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Purpose: This paper aims to describe the findings of a study investigating the relationships between teacher attitudes to teaching mathematics, teacher self-efficacy, student achievement and teacher job satisfaction in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 110 fifth grade primary school teachers and their students (n = 2,334) between 10 and 10 years old. A teacher questionnaire and a criterion-reference test in mathematics were distributed during the academic year 2016-2017. The data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and stepwise linear regression. Findings: The results revealed that teacher attitudes to teaching mathematics, efficacy in classroom environment and student achievement in mathematics could, to some extent, explain variations in teacher job satisfaction. Of all the variables, teacher attitudes to teaching mathematics explained the largest portion of the variance in teacher job satisfaction. Originality/value: These findings support the proposition that teacher attitudes to teaching mathematics affect teacher job satisfaction, which is in turn, translatable into enhanced teacher effectiveness. It is important to note that this study explores the impact of student achievement on teacher job satisfaction (and not the other way round), which is a relationship that remains under-researched and needs further investigation. Implications of the findings are discussed, and suggestions for further studies are provided.

This paper presents a design for a cutting-edge English program in which elementary school learners of English as a foreign language in Taiwan had lively interactions with a teaching assistant robot. Three dimensions involved in the design included (1) a pleasant and interactive classroom environment as the learning context, (2) a teaching assistant robot designed and built by the researchers as instructional technology (instructional tool/medium), and (3) the need for improved motivation and learning outcomes and positive learning experiences of the students as the core research problem. This Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) led to better pedagogical effects on learning and teaching by (1) employing a vivid, enjoyable teaching approach; (2) adopting practical, interesting learning materials; and (3) creating a natural, enjoyable learning context. Both quantitative and qualitative findings of this study indicate that the students' English learning experiences were enhanced, as were their motivation and learning outcomes as a result of this HRI. This paper, instead of merely suggesting design criteria for robots, provides a set of instructional design guidelines that other researchers can follow to create an innovative and enjoyable English classroom that employs an interactive robot as an assistant for enhancing English acquisition while simultaneously reducing the pressure and teaching load of the English instructors.

Purpose: This response paper aims to comment on specific aspects of the position paper. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the author presents a response to Fischer et al.'s contribution on "The Challenge for the Digital Age: Making Learning a Part of Life." While imperatives and narratives of learning in the future have been well articulated in the literature, their paper provides insights into lifelong learning in the digital age. Findings: The author raises comments on the comprehensiveness of the lifelong learning perspectives and the calls to action. Over the years, with multiyear efforts on the research-based evolution of the design, implementation and adoption of technology-supported learning environments in some parts of the world, the author believes well-researched innovative pedagogy and design principles have already to some extent impacted transformation of learning and teaching in normal schools. By referring to the work in the running of a model school in Taiwan, the author demonstrate some of the pathways that can guide innovation and work towards operationalizing a futuristic vision that is resonant with the one painted in the paper. The paper will end with some comments on how narratives on the future of learning will evolve. Originality/value: In trying to understand the lens that the vision would bring to learning on the digital edge, the author has provided commentaries to probe into the comprehensiveness of their vision of future learning. From an Asian perspective, the author describes one effort that can help make progress in moving towards this vision. It involves realizing the vision by grounding our designs in real experiments or instantiations, such as the interest-driven creator (IDC) experimental school in Taiwan, and highlight past research efforts which have been successful in transformation of classrooms and schools such as developing seamless learning for connecting learning in different spaces afforded by mobile digital devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the implementation of a learner identification system developed to facilitate real-time interaction in an international distance course. To increase the teacher immediacy and social presence, it proposes an integrative system for incorporating technology to improve the learning involvement, teaching effectiveness, and quality of interaction in the context of distance education. After the system was implemented in a formal international distance course involving universities in Japan and Taiwan for a semester, the results of the formative evaluation suggested that a perceived integrative classroom environment was achieved. The instructors and learners agreed that the system effectively and seamlessly integrated synchronous and asynchronous learning through the computing components of face and speech recognition. It was also found that the improved interaction led to a better sense of learning community and improved performance. This study concludes that the system could be useful in improving interactions and reducing students' feelings of isolation in distance courses by increasing their social presence. Suggestions for future studies and system development are also provided.

