scholarly journals 12. Interactive Groups: Examining and Interrogating Issues of Heterogeneity and Accountability

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Gail Frost ◽  
Maureen Connolly

Teachers and learners alike bring past experiences into present teaching and learning contexts. Group work is an experience that carries equal measures of joyful anticipation and mournful trepidation. Learners typically experience group work as an uneven distribution of time, competence, and accountability, and seem to have lingering memories of one or two people doing all the work in order to salvage a respectable grade. While students must understand the group process when they work in problem- or inquiry-based teams, we think the onus should also be on the instructor to devise methods of equity and accountability, which address the aforementioned justifiable fears. Our paper will describe several strategies we have used to anticipate and offset the inevitable tensions and contingencies inherent in group work.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-203
Author(s):  
Hristina Petrova ◽  

A particularly important aspect of learning physics is using models of physical objects, processes and phenomena. Modeling is an important component of learning and cognitive activity. This determines its importance for the formation and development of students’ knowledge and skills. The Physics Education Technology (PhET) project creates useful simulations for teaching and learning physics and makes them freely available on the PhET web site: http://phet.colorado.edu The simulations are interactive, animated and visual. Some ideas for their using in physics education are presented. They can be used in various of ways, including demonstration experiment as part of lecture, student group work or individual worksheets, homework assignments or labs. The possibility for using simulations in remote education is considered. Students are given interactive assignments. They include interactive problems in the form of computer simulation and questions related to it. The students work with data which they analyze and present tabular and graphically. This approach suggest activities based on enquiry. In result their motivation and interest in physics increases.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Lin Siew Fong

<p>Peer-tutoring sessions of two groups of advanced diploma in financial accounting students with mixed proficiency were analysed thoroughly in this study. Numerous studies in peer tutoring have produced favourable results to both tutors and tutees due to the scaffolding process which promotes effective learning. However, there is a lack of studies conducted using case study as a group task in peer tutoring. Therefore, in this study, the analysis of this type of task in the course of peer tutoring is given much prominence. Video recordings of the peer-tutoring sessions were made and informants were interviewed and wrote journals in order to obtain data to be analysed. The researcher’s observation notes were useful in increasing understanding of the group process. The findings revealed that there were similarities and differences pertaining to the teaching and learning experiences encountered by both tutors and tutees when analysing the two case studies. Therefore, appropriate case studies which match students’ abilities are recommended to be used in peer tutoring. Furthermore, regular guidance provided by instructors for tutors is crucial in developing their confidence in playing their role.<strong> </strong></p>


Author(s):  
Tanti Yuliani

The main purpose of teaching learning English in Junior High School to develop the students’ competence and knowledge in four language skills, Speaking, Reading, Listening and Writing. One of the difficult skills is writing. In this research are describe how are the uses, problems, and solutions of the use of Literacy Approach to Teach Writing of Descriptive Text At The Seventh Grade Students of SMPN 1 Ngebel.  Literacy approach is one of the approaches used to teach writing especially in descriptive text because Literacy approach is the ability to read and write. There are some step of teaching writing, they are planning, composing, and revising. This research uses descriptive qualitative research. Participant/Informant of the research are the English teacher and the seventh grade students of SMPN I Ngebel Ponorogo. This research uses purposive sampling technique. The techniques which are used to collect the data are observation, interview, and documentation. Techniques of the data analysis are data reduction, data display and drawing conclusions. The result of the analyzing data indicates that the uses of literacy approach in teaching writing of descriptive text are divided into two steps. The first is preparation steps and the second is learning process. The learning process uses literacy approach includes introduce and giving explanation the descriptive text, give the modal of the descriptive text and have text to analyze, make group work to discussion the students’ ideas, give the chance to make students’ own product and also checking the students’ understanding about the material. Besides, the problem of the use literacy approach in writing of descriptive text are sometimes the students are noisy in the classroom and their vocabulary are still low. The students feel afraid to deliver their opinion and ideas in teaching and learning process. The solution of the use literacy approach in writing of descriptive are the students must make group work of the students’ worksheet, Teacher controls the students and gives scores for students.


Author(s):  
Paul Kawachi

A multimedia construct for learning based on the Theory of Transactional Distance has been developed consisting of four stages of decreasing transactional distance. This model has been applied in various teaching and learning contexts, on- and off-line, and its validation was investigated. Results confirmed in practice the four distinct sequential stages. Difficulties were discovered in navigating through the collaborative second and third stages, consistent with findings from related studies on acquiring critical thinking skills. Specific areas for attention were identified to promote learning using multimedia.


