ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions
Author: Pennino, Eric
Date: 2022-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Anxiety,Online Courses,COVID-19,Pandemics,Stress Management,Learner Engagement,Barriers,STEM Education,College Students,College Faculty,Stress Variables

The sudden shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic left many instructors wondering how to minimize anxiety while keeping students engaged in their virtual courses. In this study, we explored (i) specific online instructional tasks that caused students to experience anxiety, (ii) factors that hindered student engagement with online instruction, and (iii) changes in student anxiety and engagement between spring 2020 and fall 2020. Students enrolled in STEM classes were surveyed at the end of spring 2020 (N = 425) and fall 2020 (N = 347) semesters. Our results show that the majority of student respondents had more anxiety in fall 2020 than in spring 2020 with online learning in general, and less anonymous class activities tended to cause the greatest anxiety. Distractions from the environment and personal technologies commonly prevented engagement in both semesters, but no significant differences were observed between the spring and fall. In contrast, more students reported that health-related stress, work-related stress, and issues with technology prevented participation in fall 2020 than in spring 2020. As institutions consider expanding their online course offerings post-pandemic, these data provide valuable insight into the challenges students experienced with online instruction that can inform future pedagogical choices.
Verbalized Studying and Elaborative Interrogation in the Virtual Classroom: Students with Social Anxiety Prefer Working Alone, but Working with a Peer Does Not Hurt Their Learning
Author: Novak, Rachel Tomco
Date: 2022-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Anxiety,Social Behavior,Cooperative Learning,Academic Achievement,COVID-19,Pandemics,Distance Education,Teaching Methods,Verbal Communication,Active Learning,Science Education,Undergraduate Students

Due to public health measures enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, educators and students alike have been suddenly thrust into the realm of online learning. To better understand how active and collaborative learning methods can apply to students studying in isolation, we compared the effects of two teach-and-question assignments: one that utilizes the active learning method of reciprocal peer tutoring and a solo version that requires individual verbalized studying and elaborative interrogation. We used a quasi-experimental design, with student participants enrolled in an online introductory human anatomy course. The first treatment group completed regular teach-and-question study assignments virtually with a peer, and the second treatment group completed the same assignment independently. We found no differences in exam scores between treatments, even for students with high social anxiety; however, student attitudes about the social versus individual assignment did differ for specific types of students. Students who reported experiencing high social anxiety preferred completing the active learning exercise by themselves, and students with low scientific reasoning ability preferred the partnered assignment. This research has potential implications for online classrooms. For instance, our results indicate that students who study independently, or in isolation, may have learning outcomes similar to those of students who study with a peer as long as they study actively. Because we found no negative impact on examination results, it also could be that virtually partnered or independent teach-and-question assignments could be helpful for instructors teaching large online classes to ensure all students are getting individualized feedback and attention.
Revisiting Clickers: In-Class Questions Followed by At-Home Reflections Are Associated with Higher Student Performance on Related Exam Questions
Author: Kirkwood-Watts, Dana L.
Date: 2022-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Audience Response Systems,Reflection,Homework,Academic Achievement,Tests,Active Learning,Undergraduate Students,Instructional Effectiveness,Introductory Courses,Biology,Large Group Instruction

Clicker questions are a commonly used active learning technique that stimulates student interactions to help advance understanding of key concepts. Clicker questions are often administered with an initial vote, peer discussion, and a second vote, followed by broader classroom explanation. While clickers can promote learning, some studies have questioned whether students maintain this performance on later exams, highlighting the need to further understand how student answer patterns relate to their understanding of the material and to identify ways for clickers to benefit a broader range of students. Systematic requizzing of concepts during at-home assignments represents a promising mechanism to improve student learning. Thus, we paired clicker questions with at-home follow-up reflections to help students articulate and synthesize their understandings. This pairing of clickers with homework allowed us to decipher how student answer patterns related to their underlying conceptions and to determine if revisiting concepts provided additional benefits. We found that students answering both clicker votes correctly performed better on isomorphic exam questions and that students who corrected their answers after the first vote did not show better homework or exam performance than students who maintained an incorrect answer across both votes. Furthermore, completing the follow-up homework assignment modestly boosted exam question performance. Our data suggest that longer-term benefits of clickers and associated homework may stem from students having repeated opportunities to retrieve, refine, and reinforce emerging conceptions.
An Analysis of the Relationship between Secondary Checkpoint and IGCSE Results
Author: Gill, Tim
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Evaluation,Secondary School Students,Achievement Tests,Predictive Validity,Academic Achievement,Scores,Exit Examinations

