Predictors of digital competence in 7th grade: a multilevel analysis

Since 2006, the ability to use information and communication technology (ICT) has been included as a key competence in the curriculum in Norway, and specific competence aims are developed for most grades. The aim of this study was to identify students' ability to use ICT according to the competence aims, and to examine factors that can predict students' digital competence. A sample of 1793 students and 125 school leaders from 125 schools was used. The findings show variation in digital competence both between students and between schools. Results from a multilevel analysis showed that higher levels of mastery orientation and self‐efficacy (i.e., motivation) and the students' family background (i.e., language integration and the number of books at home) were predictors of students' levels of digital competence. Additionally, when school leaders reported higher levels of culture for professional development among the teachers at school, increased levels of digital competence were found among students. Challenges for schools and teachers to support students' motivation and to emphasize digital inclusion still prevail.     

Digital competence at the beginning of upper secondary school: Identifying factors explaining digital inclusion

During the last decade, information and communication technology has been given an increasingly large importance in our society. There seems to be a consensus regarding the necessity of supporting and developing school-based digital competence. In order to sustain digital inclusion, schools need to identify digital deficiencies and digital achievements. The concept of digital competence is scrutinized and discussed. This paper presents a research study including 4087 students from 24 upper secondary schools. The aim of the study was to scrutinize factors predicting students' digital competence, here operationalised as Digital judgements, To acquire and process digital information and To produce digital information. Analysis revealed substantial variation in digital competence between schools and within schools. The conditions at home, i.e. language integration and cultural capital, together with mastery orientation and academic aspirations did predict digital competence, and explained a substantial share of the total variation in digital competence. There are differences in what students mastered with ICT, and therefore, the students have various requirements. Further, the students attend heterogenic schools facing different kinds of challenges. Hopefully, the schools and teachers are willing to use the results from the test, and moreover, the test results can contribute to needs-based interventions and follow-ups.     

Supporting digitally enhanced learning through measurement in higher education: Development and validation of a university students' digital competence scale

Digital competence is critical for university students to adapt to and benefit from digitally enhanced learning. Prior studies on its measurement mostly focus on educators and relied on factor analyses. However, there is a lack of valid and convenient tools to measure university students' digital competence. This study aimed to develop a digital competence scale for university students (DC-US) in digitally enhanced learning with robust psychometric properties. An initial DC-US with 23 items was proposed to measure the single latent trait of digital competence. It was validated and refined continuously through a pilot study, a main study and a predictive validity study in three datasets involving 825 participants altogether, using factor analyses, Rasch analyses and the partial least squares modelling. The final DC-US turned out to comprise two subscales: technical literacy and digital skills, with 10 items retained, and manifested high internal consistency, unidimensionality and measurement invariance. The scale also demonstrated strong predictive validity, with technical literacy greatly predicting digital skills, which negatively predicted technostress. The DC-US enables instructors and school administrators to conveniently obtain preliminary information of university students' digital competence, informing their digital class preparation and development of timely interventions for addressing digital deficiencies.     

Students' abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts: The role of internet-specific epistemic justifications

Previous evaluation studies have rarely used authentic online texts and investigated upper secondary school students' use of evaluation criteria and deep reasoning. The associations between internet-specific epistemic justifications for knowing and credibility evaluation of online texts are not yet fully understood among adolescents. This study investigated upper secondary school students' (N = 372) abilities to evaluate self-selected authentic online texts and the role of internet-specific epistemic justifications in students' evaluation performance when solving a health-related information problem. Students selected three texts with Google Custom Search Engine and evaluated their credibility. Students' evaluation performance across the three texts was determined according to the different aspects evaluated (author, venue, intentions, evidence and corroboration) and the depth of their evaluations. Students also filled in the Internet-Specific Epistemic Justifications (ISEJ) inventory previously validated with pre-service teachers. The results revealed considerable differences in students' abilities to evaluate online texts. Students' beliefs in justification by authority and justification by multiple sources positively predicted their evaluation performance similarly in both topics. The findings suggest that the ISEJ inventory is also valid for upper secondary school students. Students should be explicitly taught to evaluate different credibility aspects and scaffolded to deeply engage with online information.     

