Embedding E-Mail in Primary Schools: Developing a Tool for Collective Reflection

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bregje De Vries ◽  
Hans Van Der Meij ◽  
Kerst Th. Boersma ◽  
Jules M. Pieters
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Primary Classrooms ◽  
Personal Understanding ◽  
E Mail ◽  
Design Experiments

Reflection is an important aspect of learning in groups. In collective moments of reflection, learners can share and compare their ideas with others, and by doing so can reach an articulated and personal understanding of a learning task and domain. In the research presented here, e-mail is examined as a means for reflection in the context of group learning. In two design experiments, an e-mail tool is developed that seeks to (1) support collective reflection, and (2) overcome practical problems related to e-mail use in primary classrooms. Two prototypes of the tool are presented and tested in five primary classrooms. We conclude that e-mail supports collective reflection on a learning task after adding the following supportive measures to the regular e-mail program: (1) a fixed partnership, (2) fixed timing, (3) an exercise of individual freewriting, and (4) collective use of a paper worksheet.

scholarly journals Upper Primary Students' Perceptions of Small Group Learning in Learning Vietnamese Language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Luong Hai Nhu Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Primary Students ◽  
Small Group Learning ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Group Assessment ◽  
Group Skills

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of upper-year students in Vietnamese primary schools about learning in small groups when studying Vietnamese language in comparison to traditional methods. Students’ perceptions of small group learning were explored through examination of five main factors: benefits, difficulties, group types, individual accountability, and group assessment.  An interpretive approach was used to explore the topic, from which data were collected in a two-phase multi-case study using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Four classes of three primary schools in Ho Chi Minh City, having different applications of small groups in learning, were selected for observation and survey by questionnaire. Twenty four students from the first phase of the study varying in gender and learning achievement were chosen for face-to-face interviews to examine more in-depth their perceptions about small group learning. To improve the trustworthiness of the research, teachers from these classes and principles of the schools were interviewed to obtain a more accurate overview of the research.  The study found that overall, Vietnamese upper-primary students preferred to learning in small groups to the traditional whole-class model despite the differences in implementing small group learning in each school. The results showed a positive concurrence with existing literature on the main findings, such as the three main benefits to students’ outcomes (e.g. academic achievement, social skills, and attitudes); and some inevitable difficulties when using this method for learning (e.g. time management, isolation and lack of group skills). The students’ choices of group types also reflected the current international students’ perceptions (e.g. preference for heterogeneous ability but homogeneous gender group).  The research also presented some interesting points unique to the Vietnamese context which might enrich the current literature of students’ perceptions of small group learning. They were the preference for large group sizes, the two-aspects of leadership, the preference for whole-group assessment, and the suitability of this method for learning Vietnamese language rather than other subjects. The research also showed the underlying influences of the desire for better achievement, the consideration for others’ feelings and the collective cultural context on Vietnamese upper primary students’ views of small group learning in learning Vietnamese language. The relationships between students’ gender and achievement to their perceptions of small group learning were also mentioned and described though these were not strong enough to generalise. A theoretical framework was proposed to illustrate the research findings. These findings suggest that small group learning should be implemented more frequently in Vietnamese primary schools and the study recommends that there be further training in group skills for students.</p>

Ethics in Interactions in Distance Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 1744-1754
Author(s):  
Paul Kawachi
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Collaborative Group ◽  
Student Interactions ◽  
The Aesthetic

This chapter presents the desirable interactions involved in teaching and learning at a distance. In these interactions, there are considerable ethical issues–notably that one’s own learner autonomy should be reduced at times in order to help others learn, to achieve the learning task, and at the same time help oneself to learn. Accordingly, learner autonomy is not an overarching goal of education. This is controversial, and this chapter deals with this issue in detail to explain that learner autonomy at best is a rough guideline, and ethically based on reasoning that autonomy should be interpreted as flexibly applied. The maxim that learner autonomy must be flexibly applied is particularly true in both cooperative group learning and in collaborative group learning in distance education where student interactions with other students constitute a major part of the education process. The ethics in interaction in distance education are extended to cover all possible interactions, especially the important interaction by the teacher to each student followed by the interactions by the student with the learning process, that can initiate the aesthetic social intrinsic motivation to lifelong learning and thus to one’s own emancipation. Accordingly, ethics are defined here as those pro-active interactions that induce the motivation to lifelong learning in all the students. Such ethics should override individualist autonomy as a goal in education.

scholarly journals DISTRIBUTION AND RISK FACTORS FOR GIARDIA LAMBLIA AMONG CHILDREN AT AMRAN GOVERNORATE, YEMEN

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ali Alshahethi ◽  
Wadhah Hassan Edrees ◽  
Nabil Mohammed Mogalli ◽  
Ali Ahmed Al-Halani ◽  
Wadee Abdullah Al-Shehari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Giardia Lamblia ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Intestinal Parasites ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
E Mail

