Exploring college English language learners’ self and social regulation of learning during wiki-supported collaborative reading activities

Students’ regulation has been conceptualized as an important impetus for effective and efficient collaborative learning. However, little empirical evidence has been reported about language learners’ regulatory behaviors in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). The purpose of this study is to investigate the occurrence of self and social aspects of regulation during wiki-supported collaborative reading activities in the context of learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Sixty Chinese college students organized in twelve groups participated in this study over a sixteen-week semester. Using an integrated method of content analysis and sequential analysis, students’ chat logs were coded and analyzed to explore the characteristics of students’ self and social regulatory behaviors in terms of regulation type, regulation process, and regulation focus. Results indicate that all groups demonstrated active social regulation in the collaborative activities. Compared with low-performing groups, high-performing groups displayed distinctively different patterns of regulatory behaviors in “social regulation,” “evaluating,” “content monitoring,” and “social emotional regulation.” Moreover, the analysis further reveals a more continuous and smooth regulation in the high-performing groups, while low-performing groups tended to be lost in a single repeated regulatory behavior pattern such as “self-regulation” or “organizing”. This study not only fills a gap in the current collaborative English learning literature, but also contributes to our knowledge of social regulation in CSCL. Pedagogical implications and future research are also addressed.     

Audio peer feedback to promote deep learning in online education

We investigated the relation between providing and receiving audio peer feedback with a deep approach to learning within online education. Online students were asked to complete peer feedback assignments. Data through a questionnaire with 108 respondents and 14 interviews were used to measure to what extent deep learning was perceived and why. Results support the view that both providing and receiving audio peer feedback indeed promote deep learning. As a consequence of the peer feedback method, the following student mechanisms were triggered: “feeling personally committed,” “probing back and forth,” and “understanding one's own learning process.” Particularly important for both providing and receiving feedback is feeling personally committed. Results also show that mechanisms were a stronger predictor for deep learning when providing than when receiving. Given the context in which instructors face an increasing number of students and a high workload, students may be supported by online audio peer feedback as a method to choose a deep approach to learning.     

Light music online system based on FPGA and Convolutional Neural Network

In recent years, research in education and study abroad has focused on collaborative research between education and learning, for example, using “diversified education” and “flexible education” in the teaching process. Simultaneously, colleges in numerous nations likewise that undergrad instruction must address self-association and variation models in the training and learning measure. These advanced instructive thoughts and college strategies offer viable hypothetical help for this study. However, the traditional educational model of “diversity” and “cognitive flexibility” pays attention to the difference in student learning knowledge. Personal Career Goals: In other words, this model is designed from educational content instructions, ignoring key factors. It must be a difference in the actual meaning of the development of the “diversity” student personality. Therefore, despite the various social systems, the importance of reforms in foreign universities and education has improved, reflecting previous experimental educational effectiveness assessments, reflecting the development of traditional educational theories based on the FPGA and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Teach and summarize your experience. In Reality, it easy to find a universal educational model. Because the actual educational model comes from achieving educational goals, consensus can be obtained from numerous educational theories and practical studies.     

Ontology based approach to Bayesian student model design

Probabilistic student model based on Bayesian network enables making conclusions about the state of student’s knowledge and further learning and teaching process depends on these conclusions. To implement the Bayesian network into a student model, it is necessary to determine “a priori” probability of the root nodes, as well as, the conditional probabilities of all other nodes. In our approach, we enable non-empirical mathematical determination of conditional probabilities, while “a priory” probabilities are empirically determined based on the knowledge test results. The concepts that are believed to have been learned or not learned represent the evidence. Based on the evidence, it is concluded which concepts need to be re-learned, and which not. The study described in this paper has examined 15 ontologically based Bayesian student models. In each model, special attention has been devoted to defining “a priori” probabilities, conditional probabilities and the way the evidences are set in order to test the successfulness of student knowledge prediction. Finally, the obtained results are analyzed and the guidelines for ontology based Bayesian student model design are presented.     

