Mediating effect of cognitive load in song learning with visually presented lyrics

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether seeing the lyrics while learning a difficult song aurally induces less cognitive load in learners compared to not seeing the lyrics, leading to better recall accuracy of the learned song. Cognitive load was assessed through a reaction time measure based on a dual-task paradigm. Recall accuracy of the learned song was measured regarding lyrics, pitches, and rhythm. Thirty-six non-music majors individually learned two songs through prerecorded aural instruction; for one song they saw the lyrics and for the other song they did not see the lyrics. The presentation order of instructional condition and song were counterbalanced. Results showed instructional condition affected cognitive load but not recall accuracy. A path analysis revealed a mediating effect of cognitive load regarding lyrics and rhythm, suggesting seeing the lyrics indirectly increases recall accuracy of lyrics and rhythm through its positive effect on cognitive load. Given limited instructional time, several strategies should be considered to prevent learners from experiencing cognitive overload while learning a difficult song aurally. Showing the lyrics of the difficult song could be one strategy for that purpose, at least for young adults with low levels of musical expertise.

The effects of working memory and declarative memory on instructed second language vocabulary learning: Insights from intelligent CALL

The extent to which learners benefit from instruction may be largely dependent on their individual abilities. However, there is relatively little work on the interaction between instructional effectiveness in second language learning and learner individual factors. In this study, we investigated the relationship between instruction, individual differences in cognitive abilities (working memory and declarative memory), and second language vocabulary acquisition in the context of web-based intelligent computer assisted language learning (ICALL). To this end, 127 adult learners of English, predominantly advanced-level, German-speaking learners, read news texts on the web for about two weeks using an ICALL system under two instructional conditions: form-focused and meaning-focused instruction. Learners in the form-focused condition read and completed automatically-generated multiple-choice gaps where phrasal verbs appeared in the text, while learners in the meaning-focused condition simply read and did not complete any gaps. Mixed-effects regression analyses showed that working memory was associated with vocabulary acquisition and that this association depended on the instructional context, with working memory being predictive of learning only in the form-focused condition, suggesting an aptitude-treatment interaction. Furthermore, declarative memory abilities were related to learning only as measured by the Continuous Visual Memory Task, and the relationship was not moderated by instructional condition. Overall, the study contributes to accounting for variability in second language learning in general, as well as in instructional contexts supported by intelligent CALL.

Increasing Undergraduate Success: A Randomized Controlled Trial of U-Pace Instruction

U-Pace instruction, comprised of concept mastery and amplified assistance, has shown promise in increasing undergraduate success. To evaluate the efficacy of U-Pace instruction for students at-risk for college non-completion and students not at-risk and to determine whether concept mastery, amplified assistance, or both U-Pace components are responsible for the greater learning associated with U-Pace instruction, an experiment was conducted with four instructional conditions (U-Pace, Concept Mastery, Amplified Assistance, and Face-to-Face). At a public university, 914 undergraduates (576 at-risk) participated. U-Pace instruction produced greater learning than the comparisons. Additionally, U-Pace instruction produced greater academic success than Face-to-Face instruction. The percentage of final grades of A or B did not differ for Concept Mastery, Amplified Assistance, and U-Pace students. No interaction between instructional condition and risk status was found for final grades or learning. The efficacy of U-Pace instruction for both at-risk students and students not at-risk was supported.

Effects of Task Repetition and EFL Proficiency on English Speech Act Production

Interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) studies substantiate the teachability of some aspects of second language (L2) pragmatics. However, there are controversies over the most effective instructional methods. Therefore, following a comparison group design, the present study aims to investigate the relative efficacy of two conditions of output-production task repetition on high- and low-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ production of speech acts. The main effects of the instructional conditions, EFL proficiency level, and the potential interaction between them are examined. Two classes of English-major students take speech act lessons involving output-generation task repetition as follows: (1) the implicit task-repetition (ITR) group is provided with visually enhanced input plus a consciousness raising task before repeating the output-generation tasks, and (2) the explicit task-repetition (ETR) group is provided with input plus metapragmatic information before repeating the output-generation tasks. The learners’ speech act production is assessed through a written discourse completion test (WDCT) across a pretest and a posttest. The results demonstrate significant gains for both groups from the pretest to the posttest. Moreover, the ETR group significantly outperforms the ITR group in the posttest. Furthermore, EFL proficiency level is found to have a significant effect on learners’ speech act production, with high-level learners outperforming low-level learners. The results reveal no significant interaction between the effects of instructional condition and EFL proficiency level. Regarding pedagogical implications, the findings attest the efficacy of output-generation task repetition in L2 speech acts instruction, particularly when task repetition is coupled with explicit instruction.

