Search results for: student evaluations

Authors: Nune Ayvazyan

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Since the proclamation of monolingual foreign-language learning methods (the Berlitz Method in the early 20ᵗʰ century and the like), the dilemma has been to allow or not to allow learners’ mother tongue in the foreign-language learning process. The reason for not allowing learners’ mother tongue is reported to create a situation of immersion where students will only use the target language. It could be argued that this artificial monolingual situation is defective, mainly because there are very few real monolingual situations in the society. This is mainly due to the fact that societies are nowadays increasingly multilingual as plurilingual speakers are the norm rather than an exception. More recently, the use of learners’ mother tongue and translation has been put under the spotlight as valid foreign-language teaching tools. The logic dictates that if learners were permitted to use their mother tongue in the foreign-language learning process, that would not only be natural, but also would give them additional means of participation in class, which could eventually lead to learning. For example, when learners’ metalinguistic skills are poor in the target language, a question they might have could be asked in their mother tongue. Otherwise, that question might be left unasked. Attempts at empirically testing the role of translation as a didactic tool in foreign-language teaching are still very scant. In order to fill this void, this study looks into the interaction patterns between students in two kinds of English-learning classes: one with translation and the other in English only (immersion). The experiment was carried out with 61 students enrolled in a second-year university subject in English grammar in Spain. All the students underwent the two treatments, classes with translation and in English only, in order to see how they interacted under the different conditions. The analysis centered on four categories of interaction: teacher talk, teacher-initiated student interaction, student-initiated student-to-teacher interaction, and student-to-student interaction. Also, pre-experiment and post-experiment questionnaires and individual interviews gathered information about the students’ attitudes to translation. The findings show that translation elicited more student-initiated interaction than did the English-only classes, while the difference in teacher-initiated interactional turns was not statistically significant. Also, student-initiated participation was higher in comprehension-based activities (into L1) as opposed to production-based activities (into L2). As evidenced by the questionnaires, the students’ attitudes to translation were initially positive and mainly did not vary as a result of the experiment.

Keywords: foreign language, learning, mother tongue, translation

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Authors: Lennon Furtado, Sandro Oliveira

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The importance of an effective measurement program lies in the ability to control and predict what can be measured. Thus, the measurement program has the capacity to provide bases in decision-making to support the interests of an organization. Therefore, it is only possible to apply for an effective measurement program with a team of software engineers well trained in the measurement area. However, the literature indicates that are few computer science courses that have in their program the teaching of the software measurement process. And even these, generally present only basic theoretical concepts of said process and little or no measurement in practice, which results in the student's lack of motivation to learn the measurement process. In this context, according to some experts in software process improvements, one of the most used approaches to maintaining the motivation and commitment to software process improvements program is the use of the gamification. Therefore, this paper aims to present a proposal of teaching the measurement process by gamification. Which seeks to improve student motivation and performance in the assimilation of tasks related to software measurement, by incorporating elements of games into the practice of measurement process, making it more attractive for learning. And as a way of validating the proposal will be made a comparison between two distinct groups of 20 students of Software Quality class, a control group, and an experiment group. The control group will be the students that will not make use of the gamification proposal to learn software measurement process, while the experiment group, will be the students that will make use of the gamification proposal to learn software measurement process. Thus, this paper will analyze the objective and subjective results of each group. And as objective result will be analyzed the student grade reached at the end of the course, and as subjective results will be analyzed a post-course questionnaire with the opinion of each student about the teaching method. Finally, this paper aims to prove or refute the following hypothesis: If the gamification proposal to teach software measurement process does appropriate motivate the student, in order to attribute the necessary competence to the practical application of the measurement process.

Keywords: education, gamification, software measurement process, software engineering

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Authors: Christina Van Wingerden

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This paper focuses on a sense of belonging, isolation, and the use of a learning management system as a “third space” for connection and community. Given student use of learning management systems (LMS) for courses on campuses, moderate to high use of social media and hand-held devices, the author explores the possibilities of LMS as a third space. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated student experiences of isolation, and research indicates that students who experience a sense of belonging have a greater likelihood for academic retention and success. The impacts on students of an LMS designed for student employee orientation and training were examined through a mixed methods approach, including a survey, individual interviews, and focus groups. The sample involved 250-450 undergraduate student employees at a US northwestern university. The goal of the study was to find out the efficiency and effectiveness of the orientation information for a wide range of student employees from multiple student affairs departments. And unexpected finding emerged within the study in 2015 and was noted again as a finding in the 2017 study. Students reported feeling like they individually connected to the department, and further to the university because of the LMS orientation. They stated they could see themselves as part of the university community and like they belonged. The orientation, through the LMS, was designed for and occurred online (asynchronous), prior to students traveling and beginning university life for the academic year. The students indicated connection and belonging resulting from some of the design features. With the onset of COVID-19 and prolonged sheltering in place in North America, as well as other parts of the world, students have been precluded from physically gathering to educate and learn. COVID-19 essentially paused face-to-face education in 2020. Media, governments, and higher education outlets have been reporting on widespread college student stress, isolation, loneliness, and sadness. In this context, the author conducted a current mixed methods study (online survey, online interviews) of students in advanced degree programs, like Ph.D. and Ed.D. specifically investigating isolation and sense of belonging. As a part of the study a prototype of a Canvas site was experienced by student interviewees for their reaction of this Canvas site prototype as a “third” space. Some preliminary findings of this study are presented. Doctoral students in the study affirmed the potential of LMS as a third space for community and social academic connection.

