Student-centered Activities Research Articles

A Systematic Review of Utilising Literary Texts in English Classroom: Challenges and Teaching Approaches

The implementation of utilising literary texts in ESL/EFL classrooms has been widely enforced in all levels of schools for its roles and benefits for language learning. Due to challenges faced by teachers, the teaching and learning by using literary texts in the classroom seem to be ineffective. Hence, a systematic review of the 15 published articles is presented in this paper to expound the challenges in incorporating selected literary texts and the suitability of teaching approaches and strategies applied in using the texts in teaching and learning of English from year 2013 to 2022. The findings depict on the common problems encountered by English teachers are related to students’ low proficiency levels, the difficulties of literary text interpretation and teachers’ lack of practices as well as low confidence levels in teaching literary texts in the class. The teaching approaches in literature lesson preferably applied was information-based approach and moral philosophical approach. Moreover, integration of educational technology strategy and student-centred activities are highly recommended to be applied in the literature lessons. It is hoped that this review will provide contribution for researchers to conduct literature related studies and enlighten policy makers into revamping literature curriculum in the future.

Effect of flipped learning-based smoking cessation intervention education program for nursing students in South Korea

Purpose: The goal of this study was to see how flipped learning affected nursing students in South Korea who were enrolled in a quit smoking intervention education program. The flipped learning-based quit smoking intervention education program was developed to help nursing students implement the intervention. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design. A total of 52 nursing students, divided into experimental and control groups of 26 each, participated between November and December 2021. The experimental group was instructed in the flipped learning-based quit smoking intervention education program over six sessions. In accordance with flipped learning, each session was composed of pre-class, in-class, and post-class sections. Results: Compared to the control group, the experimental group showed improved beliefs about the health benefits of quitting smoking, as well as positive attitudes and self-efficacy from the quit smoking intervention. The experimental group experienced the greatest increase in student-centered activities and student participation through flipped learning. Conclusion: These results indicate that the flipped learning method was effective in quit smoking intervention education for nursing students. Therefore, it is worthwhile to consider that a quit smoking intervention education program based on flipped learning be included in the regular nursing curriculum.

Empowering critical thinking skills on different academic levels through discovery-based multiple representation learning

Critical Thinking Skills (CTSs) are necessary for science mastery. To help the students develop their CTSs, discovery-based learning and student-centered activities may be beneficial. This study aims at investigating: (1) effects of discovery-based multiple representation learning (DMRL) model on CTSs; (2) effects of different academic achievement on CTSs; and (3) interaction between a learning model and types of different academic achievement on CTSs. The participants were 162 students, grade 7th from 3 public schools in Sleman, Indonesia. They were classified into 54 students with exceptional academic achievement, 48 students with average academic achievement, and 60 students with below-average intellectual ability. We used an essay test to collect data on CTSs utilizing a non-equivalent control group design with pretest and posttest. ANCOVA was used to examine the data (p = .05). The results of the study show that: (1) The DMRL had a high potential to improve the students’ CTSs; (2) The students with HA had the highest CTSs; (3) there is an interaction effect between the learning model and the different types of achievement on CTS. As a result, we conclude that the DMRL was effective in closing the CTSs discrepancies between students with high, moderate, and poor academic achievement.

Aligning multiple choice assessments with active learning instruction: More accurate and equitable ways to measure student learning

In response to geoscience education research and calls for the need to reform STEM teaching in higher education, many geoscience faculty are adopting research-based pedagogies to improve student learning in their courses. Our own effort to reform our introductory geology course included daily student-centered activities and other reforms we expected would result in improved student performance, but did not. This paper describes our evaluation of student performance on multiple choice questions (MCQs), which are the largest component of student grades in the course. Student scores were highest on MCQs that were aligned with the style in which students learned material and that required students to interact with the question (active questions) rather than just regurgitating information (passive questions). We also examined whether the style of MCQs impacted student scores equitably and found that the grades of all students would have improved if we had asked MCQs that were aligned and active, and the improvements were equitable, but final grades remain biased.

