Classroom Assignments Research Articles

Good friends, better society: Peer effects on civic‐mindedness of elementary school students

AbstractThis study examined the effects of peers' civic‐mindedness on elementary school students' civic‐mindedness. Raising civic‐minded and socially responsible adolescents has become a focus of attention in many countries in recent years. This study used fourth‐grade elementary school panel data from the Seoul Education Longitudinal Survey 2010, identifying causality based on fixed effects and instrumental variable estimation from students' random classroom assignment. Results showed that the high civic‐mindedness among classmates increased students' own civic‐mindedness. Based on these findings, implications for adolescent education are discussed.

Teaching in Active Learning Classrooms at a Canadian University

This article describes an evaluation of a campus wide Active Learning initiative to examine instructors’ experiences teaching in Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) at a Canadian University. ALCs at this university differ in size, layout, and audio-visual equipment. The participants were 21 instructors from different disciplines who had taught courses in various ALCs who were interviewed to explore their pedagogical decision-making, teaching experiences, and their access to ALC-specific, pedagogical and technological support. Instructors explained their classroom management strategies specific to ALCs, discussed how physical and technological features of different ALCs impacted the extent of necessary revisions to their courses, and highlighted logistical issues in being assigned to ALCs that may fit the requirements of their courses. Based on the findings, we pose a series of recommendations to offices responsible for classroom assignment, academic departments, and centres for faculty support and development. Overall, instructors would benefit from advance notice of ALC room assignment, just-in-time and self-directed opportunities regarding integrating Active Learning strategies in instruction, and access to orientation sessions and multimedia documentation developed for different types of ALCs.

Using Prediction Markets as a Tool for Classroom and Civic Engagement

Keeping students actively engaged in their courses and seeking ways to help them understand how to apply course content to real-world scenarios remains a central focus of political science education. In an effort to address this enduring challenge, we implement a prediction market focused on the 2022 congressional midterm elections in our introductory and upper-level political science courses. Using original survey data, obtained through the administration of pre and post surveys, we find statistically significant increases in feelings of pride, hope, trust, and efficacy among market participants. More broadly, we discuss the ways in which this semester-long project, using both the prediction market and classroom assignments, fosters increases in the desire for civic participation and the possibility of sustained civic engagement that extends beyond the classroom. Throughout the paper we seek to provide a useful guide for anyone seeking alternative methods of classroom and civic engagement and different ways by which to achieve it in a variety of courses.

A Constructive Use of ChatGPT in the Classroom: An Empirical Study

ChatGPT, launched on November 30, 2022, has been adopted by the industries and academia alike. Students have started using ChatGPT for classroom assignments. In the search for the use of this tool for constructive purposes, the professor of a graduate class (MBA) on supply chain and operations management decided to require students to use ChatGPT to first generate some material for their term papers. Typically, ChatGPT generates one to two pages of original material for the student who is not well-trained in using it, which was the case for the students in this class. Then, the students were asked to use the ChatGPT-generated material as a guide to writing a 10-page long paper with new references and citations added. A comparative study is conducted to determine the usefulness of ChatGPT on this project. The preliminary results indicate that students found ChatGPT useful in generating their own papers. Meanwhile, our analysis shows beginners of ChatGPT have limited capacity to generate high-quality content based on ChatGPT. Also, text mining is conducted to compare the readability and information density of ChatGPT-generated content and students-generated content.

The Social Justice Educational Assessment Scale: Filling a Gap in Social Justice Education Assessment and Evaluation

Nationally recognized social justice standards guide educators in developing social justice education. Absent from the guidance are tools to conduct initial formative assessment or to measure the impact of related instruction. To fill that gap, an academic researcher and 10th-grade teacher used a 3-phased, 9-step process to develop, pilot test, and evaluate a self-assessment tool called the Social Justice Educational Assessment Scale (SJEAS). In Phase 1, the team created the SJEAS items, aligning each with the Learning for Justice 9th–12th-grade social justice learning outcomes to ensure content validity. In Phase 2, they pretested the questions, revised the scale, and administered it to 322 student participants. Next, they conducted inter-item and total-item correlation tests and principal component analysis to ensure internal consistency. In Phase 3, they evaluated the SJEAS. Preliminary results indicate the SJEAS could provide educators and curriculum coordinators with a practical formative assessment and impact evaluation tool for social justice education aligned with nationally recognized learning outcomes. Complementary data, including classroom assignments and student discussions, would further enhance its value.

