Individual Learning Environment Research Articles

Contemporary Management Innovations in Shaping the Educational Process: Insights from Europe

Today, globalisation processes, technological progress, and changes in socio-economic conditions require educational institutions to implement new approaches to managing the educational process. This paper analyses innovative approaches in modern management to model the educational process based on European experience. The contribution of the research to the scientific discussion is to substantiate the impact of the introduction of digital technologies and adaptive and personalised programs, as well as the development of collaboration skills, on the educational process’s effectiveness in the educational process’s modelling. For this purpose, a correlation matrix was formed based on the assessments by university professors and university students. The research design included verification of the objectivity of expert assessments on the achievement of goals and management functions in the performance of educational tasks, which effectively ensured the quality of the digital skills of students and professors. The main conclusions of the study indicate that to model the educational process effectively, it is necessary to focus on planning the introduction of digital technologies and creating individual learning environments. Implications for further research include the development of new methods for managing the educational process in the context of rapid technological progress.

ESD goals and soft skills competencies through constructivist approaches to teaching: an integrative review

Recent studies claimed that the absence of a paradigm is a challenge to developing education for sustainable development and soft skills competencies. This integrative study examines stimulating these transferable and transversal competencies through constructivist approaches to teaching from the cognitive, social, radical, and critical perspectives. The study argues that the use of constructivist approaches to teaching can contribute to the achievement of education for sustainable development and soft skills competencies through the delegation of power from teachers/lecturers to students. This, in active and interactive classrooms, empowers students and builds their confidence to develop on the personal, academic, and professional levels. The use of the cognitive constructivist approach assists in developing competencies based on a clear understanding of the cognitive structures of students in a vibrant classroom environment. The use of the social constructivist approach assists in constructing individualized learning environment based on predetermined zones of proximal development in sociocultural contexts. The radical and critical constructivist approaches to teaching, through the rejection of conventional epistemologies, allow students the freedom to creatively address issues related to environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This becomes effective through the fostering of self and social awareness, challenging existing ideas, and provoking innovative thoughts that are necessary to shape a sustainable future.

AI Enabled Personalized Learning Platform

The AI-powered individualized learning environment designed specifically for teaching programming. The platform makes it easier for users to log in, choose a domain, take interactive tests, assess their performance, and receive personalized video recommendations based on how well students perform. Understanding the value of individualized instruction in programming, the platform dynamically adjusts to each user's skill level and learning goals. Front-end and back-end technologies are seamlessly integrated to allow users to take quizzes specific to the domain they have chosen, get instant response, and get performance reviews. The website makes recommendations for videos based on users' skill levels. The architecture, functionality, user experience, implementation specifics, evaluation outcomes, and future directions of the platform are all made clear in this document. Through providing insights into AI-powered tailored learning, this study advances teaching methodologies and gives students more confidence when it comes to programming.

Chinese University Students’ Digital Engagement in Post-COVID

Many scholars internationally conducted research on teaching and learning during the pandemic. Some scholars identified positive changes in student academic performance and student satisfaction while others found negative impacts on students’ mental health. My observation is that Covid-19 and technology (non-human actors) have shaped students’ cognition (way of thinking), behavior (digital practices), and affection (mental health). In fact, in China, digital engagement has become an important part of the lives of university students even in the post-Covid era. This qualitative study aims to investigate two Chinese universities with focus on their students’ digital engagement from a sociomaterial perspective. This research focuses on three questions: 1) What are Chinese university students’ perceptions and practices of their digital study (2022-2023)? 2) What dilemmas or conflicts did they confront when they configured a digitally mediated learning space that constitutes messy assemblages of material and social practices? 3) How did they respond to new challenges (human actors and nonhuman actors)? In order to answer these questions, the study adopts interviews and visual analysis of individual digital learning environment (including imaging and texts). It offers insights on reframing student digital engagement as constantly shifting sociomaterial assemblages from which different forms of agency emerge as effects of connections and activity. These assemblages can be closely read and interpreted from the students’ dynamic study practices, which are not only social but also at times private and unobservable. The study will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the human-material-digital practice and enactments for the Chinese academic community and beyond.

