Learning In Different Contexts Research Articles

ORGANIZATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS WITH THE USE OF M-LEARNING TECHNOLOGY

In the article on the basis of the analysis of scientific and methodological literature and network sources the content of the concepts of "mobile learning", "mobile technologies", "mobile learning technologies" is investigated. So by the concept of mobile learning (m-learning) in the WFD we mean a form of e-learning using the personal mobile devices of students, learning in different contexts - through social and meaningful interaction, using the learning technologies of mobile devices at a convenient time for students. The experience of introducing mobile technologies (m-learning) into the school's educational process is generalized. The article highlights the pedagogical conditions, didactic functions and principles of mobile learning in the HLS. The main aspects of the introduction of mobile learning in the HLS are the use of mobile technology, that is, when a technology tool mediates schoolchildren and knowledge as an extension of e-learning and is one of the possible areas of blended learning, this is learner-centered learning. The peculiarities of the introduction of mobile education in general secondary education institutions are identified, the advantages of the use of mobile learning in the educational space of the WSS are outlined. With the introduction of mobile learning, the educational process adapts to the environment, becoming compact, focused and interactive. In mobile learning, it is important that the information is delivered in small portions, as clearly as possible to the situation and, at the same time, that the process of interaction with the product is satisfying. Accordingly, users' habits are changing: students increasingly want the learning process to be simple, effective and fun. They use mobile devices to communicate with participants in the educational process, providing a new level of communication and learning management. For teachers, the advantage of using mobile learning is the ability to ask students in response to the task, and parents to monitor the progress of children through obtaining relevant information from school.Keywords: mobile learning, e-learning, learning principles, information and communication technologies.

Performing Fluency: Using Improv and Drama With Adult English Learners

AbstractAuthors and columns in this department explicitly focus on adult literacy, addressing issues of research, policy, and practice relevant to a wide range of adult learners in different contexts.

Sex-specific cognitive flexibility in Atlantic mollies when learning from male demonstrators exploring a new food source

Numerous studies have examined social learning in different contexts on the one hand and sex-specific differences in a number of cognitive tasks on the other. The present study on Atlantic mollies, Poecilia mexicana, is among the first to link behavioural flexibility and social learning to cognitive sex-specific differences. We investigated sex-specific differences in the ability to exploit knowledge previously obtained through observation of experienced male demonstrators trained on different colours on how to find and access a hidden food reward. To do so, Atlantic mollies were initially trained to discriminate differently coloured stimuli. Upon successfully learning their task, they were introduced as demonstrators to tutor their conspecifics in subsequent observer test sessions. During these sessions, a male or female observer initially attended the foraging routine of the demonstrator performing the task. Green and yellow as the rewarded colours varied randomly within each observer test session. Thus, the observing individuals had to pay close attention to both the demonstrated behaviour and rewarded chip colour to maximize choice accuracy. Male observers performed significantly better, although significantly slower than their female conspecifics within all observer test sessions. However, female and male observers made either decision at virtually the same speed. Male observers decided correctly significantly more often than females. Our study is one of the first showing that fish exhibit remarkable sex-specific behavioural flexibility in a social context when reward contingencies change unpredictably.

A Fuzzy TOPSIS Approach to Ranking the Effectiveness of Corrective Feedback Strategies: Monolingual Persian Versus Bilingual Turkmen EFL Learners

Corrective feedback (CF) as a multifaceted practice needs to be explored from different perspectives. Achieving relative consensus among language teachers and experts in a particular context on the most effective CF strategy for monolingual and bilingual language learners appears to be understudied. As such, a fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) model was applied to accommodate varied and conflicting opinions in ranking the effect of three corrective feedback strategies including mid-focused oral metalinguistic CF, written metalinguistic CF, and oral/written metalinguistic CF. To this end, 79 monolingual Persians and 79 bilingual Turkmens aged between 13 and 18 from two language institutes in Golestan Province of Iran participated in the study comprising three experimental and one control group each. The experimental groups were provided with CF strategies on their most recurrent grammatical errors detected through pretests while the control groups received none. The results of the fuzzy TOPSIS approach ranked oral/written metalinguistic CF and oral metalinguistic CF as the best strategies for monolingual Persians and bilingual Turkmens respectively. The fuzzy TOPSIS approach provided experts with the opportunity to include their opinions on the weight of criteria and the impact of CF strategies towards enhancing the experts’ agreement on the issue. It was shown that a single CF strategy might not be appropriate for all EFL learners in different contexts. The approach also provided a framework for soliciting wider participation of the experts when conditions favor the application of multi-criteria decision-making methods, or speedier assessments are required.

