Search

The First-Year Cornerstone Engineering Design Project Course (ENGG1100) aims to maintain practicality and excitement of experiential learning by enabling students to create an authentic artifact, despite the unexpected shift to emergency remote teaching due to COVID-19. The main challenge is to teach a course that usually takes place in a makerspace and to redesign it to enable students to be a "maker" at home. The course was well-received based on student feedback. This experience is an important step to understand the possibilities and limitations of teaching project courses entirely online.

Learning analytics (LA) and group awareness tools are regarded as top priorities for research in the field of computer-supported collaborative learning. As such, this study investigated whether LA-enabled group awareness information facilitates wiki-supported collaborative learning in secondary education. We proposed an analytic framework of measures for assessing collaboration quality in a wiki-based collaborative learning environment, covering student contribution, participation, transactivity, and social dynamics. Based on this framework, we designed an LA-enabled group awareness tool, Wikiglass, for use by both teachers and students in K-12 schools for visualizing statistics of students' input and interactions on wikis at the class, group, and individual levels. Adopting a naturalistic design, this study allowed teachers and students to decide whether and how often to use the tool. System logs from wikis and Wikiglass and interview data were collected from 440 students and six teachers involved in semester-long wiki-supported group inquiry projects in a secondary school. Regression analyses of quantitative data and thematic content analysis of interview responses showed relationships between the frequencies of teachers' and students' use of Wikiglass and measures of students' collaboration quality at both the individual and group levels. These results indicate that teachers' scaffolding, students' collaboration styles, and ethical issues must all be considered when implementing collaborative learning approaches for secondary education. We also discuss the implications of our results for research and practice in the application of LA and group awareness tools for enhancing wiki-supported collaborative learning in K-12 education.

In K-12 schools, classes are forced to transform online due to the class suspension amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators began to design alternative ways to conduct some meaningful learning activities for their students. However, not all subject disciplines could be easily transformed online, especially for those requiring much social interaction and creation processes. In this article, we explore the learning processes through learning Shubailan, a form of music folk-talk-singing, with a mobile instrument application called muyu in an online flipped classroom among 122 secondary school students in Hong Kong. The opportunities can encourage students to learn music theories and instruments about Shubailan, and create a Shubailan piece through 6-lesson music learning. To gain more online face-to-face time for collaboration, flipping the online classroom is adopted in this study to engage students in lesson preparations via preassigned recorded videos and collaborative activities during face-to-face online lessons. In this study, a mixed research method was employed with the use of a learning satisfaction survey, teachers' observations and semi-structured interviews. We found that this strategy could effectively motivate students to learn music and improve their music knowledge in Shubailan. This article presents evidence of implementing the online flipped classroom approach to enhance students' satisfaction and knowledge acquisition throughout Shubailan music making processes, and offers recommendations for online music educators. Results provide a set of innovative pedagogical approaches to teach music in an online alternative mode during the difficult times.

In recent years, a number of models concerning problem solving systems have been put forward. However, many of them stress on technology and neglect the research of problem solving itself, especially the learning mechanism related to problem solving. In this paper, we analyze the learning mechanism of problem solving, and propose that when designing Web-based problem solving systems, more attention should be paid to the learning mechanism involved in the problem solving process than to the technology itself. On the basis of that, some new ideas on the design of the problem solving systems are put forward in order to promote the rapid development of the Web-based problem solving systems.

This article reports findings from a study that aims to understand how to integrate mobile-learning into Learning Management System (LMS) in a community college in Hong Kong. In this study, a mobile-enabled LMS named SOUL was adopted to improve students' learning engagement and academic performance. Participating students were segregated into two groups where one was prompted by the instructor to use mobile access while another group was not prompted. A survey was conducted to investigate students' use of SOUL via mobile access and the factors influencing their adoption of mobile access to SOUL based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students to collect in-depth explanations regarding their experience with SOUL via mobile access. The study reveals that many students used SOUL with their mobile devices despite not being prompted. It was also found that students most frequently accessed SOUL via their mobile devices for retrieving learning resources and information owing to immediate availability and convenience brought by the notification of its native mobile app. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that facilitating conditions and performance expectancy were the only significant predictor for unprompted and prompted mobile access, respectively. Implications on integrating mobile learning to LMS in community colleges are discussed.