Objective: The widespread prevalence of Giardiasis is a public health problem worldwide, and it is also common among Yemeni children. Hence, this work aims to identify the prevalent Giardia lamblia infection and risk factors among children admitted to health care centers in Amran governorate in Yemen. Methods: Three hundred and thirty-four stool samples were collected from infected children between March and July 2019 and the parasite is identified by light-microscope according to standard parasitology methods. Also, relevant data was obtained using a designed questionnaire. Results: The results showed that 181 cases (54.2%) were infected with G. lamblia infection. 57.5% of the infected children were from urban areas, while 42.5% of the cases were from rural areas. The highest incidence of G. lamblia was 60.3% among males compared to 47.5% among females. The results for age, residents and male children aged 8-14 years in both urban and rural areas recorded the highest prevalence of G. lamblia infection while the lowest was among females between 1 and 7 years and 8-14 years old, respectively, in the rural and urban area. Conclusion: In conclusion, as described in this work, multisectoral efforts are needed that include hygiene practices, personal hygiene habits, the provision of safe drinking water and the provision of sanitation systems to efficiently reduce this infection from all governorates of Yemen. Peer Review History: Received 22 May 2020; Revised 14 June; Accepted 3 July, Available online 15 July 2020 UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.5/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Name: Prof. Dr. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy Affiliation: Sana'a University, Yemen E-mail: [email protected]   Name: Dr. Mahmoud S. Abdallah Affiliation: University of Sadat city, Egypt E-mail: [email protected]   Comments of reviewer(s): Similar Articles: PREVALENCE OF MALOCCLUSION AMONG YEMENI CHILDREN OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS COCCIDIAN INTESTINAL PARASITES AMONG CHILDREN IN AL-TORBAH CITY IN YEMEN: IN COUNTRY WITH HIGH INCIDENCE OF MALNUTRITION OCCLUSAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRIMARY DENTITION AMONG A SAMPLE OF YEMENI PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN EVALUATION OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO POLIO VACCINE IN MALNOURISHED CHILDREN IN SANA'A CITY

The effect of active teaching and subject content coverage on students' achievement: evidence from primary schools in Kenya

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moses Oketch ◽  
Maurice Mutisya ◽  
Jackline Sagwe ◽  
Peter K. Musyoka ◽  
Moses W. Ngware
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
School Factors ◽  
Gain Score ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Content Coverage ◽  
Positive Effect

There is a growing public concern in Kenya over the persistent gap between those schools that are consistently ranked at the top and those ranked at the bottom of the annual Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination league tables. This has raised the issue of inequality in educational opportunity. Our primary concern in this paper is to understand some of the classroom–school factors that may explain the persistent differences in achievement between the top and bottom schools. We focus on time-on-task (the length of exposure to any particular teaching and learning task) and curriculum content, and ask whether this explains the difference in performance. We test the following hypotheses: differences exist on teachers' time-on-task between low and high performing schools; greater teacher time-on-task has a positive effect on student gain score; and greater content coverage has a positive effect on student achievement. For the student achievement gains, we use item response theory test scores of 1889 Grade 6 pupils from 70 schools in Kenya. Data on time-on-task were generated from 70 maths lessons observed in these schools, while content coverage was developed from students' maths note books for the entire period they were in Grade 6. The study was conducted by a team of researchers at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) with funding from Google.org. Using two level hierarchical modelling, we control for pupil, teacher and school factors. Results show that exposure to content is positively correlated with pupil gain scores (gain score is the difference in score between test at time t1 and test at time t2 of the same pupil taught by the same teacher). Maths teachers in both bottom and top performing schools spend the same proportion of time-on-task. However, we do not find that time-on-task is related to achievement in this sample.

scholarly journals Visual acuity demands of different language mediums in modern primary school classrooms in Malaysia

F1000Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izzah Azreena Azizan ◽  
Eg Yue Qi ◽  
Sharanjeet Kaur ◽  
Sumithira Narayanasamy
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Classroom Environments ◽  
Primary Classrooms ◽  
Good Visual Acuity ◽  
Near Visual Acuity ◽  
Type C ◽  
Working Distance ◽  
Type Of School ◽  
Vertical Height