The relationship between ethnic school composition, school diversity climate and students’ competences in dealing with differences

ABSTRACT In societies that are characterised by diversity, citizens are required to have the competences to handle differences. Schools differ in their degree of ethnic diversity which means that they provide different contexts for learning to deal with differences (DD). This study investigated the association between ethnic school composition, the diversity climate (the importance that teachers collectively attach to diversity and the attention they pay to teaching diversity) and students’ competences in DD. Multilevel analyses were performed on data from 4,402 students and 535 teachers across 62 secondary education schools in The Netherlands. The results showed a positive relationship between ethnic school diversity and DD-reflection and DD-attitudes. In addition, the degree of ethnic school diversity was associated with more diversity-related practices. However, no relationship was found between ethnic school diversity and teachers’ diversity-related educational goals. Moreover, diversity climate was not related to students’ DD competences. Lastly, the diversity climate did not mediate nor moderate the relationship between school composition and DD. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

How experiences transform over time: A retrospective study on place-based education in Micronesia and the Philippines

ABSTRACT This study asked the participants of place-based educational programs in Micronesia and the Philippines between 1992 and 2017 how past learning experiences impact them now and how the learning changed over time. The responses of 128 program participants, mostly Japanese, were examined using a mixed-methods approach with an emphasis on qualitative data analysis. Ninety-four percent of the respondents stated that what they learned in these programs is linked to their current lifestyles, ways of thinking, and jobs. The categories of perceived learning were the same regardless of the age during the program and the time that had passed after the program. Most reported that the influence continued in various forms and transformed as an extension of the initial effect. The study demonstrates that learning develops through interaction with new learning in different contexts after the program through a meaning-making process, using the initial impactful experience as a reference.

Prior Cocaine Use Alters the Normal Evolution of Information Coding in Striatal Ensembles during Value-Guided Decision-Making.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are characterized by maladaptive behavior. The ability to properly adjust behavior according to changes in environmental contingencies necessitates the interlacing of existing memories with updated information. This can be achieved by assigning learning in different contexts to compartmentalized "states." Though not often framed this way, the maladaptive behavior observed in individuals with SUDs may result from a failure to properly encode states because of drug-induced neural alterations. Previous studies found that the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) is important for behavioral flexibility and state encoding, suggesting the DMS may be an important substrate for these effects. Here, we recorded DMS neural activity in cocaine-experienced male rats during a decision-making task where blocks of trials represented distinct states to probe whether the encoding of state and state-related information is affected by prior drug exposure. We found that DMS medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs) encoded such information and that prior cocaine experience disrupted the evolution of representations both within trials and across recording sessions. Specifically, DMS MSNs and FSIs from cocaine-experienced rats demonstrated higher classification accuracy of trial-specific rules, defined by response direction and value, compared with those drawn from sucrose-experienced rats, and these overly strengthened trial-type representations were related to slower switching behavior and reaction times. These data show that prior cocaine experience paradoxically increases the encoding of state-specific information and rules in the DMS and suggest a model in which abnormally specific and persistent representation of rules throughout trials in DMS slows value-based decision-making in well trained subjects.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Substance use disorders (SUDs) may result from a failure to properly encode rules guiding situationally appropriate behavior. The dorsomedial striatum (DMS) is thought to be important for such behavioral flexibility and encoding that defines the situation or "state." This suggests that the DMS may be an important substrate for the maladaptive behavior observed in SUDs. In the current study, we show that prior cocaine experience results in over-encoding of state-specific information and rules in the DMS, which may impair normal adaptive decision-making in the task, akin to what is observed in SUDs.

