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The study aims to reveal the thoughts of the researchers about the data collection process in the studies whose data were provided by the participants' views. The case study approach, one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the study. The study group of the research consists of a total of 12 experienced researchers, 9 women, and 3 men, working in the faculty of education of a state university, who have completed their doctorate. An interview form prepared by the researchers was used as a data collection tool in the study. In the interview form, only one open-ended question was included to reveal the thoughts of the researchers about the process of collecting data with the participants' views in qualitative research. The descriptive analysis method was used to organize the data obtained. In order of importance, the participants wrote their thoughts about the questions used in qualitative research, data recording, what to do before data collection, the time and place of the interviews, the motivation of the participants, and the behavior of the researcher during the interview. [This paper is published in: Ali Ersoy, Sakir Cinkir (Eds.), "International Education Congress Conference Proceeding" (pp. 1394-1398), Dicle University, 2024.]

The aim of this study is the postgraduate thesis studies in the field of social studies education in Turkey between 2015 and 2021; to examine according to descriptive, methodological and subject distributions. Document analysis technique, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the research. The main data source of the research is postgraduate theses. These theses were obtained by scanning in YÖK Thesis Center, and a total of 785 postgraduate theses, of which 659 are master's and 126 are doctoral theses, were examined. In the research, "Thesis Classification Table" and "Methodical Classification Table" were used as data collection tools. Content analysis technique, which is one of the analysis techniques used for qualitative research, was used in the research. According to the descriptive distribution results of the research; When the thesis type distributions were examined, it was observed that the master's theses were much more than the doctoral theses and the universities where the most studies were conducted were Gazi and Marmara universities. When the research type distributions of the theses were examined, it was observed that the most qualitative research type was used, and the scanning design was mostly used as a design. When the sample distributions of the theses were examined, it was observed that they mostly worked with secondary school students. According to the subject distribution results of the research; It was observed that subjects belonging to the categories of attitude/opinion/concern/belief and teaching method/technique/strategy/approach were studied. Another result is; It is the result of the theses made in the field of social studies education that there are some methodological deficiencies. It has been observed that some of the theses examined do not have a method section, and some theses have a method section, but are very incomplete and faulty in content. [For the full proceedings, see ED630948.]

Postqualitative inquiry (PQI) compels us to think about educational studies in a different way. It requires ways of doing beyond regularised structures of humanist epistemology, ontology, and methodology. This article endeavours to describe my introduction to posthumansism and unplanned discovering of postqualitative inquiry through learning by doing. My (brief) journey with postqualitative inquiry has followed unexpected pathways, filtered through porous boundaries and discovered unheard voices in in-between spaces. This allows PQI to become more than knowledge-making. It is also a pedagogical and onto-epistemological venture and a rich, sensory and startling adventure of discovery into the entanglement of the social and the material. [For the complete Volume 20 proceedings, see ED622631.]

Convivencia testimonial is a subaltern method for conducting research among Chicana/Latina researchers and participants. Its underpinnings are grounded in Chicana feminist epistemology (CFE). CFE offers an alternative way of doing critical qualitative research. Methodologies stemming from CFE can also offer innovative methods grounded in subaltern epistemes for adult educational research. [For the complete volume, "American Association for Adult and Continuing Education Inaugural 2020 Conference Proceedings (Online, October 27-30, 2020)," see ED611534.]

Cross-cultural qualitative research is essential to develop practical approaches to promote adult education and training in diverse societies. Yet, little systematic guidance is available to successfully conduct a large-scale cross-national qualitative inquiry in general, and in virtual settings in particular. The purpose of this study is to identify challenges and effective strategies in virtual qualitative interviews with international key informants. We used a focus group of five researchers to identify challenges and strategies associated with five key domains of qualitative interviews with informants: identification, recruitment, preparation, conducting interview, and follow-up. Deductive thematic analytic methods and content analysis revealed nuanced tactics related to challenges and strategies. These findings provide practical guidelines for adult education researchers conducting interviews with international key informants. [For the complete volume, "American Association for Adult and Continuing Education Inaugural 2020 Conference Proceedings (Online, October 27-30, 2020)," see ED611534.]

This article shares my experiences writing an autoethnographic dissertation in a creative split-page format that presents both systematic scientific analysis and artistic storytelling. It joins the evocative and analytic styles of autoethnography. It analyzes my experiences as an adult with a disability in an ableist society, offering a counter-narrative of disability, and it explores the process I used as a qualitative researcher situating those experiences within a sociocultural context. [For the complete volume, "American Association for Adult and Continuing Education Inaugural 2020 Conference Proceedings (Online, October 27-30, 2020)," see ED611534.]

Self-explanations are commonly used to assess on-line reading comprehension processes. However, traditional methods of analysis ignore important temporal variations in these explanations. This study investigated how dynamical systems theory could be used to reveal linguistic patterns that are predictive of self-explanation quality. High school students (n = 232) generated self-explanations while they read a science text. Recurrence Plots were generated to show qualitative differences in students' linguistic sequences that were later quantified by indices derived by Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA).To predict self-explanation quality, RQA indices, along with summative measures (i.e., number of words, mean word length, and type-token ration) and general reading ability, served as predictors in a series of regression models. Regression analyses indicated that recurrence in students' self-explanations significantly predicted human rated self-explanation quality, even after controlling for summative measures of self-explanations, individual differences, and the text that was read(R[superscript 2]= 0.68). These results demonstrate the utility of RQA in exposing and quantifying temporal structure in student's self-explanations. Further, they imply that dynamical systems methodology can be used to uncover important processes that occur during comprehension.

