Multi-inquiry hybrid e-learning: Instructor-learner experiences

Background: Hybrid teaching methodologies involve the purposeful combination of traditional teaching with technology advances. Despite some challenges, they have gained popularity recently, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. This study evaluated hybrid e-learning with multiple inquiries involving students’ receptiveness, preferences, behaviours and instructor observations. Method: The methodology involved a mixed-method approach with a qualitative observational case study, surveys and interviews for problem-based learning alternatives to traditional lectures. Instruction included: 1) Assigned primary literature reading with study questions to be completed before class; 2) Out-of-class online video-clips with visual, practical application (i.e. lithium and non-lithium induced tremor assessment) and online discussion in CANVAS Learning Management System; 3) Start-of-class quiz in ExamSoft, in-class team-based application questions with instructor-led discussion; 4) Out-of-class team final exam review assignment in CANVAS. Results: Qualitative themes were student engagement, flexibility, preferences, academic and non-academic stressors, etiquette, and defining responsibility for academic success. The majority of students preferred primary literature review, video clips, followed by online CANVAS discussions. Written assignments were the least desirable. Conclusion: These experiences are useful for qualitative evaluation of teaching and learning methods.

Karakteristik Butir Soal Penilaian Akhir Semester Mata Pelajaran Sejarah Kelas XI SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang

This research is a study of quantitative descriptive. The purpose of this research is to describe the characteristics of final semester exam items for grade XI in the History subject at SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang using the classical test theory approach. The research of the subject was 138 students of class XI in Social Sciences Major. The result of the research shows that final exam questions in the history subject class XI of SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang are proper to use. This shows that from the validity of the items which there are 39 items of questions (97.5%) which are proven empirically valid with a 0.818 reliability coefficient. Other than that, there are 27 items of questions (67,5%) that can fulfill the criteria for the difficulty level, distinguishing power, and distractor function so it can be used directly to measure the student's ability without correction. While 12 items of questions (30%) need to be fixed and 1 item of question (2,5%) is declared to be invalid so it can't be used to measure the student's ability in History Subject. Permasalahan yang melatarbelakangi penelitian ini adalah pengembangan soal penilaian akhir semester mata pelajaran sejarah yang tidak melalui tahapan analisis butir soal sehingga kualitas butir soal tidak diketahui. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kuantitatif. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan karakteristik butir soal penilaian akhir semester mata pelajaran sejarah kelas XI SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang menggunakan pendekatan teori tes klasik. Subjek penelitian berjumlah 138 peserta didik kelas XI jurusan IPS. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa soal PAS mata pelajaran sejarah kelas XI SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang telah layak digunakan. Hal ini dibuktikan dari validitas butir soal yang mana terdapat 39 butir soal (97,5%) terbukti valid secara empirik dengan koefisien reliabilitas sebesar 0,818. Selain itu terdapat 27 butir soal (67,5%) yang memenuhi kriteria tingkat kesukaran, daya beda, dan keberfungsian distraktor sehingga dapat digunakan langsung untuk mengukur kemampuan peserta didik tanpa perbaikan. Sedangkan sebanyak 12 butir soal (30%) perlu dilakukan perbaikan dan 1 butir soal (2,5%) dinyatakan gugur sehingga tidak dapat digunakan untuk mengukur kemampuan peserta didik pada mata pelajaran sejarah.

Remote Learning in Transnational Education: Relationship between Virtual Learning Engagement and Student Academic Performance in BSc Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

The 21st century has seen dramatic changes to education delivery which have widened the scope of transnational education and remote learning via various virtual learning environments (VLEs). Efficient remote teaching activities require students to be engaged with taught materials and academic staff, and for educators to be able to track and improve student engagement. This article describes the generation of a predictive mathematical model for students’ exam performance using VLE engagement indicators and coursework marks together to enable the creation of a model with a correlation coefficient of 0.724. This article examines the relationship of each of these variables with final exam marks, as well as the addition of personal related variable X on the generated model’s accuracy. The generated models show that each variable had a different impact on the prediction of the final exam mark. The results’ analysis suggests that coursework marks and total VLE page views were the major attributes, while personal factors were also found to greatly impact model accuracy. Considering the case of outliers, who were students with low VLE engagement achieving high exam marks, it is proposed that personal factors, such as behavioural factors and study style, also have a significant effect on student academic attainment. The generated model can be used by students to improve self-efficacy by adjusting their study style and by educators to provide early interventions to support disengaged students. This model can be replicated in different remote learning settings and transnational education, and the findings might be insightful for courses with remote learning strategies to investigate the key educational, personal and engagement parameters for students’ overall success.

Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic in Students’ Distribution of Time in Distant Learning

Statistical analysis offers unprecedented opportunities to identify learning strategies. This fact has been boosted in the COVID-19 pandemic because of the data obtained in distant learning scenarios due to the confinement. This article deals with the identification of students’ strategies in different distant learning scenarios such as working autonomously as a support for face-to-face classes or learning autonomously in COVID-19 confinement. We have measured the influence of parameters such as the time they spent in self-evaluation, the scores obtained through this process and the distribution of time when studying autonomously. We have only detected significant results that guide to a better learning strategy when we include time parameters, such as the time between studying sessions or the time between students’ first session and their final exam. We demonstrate that students that started to study earlier and more dispersed get better success ratio (not necessarily better scores) than those that started later and do it more concentrate. The findings from this study suggest that the same amount of time spent in autonomous learning optimizes its effectiveness when it is extended in time. This learning strategy was found more often in COVID-19 confinement, where students were forced to stay at home.

ATTITUDES RELATED TO STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN STATISTICS IN UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS IN ARGENTINA

Students from non-statistics degree programs often perceive statistics as a burden, underestimating its usefulness and encountering difficulties that cause them anxiety and stress, among others, which leads many of them to fail the course. Students’ attitudes can hinder their learning and development of useful skills associated with statistical thinking, which should be later applied outside the classroom. The aim of this study was to analyze students’ attitudes towards statistics in introductory courses in three schools of Argentina, grouped in Agricultural Sciences and Biological Sciences. We analyzed students’ attitudes at the beginning and at the end of the course, the differences between pre- and post-course attitudes and the relationship between these changes and students’ performances. The sample consisted of 436 students and their attitudes were measured using the Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics (SATS-28), considering four components: Affect, Cognitive Competence, Value and Difficulty. Students’ performances were classified as: passed (and exempt from final exam), intermediate (but not exempt from final exam), and failed. Difficulty was not related to students’ performance, as opposed to what was detected with the other components. Cognitive competence was the only component that classified students’ performance in the correct order. Students who failed the course differed from the rest in that they developed more negative feelings towards statistics at the end of the course; in contrast, students with good performance showed an increase in the value given to statistics. Biological Sciences students presented higher average in the four components studied. Abstract: Spanish Los estudiantes de carreras universitarias no estadísticas a menudo perciben a estadística como una imposición, subestimando su utilidad, encontrando dificultades que les causan, entre otros, ansiedad y estrés y muchos desaprueban la materia. Las actitudes de los estudiantes pueden dificultar su aprendizaje y el desarrollo de habilidades útiles asociadas al pensamiento estadístico que deberían aplicarse posteriormente fuera del aula. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar las actitudes de los estudiantes hacia la estadística en cursos introductorios en tres facultades de Argentina, agrupadas en Ciencias Agrícolas y Ciencias Biológicas. Analizamos sus actitudes al principio y al final del curso, las diferencias entre las actitudes posteriores y previas al curso y la relación entre estos cambios y el rendimiento del alumno. La muestra estaba compuesta por 436 estudiantes y sus actitudes se midieron utilizando la Encuesta de Actitudes Hacia la Estadística (SATS-28), considerando cuatro componentes: Afecto, Competencia Cognitiva, Valor y Dificultad. El rendimiento de los estudiantes se clasificó en promoción, intermedio y reprobación. Dificultad no se relacionó con el rendimiento del estudiante a diferencia con lo detectado con las otras componentes. La Competencia Cognitiva fue la única componente que clasificó el rendimiento en el orden correcto. Los estudiantes que reprobaron el curso se diferenciaron del resto en que desarrollaron más sentimientos negativos hacia la estadística al final del curso; en contraposición los que tuvieron un buen rendimiento, mostraron un aumento en el valor dado a la estadística. Los estudiantes de Ciencias Biológicas presentaron un promedio más alto en las cuatro componentes.

