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The purpose of this study was to compare student performance on two proctored quizzes and one practice test taken in paper-based or computer-based testing mode using an equal number of algorithmic, conceptual, and definition questions to examine the effect of testing mode when students take multiple tests in class. Data were collected from 221 students enrolled in a general chemistry course at a Midwestern university. After learning the material in lecture, students completed two quizzes: Quiz 1 and Quiz 2. One quiz was delivered on paper and another quiz was taken on computer. Each quiz tested student understanding of different chemistry concepts and the quizzes were proctored on different days. Several days after Quiz 2, students took a practice test that tested the knowledge of Quiz 1 and Quiz 2 with different yet similar questions, and again, the testing mode of the practice test was either paper-and-pencil or computer. After each quiz and the practice test, students received feedback on their performance. Differences in performance between the quizzes and the practice test were measured with normalized gains and the differences between the normalized gains for each condition were analyzed using an Analysis of Variance. The results showed no significant testing mode effects among the four conditions overall, or for algorithmic, conceptual, or definition type of questions. Altogether, the results of the present study do not provide evidence to suggest that instructors need to be concerned about testing mode (paper versus computer) when designing and administering chemistry tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instruction on software usage has long been dominated by the paper-based tutorial. This dominance is now being challenged with the rise of facilities for producing and publishing recorded demonstrations (video). Typically, each instructional medium has its own qualities. The present study aimed to optimize the design of a video tutorial for software training by attending to both its strengths and its weaknesses vis-à-vis a paper-based tutorial. Based on a distinction between two functionally different components in software tutorials, four tutorial configurations were compared: Paper-based, Mixed A (paper-based preview and video procedure), Mixed B (video preview and paper-based procedure), and Video. The 111 fifth and sixth grade participants (mean age 11.8) received instructions about Word's formatting options. The findings indicated significant and substantial improvements from pre-test to training in all conditions. In addition, participants in the Mixed A, Mixed B, and Video conditions outperformed those in the Paper-based condition. Significant and substantial learning gains were found from pre-test to post-test. Both the Mixed B and Video conditions outperformed the Paper-based condition. The success of the Mixed A, Mixed B, and Video tutorials is ascribed to the use of design guidelines for software training that direct the designer to optimize video's strong qualities and moderate or reduce its relative weaknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A country's population size determines the size of each bubble. Six largest countries are indicated explicitly. [Display omitted] • The frequency of online chatting increased greatly over the 2009−2018 period. • The rate of increase varied considerably across countries. • Increases in chatting strongly correlated with declines in mean national reading scores. In the past decade, reading has moved massively from printed paper to digital displays. Thus far, large-scale surveys have not shown clear-cut effects of ICT use on reading literacy. This study addresses the impact of per country increases in online chatting, using data from the worldwide PISA surveys in 2009 and 2018 covering 63 countries. During that period, online chatting increased substantially in nearly every country, but the rate of increase varied considerably across countries. The empirical evidence shows a strong correlation of per country increase in online chatting among 15-year-olds with per country declines in both reading literacy and awareness of useful reading strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most students struggle when learning to program. In this paper we examine two instructional tasks that can be used to introduce programming: tell-and-practice (the typical pedagogical routine of describing some code or function then having students write code to practice what they have learned) and prediction (where students are given code and asked to make predictions about the output before they are told how the code works). Participants were 121 college students with no coding experience. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two parallel training tasks: predict, or tell-and-practice. Participants in the predict condition showed greater learning and better non-cognitive outcomes than those in the tell-and-practice condition. These findings raise a number of questions about the relationship between programming tasks and students' experiences and outcomes in the early stages of learning programming. They also suggest some pedagogical changes to consider, especially in early introductions to programming. • Demonstrate potential effectiveness of using prediction tasks to teach programming. • Novices benefit from predicting code output before learning how the code works. • Students learning from prediction tasks scored higher on the learning assessment. • They also had more positive emotional responses to R and error messages. • They considered the learning activity to be less costly than control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Instructors in STEM classrooms often frame students' interactions with technologies to help them learn content. For instance, in many STEM domains, instructors commonly help students translate physical 3D models into 2D drawings by prompting them to focus on (a) orienting physical 3D models and (b) generating 2D drawings. We investigate whether framing prompts that target either of these practices enhance the effectiveness of an educational technology that supports collaborative translation among multiple representations. To this end, we conducted a quasi-experiment with 565 undergraduate chemistry students. All students collaboratively built physical 3D models of molecules and translated them into 2D drawings. In a business-as-usual control condition, students drew on paper, without support from an educational technology. In two experimental conditions, students drew in an educational technology that provided feedback and prompted collaboration. One condition received framing prompts to focus on physical models (model condition); another received prompts to generate intermediary drawings on paper (draw condition). Compared to the control condition, the model condition showed higher learning gains, but the draw condition showed lower learning gains. Analyses of log data showed that students made more model-based errors, and the prompts in the model condition reduced these model-based errors. However, interviews with instructors showed that they prefer drawing-focused prompts, in contrast to our results. These findings offer theoretical insights into how students learn to translate among representations. Furthermore, they yield practical recommendations for the use of educational technologies that support learning with multiple representations. Highlights • We test two framing prompts—model and draw—with an educational technology. • The model prompt increased learning gains, compared to a non-technology control. • The draw prompt decreased learning gains, compared to a non-technology control. • The model prompt reduced model errors, and draw prompts reduced draw errors. • In contrast to our results, all interviewed instructors favored the draw prompt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract YouTube is one of the most popular websites. It is a vast resource for educational content. To better understand the characteristics and impact of YouTube on education, we have analyzed a popular YouTube channel owned by the author of this paper. It has thousands of subscribers, millions of views, and hundreds of video lectures. We have used our private YouTube analytics data to provide an in-depth study of YouTube educational videos. Our analysis provides valuable information that can have major technical and commercial implications in the field of education. We perform in-depth time-series analysis of the channel data to reveal the trend, seasonality and temporal pattern for the educational videos on YouTube. In our study, we find the relationship between video uploading activity, channel's age and its popularity. We use an entropy-based decision tree classifier to find the features that are most important for the popularity of videos. We show that video rank and number of views follow the Zipf distribution for educational videos. We observe a strong correlation between the geographical location of viewers and the location of industry the channel caters to. Besides, we also provide knowledge regarding the popular devices and operating systems used for viewing the educational videos, main traffic sources, playback locations, translation activity, and demography of viewers. Overall, we believe that the results presented in this paper are crucial in understanding YouTube EDU videos characteristics which can be utilized for making well-informed decisions for improving educational content and learning technologies. Highlights • Periodicity and trend analysis of YouTube education video viewership. • Effect of Video Upload Activity and age of channel on its Viewership. • The Effect of Video Length, average percentage viewed and translation. • YouTube Educational videos rank distribution follow Zipf Distribution. • Statistics regarding devices, OS, traffic sources, playback location and demography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper aims to review high-qualified empirical studies on teaching and learning