A classification tool to foster self-regulated learning with generative artificial intelligence by applying self-determination theory: a case of ChatGPT

Generative AI such as ChatGPT provides an instant and individualized learning environment, and may have the potential to motivate student self-regulated learning (SRL), more effectively than other non-AI technologies. However, the impact of ChatGPT on student motivation, SRL, and needs satisfaction is unclear. Motivation and the SRL process can be explained using self-determination theory (SDT) and the three phases of forethought, performance, and self-reflection, respectively. Accordingly, a Delphi design was employed in this study to determine how ChatGPT-based learning activities satisfy students’ each SDT need, and foster each SRL phase from a teacher perspective. We involved 36 SDT school teachers with extensive expertise in technology enhanced learning to develop a classification tool for learning activities that affect student needs satisfaction and SRL phases using ChatGPT. We collaborated with the teachers in three rounds to investigate and identify the activities, and we revised labels, descriptions, and explanations. The major finding is that a classification tool for 20 learning activities using ChatGPT was developed. The tool suggests how ChatGPT better satisfy SDT-based needs, and fosters the three SRL phrases. This classification tool can assist researchers in replicating, implementing, and integrating successful ChatGPT in education research and development projects. The tool can inspire teachers to modify the activities using generative AI for their own teaching, and inform policymakers on how to develop guidelines for AI in education.

Personal Learning Environment and Writing Performance: The Case of Jordanian Young EFL Learners

This study examines the potential effect of incorporating personal learning environment-based instruction on young EFL learners’ writing performance. A quasi-experimental design was used as two intact sixth-grade sections of twenty pupils each from Juffein Primary School for Boys in the Directorate of Education of the Koura District, Irbid (Jordan) constituted the sample of the research. With a toss of a coin, one section was assigned as the control group and the other as the experimental group. A ten-week instructional treatment based on the creation of individual personal learning environments was designed and implemented with the experimental group following proper validation procedures. The control group was instructed using the guidelines of the prescribed Teacher’s Book. A writing test was also designed, validated, and administered to all 40 participants before and after the treatment. The findings revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group with statistically significant differences found between the two groups in both overall writing and writing features (viz., ideas, organization, sentence fluency, conventions, and legibility). Relevant recommendations and pedagogical recommendations are put forth.

Exploring autonomy support and learning preference in higher education: introducing a flexible and personalized learning environment with technology

Learner autonomy is particularly important in higher education, where students are fully responsible for their own learning. Despite this, there is a lack of research on aspects of autonomy support in higher education compared with that of primary and secondary education. To address this gap, this study explored autonomy support and learning preference in higher education, introducing a flexible and individualized learning environment with technology after the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was conducted among 849 Japanese university students to gather their perceptions about autonomous support, learning preferences (face-to-face or distance), use of learning strategies, and academic performance (grade point average). Correlations were identified between certain variables: for example, perceived autonomy support, class format preference, and grade point average. The scores of different scales were compared among the subject groups. Autonomy support provided by instructors included explaining the lesson’s outline to students. A few teachers provided opportunities for students to select learning methods, teaching materials, and assignment content; yet, few instructors seemed to truly understand students’ learning needs. Although many participants took face-to-face courses, students’ learning preferences were evenly split between face-to-face and distance learning courses. Students who strongly preferred face-to-face learning performed well regardless of instructional format. Students with a little preference for distance education performed well, especially in distance education courses. Students with no preference performed the worst. This study suggests that a learning environment that provides students with options to suit their diverse learning preferences is beneficial and that introducing “hybrid-flexible” courses and feedback for students’ learning strategies has the potential to promote learner autonomy in higher education.

Implementing the Dynamic Feedback-Driven Learning Optimization Framework: A Machine Learning Approach to Personalize Educational Pathways

This study introduces a novel approach named the Dynamic Feedback-Driven Learning Optimization Framework (DFDLOF), aimed at personalizing educational pathways through machine learning technology. Our findings reveal that this framework significantly enhances student engagement and learning effectiveness by providing real-time feedback and personalized instructional content tailored to individual learning needs. This research demonstrates the potential of leveraging advanced technology to create more effective and individualized learning environments, offering educators a new tool to support each student’s learning journey. The study thus contributes to the field by showcasing how personalized education can be optimized using modern technological advancements.

