Regular Class Time Research Articles

Developing Phoneme-Grapheme Recognition for English as a Foreign Language: A Longitudinal Study at Japanese Primary School

Foreign language was recently added to Japan's national primary school curriculum. Phoneme-Grapheme Recognition (PGR) skills are a critical step in both L1 and L2 development. Due to its simplistic approach and the lack of new investment in teacher training, research regarding the impact on PGR skills are important. This study tested the relative differences and growth of primary school students' (grades 3, 4, 5, 6) PGR skills across two semesters. Semester-1 (July) and Semester-3 (March) students (n = 256, female n = 130) completed the same PGR test during regular class time. ANOVA and follow-up pairwise tests assessed achievement differences between grades and across the two-semester gap. Difference testing between grades indicated substantial (R2 = .32 & .19) and statistically significant (p < .001) differences at both time points. Pairwise follow-up tests pointed to two steps in statistically different ability (grades 3-4/5-6). Longitudinal tests suggested that the current Japanese national elementary school curriculum supports phoneme-grapheme skill development; However, the two-step ability grouping indicated that the current national curriculum is not sufficiently detailed and/or rigorous to ensure annual student improvement in PGR skills.

Perceived stress and mobile phone addiction among college students: The roles of self-control and security.

According to the General Strain Theory, stress can lead to a range of problem behaviors. In the current study, we focused on the association between perceived stress and mobile phone addiction. We hypothesized that this association is mediated by low self-control and that the first path of the mediation is moderated by security. College students (N = 397; ages 16-21; 51.89% females) from a university in Hunan Province, China, were surveyed by cluster sampling method. The students completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Self-Control Scale (SCS), and the Security Questionnaire (SQ) during regular class time. SPSS26.0 statistical software was used for descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analyses, the SPSS macro PROCESS was used to test the mediating effects of self-control and the moderating role of security. Mediation analysis showed that as expected, perceived stress was associated with lower self-control, which in turn was associated with a higher risk for mobile phone addiction. Also as expected, moderated mediation analysis indicated that the association between perceived stress and self-control was moderated by security. Specifically, the relationship between perceived stress and self-control was stronger for low security. This study provides useful insight into the understanding of how perceived stress increases the risk of mobile phone addiction. The results are consistent with the General Strain Theory and further indicate that concrete approaches are required for the prevention and intervention to reduce mobile phone addiction among college students.

Youth perspectives on community health in Nunavik: a community-engaged photovoice project.

The overall objective of this study was to elicit understandings of community health among Inuit youth aged 12-18 in the region of Nunavik, northern Quebec, through identifying community conditions supporting health from their perspective and exploring how they conceptualize a healthy community. In January and February 2020, 51 secondary students from three communities participated in a 1-week participatory photovoice activity during regular class time. Youth participated in three different sessions dedicated to the ethics of taking photographs, taking photos in the community, and group discussions of photographs. Discussions were analyzed via thematic analysis and validated with the youth in the fall of 2020. Twelve key community conditions supporting health were identified: family, food, culture, language, sense of community belonging, land, housing, services, community, connection, caring and somewhere to go. The youth understood a healthy community to be a place where "nothing was broken" and where community conditions supporting health could be visualized like the rocks in an inuksuk, a stone cairn used by Inuit for wayfinding on the tundra landscape. Participants chose the human form of inuksuk which has become widespread in northern and southern Canadian popular culture. Findings from this study serve to confirm and strengthen existing models of Inuit health while also raising fresh perspectives and concepts relevant to the younger generation. Images and words of the youth identified in this study may be important in designing effective health promotion strategies that are accessible and relevant to younger generations, thus responding to an important research, programmatic and policy gap.