Toward a mathematical model of motivation,volition, and performance

The goal of this study was to (1) empirically examine factors that affect human performance in a simulation-based learning environment, employing the framework of the integrative theory of Motivation, Volition, and Performance (MVP) (Keller, 2008a) and (2) develop and statistically evaluate a mathematical MVP model that can be applied to other digital learning environments. The development of a mathematical MVP model can provide empirical support for the elements included in the MVP theory and serve as a tool for designing effective digital learning environments. A regression analysis of motivational, volitional, and performance data of 62 graduate students that interacted with an online simulation revealed a significant model that explained approximately 70% of the variation in student satisfaction through motivational and volitional processing variables suggested by the MVP theory. Students' interest and curiosity toward the learning environment had the highest positive predicting power on students' satisfaction, while the volition processing variable had the lowest predicting power. Implications for the digital learning environments design and directions for future research are discussed.     

Participation,interaction, and academic achievement in an online discussion environment

Though online writing can be beneficial for diverse students in out-of-school environments, there is little consensus on the value of its use in schools. This study examined the online discussion of 48 fifth-grade students and their teachers over the 2009–2010 school year in a public school with large numbers of English learners. We collected students' statewide standardized writing and reading test scores, as well as an archive of all participants' discussion threads during the school year. Students' participation and interaction pattern in the online discussion environment over a school year was examined using growth model analysis and social network analysis. The effect of students' participation on their academic achievement was analyzed using multiple regressions. The results suggest that well-designed online discussions among linguistically diverse upper elementary students can result in increased participation and interaction, leading to language and literacy development.     

Patterns of students' collaborations by variations in their learning orientations in blended course designs: How is it associated with academic achievement?

Background

While a number of learner factors have been identified to impact students' collaborative learning, there has been little systematic research into how patterns of students' collaborative learning may differ by their learning orientations.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate: (1) variations in students' learning orientations by their conceptions, approaches, and perceptions; (2) the patterns of students' collaborations by variations in their learning orientations and (3) the contribution of patterns of collaborations to academic achievement.

Methods

A cohort of 174 Chinese undergraduates in a blended engineering course were surveyed for their conceptions of learning, approaches to learning and to using online learning technologies, and perceptions of e-learning, to identify variations in their learning orientations. Students' collaborations and mode of collaborations were collected through an open-ended social network analysis (SNA) questionnaire.

Results and Conclusions

A hierarchical cluster analysis identified an ‘understanding’ and ‘reproducing’ learning orientations. Based on students' learning orientations and their choices to collaborate, students were categorized into three mutually exclusive collaborative group, namely Understanding Collaborative group, Reproducing Collaborative group and Mixed Collaborative group. SNA centrality measures demonstrated that students in the Understanding Collaborative group had more collaborations and stayed in a better position in terms of capacity to gather information. Both students' approaches to learning and students' average collaborations significantly contributed to their academic achievement, explaining 3% and 4% of variance in their academic achievement respectively. The results suggest that fostering a desirable learning orientation may help improve students' collaborative learning.     

The Participation Divide Among “Online Experts”: Experience,Skills and Psychological Factors as Predictors of College Students' Web Content Creation

This study explored factors that predict online content creation among college students. A Web‐based survey revealed that there are differences by gender, race, and age even among this wired group. Drawing from literature on technology adoption, the digital divide, and self‐determination theory, this study found that psychological factors–perceived competence and both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations–predict content creation. Among the experience variables, having a computer in the students' own room is associated with content creation when controlling for all other factors. The gender divide disappears when experience, skills, perceived competence, and intrinsic motivation are considered. Finally, a new racial gap emerged; whites are less likely than minorities to participate in the Web even after controlling for all other variables. An earlier version of this paper received an award in the Jung‐Sook Lee Student Paper Competition of the Communication and Technology Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference, Boston, August, 2009. The author would like to thank Sebastián Valenzuela and Dr. Paula Poindexter for their helpful comments.     

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.     

The Integration of Mathematics in Physics Problem Solving: A Case Study of Greek Upper Secondary School Students

This article presents a case study that examines the level of integration of mathematical knowledge in physics problem solving among first grade students of upper secondary school. We explore the ways in which two specific students utilize their knowledge and we attempt to identify the epistemological framings they refer to while solving a physics problem. Participant observation was used for data collection, and the students' verbal interactions were video-recorded. The analysis shows that they tend to use a wide spectrum of epistemological framings that entangle mathematics and physics but at the same time face significant practical difficulties in modulating the two subjects.     

