On-line synchronous scientific argumentation learning: Nurturing students' argumentation ability and conceptual change in science context

The purpose of this study is to examine the difference in effectiveness between two on-line scientific learning programs – one with an argumentation component and one without an argumentation component – on students' scientific argumentation ability and conceptual change. A quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Two classes of 8th grade students (the experimental group) received the on-line scientific argumentation learning program about chemical reaction, and the other two classes of 8th grade students (the control group) received the same on-line scientific learning program about chemical reaction, but without argumentation, for two weeks. All 140 students were administered the scientific conception test, conceptual change test, and argumentation test before, one week after, and eight weeks after learning. In addition, the experimental group students' on-line argumentation process was collected. Results showed that the students of the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group, regardless of scientific conceptions, conceptual change, and argumentation. Regression results indicated that hold of scientific conceptions is the best predicator for students' conceptual change, followed by argumentation ability. The quantity and quality of scientific arguments that students generated in a series of argumentation questions improved across the four topics. In addition, students also successfully changed their conceptions from pre- to post-driving questions across four topics. This clearly demonstrates that students' argumentation ability and conceptual change were both facilitated through receiving the on-line Synchronous Argumentation science learning program.     

The effect of pedagogical GAME model on students' PISA scientific competencies

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of a pedagogical model of digital games on students' scientific competencies that are advocated by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). As a single game-based learning strategy may not be enough to enhance such competencies, the online game in the current study incorporated the design of the proposed pedagogical gamification, assessment, modeling, and enquiry (GAME) model. The participants were 69 sixth grade students at one primary school in Taiwan. A quasi-experimental design was adopted. The experimental group students learned with the GAME model, whereas the comparison group students only learned with traditional learning way. The results showed that the learning gain in scientific competencies of the experimental group was better than those of the comparison group. This study revealed that the GAME model has potential to promote students' PISA scientific competencies. It is suggested that the integral GAME model may serve as one kind of strategies to enhance students' scientific competencies.     

Enhancing skill in constructing scientific explanations using a structured argumentation scaffold in scientific inquiry

Constructing scientific explanations is necessary for students to engage in scientific inquiry. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of using a structured argumentation scaffold to enhance skill in constructing scientific explanations in the process of scientific inquiry. The proposed approach is designed to scaffold the following aspects of argumentation: the argumentation process, the explanation structuring, explanation construction, and explanation evaluation. A quasi-experiment was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the structured argumentation scaffold in developing skill in constructing scientific explanations and engaging in electronic dialogues. A web-based collaborative synchronous inquiry system, ASIS (Argumentative Scientific Inquiry System), was utilized to support students as they worked in groups to carry out inquiry tasks. Two intact sixth grade classes (n = 50) participated in the study. The data show that the ASIS with the structured argumentation scaffold helped students significantly improve their skills in constructing scientific explanations, make more dialogue moves for explanation and query, and use more of all four argument components. In addition, the use of warrants, one of the components of an argument, was found to be a critical variable in predicting students' competence with regard to constructing scientific explanations. The results provide references for further research and system development with regard to facilitating students' construction of scientific argumentation and explanations.     

Developing a web‐based multimedia assessment system for facilitating science laboratory instruction

This study developed a web‐based multimedia assessment system (WMA system) and applied it to science laboratory instruction. The goal was to improve students' knowledge acquisition under science laboratory instruction. The developed system enabled learners to perform self‐assessments by responding to multimedia technology test items online. The system recorded each learner's complete answer history and provided the students with personalized learning resources. This study adopted a quasi‐experimental research design. The learning content was an “experiment on separating mixtures.” Students participating in the research were divided into a typical science laboratory instruction group (TI group; n = 25) and a group that received instruction through the WMA system (WMA group; n = 26). Before instruction, all the students completed the conceptual knowledge and experimental knowledge pretests. During instruction, the TI group watched the teacher's demonstration experiment, and the students then performed the experiment in a real laboratory. In the WMA group, after learning through the WMA system, the students also performed the experiment in a real laboratory. After instruction, all the students completed the conceptual knowledge and experimental knowledge posttests. The findings indicated that the students in the WMA group showed significantly higher improvements in their scientific conceptual knowledge and experimental knowledge.     