Due to 'pressures' to publish research papers, a group of novice researchers (n = 9) was encouraged to attend a 'Write right' workshop. The participants were asked to fill out a self-report anxiety questionnaire to understand their worries in writing research papers in English. Afterwards, they were asked to write an essay on situations that provoke their anxiety when writing research papers. Descriptive analysis of the survey questionnaire revealed their worries on the process of research paper writing and evaluation. Additionally, responses of the participants in the open-ended question included their worries on the following situations: grammar usage (n = 6), appropriateness of word use (n = 4), weak English writing skills (n = 3), negative perception of the readers, writing arguments, writing the discussion, difficulty of the research topic, lack of research background, unsure of methods in writing 'arts' research, unsure if its research, difficulty of finding the topic, data analysis, writing a sentence, and designing the paper. Such worries were thematized into technical writing-related worries, research writing-related worries, research knowledge-related worries, and negative perception. Further, error analysis, which was used to explore their written outputs, showed grammatical, lexical and syntactic errors. Data triangulation confirmed that their writing apprehensions are due to lack of writing skill and lack of confidence in writing research papers. The responses of the participants were used to redesign the workshop as series of group and individualized sessions to respond to their needs. Some resources on technical and research writing, research methods and publishing papers are also recommended. [This paper was published in: "International and National Conference on Learning Innovation in Science and Technology" (ICLIST & NCLIST 2018). p171-180.]

Primarily focused on answering questions why and how, this qualitative research relates to human being and behavior and could bring understanding of socially constructed phenomena, including people's needs, experiences, behavior, motives, desires and expectations. Meta-synthesis is an important method that provides valuable insights into the qualitative research area. The aim of this methodological paper is to describe both the main conceptual background and the creation process of meta-synthesis (according to individual steps/phases) in the field of social science and educational research. The content of the paper includes the description of the 7-step procedure's preparation (deciding the phenomenon of interest; deciding what is relevant; careful reading and re-reading: translating studies into one another; synthesizing the translation; expressing the synthesis), checklists for validation of the conclusions/findings obtained from analytical process (QUARI: the Qualitative Appraisal and the Review Instrument; CASP: Clinical Appraisal Skills Program in particular), and the SPIDER model: comprehensive search, appraisal of reports of qualitative primary studies, classification of studies, and findings synthesis. Methods of studying relevant literature (scientific articles), a content analysis and a critical comparison of knowledge were used. The output is presented as a short methodological review focused on the meta-synthesis method application to social sciences and educational research activities. [For "NORDSCI International Conference Proceedings: Education and Language Edition (Helsinki, Finland, July 17, 2018). Book 1. Volume 1," see ED603189.]

In order to develop elementary school children's environmental citizenship, the 21st century teachers have to improve their own environmental literacy, and electronic sensors can have an important role in that improvement. The research presented in this paper describes an environmental education project that uses electronic sensors to support future teachers in thinking globally, while sensing and acting in their local environment. Future teachers used sound sensors, temperature sensors, as well as carbon dioxide sensors, together with smartphones, to explore natural and urban systems in order not only to characterize these systems, but also to: (1) understand ecosystems' services and interconnectedness; and (2) identify environmental problems; and plan related solutions in what concerns climatic comfort and air quality. The data acquired and produced in ecosystems' explorations were selected and are presented in this paper, as well as the related interpretations. The learning results are related to: (1) the local characterization of a natural ecosystem and of the teachers' education school campus; (2) the differences and relations between Lisbon urban systems and the neighboring natural ecosystems; and (3) the identification of interventions to improve environmental quality of the campus. This research contributed to validate the use of electronic sensors and smartphones as a useful strategy to produce environmental information about the explored ecosystems, to link local and global approaches in environmental education, as well as to support students' actions, planned to enhance the Campus environment. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579282.]

The increasing popularity of tablets in society generally has sparked much interest in their educational potential and while a number of studies on the use of tablets in schools have been conducted world-wide most of these have been conducted in English-speaking and well-resourced education jurisdictions such as the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Studies conducted on the use of tablets in non-English speaking and educationally under-resourced countries are less wide-spread. This research conducted as part of an EU Erasmus+ Project (Micool), focusses on the introduction of iPads in a remote, rural region of Portugal where persistent under investment in education, particularly educational IT, has been acutely felt for almost a decade. Using a case study methodology this study reveals how many of the benefits associated with using mobile technologies in other educational jurisdictions were also replicated here, and how innovative teachers, despite working within a very traditional and rigid system, used the devices to suit their specific curriculum and classroom needs. Furthermore, this study will also reveal how international events such as the financial and economic collapse of 2008/2009 negatively impacted national education policies in a European country, the effects of which were acutely manifested in this school, particularly when it came to IT provision and support. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579282.]

Cross-disciplinary skills are today's key skills for media informatics students to gain employment after graduation. However, such problem-based learning projects almost never take place due to organizational struggles. The authors suggest Scrum, a framework that is increasingly used in software engineering, as a solution for the challenges. Scrum has been implemented in a 3D media design project seminar at Dresden University of Technology during the cross-disciplinary project "SUFUvet" which took place in cooperation with University of Leipzig in 2016. The authors evaluated the use of Scrum qualitatively during the project and after. This paper explains methodology and results of the studies. Results shall be presented in four hypotheses within this paper. [The educational project "SUFUvet--Multimedia, 3D visualized teaching-learning class about ante-mortem and post-mortem meat inspection of domestic swine" was funded by the Saxon Center for Higher Education in 2016 within the Learning in Transfer scheme. For the complete proceedings, see ED579395.]

This paper provides insights in the development of a skill matching test which addresses soft skills integrated videos as media to provide information about situations to be rated. The design of the skill testing and matching tool is situated in the educational ERASMUS+ project SMART which is presented as well. With a specific view on team work and the necessary skills, traits and interests this article provides insights into the representation of these aspects in the test and offers impression of the video and media design. These topics are combined with a presentation of the results of a qualitative study concerning this testing tool, which was conducted by expert interviews and analysed by using content analysis. These results highlight the advantages and challenges in the use of the testing tool. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579395.]

