Formal Learning Environments Research Articles

Teachers’ use and adaptation of a model-based climate curriculum: a three-year longitudinal study

Foregrounding climate education in formal science learning environments provides students with opportunities to develop critical climate-related knowledge and skills. However, research has shown many challenges to teaching and learning about Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC). This longitudinal study aims to establish how secondary science teachers, over time, implement model-based climate curricula in support of students’ climate and GCC education by utilizing EzGCM. The model (EzGCM) is a data-driven, computer-based climate modeling tool use to explore global climate data. Multiple sources of data collection, including teacher interviews, classroom observations, and daily reflections, were employed to address the research question: “How did two teachers’ implementation strategies evolve over the three-year study while utilizing a model-based, climate-focused curriculum?” This study provides insight into how and why these resources [model-based climate education curricula] are utilized in science learning environments, thereby informing ongoing efforts to enhance climate education and, in doing so, preparing the next generation of climate-literate adults prepared to confront this most critical global challenge of our age. The findings showed while both teachers engaged in increasingly model-centric instructional practices, these changes were modest. Furthermore, both teacher’s observed classroom practices were less model-centric than the designed curriculum. Ultimately emphasizing the transition from existing practices to improved ones, rather than seeking the perfect approach, the study offers practical insights that can honestly assist secondary educators in real-world settings by highlighting state of climate education in secondary science classrooms.

Help-seeking

Help-seeking occurs when learners realize a gap in their learning, and they seek assistance to bridge the existing gap. Traditionally, they engage in conversations with instructors or peers for constructive advice in both face-to-face settings and online learning environments. The advent of technologies has greatly diversified learners’ help-seeking options. Studies on help-seeking focus predominantly on the correlational relationship between learners’ demographics like gender, major, characteristics, motivational beliefs, mastery or performance goals, and their help-seeking behavior without enough attention to learners’ online help-seeking pattern (Cheng et al., 2013, Tanaka, 2002). Research on help-seeking strategies can support students in a variety of formal and informal learning environments and their psychological decision-making.

#EduWOW: TikTok App as an Educational Creative Platform

This qualitative study explores the impact of TikTok's #EduWOW initiative on students across various educational levels, including those from public and private universities and high schools. Employing a combination of in-depth interviews (IDI) and focus group discussions (FGD), the study aimed to understand how students perceive educational content delivered through TikTok, the effectiveness of pedagogical techniques used, and the influence of such content on student engagement and motivation to learn. The analysis revealed that TikTok’s educational content significantly enhances accessibility and engagement, utilizing storytelling, humor, and visual aids effectively to captivate and educate users. However, it also highlighted the need for a balance between engaging delivery and educational depth. Recommendations for optimizing educational content on TikTok include increasing collaboration with educators, enhancing content depth, and regularly updating teaching strategies based on learner feedback. The findings underscore TikTok's potential as a viable educational tool, suggesting that with strategic enhancements, it can significantly contribute to formal and informal learning environments. This study not only contributes to the academic understanding of social media’s role in education but also offers practical insights for educators and digital content creators aiming to leverage new media for educational advancement

Can micro-credentials serve the needs of diverse people through deeper partnerships and digital pedagogy?

In recent years, we have seen the ‘rise of the micro-credential movement’ (Brown, McGreal & Peters, 2023) From a people perspective, they promise more flexible and wider access to learning that can be more easily interwoven through people’s life and work demands. They can offer more choices around the duration, pace, focus and purpose of learning. Further, micro-credentials can be used as a pathway into or through a macro-credential and showcase employability skills gained in and beyond formal learning environments. Growing global narratives around micro-credentials suggest they can potentially solve a multitude of challenges that have long been constrained by traditional education models. This interactive symposium offers an opportunity to explore the emerging potential of micro-credentials with consideration to diverse people, deeper partnerships and digital pedagogies. Using these foci, this symposium will facilitate engaging discussion and examination of this new and evolving topic.

