ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Learners' Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review
Author: Gilakjani, Abbas Pourhosein
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Listening Skills,English (Second Language),Listening Comprehension,Literature Reviews,Metacognition,Second Language Learning,Oral Language,Barriers,Learning Activities

Listening is one of the most important skills in English language learning. When students listen to English language, they face a lot of listening difficulties. Students have critical difficulties in listening comprehension because universities and schools pay more attention to writing, reading, and vocabulary. Listening is not an important part of many course books and most teachers do not pay attention to this important skill in their classes. In this paper, the researchers reviewed the terms listening, listening comprehension, listening comprehension strategies, and listening difficulties. The review of literature indicated that when teachers are aware of students' learning difficulties they can help them develop effective listening strategies and finally solve their difficulties in listening and improve their listening comprehension abilities.
The Development of Program for Enhancing Learning Management Competency of Teachers in Non-Formal and Informal Education Centers
Author: Jutasong, Chanokpon
Date: 2016-05-10
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Nonformal Education,Informal Education,Teacher Competencies,Program Development,Program Effectiveness,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Content Analysis,Program Evaluation,Teachers,Faculty Development,Foreign Countries

The objectives of this research are: 1) to study factors and indicators, 2) to study current situations, desirable situations and techniques, 3) to develop the Program, and 4) to study the effect of Program. It comprised 4 phases: (1) studying the factors and indicators; (2) studying the current situations, desirable situations and techniques; (3) developing the Program; and (4) to examine the results of the program. The research instruments used for data collection were questionnaire, evaluation form, and test. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The research findings show that: 1) Factors for ELMCT consisted of 6 factors and 30 indicators were in &quot;the highest level&quot;; 2) Current situations were in &quot;moderate&quot; level. The desirable situations were in &quot;the highest&quot; level. Content analysis method was administered. The frequencies were ranged from high to low as follows: training/workshop, site visiting, coaching, self-study, brainstorming and focus group discussion; 3) The results of evaluation found that it was in &quot;the highest&quot; level in usefulness, feasibility, suitability and accuracy; and 4) The mean score of pre-development was = 16.95 points or 56.52%, and mean score of post-development was = 24.64 points or 81.12%. The results of evaluation demonstrated that teachers' learning management competency was in &quot;moderate&quot; level. The post-development was in the highest level&quot;. The evaluation of satisfactions of 22 target persons was in &quot;the highest&quot; level in every aspect.
Identifying College Students' Multiple Intelligences to Enhance Motivation and Language Proficiency
Author: Madkour, Magda
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,College Students,Language Proficiency,Multiple Intelligences,Motivation,Foreign Countries,Quasiexperimental Design,Likert Scales,Questionnaires,Classroom Observation Techniques,Pilot Projects,Student Motivation,Teaching Methods,Correlation,Statistical Analysis,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning

While most research studies on the theory of multiple intelligences focused on the application of the multiple intelligences domains as separate components, this quasi-experimental research targeted the effect of multiple intelligences as integrated abilities for teaching and learning English at higher education. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of students' multiple intelligences profiles on their motivation and language proficiency. The quantitative data was collected from the students of the College of Languages and Translation at Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia. The researchers prepared a Likert scale questionnaire to identify students' multiple intelligences. The participants formed two groups from male and female students who studied English courses at level 3. The first group studied English in a traditional classroom where they relied on memorizing grammatical rules while the second group studied English after identifying their multiple intelligences profiles. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS), data analysis results indicated that ineffective teaching strategies that depended on encouraging learners memorizing language rules hindered students from boosting their language proficiency. The analysis of the data also showed that when students became aware of their multiple intelligences profiles, they managed to enhance their motivation, which helped them improve their language skills. The recommendations of the current research provide creative ideas for using multiple intelligences at higher education, including a model for integrating multiple intelligences for teaching English. The current research is also a contribution in teaching English to college students since it is among only a few studies that have applied Gardner's theory at higher education.
Climbing up the Leaderboard: An Empirical Study of Applying Gamification Techniques to a Computer Programming Class
Author: Fotaris, Panagiotis
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Programming,Teaching Methods,Learner Engagement,Incentives,Motivation,Educational Games,Video Games,Comparative Analysis,Quasiexperimental Design,Feedback (Response),Semi Structured Interviews,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Virtual Classrooms,Higher Education,Computer Software,Foreign Countries,Games,Formative Evaluation,Summative Evaluation,Handheld Devices,Student Behavior,Observation,Online Surveys,Focus Groups,Attendance,Instructional Materials,Research,Likert Scales

