Future Classroom Research Articles

Creating a STEM School Strategy with STEM Scholl Label, the Scientix Project and the Future Classroom Lab

The development of technologies needs well-trained STEM professionals. The transition to quality STEM education requires collaboration among STEM teachers, education researchers, policymakers, and other educational stakeholders. Creating communities for STEM education and supporting STEM teachers in Europe are the main goals of the Scientix project. Since 2021 Scientix maintains the activities of the STEM School Label project. The STEM School Label platform supports schools in developing successful STEM strategies. The Future Classroom Lab is a fully equipped, reconfigurable, teaching and learning environment located in Brussels. Мany European teachers were inspired to retool their classrooms and change their teaching approaches after their visit in the Future Classroom Lab. The article introduces the two platforms of Scientix, STEM School Label, the main ideas of Future Classroom Lab, and part of the Bulgarian contribution to the development of the STEAM education.

Psychological aspects of the class teacher’s professional activities

The article is devoted to determining the need for the formation of a system of knowledge and skills in the field of psychology among students of a pedagogical university, among future classroom teachers, taking into account modern trends in education. The article presents the results of a psychological and pedagogical study conducted to identify the psychological climate of the class collective, in which 28 students of the 5th grade from the MOAU “SOSH No. 87” of Orenburg took part. The following methods were used in the course of the study: analysis and synthesis, questionnaire (survey), observation. The study revealed the need to form a system of knowledge and skills in the field of psychology in future teachers. The results obtained suggest that distance learning has a negative impact on the formation process of a class collective and prevents its cohesion, which indicates the need to study psychological disciplines at a pedagogical university. This work may be of interest to students of pedagogical colleges and universities, employees of educational organizations, since with the introduction of the distance learning format, the problem of establishing a favorable psychological climate in the classroom, which has not lost its relevance for a long time, has significantly become aggravated.

Effects of Teaching Practice in Shaping Prospective Teachers’ Professional Identities: Comparative Analysis

Teaching practice gives a chance to prospective teachers to acquire professional skills, teaching methods, and different techniques of teaching. The main objectives of this study were to find out the effect of teaching practice in shaping prospective teachers’ professional identities and to compare prospective teachers and cooperative teachers’ perceptions about effects of teaching practice on professional identities. Research questions and hypothesis were formulated to achieve the main objectives of the research. Data were collected from 45 cooperative and 80 prospective teachers selected through the purposive random technique. Data were collected through a questionnaire based on six main components of teaching practice contributing to shaping professional identities. Mean score was calculated to answer the research questions and t-test was applied to compare prospective and cooperative teachers’ perceptions. It is inferred from the findings that teaching practice plays an important role to overcome future classroom challenges. t-test results show a significant difference between prospective and cooperative teachers’ perceptions about teaching practice components. It is recommended that proper evaluation of teaching practice must be done, and prospective teachers’ feedback must be considered essential to overcome challenges of the teaching and learning process for future practices.

Data-Driven Decision-Making (DDDM) for Higher Education Assessments: A Case Study

The higher education (HE) system is witnessing immense transformations to keep pace with the rapid advancements in digital technologies and due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic compelling educational institutions to completely switch to online teaching and assessments. Assessments are considered to play an important and powerful role in students’ educational experience and evaluation of their academic abilities. However, there are many stigmas associated with both “traditional” and alternative assessment methods. Rethinking assessments is increasingly happening worldwide to keep up with the shift in current teaching and learning paradigms due to new possibilities of using digital technologies and a continuous improvement of student engagement. Many educational decisions such as a change in assessment from traditional summative exams to alternate methods require appropriate rationale and justification. In this paper, we adopt data-driven decision-making (DDDM) as a process for rethinking assessment methods and implementing assessment transformations innovatively in an HE environment. We make use of student performance data to make an informed decision for moving from exam-based assessments to nonexam assessment methods. We demonstrate the application of the DDDM approach for an educational institute by analyzing the impact of transforming the assessments of 13 out of 27 subjects offered in a Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) program as a case study. A comparison of data analysis performed before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic using different student learning measures such as failure rates and mean marks provides meaningful insights into the impact of assessment transformations. Our implementation of the DDDM model along with examining the influencing factors of student learning through assessment transformations in an HE environment is the first of its kind. With many HE providers facing several challenges due to the adoption of blended learning, this pilot study based on a DDDM approach encourages innovation in classroom teaching and assessment redesign. In addition, it opens further research in implementing such evidence-based practices for future classroom innovations and assessment transformations towards achieving higher levels of educational quality.

