Learning In Authentic Environment Research Articles

Teacher-Facilitators’ Job-Crafting: Making Meaning and Relevance in Authentic Learning Environments

Purpose: Higher education institutions are being challenged to sustain their relevance in a disruptive world by moving from ego-systems to ecosystems. Teachers, as key actors, are required to redesign their work, shifting from traditional teacher-led processes towards the facilitation of student-driven learning in authentic environments. In ecosystems, with students, colleagues, and work-life partners, teachers need to modify their work by crafting their tasks, relationships, and mindsets. This study aims to make the change in teachers’ work transparent on a practical level. Study design/methodology/approach: A qualitative and practice-based approach was used to explore teacher facilitators experiences of their job crafting. Findings: The findings reveal the new meaning and relevance of the teacher facilitators work and can raise the awareness of higher education institutions to cultivate the future competencies of teachers. Originality/value: The study introduces the new nature and purpose of teachers’ work as a part of ecosystems. We suggest higher education institutions nurture an experimental learning culture and support teachers to go out of their comfort zones. Developing collaborative job crafting can be a sustainable way to do that and avoids the disconnection between what we are doing and what we should be doing.

Effects of a multi-level concept mapping-based question-posing approach on students’ ubiquitous learning performance and perceptions

The literature indicates that the use of mobile devices, wireless communication and sensing techniques can enhance students' learning in authentic environments and improve their learning effectiveness. Good learning strategy guides are essential for successful inquiry learning, and the question-posing strategy has been acknowledged as a type of high-level cognitive strategy that plays an important role in facilitating students' knowledge integration in the inquiry learning process. However, question posing seems challenging for many students and may lead to heavy cognitive load when appropriate scaffolding is not available. To solve this problem, the present research imported a concept mapping knowledge representation model as an auxiliary strategy for question-posing activities based on the research finding that visual knowledge representations are conducive to high-order thinking. It also developed a ubiquitous learning system which integrated multilevel concept mapping and question-posing strategy guidance to investigate the application effects of this learning model. A quasi-experimental design was applied, and an experiment was conducted to measure 5th graders’ learning of a plant unit of the natural science curriculum. Students in the experimental group learned with the proposed ubiquitous learning system based on the multilevel concept mapping and question-posing approach, while those in the control group learned with the ubiquitous learning system based on the question-posing approach. The results showed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group from the perspectives of learning achievement and question-posing performance, but no significance was found in their cognitive load, meta-cognitive awareness, and science learning strategies.

Collaborative Learning in Authentic Environment Apps to Promote Preschool Basic Scientific Process Skills

This study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile learning app based on collaborative learning in authentic environment (known as AKSES) and its impact on the preschool students’ basic scientific process skills competency namely; observation, classification and communication. In addition, the study also investigated competency patterns of the students’ skills. This study was a quantitative study which used two sets of instruments which looked into AKSES application and marking rubrics of the students’ basic scientific process skills. Based on quasi-experimental study, the duration of the study was seven weeks and six learning activities were implemented. Two rural preschools were selected based on quota sample selection and 25 students were in each controlled and treatment groups. Analysis of the survey data was carried out in the form of descriptive and inferential analysis involving Mann-Whitney U test. The Mann-Whitney U test analysis found significant differences in competency patterns of basic scientific process skills in both groups. Meanwhile, the competency patterns of basic scientific process skills indicated positive increase among all preschool students after the utilization of AKSES application in learning activities based on collaborative learning strategy in an authentic environment.

Review of research on mobile language learning in authentic environments

ABSTRACTWe reviewed literature from 2007 to 2016 (March) on mobile language learning in authentic environments. We aimed to understand publications’ trend, research focus, technology used, methodology, and current issues. Our results showed that there was increasing trend in the publications. Students’ perceptions towards mobile learning technologies and language proficiency were the most common research topics. The most frequently used technologies were smartphones, mobile phones, and personal digital assistants, whereas the most common target language was English as a foreign language. In addition, university and elementary school students were the most common participants. We found that learning activities in most studies were carried out in classroom and specified locations outside of campus. Authentic learning environments in most studies were familiar to students and learning activities were designed using instructor-centered approach. Most studies collected and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data. We also discovered some issues associated with earlier studies, e.g. many studies did not focus on applying newly learned knowledge by students to solve their real-life problems or recently developed intelligent technologies for language learning were overlooked. Based on our results, we discuss some implications and make suggestions over mobile language learning in authentic environments for the educators and researchers.

Cognitive learning in authentic environments in relation to green attitude preferences

Authentic activities in school are rare although they probably lead to longer lasting learning. In our study, 185 fifth to seventh graders participated in an out-of-classroom lesson at a major water supply institution. After an introductory film presentation, participants proceeded to authentic learning sites with the major machinery involved in water purification. We monitored participants’ environmental attitudes (using 2-MEV scale), newly acquired knowledge, and responses to semantic-differential-items. While knowledge and the value of Preservation correlated significantly with cognitive learning achievement levels, the one of (exploitative) Utilisation did not, neither short- nor long-term. Selected semantic-differential-items such as ‘easy to understand’ and ‘motivating’ showed positive correlation with acquired knowledge levels. The relevance for school is discussed.