1

30.6

4.1

9

I use LASECD to find out collocations.

5.4

21.1

43.5

27.9

2

10

I use LASECD to identify the right meaning of words.

5.4

21.8

43.5

27.2

2

11

I use LASECD to find out parts of speech.

6.8

33.3

32

27.2

0.7

12

I use LASECD to find out family words.

7.5

22.4

38.1

31.3

0.7

13

I use LASECD to find out phrasal verbs and idioms.

6.1

22.4

38.8

32.7

0

14

I use LASECD to find out synonyms of words.

4.1

21.1

37.4

35.4

2

15

I use LASECD to find out opposites of words.

2.7

19

36.1

39.5

2.7

16

I use LASECD to find out example sentences.

12.2

30.6

30.6

26.5

0

17

I use grammar exercises in the learner’s handbook of
LASECD.
I use the picture dictionary of LASECD to learn vocabulary.

2

5.4

26.5

51

15

2

7.5

31.3

46.3

12.9

18

(1=always; 2=nearly always; 3=half of the time; 4=seldom; 5=never)Table 3. Ranked Types of Information Looked Up in the Dictionary (Response frequencies inpercentages)
No.

Type of information

percentages

No.

Type of information

percentages

1

Chinese equivalents

74.1

7

phrasal verbs and idioms

67.3

2

Example sentences

73.5

8

verb forms

65.3

3

English definitions

72.8

9

synonyms

62.6

4

part of speech

72.1

10

opposite words

57.8

5

collocations

70.1

11

pronunciation

49

5

right meaning

70.1

12

picture dictionary

41.1

6

family words

68

13

grammar exercises

34

The information most frequently looked up, Chinese equivalents, did not come as a surprise in
response to these comparatively low achievement students’ strong reliance on the meanings of
unknown English words translated into their first language. The high ranking of example
sentences, English definitions, part of speech, and the right meaning of words, family words,
etc. perhaps can be explained by the fact that the students needed such information to complete
the assignments or tasks in orafter class. Summer (1988) indicates that the definition with
examples in the dictionary would benefit reading comprehension.
In order to help students improve their reading comprehension and avoid lack of consistency
in using dictionaries, the English teacher asked their students to individually make a glossaryof English head words from their textbooks or supplementary reading materials. Students either

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    chose by themselves or were assigned at least five key words every week, looked these words
up in their LASECD in their free time, and wrote down Chinese equivalents, English
definitions, parts of speech, and example sentences of these required words in their writing
pads. Other information, such as pronunciation, usages, phrasal verbs and idioms, synonyms,
opposite words, or extra word knowledge of associated lexical items were not compulsory inthis assignment.
In addition, the English teachers asked their students to bring LASECD to the class from time
to time to accomplish in-class tasks by finding out key information from their referencematerials. By means of glossary and vocabulary learning activities, students could practice theirdictionary search methods as well as have hands-on experience of viewing the richness of
information in dictionaries. Hence, the overall results shown in Table 3 are somehow
predictable. Grammar exercises were the least looked up. Grammar exercises in the learner’s
handbooks had been addressed in the beginning weeks of the first semester in 2011 as part ofthe instruction of using LASECD.
The third research question: “How do students perceive their bilingualized dictionaries?” wasmeasured through 9 items (Question 19~27) in the questionnaire and the results are presented
in Table 4.
Table 4. Perceptions of LASECD (Response frequencies in percentages)
Item

Statement

1

2

3

4

5

19

The layout of LASECD is designed properly.

11.6

51.7

34.7

1.4

0.7

20

The amount of vocabulary in LASECD is sufficient.

15.6

50.3

29.9

3.4

0.7

21

LASECD provides sufficient user guidance.

13.7

57.5

26.7

2.1

0

22

LASECD provides sufficient grammar exercises tofamiliarize users with this dictionary.

9.7

44.1

39.3

6.9

0

23

The picture dictionary of LASECD is interesting.