Teachers’ Perspectives on Foreign Language Acquisition and Mobile or Computer Assisted Language Learning: A Qualitative Study

The study underscores issues of teachers' perspectives, their understanding, awareness, utilization, and effectiveness of technological mediated mobile capabilities in foreign language acquisition (FLA). Seven teachers (FLA) from five nationalities were interviewed online, and the data collected and compiled along with notes were descriptively analyzed. The findings illustrate that although FLA teachers are ready to embrace changes and accept the usage of technology-mediated computer and mobile-assisted language learning (C/MALL) in online classes; however, this adaptability posits some challenges, which need technical support, training, interactions on its usage for language acquisition. The argument emphasizes the discourses between FLA teachers, parents, and institutions for creating a conducive environment and technological affordances for executing computer and mobile-assisted language learning in significant ways. Besides, it highlights the contradiction between the usage of Smart Mobile Devices (SMDs) for language acquisition and lack of efficiency and effective use of such devices by teachers, and the formalities of mobile use for teachers to include student-centered activities and students’ immersion. Finally, the study presents implications and prospects for future studies based on the perception of FLA teachers, and parents towards the use of the computer or SMDS viewed as CALL or MALL.

The Use of Discovery-Based Learning to Encourage Students’ Motivation in Classroom

The students’ motivation in learning English is very important, due to English language mastery. Besides, the teacher needs an effective learning method, to encourage the students’ motivation in the learning process. This research aims to analyze the use of Discovery-based Learning to encourage students’ activeness in the classroom. This research was an experiment. The instrument used in this study were observation sheet and motivation questionnaire. The results of this research showed that the use of discovery-based learning in the classroom is very effective to engage the learners’ motivation to participate actively in the classroom. The mean score of motivation is achieved in posttest (4.17) compared to pretest (3.81). From the result of t test, the value of Sig. (2-tailed) is .041 which is lower than .05. The application of discovery-based learning is focused on student-centered activity, so that the learners can be more active in the learning process. In other words, the application of discovery-based learning is very appropriate to encourage the students’ motivation to participate actively in the classroom.

Development of Food Competence in Early Childhood Education

The increase in childhood obesity requires the incorporation of nutritional competence into school programs through appropriate activities, starting in the early years. In addition, it is important to promote scientific and cognitive skills during childhood education. The main objective of this study was the implementation of an instructional sequence focused on the learning of skills such as observation, measurement, or interpretation of data related to plants, their germination, and their growth, as well as its relation with the development of food competence. To do so, a set of differentiated activities, organized into several stages, was designed, starting from simple and concrete situations and progressively increasing in complexity and abstraction. The aims were to express ideas about known fruits, vegetables, and legumes in order to expand them by learning new information through student-centered activities, in which children were able to practice and talk about science. The activities were carried out in a class of 24 students aged 4–5 years and data were compared with a control group. The results revealed that the children were motivated in all the activities, which provided an excellent opportunity to initially develop an interest in science and to start to develop food competence in the early years.

The Effects of Scientific Argumentation on High School Students' Critical Thinking Skills

One needs higher order thinking skills in positioning perspectives for any kinds of problems that affect one’s view of life in order to develop a fundamental scientific understanding. For this reason, science teaching requires thinking skills instruction to be included in classes. This study aimed observing the effects of student-centered activities, which were formed through scientific argument centered teaching method, on the critical thinking development of students, comparing it with those of traditional approach in chemistry classes. The research was conducted in two 11th grade classes of a high school in the city of Çankırı in Turkey. Classes were carried out with the teaching approach based on scientific argumentation in the experiment group with 17 students and with the conventional teaching approach in the control group with 17 students. The study lasted for 29 weeks with 11th grade students in two groups. In the experimental group, argumentation-centered instruction activities, which were based on Toulmin’s argument model, were conducted. Data were obtained through Watson Glasser Critical Thinking Scale and achievement tests named Achievement Test 1: Reaction Rate, Achievement Test2: Chemical Equilibrium, Achievement Test 3: Solubility Product, Achievement Test 4: Equilibrium in Acid-Base Solutions were applied at the beginning and end of the intstructions as pre-test and post-test. Wilcoxon test and Mann Whitney U test were used to analyze the data quantitaviely. With regard to the results, critical thinking skills of experimental group and control group students made progress but there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Also, when students’ answers in achievement tests are analyzed qualitatively in terms of critical thinking subskills, it can be seen that all critical thinking sub skills of the experimental group students have developed more than the control group.

