Learner-centered Methodology Research Articles

MAPPING THE LANDSCAPE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION RESEARCH IN ASIA: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SCOPUS-INDEXED PUBLICATIONS FROM 1972 TO 2023

Continuing education (CE) plays a crucial role in workforce development and economic growth across Asia, yet the landscape of CE research in the region has not been comprehensively mapped. A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of continuing education (CE) research in Asia from 1972 to 2023 was carried out, utilizing data from the Scopus database to map the evolving landscape of CE research in the region. Findings revealed a significant surge in research output since the late 1990s, with East Asian countries, particularly China, Hong Kong (China), and Taiwan (ROC), emerging as leaders in the field. The analysis uncovers several key patterns: institutional collaborations tend to cluster regionally, there's a noticeable generational gap in researcher’s networks, and the healthcare sector dominates CE research topics. Recent trends indicate a shift towards digital learning approaches and learner-centered methodologies. The study also highlights the need for increased cross-border collaborations and expansion of CE research beyond the healthcare sector. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of CE research trends in Asia and provides insights for future directions in the field. Keywords: Asia, bibliometric analysis, collaboration networks, continuing education, digital learning, healthcare education, lifelong learning, research trends, science mapping, Scopus database

BRIDGING LANGUAGE AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS: EFFECTIVE ESP PEDAGOGY FOR DIVERSE LEARNER NEEDS

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) plays a critical role in the development of language proficiency alongside professional skills. As global communication and specialized knowledge become increasingly essential, ESP pedagogy has evolved to meet diverse learner needs across various disciplines. This article examines effective ESP pedagogy strategies for bridging the gap between language learning and professional competence, exploring interdisciplinary approaches, learner-centered methodologies, and technology integration. The study provides a framework for developing a responsive and flexible ESP curriculum tailored to diverse learner populations, emphasizing the need for contextualized learning that fosters both linguistic and professional skills.

Influence of Teachers’ Professional Training and Development on Students’ Academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Ndhiwa Sub-County Homabay County, Kenya

Purpose: The persistent academic underperformance in public secondary schools in Kenyan rural areas has raised concerns among educators, policymakers, and local communities. The purpose of the study is to evaluate how teacher professional training and development influence academic performance. One of the key factors believed to have contributed to this challenge is the lack of sufficient and effective professional training and development programs for teachers. There is a growing need to examine how teachers' professional training and development influence students' academic outcomes. The problem this study seeks to address is the unclear and under-researched relationship between teachers' professional development and students' academic performance in Ndhiwa Sub-County. Methodology: The study used descriptive research design and 15 public secondary schools, 113 teachers and 522 students were involved in the study as study respondents. The study used document analysis and semi structured questionnaires to collect the quantitative data, which was analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages). Findings: The study reveals that teachers' professional training and development have a significant impact on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Ndhiwa Sub-County. The findings also indicated that teachers who undergo continuous professional development are better equipped with modern teaching strategies, content knowledge, and student engagement techniques, which in turn positively influence students' academic outcomes. Teachers with higher levels of training and access to ongoing professional development demonstrate improved classroom management, increased use of learner-centered methodologies, and more effective assessment technique. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: From the study findings, the study recommends that schools and educational authorities should develop more structured and regular Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programs that focus on subject-specific training, pedagogical skills, and updated teaching methodologies. This is because the study findings likely indicate that teachers who engage in regular training and development show better performance in student outcomes. The education policy makers should come up with the programs that forge partnerships between secondary schools and local universities or teacher training colleges to provide advanced training opportunities and access to educational research.

Navigating the Linguistic Labyrinth: Innovative Approaches in English Language Teaching for the 21st Century

The rapid advancements in technology and globalization have transformed the landscape of English language teaching (ELT) in the 21st century, presenting both challenges and opportunities. This article explores innovative approaches in ELT that respond to the diverse needs of learners in this digital age. With the linguistic landscape becoming increasingly complex, traditional methodologies no longer suffice to equip learners with the requisite competencies for effective communication in a global context. This paper reviews the integration of technology in ELT, emphasizing blended learning, mobile learning, and digital gamification as pivotal to enhancing learner engagement and autonomy. It also delves into the pedagogical shift towards communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based learning (TBL), which prioritize functional use of language and real-world communication skills. Furthermore, the article highlights the importance of cultural competence in ELT, advocating for curriculum designs that incorporate intercultural communication to foster global citizenship. Through a synthesis of current literature and case studies, this paper argues for a holistic approach that combines these innovative strategies to meet the evolving demands of English language learners. By navigating the linguistic labyrinth with adaptive and learner-centered methodologies, educators can better prepare students for the complexities of the 21st-century linguistic landscape.