Overcoming misconceptions and enhancing student's physical understanding of civil and environmental engineering fluid mechanics

Undergraduate students of fluid mechanics bring a range of preconceptions to the classroom. The sometimes counterintuitive nature of fluid mechanics means that many of these preconceptions are, in fact, misconceptions. Such misconceptions can be hard to address and can persist even among nominally high-performing students. A pedagogical approach (i.e., predict, test, and reflect) is presented. The approach provides an effective structure for addressing and correcting misconceptions through the use of low-cost hands-on activities that students can quickly and easily undertake during regular class time. The activities all have the same structure of describing the activity, having students make a prediction based on their intuition/prior experience, testing that prediction using simple, low-cost activities, reflecting on the success or failure of the prior prediction, and analysis of the activity to illustrate the correct conception of the flow. Course evaluations indicate that students have found this approach very helpful in improving their conceptual understanding in an introductory engineering fluid mechanics class.

A Quantitative Investigation of Student Performance in a Peer Assisted Flipped Classroom Model

In the current educational scenario existing at the higher education institutions, where the academic schedules are packed with lot of student activities and other skill development training activities, the faculties are facing difficulties in completing the syllabus, which is the bare minimum requirement expected of them. This leads to faculty resorting to the traditional lecturing techniques even though the scope of implementing active and co-operative learning strategies in the today’s classroom scenario is higher. Many past studies have indicated that the traditional lecturing techniques do not help in the improvement of student performance and satisfaction. This article reports on a study which employed a peer assisted flipped classroom technique to improve the performance of students in an engineering course offered in the final year of B.E Civil engineering program. The flipped classroom strategy involved in this study consisted of 28 students watching recorded lectures along with their peer pairs before attending the regular class hours. The regular class time was split between completing a handout based on the recorded lecture, group discussion and doubt clearing by the course instructor. The statistical analysis on the pre-test and post-test scores of the students obtained before and after the implementation of the research technique revealed that there is a significant improvement in the performance of the students compared to the traditional teaching techniques. The research technique is found to have a positive effect on the performance of students based on the results concluded in the study. The research revealed that the peer assisted flipped classroom technique can be implemented as one of the active learning strategy to increase the performance level of students.

Değerler Eğitiminde Video Blog Kullanımı

Bu çalışmada, karakter ve değerler eğitimi (KDE) dersinde gerçekleştirilen video blog uygulamalarının öğretmen adaylarının değer eğitimine yönelik tutumları üzerindeki etkisini ve öğretmen adaylarının bu uygulamalar hakkındaki görüşlerini belirlemek amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada karma araştırma yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın nicel boyutunu öntest-sontest kontrol gruplu deneysel desen oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada nicel veri toplama amacı ile Değer Eğitimine Yönelik Tutum (DET) Ölçeği kontrol ve deney gruplarına derslerin başlangıcında ve sonunda, öntest ve sontest olarak uygulanmıştır. Çalışmanın nitel boyutunu ise video blog uygulamalarına katılan olan 11 öğretmen adayı ile yapılmış olan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler oluşturmaktadır. Deney grubu ile yürütülen ders sürecinde normal ders içeriğine ek olarak video blog uygulamaları gerçekleştirilmiştir. Video blog uygulamalarında, blog üzerinde örnek olay videoları paylaşılmış, öğretmen adaylarının bunları ders saatleri dışında izleyerek yorumlamaları istenmiştir. Analizler sonucunda, grupların değerler eğitimine yönelik tutumları arasında deney grubu lehine anlamlı bir fark olduğu belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca, deney grubu öğretmen adaylarının DET ölçeğinin faktörleri olan “değerler eğitiminin gereğine inanç”, “değer eğitimini içselleştirme” ve “değer eğitimine yönelik olumsuz inanç” faktörlerinden aldıkları öntest ve sontest puanlarında sontest puanları lehine anlamlı bir fark olduğu görülmüştür. Bunun dışında öğretmen adayları video blog uygulamalarının KDE derslerini daha akılda kalıcı ve ilgi çekici hale getirdiği, öğrencilerin derse katılımını kolaylaştırdığı yönünde yorumlarda bulunmuştur.

