Search results for: pedagogical use of ICT

Authors: Paul Koffitse Agobia

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In 2020 the Ministry of Education in Ghana and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) rolled out a new curriculum, Common Core Programme (CCP) for Basic 7 to 10, that lays emphasis on character building and values which are important to the Ghanaian society by providing education that will produce character–minded learners, with problem solving skills, who can play active roles in dealing with the increasing challenges facing Ghana and the global society. Therefore, learning and teaching approaches that prioritise the use of digital learning resources and active learning are recommended. The new challenge facing Ghanaian teachers is the ability to use new technologies together with the appropriate content pedagogical knowledge to help learners develop, aside the communication skills in French, the essential 21st century skills as recommended in the new curriculum. This article focusses on the pedagogical approaches that are recommended by NaCCA. The study seeks to examine French language teachers’ understanding of the recommended pedagogical approaches and how they use digital learning resources in class to foster the development of these essential skills and values. 54 respondents, comprised 30 teachers and 24 head teachers, were selected in 6 Junior High schools in rural districts (both private and public) and 6 from Junior High schools in an urban setting. The schools were selected in three regions: Volta, Central and Western regions. A class observation checklist and an interview guide were used to collect data for the study. The study reveals that some teachers adopt teaching techniques that do not promote active learning. They demonstrate little understanding of the core competences and values, therefore, fail to integrate them in their lessons. However, some other teachers, despite their lack of understanding of learning and teaching philosophies, adopted techniques that can help learners develop some of the core competences and values. In most schools, digital learning resources are not utilized, though teachers have smartphones or laptops.

Keywords: active learning, core competences, digital learning resources, pedagogical approach, values.

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Authors: Ikechi Gilbert

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Oral communication is the transmission of ideas or messages through the speech process. Acquiring competence in this area which, by its volatile nature, is prone to errors and inaccuracies would require the adoption of a well-suited teaching methodology. Efficient oral communication facilitates exchange of ideas and easy accomplishment of day-to-day tasks, by means of a demonstrated mastery of oral expression and the making of fine presentations to audiences or individuals while recognizing verbal signals and body language of others and interpreting them correctly. In Anglophone states such as Nigeria, Ghana, etc., the French language, for instance, is studied as a foreign language, being used majorly in teaching learners who have their own mother tongue different from French. The same applies to Francophone states where English is studied as a foreign language by people whose official language or mother tongue is different from English. The ideal approach would be to teach these languages in these environments through a pedagogical approach that properly takes care of the oral perspective for effective understanding and application by the learners. In this article, we are examining the communicative approach as a methodology for teaching oral communication in a foreign language. This method is a direct response to the communicative needs of the learner involving the use of appropriate materials and teaching techniques that meet those needs. It is also a vivid improvement to the traditional grammatical and audio-visual adaptations. Our contribution will focus on the pedagogical component of oral communication improvement, highlighting its merits and also proposing diverse techniques including aspects of information and communication technology that would assist the second language learner communicate better orally.

Keywords: communication, competence, methodology, pedagogical component

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Authors: Rosiris Maturo Domingues, Patricia Luissa Masmo, Cibele Cavalheiro Neves, Juliana Dalla Martha Rodriguez

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This article reports the experience of the pedagogical consultants responsible for the curriculum development of Senac São Paulo courses when facing the emergency need to maintain the pedagogical process in their schools in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The urgent adjustment to distance education resulted in the improvement of the process and the adoption of new teaching and learning strategies mediated by technologies. The processes for preparing and providing guidelines for professional education courses were also readjusted. Thus, a bank of teaching-learning strategies linked to digital resources was developed, categorized, and identified by their didactic-pedagogical potential, having as an intersection didactic planning based on learning objectives based on Bloom's taxonomy (revised), given its convergence with the competency approach adopted by Senac. Methodologically, a relationship was established between connectivity and digital networks and digital evolution in school environments, culminating in new paradigms and processes of educational communication and new trends in teaching and learning. As a result, teachers adhered to the use of digital tools in their practices, transposing face-to-face classroom methodologies and practices to online media, whose criticism was the use of ICTs in an instrumental way, reducing methodologies and practices to teaching only transmissive. There was recognition of the insertion of technology as a facilitator of the educational process in a non-palliative way and the development of a web curriculum, now and fully, carried out in contexts of ubiquity.

Keywords: technologies, education, teaching-learning strategies, Bloom taxonomy

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Authors: Shamshuddin K., Nagaraj Vannal, Diwakar Kulkarni

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This paper presents details of teaching and learning pedagogical techniques attempted for the undergraduate engineering program to improve the concentration span of students in a classroom. The details of activities such as valid statement, quiz competition, classroom paper, group work and product marketing to make the students remain active for the entire class duration and to improve presentation skills are presented. These activities shown tremendous improvement in student’s performance in academics, also in asking questions, concept understanding and interaction with the course instructor. With these pedagogical activities we are able to achieve Program outcome elements and ABET Program outcomes such as d, i, g and h which are difficult to achieve through the conventional teaching methods.

