Learning Factors Research Articles

Variables Influencing Learner Achievement and Satisfaction in a Flipped Classroom

This study was aimed at exploring variables influencing two main learning outcomes, learner achievement and satisfaction, in a flipped classroom at a university setting. The study took the learner and teacher factor into account. After literature review of relevant studies in this field, this study included independent variables, motivation, participation (before-class, while-class, and after-class participation), and teacher attitude as perceived by students collected from a survey questionnaire of 35 English-major students. Correlation and multiple-regression analyses were conducted to look into the relationships among the variables, followed by focus group interviews. The statistical analyses produced the following results: 1) learner achievement was accounted for by one variable, before-class participation; and 2) learner satisfaction was accounted by one variable, while-class participation. Further focus group interviews corroborated that students’ online participation prior to offline classes led to a greater achievement, and that students’ active participation during class contributed most to their satisfaction in the flipped classroom while student achievement and satisfaction had a strong correlation to each other. Pedagogical implications are discussed in the paper.

“The best part was the contact!”: Understanding postgraduate students’ experiences of wrapped MOOCs

Mandated to provide support to postgraduate students, the Office of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Cape Town operates in a context characterised by limited funding and resourcing, varied student preparedness for postgraduate study, and increasing student mobility. Extra-curricular academic and professional skills support is offered through a range of modes, including the wrapping of MOOCs. This research explored the contribution of face-to-face, facilitated sessions to the learning experiences of wrapped MOOC participants. Interviews, surveys and course evaluations were analysed using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. Although the CoI framework surfaced complex relationships between the three presences and students’ learning experiences, with students expressing strong appreciation for the face-to-face contact in addition to online learning, the framework does not surface the substantial impact of learner and structural factors as contributors to learning.

Individual Differences and L2 Motivation: The case of EFL Learners

With the growing understanding of the process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more and more emphasis has been put on the learner factors that affect the success or otherwise of SLA. These factors have come to be studied under the general title of “Individual Differences” (ID) (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015). These factors determine not only the success of an individual second language learner but also the inter-individual variation in second language acquisition. This study is an attempt to shed more light on the relationships among L2 motivation, visual learning style, mental imagery, ideal L2 self, and L2 learning experience in the Iranian context. Exploratory factor analysis was run to ascertain the validity of the questionnaire which was used for data collection. The results revealed that visual learning had its highest correlation with L2 motivation. On the other hand, it had only small to moderate correlations with ideal L2 self, mental imagery, and L2 learning experience. In addition, from among the variables investigated in this study, L2 motivation had the largest correlation with L2 learning experience. Furthermore, the ideal L2 self had the second highest positive correlation with L2 motivation. Finally, mental imagery had the lowest correlation with L2 motivation. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed accordingly.

英語学習者の情意諸因子に関する基礎的研究(2) : 生徒の態度形成に関わる教師の問題

英語学習者の情意諸因子に関する基礎的研究(2) : 生徒の態度形成に関わる教師の問題

英語学習者の情意諸因子に関する基礎的研究(1) : 生徒の態度形成と完全学習の理論

英語学習者の情意諸因子に関する基礎的研究(1) : 生徒の態度形成と完全学習の理論

Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) in English Language Classroom

The study aims to examine Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) among learners of English language at Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia France Institute (UniKL MFI). The study focuses on analyzing factors of FLA and learners’ coping strategies. Components of FLA proposed by Horwitz et al. (1986) served as the theoretical framework for this research. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) was administered to 160 students who enrolled in the English course, Fundamental English (WEB10302) during semester September-December 2013. An interview was conducted to obtain better understanding of this psychological phenomenon. The results indicated that learners - regardless of gender and language proficiency - experience a certain degree of FLA in English classroom. To cope with FLA, learners were found to prefer working in groups and seeking assistance from classmates who are more proficient. Learners were also found to adopt debilitating strategies such as minimizing class participation and occupying back seats in the class. The findings recommend language instructors to acknowledge the existence of FLA in order to facilitate English language learning. By doing so, a more effective teaching approach can be structured to promote a less threatening learning experience.