FORMATION OF SOCIAL COMPETENCIES OF A UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A HOLISTIC EXPLORATION

This study delves into the intricate landscape of social competency development within the university context, aiming to unravel the diverse influences that shape students’ interpersonal skills. Our primary research question examines the interplay of educational interventions, peer interactions, and extracurricular engagements in the cultivation of social competencies. Employing a mixed-methods research design encompassing surveys, interviews, and observations, the data from a representative and diverse cohort of university students was gathered. The findings unveil a rich tapestry of factors contributing to the multifaceted process of social competency formation, highlighting the nuanced roles of both formal and informal learning environments. The study not only uncovers the challenges hindering social competency development but also identifies promising opportunities for enhancement. This research enriches the academic discourse by providing actionable insights for educators, administrators, and policymakers to design interventions that foster a holistic and socially adept student body. Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to education, this investigation reinforces the importance of recognizing and nurturing the social dimensions of learning within the higher education landscape.

SHIFTING MOTIVATIONS AMONG STUDENTS WHILE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING: MAINTAINING STUDENTS' LEARNING OF MANDARIN

This study, which was covered in the paper, looked at how Diploma in Mandarin students' motivation for learning Mandarin changed before and after they were relocated to China. In the investigation, we urged the 15 participants to keep reflective journals and interviewed them twice, once before and once after their industrial training experience at PT Formosa Bag Indonesia. The research showed that the majority of participants projected to maintain their trip-induced increases in desire for learning Mandarin in the future. The results show that the participants' motivations changed during their industrial training at PT Formosa Bag Indonesia, and that this change was prompted by their new educational environment and individual learning experiences. Because the learning and sociocultural environments are always interacting with the participants' L2 self-concepts in industry, the motivational boost evolved. These results provide novel insights into the dynamic motivation for learning the Mandarin language as well as the function of formal and informal learning environments. They imply that in order to increase international students' motivation for long-term Mandarin study, educational stakeholders must offer genuine communication chances and resources.

Rubrics For Learning & Self-assessment In Open Schooling

In the teaching-learning process, various tools and techniques are being used by the teacher at different levels of understanding, memorizing, and reflection. The relevance of various tools for knowledge gathering, enrichment, and assessment is well acknowledged by research studies around the globe. In order to strengthen the degree of competency of the learner, the latest research studies recognize the wide applicability of rubric not only in performance assessment but also in other different dimensions of development by different means of children with different needs. In this present study, the researcher aimed to explore the potential of the rubric as a tool to assess targeted skills in a more detailed manner through explicit explanation of performance expectations for the learners of Open School. This paper investigated the impact of using rubrics as a learning and self-assessment tool for improving the science laboratory skills of the learners of the National Institute of Open School (NIOS). The study was carried out in three phases, the pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention phase. The quasi-experimental design was adopted with one sample, pre-post test design. As a sample, 28 learners of Senior Secondary (Science stream) of 3 different study centers of NIOS located in Delhi, NCR were selected. Rubric as a tool of self-learning and assessment was used in this study. The science practical was attended by the sample at their respective study centers and the researcher reached the sample in their respective places. Sessions were conducted to prepare the sample about the preparation and usage of Rubrics for their own learning and performance check. The learners were urged to use it to improve their own learning and execution perfection level in their Science practical classes after a series of sessions, once they had a clear comprehension of the preparation and usage. The qualitative interpretation of the findings in the study revealed that the learners got a better understanding and clarity on the expectations of perfection in performing an experiment, which helped them to bring that precision while conducting the practical. Also, it was acknowledged by most of the learners that the rubric helped them to focus on their work, produce work of better quality, and assisted them to earn better grades without feeling nervous about the given task. The descriptive analysis of pre and post-intervention phases revealed that there was a gain difference of 14.95 between pre-test and post-test scores in each dimension of the rubric. The hypothesis testing was done through the Wilcoxon signed rank test (statistical analysis), Z: -3.936, Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed): 0.000, the P value was less than 0.05 (0.000<0.05), indicating that there was a significant difference in the performance, and hence, H0 was rejected. The multiple benefits of using a rubric as a learning and scoring instrument are discussed in this paper. This study promotes the use of rubrics as a learning and assessment tool to enhance the knowledge and skills of learners in formal and open learning environments.