Keywords: activities, pedagogy, interactive learning, valid statement, quiz competition, classroom papers, group work, product marketing

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Authors: Kofi Nkonkonya Mpuangnan, Samantha Govender, Hlengiwe Romualda Mhlongo

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In recent years, a noticeable and worrisome pattern has emerged in numerous developing nations which is a steady and persistent rise in unemployment rates. This escalation of economic struggles has become a cause of great concern for parents who, having invested significant resources in their children's education, harboured hopes of achieving economic prosperity and stability for their families through secure employment. To effectively tackle this pressing unemployment issue, it is imperative to adopt a holistic approach, and a pivotal aspect of this approach involves incorporating entrepreneurial education seamlessly into the entire educational system. In this light, the authors explored approaches to integrating entrepreneurial education into school curriculum focusing on the following questions. How can an entrepreneurial mindset among learners be promoted in school? And how far have pedagogical approaches improved entrepreneurship in schools? To find answers to these questions, a systematic literature review underpinned by Human Capital Theory was adopted. This method was supported by the three stages of guidelines like planning, conducting, and reporting. The data were specifically sought from publishers with expansive coverage of scholarly literature like Sage, Taylor & Francis, Emirate, and Springer, covering publications from 1965 to 2023. The search was supported by two broad terms such as promoting entrepreneurial mindset in learners and pedagogical strategies for enhancing entrepreneurship. It was found that acquiring an entrepreneurial mindset through an innovative classroom environment, resilience, and guest speakers and industry experts. Also, teachers can promote entrepreneurial education through the adoption of pedagogical approaches such as hands-on learning and experiential activities, role-playing, business simulation games and creative and innovative teaching. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education should develop tailored training programs and workshops aimed at empowering educators with the essential competencies and insights to deliver impactful entrepreneurial education.

Keywords: education, entrepreneurship, school curriculum, pedagogical approaches, integration

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Authors: Aminath Waseela, Vinesh Chandra, Shaun Nykvist,

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The success of technology integration initiatives hinges on the knowledge and skills of teachers to effectively integrate technology in classroom teaching. Consequently, gaining an understanding of teachers' technology knowledge and its integration can provide useful insights on strategies that can be adopted to enhance teaching and learning, especially in developing country contexts where research is scant. This paper extends existing knowledge on teachers' use of technology by developing a conceptual framework that recognises how three key types of knowledge; content, pedagogy, technology, and their integration are at the crux of teachers' technology use while at the same time is amenable to empirical studies. Although the aforementioned knowledge is important for effective use of technology that can result in enhanced student engagement, literature on how this knowledge leads to effective technology use and enhanced student engagement is limited. Thus, this theoretical paper proposes a framework to explore teachers' knowledge through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK); the integration of technology in classroom teaching through the Substitution Augmentation Modification and Redefinition (SAMR) model and how this affects students' learning through the Bloom's Digital Taxonomy (BDT) lens. Studies using this framework could inform the design of professional development to support teachers to develop skills for effective use of available technology that can enhance student learning engagement.

Keywords: information and communication technology, ICT, in-service training, small island developing states, SIDS, student engagement, technology integration, technology professional development training, technological pedagogical and content knowledge, TPACK

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Authors: T. Northcut, A. Rai, N. Perkins

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on academia in general and social work education in particular, changing permanently the way in which we approach educating students. The new reality of the pandemic coupled with the much-needed focus on racism across the country inspired and required educators to get creative with their teaching styles in order to disrupt the power imbalance in the classroom and attend to the multiple layers of needs of diverse students in precarious sociological and economic circumstances. This paper highlights research examining educators with distinctive positionalities and approaches to classroom instruction who use feminist and antiracist pedagogies while adapting to online teaching during the pandemic. Despite being feminist scholars, whose ideologies developed during different waves of feminism, our commitment to having student-led classrooms, liberation, and equity of all, and striving for social change, unified our feminist teaching pedagogies as well as provided interpersonal support. Methodology: Following a narrative qualitative inquiry methodology, the five authors of this paper came together to discuss our pedagogical styles and underlying values using Zoom in a series of six conversations. Narrative inquiry is an appropriate method to use when researchers are bound by common stories or personal experiences. The use of feminist pedagogy in the classroom before and during the pandemic guided the discussions. After six sessions, we reached the point of data saturation. All data from the dialogic process was recorded and transcribed. We used in vivo, narrative, and descriptive coding for the data analytic process. Results: Analysis of the data revealed several themes, which included (1) the influence of our positionalities as an intersection of race, sexual orientation, gender, and years of teaching experience in the classroom, (2) the meaning and variations between different liberatory pedagogical approaches, (3) the tensions between these approaches and institutional policies and practices, (4) the role of self-reflection in everyday teaching, (5) the distinctions between theory and practice and its utility for students, and (6) the challenges of applying a feminist-centered pedagogical approach during the pandemic while utilizing an online platform. As a collective, we discussed several challenges that limited the use of our feminist pedagogical approaches due to instruction through Zoom.