Learning Chinese as a second language in China: Positive emotions and enjoyment

Exploring language learners’ emotions and their role in facilitating language learning in different contexts has become the focus of much research in recent years. This present mixed-method study investigated the language learning enjoyment of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) learners studying in Chinese universities. A corpus of 216 international students, mostly from Africa and Asia, participated in a questionnaire survey and 20 of them were invited to take part in follow-up interviews. Analysis of the survey data revealed a distinct three-factor structure underlying CSL learners’ language learning enjoyment: Personal Fulfillment, Interpersonal Relations and Social Bonds. Personal Fulfillment was found to exert a significant direct effect on CSL learners’ language learning enjoyment while the other two factors played an indirect role. This was well supported by the qualitative data from the follow-up interviews. The findings suggest that the structure of learners’ language learning enjoyment may vary in different contexts but for CSL learners in China, especially for these adult CSL learners, a sense of fulfillment is the most effective booster for their learning enjoyment. Implications of the findings provide a better understanding of teaching CSL learners in China.

Expanding College Programs in U.S. Prisons: Insights From Virginia

AbstractAuthors and columns in this department explicitly focus on adult literacy, addressing issues of research, policy, and practice relevant to a wide range of adult learners in different contexts.

Real-time visualization of electrical circuit schematics: An augmented reality experiment setup to foster representational knowledge in introductory physics education

Empirical research has shown that augmented reality (AR) has the potential to promote learning in different contexts. In particular, this has been shown for AR-supported physics experiments, where virtual elements (e.g., measurement data) were integrated into the learners’ visual reality in real time: compared to traditional experimentation, AR reduced cognitive load and promoted conceptual learning. Drawing upon previous work from this column, we present an AR-supported experiment on simple electrical circuits that allows for real-time visualization including highlighting of electrical circuit schematics using either smartglasses or tablet computers. The experiment addresses students in introductory physics education and holds potential to provide visual assistance for complex electrical circuits in secondary or higher physics education.

Creating Love Letters to Nature: A Case Study of Children’s Multimodal Literacy Practices

Canada welcomes large numbers of immigrants each year, including children. It is certainly important to understand immigrant children’s educational experience beyond standardized tests in reading and math. This paper draws on a sociocultural approach by situating language and literacy learning in social and cultural contexts and by emphasizing the active role of learners in different contexts. Specifically, the multiliteracies framework (The New London Group, 1996) is used to understand how culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children choose to use different literacies and modes to make sense of their surroundings and to create artistic texts to express their understandings of nature, such as water and forests. A qualitative case study was conducted to understand five CLD children’s meaning-making process in a community setting. Data was collected through observations, informal conversations, semi-structured interviews and artifacts. The initial findings of the study indicate that CLD children are active and creative meaning-makers who select different linguistic, cultural and artistic resources as well as various modalities to effectively express their ideas and perspectives according to audience, purpose and context. The presentation discusses two nature projects and shares the artwork of the participating children to highlight a range of multilingual, multicultural and multimodal literacy practices.

Graphic Novel Text Sets and Social Justice Inquiry Projects

AbstractAuthors and columns in this department explicitly focus on adult literacy, addressing issues of research, policy, and practice relevant to a wide range of adult learners in different contexts.

EMBEDDING LIBRARIANS IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS: THREE CASE STUDIES WITH ENGINEERING STUDENTS

As the information landscape becomes increasingly complex, librarians must adapt accordingly. With information so readily available, students overestimate their research skills and lack awareness of how the library can help. However, librarians’ academic training makes them ideal resources to support students’ complex information needs - whether students know it or not. In this paper, we argue that embedded librarianship is the solution to this disconnect between librarian and user. Specifically, this paper provides case studies at two Canadian universities of librarians approaching embedded librarianship from different directions. At the University of Waterloo, two engineering librarians worked toward an embedded model of librarianship where this was not yet an established model in the Faculty of Engineering. At the University of Saskatchewan, a librarian was hired with the intention of the new position being embedded, without a formal structure or precedent for this within the College of Engineering. The term “embedded librarian” describes a service model where an academic librarian participates in an academic course or program on a continuing basis in order to understand the learning objectives and determine which resources best support them. In order to “do this, the librarian has to be familiar with the work and understand the domain and goals. Doing this, the librarian becomes an invaluable member of the team” [1]. The variables associated with embeddedness include location, funding, management and supervision, and participation [1]. To this end, the authors explore how each of these variables contribute to the success of moving towards this embedded model: how moving out of the library influences overall connection, how they acquired funding to grow a new collection, how management supports the overall goal, and how sustained participation in the program grows new opportunities. At both universities, librarians have seen most success embedding in programs with a strong emphasis on integrated STEM education where the focus is on providing real-world context with the aim of graduating well-rounded engineers [2]. The authors will discuss how programmatic learning outcomes and trends in integrated and interdisciplinary education have allowed them to stretch beyond the traditional boundaries of academic librarianship to demonstrate value to the Engineering departments in new ways. This paper reports on the experiences, advantages, and lessons learned in moving toward this model, and provides concrete examples for adapting these concepts to programs at other institutions. Through an intrinsic case study [3] the authors aim to understand how librarians’ embeddedness can adapt and change to support student learning in different contexts. This session is targeted towards practicing engineering librarians and engineering faculty members and educators. Attendees will leave the session with ideas on how to stimulate new partnerships between their library and Engineering programs.

