Quality Of Learning Experience Research Articles

Local community involvement in Malaysian early childhood care and education centers

PurposeThe paper aims to explore the role and the involvement of local community within the context of Malaysian early childhood centers (nursery and kindergarten).Design/methodology/approachThe research used a mixed method with a questionnaire survey in the first phase and qualitative interviews in the second phase. Quantitative data were obtained from a survey completed by 3,519 staffs from nursery and kindergarten all over Malaysia. Qualitative data were collected from individual and focus group semistructured interviews conducted with 140 participants of the Malaysian public and private internal and external stakeholders ranging from the relevant personnel of the early childhood care and education (ECCE) centers (administrators, teachers and practitioners), academic experts, regulatory agencies and parents.FindingsSurvey results indicate that the parents and community involvement with ECCE centers from the perspective of the management and practitioners is in the medium category. A total of three overarching themes were identified from the interviews, namely expertise collaboration, resource sharing and operation monitoring. There exists diversity in terms of community engagement and cooperation with ECCE centers.Practical implicationsThe findings are expected to provide valuable guidelines to ECCE centers' management and leadership in the aspect of community involvement where it could help to enhance their efforts of providing quality learning experiences for young children attending their centers.Originality/valueThis study is part of a larger longitudinal and mixed methods project examining the quality practices in setting the standards in the Malaysian National Quality ECCE framework. These findings contribute to the understanding of community involvement with ECCE centers in the Malaysian context.

Predicting Students’ Mathematics Achievement Through Elementary and Middle School: The Contribution of State-Funded Prekindergarten Program Participation

Prekindergarten programs are instrumental for smooth transition to the primary grades. Although the prevalence of these programs has expanded, limited studies document the long-term outcomes associated with children’s engagement in such programs and for specific content areas such as mathematics. This study predicted the longitudinal mathematics achievement of 458 students as they progressed through elementary and middle school, accounting for their participation in Georgia’s prekindergarten (Pre-K) program at age 4. Archived academic achievement data in mathematics were extracted from one school district in the southeastern United States. A multilevel approach was employed to account for the nesting of students within schools. Liner and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the long-term relationship between prekindergarten participation and mathematics achievement. After controlling for the effects of race, sex, and poverty, results indicated that participation in Georgia’s Pre-K program positively predicted mathematics achievement through seventh grade. For fourth through seventh grades, the odds of a Georgia Pre-K participant meeting the state’s academic standards on the statewide standardized test were 1.67–2.10 times greater than the odds for a nonparticipant. Although the reported effect sizes were small, children’s participation in the Georgia Pre-K program had a long-term influence on their mathematics achievement through elementary and middle school, providing evidence of sustained benefits of a state-funded prekindergarten program. Quality learning experiences during the early years might provide skills and knowledge that serve as building blocks for later mathematics achievement.

Teachers’ Motivation for Teaching in Higher Education: Portuguese Validation of a Questionnaire

Abstract Motivation for teaching is key in the establishment and further development of high-quality higher education, as it affects teachers’ investment in quality learning experiences for their students, as well as institutional efficacy and well-being. This study aimed to validate a questionnaire, originally developed in Belgium, designed to evaluate three dimensions (self-efficacy, interest, and effort) of intrinsic motivation for teaching for a different national population. The sample consisted of 616 academics working in public higher education institutions in Portugal. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and internal consistency of items analyzed. The results show that the original dimensionality of the construct is confirmed in the Portuguese teachers’ sample. Motivation for teaching in the Portuguese context is primarily explained by the following factors: personal efficacy, interest in the task, and effort placed on teaching responsibilities. A difference was found in that personal efficacy could not be divided in context and general personal efficacy.

Rapid Transition of a Technical Course from Face-to-Face to Online

Just like most universities around the world, due to the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, senior management at Singapore Management University decided to move all courses to a virtual, online, synchronous mode and gave instructors a short notice period—one week—to make this transition. In this paper, we describe the challenges we faced, the practical solutions we adopted, and the lessons we learnt in rapidly transitioning a face-to-face master’s degree course in text analytics and applications into a virtual, online, course format that could deliver a quality learning experience.