The study investigates the effect of length of meditation history on various factors, namely learning motivation, learning outcome and classroom climate. Data were collected from working adult learners (n = 450) attending meditation classes in two large cities in Taiwan. The investigation categorized learners based on meditation experience, namely less than 1 year, 1-3 years, 4-6 years, 7-10 years and greater than 10 years. The study investigated how experience affects learners in their perception of motivation, learning outcome and classroom climate, using one-way ANOVA and post-hoc analysis. Results showed a non-linear ordered response--longer meditation experience does not in all cases increase benefits gained from meditation. A follow-up group discussion with learners identified learning fatigue as a possible factor for the non-linear results. In addition, through canonical correlation analysis, the study also showed that learning motivation and classroom climate is strongly correlated with learning outcome. The paper concludes with a discussion of results. Sample data breakdowns are appended. (Contains 3 figures and 6 tables.)

Students are rarely given the opportunity of being decisionmakers in class, and when they are, they may feel unsure of how to organize their own learning. However, over time they come to appreciate the benefits of a more active engagement in learning English. In this paper, I describe a procedure based on Exploratory Practice (EP) for guiding students in the investigation of their own learning, and use students' journals, worksheets and course feedback to show their reactions to the experience. Discussion focuses on two main areas. The first is the importance of seeking understanding, rather than trying to find solutions to problems that may disappear once they are understood. The second is the advantage of building on students' strengths rather than limiting attention to their weaknesses. Some concerns about using EP with learners are discussed, for the benefit of teachers who would like to experience practitioner research in the future. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Interdisciplinary collaboration is must-have competence for planners. To provide interdisciplinary training, educators introduce 'authentic learning environments' where students conduct a 'real-world' project within a multi-disciplinary team. This paper reports on a course in which the instructors, students and local stakeholders worked together on a real project. Qualitative interview and participatory observation were used to understand the experience and organization of interdisciplinary training in an authentic context. This study finds students experienced different levels of boundary crossing – identification, coordination, reflection and transformation. The instructors played a role of facilitating students' teamwork and mutual understanding, which leads to reflection on interdisciplinary collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Taiwan, the critical development of inclusive policy is linked to legislation around inclusion and the programs promoted by educational authorities and local governments in the 1990s. Although this previous educational reform ushered in a new era of inclusion, this type of educational campaign triggered various responses among stakeholders. This study aims to understand the experience of the implementation of inclusive programs implemented in four primary schools in Hsinchu City and County in north-west Taiwan, exploring inclusion-oriented school life in these institutes. The investigation of school-based inclusive practices is based on a qualitative approach such as the Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories (FIAC) and entails a series of observations of inclusive activities in the four educational institutes under study. The results reveal that the inclusive environment is conducive to verbal interaction among teachers and students. It also indicates that inclusive programs place more weight on factors such as curriculum, teachers' professional development, educational resources and the support system. In conclusion, the authors argue that the inclusive environment creates an educational and social position advantage among all students, both with and without disabilities. This paper offers international readers insights into how inclusive policy in Taiwan has created an ongoing dialogue between stakeholders and led to educational improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Education Research (1680-6360) is the property of Angle Publishing Co., Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: The primary aim of social studies education is to convey knowledge about cultural and social systems while fostering inquiry, participation, practice, reflection, and innovation. Social studies education plays a pivotal role in raising awareness about various ethnic groups, societies, localities, countries, and the world at large. Furthermore, it instills in students a sense of responsibility, leading them to embrace diversity, value human rights, and promote global sustainability. The current elementary social studies curriculum in Taiwan strongly aligns with these principles and is a vehicle for sustainable development in society. Methods: The researcher used qualitative research methods and adopted a case study design to review the pedagogical design of the elementary social studies curriculum in Taiwan as a means of sustainability education and enriching children's cultural learning in the context of sustainability. Children's learning related to sustainability in an elementary school was investigated, and a social studies teaching design was developed. Finally, the developed teaching approach was implemented in a classroom setting. Results and discussion: The study yielded the following findings: (1) The social studies curriculum development in Taiwan is connected to the pulse of life, a sense of care for local communities, and cultivation of local thinking. (2) This social studies curriculum adopts a child-centered and problem-oriented approach and integrates students' interests and the local environment into the learning process. (3) It effectively enhances students' sustainability-related competencies and skills. These findings offer valuable insights for teachers and can enable them to shape the