Third site bioquiry: Meditations on biographical inquiry and third-site pedagogy1

We, teachers of art and visual culture, direct our classroom assignments towards the things we want our students to do, make, perform, think, know, value, feel and interpret – in our classrooms. And should not we assume that there is a strong link between what we direct students to make and think and know and feel in our classrooms and the behaviours and attitudes that they will exhibit beyond the spaces for teaching? But what are our classrooms like? The typical art room worktables and easels are inadequate models for the many art worlds that exist beyond. (The multitude of art worlds, actual and potential, in which students might live would be the subject for another article.) The outcome I desire for an education in art is that it will prepare students to live their lives beyond schooling productively and actively in various art worlds – if that is their desire.

Of the Meaning of Pedagogy: W. E. B. Du Bois, Racial Progress, and Positive Propaganda

A silence in the resurgence of scholarship on W. E. B. Du Bois has been his work as an instructor. This article uses Du Bois’s early teaching experiences and reflections on the “ugly” progress of schooling to ask: What should guide the pedagogy of sociology instructors when racial progress is so ugly? I sketch here a pedagogy inspired by Du Bois—who was the teacher denied—which is motivated by a positive notion of propaganda. Du Bois was a radical pedagogue whose mixed-methods instructional agenda informed a critical Black Sociology and bridges recent calls by American Sociological Association leadership for a discipline that is more emancipatory and educative. Embracing the right to propaganda gives pedagogical teeth to honest appraisals on racial progress. Triangulating art, science, and agitation in our pedagogy offers a general compass, and my article concludes with one direction that compass might lead: a classroom assignment where my undergraduate students became “print propagandists.”

Students' Perception of Oral Presentation Assignment Using PowerPoint in English Education Students

In the English classroom, students are assigned to conduct oral presentations using PowerPoint as one of the visual aids. The study aimed to investigate the perceptions of English education students about oral presentations and classroom assignments using PowerPoint. The researchers employed qualitative methods and purposively selected a sample of 30 college students in the 5th semester of English education at one of the higher education institutions in Indonesia. The research instruments were Likert scale questionnaires and interviews. The data analysis used a thematic analysis. The result indicated that most students' perceptions were positive towards oral presentations using PowerPoint, which served as an assignment. Also, it highlights that oral presentations can enhance students' understanding and retention if the slides contain only important points, interesting pictures, or animation rather than full text. This research pointed out that students thought oral PowerPoint presentations were inefficient due to external factors such as a lack of internet connection and device preparation. Therefore, the oral presentation assignments using PowerPoint become necessary by considering the learning activity to obtain the learning objectives.

Adjusting to Your Surroundings: An Inquiry-Based Learning Module to Teach Principles of Mechanobiology for Regenerative Medicine

Mechanobiology is an interdisciplinary field that aims to understand how physical forces impact biological systems. Enhancing our knowledge of mechanobiology has become increasingly important for understanding human disease and developing novel therapeutics. There is a societal need to teach diverse students principles of mechanobiology so that we may collectively expand our knowledge of this subject and apply new principles to improving human health. Toward this goal, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a hands-on, inquiry-based learning (IBL) module to teach students principles of cell–biomaterial interactions. This module was designed to be hosted in two 3-h sessions, over two consecutive days. During this time, students learned how to synthesize and mechanically test biomaterials, culture bacteria cells, and assess effects of matrix stiffness on bacteria cell proliferation. Among the 73 students who registered to participate in our IBL mechanobiology module, 40 students completed both days and participated in this study. A vast majority of the participants were considered underrepresented minority (URM) students based on race/ethnicity. Using pre/post-tests, we found that students experienced significant learning gains of 33 percentage points from completing our IBL mechanobiology module. In addition to gaining knowledge of mechanobiology, validated pre/post-surveys showed that students also experienced significant improvements in scientific literacy. Instructors may use this module as described, increase the complexity for an undergraduate classroom assignment, or make the module less complex for K-12 outreach. As presented, this IBL mechanobiology module effectively teaches diverse students principles of mechanobiology and scientific inquiry. Deploying this module, and similar IBL modules, may help advance the next generation of mechanobiologists.