Secondary Checkpoint assessments are taken by students at the end of the Cambridge Lower Secondary programme (aged 14) in countries around the world. Many students continue with Cambridge after this and take IGCSE exams two years later. Given that there is a high level of coherence between the curricula in the two stages, performance in Secondary Checkpoint should be a good indicator of performance at IGCSE. In this article, I investigate whether there is evidence to support this contention, by calculating correlations between Checkpoint scores and IGCSE grades, across a range of subjects. I also look at whether students in schools offering the Cambridge Lower Secondary programme go on to perform better at IGCSE than schools not offering the programme.
The Impact of GCSE Maths Reform on Progression to Mathematics Post-16
Author: Rodeiro, Carmen Vidal
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Exit Examinations,Secondary School Students,Mathematics Tests,Educational Change,Grades (Scholastic),Mathematics Achievement

In England, GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) qualifications offered to students aged 14-16 were recently reformed. For mathematics specifically, the new GCSE aimed to be more demanding, provide greater challenge for the most able students, and support progression to post-16 mathematics. However, there have been concerns that the new GCSE could deter students from further education in the subject and, to date, there has been little research on its impact on participation in and learning of mathematics post-16. This research compared progression to and performance in post-16 mathematics pre- and post-GCSE reform and found that, contrary to fears about reduced uptake, progression generally increased following the reform. In particular, the increase was higher among those who achieved top grades in their mathematics GCSE than for students with just a pass. Performance in post-16 mathematics was, in contrast to teacher expectations, lower post-reform.
The Prevalence and Relevance of Natural History Assessments in the School Curriculum, 1858-2000: A Study of the Assessment Archives
Author: Cooke, Gillian
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Incidence,Relevance (Education),Educational History,Evaluation Methods,Educational Assessment,Foreign Countries,Secondary School Students,Science Education,Natural Sciences

Natural History has been part of our curriculum since 1858. Not as a single, continuous subject but embedded in many different subjects and qualifications. As OCR prepares to launch a GCSE in Natural History, this article draws on the historical resources of OCR and its predecessor the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate to show the range of natural history type subjects available to students, focusing on those for 16-yearolds. Referencing primary sources available from the Assessment Archives spanning the period from 1858 to 2000, this study reveals some of the qualifications available, as well as the scope and popularity of these subjects and the challenges faced by all those involved.
Teacher-Student Relationships: Impact of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
Author: Martinez, Rene
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Student Relationship,Caring,Intervention,Positive Behavior Supports,Student Behavior,Preschool Education,Elementary Education,Teacher Role,Teacher Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to investigate how caring student-teacher relationships facilitate positive student behavior. Additionally, it examined the effect of student behavior when building positive student-teacher relationships. Previous research by the authors determined that when teachers build relationships with children it is one of the most effective strategies to impact student learning. A secondary implication identified by the participants and their administrators in that study was that building relationships can create a positive classroom environment resulting in fewer discipline disruptions. This current study was conducted to measure the relationships between school children, in grades K-8 in the USA, and their teachers using a standardized instrument before and after a two-week implementation of a positive behavioral intervention and supports strategy to determine if there are any significant differences. The participants involved in this study are comprised of classroom teachers in their first year of teaching, and experienced classroom teachers (5+ years).
Teaching English as a Third Language to Minority Adult Learners in Norwegian Secondary Schools
Author: Alhassan, Mohammed Awal
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Teaching Methods,Adult Students,Secondary School Students,Minority Group Students,Vocabulary Development,Reading Instruction,Grammar,Teacher Collaboration