Professional agency and its features in supporting teachers’ learning during an in-service education programme

ABSTRACT Research has shown that professional agency is pivotal for understanding teachers’ professional learning in different contexts. However, we lack an elaborated understanding of teachers’ professional agency in the context of in-service teacher education aimed at supporting teachers’ professional learning. To contribute to this discussion, this study investigated primary school teachers’ professional agency during in-service education and the features related to the emergence of their agency. The findings show that teachers enacted professional agency regarding their professional identity and work in various ways, suggesting that the roles of different social scaffoldings for professional agency varied. The teachers viewed pedagogical hands-on practice with colleagues’ support as especially meaningful. However, transferring learning to classroom practices depends on the teacher’s professional agency in identity renegotiation. Therefore, this study highlights the need for continuous, practice-based scaffolding that supports teachers’ agency – and accordingly professional learning – if we wish to enhance the efficiency of in-service education.

Capturing how students' abilities and teaching experiences affect teachers' beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning

We developed an instrument to investigate the effect of students' abilities and teaching experiences on teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning of mathematics. In this pilot study, we used the instrument to measure the beliefs of 43 Indonesian math teachers and five additional teachers. Then, for further investigation, we interviewed those five additional teachers. Results from the 43 teachers' responses to the instrument show that in contrast to teachers with less than five years of teaching, teachers with more than five years elicit significantly different beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning in different contexts related to students' abilities. Teachers' reports in the further investigation indicate that teaching experiences with high and low ability students in teaching mathematics could be a possible explanation of this contrast.
 Subject Classification: C20

The use of Self-regulated Language Learning Strategies Among Vietnamese English-majored Freshmen: A Case Study

Self-regulation of learning plays a vital role in improving second/foreign language learning as it can encourage the development of autonomous learners. It is seen that, nevertheless, ESL/EFL learners in different contexts are not fully aware of the importance of self-regulated language learning (SRLL) strategies in their English language learning. The present study, therefore, aims at investigating the use of SRLL strategies by English-majored students at a university in Bac Lieu province, Vietnam. This study involved 100 English-majored freshmen in answering a closed-ended questionnaire. The results showed that students sometimes used SRLL strategies, and they used SRLL strategies for keeping and monitoring records and seeking social assistance more often than for other purposes. The findings imply that students lacked knowledge of how to use SRLL strategies and get engaged in using SRLL strategies. This study recommends that students’ awareness of SRLL strategies should be seriously taken into account in order to facilitate their learner autonomy.

Peculiarities of Communicative Approach in Foreign Language Teaching

This paper looks briefly at the preconditions that gradually formed communicative language teaching (CLT) as a response to the growing demand and needs of non-native learners of English in many different contexts of learning, then draws a parallel between existing conventional methods of language teaching and novel insights presented by CLT. The constituent parts of Communicative competence are introduced. The negotiation of meaning is considered as the most essential function of the target language that learners are capable to master which allows them to maintain flexibility in a deliberate speech despite the gaps in their language proficiency. Besides, the article discusses the current limitations of CLT bound to several factors such as the lack of language proficiency, rigid curricula, and teachers’ misconceptions of CLT.