The responsible business model canvas: designing and assessing a sustainable business modeling tool for students and start-up entrepreneurs

PurposeBusiness model (BM) canvases have been used in educational institutions and business incubators for over a decade to assist students and start-up entrepreneurs in developing their business projects. Given the urgency of tackling sustainability challenges, several tools have emerged to stimulate sustainable business modeling (SBM). However, these tools are often too complex for nonexperts in business modeling or sustainability, and thus insufficiently user-friendly for educational contexts. This study aims to address this pedagogical gap by describing the design process of the responsible business model canvas (RBMC).Design/methodology/approachThe authors relied on a design science research methodology involving the active participation of end users, entrepreneurship educators, business coaches and external partners. The authors proposed four criteria and ten subcriteria to analyze existing SBM canvases based on their user-friendliness and to design the initial prototype of the RBMC. The RBMC was subsequently tested in various settings, including classroom assignments and business incubation programs, with over 1,000 university students. The tool was refined and assessed throughout the development process, incorporating feedback from focus groups with start-up entrepreneurs.FindingsThrough the development process, the authors created a user-friendly tool to help novice student and start-up entrepreneurs integrate sustainability into their BMs: the RBMC. The canvas consists of 14 building blocks grouped into four areas: consistency (mission, vision, values), desirability (value propositions, customer segments, users and beneficiaries, customer relationships and channels), feasibility (key activities, key resources, key partners and stakeholders and governance) and viability (cost structure, revenues streams, negative impacts and positive impacts).Research limitations/implicationsThe research methods and user-friendliness criteria in this study can be applied in other contexts to design tools to support sustainable entrepreneurship education. While the RBMC is currently being used in several educational institutions throughout the world, its impacts in different pedagogical and cultural settings require further validation.Practical implicationsThe RBMC is a user-friendly tool to introduce students and start-up entrepreneurs to SBM. It helps raise users’ awareness about sustainability concerns, challenging them to consider issues they might have otherwise overlooked. Some participants even shifted their outlook and were motivated to develop a long-term vision integrating compensatory, mitigative or corrective actions into their BMs.Originality/valueThe RBMC is the outcome of a balanced approach that combines both pragmatic (i.e. user-friendliness) and normative (i.e. sustainability) perspectives. It provides users with a systematic approach for integrating and applying sustainability issues in their business projects.

User experiences of college students using mental health applications to improve self-care: Implications for improving engagement

The purpose of this study is to evaluate themes on ‘user experiences’ among college students (N = 265) enrolled in an upper-division Psychopathology course who were assigned a project in which they were instructed to identify a self-care goal, choose from a list of six mental health-focused mobile applications (apps) provided by the instructor, and use the app over the course of three weeks to support progress towards their goal. Prior literature on user experiences typically evaluates user reviews, or asks participants to reflect on past app use or anticipate future use. Students reported their experiences using the app during key decision points: app selection, while using the app, and at the conclusion of the assignment. Using thematic analysis, results identified seven central themes and eight subthemes pertaining to the content of the app (e.g., app features) and the context of using the app (e.g., classroom assignment). Content-wise students liked: 1) features with a strong evidence base, namely, thought diaries and guided meditations; 2) progress tracking, because it increased awareness of mood/stressors, motivated students to see improvement, and helped them stay on track. Students appreciated having 3) crisis support resources; 4) app interfaces that allowed for customization (poor app interfaces were sometimes cited as the reason for disengagement); and 5) apps that included varied, comprehensive resources such that it felt like a one-stop shop. In addition to the content of features and design interface, the context in which mental health apps are introduced and used is important. The remaining themes related to the context in which the app was used, including 6) preparation for app usage, such as reviewing scholarly/credible sources, and 7) social support from fellow students completing the same assignment. Future research should evaluate the ‘who, what, when, why, where, and how’ of app utilization during key decision points, such as initial app selection or subscription renewal, to better understand the impact of user experience on engagement.