The aim of this study was to explore English teachers' teaching techniques perceived as important when teaching English as a third language (L3) to minority adult students in secondary schools. Using a quantitative research approach, 95 teachers from two districts in the Viken county of Norway completed a 15-item questionnaire titled. Perceived Strategies for English Teaching Scale and an open-ended question about ways of teaching vocabulary for effective English teaching to support students learning in their classrooms. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and t-tests were used to analyse the data. The results showed that teaching vocabulary, reading, and grammar, among others, were strategies considered as important in teaching English. Reflecting on teachers challenging roles in teaching English as L3 to minority adult learners with varied English knowledge a collaborative teaching strategy was found to be very useful. The respondents also identified certain ways of teaching vocabulary to support students learning. Implication for further research is discussed.
The Influence of Gifted and Talented Programs on Students&apos; Self-Concept
Author: Kalaji, Ghina
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academically Gifted,Gifted Education,Self Concept,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Acceleration (Education),Enrichment Activities,Secondary School Students,Grade 8,Grade 9,Grade 10,Grade 11,Grade 12

The purpose of this research is to explore the influence of high school gifted and talented (GT) programs on students' self-concept from the students' perspectives in the UAE. A qualitative, exploratory, interview-based study was employed to answer the following question: How gifted and talented programs influence students' self-concept? Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Ten GT students from grades 8-12 were interviewed from three different GT programs in UAE schools. Analysis revealed that students exhibited positive self-concept in three dimensions: general, academic, and social. The GT programs in the UAE seem to influence students' self-concept positively by nurturing their strengths, valuing their efforts, developing their skills, and emphasizing their future roles in the community.
An Analysis of Student Perceptions of Online Language Learning in Virtual Classrooms
Author: El Morabit, Salma
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Electronic Learning,Second Language Learning,Instructional Effectiveness,Private Education,Computer Mediated Communication,Virtual Classrooms,Adults,Preferences

This study analyses the perceptions of students when learning in an online language learning (OLL) environment using virtual classrooms. The main goals were to find out if students enjoy learning in this manner, if they perceive learning benefits and if they would recommend this method to others. A total of 15 OLL students participated in this study and responded to an online questionnaire that mirrored a similar previous study which analysed the perception of online teachers using virtual classrooms (Manegre &amp; Sabiri, 2020). The majority of the students surveyed (60.00%) indicated that they only enjoy learning online sometimes since they are taking OLL classes for professional and academic purposes and not for leisure purposes or general enjoyment. However, the participants of this study found OLL using virtual classrooms to be an effective instruction method and they do believe that this method of instruction is a suitable replacement for in-classroom learning.
The Development of Foreign Language Students&apos; Intercultural Communicative Competence through Telecollaboration
Author: Di Sarno-García, Sofia
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Intercultural Communication,Interpersonal Competence,Telecommunications,Cooperative Learning,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Spanish,Foreign Countries,Asynchronous Communication,Computer Mediated Communication,Electronic Learning,Social Networks

Telecollaboration has proved to be an excellent means for the development of students' intercultural skills (O'Dowd &amp; Dooly, 2012). Based on this presumption, a telecollaborative project was carried out between B2 level (CEFR) learners of English from Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) and B1 level (CEFR) students of Spanish as a foreign language from the University of Bath (UK). The aim of the project was to help learners from both universities, Aerospace Engineering students in particular, to develop their intercultural communicative competence. Throughout a six-week period, students carried out asynchronous discussions focusing on two cultural topics in groups of four and participated in synchronous Zoom sessions in pairs. The topics at the core of the discussions were a) Catalan Independence b) Digital Education. Topic a) was conducted entirely in Spanish and topic b), in English. The social network used for students' written interaction was MeWe (www.mewe.com). To conclude the project, the participants completed a collaborative task with their overseas partners that was assessed by the instructor. Qualitative data was gathered through the students' posts on MeWe (which was then analysed following Byram's (1997) proposed objectives for the assessment of Intercultural Communicative Competence), analysis of transcripts from the Zoom sessions as well as a final project survey. The results from the qualitative analysis show traces and instances of all the objectives proposed by Byram (1997), while the findings from the final project questionnaire reveal that at the end of the course all participants felt they had learnt something about their partners' culture. The quantitative analysis further demonstrates a correlation between the number of videoconference sessions and spontaneous conversation about cultural topics, which suggests that, in order for a telecollaborative project to be successful, students should attend the scheduled sessions.
The DNA of Digital Storytelling: A Case Study from A Higher Education LSP Classroom
Author: Rodgers, Ornaith
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Languages for Special Purposes,Story Telling,Higher Education,College Freshmen,Biotechnology,Foreign Countries,French,Crime,Language Skills,Transfer of Training,Digital Literacy,Teamwork,Research Skills,Communication Skills

