TM Engagement Research Articles

An Exploration of Students' Engagement in EFL Asynchronous Class

Students’ engagement is an ongoing concern for educators because of its positive association with deep learning, educational purpose, and educational outcomes. The purpose of this study is to reveal the students’ engagement and to explore the factors of students’ engagement in EFL asynchronous classes. This research was qualitative design with a case study approach. The participants of this study were 35 ten-grades students in one of the senior high schools in Majalengka. Survey and interview were used to gain the data from the participants. The survey was conducted to 35 ten-graders which mainly focused on their engagement during the asynchronous class as well as their reasons of being to or not engage with the lessons. Meanwhile, factors influenced their engagement in the asynchronous class were elaborated using the interview. The result showed that students gave positive responses in students’ engagement on cognitive and behavioral engagement, most of the students both high and middle achievers always follow the teacher instructions and sometimes give opinions/ideas. The most prominent factors that influence students’ engagement is teacher factors, among them are interesting teaching method and teachers’ characteristic This study suggests that teachers need a variety of methods in which to use online platforms and conduct more creative activities in order to get the best learning outcomes.Keywords: Asynchronous Learning, EFL Class, Student Engagement.

PEER FEEDBACK ON STUDENT TEACHERS’ TEACHING PRACTICE THROUGH MICROBLOGGING WITH INSTAGRAM

Technology integration in foreign language classroom is a prerequisite in this post pandemic era. Social media technologies have a great promise to boost efficacy of language learning and students’ engagement. As one of the social media platforms, Instagram rapidly gained popularity, with one billion registered users in 2018 and it is still growing bigger today. It introduced hashtags to help users discover both photos and each other. As student teachers of English, teaching skill is a big must. In teaching practice, the learning engagement is reflected by giving peer feedback. Creative and innovative peer feedback can encourage the student teachers’ professional development as a teacher. Therefore, this study sheds light on the use of Instagram as the media for giving student teachers peer feedback after they have teaching practice in the form of microblog by using carousel photos and hashtag in Instagram. Thus, qualitative method is chosen to capture the objective of the study by questionnaire, documentation and semi-structured interview. The finding of this study is expected to provide new insight to develop engagement especially in giving feedback in the teaching practice for EFL student teachers in this hybrid learning.

The interface between liturgy and moral decision-making in defiance of cognitive distortions that underlie corruption

The central theme of the present argument is the matter of church participants’ engagement in liturgy and how this could enhance their capacity for making moral decisions. First, one should acknowledge that participants in the liturgy and faith communities have to cope with the reality that people should make moral decisions within the public domain. Liturgy has inevitably enabled participants to see things they do not or may not want to. The functioning of cognitive distortions in corruption is evident in systemic political corruption and micro-levels of community and culture. Furthermore, people are confronted with different kinds of understandings about corruption. In this article, it is argued that moral decision-making should be enhanced and communicated by liturgy. It embarks on descriptive, systemising, and strategizing perspectives to delineate faith communities’ responsibility regarding people’s duty to act morally within their environments. First, this article offers a descriptive section of the currently concerning aspects to be found under this rubric. Second, systemising perspectives based on the philosophy of religion and cognitive psychology are examined as centred on the intimate interplay with ethics and liturgy. Finally, the following research question is formulated and briefly discussed: Could participation in the liturgy offer a new understanding to people confronted with moral decision-making in a praxis of cognitive corruption? The methodological approach of Browning has been carefully identified to arrange the research into coherent phases and reflect on the research question.
 Contribution: The article concludes with one or two practical theological perspectives that could lead to a follow-up discussion around how cognitive corruption could be addressed within a liturgical praxis.

Occupational Therapy Student-Run Free Clinic: Mutual Benefits in Expanded Homeless and Health Services and Clinical Skills Development