Keywords: feminist, pedagogy, COVID, zoom

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Authors: Mirzahmedov Ismoiljon Karimjon Ugli, Juraeva Shakhnoza Abdumalik Kizi

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The article deals with the current scientific problems of natural geography related to the development of new pedagogical technologies and their implementation in the educational process. The use of recommended interactive methods in independent study is considered very effective and is a very useful method for students, especially for students who work more on themselves. Today's demand is to make young people talented, intelligent, innovative, as well as mature and well-rounded individuals, as a result of the work carried out in the field of education today. This is how creating tables of different contents and filling them out shows the student's talent and desire for innovation. Also, the techniques and methods necessary for today's student are shown, the role of the teacher in conducting lessons meaningfully, the suitability of the method used by the teacher for the lesson, factors affecting the quality of education, and natural issues of the use of methods based on the specific features of geography are highlighted.

Keywords: teaching methods, educational process, educational technologies, education, problem, didactics, natural geography

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Authors: H. van Rensburg, B. Adcock, B. Al Mansouri

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This paper discusses the impact of pedagogical and learning differences on Arabic international students’ (AIS) learning when they come to study in Australia. It describes the difference in teaching and learning methods between the students’ home countries in the Arabic world and Australia. There are many research papers that discuss the general experiences of international students in the western learning systems, including Australia. However, there is little research conducted specifically about AIS learning in Australia. Therefore, the data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with AIS who are learning at an Australian regional university in Queensland. For that reason, this paper contributes to fill a gap by reporting on the learning experiences of AIS in Australia and, more specifically, on the AIS’ pedagogical experiences. Not only discussing the learning experiences of AIS, but also discussing the cultural adaptation using the Oberg’s cultural adaptation model. This paper suggests some learning strategies that may benefit AIS and academic lecturers when teaching students from a completely different culture and language.

Keywords: arabic international students, cultural adaption, learning differences, learning systems

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Authors: Abrar Ajmal

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This quantitative study explored elementary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and effects on grade 8 students' achievement in Punjab, Pakistan. A teacher sample (N=100) rated competencies across inquiry-focused teaching, conceptual building, interaction practices and peer collaboration promotion. A student sample (N=120) self-reported academic abilities, intrinsic motivation, help-seeking and accountability. Findings reveal teachers highly endorse learner-centric strategies, although peer interaction promotion seems less common currently. Meanwhile, significant gender disparities in self-perceived expertise emerge, favouring female over male educators across all facets measured. Additionally, teachers' knowledge positively—and significantly—correlates with student achievement overall and for both genders, highlighting the importance of professional enrichment. However, female pupils demonstrate greater confidence, drive, utilization of academic support, and ownership over learning than male counterparts. Recommendations include ongoing teacher training, targeted competency building for male students and teachers, leveraging gender peer collaboration similarities, and holistic female support amid widening divides. Sustaining instructional quality through empowering, equitable practices that nurture disadvantaged and gifted learners alike can spur systemic improvements. Ultimately, the fire line confirms the interrelations between teachers' multifaceted knowledge and student success.

Keywords: pedagogical knowledge, academic achievement, teacher gender differences, student gender differences, empowering instruction

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Authors: Vânia Graça, Paula Quadros-Flores, Altina Ramos

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The use of Digital Technologies in teaching and learning processes is currently a reality, namely in initial teacher training. This study aims at knowing the digital reality of students in initial teacher training in order to improve training in the educational use of ICT and to promote digital technology integration strategies in an educational context. It is part of the IFITIC Project "Innovate with ICT in Initial Teacher Training to Promote Methodological Renewal in Pre-school Education and in the 1st and 2nd Basic Education Cycle" which involves the School of Education, Polytechnic of Porto and Institute of Education, University of Minho. The Project aims at rethinking educational practice with ICT in the initial training of future teachers in order to promote methodological innovation in Pre-school Education and in the 1st and 2nd Cycles of Basic Education. A qualitative methodology was used, in which a questionnaire survey was applied to teachers in initial training. For data analysis, the techniques of content analysis with the support of NVivo software were used. The results point to the following aspects: a) future teachers recognize that they have more technical knowledge about ICT than pedagogical knowledge. This result makes sense if we consider the objective of Basic Education, so that the gaps can be filled in the Master's Course by students who wish to follow the teaching; b) the respondents are aware that the integration of digital resources contributes positively to students' learning and to the life of children and young people, which also promotes preparation in life; c) to be a teacher in the digital age there is a need for the development of digital literacy, lifelong learning and the adoption of new ways of teaching how to learn. Thus, this study aims to contribute to a reflection on the teaching profession in the digital age.