Social technologies such as social networking sites, Wikis and blogs have gained popularity not only in social communication but also in other areas, such as in enhancing learning experience among students in tertiary education. This study investigated how blogs and Facebook scaffolded students' learning during their internships in tertiary education. A mix-method approach was employed to examine students' perceptions of blogs and Facebook in improving their internship learning experience. The results showed that blogs and Facebook encouraged students and facilitated their engagement in problem solving, information sharing and knowledge construction during their internships. In particular, Facebook showed more promising results, assisting students in reflecting on their experiences. Moreover, students acknowledged that Facebook was a better platform for online interaction and collaborative learning than blogs. This study provides empirical evidence for the use of social media tools in pedagogical scaffolding and collaborative learning during internships.

This study explored the use of wikis in a science inquiry-based project conducted with Primary 6 students (aged 11-12). It used an online wiki-based platform called PBworks and addressed the following research questions: (1) What are students' attitudes toward learning with wikis? (2) What are students' interactions in online group collaboration with wikis? (3) What have students learned with wikis in a science inquiry-based project in a primary school context? Analyses of the quantitative and qualitative data showed that with respect to the first research question, the students held positive attitudes toward the platform at the end of the study. With respect to the second research question, the students actively engaged in various forms of learning-related interactions using the platform that extended to more meaningful offline interactions. With respect to the third research question, the students developed Internet search skills, collaborative problem solving competencies, and critical inquiry abilities. It is concluded that a well-planned wiki-based learning experience, framed within an inquiry project-based approach facilitated by students' online collaborative knowledge construction, is conducive to the learning and teaching of science inquiry-based projects in primary school.

Aim/Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of incorporating wiki technology in an undergraduate biostatistics course for improving university students' collaborative learning, approaches to learning, and course performance. Methodology: During a three year longitudinal study, twenty-one and twenty-four undergraduate students were recruited by convenience sampling and assigned to a wiki group (2014-2015) and a control group (2013-2014 and 2015-2016), respectively. The students in the wiki group attended face-to-face lectures and used a wiki (PBworks) weekly for online- group discussion, and the students in the control group had no access to the wiki and interacted face-to-face only. The students' collaborative learning, approaches to learning, and course performance were evaluated using the Group Process Questionnaire (GPQ), Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) and course results, respectively, after testing. Findings: Multivariate analysis of variance results revealed that the R-SPQ-2F surface apCproach score, surface motive and strategy subscores were lower in the wiki group than in the control group (p < 0.05). The GPQ individual accountability and equal opportunity scores (components of collaboration) were higher in the wiki group than in the control group (p < 0.001). No significant between-groups differences were found in any of the other outcome variables (i.e., over-all course result, R-SPQ-2F deep approach score and subscores, GPQ positive interdependence score, social skills score, and composite score). Looking at the Wiki Questionnaire results, the subscale and composite scores we obtained were 31.5% to 37.7% lower than the norm. The wiki was used at a frequency of about 0.7 times per week per student. Recommendations for Practitioners: Using wiki technology in conjunction with the traditional face-to-face teaching method in a biostatistics course can enhance some aspects of undergraduate students' collaborative learning (individual accountability and equal participation opportunity) and approaches to learning (with less surface learning). However, use of a wiki does not improve course performance.

This study aims to identify syntactic and semantic description patterns from summaries of fiction books or book chapters created by children. These patterns can be considered as a metadata scheme that describes the main content of a book. Two groups of primary school students in Hong Kong, ages 8–11, were invited to read a Chinese fiction book and an English fiction book and were asked to write a summary. Ten syntactic and semantic description patterns were identified from the summaries. These patterns can be used to enhance the description of fiction books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the emergence of web technologies, students can conduct their group projects via virtual platforms, which enable online collaboration. However, students' lack of intention to use web technologies for conducting group work has recently been highlighted. Based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this paper developed and examined an extended model, specifying what factors affect e-collaborative intentions. Data were collected from major tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. A total of 1120 students completed the questionnaire. The partial least square approach to structural equation modelling was used to analyse the "a priori" hypothesised model, which was empirically supported. Past experience and self-esteem were found to play substantial roles in explaining e-collaborative intentions. Moreover, the mediating roles of attitudes and perceived behavioural control were confirmed.