Background: Evidence indicates occupational therapy (OT) services can address the unmet needs of individuals experiencing homelessness (IEH) to promote health, engagement in meaningful activities, and independent living skills. Additionally, student-run free clinics (SRFCs) are an effective method for developing clinical skills while providing needed services for the community. Based on the available evidence, a student-run OT clinic was developed in partnership with a local homeless services agency. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the services established in an OT SRFC in a homeless population to determine the initial effectiveness of the clinic for students and clients. It was hypothesized that the SRFC would increase student perceived clinical skills and provide mutual benefit to clients.
 Methods: Participants of this SRFC included 17 OT students (n=10 doctoral students, n=7 masters students) and 70 IEH since its opening in Fall 2018. OT students developed and implemented evidenced-based group and individual interventions designed to address health, wellness, and quality of life for the homeless population. Student skills competency, confidence, and client satisfaction were regularly evaluated through survey. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to determine statistical differences.
 Results: Results indicate that clients are satisfied with clinic services, students’ engagement, and some positive changes in independent living skills. Students reported statistically significant improvement in competency of professional behaviors (p<0.001) and interventions (p=0.003).
 Conclusion: Providing OT services through an SRFC is a promising approach to service delivery within the homeless population due to the mutual benefit for students to increase clinical and interpersonal skills and attitudes in preparation for entry-level practice.

The Washback of Formative Assessment in EFL Instructions

Assessment is a critical component in the process of teaching and learning. Without an effective assessment, it is impossible to know whether students have learned the lesson. This research aimed to investigate the washback of a formative assessment in EFL instructions. This study was a case study conducted at SMA Negeri 2 Singkep. The data were collected by using observation guidelines, questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis. This study has findings: 1) Good perception of formative assessment. It was drawn from interview questions and observation guidelines which showed that the teacher claimed to have good experience in implementing formative assessment, teacher figured out assessment importance, and teacher assumed by using supported media to address formative assessment. 2) Positive washback on EFL teaching. It was drawn from document analysis, observation, and interview which the results showed that the teacher provided good attention on the lesson plan, the teacher was successful on students’ engagement, the teacher used systematic instruction and understandable language use. 3) Positive washback on EFL learning. It was drawn from questionnaires and observation which the results showed students had good participation in doing a task, students had responsibility in learning, and students and the teacher had a kind relationship in the classroom. In conclusion, it is recommended that the teacher should understand more the formative assessment and readiness of the students. We suggested teachers provide oral and written advice or feedback that is written down on students' writing tasks or another subject.

The Opportunities and Challenges of Integrating Hologram Experiments into a Highly Visual Telepresence Course

Higher education is used to nurture advanced specialized training; however, nurturing innovative and practical ability is hard to put into practice. In experimental teaching, hands-on activities are offered to promote students’ practical ability, leading to better-specialized training. This study aims to explore students’ engagement, communication and collaborative skills, as well as learning outcomes by integrating hologram experiments into a university course. Eight university students participated in this study for 3-weeks. Hologram theory was taught in the first week, while in the second and third weeks, the students performed experiments. Pre- and post-test data were collected using questionnaires during the first and last week, respectively. Besides, in-depth interviews were conducted. The findings revealed that students were able to interact with each other, which promoted their engagement in experimenting. Moreover, teammates were able to communicate and collaborate effectively, which led to higher achievement in their learning outcomes. Despite the benefits reported, opportunities and challenges were identified for teachers and students to be aware of during hologram experiments to help them develop creative skills and develop an understanding of holography concepts.

Increasing Consumer Engagement on Social Networks: Social Media Influencer’s Followers ‘Like’ to See a Face in a Post

Purpose – The purpose of the study was to test whether Instagram influencers can affect followers’ engagement using a simple modification to an Instagram post content. Design/Methodology/Approach – The study focused on the posts sampled from Croatian Instagram SMIs with more than ten thousand followers. Ten posts from each SMI were analysed for both low engagement, i.e. the number of likes, and high engagement, i.e. the number of comments, along with information on whether a face and other features of an SMI features were shown in a post. Findings and implications – Human face in a post increases engagement, but only the lower type (i.e. the number of likes a post receives), even when the effect of the number of followers is statistically controlled for. A higher type of engagement (i.e. the number of comments) is not affected by the presence of a face in a post. Limitations – A lack of formal operationalization of SMIs leads to a more conservative sample of only those SMIs with more than ten thousand followers. The content of the posts preceding the analysed post, which could have influenced the followers’ behaviour, could not be measured due to the study design. Originality – Although previous research has shown that a face in an Instagram post leads to more likes and comments among friends, the relationship between SMIs and their followers lacks the exact reciprocity of like-for-like. Given that the followers’ gains are not straightforward in this kind of relationship, the finding that a face shown in a post can affect engagement is worth scientific attention.