Keywords: digital technologies, initial teacher training, pedagogical use of ICT, skills

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Authors: Francisco A. Ribeiro Da Costa

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Who is responsible for teaching architecture; consider various ways to participate in learning, manipulating various pedagogical tools to streamline the creative process. The Architectural Design Studio (ADS) should become a holistic, systemic process responding to the complexity of our world. This essay corresponds to a deep reflection developed by the author on the teaching of architecture. The outcomes achieved are the corollary of experimentation; discussion and application of pedagogical methods that allowed consolidate the creativity applied by students. The purpose is to show the conjectures that have been considered effective in creating an intellectual environment that nurtures the subject of Architectural Design Studio (ADS), as an operational synthesis in the final stage of the degree. These assumptions, which are part of the proposed model, displaying theories and teaching methodologies that try to respect the learning process based on student learning styles Kolb, ensuring their latent specificities and formulating the structure of the ASD discipline. In addition, the assessing methods are proposed, which consider the architectural Design Studio as an operational synthesis in the teaching of architecture.

Keywords: teaching-learning, architectural design studio, architecture, education

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Authors: Masood Monjezi

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The English teachers’ pedagogical identity construction is the way teachers go through the process of becoming teachers and how they maintain their teaching selves. The pedagogical identity of teachers is influenced by several factors within the individual and the society. The purpose of this study was to compare the imagined social world of the pre-service teachers with the real experiences the in-service teachers had in the context of Iran to see how prepared the pre-service teachers are with a view to their identity being. This study used a qualitative approach to collection and analysis of the data. Structured and semi-structured interviews, focus groups and process logs were used to collect the data. Then, using open coding, the data were analyzed. The findings showed that the imagined world of the pre-service teachers partly corresponded with the real world experiences of the in-service teachers leaving the pre-service teachers unprepared for their real world teaching profession. The findings suggest that the current approaches to English teacher training are in need of modification to better prepare the pre-service teachers for the future that expects them.

Keywords: imagined professional world, in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, real experiences, community of practice, identity

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Authors: Maria Luiza Fulga, Georgeta Truca, Mihaela Alexandru, Andriescu Mariana, Crin Marcean

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The significance of nursing as a subject in the post-secondary healthcare curriculum is a major. We aimed to enable our students to assess the patient's risk, to establish prevention measures and to adapt to a specific learning context, in order to acquire the skills and abilities necessary for the nursing profession. In order to achieve these objectives, during the three years of study, teachers put an emphasis on acquiring communication skills, because in our country after the first cycle of hospital accreditation concluded in 2016, the National Authority for Quality of Health Management has introduced the criteria for the implementation and application of the nursing process according to the accreditation standards. According to these requirements, the nurse has to carry out the nursing assessment, based on communication as a distinct component, so that they can identify nursing diagnoses and implement the nursing plan. In this respect, we, the teachers, have refocused, by approaching various teaching strategies and preparing students for the real context of learning and applying what they learn. In the educational process, the tutors in the hospitals have an important role to play in acquiring professional skills. Students perform their activity in the hospital in accordance with the curriculum, in order to verify the practical applicability of the theoretical knowledge acquired in the school classes and also have the opportunity to acquire their skills in a real learning context. In clinical education, the student nurse learns in the middle of a guidance team which includes a practice tutor, who is a nurse that takes responsibility for the practical/clinical learning of the students in their field of activity. In achieving this objective, the tutor's abilities involve pedagogical knowledge, knowledge for the good of the individual and nursing theory, in order to be able to guide clinical practice in accordance with current requirements. The aim of this study is to find out the students’ confidence level in practice tutors in hospitals, the students’ degree of satisfaction in the pedagogical skills of the tutors and the practical applicability of the theoretical knowledge. In this study, we used as a method of investigation a student satisfaction questionnaire regarding the clinical practice in the hospital and the sample of the survey consisted of 100 students aged between 20 and 50 years, from the first, second and third year groups, with the General Nurse specialty (nurses responsible for general care), from 'Fundeni' Healthcare Post-Secondary School, Bucharest, Romania. Following the analysis of the data provided, we arrived the conclusion that the hospital tutor needs to improve his/her pedagogical skills, the knowledge of nursing diagnostics, and the implementation of the nursing plan, so that the applicability of the theoretical notions would be increased. Future plans include the pedagogical training of the medical staff, as well as updating the knowledge needed to implement the nursing process in order to meet current requirements.

Keywords: clinical training, nursing process, pedagogical skills, tutor

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Authors: Narendra Babu Bommenahalli Veerabhadrappa

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Teaching sustainability concepts along with profit maximizing philosophy of business in management education is a challenge. This paper explores and evaluates various learning models to inculcate sustainability concepts in management education. The paper explains about a new pedagogy that was tested in a business management school (Indus Business Academy, Bangalore, India) to teach sustainability. The pedagogy was designed by intertwining concepts related to sustainability with digital marketing concepts. As part of this experimental method, students (in groups) were assigned with various topics of sustainability and were asked to work with concepts of digital marketing and thus market the concepts of sustainability. The paper explains as a case study as to how sustainability was integrated with digital marketing tools and how learning towards sustainability was facilitated. It also explains the outcomes of this pedagogical method, in terms of inculcating sustainability concepts amongst management students as well as marketing and proliferation of sustainability concepts to bring about the behavioral changes amongst target audience towards sustainability.