These proceedings contain the papers of the 14th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2017), 18-20 October 2017, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) and endorsed by the Japanese Society for Information and Systems in Education (JSISE). The CELDA 2017 Conference received 72 submissions from more than 25 countries. Out of the papers submitted, 27 were accepted as full papers for an acceptance rate of 38%; 23 were accepted as short papers and 2 were accepted as reflection papers. In addition to the presentation of full, short and reflection papers, the conference also includes one keynote presentation from an internationally distinguished researcher, "Classroom Orchestration: From Practical Tips to Formal Models" (Pierre Dillenbourg). Full papers include: (1) Are Learning Logs Related to Procrastination? From the Viewpoint of Self-Regulated Learning (Masanori Yamada, Misato Oi and Shin'ichi Konomi); (2) Asymmetry in the Perception of Friendship in Student Groups (Luigi Lancieri); (3) Exploring Teacher Use of an Online Forum to Develop Game-Based Learning Literacy (Amanda Barany, Mamta Shah and Aroutis Foster); (4) Educational Assessment of Students in Primary School in Tunisia (Wiem Ben Khalifa, Dalila Souilem and Mahmoud Neji); (5) Impact of Early Numeracy Training on Kindergartners from Middle-Income Families (Carla Meloni, Rachele Fanari, Andrea Bertucci and Sara Berretti); (6) 360 Degree Videos within a Climbing MOOC (Michael Gänsluckner, Martin Ebner and Isidor Kamrat); (7) Cultivating Students' Reading Literacy Using Digital Textile-Based Reading in a Chinese Primary School (Patricia Norte, Joao Negreiros and Ana Correia); (8) How to Flip a Classroom and Improve Student Learning and Engagement: The Case of PSYC1030 (Pedro Isaias, Blake McKimmie, Aneesha Bakharia, John Zornig and Anna Morris); (9) Early Numerical Competence and Number Line Task Performance in Kindergartners (Rachele Fanari, Carla Meloni and Davide Massidda); (10) Exploring the Impact of the Informational Value of Feedback Choices on Performance Outcomes in an Online Assessment Game (Maria Cutumisu); (11) Refining Presentation Documents with Presentation Schema (Yuki Obara and Akihiro Kashihara); (12) The Knowledge Development Model: Responding to the Changing Landscape of Learning in Virtual Environments (Nan B. Adams); (13) Mobile Learning Analytics in Higher Education: Usability Testing and Evaluation of an APP Prototype (Matthias Kuhnel, Luisa Seiler, Andrea Honal and Dirk Ifenthaler); (14) Digital Competence Model of Distance Learning Students (Ketia Kellen A. da Silva and Patricia A. Behar); (15) How Dispositional Learning Analytics Helps Understanding the Worked-Example Principle (Dirk Tempelaar); (16) Pushing Buttons: A Sociomaterial Exploration of the Distributed Lecture (Anna MacLeod, Paula Cameron, Olga Kits and Cathy Fournier); (17) Multimodal Teaching and Learning with the Use of Technology: Meanings, Practices and Discourses (Vasiliki Papageorgiou and Petros Lameras); (18) Contrasts in Openness toward Mobile Learning in the Classroom: A Study of Elementary, Middle and High School Teachers (Rhonda Christensen and Gerald Knezek); (19) Classification of Learning Styles in Virtual Learning Environment Using J48 Decision Tree (Renato R. Maaliw, III and Melvin A. Ballera); (20) Using Short Videos as Testing Elements in Skill Matching--Test Design in the SMART Project (Marc Beutner and Frederike Anna Rüscher); (21) I Might Not Be as Tech as You Think: Collegiate Print versus Digital Preferences (Joan Ann Swanson, Susan L. Renes and Anthony T. Strange); (22) A Visualization System for Predicting Learning Activities Using State Transition Graphs (Fumiya Okubo, Atsushi Shimada, Yuta Taniguchi and Shin'ichi Konomi); (23) OCRA, A Mobile Learning Prototype for Understanding Chemistry Concepts (Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman and Othman Talib); (24) Teaching Strategies and Methods in Modern Environments for Learning of Programming (Slobodanka Djenic and Jelena Mitic); (25) A Lecture Supporting System Based on Real-Time Learning Analytics (Atsushi Shimada and Shin'ichi Konomi); (26) Characteristics of Effective Pedagogical Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning in Technology-Enhanced Environments: Towards Improving Learning Outcome (Ian S. McGowan); and (27) Pseudo-Haptic Feedback for Promoting Narrative Comprehension (Kazuaki Umetsu and Akihiro Kashihara). Short papers include: (1) Development of a Support Application and a Textbook for Practicing Facial Expression Detection for Students with Visual Impairment (Hirotaka Saito, Akinobu Ando, Shota Itagaki, Taku Kawada, Darold Davis and Nobuyuki Nagai); (2) Teaching Media Design by Using Scrum. A Qualitative Study within a Media Informatics Elective Course (Ines Herrmann, Sander Münster, Vincent Tietz and Rainer Uhlemann); (3) An Architecture to Support Wearables in Education and Wellbeing (Fernando Luis-Ferreira, Andreia Artifice, Gary McManus and João Sarraipa); (4) Differentiated Learning Environment--A Classroom for Quadratic Equation, Function, and Graphs (Emre Dinç); (5) Leveraging the Affordances of Mobile Learning for Vocabulary Gains (Michael Bowles); (6) Towards a Framework of Using Knowledge Tools for Teaching by Solving Problems in Technology-Enhanced Learning Environment (Sergei Kostousov and Dmitry Kudryavtsev); (7) Exploring Students' Learning Journals with Web-Based Interactive Report Tool (Yuta Taniguchi, Fumiya Okubo, Atsushi Shimada and Shin'ichi Konomi); (8) The Framework of Intervention Engine Based on Learning Analytics (Muhittin Sahin and Halil Yurdugül); (9) On the Use of E-TPCK for Situated Teacher Professional Development (Maria Mama Timotheou, Andri Christodoulou and Charoula Angeli); (10) Narb-Based Analysis of Tweets Related to United Airlines Controversy: Learning Beyond the Media (Ananda Mitra); (11) Learners' and Teachers' Perceptions of Learning Analytics (LA): A Case Study of South Hampton Solent University (SSU) (Osama Khan); (12) Issues of IT-Professionals Training in Traditional Educational Process (Farid Eminov and Irina Golitsyna); (13) The Isolation Emotion: An Emotional Point of View on Teaming and Group Tools in E-Learning Environments (Tarek Boutefara and Latifa Mahdaoui); (14) Development of Critical Thinking with Metacognitive Regulation and Toulmin Model (Yasushi Gotoh); (15) A Preliminary Investigation into Parents' Concerns about Programming Education in Japanese Primary Schools (Yukiko Maruyama, Hiroko Kanoh and Kinya Adachi); (16) Designing Philadelphia Land Science as a Game to Promote Identity Exploration (Amanda Barany, Mamta Shah, Jessica Cellitti, Migela Duka, Zachari Swiecki, Amanda Evenstone, Hannah Kinley, Peter Quigley, David Williamson Shaffer and Aroutis Foster); (17) Juxtapose: An Exploration of Mobile Augmented Reality Collaborations and Professional Practices in a Creative Learning Environment (Darren Menorath and Laurent Antonczak); (18) Gender, Games and Space (Suzanne de Castell, Hector Larios and Jennifer Jenson); (19) The Contribution of Collective Intelligence for the Analysis of the Phenomenon of Students Overcrowding (Dikagma Bassagou and Luigi Lancieri); (20) Integrated Collaborative E-Learning for the Global Management Education in the 21st Century (Barbara W. K. Son); (21) Relations between Cognitive Resources and Two Types of Germane Load for Learning (Kazuhisa Miwa, Hitoshi Terai and Yosuke Mizuno); (22) A Framework for People Re-Identification in Multi-Camera Surveillance Systems (Sirine Ammar, Nizar Zaghden and Mahmoud Neji); and (23) Connecting the Dots: Linking Creativity, Synthesis Skills, and the Students' Anxiety about the Future (Ioan Susnea, Emilia Pecheanu, Luminita Dumitriu and Adina Cocu). The two reflection papers are: (1) Localising Content for an XMOOC in the UAE (Jenny Eppard and Preeya Reddy); and (2) Academic Reading on a Collaborative, Online Platform (Jenny Eppard and Preeya Reddy). An author index is included. Individual papers contain references.