The Impact of Educational Technologies on University Teachers’ Self-efficacy

The teaching profession is always evolving. Teachers have to upgrade their knowledge and skills to be in line with students’ and employers’ needs. The challenges teachers are facing are the continuously changing conditions of the teaching process and technological innovations. Unsuccessful and numerous attempts to overcome these challenges negatively affect teachers’ self-efficacy. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of educational technologies on university teachers’ self-efficacy level changes using quantitative (pre and post-self-efficacy test) and qualitative (peer-observation, interviews) research methods. The study involved 60 in-service ESP teachers with different length of teaching experience. Teachers were exposed to a short practical course on technologies integration into the teaching process, and after that, they had to demonstrate the practical application of the knowledge obtained. The findings showed that educational technologies integration had positive influence on four components of teachers’ self-efficacy: classroom management, instruction strategies design, students’ engagement and technologies integration. During the course delivery, we dealt with two problems: computer anxiety (senior teachers), as well as technology and pedagogical content knowledge framework (novice teachers).  https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.6.1 9

Engaging EFL students with literature: An Algerian perspective

The objective of the present paper is to argue for the necessity of engaging students with literature in the Algerian EFL context. It attempts to show that the interface between language and literature is conducive to learning potentials for students at the different levels of language and literary studies. On this basis and in response to the inadequacies of the traditional transmissive approach to teaching literature in the Algerian context, which have been reported in the findings of many investigative studies, the paper suggests the shift towards a process-oriented approach to teaching literature that is fundamentally task- based. It also acknowledges the role of the reader response stance in sustaining students’ engagement with the literary text by drawing on their own experiences and thinking skills in meaning making.
 Keywords: Engagement, EFL classroom, literature, process approach, traditional approach, task-based, reader response.

The Effects of a Discovery Learning Module on Geometry for Improving Students’ Mathematical Reasoning Skills, Communication and Self-Confidence

The aim of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the Discovery Learning Module on Geometry (D-Geometry Module) in improving reasoning skills, communication, and self-confidence in mathematics among secondary school students. The research design was a quasi-experimental with a non-equivalent control group with pre-test and post-test design, where 128 students were grouped according to gender and the group of the intervention as well as a traditional group. Mathematical reasoning skills, communication, and self-confidence instruments were administered towards the students involved. Two-way MANOVA analysis showed that there was a main effect of the grouping. The finding showed that the integration of learning theories and discovery learning in Geometry could improve students’ reasoning, mathematical communication, and self-confidence. Students’ engagement is more dominant through the Discovery Learning Module rather than traditional learning. Therefore, the D-Geometry module should be used as a teaching resource for teachers, students, and curriculum-2013 (K-13) to facilitate classroom instruction. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.1 2

A new approach to professional learning and development for technology teachers in New Zealand: Developing networks of expertise

This article presents a study that focuses on the Mātanga’ (Māori term for expert) perspectives of their leadership in a professional learning and development (PLD) programme in technology education. Funded by the Ministry of Education’s Network of Expertise Initiative, the PLD programme was designed and delivered by Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ), to foster teachers’ engagement with the technology education curriculum. It aimed to develop teachers' specialist identity by focusing on Reinsfield and Williams’ notions of technological and technical thinking, by matching teachers with Mātanga. The Mātanga identified various factors affecting the nature of technology education in New Zealand, and had differing understandings and interpretations of technology, which resulted from their professional experiences. They recognised various factors affecting the nature of technology education in New Zealand. Most evident were the tensions in teachers’ curriculum and assessment understanding, and the pressures being placed on practitioners to remain current in their practice.

BLENDED LEARNING ENGAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ BACKGROUNDS

Purpose – Digital technology has transformed teaching and learning in such a way that it seems imperative lecturers and institutions need to adapt and adopt a blended learning model of instruction across disciplines. However, there is a scarcity of studies to determine the degree of students’ engagement on blended or online university courses. The purpose of the study is to investigate students’ cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, and behavioural engagement in a blended learning model of instruction as well as specifically assess their engagement based on demographic factors such as age, gender, field of study, ethnicity, and type of institution in leading Malaysian public and private higher education institutions. Methodology – A non-experimental quantitative research design was employed in this study. 462 undergraduate and postgraduate students were sampled using the Blended Learning Readiness Engagement Questionnaire©. Subsequently, WINSTEPS Rasch model measurement software was used to determine the reliability and validity of the research instrument. Descriptive statistics and differential item functioning (DIF) were conducted to assess students’ engagement in a blended learning model of instruction with the latter analysing specifically on student’s demographic factors such as age, gender, field of study, ethnicity, and type of institution. Findings – Findings show high levels of engagement in blended learning activities among students in both public and private higher education institutions based on their cognitive, emotional, and behavioural engagement processes. Findings also indicates differences in students’ engagement based on demographic factors such as age, gender, field of study, ethnicity, and type of institution. Significance –The findings of this study will help lecturers reflect on their own teaching practices in this era of technology advancement where a blended learning model of instruction are given increased prioritisation and proliferation. Implications and recommendations for future research in blended learning practices are presented.

