Research Article
Hannele Niemi, Shuanghong Niu, Marianna Vivitsou, Baoping Li
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp. 331-353
ABSTRACT
The aim of this digital storytelling (DST) study was to investigate how students acquire twenty-first-century competencies, here focusing on active knowledge creation and collaboration in math learning. The study also examined how engaged the students were in DST lessons and what teachers’ perceptions of DST were as a learning method. DST was implemented in four Chinese and two Finnish classes with 10- and 11-year-old students. Data were collected quantitatively and qualitatively. The students assessed their learning experiences with structured questionnaires during and after the study. Students’ behavior was also observed, and the teachers were interviewed. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a linear regression analysis, and the qualitative data were analyzed using a content analysis. The study showed that the DST method guided students toward active collaborative learning; the students learned how to work in groups to produce new ideas, and they learned not only about math but also about how math relates to everyday life. The students were highly engaged throughout the study. Similarly, the teachers reported that the students displayed active knowledge creation and increased motivation and engagement. Results indicate that DST encourages students to apply new technology in their learning and supports students’ development in math literacy and twenty-first-century competencies.
Keywords: Digital storytelling, Twenty-first-century-competencies, Math literacy
Research Article
Mustafa Serkan Gunbatar
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp. 354-373
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to determine undergraduate and associate degree students’ computer programming attitude and self-efficacy levels, and compare them according to thinking style, gender, department, weekly study time, and programming experience variables. The study employed the correlational research model. The researcher attempted to reach all associate and undergraduate students who had received the computer programming course at a state university. The computer programming self-efficacy scale, the computer programming attitude scale, and the holistic and analytic thinking in problem-solving scale were used to collect research data. Results suggested that the participants with different thinking styles showed significant differences regarding programming attitude and programming self-efficacy. Programming attitude and thinking style were significant predictors of programming self-efficacy. No difference was observed between genders in terms of the common effect and the partial effect of programming attitude and programming self-efficacy. However; differences were observed between participants from different departments and with different weekly study time. There was also a significant difference between the participants with different programming experience levels in terms of the common effect of programming attitude and self-efficacy, whereas no difference was found in terms of attitude alone.
Keywords: Computer education, Programming self-efficay, Programming attitude, Thinking style, University students
Research Article
Graham Howlett, Zainee Waemusa
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp. 374-389
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine how Thai EFL high-school teachers view and use mobile devices (such as smart phones) in educational settings, and if the age-based digital native/digital immigrant divide would highlight any differences in responses. The participants were 55 Thai EFL teachers in 8 schools of different sizes in Southern Thailand, who were split into digital-native and digital-immigrant subgroups during data analysis. Participants completed a 35-item Likert-type scale covering a range of topics related to mobile devices in the EFL setting including their ability, experience, school/personal policy, instructional utilization, and whether they supported mobile devices as a learning aid. The results showed that while digital native teachers consistently responded more positively towards the benefits/uses of mobile devices in EFL teaching/learning than the older digital immigrant teachers often at a significant level, all teachers -regardless of age- agreed on the benefits and promotion of mobile devices as EFL learning aids. Results of this study expand the knowledge base of EFL teachers’ mobile device experiences and practice while raising awareness of significant differences between digital natives and digital immigrants, and recommendations are made for policymakers, schools, and teachers.
Keywords: Mobile devices in EFL context, Mobile assisted language learning, Digital native, Digital immigrant, Bring your own device, Mobile learning
Research Article
Kevser Hava, Mehmet Fikret Gelibolu
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp. 390-404
ABSTRACT
With the advent of portable technological devices such as mobile phones and tablets, online learning environments have become widespread at schools. This, in turn, has resulted in the emergence of a new learning environment: flipped classrooms. The flipped classroom could be defined as a modern learning environment where teaching content is presented to students through online sources outside the school. The present study examined the impact of digital citizenship instruction through the flipped classroom model on various variables such as learning performance, self-regulated learning, self-directed learning, and information literacy. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design in which pre-tests and post-tests were applied to both research and control groups. The participants were 59 teacher candidates who were freshman undergraduates at Bozok University. During a five-week implementation process, research group students performed certain activities related to digital citizenship while the control group learned digital citizenship via traditional methods. The results showed that the flipped classroom model had a significant effect on only learning performance. No difference were observed between research and control groups in terms of self-regulated learning, self-directed learning, and information literacy variables.
Keywords: Digital citizenship, Flippped classroom, Learning performance, Self-regulated learning, Self-directed learning, Information literacy
Research Article
Ekaterina Pechenkina, Amanda Scardamaglia, Janet Gregory
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp. 405-422
ABSTRACT
This mixed method study involved twenty students enrolled in three consecutive intakes of an Australian Bachelor of Laws program’s introductory unit. Pioneering a multi-element blended design, the unit featured three key elements: summary videos, self-test online quizzes and interactive discussion boards. These elements were chosen based on evidence-based research into digital tools found effective in enhancing students’ face-to-face learning experience in blended and fully online designs. The study’s main goal was to evaluate how students utilized these elements and in what ways their previous experiences with blended designs influenced their learning process in this unit. A focus-group and online surveys were used to collect data. Based on literature review, four areas of student experience with this blended designs formed a particular focus of this study: student expectations, support, resources, and collaboration. It was found that students extensively used videos and quizzes for catch-up, revision, and clarification, while discussion boards were not perceived as useful, with students preferring to have discussions face-to-face, in and out of classroom. Findings also indicated that students’ expectations of and previous experiences with blended learning can be leveraged to strengthen blended designs.
Keywords: Blended learning, Videos, Quizzes, Discussion boards, Law program, Student experiences
Research Article
Kutay Uzun
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp. 423-436
ABSTRACT
Managing crowded classes in terms of classroom assessment is a difficult task due to the amount of time which needs to be devoted to providing feedback to student products. In this respect, the present study aimed to develop an automated essay scoring environment as a potential means to overcome this problem. Secondarily, the study aimed to test if automatically-given scores would correlate with the scores given by a human rater. A quantitative research design employing a machine learning approach was preferred to meet the aims of the study. The data set to be used for machine learning consisted of 160 scored literary analysis essays written in an English Literature course, each essay analyzing a theme in a given literary work. To train the automated scoring model, LightSide software was used. First, textual features were extracted and filtered. Then, Logistic Regression, SMO, SVO, Logistic Tree and Naïve Bayes text classification algorithms were tested by using 10-Fold Cross-Validation to reach the most accurate model. To see if the scores given by the computer correlated with the scores given by the human rater, Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient was calculated. The results showed that none of the algorithms were sufficiently accurate in terms of the scores of the essays within the data set. It was also seen that the scores given by the computer were not significantly correlated with the scores given by the human rater. The findings implied that the size of the data collected in an authentic classroom environment was too small for classification algorithms in terms of automated essay scoring for classroom assessment.
Keywords: Automated essay scoring, Literary analysis essay, Classification algorithms, Machine learning