Assessing the Effect of Pedagogical Transition on Classroom Design for Tertiary Education: Perspectives of Teachers and Students

Active learning has been increasingly important in tertiary education in recent years due to its powerfully favourable impact on students’ learning attitudes and efficacy. Indeed, the way that a classroom is set up has a direct impact on how well students learn and how well teachers teach. The continuous evaluation of students’ learning performance is essential for guiding future classroom renovations and creating a cutting-edge learning environment for both students and teachers. The aims of this paper were to provide a better understanding of the latest development trend of learning mode preference in tertiary education and to investigate any underlying similarities and differences in the perceptions between teachers and students. To support both teaching and learning, an empirical questionnaire survey was conducted among teachers and students in Hong Kong to assess the effectiveness of various active learning techniques and passive learning techniques adopted in tertiary education. Opinion-based data were collected on the perceived benefits and disadvantages of both learning techniques as well as the importance of various classroom design features. To determine the significance of the variations in opinions between teachers and students on the survey responses, descriptive statistical analyses using the mean score and Mann–Whitney U-test were carried out. The results of the Mann–Whitney U-test on the advantages of traditional learning showed that the following variables significantly varied: ‘direct information from the teacher’; ‘timesaving (group discussion may waste time)’ and ‘allow more time for Q&A’. These advantages were generally rated higher from the viewpoint of students rather than teachers. However, no significant difference was established concerning the limitations of traditional learning. The findings of this study can help teachers and instructors to understand how different teaching and learning methods affect students’ ability to learn effectively, which can ultimately help institutional policymakers to determine the necessary essential requirements for orchestrating classroom designs to create more conducive teaching and learning environments. The findings also aim to inform policymakers and educational institutions on the impact of pedagogical change on the fundamental design requirements for a flexible classroom environment supportive of students’ active learning, especially in tertiary education.

Preparing prospective secondary teachers to teach mathematical reasoning and proof: the case of the role of examples in proving

Mathematics teacher education programs in the United States are charged with preparing prospective secondary teachers (PSTs) to teach reasoning and proving across grade levels and mathematical topics. Although most programs require a course on proof, PSTs often perceive it as disconnected from their future classroom practice. Our design research project developed a capstone course Mathematical Reasoning and Proving for Secondary Teachers and systematically studied its effect on PSTs’ content and pedagogical knowledge specific to proof. This paper focuses on one course module—Quantification and the Role of Examples in Proving, a topic which poses persistent difficulties to students and teachers alike. The analysis suggests that after the course, PSTs’ content and pedagogical knowledge of the role of examples in proving increased. We provide evidence from multiple data sources: pre-and post-questionnaires, PSTs’ responses to the in-class activities, their lesson plans, reflections on lesson enactment, and self-report. We discuss design principles that supported PSTs’ learning and their applicability beyond the study context.

Troubling knowledge in Australian Indigenous Studies: how prior knowledge affects undergraduate student learning

ABSTRACT Students’ prior knowledge may affect their learning of content in a compulsory Indigenous Studies course. Notably, non-Indigenous pre-service teachers’ prior knowledge may bring conceptions and misconceptions to their formal Indigenous Studies education, potentially influencing their engagement with and/or resistance to concepts affecting their manifestation in their future classroom practices. Indeed, learning, unlearning, and relearning often occur in Indigenous Studies courses. Accordingly, this research aimed to understand what formal and informal knowledge students bring with them to their university studies to improve pedagogy. The survey data were collected from 357 pre-service teachers commencing a compulsory Indigenous Studies university course over four semesters. This analysis revealed two distinct clusters – those who valued their formal schooling knowledge (Formal cluster) and those who valued their personal experience-based knowledge (Informal cluster). Unlike the Formal cluster, the Informal cluster held extreme views of social media as a source of knowledge and were more likely to disagree that their prior knowledge is limited/incomplete. Interestingly, institutional and individual factors such as gender, as well as exposure to enduring discourses, were also important but need further research. We argue that university and school educators need expertise in identifying prior ‘troubling’ knowledge of students and integrating knowledge sources to more skilfully ‘trouble’ and transform student knowledge.

