“Teaching Strategies and Techniques to Motivate Students Learning English in the Preparatory Schools – Qatar”, an Action Study

Educational process has a great impact on the motivation of the learners, and these incentives (motives) are under the control of the teacher who directs the educational process. Accordingly, this action research is carried out to examine the effectiveness of certain teaching/ learning strategies and techniques applied for grade nine students chosen from Fatima Al-Zahra Preparatory School- Qatar to raise their motivation for learning English language. The findings show that external motivations (extrinsic) are among the most important factors in the success of learning English language, which are compensatory factors in the absence of the spontaneous desire to learn that language. The selected students have undergone varieties of active learning strategies, resources and tensive use of modern technology. The methods that are implemented in this study, include the designed questionnaire and the official exams sheets conducted on the targeted students. However, both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to analyze the data. The present study shows that the students are academically weak in English language, not well motivated to learn English, the learning strategies, resources, and techniques utilized in the classroom proved to be effective to motivate the students and are reflected on the academic performance of the students. Therefore, the data analysis of the success ratio among the targeted students has shown an increase from 41.5% to 91.5% after the application of new strategies and techniques.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN ACTIVATING STUDENTS’ ORAL COMMUNICATION

The paper is aimed at describing the procedures of three active learning strategies which can be used to design a learning situation for learners to speak English actively. The three active learning strategies are live interview, short conversation, and long talk. Specifically, the implementation of each strategy can give impact to the learners’ speaking performance in terms of accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility. Each strategy promotes the learners’ self-confidence and thinking skills. The implementation of each strategy considers four aspects, namely: the roles of teacher, the classroom interaction, the material, and the learning process. Each strategy evokes variation in those aspects.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN ACTIVATING STUDENTS’ ORAL COMMUNICATION

The paper is aimed at describing the procedures of three active learning strategies which can be used to design a learning situation for learners to speak English actively. The three active learning strategies are live interview, short conversation, and long talk. Specifically, the implementation of each strategy can give impact to the learners’ speaking performance in terms of accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility. Each strategy promotes the learners’ self-confidence and thinking skills. The implementation of each strategy considers four aspects, namely: the roles of teacher, the classroom interaction, the material, and the learning process. Each strategy evokes variation in those aspects.

Nursing Education Innovations and Obstacles During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic created a paradigm shift in the way educators employ active learning strategies. In this chapter, the authors discuss how engaging and innovative learning strategies were developed to teach baccalaureate-level nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial focus is on the teaching and learning strategies created for first-semester students who are developing foundational nursing skills and concepts. The discussion transitions to complex strategies developed for fourth-semester students, solidifying critical thinking and clinical judgment skills. Highlighted are active learning strategies used in the classroom, skills lab, and simulated clinical environment. These promote clinical judgment and present practical direction for adapting technology to provide an engaging learning environment. Throughout the chapter, the authors use several strategies to showcase how a nursing program responded to COVID-19 restrictions, including active learning and technology strategies, and how they can be applied across a curriculum using varying levels of technology.

Strategies to Maximize Asynchronous Learning

This chapter provides suggestions on how educators and learners can thrive in asynchronous learning environments. A review of what constitutes an asynchronous environment and how it contrasts to synchronous learning environments is discussed. Constructivist, social constructivist, constructivist learning environments, and active learning strategies are reviewed in the context of asynchronous learning. In addition, key tools, applications, and strategies that can be used to support successful asynchronous learning environments are reviewed. This includes the inherent tools within a learning management system, video, and collaboration tools. Finally, educator best practices and recommended areas of future research are discussed. Within the best practices section, strategies to create a more effective and empathic learning environment are discussed.

Virtual flipped teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic forced teaching to be shifted to an online platform. Since the flipped teaching (FT) model has been shown to engage students through active learning strategies and adapt both synchronous and asynchronous components, it was a convenient choice for educators familiar with this instructional method. This study tested the effectiveness of a virtual FT method during the pandemic in a graduate-level physiology course. Besides assessing knowledge gained in the virtual FT format, student surveys were used to measure student perception of their adjustment to the new FT format, their confidence in completing the course successfully, and the usefulness of assessments and assignments in the remote FT. Students reported that they adjusted well to the remote FT method ( P < 0.001), and their confidence in completing the course in this teaching mode successfully improved from the beginning to the end of the semester ( P < 0.05). Students expressed a positive response to the synchronous computerized exams (90.32%) and the formative group (93.51%) and individual (80.65%) assessments. Both collaborative activities (93.55%) and in-class discussions (96.77%) were found to be effective. The course evaluations and the overall semester scores were comparable to the previous semesters of face-to-face FT. Overall, students’ perceptions and performance suggested that they embraced the virtual FT method and the tested teaching method maintained the same strong outcome as before. Thus, this study presents a promising new instructional method in the teaching of future physiology courses.

The Reality of Active Learning Application in Jeddah Schools by English Teachers

This study explored the extent to which teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) adopt and implement active learning strategies in their classrooms. The study, also, examined the obstacles encountering high school teachers to use active learning and it delved further into exploring the participants&rsquo; recommendations to mitigate these obstacles. The study followed a quantitative methodology. Sixty-six EFL teachers (Male n=22 and Female n=44) from Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in this study. The researchers used an electronic custom-designed, 19-items rated on a five-point Likert scale questionnaire, for ease of dissemination and data collection. The findings revealed that the degree of employing active learning was medium (54.8%). However, 55% of the participants responded that they encountered some acute obstacles to implementing active learning in their classrooms. The findings showed no statistically significant differences attributed to gender, experience, and training about using active learning, obstacles, and recommendations to overcome the obstacles. The study discusses some of the obstacles to implementing active learning and concludes with some recommendations to the Ministry of Education to reinforce active learning in the education system of EFL contexts.