Explicit Instruction Research Articles

The Effectiveness of Integrated Socio-Scientific Issues Jigsaw Model to Improve Students’ Chemistry Literacy and Communication Skills

This quasi-experimental study was designed to determine the effectiveness of the integrated socio-scientific issues (SSI) Jigsaw learning model to improve students' chemical literacy and communication skills on acid-base solution topic. A number of 31 and 36 of 11th grade students were randomly selected for the experimental and the control classes, respectively. The integrated SSI Jigsaw learning model was applied for the experimental class, while the Direct Instruction (DI) model was used for the control class. The literacy test, and the Likert scale instrument were used for collecting the data; while the t-test, and the n-gain test technique were used for analysing the data. The results indicated that there were significant mean increasing in the chemistry literacy and communication skills of students after learning with the SSI Jigsaw integrated model. The n-gain value for chemistry literacy skills and for student communication skills were 64.26% and 56.19%, respectively. This mean that the integrated socio-scientific issues (SSI) Jigsaw learning model is promising improve students' chemistry literacy and communication skills on acid-base solution topic.

“If I were the mother…”: fostering perspective taking in German teacher education

Higher perspective taking skills are associated with better social functioning and improved social relationships. Generally, teachers are willing to take the perspective of their students, but it is unclear whether the same is true for the perspective of parents. As communication and conflicts with parents are pervasive, the motivation and willingness to adopt the perspective of parents in counseling situations should be promoted during university teacher training. Therefore, we investigated the promotion of perspective taking among teachers in training and focused mainly on perspective taking toward parents. We developed a case-based learning task in which teachers in training from Freie Universität Berlin (N = 515) prepared for a fictitious upcoming consultation with a mother about her son. Because it is unclear if direct instruction for perspective taking is necessary in order to promote it, we also used indirect instruction to investigate whether preparing for the consultation under these instructions fostered the willingness to adopt the perspective of students and parents. In the direct instruction participants were directly told to take the perspective of the fictitious mother when evaluating and developing formulations for the consultation. The indirect instruction did not mention the concept of perspective taking but asked participants to focus on the comprehensibility of the formulations. We obtained three measures: the willingness to take a perspective, the attitude toward another person, and the emotional and empathic language used in written texts. With our main result we demonstrated that the willingness to adopt the perspective of both students and parents could be significantly promoted by both instructions. We further demonstrated that a higher willingness to take another’s perspective is associated with a more positive attitude toward the mother, as well as increased positive emotions and empathic concern. Additionally, we replicated results of a previous study showing a generally higher willingness to take the student perspective prior to the intervention. Results are discussed regarding the benefits of promoting perspective taking, especially toward parents, in teacher education.

The Effectiveness of Direct Instructional Strategy on Speaking Skills Of 7th Grade At SMP Tri Dharma Palembang

This study was conducted to assess the English speaking proficiency of students. The students' English speaking achievement was abysmal. The aims of this study were to determine: (1) the extent of improvement in speaking skills with and without the use of the direct instructional strategy, and (2) whether there was a notable improvement in the speaking skills of students who received the direct instructional strategy compared to those who did not. This study employed quasi-experimental research methodology. A total of 16 students were selected as a sample, with 16 students assigned to the experimental class and another 16 students assigned to the control class. The data were gathered by the administration of an oral examination. The data were analysed using both paired sample t-tests and independent sample t-tests. Through data analysis, it was determined that there was a notable surge in pupils' proficiency in oral communication. The paired sample t-test yielded a t-test statistic of -28.428 and a significance value of 0.00, which was less than the predetermined significance level of α (0.05). This demonstrates an enhancement in students' oral communication abilities. Furthermore, the results of the independent sample t-test indicate that the calculated t-test value (-13.075) and the corresponding p-value (0.00) were both below the predetermined significance level (α) of 0.05. The results indicate a substantial disparity in the average speaking abilities of pupils who received teaching through the direct instruction technique compared to those who did not get such instruction.