Cross-border Community-based Learning as a Strategy in Diversity and Multicultural Teacher Preparation

As students in K-12 classrooms reflect the increasing racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of the United States as a whole, understanding diverse worldviews and inclusion of diverse students are important skills for classroom teachers. However, the pedagogical practices for training teacher education students with the knowledge and skills to effectively teach their racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students range greatly. This study explores the potential of one teacher training strategy, cross-border community-based learning, and the impact of this strategy on teacher education students’ understanding of diversity and commitment to future actions in their own classrooms. The research employs a comparative case study of two sections of a diversity and multicultural education course for undergraduate education students: one section participated in community-based learning at an Indigenous school in Guatemala and one section participated in traditional-classroom learning. The mixed-methods analysis of pre/post survey data, student journals, and student presentations suggests that community-based learning which centers Indigenous Knowledges and assets holds potential to motivate teacher education students to include diverse students in their future classrooms and challenge colonial systems of education in their future teaching. This research contributes five main recommendations to inform teacher education and community-based learning curriculum, including important differences between learning for teacher education Students of Color and White students on one particular survey scale.

“Why did we never learn this?”: preparing educators to teach for justice and equity on days after

This research explores teachers’ development of their understandings of teaching for justice and equity on days after critical current events, traumas, and tragedies. In particular, I ask: How, if at all, are teachers prepared to engage in Days After Pedagogy? How do their preparation experiences influence their feelings about utilizing Days After Pedagogy in their classrooms? Grounded in the theory of Days After Pedagogy and grounded in the literature on social justice teacher preparation, this qualitative study of more than 50 social justice oriented pre- and in-service teachers around the U.S. reveals four key findings about teachers’ (lack of) preparation to engage in DAP and the implications of this for equitable education in current and future classrooms.

Educational Video Intervention Improves Perceptions of Breakfast in the Classroom Among College Students in Elementary Education

ObjectiveEvaluate Elementary Education college students’ familiarity and perceptions of Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) before and after an educational video intervention. MethodsA 5-minute educational video was developed as an intervention in a pilot study. Quantitative data were collected from Elementary Education students using preintervention and postintervention surveys and analyzed using paired sample t tests (P < 0.001). ResultsA total of 68 participants completed preintervention and postintervention surveys. Postintervention survey scores indicated that participants’ perceptions of BIC improved after watching the video. Paired sample t tests also showed an increase in preference for BIC, familiarity with the 5 school breakfast service models, and confidence to implement BIC in future classrooms. Conclusions and ImplicationsAn educational video intervention effectively improves Elementary Education students’ perceptions of BIC. Elementary Education students who gain a positive perception of BIC may influence the program's success and ability to benefit students.

Preservice Teachers’ Experiences on Becoming Culturally Responsive Educators: An Action Research Case Study

Reflection on teaching and learning is considered one of the most essential elements of teacher development. With the rise of multilingual learners in U.S. public schools, the role of critical reflection has become even more prominent in teacher preparation programs to disrupt preservice teachers’ (PSTs) biases and stereotypes regarding these learners and their families. Moreover, to address the widening educational inequities and to enact more equitable teaching practices, PSTs ought to reflect on their pedagogical practices with the guidance of an educator-mentor. Therefore, this qualitative action research case study explored how one teacher preparation program implemented reflective and experiential practices in their graduate Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages coursework to assist PSTs in systematically examining their understandings of culturally responsive practices. Our research was grounded in culturally responsive teaching. Our findings revealed that our PSTs had an awareness of culturally responsive pedagogy; they recognized the importance of learning from and with their students and families but still had areas for growth when implementing culturally responsive practices, prompting us to further explore how these PSTs enact culturally sustaining practices in their future classrooms.

