scholarly journals The Impact of Project-Based Learning on Students’ Cultural Awareness

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-80
Author(s):  
Mohamed AKHARRAZ
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Culture Teaching ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The Impact

While only a few studies have been conducted to explore the effectiveness of project-based learning (PjBL) in culture teaching/learning in second and foreign language education, no study known to the investigator has empirically measured the effect of PjBL together with the cultural  framework of the 3Ps (products, practices, and perspectives) in the teaching of culture in an EFL context. This study aimed to measure the effect of PjBL on students’ awareness of the English cultures. Two intact groups at a Moroccan public school were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. A cultural awareness test was utilized to measure students’ cultural awareness levels before and after a 24-week treatment. The independent sample t-tests indicated that the PjBL group substantially outperformed the control group in cultural awareness. While the study concluded that PjBL is a useful tool for incorporating cultures in the EFL classes, its proper implementation entails a redistribution of power in the language classroom and a radical change in the culture of assessment.

scholarly journals Do EFL Learners Enhance Their knowledge of Their Home Cultures as a Result of comparing them with other Cultures Through Project-Based Learning?

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (08) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akharraz Mohamad ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cultural Products ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The existing research studies have revealed that project-based learning (PjBL) has significantly helped foreign language learners enhance their cultural understanding as a result of completing their projects (e.g., Bouchouk, 2017; Hsu, 2014; Kim, 2019; Liu et al., 2006; Ngo, 2014). While these studies have congruently proved the utility of PjBL in enhancing students’ cultural awareness, none of them has measured the effect of PjBL together with a comparative and contrastive approach on students’ understanding of their home cultures. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of comparing students’ home cultures with the English cultures through PjBL on students’ understanding of their own cultures in terms of cultural products, cultural practices, and cultural perspectives. Two similar intact groups were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. The two groups were pretested, administered two different treatments for 24 weeks, and post-tested to assess their differences. The independent sample t-tests results exhibited that the experimental group substantially deepened their understanding of their home cultures as a result of comparing them with the English cultures through PjBL. The study also revealed that while the control group significantly improved their cultural products, those in the experimental group greatly enhanced their knowledge of cultural practices and perspectives.

scholarly journals Controlled Study of the Impact of a Virtual Program to Reduce Stigma Among University Students Toward People With Mental Disorders

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matías E. Rodríguez-Rivas ◽  
Adolfo J. Cangas ◽  
Daniela Fuentes-Olavarría
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
University Students ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Global Score ◽  
Stigma Reduction ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

Stigma toward mental disorders is one of today's most pressing global issues. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the barriers to social inclusion faced by individuals with mental disorders. Concurrently, stigma reduction interventions, especially those aimed at university students, have been more difficult to implement given social distancing and campus closures. As a result, alternative delivery for programs contributing to stigma reduction is required, such as online implementation. This paper reports the results of a controlled study focused on an online multi-component program on reducing stigma toward mental illness that included project-based learning, clinical simulations with standardized patients and E-Contact with real patients. A total of 40 undergraduate students from the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile, participated in the study. They were randomly divided between an intervention and control group. The intervention group participated in the online multi-component program, while the control group participated in an online educational program on cardiovascular health. We assessed the impact of the program by using the validated Spanish-language versions of the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27 and the Questionnaire on Student Attitudes toward Schizophrenia with both groups, before and after the intervention. In addition, an ad hoc Likert scale ranging from 0 to 5 was used with the intervention group in order to assess the learning strategies implemented. Following the intervention, the participants belonging to the intervention group displayed significantly lower levels of stereotypes, perception of dangerousness, and global score toward people with schizophrenia (p < 0.001). In addition, participants presented lower levels of dangerousness-fear, avoidance, coercion, lack of solidarity, and global score (p < 0.001). The control group displayed no statistically significant differences in the level of stigma before and after the evaluation, for all of the items assessed. Finally, the overall assessment of each of the components of the program was highly positive. In conclusion, the study shows that online programs can contribute to reducing stigma toward mental disorders. The program assessed in this study had a positive impact on all the dimensions of stigma and all of the components of the program itself were positively evaluated by the participants.

The impact of a music education program on meta-musical awareness, logical-mathematical, and notational skills in preschoolers

2021 ◽  
pp. 025576142110272
Author(s):  
Oriana Incognito ◽  
Laura Scaccioni ◽  
Giuliana Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
General Domain ◽  
Music Program ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

A number of studies suggest a link between musical training and both specific and general cognitive abilities, but despite some positive results, there is disagreement about which abilities are improved. This study aims to investigate the effects of a music education program both on a domain-specific competence (meta-musical awareness), and on general domain competences, that is, cognitive abilities (logical-mathematical) and symbolic-linguistic abilities (notational). Twenty 4- to 6-year-old children participated in the research, divided into two groups (experimental and control) and the measures were administered at two different times, before and after a 6-month music program (for the experimental group) and after a sports training program (for the control group). Children performed meta-musical awareness tasks, logical-mathematical tasks, and emergent-alphabetization tasks. Non-parametric statistics show that a music program significantly improves the development of notational skills and meta-musical awareness while not the development of logical-mathematical skills. These results show that a musical program increases children’s meta-musical awareness, and their ability to acquire the notational ability involved in the invented writing of words and numbers. On the contrary, it does not affect the development of logical skills. The results are discussed in terms of transfer of knowledge processes and of specific versus general domain effects of a musical program.