This exploratory case study investigated the role of mindset in the establishment of an elementary teacher's mathematical learning goals at different layers of her classroom and curriculum. Data from the critical case of a teacher displaying characteristics of the growth mindset and engaging in the processes of teaching change provided evidence for a unique goal structure that could prove useful to a variety of mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher educators. This layered goal structure featured goals at global, trajectory, and content levels that provided opportunities for further operationalization of the teacher's mindset. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

The focus of the current proposal is to examine the effect of two dynamic simulations on the participants' conceptions of rate of change. Conceptions of rate of change were measured according to Carlson et al.'s (2002) Mental Actions framework and how the participants related the physical simulations to the graphical representations (Heid, et al., 2006). Results indicate that the simulations increased participants' covariational understanding, but did not help the students create a more accurate understanding of rate of change. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

This article is a report on a teacher study group that focused on three elementary teachers' perceptions of mathematical modeling in contrast to typical mathematics instruction. Through the theoretical lens of figured worlds, I discuss how mathematics instruction was conceptualized across the classrooms in terms of artifacts, discourse, and identity. I then highlight, through four themes, how mathematical modeling challenged the ways in which both the teachers and students understood what it means to know and do mathematics. Findings suggest that the practice of mathematical modeling allowed for access, empowerment, and real world connections that were typically not present in classroom instruction. In addition, it challenged student positioning in the classroom in terms of who was framed as capable of doing mathematics. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

This study extends past research on students' understanding of slope by analyzing college students' mistakes on routine tasks involving slope. We conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis of students' mistakes to extract information regarding slope conceptualizations described in prior research. Results delineate procedural proficiencies and conceptual underpinnings related to various slope conceptualizations that can help both teachers and researchers pinpoint students' understanding and make appropriate instructional decisions to help students advance their understanding. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

In this study we extend our prior exploration focused on the extent to which middle school teachers appropriately identified proportional situations and whether there were relationships between attributes of the teachers and their ability to identify proportional situations. For this study, we analyzed both a larger dataset (n = 32) and two dynamic scenarios in which participants were asked to consider aspects of the relationship shown in the diagrams. We found teachers who were correctly able to discern that a situation was not proportional were more likely to use important knowledge resources to evaluate the tasks. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

With online learning becoming a more viable option for teachers to develop their expertise, our report shares one such effort focused on improving the teaching of statistics. We share design principles and learning opportunities, as well as discuss specific impacts evident in classroom teachers' course activity concerning changes to their beliefs and perspectives about statistics. Specific course experiences that served as triggers for critical reflection are discussed. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