Conventional taught learning practices often experience difficulties in keeping students motivated and engaged. Video games, however, are very successful at sustaining high levels of motivation and engagement through a set of tasks for hours without apparent loss of focus. In addition, gamers solve complex problems within a gaming environment without feeling fatigue or frustration, as they would typically do with a comparable learning task. Based on this notion, the academic community is keen on exploring methods that can deliver deep learner engagement and has shown increased interest in adopting gamification--the integration of gaming elements, mechanics, and frameworks into non-game situations and scenarios--as a means to increase student engagement and improve information retention. Its effectiveness when applied to education has been debatable though, as attempts have generally been restricted to one-dimensional approaches such as transposing a trivial reward system onto existing teaching materials and/or assessments. Nevertheless, a gamified, multi-dimensional, problem-based learning approach can yield improved results even when applied to a very complex and traditionally dry task like the teaching of computer programming, as shown in this paper. The presented quasi-experimental study used a combination of instructor feedback, real time sequence of scored quizzes, and live coding to deliver a fully interactive learning experience. More specifically, the &quot;Kahoot!&quot; Classroom Response System (CRS), the classroom version of the TV game show &quot;Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?&quot;, and Codecademy's interactive platform formed the basis for a learning model which was applied to an entry-level Python programming course. Students were thus allowed to experience multiple interlocking methods similar to those commonly found in a top quality game experience. To assess gamification's impact on learning, empirical data from the gamified group were compared to those from a control group who was taught through a traditional learning approach, similar to the one which had been used during previous cohorts. Despite this being a relatively small-scale study, the results and findings for a number of key metrics, including attendance, downloading of course material, and final grades, were encouraging and proved that the gamified approach was motivating and enriching for both students and instructors.
A Comparative Analysis of Lexical Bundles Used by Native and Non-Native Scholars
Author: Güngör, Fatih
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Comparative Analysis,Teaching Methods,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Phrase Structure,Second Language Instruction,Periodicals,Journal Articles,Writing for Publication,Computational Linguistics,Native Language,Turkish,Verbs,Discourse Analysis,Foreign Countries

In the recent years, globalization prepared a ground for English to be the lingua franca of the academia. Thus, most highly prestigious international journals have defined their medium of publications as English. However, even advanced language learners have difficulties in writing their research articles due to the lack of appropriate lexical knowledge and discourse conventions of academia. Considering the fact that the underuse, overuse and misuse of formulaic sequences or lexical bundles are often characterized with non-native writers of English, lexical bundle studies have recently been on the top of the agenda of corpus studies. Although the related literature has represented specific genres or disciplines, no study has scrutinized lexical bundles in the research articles that are written in the educational sciences. Therefore, the current study compared the structural and functional characteristics of the lexical-bundle use in L1 and L2 research articles in English. The results revealed the deviation of the usages of lexical bundles by the non-native speakers of English from the native speaker norms. Furthermore, the results indicated the overuse of clausal or verb-phrase based lexical bundles in the research articles of Turkish scholars while their native counterparts used noun and prepositional phrase-based lexical bundles more than clausal bundles.
A Study on the Role of Computers in Adult Education
Author: Giannoukos, Georgios
Date: 2016-05-10
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Adult Education,Computer Uses in Education,Teaching Methods,Educational Technology,Knowledge Level,Computer Literacy,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Value Judgment,Student Attitudes,Access to Computers,Foreign Countries

This paper discusses how knowledge of computers can affect our daily personal life as well as in the workplace in Greece. Our research is concerned with how useful the knowledge of computers is in the everyday life and work of adults and attempts to investigate the interest of adults for learning computer programmes and different subjects via computers. The research took place from March 30 to April 10, 2015, in Lamia, Greece. Fifty individual adults aged 18-65 years old participated in this study. According to their answers it seems that they consider knowledge of computers essential; however, the same enthusiasm was not expressed when it came to learning through a computer.
From Memorising to Visualising: The Effect of Using Visualisation Strategies to Improve Students' Spelling Skills
Author: Nahari, Amnah Ahmad
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Spelling,Second Language Learning,Grade 6,Elementary School Students,Foreign Countries,Second Language Instruction,Spelling Instruction,Visualization,Student Attitudes,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Pretests Posttests,Achievement Tests,Validity,Questionnaires,Scores,Curriculum Design,Language Teachers,Statistical Analysis,Private Schools,Teaching Methods,Correlation