8.2

34.7

43.5

12.9

0.7

24

The experience of using LASECD is enjoyable.

10.2

38.8

42.9

8.2

0

25

The LASECD contents suffice my current needs.

13.6

52.4

30.6

3.4

0

26

LASECD defines words clearly.

15.6

49

33.3

2

0

27

I can easily search an entry in LASECD.

15.6

45.6

35.4

3.4

0

(1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=somewhat agree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree)

As Table 4 suggests, merely 2% or so of the respondents (strongly) disagreed with the layoutof LASECD, while approximately nine tenths of the participants (95.9% and 97.9%) responded
positively towards the dictionary contents including its amount of vocabulary and user guide.
As for grammar exercises, 93.1% of the students (9.7% strongly agreed, 44.1% agreed, and39.3% somewhat agreed) reported their agreement with the importance of the workbook in thelearner’s handbook in assisting their familiarity with LASECD. In terms of the picture
dictionary in item 23, a slightly lower percentage (i.e. 86.4%) here might respond to the second
least frequent information looked up in LASECD as shown above in Table 3. Whether or not
the picture dictionary is interesting, this finding may suggest that teachers can refer students tothis picture dictionary when the topics in the textbooks are relevant to it such as body parts,
action verbs, foods, musical instruments, sounds, directions, sports, and so on. After all,through careful selection by the publisher, the vocabulary words in the picture dictionary mustbe high frequency words used in real life, and can be learned systematically and collectively.

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    As Schmitt (2000) suggests, learners use visual images to create a strong connections with aword and its meaning to strengthen their memory of the word. In this view, the picture
dictionary in LASECD can be a starting point and a likely role model for students to makeindividualized picture dictionaries through drawing and taking notes in their own glossary. The
findings also indicate that more than 90% of the respondents claimed enjoyable experiencesusing LASECD. Furthermore, 96.6%, 98%, and 96.6% of the respondents agreed that thecontents of LASECD can satisfy their current needs, and provide them with clear definitionsof words as well as easy identification of an entry.
In response to the third research question, the results of the student questionnaire demonstrated
that these comparatively low achievement students responded favorably to LASECD overall.
Not only might such perceptions establish grounds for the students’ future consistent use of
LASECD but also indicate that LASECD has achieved user-friendliness to some extent to thisgroup of students.
The fourth research question: “How do students perceive the helpfulness of using bilingualized
dictionaries in learning English?” was answered through an open-ended question (item 28).
Based on their experience, the respondents were told to include as much information as they
thought necessary to answer the question: “How does LASECD help you learn English?” Thefindings are presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Comments on the Helpfulness of LASECD in Learning English
Item

Responses

28

Positive comments:

Number of responses

Overall word information

22

Related to word information

28

	
  