Background: Good visual acuity is important for children’s learning but the actual visual acuity (VA) demands of classrooms are not well defined. Methods: In total, 61 classrooms from eight primary schools were included in this study. Classrooms were divided into lower and upper primary which reflect different stages of learning. Three types of national schools were included in the study, which were National, National Types Chinese (C) and Tamil (T). Each type of school utilizes different language as the medium of teaching. The measurements conducted in each classroom were: dimensions, maximum distance a student is seated and vertical height of the distance and near target. Near working distance of 28cm was assumed. Distance and near visual acuity demands (VA) were then calculated. Results: The distance and near VA demands were 0.11 ± 0.26 logMAR and 0.24 ± 0.10 logMAR for lower primary, and 0.09 ± 0.20 logMAR and 0.24 ± 0.09 logMAR for upper primary classrooms respectively. Distance and near VA demands between both stages were not significantly different (p>0.05). The distance and near VA demands for National schools were 0.24 ± 0.17 logMAR and 0.31 ± 0.04 logMAR, National Type (C) were 0.16 ± 0.11 logMAR and 0.13 ± 0.03 logMAR, National Type (T) were 0.09 ± 0.10 logMAR and 0.12 ± 0.03 logMAR respectively. There were significant differences for both distance and near VA demands between types of schools, F(2, 58) 42.19, p = 0.00; F (2, 58) 208.35, p = 0.00 respectively. Conclusions: High levels of visual acuity for distance and near are required to meet the demands of modern classroom environments. Both National Types schools require higher VA demand compared to National schools. These findings suggest current vision screening protocols and cut off points for schools might require revision.

scholarly journals PREVALENCE OF MALOCCLUSION AMONG YEMENI CHILDREN OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tharwa Ali Mokred AL-Awadi ◽  
Khaled A AL-Haddad ◽  
Mohammed A Al-labani ◽  
Hassan Abdulwahab Al-Shamahy ◽  
Hussein M Shaga-aldeen
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
School Children ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Class Ii ◽  
Open Bite ◽  
Class I ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Class Iii ◽  
E Mail

Objective: Malocclusion is every difference in the arrangement of teeth beyond the standard of regular occlusion illustrated by anomalies within the dental arches. The purpose of this study was to measure prevalence of malocclusion between primary school children in Sana’a city Yemen. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 1079 school children (546 girls and 533 boys), their age ranged from 7 to 12 years old from public and private schools selected randomly in Sana'a City, Yemen. The prevalence of malocclusion was investigated according to age, gender and school type based on Angle's classification. Results: The study showed that the overall prevalence of malocclusion among school children was 81.1%, in which Class I normal molar association was found only in 18.9% of school children, while Class I malocclusion included the highest percentage of the sample 70.4%, followed by Class II relation 9.5%, and Class III involved only 1.1%. The most prevalent malocclusion trait was spacing 35.7%, whereas the crowding was present in 30.0% of the sample. The deep bite was present in 10.1% followed by anterior crossbite 8.8%, midline diastema 8.6%, anterior open bite 4.5%, posterior crossbite 4.0%, and the least noted malocclusion trait was posterior open bite 0.4%. Conclusion: In conclusion, there was a high rate of malocclusion in school children and significantly increased with age, class I malocclusion was the most common followed by Class II malocclusion, while Class III was the rear. The most prevalent occlusal problem was spacing, followed by crowding.  Thus, 7-12 year-olds can benefit from interceptive and preventive oral health procedures which may either entirely prevent or reduce the development of serious types of malocclusions afterward in their lives. Peer Review History: Received 8 January 2020;   Revised 9 February; Accepted 1 March, Available online 15 March 2020 UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 8.5/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Name: Dr. George Zhu Affiliation: Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran E-mail: [email protected]   Name: Dr. Gehan Fawzy Abdel Raoof Kandeel Affiliation: Pharmacognosy Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, 12622,  Giza, Egypt E-mail: [email protected] Comments of reviewer(s): Similar Articles: COCCIDIAN INTESTINAL PARASITES AMONG CHILDREN IN AL-TORBAH CITY IN YEMEN: IN COUNTRY WITH HIGH INCIDENCE OF MALNUTRITION EVALUATION OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO POLIO VACCINE IN MALNOURISHED CHILDREN IN SANA'A CITY PREVALENCE AND POTENTIAL RISK FACTORS OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS IN A SAMPLE OF CHILDREN IN TWO SELECTED AREAS IN YEMEN

scholarly journals The challenge of understanding, evaluating and providing feedback on regulation during group learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. e39294
Author(s):  
John Sandars ◽  
Dario Cecilio-Fernandes ◽  
Roghayeh Gandomkar ◽  
Rakesh Patel
Keyword(s):  
Group Learning ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Health Professions Education ◽  
Practical Approach ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Individual Learner ◽  
The Individual