Academic Challenges Faced by Adolescent Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Manicaland Province in Zimbabwe

This study examined the academic challenges faced by adolescent orphans and vulnerable learners from child-headed households attending secondary schools in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province. Learners from homes without parents are becoming more and more prevalent, but no one has yet taken notice of them. Using Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of human learning as the theoretical lens, the researchers scrutinized the phenomenon. Thirty participants were chosen from four secondary schools in the Chimanimani District for the qualitative research study. In-depth data about the academic challenges faced by adolescents who are orphans and vulnerable children was generated through focus group interviews. The thematic approach was employed in the analysis of data and invaluable themes were identified. Ultimately, the study’s conclusions were as follows; facilitators and learners need constant motivation, parents can help supervise learners’ work, and teachers should have access to professional development opportunities. The results indicate that in order to guarantee high-quality instruction, guidance and counseling teachers should receive support and opportunity for ongoing professional development. By utilizing learner-centered methodologies, the teaching and learning process should integrate learners’ real-world experiences to improve the learners’ comprehension of the learning materials covered in class.

E-Learning and Arabic in the Age of Covid-19: Rethinking the Learning of Vocabulary

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, Italian universities have been faced with a completely new situation, generally marked by a certain backwardness as regards distance language teaching. This paper describes the impact that distance learning has had on language teaching, particularly on the teaching of lexis in the first year of a three-year degree course in Arabic at Roma Tre University, Italy. Learning vocabulary is a vital part of mastering a language, and experience has shown that students often do not work methodically on this aspect, which leads to problems with listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Online teaching has only aggravated this situation and, consequently, new approaches and methodologies are required. This case study presents solutions that have been found in adopting MOODLE, the open-source platform that provides students with a dynamic instrument aimed at facilitating learning. In particular, it describes and evaluates the use of the glossary in MOODLE to help first-year students learn Arabic vocabulary. The students had to add 20 vocabulary items to the glossary each week, and contributions had to follow a certain format that required morphological awareness of the main Arabic lexical structures. The monitoring system whereby the teacher could view student activities further bolstered the learner-centered methodology upon which the whole system is based. Results showed that all students contributed to creating an instrument that promoted independent learning. Overall, the MOODLE glossary was a useful tool for vocabulary learning and recommendations for its successful implementation are reported. This case study will be of interest to language teachers, as well as to learners and instructors dealing with specialized terminology.

Managing Overcrowded Classrooms to Accommodate Learner Centered Methodologies: An Indispensable Pillar for Teachers’ Preparedness in Implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum in Kenya

The implementation of the Kenyan Competency-Based Curriculum has faced a myriad of challenges. While most scholars do not cite overcrowding as a major problem facing publicacademic institutions, issues like quality of education, teacher-student ratio, lack of facilities, can be traced to some extent tothe high learner population. The objective of this study was to assess teacher preparedness in execution of science learning areas in the Kenyan Competency-Based Curriculum. Social Constructivist theory and the Trans-theoretical Model underpinned the study while offering alternatives that may be useful in decongesting the already crowded public schools in Kenya. The study adopteda concurrent triangulation design, mixing survey data with qualitative data from structured interviews and desktop research. The study targeted two hundred and three public primary schools in Nairobi County (N= 203) and randomly sampled 324 teachers. The study’s unexpected finding was that public primary schools in Nairobi County were too crowded to support a learner-centered approach which is central to the successful quality implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum in Kenya. At the same time, the study connotes that low-cost private schools have been observed to be slowly shutting down in several parts of Kenya which has left teachers without a source of livelihood. Unutilized teacher potential and wasted education structural resources have been the result. The study recommends introducing charter schools at the primary level and funding low-cost private schools to accommodate excesses in public schools. The gist of it is to enable teachers handle smaller numbers that will accommodate Learner-Centered Learning Methodologies for effective quality implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum.