This research highlights a university-school division collaboration to pilot a professional development framework for integrating STEM in K-8 mathematics classrooms. The university researchers worked with mathematics coaches to construct a realistic and reasonable vision of STEM integration built upon the design principles of model-eliciting activities (MEAs). Analysis of participant reflections after they experienced two MEAs as learners in mixed grade-level teams suggests an evolving conceptualization of STEM integration with an explicit connectedness to mathematics content. Mathematics coaches valued the potential for MEAs to provide multiple entry points to open-ended problem solving, but they articulated a sense of vulnerability as they contemplated the challenges of time and teacher buy-in within the contextual realities of curriculum pacing and standardized test preparation. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

Time is an area of measurement that is difficult for children. This interview study addresses the question: What are children's solution approaches to position the hands of an analog clock? To explore this, we investigated problem solving when using a clock manipulative with mechanically linked hands. We compare overall success rates among students in Grades 2 (n = 24) and 4 (n = 24) in positioning hour versus minute hands. We then present a qualitative analysis of solution approach for both hour and minute hands. Results indicate successful students may use the linked hands without overt consideration of the measurement structure of the clock. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

As part of a larger study, we report findings on teachers' use of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and teacher resources (TR) that were included with teachers' published curriculum programs. We analyzed 147 lesson planning interviews with 20 middle school teachers to understand how teachers interpreted and enacted the CCSSM while working with their curriculum materials. We investigated teachers' noticing of CCSSM and features of TR in planning lessons. Regardless of curriculum, teachers perceived that the lessons were designed to address the CCSSM. Findings for patterns among curriculum type, teacher orientation, and teachers' noticing are presented. Implications for curricular policy and design are discussed. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

This research examined the role of the teacher in supporting students to make sense of fraction multiplication when using a problem solving approach. Using a qualitative approach, the teaching of four skillful experienced sixth-grade teachers was examined as they implemented a problem-based unit on fraction multiplication. This paper will present a questioning framework used by teachers that supported students' conceptualization in this domain and highlight resulting implications for teacher practice. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.]

Sociocultural theory emphasises the mediational role of tools in learning. International students usually find themselves in a vicious cycle, experiencing difficulties when engaging with local people and culture which might provide the mediation necessary to develop their intercultural communicative competence. Yang (2016) further points out that "mobile technologies provide alternative mediational tools that might help students to break this cycle" (p. 2). This paper, developed from Yang's (2016) doctoral research, examines the roles of mobile devices in overcoming international students' intercultural difficulties during study abroad. Eight international students participated in the study and were asked to keep diaries and attend interviews for four weeks. A content analysis approach was applied to examine the students' use of mobile devices and situations. The findings revealed that for overcoming intercultural difficulties, the international students utilised mobile devices as search tools, social tools, service providers, presentation tools, and capture tools. Although the students showed some awareness of mobile devices as mediational tools, the problems that require the ability to analyse sociocultural contexts need further support from educators and technologies. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

Designing and sharing Open Educational Resources (OERs) requires teachers to develop new competences, in particular with digital resources. In this paper, the case of a language resource production group is introduced. Due to the centrality of the OERs in their collective activity, I show that the documents they produce are essential to the group's work. The theoretical framework of the Documentational Approach (DA) is used in order to analyse their design of resources, the development of their resource system, and how it is linked with professional development. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

In this qualitative study, we analyze postgraduate students' perceptions of strategic behaviors they developed during their online studies and their ability to extend this behavior to their own praxis. Findings suggest that strategic behavior centers around the development of four core skills: engaging in self-directed thinking; fostering effective communication; fostering leadership and shared responsibility; and using technology to reinforce, extend, and deepen learning. Through a dialogic process, where the presence of a supportive online community of practice plays a central role, participants appear to use these skills to engage in a process of un-learning and re-learning. The asynchronous modality of the online medium, allowing delayed rather than immediate responses, appeared to facilitate deeper, more considered constructions of new understandings. Ultimately, this online modality appears propitious in building self-confidence, thus empowering participants to act in their professional domain. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

This study investigates tourism undergraduates' perceptions of learning engagement and oral communication in English through their experiences of testing a pilot purpose-designed educational digital game. Reflecting the implementation of digitalization strategy in universities of applied sciences in Finland, it examines whether single instances of digital gameplay afford oral communication in the L2. Sociocultural and ecological language learning theories were the framework of the study. The data consist of the teacher researcher's observations of gameplay sessions, learning diaries and preliminary and post-gameplay online questionnaires. The learning diaries and open questionnaire responses were analyzed with qualitative content analysis using the preliminary questionnaire responses for comparison. The results showed that once-off gameplay sessions afforded engagement and oral communication in the L2. However, the questionnaire responses and learning diaries implied that the students had high expectations of learning engagement and oral skills development which were not completely fulfilled due to game design constraints. This suggests that although much occurs during single instances of gameplay, a participatory approach involving education professionals and learners in educational game design is warranted to fully optimize L2 appropriation within the game environment. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

In recent years, there has been a burgeoning interest in Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, especially in educational settings to edutain (i.e. educate and entertain) students and engage them in their learning. This study reports the results of the use of an AR application called BlippAR to augment poster carousel tasks in a blended English course offered at Osaka University. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a usage experience questionnaire, an open-ended feedback form, and observations. The implemented AR application is described, and the overall positive user experience is reported, along with displaying a sample of collaborative student-generated AR posters. The rewards and challenges of having students design AR content are also discussed. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

This paper examines learner attitudes, self-efficacy beliefs, and anxiety in a beginners' Spanish Language Massive Open Online Course (LMOOC) by answering three research questions: (1) how do learners feel about acquiring speaking skills on an LMOOC?; (2) do they experience anxiety with regards to speaking?; and (3) do their self-efficacy beliefs remain unchanged during the LMOOC? Data was collected from over 900 participants registered on two Spanish for Beginners programmes offered by The Open University (UK). Quantitative data was collected through reflective questionnaires (11 items) and participants' comments were obtained on two discussion forums. Results indicate that learners have positive attitudes towards LMOOCs and present higher speaking self-efficacy beliefs by the end of the course. Although spoken interactions in this environment are not synchronous, most participants report feeling intimidated by the idea of posting their recordings on the course forum. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

