Using French Language Facebook Posts to Increase Beginning Students’ Instrumentality and Cultural Interest

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-108
Author(s):  
Shelly Wyatt ◽  
Glenda Gunter

This quasi-experimental study examined the impact of interactions with native French language Facebook posts on beginning French language learners’ attitudes towards the target language and culture. Participants in this study were recruited from two sections of FRE 1120, Elementary French Language and Civilization I at the University of Central Florida. Native French language Facebook posts were ‘pushed’ to participants’ personal Facebook News Feeds over the course of four weeks, with posts pushed on weekdays only. Dörnyei and Clément’s (2001) Language Orientation Questionnaire was used to measure participants’ attitudes towards the target language and culture. Data were analysed using a split-plot ANOVA. A total of twenty-six participants completed the study, with fourteen participants in the control group and twelve participants in the treatment group. Both sections of FRE 1120 were conducted in a face-to-face modality and were taught by the same instructor. Results indicated that participants’ attitudes towards the target language and culture were not significantly impacted by interaction with native French language Facebook posts. Opportunities for future research include increasing the size of the sample, increasing the length of the study, and selecting participants who are more advanced in their mastery of the target language.

Author(s):  
Yin Yin Khoo ◽  
Robert Fitzgerald

This study examines the impact of using cartoons shared through mobile devices to promote awareness and to aid in the development of financial literacy among Economics students in Malaysia. The study also investigates the use of these ‘mobile cartoons' to develop students' communication skills. The study involved a quasi-experimental methodology investigating the learning outcomes of 91 undergraduate students. Data was acquired through surveys and interviews. The results showed a higher mean for the experimental group (Mobile Learning Collaborative) than the control group (Conventional Collaborative). Future research may focus on the improvement in the design of the intervention with a particular focus on expanding the range of cartoon characters.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Yin Yin Khoo ◽  
Robert Fitzgerald

This study examines the impact of using cartoons shared through mobile devices to promote awareness and to aid in the development of financial literacy among Economics students in Malaysia. The study also investigates the use of these ‘mobile cartoons' to develop students' communication skills. The study involved a quasi-experimental methodology investigating the learning outcomes of 91 undergraduate students. Data was acquired through surveys and interviews. The results showed a higher mean for the experimental group (Mobile Learning Collaborative) than the control group (Conventional Collaborative). Future research may focus on the improvement in the design of the intervention with a particular focus on expanding the range of cartoon characters.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-155
Author(s):  
Yassine BENHADJ

The study aimed at examining the effect of adopting blended learning on Moroccan high school students’ English language proficiency. This has been essentially achieved through relying both on face-to-face classroom interactions and using “Google classroom”, which is a free online learning platform.  The researcher opted for a quasi-experimental design to gauge the impact of implementing a blended learning model on the research sample. This study enlisted the participation of 79 Moroccan first-year Baccalaureate students who were divided into two separate but homogenous groups. The experimental group was taught using the blended learning model, and the control group was tutored in a traditional learning environment. The mean scores’ differences of the pre-test and the post-test asserted that, in comparison to the face-to-face learning, the blended learning model adopted was significantly impactful in improving the language proficiency level of the treatment group. However, no significant gender differences were observed in this regard. In essence, this piece of research has placed much emphasis on the idea that the efficient incorporation of ICT, particularly blended learning, into the learning/teaching process can help satisfy students’ needs, increase their motivation, and eventually enhance their language mastery.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026142942110559
Author(s):  
Omar Muammar

Leadership skills are a prerequisite in the 21st-century workplace in all fields. However, graduates often leave universities with a wealth of knowledge but less mastery and confidence in leadership skills. The purpose of the current study was to estimate the impact of a 20-hour leadership training program (LTP), on learning. A quasi-experimental method with non-equivalent groups, namely, an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG), were used to assess the impact of the LTP on students’ learning perceptions. The convenience sample consisted of 96 students (49 males and 47 females), and 55 students in the EG. Pre- and post-assessments were performed. In the series of t-tests, the value of the difference between the pre- and post-assessments showed a significant overall effect on the ratings, favoring the EG. The results showed that the LTP was highly effective at developing students’ leadership skills. Implications and recommendations for future research are also included.