Critical Thinking in Algerian Secondary School EFL Classes: Expectations and Reality

The Algerian educational system is competency-based; therefore, it focuses on developing learners’ competencies and skills through a learner-centered methodology that fosters autonomy. To help teachers apply such methodology, the English syllabus designers recommend using Project-Based Learning, active learning, and problem-solving strategies to help learners develop 21st-century skills and communicate effectively, collaborate, and think critically and creatively. However, those methods and strategies are absent in classrooms, and therefore critical thinking is not promoted. In this context, two questions are raised to affirm this hypothesis. (1) To what extent do teachers respect the syllabus designers’ recommendations? (2) Why do teachers avoid using the recommended methods and strategies? To investigate those questions and achieve the aim of this research, the researcher carried out an in-depth quantitative analysis of 30 anonymous classroom observation reports written by a certified English teacher trainer. To address the qualitative aspect of the research, the researcher held a semi-structured interview with the same teacher trainer. The reports that were examined contained 150 comments on teachers’ classroom practices and assessment methodologies. The results showed that English teachers partially respect the syllabus designers’ recommendations. Besides, the teachers’ methods, classroom practices, and assessment approaches are mainly based on direct instruction and language content acquisition rather than on reflective and problem-solving learning; therefore, they are not conducive to implementing and developing learners’ critical thinking. The conclusion drawn from the data analysis of the current research is that teachers’ hesitance to use the recommended pedagogical approach and methods is due to some hindrances faced by teachers, namely classrooms overcrowdedness, the content-based baccalaureate exam and lack of time due to the lengthy English programs.

Effects of ICT on Teaching and Learning: A Review of Related Literature

The advent of ICT has made monumental changes in the world presently. This digital phenomenon has had effect in every facet of human life or endeavor. The introduction of ICT in education helped to improve the quality of education at the point where teaching and learning eventually became an engaging active process related to real life. The present study intends to collate the findings from a review of array of available literature related to the effects of ICT on education. The 21st century teaching and learning skills emphasize the need to transform the conventional teacher-centered pedagogy to more learner-centered methodology. Active and collaborative learning conditions facilitated by ICT helps to develop a knowledge-centered student community. This research work gives an insight into the use of ICT in the field of education, focusing on its impact on teaching learning process, quality, and accessibility of education, motivating learners, learning environment and students’ academic performance.

Developing communication and thinking skills in English as a Foreign Language Education undergraduate students: a proposal for a syllabus model

It is our aim to share a proposal for a new syllabus model and learner-centered methodology for English as a Foreign Language students in the Degree in Teaching in Primary Education at the Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain), presenting the theoretical tenets and analyzing samples of resources and materials that have been designed. In a context of great diversity of levels and learning profiles in the abovementioned educational setting, it is no longer valid to conceive this part of teacher training only in terms of language proficiency, but rather it is necessary to equip students with learning to learn tools and metacognitive strategies as well as materials and resources purposefully designed bearing in mind their context, professional interests and linguistic needs. As a result, throughout the three 6 ECTS courses in the Degree (English in Primary Education I, II and III, for 1st, 2nd and 4th year students respectively) we seek to implement active methodologies and make use of a variety of resources following Communicative Language Teaching and Task-based Instruction principles, such as the following: (i) Deep Learning (Clark, 2009a, 2009b) and Scaffolded, Visible Thinking (Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison, 2011); (ii) Cooperative Learning (Kagan and Kagan, 1994); (iii) ICTs and EdTech; (iv) reflective learning, promoting self-assessment and peer-assessment, and (v) Project Based Learning (BIE, 2003). Overall, the teaching proposal designed has enabled us to partially respond to heterogeneity in our large classes and make our students’ learning of a language relevant and meaningful.

English

This study aims to evaluate teachers’ attitude towards implementation of learner-centered methodology in science education in Kenya. The study used a survey design methodology, adopting the purposive, stratified random and simple random sampling procedures and hypothesised that there was no significant relationship between the head teachers’ attitudes, the teachers’ attitudes and the level of implementation of Activity-focused methods, Student-centred activities, Experimenting and Improvisation through the Plan, Do, See and Improve (ASEI/PDSI) classroom practices. A sample of 68 head teachers, 147 science teachers and 16 trainers was used for the survey. The study established that majority of the teachers (75%) were partial implementers, and a few (5%) were full implementers. The Chi-square findings for the head teachers were: Biology χ2=72.35>66, Chemistry χ2=69.38>66, and Physics χ2=67.03>66. The teachers were: Biology χ2=55.3429>54, Chemistry χ2= 54.4581>48 and Physics χ2=69.4286>58 meaning that they were significant. The conclusion was to reject the null hypothesis, and accept the alternative hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between the teachers’ and head teachers’ attitude, and the level of implementation of the ASEI/PDSI classroom practices. The study recommended that since the level of implementation was found to be related to the teachers’ and head teachers’ attitudes towards the innovation, the national Strengthening of Mathematics and Sciences in Secondary Education (SMASSE) inset should then have strategies to bring on board those who still have a negative attitude in order for the implementation to be successful. Key words: Teachers attitude, science education, learner-centred methodology, constructivism, in-service training, implementation of innovations.