Keywords: COVID-19, isolation, learning management system, sense of belonging

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Authors: Andriy Didenko, Zanin Kavazovic

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Engineering students often have certain difficulties in mastering major theoretical concepts in mathematical courses such as differential equations. Student projects were proposed to motivate students’ learning and can be used as a tool to promote students’ interest in the material. Authors propose a student project that includes the use of Microsoft Excel. This instructional tool is often overlooked by both educators and students. An integral component of the experimental part of such a project is the exploration of an interactive spreadsheet. The aim is to assist engineering students in better understanding of Euler’s method. This method is employed to numerically solve first order differential equations. At first, students are invited to select classic equations from a list presented in a form of a drop-down menu. For each of these equations, students can select and modify certain key parameters and observe the influence of initial condition on the solution. This will give students an insight into the behavior of the method in different configurations as solutions to equations are given in numerical and graphical forms. Further, students could also create their own equations by providing functions of their own choice and a variety of initial conditions. Moreover, they can visualize and explore the impact of the length of the time step on the convergence of a sequence of numerical solutions to the exact solution of the equation. As a final stage of the project, students are encouraged to develop their own spreadsheets for other numerical methods and other types of equations. Such projects promote students’ interest in mathematical applications and further improve their mathematical and programming skills.

Keywords: student project, Euler's method, spreadsheet, engineering education

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Authors: Latif Yanar, Muammer Kaçan

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Decision support systems are getting more important in many fields of science and technology and used effectively especially when the problems to be solved are complicated with many criteria. In this kind of problems one of the main challenges for the decision makers are that sometimes they cannot produce a countable data for evaluating the criteria but the knowledge and sense of experts. In recent years, fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic based decision models gaining more place in literature. In this study, a decision support model to determine a country to build naval base is proposed and the application of the model is performed, considering Turkish Navy by the evaluations of Turkish Navy officers and academicians of international relations departments of various Universities located in Istanbul. The results achieved from the evaluations made by the experts in our model are calculated by a decision support tool named DESTEC 1.0, which is developed by the authors using C Sharp programming language. The tool gives advices to the decision maker using Analytic Hierarchy Process, Analytic Network Process, Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Analytic Network Process all at once. The calculated results for five foreign countries are shown in the conclusion.

Keywords: decision support system, analytic hierarchy process, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, analytic network process, fuzzy analytic network process, naval base, country selection, international relations

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Authors: Rochelle Botha-Marais

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When lecturing future educators in South Africa, praxis is an indispensable aspect that is often neglected. Without properly understanding how the theory taught in lecture halls relates to their future position as educators, we can not expect these students to be fully equipped future teachers. To enable education students at the Vaal Campus of the North West University - who have the Afrikaans language as major - to discover the link between theory and practice, the author created an assignment on phonetics in which the use of technology was incorporated. In the past, students had to submit an assignment or worksheet and they did not get the opportunity to apply their newly found knowledge in a practical manner. For potential future teachers, this application is essential. This paper will demonstrate how technology is used in the second year Afrikaans education module to promote student engagement and self-directed learning. Students were introduced to innovative new technologies alongside more familiar applications to shape a 21st century learning environment where students can think, communicate, solve problems, collaborate and take responsibility for their own teaching and learning. The paper will also reflect on student feedback pertaining the use and efficiency of technology in the Afrikaans module and the possible impact thereof on their own teaching and learning landscape. The aim of this paper is to showcase how technology can be used to maximize the students learning experience and equip future education students with the tools and knowledge to introduce technology-enhanced learning in their own teaching practice.

Keywords: education students, theory and practice, self-directed learning, student engagement, technology

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Authors: Pratheesh Jakkala

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This paper addresses the use of breakout sessions to conduct successful weekly physics recitations for College Physics I and II at a large University in remote teaching method during COVID-19 pandemic. All breakout sessions are synchronous, conducted live, and handled by teaching assistants. A two-prong approach is used to maintain the integrity of recitations. Three different conference platforms WebEx, Zoom, and Canvas conferences, were tested, and BigBlue button using Canvas was adopted. The results and experiences of all three learning platforms are presented in this paper. Recitation questions were assigned on WebAssign learning platform and a standard five-question template developed by the instructor was used for group discussions and active peer-peer engagement. Breakout sessions feature of BigBlueButton in Canvas conferences was successfully implemented. Each breakout session consists of a team of 4 students. An online whiteboard, chat window options were used for live teamwork. Student peer-peer interactions, Teaching Assistants’ interaction with students were video and audio recorded. A total of 72 students in College Physics II and 55 students in College Physics I was enrolled. 82% of students agreed that method under study is better than previous methods. The study addressed the quality of student teamwork, student attitude towards problem-solving, and student performance in the exams.

