International Journal of Instruction
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Decision-Based Learning as an Approach for Teaching Statistics in a Peruvian University
No full textMany students find learning statistics difficult, especially novice learners. Instructors also struggle to teach statistics due to many challenges, such as students’ misconceptions, lack of math skills, negative attitudes, and deficient instructional methods. A new pedagogical approach called Decision-Based Learning (DBL) has been developed to help instructors and students; however there are limited studies about teachers’ and students’ experiences with this method, particularly in international settings. For this project, a group of Peruvian university professors were trained to use DBL. This qualitative study sought to understand the experiences of one Peruvian statistics instructor and her students implementing DBL pedagogy and software. The DBL software was created to help instructors easily implement DBL. Findings identify specific benefits and challenges participants faced when using DBL. Benefits included the growth of students’ confidence in solving statistical problems and instructor satisfaction. Challenges included time-consuming instructor initial preparation and students’ learning transfer issues
Teaching Styles and Self-Efficacy as Burnout Predictors among Teachers in Arab Schools in Israel
No full textThe objective of this study is to examine the connection between self-efficacy, teachers’ teaching styles and their sense of burnout at work. The study specifically targets teachers working in primary and secondary schools within the Arab educational system in Israel. 160 teachers from different schools were sampled for the study. 67 of them (41.6%) were men and 93 (58.4%) were women with average teaching seniority of 12 years. The research tool included: background data questionnaire, a teaching efficacy questionnaire, teaching styles questionnaire & burnout in teaching questionnaire. The results showed a positive, strong, statistically significant relationship between self-efficacy in teaching and facilitating and delegating teaching styles. Notably, a negative, moderately significant relationship between these teaching styles and instructors' exhaustion was observed. On the other hand, the results of the study indicate a small but favourable relationship between teachers' burnout and their expert teaching style. The main conclusion of the study is that good teaching avails, facilitates or motivates good learning, and although it is not possible to point out which teaching style is good and which isn’t, it is possible to say that teachers who combine teaching styles with an emphasis on style that invites a process of the student cognitive and emotional involvement, with products of understanding performances, like facilitating or delegating teaching style
Fostering Student Motivation and Engagement Through Teacher Autonomy Support: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
No full textIn this study, we qualitatively explore how teachers perceive the usefulness of teacher autonomy support in fostering student motivation and engagement. Seven science and mathematics teachers from Singapore secondary schools were gathered for semi-structured interviews after implementing teacher autonomy support in their respective classrooms. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data using the concepts pre-conceived from literature. The findings herein suggest that teachers perceived the usefulness of teacher autonomy support on student psychological needs satisfaction, and ultimately motivation and engagement (behavioural, emotional, cognitive). The findings have two implications: (1) teachers internalise the value of autonomy support in student motivation and engagement and (2) teachers perceive each autonomy-supportive strategy in a distinct manner, in terms of its contribution to dimensions of student engagement. It is then recommended for future teacher autonomy support workshop not only to teach the strategies, but also to highlight each strategy’s usefulness in different student and classroom situations
Digital Competence of Teachers in the Mayan Region of Mexico: Results of a Preliminary Research in Secondary Education
No full textSince there is a lack of information on the level of digital competence of secondary school teachers in the Mayan region of Mexico, a preliminary study was conducted to identify the level of digital competence and whether there are differences in the level of digital competence of teachers with socioeconomic variables. The DigCompEdu Check-In instrument was administered to 462 teachers; global and area competency levels were obtained, as well as analysis of means and standard deviations and comparisons using the t-test for independent samples; the Kruskal-Wallis test was also used to find differences. Among the results it was found that 45.2% of teachers are at intermediate levels of digital competence, also that there are differences in the level of digital competence between teachers in urban and rural areas; in addition, it was found that variables such as level of studies, number of social networks and class hours are related to the level of digital competence. With the information obtained, some actions can be defined to be carried out in the next stages of the research, such as working with more teachers and involving their students. The main contribution of this research is to have information on the digital competencies of teachers in the Mayan area of Mexico
The Whole-School Approach and Transformative Learning: The Case of a Portuguese School
No full textIn the 21st century, there has been an increase in political and academic orientations pointing to the need for school education to follow a transforming pedagogy that will enable it to fulfil its social contract. Along with this idea, there has also been a growing recognition that educational interventions should consider the school as a whole and the different agents that are part of it. With these ideas as a reference, a study was conducted using documentary analysis to identify how a Portuguese school considers these guidelines when planning and evaluating its activities. The school activity plan and the evaluation report were analysed using the whole school approach (WSA) analytical framework. The concepts of transformative pedagogy and the WSA impact how schools organise their activities and involve students in analyzing real-life situations, influencing processes in which students learn to make decisions that can contribute to sustainability
Enhancing Business Email Writing Ability through the Integration of Genre-based Approach and Data-driven Learning
No full textEmail functions as a pivotal tool in facilitating today’s business correspondence. Similar to other written genres, email incorporates distinct conventions and linguistic patterns that are recognized within a particular community. Deviating from the established conventions and recurring patterns can pose challenges for individuals engaging in communication within this genre. This study, which utilized a mixed methods research design, formulated a teaching approach that synergized genre-based approach (GBA) with data-driven learning (DDL) to facilitate business email writing instruction, while its effectiveness in enhancing students’ aptitude for written communication was investigated. The participants comprised 24 EFL university students with elementary (n=12) and intermediate (n=12) English proficiency levels from diverse academic disciplines. They underwent a 10-hour instructional course designed to augment their business email writing competence. Data were collected through pre-test and post-test assessments, supplemented by semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated a statistically significant improvement in participants’ business email writing ability subsequent to the intervention. Qualitatively, students’ post-intervention emails exhibited well-organized structure, comprehensive content, and contextual appropriateness, underpinned by practical, professional, and linguistically accurate language use. Furthermore, students expressed satisfaction with the pedagogical approach as it effectively prepared them for real-world business email communication