The Assessment of Student Performance in the Practicum Activity of Basic Physics Course

This study was aimed at obtaining factual information on 1) the assessment of Basic Physics course learning achievement of Physics Education students of the Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Faculty of IAIN Raden Intan Lampung that includes process and product assessment and 2) the results of the implementation of assessment on student performance during the practicum component of the course. The study employed Elliot’s Model of Action Research Study, which is a mixed method in nature. It focused on improving instructional condition as the responsibility of the respective lecturer to make it more responsive to the existing needs .Indeed, it requires commitment of all parties involved in the instructional process to participate and collaborate for improved learning achievement, particularly of the Basic Physics course, to be obtained. In conclusion, based on the process and findings of the action research study, the implementation of performance assessment has significantly improved student learning achievement in the Basic Physics course.Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendpatkan informasi faktual mengenai 1) penilaian hasil belajar Fisika Dasar Pendidikan Fisika Fakultas Tarbiyah dan Keguruan IAIN Raden Intan Lampung yang meliputi penilaian proses dan kinerja, dan 2) hasil implementasi penilaian prestasi mahasiswa selama praktikum. Penelitian menggunakan Penelitian Tindakan Kelas Model Elliot, yang merupakan metode campuran. Penelitian fokus kepada peningkatan kondisi pembelajaran sebagai tanggungjawab dosen yang bersangkutan untuk membuatnya lebih responsif dengan kebutuhan yang ada. Tentunya, hal ini membutuhkan komitmen dari seluruh pihak terkait dalam proses pembelajaran untuk berpartisipasi dan berkolaborasi untuk peningkatan hasil pembelajaran, khususnya mata kuliah Fisika Dasar. Dapat disimpulkan, berdasarkan proses dan temuan penelitian tindakan kelas, penerapan penilaian kinerja secara signifikan meningkatkan prestasi belajar mahasiswa pada mata kuliah Fisika Dasar. How to Cite: Yuberti, Nomida, D., Nuriah, T. (2016). The Assessment of Student Performance in the Practicum Activity of Basic Physics Course. TARBIYA: Journal Of Education In Muslim Society, 3(1), 121-130 doi:10.15408/tjems.v3i1.3397. Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/tjems.v2i1.3397

KARAKTERISTIK SISWA SEBAGAI PIJAKAN DALAM PENELITIAN DAN METODE PEMBELAJARAN

Learner Characteristics as a Basis for Teaching Method and Research on Instruction. The instructional technology focuses its analysis on the improvement of the instructional quality on the basis of instructional strategies or instructional method variables. Instructional methods variables are classified into three main categories: (1) organizational strategy, (2) delivery strategy, and (3) management strategy. The variables which greatly influence the utilization of instructtional methods are the instructional condition variables, classified into three categories: (1) objectives and characteristics of a field of study, (2) constraints and characteristics of a field of study, and (3) learner characteristics. The learner characteristics are students’ personal quality, such as their intelligence, prior knowledge, cognitive styles, learning styles, motivation, and socio-cultural factors, which greatly influence the process and result of the study. Learner characteristics will determine the selection of the management strategy, which is also related to the method to organize the learning process. The learner characteristics have to be accepted as a given condition and utilized as a basis for research on instruction. Keywords: instructional variables, learner characteristics

Words in action

Research on embodied cognition has shown that action and language are closely intertwined. The present study seeks to exploit this relationship, by systematically investigating whether motor activation would improve eight-to-nine year old children’s learning of vocabulary in their first language. In a within-subjects paradigm, 49 children learned novel object manipulation, locomotion and abstract verbs via a verbal definition alone and in combination with gesture observation, imitation, or generation (i.e., enactment). Results showed that learning of locomotion verbs significantly improved through gesture observation compared to verbal definitions only. For learning object-manipulation verbs, children with good language skills seemed to benefit from imitation and enactment, while this appeared to hinder children with poor language skills. Learning of abstract verbs was not differentially affected by instructional condition. This study suggests that the effectiveness of observing and generating gestures for vocabulary learning may differ depending on verb type and language proficiency.

The Effect of Various Instructional Conditions on Expressive Music Performance

This study is a comparison of the effectiveness of three approaches used to elicit expressivity in music students' performances: (a) aural modeling, (b) verbal instruction addressing concrete musical properties, and (c) verbal instruction using imagery and metaphor. Thirty-six college pianists worked with three melodies, one in each instructional condition. With each, subjects first gave a baseline performance, then received instruction for performing more expressively, and then gave a final performance. Subjects also verbally reported their thoughts during the process. Results confirmed that musicians can accommodate all three types of instruction used in the study and that each has strengths and weaknesses related to the characteristics of the music being performed and the musicians themselves. Additionally, analysis of the verbal reports suggested that musicians may use a cognitive translation process whereby they convert metaphor/imagery information into more explicit plans for changing the expressive musical properties of their performance (e.g., loudness, tempo, articulation). August 22, 2005 January 30, 2006