Keywords: recitations, breakout rooms, online learning platforms, COVID pandemic

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Authors: Pinn Tsin Isabel Yee

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Students are increasingly turning towards online learning materials to supplement their education. One such approach would be the gamified student engagement platforms (GSEPs) to instill a new learning culture. Data was collected from closed-ended questions via content analysis techniques. About 81.8% of college students from the Monash University Foundation Year agreed that GSEPs (Quizizz) was an effective tool for learning. Approximately 85.5% of students disagreed that games were a waste of time. GSEPs were highly effective among students to facilitate the learning process.

Keywords: engagement, gamified, Quizizz, technology

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Authors: Nathan Reeves

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Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate if there was an impact on student learning when peer role play was substituted for a professional actor in the role of simulated patient in a simulation-based scenario. Method: Third-year exercise science students enrolled in a field project course in 2015 (n=24), and 2016 (n=20) participated in a simulation-based case scenario designed to develop their client-centred exercise prescription skills. During the simulation, students were provided with feedback from the simulated patients. In 2015, three professional actors played the part of the simulated patient, and in 2016 one of the simulated patients was a student from another exercise science cohort (peer role play). The student learning experience, consistency in case fidelity and feedback provided by the simulated patients was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale survey and collecting phenomenological data. Results: Improvements to student pre and post confidence remained constant between the 2015 and 2016 cohorts (1.04 and 0.85). The perceived usefulness and enjoyability also remained high across the two cohorts (4.96 and 4.71). The feedback provided by all three simulated patients in 2016 was seen to strongly support student learning experience (4.82), and was of a consistent level (4.47). Significance of the findings to allied health: Simulation-based education is rapidly expanding in the curricula across the allied health professions. The simulated patient methodology continues to receive support as a pedagogy to develop a range of clinical skills including communication, engagement and client-centeredness. Upskilling students to peer role play can be a reasonable alternative to engaging paid actors.

Keywords: exercise science, simulation-based learning, simulated patient, peer role play

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Authors: Hafsat Mustapha Hanga

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The purpose of the this study was to investigate the effect of broken home on students' academic performance. Therefore, it focused on academic performance and Parental care of the student from and intact home from a cognitive motivational perceptive. The broken and intact home and also to find out if they differ in parental care this is done by using 376 subjects out of the population of 21,378. The sample was obtained using stratified random sampling techniques as the population contained sub-groups the study design was ex-post facto. The data was collected using 3 kind of instruments. To test the first and second hypotheses. Junior secondary school placement examination result was obtained to test the academic performance of the boys fron broken home and boys from and boys from intact home and then girl from broken home and girls from intact home.T-Test was used in the analysis of first and second hypotheses. For the third hypotheses two different kind of questionnaires were developed, the first was used to identify student that are from broken home while the second was for testing parental care between the subject. Chi-square was used to analyze the third hypotheses. Alkh the three 3 hypotheses were tested and rejected and were all in favor of student from intact home. The study found that there was a significant difference in the academic performance of the boys from brokeb and boys from intact home. When boys from intact home better then those boys from broken home. It also reveals that a student from a intact from intact home receives good parental care, love and concern than those from broken home.on the strength of these findings the need to establish an institution which will help those parent who have parenting problems was stressed and also the need to foster. Home school partnership was also stressed and advocate.

Keywords: broken homes, academic performance, parental care, foster

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Authors: Aya M. Aboudesouky

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Covid-19 has changed and affected the whole world dramatically in a new way that the entire world, even scientists, have not imagined before. The educational institutions around the world have been fighting since Covid-19 hit the world last December to keep the educational process unchanged for all students. E-learning was a must for almost all US universities during the pandemic. It was specifically more challenging to use online case-based learning instead of regular classes among nursing students who take practical education. This study aims to examine the difference in performance and satisfaction between nursing students taking traditional education and those who take virtual case-based education during their practical study. This study enrolls 40 last-year nursing undergraduates from a mid-sized university in Western Pennsylvania. The study uses a convenient sample. Students will be divided into two groups; a control group that is exposed to traditional teaching strategy and a treatment group that is exposed to a case-based teaching strategy. The module designed for this study is a total parenteral nutrition (TPN) module that will be taught for one month. The treatment group (n=20) utilizes the virtual simulation of the CBL method, while the control group (n=20) uses the traditional lecture-based teaching method. Student evaluations are collected after a month by using the survey to attain the students’ learning satisfaction and self-evaluation of the course. The post-test is used to assess the end of the course performance.