Influencing Factors of Students’ Willingness to Communicate in English in the EFL Classroom: A Systematic Review

Willingness to communicate (WTC) has been considered a research hotspot in second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. However, systematic analysis of factors influencing students’ WTC in English is scarce. This systematic review aims to explore and summarize existing research on factors influencing students’ English WTC published from 2013 to 2022. According to the selection criteria, a total of 25 relevant publications are included in the scope of analysis, which has been categorized into internal and external factors. Both of these factors influence students’ English WTC. The results showed that most of the studies were concentrated among Middle East participants and the quantitative approach was dominant in these studies. This review revealed that the factors have become more diversified, such as emotional intelligence, ethnic group affiliation, and digital game-based learning. The factors include not only internal and external factors, but there is also a growing trend examining the comprehensive factors including individual factors, affective factors, and learning environment that affect students’ WTC in English. Finally, this study may benefit English teachers, researchers, and educators who aspire to improve students’ English WTC by providing a detailed review of the factors influencing students’ English WTC. It concludes with recommendations for future research to study students’ WTC in English.

Parental perception of motor, language, and literacy skills development in school-aged autistic children

Emerging evidence suggests that motor and language delays are prevalent developmental concerns in young autistic children. Nonetheless, it is not well understood how these co-occurring conditions of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relate to each other during the later childhood of autistic children. This study aimed to elucidate influential factors of motor and language/literacy development in school-aged autistic children from parental perceptions using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Ten mothers (Mage 37.5 ± 5.9) of autistic children (Mage 9.6 ± 1.6) participated in the individual interviews via video conference or phone calls with a particular focus on individual characteristics, parental involvement, and learning environment for motor and language/literacy development in their child. Open and axial coding was conducted, and salient themes were discussed until consensus was reached. The identified themes were categorized into two focal points, including 1) general parental attitudes toward their child’s learning and development and 2) parental self-efficacy manifesting in response to individual variations (e.g. difficulty with fine motor and coordinated skills and unique autistic traits) and environmental constraints (e.g. lack of resources and limited systematic support for sustainable care) that affect their child’s fundamental skills development. Concept maps were sequentially generated to visualize the connections among influential factors for both typical and delayed motor and language/literacy development in autistic children. Further studies with objective skills assessments and triangulated multi-informant data from other key stakeholders of ASD are warranted to delineate the association between motor, language, and literacy development in school-aged autistic children.

Policies for increasing school completion rates for the poor

Human capital accumulated through education is a key factor in increasing individual income. Therefore, policies that aid in increasing school enrollment and completion rates among the poor are essential for poverty alleviation. Despite the fact that primary school enrollment rates in developing countries have increased, there remains a significant gap in school completion rates. This study focuses on the decisions individuals make regarding completing their education to obtain future job-related skills. We clarify factors that increase school enrollment and completion rates and indicate the effectiveness and priority of policies to increase the rates through a simple model. Our findings suggest that school policies have limited impact on increasing school enrollment and completion rates, particularly among the poor, who tend to have a high discount rate for the future and focus on the current situation. Therefore, policies that aim to reduce their discount rate should be prioritized. Moreover, we found that extending learning hours at school has a negative impact on the school completion rates of students from poor families. Therefore, policies aimed at improving individual learning environments are effective in increasing rates, especially for the poor. These findings have important implications for policymakers and education practitioners seeking to improve education outcomes and alleviate poverty, especially in developing countries.

Exploring Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development in Pedagogy: A Critique of a Learning Event in the Business/Economics Classroom

This academic journal article presents a critical examination of Lev Vygotsky's Social Constructivist Theory and its application in the Business/Economics classroom within a British educational context. Vygotsky's theory posits that the interaction between an individual's learning and social environment significantly shapes their intellectual development. This research highlights the educator's crucial role in understanding students' limitations in the learning context and providing necessary support and guidance to facilitate effective learning outcomes. Central to Vygotsky's theory is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), representing the "learning gap" between a student's current knowledge and their potential. Emphasizing the concept of Scaffolding as a key strategy to bridge this gap, this study investigates how Scaffolding, though not explicitly mentioned by Vygotsky, aligns inherently with the ZPD theory, facilitating students' progression from their current proficiency level (Point A) to a more advanced stage (Point B).