A Call to Action: Exploring Intersectional Analyses of Black Fathers and Daughters in STEM Learning

ABSTRACT Black fathers and daughters are the least explored relationship within parent-child and STEM research. This article serves as an examination of the literature around their relationships and STEM learning and as a call to action. Intersectionality, as an analytic lens, examines Black fathers’ familial and STEM relationships over time and Black women’s and girls’ (BWG’s) interest and competence in STEM, as well as how systemic factors of gendered racism, classism, and oppression impacted BWG’s aspirations in STEM, computing, and mathematics fields. Data yielded 29 publications addressing Black fathers and daughters in STEM, their relationships, and BWG’s interest and competence in STEM, computing, and mathematics learning. Findings reveal that Black fathers’ roles in their daughter’s STEM lives helps develop positive representations of themselves and their cultural backgrounds. This acknowledgement produces a new level of understanding of Black fathers and girls’ engagement in informal and formal STEM learning environments.

PEACE EDUCATION: A PATHWAY TO THE CULTURE OF PEACE

The article discusses the importance of peace education as a means to promote a culture of peace. Peace education aims to equip individuals with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to prevent and resolve conflicts and promote peaceful coexistence. The article traces the history of peace education, from the early 20th century to the present, and explores the broad scope of peace education, which encompasses formal and informal learning environments and a wide range of issues, including conflict resolution, human rights, environmental sustainability, and social justice. The article also highlights the role of education in promoting peace and resolving conflicts by promoting critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills, as well as tolerance, respect for diversity, and mutual understanding and cooperation.

PEACE EDUCATION: A PATHWAY TO THE CULTURE OF PEACE

The article discusses the importance of peace education as a means to promote a culture of peace. Peace education aims to equip individuals with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to prevent and resolve conflicts and promote peaceful coexistence. The article traces the history of peace education, from the early 20th century to the present, and explores the broad scope of peace education, which encompasses formal and informal learning environments and a wide range of issues, including conflict resolution, human rights, environmental sustainability, and social justice. The article also highlights the role of education in promoting peace and resolving conflicts by promoting critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills, as well as tolerance, respect for diversity, and mutual understanding and cooperation.

Application of ChatGPT for an English Learning Platform

This paper aims to explore the potential of ChatGPT to serve as a comprehensive English learning platform for public school context by analyzing previous literature and current AI-based chatbots. To this end, the study investigated the potential of ChatGPT through four research questions: First, what are the educational possibilities of English learning chatbots?; Second, what are the possibilities and limitations of English learning chatbots when applied in classroom lessons?; Third, how can ChatGPT be utilized in classroom lessons?; Fourth, how can ChatGPT be utilized when applied to an intelligent adaptive learning model? The main conclusions of this discussion are as follows: First, the capabilities of AI-based English learning chatbots rely on natural language processing abilities, conversation modeling, providing dynamic feedback to learners, and offering personalized learning experiences which are lack in existing AI chatbots. Second, conventional English learning chatbots have been utilized in school education as free conversation apps, debate-specific bots, and integrated learning platforms. Third, ChatGPT has the potential to be integrated into a language learning platform and applied in formal learning environments. Finally, this paper proposes a plan to utilize ChatGPT in the context of an intelligent adaptive learning model.

Classroom interactions that shape the nature of students’ appropriation of a complex mathematical practice

Scholars continue to emphasize the importance of fostering proficiency with mathematical practices as an educational outcome. As teachers attempt to support students in developing these practices, they communicate subtle messages about their nature. However, researchers lack a detailed understanding of the classroom interactions that communicate these messages. To begin to address this gap in the literature, we investigated the relationship between the types of classroom interactions around the mathematical practice of imposing structure and the ways students subsequently engaged in that practice. This led to the identification of three types of classroom interactions that shaped the nature of students’ appropriation of imposing structure: (a) engaging students in the practice, (b) providing different representations of the practice, and (c) reflecting on different instantiations of the practice. Our examination of the nature of these interactions suggests teachers must attend to details as they support students to appropriate mathematical practices in formal learning environments.