Model development in scientific discovery learning with a computer-based physics task

Based on theories of scientific discovery learning (SDL) and conceptual change, this study explores students' preconceptions in the domain of torques in physics and the development of these conceptions while learning with a computer-based SDL task. As a framework we used a three-space theory of SDL and focused on model space, which is supposed to contain the current conceptualization/model of the learning domain, and on its change through hypothesis testing and experimenting. Three questions were addressed: (1) What are students' preconceptions of torques before learning about this domain? To do this a multiple-choice test for assessing students' models of torques was developed and given to secondary school students (N = 47) who learned about torques using computer simulations. (2) How do students' models of torques develop during SDL? Working with simulations led to replacement of some misconceptions with physically correct conceptions. (3) Are there differential patterns of model development and if so, how do they relate to students’ use of the simulations? By analyzing individual differences in model development, we found that an intensive use of the simulations was associated with the acquisition of correct conceptions. Thus, the three-space theory provided a useful framework for understanding conceptual change in SDL.     

Effects of an integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving approach on students' learning achievements,perceptions and cognitive loads

Although students could effectively search for web data with proper keywords and select web pages related to the studied core issue, however summarizing or organizing the retrieved information remains a difficult task for them. Concept mapping is known to be an effective knowledge construction tool for helping learners organize important concepts related to a core issue. To address the problem, an integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving environment, CM-Quest, has been developed; moreover, an experiment has been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach on students' learning performance, learning satisfaction and cognitive load in an elementary school social studies course. The results show that the concept map-integrated approach can significantly enhance the students' web-based problem-solving performance, although the students showed lower degrees of technology acceptance and learning satisfaction in comparison with the conventional web-based problem-solving approach. Moreover, it is found that the students in the concept mapping group revealed higher cognitive loads than those in the control group, which could be the factor contributing to the lower technology acceptance degree and learning satisfaction. As a consequence, it is concluded that the integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving approach is helpful to students in guiding them to learn in a more effective way. On the other hand, it remains an open issue to find a suitable way of integrating concept maps into the learning process without introducing too much extra cognitive load so as to promote students' acceptance degree of using technology for better learning.     

Effects of the handheld technology instructional approach on performances of students of different achievement levels

The handheld technology selected and the ways it is implemented influences the way mathematics is taught and learnt, which in turn generates positive effects in the mathematics education. This study was conducted to examine the effects of handheld technology instructional approaches on performance of students of different achievement levels in Probability at a private higher learning institution in Malaysia. A quasi-experimental study with non-equivalent control group design with pre-test and post-test design was conducted on a sample of 65 students. The sample was divided into the experimental group and control group. The handheld technology instructional approaches, i.e. teaching and learning approaches using the graphing calculator (GC) as a teaching and learning tool and the GC instructional worksheets, were employed in the teaching and learning of probability in the experimental group. The conventional teaching approach was adopted in the control group. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to collect and analyse data. Quantitative data was collected using the Probability Achievement Test (PAT). PAT was administered to both groups at the beginning and end of the study. Qualitative data was collected using students' journals. The results show that students, the high, average and low achievers, gained benefits when the handheld technology instructional approaches were used in learning Probability, particularly random variable, poisson distribution, binomial distribution and normal distribution.     

Examining the effect of the computational models on learning performance,scientific reasoning,epistemic beliefs and argumentation: An implication for the STEM agenda