Increasing pre-teacher engagement in university instruction using Pear Deck

Pear Deck is an online active learning presentation tool designed to aid teachers in creating impactful lessons. As higher education continues to evolve by implementing various course formats, there is a great need to discover which technology tools have the potential to increase student engagement. In this qualitative study, the authors examine 37 preservice teachers’ perceptions regarding the usefulness of Pear Deck in increasing engagement, and its potential use in their future classrooms. Eighty percent of the participants agreed that they felt more engaged with their instructors and peers while using Pear Deck. Participants shared that the use of Pear Deck in their future classrooms would allow them to incorporate various best practice techniques during instruction. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Primary Preservice Science Teachers’ Perceptions of Practical Work in Remote Learning Environments

Science practical work is renowned for providing authentic environments for science learning in ways that reduce the abstractness of concepts. Significant resources are used to provide facilities such as laboratories to ensure that practical work is implemented in science learning. Practical work is important for primary preservice science teachers, who in turn will implement the instructional strategy in their future classrooms. The rise in remote learning has prompted researchers and instructors to reimagine ways of facilitating practical work in ways that involve human-machine interactions in significant ways. This study used an interpretive paradigm and an explorative single-case-study design to explore primary preservice science teachers’ perceptions of conducting practical work in remote learning environments. A framework based on the Internet of Things- (IoT) enabled tools was used to mediate the understanding of the study findings. Data were collected from 25 preservice teachers by means of experiment reports and observation of practical work activities. The findings of the study showed that in the absence of proper systems for conducting practical work remotely and limited internet connectivity, the participating preservice teachers used internet searches to inform them of how to conduct experiments using household materials. The experiment reports comprised experiment demonstrations developed through the use of filmmaking applications, cloud computing tools, and social media collaborations. The paper makes recommendations to expand preservice teachers’ technological competencies to include the use of virtual laboratories to conduct practical work in remote learning environments.

Alignment of the synthesis of qualitative data (SQD) model, technology self-efficacy and TPACK Core measures in preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology

Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology in their future classrooms is a complex endeavor. Several factors known to affect the use of technology in the classroom include technology knowledge and skills, positive attitudes toward integrating technology, pedagogical expertise with technology and content knowledge in one or more disciplines. One strategy that has been used in many educator preparation programs has been to create a course that teaches how to integrate technology. Measuring the impact of these types of courses is important in determining whether they are meeting the needs of the pre-service teachers in their pursuit to integrate technology in a meaningful and effective way. This paper reports on the measurement and alignment of three aspects that impact pre-service technology integration - technology self-efficacy, strategies and experiences provided by the preparation programs, and the intersection of technology, content knowledge and pedagogy. Pre-service participants in a semester-long course focused on integrating technology gained significantly from pre to post on each of the scales, demonstrating an increase in technology self-efficacy, experiences related to technology during their program and confidence in fusing technology, content knowledge and pedagogy. In addition, the three measures focused on different areas of technology integration aligned to show relationships of the attributes important for using technology in their future classrooms.

Maximizing the Potential of Reflective Practice in Pre-Service Language Teacher Education: The Issue of Authenticity

Reflective practice (RP) has been widely promoted in many second language teacher education programs to foster pre-service teachers’ pedagogical competence. However, the effectiveness of RP has often been questioned and challenged due to its lack of authenticity in practice. This Viewpoint paper focuses on the issue of authenticity of RP and how it can manifest and shape the complex process of learning to teach. Specifically, the paper proposes a tentative framework with practical tools and strategies for the design and implementation of authentic RP. The framework emphasizes the context, content, and process dimension of authenticity in both RP instruction and assessment, where student teachers can gradually develop their reflective abilities and learn how to integrate RP into their future classroom practice. The paper also outlines directions for future research on RP in second language teacher education.

TOWARDS SELF-ADAPTIVE LEARNING PLATFORM IN FUTURE CLASSROOM BASED ON EMOTION COMPUTING

The accurate recognition of the emotion of learners is the basis of harmonious emotional interaction in the intelligent learning environment of the future classroom. This project focuses on the lack of research and practical exploration on harmonious emotional interaction in the future classroom, and constructs the database of learning pictures and expression pictures of learners by employing Convolution Neural Network. Endowing the future classroom with a self-adaptive interaction property at the emotional level by emotion computing can promote to learn effectively. The proposed platform can self-adaptively adjust the visual characteristics of learning picture according to the expression of learners, visual emotion preference and learning picture emotion, and then present the adapted learning picture to learners in real time, so as to realize the adaptive interaction at the emotional level in the future classroom.

