Network analysis and qualitative discourse analysis of a classroom group discussion

ABSTRACT

A new methodology is proposed for qualitative discourse analysis (QDA) aimed at gaining enhanced insights into learning possibilities and indicators that arise during classroom group discussions. The constitution of this new methodology has two principle components: a discourse analysis approach that aims to identify the relationships between content and group dynamics; and a network analysis (NA) approach that uses the same data to identify meaning-related structural dynamics found in the data. The proposed methodology pairs these two components to create a supplementary iterative interchange that facilitates the attainment of greater analytic insights than are achievable by either of the two components individually. The critical aspects of the methodology are illustrated and discussed using real classroom data in ways that provide a procedural exemplar. The strengths and limitations of the proposed methodology are also discussed.     

The school leader’s role in school-based development

ABSTRACT

Background: While the school leader’s role is undoubtedly instrumental in school effectiveness, the specific influence of formal leadership on pupil learning is indirect and can be difficult to determine. Research findings suggest that school leaders can influence school organisation and pupil learning by acting catalytically, thus unlocking their schools’ existing potential. In school-based development, school leaders and their staff undergo a workplace development process, using school resources to contribute to it.

Purpose: This article explores the concept of leadership in school-based development, focusing on leading teacher learning processes in relation to pupil learning. The research problem is formulated in the following question: How is the school leader’s role enacted and experienced when enhancing teachers’ learning in school-based development? The intent of the study was to further the understanding of leadership in school-based development.

Sources of information and method: A qualitative interview study was conducted with teachers and leaders from three lower secondary schools, roughly 2 years after the schools participated in a formal school-based development project which was initiated by the Norwegian education authority. To present the findings based on the collected data, narrative texts were constructed.

Findings: The findings draw attention to the importance of leaders’ participation in the teacher learning processes of school-based development. The study highlights the importance of leaders building trust in their schools: development processes must be collegium-rooted with common goals for the whole school. The interplay of culture, structure and content is found to be necessary for successful school-based development. Furthermore, school leaders need to balance internal and external accountability, moving school practices towards local goals, which are constructed within national overall aims.

Conclusions: The study suggests that leaders require an overview of developmental processes to manage to support and progress development; leadership needs to be distributed. Further research on leaders’ learning in relation to school-based development can generate knowledge that serves as a thinking tool, thereby informing leaders’ actions in support of school-based development.     

The Learners’ Mental Models of Television in Mathematics

Abstracts

English: This study aims to examine the learners’ mental models of television in actual media classroom activity by which knowledge was constructed. It aims to clarify the formation of the Thai learners’ mental models of television related to their learning achievements using the topic of Pythagoras’ theorem in nindi‐grade mathematics as a case study. A qualitative approach was used to investigate the effects of using instructional television, especially as they facilitate learners in the construction of mental models for understanding the learning content. The findings revealed the learners’ mental models, which they constructed while learning through watching television. Specifically, they revealed how media capabilities and the instructional designs that employ them interact with the learners and the task characteristics to influence the formation of the learners’ mental models and their learning achievement.     

Exceeding expectations: scaffolding agentic engagement through assessment as learning

Background: The active involvement of learners as critical, reflective and capable agents in the learning process is a core aim in contemporary education policy in Australia, and is regarded as a significant factor for academic success. However, within the relevant literature, the issue of positioning students as agents in the learning process has not been fully examined and needs further exploration.

Purpose: This study aims to explore ways in which aspects of self-regulated learning theory may be integrated with the concept of agentic engagement into classroom practice. Specifically, the study seeks to scaffold students’ self-assessment capabilities and self-efficacy by using a formative assessment-as-learning process. The research examines how scaffolded planning, as part of the forethought phase in the Assessment as Learning (AaL) process, influences self-regulation and student agency in the learning process.

Sample: 126 students from school years two, four and six (student age groups 7, 9 and 11 years), and 7 teachers at an independent (co-educational, non-religious) primary school in the Northern Territory, Australia, participated in the study.

Design and methods: Conducted as a one-setting, cross-sectional practitioner research study, the data sources included students’ planning templates, writing samples, interviews with students and teachers and email correspondence with teachers. The data were analysed for emerging themes and interpreted from a framework of social cognitive theory.

Findings: In this study, students were given the opportunity and support to exercise agentic engagement. Findings suggested that, in particular, students who were identified by their teachers as low-achieving and/or with poor motivation, were perceived by the teachers as exceededing expectations by demonstrating relatively greater motivation, persistence, effort and pride in their work than would be the case usually.