10.28945/4046 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 207-247
Author(s):  
Thando Loliwe

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this study is to understand how video lectures of the same length and content as the current face-to-face lectures can be designed and implemented to have a positive effect on student performance, particularly when there is a campus shutdown. Background: In a number of South African universities protests by the students are on the increase. Often, they lead to the cancellation of academic activities such as face-to-face classes and examinations. Methodology: A quasi-experimental design was used on two video lectures to (1) compare the performance of the students who did not watch the video lectures and those who watched the video lectures, (2) compare the performance of each student who watched the video lectures on the test topics covered in the videos and the test topics not covered in the videos, and (3) determine the factors that influence the effectiveness of the video lectures. Contribution: This study contributes to the literature by investigating the effectiveness of video lectures in improving student performance, the factors associated to the effectiveness of such lectures, and the complexity or simplicity of the two video lectures used, and by providing possible solutions to the challenges identified in relation to designing video lectures. Findings: In terms of student performance, there is no significant advantage arising from watching the video lectures for the students who watch the video lectures, as compared to those who did not watch the video lectures. It is also found that the student performance on the topics with video lectures is significantly associated to the students’ commitment, prior performance, the quality of the content, and the design of the videos. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study recommends how the accounting video lectures can be designed and highlights the environments in which the video lectures of the same length and content as the face-to-face lectures should not be used. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should replicate this study by using short length videos of better quality and appropriate length, which incorporate current issues, games, are interactive, and so forth. Impact on Society: This study examines the use of educational video lectures in order to minimise the impact of disruptions at university level. Future Research: Future studies may use randomly selecting treatment and control groups. They may consider a nationwide research or using qualitative interviews in examining the use of educational video lectures.


10.28945/3985 ◽  
2018 ◽  

Aim/Purpose: [This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the 2018 issue of the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, Volume 15] The objective of this study is to understand how the video lectures of the same length and content as the face-to-face lectures can be designed and implemented to have a positive effect on student performance; probably when the campus are shutdown. Background: In a number of South African universities protests by students are on the increase. Often, they lead to cancellation of academic activities such as face-to-face classes and examinations. Methodology: A quasi-experimental design with multiple baseline is used on two video lectures, to (1) compare the performance of the students who did not watch the video lectures and those who watched the video lectures; and (2) compare the performance of each student who watched the video lectures on the test topics covered in the videos and the test topics not covered in the videos; and (3) determine the factors that influence the effectiveness of the concerned video lectures. Contribution: This study contributes to the literature by investigating the effectiveness of video lectures in improving student performance; and the factors associated to the effectiveness of such lectures; and complexity or straightness of the two video lectures used; and by providing possible solutions to the challenges identified, in relation to designing video lectures. Findings: In terms of student performance, there is no significant advantage arising from watching the video lectures for the students who watched the video lectures. It is also found that the student performance is significantly associated to the student's commitment, prior performance, the quality of the content, and the organisation or design of the video lectures. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study recommends how the accounting video lectures can be designed, and highlights the environments in which the video lectures of the same length and content as the face-to-face lectures may not be used. Recommendation for Researchers: Other researchers may replicate this study using short length videos of better quality and appropriate length, which may incorporate current issues, games, be interactive and so forth. Impact on Society: This study examines the use of educational video lectures in order to minimise the impact of disruptions at university level. Future Research: Future studies may use randomly selected treatment and control groups. They may consider a nationwide research or using qualitative interviews in examining the use of educational video lectures.