Keywords: virtual case-based learning, traditional education, nursing education, Covid-19 crisis, online practical education

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Authors: Liliana Villavicencio, Yohn Garcia, Pallavi Singh, Luis Fernando Cruz, Wilfrido Moreno

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Psychophysiological adaptive automation is a concept that combines human physiological data and computer algorithms to create personalized interfaces and experiences for users. This approach aims to enhance human learning by adapting to individual needs and preferences and optimizing the interaction between humans and machines. According to neurosciences, the working memory demand during the student learning process is modified when the student is learning a new subject or topic, managing and/or fulfilling a specific task goal. A sudden increase in working memory demand modifies the level of students’ attention, engagement, and cognitive load. The proposed psychophysiological adaptive automation system will adapt the task requirements to optimize cognitive load, the process output variable, by monitoring the student's brain activity. Cognitive load changes according to the student’s previous knowledge, the type of task, the difficulty level of the task, and the overall psychophysiological state of the student. Scaling the measured cognitive load as low, medium, or high; the system will assign a task difficulty level to the next task according to the ratio between the previous-task difficulty level and student stress. For instance, if a student becomes stressed or overwhelmed during a particular task, the system detects this through signal measurements such as brain waves, heart rate variability, or any other psychophysiological variables analyzed to adjust the task difficulty level. The control of engagement and stress are considered internal variables for the hypermedia system which selects between three different types of instructional material. This work assesses the feasibility of a fuzzy controller to track a student's physiological responses and adjust the learning content and pace accordingly. Using an industrial automation approach, the proposed fuzzy logic controller is based on linguistic rules that complement the instrumentation of the system to monitor and control the delivery of instructional material to the students. From the test results, it can be proved that the implemented fuzzy controller can satisfactorily regulate the delivery of academic content based on the working memory demand without compromising students’ health. This work has a potential application in the instructional design of virtual reality environments for training and education.

Keywords: fuzzy logic controller, hypermedia control system, personalized education, psychophysiological adaptive automation

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Authors: Rachit Ahuja, Ayush Chugh

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Aerodynamic forces and moments, as well as tire-road forces largely affects the maneuverability of the vehicle. Car manufacturers are largely fascinated and influenced by various aerodynamic improvements made in formula cars. There is constant effort of applying these aerodynamic improvements in road vehicles. In motor racing, the key differentiating factor in a high performance car is its ability to maintain highest possible acceleration in appropriate direction. One of the main areas of concern in motor racing is balance of aerodynamic forces and stream line the flow of air across the body of the vehicle. At present, formula racing cars are regulated by stringent FIA norms, there are constrains for dimensions of the vehicle, engine capacity etc. So one of the fields in which there is a large scope of improvement is aerodynamics of the vehicle. In this project work, an attempt has been made to design a formula- student (FS) car, improve its aerodynamic characteristics through steady state CFD simulations and simultaneously calculate its lap time. Initially, a CAD model of a formula student car is made using SOLIDWORKS as per the given dimensions and a steady-state external air-flow simulation is performed on the baseline model of the formula student car without any add on device to evaluate and analyze the air-flow pattern around the car and aerodynamic forces using FLUENT Solver. A detailed survey on different add-on devices used in racing application like: - front wing, diffuser, shark pin, T- wing etc. is made and geometric model of these add-on devices are created. These add-on devices are assembled with the baseline model. Steady state CFD simulations are done on the modified car to evaluate the aerodynamic effects of these add-on devices on the car. Later comparison of lap time simulation of the formula student car with and without the add-on devices is done with the help of MATLAB. Aerodynamic performances like: - lift, drag and their coefficients are evaluated for different configuration and design of the add-on devices at different speed of the vehicle. From parametric CFD simulations on formula student car attached with add-on devices, there is a considerable amount of drag and lift force reduction besides streamlining the airflow across the car. The best possible configuration of these add-on devices is obtained from these CFD simulations and also use of these add-on devices have shown an improvement in performance of the car which can be compared by various lap time simulations of the car.

Keywords: aerodynamic performance, front wing, laptime simulation, t-wing

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Authors: Christopher Celozzi, Sarah Kochav

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Our research investigates the numerous challenges faced by Chinese ESL university students enrolled in the medical and related healthcare professional fields. The over-arching research question is how gender influences classroom participation and learning. The second research question addressed is 'what instructional strategies may be utilized to promote student participation and language acquisition?'. Participants’ language ability has been assessed and evaluated in order to facilitate the establishment of a statistical baseline for the subsequent intervention. This research delves deeper into each individual’s personal and academic circumstances, in an effort to reveal any held intrinsic gender beliefs and social identities that may influence learning. Also considered is the impact on learning for a homogenized student population within a uniform, highly structured learning environment. Specially, what is the influence of China’s ‘one-child policy’ on individual learning habits? The impact of their millennial identity and reliance on social media is also examined. A qualitative methodology with a case study approach is employed, with interviews conducted among the participants. Student response to the intervention and selected remediation strategies are documented, analyzed and discussed. The findings of the study may serve to inform educator instructional practice, while advancing the student learner in their pursuit of English competency in highly competitive professions.