Has the explicit teaching of emotions a place in the secondary school curriculum? a small-scale PE-based study

ABSTRACT The secondary school curriculum largely aims to prepare students academically, often overlooking the holistic development of the learner. The benefits of socio-emotional learning (SEL) to student behaviour and academic attainment are gradually acknowledged and discussed, but teachers may find it hard to integrate SEL into their subject knowledge. This paper draws on the findings of a novel pilot project that aimed to integrate socioemotional-oriented teaching into the secondary school curriculum. It employs a lesson study (LS) approach to actively involve teacher trainees in curriculum development that introduces SEL in the context of physical education (PE). The project was conducted in partnership with one mainstream secondary school in the Southwest of England for a period of 2 months during the summer term 2021–2022. Two teacher trainees and one qualified PE teacher designed, evaluated, and planned a sequence of four research lessons focusing on integrating socioemotional-oriented teaching in PE. Data collection involved four focus groups and six in-depth evaluation interviews. Our findings provide insights into the tensions, challenges and significance of explicitly introducing socioemotional-oriented teaching into a secondary curriculum subject raising questions about the place of emotions in education. It also highlights the potential of a lesson study approach in empowering teachers’ involvement in curriculum development. Evidence suggests that teacher trainees might be more motivated to draw on SEL teaching when it is integrated in their subject topic. Practical implications for teacher training and professional development are discussed.

Current status and ongoing needs for the teaching and assessment of clinical reasoning – an international mixed-methods study from the students` and teachers` perspective

BackgroundClinical reasoning (CR) is a crucial ability that can prevent errors in patient care. Despite its important role, CR is often not taught explicitly and, even when it is taught, typically not all aspects of this ability are addressed in health professions education. Recent research has shown the need for explicit teaching of CR for both students and teachers. To further develop the teaching and learning of CR we need to improve the understanding of students' and teachers' needs regarding content as well as teaching and assessment methods for a student and trainer CR curriculum.MethodsParallel mixed-methods design that used web-surveys and semi-structured interviews to gather data from both students (nsurvey = 100; ninterviews = 13) and teachers (nsurvey = 112; ninterviews = 28). The interviews and surveys contained similar questions to allow for triangulation of the results. This study was conducted as part of the EU-funded project DID-ACT (https://did-act.eu).ResultsBoth the surveys and interview data emphasized the need for content in a clinical reasoning (CR) curriculum such as “gathering, interpreting and synthesizing patient information”, “generating differential diagnoses”, “developing a diagnostic and a treatment plan” and “collaborative and interprofessional aspects of CR”. There was high agreement that case-based learning and simulations are most useful for teaching CR. Clinical and oral examinations were favored for the assessment of CR. The preferred format for a train-the-trainer (TTT)-course was blended learning. There was also some agreement between the survey and interview participants regarding contents of a TTT-course (e.g. teaching and assessment methods for CR). The interviewees placed special importance on interprofessional aspects also for the TTT-course.ConclusionsWe found some consensus on needed content, teaching and assessment methods for a student and TTT-course in CR. Future research could investigate the effects of CR curricula on desired outcomes, such as patient care.

The flipped-classroom effect on vocational high school students’ learning outcomes

<span lang="EN-US">The flipped-classroom instructional model is considered suitable for teaching procedural knowledge. Apart from flipped-classroom, it turns out that another instructional model, namely direct instruction, is also designed to teach procedural knowledge. Therefore, this study aimed to examine differences in procedural knowledge learning outcomes between flipped-classroom and direct instruction learning models in the cognitive and psychomotor domains and to determine the effect of flipped-classroom on students’ procedural knowledge learning outcomes. This type of research is a true-experimental design with a randomized pre-test post-test control group design for the cognitive domain and a randomized post-test only control group design for the psychomotor domain. The research instrument used a written test (pre-test and post-test) for the cognitive domain and a performance assessment for the psychomotor domain. The flipped-classroom is better than direct instruction regarding procedural knowledge learning outcomes. Furthermore, flipped-classroom significantly affects the students’ procedural knowledge learning outcomes, both cognitive and psychomotor domains. The effect of flipped-classroom implementation on the psychomotor domain (t(50)=23.62; p<0.01; d=6.56) is greater than the impact of performance on the cognitive domain (t(50)=2.35; p<0.05; d=0.65).</span>

Developing Musical Expression in Instrumental Ensembles

Musical expression is often not explicitly addressed in secondary instrumental rehearsals due to the perception of expression as an obscure concept and the instructional time constraints on music educators. Secondary music educators, however, are encouraged to discuss expressive performance goals with instrumental students from the beginning of formal instruction. The three most common methods of teaching expression in music include metaphor, aural modeling, and explicit instruction regarding instrumental techniques. With the use of plainly stated performance goals, music educators can help clarify the concept of and expectations for expressivity for instrumental students.