-  

Usages13-  Synonyms5-  Pronunciation4-  Example sentences

2

Extended learning

19

Longer retention of words

15

Clear definitions

13

English definitions

12

Chinese equivalents

7

Amount of vocabulary

7

Easy to search an entry

6

Pictures in the dictionary

2High frequency words

1

Useful when there aren’t any electronic dictionaries

1

Other comments:
Not helpful

12

Demotivation for using LASECD

1

Not portable

1

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  In Table 5, most of the comments were made on overall word information in LASECD. For
example, one student reported ‘I think information is more detailed in LASECD than in mypocket electronic dictionary. I can easily find out complete information, such as thesaurus,
opposite words, past tense, etc. This dictionary helps me a lot!’ Related to word information,some students mentioned specific aspects of word knowledge in response to the question, suchas usages (N=13), synonyms (N=5), pronunciation (N=2), and example sentences (N=2). In
addition, some students confirmed their extended learning. For example, one of them reported
that “I can learn much more when I use the dictionary because there is always other information
I didn’t expected to learn.” Another student stated that “one English word can bring about manyphrasal verbs and usages to help me learn more. Good!” In terms of longer retention of words,
some students commented on this advantage of using dictionaries in paper form to learn
English. As one of them reported, “… looking up English words in the paper dictionary canenhance my memory of them.” Another student reported, “Using the bilingualized dictionary
and taking notes in my glossary is the best way to memorize new words. Besides, word
information is full and rich.” 13 comments were made on the explicitness of definitions
provided in LASECD. 12 comments were concerned with the helpfulness of English definitionsof words in learning English, such as “I can learn how to explain a word in English,” “There
are no perfect Chinese translations of English words. So I want to know how to define a word
in English,” and “English definitions help me better understand example sentences, synonyms
and opposite words.” Other opinions were also proposed regarding Chinese equivalents, thesufficient amount of vocabulary in LASECD, search of an entry with ease, colored pictures,and commonly-used words in the questionnaire. However, a number of students made quite
different comments on the helpfulness of using LASECD in English learning.
Most of their comments presented the tendency stating that instead of using LASECD theychose to use electronic dictionaries, including pocket electronic dictionary and internet
dictionary, when looking up English words. Therefore, they reported that they did not benefit
much from this reference book. Furthermore, one student mentioned the issue of portability of
paper dictionaries. Limited convenience of paper dictionaries has been reported in many studies(e.g. Ryu 2006). This finding is not unexpected at all here. Overall, the majority of thecomments generated from item 28 shed light onto the effectiveness of using LASECD inlearning English in the present study. The students were aware of the extent to which theirdictionary use could assist them in learning English words. All in all, L2 can only be acquired
through learners’ own efforts. As long as they would like to involve themselves in this learningtask, they could gain a great deal from this language learning resource.
Lastly, item 29,“Do you think it is necessary to learn how to use LASECD correctly before you
start to use it?” was used to elicit some ideas from students concerning the necessity of advancetraining or exercises in dictionary use to find the answer to the fifth research question: “Howdo students perceive the instruction of dictionary use?” 104 students checked “yes,” 18 students
checked “no,” and 25 chose not to comment. Among these 122 respondents who checked thebox, quite a few students stated their reasons in the questionnaires. Most of their responses
demonstrated the importance of such guidance given in the beginning of their journey of using
dictionaries. For example, dictionary users need to know English words are listed
alphabetically in the dictionary, what symbols like [U] and [T] or abbreviations like BrE andphr v stand for, why some words are printed in bold colors or highlighted, and so on.
Such knowledge can assist users in quick searches of English words and interpreting andidentifying information correctly when they look up words in the dictionary. Even thoughalmost 83% of the respondents confirmed the importance of advance dictionary use training, a
few students disagreed with this kind of dictionary use training, and stated that “I already know
	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  how to use the dictionary,” “we should learn how to use the dictionary on our own rather thanlearn it in class,” and “we don’t need to learn it particularly.” In response to item 29, themajority of written comments present the overall outlook towards instruction in dictionary use
as useful, helpful, and indispensable.
Conclusion
The present study examined the dicionary use of comparatively low achievement university
students in the research context. In accordance with their English proficiency, LASECD wasselected and used in the Level II English Course to help students arrive at better English
vocabulary learning in the academic year 2011-12. English teachers guided their students inusing this dictionary in the beginning of the fall semester. Students then became familiar withdictionary use through completing learning activities, exercises, and assignments in theirEnglish classes. After eight months of dictionary use (four months in semester one and semestertwo), the questionnaires were distributed to 147 students to generate their opinions of using
LASECD and their perceptions towards this dictionary and its helpfulness in learning English.
The overall results of this survey suggest that these comparatively low achievement students
could benefit from LASECD in learning English and started to build up the habit of dictionary
use when looking up English words. Although less than 40% of the students would use it athome, the results suggest that 76.4% of these LASECD users found this dictionary helpful instudying English. It is a given fact that when users gain positive experience and hold positive
inclinations towards this reference, they will be more likely to maintain their user habits andconsequently expand their bank of English vocabulary. Thus, students’ views on LASECD
might correspond to their preferred style of vocabulary learning, which may provide
implications for subsequent course design.
In this research, we can see that Chinese equivalents are the most frequently looked up
information in the dictionary. As far as this group of students is concerned, perhaps it is notnecessary to forbid learners at this low English proficiency level from looking up Chinese
equivalents of unknown or unfamiliar English words. Rather, teachers can try to transfer
students’ attention to word information interpreted in the target language (i.e. English
definitions), and guide them to employ definitions through making reference to example
sentences suggested in dictionaries or creating new, correct sentences. As Baxter (1980, p. 334)
argues, “(L2) definition is an alternative to the use of lexical items.” Being able to define words
in English can not only heighten students’ confidence in using the language but also enhancetheir holistic understanding of new vocabulary. Hunt (2009) also suggests that consulting both
L1 and L2 information might lead to students’ better retention of word knowledge than gaining
access only to L1 information. When learning a new word this way, students might process
information more deeply and are likely to remember it. This benefit can counterbalance thetime necessary for consulting words in book dictionaries.
Despite the strengths of the LASECD, the publisher might take into consideration student needfor training sessions and exercises before theyindependent dictionary use. Such guidance canbe arranged at the initial stage of the English course in order to help those who have notunderstood the correct concept of word information, who have yet acquired correct knowledgeof dictionary use, and who have never been aware of this vocabulary learning strategy. In
addition to teachers’ instruction and the learner’s handbook which has been compiled in
LASECD, there are other possibilities for making this reference book more user-friendly andconvenient. For example, a teacher’s book can be designed to provide instructors withsuggestions for dictionary use activities or classroom assessment to make sure whether or not