Teaching presence and regulation in an electronic portfolio

Teaching presence provides conceptual coherence to construct, operationalise and interpret the regulation of online learning environments. Electronic portfolios contribute to the regulatory process moving from an internalisation to an external regulation. The aim of this research is to analyse the relationship between the techno-pedagogical design of an electronic portfolio (Transfolio), the teaching presence focused on the use of the tool and the student regulation processes. This study analyses the online teaching–learning processes supported by Transfolio of two post-graduate courses by focusing on the techno-pedagogical support and on the regulation process. The nature of our research objectives leads us to use a mixed methodology based on a naturalistic observation, content analysis and comparative statistics. Results show that the teaching–learning process is characterised by the patterns of co-regulation and self-regulation. Also, results show the importance of the techno-pedagogical support provided by the teacher, not only in regard to the nature of this instructional support but also concerning how it is presented to the student and the importance that is attributed to it in the teaching–learning process, that is, what it is that assistance is offered in.     

Self-efficacy and learning experience of information education: in case of junior high school

The purpose of this study is to make clear the relationships between student’s self-efficacy and learning experience of information education in case of junior high school. Two investigations were implemented in this study. The aim of first investigation was to grasp the present status of students’ feeling of effectiveness of their learning experience in information education. Also, the aim of second investigation was to verify the relationships between students’ self-efficacy and the abilities for information utilizing that promoted in information education. The first investigation with a question: “What kind of a learning experience do you feel is useful in your life?” was conducted on 426 junior high school students. As a result, almost half of the students feel effectiveness of gaining computer-operating skills in “Information and Computer” class. Also, it is suggested that utilization of Internet could promote the feeling of effectiveness in current daily lives. In second investigation, the relationship between self-efficacy and abilities for information utilizing was examined by using multi-regression analysis on 544 junior high school students. As a result, abilities for information utilizing were affected from self-evaluation of “social position of abilities” and “positive attitude to activities” in self-efficacy. Also, self-efficacy was affected from “processing ability of information” and “creation ability of information” in abilities for information utilizing. By the results of these investigations, it is suggested that these two factors are formed as a gradual cycle which promote each other. From these results, some suggestions for improvement of classroom activities in information education were proposed.     

Is FLIP enough? Or should we use the FLIPPED model instead?

The flipped learning model, which “flips” traditional in-class lectures with collaborative activities, has gained many followers and converts in K-12 education. However, a review of previous studies shows that the flipped model is still underutilized and underexplored in the higher education context. Research and design models for flipped learning in higher education are also insufficient. This study attempts to fill this gap by developing a model that can provide a foundation for further research and practice for flipped learning in higher education. Building from the four pillars of F-L-I-P™ (Flexible Environments, Learning Culture, Intentional Content, and Professional Educators), the proposed research and design model named “FLIPPED” adds three extra letters—P-E-D (Progressive Activities, Engaging Experiences, and Diversified Platforms)—to the F-L-I-P™ acronym. This model was implemented in a “Holistic Flipped Classroom” environment and evaluated based on a student survey, interviews, and an analysis of computer system logs. Findings demonstrated that the proposed model was effective; students reported that they were satisfied with the course, their attendance improved, and their study efforts increased. Results also suggested that the transactional distance changed during the learning process: highly motivated students performed much better than less motivated students. However, some students retained their former passive learning habits, and this resulted in an obstruction to full adoption. Reflections on the achievements and challenges of the “FLIPPED” model have culminated in various examples, guidelines, and suggestions for practitioners as they consider their own design, implementation, and adoption.¹     

Here and now mobile learning: An experimental study on the use of mobile technology