Development and Validation of a HER2-Low Focused Immunohistochemical Scoring System With High-Interobserver Concordance: The Australian HER2-Low Breast Cancer Concordance Study

The DESTINY Breast-04 trial revealed survival advantages of trastuzumab deruxtecan for women with metastatic HER2-low breast cancer (1+ or 2+ immunohistochemistry [IHC], without amplification). Although this trial applied the 2018 Americal Society of Clinial Oncology (ASCO)/College of American Pathologists (CAP) HER2 IHC scoring criteria, the subjectivity and imprecision in IHC scoring have raised concerns that patients’ treatment may be misaligned. Our group of 9 experienced breast pathologists collated a deidentified set of 60 breast cancer core biopsies from 3 laboratories, evaluated with the Ventana 4B5 HER2 assay and mostly scored locally as HER2 0 or 1+. Based on ASCO/CAP 2018 criteria and our extensive experience of reporting HER2 IHC, we specified scoring conventions for cancers with low levels of HER2 protein expression, articulating specific scoring pitfalls. Each pathologist then reviewed digitized whole slide images of the IHC slides and scored the HER2 expression for each case. At a subsequent consensus workshop, we reviewed the cases jointly to establish consensus scores for each case and determine the percentage of HER2 expressing tumor cells. Consensus was reached on all cases, with 40 classified as 1+ and 3 as 2+ (not amplified), totaling 43 (71.7%) HER2-low cancers. The remaining cases were HER2 0. In 93.3% of cases (56/60), the consensus score matched with the majority opinion of pathologists’ independent scores. Seven (41.2%) of the 17 cases reported locally as HER2 0 were classified as HER2 low. Conversely, among 32 cases with local scores of 1+, 7 (21.8%) were reclassified as ultralow or null. Individual pathologists’ accuracy in matching the consensus scores ranged from 73.3% to 91.67% (mean, 80.74%). Among HER2-low cancers those in which <20% of the tumor cells expressed HER2 had the lowest concordance levels. Observers Cohen’s κ coefficients for concordance were excellent for 4, good in 1, and moderate in the 4 observers. This reference set of cases with expert consensus HER2 scores will be invaluable for peer training and development of our national external quality assurance program for HER2-low cancers. For assessing breast cancers at the low end of HER2 protein expression, our targeted scoring criteria and explicit instruction on pitfalls improved pathologists’ accuracy and concordance.

Differentiated instruction in reading in elementary schools: a systematic review

&lt;span lang="EN-US"&gt;Increasingly diverse learners in today’s classroom might require teachers to implement differentiated instruction (DI) to create an effective learning process. This systematic review provides an overview of how DI was implemented in reading instruction in elementary education. For this purpose, the researchers systematically searched five databases (APA PsycINFO, Education Research Complete, ERIC, Scopus, and Web of Science). Based on the inclusion criteria, 28 empirical studies from 2002 to 2022 were selected for review. To be included in the review, the studies should be empirical, written in English, peer-reviewed, focusing on reading in elementary education, and include students with or without disabilities. The researchers created content coding in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to extract relevant information from the selected studies. The findings indicated that implementing DI in reading instruction to elementary school students includes differentiation in content, process, and product, increased quality and quantity of explicit reading instruction, assessments informed instructions, and integrating DI with other instructional models. This emphasizes that although differentiation might seem complex, it is possible to implement it in reading instruction.&lt;/span&gt;

Fostering Inference-Making Through Video-Based Technology in Young Children With Early Reading Difficulties