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  students have learned how to use LASECD accurately and efficiently. Professional guidance
and useful exercises are both necessary for boosting students’ understanding of how LASECD
can help them learn English. As Hartmann (1991, p. 9) suggests, “it is not enough just to
recommend dictionaries to our students. To help them reap the benefits of good dictionaries,
they need to be taught explicitly how to use them.” Both publishers and instructors can benefit
by considering the relation between dictionary use, classroom vocabulary behavior, andstudents’ success in finding words to meet their communicative needs among low level English
learners as dictionary users.

	
  

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References
Atkins, B. T. S., & Varantola, K. (1997). Monitoring dictionary use. International Journal of
Lexicography, 10(1), 1-45. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/10.1.1
Atkins, B. T. S., & Varantola, K. (Eds.), (1998). Using dictionaries: Studies of dictionary use
by learners and translators. Lexicographica Series Major 88. Tubingen: M Niemeyer.
Baxter, J. (1980). The dictionary and vocabulary behavior: A single word or a handful? TESOL
Quarterly, 14, 754-760. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586597
Béjoint, H. (2002). An introduction of modern lexicography. Beijing: Foreign Teaching andResearch Press.
Béjoint, H. B., & Mouli, A. (1987). The place of the dictionary in an EFL programme. In A. P.
Cowie (Ed.). The dictionary and the language learner (pp. 381-392). Tubingen: Max
Niemeyer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111340500-009
Fan, M. Y. (2000). The dictionary look-up behavior of Hong Kong students: A large-scale
survey. Education Journal, 28(1), 123-138.
Fan, M., & Xiao, D. (2006). A survey of EFL learners’ use of English dictionaries: Toward
understanding features of the good dictionary user. Yantai Normal University Journal(Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 23, 112-114.
Hartmann, R. R. K. (1991, March 6). What’s the use of learners’ dictionaries? A lecture given
at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.
Hartmann, R. R. K. (1994). The learner’s dictionary—Uniligual or interlingual? In L.
Flowerdew & K. K. Tong (Eds.). Entering text (pp. 239-250). Hong Kong: The Hong
Kong University of Science and Technology, Language Centre.
Hulstijn, J. H. (1993). When do foreign-language readers look up the meaning of unfamiliar
words? The influence of task and learner variables. Modern Language Journal, 77,
139-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1993.tb01957.x
Hulstijn, J., Hollander, M., & Grenadius, T. (1996). Incidental vocabulary learning byadvanced foreign language students: The influence of marginal glosses, dictionary use,
and reccurence of unknown words. The Modern Language Journal, 80, 327-339.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1996.tb01614.x
Hunt, A. (2009). Dictionaries and vocabulary learning: The roles of L1 and L2 information. 外
國語學部紀要創刊號, 13-25.
Knight, S. (1994). Dictionary use while reading: The effects on comprehension and vocabularyacquisition for students of different verbal abilities. The Modern Language Journal, 78,
285-99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994.tb02043.x
Laufer, B., & Hadar, L. (1997). Assessing the effectiveness of monolingual, bilingual andbilingualized dictionaries in the comprehension and production of new words. The
Modern Language Journal, 81(2), 189-196.
Longman Active Study English Chinese Dictionary (4th ed.). (2011). London: Longman.