Keywords: Chinese students, gender, English, language acquisition

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Authors: Hanna Faron, Wojciech Marcinkowski, Daniel Prusak, Władysław Hamiga

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Interest in composite materials comes out of two basic premises: their supreme mechanical and strength properties,combined with a small specific weight. Origin and evolution of modern composite materials bonds with development of manufacturing of synthetic fibers, which have begun during Second World War. Main condition to achieve intended properties of composite materials is proper bonding of reinforcing layer with appropriate adhesive in manufacturing process. It is one of the fundamental quality evaluation criterion of fabrication processes.

Keywords: SAE, formula student, composite materials, carbon fiber, Aramid fiber, hot wire cutter

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Authors: Araceli Martínez Ortiz

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An educational research effort is analyzed using systems theory to document the power of collective impact when addressing multiple factors contributing towards the retention of students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) academic programs. This research promotes understanding on how networked communities may work effectively toward a shared vision and mutually aligned activities that result in sustained, large scale change. The actions of a team of researchers in their third year of collaboration are presented to describe a model that positively aligns work efforts resulting in greater total gains. The goals of the multiple programs managed by the funded program team are to: 1) expand the number of students who choose to study a STEM field of study; 2) promote student collaborative learning; 3) support faculty understanding of the funds of knowledge of diverse students and 4) establish innovative and robust STEM education research that will lead to the development of nationally replicable, scalable models for broadening participation in STEM. The impacts of this research effort are measured through quantitative statistical analysis of the changes in second-year STEM undergraduate student retention rates and representation rates of women, Hispanics and African American STEM majors.

Keywords: collaborative impact, diversity, student retention, systems theory, STEM education

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Authors: Ali Bolat, Ali Bayat, Mustafa Gullu

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Maize can be cultivated both under main and second crop conditions in Turkey. Main pests of maize under second crop conditions are Sesamia nonagrioides Lefebvre (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Aerial spraying applications to control these two main maize pests can be carried out until 2006 in Turkey before it was banned due to environmental concerns like drifting of sprayed pestisides and low biological efficiency. In this context, pulverizers which can spray tall maize plants ( > 175 cm) from the ground have begun to be used. However, the biological efficiency of these sprayers is unknown. Some methods have been tested to increase the success of ground spraying in field experiments conducted in second crop maize in 2008 and 2009. For this aim, 6 spraying methods (air assisted spraying with TX cone jet, domestic cone nozzles, twinjet nozzles, air induction nozzles, standard domestic cone nozzles and tail booms) were used at two application rates (150 and 300 l.ha-1) by a sprayer. In the study, biological efficacy evaluations of each methods were measured in each parcel. Biological efficacy evaluations included counts of number of insect damaged plants, number of holes in stems and live larvae and pupa in stems of selected plants. As a result, the highest biological efficacy value (close to 70%) was obtained from Air Assisted Spraying method at 300 l / ha application volume.

Keywords: air assisted sprayer, drift nozzles, biological efficiency, maize plant

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Authors: Diana González, Marta Gràcia, Ana Luisa Adam-Alcocer

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Incorporating digital tools into educational practices represents a valuable approach for enriching the quality of teachers' educational practices in oral competence and fostering improvements in student learning outcomes. This study aims to promote a collaborative and culturally sensitive approach to professional development between teachers and a speech therapist to enhance their self-awareness and reflection on high-quality educational practices that integrate school components to strengthen children’s oral communication and pragmatic skills. The study involved five bilingual teachers fluent in both English and Spanish, with three specializing in special education and two in general education. It focused on Spanish-English bilingual students, aged 3-6, who were experiencing speech delays or disorders in a New York City public school, with the collaboration of a speech therapist. Using EVALOE-DSS (Assessment Scale of Oral Language Teaching in the School Context - Decision Support System), teachers conducted self-assessments of their teaching practices, reflect and make-decisions throughout six classes from March to June, focusing on students' communicative competence across various activities. Concurrently, the speech therapist observed and evaluated six classes per teacher using EVALOE-DSS during the same period. Additionally, professional development meetings were held monthly between the speech therapist and teachers, centering on discussing classroom interactions, instructional strategies, and the progress of both teachers and students in their classes. Findings highlight the digital tool EVALOE-DSS's value in analyzing communication patterns and trends among bilingual children in inclusive settings. It helps in identifying improvement areas through teacher and speech therapist collaboration. After self-reflection meetings, teachers demonstrated increased awareness of student needs in oral language and pragmatic skills. They also exhibited enhanced utilization of strategies outlined in EVALOE-DSS, such as actively guiding and orienting students during oral language activities, promoting student-initiated communicative interactions, teaching students how to seek and provide information, and managing turn-taking to ensure inclusive participation. Teachers participating in the professional development program have shown positive progress in assessing their classes across all dimensions of the training tool, including instructional design, teacher conversation management, pupil conversation management, communicative functions, teacher strategies, and pupil communication functions. This includes aspects related to both teacher actions and child actions, particularly in child language development. This progress underscores the effectiveness of individual reflection (conducted weekly or biweekly using EVALOE-DSS) as well as collaborative reflection among teachers and the speech therapist during meetings. The EVALOE-SSD has proven effective in supporting teachers' self-reflection, decision-making, and classroom changes, leading to improved development of students' oral language and pragmatic skills. It has facilitated culturally sensitive evaluations of communication among bilingual children, cultivating collaboration between teachers and speech therapist to identify areas of growth. Participants in the professional development program demonstrated substantial progress across all dimensions assessed by EVALOE-DSS. This included improved management of pupil communication functions, implementation of effective teaching strategies, and better classroom dynamics. Regular reflection sessions using EVALOE-SSD supported continuous improvement in instructional practices, highlighting its role in fostering reflective teaching and enriching student learning experiences. Overall, EVALOE-DSS has proven invaluable for enhancing teaching effectiveness and promoting meaningful student interactions in diverse educational settings.