The development and evaluation of an augmented reality-based armillary sphere for astronomical observation instruction

Based on kinesthetic learning style theory and interviews regarding teachers' experiences applying traditional astronomy teaching methods, a mobile digital armillary sphere (MDAS) using augmented reality (AR) was developed for use during astronomical observation instruction. The MDAS enables visual processes and limb movements similar to those that would occur in actual outdoor experiences to be employed in the classroom, thereby overcoming existing instructional limitations. A quasi-experimental design method was adopted, and 200 fifth-grade students were selected as participants. The use of the MDAS in astronomical observation courses affected students' learning effectiveness and interest. The experimental results indicated that using the MDAS system during outdoor observation activities effectively enhanced both the students' learning of astronomical observation content and their performance of astronomical observation skills. In addition, use of the MDAS effectively increased students' interest in astronomical observations and learning, which had a substantial effect on retention.     

Usability,expectation, confirmation,and continuance intentions to use electronic textbooks

A trend in education is the use of electronic textbooks (e-textbook, [Stone, R. W., and L. Baker-Eveleth. 2013. “Students’ Expectation, Confirmation, and Continuance Intention to Use Electronic Textbooks.” Computers in Human Behavior 29 (3): 984–990.]). A variety of research has examined the motivations for e-textbook adoption as well as continuance intentions of e-textbooks after an initial adoption. This research extends the continuance intentions literature using the expectation–confirmation model ([Bhattacherjee, A. 2001. “Understanding Information Systems Continuance: An Expectation–Confirmation Model.” MIS Quarterly 25 (3): 351–370.]) and including the constructs of e-textbook usability and its dimensions. The data were responses to an online questionnaire by students at a medium-sized (USA) university. A total of 1434 responses were received for a 12.52% response rate. These responses were partitioned to include only complete responses from students who had previously used an e-textbook. This produced a sample of 639 questionnaire responses for empirical analysis. The analysis was performed using structural equation modelling (i.e. Procedure Calis in PC SAS version 9.2). The results showed that students' continuance intentions of e-textbooks are driven by students' satisfaction with e-textbooks and perceived usefulness. Additionally, students' expectation–confirmation and e-textbook usability positively influence both students' satisfaction and perceived usefulness and hence the intentions for continued e-textbook adoptions. Finally, the usability dimensions of efficiency and effectiveness significantly influence e-textbook usability.     

Development of a contextual decision-making game for improving students' learning performance in a health education course

Heath education is an important component of the curriculum for fostering children's correct health knowledge and good daily life habits. However, educators have indicated that most children might fail to realize the importance and meaning of health education content owing to the lack of authentic scenarios and daily life experience. With the advancement of computer technologies, researchers have tried to develop multimedia learning content in order to improve students' learning performance. Among various technology-enhanced learning alternatives, digital game-based learning has been recognized as a highly potential approach to motivating students. However, several previous studies have indicated that, without properly incorporating learning content into game scenarios, the effectiveness of digital game-based learning might not be as good as expected in comparison with conventional technology-enhanced learning. In this study, a contextual digital game was developed for improving students' learning performance in an elementary school health education course. A quasi experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach by situating the experimental group in the game-based learning scenario and the control group to learn with conventional e-books. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach not only improved the students' learning motivation, but also their learning achievement and problem-solving competences. Moreover, the significant two-way interaction suggested that the contextual game-based learning approach benefited the higher motivation students more than the lower motivation ones in terms of the advanced knowledge, showing the importance and potential of applying contextual games to health education activities.     