Keywords: management-education, pedagogy, sustainability, behavior

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Authors: Dalila Lino

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Practicum is a central dimension of teacher education programs. Learning how to teach is, in effect, a complex process that integrates periods of observation, experimentation, reflection, planning, and evaluation in a real context of practices, providing opportunities for prospective teachers to understand the various dimensions of education and to implement the knowledge built over the theoretical courses they have taken. At the pre-service training of early childhood teachers, specialized guidance and in particular pedagogical supervision assumes a key role in the professional development of students in training. The main goal of this study is to describe and analyze the supervision process that occurs during the practicum of preschool education master programs in Portugal. The objectives of the study are: (i) to describe the cooperative process of professional development experienced by student teachers during the practicum; (ii) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of supervision process; (iii) to identify the supervision styles used by university supervisors and cooperating teachers. The methodology used is the mix-method research and data was collected through semi-structured interviews and online questionnaires. The participants are newly graduated Portuguese early childhood teachers, university supervisors and cooperating teachers. The results reveal gaps in the specialized training of cooperating teachers and university supervisors, a large number of trainees per supervisor, which makes it difficult to support students, and those interpersonal relationships between university supervisors and students and/or cooperating teachers and students interfere in the development of the supervisory processes. The study highlights the need to invest in the specialized training of university supervisors and cooperating teachers to create better opportunities to support the professional development of prospective teachers.

Keywords: mentoring, pedagogical supervision, practicum, preschool teacher education

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Authors: Nidhi Gadura

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To ensure student success in a non majors biology course, a flipped classroom pedagogical approach is developed and implemented. All students are assigned online lectures to listen to before they come to class. A three hour lecture is split into one hour of online component, one hour of in class lecture and one hour of worksheets done by students in the classroom. This deviation from a traditional 3 hour in class lecture has resulted in increased student interest in science as well as better understanding of difficult scientific concepts. A pre and post survey was given to measure the interest rates and grades were used to measure the success rates. While the overall grade average did not change dramatically, students reported a better appreciation of biology. Also, students overwhelmingly like the use of worksheets in class to help them understand the concepts. They liked the fact that they could listen to lectures at their own pace on line and even repeat if needed. The flipped classroom approach turned out to work really well our non science majors and the author is ready to implement this in other classrooms.

Keywords: flipped classroom, non science majors, pedagogy, technological pedagogical model

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Authors: Joko Nurkamto

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A lesson plan is a part of the planning phase in a learning and teaching system framing the scenario of pedagogical activities in the classroom. It informs a decision on what to teach and how to landscape classroom interaction. Regardless of these benefits, the writer has witnessed the fact that lesson plans are viewed merely as a teaching document. Therefore, this paper will explore teachers’ beliefs and practices in designing lesson plans. It focuses primarily on how both teachers and students negotiate lesson plans in which the students are deemed to be the agents of instructional innovations. Additionally, the paper will talk about how such lesson plans are enacted. To investigate these issues, document analysis, in-depth interviews, participant classroom observation, and focus group discussion will be deployed as data collection methods in this explorative case study. The benefits of the paper are to show different roles of lesson plans and to discover different ways to design and enact such plans from a socio-interactional perspective.

Keywords: instructional innovation, learning and teaching system, lesson plan, pedagogical activities, teachers' beliefs and practices

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Authors: Marion G. Ben-Jacob, David Wang

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There is a mathematics requirement for entry level college and university students, especially those who plan to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Most of them take College Algebra, and to continue their studies, they need to succeed in this course. Different pedagogical strategies are employed to promote the success of our students. There is, of course, the Traditional Method of teaching- lecture, examples, problems for students to solve. The Emporium Model, another pedagogical approach, replaces traditional lectures with a learning resource center model featuring interactive software and on-demand personalized assistance. This presentation will compare these two methods of pedagogy and the study done with its results on this comparison. Math is the foundation for science, technology, and engineering. Its work is generally used in STEM to find patterns in data. These patterns can be used to test relationships, draw general conclusions about data, and model the real world. In STEM, solutions to problems are analyzed, reasoned, and interpreted using math abilities in a assortment of real-world scenarios. This presentation will examine specific examples of how math is used in the different STEM disciplines. Math becomes practical in science when it is used to model natural and artificial experiments to identify a problem and develop a solution for it. As we analyze data, we are using math to find the statistical correlation between the cause of an effect. Scientists who use math include the following: data scientists, scientists, biologists and geologists. Without math, most technology would not be possible. Math is the basis of binary, and without programming, you just have the hardware. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is also used in almost every program written. Mathematical algorithms are inherent in software as well. Mechanical engineers analyze scientific data to design robots by applying math and using the software. Electrical engineers use math to help design and test electrical equipment. They also use math when creating computer simulations and designing new products. Chemical engineers often use mathematics in the lab. Advanced computer software is used to aid in their research and production processes to model theoretical synthesis techniques and properties of chemical compounds. Mathematics mastery is crucial for success in the STEM disciplines. Pedagogical research on formative strategies and necessary topics to be covered are essential.