Intensifying Focus on Service Quality in Higher Education Institutions: Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence

The influence of Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence was investigated on the lecturers’ Service Quality. Based on stratified sampling method, the results confirmed that both types of intelligence have a positive and significant influence on the lecturers’ teaching progression. In conclusion, if the average level of each intelligence was good, then the level of Service Quality would also excel accordingly. The study highlights the need to have both EQ and SQ as it will encourage and motivate them into giving their best service to the university as well as their highest commitment towards giving students the best quality learning experience. Keywords: Emotional Intelligence; Higher Education Institutions; Service Quality; Spiritual Intelligence eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5i15.2340.

Students’ learning behaviours and their perception about quality of learning experience: the mediating role of psychological safety

ABSTRACT Experiential learning is considered important to develop managerial skills. Several archetypes are developed to facilitate learning, and various outcomes of experiential learning have been studied by organizational scholars. In an effort to contribute to the literature about learning, this research pursues (1) to examine the effect of students’ learning behaviours on their perception about the quality of learning experience in business education, (2) to examine the mediating role of psychological safety between learning behaviours and students’ perception about quality of their learning experience. Based on Kolb’s experiential-learning theory and Mezirow’s transformational learning theory this research used a cross-sectional design. Data were collected from 208 students studying in the final semester of their master degree program. Initially, the use of confirmatory factor analysis helped in assessing the validity of the scales in this research context. Later on, hypothesized relationships were tested through structural equation modelling (SEM). Results revealed significant positive impact of critical reflection, student-to-student interactions, and instructor-to-student interactions on students’ perceptions about the quality of learning experience. Moreover, psychological safety was found to mediate the relationship between learning behaviours and students’ perceptions about quality of learning experience. Practical implications for management educators have also been discussed in this paper.

THE TPACK CONFIDENCE OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS IN SELECTED PHILIPPINE TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The changing educational landscape of Philippine education in the past decade poses challenges to the implementers of the curriculum innovations – the teachers. Consequently, this has put more pressure on the teacher education institutions (TEIs) to produce a quantity of quality teachers. From this context, this paper examines the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) confidence level of pre-service teachers in selected Philippine teacher education institutions. The TPACK Model has been a very useful framework for academic stakeholders to understand and measure the level of technology integration in teaching and learning. Using a 64-item self-diagnostic questionnaire designed to measure the dimensions of TPACK in terms of learning experience and practice, and assessing the responses of 187 graduating pre-service teachers from selected Philippine TEIs, the data suggest that the pre-service teachers are fairly confident with the learning experience they get from the TEIs and that by using these experiences they frequently demonstrate the acceptable teacher competency and standards. Furthermore, the levels of TPACK confidence of the secondary and elementary pre-service teachers significantly differ from each other such that the former are more confident with their learning experience and practice. Data also show that there is a significant relationship between the quality of learning experience and the ability of the pre-service teachers to demonstrate the core competencies of TPACK. Hence, teacher education institutions must consider innovating their curriculum through training, subject-focused pedagogical modeling, and subject-specific technologies.

Reflecting on ‘quality’ in early childhood education: practitioners’ perspectives and voices

ABSTRACT Despite widespread availability, accessibility and affordability of early years settings in the Maltese context, the quality of services within childcare and kindergarten has never been explored. This study presents the perspectives of 436 practitioners from 50 childcare or kindergarten settings who were invited to reflect upon their understanding of quality through an interview or focus group discussion. Practitioners are key, influential stakeholders, responsible for supporting young children and their families at a significant time of growth, development and transitions. Given their crucial role in providing quality learning experiences, it is imperative to access their insights into ‘quality’ issues which can offer much-needed evidence for policy development. NVivo analysis of practitioners’ responses to an open-ended question yielded five broad factors including environmental factors, relationships, practitioner matters, child-oriented factors and issues associated with policies and praxis. These results are interpreted in light of their implications for policymakers and practitioners.

