How can Teachers Engage Students in Online Learning? A Conceptual Framework

This article discusses how to teachers ensure further learning - post-learning in the emergency of the Covid-19 pandemic can effectively increase student ownership and engagement in online learning. Most educational institutions' closure resulted in a dramatic change in education, marked by the emergence of distinctive e-learning, where teaching was conducted remotely and on digital platforms. The transition in the education system impacts various stakeholders, especially teachers and students, in various ways. One of the issues surrounding students' engagement in schools and the learning process became a hot topic again, considering that recently all countries in the world have been targeted by the spread of the global pandemic Covid-19. There is almost no learning process without the engagement and activeness of learners in the process itself. Students engaged in their learning are energized by curiosity, originality, and satisfying relationships, leading to better academic achievement. Through the theoretical review and content analysis, the authors explained that the ownership and engagement of learners in online learning could be achieved by combining several strategies. Teachers need to reflect on these strategies and how each falls into this area of engagement.

High School Band Directors’ Perceptions and Applications of Democratic Rehearsal Procedures in Concert Band Rehearsals

The purpose of this study was to examine inservice high school band directors’ perceptions and applications of democratic rehearsal procedures in concert band rehearsals. Respondents ( N = 216) were members of the National Association for Music Education who were currently teaching concert band at the high school level. Respondents indicated that “identify and describe opportunities for individual and ensemble performance improvement” and “student-led sectionals” were considered the most important democratic rehearsal procedures for their students to experience. These same procedures were also the most frequently used democratic rehearsal procedures. Analysis of open-ended responses revealed that respondents believed student ownership, student engagement, and student growth as musicians and leaders were advantages to implementing democratic rehearsal procedures. Potential disadvantages included issues related to student ability, rehearsal time limitations, unfamiliar classroom dynamics, and availability of classroom resources. Implications for music teachers are discussed.

Self-Determination in Positive Education

One of the constructs that has been widely researched in positive psychology is self-determination, which refers generally to acting volitionally, based upon one’s own preferences, interests, and values. This chapter overviews conceptualizations of self-determination in the context of theories of agentic human behaviour, motivational psychology, and disability. Two primary theoretical perspectives on self-determination, Self-Determination Theory and Causal Agency Theory, are discussed, and their relative contributions to understanding the development of self-determination examined. Three education-based interventions that have been derived from these theoretical perspectives are described, as well as the evidence supporting their implementation: an intervention to increase teacher skills and knowledge to be autonomy-supportive; a schoolwide intervention that emphasizes autonomy, competency, and relationships; and a teaching model that enables teachers to teach students to self-regulate problem-solving leading to setting and attaining educational goals. To create schools that benefit all students, we need to focus on promoting student agency, student ownership over learning, and meaningfulness and purpose.

INCREASING STUDENT AWARENESS OF PROFESSIONALISM USING THE PROFESSIONALISM ASSESSMENT TOOL (PAT) IN A SENIOR UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSE

The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board’s definition of professionalism, one of twelve graduate attributes, does not mention professional behaviour, but rather focuses on understanding the role of engineers in society. While difficult to define, challenging to teach, and even harder to assess, the engineering faculty at the University of Guelph felt professional behaviour was an important element of professionalism to consider in their curriculum. This study investigates how professional behaviour might be taught and assessed. The researchers developed course material on professional behaviour for the winter 2019 offering of a third-year multidisciplinary design course (369 students), using Kelley et al.’s (2011) Professionalism Assessment Tool (PAT). Using a quasi-experimental design, the researchers assessed whether student professionalism improved based on their change in PAT scores over the semester using a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. They also analyzed a sample of student final reflections on professional behaviour. Student PAT scores increased significantly over the semester (n = 340, p<0.05), but the effect sizes observed, using Cohen’s d, were small (0.14 to 0.29). The student reflections (n = 53) suggest that improvements to their professionalism were a result of working in a team, experience gained from their project, and individual efforts made to behave professionally. While infrequently discussed in the reflections, over half of the post-term survey responses revealed that students felt the lab activities helped improve their professional skills generally, and/or increased their awareness of these skills. The improved awareness aspect of student professionalism was an unexpected, but important outcome of the PAT-based course material and may have reinforced student ownership of their soft skill development.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FOR COMPLEMENTARY CREDIT: A COURSE TO EARN CREDIT FOR EXTRACURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT

Students often have significant learning experiences outside of the classroom, and in particular through their involvement in extracurricular activities. McMaster University has a strong student culture rooted in this type of involvement, and wanted to recognize this experiential learning. These students are often learning a variety of durable skills such as leadership, teamwork, conflict management, and communication. This paper describes the development of a course for students to earn complementary credit for a variety of diverse roles in extracurricular settings across campus. The development approach was informed by principles of student ownership and self-directed learning, and implemented by a diverse team including the instructor, staff, and students. Several focus groups conducted with actively involved students provided insight on both the structure and content of the course: workshop-style classes, with active learning modules, and opportunities for students to learn from each other. Critical reflection was the primary assessment to encourage students to derive learning from their extracurricular experiences. Preliminary observations from the first offering of the course are promising, in that students are deriving significant value from the course, and their related extracurricular experiential learning.