robotics content knowledge in K-12 and explore future research perspectives of robotics education (RE) based on the reviewed papers. After a systematic search in online database via keyword search and snowballing approach, 22 SSCI journal papers are included in this review. Nine major factors are examined for each paper: sample groups, duration, robot types, robotics content knowledge, study type, intervention approaches, measurement instruments, major findings and instructional suggestions. The results indicate that: (1) most empirical studies were endured less than two months with a small sample size, the largest sample group was elementary school students, and most studies used LEGO robots; (2) more than half of the studies conducted a non-experimental research design, and observation, questionnaire, interview and evaluation of artifacts are commonly-used measurement instruments; and (3) instructional suggestions proposed in the 22 papers can be clustered into four themes: open environment, targeted design, appropriate pedagogy and timely support. Overall, the 22 papers suggest that RE shows great educational potential in K-12, however, there are indeed situations in which RE did not bring significant improvement in student learning. In view of this, we prospect the future research directions of RE and propose that more intervention studies with rigorous research design could be conducted in K-12. Highlights • The growing trend of research on robotics education (RE) in K-12 is significant. • RE has the great educational potential in K-12. • RE calls for process evaluation methods and featured pedagogical interventions. • More empirical studies with rigorous design should be done for the future of RE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student performance, student progress and student potential are critical for measuring learning results, selecting learning materials and learning activities. However, existing work doesn't provide enough analysis tools to analyze how students performed, which factors would affect their performance, in which way students can make progress, and whether students have potential to perform better. To solve those problems, we have provided multiple analysis tools to analyze student performance, student progress and student potentials in different ways. First, this paper formulates student model with performance related attributes and non-performance related attributes by Student Attribute Matrix (SAM), which quantifies student attributes, so that we can use it to make further analysis. Second, this paper provides a student performance estimation tools using Back Propagation Neural Network (BP-NN) based on classification, which can estimate student performance/attributes according to students' prior knowledge as well as the performance/attributes of other students who have similar characteristics. Third, this paper proposes student progress indicators and attribute causal relationship predicator based on BP-NN to comprehensively describe student progress on various aspects together with their causal relationships. Those indicators and predicator can tell how much a factor would affect student performance, so that we can train up students on purpose. Finally, this paper proposes a student potential function that evaluates student achievement and development of such attributes. We have illustrated our analysis tools by using real academic performance data collected from 60 high school students. Evaluation results show that the proposed tools can give correct and more accurate results, and also offer a better understanding on student progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.0 (CMA 3.0), this paper systematically reviews and analyzes 48 empirical studies on the relationship between digital device use and academic performance among adolescents, conducted between 2001 and 2022. It focuses on the types and modes of digital device use (such as categories of device, and location, duration, and purpose of use), and takes into account the inherent variations therein. Overall, it finds a positive correlation between digital device use and adolescent academic performance (r = 0.25). Further, when used for educational purposes, the former is positively correlated with the latter (r = 0.12), but when used for entertainment and socializing, or for gaming, the correlation is negative (r = −0.10; r = −0.16). The longer the duration of digital device use, the lower the academic performance (r = −0.10). Moderating effects reveal that factors such as gender, age, grade level, nationality, data sources, and academic performance measurement tools play a significant influencing role in this relationship. • We confirmed the "narrowing digital inequality" hypothesis. • How effectively digital devices are used may influence academic achievement. • School digital device usage was negatively correlated with academic achievement. • Home digital device usage was positively correlated with academic achievement. • Educational purposes usage was positively correlated with academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer assessment is a process in which students rate their peers which has many benefits for both the assessor and the assessed. It actively engages students, increases motivation by giving a sense of ownership of the assessment process, encourages autonomy and critical analysis skills, broadens their understanding of the topic, enhances problem-solving and self-assessment abilities as well as develops soft skills. Peer assessment is also beneficial to the teachers as it reduces the strain of the repetitive grading process thus opening more resources for teaching and the development of course materials, especially in large courses with hundreds of students. Sometimes, peer assessment is the only viable option, as in MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Peer assessment has long been studied at all education levels and is gaining traction in recent years, where MOOCs and even the Covid pandemic, which instigated the development of digital competencies, had a positive influence. However, peer assessment is still a demanding process to carry out, but one that can be assisted by modern Internet technology. This paper has a twofold contribution: we present the peer assessment module of our open-source automated programming assessment system Edgar which has been heavily used and developed for the last six years, while peer assessment has been used for the previous three years. Additionally, we present a methodology used and a two-year case study of peer assessment of open-ended assignments in the undergraduate Databases course where 500+ students per season had to provide an entity-relationship model for a given domain and assess their peers' submissions. We discuss our grading methodology, provide in-depth data analysis, and present the students' opinions of the process acquired through an anonymous questionnaire. We find that the process is both demanding in terms of the design of assignments and assessment questionnaires and rewarding in the assessment phase, where the students' grades turned out to be of high quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Writing achievement levels are chronically low for K-12 students. As assessments follow the transition to computer-based writing, differences in technology access may exacerbate students’ difficulties. Indeed, the writing process is shaped by the tools we use and computer-based writing is different from writing with pen and paper. We examine the relationship between reported prior use of computers and students’ achievement on the first national computer-based writing assessment in the United States, the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment. Using data from over 24,100 eighth grade students, we found that prior use of computers for school-related writing had a direct effect on writing achievement scores on the computer-based NAEP assessment. One standard deviation increase in prior use led to a 0.14 and 0.16 standard deviation increase in mean and scaled writing achievement scores respectively, with demographic controls and jackknife weighting in our SEM analysis. We also looked at earlier NAEP assessments and found that prior computer use did not positively affect the earlier pen and paper-based writing assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent development of social networking brought new opportunities not only for socializing and marketing but also for knowledge sharing and learning. As the social computing technology is relatively new, a review of literature revealed lack of research on the impact of ways of using social networking sites (SNS) on knowledge sharing and learning among tertiary students. This paper aims to empirically examine the various categories of SNS use including: chatting and online discussion, creating knowledge and information content, file sharing, and enjoyment and entertainment by tertiary students at a University in Saudi Arabia. It will investigate the impact of these categories of SNS use on knowledge sharing and learning performance. We adopted a cross sectional survey questionnaire for data collection, and received 308 valid responses from a sample of students that include graduates and undergraduates. The results show that there are significant positive relationships between both chatting and online discussion and file sharing and knowledge sharing, and entertainment and enjoyment with student learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations and implications of this study, along with directions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Art education in public elementary schools is generally assigned fewer teaching hours and resources relative to other academic subjects, which has generated concerns about insufficient nurturing of artistic creativity and esthetic sensibility among elementary-school students. This study involved the development of a Web-based tool, named e Painting that facilitates art creation by elementary-school children. A preliminary experimental investigation