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With the development of the "maker movement," more and more teachers are applying a broad range of technological tools in their pedagogy, instead of only information technology. This study details the development and validation of the Teachers Maker-based TPACK Survey Instrument (TMTSI), a revised model designed to measure technology teachers' maker-based technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in utilizing maker-based tools to support their teaching. We recruited 165 preservice secondary technology teachers in Taiwan for this study and confirmatory factor analysis was applied to validate the instrument. Our findings suggest that TMTSI provided a valid and highly reliable research-based instrument that also serves as a professional development model to help scaffold the development of K-12 technology teachers. This paper details the theoretical foundations of TMTSI, reports on its reliability and validity, and discusses the application and implications of TMTSI for teacher education and professional development.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the affordances of participatory simulations by comparing students' models of engagement and science learning outcomes in a multi‐team participatory simulated game (MPSG) and a single‐team participatory simulated game (SPSG). Two versions of a mobile‐based game about marine fishery management were created. Participants were 105 seventh‐grade students in Taiwan. Research instruments included a Science Game Engagement questionnaire and a Marine Ecosystem and Sustainability Test. Students' interviews and classroom videos were also collected. Students' models of engagement were analyzed by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, and comparisons of subscales of engagement and learning outcomes were made by Analysis of Covariance statistics. The results showed that the students in the MPSG group had a higher level of behavioral engagement and better learning achievement than the students in the SPSG group did. Also, in exploring the interrelationships among the subscales of students' engagement, we found that, in the SPSG group, students' behavioral engagement was positively predicted by their emotional engagement, while in the MPSG group, it was positively predicted by their social engagement. In both groups, behavioral engagement predicted cognitive engagement. This finding was supported by the video data in that more interactions among the group members were observed in the MPSG group. This indicated that the multi‐agent, dynamic modeling in the MPSG may have shifted the quality of the learners' social interactions. The affordances of participatory simulated games are discussed, and future research directions are provided. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Participatory simulations allow users to participate in simulations by controlling one of the roles in the system which models real‐life settings. Dynamic modeling is an essential feature of participatory simulations that allows the learners to see the exact impact of their participation on changes in the system.Students who learned with the participatory simulations showed significantly better reasoning in concept building and fewer misconceptions than with conventional simulations.However learners can overly emphasize racing to win in multi‐agent participatory simulations and tasks in participatory simulations can be too challenging for some learners.What this paper adds We compared students' engagement models in two versions of a participatory game–a multi‐team participatory simulated game (MPSG) and a single‐team participatory simulated game (SPSG). We found that in the MPSG social engagement predicted behavioral engagement while in the SPSG students' emotional engagement played an important role.Students who participated in the MPSG had better performance in system thinking than the students in the SPSG.Implications for practice and/or policy Dynamic modeling is not only authentic for simulating certain scientific phenomena but also it offers the affordances of improving the quality of learners' social interactions. This should be taken into account in the future design of educational simulations.A multi‐team design of participatory simulation taking advantage of competition among teams and collaboration within teams can help students to learn complex phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital game‐based learning (DGBL) is a frequently adopted mode for facilitating teaching and learning, where learners are immersed in game contexts to engage in gameplay and to construct meaningful knowledge. However, without guidance, students might have difficulties organizing what they have experienced in gaming contexts. Thus, in this research, a multidimensional repertory grid (MDRG) approach was proposed, and a digital game was implemented accordingly. Moreover, an experiment was executed in a geography course to examine the effectiveness of the strategy. A total of 83 high school students (15.5 years old on average) participated in the experiment. The experimental group learned with the multidimensional repertory grid‐based educational game, while the control group learned with the conventional gaming mode. The analysis results revealed that the experimental group had better learning achievement as well as higher learning motivation, self‐efficacy and metacognition awareness. In addition, the behavioral analysis and interview results revealed that those learning with the proposed strategy had a greater tendency to promote higher order thinking. Accordingly, the limitations and suggestions for future research are provided. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Digital game‐based learning is an effective teaching approach that enables learners to effectively acquire knowledge in joyful contexts, hence enhancing their learning achievement and learning motivation.Suitable strategies should be embedded in games to enable students to have a higher level of thinking ability and to improve their academic performance.In view of guiding students to observe from multi‐dimensional perspectives, a repertory grid is believed to be a suitable tool since it enables students to observe different learning objects according to different aspects and elements.What this paper adds A multi‐dimensional repertory grid‐based educational game (MDRG game) was developed to facilitate students' learning achievement, learning motivation, and self‐efficacy as well as their metacognition awareness.In addition to promoting students' learning outcomes, students' learning behavioral transition diagrams were presented and interview results were analyzed in this study.Implications for practice and/or policy Traditional graphs or tables could help students memorize and understand features of learning objects; however, it is not easy to promote students' higher order thinking skills of making comparisons and reflections from multiple dimensions.The multi‐dimensional repertory grid‐based feedback provides students with systematically organized information to make comparisons and reflections, which furthermore enhances students' higher order thinking competences.Embedding suitable strategies (e.g., multi‐dimensional repertory grid‐based feedback) in games can effectively improve students' learning performance without increasing their cognitive load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In language courses, it is important to foster students' systematic thinking and to develop their competence to express, appreciate, criticize and reflect, in particular in such courses as classical Chinese, which aim to develop students' cultural and literature knowledge. Problem posing is a promising strategy to achieve this objective. However, without sufficient supports, students could feel frustrated since problem posing is a challenging task, in particular for young students. In this study, a fill‐in concept mapping‐based problem‐posing approach was proposed to address this problem. A learning system was developed based on the proposed approach and a quasi‐experiment was conducted on an eighth‐grade classical Chinese course to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The experimental results show that the concept mapping‐based problem‐posing approach improved the students' learning achievement, critical thinking tendency and problem‐posing quality. The interview results further show that the students perceived the approach as being effective from the perspectives of "Improving article comprehension," "Improving problem‐posing performances," and "Boosting diverse thinking." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to examine the dimensions of junior high school teachers' readiness for implementing a flipped classroom approach and to construct and validate an instrument—the Flipped‐Classroom Teacher Scale (FCTS). Two sets of samples (170 and 495 junior high school teachers) served to explore and confirm the constructs of the FCTS model proposed by this study. The model has been empirically validated via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis. The research participants were from different geographical locations in Taiwan. The FCTS consists of four factors: institutional support, technology self‐efficacy (TSE), teacher beliefs and teaching strategies (TS). The results show that the FCTS model is a valid and reliable scale. Teachers may use the FCTS to gain a greater understanding of their instructional design and strategies in relation to flipped classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]