Redesigning an Introductory Programming Course to Facilitate Effective Student Learning: A Case Study

Aim/Purpose: This study reports the outcome of how a first pilot semester introductory programming course was designed to provide tangible evidence in support of the concept of Student Ownership of Learning (SOL) and how the outcomes of this programming course facilitate effective student learning. Background: Many instructors want to create or redesign their courses to strengthen the relationship between teaching and learning; however, the researchers of this study believe that the concept of Student Ownership of Learning (SOL) connects to student engagement and achievement in the classroom setting. The researchers redesigned the introductory programming course to include valuable teaching methods to increase Student Ownership of Learning and constructive approaches such as making students design an authentic mobile app project as individuals, partners, or within teams. The high quality of students’ projects positioned them as consultants to the university IT department. Methodology: This paper employs a case study design to construct a qualitative research method as it relates to the phenomenon of the study’s goals and lived experiences of students in the redesigned introductory programming course. The redesigned course was marketed to students as a new course with detailed description and elements that were different from the traditional computer science introductory programming course requirement. The redesigned introductory programming course was offered in two sections: one section with 14 registered students and the other section with 15 registered students. One faculty member instructed both sections of the course. A total of 29 students signed up for the newly redesigned introductory programming course, more than in previous semesters, but two students dropped out within the first two weeks of the redesigned course making a total of 27 students. The redesigned coursework was divided into two parts of the semester. The first part of the semester detailed description and elements of the coursework including a redesigned approach with preparation for class, a quiz, and doing homework in class, which gives students control of decisions whenever possible; and working with each other, either with a partner or in a team. The second part of the semester focuses on students designing a non-trivial working mobile app and presenting their developing mobile app at a significant public competition at the end of the semester. Students developed significantly complex mobile apps and incorporated more complex functionality in their apps. Both Management Information System (MIS) major students and Computer Science major students were in the same course despite the fact that MIS students had never taken a programming course before; however, the Computer Science students had taken at least one course of programming. Contribution: This study provides a practical guide for faculty members in Information Technology programs and other faculty members in non-Computer Science programs to create or redesign an introductory course that increases student engagement and achievement in the classroom based on the concept of Student Ownership of Learning (SOL). This study also deepens the discussion in curriculum and instruction on the value to explore issues that departments or programs should consider when establishing coursework or academic programs. Findings: This study found two goals evidently in support to increase Student Ownership of Learning (SOL). The first goal (Increase their ownership of learning SOL) showed that students found value in the course contents and took control of their learning; therefore, the faculty no longer had to point out how important different programming concepts were. The students recognized their own learning gap and were excited when shown a programming concept that addressed the gap. For example, student comments were met with “boy, we can really use this in our app” instead of comments about how complex they were. The coursework produced a desired outcome for students as they would get the knowledge needed to make the best app that they could. The second goal (Develop a positive attitude toward the course) showed positive results as students developed a more positive attitude towards the course. Student actions in the classroom strongly reflected a positive attitude. Attendance was almost 100% during the semester even though no points for attendance were given. Further evidence of Student Ownership of Learning and self-identity was students’ extensive use of the terminology and concept of the course when talking to others, especially during the public competition. Students were also incorporating their learning into their identities. For example, teams became known by their app such as the Game team, the Recipe team, and the Parking team. One team even made team t-shirts. Another exciting reflection of the Student Ownership of Learning which occurred was the learning students did by themselves. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners can share best practices with faculty in different departments, programs, universities, and educational consultants to cultivate the best solution for Student Ownership of Learning based on student engagement and achievement in the classroom setting. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can explore different perspectives with scholars and practitioners in various disciplinary fields of study to create or redesign courses and programs to reflect Student Ownership of Learning (SOL). Impact on Society: Student Ownership of Learning is relevant for faculty and universities to incorporate in the creation or redesigning of coursework in academic programs. Readers can gain an understanding that student engagement and achievement are two important drivers of Student Ownership of Learning (SOL) in the classroom setting. Future Research: Practitioners and researchers could follow-up in the future with a study to provide more understanding and updated research information from different research samples and hypotheses on Student Ownership of Learning (SOL).