Using PowerPoints to assess students’ learning from multiple resources

PowerPoints are among the most commonly used, yet infrequently investigated, classroom assignments. This study examines the features of PowerPoints that students produce based on multiple resources and associates these features with the quality of students’ oral presentations and information use behaviors during PowerPoint production. The MD-TRACE Model (Rouet & Britt, 2011) and Mayer’s SOI framework (1996) were used as guiding frameworks in this study. Confirming results from prior work, students were found to most frequently select resources based on their non-epistemic source features (e.g., length, information readability). Additionally, students were found to include a variety of organizational features (e.g., descriptive titles, topographical indicators, like bullets) on their slides. However, students’ inclusion of such organizational features negatively predicted the number of elaborated, added, and audience-directed idea units included in their oral presentations. Conversely, students’ purposeful exclusion of resources from their PowerPoints positively predicted elaborations during oral presentation delivery, suggesting complex patterns in the relation between multiple resource use and the quality of students’ PowerPoint presentations. Qualitative analysis of extreme cases was used to further explore patterns in students’ PowerPoint production.

A Course Sequence as a Model to Teach Cultural Humility to MSW Students

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the utilization of a cultural humility model to educate social work students in understanding the importance of diversity, power, privilege, oppression, marginalization and social and economic justice in an increasingly diverse society. Social work programs are required to teach students to effectively engage a diversity of clients in practice as well as to take action to resolve issues of oppression and discrimination. While the cultural humility model is gaining acceptance in social work and in social work education, there are few models of how to effectively teach it within the social work curriculum. One model that includes a two-course sequence is presented. The paper discusses components in creating a culturally humble classroom environment as well as specific materials and classroom assignments aimed at providing students with the knowledge, tools and skills essential to practicing with cultural humility. The power of utilizing materials that are representative of a diversity of voices is emphasized with appendices providing written and audio resources.

“I Never Would Have Talked to This Person”: The Power of an Assignment to Encourage Engagement

First-Year Seminars (FYS) are a high-impact practice (Keup & Young, 2018; Skipper, 2017). However, outcomes of pedagogical approaches linked to those seminars have not been as well researched. An expectation of Christian higher education is to consider what kind of spiritual and personal formation is happening through classroom assignments and practices (Smith, 2021a). This qualitative study explored the impact of an assignment in which first-year students interacted in structured conversations outside of class for 10 weeks of the fall semester. Students reflected on their experiences by responding to prompts at the midpoint and end of the semester, and the researcher conducted a qualitative analysis of the responses with a focus on the question: “Have our teaching practices nudged students toward genuine engagement with the people around them?” The most common themes revealed that structured conversations functioned as a formative relational practice, which moved students to engage in meaningful ways with people with whom they previously thought they would have nothing in common.

The feedback I want versus the feedback I need: Investigating students' perceptions of feedback

AbstractGetting feedback on assignments is a ubiquitous educational experience. Researchers have typically described the feedback process in one of two ways—feedback as transmission of information from a more knowledgeable other to the learner or feedback as a student‐centered dialogue. The present study highlights a gap between theory and practice by comparing undergraduate students' perceptions of the purpose and preferred content of feedback to the views of academics. To measure students' perceptions and preferences about feedback, we administered a survey to 80 undergraduate students from a large research university in the United States. We also analyzed the content of genuine feedback a subset of those students received as part of one of their authentic classroom assignments. Overall, results suggest a shared understanding of the purpose of feedback between students and academics. However, students do not necessarily want to receive feedback that reflects those purposes. Theoretical and practical implications of this misalignment between students' views on the purpose of feedback and their actual experiences with feedback are discussed.