Mobile technology opens the door for a new kind of learning called here and now learning that occurs when learners have access to information anytime and anywhere to perform authentic activities in the context of their learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of here and now mobile learning on student achievement and attitude. The research questions addressed were (1) Does “Here and Now” mobile learning significantly improve student achievement when compared with Computer based Instruction? (2) Does “Here and Now” mobile learning significantly improve student attitude when compared with Computer based Instruction? (3) Are there differences in student achievement and attitudes when “Here and Now” mobile learning is delivered using a tablet versus ipod? 109 undergraduate students enrolled in preservice instructional design and instructional technology courses at a regional southeastern university participated in the study. Participants took a pretest at the beginning of the study, and then were assigned to one of the versions of an art lesson (CBI version and iPad/iPod version) which were developed using Lectora Inspire incorporating information on five different paintings in the education building. After the lesson, they completed the posttest and an attitude survey. ANOVA was conducted on data obtained from the achievement posttest and on the attitude survey results for the Likert type items (Items 1–12). Analyses on achievement and attitude data revealed positive significant differences. The CBI treatment achieved positive posttest scores on the posttest while the iPad/iPod treatments had positive attitudes. This study has implications for those designing and implementing mobile learning.     

The effects of trust and constructive controversy on student achievement and attitude in online cooperative learning environments

This study investigated the effects of trust and constructive controversy on student achievement and attitude in online cooperative learning environments. Students in one university course were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups after they took part in a common initial workshop on general cooperative learning skills. The “trust” and the “constructive controversy” groups received subsequent associated skills training. The overall results indicated that after each group received the treatment during online cooperative group activities, the “trust” groups had significantly higher achievement than the “constructive controversy” groups. In addition, the “trust” groups had significantly more positive attitudes toward online cooperative learning than the “constructive controversy” groups. Specifically, using “trust” building strategies was significantly more effective than using “constructive controversy” strategies for improving the ‘openness and sharing’ and ‘acceptance and support’ components of student attitudes in online cooperative learning environments.     

Relationship between perceived problem‐solving skills and academic performance of novice learners in introductory programming courses

Past research has shown that student problem‐solving skills may be used to determine student final exam performance. This study reports on the relationship between student perceived problem‐solving skills 1 1 Henceforth, for brevity, we drop the word “perceived” in “student perceived problem‐solving skills” and use either “student perceived problem solving” or simply “student PSS.”
and academic performance in introductory programming, in formative and summative programming assessment tasks. We found that the more effective problem solvers achieved better final exam scores. There was no significant difference in formative assessment performances between effective and poor problem solvers. It is also possible to categorize students on the basis of problem‐solving skills, in order to exploit opportunities to improve learning around constructivist learning theory. Finally, our study identified transferability skills and the study may be extended to identify the impact of problem solving transfer skills on student problem solving for programming.     

LEARNING BY TEACHING: A NEW AGENT PARADIGM FOR EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses Betty's Brain, a teachable agent in the domain of river ecosystems that combines learning by teaching with self-regulation mentoring to promote deep learning and understanding. Two studies demonstrate the effectiveness of this system. The first study focused on components that define student-teacher interactions in the learning by teaching task. The second study examined the value of adding meta-cognitive strategies that governed Betty's behavior and self-regulation hints provided by a mentor agent. The study compared three versions: a system where the student was tutored by a pedagogical agent, a learning by teaching system, where students taught a baseline version of Betty, and received tutoring help from the mentor, and a learning by teaching system, where Betty was enhanced to include self-regulation strategies, and the mentor provided help on domain material on how to become better learners and better teachers. Results indicate that the addition of the self-regulated Betty and the self-regulation mentor better prepared students to learn new concepts later, even when they no longer had access to the SRL environment.     

特征标记依赖自编码器的多标记特征提取方法

在多标记学习中,如何处理高维特征一直是研究难点之一,而特征提取算法可以有效解决数据特征高维性导致的分类性能降低问题。但目前已有的多标记特征提取算法很少充分利用特征信息并充分提取"特征-标记"独立信息及融合信息。基于此,提出一种基于特征标记依赖自编码器的多标记特征提取方法。使用核极限学习机自编码器将原标记空间与原特征空间融合并产生重构后的新特征空间。一方面最大化希尔伯特-施密特范数以充分利用标记信息;另一方面通过主成分分析来降低特征提取过程中的信息损失,结合二者并分别提取"特征-特征"和"特征-标记"信息。通过在Yahoo多组高维多标记数据集上的对比实验表明,该算法的性能优于当前五种主要的多标记特征提取方法,验证了所提算法的有效性。     

Computer-assisted learning and reading: Developing the product or fostering the process?