Increasing Hispanic Students’ Awareness and Use of Floor-robots through Structured Activities

When educators provide students with opportunities to interact with educational technology such as floor-robots, it may: (a) increase students’ awareness of new educational tools, and (b) enhance students’ use and engagement with new technologies. This case study provided upper-elementary, Hispanic students with opportunities to engage in structured and unstructured activities with floor-robots, with direct support from researchers and the cooperating teacher. These educational robots were introduced to student-participants on multiple occasions during regular instructional class time in a Title I school on the U.S.-Mexico border to determine: (a) students’ interest in continued use of floor-robots; and (b) students’ perceptions of ease-of-use of floor-robots. Floor-robots were selected largely because researchers had access to two types: a Roamer floor-robot and a Thymio floor-robot. For students from underserved populations, it is important that educators strengthen students’ self-efficacy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas (Mau & Li, 2018), as well as increase students’ awareness and use of newer educational technologies, which is a growing field and includes floor-robots. However, in-service teachers may need guidance, support, and professional development when selecting and using new educational technologies such as floor-robots. Student-participants’ post-study surveys and interviews provided researchers with insight into elementary students’: (a) interest in floor-robots and robotics, (b) perceived ease-of-use, (c) preferred type of floor-robot in this particular study, and, (d) opinions on the potential uses and downsides of floor-robots.

Computing, Girls and Education: What we need to know to change how girls think about information technology.

Despite significant efforts and many intervention programs over the years to encourage girls to study computing, we continue to see a declining interest. Girls’ lack of engagement with technology at school is resulting in fewer women entering the Information Technology (IT) workforce. Our research investigated whether a long-term intervention program with a specifically designed school-based curriculum could change girls’ minds about computing generally and increase their confidence and interest in an IT career. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from girls and teachers before, during, and after this program was implemented. A conceptual model of the school-based influences on girls’ attitude was developed from the literature and used to explore the data. Findings from this four-year project added rich insights and resulted in a comprehensive model of ‘Factors that Influence Girls’ Attitude to IT.’ This research demonstrates that a carefully designed IT curriculum, delivered in single-sex classes, reinforced by opportunities to interact with role models, and timetabled in regular class time, can and does change girls’ attitudes to IT. We also found that the students reported improved confidence and increased interest in IT. We posit that our refined model of ‘Factors that Influence Girls’ Attitude to IT’ is a valuable reference tool. Teachers, academics and professionals who are implementing programs to promote IT to girls can use it.

Monitoring young lifestyles (MyLife) - a prospective longitudinal quantitative and qualitative study of youth development and substance use in Norway

PurposeThe Monitoring Young Lifestyles (MyLife) project was initiated as an integrated quantitative and qualitative prospective investigation of correlates, causes, and consequences of adolescent substance use and other addictive behaviours in...

Association between Club Sports Participation and Physical Fitness across 6- to 14-Year-Old Austrian Youth.

Changes in social and built environments most likely contribute to a decline in physical activity (PA) and physical fitness in children and adolescents. Organized sports may be an important component in ensuring adequate fitness, which is an important aspect in general health and well-being. The present study examines differences by club sports participation in cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility and balance in 3293 (55.1% male) Austrian children and adolescents between 6 and 14 years of age. Anthropometric measurements (height and weight) were taken and participants completed the German motor test during regular class time. Even though there was no significant difference in body weight between club sports participants and non-club sports participants, club sports participation was associated with higher physical fitness, particularly regarding endurance, strength, power, and agility. Differences by club sports participation, however, declined during the elementary school years (6–10 years of age), while they became more pronounced during middle school years (10–14 years of age). Club sports participation, therefore, may be a viable option in the promotion of physical fitness, particularly during adolescence. At younger ages, other sources of PA, such as physical education and free play, however, should be considered to ensure sufficient fitness levels that contribute to a healthy and active lifestyle.