examined the learning attitudes of students toward overall art creation immediately after using e Painting and the impact on their paper-based art creation at 4 weeks after free-choice learning of e Painting. The results revealed that the overall and paper-based art creation learning attitudes of students were both significantly enhanced after using e Painting. The improvement was greatest among males and those with initially poor-to-moderate learning attitudes toward paper-based art creation. The described results provide useful insights for the further development of teaching strategies and learning content based on the use of new technologies for enhancing art creation learning in schools. We have demonstrated that using the e Painting digital art creation tool as a supplemental free-choice resource is useful for learning traditional paper forms of art creation as well as for enhancing overall learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have designed a series of classroom orchestration systems (COSs) to support teachers' real-time classroom management of multiple social planes. However, few studies have systematically summarized the implementation of COSs' general functions (teacher awareness , class instruction , and student coordination) and investigated the effect sizes of COSs on teachers and students. This work identified 67 systems and 22 empirical papers reporting 57 studies with effect sizes to address the research gaps. The qualitative analyses summarized the foci and implementation methods of each general function. The quantitative analyses showed that the overall effects of COSs were medium: g = 0.603 for studies with the no-treatment control, g = 0.536 for studies with the treatment control. No publication bias existed, and the results were robust. Moderator analyses determined two important moderators (teacher awareness and measurement type) of the effects. Overall, the current study revealed the effectiveness of COSs in broad contexts and explained how teacher, machine and student could work together in classroom to some extent. • The overall effects of classroom orchestration systems (COSs) are medium. • The existence of the function "teacher awareness" is a significant moderator. • The measurement type is a marginal significant moderator. • The effects of COSs are robust against other factors. • Class instruction and student coordination functions need greater attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Teachers and students often consider learning programming a difficult pursuit. Face-to-face learning alone cannot provide effective teaching or efficient solutions for learning. A case teaching model can make students active in programming courses, even as it relies on solid learning theory and pedagogical strategies. This paper reports a study based on a case teaching model in C/C++ programming. The Laboratory Animal System (LAS) is a standalone case for management of laboratory animals. This paper includes an overview of LAS architectural design and user interface by C/C++ and presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of the model, as well as its implications for learning computer programming. The case method provides an interactive learning environment for students. Based on a survey of student feedback, students can learn C/C++ programming and gain knowledge more quickly and effectively using the case teaching model than through some traditional methods of teaching. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new school subject, Leaving Certificate Computer Science, was introduced in September 2018 into Irish schools in a period of curriculum reform and change. Drawing on concepts of teacher agency and learner agency, and viewed through a figurational sociology lens, this paper explored the realities of teaching LCCS and the role teacher agency and learner agency played in such enactment. Through a case study design, four teachers were interviewed in a focus group semi-structured manner. To delve deeper into the pedagogical approaches used in LCCS, a further one teacher and their nine students were interviewed. The findings highlight an influential relationship (positive and negative, encouraging and discouraging) between teachers' agentic decisions in their process of achieving teacher agency and the students process of achieving learner agency. The paper offers a figurational viewpoint of the relationship between teacher agency and learner agency through a constructed Figure. We explicitly argue that the responsibility should not be placed on the teacher and student in achieving agency (as a product) but it is a combination of the teacher and the students and the other interdependent relationships within their figurations, alongside contextual factors, and educational social processes, which determine the fluctuation of the process of achieving teacher and learner agency. The paper provides considerations for computer science teacher education. • Explores the relationship between teacher agency and learner agency in Computer Science subject. • Uses figurational sociology to further understand the process of achieving agency. • Qualitative research study. • Considerations provided for Computer Science teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The empirical analyses reveal substantial insights about the learning of players. • Players with little or no experience have benefited the most from the purposed game. • SDGs retain students engaged and increase their interest in the learning of science. • Players could learn the main criteria regarding the molecular interactions. • Students recommend the game as a didactic-pedagogical tool for learning. Abstract Lately, numerous works have characterized the effectiveness of games in the process of learning. Benefits such as pleasure, stimulation, creativity, and enthusiasm have captivated people's interest in science through interactive games. Hence, many games for teaching subjects in biochemistry have been developed. However, understanding molecular interactions in proteins can still be a difficult task for students in biochemistry classes. One of the main issues reported by them is the fact they cannot visually see an interaction that happens between proteins. More specifically, the atomic structure, the particulate nature of matter, the molecule, and the chemical interactions are considered abstract concepts by teachers and students. In this paper, we present the conception, development, and evaluation of Proteingo: a game created to build a crowdsourced database of protein-protein interactions. An experiment was conducted during the X-meeting 2016 Congress in Brazil, where 27 users played the Proteingo game. The development of the players along the plays, together with the answers of a post-test questionnaire, give substantial evidence of user's incidental learning of chemical interactions through the Proteingo game. Also, 96.3% of the players consider the use of the game in classrooms as a didactic-pedagogical resource. Proteingo is available at http://bioinfo.dcc.ufmg.br/proteingo/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Many children fail to comprehend what they read because they do not monitor their understanding, which requires making accurate judgements of what they know and then employing repair strategies when comprehension fails. Relying on research from learning science and cognitive and developmental psychology, we developed the Word Knowledge e-Book (WKe-Book) to improve children's calibration of their word knowledge, strategy use, and word knowledge overall; skills which are associated with reading comprehension. The WKe-Book, which is read on a tablet computer, is a choose-your-own adventure book where choices require choosing between two rare words (e.g., cogitate vs. procrastinate). Depending on the word chosen, the story follows a different plot. There are also embedded comprehension questions where students receive immediate feedback with consequences for incorrect answers, such as being sent back to reread a few pages. In a randomized controlled trial, we tested whether students (N = 603 in 25 third through fifth grade classrooms in Arizona in the US) reading the WKe-Book would demonstrate improved word knowledge, strategy use, and word knowledge calibration. Classrooms were randomly assigned to read the WKe-Book immediately (treatment) or later (delayed-treatment control), and within classrooms, students were randomly assigned to either participate in a 15-min weekly book club (book club treatment) or to read the WKe-Book independently with no book club (no book club control). Results revealed a significant treatment effect of the WKe-Book on students' word knowledge, word knowledge calibration, and strategy use, which predicted student performance on standardized reading comprehension and vocabulary measures. The effects were greater for students who participated in weekly book clubs compared to students in the no book club control. These findings suggest that the affordances offered by technology, which are unavailable in paper-based books, can support students' development of metacognition, including word knowledge calibration, strategy use, and word learning skills. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Technology affordances of interactive e-books can promote 3rd-5th graders' metacognition. • How well students judge their knowledge of a word meaning (calibration) predicts stronger reading comprehension. • In a randomized controlled trial, the WK e-Book built word knowledge calibration, strategy use, and word knowledge. • 15-minute book clubs with a teacher doubled the treatment effect sizes of the WKe-Book on students' word knowledge gains. • Building metacognition with the WKe-Book is associated with stronger reading comprehension and vocabulary skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Although many studies have focused on the potential of implementing gamification in education, the existing literature remains inconclusive about its effectiveness. In order to make sense of the contradictory findings regarding the effectiveness of implementing game design elements in an online learning environment, this paper complements the available body of research by addressing three holes. We have (1) analysed gamification's underlying motivational processes from a Self-Determination Theory-perspective, thereby accounting for the motivational effects of various game design implementations; (2) empirically assessed subtle motivational changes over time, and (3) accounted for the potential individual differences in motivational effects of gamification. Over a period of 15 weeks, we administered four surveys to measure the possible evolution in students' (N = 40) motivational levels in response to interacting with need-supporting game elements that were implemented in Google + Communities used in a university course. Participants' autonomous and controlled motivation was curve linear, showing an initial downward trend that surprisingly shifted to an upward tendency towards the end of the semester. Their controlled motivation stayed stable throughout. The results illustrated the significance of the individual nature of motivational processes, the importance of sensitive longitudinal motivation measurements, and the relevance of the implemented game elements' design characteristics. We end this article by opening the debate on using theoretical lenses when designing gamification, and by providing avenues for future research. Highlights • Providing theoretical lenses to research and design gamification. • Showing game elements' affordances as impacting gamification's motivational effects. • Illustrating the benefits of using a long-term systematic exploration of motivation. • The motivational impact of gamification is person-specific. • No evidence is found for a novelty effect of gamification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia the under-representation of women in computer science reflects the under-representation of women at the highest levels of government and business. In this paper we argue, therefore, that change is going to require a cohesive multi-level analysis and intervention approach. To illustrate how such an approach might look, we draw on social psychologist Uri Bronfenbrenner's socio-ecological systems theory to analyse a national survey with secondary school computer science teachers we conducted in 2017. By employing this analysis we can see that student interest and engagement in computer science is impacted by their teachers, peers and parents (microsystem) who sit within a wider community, educational and industry network (mesosystem) which in turn is influenced by their access to relevant human and physical infrastructure (and the policies that shape it) in their school and social environments (exosystem) and by the broader values and rhetoric around gender and Digital Technologies in the wider Australian community (macrosystem). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking advantage of the vast history of theoretical and empirical findings in the learning literature we have inherited, this research offers a synthesis of prior findings in the domain of empirically evaluated active learning strategies in digital learning environments . The primary concern of the present study is to evaluate these findings with an eye towards scalable learning. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have emerged as the new way to reach the masses with educational materials, but so far they have failed to maintain learners' attention over the long term. Even though we now understand how effective active learning principles are for learners, the current landscape of MOOC pedagogy too often allows for passivity — leading to the unsatisfactory performance experienced by many MOOC learners today. As a starting point to this research we took John Hattie's seminal work from 2008 on learning strategies used to facilitate active learning. We considered research published between 2009 and 2017 that presents empirical evaluations of these learning strategies. Through our systematic search we found 126 papers meeting our criteria and categorized them according to Hattie's learning strategies. We found large-scale experiments to be the most challenging environment for experimentation due to their size, heterogeneity of participants, and platform restrictions, and we identified the three most promising strategies for effectively leveraging learning at scale as Cooperative Learning, Simulations & Gaming, and Interactive Multimedia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On-site teaching practice is changing due to the development of digital technology. Traditional lecturing has long focused on instructor-based teaching but now has transitioned to a flipped classroom that emphasizes student learning. In the past, quasi-experimental methods or qualitative interviews were primarily used to explore learners' learning performance, learning satisfaction, and the interaction between teachers and students. Studies on teachers' points of view are rare, as are studies on factors that influence teachers to continue flipped teaching. Thus, the empirical results of this innovative teaching strategy must be assessed to confirm the expectations of practice and theory. Drawing on theories of self-determination and motivation-opportunity-ability, this paper proposes and empirically supports the notion that teachers' motivational factors, perceived self-efficacy, and supportive flipped teaching resources interact to perpetuate flipped teaching in the higher education context. To test the proposed research model, a survey was conducted among 169 university teachers. The results indicate that intrinsic challenge motivation and extrinsic compensation motivation are critical predictors of teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching. Perceived self-efficacy was also shown to critically moderate teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching. Specifically, when teachers have high perceived self-efficacy, challenge motivation leads to continuance use intention. Conversely, when teachers have low perceived self-efficacy, compensation motivation leads to continuance intention. Further, the results also suggest that teachers’ continuance use intention for flipped teaching is highest when challenge motivation, perceived self-efficacy, and supportive flipped teaching resources are all sufficient and mutually reinforcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students nowadays are hard to be motivated to solve logical problems with traditional teaching methods. Computers, Smartphone's, tablets and other smart devices disturb their attention. But those smart devices can be used as auxiliary tools of modern teaching methods. The flipped classroom is one such innovative method that moves the solving problems outside the classroom via technology and reinforces solving problems inside the classroom via learning activities. In this paper, the authors implement flipped classroom as an element of Internet of Things (IOT) into learning process of mathematical logic course. In the flipped classroom, an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) was used to help students work with the problems in the course outside the classroom. This study showed that perceived usefulness, self-efficacy, compatibility, and perceived support for enhancing social ties are important antecedents to continuance intention to use flipped classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present an empirical study with the intention of answering the question: can an intentionally structured online environment stimulate and enhance the processes of mutual interaction and hybridization between digital artefacts and analogic artefacts (books) so as to encourage the development of significant learning in students? This research, carried out in the academic year 2018/2019, involved 183 Italian students enrolled on the bachelor's degree in Primary Education Sciences at the University of Salerno attending the course "School experimentation and educational planning". The data were collected by working out and using an information retrieval questionnaire and four different tests. The virtual interaction space was e-LENA, the Learning Management System of the RIMEDI@ research lab. The experimental results highlight how this methodology, called DynaMap Remediation Approach (DMRA) by the authors, has had effects in terms of reducing study time and improving learning outcomes. The online learning environment stimulated to study in greater detail with a book, with the learner being able to restructure and systematize his own knowledge. The DMRA valorises the active role of the learner during his process of knowledge construction and may have significant implications for educators who would like to use innovative and effective online learning environments to enhance student learning. • This paper presents the synergistic use of Dynamic Concept Maps (DCMs) in online learning environments. • DCMs are able to stimulate in students the processes of mutual remediation between digital artefacts and books. • DCMs encourage the development of significant learning. • DCMs favour a more efficient organization of learning in terms of reducing study time. • DCMs are effective in terms of learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the effects of access to slide copies during lectures using PowerPoint ® for undergraduate students on their learning outcomes depending on the quantity of notes they take and immediate vs. delayed testing. Seventy-one students repeatedly participated in the following six lecture conditions: accessibility to slides (full, partial, and no slide copy) × memory term (immediate and delayed test). Thus, the present study adopted a 3 × 2 within-subjects design with two note-taking covariates (the quantity of words and markers in notes). A mixed-effects model and counterbalancing method were applied to control idiosyncrasies and order effects caused by repeated measurement. The results revealed that accessibility to slide copies and students' note-taking predicted their learning outcomes. The effects of no slide copy were significant in both short- and long-term memory conditions as compared to those of access to full and partial copies. Access to full and partial slide copies did not have significantly different results. However, according to the interaction results between accessibility and memory term, the long-term encoding effect was assumed for the partial slide copy condition. Regarding note-taking variables, students’ performance was considerably impacted by the number of markers but none of the number of words. The findings suggest educational implications for the way slides are prepared and provided and the way students take notes during slide-based lectures from a perspective of writing-to-learn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