Motivational factors play an important role in (language) learning processes and research indicates that this is also true for telecollaboration exchanges (Jauregi, de Graaff, van den Bergh, & Kriz, 2012; Melchor-Couto, 2017; in press). This short paper will introduce a study into how motivational factors play a role in telecollaboration exchanges by teenagers depending on the interaction constellation, the tools being used, and the telecollaborative experience. A total of 202 foreign language learners from different European countries took part in telecollaboration activities. All participants carried out an average of four telecollaborative sessions either by written chat or by video communication. Data from a survey measuring motivational factors, including self-efficacy beliefs, motivation, and anxiety, was gathered after every session. A small number of pupils were also interviewed on aspects related to motivation and anxiety. The results show: (1) a significant decrease in anxiety across conditions as sessions progress, especially for those communicating in Lingua Franca (LF) constellations using chat; (2) that pupils interacting with Native Speakers (NSs) seem to be the most confident concerning their perception of competence; and (3) that those communicating with NSs were significantly more positive about the learning potential of communicating with NSs. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

This study highlights learners' perceptions about their experience with self-access materials with a qualitative orientation as the best way to understand nuances of how students learn and what they need from learning materials. This paper presents English as a foreign language learners' attitudes when interacting with the computer-reading section "Catching a Glimpse" (CaG)--which consists of texts written for pedagogic purposes accompanied by a bilingual glossary, an audio version of the text, and a text illustration. Learners' perceived experience with CaG was addressed through stimulated recall in semi-structured interviews with 24 participants who commented on and explained how and why they interacted with CaG. Furthermore, respondents shared their impressions of the fact that there was no initial or follow-up question instructing learners on what to do. The findings suggest the absence of instruction or set goals fostered an authentic interaction with the texts, however, CaG's instructional design does not properly benefit from computer-assisted language learning technology. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

This paper implements and evaluates a curriculum-integrated information literacy programme in an Arabic primary school in the United Kingdom to empower learners and develop life-long learning skills. It reports on an action research project with a reflective practice approach used at the beginning of the semester to identify potential problems before planning the action. A focus group interview and learners' written output were used to answer three research questions about learners' awareness, attitudes, and confidence about information literacy skills. Enhancement was found in these three aspects. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]

Attention to cultural diversity is a necessity for online higher education in management. Beamer (2004) postulated the Model of Intercultural Sensitivity to conceptualize the intercultural competence dimensions that can develop. The Complementary, Intercultural Learning Model (Beamer, 2016) emphasizes the importance that students are able to encode and decode the differences in messages emitted by people of various cultures. The aim of this research is to analyze the verbalization of intercultural content of online students participation and their learning products for an online masters in human resources direction. The content of participation and the learning products of 108 participants based on the system of categories proposed by the Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and enriched by Intercultural Learning Model has been analyzed. The most frequent category found is adaptation, so cultural difference is the state in which the experience of another culture yields perception and encourages behavior appropriate to that culture. [This paper has been written in the framework of the research supported financially by OBServatory, International Observatory on Online Higher Education in Management by OBS Business School. For the complete proceedings, see ED579335.]

Offering many advantages to adult learners, e-Learning is now being recognized--and preferred--by more and more people, resulting in an increased number of distance learners in recent years. Numerous research studies focus on learner preferences for online learning, with most converging around the individual characteristics and differences, if not the features of the technology and pedagogy used. For Turkey, the situation is also similar, with the number of adult learners who prefer online learning increasing each year due to several reasons. The result of this is an increase in the number of online programs offered by many universities. Hence, this research study has been conducted to reveal the prevailing factors causing learners to choose online learning. Through this qualitative research regarding online learners in a state university, it is found that having a full time job, accessibility and flexibility, individual responsibility, effective time management, physical distance, institutional prestige, and disability are the common factors for under graduate and graduate learners in their preference for online learning. Awareness of these factors can support the stakeholders while designing e-Learning from both technological and pedagogical points of view. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579335.]

Addressing the policy of gender mainstreaming in response to the gendered-technology phenomenon, this study aims to explore the contemporary change of the gender-technology relation. Drawing the female discourses on technology, gender, and success, this study collected qualitative data by individual interviews from 28 women in technology who were asked about their experiences of doing technology, doing gender and performing femininity or/and masculinity. This paper demonstrates women success in relation to their gender identity and gender-technology discourse of gendered technology. Based on the cross-generation females' accounts on their context of family, schools and society, this paper explores how female technologists constitute their gender role and how they articulate the formation of gendered technology phenomenon. It concludes a vase-breaking theory that elite female technologists can break gender boundary by individual characteristics, masculinity, family support, school empowerment from female role-model and single-gendered school, and social support from university. Although mostly the female co-constructed and deconstructed simultaneously the gendered technology, there is seen changing culture among three generations that younger generation get more advantages on gender mobility by breaking gender boundary. There is also a phenomenon of elite female develops technology well by appropriating all sorts of resources and eventually gender mobility is achieved with the help from men and women so that they have broken the strict boundary of gendered technology. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579335.]