Conclusions: The findings from this formative AaL study suggest that AaL has the potential to help scaffold primary students’ development of assessment capabilities.     

Just4Me: pedagogical and functional design of a PLE for self-managed learning in different contexts / Just4Me: diseño pedagógico y funcional de un PLE para la autogestión del aprendizaje en distintos contextos

Abstract

This article provides the foundation and describes the pedagogical and functional design of a PLE within the Just4Me project. This environment integrates tools and functionalities to support learning across and throughout life.

The main goal of the pedagogical design is to encourage self-managed learning, regardless of whether it occurs in formal or informal settings. It aims to integrate learning experiences developed within different contexts.     

Effective usage of learning analytics: what do practitioners want and where should distance learning institutions be going?

ABSTRACT

The implementation of learning analytics may empower distance learning institutions to provide real-time feedback to students and teachers. Given the leading role of the Open University UK (OU) in research and application of learning analytics, this study aims to share the lessons learned from the experiences of 42 participants from a range of faculty, academic and professional positions, and expertise with learning analytics. Furthermore, we explored where distance learning institutions should be going next in terms of learning analytics adoption. The findings from the Learning Analytics User Stories (LAUS) workshop indicated four key areas where more work is needed: communication, personalisation, integrated design, and development of an evidence-base. The workshop outputs signalled the aspiration for an integrated analytics system transcending the entire student experience, from initial student inquiry right through to qualification completion and into life-long learning. We hope that our study will spark discussion on whether (or not) distance learning institutions should pursue the dream of an integrated, personalised, and evidence-based learning analytics system that clearly communicates useful feedback to staff and students, or whether this will become an Orwellian nightmare.     

Pro Bono Publico

Abstract

The dynamics of classroom authority are not always simple. Students come to school to increase their knowledge, and teachers presumably know more about their subject than do their students, but learning is not exclusively a one-way downward flow of information. Teachers learn from students and students often learn best when teachers do not exert their authority, at least in the conventional sense. Instructors who provoke thinking encourage students to encounter their own moments of illumination. This article presents the idea that learning through active resistance makes the information that students discover more valuable to them. Examples from the author's own classroom experiences are provided.     

Learning outdoors or with a computer: the contribution of the learning setting to learning and to environmental perceptions

ABSTRACT

Background: Outdoor learning and computer-based learning are two different alternatives to in-class conventional teacher-centered learning.

Purpose: This study compares the outdoor learning setting with computer-based learning in class. It examines the influence of the two different learning settings on academic achievements, the learning experience, and pro-environmental perceptions.

Sample: A total of 90 elementary school students (third and fourth-grade classes) participated in the study.

Design and methods: The academic knowledge of the study participants was tested through identical exams for both learning settings. In addition, in each group the students’ perceptions were examined by means of a questionnaire about environmental values and the learning experience.

Results: The study demonstrates that academic achievements in the two settings were similar, but the students expressed more enthusiasm about the outdoor learning experience than about in-class learning. In addition, the outdoor learning setting contributed more to promoting positive environmental perceptions even though students did not learn directly about environmental issues and sustainability.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that learning in the natural environment is valuable: Alongside the fostering of computerized learning, it is also important to promoteoutdoor learning settings and integrate both settings by implementing mobile technologies in the outdoor teaching.     

Online and Hybrid Water Industry Courses for Community College Students

ABSTRACT

The Water Quality Management Technology department at Red Rocks Community College in Denver, CO received a National Science Foundation grant and converted 24 courses from a face-to-face format to online and hybrid formats. The courses were converted to meet a growing employment need within the water industry. The online and hybrid options gave incumbent industry professionals, who may have a difficult schedule, the ability to keep their certifications current. In the future, the department will continue to evaluate curriculum modalities to ensure optimum student learning and cultivate more partnerships between industry and other colleges to create multiple pathways for students.     