iPads, or more generally tablet computers, have received rapid and widespread uptake across higher education. Despite this, there is limited evidence of how their use affects student learning within this context. This study focuses on the use of a tablet by the instructor to support the annotation and in-class sharing of students' work to create a collaborative learning environment within a first year undergraduate subject. This paper reports the results of an empirical study looking at the effect this tablet technology has on student performance using a sample of 741 first-year accounting students. The study uses data from enrolment and attendance records, end of semester examination results and student perceptions from a survey. Results indicate that class sharing of the instructor's and students' annotation of homework through the use of a tablet is associated with an improvement in student performance on procedural or equation-based questions as well as increased student engagement. However, contrary to expectations, the introduction of in class annotations was associated with a decline in student performance on theoretical, extended response questions. The authors argue that affordances of the tablet, when used in a student-centred way, can introduce a bias towards some kinds of interactions over others. This large-scale study of in-class tablet use suggests that though the tablets may be positively associated with student engagement and satisfaction, caution must be exercised in how the use by the instructor affects the classroom environment and what students learn. These findings have particular relevance to university learning contexts with equation-centric subjects such as those in Business and STEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Success of e-learning systems depends on their capability to automatically retrieve and recommend relevant learning content according to the preferences of a specific learner. Learning experience and dynamic choice of educational material that is presented to learners can be enhanced using different recommendation techniques. As popularity of collaborative tagging systems grows, users’ tags could provide useful information to improve recommender system algorithms in e-learning environments. In this paper, we present an approach for implementation of collaborative tagging techniques into online tutoring system. The implemented approach combines social tagging and sequential patterns mining for generating recommendations of learning resources to learners. Several experiments were carried out in order to verify usability of the proposed hybrid method within e-learning environment and analyze selected social tagging techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese texts contain the essence of traditional Chinese culture and humanistic spirit, although they are obscure and difficult to understand. The integration of e-books into language learning can play a positive role and improve reading comprehension because of the diversified support tools and features of multimedia interaction in e-books. Therefore, this study investigated the teaching of classical Chinese with a combination of e-books, reciprocal teaching, and mind mapping; the effects of this approach on reading comprehension and knowledge sharing were explored. The sample consisted of two tenth-grade classes of a vocational school. Both groups received the reciprocal teaching strategy with mind mapping. The control group received traditional paper books; the experimental group received e-books. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were used in this study. The results were as follows. (1) Classical Chinese reading comprehension aspect: The experimental group performed more satisfactorily than did the control group, indicating that the integration of the e-book resulted in this measurable improvement by enhancing learners’ reading comprehension. (2) Knowledge sharing aspect: The pretest and posttest scores significantly differed between the experimental and control groups, indicating that diversified support tools can promote knowledge sharing. (3) Mind-mapping aspect: the scores of the whole structure (color and image), association skills, and the contents of the articles were more satisfactory in the experimental group than in the control group. (4) Learners had a positive attitude toward the combination of e-books, reciprocal teaching, and mind mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that training teachers as learning designers helps promote technology-enhanced educational innovations. However, little attention has been paid so far to the interplay between the effectiveness of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) instructional models promoting the role of teachers as designers and the capabilities (and pitfalls) of the heterogeneous landscape of available Learning Design (LD) tooling employed to support such TPD. This paper describes a mixed method study that explores the use of a novel Integrated Learning Design Environment (ILDE) for supporting a TPD program on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Collaborative Learning (CL). 36 Adult Education (AE) and Higher Education (HE) in-service teachers, with little experience on both CL and ICT integration, participated in a study encompassing training workshops and follow-up full-lifecycle learning design processes (from initial conceptualization to implementation with a total of 176 students). The findings from our interpretive study showcase the benefits (and required effort) derived from the use of an integrated platform that guides teachers along the main phases of the learning design process, and that automates certain technological setup tasks needed for the classroom enactment. The study also highlights the need for adaptation of the TPD instructional model to the learning curve associated to the LD tooling, and explores its impact on the attitude of teachers towards future adoption of LD practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical evidence suggests the effectiveness of robotics as a learning complementary tool in tertiary education. In this context, some experiences benefited from the link between educational practice and theory. However, a comprehensive survey on initiatives that explores this link in universities and colleges is missing. This work systematically reviews quantitatively assessed robots applications, grounded in learning theories, in tertiary institutions. By applying a protocol review in different bibliographic databases, 15 papers were selected for synthesis. As a result, experiences developing non-robotic concepts and skills in universities and colleges were found. In most of the cases, Computer Science and Engineering undergraduate courses were involved. In addition, empirical results reported by the selected publications suggest that some literature proposals can be useful in practice. Based on the panorama obtained, this work also points out future directions for practitioners and researchers in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the effect of digital writing instruction with tablets on fourth-year primary school students' writing performance and writing knowledge. This study, in which quantitative and qualitative data are collected together, is based on the simple view of writing and a new literacies perspective. The participants consisted of 96 students, of whom 47 were in the control group and 49 were in the experimental group. According to the quantitative findings, firstly, both the quality and number of words of the stories written during the process by students participating in the instruction with tablets were significantly higher than those of students who wrote with paper and pencil. Secondly, although writing quality scores for posttest stories of students participating in the instruction with tablets were significantly higher than those of students who wrote with paper and pencil, no significant difference was found between their numbers of words in the posttest. Thirdly, the posttest writing knowledge scores of students participating in the instruction with tablets were significantly higher than those of students who wrote with paper and pencil. The qualitative findings revealed that the students' sharing of their writing on the class blog, their utilisation of multimedia components for writing training, and the opportunity for online social interaction enriched the writing instruction process with regard to the new literacies. • This study introduces a platform named the Strategic Digital Writing Environment. • This platform is based on the perspective of the new literacies and the simple view of writing. • This platform is effective in developing primary school students' writing performance and writing knowledge. • Digital writing on tablets enriches the traditional writing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across a broad range of design professions, there has been extensive research on design practices and considerable progress in creating new computer-based systems that support design work. Our research is focused on educational/instructional design for students' learning. In this sub-field, progress has been more limited. In particular, neither research nor systems development have paid