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Lou, X., & Li, L. (2012). A survey on English majors’ dynamic trends of dictionaries using.
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2(2), 79-83. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojml.2012.22010
Ryu, J. (2006). Dictionary use by Korean EFL college students. Language and Information
Society, 7, 83-114.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Shi, B., & Pan, P. (2005). Analysis of a survey on English learning dictionary using. Journalof Shanxi Coal-Mining Administrators College, 3, 78-79.
Summer, D. (1988). The role of dictionaries in language learning. In R. Carter & M. McCarthy(Eds.). Vocabulary and language teaching (pp.111-125). London: Longman.
Tomaszczyk, J. (1979). Dictionaries: Users and uses. Glottodidactica, 12, 103-119.
Wang, Y. (2007). On use of dictionary in English learning at different stages. Theory andPractice of Education, 27, 63-64.

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  Appendix A: Contents of LASECD (one page taken from the dictionary)

	
  

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  Appendix B: Chinese-version of the Questionnaire

同學對於使用朗文進階英漢雙解詞典及英語學習之看法

親愛的同學:

本問卷目的在於瞭解同學使用「朗文進階英漢雙解詞典」及英語學習等相關問題。請依照提示，並根據個人情況，真實作答即可。為求資料
的完整性及可用性，請務必回答問卷中的每一項問題。本研究結果將僅
供學術研究之用。

感謝你的參與,若你對本問卷有任何疑問，歡迎隨時與陳思安老師聯絡。辦公室：至善樓310；分機號碼：5223；Email：99033@mail.wtuc.edu.tw。

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    請根據你使用朗文進階英漢雙解詞典之經驗來回答第1~19題。
1

2

3

4

5

非常
同意

同
意

還算
同意

不
同
意

非常
不同
意

1.   我習慣使用朗文英漢雙解詞典。

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2.   每當我遇到生字, 我使用朗文英漢雙
解詞典查單字。
3.   我在家時使用朗文英漢雙解詞典學
習英文。
4.   我覺得朗文英漢雙解詞典對我很有
幫助。

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總

幾

有

很

從

是

乎

一

少

沒

這

總

半

這

這

麼

是

的

麼

麼

做

這

時

做

做

麼

間

做

這

題目

題目

麼
做
5.   我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字
的中文意思。
6.   我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字
的英文意思。
	
  

174	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	    7.   我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的發音。
8.   我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的動詞變化。
9.   我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的詞語搭配。
10.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的各種用法。
11.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的詞性。
12.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的其他相關字。
13.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字
的片語動詞及習語。
14.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的同義詞。
15.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出單字的反義詞。
16.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典找出如何使用單字的例句。
17.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典中的學習
手冊練習文法。
18.  我使用朗文英漢雙解詞典中的圖解
詞典學習單字。

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請根據你對朗文進階英漢雙解詞典之看法來回答第20~28題。
以下為數字1~5所代表的意涵。1：非常同意；2：同意；3：還算同意；4：不同意；5：非
常不同意。