The Effect of Learning Experience on the Information Literacy of Students in the Ri-Png Border During Covid-19 Period

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges for higher education institutions, especially in Indonesia's border areas. The transformation of face-to-face learning models to distance learning models impacts the learning experience of students, especially those who are completing writing research proposals and theses that require adequate information literacy skills. This study aims to explore the effect of student learning experiences on information literacy skills. The research data were obtained from respondents from four universities in Merauke. Purposive sampling technique is used with the criteria of students who have taken research methodology courses and are taking or have taken proposal seminar courses. One hundred respondents have filled out a questionnaire distributed online. Based on the data analysis, learning experiences contributed 17.60% to students' information literacy skills. Furthermore, each increase in student learning experiences will contribute to 0.40% of information literacy skills. These research findings can be valuable information to be developed to the next stage in making modules and learning media that can provide a good quality learning experience to improve student literacy skills, especially in writing research proposals/theses. With this module or learning media, it is hoped that it can prepare students to write research proposals and theses.

Law School Pedagogy Post-Pandemic: Harnessing the Benefits of Online Teaching

Since COVID-19 required a significant shift to increased online teaching and learning in institutions of higher learning in spring 2020, one narrative has been that students do not like online classes, and online classes are inferior to those delivered live and in person. This Article takes issue with this broad and overarching criticism of online course delivery. No doubt, some types of students may not learn as well online as they do in the classroom, and some online classes may not be designed to deliver a quality learning experience. Our experience teaching asynchronous online classes in law school, however, demonstrates that there are many benefits to a well-designed online course that can enhance student learning—benefits that can be incorporated into law school pedagogy even after the pandemic is no longer a threat to health and safety of students and faculty. Specifically, in a well-designed asynchronous class, students have opportunities for regular formative assessments; they receive regular teacher and student feedback on their work; and they are required to “speak up” in class through written and oral discussions.

The Relationship Between the Quality of Learning and Educational Experiences of Medical Students During 2018-19

Introduction: The effectiveness of the educational system along with the research development in each country is considered as one of the criteria of development measurement. Methods: This study is a descriptive - cross-sectional study during 2018-2019. The statistical population includes all medical students who have passed the physiopathology degree in the second semester and data collection is done by field method. The instrument of consists of two parts. The first part contains demographic information of the participants and the second part presents standard questionnaire of educational experience include Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and Neumann's Quality of Learning Experience. The data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent T-test and ANOVA were used. Result: In this research, 45.7% were male) n=49), 54.20% female (n=58), 14% married (n=15), 86% single (n=92), 8.41% Have a work (n=9), 91.58% dont have a work (n=98), and finally 55.1% were interested in their field. There was a significant positive correlation between the scores of appropriate teaching (P-value <0.001), clear goals (P-value <0.001), appropriate evaluation (P-value <0.001), independence (P-value<0.001), and general skill (P-value<0.001), with experiences of courses. The strongest correlation with the quality of educational experiences was the appropriate evaluation (0.65). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that in order to achieve the most important goal of medical education, more efforts are needed to improve educational quality.

Transforming the ICT Learning Environment for English Language Learners

English Language Learners (ELLs) enter online or hybrid classrooms endeavoring to unlock the mysteries of learning English. These students are in search of a quality learning experience leading to English language acquisition defined by new opportunities to transform their lives and open doors for future accomplishments. A variety of educational strategies are required that extend beyond traditional expectations. Reading, writing, speaking and comprehension expanded to connect the classroom and global learning environment are essential. Key components of these endeavors are developing and utilizing innovative technology and coursework, while incorporating outstanding resources and methods to positively impact educators and students.