Current educational resources for sex education in Hong Kong are mainly designed to be used in classroom. They are mostly text-based and are unattractive to the most vulnerable adolescent group. As discussion on sex is still taboo in Chinese society, self-learning resources can supplement classroom teaching. This paper describes an interactive game playable on Facebook, iPad and the web to educate young adolescents with reliable knowledge and positive attitudes towards relationship and sex and life skills necessary for making wise decisions regarding love and sex in a fun way. The effectiveness and acceptance of the game were evaluated by more than 1000 grades 7-9 students from six schools. The results showed that after playing the game, students' sex knowledge improved with a medium effect size. The students were mostly receptive to the game, finding it fun to play with and describing the content as "interesting", "interactive", "informative", "close to reality" and "applicable."

Blogging has been recommended as a suitable tool for learning during internship due to its associated usefulness in collaborative learning, reflection, communication, and social support. In this study, blogging was incorporated into the internship activities of two discipline-specific groups of interns: information management (n = 53) and nursing (n = 28). In examining the behavior, perceptions and processes of blogging among interns from the two disciplines, a mixed-methods design was used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data through structured interviews and blogging entries. Results revealed that the interns engaged regularly in the writing and reading of their own blogs, and commented on others' blog-writing. The interns perceived blogs to be useful during internship in providing an avenue for knowledge construction, problem solving, reflection, and communicating their emotions. Positive perceptions were not influenced by discipline background, frequency of use, or blogging platform. Qualitative analyses of blog contents indicated that the students engaged in cognitive, metacognitive-reflective, affective, and social-collaborative learning processes in blogging. Higher engagement was found in cognitive and metacognitive processes. Responses to open-ended probes suggest that pedagogical factors (e.g., grading system, supervision) may also have influenced students' blogging behaviors and perceptions. Overall, this study offers evidence to support the use of blogging during internship as computer-based support for learning. (Contains 8 tables.)

The functions and possibilities afforded by blogging have been suggested to be relevant to learning and information management. Its increasing use in the business and education sectors is documented, but currently its use in professional education or internship is limited. The social nature of blogging appears to support the applicability of blogs to facilitate learning and communication between student interns. To contribute to the empirical evidence supporting these propositions, this study investigated the use of web logs to facilitate information management, learning, and mutual support for internship students. Undergraduate information management students (N=53) formed three cohorts who used three different blogging platforms in the course of their internships. They evaluated the use of blogs through an interview questionnaire that included close-ended rating scales and open-ended probes. The results revealed that students generally have positive perceptions on blogging as a tool to facilitate information management and mutual support. Blogs were also perceived to be useful in terms of self-reflection and communication. This study also showed that the blogging platform does not seem to have an impact on the students' perceptions on the use of the blogs, whereas the communication between students and supervisors through the blog comments needs to be improved. (Contains 7 tables.)

