Phenomenon-based Learning Research Articles

Embedding Proof-Writing in Phenomenon-based Learning to Promote Students’ Mathematical Creativity

The study aimed to identify the significant impact of phenomenon-based learning and embedding proof writing to this new teaching strategy on students’ mathematical creativity in tertiary education. The study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design. There were 2 experimental groups, one exposed to phenomenon-based learning alone and the other was exposed to phenomenon-based learning with classroom proof-writing activities, and one control group exposed to the conventional method. Multiple solution tasks were used to measure students’ level of creativity. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and ANCOVA. The analysis revealed that students exposed to phenomenon-based learning with proof writing had the highest posttest creativity score. Students in this group had a significantly higher level of creativity among the three groups. Further, students exposed to phenomenon-based learning alone may not outperform students exposed to phenomenon-based learning with proof writing, but they still had significantly higher posttest mean scores compared to students exposed to the conventional type of teaching. The researchers recommend to teachers in tertiary education to use phenomenon-based learning with proof writing in teaching mathematics and its related courses since this instructional approach engages students in learning that is more focused to real-life issues, apply skills and knowledge from different subjects, and enhance important skills like creativity, problem-solving, communication, and teamwork.

Affordances of music composing software for learning mathematics at primary schools

Music composing is associated with various positive learning outcomes, but in several countries, such as Finland, it is not part of the primary school music curriculum. There are several issues as to why music composing is not taught at schools, such as beliefs that composing requires extensive knowledge of music theory, lack of teachers’ confidence, lack of evidence on the method’s effectiveness and difficulty of assessment. Composing software has the potential of solving some of these issues, as they are connected to mathematics via music theory and technology, and with practical opportunities arising from adopting phenomenon-based learning at schools, the affordances of music composing technologies for learning mathematics are investigated in this study. For this purpose, 57 music composing software were categorised and reviewed. Our analysis identified eight types of music visualisations and five types of note input methods. The music visualisations were compared to the mathematics content in the Finnish primary school curriculum and the note input methods were evaluated based on their relationship to the music visualisations. The coordinate grid-based piano roll was the most common visualisation and the tracker visualisation had the most affordances for learning primary school math. Music composing software were found to have affordances for teaching mathematical concepts, notations and basic calculus skills, among others. Composing methods involving direct interaction with visualisations support the experiential learning of music theory, and consequently, the learning of mathematics. Based on the findings of this study, we concluded that music composing is a promising activity through which mathematics and music theory can be learned at primary schools.

Phenomenon-based learning and model-based teaching: Do they match?

The goal of physics teaching is to guide students from their everyday conceptions and activities to scientific models and practices. In essence, there are two different ways toward that goal: Phenomenon-based instruction and model-based instruction. Phenomenon-based instruction has been characterised by subjectivity, affectivity, mediation, exploration, and restrained model use. By definition, model-based instruction must be described by diametrically opposed characteristics: objectivity, rationality, confrontation, hypothesis testing, and extensive model use. Thus, the physics teacher may think that the two methods of teaching and learning do not match. However, we will see that both methods can be combined to guide students stepwise from phenomena to models.

Phenomenon-Based Learning for Teaching ICT Subject through other Subjects in Primary Schools

Due to the lack of practical usage of the learned subject, traditional learning is becoming an obstacle in front of further knowledge gaining. Classical learning methods are out-dated for the modernized world that required more productive, collaborative, and more curious individuals. Therefore, a new learning method is essential to provide knowledge and skills to pursue world development without falling behind. The purpose of this study is to find the positive effects of using Phenomenon-Based Learning (PhenoBL) as a studying approach in teaching ICT skills to students and its impact on giving the motivation and improving ICT skills for students at primary schools of Sulaimani city in Iraq. The key method is to teach ICTs through other classes with a universal as PhenoBL, the cross-curricular approach which is built into the classes. Then, a survey is established to uncover the reason behind making students learn about the ICT from places other than school and shortage in keeping those skills in student’s mind for a longer time. Our results showed that using Phenomenon-based learning students’ scores are improved by more than 10% which makes using this method significantly effective. Furthermore, using phenomenon-based learning allows the student to keep and maintain gained skills for longer periods of time.

Science 101: How Can I Make Science Fun and Have Students Learn More By Using Phenomenon-Based Learning?

Science 101: How Can I Make Science Fun and Have Students Learn More By Using Phenomenon-Based Learning?

Innovations and Challenges: Conceptualizing CLIL Practice

The continued emergence of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is linked to how it creates, adopts, and leads to the design of innovative didactic processes. In systems, theory emergence occurs when features of smaller entities are brought together through interaction to form a larger ecosystem, one that acquires qualities not readily accessible to the original sources. Having drawn on the theoretical underpinning of a range of language and broader educational philosophy, the emergence of CLIL is driven by processes and practices. This article conceptualizes subsystems of CLIL and describes how CLIL practice through English can be designed and implemented through phenomenon-based learning. CLIL practice provides a systemic process by which to simultaneously advance not only additional language fluency but also adoption of innovative methods across the curriculum.

Take the Plunge: A STEM Camp Centered on Seafloor Science

While most of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) efforts center on classroom programs, many lack hands-on activities that allow students to experience phenomenon-based learning and produce a complex scientific project. To meet this need, we developed weeklong STEM summer day camps for two age groups: rising third to fifth and sixth to ninth graders. Campers learn about seafloor exploration through multiple hands-on, technologyrooted, team-based activities. At the end of the week, campers design and present research missions for an actual seafloor feature, incorporating hypotheses, methods, and operations.