Spelling is an essential literacy skill and an important language component that can have a significant effect on L2 students' future education and occupational status. However, many students struggle to master this skill, and most L2 teachers are limited to traditional approaches when teaching spelling. Therefore, this study aims to investigate both the effect of using visualisation strategies to improve the L2 students' spelling skills and student's attitudes towards the use of those strategies. I adopted an experimental approach, whereby the experimental group was trained to use visualisation strategies to study the spelling of new words, while the control group received no special tuition and was required to study the spelling of new words using the methods they normally use. The sample for the study consisted of 42 female sixth graders from Al-Manahej Private Elementary School in Riyadh; they were divided into two groups: 21 students in the experimental group and 21 students in the control group. In order to collect data and achieve the goal of the study, three tools were used: pre-achievement and post-achievement tests to measure the differences between the experimental and control groups' scores. The students undertook five weekly tests to measure the effectiveness of the visualisation strategies to improve their spelling skills, and a social validity questionnaire to assess their attitudes towards the strategies. The findings were anticipated to promote the use of visualisation strategies in the field of education, to encourage curriculum designers, decision makers, and language teachers to employ them when teaching spelling.
Copycat or Creative Innovator? Reproduction as a Pedagogical Strategy in Schools
Author: Ejsing-Duun, Stine
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Creativity,Play,Games,Creative Activities,Learning Activities,Student Behavior,Behavior Change,Public Schools,Grade 2,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 10,Observation,Intervention,Duplication,Innovation,Imitation,Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,Foreign Countries

This article explores how student behaviour and interactions change when teachers use &quot;producing&quot; as a primary pedagogical strategy (Papert, 1980; Ejsing-Duun and Karoff, 2014). Based on observed student and teacher actions and responses, as well as students' production, this paper emphasizes the importance of understanding how students explore creativity and playfulness while producing in learning situations. This paper is based on a large research project called &quot;Children as Learning Designers in a Digital School (2013-2015)&quot;, funded by Denmark's Ministry of Education, which included fieldwork in five Danish public schools, involved about 500 students, and comprised six interventions in the first, second, fifth, sixth, and tenth grades. The project's empirical data consist of observations, participatory observation, and productions students created during the interventions. This paper presents an analysis of how students were creative and playful while producing learning material as games during three of the project's interventions. The study is based on a specific understanding of the creativity with a point of departure (Boden, 2004; Tanggaard and Wegener, 2015) and playfulness (Karoff, 2013) that occur in learning situations. We approach creativity and playfulness as new methods of learning, through six areas of change that inform &quot;[…]how today's kids play and learn, and, more generally, how they see themselves, relate to others, dwell in place, and treat things&quot; (Ackermann, 2013: 119). This paper investigates how educators handle children's productive processes in a school setting and how teachers can conceptualize and nurture play and creativity as drivers for learning. In this context, the importance of skills and acknowledgement of reproducing and remixing existing materials is discussed. We further argue that playfulness is necessary for creativity to occur. From this point of view, it is possible to understand how learning activities can support creativity--an essential twenty-first century skill (Levinsen and Sørensen, 2015).
Using the Wonder of Inequalities between Averages for Mathematics Problems Solving
Author: Shaanan, Rachel Mogilevsky
Date: 2016-05-10
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mathematics Instruction,Problem Solving,Mathematics Skills,Validity,Mathematical Logic,Mathematical Concepts,Teaching Methods,Equations (Mathematics),College Students,Feedback (Response),Teacher Education,Secondary School Mathematics,High Schools,Foreign Countries