Keywords: emporium model, mathematics, pedagogy, STEM

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Authors: Omoniyi A. Olubunmi, Omoniyi Olayide M.

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This study was designed to assess the attitudes of Nigerian university teachers by their students in terms of teachers’ attitude to work, teaching and students. The study was a survey, and made use of the researcher’s designed questionnaire tagged Students’ Assessment Teachers Inventory (SATI), comprising 20 items, was used to collect data. The respondents were 300 students which were randomly selected from three universities in Ondo State. The SATI elicited information on different aspects of teachers’ attitude to work, teaching and students. The study was guided by two hypotheses. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson-r. The result showed that there was a significant relationship between teachers’ attitude to work (r = 0.343, p<0.01), teaching (r = 0.594, p<0.01) and students (r = 0.487, p<0.01). The study concluded that teachers’ attitudes to teaching profession in higher institutions in Ondo State were not favorable and this could be improved through capacity building for effective pedagogical skills, conducive environment, well equipped libraries and laboratories, and provision of incentives for university teachers.

Keywords: capacity building, pedagogical skills, teachers’ attitude, students’ assessment

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Authors: Cheng Shuk Ling

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This paper examines the English syntactic errors and their patterns in the written assignments of a General Education course at City University of Hong Kong. Subjects are 60 local and non-local (exchange) undergraduate students who are all EFL learners and L2 users with diversified education and disciplinary background (i.e. their major of study), which are unrelated to English language studies. The objective of this paper brings to the foreground a broad discussion of EFL/L2 undergraduate learners’ average syntactic ability in terms of written assessment. This paper is an attempt in classifying the patterns and categories of syntactic errors committed by students who were brought up and educated in non-native English-speaking countries. Thus, pedagogical recommendations are offered for both EFL/L2 learners and educators in tertiary education settings in such ways as to calibrate how and in what manner English language as the medium of instruction can lead to more enduring effects in learners within non-native English-speaking countries.

Keywords: syntactic errors, english as a foreign language, second language users, pedagogy

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Authors: Zehra Sultan

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The study is based on the task-based language teaching approach which is found to be very effective in the EFL/ESL classroom. This approach engages learners to acquire the usage of authentic language skills by interacting with the real world through sequence of pedagogical tasks. The use of technology enhances the effectiveness of this approach. This study throws light on the historical background of TBLT and its efficacy in the EFL/ESL classroom. In addition, this study precisely talks about the implementation of this approach in the General Foundation Programme of Muscat College, Oman. It furnishes the list of the pedagogical tasks embedded in the language curriculum of General Foundation Programme (GFP) which are skillfully allied to the College Graduate Attributes. Moreover, the study also discusses the challenges pertaining to this approach from the point of view of teachers, students, and its classroom application. Additionally, the operational success of this methodology is gauged through formative assessments of the GFP, which is apparent in the students’ progress.

Keywords: task-based language teaching, authentic language, communicative approach, real world activities, ESL/EFL activities

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Authors: Citlali Aguilera Lira, David Lynch Steinicke, Andrea León García

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One of the challenges that higher education faces is to find how to approach the sustainability in an inclusive way to the student within all the different academic areas, how to move the sustainable development from the abstract field to the operational field. This research comes from the ecoliteracy and the pedagogical praxis as tools for rebuilding the teaching processes inside of universities. The purpose is to determine and describe which are the factors involved in the process of learning particularly in the Greenhouse-School Siembra UV. In the Greenhouse-School Siembra UV, of the University of Veracruz, are cultivated vegetables, medicinal plants and small cornfields under the usage of eco-technologies such as hydroponics, Wickingbed and Hugelkultur, which main purpose is the saving of space, labor and natural resources, as well as function as agricultural production alternatives in the urban and periurban zones. The sample was formed with students from different academic areas and who are actively involved in the greenhouse, as well as institutes from the University of Veracruz and governmental and non-governmental departments. This project comes from a pedagogic praxis approach, from filling the needs that the different professional profiles of the university students have. All this with the purpose of generate a pragmatic dialogue with the sustainability. It also comes from the necessity to understand the factors that intervene in the students’ praxis. In this manner is how the students are the fundamental unit in the sphere of sustainability. As a result, it is observed that those University of Veracruz students who are involved in the Greenhouse-school, Siembra UV, have enriched in different levels the sense of urban and periurban agriculture because of the diverse academic approaches they have and the interaction between them. It is concluded that the eco-technologies act as fundamental tools for ecoliteracy in society, where it is strengthen the nutritional and food security from a sustainable development approach.

