Higher Education Classroom Research Articles

Exploring Factors Contributing to Plagiarism as Students Enter STEM Higher Education Classrooms

Students often come to college with a limited understanding of how to ethically incorporate and cite source materials in their writing, and this is commonly cited as the leading reason for plagiarism. Studies have shown that students in STEM are more apt to plagiarize as compared to students in the humanities or social sciences, so they are an ideal population for looking at causes of plagiarism. The goal of this study was to examine college STEM student self-reported frequencies of plagiarism, ability to recognize instances of plagiarism, and justifications for why certain acts of plagiarism may or may not be acceptable. Surveys were collected from 965 STEM students taking an introductory biology class. The majority of freshmen surveyed admitted to some degree of plagiarism and found it difficult to recognize certain types of plagiarism. Juniors and seniors were less likely to report any form of plagiarism and are better able to recognize specific types, supporting previous work that point at lack of experience as the reason for most plagiarism in college. However, students at all levels were confused about the acceptability of some examples of plagiarism, such as reusing the same paper in multiple classes and some students point to external factors like grading practices in previous courses as motivators for certain types of plagiarism. Fully understanding where students still struggle to recognize plagiarism and their motivations for committing certain types of plagiarism will help in creating strategies to mitigate this common problem.

Autonomous learning and the use of digital technologies in online English classrooms in higher education

This study investigated to what degree students can be autonomous in EFL classroom by deploying different digital technologies, including <i>Google Form, Quizizz, Quizlet, Kahoot!</i>, and <i>Socrative</i>, and the efficacy of these tools in online English classrooms. Utilizing a quasi-experimental research design, a sample of 48 first-year railway mechanical technology students from an Indonesian polytechnic was used and assigned to control and experimental groups. Data was gathered through a survey questionnaire and two tests (pre- and post-test), and was analyzed using descriptive statistics, the <i>N</i>-gain formula, the paired-sample t-test and ANCOVA. The results revealed learner autonomy in listening, structure, and reading skills, encompassing self-reliance, information literacy, linguistic confidence, and learning strategy. Digital classes incorporating <i>Google Form</i>, <i>Quizizz</i>, <i>Quizlet</i>, <i>Kahoot!</i>, and <i>Socrative </i>were more effective than traditional classes in terms of learning outcomes. Therefore, this study proposed a learning model utilizing digital technologies and autonomous learning concepts to improve students’ learning outcomes.

Learning Analytics: Gamification in Flipped Classroom for Higher Education

Abstract: The Flipped classroom is an innovative pedagogical model that has been adopted in various colleges across different disciplines. The Flipped classroom allows the students to actively participate and collaborate during in-class activities. The measure of learner's performance, cognitive skills, and behaviour is essential in any teaching-learning process to assess and improvise the curriculum, syllabus, learning methodology, and educational technology. In this research work, various innovative teaching models suitable for Gen Z learners have been experimented with. These models included a virtual classroom, laboratory sessions, and flipped classrooms that were compared with the traditional classroom approach. A new model “CAM-S” is proposed to measure the Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational traits and identify slow learners. Learning analytics using the K-Means clustering algorithm is performed to analyze the behaviour and learning patterns of the learners in these pedagogical models. From the clusters obtained, the students were categorized into 3 different groups based on their performances. The result obtained after the analysis shows that Flipped Classroom has better learner performances when compared with the otherpedagogical methodologies. Additionally, separate questionnaires are also created to obtain feedback from the students about their experiences with the 3 pedagogical techniques used. Even the behavioural models are analyzed using the gaming environment in the flipped classroom. Keywords: Blended Learning, Clustering algorithm, Flipped Classroom, Gamification, Learning Analytics.