IDENTIFYING STUDENTS’ SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENTATION SKILL AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1 ARGAMAKMUR, NORTH BENGKULU

This is a preliminary study aimed to identify students’ scientific argumentation skill at Junior High School 1, Argamakmur, North Bengkulu. The data were gathered by online survey to 8 science teachers in Bengkulu and test to 32 students of grade eight in Junior High School 1, Argamakmur, North Bengkulu. Online survey consisted of 4 questions focused on science learning issues. The essay test to obtain scientific argumentation skill consisted of 4 questions, where each question was covering four indicators of scientific argumentation: claim, data, warrant and backing. A valid scientific argumentation test was adopted from Putri (2016). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics by calculating the percentage of average score of teacher answers and students’ scientific argumentation skill as a whole. The data analysis revealed that the teachers argue that students’ scientific argumentation skill was still very low compared to others skill like the science process skill, critical thinking skill, creative thinking skill, scientific literacy skill and student independence and this statement supported by test result where the score of students’ argumentation skill achieved low category. This phenomenon might be caused by the lack of educational learning process that facilitates students in expressing their opinions according to scientific evidence both orally and in writing. This paper also offers an idea helping teachers to improve students’ scientific argumentation skill by implementing phenomenon-based learning with video assistance through a modified " flipped classroom " approach.

Preparing physical and health education pre-service teachers to support students’ physical activity and wellbeing during the school day

ABSTRACTIncreasingly, physical education teachers are expected to become the cog in an ever-expanding physical activity (PA) promotion wheel. This requires such teachers to be equipped with new knowledge and skills, with attendant consequences for how physical education teacher education is approached. In this paper, a new teacher education module in Finland aimed at encouraging pre-service teachers (PSTs) to adopt flexible and creative approaches to the promotion of adolescent PA and wellbeing within the school day is presented. The context within which the module was developed is detailed along with findings of a research study which investigated the experiences of 16 physical and health education (PHE) PSTs who participated in the module. In particular, this study focused on participants’ experiences of planning and implementing PA projects in high school settings and how this affected their perspectives on their future professional roles. The module, which was rooted in tenets of phenomenon-based learning, was shown to be effective in giving students a better understanding of the role PHE teachers can realistically play in promoting PA. The opportunity the module provided for students to reflect upon their role was seen to be particularly beneficial.

Phenomenon-Based Learning, Filozofia i Design-Thinking, czyli pomysł na kształcenie myślenia i metodę łączenia treści nauczania w polskim systemie edukacji

This article offers an authorial idea of curriculum contents integration thanks to implementation of phenomenon-based learning method, philosophy as a school subject, and design thinking. Author believes that teaching contents and school subjects need to be integrated in order to comprehensively discuss modern phenomena in lessons. The manuscript presents briefly each component: Finnish phenomenon-based learning method and its circumstances of implementation, design thinking and an example of its application to education, as well as philosophy as a school subject to teach thinking and as a supplement for phenomenonbased learning method. The article attempts to prove that these components have certain objectives and characteristics in common and they complete one another providing new quality of teaching. This proposal is specifically designed for Polish education system having in consideration its obstacles and opportunities. Nevertheless, this idea might act also as an inspiration for other countries because it is meant to be universal.

Phenomenon-Based Learning in Agroecology: A Prerequisite for Transdisciplinarity and Responsible Action

Phenomenon-based learning in agroecology provides a rationale and platform for bridging academia and society. Learning based on reflective experiences on farms and in communities has provided the foundation and the core of an agroecology course in Norway since 2000. Student teams work with university teachers and stakeholders in ‘open-ended cases’ to identify key constraints and future possibilities. This learning strategy uses real-world situations on the farm and in the community where solutions are not already known to instructor or clients. Employing natural science and social science methods, the teams examine and evaluate production, economic, environmental, and social dimensions, as integrated into whole systems. The students then design and evaluate future scenarios and work out plans of action. The result has been a strong foundation for responsible action in students' future endeavors in education and development.

Students Learning Agroecology: Phenomenon-Based Education for Responsible Action

Preparing students for a complex and dynamic future is a challenge for educators. This article explores three crucial issues related to agroecological education and learning: (1) the phenomenological foundation for learning agroecology in higher education; (2) the process of students' interactions with a wide range of various learners within and outside the university environment; and (3) the unique characteristics of agroecology as a discipline and why these require different ways of learning than the conventional academic education. Phenomenology provides an epistemological foundation for learning about and interacting with the world outside the university. A profound aim is to bridge two learning communities: the university environment, where most traditional education takes place, and that of the stakeholder groups in farming and food systems. In this paper, we discuss several challenges of such a bridging activity: the integration of learning processes within the university with those in the case regions; the role of core and single discipline teachers; the role of the stakeholders; and the role of the students. Dealing with complex sustainability issues requires the assembly of a wide range of expertise in an inter-professional mode of collaboration. The article concludes that phenomenology and agroecology meet most fruitfully when phenomenology is done, when it is turned into actual efforts for promoting learning, and when phenomenon-based learning provides practical relevance for students to ground their knowledge in farms and in communities and this relevance of education leads to responsible action.