Successful comprehension is only possible when children draw inferences about ideas implicit or missing in discourse. Supporting inference-making with explicit instruction must start early given its importance in comprehension and knowledge development. However, students who experience difficulties with early reading skills often do not receive adequate instructional support for inference-making because oftentimes inference-making is taught in the context of written texts. In this article, we describe the potential of using video-based technology in teaching inference-making in young students who experience difficulties in early reading skills. First, we discuss why inference-making is crucial for comprehension and elaborate on a theoretical framework that addresses how video-based technology can support inference-making independent of basic reading skills. Next, we share our experiences designing web-based software featuring interactive videos. Finally, we describe how teachers can design their own inference instruction using video-based technology to support young students with difficulties in comprehension and basic reading skills.

고등학생의 문장 중요도 평정의 특징 분석

Purpose: This study aimed to discuss the educational implications for reading education and evaluation using sentence importance ratings by analyzing the characteristics of high school students' sentence importance ratings. Methods: After examining the sentence importance ratings by both Korean teachers and high school students, the students' ratings were scored based on the teachers' ratings as a standard. The overall characteristics of sentence importance ratings, as well as differences by gender and level, were analyzed using a one sample t-test. Additionally, the response frequencies of Korean teachers and high school students were compared according to the importance of the sentences. Results: First, the level of high school students' sentence importance ratings was generally low. Second, there was no difference in the level of sentence importance ratings among high school students by gender or level. Finally, unlike Korean teachers, high school students struggled to differentiate between sentences of high or low importance. Conclusion: The use of sentence importance ratings is required in reading education, and integrated instruction is needed rather than guidance differentiated by gender or level. In reading education, there is a need to strengthen direct instruction on distinguishing between important and unimportant information.

Spanish children spelling in English as a foreign language: Central and peripheral processes

BackgroundSpelling acquisition requires the assimilation of the regularities of the writing system, but these regularities may differ between the native and a foreign language. English spelling acquisition is a challenge for Spanish‐speaking children due to differences in the orthographic systems. The aim of this study was to examine to what extent Spanish‐speaking children use sub‐lexical and lexical information when spelling in English as a foreign language (EFL), and whether this varies across grades.MethodsTo achieve this, we administered a spelling‐to‐dictation task of monosyllabic words to children 9 to 11 years old. Spelling accuracy, written latencies, and writing durations were analysed as a function of phonology‐to‐orthography consistency, lexical frequency, word length, and the semantic knowledge that the children have of the words.ResultsResults showed differences between grades, with word length only influencing younger children. Lexical frequency, consistency, and semantic knowledge facilitated performance in older children. The cumulative exposure to English may lead to an improvement in spelling due to vocabulary growth and increased sensitivity to new spelling patterns and regularities. Such development occurs despite differences between the orthographies of the native and foreign language and even in the absence of explicit instruction in EFL spelling.ConclusionsSemantic information about words helps spelling retrieval during writing in EFL. Spanish‐speaking children develop sensitivity to English orthography and spelling patterns, evident in the older group of children.

DEVELOPING ACTIVITY, INDEPENDENCE AND FINE MOTOR ASPECT USING THE DONAT MODEL OF GROUP B CHILDREN

The purpose of this research is developing children’s fine motor skills in cutting according to patterns through the DONAT model (Direct instructiON and media Awan pinTar). The approach used is a qualitative approach with the type of Classsroom Action Research which is held in three meetings. The research subjects were the children of group B TK Aisyiyah Bustanul Athfal 36 Banjarmasin in the 2022/2023 academic year, which consisted of 18 children. The results showed that the teacher’s activity at the 3rd meeting obtained a score of 27 and reached the Very Good criteria. The activity of the 3rd meeting children obtained a percentage of 94% and reached the criteria for All Active Children. The independence of the 3rd meeting children obtained a percentage 0f 83% and reached the criteria for All Independent Children. The results of the child’s fine motor development obtained a percentage of 83% and reached the Very Good Development criteria.