Micro-Videos as a Learning Tool for Professional Practice during the Post-COVID Era: An Educational Experience

With the arrival of the pandemic, many education students in higher education classrooms saw how their internships were cancelled, making it impossible for them to access real contexts that would let them know how their everyday professional life would be. Consequently, it was necessary to make a methodological change. To bridge the gap between theoretical and practical training, we conducted an educational experience at a private university where several educational videos were used to reflect the implementation of different educational methodologies in teaching mathematics by expert teachers. In the recorded practices, it was shown how four different methodologies were implemented in several contexts during the day-to-day classes: International Baccalaureate (IB), gamification, flipped classroom and project-based learning. We studied each methodology to measure their impact on primary students’ learning and guarantee that higher education students had visualized effective practices through micro-videos. The results of our study show that, in certain aspects of mathematics, the students’ own teaching capabilities have greater influence than the theoretical methodological instruction they generally receive in the classroom. Further, concerning students’ perceptions, we can conclude that their motivation increased towards the use of micro-videos, since they became active agents of their own learning.

Exploring Teaching Evaluation of English Flipped Classrooms in Chinese Higher Education

The conventional teaching approach is reversed in the flipped classroom, which means a reversal of teaching and learning. Learners use micro-videos and guided learning plans to learn knowledge before class. Then, they discuss, communicate, and cooperate with teachers and classmates in class to promote the internalization of knowledge. At the same time, the flipped classroom is student-oriented, with the teacher as the leader and organizer to help students acquire knowledge. Although this teaching model is widely used in the world, it is in its infancy in China, and there is little research on the teaching practice and assessment system of English flipped classroom in higher education. Therefore, this paper analyzes the current situation of English flipped classroom in higher education in China by reviewing four aspects: research on the practice of flipped classroom, theoretical research, problems of assessment in practice, and countermeasures of assessment problems in practice, and proposes corresponding countermeasures and suggestions for improvement, so as to provide reference and reference for English teachers in higher education of China.

Blended learning: Adoption pattern of online classrooms in higher education

<span lang="EN-US">This study aimed to describe the patterns of technology usage. Specifically, on the implementation of blended learning (BL) in higher education institutions. The case study explores usage patterns, influencing factors, and success factors. The data sources came from the Google Classroom log activity of 35 departments, consisting of five vocational programs, 28 undergraduate programs, and two professional programs in a university for three years with an average in a semester. A method called the customer window quadrant (CWQ) was utilized to analyze the pattern. In addition, a questionnaire was deployed to measure the teacher’s satisfaction with using the Google Classroom in a blended learning setting. The results show two dominant activities in Google Classroom, namely assigning tasks and quizzes. For the quiz, there were two popular question types, i.e., multiple-choice and short answers questions. The activity of using the Google Classroom has doubled in the three years. Assigning tasks to projects becomes the task in the Google Classroom. The usage patterns of Google Classroom are based on the level of importance. There are three activities considered the most important, namely creating class, topic, and material course. Moreover, the most influencing factors are stability, convenience, simplicity, velocity, and reliability.</span>

The Development of the Protocol for Advancing Inclusive Teaching Efforts (PAITE)

Inclusive teaching is instruction that fosters a sense of belonging, is equitable for a diverse student body, and shows students that they matter. Inclusivity is associated with positive student outcomes and is critical at institutions of higher education given the diversity of student populations. While there are a number of recommended practices for inclusive teaching, valid and reliable classroom observation tools that provide instructors with formative feedback on their instructional efforts are lacking. This article describes the development of the Protocol for Advancing Inclusive Teaching Efforts (PAITE). The PAITE was developed for formative purposes to provide higher education instructors with formative feedback on observable inclusive teaching practices. The protocol can be used by peer observers, educational developers, student pedagogical partners, and educational researchers in higher education classrooms. We describe the creation of the protocol, how to prepare observers to use it within classrooms, and how instructors can use the feedback to monitor and improve their inclusive teaching approaches.