This case study is based on a digital storytelling project conducted with first year Biotechnology with French students at National University of Ireland, Galway. Working in small groups, the students created digital stories in French based on forensic cases in which DNA profiling was used. The study was conducted while they were learning about DNA forensics in their mainstream programme. This study provides a practical example of how Digital Storytelling (DST) can be integrated as a teaching and learning tool into the Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) classroom within a higher education context. It highlights the potential of DST to develop students' language skills within this specialised context and facilitate the acquisition of the transferable skills needed to communicate effectively in an increasingly globalised society.
Teacher Planning Templates: Helpful Tool or Waste of Time? A Comparative Analysis of the Perceptions of Novice and Experienced Teachers in the UAE and USA
Author: Herrera, Rebecca Renee
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Beginning Teachers,Experienced Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Lesson Plans,Models

Lesson plan templates are a frequent requirement in schools around the world. School administrators often choose a standard lesson plan style and require the consistent layout for all teachers of all grade levels and across all disciplines. Lesson planning, when done well, should be a guide for both teachers and administrators of the educational concept the students need to learn, how the teacher will teach the concept, and how student learning will be evaluated. Lesson planning is a time-consuming task for the teacher and a requirement and expectation by which administration oversees instructional practices in schools. This research study sought to obtain, evaluate, and analyze the perspectives of administrators and teachers from both the United Arab Emirates and the United States on the perceived usefulness of lesson planning templates in the planning process. A quantitative method employing a close-ended survey was used to obtain data. An exploratory factor analysis was applied to determine perspective of teachers on the value and utility of completing templates for instructional planning purposes, and an independent variable T-test was applied to examine similarities and differences in perspectives based on time in the field. The impact of the study could shape future views on the practice, benefits, training, use, and research of lesson planning templates. [Note: The page range (411-432) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range is 411-431.]
Technologies and Digital Competences in Portuguese Education: History of Its Integration in Pedagogical Practices since the Beginning of the 20th Century
Author: Dias-Trindade, Sara
Date: 2023-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Digital Literacy,Educational Technology,Foreign Countries,Technology Integration,Teacher Education,Teacher Competencies,Competence

This study aims to analyse the evolutionary context of the introduction of technology in Portuguese schools, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, and to identify the digital competences of Portuguese teachers at different educational levels. The analysis, qualitative and quantitative in nature, allowed us to conclude that technologies had a slow diffusion in Portuguese schools, because of the scarcity of resources and residual investment in teacher training, giving the use of technology in school a more irregular and playful character rather than truly integrated in pedagogical practices to promote the quality of learning. Although in recent years there has been still some conservatism in the use of technology, very focused on its instrumental use, there have been more practices with pedagogical intent and more focused on the active participation of students, also noting the growing importance of teacher training in this field of digital technologies, with the aim of making teachers more competent and fluent in the pedagogical use of digital. Furthermore, the study focused on the teachers' perception of their digital competences in three dimensions: the teachers' professional and pedagogical competences and the students' competences from the &quot;DigCompEdu&quot; framework and the self-assessment questionnaire of digital competences built from the same framework - &quot;DigCompEdu Check-In.&quot; The analysis of the answers obtained in this questionnaire (collected from the participation of 434 teachers of Basic and Secondary Education and 118 of Higher Education) showed that teachers need to increase their levels of digital proficiency through specific training, since they present, globally, a moderate level of digital proficiency - level B1 -Integratorsbeing the areas 4 - Evaluation - and 6 - Digital empowerment of students, the ones that present the greatest weaknesses.