Implications of Kilpatrick's Project Method in Technology Education

The purpose of this study is to explore issues related to the traditional project method and Kilpatrick's project method in technology education, and to derive educational implications for Kilpatrick's project method to be newly applied in the field of technology education. First, Kilpatrick defined the concept of a project too broadly, which caused confusion as a teaching method in technolgy education, but provided an opportunity for general use in technolgy activity classes. Second, it has traditionally been a method to bring about a shift from teacher-centered activities to student-centered activities in technolgy education. Third, the role of teachers in technolgy education has been transformed into advisors and facilitators rather than supervisors or trainers. In order to motivate learners and promote activities, the project method contributed to the opportunity to change the role of the teacher as a guide. Fourth, by applying the project method in technolgy education, it brought about a change that emphasized creativity and technology application of learners in their own initiative, away from imitating technical works. Fifth, by introducing Kilpatrick's project method, it allowed integrated project activities to break away from the traditional strict separation of theory and practice in technolgy education. Finally, Kilpatrick's project method suggested that the ambiguous project execution stage in traditional technolgy education could be carried out more specifically.

Perceptions of Cultural Diversity among Pre-service Teachers

ABSTRACT The present article examines how a group of Norwegian pre-service teachers of English and other foreign languages perceived the term “cultural diversity” when student-centred learning activities were used. A qualitative inquiry, comprising data retrieved from three student-centred activities: student narratives, role-playing, and focus group discussion are thematically analysed. Theoretical concepts from translation theory are applied to discuss students’ perceptions of cultural diversity. The translation of the term in the student-centred learning activities led to individual and collaborative reflection in which controversial connotations and ethical dilemmas were debated. In the student narratives, conventional connotations were appraised; however, differing aspects were emphasized. When role-playing was used, the students’ interpretations were more emotive. The students tended to cast the role of teacher in the majority cultural position, thereby impeding the possibility to view the term in a wider perspective. In the focus group discussion, the students’ multifarious comprehensions regarding cultural diversity were debated.

Active Learning Through Student-Centered Activity in the Instruction of Islamic Education Teachers as An Implementation of The 21st Century Learning: A Case Study

Active learning through student-centered activity has a significant impact on learning as well as the mastery of the students. The implementation of student-centered activity blended with elements of active learning is among the foundation that forms the 21st century education. However, its implementation is often underestimated due to constraints faced by teachers. This article discusses the elements of active learning within student-centered activity implemented by Islamic Education teachers in primary schools applying the concept of 21st century learning in the process of teaching and learning. This study adopted the qualitative method conducted on seven teachers of Islamic Education primary school in the state of Melaka. In-depth interviews, observations and document analysis were performed for this study and the data were analyzed using NVivo 12.0. The finding indicated that there are six elements of active learning in the activities of student-centered learning that was implemented by the Islamic Education primary school teachers in the state of Melaka. All of the elements involved had demonstrated a pattern, in which all students are involved in the activities, all students perform their own activities, students learn from the activities, varied activities according to the level of students, several sets of activities in a single teaching session and edutainment activities. This study generally suggests a method that could serve as a guideline for teachers to carry out active learning through the student-centered activity in order to realize the concept of 21st century learning in the teaching and learning process.

Promoting EFL students’ critical thinking and self-voicing through CIRC technique in Academic Writing courses

Critical thinking and self-voicing are two demanding skills that facilitate students to produce concise, authorial academic texts. While most writing programs and research have paid much attention to improving students’ writing achievement, less attention is given to promote these two skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classrooms. This article reports a classroom-based study investigating the use of the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) technique to promote EFL students’ academic writing skills. It particularly examines how the CIRC technique helps to foster students’ critical and self-voicing stance in developing argumentative texts. A participatory qualitative study was employed, involving 64 undergraduate students majoring in English Education. Data were generated from the participants’ writing portfolios, observations, and the teacher’s reflections. The collected data were managed, classified, and analyzed using NVivo 12 to elicit the emerging themes. Drawing on the qualitative content analysis, the results showed that the CIRC technique helped to shape the participants’ critical thinking and self-voicing skills which were consistently demonstrated during the student-centered activities and their writing results. The participants could engage in productive writing processes, such as critical reading, note-taking, summarizing, drafting and revising composition, peer-reviewing, and other related collaborative skills. The findings indicated that the development of students’ critical thinking and self-voicing skills simultaneously affected the quality of their academic writing texts.