Adoption and use of smart devices as clickers in classrooms in higher education

AbstractThe availability of students' smartphones, tablets, and laptops, known as bring your own devices (BYOD), used as clickers rather than the custom devices provided by institutions is increasing. Introducing BYOD as clickers and the level of adoption by students is not explored in the literature. Another element that is not reported in the literature is students' negative perception of the use of clickers. This paper reports on the factors of the adoption of BYOD and the impact of the use of BYOD for engagement and active learning. The study used mixed‐method data analysis. A questionnaire was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data from 78 students. The technology acceptance model (TAM3) was used to develop a partial least square‐structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) model to test hypotheses on the factors affecting the adoption of BYOD by students as clickers. PLS‐SEM was used to test the proposed hypotheses based on TAM3 factors. The qualitative data analysis indicates that BYOD has a role as a facilitator of active learning and engagement. Job relevance has a weak positive relationship with output quality; result demonstrability has a negative weak relationship with resistance to adoption. Incompatibility of BYOD as a clicker acts as a factor for the nonadoption of the technology. This research suggested the inclusion of the BYOD technology compatibility factor for analyzing the perception of usefulness. The findings have particular implications for curriculum planners and educators.

Positive effects of indoor environmental conditions on students and their performance in higher education classrooms: A between-groups experiment

This study explores if multiple alterations of the classrooms' indoor environmental conditions, which lead to environmental conditions meeting quality class A of Dutch guidelines, result in a positive effect on students' perceptions and performance. A field study, with a between-group experimental design, was conducted during the academic course in 2020–2021. First, the reverberation time (RT) was lowered in the intervention condition to 0.4 s (control condition 0.6 s). Next, the horizontal illuminance (HI) level was raised in the intervention condition to 750 lx (control condition 500 lx). Finally, the indoor air quality (IAQ) in both conditions was improved by increasing the ventilation rate, resulting in a reduction of carbon dioxide concentrations, as a proxy for IAQ, from ~1100 to <800 ppm. During seven campaigns, students' perceptions of indoor environmental quality, health, emotional status, cognitive performance, and quality of learning were measured at the end of each lecture using questionnaires. Furthermore, students' objective cognitive responses were measured with psychometric tests of neurobehavioural functions. Students' short-term academic performance was evaluated with a content-related test.From 201 students, 527 responses were collected. The results showed that the reduction of the RT positively influenced students' perceived cognitive performance. A reduced RT in combination with raised HI improved students' perceptions of the lighting environment, internal responses, and quality of learning. However, this experimental condition negatively influenced students' ability to solve problems, while students' content-related test scores were not influenced. This shows that although quality class A conditions for RT and HI improved students' perceptions, it did not influence their short-term academic performance.Furthermore, the benefits of reduced RT in combination with raised HI were not observed in improved IAQ conditions. Whether the sequential order of the experimental conditions is relevant in inducing these effects and/or whether improving two parameters is already beneficial, is unknown.

The Impact of Reading Medium on the Comprehension and Judgment of Performance of Moroccan EFL Readers

Technology use in Moroccan higher education classrooms is growing at an exponential rate. However, current knowledge about the pedagogical effectiveness of Information Communication Technology (ICT) usage for reading and self-efficacy beliefs of Moroccan EFL readers is inconclusive. The main purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of reading texts on paper versus on-screen on reading comprehension and judgment of performance, while controlling for relevant individual difference variables. In a between-subjects design, three groups of first-year university students (N = 83) read an expository text on a sheet of paper versus on a laptop. Before reading, topic knowledge was assessed. After reading, participants were asked to answer three open-ended questions (main idea, key points, and other relevant ideas) and one closed-ended question (true-false). Next, based on the medium used for reading, participants were asked to rate how confident they were that the answers they provided were correct. Results of the t-test showed that reading medium did not affect overall reading comprehension, but slight differences between groups emerged. Calculated means indicated that participants who read on paper scored somewhat better on the main idea and other-relevant ideas questions; whereas, participants who read on-screen scored a little bit better on the key points and true-false questions. Moreover, results suggested no influence of the reading medium on students’ post-task judgments, indicating that participants who read on-screen were about as accurate in judging their comprehension performance as those who read on paper. These results suggest that reading short factual texts on the screen has no detrimental effects on the cognitive and metacognitive abilities of EFL readers.