Computational experiment approach considers modelling as the essential feature of Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) where the model and the computer take the place of the “classical” experimental set-up and simulation replaces the experiment (Landau, Páez, & Bordeianu, 2008).Modelling, as a pedagogical tool, involves the model construction, the exploration of model characteristics and the model application to a specific problem, resembling authentic activities of scientists and mathematicians (Herbert, 2003). Jonassen and Strobel (2006) state that in addition to modelling domain knowledge, learners can apply modelling skills in different ways: by modelling domain knowledge, by modelling problems (constructing problem spaces), by modelling systems and by modelling semantic structures. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of the Computational Experiment Mathematical Modelling (CEMM) approach on University students': a) reasoning abilities, b) learning performance, c) epistemological beliefs, and d) argumentation. Students worked in a learning environment which contained applications in Physics created by the author and all of them were based on mathematical models, as the model was considered as the fundamental unit of instruction (Hestenes, 1999). Fifty (50) pre-service primary school university students participated in this project and results indicated a strong relationship between students' learning performance, performance in the scientific reasoning abilities test, epistemic beliefs and the ability to use arguments during computational experiments. This paper suggests an implementable integration strategy that uses mathematical models for physics phenomena that are developed using algorithms, aiming to deepen students' conceptual understanding and scientific reasoning. After completing the course, the mechanics baseline test (MBT) and a test on Heat were administered. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in problem-solving skill test mean scores, as measured by the MBT, and the test on Heat among concrete, formal and postformal reasoners. Overall, this study provides evidence that scientific reasoning has a strong impact to learning performance, scientific reasoning, epistemological beliefs and argumentation while the methodology of the Computational Experiment provides essential tools to students to implement Inquiry based scenario. Students developed their scenarios using an open source repository using the computational experiment approach and created their experiments using the Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) laboratory approach.Results have implications for the effectiveness of the computational experiment as a methodology to be included in the STEM agenda.     

Supporting middle school students' online reading of scientific resources: moving beyond cursory,fragmented, and opportunistic reading

The abundant scientific resources on the Web provide great opportunities for students to expand their science learning, yet easy access to information does not ensure learning. Prior research has found that middle school students tend to read Web‐based scientific resources in a shallow, superficial manner. A software tool was designed to support middle school students in reading online scientific resources through three key strategies: making explicit a skim–read–summarize structure for online reading, using prompts to guide students' reading and foster articulation of thinking, and connecting reading to learning purposes. This study examined the differences between regular and guided online reading performed by eight pairs of sixth graders in a science inquiry project. The students' online reading processes and conversations were captured by a screen‐recording programme. Analysis of 60 h of screen videos showed that the students' online reading in the regular condition was cursory, fragmented, and opportunistic, while the structured online reading was more deliberate, thorough, and purposeful. Overall, the results suggest that middle school students' online reading of scientific resources needs to be guided.     

Collaborative learning as a collective competence when students use the potential of meaning in asynchronous dialogues

The aim of this study is to examine and to describe how student teachers engaged in courses in web-based learning environments over a period of 40-weeks develop a collective competence to collaborate. The collective competence of collaboration is defined as the level of learning ability a group of students express when using dialogues as a tool for their own and other’s learning in a web-based learning environment. The students’ contributions to the course assignments, the group responses and the collaborative discussions and dialogues were analysed and interpreted based on Bakhtin’s and Rommetveit’s theories on dialogic interactions and meaning potentials. The results describe three different levels at which students use dialogues as a tool for learning when they collaborate within the group.     

Enhancing web-based language learning through self-monitoring

Abstract  The present study investigated the effects of a self-monitoring strategy on web-based language learning. Both students' academic performance and their motivational beliefs were investigated. The interaction between the use of a self-monitoring strategy and the level of learners' English proficiency was also examined. A total of 99 college students who were enrolled in classes for Freshmen English participated in this study. The experimental group was led to a web page with self-monitoring form for recording study time and environment, learning process, predicting test scores, and self-evaluation while the control group was not. It was found that (1) the self-monitoring strategy had a significant main effect on students' academic performance and their motivational beliefs; students who applied the self-monitoring strategy outperformed students who did not apply the self-monitoring strategy on both academic performance and motivational beliefs regardless of their English proficiency level; and (2) the influence of self-monitoring was greater on the lower English level students than on the higher English level students. The positive findings suggest that encouraging students to develop self-monitoring could help increase the success of online learning. Thus, applying a self-monitoring strategy is strongly recommended for web-based instruction.     