direction of their social studies courses and cultivate children's concept of sustainable development for their living environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic dishonesty has been an important issue. However, only few researches had been done in Asian countries, especially a nationwide study. A sample of 2,068 college students throughout Taiwan was selected and surveyed on four domains of academic dishonesty, including: cheating on test, cheating on assignment, plagiarism, and falsifying documents. The major findings of this study were: (1) the prevalence rate for all types of dishonesty behaviors among college students in Taiwan was 61.72%; (2) the top five most practiced academic dishonesty behaviors in Taiwan are provided paper or assignment for another student, gave prohibited help to others on their assignment, copied others’ assignments, passed answers to other students, and copied from other students; (3) students’ attitudes correlated with behaviors in all four domains of academic dishonesty; (4) females reported less acceptable to and behaved less academic dishonesty behaviors than males; and (5) freshmen had more dishonest practices than other class ranks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classroom assessment is vital to the effectiveness of the competency-based curriculum in Taiwan's 12-Year Basic Education. The present study investigated how policies, schools, and teacher communities influence the practice of classroom assessment by teachers. The study addresses the following three research questions: (1) How do assessment policies affect teachers' classroom assessment practices? (2) How do school culture and teacher communities influence teachers' implementation of classroom assessment? (3) What challenges and opportunities do teachers face in the practice of classroom assessment? This study employed qualitative, in-depth interviews with seven junior and senior high school teachers selected for their expertise in classroom assessment and with one scholar specializing in classroom assessment. The study revealed that entrance exams, education policies, school culture, and teacher communities significantly influence teachers' practice of classroom assessment. Teachers' primary challenges in implementing classroom assessment include a lack of motivation to conduct them appropriately and a lack of guidance on how to administer assessment properly. On the basis of these findings, this study proposes that guidelines be developed for assisting instructional assessment; fostering a positive classroom environment that nurtures a love of learning; establishing collaborative mechanisms for assessment; and aligning policies to connect curriculum, instruction, and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English as a medium of instruction and internationalisation projects have drawn increasing attention and participation among international higher education faculty, creating meso-level policies which directly affect the micro-level practices and respective learning experiences for undergraduates in these faculty's classrooms. This research explores undergraduates' perceptions of international faculty-led EMI courses, comparing Taiwan and Thailand and their private and public universities. A total of 436 Taiwanese and 306 Thai undergraduate students provided feedback on their learning experiences regarding classmate, faculty, and student traits. The primary research question provides a comparison between Taiwan and Thailand, and between public and private universities. Private university students in Taiwan and Thailand reported significantly stronger perceptions of peer support, teacher support, teacher approachability, and class participation compared to public university students; perceived learning comprehension was significantly stronger in Taiwanese universities. The discussion highlights key implications for Taiwan and Thailand's meso-level policy of international recruitment which affect the micro-level practices of international faculty and their students' respective learning experiences in the EMI classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious diversity education has become increasingly prominent in the last few years. As the region with the second-highest religious diversity globally, Chinese Taiwan provides its students religious education early on, thus minimising misunderstandings and discrimination on the basis of religion. To diversify teaching methods, educators have adopted interactive technology as one of the primary teaching aids. This study aims to develop and evaluate the impact of an interactive technology, augmented reality (AR) in the provision of religious education. A series of experiments were conducted during the 2020 Taipei Lantern Festival of Religious Education Exhibition to explore whether using the interactive technology system significantly improved learning outcomes in comparison to traditional learning methods. To this end, a total of 50 elementary students across two experimental (n = 24) and control (n = 26) groups were recruited to participate in the study. A mixed-methods approach was used to analyse students' subjective and objective learning outcomes. The results of the study showed that the experimental group performed significantly better in both subjective and objective learning outcomes. The findings obtained from the open-ended questions showed interactive AR technology system use positively affected the learning process. In conclusion, this study proposes that combining religious diversity education with interactive AR technology has the potential to improve students' motivation, engage their interest, improve learning outcomes, and contribute to an increased awareness of religious diversity. It may also be helpful in limiting students' cognitive overload during the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, peer assessment has been increasingly used as an alternative method of assessment in classrooms. The study described in this paper employed a 13-item Likert-scale instrument to evaluate participants’ attitudes towards both general (seven items) and online peer assessment (six items). A sample of 280 pre-service teachers and 108 in-service teachers from northern Taiwan participated in the study. A difference in attitude was found between pre-service and in-service