much attention to the fact that design is becoming a more collaborative endeavor. This paper reports the latest research outcomes from R&D in the Educational Design Studio (EDS), a facility developed iteratively over four years to support and understand collaborative, real-time, co-present design work. The EDS serves to (i) enhance our scientific understanding of design processes and design cognition and (ii) provide insights into how designers' work can be improved through appropriate technological support. In the study presented here, we introduced a complex, multi-user, digital design tool into the existing ecology of tools and resources available in the EDS. We analysed the activity of four pairs of ‘teacher-designers’ during a design task. We identified different behaviors - in reconfiguring the task, the working methods and toolset usage. Our data provide new insights about the affordances of different digital and analogue design surfaces used in the Studio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent improvements, women remain underrepresented in Computer Science (CS) in both industry and higher education. Self-perception and identity play an important role in young women's opinions of careers in CS. We believe that by presenting software programming in a way that facilitates identity exploration early on, young girls will be more likely to consider careers in CS later in life. In partnership with an organization that focuses on technology education for middle school girls we developed a game design workshop in an effort to change young girls' perception of CS by increasing their knowledge of programming and empowering them to develop their own identities as computer scientists. This paper presents the results of a case study with 21 participants that was carried out to evaluate the workshop's short-term influence on young girls' attitudes towards CS. The study employed a mixed methods design, including a pre and post application of a validated survey instrument, focus-group interviews, and content analysis of games developed by the students. The pre and post surveys focused on how students' attitudes towards computing may have been influenced by their participation in the workshop; the focus-group interviews aimed to gain further insight into their workshop experience; and the content analysis of games focused on the learning outcomes of our workshop. The findings suggest that the workshop resulted in improvements in both young girls' attitudes towards CS as well as in their self-reported confidence and competence with computers. These results highlight the importance of providing positive identity exploration opportunities in shaping female students' attitudes towards CS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating game-based approaches with learning constitutes a prevailing trend in education and training, applied in several domains, one of which is cultural heritage. The present paper attempts a literature review of such approaches developed in the cultural domain. It analyzes 34 games which intend to enable a physical or virtual interaction with a cultural place and its objects. The article focuses, first, on the game genres and game plots used to cope with cultural content and then it investigates the contexts of use in which games for culture are applied and the social relationships they create. Finally, given the need for a better understanding of games effectiveness for learning and training, we examine the reported outcomes of the reviewed games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing studies suggest that if technology is interwoven comprehensively into pedagogy, it can act as a powerful tool for effective learning of the elementary students. This study conducted the meta-analysis by integrating the quantitative findings of 122 peer-reviewed academic papers that measured the impact of technology on learning effectiveness of elementary students. The results confirmed that the technology has a medium effect on learning effectiveness of elementary students. Further, this study analysed the effect sizes of moderating variables such as domain subject, application type, intervention duration, and learning environment. Finally, the impact of technology at different levels of moderating variables has been discussed and the implications for theory and practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flipped classroom is a well-recognized learning mode that enables effective practice and interactions among teachers and students in the class by switching the in-class instructional time and out-of-class practicing time. However, owing to their lack of self-regulated competence, most students might fail to browse and comprehend the instructional materials out of class by themselves. In this paper, a self-regulated flipped classroom approach is proposed to help students schedule their out-of-class time to effectively read and comprehend the learning content before class, such that they are capable of interacting with their peers and teachers in class for in-depth discussions. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a quasi-experimental design was employed in an elementary school Mathematics course. The experimental group students learned with the self-regulated flipped classroom approach, while the control group students learned with the conventional flipped classroom approach. The study was conducted using a quantitative approach. The instruments used were a performance test, and questionnaires of self-efficacy and self-regulation. The experimental results indicated that the post-test score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. It was also found that the higher self-regulation students showed significantly different learning achievements when learning with different approaches, while there was no significant difference between lower self-regulation students with the different learning approaches. Moreover, the experimental group showed significantly higher self-efficacy than the control group. In addition, the learning log analysis results further showed that, conforming to the objective of the self-regulated strategy, the students would determine the goals for the next learning phase based on their current performance. To sum up, the findings of this study indicate that integrating the self-regulated strategy into flipped learning can improve students’ self-efficacy as well as their strategies of planning and using study time, and hence they can learn effectively and have better learning achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Block-based programming languages are becoming increasingly common in introductory computer science classrooms across the K-12 spectrum. One justification for the use of block-based environments in formal educational settings is the idea that the concepts and practices developed using these introductory tools will prepare learners for future computer science learning opportunities. This view is built on the assumption that the attitudinal and conceptual learning gains made while working in the introductory block-based environments will transfer to conventional text-based programming languages. To test this hypothesis, this paper presents the results of a quasi-experimental classroom study in which programming novices spent five-week using either a block-based or text-based programming environment. After five weeks in the introductory tool, students transitioned to Java, a conventional text-based programming language. The study followed students for 10 weeks after the transition. Over the course of the 15-week study, attitudinal and conceptual assessments were administered and student-authored programs were collected. Conceptual learning, attitudinal shifts, and changes in programming practices were analyzed to evaluate how introductory modality impacted learners as they transitioned to a professional, text-based programming language. The findings from this study build on earlier work that found a difference in performance on content assessments after the introductory portion of the study (Weintrop & Wilensky, 2017a). This paper shows the difference in conceptual learning that emerged after five weeks between the block-based and text-based conditions fades after 10 weeks in Java. No differences in programming practices were found between the two conditions while working in Java. Likewise, differences in attitudinal measures that emerged after working in the introductory environments also faded after 10 weeks in Java, resulting in no difference between the conditions after 15 weeks. The contribution of this work is to advance our understanding of the benefits and limits of block-based programming tools in preparing students for future computer science learning. This paper presents the first quasi-experimental study of the transfer of knowledge between block-based and text-based environments in a high school setting. The lack of significant differences between the two introductory programming modalities after learners transition to professional programming languages is discussed along with the implications of these findings for computer science education researchers and educators, as well as for the broader community of researchers studying the role of technology in education. • Students who learned with a block-based programming environment outperformed peers who used an isomorphic text-based tool. • In transitioning to Java, there was no difference in achievement between learners coming from block-based or text-based tools. • There were no significant differences in attitudes between block-based and text-based learners 10 weeks into learning Java. • A text-based introduction to coding did not engender more successful Java programming practices than a block-based approach. • The modality of the introductory tool (block or text-based) had no effect on student outcomes after 10 weeks of learning Java. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is becoming a trend to apply an emotional lens and to position emotions as central to educational interactions. Recently, affective computing has been one of the most actively research topics in education, attracting much attention from both academics and practitioners. However, despite the increasing number of papers published, there still are deficiencies and gaps in the comprehensive literature review in the specific area of affective computing in education. Therefore, this study presents a review of the literature on affective computing in education by selecting articles published from 2010 to 2017. A review protocol consisting of both automatic and manual searches is used to ensure the retrieval of all relevant studies. The final 94 selected papers are reviewed and relevant information extracted based on a set of research questions. This study classifies selected articles according to the research purposes, learning domains, channels and methods of affective recognition and expression, and emotion theories/models as well as the emotional states. The findings show the increased number and importance of affective computing studies in education domain in recent years. The research purposes of most affective computing studies are found to be designing emotion recognition and expression systems/methods/instruments as well as examining the relationships among emotion, motivation, learning style, and cognition. Affective measurement channels are classified into textual, visual, vocal, physiological, and multimodal channels, while the textual channel is recognized as the most widely-used affective measurement channel. Meanwhile, integration of textual and visual channels is the most widely-used multimodal channel in affective computing studies. Dimensional theories/models are the most preferred models for description of emotional states. Boredom, anger, anxiety, enjoyment, surprise, sadness, frustration, pride, hopefulness, hopelessness, shame, confusion, happiness, natural emotion, fear, joy, disgust, interest, relief, and excitement are reported as the top 20 emotional states in education domain. Finally, this study provides recommendations for future research directions to help researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the education sector to apply affective computing technology more effectively and to expand educational practices. • Affective measurement channels, models, and instruments in education are reviewed. • Designing emotion recognition systems/methods is research purpose of most studies. • Textual channel being the most widely-used affective measurement channel. • Integration of textual and visual channels is the widely-used multimodal channel. • Dimensional theory/model is preferred for description of emotional states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to examine elementary and middle school teachers' readiness as online learners on the basis of the Teacher Readiness for Online Learning Measure (TROLM). This paper draws on three years (spring 2012–spring 2014) of data from an online course on Internet literacy and ethics for practicing teachers. Two sets of samples (128 and 248 teachers) facilitated this study's exploration and confirmation of the TROLM model's constructs. Results of exploratory and confirmatory factory analysis support an 18-item scale comprising four factors: communication self-efficacy, institutional support, self-directed learning, and learning-transfer self-efficacy. This study found that male teachers exhibited statistically significantly greater readiness in the dimension of learning-transfer self-efficacy than did female teachers. Teachers with a master's degree assigned a heavier weight to the dimensions of communication self-efficacy and learning-transfer self-efficacy than did teachers with a bachelor's degree. This study made two additional findings: the fewer teaching years a teacher had, the higher the teacher's communication self-efficacy tended to be; and the more teaching years a teacher had, the higher the teacher's self-directed learning tended to be. Suggestions for further research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to teacher professional development (TPD) on ICT by exploring socio-cultural factors such as places, activities and relevant others, which constitute teachers' complete sets of contexts that provide opportunities for learning. This set of contexts is defined as “learning ecology”. An important aspect of learning ecology is the development over time of how people cope with their learning environment. By result, analysing a person's learning ecology entails investigating the start and development of teachers' ICT use, related beliefs and attitudes, and relevant others influencing this development. Our research question reads: What lessons can be learnt for TPD on ICT from knowledge of teachers' learning ecology, with an emphasis on sparks of interest, beliefs, relevant others, and pathways of participation? This question is answered by biographical interviews that in a narrative manner map life trajectories related to ICT. Following existing research we opted for ICT minded and non-ICT minded pre-service and in-service teachers. The results show the importance of a number of TPD aspects: siblings and friends for the ignition and development over time of types of ICT-use, the importance of informal learning approaches and development of bridging social capital, and the creation of ICT rich social environments. The biographical interview may serve as a tool to find elements in the narratives such as reflection on ICT use, learning trajectories and resulting pedagogical beliefs, which foster TPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of large collections of learning resources created through the harvesting and aggregation of metadata raises important concerns on the suitability of educational resource descriptions as provided in metadata schemas. For learning purposes, both teachers and students usually seek information on their own, and the vast majority of the search that they do in search engines like Google is driven by multiple keywords or classifications. Therefore this type of metadata-based learning resources could help them obtain better results related to the educational resources they are looking for and provide the basis for collaborative learning environments which enable knowledge sharing and reuse in terms of web-based search systems. This paper reports an exploratory study based on the availability and suitability of keywords and classifications in metadata-based educational resources to improve collaborative learning between teachers and students through the search and analysis of learning resources from a large sample obtained from the Global Learning Objects Brokered Exchange (GLOBE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main characteristics of situated learning environments (SLEs) are: to provide authentic contexts, activities, expert performances and integrated assessment; to support multiple roles and perspectives, collaborative knowledge construction, coaching and scaffolding; and to promote reflection and articulation. However, current SLEs have two limitations: (1) not all of these characteristics are included, particularly lacking collaborative knowledge construction, in most cases; and (2) most SLEs are designed to support learning activities outdoors, but not indoors. This paper presents the implementation of an SLE that overcomes these two limitations. This SLE is based on bidirectional Quick Response (QR) codes, which are enhanced QR codes that not only provide information when scanned but also collect user-generated content. This “Bidirectional SLE” is evaluated in an experiment in which it is compared with an equivalent “Traditional SLE”, which is built upon traditional QR codes. The purpose of this comparison is to understand if using bidirectional QR codes as a mechanism to support collaborative knowledge construction in indoor settings has an impact on students' learning outcomes and on their impression of the learning experience. Two hundred fifty-three students participated in this experiment. Data collected from this experiment indicate that the students who worked in the Bidirectional SLE (1) received better scores, providing better and more complete answers, and (2) evaluated their learning experience better than their peers' who worked in the Traditional SLE. Finally, a cross-analysis of these results including teachers' opinions led to a set of lessons learned about the design of SLEs to support collaborative knowledge construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, computer programming has reappeared in school curricula with the aim of transmitting knowledge and skills beyond the simple ability to code. However, there are different ways of teaching this subject and very few experimental studies compare plugged-in and unplugged programming learning. The purpose of this study is to highlight the impact of plugged-in or unplugged learning on students' performance and subjective experience. To this end, we designed an experimental study with 217 primary school students divided into two groups and we measured their knowledge of computational concepts, ability to solve algorithmic problem, motivation toward the instruction, self-belief and attitude toward science. The programming sessions were designed to be similar between the two conditions, only the tools were different. Computers and Scratch software were used in the plugged-in group while the unplugged group used paper instructions, pictures, figurines and body movements instead. The results show better learning performance in the plugged-in group. Furthermore, although motivation dropped slightly in both groups, this drop was only significant in the unplugged condition. Gender also seems to be an important factor, as girls exhibit a lower post-test motivation and a lower willingness to pursue their practice in programming outside the school context. However, this effect on motivation was only observable in the plugged-in group which suggests that educational programming software may have a positive but gendered motivational impact. • We compared unplugged and plugged-in programming learning with 217 novice students. • The plugged-in group showed higher mastery of computational concepts. • The plugged-in group showed higher ability to solve algorithmic problems. • Motivation stayed high in the plugged-in group and dropped in the unplugged group. • Boys' post-test motivation was higher than girls in the plugged-in group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging students in higher order thinking such as evaluation and analysis has been recognized as being an important strategy for helping them develop knowledge and skills, in particular, in creativeness-oriented learning activities such as artwork design. In this paper, an interactive peer-assessment criteria development approach is proposed to help students develop assessment criteria, learn from viewing peers' work, and make reflections in artwork design activities using mobile devices. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted in an elementary school art course. A total of 103 students participating in the experiment were assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The students in the experimental group learned with the proposed approach, while those in the control group learned with the conventional peer assessment approach. From the experimental results, it was found that the proposed approach significantly improved the students' learning achievement, learning motivation and meta-cognitive awareness, suggesting the effectiveness of engaging students in assessment criteria development in an interactive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents research with the basic goal of establishing the structure of informal computer use among adolescents in the Republic of Serbia, and of verifying the existence of a statistically significant correlation between this and their expectations regarding the implementation of ICT in the teaching process. This research was conducted by examining the opinions of 14–18 year-old adolescents regarding their computer use, Internet and social networks, and their expectations related to ICT in teaching. The results were obtained from 318 questionnaires consisting of 32 questions distributed among a representative, focused sample of adolescents: seventh and eighth grade primary, grammar and high school pupils in the Republic of Serbia. The research was carried out during the 2013/2014 school year. Data processing included a descriptive and correlative analysis which showed that Serbian adolescents are very active when it comes to informal computer use, and that there is a statistically significant correlation between the dimensions of computer use among adolescents and their expectations regarding ICT in teaching. The obtained results provide a foundation for the prediction of educational strategies regarding mandatory ICT integration in teaching courses, and the implementation of ICT in realizing teaching content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of ICT anxiety, ICT literacy, perceived ease of use and usefulness on the adoption of mobile learning. A modified version of the Technology Adoption Model was used to measure student and educator intention to adopt mobile learning. The research questions were tested using structural equation modelling. Two questionnaires were developed (one for students and one for educators) and used to measure ICT literacy and attitudes and perceptions towards mobile learning. Differences and similarities were found between students and educators on the relative importance of the influence of these factors on intention to adopt. A basic level of ICT literacy and an advanced level of mobile literacy had an impact on intention to adopt but an advanced level of ICT literacy was not found to have any effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As children now spend considerable time reading electronic media, digital reading skills and good reading comprehension are essential. However, many studies agree that screen-based reading leads to shallow reading, short attention spans, and poor comprehension. Therefore, this work presents a collaborative reading annotation system with a reading annotation and interactive discussion scaffold (CRAS-RAIDS) for improving reading performance in collaborative digital reading environments. This study used a quasi-experimental design. Fifty-three Grade 5 students were recruited from two classes of an elementary school in Taoyuan County, Taiwan. One class was randomly designated the experimental group used the proposed CRAS-RAIDS support for collaborative reading. The other class was designated the control group and used the traditional paper-based reading annotation method and face-to-face discussions. The two groups were then compared in terms of reading attitude, reading comprehension, and use of reading strategy in an active reading context. Analytical results show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in direct and explicit comprehension, inferential comprehension performance, and use of reading strategy. Moreover, the experimental group, but not the control group, had a significantly improved reading attitude in the total dimensions and in the behavioral and affective sub-dimensions. Additionally, the experimental group showed positive interest and high learning satisfaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Results from self-reflection tools for schools' digital capacity can lead to evidence-based decisions within the school community and/or the development of an action plan for a better integration of digital technologies. Thus, it is important that the information derived from self-reflection tools is complete, accurate, and relevant. However, usually self-reflection tools do not show evidence of the quality of the information provided. In this paper, we focus on SELFIE, a new, comprehensive, and customisable self-reflection tool for schools' digital capacity, and we analyse the quality of the information that it provides. In particular, we look at discrimination and difficulty item parameters (using item response theory), we analyse the reliability (using Cronbach's alpha and Omega) and the construct validity (using confirmatory factor analysis) of its core items. We find support for the tool quality and conclude that schools using SELFIE are provided with accurate information on their digital capacity. Additionally, we discuss ideas for further improving the tool and future research work. The innovative design of the SELFIE tool and the psychometric analyses of its core items are a novelty in the field of schools' digital capacity and can provide insights for the development of self-reflection tools for school communities. • Self-reflection tools can help schools to improve their digital capacity. • The information provided by the tools should be relevant and of high quality. • SELFIE is a new, comprehensive and customisable tool for schools ́ digital capacity. • Psychometric analyses show that it is an accurate and reliable tool. • Suggestions for refining the tool, based on our analyses, are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a design-based research study that was conducted over two years. We developed, tested, and implemented Collabucate, a web-based tool for fostering social regulation of learning in collaborative learning. In this paper, we describe two cycles of a design-based research study in which Collabucate was implemented with Doctor of Pharmacy students. Collabucate was created according to Järvelä and colleagues' (2015) design principles for supporting socially shared regulation of learning and our design proposition to provide direct instruction of social regulation strategies. During two implementations, we collected and analyzed log data, student ratings, and focus groups. We improved design elements between the two design-based research cycles. Study results supported Järvelä and colleagues' (2015) design principles and our design proposition. However, further work is required to improve how design elements are embodied in web-based tools. Based on our experience, we outline achievements, challenges, and future considerations for related tools and research. The study contributes to a growing number of tools created to foster awareness and effective regulation in collaborative learning. • A web-based tool to help students overcome challenges in group work. • Two cycles of design-based research phases - focus, understand, define, conceive, build, and test. • Students said they learned group awareness and strategies, but "old habits die hard" when changing their behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the hype around Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has subsided in the past few years, such environments provide a rich opportunity to explore ongoing questions at the intersection of teaching, learning, and technology. This paper explores how a set of facilitation teams described enacting their learner-centered pedagogical aspirations through MOOC platforms. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we present a set of six facilitator actions: "giving up control," "distributing facilitation," "being live," "amplifying," "modeling," and "being explicit." We discuss these actions as emerging from the negotiation between existing pedagogical aspirations and the realities of a new medium, highlighting how they involve facilitators both stepping back (making space for and foregrounding learner expertise and perspectives) and stepping in (intervening and directing as a facilitator). This research contributes to the ongoing work of articulating the substance and specificity of teaching in learner-centered pedagogy and the persistent challenges of enacting that pedagogy in massive, online spaces. • MOOCs are a valuable context for examining questions of teaching and learning. • MOOCs offer both opportunities and challenges for student-centered learning. • Facilitators both stepped back and stepped in to support student-centered learning. • Facilitators negotiated the MOOC affordances in light of prior design experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]