Keywords: farming eco-technologies, food security, multidisciplinary, pedagogical praxis

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Authors: Bahia Braktia, Belkacem Braktia

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Collaborative writing is now an established pedagogical technique in higher education. Since most educators do not have training in the design, execution, and evaluation of writing assignments, implementing such tasks has proven difficult. This paper firstly proposes a framework for a collaborative writing assignment based on a literature study and adopting a writing-to-learn concept. It then describes the research undertaken and shows how this framework is implemented in an economics course, at an Algerian university, with undergraduate students. Finally, using a mixed methods design, it examines the students’ perceptions of what they have learned about collaborative writing. Preliminary results show that group assignments will always be a challenge, but with careful planning and structure, a collaborative writing assignment can be used effectively to help students improve their analytical and critical thinking abilities, research and group work skills, as well as writing proficiency. Students have a positive experience of working in a team and identified a wide variety of different team skills that they have learned through the process.

Keywords: collaborative writing, research assignment, students’ perception, survey

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Authors: Wanghongshu Zhou

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This study aims to explore the relationship between the L2MSS and WTC among Chinese non-English major students in order to provide pedagogical implications for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in Chinese universities. By employing a mixed methods approach, we involved 103 Chinese non-English major students from a typical university in China, conducted questionnaire survey to measure their levels of L2WTC and L2MSS level, and then analyzed the correlation between the two above mentioned variables. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants to provide a deeper understanding and explanation of the questionnaire data. Findings show that 1) Chinese non-English major students’ ideal L2 self and L2 learning experience could positively predict their L2 WTC in EFL class; 2) Chinese non-English major students’ ought-to L2 self might have no significant impact on their L2 WTC in EFL class; and 3) self-confidence might be another main factor that will influence Chinese non-English major students’ L2 WTC in EFL class. These findings might shed light on the second language acquisition field and provide pedagogical recommendations for pre-service as well as in-service EFL teachers.

Keywords: L2 willingness to communicate, L2 motivation, self-confidence, Chinese non-English major students

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Authors: Allison Tucker, Carolyn Clarke, Erin Keith

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Introduction: In education, the determination to uncover privileged practices requires critical reflection to be placed at the center of both pre-service and in-service teacher education. Confronting deficit thinking about children’s abilities and shifting to holding an image of the child as capable and competent is necessary for teachers to engage in responsive pedagogy that meets children where they are in their learning and builds on strengths. This paper explores the ways in which early elementary teachers' perceptions of the assets of children might shift through the pedagogical use of video clubs. Video club is a pedagogical practice whereby teachers record and view short videos with the intended purpose of deepening their practices. The use of video club as a learning tool has been an extensively documented practice. In this study, a video club is used to watch short recordings of playing children to identify the assets of their students. Methodology: The study on which this paper is based asks the question: What are the ways in which teachers’ image of the child and teaching practices evolve through the use of video club focused on the strengths of children demonstrated during play? Using critical reflection, it aims to identify and describe participants’ experiences of examining their personally held image of the child through the pedagogical tool video club, and how that image influences their practices, specifically in implementing play pedagogy. Teachers enrolled in a graduate-level play pedagogy course record and watch videos of their own students as a means to notice and reflect on the learning that happens during play. Using a co-constructed viewing protocol, teachers identify student strengths and consider their pedagogical responses. Video club provides a framework for teachers to critically reflect in action, return to the video to rewatch the children or themselves and discuss their noticings with colleagues. Critical reflection occurs when there is focused attention on identifying the ways in which actions perpetuate or challenge issues of inherent power in education. When the image of the child held by the teacher is from a deficit position and is influenced by hegemonic dimensions of practice, critical reflection is essential in naming and addressing power imbalances, biases, and practices that are harmful to children and become barriers to their thriving. The data is comprised of teacher reflections, analyzed using phenomenology. Phenomenology seeks to understand and appreciate how individuals make sense of their experiences. Teacher reflections are individually read, and researchers determine pools of meaning. Categories are identified by each researcher, after which commonalities are named through a recursive process of returning to the data until no more themes emerge or saturation is reached. Findings: The final analysis and interpretation of the data are forthcoming. However, emergent analysis of the data collected using teacher reflections reveals the ways in which the use of video club grew teachers’ awareness of their image of the child. It shows video club as a promising pedagogical tool when used with in-service teachers to prompt opportunities for play and to challenge deficit thinking about children and their abilities to thrive in learning.

Keywords: asset-based teaching, critical reflection, image of the child, video club

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Authors: Luz Janeth Ospina M.