Keywords: bilingual students, collaboration, culturally sensitive, oral communication skills, self-reflection

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Authors: Upeksha Jayasuriya

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The sudden transition from onsite to online teaching/learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic called for a need to incorporate feasible as well as effective methods of online teaching in most developing countries like Sri Lanka. The English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom faces specific challenges in this adaptation, and teaching writing can be identified as the most challenging task compared to teaching the other three skills. This study was therefore carried out to explore the challenges of teaching writing online and to provide effective means of overcoming them while taking into consideration the attitudes of students and teachers with regard to learning/teaching English writing via online platforms. A survey questionnaire was distributed (electronically) among 60 students from the University of Colombo, the University of Kelaniya, and The Open University in order to find out the challenges faced by students, while in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 lecturers from the mentioned universities. The findings reveal that the inability to observe students’ writing and to receive real-time feedback discourage students from engaging in writing activities when taught online. It was also discovered that both students and teachers increasingly prefer Google Slides over other platforms such as Padlet, Linoit, and Jam Board as it boosts learner autonomy and student-teacher interaction, which in turn allows real-time formative feedback, observation of student work, and assessment. Accordingly, it can be recommended that teaching writing online can be better facilitated by using interactive platforms such as Google Slides, for it promotes active learning and student engagement in the ESL class.

Keywords: ESL, teaching writing, online teaching, active learning, student engagement

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Authors: Duangkamol Thitivesa

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This paper focuses on the use of project work as a pretext for applying the conventions of writing, or the correctness of mechanics, usage, and sentence formation, in a content-based class in a Rajabhat University. Its aim was to explore to what extent the student teachers’ academic achievement of the basic writing features against the 70% attainment target after the use of project is. The organization of work around an agreed theme in which the students reproduce language provided by texts and instructors is expected to enhance students’ correct writing conventions. The sample of the study comprised of 38 fourth-year English major students. The data was collected by means of achievement test and student writing works. The scores in the summative achievement test were analyzed by mean score, standard deviation, and percentage. It was found that the student teachers do more achieve of practicing mechanics and usage, and less in sentence formation. The students benefited from the exposure to texts during conducting the project; however, their automaticity of how and when to form phrases and clauses into simple/complex sentences had room for improvement.

Keywords: project-based learning, project work, writing conventions, academic achievement

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Authors: Aqeel Zeid, Hasna Anees, Mohamed Adheeb, Mohamed Rifan, Kalpani Manathunga

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To achieve constructive alignment in a higher education program, a clear set of learning outcomes must be defined. Traditional learning outcome definition techniques such as Bloom’s taxonomy are not written to be utilized by the student. This might be disadvantageous for students in student-centric learning settings where the students are expected to formulate their own learning strategies. To solve the problem, we propose the learning outcome relation and aggregation (LORA) model. To achieve alignment, we developed learning outcome, assessment, and resource authoring tools which help teachers to tag learning outcomes during creation. A pilot study was conducted with an expert panel consisting of experienced professionals in the education domain to evaluate whether the LORA model and tools present an improvement over the traditional methods. The panel unanimously agreed that the model and tools are beneficial and effective. Moreover, it helped them model learning outcomes in a more student centric and descriptive way.

Keywords: learning design, constructive alignment, Bloom’s taxonomy, learning outcome modelling

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Authors: Mohammed Belalia Douma