Based on Andy Hargreaves' theoretical framework of emotional geographies, this article attempts to analyze headteachers' perceptions of their interactions with parents in Taiwan. By using qualitative interviews with primary headteachers, the research findings show that headteachers' emotional distances from parents were intertwined with parents' sociocultural status, headteachers' moral purposes, headteachers' notions of professionalism, headteachers' political pretense, and the frequency to contact with parents. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579335.]

ePortfolios are emerging as an alternative to the paper based CV in the employment recruitment process. This paper reports on the findings of research project that was designed to explore the perceptions of adult jobseekers on the use of an ePortfolio as a jobseeking tool. The research project utilised a qualitative exploratory case study to investigate the jobseekers perceptions over the course of a six week online ePortfolio development programme. The perceptions of jobseekers were investigated in the context of three questions; what was the learner's perception of the ePortfolio as a potential job seeking tool, what was the learner's perception of the ePortfolio development programme and what was the learner's perception of the ePortfolio system. Data was collected through structured online questionnaire, virtual focus groups and observations from the researcher during the programme. The research findings were discussed in the context of a number of themes that emerged from previous research including the importance of a programmatic approach to ePortfolio development, the challenges with institutional ePortfolio systems and the barriers to the use of an ePortfolio as a jobseeking tool. The research project built on a number of existing research themes while also positioning new concepts such as the role of eMentoring and gamification design principles in ePortfolio development. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579335.]

Attracting and retaining teachers for rural and remote areas is a pervasive global problem. Currently, teacher education in Canada is primarily delivered in face-to-face formats located in urban centres or satellite campuses. There is a need for relevant and responsive teacher education programs for rural pre-service teachers. Recognizing this need, one university has responded by creating a Community-based Bachelor of Education program targeting rural students who reside beyond the reach of these campuses. This paper explores the inaugural year of this innovative program, the only one of its kind in Canada, through a qualitative case study. The methods used in this study included a demographic survey, focus groups, interviews, and document analysis. Key findings indicated (1) Collaborative course design enhanced the student experience (2) Student support programs were developed to address emerging needs, and (3) Using synchronous learning technologies to increase student engagement. Presentation slides are appended.

A range of education initiatives in the U.S. are focusing on ways to improve curriculum, instruction, teacher development, and student assessment related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Key indicators to monitor the quality of STEM education have been proposed by the National Research Council. This paper is one in a series of reports on studies whose purpose was to investigate the nature, scope, and usefulness of measures for those indicators. For this report, through document and database analysis and interviews, the focus was an examination of the potential for measurement of progress through existing data sources from local, state, and national collections. Results from database analyses indicate that the availability of existing data sources to monitor a particular indicator varies from some (e.g., on the number of, and enrollment in different types of STEM schools and programs) to virtually none (e.g., on the time on and access to science learning for students in grades K-5). Meanwhile, conversations with state-level data system staff suggest a highly compliance-based and isolated approach that often did not include monitoring of data for teacher and leader level indicators--for example, data about the professional preparation and development of teachers and school leaders might exist at the state level in an office of teacher credentialing, but are not combined with or accessible through the statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS). While the national Common Educational Data System (CEDS) has developed and curates a highly detailed data dictionary whose data elements might be useful for monitoring the success of STEM education, that data dictionary is not in wide use at the state level by SLDS staff, in fact, many are not aware of its existence. Implications of the work include the future opportunities for communication among SLDS staff and state-level STEM experts about what might need to be measured in order for progress in an indicator to be monitored (e.g., an audit trail for teacher development as an online professional portfolio grows; whether or not an online professional course for leaders has Quality Matters certification; and other characteristics of professional learning processes, in addition to outcome measures like professional development units completed). The work of the SLDSs can function both as an essential tool for ensuring equity and excellence through compliance and as a means for supporting educational equity and excellence through the quality of the STEM indicator data they curate.

Repeated surveys have shown that all students at our university have smartphones and use them regularly both at home and in the university. Excessive regular use of anything, including digital devices, can lead to addiction which has promoted researchers to classify and label smartphone addiction as "nomophobia". Using a self-assessment survey developed at Iowa State University this papers evaluates whether nomophobia is a problem at the institution and to what extent. A non-representative sample of 104 students showed that a small minority (<3%) could be classified as having severe nomophobia and almost 40% as moderately nomophobic. The remaining students were classed as mildly nomophobic with absolutely zero students being categorized as not nomophobic. This creates a potential risk for any teacher-led activities, such as mobile learning, which encourage further use of mobile devices. It is therefore recommended that this situation be monitored and that the issue of nomophobia be included in future programs teaching digital literacy. Further research using qualitative methods is recommended to gain more accurate data and a deeper insight into how students are using their smartphones and how aware they are of the dangers of nomophobia. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579190.]

To enter the world of work, students require skills which include flexibility, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and communication. The use of mobile technologies which are specifically created for a context could stimulate motivation in students to recognise the relevance of Mathematics in the real world. South Africa in particular is a suitable location to use mobile learning across distance due to its viability, affordability and availability as opposed to web-based technology. The design team developed an app for financial Mathematics based on the principles of realistic mathematics education (RME) for mathematics teachers to use with their students. The paper describes the design process and general usability aspects of the formative evaluation of the prototype app for financial Mathematics. The authors suggest that a graphic artist becomes part of the design team to enhance the visual attractiveness of the app. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579190.]

Mobile Learning (mLearning) is becoming popular in several parts of education. The increasing availability of mobile technology and devices is an important fact, which fosters this trend. However, even if it attracts more and more attention at huge enterprises it is not clear what small and medium enterprises (SMEs) think about Mobile Learning. Moreover, in a modern society, the Service Sector increases as well and here Mobile Learning could be a helpful concept to cope with rapid change and innovation on information. The texts provides results of an acceptance study with regard to Mobile Learning at SMEs in the Service Sector. This is related to advantages and disadvantages which companies expect. This qualitative interview study gathered information form 14 SMEs in Germany. As a basis for a successful implementation of mLearning in companies of the Service Sector the acceptance by decision makers and users is crucial. The results show that acceptance already exists but that there are a lot of challenges and requirements as well. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579190.]