PERSONAL BEST GOALS: DO THEY MEDIATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER AUTONOMY SUPPORT AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT?

Purpose ˗ The role of teacher autonomy support (TAS) is central to students’ engagement. However, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence on the mediating role of personal best (PB) goals between autonomy support and student engagement. Hence, in this research we examined the extent to which TAS could impact cognitive, behavioural and emotional engagement with the mediating role of PB goals among undergraduate students. Methodology ˗ A cross-sectional research design was applied. A total of 266 undergraduate students from a large government university located in northern Malaysia participated in this research. The Learning Climate Questionnaire (LCQ) and the Personal Best Scale were used to measure the students’ perception of TAS and their PB goals respectively, while the Engagement Versus Disaffection with Learning measurement scale and the Metacognitive Strategies Questionnaire were used to collect data on cognitive, behavioural and emotional engagement. Structural Equation Modelling using AMOS 23 was adopted to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings ˗ The results of the study support our postulated model, showing that TAS is related with student engagement aspects through the full mediating role of PB goals. Significance ˗ These results augment the present understanding of the self-determination theory motivation mediation model by highlighting that creating a conducive learning environment that facilitates self-determined behaviours among students will nurture PB goals and enhance engagement, which will be beneficial for teaching and learning processes in education.

The Effectiveness of Using Digital Game towards Students’ Academic Achievement in Small and Large Classes: A Comparative Research

The reduced engagement of students in large classes is one concern that may have an impact on the low level of students' academic achievement. The use of a digital game is one proven teaching media that increase students’ engagement in learning. This research seeks to compare the effectiveness of using digital games towards students' academic achievement in small and large classes. This quasi-experimental research uses a pretest-posttest nonequivalent multiple group design involving 58 pre-service physics teachers in two classes, namely small class and large class. Both classes use the same digital game application to study the nature of light. Data were collected through a paper and pencil test consisting of multiple-choice questions. The result showed that the use of a digital game could increase students' academic achievement. The students’ game score achievement and the increase in academic achievement were positively correlated. The use of a digital game in large classes can significantly increase students' academic achievement compared to small classes. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.12.12

The impact of corporate social responsibility on community development: Evidence from Ghana

Corporate bodies have come to the realisation that establishing a strong rapport with surrounding communities is vital for the growth, success and survival of their organisations. This article delves into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities of business organisations operating in Ghana. Specifically, it looks at how CSR initiatives of sampled companies contribute to community development (CD). To attain this aim, both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were adopted. The purposive sampling technique was used to select companies operating in three main sectors of the economy. Secondary data sources such as companies’ periodicals, annual reports, websites, newspapers and publications by government agencies were used. The findings of the study reveal that the selected companies engaged in various forms of CSR activities that contribute to CD. There general focus of these companies is on education, health and people empowerment. It is recommended that stakeholders’ engagement needs to be fully practised in the course of CSR implementation.
 Keywords: Community, community development, corporate social responsibility.

Transparency of law making and fiscal democracy in the Middle East

Fiscal democracy is the capacity of the legislature to make budgetary choices in response to the emerging needs of citizens. This study indicates that, in Middle Eastern countries, there are specific limitations to fiscal democracy in the process of law-making: most notably the lack of attention to financial impact assessments (FIAs). Without systematic FIAs, mandatory out-of-budget allocations are inadvertently included in public spending, as they do not require parliamentary approval within the regular budgeting process. The low level of effective citizens’ engagement in the process of law-making worsens the situation. Budgetary decisions are not well informed by national priorities and preferences. This study utilizes the dataset of the Open Budget Index (OBI) to measure the quality of the law-making process of the budget law in a sample of Middle Eastern countries. The study concludes with recommendations on mapping the law-making process to increase budget transparency.