Unlocking in-depth forum discussion and perceived effectiveness: Teaching and social presence categories in online teacher communities

Online teacher communities constitute pivotal professional development contexts. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence on how best to conduct in-depth forum discussion for meaningful learning outcomes. This study combines qualitative comparative analysis of communities' forum transcripts to specify the teaching and social presence categories that promote in-depth forum discussion with teachers’ questionnaires for perceived effectiveness. Findings identify a successful online coordination and participation framework: teaching presence characterized by strong direct instruction combined with social presence exhibiting high levels of affective and cohesive discourse. This framework provides actionable insights for online professional learning communities with implications for educational research and practice.

The Impacts of Explicit Strategy Instruction on Reading Performance from Students Perspective: A Case Study

This paper reported on part of a larger study to explore how Vietnamese non-English major students perceived the impacts of explicit strategy instruction (ESI) on reading comprehension. Instruction on reading strategies was conducted for 6 weeks in which students were taught explicitly previewing and predicting, skimming, scanning, guessing the meaning of the unknown words from the context and summarizing strategies. Data were collected from forty-five non-English major students at a university in Vietnam through group interviews and learning reflections. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted in groups of three to four students, and thirty-nine learning reflections were collected to obtain in-depth information about the impact of the ESI. The findings revealed that, after the instruction, the students reported using various reading strategies in four strategy categories, namely problem-solving, global, support and local strategies. In addition, the ESI was perceived to be cognitively beneficial, as students reported heightened awareness of using reading strategies in reading comprehension, expanded reading strategy repertoire, greater reading fluency, and higher reading scores. From a non-cognitive affective perspective, students reported that the ESI motivated them to read with a higher level of confidence and become more autonomous in reading in English. The study offers implications for teachers, students and materials writers in teaching and learning English reading skills in non-English major learning contexts and perhaps in other settings.

Differences in Learning Outcomes of Class VIII Students of SMP Negeri 3 Tondano on The Material of Building Flat Side Spaces Given the Implementation of The PjBL Model

This study investigates the disparities in students' mathematical learning achievements when using the Flat-Side Building material in conjunction with the PjBL model compared to students who use the DI model. This study employs an experimental research approach utilizing a post-test-only control group design. The participants in this study consisted of two groups: an experimental group, comprising 25 students from class VIII-C, and a control group, comprising 24 students from class VIII-B at SMP Negeri 3 Tondano for the academic year 2023/2024. The selection of participants was done randomly from the two classes. The post-test research yielded an average score of 79.44 for the experimental class and 75.0208 for the control class. The hypothesis test analysis results indicate that the value of tcount is 2.302 and the value of ttable is 1.678. Since the value of tcount is greater than the value of ttable, we can infer that the null hypothesis (H0) is rejected, and the alternative hypothesis (H1) is accepted. This study determines that there is a discernible disparity in student learning outcomes when the subject of Building Flat Side Spaces is taught utilizing the Project-based Learning (PjBL) model as opposed to the Direct Instruction (DI) model in the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 3 Tondano.

Grammar Teaching and Learning in English Language Class: Students’ View

Grammar, which differs in structure among languages, plays an important component of language acquisition. Grammar proficiency is essential for clear communication since it improves understanding and coherence. Therefore, mastering English grammar is essential to EFL study. This study explores the students’ view on the importance of grammar in language acquisition in detail and explores how EFL students evaluate the teaching and learning of grammar. A qualitative method was used, including open-ended questionnaire and interview, to better understand students' perspectives. The results support the participants' understanding of grammar's significance and reinforce the idea that grammar teaching is essential. The findings of this study further highlight the need of combining explicit and implicit teaching strategies within grammar teaching and learning, acknowledging the mutually beneficial nature of both methods. These strategies further emphasise the critical role that technology and the internet play in language learning. These results together offer educators knowledge for developing effective grammar teaching strategies that correspond with students' viewpoints and academic objectives.