Trends in Teaching Advanced Placement Statistics: Results from a National Survey

This study provides a glimpse into the professional learning, beliefs, and practices of high school teachers of Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics. Data are from a survey of 445 AP Statistics teachers in late 2018. Results indicate many AP Statistics teachers have taken several statistics courses and engage in professional development related to statistics sponsored by the College Board (summer institutes, exam readings, and online community). They generally do not engage with resources developed by the American Statistical Association and the statistics education community. While AP statistics teachers structure class time with student–student interaction and use student-centered activities, they generally do not use statistics-specific technology tools and rarely engage students with datasets larger than 100 cases or with multiple variables. Teachers’ beliefs about teaching statistics do not always reflect their teaching practices. Personal time to improve, time with students (especially those on a blocked semester schedule), structure of curriculum and exam schedule, and lack of access to technology often prevent teachers from making changes to their practices. Findings call for targeted efforts to reach high school statistics teachers, engage them more in the statistics education community, and encourage curriculum and instructional approaches that more closely align with recommendations and trends in college-level introductory statistics.

ĐỔI MỚI SỬ DỤNG DI TÍCH KHI DẠY BÀI NỘI KHOÁ LỊCH SỬ ĐỊA PHƯƠNG Ở TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG TỈNH THỪA THIÊN HUẾ

Relics are direct, original historical sources, not through a subjective lens. Therefore, they are the most objective and true compared to other types of documents. Especially at present, innovating history teaching methods must be student-centered and learning activities, increasing the use of local experiences and knowledge, taking advantage of and exploiting local learning resources. close cultural heritages, surrounding living environment, accessible to students. Therefore, innovating the method of using relics in teaching local history lessons at high schools in Thua Thien Hue province will help students more effectively exploit one of the local and precious historical sources. value to understand deeply and comprehensively about the local history, educate the qualities, especially the sense and actions to preserve and promote the values of the homeland's relics.

Medical education in Italy: Challenges and opportunities

Italy is a country of 60 million citizens with a high life expectancy, an increasing prevalence of chronic multi-morbidity and a public healthcare system. There are 61 medical schools and more than one thousand postgraduate programs for 50 different specialisations. In this article, we describe the Italian medical educational system and its most recent evolution towards a process of internationalization, alongside pedagogical and cultural changes. The main challenges are in the process of students’ selection, which is still only based on the assessment of basic knowledge, and in the reform of the post-graduate education, which lacks an official, formal definition of the learning outcomes and the aligned methods of assessment. The opportunities come from the increasing awareness of the importance of faculty development programs. The pandemic itself acted as a catalyst of innovation, pushing toward more student-centered teaching-learning activities. Finally, an increase in international collaborations in medical education research could be effective to foster the development of medical education in the country.

Pengembangan Perangkat Pembelajaran Model Inkuiri Terstruktur untuk Meningkatkan Keterampilan Komunikasi dan Kreativitas Peserta Didik Kelas V Sekolah Dasar

[The Development of Structured Inquiry Model Learning Set to Improve the Communication Skills and Creativity of Grade V Elementary School Students]. The latest science learning must contain student-centered activities so they are able to practice communication skills and creativity. This study aims to produce valid, practical, and effective structured inquiry learning sets to improve students communication skills and creativity. This research is an R&D model development research with one group pretest-posttest design and one shot case study design and tested on 20 students of class V SDN Geluran 1. Data obtained through validation, observation, questionnaires, and creativity tests. Validation was carried out by three experts and the reliability was analyzed using Alpha Cronbach. Observations were carried out by two observers. Questionnaries filled out by each student. The results of the creativity test were analyzed using the mean and N-Gain. The results showed that the learning set was very valid with a mean score is 91,97. The observation score shows an increase in each aspect in each meeting. Students responses ranged from 92% to 100%. The average pretest result is 57 with 6 completed. The average posttest result is 85 with 20 completed. The N-Gain score shows 6 students in the high category and 14 students in the medium category. It can be concluded that the students communication skills and creativity can be improved by using structured inquiry learning model.