Propuesta de una taxonomía etiológica para etiquetar errores de interlengua en el contexto de un corpus escrito de aprendientes de ELE

La identificación, clasificación y anotación de errores en la producción escrita de una segunda lengua o lengua extranjera (l2-le), se basa principalmente en la taxonomía con la cual se implementa el análisis de los errores en el estudio de la lengua. Por esta razón, las taxonomías deben responder con la mayor precisión a la categorización de los errores, entregando al investigador la posibilidad de indagar en análisis posteriores sobre fenómenos que subyacen a la conformación de la interlengua. El propósito principal de esta investigación es proponer una taxonomía que pueda adaptarse a diferentes contextos de aprendizaje y análisis de la lengua en estudio, lo cual supone un avance relevante en materia de investigación a partir de clasificaciones más acertadas de la interlengua de un aprendiente. En este sentido, el presente artículo aborda la importancia de la problemática de categorización y etiquetado de errores y expone una propuesta hacia una taxonomía estandarizada para la clasificación de errores de interlengua con un criterio etiológico. Esta propuesta surge del avance en la investigación sobre errores en el marco de proyectos Fondecyt-Chile del área de la lingüística aplicada a la enseñanza y aprendizaje de ele.

Embracing a culture of lifelong learning – in universities & all spheres of life

AbstractThis presentation will provide an introduction to the concept of lifelong learning, exploring its relevance and potential for future human development. Lifelong learning – comprising learning in formal education, in non-formal contexts and informal ways – plays an increasingly important role within society and also within the higher education sector. Universities have a social responsibility towards society, conducting research that benefits society, making research results widely and openly available, communicating research to the wider community, and providing learning opportuntities for people of all ages and social backgrounds.Increasingly, the global community acknowledges that lifelong learning – available to all, at every stage and in every sphere of people’s lives – is key to addressing the multiple challenges faced by humanity. Lifelong learning fosters people’s capacity to deal with change and to build the future they want. This is profoundly important given the disruption and uncertainly resulting from the familiar threats and opportunities of demographic change, the climate crisis, the rapid advance of technology and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. In such uncertain times, new ways of learning provision have to be found.Learner autonomy is the foundation of this lifelong learning culture. Learning to learn has become a basic competence, as has managing one’s own learning journey and creating one’s own learning biography. Understanding all levels of learning as learner-centric presents a crucial shift to fundamentally thinking and planning education with demand in mind. This way, learners are active agents rather than passive recipients of prescribed knowledge. They co-design and use any learning process and its outcomes actively to realize their potential as fully as possible.Learning is understood as a collective process, taking place among peer groups, within communities and across generations. Education emphasizes becoming global citizens who care about each other, other communities and the planet. Consequently, lifelong learning is for all, and learning opportunities can be created for and with the most excluded learners. There is a global learning ecosystem, built collectively to inspire and empower learners with a plethora of opportunities. The learning ecosystem integrates diverse learning modalities fluidly, including all digital-based and real-life experiential learning as well as blends of formal, non-formal and informal learning. The learning opportunities allow for planned or spontaneous, individual of collective learning. There is easy access to face-to-face and online learning opportunities as local infrastructure, global connectivity and sponsored devices are available for all. New pedagogical and andragogical principles have been developed, including innovative blended learning concepts that integrate digital and face-to-face elements while considering learners’ specific needs.The presentation will link these future-oriented ideas of lifelong learning with the higher education context, the open science movement and explore ways in which research-based knowledge can be provided to learners in different contexts.

Affective Learning in Digital Education—Case Studies of Social Networking Systems, Games for Learning, and Digital Fabrication

Technological innovations, such as social networking systems, games for learning, and digital fabrication, are extending learning and interaction opportunities of people in educational and professional contexts. These technological transformations have the ability to deepen, enrich, and adaptively guide learning and interaction, but they also hold potential risks for neglecting people's affective learning processes – that is, learners’ emotional experiences and expressions in learning. We argue that technologies and their usage in particular should be designed with the goal of enhancing learning and interaction that acknowledges both fundamental aspects of learning: cognitive and affective. In our empirical research, we have explored the possibility of using various types of emerging digital tools as individual and group support for cognitively effortful and affectively meaningful learning. We present four case studies of experiments dealing with social networking systems, programming with computer games, and “makers culture” and digital fabrication as examples of digital education. All these experiments investigate novel ways of technological integration in learning by focusing on their affective potential. In the first study, a social networking system was used in a higher education context for providing a forum for online learning. The second study demonstrates a Minecraft experiment as game-based learning in primary school education. Finally, the third and the fourth case study showcases examples of “maker” contexts and digital fabrication in early education and in secondary school. It is concluded that digital systems and tools can provide multiple opportunities for affective learning in different contexts within different age groups. As a pedagogical implication, scaffolding in both cognitive and affective learning processes is necessary in order to make the learning experience with emerging digital tools meaningful and engaging.