Perception of thermal comfort and prediction of heat stress (PHS) due to heat gain in tropical university classrooms

Comfortable indoor climate is anticipated in hot-humid tropical condition. University classrooms are such kind of space which quality can improve the occupant’s performance directly. Due to lack of their adaptation ability, like the fixed schedule of activities and clothing causes extra heat gain from the environment and make hazardous situation. In this research, we focused to find out the comfortable condition of university classrooms in Bangladesh. The field monitoring was conducted at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) during the hottest months in the country (April-July). The measurements included the basic thermal environmental parameters like air temperature (AT), relative humidity (RH), indoor air velocity (V), and indoor Light (L) during regular class time 9:00 to 17:00. Predicted Heat Strain (PHS) has been calculated using obtained data with a known metabolic rate and clothing. It is found that the skin temperature crosses 34°C frequently in PHS scale and creates health risk.

SEITI RMLab: A costless and effective remote measurement laboratory in electrical engineering

e-Learning emerged as a way for enhancing the quality of education and providing accessible distance learning to allow learners to study beyond regular class time, transcending the mandatory presence of teachers and the availability of classrooms by providing the necessary resources and services. One of the main issues of e-learning, especially in engineering education, is the lack of online educational laboratories. Practical work remains a considerable burden as engineering educational programs focus on handling real equipment. These last are only accessible within a restrictive schedule and might be unaffordable for low budget institutions. The need is clear for interactive platforms that enhance the motivation and controls the regulation of workload for each student. In this paper, an overview about online laboratories is given and a simple approach of remote lab is suggested. The proposal of our research team (Team SEITI) can be used for carrying-out experiments that require neither assembly nor physical changes until the results are obtained unless a technician, that must be present in the laboratory, acts on equipment. The idea is to set up a real-time measurement retrieval laboratory that requires the involvement of a technician to act on instruments and will grant access to a large scale of students.

Supporting the wellbeing of inner-city middle-school students through mindful and creative reflective activities

Inner-city middle-school students encounter many intersections of the social determinants of health, while expected to learn and to excel academically. However, they lack skills to deal with stress, anger, frustration and sadness, often associated with their social context. To support student wellbeing, we developed a 7-week, 1-hour-session program, which took place during regular class time. Through use of creative reflective activities, namely, Schwind’s Narrative Reflective Process and mindfulness, students learned skills that help support their social and academic wellbeing. Student feedback reveals that creative reflective activities and mindfulness helped foster their inter-intra personal skills in class, enhancing their learning experiences.

Did the frequency of early elementary classroom arts instruction decrease during the no child left behind era? If so, for whom?

Analyzing teacher reports from two cohorts of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, this study looked at changes in the frequency of early elementary classroom arts instruction from the 1999–2000 to the 2011–12 school year. The majority of classroom teachers surveyed in our study reported on first-grade students (94%–96%). We found that the percentage of children spending no classroom time on arts activities significantly increased for music, visual art, dance, and theater. This decreased participation in classroom arts activities was generally largest for students in the bottom one-third of the social class distribution. Overall, participation in at least some music or visual arts activities continued above 95%. However, participation in at least some dance fell to about 46% and participation in at least some theater to about 40% (compared to 58% and 56% reported in the 1999–2000 school year). In contrast, for music, dance, and theater, among students receiving at least some exposure during regular class time, the amount of time spent on these activities each week significantly increased. This finding was most robust for music; those students who already had at least some participation experienced a 20-min increase in the amount of classroom time spent on music activities. During the No Child Left Behind era many early elementary educators completely eliminated dance and theater activities from their classrooms. However, those teachers who did not completely eliminate music, dance, or theater activities actually increased the time devoted to them. This heterogeneity in teachers’ responses to policy changes must be accounted for in future attempts to project the likely consequences of alternative educational policies.