WHAT IS INTERACTIVE TEACHING?

This article deals with the issue of the importance that the interactive classroom is one in which communication patterns involve students to teacher, teacher to students, and students to students. The interactive classroom is a stimulating place in which students have been motivated to learn, and are given the freedom to explore, discover and inquire. In the interactive classroom you will find teacher-centered as well as student-centered activities

Prospective Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development in an Elementary Science Methods Course

ABSTRACT This study investigated the nature of the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development among 22 prospective teachers enrolled in an elementary science methods course. The nature of prospective teachers’ PCK development was investigated in relation to their experiences in planning, enacting, and reflecting upon a Physical science lesson. The study was framed by the literature on the nature of PCK and PCK development. Narratives, together with other data sets, were used to embed the prospective teachers’ experiences throughout the 15-week methods course. Data analysis indicated that prospective teachers’ orientation to teaching was focused on keeping students’ engaged with teacher-centered or student-centered activities and was a needed requirement for learning science content. This orientation to teaching also served as the predominant knowledge component that scripted, filtered, amplified and mediated the other PCK components, and thereby dictated the prospective teachers’ PCK development traced across time. This orientation was also used as a frame of reference to plan, enact, and reflect upon science lessons. Implications include the need for teacher educators to provide authentic platforms for prospective teachers to trace and track their PCK development. Authentic platforms include the use of studenting and teaching narratives together with other praxis tools, and the use of domain/discipline-specific PCK as a frame of reference to provide the essential explanatory factor for understanding PCK development from the dynamic processes of planning, enacting, and reflecting upon science lessons respectively.

Educating Students in Technology Enhanced Learning Design by Interweaving Instruction and Assessment

Developing an engaging and positive learning environment for learners, especially in a particular course, is one of the most creative aspects of teaching. Learning design supports the design of interventions, which are pedagogically informed, promote student-centered learning activities and make effective use of appropriate resources and technologies. In the context of this work, a framework is proposed for teaching learning design issues in tertiary education which interweaves teacher-centered activities with student-centered activities. The students are engaged in lab activities and in a learning design peer assessment project. Sustainable feedback practices are considered an integral part of the whole process. Findings drawn from an empirical study carried out during two consecutive academic years reveal that the interweaving of instruction and assessment may contribute to the understanding of the main learning design issues and to the cultivation of skills both in the development of educational applications as well as in the design of technology enhanced learning activities.

Efectos académicos de una enseñanza mixta versus metodología única centrada en el profesor y enfoques de aprendizaje

Recent research in the area of higher education appears to indicate that a mixed teaching methodology that combines direct instruction by the teacher and student-centered activities improves the quality of learning, as indicated by student satisfaction and academic performance. However, the successful implementation of such methodology depends to a great extent on the teacher?s understanding of how students approach their learning. In light of this thesis, the present study seeks to: (1) identify the engineering students? approaches to learning; (2) determine if a mixed methodology that combines lectures and problem-based learning (PBL) activities improves the quality of students? academic results more than traditional teaching methodology that consists primarily of the teacher?s explanations and assignments; and (3) explore the relationships between students? academic results and the approaches to learning and the teaching-learning methods that have been investigated. Utilizing a quasiexperimental design, 160 engineering students were divided into two groups: an experimental group where students completed the course with a mixed teaching methodology, and a control group wherein students attended a course following a more teacher-centered methodology. The analyzed results show that engineering students mainly adopt a deep learning approach. One of the main findings of this study is that a mixed methodology, such as the presented in this work, is more effective because it improves students? satisfaction and academic performance significantly. It also promotes deeper processing than a teacher-centered methodology that is based on lectures and individual practical assignments. In addition, it has been supported that the main approaches to learning that the students in the study used are not consistent. The methods that they use vary significantly depending on the requirements of the instructional context and how students understand it.