Do defence styles and approaches to learning ‘fit together’ in students’ profiles? Differences between years of study

Abstract

The study aims at investigating students’ learning/defence profiles. It also explores students’ profiles during different years of study. Participants comprised of 425 undergraduates. They completed the ‘Approaches to Study and Skills Inventory’ and the ‘Defense Style Questionnaire’. The students’ academic achievement was measured through grade point average. Cluster analysis revealed three profiles: ‘restricted maturity and dissonant-unorganized’ students, ‘defensive and reproduction oriented’ students, and ‘mature and learning advanced’ students. The profiles correspond to adaptive and maladaptive learning patterns. The study also revealed few (a) differences across the years of study (on strategic approach) and (b) interactions between the three clusters and the years of study (on mature defence style and GPA). The findings are discussed in relation to recent literature. Limitations and future research suggestions are presented.     

Analysis of leadership dynamics in educational settings during times of external and internal change

Background: The article concerns the tensions that can arise during demanding external, and consequential internal changes and considers how educational leadership is able to respond to them. Leadership is here understood as a collaborative endeavour, producing shared sense-making in situations of tension.

Purpose: The main research question was: what kinds of leadership dynamics underlie situations of tension brought about by external and internal change? The sub-question was: what kind of micro-level sense-making processes, argued to be the true source of change, assist in revealing these dynamics?

Programme: Educational organisations increasingly face demanding external changes, such as the two mergers described in this article. Tensions can easily be brought about during such external changes and the consequential internal changes, such as two pedagogical innovation projects in this article.

Sample: The study was conducted with three leadership teams within two organisations. The first organisation was a vocational education organisation with around 4000–5000 students and 500 staff members. The leadership team that was studied was followed for almost two years. The other organisation was a business school which comprised of around 7000 students, 150–200 professors and 500 staff members. There, two leadership teams were investigated and followed for almost three years.

Design and methods: The data for the sense-making process was selected by way of qualitative content analysis and an experimented model called TenKeys®. This data were analysed using a grounded theory approach to uncover the underlying leadership dynamics.

Results: Ten micro-procedural leadership dynamics were identified. Actions related to the pedagogical projects were then interpreted by means of these dynamics.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that understanding underlying leadership dynamics might help educational organisations respond to possible tensions brought about by external and internal change and, consequently, support learners’ learning processes, albeit indirectly.     

Beyond labels: what are the salient features of lesson study and learning study?

ABSTRACT

Lesson Study and Learning Study are popular teacher professional development models across the world. Drawing on an extensive review of research and literature, this paper aims to identify the features of the two models to contrast and establish their similarities and differences particularly with regard to their application in practice. The paper focuses on their impact on teaching and learning as well as the rationale behind the process of Lesson Study and Learning Study. Four major distinctions between the two models are revealed: ways of identifying a topic for teaching, views and methods for understanding student learning, the focus of teacher collaboration on lesson design and implementation, and the overall instructional design. The paper concludes that the two models appeal to different practitioners depending on their aims and objectives in teaching and learning as well as their broader perspectives on education. In addition, this paper suggests that the two models could complement each other to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning in different contexts.     

Learning in the Finnish outdoor classroom: Pupils’ views

ABSTRACT

Finnish nature schools are environmental education organisations offering outdoor programmes for classes in natural environments. They are intended to contribute to the aims of the national curriculum in various subjects. This qualitative study examines how students describe their learning in a nature school context and how they describe differences between learning in nature and learning in the classroom. After a nature school day, 30 10–11-year-old pupils participated in focus groups interviews. The data were analysed through inductive content analysis. Nature school learning was described as cognitive, affective, social and as providing practical skills learning, although some pupils claimed that they had not learned anything. The differences between the learning environments were described as differences in learning activities, concreteness, external conditions, learning topics, perceived ability to concentrate and differences in motivation. We stress the importance of reflection on learning in order to raise pupils’ awareness of their outdoor learning.     

A situation-based flipped classroom to improving nursing staff performance in advanced cardiac life support training course

ABSTRACT

The Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) training aims to help nurses establish the basic competence of the comprehension of electrocardiograms (ECG/ EKG). However, learners usually have difficulty memorizing the meanings of different EKG waveforms, which could represent clinical symptoms or even the feeling of dying, via traditional instruction. Some serious problems could lead to death if the nursing staff do not make correct judgments and provide timely treatment. Thus, this paper reports an explorative study investigating the effects of a flipped classroom approach on nursing staffs’ ACLS learning achievement. A 2-week experiment was conducted to compare the learning achievement of the nursing staff who learned with the ACLS situation-based flipped classroom approach to those who learned with the ACLS traditional flipped approach. The experimental results show that the nursing staff who learned with the proposed approach had better learning achievements, motivation, and satisfaction than those who learned with the ACLS traditional flipped approach.     