1

	
  

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2

3

4

5

The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	
  

  

非常
同意

同
意

還算
同意

不
同
意

非常
不同
意

19.  朗文英漢雙解詞典的編排合宜。

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20.  朗文英漢雙解詞典的字彙量足夠。

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21.  朗文英漢雙解詞典清楚解釋字典的使用方法。
22.  朗文英漢雙解詞典的學習手冊提供
足夠的文法練習,幫助我熟悉字典的使用方法。
23.  朗文英漢雙解詞典的圖解詞典有趣。
24.  使用朗文英漢雙解詞典的經驗愉快。
25.  朗文英漢雙解詞典的內容符合我目
前的需求。
26.  朗文英漢雙解詞典清楚解釋字義。

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27.  我很容易在朗文英漢雙解詞典中找
到我要的資訊。

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題目

28.  請問使用朗文英漢雙解詞典對你在學習英文方面有哪些幫助? 請根據個人經驗,在下方空白處寫下你的想法。

	
  

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education  Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  201629.  在獨立使用字典之前，請問你是否認為需要先學習如何正確使用字典(例如：分的清楚什麼是詞性、不規則動詞變化、一詞多義、同類詞、詞語搭配、片語動詞、習語、複合詞等等)? 請勾選你的回答(是□ ; 否□) ,並在下方空白處說明原因。

將來有機會我們會與你聯繫,邀請你面談使用字典的英語學習經驗。如果你願意分享經驗,請在下方表格留下你的聯絡方式,謝謝。

姓名

電子信箱

系所

電話號碼

學生證號碼

本問卷到此結束,感謝你的參與及配合。

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Guide for Authors
Article structure
Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required (maximum length of 250 words). The abstract should
state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An
abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For thisreason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also,
non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be
defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords.
Introduction
Present purposes of the study and provide background for your work.
Literature Review
Include a pertinent literature review with explicit international connections for relevant ideas.
Discuss the findings of published papers in the related field and highlight your contribution.
Methodology and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the context of the work to be thoroughly understood and/or
for the work to be reproduced. Provide sufficient detail for readers to understand how you
engaged in your inquiry. Clear descriptions of your context and participants along withstrategies used to collect and analyze data should be described.
Discussion
This section should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them.
Combining your results and discussion into a single section may be suitable. Returning torelevant literature from the introduction should show how your work connects with orinterrupts already published literature.
Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a Conclusions section, which can
include the main findings, the implications, and limitations.
Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc.
Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the referencesand do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List
here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help,
writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

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The  IAFOR  Journal  of  Education    Volume  4  –  Issue  2  –  Summer  2016	  Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using
superscript Arabic numbers.
References
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and viceversa).
Reference style
Text: Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American
Psychological Association (APA). Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association, Sixth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-0561-5.
List: references should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically
if necessary.
Reference to a journal publication:
Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientificarticle. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51–59.
Reference to a book:
Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman,(Chapter 4).
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article.
In B. S. Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). New
York: E-Publishing Inc.
Please follow the checklist:* Times New Roman font (size 12).
* Page size set to A4, margins set to ‘Normal’ (2.54 cm).
* Single-spacing throughout the document; paragraphs, justify.
* Double space (instead of indent) to designate a new paragraph or section.
* Page numbers at the bottom center of each page.
* Page that includes title, authors, their affiliations, their contact information, and the topic of
the submission.
* Authors and affiliations repeated at the beginning of the body of the paper.
* There is no limt of words or pages, but manuscript too short or incomplete will be rejected.

	
  

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IAFOR Journal of Education is following the guidelines and advices proposed by top SSCI
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The IAFOR Journal of Education is indexed in DOAJ, EBSCO Discovery Service, Education
Source, SHERPA/RoMEO and Google Scholar.
The IAFOR Journal of Education – Publication Ethics Statement (PDF)	
  
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