COMBINATION OF ETHNOMATHEMATICS AND THE MOZART EFFECT TO IMPROVE PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS AND MATHEMATICAL DISPOSITION

The background of this research is that student learning outcomes in analytical geometry lecture during the transition from pandemic to Covid-19 endemic are still low, which is due to a lack of student interest in learning, and they are still accustomed to online learning, thus having an impact on their low problem-solving skills and mathematical disposition. This research aims to determine to what extent the implementation of ethnomathematics and the Mozart effect can improve students' problem-solving skills and mathematical disposition in analytical geometry lecture during the transition from pandemic to endemic COVID-19, so the research is important to do. The implementation of ethnomathematics and the Mozart effect in mathematics learning is unique because it is a combination of learning approaches that have never been used before in Indonesia and other countries. The research method used was a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design because this research was experimental and sample determination was not carried out randomly, but using purposive sampling technique on the second-semester students of the mathematics undergraduate program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran. The instruments used in this study were problem-solving skills test, mathematical disposition scale, and students’ attitude questionnaire toward learning with the implementation of ethnomathematics and the Mozart effect. The results showed that: (1) problem-solving skills of students who received learning by implementing ethnomathematics and the Mozart effect are better than students who achieved direct instruction; (2) mathematical disposition of students who received learning by implementing ethnomathematics and the Mozart effect is better than students who achieved direct instruction; and (3) students are interested and motivated to learn mathematics by implementing ethnomathematics and the Mozart effect. This research concludes that the implementation of ethnomathematics and the Mozart effect can improve students' problem-solving skills and mathematical disposition in analytical geometry lecture during the transition period from the pandemic to endemic COVID-19. It can be seen from good average post test scores achieved by students.

Eight-year-olds engaging in guided information searches with iPads: Dimensions of reading competence

This study examines how eight-year-old students engage in teacher-guided digital online reading during internet searches for specific information. The research focuses on the students' digital literacy and their ability to evaluate sources and decode complex text. We have used Luke and Freebody's four resources model and the concept of sourcing as theoretical underpinning. The study had a descriptive and exploratory approach. The study involved 17 eight-year-old students from a school with a one-to-one tablet policy. The students were divided into small groups to encourage interaction. Data were collected through audio and screen recordings and were multimodally transcribed to provide a detailed account of the children's internet search interactions. The study reveals that while students demonstrated proficiency in using digital tools and navigating the internet, they often struggled to assess source credibility and critically interpret the information they encountered. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of guiding young students in navigating the complex media landscape, emphasizing the need to enhance their knowledge of different types of sources and the categories of individuals producing content. The researchers found that students' prior knowledge, such as familiarity with printed books, played a role in how they approached online reading, sometimes leading to difficulties in adapting their strategies for digital formats. In conclusion, this research underscores the need for explicit instruction and collaborative efforts in the classroom to develop students' digital reading skills and their ability to critically assess online sources, thus bridging the gap between technological proficiency and effective digital literacy. The findings offer insights for educators in preparing young readers for digital literacy and effective online information evaluation.

The Effects of a Direct Instruction Curriculum Sequence on the Reading Comprehension Responses of Early Readers

Reading comprehension is critical for early learners’ academic success. Derived relations are an important feature of reading comprehension within the science of behavior because reading comprehension involves experientially acquired derived stimulus relations (Helou-Care, 2008; Neves in Behavioral Interventions 38:376–400, 2023, Park, 2005; da Silva in Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin 24:1–8, 2006). That is, derived relations pertain to a learner demonstrating comprehension by making untrained connections to previously trained stimuli (e.g., words). For example, a learner who is trained that “kitten” is a type of “cat” and that all “cats meow” should then be able to demonstrate the untrained connection that “kittens meow.” The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Corrective Reading Comprehension (CR) curriculum, which employs an instructional sequence involving derived relations, on reading comprehension responses entailing derived relations. Four typically developing first-grade students were the participants in this study and the students were divided into two dyads. The principal researcher instructed each dyad on each of the five lessons of CR until mastery was obtained and then conducted postprobes on the dependent measures that were metaphors, derived relations from sentences, derived relations from letters/numbers, and implicit/explicit comprehension questions. The researchers used a delayed multiple probe design across 1st-grade dyads to assess the effect of five CR lessons on derived relations and reading comprehension responses of the participants. Posttest assessments showed gains for all four participants. The article concludes with a discussion of the main findings, implications for future research, and the limitations of this study.