Evaluating Medical Student Learning Preference and its Relationship to Clerkship Satisfaction (S10.004)

Evaluating Medical Student Learning Preference and its Relationship to Clerkship Satisfaction (S10.004)

Countering Student Alienation and Anxiety with Team Formation in the Classroom

The way students communicate with each other and with faculty have dramatically changed through the years. Increased use of e-mail and texting has diminished face-to-face interaction. Consequently, students are experiencing a sense of isolation, increased anxiety, and an inability to connect with each other as well as with their professors. Team formation in the accounting classroom was considered to examine the impact on students’ course grade. The goal was to determine the effect of team formation on the students’ overall course experience. The academic and personal implications were determined by an examination of students’ grades, observation of teams, and interviews with team members. Students were organized into teams of 5 to 6 students and participated in team activities throughout the semester. Team activities included class presentations, in-class assignments, homework, and organized exam preparation/review sessions. Two entry-level accounting classes were examined and compared to their counterparts who studied exclusively in an individual learning environment. The classes in which team formation was implemented resulted in higher academic achievement; increased student passing rate, increased class attendance, and decreased number of student withdrawals. Observations noted included friendlier class environment, increased student to student as well as student to professor interaction, and heightened awareness of other cultures. Interviews with team members echoed sentiments of increased self-confidence, lower levels of stress, and deeper understanding of learned material.

PRE-SERVICE PRIMARY TEACHERS’ TPACK IMPROVEMENT THROUGH LISTENING ACTIVITIES: DESIGN, OBSERVE AND EVALUATE

Pre-service teachers are mostly trained with traditional methods in their institutions and as a result, they do not become competent in technology integration in education. To successfully integrate technology in education, it is necessary for teachers to have knowledge of the content and the pedagogical techniques to teach this content with technology (TPACK). The purpose of this study was to contribute to pre-service primary school teachers’ TPACK. For this purpose, the content was selected as listening, the most ignored skill taught in language education. In a qualitative framework, a case study approach was utilized. Eight pre-service primary teachers were selected with convenience sampling from a public university in Turkey. For eight weeks, the pre-service teachers learned block-based visual programming and designed visual and audio listening texts in pairs. Their projects were undertaken with fourth grade students, and they observed the students’ interactions with these projects. Upon the completion of this process, a semi-structured interview form, prepared by the researchers, was used to gather the pre-service teachers’ views. Results showed that they increased their technological pedagogical content knowledge in the TPACK framework. They also developed a better sense of entertaining, active, and individual learning environments.

Iranian EFL Learners’ Production of Online English Requests: Effects of Technology-Mediated Task-Based Instruction

This quasi-experimental study scrutinized the impact of technology-mediated TBLT in an online collaborative and individual EFL learning environment on the development of request production of 20 male and female B.A. students of TEFL. The participants were divided into two equal individual and collaborative experimental groups to receive online video-prompt task-based instruction on request speech act production in six distinct situations defined based on different contextual variables including distance, power, and imposition. Two similar versions of video-prompt Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs) focusing on six situations covered in online classes were given to the participants as a pretest and posttest. The results indicated that both groups’ request speech act production improved significantly after the intervention. However, there was no significant difference between the performance of the two groups. It was then concluded that both techniques are facilitative in boosting students’ pragmatic competence; however, more time is required to find out the extent to which these techniques differ in terms of their productiveness.

Effect of blended self-directed learning on nursing students: Quasi-experimental approach.

Higher education institutions are adapting and innovating like never before to provide highly individualized learning environments for both traditional and non-traditional students. This seismic upheaval in the higher education landscape is being observed across the world. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a blended learning approach on nursing students' self-directed learning readiness. This study is a quasi-experimental approach in which a non-equivalent control group was used in a post-test design. A comparison was carried out with two separate semester cohort students representing the control and intervention groups which had 24 and 30 students, respectively. This study included first-year nursing students that enrolled in a course called "Anatomy and Physiology" course of nursing education at a private university. The control group received all their teaching face-to-face, and the intervention group used information technology and prescribed activities in their online e-book. The self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) tool measures the learners' readiness in self-directed learning in both groups. This scale comprises three subscales which are "self-management," "desire for learning," and "self-control." An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare self-directed learning readiness in the control and intervention groups. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 software to measure the independent t-test. The self-directed readiness scores were significantly higher in the intervention group with P = 0.019. The intervention group showed a higher mean value on the subscales of self-management and self-control, which demonstrated a significant difference with P values of 0.018 and 0.028, respectively. The subscale desire for learning was insignificant with a P value of 0.166. This study concluded that the overall results demonstrate that incorporating blended learning using e-books for anatomy and physiology courses in nursing education can contribute to students' readiness for self-directed learning. Specifically, the blended learning teaching and learning strategy had a positive impact on nursing students' capacity for self-management and self-control.