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Interactive learning is considered as the most effective strategy of learning, it is an educational philosophy based on the learner's contribution and involvement mainly in classroom and how he interacts toward his small society “classroom”, and the level of his collaboration into challenge, discovering, games, participation, all these can be provided through the interactive learning, which aims to activate the learner's role in the operation of learning, which focuses on research and experimentation, and the learner's self-reliance in obtaining information, acquiring skills, and forming values and attitudes. Whereas not based on memorization only, but rather on developing thinking and the ability to solve problems, on teamwork and collaborative learning. With the exchange or roles - teacher to student- , when the student will be more active and performing operations more than the student under the interactive learning method; we might face a several issues dealing with class controlling management, noise, and stability of learning… etc. This research paper is observing the application of the interactive learning on reality “classroom” and answers several assumptions and analyzes the issues coming up of these strategies mainly: noise, class control…etc The research sample was about 150 student of the 3rd year primary school in “Chlef” district, Algeria, level: beginners in the range of age 08 to 10 years old . We provided a questionnaire of confidential fifteen questions and also analyzing the attitudes of learners during three months. it have witnessed as teachers a variety of strategies dealing with applying the interactive learning but with a different issues; time management, noise, uncontrolled classes, overcrowded classes. Finally, it summed up that although the active education is an inevitably effective method of teaching, however, there are drawbacks to this, in addition to the fact that not all theoretical strategies can be applied and we conclude with solutions of this case study.

Keywords: interactive learning, student, learners, strategies.

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Authors: Syed Ahmed Hasnain

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Instructors’ perception of blended learning plays an important role in the field of education. The literature review shows that there is a gap in research. Instructor perception of the blended learning approach has an impact on the motivation of the instructor to use technology in the classroom. The role of the student's perspective on the instructor’s perception is also important. Research also shows that instructor perceptions can be changed based on their past and present experiences with technology and blended learning. This paper draws the attention of the readers to the need for further research and contributions to studying instructor perceptions globally. Instructor perception affects the implementation of technology in the classroom, instructor-student relationship, and the class environment. Various publications, literature reviews, and articles are studied to show the importance of instructor perceptions. A lot of work has been published on student perceptions of the blended learning approach but there is a gap in research on instructor perceptions. The paper also makes recommendations for further research in the area of instructor perceptions of the blended learning approach. Institutions, administrators, senior management, and instructors can benefit from this paper.

Keywords: blended learning, education, literature review, instructor perceptions

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Authors: Nazli Uren, Ayse Okur

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Tactile comfort of a textile product is an essential property and a major concern when it comes to customer perceptions and preferences. The subjective nature of comfort and the difficulties regarding the simulation of human hand sensory feelings make it hard to establish a well-accepted link between tactile comfort and objective evaluations. On the other hand, shear behavior of a fabric is a mechanical parameter which can be measured by various objective test methods. The principal aim of this study is to determine the tactile comfort of commercially available denim fabrics by subjective measurements, create a tactile score database for denim fabrics and investigate the relations between tactile comfort and shear behavior. In-plane shear behaviors of 17 different commercially available denim fabrics with a variety of raw material and weave structure were measured by a custom design shear frame and conventional bias extension method in two corresponding diagonal directions. Tactile comfort of denim fabrics was determined via subjective customer evaluations as well. Aforesaid relations were statistically investigated and introduced as regression equations. The analyses regarding the relations between tactile comfort and shear behavior showed that there are considerably high correlation coefficients. The suggested regression equations were likewise found out to be statistically significant. Accordingly, it was concluded that the tactile comfort of denim fabrics can be estimated with a high precision, based on the results of in-plane shear behavior measurements.

Keywords: denim fabrics, in-plane shear behavior, linear regression estimation, tactile comfort

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Authors: Chhavi Rana, Sanjay K Jain

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All sides of every education debate agree that quality learning happens when knowledgeable, caring teachers use sound pedagogy. Many deliberations of pedagogy make the fault of considering it as principally being about teaching. There has been lot of research about how to build a positive climate for learning, improve student curiosity, and enhance classroom association. However, these things can only be facilitated when teachers are equipped with better teaching techniques that use sound and accurate pedagogy. Pedagogy is the science and art of education. Its aims range from the full development of the human being to skills acquisition. In India, a project named Mission 10 x has been started by an esteemed IT Corporation Wipro as a faculty development programme (FDP) that particularly focus on elements that facilitated teachers in developing curriculum and new pedagogies that can lead to improvement in student engagement. This paper presents a study of these FDPs and examines (1) the parameters that help teachers in building new pedagogies (2) the extent to which appropriate usage of pedagogy is improved after the conduct of Mission 10 x FDPs, and (3) whether institutions differ in terms of their ability to convert usage of improved pedagogy into academic performance via these FDPs. The sample consisted of 2,236 students at 6 four-year engineering colleges and universities that completed several FDPs during 2012-2014. Many measures of usage of better pedagogy were linked positively with such FDPs, although some of the relationships were weak in strength. The results suggest that the usage of pedagogy were more benefited after conducting these FDPs and application of novel approaches in conducting classes.