E- Dictionaries have the potential to be a useful instrument in English Language classes, at the same time; it can be seen as a waste of time and a hindrance tool in the English Language classroom. This paper reports on students' use of e-dictionary in two of "Educational Readings in the English Language" course sections through in-depth focus group discussions with some of the students. The overarching question that this study explores is "What are the students' experiences in using e- dictionaries in Educational Readings in English classes at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Teacher Training students at A-Najah National University?" Findings of this exploratory study show that students had great and exciting experience in using the mobile dictionary in learning new vocabularies. Therefore they have positive attitudes and perceptions toward mobile dictionary.

In this study, we investigated the degree to which the cognitive processes in which students engage during reading comprehension could be examined through dynamical analyses of their natural language responses to texts. High school students (n = 142) generated typed self-explanations while reading a science text. They then completed a comprehension test that measured their comprehension at both surface and deep levels. The recurrent patterns of the words in students' self-explanations were first visualized in "recurrence plots." These visualizations allowed us to qualitatively analyze the different self-explanation processes of skilled and less skilled readers. These recurrence plots then allowed us to calculate recurrence indices, which represented the properties of these temporal word patterns. Results of correlation and regression analyses revealed that these recurrence indices were significantly related to the students' comprehension scores at both surface- and deep levels. Additionally, when combined with summative metrics of word use, these indices were able to account for 32% of the variance in students' overall text comprehension scores. Overall, our results suggest that recurrence quantification analysis can be utilized to guide both qualitative and quantitative assessments of students' comprehension. [This paper was published in "Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference," ISBN-978-1-4503-4870-6, March 13-17, 2017, pp.373-382.]

This paper highlights legal understanding of quid pro quo sexual harassment in schools. Quid pro quo sexual harassment implies abuse of authority or position to gain something sexual. A duty of care rests on teachers, Schools Governing Bodies and the Department of Education to provide and maintain safe schools that are free from all forms of victimisation and abuse. However, there seems to be an abuse of power by all those who are supposed to protect learners in schools. The paper used an abuse of organisational power theory and conceptualisation framework as a lens used in analysing various forms of victimisation and abuse with an effort to provide a better understanding of behaviour that amounts to abuse. The paper concludes with guidelines for handling harassment and bullying in the school contexts. [For the complete Volume 15 proceedings, see ED574185.]

The paper highlights the violations of students' human rights in schools. The problem is the incident that took place at a school in Pretoria in 2016 where Black girls protested against the School's Code of Conduct relating to hairstyle. Qualitative approach was used to collect information through a literature review and desk-top research methods. Black girls claimed they were discriminated against and the protest serves as an example to demonstrate students' human rights violations when schools implement school uniform policies. Inequality in schools is rife in South Africa. School uniform policies with regard to dress codes are expected to reduce school violence, prevent discipline issues, and improve in school safety. Students have rights and their rights can include issues regarding cultural, economic, and political freedoms. Students, especially adolescents, respond very negatively to school uniforms. [For the complete Volume 15 proceedings, see ED574185.]

Teacher leadership is generally accepted as having a critical role in supporting school improvement. However, most knowledge on teacher leadership comes from the West, the roles of teacher leadership in the East, particularly, the most populated country, China, remain largely unexplored. Shanghai students were ranked top in PISA 2009 and PISA 2012 and these successful experiences have set examples to the world. This paper aims to report why and how Shanghai schools have been successful from the perspective of teacher leadership. A qualitative study to explore the roles of teacher leadership in six Shanghai schools was conducted. The findings confirmed the critical contribution of teacher leadership with three specific roles of teacher leadership emerging from leadership practices to support school improvement. The findings from this study may contribute to the literature on how teacher leadership sustains school improvement. [For the complete Volume 15 proceedings, see ED574185.]

I became interested in inequality in education and academic achievement from my youth, after I attended the first year of my secondary school in a rural college. However, I was also privileged to attend an elite college from year 2 of my secondary schooling, having changed from the rural college to a city college in the 70s. I realized, from these experiences, the potentially huge impact of inequality in the education system in relation to quality and standards. It was from this experience that I came to fully appreciate why some parents choose to send their children to particular types of school to achieve good qualifications; and why others send their children to a public college. I also made a promise to myself that I must be a teacher with the hope of supporting student retention and achievement. The purpose of this paper was derived from my previous work on student retention, and to share my experience working in elite and public colleges in London; the inequality and difference observed in teaching on their higher education programmes. My main aim in carrying out this research was to compare the difference in retention strategies in relation to private and public colleges, for which I employed qualitative research methods, observing the difference in college practices. Interviews were also conducted with few parents to ascertain their reasons for choosing either public or private colleges for their children. The findings show that both the private college and the public college used for the study have good practices in education and in their retention strategies. However, the private college had higher retention and achievement rates compared to the public college. Bringing together my experiences of teaching in these colleges for a short period, and my previous research work on key retention strategies, I carried out this mini study to explore this particular aspect of inequality in education; and how can institutions work together to eliminate inequality in education. [For the complete Volume 15 proceedings, see ED574185.]

This scoping paper explores the experiences of overseas students from Nigeria studying in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the United Kingdom. It considers the context for these students and some of the particular pressures and challenges they experience in making the transition from education in Nigeria to achieving academic success and adapting to life as a student in the UK. With reference to the work of Professor Claudio-Rafael Vásquez-Martínez, at the outset of a collaborative project to explore these issues further, this paper considers whether the use of painting and other creative practices could assist these students in managing the transition more effectively and ultimately in succeeding in their academic studies. For the present study, qualitative data was gathered using interviews with Nigerian students who came to study in the UK with the assistance of a London-based organisation, Focus Learning Support Ltd, which assists Nigerian students in their applications to UK HEIs, and which supports them throughout their studies. [For the complete Volume 15 proceedings, see ED574185.]