The study presents an introductory idea of using mathematical averages as a tool for enriching mathematical problem solving. Throughout students' activities, a research was conducted on their ability to solve mathematical problems, and how to cope with a variety of mathematical tasks, in a variety of ways, using the skills, tools and experiences they have acquired. The article illustrates different mathematical averages, the relation between them, and the ability to use them as an important alternative tool for solving mathematical problems. Various examples for the use of the properties in the relations between the different averages were given for the following purposes: proving inequalities, solving algebraic and trigonometric equations, investigating functions and determining the properties of geometric shapes in the plane and in the space. Also presented was the methodological aspects of the use of averages and a minor research conducted among students, on the contribution to the knowledge of this tool for mathematical problem-solving.
The Views of Turkish Teachers on the Use of Humor in Secondary Schools
Author: Kilic, Yasin
Date: 2016-05-10
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teaching Methods,Humor,Teacher Surveys,Secondary School Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Gender Differences,Attitude Measures,Statistical Analysis,Communication Strategies,Socialization,Language Usage,Textbooks,Likert Scales

Humor is the type of expression and writing representing the humorous aspect of life by adorning with jokes and wit. The main objective of humor is to criticize, ironize, and correct the flaws and hideousness in life. Humor develops the sensitivity, the empathizing ability and social facts' multidimensional perception of individuals. Humor enlivens life, entertains people, positively contributes to social relationships, and improves the imagination of individuals. This research has been conducted in order to determine the usage level of humor by secondary school Turkish teachers, and their attitudes and opinions regarding humor. The attitude scale prepared for the research was given to 128 Turkish teachers in total. The data obtained from the results of the research was interpreted by calculating its percentages, frequencies, arithmetical means and standard deviations. In order to determine the differences in the sample group's responses--for the attitude scale--as per their genders, the &quot;independent sample t test&quot; was applied and interpreted. And in order to determine the differences of the subject's responses--for the articles of survey-- as per their seniority in their profession, the &quot;one way ANOVA&quot; test was applied and interpreted. According to the results of this research, humor may be used as an effective form of communication and socialization tool. Through humor, the learning environment may be made more attractive, and the linguistic skills and vocabulary of the students may be enriched. It is possible to use humor in order to motivate the students for the course, to make the course more interesting, to increase the academic success of the students, and to improve the solution generation skills of the students. As per the results of the research, it was determined that there was no significant difference among the opinions of teachers--regarding the use of humor in secondary school Turkish courses--in respect of their seniority in the profession. In the same manner, it was determined that there was no significant difference among the opinions of the teachers--regarding the use of humor in secondary school Turkish courses--in respect of gender variables, and that the humorous items used in the Turkish textbooks are wholly insufficient.
Exploring Media Literacy and Computational Thinking: A Game Maker Curriculum Study
Author: Jenson, Jennifer
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Media Literacy,Computation,Thinking Skills,Foreign Countries,Games,Video Games,Pretests Posttests,Computer Literacy,Communications,Computer Science,Questionnaires,Educational Games,Middle School Students,High School Students,Grade 6,Case Studies,STEM Education,Statistical Analysis,Correlation,Programming

While advances in game-based learning are already transforming educative practices globally, with tech giants like Microsoft, Apple and Google taking notice and investing in educational game initiatives, there is a concurrent and critically important development that focuses on &quot;game construction&quot; pedagogy as a vehicle for enhancing computational literacy in middle and high school students. Essentially, game construction-based curriculum takes the central question &quot;do children learn from playing games&quot; to the next stage by asking &quot;(what) can children learn from constructing games?&quot; Founded on Seymour Papert's constructionist learning model, and developed over nearly two decades, there is compelling evidence that game construction can increase student confidence and build their capacity towards ongoing computing science involvement and other STEM subjects. Our study adds to the growing body of literature on school-based game construction through comprehensive empirical methodology and evidence-based guidelines for curriculum design. There is still debate as to the utility of different software tools for game construction, models of scaffolding knowledge, and evaluation of learning outcomes and knowledge transfer. In this paper, we present a study we conducted in a classroom environment with three groups of grade 6 students (60+ students) using Game Maker to construct their own games. Based on a quantitative analysis and a qualitative discussion we organize results around several core themes that speak to the field of inquiry: levels of computational literacy based on pre- and post-tests; gender-based attitudes to computing science and programming based on a pre- and post-survey; and the relationship between existing media literacy and performance in programming as part of the game construction curriculum. Significant results include some gender differences in attitudes towards computers and programming with boys demonstrating slightly higher confidence and performance. We discuss the complex reasons potentially contributing to that, particularly against a diverse ecology of overall media use, gameplay experience, and access to technology at home. Finally, we theorize game construction as an educational tool that directly engages foundational literacy and numeracy, and connects to wider STEM-oriented learning objectives in ways that can benefit both boys and girls in the classroom.