Teaching physics in real-life contexts: the Beirut explosion

Teaching physics in real-life contexts continues to be a challenge for teachers at different educational levels. In this article, three context-rich problems are proposed to be implemented in the classroom for higher education, using the explosion that occurred in Beirut as a case study. These problems require the search and analysis of real data, integrating technologies as tools to learn physics. In particular, the analysis of images, videos, maps and audio recordings is suggested. The proposed activities are designed to promote active learning of classical mechanics subjects and the development of collaborative skills. The results of each problem allow a discussion based on scientific evidence in the classroom.

Health professors and students’ perception about Google Classroom in higher education

Health professors and students’ perception about Google Classroom in higher education

A Study on Improving the Effectiveness of Mathematics Classrooms in Higher Education

A Study on Improving the Effectiveness of Mathematics Classrooms in Higher Education

(Un)doing home: exploring home-making and identity – an example of a project in a London higher education classroom

In this article we discuss the lived, embodied experience of home-making in relation to identity and belonging through the example of a service-learning project conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic in a higher education setting in London, UK. We also explore the notion of belonging-not-belonging as a cultural, material and embodied construct, inspired by critical pedagogy. We draw on posthumanism, new materialism, intercultural studies, (auto-)ethnography and creative practice research as possible lines of flight in deconstructing the dichotomy between home and a ‘foreign’ territory-other-than-home that sits at the core of intercultural discourses. We present this project as a possible alternative discourse to (un)do more traditional considerations of home-making as a much more complex construct; in the encounter with new territories, humans and other-than-human artefacts, objects, machines and landscapes, we argue that home-making is a continuous, never-finished process that moves the learner and their teachers continuously. We aim to bring to the forefront new emerging considerations of intercultural studies at the intersection with interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional discourses, breaking away from a more traditional and neoliberal view about what belonging means within the context of higher education.

Perception of Globalization on the Learning Strategies among Higher Education Studies Students

This study explores the changing contexts of the globalized world and their impact on the learning strategies in higher education classrooms. Globalization has influenced educational philosophy and classroom practices all over the world. The forces associated with globalization have altered the context in which educators operate, and intensely changed ones experience in both formal and informal education. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of existing online education courses that utilize the internet as the primary instructional delivery method. The focus of this study was to find out students’ perceptions on the impact of online learning on MPhil level classes in TU Kirtipur. It highlights the challenges facing in use of ICT in higher education of in Nepal. Problems such as lack of resources (viz. qualified teachers, hardware, software, electricity and poor project implementation strategies militate against these efforts. This study recommends university authority should help to facilitate skilled manpower, stabilized electricity supply, hardware resources and software resources to enhance the use of ICT in higher education classrooms. It is argued that, to realize the policy in practice, more sustainable mechanisms need to be developed to provide ICT facilities for teachers and to train them how to use ICT in teaching activities. The study also includes some of the implications to connect on virtual classroom used in an online learning environment affected students’ active participation in learning activities.

Developing Professional Competencies in Higher Education: Classroom Practices in a Brazilian Setting

This article reports on results from a qualitative study that sought to explore the teaching and learning of professional competencies in undergraduate international business management courses in Brazil. When synthesized as the mobilization of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other cognitive resources (personal values, beliefs, personal characteristics, etc.), competencies are an important link between education and the labor market. Using a case study methodology, this paper considers the relationship between educational theories that sustain competencies and classroom activities that support the development of certain professional competencies in higher education classroom settings. Findings highlight the need for higher education students to take a central role in their learning and stress the value of training for professors to shift beyond transmissive teaching approaches towards structured activities that promote student engagement and learning.

Situating Norbert Elias’ Power Differential in a Critical Exploration of Violence in Chilean Education