STRATEGI PENDIDIKAN AGAMA ISLAM DI LAPAS ANAK KUTOARJO

There are four strategies that can be applied to achieve goals of Islamic education, which is the traditional strategy, clarification, exemplary, and transinternal. The results of field research shows that teachers in choosing a strategy is monotone. That is because PAI teachers not meet the academic qualifications and professional qualifications, limited facilities and infrastructure, in addition to the factors of learners in their own prisons are indeed special. Special because they are different from children who live in a normal environment. The purpose of Islamic education is to develop the physical and non-physical potential learners, so that they are able to carry out what they understand of learning to be applied in their daily lives. Therefore, the effectiveness of the strategy has not been fully successful monotony in relation to the learning process. Outside of learning, the learner has demonstrated good character or good behavior in the prisons. The author sees, supporting factors other than the strategy adopted in learning to foster learner’s personality is LAPAS environment that fully supports the development of potential learners with he designed programs tailored to the interests and talents of students through CLC institutions Tunas Mekar while this the building is still a part of the prisons.

A nonviolent pedagogical approach for Life Orientation teacher development: the Alternatives to Violence Project

Violence in South African schools seems to be increasing and the consequences affect not only the physical, emotional, and academic lives of learners but also their resistance to delinquent and criminal behaviour. Because the foundations for youth violence are laid in early adolescence, violence prevention in schools is a critical need. Life orientation (LO) as a compulsory school subject could play a key role in helping South African learners deal with the different manifestations of violence, especially understanding the nature of the institutionalised violence of colonialism and apartheid. LO can also nurture learners' personal development and life skills to increase their sense of agency, a key factor in both violence prevention and learners' decolonisation processes. However, various South African studies attest to the current low status of LO in the school curriculum as well as the difficulties of teaching LO. Many of these studies also mention the inadequacy of LO teachers' preparation for meaningful LO teaching. Given that equipping current-day South African learners with the self-empowerment skills necessary for preventing everyday conflicts from escalating into violence also entails this complex decolonisation process to liberate them of past or still present oppressions, this paper contends that LO teachers need to have first participated in such self-development processes themselves. For these reasons, this article proposes a specific development strategy to support LO teachers, namely, that they participate in workshops of the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP),1 which applies a nonviolent pedagogical approach in its focus on self-empowerment and creative conflict management. The article discusses the benefits of such an approach and conceptually explores how AVP has the potential to provide LO teachers with practical strategies for creative, affirming responses to conflict and violence.

Using Computer Conferencing to Improve Speaking Skills and Affective Factors of EFL Learners: A Pilot Study for Remedial Education of English

Using Computer Conferencing to Improve Speaking Skills and Affective Factors of EFL Learners: A Pilot Study for Remedial Education of English

ATTRIBUTIONS TO SUCCESS AND FAILURE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: THE EFFECTS OF GENDER, AGE AND PERCEIVED SUCCESS

The main purpose of this study is to analyze Turkish tertiary level EFL learners’ attributions to success and failure and the effects of gender, age, and perceived success on their attributions. The results indicated that EFL learners respectively attributed interest, ability, task difficulty, effort, luck and the influence of teacher and school as influential factors of their success whereas they respectively rated effort, interest, the effect of teacher and school, ability, task difficulty, and luck as influential factors of their failure. Furthermore, they were more inclined to agree that internal reasons are responsible for their success while blaming external reasons for their failure. In addition, females seemed to attribute external factors more than their male counterparts and unsuccessful learners attributed more importance to effort and internal dimension than successful students. Finally, the study revealed that age was not an important factor in EFL learners’ attribution to success and failure. Article visualizations:

Operationalization of Bachman’s model via a multimodal reading comprehension test: Screening test method facets and testees’ characteristics

Test performance is a function both of the test takers’ personal attributes and of the test method facets. However, much of the previous research has addressed the covariates of assessment preferences of pupils rather than those of their actual performances. Following the microsystem perspective and as part of a larger project, this study was set out to detect the learner factors and linguistic parameters which mediate performance on different test formats. A number of language learners responded to the group embedded figures test, willingness to communicate scale, Michigan proficiency test, and a reading comprehension test battery. Based on the previous empirical research, a hypothetical model was designed and tested using structural equation modeling. The findings were as follows: (a) Performance on controlled and constructed response tests is substantially mediated by testees’ characteristics (cognitive source); (b) Target ability (linguistic source) is the most significant determinant of performance on free-response tasks.