Increasing Attendance in a Self-Access Language Lounge

Scheduled class time for students in tertiary language classes is limited, and is likely insufficient in itself to enable students to attain second language mastery (Nunan, 1989). Provision of language practice can be expanded outside regular class time through various means, including self-access centers. However, without effective marketing and management, and effective teaching staff, such facilities risk low participation rates. The current paper discusses the provision of an English language conversation lounge facility at a Japanese university in the light of a 69% increase in student attendance for the year 2015-16. The discussion is initially situated in the need for extra language study outside regular class time. A brief description of the language center is then given. The focus of the present paper is to note recent changes, and to consider effective practice for increasing attendance and for improving participation.

Student Evaluations of Teaching: Dental and Dental Hygiene Students’ and Faculty Members’ Perspectives

The aim of this study was to explore dental and dental hygiene students' and faculty members' perceptions of student evaluations of teaching (SET) and determine whether dental vs. dental hygiene student, beginning vs. advanced student, and faculty vs. student responses differed. Perceived benefits, challenges, and suggestions for conducting SETs optimally were also assessed. Survey data were collected from 329 dental students (D1: 108; D2: 91; D3&4: 130) and 68 dental hygiene students (DH2: 26; DH3: 19; DH4: 23) (overall response rates 76%/92%) and 56 dental and eight dental hygiene faculty members (response rates 41%/100%). Faculty respondents were more positive about SETs than students (five-point scale with 1=disagree: 3.85 vs. 3.39; p<0.001), with seniors being the least positive (mean 2.42). Respondents agreed that all students should complete SETs (3.87 vs. 3.61; p=0.068), with faculty agreeing more strongly than students that all courses should be evaluated (4.32/4.04; p=0.046). Students agreed more strongly than faculty that SETs should occur during regular class time (3.97/3.44; p<0.001) and are too long (3.47/3.09; p=0.010) and that results should be shared with students (4.03/3.57; p=0.002). Open-ended responses showed that students perceived more benefits of SETs for faculty members than for students and that the most frequently mentioned problem was that SETs do not result in changes. Faculty members were generally more positive than students (especially seniors) about SETs. These findings suggest that, according to these respondents, SETs should be completed by all students for all courses, be short, provide opportunities for open-ended comments, and be administered in class to improve response rate. In addition, SET results and how SETs are used to improve courses should be shared with students.

Yoga Training in Junior Primary School-Aged Children Has an Impact on Physical Self-Perceptions and Problem-Related Behavior.

The present pilot study investigated the effects of yoga training, as compared to physical skill training, on motor and executive function, physical self-concept, and anxiety-related behavior in junior primary school-aged children. Twenty-four participants with a mean age of 8.4 (±1.4) years completed either yoga or physical skill training twice a week for 6 weeks outside of regular school class time. Both forms of training were delivered in an individualized and child-oriented manner. The type of training did not result in any significant differences in movement and executive function outcomes. In terms of physical self-concept, significant group differences were revealed only for perceived movement speed such that yoga training resulted in perceptions of being slower while physical skill training resulted in perceptions of moving faster. Analysis of anxiety related outcomes revealed significant group effects only for avoidance behavior and coping strategies. Avoidance behavior increased following yoga training, but decreased following physical skill training. In addition, following yoga training, children showed an increased use of divergent coping strategies when facing problematic situations while after physical skill training children demonstrated a decrease in use of divergent coping strategies. Changes in overall physical self-concept scores were not significantly correlated with changes in avoidance behavior following yoga training. In contrast, following physical skill training increased physical self-concept was significantly correlated with decreases in avoidance behavior. In sum, exposure to yoga or physical skill training appears to result in distinct effects for specific domains of physical self-concept and anxiety-related behavior. Further studies with larger samples and more rigorous methodologies are required to further investigate the effects reported here. With respect to future studies, we address potential research questions and specific features associated with the investigation of the effects of yoga in a sample of school-aged children.