Exploring the Efficiency of Associative Vocabulary Teaching Strategies to Foreign Language Learners
No full textThis study attempted to explore the effect of applying three associative vocabulary instruction strategies (context-based, morphemic analysis and concept map) compared with the traditional strategies on the intermediate EFL learners' vocabulary development employing a quasi-experimental, quantitative, pretest/post-test design. With the aid of an English proficiency test and a researcherdeveloped vocabulary test the homogeneity of the participants were checked before the study's treatment. Subsequently, 80 intermediate EFL learners were chosen via convenience sampling procedure from private language schools and recruited for the study and divided into four groups of 20 as the experimental and control participants. The experimental participants were taught the target lexical items with the aid of contexts, concept maps and morphemic analyses while the control participants experienced the traditional instruction (i.e., L1 equivalent provision, word lists, flashcards and memorization). The same vocabulary test was administered this time as the post-test to check whether there was a significant difference in the learners’ attainment for the taught lexical items. The performance of the participants on the vocabulary post-test was analyzed both descriptively and inferentially (a MANOVA, an ANOVA and an independent-samples t-test). It was revealed that all the associative vocabulary teaching strategies were significantly more efficient than the traditional vocabulary teaching strategies. Moreover, it was found that concept mapping was the most efficient instructional strategy for teaching the lexical items compared with the traditional strategies and other associative strategies for the intermediate EFL learners
Fostering Autonomous Learning in Oral English Through Role Play: An Exploration in Course Setting
No full textEnhancing student motivation to manage their learning process and attain selftransformation in Oral English learning presents a notable challenge. This study emerged from a Role Play Oral English Course (RPOEC) which utilizes English cartoon film clips to enhance primary students’ oral English skills through role play, facilitating meaningful language input and output. Implemented in a Chinese context where English language exposure is limited, this qualitative case study, combined with action research, explores how autonomous learning is fostered through RPOEC. The study engaged a Grade Six class of 30 students (25 girls and 5 boys) in northern China, investigating strategies to trigger learners’ interests and form their independent learner identities autonomously, empower learners in their educational journey, encourage reflective practices in oral English learning, and involve learners in evaluative processes. Data, collected through a combination of observations, focus group discussions, and document analysis for three months, were thematically analyzed across four intertwined perspectives: situated learning, interactive communication, cooperative learning, and evaluative discussions. The paper posits that the outlined curricular approach can be tailored to educators’ needs aiming to cultivate students’ oral English skills within a situated, interactive, and collaborative learning environment, pushing learners towards autonomous engagement
Note-taking and Its Impact on Learning, Academic Performance, and Memory
No full textNote-taking is a significant part of students’ academics because it improves their learning and helps them with their memory. Writing effective notes that are concise helps students to understand the information easier and allows them to retrieve information efficiently. Note-taking allows students to organize information and to enhance their cognitive processing. There are many different ways to structure notes such as intentional free notes, outline notes, and matrix notes. Therefore, it is important that students find their own structured way to write effective notes during lecture. The purpose of this research study is to investigate whether effective-note-taking improves the quality of learning and memory retrieval for students. A survey was administered and collected from 200 students of the City College of New York during fall of 2022. The survey questionnaire included Likert-type and open-ended questions, which was used to examine the students’ thoughts, perceptions and their views about the benefits of effective note-taking. The data suggest that student’s ability to note-taking and their method of note-taking is positively correlated with their GPA and performance. Furthermore, most students believe note-taking is vital to have a higher academic performance. Furthermore, the data suggests that the students’ perceptions is that effective note-taking helps them with their memory and information retrieval
College Women’s Establishing of Peer Social-relationships and Communicating about Pandemic-related Political Identities and Topics
No full textThis mixed-methods study examines two research areas concerning whether U.S. women college students, compared with men, enrolled in online classes during the pandemic suffered from stress regarding their ability to socialize and negotiate a community/national political issue(s) affecting them negatively academically in terms of their grade point average and course outcomes, as well as whether the women would experience a sense of belonging and camaraderie with classmates by discussing topics impacting their identities and circumstances in terms of their individual and communal, social-relational, health, and financial pandemic contexts, which might also influence them negatively academically as stressors linked to their course outcomes and progress. Conducted in a rural, geographically marginalized area, the study implements survey and short-answer question instruments and utilizes an exploratory case-study design and a convergent- parallel strategy assessing 188 women and 188 men participants, including racial/ethnic minority and low socio-economic status (SES) women, with women’s median age of 23. of women and men surveyed, the former reported statistically significantly higher stress levels than men connected to the women’s need to socialize and tackle pandemic-oriented community and national political issues affecting their lives and statuses, which subsequently influenced their academic progress. Overall, the pandemic damaged women, especially racial/ethnic minorities, more than men, with women having higher stress rates revolving around their need for socializing (59% versus 33%) and addressing political issues (54% versus 32%), stressors hampering the women’s academic outcomes and status, as well as some experiencing additional stress regarding health and financial concerns. In response to these settings, 21% of women (n = 40) desired to discuss controversial topics, such as their pandemic stressors and related experiences in the classroom, including the pandemic’s political consequences for themselves, to promote self-expression, forge bonds, and seek and provide assistance in addressing all classmates’ academic, personal, and community needs