Students’ Perception of Wikipedia as an Academic Information Source

Wikipedia has become an integral part of education in recent times. But its credibility and its ability to serve as an efficient academic resource is still a matter of concern. This study aims to evaluate Bangladeshi students’ perception of Wikipedia as an information resource. For this quantitative research, the authors used a structured questionnaires with close ended questions to collect data. A total of 336 students from several Bangladeshi institutions chosen using random sampling method were the population for this study. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to test the hypothesis. The study found that students regularly used Wikipedia for their academic work and classroom assignments. A majority of the students (N=296, 88.1%) deemed it appropriate to use Wikipedia in the context of university studies. This study is the first attempt in Bangladesh to investigate how frequently and why university students use Wikipedia in their academic work and whether they deem Wikipedia credible, accurate and relevant to their education. Extensive research by the authors has shown that there are many aspects of Wikipedia that make it suitable for the learning-teaching process, which makes it a fruitful topic for further study.

A qualitative exploration of college students’ experiences using mobile apps to improve self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This project examines students’ experiences using a mental health mobile application (app) as part of a class assignment developed to support student well-being. Participants: Data was collected from 265 undergraduate students enrolled in a psychology course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Students developed a self-care goal and used an app to support progress toward it. Thematic analysis was applied to students’ written reflections about their experiences using the app and practicing self-care. Results: Students reported using an app for self-care was 1) more helpful than expected for improving focus, productivity, motivation, sleep, and mental health symptoms; 2) challenging due to loss of interest, slow improvement, difficulty integrating into routine, or negative feelings triggered; and 3) influenced by the pandemic and transition to remote learning. Conclusions: A classroom assignment designed to promote self-care using a mental health app shows promise. Future research is needed to better understand engagement and impact.

Using rubrics to improve writing skills: a study in Kuwait

Rubrics for writing courses have become increasingly popular yet there have been few studies published from the GCC. This study investigated the effectiveness of rubrics in business writing classes at a Kuwait university. The participants were 104 students who were given a survey that evaluated their opinions of the rubrics. In addition, several instructors from these writing courses were interviewed. It found that a robust rubric may help ensure that grading is consistent and fair, and that it was highly useful as a guide for students when writing the assignments, and assisted students in crafting the essay. A proportion of students suggested that additional feedback beyond the rubric was desirable. The writing instructors were generally supportive of the value of rubrics, especially as a means to indicate to students what is required in classroom assignments. Overall, this study contributes to the body of literature demonstrating the value of rubrics for writing classes.

Perceptions of Teachers Concerning the New Grading System at Secondary Level School: A Qualitative Approach

This paper presents the teachers’ perceptions of the Letter Grading System (LGS) at secondary-level schools in the Tarakeshwor Municipality of Kathmandu district. The main objective is to study teachers’ perceptions of LGS and identify how to address its foremost challenges. This research is based on phenomenological design and prefers citizen constructivism. Data is collected using decisive sampling methods and a semi-structured interview tool. The teachers’ practices with the LGS are significant, appropriate, motivated, and suitable for stimulating the Nepali education system. Similarly, undergraduates’ and their parents’ perceptions are simply ensuing generous promotion strategy with advancement to their child without difficulties. As a result, there is a mismatch between the evaluation technique’s practices and teachers’ perceptions of the LGS for tracking students’ progress. Furthermore, as discussed in this article, the LGS has assessed the student’s proficiency and rational domain using nine reformist scales based on the performance opportunity provided. Finally, an experienced teacher believes that LGS has biased, liable, productive, and merit-based assessment tools in education without incorporating non-standardised tests into the school assessment system. Currently, LGS has a far better assessment method in the school appraisal system if it is possible to integrate non-testing devices, such as project work, classroom assignments, homework, group work, practical work, etc., as an assignment.

Understanding spillover of peer parental education: Randomization evidence and mechanisms

AbstractThe educational background of peer parents is more than a proxy for peer quality. We utilize random classroom assignments in China middle schools to study the spillover of peer parental education on the student test score. Analyzing the China Education Panel Survey, we find a causal relationship between the average college attainment of classmates' mothers and a student's test score. Besides peer quality and teacher response, we identify the change in the mother's parenting style as a mediating factor. The parental responses (time, money, and parenting style) also differ by family background, leading to heterogeneous spillover on the test score.