Developing Partnerships in the Provision of Youth Mental Health Services and Clinical Education: A School-Based Cognitive Behavioral Intervention Targeting Anxiety Symptoms in Children

Clinical scientists are calling for strong partnerships in the provision of evidence-based treatments for child mental health problems in real-world contexts. In the present study, we describe the implementation of a cognitive-behavioral intervention (CBI) to address grade 5 children’s anxiety symptoms. The CBI arose from a long-standing partnership between University and Education Department stakeholders. The partnership integrates school-based, evidence-informed treatment delivery with clinical education, and also supports a school-based psychology clinic to provide assessment and treatment services to children attending schools within the catchment area and clinical training for university graduate students. Children in the active condition (N=74) completed the CBI during regular class time, while children in the control condition (N=77) received the standard classroom curriculum. Children’s anxiety and depressive symptoms, threat interpretation biases (perceived danger and coping ability), and perceptions of their social skills were assessed before and after condition. Children in the active condition reported significant improvements in self-reported anxiety symptoms, and perceptions of their social skills and coping ability, whereas no significant differences were observed for children in the control condition from pre- to post-assessment. For a subset of children assessed 12months after the CBI (n=76), symptom improvement remained stable over time and estimates of danger and coping ability showed even greater improvement. Results demonstrate the value of strong stakeholder partnerships in innovative youth mental health services, positive child outcomes, and clinical education.

Learning style preferences of nursing students at two universities in Iran and Malaysia.

Purpose:Learning style preferences vary within the nursing field and there is no consensus on a predominant learning style preference in nursing students. The current study compared the learning style preferences of nursing students at two universities in Iran and Malaysia. Methods:A purposive sampling method was used to collect data from the two study populations. Data were collected using the Learning Style Scale (LSS), which is a valid and reliable inventory. The LSS consists of 22 items with five subscales including perceptive, solitary, analytic, imaginative, and competitive. The questionnaires were distributed at the end of the academic year during regular class time for optimum response. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare the learning style preferences between the two study populations. Results:A significant difference was found in perceptive, solitary, and analytic learning styles between two groups of nursing students. However, there was no significant difference in imaginative and competitive learning styles between the two groups. Most of the students were in the middle range of the learning styles. Conclusion:There were similarities and differences in learning style preferences between Zabol Medical Sciences University (ZBMU) and University Sains Malaysia (USM) nursing students. The USM nursing students were more sociable and analytic learners, whereas the ZBMU nursing students were more solitary and perceptive learners.

The Effect of Concept Mapping on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Self-efficacy and Expository Writing Accuracy

The purpose of this study is to investigate the questions of whether 1) Does concept mapping knowledge have any effect on Intermediate EFL learners’ self-efficacy? 2) Does concept mapping knowledge have any effect on Intermediate EFL learners’ expository writing accuracy? The following five steps determine the delivery and the sequence of the study: 1) A TOEFL test (writing section) as the pretest, 2) self-efficacy questionnaire, 3) 8 sessions of instruction on concept map construction with experimental group, 4) integration of concept mapping as a pre-writing strategy in experimental group, and 5) post-test of writing and self-efficacy questionnaire with both groups. Firstly, the writing Proficiency Test along with self-efficacy questionnaire was given to 180 learners. Based on the results of TOEFL writing test and self-efficacy questionnaire, 60 intermediate homogeneous participants were selected and randomly assigned to two groups of control and experimental. In the course of 22-sessions, during regular class time 15 minutes were devoted to concept mapping. Each session the participants of both groups were given a writing task besides their course book writing section. The students in the experimental group were engaged in concept map construction after writing each task and were organized their pre-writing activities such as discussion, doing exercises, and reflective practices according to their constructed maps. A post-test of writing and an efficacy questionnaire were administered to all the participants and the pair sample t- test, and independent sample t-test were used to answer the study questions. The results showed that concept mapping had a significant effect on self- efficacy and expository writing accuracy.