Alignment of the synthesis of qualitative data (SQD) model, technology self-efficacy and TPACK Core measures in preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology

Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology in their future classrooms is a complex endeavor. Several factors known to affect the use of technology in the classroom include technology knowledge and skills, positive attitudes toward integrating technology, pedagogical expertise with technology and content knowledge in one or more disciplines. One strategy that has been used in many educator preparation programs has been to create a course that teaches how to integrate technology. Measuring the impact of these types of courses is important in determining whether they are meeting the needs of the pre-service teachers in their pursuit to integrate technology in a meaningful and effective way. This paper reports on the measurement and alignment of three aspects that impact pre-service technology integration - technology self-efficacy, strategies and experiences provided by the preparation programs, and the intersection of technology, content knowledge and pedagogy. Pre-service participants in a semester-long course focused on integrating technology gained significantly from pre to post on each of the scales, demonstrating an increase in technology self-efficacy, experiences related to technology during their program and confidence in fusing technology, content knowledge and pedagogy. In addition, the three measures focused on different areas of technology integration aligned to show relationships of the attributes important for using technology in their future classrooms.

AI in the Foreign Language Classroom: A Pedagogical Overview of Automated Writing Assistance Tools

Recent technological advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have paved the way for improved and in many cases the creation of entirely new and innovative, electronic writing tools. These writing support systems assist during and after the writing process making them indispensable to many writers in general and to students in particular who can get human-like sentence completion suggestions and text generation. Although the wide adoption of these tools by students has been faced with a steady growth of scientific publications in the field, the results of these studies are often contradictory and their validity may be questioned. To gain a deeper understanding of the validity of AI-powered writing assistance tools, we conducted a systematic review of the recent empirical AI-powered writing assistance studies. The purpose of this review is twofold. First, we wanted to explore the recent scholarly publications that evaluated the use of AI-powered writing assistance tools in the classroom in terms of their types, uses, limits, and potential for improving students’ writing skills. Second, the review also sought to explore the perceptions of educators and researchers about learners’ use of AI-powered writing tools and review their recommendations on how to best ingrate these tools into the contemporary and future classroom. Using the Scopus research database, a total of 104 peer-reviewed papers were identified and analyzed. The findings indicate that students are increasingly using a variety of AI-powered writing assistance tools for improving their writing. The tools they are using can be categorized into four main groups: (1) automated writing evaluation tools, (2) tools that provide automated writing corrective feedback, (3) AI-powered machine translators, and (4) GPT-3 automatic text generators. The analysis also highlighted the scholars’ recommendations regarding dealing with learners’ use of AI-powered writing assistance tools and grouped the recommendations into two groups for researchers and educators.

Should I use digital storytelling in my future classroom? Why or why not? Investigating pre-service math teachers’ acceptance of digital storytelling

The purpose of this study is to investigate digital storytelling based on the technology acceptance model. For this aim, the study was conducted as a case study with the participation of 52 pre-service mathematics teachers. The findings firstly showed that most of the pre-service teachers’ perceived ease of use was high as they consider digital storytelling contributed to the learning environment and their professional development. It was additionally observed in participant responses that their usefulness perceptions are high. Consequently, most pre-service teachers intend to use digital storytelling in their future teaching practices. It was finally revealed that some of the pre-service teachers stated their intention of their students’ participation in the digital storytelling process, while others expressed their intention of bringing their own digital stories to the classroom as educational material.

Context-related Beliefs about L2 Language Learning and Teaching of the Millennial Pre-service EFL Teachers as a Prognosis for Future Classroom Actions

The qualitative study presented in this paper aimed to collect beliefs about learning and teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) from individual representatives of the generation frequently referred to as the millennials. The participants were 47 pre-service EFL trainee teachers from four socio-cultural contexts: Finnish, Israeli, Polish, and Spanish. Their voices have been considered because beliefs are dynamically related to actions and soon the millennial EFL teachers may implement them in the course of their teaching. The contextual approach, followed in this research, provided opportunities for discussing similarities and differences in the beliefs of Finnish, Israeli, Polish, and Spanish pre-service teachers. The identified similarities lead to outlining a tentative picture of a universal, future, post-pandemic EFL classroom.