Digital storytelling, an innovative way of writing, has been introduced to young learners who are taught to construct stories with digital tools to convey their knowledge and ideas. In 2018 and 2019, 31 digital stories created by Hong Kong primary school students were published on a digital story writing platform and linked from an online gamified reading platform. Each book on average gained 4,000+ views from across the globe and received 3,000+ favorable comments in total. While the digital stories are popular in these platforms, their quality and education value are uncertain. A review of the literature shows there is a lack of robust tools for assessing digital stories by young authors. The research team for this paper thus constructed their own framework in evaluating digital stories. An assessment of the stories has been done by two capable assessors, who found that the stories overall were of good quality and suggested room for improvement. This paper made three contributions: (1) "invention" of a digital story assessment framework; (2) it shows that stories created by students (with support from educators) can be an enjoyable and useful educational resource for their peers; and (3) digital storytelling can help foster the development of young authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a statistical analysis of research into emergency management (EM) using information systems (IS) for the period 2000-2016. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, research trends in the area of EM using IS are analysed using various parameters, including trends on publications and citations, disciplinary distribution, journals, research institutions and regional cooperation. Through a keyword co-occurrence analysis, this study identifies the evolution of the main keywords in this area, and examines the changes and developments in the main focus of scholars in this period. The study also explores the main research orientations in the field by analysing and integrating the results of two cluster analyses conducted from keyword- and reference-based perspectives, respectively. Findings: The area of EM using IS has received increased attention and interest by researchers and practitioners. It is suggested that more cooperation among research institutions is required to help facilitate the further development of the area. Six main research orientations are identified: namely Web 2.0-enabled research, geographic information technology (IT), IT-based research, the contextual use of IT, crisis collaboration research and mass media communication research, since the research area first became popular in 2006. Originality/value: This study is the first to comprehensively map the landscape of EM by conducting a bibliometric analysis of the research using IS. The authors' findings can help academics and emergency managers gain a comprehensive understanding of the research area, and guide scholars towards producing more effective findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that depression is negatively associated with hope and social support. However, little research has been undertaken to investigate the theoretical mechanisms underlying the connections among hope, social support, and depression. This study examined how two types of self-esteem (personal and relational) would mediate the relationship of hope and social support to depression among 384 Hong Kong adolescents (age: 12–18 years;M = 14, SD = 1.19). Participants reported their levels of hope, social support, personal self-esteem, relational self-esteem, and depressive mood. Results of the path analysis showed that both personal and relational self-esteem mediated the associations of hope and social support with depression. Hope and social support were associated with higher levels of personal and relational self-esteem, which were in turn related to decreased levels of depression. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Given the increasing use of web technology for teaching and learning, this study developed and examined an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour ( TPB) model, which explained students' intention to collaborate online for their group projects. Results indicated that past experience predicted the three antecedents of intention, while past behaviour was predictive of subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Moreover, the three antecedents (attitude towards e-collaboration, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control) were found to significantly predict e-collaborative intention. This study explored the use of the 'remember' type of awareness (i.e. past experience) and evaluated the value of the 'know' type of awareness (i.e. past behaviour) in the TPB model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a number of models concerning problem solving systems have been put forward. However, many of them stress on technology and neglect the research of problem solving itself, especially the learning mechanism related to problem solving. In this paper, we analyze the learning mechanism of problem solving, and propose that when designing Web-based problem solving systems, more attention should be paid to the learning mechanism involved in the problem solving process than to the technology itself. On the basis of that, some new ideas on the design of the problem solving systems are put forward in order to promote the rapid development of the Web-based problem solving systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which Hong Kong primary students have access to various media, how they evaluate the credibility of the media, what they know about the media, and how they choose among different media, as well as teachers’ expectations towards their students’ views and consumption of media. Since little is known about young children in the context of media education, this paper fills a research gap by studying the media awareness and use of upper primary students. A questionnaire on media awareness and media use patterns was given to the teachers, who were asked to answer the questions from the perspective of their students. The same questionnaire was administered to students during class time. The descriptive statistics of the data were analyzed and compared. Students believed that the most reliable media for providing news was the television, followed by the radio, the newspaper, and the Internet; about half of the students believed that they were capable of distinguishing true from false news; students were more proactive media users than the teachers thought. The findings of this study suggest that more contextual and in-depth approaches to research would be beneficial to assess the media use patterns of students, from which relevant media education models can be derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research extended the pilot study and examined the use of an electronic news database by upper primary school students and their teachers in five local schools in Hong Kong. We used a mixed-methods design for data collection and analysis. We examined records of users’ database activities for the usage patterns of students and teachers. Surveys and phone interviews were conducted to assess their perceptions of the usefulness of the electronic database for learning and teaching. The Revised Two-Factor Learning Process Questionnaire (R-LPQ-2F) was employed to assess students’ learning approaches and their associations with news database use, and perceptions were examined. Findings revealed that younger students tended exclusively to browse, while older students and teachers used both browsing and keyword searching. Use patterns also confirmed that the news database provided accessibility to a vast amount of information. Both students and teachers perceived the electronic database to be useful for learning and teaching. Finally, we found that a deep learning approach was associated with frequency of use and positive perceptions of the usefulness of the electronic database. These results provide potentially important implications for teachers, school administrators, and system designers in developing an efficient electronic database to facilitate learning at upper primary school levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]