teachers, because the latter viewed peer assessment as a learning aid. Our results also showed that male pre-service teachers had more positive attitudes towards peer assessment in general; male in-service teachers also liked the online approach more than did their female counterparts. Item-by-item analyses have been conducted in order to explore both the differences in attitude between pre-service and in-service teachers and to identify any gender effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to advance health technology assessment (HTA) in Taiwan have aimed to optimize the allocation of National Health Insurance (NHI) resources. This study documents and analyzes the historical timeline of Taiwan's efforts in HTA, identifying areas to advance the HTA system, such as gaining broad stakeholder acceptance. We document ambitious plans to establish a larger, independent HTA center and how these plans did not materialize. The historical timeline also describes the primary focus of HTA shifting to serve the needs of decision-making authorities and committees. We argue that these changes resulted in growth of the HTA system, but also led to significant external criticism and potential compromise of its foundational principles. The inability to create a national HTA center can be attributed to several factors, including an immature ecosystem of HTA-Policy-Patient-Provider-Academic collaboration, a lack of a supportive culture, and challenging political and economic conditions. Nevertheless, if effectively managed, Taiwan's current HTA system could play a crucial role in rational decision-making, informed choices, and efficient NHI resource management. We argue that greater autonomy is crucial for enhancing financial sustainability and protecting against external influences to ensure objective and credible assessments. Additionally, we emphasize the importance of fostering a conducive learning environment to improve methodological expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Educational Policy Forum is the property of National Chi Nan University, Department of Education Policy & Administration and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study examined how the type of school technology and teachers' technological experiences (either personal or pedagogical) were related to teacher perceptions of culturally responsive teaching in technology-supported learning environments. Additionally, the study assessed the moderating effects of school technology interactivity on the relationship between teacher technology experiences and their perception of culturally responsive teaching in these environments. Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted on data from 257 teachers in Taiwan. Results found that the presence of technology interactivity in schools, teachers' personal technology experiences, and technology experiences in teaching each had a positive and statistically significant effect on teachers' perception of culturally responsive teaching. In addition, results found that the presence of interactive technology had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between either personal technology integration or technology integration in teaching and any of the five dimensions of culturally responsive teaching. The results suggest that, in addition to technological infrastructure renovation, schools should provide teachers with professional development programs and support which encourages them to create a technology-infused environment to address the connections between students' cultural contexts and their learning contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is strong evidence to support the association between bullying and the onset of mental health conditions in students with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). In Taiwan, the seventh grade marks the first year of middle school, following elementary school. This period is also when peers tend to perform bullying behaviours to establish status among the peer group. Therefore, seventh grade is considered one of the most challenging times for students with ASD due to several changes within the school environment and the developmental changes that arise at this age. This study aims to assess the association between the school environment and bullying victimization among students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in regular classes in their first year of middle school. Methods: Data were obtained from the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study database located in the Survey Research Data Archive of Academia Sinica. The analysis included one hundred eighty-four seventh graders with ASD who were in regular classes across Taiwan. The primary variables under study were whether the participants had experienced social exclusion, insults or teasing, extortion, or sexual harassment over the past semester. Results: Participants with a higher positive friendship quality (P = 0.027) and who had received more peer support upon encountering difficulties in school (P = 0.041) were less likely to experience social exclusion. Participants with a higher positive friendship quality (P = 0.001) and a more positive classroom learning environment (P = 0.031) were less likely to have experienced insults or teasing. However, participants with more friends were more likely to be extorted (P = 0.015) and sexually harassed (P = 0.001) than those with fewer friends. Furthermore, participants in regular classes on a part-time basis were 2.59 times more likely to report sexual harassment than those in regular classes on a full-time basis (P = 0.021). Conclusions: This study suggests that a supportive school environment reduces the likelihood that seventh-graders with ASD will be bullied. Clinicians should consider the association between the school environment and bullying victimization among adolescents with ASD in regular classes during their first year of middle school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 pandemic), online learning is increasingly vital for students to learn at home, and online learning platforms provide learning opportunities to students. The Junyi Academy online platform is an online learning platform that both helps lower-achieving students review lessons and helps teachers in Taiwan do differentiated instruction. Several studies