Science to practice: Does gamification enhance intrinsic motivation?

Self-determination theory (SDT) has empirical support in understanding and enhancing motivation in a variety of contexts, including education settings. Niemac and Ryan have highlighted that using SDT in course design can lead to stronger fulfilment of an internal locus of causality regarding course work. One course design method anchored in SDT is gameful learning—structuring tasks that support intrinsic motivation, primarily increasing autonomy over learning. A gamified classroom (GC) may offer more assignments and points than minimally necessary for students to earn a passing mark, allowing students choice in which projects to pursue. Further research is needed to examine the degree to which students’ motivations differ between a GC and a non-gamified classroom (NGC). The purpose of the current study was to determine if students in a GC were more intrinsically motivated than students in NGC. Students were enrolled in an undergraduate kinesiology course using a GC design ( n = 24) or NGC design ( n = 26) and completed an online survey – derived from the intrinsic motivation inventory and the test anxiety questionnaire—at the beginning and end of the semester. In the GC, students started with zero points, and were offered multiple assignments with scaffolded difficulty to reach their desired grade. The NGC used a traditional 100% grade range, with only required assignments and exams, and students lost points for inadequate or inaccurate responses. Following analyses, it was revealed that students in the GC had higher perceptions of autonomy and competence than students in the NGC. Where these differences exist over time, along with differences in other subscales, will be discussed further. Educators seeking to enhance student motivation and engagement may therefore look to gamification as an appropriate methodology.

Teachers as change agents: social justice theory to practice

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how participation in a multicultural literature course impacted K-12th classroom teachers’ social justice pedagogy and classroom practices one to three years after completion of the course. Design/methodology/approach This study investigated the effectiveness on teacher practices of a graduate literacy course, which was redesigned within a framework of social justice pedagogy by focusing on critical analysis of texts, teacher inquiry and a literacy civic engagement project. The authors interviewed 20 teachers one to three years after they enrolled in this multicultural children and young adults’ literature course. The authors also explored their classrooms and kept a researcher’s reflective journal. Findings The authors describe how participants implemented social justice pedagogy and strategies with their K-12th grade students. Originality/value While many studies look at how teacher education programs integrate social justice education into their programs, few researchers follow their students into the K-12 classrooms to investigate if teachers are connecting higher education course work and theory into practice.

Independent learner strategies to improve second language academic writing in an online course

This article explores how 40 first-year students in a compulsory English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course undertook written tasks during a semester suddenly undertaken online. The university in Japan described here provided on-demand lessons via the Learning Management System (LMS) during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Students prepared three-minute reflective videos as part of their course work describing their strategies to improve their second language (L2) academic writing and their perceptions of how these strategies affected their learning. These videos were transcribed, coded, and analysed. The use of Machine Translation (MT) to proofread work before submission was used by 58% of the participants, of whom 45% report improved assignment grades and higher levels of confidence in their L2 writing skills. Results suggest that learners should be encouraged to use MT for this step in the L2 academic writing process.

Impact of Lockdown for Research Scholars

This covid 19 pandemic affected many research scholar’s life. Many researches not able to enter to their research lab. Their course work examination become virtual and their doctoral committee to thesis submission held in online. Many researchers undergo various challenges and this need a quick reform in future research guidelines. In this article the problems faced by the researchers is discussed and this will help the researchers to be ready for any pandemic occurs in future.

How formative are assessments for learning activities towards summative assessment?

To academics of higher education institutes, motiving, enhancing and improving student learning have never been easy. Different types of course work or continuous assessment or assessment for learning activities are designed to lead students to achieve the intended learning outcomes of respective courses. Depending on the nature of courses, these activities vary and they can either be done individually or in groups. The question is whether these activities can achieve their stated goals or if they can, how much these activities can lead students to achieve the intended learning outcomes as reflected by a summative assessment, normally it is a timed final exam or a take-home final essay. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the correlations between formative assessment activities and the summative assessment. Data of an introductory statistics course of different cohorts of a private degree-granting institute in Hong Kong were used in this study. The results indicate that individual assignments have a strong relationship with the exam score, while group projects do not. More surprisingly, group projects are negatively related to exam scores. The implication is that academics should rethink how to make group work a better and fairer assessment for individual student’s contribution.

PSXIII-27 Oklahoma State University constructing diversified learning for extension educators

The role of extension educators is to convey cutting-edge information to the varying sectors of the agricultural industry. In recent years, Oklahoma State University has initiated the process of creating online continuing education courses for Oklahoma-based extension educators. The objective is to develop online modules to enhance educator professional development through expansion of animal science knowledge. In the spring of 2021, Oklahoma extension educators will receive the opportunity to enroll in the introductory level course of this series, “Livestock Production Practices 101” (LPP 101). LPP 101 has been designed for extension educators that have little to no animal science background. The course will be comprised of eight lessons. The eight lessons include livestock species terminology, vision, hearing and handling, nutrient classification, digestive anatomy, reproductive anatomy, life cycles - from conception to consumption, breeds and genetic evaluation parameters, and comparative anatomy. Each lesson will convey species-specific information relative to cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens. Lessons will include activities such as readings and interactive illustrations. At the conclusion of each lesson, knowledge checks will be given as review to prepare educators for a quiz. Knowledge checks and quiz questions will be a combination of fill-in the blank, multiple choice, matching, and species-specific sorting. Educators must obtain an eighty percent or higher on all lesson quizzes to receive a course certificate. Educators will complete approximately five hours of course work over a ten-week period. A survey will be offered at the conclusion of the course to assess whether the educator found the course to be both engaging and beneficial. The survey will also serve as a guide as to which topics provided in this course would be sought after if developed into courses of their own.