The effect of inquiry-based explorations in a dynamic geometry environment on sixth grade students’ achievements in polygons

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using a dynamic geometry environment (DGE) together with inquiry-based explorations on the sixth grade students’ achievements in polygons and congruency and similarity of polygons. Two groups of sixth grade students were selected for this study: an experimental group composed of 66 students (34 boys and 32 girls); and a control group composed of 68 students (35 boys and 33 girls). The students in the experimental group taught with a DGE, while the students in the control group received textbook-based direct instruction. An achievement test was administered as pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test in both groups. Qualitative data were collected through videotaped classroom observations. The results showed that the DGE together with open-ended explorations significantly improved students’ performances in polygons and congruency and similarity of polygons. Furthermore, students in the experimental group showed greater interest and motivation toward learning geometry compared to those in the control group whom often showed lack of interest and curiosity. Also, students’ comments and interpretations during lessons and tests were more accurate and advanced in the experimental group as they engage more in the DGE. Moreover, qualitative data suggested that boys showed greater interest in the computer-based learning environment than girls in the experimental groups although no significant gender effect on achievement was found.     

Investigating university student preferences and beliefs about learning in the web-based context

Psychological studies have shown that personal beliefs about learning and environmental preferences affect learning behaviors. However, these learner characteristics have not been widely discussed in the web-based context. By developing questionnaires, this study attempted to detect learners’ web-based learning environmental preferences (WLEP) and beliefs about web-based learning (BWL). The scope of WLEP focused on the pedagogical dimension of the web-based learning environment, while BWL concerned the attributes and control factors of the web-based learning. There were about five hundreds of Taiwan university students participating in the study. Through factor analysis, the scales discussed in the study revealed a satisfactory validity and reliability in assessing students’ preferences and beliefs. Further analyses showed that university students preferred more of individual and structured instructional configurations while expected the outward mode of interaction. In general, students held a rather contextual belief about web-based learning, which was found to be correlated with their environmental preferences.     

An empirical examination of factors affecting college students’ proactive stickiness with a web-based English learning environment

Drawing on the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory, this study develops a conceptual model to investigate the determinants of college students’ proactive “stickiness” with a web-based English learning (WBEL) environment. The model was validated using a cross-sectional survey of 306 college students. The partial least squares (PLS) method was applied to validate the measurement properties and proposed hypotheses. Overall, the empirical results show that computer self-efficacy, system characteristics, digital material features, interaction, learning outcome expectations and learning climate are critical affecting factors in determining student learning gratifications with WBEL, which is crucial to a college student’s proactive stickiness with the WBEL system. This study demonstrates the value in integrating findings from cognitive science and mass communication research to understand the WBEL processes involved. The findings provide initial insights into those factors that are likely critical antecedents for promoting college students’ English learning effectiveness through web-based technologies.     

Regulative support for collaborative scientific inquiry learning

Abstract This study examined whether online tool support for regulation promotes student learning during collaborative inquiry in a computer simulation‐based learning environment. Sixty‐one students worked in small groups to conduct a scientific inquiry with fluid dynamics. Groups in the experimental condition received a support tool with regulatory guidelines; control groups were given a version of this tool from which these instructions were removed. Results showed facilitative effects for the fully specified support tool on learning outcomes and initial planning. Qualitative data elucidated how regulative guidelines enhanced learning and suggests ways to further improve regulative processes within collaborative inquiry learning settings.     

Promoting self-regulated learning in web-based learning environments

Self-regulated learning with the Internet or hypermedia requires not only cognitive learning strategies, but also specific and general meta-cognitive strategies. The purposes of the Study2000 project, carried out at the TU Dresden, were to develop and evaluate authoring tools that support teachers and students in web-based learning and instruction. This paper presents how the authoring tools of the Study2000 project can implement psychologically sound measures to promote (a) active and elaborated learning activities and (b) meta-cognitive activities in a web-based learning environment. Furthermore, it describes a study involving 72 university students in the use of such a web-based learning environment in a self-regulated learning setting at the university level. Results show that students spent almost 70% of their study time with texts, 11% with learning tasks and 12% with the active and elaborated learning tools, whereas meta-cognitive aids where hardly used (<1%).     