Keywords: student engagement, critical thinking; achievement, student learning, pedagogy

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Authors: S. Vanker, A. Aaver, A. Roio, L. Nuut

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To be sure about the effective and less effective/ineffective approaches to course instruction, we hold the opinion that the faculty members need regular feedback from their students in order to be aware of how well or unwell their teaching styles have worked when instructing the courses. It can be confirmed without a slightest hesitation that undergraduate students’ motivated-ness can be sustained when continually improving the quality of teaching and properly sequencing the academic courses both, in the curricula and timetables. At Estonian Aviation Academy, four different forms of feedback are used: Lecture monitoring, questionnaires for all students, study information system subject monitoring and direct feedback received by the lecturer. Questionnaires for all students are arranged once during a study year and separately for the first year and senior students. The results are discussed in academic departments together with student representatives, analyzed with the teaching staff and, if needed, improvements are suggested. In addition, a monitoring system is planned where a lecturer acts in both roles – as an observer and as the lecturer. This will foster better exchange of experience and through this help to make the whole study process more interesting.

Keywords: learner motivation, feedback, student support, undergraduate education

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Authors: Paul D. Facey, Claire Morgan

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Speech anxiety is thought to be deep-seated within the human evolutionary lineage.As a result, almost all people display high levels of anxiety when asked to communicate in front of an audience.However, proficiency in oral communication is considered as an essential skill for a graduate career and significant emphasis is placed on developing these skills in many degree programs.Because of this, many degree schemes incorporate some form of assessed dialogic presentation. Yet, a student’s anxiety over public speaking, especially if severe, can be so great that at worst it can cause the student to withdraw from their study. This study investigated how students perceive their own levels of anxiety when faced with public speaking using the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) questionnaire developed by McCroskey. Additionally, students were asked to provide examples of adjustments that could be implemented that they felt would alleviate some/all of their anxiety. The results of the study indicated that the majority of the students experienced a moderate level of anxiety. However, further analysis showed that of those who were in the moderate anxiety’ group, 43% fell into the higher range suggesting that overall more students experience higher levels of anxiety when faced with public speaking than maybe first envisaged. Thus, it is essential that steps are taken to address student anxiety in order that students engage with presentations, are motivated and encouraged and do not avoid such assignments. The feedback from our students indicated a need to implement systematic desensitization programs where students learn to overcome their anxiety through a series of sessions that gradually increase their anxiety levels. Furthermore, these sessions should be run in parallel with skills sessions in order for students to be better prepared and allow self-reflection and self-analysis.This study highlights the paucity of these sessions on many degree schemes and suggests that they should form an integral part of a students’ early academic learning.

Keywords: student anxiety, communication anxiety, public speaking, higher education, desensitisation

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Authors: Mohd Noah A. Rahman, Armandurni Abd Rahman, Afzaal H. Seyal, Md Rizal Md Hendry

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The article reports an automated student attendance system modeled and developed for use at a Vocational school. This project focuses on developing an application using a QR code utilizing the Reed-Solomon error correction code using a smartphone scanned through a webcam. This system enables us to speed up the process of taking attendance and would save us valuable teaching time. This is planned to help students avoid consequences that may result from poor attendances which will eventually penalize them from sitting their final examination as required.

Keywords: QR code, Reed-Solomon, error correction, system design.

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Authors: Yassir Semmar

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During the past two decades, the topic of multicultural competence has gained much attention in the psychology field, most notably in the clinical and counseling specializations. While higher education institutions have been placing a premium on sensitizing their faculty, staff, and student bodies to various diversity and multicultural issues, little emphasis has been directed towards mandating multicultural training for graduate learners in the educational psychology specialty. Given the increasingly diverse student population, it is imperative for educational psychologists to become multiculturally competent particularly in instructional and mentoring contexts. Strategies and conditions for attaining multicultural competence are discussed.

Keywords: multicultural competence, instruction, pedagogical practices, mentoring

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Authors: Sonia Arradaza-Pajaron, Maria Aida Manila

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Teaching is considered the noblest yet believed to be one of the most complicated and challenging professions. Along this view, every teacher-producing institution should look into producing quality pre-service graduates who are efficacious enough with the right attitude and to deal with the task accorded to them. This study investigated the association between self-efficacy and attitude of graduating pre-service teachers with their actual student teaching performance. Survey questionnaires on self-efficacy and attitude toward practice teaching were fielded to the 90 actual respondents while their practice teaching grade was extracted to serve as the other main variable. Data were analyzed and treated statistically utilizing weighted mean and Pearson r to determine the relationship of variables of the study. Findings revealed that attitude of respondents of the three curricular programs was favorable, and they are self-efficacious. Their practice teaching performance was interpreted as very good. Results further showed a significant positive relationship between their self-efficacy and practice teaching performance. It showed that their rating was a manifestation of self- efficacious group. Although they exude positive attitude towards practice teaching, yet no significant relationship was seen with their attitude and performance. Moreover, data manifested that most of them can pay attention during their conduct of lessons in the class, as well as, listen attentively to their cooperating teachers during post conferences. They can perform student teaching tasks better even when there were other interesting things to do. Most of all, they can regulate or suppress not so pleasant thoughts or feelings and take things lightly even in most challenging situations. As gleaned from the results, it can be concluded that there was an association between self-efficacy and practice teaching performance of the respondents.

Keywords: academic achievement, attitude, self-efficacy, student teaching performance

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