Parmenides and the problem of knowing

This article is based on same-named course work and appears as first part of upcoming research of Ancient Greek Philosophy. The research aim to be a reactivator of social ideas by the way of adopt antique mode of thinking. New method of working at material, trying to represent well-known text in an unusual perspective shows an urgency of this article. Metaphysical poem of Parmenides is taken as a material, so the author prevalently uses a text from the poem and looks at the structure, keywords such as The Truth, necessity, The Fate and Alethea, and a use of them. In the article a correlation between The Truth and necessity, Alethea and The Truth in Parmenides philosophy is explained for the first time. The author pays great attention to Parmenides, so the research has a primary focus on understanding the poem as a Parmenides’ creature. The article has a short biographical background of Parmenides. In this article, the author tries to motivate readers to reflect on it instead of obtruding any defined answers

Educação do campo na UEMA: uma análise da linha de pesquisa prática pedagógica nos Trabalhos de Conclusão do Curso na modalidade a distância

O presente artigo versa sobre as linhas de pesquisa abordadas pelos alunos do Curso de Especialização em Educação do Campo a distância no Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso-TCC, tendo como foco a prática docente e estabelecendo uma relação com a teoria estudada no decorrer do curso. Propõe analisar o quantitativo de alunos por linha de pesquisa, investigando, especificamente, a temática “Prática Pedagógica em Educação do Campo” na perspectiva de observar a preocupação dos sujeitos que estão inseridos no Curso de Especialização em Educação do Campo, tendo como referência a vivência em suas comunidades. Trata-se de um estudo bibliográfico sobre a educação do campo, e, nesse contexto, sobre o perfil do professor a distância, bem como o perfil do professor orientador, abordando os resultados dos Trabalhos de Conclusão de Curso, cujos resultados possibilitaram perceber que a prática docente tem relação direta com o ambiente de aprendizagem no qual o aluno encontra-se inserido. O estudo foi realizado no Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem – AVA tomando como referência os artigos postados na sala de Elaboração e Orientações do TCC em cada linha de pesquisa. O resultado do estudo trouxe a evidência de que os artigos produzidos pelos alunos são de grande relevância tanto para os professores cursistas quanto para a comunidade acadêmica, vez que socializam o que foi produzido e possibilitam a reconstrução dos espaços de relação que fortalecem as raízes da população campesina, oportunizando, assim, novos aprendizados a alunos e professores no que se refere ao uso das novas tecnologias e aos saberes mais específicos da educação do campo. This paper discusses the research lines worked by students from the Specialization Field Education distance as completion of course work focusing on teaching practice establishing a relation with the studied throughout the course theory. Proposes to examine the quantity of students per research area, specifically investigating the Thematic Teaching Practice in Rural Education in the perspective of observing the concern of the subjects entered with reference to experience in your community. This is a bibliographic study on rural education, and in this context the teacher profile distance as well as the profile of the teacher advisor, addressing the results of the work of completing the course, the results of which enabled realize that teaching practice has directly related to the learning environment in which the student is inserted. The study was conducted in the Virtual Learning Environment - VLE reference to the articles posted on the Development and the CBD Guidelines room in each line of research. The results of the study provided evidence that the articles produced by the students are of great importance both for the participant teachers as the academic community since socializes what was produced and allows the reconstruction of the areas of relationship that strengthen the roots of the peasant population , thus providing opportunities, new learning for students and teachers both in regard to the use of new technologies as the more specific knowledge of the field of education.

The Intersection between Instructor Expectations and Student Interpretations of Academic Skills

Numerous studies exist on how and to what extent course instructors in higher education are embedding or directly teaching writing, learning and information literacy skills in their courses (Cilliers, 2012; Crosthwaite et al., 2006; Mager & Spronken-Smith, 2014). Yet, disparity within the literature demonstrates that there is no consistent approach to the scaffolded development of these necessary skills within courses, programs, disciplines, or across disciplines. This study sought to explore the skills expectations of instructors and whether students are capable of identifying or articulating the academic skills they are required to develop in to succeed in third-year undergraduate university courses. We discovered a discrepancy rate of approximately 63% between instructor and student responses when exploring differences in instructor expectations and student interpretations of academic skills indicated on course outlines. Data from this study suggests that instructors and students do not always share the same understanding of the skills required to complete course work and to be successful in assessments. With the support of learning, writing, and research specialists, instructors can embed academic skill development in the curriculum.

Determinants of Personal Financial Literacy in Sri Lanka: With Special Reference to University Students

The objective of the study is to determine the factors for the personal financial literacy of university students. The study aims at the determinants that reasoning on personal financial literacy. The sample was selected from a final year student at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Pearson Chi-Square was used to test the hypotheses. The study found that faculty, relevant course, work experience, monthly money receiving are the main determinants for the personal financial literacy of undergraduates. On the other hand, gender, education of parents, race, financial management skills, and personal financial literacy are not the significant factors for determinants to personal financial literacy. The outcomes of the study will be useful to academics, policymakers to understand the main determinants for personal financial literacy