Challenges to implementing the food-based dietary guidelines in the South African primary school curriculum: a qualitative study exploring the perceptions of principals and curriculum advisors

Objectives: The South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) were developed and implemented to promote healthy lifestyles in the population along with preventing non-communicable diseases and other forms of diet-related illness. The FBDG were recommended for implementation within the national school curriculum. The objective of this study was to explore perceived challenges to successful implementation of these guidelines in the primary school curriculum.Design: This qualitative study gathered data via semi-structured individual interviews. Data were transcribed and analysed with ATLAS.ti software, using a thematic approach.Setting: Public primary schools located in three education districts in the Western Cape, South Africa.Subjects: Principals at twelve schools from communities with different socioeconomic statuses, and five curriculum advisors of relevant subjects from provincial and district levels.Outcomes measures: Perceived barriers to implementing FBDG in the primary school curriculum.Results: A lack of knowledge and/or expertise related to the FBDG by educators, time constraints within the teaching programme and lifestyle related factors of educators, parents and learners emerged as the three main challenge themes from the interviews. A lack of resources was identified as an additional theme.Conclusions: The principals and curriculum advisors anticipated many barriers to the success of implementing nutrition education using the FBDG in the primary school curriculum. Adequately addressing such barriers through improved awareness and knowledge of the FBDG by school staff could improve the potential of using the FBDG as a nutrition education tool in primary schools in South Africa.

A Quantitative Analysis of Demotivating Factors for Iranian Intermediate High School EFL Learners

Being proficient in the second language is believed to be crucial for having better chances in future. Thus, parents want their children to have good command of English. One of the factors that affect acquiring second language is being motivated. So far, many scholar have worked on motivation. How ever, the other part of motivation, which has not been so popular yet, is demotivation. Recently, scholar have been working on factors influence L2 learners and demotivate them. Knowing these factor are vital for having better outcomes in teaching a second language. In the present study, 40 participants took part, half of them attended English classes in the institute, while the others did not take part in those extra classes. A questionnaire containing 18 5-point Likert type questions was given to participants. The questions were about the demotivating factors. The findings showed that class characteristics and class material are the most demotivating factors for the ones who attended classes in institute, while for the other group teacher and class characteristics were the most influential demotivating factors. The findings are beneficial for the teachers, policy makers, and material developers. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n5p124

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivations of Master of Library and Information Science students: A cross-cultural comparative study

This study examined the career and learning motivation of students studying a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree programs at universities located in four different countries, namely the University of Hong Kong, National Taiwan Normal University, Peking University, and the University of Copenhagen. The MLIS students from these four universities were invited to take part in a self-completion online questionnaire survey, and 200 responses were collected in total. We discovered that their prior working experience in the library had an impact on their decision to pursue the MLIS program. We also categorized the career and learning motivation factors of MLIS learners into intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and discovered that the participants were motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors to pursue their graduate studies in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field. We found that intrinsic factors influenced the students of University of Copenhagen significantly more than the other student groups, and this could be explained by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Our findings can assist with the formulation of development strategies for MLIS programs through a review of the LIS curriculum and help MLIS programs in different countries attract more people to pursue a career in LIS.

A Path Analysis of the Demotivating Factors of Korean EFL Learners

A Path Analysis of the Demotivating Factors of Korean EFL Learners

Learners’ Self-perception of Target Language Study in Overseas Immersion

Studies have supported the belief that study abroad (SA) is more beneficial than studying domestically in developing oral proficiency (e.g., Freed, Segalowitz, & Dewey, 2004). However, little research has focused on individual learner factors related to promoting learners’ effectiveness in language learning abroad, such as an ideal point in target language (TL) study in SA contexts. The current study investigated the learner-perception of their preferred time in TL study for oversea immersion self-reported by students themselves. Participants (N=125) studying 30 languages in 32 different countries were recruited nation-wide. The results of students’ self-reports revealed that participants preferred intermediate levels of TL proficiency than any other level of proficiency. Findings of this study, even though they are based on the self-reported data, make important contributions to SA research and to the field of international education.