This article describes the development of a computer-based package of reading strategy lessons. The package differs from most current computer-assisted programs in reading in three important ways. First, the lessons are directly derived from current reading theory. Our particular approach is predicated on a top-down model rather than on the more common efforts based on bottom-up models. Second, the computer-related activities form only one component of the complete package. We see the computer exercises as embedded within a larger curriculum context. Third, the exercise does not contain “right and wrong” answers. The exercise requires the student to resolve the meaning of an unknown word in a short story. At various intervals in the story the student is required to make predictions about the meaning of the unknown word, using syntactic, semantic and pagmatic clues contained within the story and within the mind—the student's “world” knowledge. Since the student may wish to alter his predictions based on further information, the exercise helps the student see reading as a process. The resolution of meaning is seen more as a series of successive approximations than as an exact product. The computer “permits” any response, the reasonableness of which must be defended in a subsequent class discussion.     

A multivariate investigation of gender differences in the number of online tests received-checking for perceived self-regulation

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the number of formative e-tests taken differed by gender, using students' perceived self-regulation levels as a covariate. The sample was 340 teacher candidates reached through purposeful sampling. The study lasted a semester; students were involved in a blended learning environment where classroom lessons supported by self-regulatory e-tests as a part of an online course management system, called MOODLE. It was possible for students to take 10-item online quizzes and 20-item practice tests as many as they wanted. In the analysis, a factorial ANOVA design was applied. Findings indicated a moderate correlation between the number of formative e-tests taken and the perceived self-regulation levels, indicating higher perceived self-regulation levels as the number of formative e-tests increased. By using perceived self-regulation levels as a covariate, the gender differences in the number of e-tests taken were also investigated. According to finding, gender variable did not explain the differences in the compound variable “the number of formative e-tests”. However, after controlling for the effect of perceived self-regulation, the findings were significant. Hence, we can conclude that self-regulated behavior is independent of students' gender; therefore, e-assessments is a self-regulated, technology-based instructional aid in higher education.     

A contextual game-based learning approach to improving students' inquiry-based learning performance in social studies courses

Inquiry-based learning, an effective instructional strategy, can be in the form of a problem or task for triggering student engagement. However, how to situate students in meaningful inquiry activities remains to be settled, especially for social studies courses. In this study, a contextual educational computer game is developed to improve students' learning performance based on an inquiry-based learning strategy. An experiment has been conducted on an elementary school social studies course to evaluate the effects of the proposed approach on the inquiry-based learning performances of students with different learning styles. The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach effectively enhanced the students' learning effects in terms of their learning achievement, learning motivation, satisfaction degree and flow state. Furthermore, it is also found that the proposed approach benefited the “active” learning style students more than the “reflective” style students in terms of learning achievement. This suggests the need to provide additional supports to students with particular learning styles in the future.     

The effects of self-efficacy,self-regulation and social presence on learning engagement in a large university class using flipped Learning

Flipped learning recently gained attention as an effective instructional approach to enhance learning engagement, causing many universities to implement it. To enhance student engagement in large university classes, this study examined the effects of self-efficacy, self-regulation and social presence on learning engagement in a large university class using a flipped learning approach. A total of 390 undergraduates who were enrolled in a large general education class using flipped learning at a university in Korea participated in this study. The learners completed an online survey measuring the variables of this study. The research findings indicated that self-regulation affected social presence as well as learning engagement. Self-efficacy affected social presence and indirectly affected learning engagement through social presence. Finally, social presence affected learning engagement. Social presence also mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and learning engagement as well as between self-regulation and learning engagement. This study confirmed the significant effects of self-regulation and social presence on students' learning engagement in large university classes.     