The influences of a two-tier test strategy on student learning: A lag sequential analysis approach

Recently, programming skills have become a core competence. Many teaching strategies were developed to improve programming skills. Among them, online tests were widely applied to enhance students learning. Nonetheless, they may not be able to engage students in deep thinking and reflections. Thus, a two-tier test strategy was proposed to address this issue. However, previous research mainly focused on investigating the effectiveness of the two-tier test strategy but there is a lack of studies that investigate why the two-tier test approach is effective. To this end, we developed an online test, where the two-tier test strategy was implemented. Additionally, an empirical study was conducted to explore the influences of the two-tier test approach on students' learning performance and behavior patterns. Pre-test and post-test scores were applied to assess students' learning performance while a lag sequential analysis was used to analyze behavior patterns. Regarding learning performance, the proposed two-tier test can improve students' programming skills. Regarding behavior patterns, the two-tier test approach facilitates students to develop a learning by reviewing strategy, which is useful to improve their programming skills.     

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.     

基于马尔科夫模型的就餐人数预测

准确预测就餐人数能够降低学校食堂的运行成本,提高学生对食堂的满意度. 根据校园一卡通的消费情况,提出一种基于马尔科夫模型的就餐人数预测研究方法. 首先,通过计算早餐就餐行为得到初始概率;其次,分别通过计算早、午餐和午、晚餐就餐行为得到早餐午餐概率转移矩阵和午餐晚餐概率转移矩阵;最后,根据初始概率和概率转移矩阵构建的模型预测三餐的就餐人数. 该方法的就餐人数预测的平均预测误差率为1.31%,具有良好的预测效果. 实验结果表明,该方法能够反映学生的就餐行为,从而可以为学校后勤部门提供一些参考意见,有助于学校的建设和管理也有助于满足学生的需要.     

Gender and socioeconomic related differences in performance based ICT competences

In the past, several studies have investigated the relationship between gender and socioeconomic status on the one hand, and students' ICT competences on the other. In this research field, two problems seem to occur. First, research findings are inconclusive. Second, most studies are conducted from the perspective of self-perceived ICT competence. Such measures suffer from self-reported bias, as they depend on students' own judgment of their ICT competences. This study aims to tackle both these problems. First, the outline of the design of a computer and performance-based assessment test that measures primary school students' ICT competences in a direct and valid way is presented. Second, the relationship between gender and socioeconomic status, and the students' results on the test i.e. their actual ICT competences was investigated. The performance-based test was administered to a representative sample of 378 sixth-grade students of 58 primary schools. The results of this study indicate that primary school students in general have particular difficulties in higher-order ICT competences that focus on communicating in a socially acceptable and clearly understandable way. Moreover, results show that girls have better technical ICT skills and higher-order ICT competences than boys. With regard to socioeconomic status, results show that the educational level of the mother is positively related to both students' technical ICT skills and higher-order ICT competences.     

Comprehension and navigation of networked hypertexts

This study aims to investigate secondary school students' reading comprehension and navigation of networked hypertexts with and without a graphic overview compared to linear digital texts. Additionally, it was studied whether prior knowledge, vocabulary, verbal, and visual working memory moderated the relation between text design and comprehension. Therefore, 80 first‐year secondary school students read both a linear text and a networked hypertext with and without a graphical overview. Logfiles registered their navigation. After reading the text, students answered textbased multiple choice questions and drew mindmaps to assess their structural knowledge of each text content. It was found that both textbased and structural knowledge were lower after reading a networked hypertext than a linear text, especially in students with lower levels of vocabulary. Students took generally more time to read the hypertext than the linear text. We concluded that networked hypertexts are more challenging to read than linear texts and that students may benefit from explicit training on how to read hypertexts.     

Reflection prompts and tutor feedback in a web-based learning environment: effects on students' self-regulated learning competence

This study investigated the effects of reflection prompts and tutor feedback on the development of students' self-regulated learning competence (i.e. SRLC). In a web-based learning environment forty-two students completed a study task with embedded prompts eliciting reflection. The reflection prompts could either deal with aspects of self-regulated learning or not. In addition, the students could either receive electronic feedback from a tutor on their reflection expressions or not. The inventory of learning styles that was used to register development of the SRLC revealed a significant progress on the regulation subscales as a function of tutor feedback. An interaction between the students' evaluations of reflection prompts and tutor feedback indicated that the prompts that were related to aspects of self-regulated learning were perceived as less disturbing than the non-SRLC related prompts, especially when combined with tutor feedback. This study offers indications for the practical value of the combination of reflection prompts and tutor feedback as a promising means to develop students' SRLC in distance education applying a web-based learning environment.