To what extent do learners benefit from indirect written corrective feedback? A study targeting learners of different proficiency and heritage language status

Should teachers spend hours correcting students’ errors, or should they simply underline the errors, leaving it up to the students to self-correct them? The current study examines the utility of indirect feedback on learners’ written output. Journal entries from students enrolled in intact second language (L2) Korean classes ( n = 40) were collected and returned to the students with all of their errors underlined (indirect feedback). The students were then given class time to either identify the target of their errors, or to self-correct them. The results were compared across two proficiency levels (beginning vs. intermediate) and across learners’ prior language exposure/learning experiences (heritage language vs. non-heritage language learners). The results showed that the learners in general were able to self-correct more than a third of their errors, and that the non-heritage language learners were significantly better at perceiving their errors on orthography and particles. It was also found that the higher proficiency and non-heritage language learners were better able to self-correct their errors on particles. The current findings suggest that simply underlining the errors and asking students to self-correct them can be helpful, especially for certain ‘treatable’ errors, including those involving orthography and particles. The findings also highlight the importance of considering individual learner factors, such as the nature and length of their prior L2-learning experience, when providing indirect written feedback.

Motivation to Learn English language: A Survey on Parents’ & Teachers’ Influence on L2 learners in Sindh, Pakistan

Motivation is, without question, the most complex and challenging issue faced by English language teachers today (Schiedekr & Freeman, 1999). It is a key contributing factor for L2 learning (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007; Gardner, 1985b) . It is an established fact that no motivation means no learning. Motivation comes from different sources. Freeman (1999) holds teachers and parents to be influencing forces for learners’ motivation. The present study was conducted at college level in Kambar Shahdadkot and investigates the influence of parents and teachers on L2 learning. The study is quantitative in nature. The survey was conducted and data was collected through questionnaire. The study found that students were heavily influenced by parents and teachers. Most of the learners learn English language due to the respect they owe to their parents and teachers. The parents and teachers have positive attitude towards English language, thus, they influence L2 learners’ motivation and decisions considerably. The study also found that most L2 learners learn English language due to the rewards given to them by their parents. Besides, teachers’ positive relation with learners also motivates them to learn English. It was also found that a lack of feedback from teachers contribute a demotivating factor for the L2 learners. The study suggests that teaching methodology plays crucial role in L2 motivation and brings positive results for the learners. Keywords : Motivational psychology, Motivation, L2 learners, Parents & Teachers: In What way teachers and parents influence on L2 learners motivation

대학 수업에서의 SNS 활용에 대한 학습자의 태도와 지속적 이용의도 변인 연구

대학 수업에서의 SNS 활용에 대한 학습자의 태도와 지속적 이용의도 변인 연구

Factors impacting students' online learning experience in a learner‐centred course

AbstractTechnologies bring a new era of content presentation for online teaching and learning. With more instructors adopting new tools to design online teaching materials, students are often put into learning contexts with certain new design components. Assessing learner experience and outcome in these contexts is challenging because of the complexity involved, as social and individual factors and behavioural impacts of using the new components have to be considered. Few studies have been reported in the literature identifying behavioural factors of learners' online learning experience when they interact with the content. Factors that affect learners' online learning experience, especially the affect factors, are less understood. This study therefore proposed and tested a model that explains the relationships among the affect factors and outcome behaviours of participants' online learning experience, taking into account individual difference, and employing a comparison based on a difference in content presentation. The data were collected from a professional training course offered by a university in the United States. The results support the assumption that time spent in study affects learning outcome and other outcome related behaviours. Also, positive relations between perceived quality of content design and outcome behaviour were found, indicating the effects of sense of presence and feeling of enjoyment on performance of creative tasks. The study intends to foster a deeper understanding of motivation and behaviours of online learning under innovative content design.