have shown the relationships between students’ attention and their academic achievements for students’ self-learning, but how to best use these platforms to help students learn by themselves is unclear. Therefore, this study investigates the relationships between students’ attention and their academic achievements with two online learning environments. A total of 38 upper secondary students in Taiwan to participate in this study, and these students were divided between a Khan-style video lecture (VL) group and an online practice (OP) group. This study adopted an experimental design with data collected by an electroencephalogram (EEG). The results show that students’ attention in the VL group was higher than in the OP group. Furthermore, their attention in three stages differed between the two groups. Student attention was similar in the two groups for the first stage, but the VL group had higher attention for the second and third stages was than did the OP group. In addition, there was no relationship between students’ attention and their academic achievements in the VL and OP groups. Finally, this study raised some suggestions the future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of this study were to explore the correlations among classroom emotional climate, student social self-efficacy, and student psychological health. This study treated 392 university students as the research participants. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the factor structure of classroom emotional climate and social self-efficacy had a good fit. The results showed that classroom emotional climate could significantly affect social self-efficacy, that social self-efficacy could significantly predict self-esteem and depression, and that self-esteem could also significantly predict depression. Finally, the research results were discussed, and relevant suggestions were proposed for schools, teachers, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to construct the interactive learning environment with virtual reality for toy-based behavioral history. The digital content primarily presents an overall introduction to the toy-based behavior developed through toys in Taiwan. It uses the browsing process in spatial wayfinding as the design concept, in turn used to understand the spatial structure and user spatial perception. Results of the study summarize the cognitive models of wayfinding behavior and visual information reception for users in the interactive learning space, along with the operational procedures for webpage browsing. This study uses the cognitive model of human information processing as the analytical basis to construct a visual information cognitive model for webpage browsing, interactive learning environment, and spatial wayfinding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we aim to provide a glimpse of what is counted as good mathematics instruction from Taiwanese perspectives and of various approaches developed and used for achieving high-quality mathematics instruction. The characteristics of good mathematics instruction from Taiwanese perspectives were first collected and discussed from three types of information sources. Although the number of characteristics of good mathematics instruction may vary from one source to another, they can be generally organized in three phases including lesson design before instruction, classroom instruction during the lesson and activities after lesson. In addition to the general overview of mathematics classroom instruction valued in Taiwan, we also analyzed 92 lessons from six experienced teachers whose instructional practices were generally valued in local schools and counties. We identified and discussed the characteristics of their instructional practices in three themes: features of problems and their uses in classroom instruction, aspects of problem--solution discussion and reporting, and the discussion of solution methods. To identify and promote high-quality mathematics instruction, various approaches have been developed and used in Taiwan including the development and use of new textbooks and teachers' guides, teaching contests, master teacher training program, and teacher professional development programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to investigate predictive relationships among student characteristics that influence motivation for learning and achievement. A non-Western sample was chosen to test the generalisability of findings outside the Western cultural and social models. The participants were 6,539 students from 14 public high schools distributed across the western half of Taiwan. They were from three grade levels, and were balanced in gender. Correlations, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Individual differences predicted classroom perceptions, and perceptions predicted motivation, as did goal structures and group differences. Findings can inform educational policy, as well as teacher professional development and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is distinctive in that it not only provides an example of one of the few cross-cultural studies in science education, but also it used multiple research methods from different paradigms in exploring classroom learning environments in Taiwan and Australia. This article describes the validation and use of an English and Mandarin version of the What is Happening in this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire in junior high school science classes in Australia and Taiwan. When the WIHIC was administered to 1,081 students in 50 classes in Australia and to 1,879 students in 50 classes in Taiwan, data analysis supported the reliability and factorial validity of the questionnaire, and revealed differences between Taiwanese and Australian classrooms. Although the study commenced from a more positivistic framework, favouring a more objectivist view, as the study progressed, it employed an interpretative framework and drew on elements of constructivist and critical theory paradigms. This article outlines the researchers' use of multiple research methods including classroom observations, in-depth interviews and narratives. The themes which emerged from the data gathered using these methods helped to make sense of classroom environments that were created in each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]