Learner-Centered Instruction in Pre-Service Teacher Education: Does it Make a Real Difference in Learners’ Language Performance?

The current study investigated the effect of implementing learner centered methodologies in a teacher education program. More specifically, it looked at the impact of exposing prospective teachers to learner centered methodologies through an EFL methods course. In turn, the effects of this approach on their school students’ performance in English language skills (reading, writing, and speaking) were examined. The study used a quasi-experimental design where the performance of a group of school students using learner centered methodology (experimental group) was compared to the performance of another group of school students using non- learner centered approaches (control group). The study further examined whether significant differences existed between the performance of the two groups that can be attributed to gender and the school environment. Moreover, the study looked into students’ attitudes towards language in a learner-centered environment. The instruments used in this study are the National test designed by the Ministry of Education and an attitude questionnaire that was adapted from the learner-centered methodology program document of the Ministry of Education. Major findings reveal significant differences in the performance of students in the two types of schools in favor of learner-centered schools. Despite the differences between the two groups on all measures, students’ language performance of both learner centered and non-learner centered schools was found to be lower than the Ministry of Education specified minimum score.

E-Learning

This paper investigates a method for increasing the involvement of marketing fourth year learners in academic research, by encouraging greater participation in, and commitment to, their research project in the Applied Marketing IV subject. It is assumed that greater involvement will result in a greater pass rate. The main reasons for this lack of interest were found to be a sense of incompetence and a lack of resources which were the main objectives of a research project. These objectives were addressed by using learner centered methodologies with the research method Action Research. This research method with the slow resolution of problems was used together with a teaching methodology whose objectives supported the resolution of the learners' inadequacies. Formative assessment was used at the start of the measuring of the learners' progress and was found useful with its quick and positive feedback in supporting the learners' confidence. An eClassroom was structured for the implementation of the Applied Marketing IV course. It was designed in such a way that it facilitated the learners' use of the more commonly used devices such as surfing the web, email and Internet over and above the chosen course material. Although it was not possible to complete the main intervention of the project it was possible to use the participants' experiences in the navigation of the course material in the eClassroom, to further develop future follow-up courses.

ELT Methodologies in Challenging the Common Sense – Are they Applicable in the Content Learning Classroom of Higher Education?

Current ELT methodology, especially the shift in educative approach, can be very effective if used in the content- learning academic classroom. Higher education instructors face different problems in their courses by simply not regarding their students as entities whose attention has to be “earned”. The ELT learner centered methodologies offer a variety of approaches to constructing complex higher order activities for full student comprehension of the “theory”. Dry face-to-faces input has to be challenged at one point or another. In this paper, the problems and the prospects of using ELT methodologies in the academic content learning classroom are discussed, as well as the implications and issues in the process.

Creative Learning Ideas from Around the U.S.

Moving education away from a teacher-centered “sage on the stage” approach to learner-centered methodologies in which the instructor is more like a “guide on the side” enhances learning and retention of material. When preparing educational materials, nurse educators should focus on engaging learners, stimulating multiples senses, and taking steps to make learning fun. The innovative teaching strategies presented here have hopefully stimulated creative thinking among both educators and learners. Thank you to the nurses who were willing to share their creative ideas in this column.

The Practice of Learner-Centered Method in Upper Primary Schools of Ethiopia

This article explores the practice of learner-centered methodology in upper primary school of Ethiopia and the major obstacles for the effective use of such methods in the classroom. Data were collected from upper primary school teachers, school principals, and students through observation, interview and focus group discussion from the sample schools in the country. The results of the study revealed that even though it is not adequate, upper primary school teachers try to employee learner centered methodology in the classroom. The major hindering factors identified for effective implementation of these methods in the upper primary schools are generally related to student, teacher, school, and resource and equipment related factors.