scholarly journals The Use of Procalcitonin as a Sepsis Marker in a Community Hospital

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-552
Author(s):  
Nathalia De Oro ◽  
Maria E Gauthreaux ◽  
Julie Lamoureux ◽  
Joseph Scott
Keyword(s):  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Community Hospital ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Current Cutoff ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker that shows good sensitivity and specificity in identifying septic patients. Methods This study investigated the diagnostic accuracy of PCT in a community hospital setting and how it compared to that of lactic acid. It explored the impact on patient care before and after PCT implementation regarding costs and length of stay. Two comparative groups were analyzed using an exploratory descriptive case–control study with data from a 19-month period after PCT implementation and a retrospective quasi-experimental study using a control group of emergency department patients diagnosed with sepsis using data before PCT implementation. Results Post-procalcitonin implementation samples included 165 cases and pre-procalcitonin implementation sample included 69 cases. From the 165 sepsis cases who had positive blood cultures, PCT had a sensitivity of 89.7%. In comparison, lactic acid's sensitivity at the current cutoff of 18.02 mg/dL (2.0 mmol/L) was 64.9%. There was a 32% decrease in median cost before and after PCT implementation, even with the length of stay remaining at 5 days in both time periods. Conclusions There was a significant decrease after the implementation of PCT in cost of hospitalization compared to costs before implementation. This cost is highly correlated with length of stay; neither the hospital nor the intensive care unit length of stay showed a difference with before and after implementation. There was a positive correlation between lactic acid and PCT values. PCT values had a higher predictive usefulness than the lactic acid values.

The effect of body-movement teaching, learning motivation and performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Sugahara ◽  
Hisayo Sugao ◽  
Steven Dellaportas ◽  
Takahiro Masaoka
Keyword(s):  
Body Movement ◽  
Learning Motivation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Purpose This research applies a quasi-experimental research method to investigate the impact of an innovative resource titled “Accounting Exercise” (teaching intervention using physical movement and lyrics) on learning motivation and performance on a group of students enrolled in a first-year undergraduate accounting course in Japan. Design/methodology/approach Five classes were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (two classes) or a control group (three classes). In the experimental group, 90 students participated in a 15-min “Accounting Exercise” at the commencement of lectures over three consecutive weeks. The remaining 133 students assigned to the control group did not participate in the Accounting Exercise. Findings The findings indicate that the Accounting Exercise provided stimuli in maintaining students’ learning motivation. This finding is important for entry-level students where learning motivation has the potential to influence students’ future decisions on major areas of study and career choices. Originality/value This finding is important for entry-level students where future career options are decided. This effect is also believed to contribute to reducing the declining numbers of students in accounting majors.

scholarly journals Engaging English Learners Through Literature, Fairy Tales, and Drama

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Alison Larkin Koushki
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
The Impact

Use of literature in the English language classroom deepens student engagement, and fairy tales add magic to the mix. This article details the benefits of engaging English learners in literature and fairy tales, and explores how drama can be enlisted to further mine their riches. An educator’s case studies of language teaching through literature and drama projects are described, and the research question driving them highlighted: What is the impact of dramatizing literature on students’ engagement in novels and second language acquisition? Research on the effects of literature, drama, and the fairy tale genre on second language education is reviewed. Reading and acting out literature and fairy tales hones all four language skills while also enhancing the Seven Cs life skills: communication, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, commitment, compromise, and confidence. Adding the frame of project-based learning to the instructional strengths of literature and drama forms a strong pedagogical triangle for second language learning. Fairy tales are easily enacted. English educators and learners can download free fairy tale scripts and spice them with creative twists of their own creation or adapted from film and cartoon versions. Providing maximum student engagement, tales can be portrayed with minimum preparation. Using a few simple props and a short script, English learners can dramatize The Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, or Snow White in class with little practice. Engagement increases when teams act out tales on stage for an audience of family, friends, classmates, and educators. In fairy tale enactment projects, whether in class or on stage, students apply their multiple intelligences when choosing team roles: script-writing, acting, backstage, costumes, make-up, sound and lights, reporter, advertising, usher, writer’s corner, or stage managing. The article concludes with a list of engaging language activities for use with fairy tales, and a summary of the benefits of fairy tale enactments for English learners.

scholarly journals Teachers as researchers: A discovery of their emerging role and impact through a school-university collaborative research

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Chow ◽  
Samuel Kai Wah Chu ◽  
Nicole Tavares ◽  
Celina Wing Yi Lee
Keyword(s):  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Culture Teaching ◽  
The Impact