Learning in groups is commonly used in academic and clinical health professions education (HPE). There is growing recognition that regulation during learning is essential for both the individual learner and group learning. The authors in this article propose a practical approach for understanding, evaluating and providing feedback on regulation during group learning. The approach is informed by previous studies conducted in other areas of education. Three varieties of regulation during group learning are discussed: individual, co-regulation and shared regulation. Each variety of regulation has a focus on three essential activities during group learning: task, social and motivation. Illustrative scenarios are presented to describe how the approach can be practically used in HPE. The specific and additional focus on regulation can enhance current approaches for providing feedback on group learning and the authors discuss recommendations for practical implementation and future research.

scholarly journals Developing the Perceived Self- Regulation Skills Scale for Fourth Grade Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Cavas ◽  
Belgin Arslan-Cansever ◽  
Gülsen Ünver
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Fourth Grade ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Third ◽  
Fourth Grade Students ◽  
Third Dimension

This paper presents the development process of the Perceived Self-RegulationSkills Scale for primary fourth grade students. The 34-item trial form of the scaleconsists of 4-point Likert-type items that range from 1 to 4 as follows: 1 – Never,2 – Sometimes, 3 – Often, and 4 - Always. It was administered to 585 fourth gradestudents in six primary schools. The total variance explained by three factorsfound as a result of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was calculated as 39.61%.The scale consists of 26 items - 12 items with factor load value varying between.32 and .74 in the first dimension; 4 items with factor load value varying between.51 and .67 in the second dimension, and 10 items with factor load value varyingbetween .32 and .56 in the third dimension. The dimensions were named as follows:the first dimension is “Planning the Learning Process”, the second dimension is“Implementation of the Learning Plan” and the third dimension is “Focusing on theTarget and Learning Task”. The validity study was carried out for 529 fourth gradestudents attending 11 primary schools. The goodness-of-fit index (GFI) which wascalculated as a result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) shows that the itemsof the Perceived Self-Regulation Skills Scale are in good or perfect accordance.Keywords: primary education; primary school students; self-regulated learning

Ethics in Interactions in Distance Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 24-34
Author(s):  
Paul Kawachi
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Collaborative Group ◽  
Student Interactions ◽  
The Aesthetic

This chapter presents the desirable interactions involved in teaching and learning at a distance. In these interactions, there are considerable ethical issues–notably that one’s own learner autonomy should be reduced at times in order to help others learn, to achieve the learning task, and at the same time help oneself to learn. Accordingly, learner autonomy is not an overarching goal of education. This is controversial, and this chapter deals with this issue in detail to explain that learner autonomy at best is a rough guideline, and ethically based on reasoning that autonomy should be interpreted as flexibly applied. The maxim that learner autonomy must be flexibly applied is particularly true in both cooperative group learning and in collaborative group learning in distance education where student interactions with other students constitute a major part of the education process. The ethics in interaction in distance education are extended to cover all possible interactions, especially the important interaction by the teacher to each student followed by the interactions by the student with the learning process, that can initiate the aesthetic social intrinsic motivation to lifelong learning and thus to one’s own emancipation. Accordingly, ethics are defined here as those pro-active interactions that induce the motivation to lifelong learning in all the students. Such ethics should override individualist autonomy as a goal in education.

scholarly journals Children’s Interactions in Ability-based Groups in a Primary Classroom

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-107
Author(s):  
Samyia Ambreen ◽  
◽  
Jean Conteh ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Group Work ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Group Structure ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Children’S Perspectives ◽  
Primary Classroom ◽  
Primary Classrooms ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Conversational Interviews

The article reports data from an aspect of the study which aimed to study the nature of children’s interactions and their perceptions of ability-based groups in a primary classroom in England. Previous studies on ability-based group have mainly used quantitative research designs to study children’s interactions and appeared to award less opportunities to children to talk about their experiences of working in ability-based groups. This study has used qualitative ethnographic research design to study children’s interactions and their perceptions of working in ability-based groups. Children’s interactions were studied using participant observations and debriefing activities were used to elicit children’s perspectives on their recorded interactions. Furthermore, informal conversational interviews were also used to hear children’s perspectives on their experiences of working in ability-based groups. The article only focuses on data related to children’s interactions, which revealed that children appeared to be cooperative, non-cooperative and competitive towards their peers in ability-based groups. We noted that children interpreted the group structure and learning task distinctively when deciding whether or not to work with others in groups. In some cases, children exhibited gender-biased attitudes while interacting with their peers. Children showed cooperative attitudes towards same-sex peers and non-cooperative attitudes towards other-sex peers. The findings highlight the importance of fully understanding children’s contexts and their dynamic influences on children’s interactions during their routinely organised ability-based group work. These also highlight the importance of listening to children’s perspectives while studying their interactions in ability groups in the mainstream primary classrooms.

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