Pushing the boundaries of self-directed learning: research findings from a study of u.lab participants in Scotland

ABSTRACT

This article reports on the research findings from a qualitative study of adult learners in Scotland taking part in a u.lab MOOC. As a new phenomenon in adult learning, u.lab has been extremely popular yet, at present, there exists little empirical data about either the process or outcomes of the learning experience. This study aims to provide a starting point for further study of u.lab and other emergent trends in adult learning. Here, the accounts of 12 women and men participating in u.lab were analysed using a grounded theory framework. The inductive nature of this approach allowed us to build up a picture of participant experience. Of significance in the findings were participants’ relationship to course content, experience of learning in community and engagement in shaping the learning experience. We draw on Illeris’ model of the learning field to deepen our understanding of participant experience and to illustrate how the particular constellation of content, incentive and interaction dimensions of learning in u.lab creates a learning space where the possibility for self-direction and self-organisation is extended beyond existing practice.     

Peirce’s Rhetorical Turn: Conceptualizing education as semiosis

Abstract

The later works of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1913) offer an extended metaphor of mind and a rich conception of the dynamics of knowledge and learning. After a ‘rhetorical turn’ Peirce develops his early ‘semiotics’ into a more general theory of sign and sign use,while integrating his pragmatism, phenomenology, and semiotics. Therefore, in this article I bring Peirce’s notion of semiosis—the sign’s action—to the forefront. In doing so, I hope to disclose how Peirce’s rhetorical turn not only opens up towards a richer conception of the dynamics of knowledge and learning, but also invites a shift of perspective from the psychological processes of learning to the semeiotic processes that characterizes the very dynamics of knowledge production.     

Pupils’ Learning,Identity and Social Context: the case of Mary∗

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an analysis of social factors which influence the sense of identity and approach to learning of young children. The analysis is set in the context of a critique of national education policies which fail to appreciate the importance of the engagement of learners in learning processes. However, it focuses at a more detailed level on the social dynamics between children and parents, siblings, peers and teachers and the ways in which these evolve over time and influence identity. A model of key factors and processes is presented which draws on both symbolic interactionism and social constructivism and its use is illustrated through a detailed case study of the learning of one child over a three‐year period.

     

Relationships among informal learning environments,teaching procedures and scientific reasoning ability

Informal learning experiences have risen to the forefront of science education as being beneficial to students' learning. However, it is not clear in what ways such experiences may be beneficial to students; nor how informal learning experiences may interface with classroom science instruction. This study aims to acquire a better understanding of these issues by investigating one aspect of science learning, scientific reasoning ability, with respect to the students' informal learning experiences and classroom science instruction. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to investigate possible differences in students' scientific reasoning abilities relative to their informal learning environments (impoverished, enriched), classroom teaching experiences (non-inquiry, inquiry) and the interaction of these variables. The results of two-way ANOVAs indicated that informal learning environments and classroom science teaching procedures showed significant main effects on students' scientific reasoning abilities. Students with enriched informal learning environments had significantly higher scientific reasoning abilities compared to those with impoverished informal learning environments. Likewise, students in inquirybased science classrooms showed higher scientific reasoning abilities compared to those in non-inquiry science classrooms. There were no significant interaction effects. These results indicate the need for increased emphases on both informal learning opportunities and inquiry-based instruction in science.     

Perspectives of lifelong education in Portuguese higher education: a critical analysis of learning outcomes

ABSTRACT

Nurturing students’ continuous learning is a current trend in the higher education agenda. Curricula and academic contents should enable students to take part in stimulating learning experiences, as well as promoting both developing and training opportunities in the course of their lives and careers. Despite the relevance given to lifelong learning in the educational system, there are still some open questions: how this concept is understood and put into practice by higher education institutions? The paper aims to analyse the conceptions of lifelong learning as reflected on the learning outcomes proposed in a sample of study programs. A qualitative methodology and a data-driven approach are adopted to explore the content of the learning outcomes proposed in 10% of total study programs submitted to quality accreditation, since 2009. Generally, results reveal that higher education institutions are committed to the lifelong learning paradigm, particularly in master and PhD degrees. Students are expected to ‘invest in personal and professional development through life’, to ‘develop learning competences through life’, as well as to ‘foster lifelong learning’. This study provides a better understanding of the range of perspectives and the relevance given to lifelong learning as a valuable learning outcome.