Visualizing language learning environments beyond the classroom in study abroad

Abstract Employing an ecological framework, this study explores learners’ visual representation of their language learning practices and environments beyond the classroom in an Australian context. Specifically, this study’s aim is to better understand the features of individual language learning environments, the role of self-reflection, and the affordances involved in the construction of these environments. One hundred and seventy international students enrolled in English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) in Sydney drew mind maps on “Activities to improve my English in Australia.” The mind maps were analyzed thematically using NVivo 11 software and subsequent themes were developed. Findings showed individual differences in features of language learning environments, learners’ perceptions of their affordances, and insight into the degree of learner agency as seen from the visualization. This article closes by discussing the implications for using such visual materials in second language pedagogy in order to understand student language learning beyond the classroom.

Flipped classroom: Challenges and benefits of using social media in English language teaching and learning.

Due to the emergence of new technologies, reforms in higher education require changes in traditional education. The flipped classroom approach can be a solution to such educational changes to create a student-centered individual learning environment. This approach, which is a type of blended learning, has effectively integrated traditional education and social networks using both environments inside and outside the classroom. The current review is to provide an overview of flipped classroom studies in language teaching contexts. Particularly, the study put emphasis on revealing and addressing the potential benefits and challenges of flipped classroom approach for teaching using social media. It focused on learning environments that students were exposed to the lecture content before the class in a collaborative and interactive learning environment using well-known social media applications. Twenty-five journal publications of flipped classrooms were analyzed in terms of their flipped learning activities, learner achievement, learner attitude, and challenges encountered. The analysis of the selected studies showed that the flipped classroom approach has a positive effect on learning, reducing cognitive load, involvement, accuracy, motivation, attitude, and satisfaction with the course and self-efficacy in higher education, and one of the most important challenges of the flipped classroom is the lack of familiarity and appropriate adaptation of students. With the inversion method, there was an increase in teachers’ workload. According to the analysis of the selected research findings, it is concluded that higher education can effectively use this method.

Analyzing Log Data of Students Who Have Achieved Scores Adjacent to the Minimum Passing Grade for a K-MOOC Completion in the Context of Learning Analytics

Collecting and analyzing log data can provide students with individualized learning to maintain their motivation and engagement in learning activities and reduce dropout in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). As online learning becomes more and more important, the demand for learning analytics is surging to design a variety of interventions that can achieve learning success and achieve individual learning goals and targets. In response to significant demand, we intended to derive data standards for learning analytics by specifying more the factors influencing MOOC completion suggested in previous research results. Therefore, this study aims to compare the event logs of students who have achieved scores adjacent to the minimum passing score of Korean Massive Open Online Course (K-MOOC) completion by dividing them into the completion (C) group and the non-completion (NC) group. As a result of analyzing the log data accumulated on the 60 K-MOOCs, what is interesting in the results of this study is that there was no significant difference between the C group and the NC group in video viewing, which is considered the main learning activity on the MOOC platform. On the other hand, there was a statistically significant difference between the C group and the NC group for textbook interactions in the percentage of learners who performed and the average number of logs per learner, as well as problem interactions in the average number of logs per learner. Students’ assertive activities such as textbook interaction and problem interaction might have greater value for MOOC completion than passive activities such as video watching. Therefore, MOOC instructors and developers should explore more specific design guidelines on how to provide problems with individualized hints and feedback and offer effective digital textbooks or reference materials for the large number of students. The results suggest that collecting and analyzing MOOC students’ log data on interactions, for understanding their motivation and engagement, should be investigated to create an individualized learning environment and increase their learning persistence in completing MOOCs. Future studies should focus on investigating meaningful patterns of the event logs on learning activities in massive quantitative and qualitative data sets.