Author(s):  
Cristine Martins Gomes de Gusmão ◽  
Josiane Lemos Machiavelli ◽  
Patricia Smith Cavalcante

This chapter describes how a public university has met the challenge of changing inside the educational culture and preparing its teachers to manage online teaching-learning processes using learning analytics to contribute to the design, evaluation, and improvement of SMOOC. From the results obtained with a survey answered by the teachers, a twenty-hour class SMOOC was developed that focuses on instrumental aspects of digital technological resources in the teaching and learning contexts, as well as in the pedagogical issues, which concern the appropriate use of digital technologies. The findings of this research demonstrate that the SMOOC has been able to meet the teacher training needs, which are changing the way they work since remote education has been the viable alternative to guarantee the functioning of the university in the coronavirus pandemic period. However, it is believed that the knowledge that teachers are acquiring will contribute to changes in professional practice even post-pandemic.


Author(s):  
Daniel Livingstone ◽  
Paul Hollins

It is well documented that virtual worlds today are applied in both educational and commercial teaching and learning contexts. Where virtual worlds were once the reserve of entertainment, they have now taken on a variety of roles as platforms for business meetings, simulation, and training and education. In this context, the integration and interoperability with both online and offline resources and technologies is important. In this paper, the authors review progress toward increased integration and interoperability from the first virtual world games to today’s virtual world platforms. This paper highlights opportunities that will arise from further improvements in the ability to create virtual world platforms, content and activities that are truly interoperable, as well as more significant challenges along the way.


2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-285
Author(s):  
Vai Ramanathan

Simultaneously theoretical and data-rich, this volume explores ways in which ethnic minorities grapple with conflicts related to the literacy practices of their home culture as well as those practices demanded by the dominant culture. Truly multicultural in nature, the book offers in-depth glimpses into a variety of teaching and learning contexts: how young Gujarati teenagers in England learn Gujarati (chapter 3), how Hmong parents wish their children to retain fluency in Khmer while also insisting that they attend “English only” schools (chapter 4), how Finns in Sweden and Karelias in Russia grapple with the literacy demands of the majority culture (chapter 1), how “usefulness” becomes the most crucial variable in determining the language of schooling in bi- and multilingual contexts (chapter 2), and how Vietnamese people wrestle with learning their mother tongue in Norway (chapter 8).


Author(s):  
Baguma Asuman ◽  
Md. Shahadat Hossain Khan ◽  
Che Kum Clement

This article reports on the barriers encountered by teachers and the possible solutions to the integration of web-based learning (WBL) into higher educational institutions in Uganda. A total of 50 teachers in the departments of ICT, management, and social sciences from five different universities were purposively selected. A self-designed questionnaire was adapted to collect participants responses. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze data. The findings indicate that teachers had a positive attitude to incorporate WBL into teaching and learning process, but they encountered some difficulties which were identified as slow internet speeds, insufficient web-based tools, lack of technical support, etc. It further identified possible enablers to overcome these difficulties and provides empirical evidence of incorporating new knowledge in the existing literature. It also provides recommendations in terms of overcoming difficulties to enhance and incorporate WBL in teaching and learning contexts of higher education in Uganda particularly and developing countries in general


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 1457-1473
Author(s):  
Suzanna Elmassah ◽  
Shereen Mostafa Bacheer ◽  
Reynold James

PurposeGroup work (GW) as a collaborative learning method for university students is a much-researched topic in the literature. However, a fairly neglected area is that of students' perceptions of the same. This study purports to bridge this gap in the extant literature via identifying the determinants of these perceptions.Design/methodology/approachUsing primary data gathered from a sample of 443 university students, the study applies the structural equation modeling (SEM) to estimate the impact of both personal traits and past experiences on the students' perceptions.FindingsThe SEM results reveal that students' perceptions of GW are determined by their relevant past experiences not by their personalities. This position is contradictory to other relevant studies undertaken thus far.Practical implicationsAccordingly, the study stresses the need for educators to create positive group experiences among students and to convert their past negative experiences into positive ones.Originality/valueWhilst group work holds significant learning benefits for students, negative perceptions about this rich method could eventuate in students refraining from participating in the same. By isolating the determinants associated with students' negative perceptions of GW, this study provides educationists with a strong case for developing suitable interventions aimed at enhancing students' positive perceptions of GW, and resultantly further maximizing its potential benefits.


Author(s):  
Chris Morgan ◽  
Meg O’Reilly

Student assessment belongs in the centre of our teaching and learning considerations—it is the engine that drives and shapes student learning. In online contexts, it is argued that although teaching and learning has been dramatically reconceptualised, assessment practices are lagging, and more likely to imitate conventional practices such as end of term exams that encourage rote learning and the dissemination of fixed content. The authors argue that it is essential for online educators to bring the same innovation to their assessment practices that they have to their other online teaching practices. Ten key qualities of good online assessment are offered for consideration and discussion, namely: 1. A clear rationale and consistent pedagogical approach 2. Explicit values, aims, criteria, and standards 3. Relevant authentic and holistic tasks 4. Awareness of students’ learning contexts and perceptions 5. Sufficient and timely formative feedback 6. A facilitative degree of structure 7. Appropriate volume of assessment 8. Valid and reliable 9. Certifiable as students’ own work 10. Subject to continuous improvement via evaluation and quality enhancement


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