Teacher and learner perceptions of adult foreign language learners’ engagement with consciousness-raising tasks in four languages

At some UK universities, non-credit bearing courses for the general public are offered in a wide range of languages, often taught by hourly paid staff. Ensuring similar, high quality learning experiences and learning outcomes across languages can be a challenge. This study inquired into the viability and value of a consciousness-raising approach, i.e. whether teachers would be able and likely to implement it, and whether students would engage with such tasks and find them useful. The study included students and teachers engaged in the learning/teaching of Arabic, French, Italian, and Spanish. Following some input about Language Awareness pedagogic principles, and with some mentoring by the researchers, the teachers designed their own consciousness raising grammar tasks with accompanying communicative output opportunities and implemented them in their classes. To respond to our research questions, this paper draws on semi-structured interviews with teachers and students. The tasks, which combined a form and meaning focus, presented rich affordances for learner engagement with language and were enjoyed by the majority of students. The teachers struggled to correctly estimate task difficulty and time needed but felt that the approach had contributed to improving their teaching and that they were likely to use it in the future.

Teachers’ Content Knowledge of Early Childhood Care Development and Education Policy Documents and Pedagogical Skills: Implications for Preschoolers’ Active Participation in Learning

Early years are the most important in the life cycle of every human being. Therefore, learning at this stage is optimal and the future of growing child relies on the quality of learning experiences that are logically and purposefully carried out by knowledgeable and skilled teachers. The study therefore investigated public teachers’ content knowledge of ECCDE policy documents, pedagogical skills and the implications for preschoolers’ active participation in learning. Correlation research design was used for the study. All teachers/caregivers in public preschools in Epe local government area of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria constituted the population of the study. The sample comprised of eighty (80) preschool teachers/caregivers from fifty-one (51) public primary schools with linkage classes in the study area. Purposive sampling technique was used, based on the fact that, the study covers the entire target population. Two self-designed instruments were validated and used for data collection, which were Teachers’ Content Knowledge of ECCDE Policy Documents Questionnaire (TCKEPDQ a= 0.86) and Teachers’ Pedagogical Skill /Preschoolers’ Learning Participation Observation Schedule (TPSPLPOS a= 0.81). Result showeda positive significant relationship between preschool teachers/caregivers’ level of knowledge of ECCDE policy documents and their pedagogical skills. The study also revealed that most preschoolers were passive participants in learning processes due to teacher-centered approach employed. The study therefore recommends periodic training for preschool teachers/caregivers and regular monitoring of learning activities in public preschools.

Academics’ motivations in professional training courses: effects on learning engagement and learning gains

ABSTRACT Although professional training or development opportunities can help university academics to expand their competences and implement high quality educational practices, academics differ in the extent to which they engage in such learning opportunities and their resulting learning gains. A theoretical explanation for these differences involves their motivations in the form of achievement goals. Accordingly, in the current study we investigated the effects of academics’ achievement goals on their learning engagement and learning gains in professional development courses. Forty-eight German university academics completed assessments of achievement goals prior to course participation, their learning engagement during the course (three short assessments measuring: effort, learning intensity, risk-taking, elaboration, implementation, and persistence), and their learning gains afterwards. Latent growth curve modeling revealed a significant influence of achievement goals on the overall levels of learning engagement. Specifically, learning-approach goals led to more functional learning engagement while work-avoidance goals led to less functional learning engagement. Further analyses confirmed that academics’ achievement goals were related to the amount they learned, mediated by their learning engagement. These findings highlight the importance of supporting academics’ achievement goals to ensure quality learning experiences.

Nano-Games for Cultural Venues: the HEAL game

Many are the times when visitors leave an exhibition without a clue about its message. In an effort to eliminate this phenomenon, museums, institutes and organisations (MIOs) adopt more attractive, engaging and fun content to provide a high quality and fast learning experience. Games seem to be an interesting suggestion to this approach but they are time consuming. To this end, we introduce nano-games. We define nano-games as short, easy to master, self–contained games of a single level of difficulty, having basic and direct rules that stay unaltered throughout the play and challenge players with clearly defined goals reachable within tens of seconds of gameplay. This approach has been adopted and evaluated in the premises of European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Federal, state, and institutional regulations regarding a nursing student with a service animal.

Several universities are reporting increasing numbers of students using a service animal. Understanding the three types of assistance animals-service animal, therapy animal, and emotional support animal-will assist nursing educators in determining which animals are trained to provide a specific service to the student. Students with conditions as varied as diabetes, anxiety disorder, and seizures may benefit from a service animal. Reviewing the types of support these animals provide and federal, state, and local regulations related to service animal use will guide faculty members in preparing for a high quality learning experience for students who use a service animal. Query: Embase, CINAHL, PubMed.