Predicting student performance in a blended MOOC

Predicting student performance is a major tool in learning analytics. This study aims to identify how different measures of massive open online course (MOOC) data can be used to identify points of improvement in MOOCs. In the context of MOOCs, student performance is often defined as course completion. However, students could have other learning objectives than MOOC completion. Therefore, we define student performance as obtaining personal learning objective(s). This study examines a subsample of students in a graduate‐level blended MOOC who shared on‐campus course completion as a learning objective. Aggregated activity frequencies, specific course item frequencies, and order of activities were analysed to predict student performance using correlations, multiple regressions, and process mining. All aggregated MOOC activity frequencies related positively to on‐campus exam grade. However, this relation is less clear when controlling for past performance. In total, 65% of the specific course items showed significant correlations with final exam grade. Students who passed the course spread their learning over more days compared with students who failed. Little difference was found in the order of activities within the MOOC between students who passed and who failed. The results are combined with course evaluations to identify points of improvement within the MOOC.     

Engaging Elementary Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Adopting Problem-Based Learning in the Context of Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This study examined how facets of elementary teachers' pedagogical content knowledge are “engaged in practice” in the context of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). A secondary objective was to identify challenges teachers experienced during the development and implementation of PBL learning experiences. Collaborative Inquiry (Bray, Lee, Smith, & Yorks, 2000), a participatory, action-based inquiry approach was used as a means to develop and implement PBL. Outcomes report on how teachers developed and engaged various facets of their pedagogical content knowledge, including orientations to teaching science, and knowledge of and beliefs about curriculum, student learning, instruction, and assessment.     

Evaluating students’ learning achievement based on the eigenvector method

In this paper, we present a new method for students’ learning achievement evaluation based on the eigenvector method. The proposed method considers the “accuracy rate”, the “time rate”, the “importance” and the “complexity” for evaluating students’ learning achievement. First, the proposed method transforms the attributes “accuracy rate” and “time rate” into the “effect of accuracy rate” and the “effect of time rate”, respectively. Then, it generates the relative importance degrees of the attributes “effect of accuracy rate”, “effect of time rate”, “importance” and “complexity” based on the eigenvector method. Then, it uses the correlation coefficients between the attribute vectors and the standard deviations of the elements in the attribute vectors to calculate the fitness degrees of the attributes, where the attribute vectors represent the relationships between the attributes and the questions. Then, it generates the weights of the attributes based on the relative importance degrees of the attributes and the fitness degrees of the attributes. Then, it generates the importance degrees of the questions according to the weights of the attributes and the relation matrix representing the relationships between the questions and the attributes. Finally, based on the importance degrees vector of the questions, the grade matrix, the accuracy rate matrix, it calculates the learning achievement index of each student having the same original total score for students’ learning achievement evaluation. The proposed method provides us with a useful way for students’ learning achievement evaluation based on the eigenvector method.     

Taking reading comprehension exams on screen or on paper? A metacognitive analysis of learning texts under time pressure

People often attribute their reluctance to study texts on screen to technology-related factors rooted in hardware or software. However, previous studies have pointed to screen inferiority in the metacognitive regulation of learning. The study examined the effects of time pressure on learning texts on screen relative to paper among undergraduates who report only moderate paper preference. In Experiment 1, test scores on screen were lower than on paper under time pressure, with no difference under free regulation. In Experiment 2 the time condition was manipulated within participants to include time pressure, free regulation, and an interrupted condition where study was unexpectedly stopped after the time allotted under time pressure. No media effects were found under the interrupted study condition, although technology-related barriers should have taken their effect also in this condition. Paper learners who preferred this learning medium improved their scores when the time constraints were known in advance. No such adaptation was found on screen regardless of the medium preference. Beyond that, paper learning was more efficient and self-assessments of knowledge were better calibrated under most conditions. The results reinforce the inferiority of self-regulation of learning on screen and argue against technology-related factors as the main reason for this.