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Online Instructional Strategies Optimized With Smart Interactive Tools Versus Traditional Teaching for Postgraduate Students

To solve the problem that lack of interaction in online courses affects motivation and effectiveness of students’ learning, smart interactive tools were introduced into the online Neurobiology course. This study aimed to evaluate the students’ satisfaction with online teaching mode and assess the academically higher and lower performing students’ learning effectiveness in the online course optimized with smart interactive tools compared to face-to-face learning. Descriptive statistics and independent t-tests were used to describe student samples and determine the differences in students’ satisfaction and performance. Reflections of students’ satisfaction revealed that about 65.8% were satisfied with the learning involvement and about 60.5% were satisfied with the class interaction. Almost two-thirds of the class agreed that the smart interactive tools applied in the online course could help them attain their learning goals better. Among all the smart interactive functions, the class quiz was the most effective one in helping students grasp the main points of the course. No significant differences were found between the two teaching modes in the overall and academically higher or lower performing students’ final exam average scores. Compared to each band score of such two teaching modes, no one failed to pass the final exam in the online course, however, three lower-performing students who were taught in the traditional course failed. This study suggested that optimized online teaching with smart interactive tools could produce the same learning effectiveness for the academically lower-performing students as for the higher-performing students. Meanwhile, the instructors could know the learning status in which each student was and perform personalized guidance and improve exam passing rate accordingly.

Temporal analysis of academic performance in higher education before, during and after COVID-19 confinement using artificial intelligence

This study provides the profiles of students and a regression prediction of marks considering data before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a field experiment of 396 students and more than 7400 instances, we have studied the differences in performance considering the temporal distribution of autonomous learning during courses from 2016/2017 to 2020/2021. After applying unsupervised learning, results show 3 profiles of students: continuous students, last-minute students, intense and last-minute students. We have found that the highest success ratio is related to students that work in a continuous basis. However, last minute working is not necessary linked to failure. After applying regression, results show that the mark of the students can be predicted successfully and that the most relevant values are the mean mark in self-evaluation obtained the month before the final exam, the mean mark two months before, the number of attempts two months before and the number of attempts the month before. Results are a little worse but still acceptable if the prediction wants to be made a month before the final exam. This regression is useful to prevent students' wrong learning strategies, and (more effective) to detect malpractices such as copying. We have done all these analysis taking into account the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, including also a discussion about which factors will be extended in time and which ones are transitory and only due to the confinement.

Rasch model item response theory (IRT) to analyze the quality of mathematics final semester exam test on system of linear equations in two variables (SLETV)

A high-quality test has a balanced level of difficulty and can be completed by the respondent with their level of abilities. This study analyzed the test instrument used to measure students' mathematics abilities in the semester final exam on System of Linear Equations in Two-Variables. The purposive sampling technique was applied to select the respondent students (N=195). The test items were twenty multiple-choice questions. The researchers performed the data analysis using Rasch model Item Response Theory (IRT) approach with the QUEST program. The analysis revealed that the twenty items’ validity matched the Rasch model with a range of INFIT MNSQ values between 0.89 – 1.17. Items on the final semester exam can be used based on the estimated OUTFIT t-value less than equal to 2.00. The OUTFIT t analysis obtained nineteen qualified items and one unqualified item.

EVALUATION OF TEACHING SKILL PRACTICE PROGRAMS, IN THE STATE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTION JAKARTA

The purpose of this study is to describe the Program Practice Skills Teaching (PKM/ Praktik Keterampilan Mengajar) in semester 106, at the Educational Development Institute State University of Jakarta. The evaluation model used in this study is a formative and summative evaluation model developed by Michele Shriven. Formative evaluation is carried out during the program to provide information to the program leader as program improvement materials. While the summative evaluation is done at the end of the program. This research use evaluation analysis with qualitative and quantitative approach. How to collect data on this evaluation research is using techniques observation, questionnaires, interviews, and documentation. The results showed that in the formative evaluation, it can be seen that in general the process of Program PKM was by existing guidelines. So can be maintained the existence of the PKM Program. While the results of the summative evaluation showed that the PKM Program, in the high category, is based on the value of the minimum PKM Program participants B provided by the teacher mentor and lecturer mentor of the final exam.

Exploring Concept Mapping as a Diagnostic and Predictive Assessment Tool in Pre-Service EFL Teacher Education

This study explored (a) pre-service teachers’ knowledge structure on teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) reading using concept mapping in a language pedagogy course, (b) the characteristics of concept maps drawn, and (c) the relationship between concept mapping and the course achievement scores. The participants were 14 pre-service teachers majoring in English language education at a university in Hong Kong. The data sources included assessments of concept maps and final exam scores. The overall research findings reveal the educational potential of integrating concept maps as a diagnostic and predictive assessment tool in teacher education programs.