“I Just Had No Idea What It Was Like to Be in Prison and What Might Be Helpful”: Educator and Learner Views on Clinical Placements in Correctional Health

Phenomenon: Correctional health services can provide quality learning experiences for medical students and graduate medical trainees, including through motivating learners to work with people involved with the justice system, and promoting understanding of the social determinants of health. Approach: We conducted 38 semi-structured interviews to examine the views of learners and educators on how to promote high quality clinical learning in correctional settings, with a focus on the Australian context. Participants included medical students; general practitioners who had undertaken graduate trainee placements; clinical staff involved in teaching and clinical supervision; and graduate program medical educators and university teachers from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Data were analyzed thematically. Findings: Clinical placements in correctional settings provided learning about the health of people involved in the justice system, but also beneficial clinical learning for working with a wide range of patients with complex health needs. Valued learnings included managing complex consultations, mental health and substance use disorders, and overcoming anxiety related to interacting with people in prison. Learner concerns included limited patient contact time, apprehension prior to placements, and stress related to experiences during the placements. This apprehension and stress could be mitigated by orientation and debriefing, and by appreciating healthcare professionals in correctional settings as advocates for their patients. Clinical supervision was perceived to be demanding in this context. Independent patient interaction was not usually possible for students and there could be short windows of time in which to provide direct patient care, making pauses for teaching difficult. Insights: Clinical placements in correctional health services provide experiential learning of direct relevance to medical student, and potentially to general practice trainee, curricula which is valuable even when learners do not have particular interest in correctional health. Furthermore, these placements may increase the capacity of the medical workforce to provide skilled care to other underserved populations. High quality learner and clinical supervisor experiences, and program scale and sustainability, require enhanced learning support systems through partnerships between correctional health services and education institutions. Required supports for learners include orientation to security arrangements, debriefing sessions which assist learners to distill their learning and to reflect on challenging experiences, and alternative learning opportunities for when direct patient consultations are not accessible. Supervisor teaching supports include shared teaching approaches in the correctional health clinics and added student support from university-based staff.

How do we employ UDL in our own practice?

As learner diversity continues to grow, so does the need for institutions to ensure that the needs of all learners are considered and appropriately addressed in the learning, teaching and assessment experiences they design and develop. Creating content and providing a learning experience that is accessible for all students can be challenging. In this session, participants will be exposed to the basic principles behind Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how this can be achieved in practice. When learning materials are well designed – the closer the parity and quality of learning experience becomes for all learners.

Perspectives of Final Year Students and Newly Qualified Doctors of the Teaching of Preclinical Courses at the College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Background:It is established that there is a strong relationship between perception and outcome of learners' satisfaction, achievement, and success and that a positive learning environment well received by learners is necessary for positive learning outcomes. This study is a first step in providing an answer to the question “how do learners perceive preclinical medical education in Ife” with the aim of obtaining information which can serve as basis for the review of teaching methods and improvement of learning environment.Methodology:A questionnaire adopted from two validated questionnaires (Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure questionnaire from Dundee and another from a study carried out in Bangladesh) was administered to 187 respondents comprising 106 final year students and 81 newly qualified doctors to obtain the information about their perception of teaching and learning of the three major preclinical participants. Items were rated using the 5-point Likert scale, and each item was scored 4-0. Data were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistics. Values were expressed as the mean of scores.Results:The mean gross scores for the 19 items rated for anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology were 28.92, 35.76, and 45.06 (out of 76), respectively. Physiology had the highest score in all the subdomains examined, with 62% of the respondents rating their overall quality of learning experience in the subject “very good.” Scores for perception of learning environment were generally low (7.54 ± 0.43, 10.44 ± 0.42, and 12.51 ± 0.47, out of a total of 28 for anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology, respectively).Conclusion:The opinion of learners in this study emphasizes the need for the improvement of teaching methods and learning environment.