Virtual reality in astronomy education: reflecting on design principles through a dialogue between researchers and practitioners

ABSTRACT Virtual reality (VR) technologies have the potential to transform astronomy education practices profoundly: new forms of visual representations, perceptual engagement and embodied participation promise authentic learning experiences in formal and informal learning spaces. While a growing body of research studies the educational needs and opportunities of VR astronomy education from the learner’s perspective, relatively few studies have explored the perspectives of education and public outreach (EPO) professionals. This study aims to turn our attention to these complementary perspectives and shed light on design considerations for using VR in astronomy education. We unpack design principles as a dialogue between researchers and practitioners, framing this dialogue as an act of reflective practice. The findings and the ensuing dialogue draw on data from two focus group interviews with EPO professionals and scientists from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery. Our design principles centre on aspects of immersion, visualisation, facilitation, and collaboration and can guide astronomy educators who wish to use VR in formal and informal learning environments. Besides, our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the new learning contexts VR technologies can create in astronomy education.

The TEK Design Principles: Integrating Neuroscience and Learning Environment Research

The TEK Design Principles: Integrating Neuroscience and Learning Environment Research

Experiences of African American Spanish Learners in the US: mitigating racialization and fostering belonging through an inclusive curriculum

ABSTRACT This study investigates experiences and investments in Spanish language learning among African American graduates of a university in the southeastern US. In response to evidence of African American underrepresentation in this field, findings will forward those factors which may encourage advanced Spanish study and create a sense of belonging as learners and speakers. Data emerges from eight language learning autobiographies, each written by a self-identifying African American who completed a Spanish major or minor at university. Inductive coding and narrative analysis methods yield the following themes: (1) Limited family/community connections to TL speakers, but wide family interest/support for language learning; (2) Inspiring teachers, formal learning environments, and content, but with significant content omissions; (3) Navigation of racialization in classrooms and TL communities and (4) Learning Spanish shapes career paths, provides empowerment and self-understanding. Findings ultimately suggest that family support and positive experiences during formal learning can encourage continued study, and some learners navigate acute obstacles relating to racialization. The data further evidences the necessity for culturally relevant and social justice pedagogies which facilitate inclusive learning communities and curricular revision. Such revisions would include content representative of African-descended people, histories, and cultures; and an understanding of racialization in the Spanish-speaking world.

Learning and gender in everyday life

This paper focuses on the learning that happens in everyday life, beyond the formal learning environments of schools, colleges, and universities or even beyond community and adult education. It draws on posthuman concepts of ‘learning affect’ and ‘new worlds’ to conceptualise this as ‘invisible education’, affective and transformative, unrecognised but powerful and formative. Such invisible education has a powerful impact on formations of gender, class, race, sexuality, and disability and is thus a key field of enquiry with important consequences for gender equality. The paper will draw on a diverse range of grant funded qualitative, research projects to focus on such invisible education and to explore how diverse iterations of the category ‘woman’ are learnt in everyday life. The research includes longitudinal research with activists, interviews with young women in low paid work, and interviews and participant observations with women living in a women’s refuge. Most of the research was undertaken in the UK, but the paper also draws on insights from comparative research conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Beirut. The paper concludes that everyday learning shows that ‘woman’ is not a fixed binary category, and that women drew on ‘the wilful’ and on invisible education to resist gendered categorisations.

The integrative role of parenting styles and parental involvement in young children's science problem-solving skills.