The effect of reflective learning e-journals on reading comprehension and communication in language learning

This study focused on the use of reflective learning e-journals in a university web-based English as a foreign language (EFL) course. In the study, a multimedia-based English programme comprising fifteen different units was delivered online as a one-semester instructional course. Ninety-eight undergraduate students participated, and they were divided into two groups: the treatment group used reflective learning e-journals, while the control group completed content-related exercises. The study investigated the effects of reflective learning e-journals and how students used them to aid learning. Results show that when learning from web-based instruction, students who used reflective learning e-journals outperformed students who did not do so in terms of reading comprehension. Using reflective e-journals improved the academic performance of learners in the online course. In addition, journal writing students claimed that they also improved their organisational skills and writing abilities through their reflective learning e-journal writing and found the journal writing to be a very helpful tool in reviewing the course and preparing for the exam.     

Constructing and evaluating online goal-setting mechanisms in web-based portfolio assessment system for facilitating self-regulated learning

The purpose of the present study was to construct goal-setting mechanisms in a web-based portfolio assessment system (WBPAS), based on the self-regulated learning (SRL) process proposed by Zimmerman, and to examine effects of these mechanisms on SRL. The participants were two classes of 11th graders taking the website design class in a vocational high school. The participants were assigned randomly to either an experimental group (n = 40) learning with a WBPAS or a control group (n = 41) learning with a paper-based portfolio. The study results revealed the following: a) the quality of goal-setting mechanisms may facilitate SRL. b) Students setting learning goals with the WBPAS demonstrated significantly better SRL than students setting learning goals with the paper-based portfolio.     

Exploring feedback and student characteristics relevant for personalizing feedback strategies

Personalized tutoring feedback is a powerful method that expert human tutors apply when helping students to optimize their learning. Thus, research on tutoring feedback strategies tailoring feedback according to important factors of the learning process has been recognized as a promising issue in the field of computer-based adaptive educational technologies. Our paper seeks to contribute to this area of research by addressing the following aspects: First, to investigate how students' gender, prior knowledge, and motivational characteristics relate to learning outcomes (knowledge gain and changes in motivation). Second, to investigate the impact of these student characteristics on how tutoring feedback strategies varying in content (procedural vs. conceptual) and specificity (concise hints vs. elaborated explanations) of tutoring feedback messages affect students' learning and motivation. Third, to explore the influence of the feedback parameters and student characteristics on students' immediate post-feedback behaviour (skipping vs. trying to accomplish a task, and failing vs. succeeding in providing a correct answer). To address these issues, detailed log-file analyses of an experimental study have been conducted. In this study, 124 sixth and seventh graders have been exposed to various tutoring feedback strategies while working on multi-trial error correction tasks in the domain of fraction arithmetic. The web-based intelligent learning environment ActiveMath was used to present the fraction tasks and trace students' progress and activities. The results reveal that gender is an important factor for feedback efficiency: Male students achieve significantly lower knowledge gains than female students under all tutoring feedback conditions (particularly, under feedback strategies starting with a conceptual hint). Moreover, perceived competence declines from pre- to post-test significantly more for boys than for girls. Yet, the decline in perceived competence is not accompanied by a decline in intrinsic motivation, which, instead, increases significantly from pre- to post-test. With regard to the post-feedback behaviour, the results indicate that students skip further attempts more frequently after conceptual than after procedural feedback messages.     

Implementing virtual collaborative inquiry practises in a middle-school context

The aim of the present study was to investigate the challenges that relate to the implementation of virtual inquiry practises in middle school. The case was a school course in which a group of Finnish students (N = 14) and teachers (N = 7) completed group inquiries through virtual collaboration, using a web-based learning environment. The task was to accomplish a cross-disciplinary inquiry into cultural issues. The students worked mainly at home and took much responsibility for their course achievements. The investigators analysed the pedagogical design of the course and the content of the participants' interaction patterns in the web-based environment, using qualitative content analysis and social network analysis. The findings suggest that the students succeeded in producing distinctive cultural products, and both the students and the teachers adopted novel roles during the inquiry. The web-based learning environment was used more as a coordination tool for organizing the collaborative work than as a forum for epistemic inquiry. The tension between the school curriculum and the inquiry practises was manifest in the participants' discussions of the assessment criteria of the course.