Once hailed as a poster boy for neoliberalism, or what Milton Friedman called “The Miracle of Chile”, Chile has undergone a myriad of social and political changes that since 2011 have resulted in increased polarization and violent clashes between the opposing parties. The apex of this violence was reached in 2019, where civilians were blinded, public buses and subway stations burned and businesses vandalized in a series of violent acts that continued for weeks. Between October and November 2019, the country also experienced large peaceful demonstrations demanding greater equality towards women, sexual minorities and migrants (Chile has seen a surge in migration over the last 5 years, with 1.5 million people immigrating from Haiti, Venezuela and Colombia). It is against this background that I began my research to investigate to what degree this direct, structural and cultural violence had spilled over into classrooms. My doctoral research, titled “Non-violence as a practice of equality: an exploration in Chilean higher education classrooms through participatory action research” sought to co-develop non-violent strategies to tackle violence in the way of exclusion, discrimination and any other manifestation within classroom settings. This paper will explore the application of Elias’ notion of power differentials in the perpetration of cultural violence and the experience of violence by Chilean minorities as documented in my own research. I am particularly inspired by Norbert Elias’ work “The established and the outsiders”. Discussions with my research participants, all trainee teachers at Chilean universities, revealed that at the core of the instances of violence found lies a power imbalance and a view of those “outsiders” (migrants, lower income students, LGBTQI+) as less worthy and valuable and therefore victims to a wide range of violent acts resulting in exclusion and discrimination.

FLIPPED CLASSROOM IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A LITERATURE REVIEW OF PUBLICATIONS IN MAJOR REFERRED JOURNALS FROM 2014 TO 2020

In recent years, the flipped classroom has aroused an international research upsurge. Although there are many literature reviews on flipped classrooms, applying and exploring flipped classroom models in higher education is not enough. To understand fully applying flipped classrooms in university settings, this study reviewed 23 articles on flipped classrooms in higher education published in five major educational technology research journals from January 2014 to December 2020. Most research has focused on undergraduate higher education, conducting quantitative studies on subjects such as STEM and education. China has contributed the most to flipped classroom-related research in higher education. Most of the articles have corroborated the positive influence of flipped classrooms on students' academic performance, motivation, attitude, perception, and satisfactions, as well as the cultivation of students’ higher-order thinking ability, and few have discussed the challenges faced by flipped classrooms. In addition, the study corroborated several gaps in the literature. More research needs concern associated with the negative views of teachers and students on flipped classrooms in colleges and universities. This study can provide a valuable reference for educators and researchers in flipped classrooms.

A Qualitative Study on the Model of Factors Influencing Online Interactivity and Student Learning Engagement in the Post-Pandemic Era

In the post-pandemic era, online education model has become the new standard in the field of higher education, the interactivity and student learning engagement in online classrooms in higher education has become a major concern for scholars. Using thematic analysis in qualitative research, this study conducted in-depth interviews with respondents to understand the status of interactive strategies used by instructors and students’ learning engagement during online learning in higher education institutions in Macao, and to explore other factors that influence interactivity and students’ online classroom engagement. Through coding and analysis of interview data, this study found that information technology factors in online classroom instruction in the post-pandemic era affect students’ online learning motivation, self-control ability, and formative assessment in the online classroom. Also, online formative assessment, students’ online learning motivation, and their self-control ability could influence students’ online learning engagement. Based on the findings of the study, this paper proposes recommendations for improving classroom interactivity and student learning engagement in online higher education in the post-pandemic era.

Towards a Framework to Support the Implementation of Digital Formative Assessment in Higher Education

This paper proposes a framework to support the use of digital formative assessment in higher education. The framework is informed by key principles and approaches underpinning effective formative assessment and, more specifically, by approaches to formative assessment that leverage the functionalities of technology. The overall aim is to provide a structured conceptualisation of digital formative assessment that supports the planning of lectures and other teaching and learning activities in higher education classrooms. At the heart of the framework, as presented in this paper, is a 12-cell grid comprising 4 key formative assessment strategies (sharing learning intentions and success criteria, questioning and discussion, feedback, and peer- and self-assessment) crossed with 3 functionalities of technology (sending and displaying, processing and analysing, and interactive environments). These functionalities of technologies are used as the basis to integrate digital tools into formative assessment for effective teaching and learning processes. For each cell in the grid, an exemplary digital formative assessment practice is described. This paper highlights the framework’s potential for enhancing the practice of digital formative assessment and its significance in light of the ongoing digital transformation. This paper concludes with suggesting a programme of research that might be undertaken to evaluate its utility and impact in higher education contexts.