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The fourth industrial revolution is changing the role of education substantially and, therefore, the role of instructors and learners at all levels. Education 4.0 is an imminent response to the needs of a globalized world where humans and technology are being aligned to enable endless possibilities, among them the need for students, as digital natives, to communicate effectively in at least one language besides their mother tongue, and also the requirement of developing theirs. This is an exploratory study in which a control group (N = 21), all of the students of Spanish as a foreign language at the university level, after taking a Spanish class, responded to an online questionnaire about the engagement, atmosphere, and environment in which their course was delivered. These aspects considered in the survey were relative to the instructor’s teaching style, including: (a) active, hands-on learning; (b) flexibility for in-class activities, easily switching between small group work, individual work, and whole-class discussion; and (c) integrating technology into the classroom. Strongly believing in these principles, the instructor deliberately taught the course in a SCALE-UP room, as it could facilitate such a positive and encouraging learning environment. These aspects are trends related to Education 4.0 and have become integral to the instructor’s pedagogical stance that calls for a constructive-affective role, instead of a transmissive one. As expected, with a learning environment that (a) fosters student engagement and (b) improves student outcomes, the subjects were highly engaged, which was partially due to the learning environment. An overwhelming majority (all but one) of students agreed or strongly agreed that the atmosphere and the environment were ideal. Outcomes of this study are relevant and indicate that it is about time for teachers to build up a meaningful correlation between humans and technology. We should see the trends of Education 4.0 not as a threat but as practices that should be in the hands of critical and creative instructors whose pedagogical stance responds to the needs of the learners in the 21st century.

Keywords: active learning, education 4.0, higher education, pedagogical stance

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Authors: Liu Dan

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It was considered either unnecessary or impossible for primary school students to implement online teaching until last year. A large number of E-learning or E-teaching researches have been focused on adult-learners, andragogy and technology, however, primary school education, it is facing many problems that need to be solved. Therefore, this research is aimed at exploring barriers and influential factors on online teaching for K-12 students from teachers’ perspectives and discussing the E-pedagogy that is suitable for primary school students and teachers. Eight hundred and ninety-six teachers from 10 primary schools in Shanghai were invited to participate in a questionnaire survey. Data were analysed by hierarchical regression, and the results stress the significant three barriers by teachers with online teaching: the existing system is deficient in emotional interaction, teachers’ attitude towards the technology is negative and the present teacher training is lack of systematic E-pedagogy guidance. The barriers discovered by this study will help the software designers (E-lab) develop tools that allow for flexible and evolving pedagogical approaches whilst providing an easy entry point for cautious newcomers, so that help the teachers free to engage in E-teaching at pedagogical and disciplinary levels, to enhance their repertoire of teaching practices.

Keywords: online teaching barriers (OTB), e-teaching, primary school, teachers, technology

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Authors: Mukhtar Raban

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Nelson Mandela University subscribes to a humanizing pedagogy (HP), as housed under broader critical pedagogy, that underpins and informs learning and teaching activities at the institution. The investigation sought to explore the implications of humanizing and critical pedagogical considerations for a technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) environment in a university course. The paper inquires into the design of a learning resource in an online learning environment of an English communication module, that applied HP principles. With an objective of creating agentive spaces for foregrounding identity, student voice, critical self-reflection, and recognition of others’ humanity; a flexible and open 'My Presence' feature was added to the TELL environment that allowed students and lecturers to share elements of their backgrounds in a ‘mutually vulnerable’ manner as a way of establishing digital identity and a more ‘human’ presence in the online language learning encounter, serving as a catalyst for the recognition of the ‘other’. Following a qualitative research design, the study adopted an auto-ethnographic approach, complementing the critical inquiry nature embedded into the activity’s practices. The study’s findings provide critical reflections and deductions on the possibilities of leveraging digital human expression within a humanizing pedagogical framework to advance the realization of HP-adoption in language learning and teaching encounters. It was found that the consideration of humanizing pedagogical principles in the design of online learning was more effective when the critical outcomes were explicated to students and lecturers prior to the completion of the activities. The integration of humanizing pedagogy also led to a contextual advancement of ‘affective’ language learning. Upon critical reflection and analysis, student identity and agency can flourish in a technology-enhanced learning environment when humanizing, and critical pedagogy influences the learning design.

Keywords: critical reflection, humanizing pedagogy, student identity, technology-enhanced language learning

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Authors: Michael Ubale Cyril

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Challenges of embedding entrepreneurship in tertiary institutions in Nigeria requires a consistent policy for equipping schools with necessary facilities like establishing incubating technology centre, the right calibres of human resources, appropriate pedagogical tools for teaching entrepreneurship education and exhibition grounds where products and services will be delivered and patronised by the customers. With the death of facilities in public schools in Nigeria, educators are clamouring for a way out. This study investigated the challenges of embedding entrepreneurship education in Modibbo Adama University of Technology Yola, Nigeria. The population for the study was 201 comprising 34 industrial entrepreneurs, 76 technical teachers and 91 final year undergraduates. The data was analysed using means of 3 groups, standard deviation, and analysis of variance. The study found out, that technical teachers have not been trained to teach entrepreneurship education, approaches to teaching methodology, were not varied and lack of infrastructural facilities like building was not a factor. It was recommended that technical teachers be retrained to teach entrepreneurship education, textbooks in entrepreneurship should be published with Nigerian outlook.

Keywords: challenges, embedding, entrepreneurship pedagogical, technology incubating centres

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