This study explored the impact of the role of teacher-researchers on in-service teachers’ professional development, as well as the reasons behind the lack of a teacher-as-researcher ethos in schools. In the study, teachers from four Hong Kong primary schools participated in a school-university collaborative research project that promotes collaborative inquiry project-based learning (IPjBL), in which they took the dual role of the teacher and researcher. Five focus group interviews were conducted with the teachers to collect in-depth qualitative data on their experiences. The impact of this experience on teacher professionalism was examined from four dimensions: knowledge enrichment, school culture, teaching practice and curriculum design. The study provides evidence for the benefits of teacher research and sheds light on how university-school collaboration could contribute to engaging teachers in action research in their everyday classroom.

scholarly journals (A296) Psychosocial Disaster Preparedness Program Form School Children

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S1) ◽  
pp. s83-s83 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.A. Raj ◽  
K. Sekar
Keyword(s):  
School Children ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Care Givers ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

The impact of natural disasters on individuals is substantial. Among the affected population in any disaster, children are identified as the most vulnerable group along with women, aged and disabled people. An estimated 77 million children under 15, on average, had their lives severely disrupted by a natural disaster or an armed conflict, each year, between 1991 and 2000 (Plan UK, 2003). Children are most affected since they loose the familiar environment, loss of parents, witness death of their loved ones, fear of reoccurrence of the disaster event. The impact of disaster on children of different age group is multiple times greater than that of the adults. This leads to various psychological problems in children (Dave et al., 2003). Disaster preparedness, through care givers, is one among the ways to reduce the distress of individuals followed by any disaster because it reduces the vulnerability factor that minimizes the impact of any disaster on the individual. A disaster preparedness program with special reference to psychosocial aspects was developed and implemented among the school children through teachers in Kanniyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India, one of the severely affected areas in Tsunami. The current attempt was to standardize a disaster preparedness module focusing on preparing children to deal with their psychosocial issues before and after disaster in an effective manner. The outcome of disaster preparedness input through teachers and its reach out to the students was determined through an experimental research. The results reveal that the teachers and students from the experimental group gained significantly more knowledge on psychosocial disaster preparedness after implementation of the program in comparison to control group where the program was not implemented. The implications of the study points out the need to integrate psychosocial component of disaster preparedness in to the broader Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) programs.

Effects of Comorbid Alcohol Use Disorder on the Clinical Outcomes of Schizophrenia: A Nationwide Population-based Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soojin Ahn ◽  
Youngjae Choi ◽  
Woohyeok Choi ◽  
Young Tak Jo ◽  
Harin Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Medication Possession Ratio ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Diagnostic Code ◽  
Psychiatric Admissions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

Abstract BackgroundAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common psychiatric comorbidity in schizophrenia, associated with poor clinical outcomes and medication noncompliance. Most previous studies on the effect of alcohol use in patients with schizophrenia had limitations of small sample size and a cross-sectional design. Therefore, this study aimed to use a nationwide population database to investigate the impact of AUD on clinical outcomes of schizophrenia.MethodsData from the Health Insurance Review Agency database in South Korea from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2016 was used. Among 64,442 patients with incident schizophrenia, 1,598 with comorbid AUD were selected based on the diagnostic code F10. We performed between- and within-group analyses to compare the rates of psychiatric admissions and emergency room (ER) visits and medication possession ratio (MPR) with control patients having schizophrenia matched for the onset age, sex, and observation period.ResultsThe rates of psychiatric admissions and ER visits decreased after the diagnosis of AUD in both groups; however, the decrease was significantly greater in patients with comorbid AUD compared to the control group. While the case group showed an increase in MPR after the diagnosis of AUD, MPR decreased in the control patients. The rates of psychiatric admissions, ER visits and MPR were worse in the schizophrenia group with comorbid AUD both before and after the diagnosis of AUD.ConclusionsClinical outcomes were worse in the comorbid AUD group than in the control group before and after the diagnosis of AUD. Considering that patients with schizophrenia with comorbid AUD had poorer clinical outcomes even before the diagnosis of AUD, schizophrenia with comorbid AUD could be a distinct subtype of schizophrenia.

The Impact of the Project-Based Learning Strategy on Leadership Skills Acquisition among Palestinian Refugees Students in Gaza

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Safa Migdad ◽  
Amjad Joma ◽  
Olivier Arvisais
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Third Graders ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Skills Acquisition ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the project-based learning strategy on developing third graders' leadership skills. The research questions were addressed using the experimental approach. The researchers purposively sampled 76 third graders from Al Zaitun Co-ed Elementary C School in Gaza and randomly sampled two classes of third graders. Participants were divided into two equivalent groups, each consisting of 38 students. The project-based learning strategy was used for teaching English to the experimental group, whereas the traditional method was used for the control group. The study tool consisted of an observation card on which the student's leadership skills were rated pre- and post-application. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Independent samples t-test and effect size were used in the analysis. Results revealed higher mean scores in leadership skills for the experimental group in the post-application observation card. The researchers attributed these findings to the project-based learning strategy and recommend its use in teaching English to develop leadership skills. Further research is needed to investigate the effect of other project-based learning strategies on other grade levels and life skills.

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