2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882096177
Author(s):  
Michael Yeldham

Instruction in second language (L2) English phoneme pronunciation almost invariably includes a focus on improving the learners’ use of their articulatory organs to pronounce the relevant sounds. However, the pronunciation of many English sounds also relies on effort from the abdominal region, and under-utilization of this region can often contribute to pronunciation difficulties. For Chinese-speaking learners of English, such relevant sounds include the long vowel and diphthong sounds, particularly the phonemes /iː/, /uː/ and /eɪ/, and also the voiced fricative consonants, /z/, /ð/, /v/ and /ʒ/. Consequently, this study examined the impact of teaching adult Chinese-speaking English learners to enhance the use of their abdomen when pronouncing these sounds. The main focus of the research was a quasi-experimental component, where both an experimental and control group were taught the same way in all aspects, with the only point of difference being that the experimental group was taught the abdominal techniques. Longitudinal multiple-case studies of learners from the experimental group were also employed to examine for any post-course maintenance of the phonemes as well as possible reasons for this. Results from the quasi-experimental component showed that it was advantageous to teach learners the abdominal techniques. Also, there were some discernible trends in the learners’ post-course maintenance of the sounds. This article then discusses pedagogical implications of the study, and provides suggestions for future research of the abdominal techniques.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Fendrik ◽  
Elvina Elvina

This study aims to examine the influence of visual thinking learning to problemsolving skill. Quasi experiments with the design of this non-equivalent controlgroup involved Grade V students in one of the Elementary Schools. The design ofthis study was quasi experimental nonequivalent control group, the researchbullet used the existing class. The results of research are: 1) improvement ofproblem soving skill. The learning did not differ significantly between studentswho received conventional learning. 2) there is no interaction between learning(visual thinking and traditional) with students' mathematical skill (upper, middleand lower) on the improvement of skill. 3) there is a difference in the skill oflanguage learning that is being constructed with visual learning of thought interms of student skill (top, middle and bottom).


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 558
Author(s):  
David Valiente ◽  
Héctor Campello-Vicente ◽  
Emilio Velasco-Sánchez ◽  
Fernando Rodríguez-Mas ◽  
Nuria Campillo-Davo

University education approaches related to the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), have generally particularized on teaching activity and learning programs which are commonly understood as reoriented lessons that fuse theoretic concepts interweaved with practical activities. In this context, team work has been widely acknowledged as a means to conduct practical and hands-on lessons, and has been revealed to be successful in the achievement of exercise resolution and design tasks. Besides this, methodologies sustained by ICT resources such as online or blended approaches, have also reported numerous benefits for students’ active learning. However, such benefits have to be fully validated within the particular teaching context, which may facilitate student achievement to a greater or lesser extent. In this work, we analyze the impact of attendance modalities on the learning performance of a STEM-related course on “Machines and Mechanisms Theory”, in which practical lessons are tackled through a team work approach. The validity of the results is reinforced by group testing and statistical tests with a sample of 128 participants. Students were arranged in a test group (online attendance) and in a control group (face-to-face attendance) to proceed with team work during the practical lessons. Thus, the efficacy of distance and in situ methodologies is compared. Moreover, additional variables have also been compared according to the historical record of the course, in regards to previous academic years. Finally, students’ insights about the collaborative side of this program, self-knowledge and satisfaction with the proposal have also been reported by a custom questionnaire. The results demonstrate greater performance and satisfaction amongst participants in the face-to-face modality. Such a modality is prooven to be statistically significant for the final achievement of students in detriment to online attendance.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014303432110250
Author(s):  
Celeste Simões ◽  
Anabela C. Santos ◽  
Paula Lebre ◽  
João R. Daniel ◽  
Cátia Branquinho ◽  
...  

Resilience is an individual’s ability to adapt successfully to and persevere during and after significant challenges. Resilience programmes based on a socioemotional learning approach have been associated with an increase in protextive factors (e.g., prosocial competencies), improvements in physical and mental health, and a decrease in internalised and externalised symptoms. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the RESCUR curriculum implemented in Portuguese schools on students’ academic, behavioural, and socioemotional outcomes, based on child and teacher reports. Participants included 1,084 children (53.2% male) aged 3-15 ( M = 7.24, SD = 2.31). A quasi-experimental study compared outcomes for an experimental intervention group (AIG) with a waiting list control group (WG). The results showed the RESCUR programme decreased mental health difficulties while increasing both prosocial behaviours and well-being. In addition, academic performance increased for those in preschool after implementation. Both teachers and children consistently reported positive behavioural changes in resilience-related competencies after implementing RESCUR. Our findings contribute to the recent research on the potential of RESCUR to address key socioemotional competencies and improve relevant protextive factors. Study limitations and future recommendations are addressed.


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