Can Emotional Intelligence Help in Reducing Auditor’s Engagement in Quality Threatening Behaviours?

Quality Threatening Behaviours (QTBs) in auditing are associated with reduced audit quality and are under the focus of researchers and practitioners for the last two decades following the major corporate failures around the globe. QTBs are a constant threat for audit profession and lawmakers, regulatory bodies, practitioners and researchers are striving to reduce auditors’ engagement in these undesirable behaviours. Existing literature advocates that emotional intelligence (EI) meaningfully affects workplace behaviours. Wong and Law (2002) affirm that emotional intelligence is linked to job performance. Emotionally intelligent individuals respond to negative issues related to work in a better way (Greenidge, Devonish, & Alleyne, 2014). On the other hand, individuals who score low on emotional intelligence face problems in regulating emotions instigated by negative work practices reacting in a manner that can be detrimental for the organization and its members (Quebbeman and Rozell, 2002). Emotional intelligence is equally important for individuals in the accounting profession (Daff, de Lange, & Jackling, 2012). Akers and Porter (2003) proclaim that “EI skills are critical for the success of the accounting profession” (p. 65). Auditing is a frantic occupation that causes pressure on auditors (Fisher, 2001) that fetch damaging outcomes. Negative behaviours of auditors are caused by different pressures and lessen the quality of audit, emotional intelligence ability can help auditors in avoiding indulgence in these behaviours (Yang, Brink, & Wier, 2018). Grounding on the role of emotional intelligence at work across different contexts and its ability to negatively affect harmful workplace behaviours, it can be inferred that emotional intelligence can reduce auditors engagement in quality threatening audit behaviours.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Employer Attractiveness: Perspectives of Students on the African continent

This paper explores the importance that potential employees attach to CSR practices of firms and how their perceptions of CSR may translate into their willingness to work for CSR practicing firms. The paper sought to investigate the effect of students’ CSR perception on their perception of the attractiveness of CSR practicing firms as prospective employers and also explore the possible moderating effects of student’s demographic characteristics on the relationship between their perception of CSR and the employer attractiveness of CSR practicing firms. The study employed correlations, multiple and hierarchical regression analyses to explore data collected from 603 students in the largest university in Ghana. Male respondents had attached significantly higher importance to firms’ engagement in CSR activities than their female counterparts while respondents from the African continent attached higher importance to firms’ engagement in CSR practices than respondents from other continents with the exception of Australia. Additionally, individual’s perception of firms engagement in CSR was found to be positively related to their perceived attraction to CSR practicing firms as prospective employers. Results of the study indicate that CSR can be employed to differentiate job offerings within the African context and as such, CSR can serve as an employer branding tool in Africa. This study represents one of the first attempts to explore the role of demographic characteristics in affecting individuals’ CSR perceptions as well as the role of CSR perceptions in affecting the attractiveness of prospective employers within the African context.Â

Managerial Ability and Technology-driven Mergers and Acquisitions

This paper investigates how managerial ability affects firms’ engagement in M&A transactions given different levels of acquirers’ R&D intensity. Using data of US firms, the empirical results show that firms with more able managers are more likely to participate in M&As, and the effect is more pronounced when the acquirers already have high R&D intensity. The consistent results on serial M&As further support our conclusion. We also show that more able managers tend to select targets with high R&D gap over acquirers when the acquirers have high R&D intensity.

Affect-Adaptive Activities in a Personalised Ubiquitous Learning System

Many literatures have shown the importance of emotion in learning because of their effect on learner’s performances thereby giving reasons why learners’ affective states are crucial to learning. In this light, this research work aims to identify affect-adaptive activities that would improve learning in a personalised ubiquitous learning system by detecting learning style and affective states through some patterns of  behaviours. In the study, learners’ preference are determined, learners affective states such as confidence, effort, independence and confusion are investigated. The ant colony clustering algorithm is used to determine learners’ activities. The four affective states are determined from the learners’ forum threads, content activities, assessment, timing, and discussion through learners’ engagement. The result of this research on two separate courses, Course A (Affect) and Course B (Non-Affect) shows that the four affective states influence learning. The average mean and standard deviation (SD) value for Course A (Mean=276.23, SD=272.27) over Course B (Mean=200.58, SD=210.51) showed an improvement in learning performance and the t-Test carried out between the courses suggested that students’ performance is dependent on their affective states. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.7.3