How parents encourage and engage young children to learn science and solve scientific problems remains an understudied issue. Parenting styles have been widely studied and found to be associated with children's various developmental outcomes. However, there is a dearth of research linking parenting styles to early science skills which build from both cognitive and social abilities. This cross-sectional study intended to pilot test a mediation model of parental involvement in the relationship between parenting styles and children's science problem-solving skills. A total of 226 children (M = 62.10 months, SD = 4.14, 108 girls) and their parents was recruited from five kindergartens in Fuzhou in China by adopting stratified random sampling. All parents completed the Demographics Questionnaire, the Parenting Style and Dimension Questionnaire, and the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale. Each child was tested with the Picture Problem Solving Task. Pearson's correlation analysis and intermediary effect analysis were conducted using IBM SPSS 25 in data analysis. Parental involvement had a significant mediating effect in the bidirectional associations between parenting styles and children's science problem-solving skills. The findings suggested that children with higher science problem-solving skills were likely to be raised by parents who were employing a flexible (i.e., authoritative) parenting style and had more involvement in children's formal and informal learning environments, while children's higher levels of science problem-solving skills predicted a higher level of parental involvement and a more flexible parenting style.

Approaches to information literacy conceptualisation in primary, secondary, and higher education contexts

The information landscape of the 21st century demands that students are prepared to be responsible information users and creators, which requires information literacy (IL) proficiency. Underlying conceptualisations of IL influence instructional practices and students’ learning of these skills within primary, secondary, and higher education contexts. Responsive to the variation in approaches to conceptualisations of IL in the digital age, this article examines contemporary scholarly articles that conceptualise IL in these formal learning environments. Through a qualitative systematic literature review, 38 articles were examined with an inductive analytical method to understand how current conceptualisations of IL are approached within these educational settings. Analysis of results yielded five primary approaches to IL conceptualisation: (1) developing contextual frameworks, (2) comparing recognised models, (3) evaluating stakeholders’ perceptions, (4) considering academic disciplines’ information principles, and (5) advocating for information practice to inform frameworks. Collectively, this study points to an evident but necessary dynamism of IL conceptualisation.

Pre-service teachers’ experiences of affective nature connection through intentional pedagogies on an extended expedition

AbstractEmotion plays a significant role in the human experience. Nevertheless, emotion (as an attribute of the affective domain), is often side-lined in formal learning environments (including Higher Education) in favour of a focus on the cognitive. This paper shares findings of a research project involving pre-service outdoor education teachers as they affectively experienced connections with nature on an extended expedition, while exposed to intentional nature connection pedagogies. It achieves this through the lens of the current shifts in outdoor education practice and pedagogy specifically, and curriculum and educational policies more broadly. The research was conducted as a case study, within a constructivist paradigm. The collection of data involved in-field observations on a six-day expedition, participant interviews, and researcher reflective journals. The data was analysed inductively which revealed a novel framework: the Affective Nature Connection Matrix. Through this matrix, the affective nature connection wave and heartbeat emerged. This theoretically derived and practice informed model highlighted the collective similarity of the expedition experiences, while acknowledging that these experiences were individually subjective. All participants experienced a rise and fall of affective nature connection, the wave, within individual and collective critical moments, the heartbeats, in response to intentional learning experiences which directly impacted and resulted in a deepened connection to self, others and nature.

Relationships between students’ emotions, self-regulated learning, and literacy gains in beginning/basic level ESL literacy classes for adults

Although studies conducted with first language literate, educated second language (L2) learners suggest that the positive effects of emotions in second language acquisition can foster students' self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies and improve their L2 learning/achievement, little is known about how the emotions of adults with limited formal schooling and literacy skills in any language affect their SRL and literacy development in formal school-based L2 learning environments. To address this gap, we proposed a theoretical model to examine the complex interplay between English as a second language (ESL) literacy learners' emotions toward L2 learning through task-based portfolios and assessment, their SRL strategy use, and their L2 literacy achievement. The model was tested using data collected from 379 beginning/basic level English literacy learners (BELLs) who were assisted by bi-/multilingual interpreters in responding to 30 Likert items designed to measure their positive and negative emotions towards learning through task-based portfolios and assessment, and key elements of SRL (e.g., goal setting, monitoring, evaluating, and reflecting on ways to improve learning). The BELLs also completed two forms of a standardized literacy test at the beginning and end of term. Results from structural equation modelling indicated that BELLs’ SRL strategy use mediated the effects of their emotions on their literacy gain scores. Findings are discussed with regard to the roles of emotions and SRL in literacy achievement and their implications for L2 teaching and assessment.