Lowering barriers to active learning: a novel approach for online instructional environments

The value of active learning for increasing student comprehension and retention of science, technology, e,ngineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts within undergraduate courses has proven to be beneficial many times over; however, barriers still exist for both instructors and students. For example, instructors are often left to decide what type of active learning activities to incorporate and how to implement them yet receive little to no formal training about how to do this effectively. Additionally, student resistance to active learning persists, which adds to the pressure faced by some instructors. Compounding these issues is the absence of high-speed Internet in some regions, which makes accessing active learning activities, many of which are offered through online commercial programs, impractical if not impossible for some students. This problem was highlighted during the pandemic when courses transitioned to being partially or fully online. In this article, I describe a novel active learning method that encourages students to cognitively engage with physiology concepts by using digital images to build structures and processes using an approach that is more accessible to everyone, regardless of Internet capabilities. This approach also provides instructors an option for creating their own active learning activity that may be more suitable for their specific level of students or learning outcomes.

EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF GAME-BASED FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT ON STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING AND PARTICIPATION IN A HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION COURSE

This study discusses an attempt to examine the impact of gamebased formative assessment on the students’ knowledge in a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) course, which is a fundamental subject for Multimedia students. This course is important to expose them to the ideas of user interface and interaction design methodologies, skills, and values that are required for them to develop a practical interaction design system. The respondents in this research were 63 undergraduates who enrolled in an HCI course in a public university in Malaysia. An experimental research design was employed whereby the respondents were conveniently assigned to two groups; control (33) and experimental (30). Eight paper-based formative assessments were given to the control group, while eight online game-based evaluations were given to the experimental group. The students’ scores are recorded to assess their understanding of the learning content and their participation in the HCI classroom. A test was also administered at the end of the semester and utilised as a data collection tool to examine the effectiveness of the intervention in terms of student comprehension. The information was then gathered and analysed using descriptive and ANOVA statistical methods. The students’ involvement was reflected through an opinion survey that was given to the students at the end of the semester. The findings revealed that students who participated in a game-based formative assessment shown greater understanding and involvement than students who participated in a formative paperbased evaluation, implying that introducing a scope of game-based formative assessments improved the understanding and participation in the HCI course classroom.

The Impact of Accent among Non-Native English-speaking Biology Lecturers on Student Comprehension and Attitudes

This study examined the attitudes of postgraduate biology students of three top-ranked Russian universities towards the foreign accents of non-native English-speaking lecturers. Fifty participants responded to a questionnaire, the main purpose of which was to explore the listeners’ perceptions of professors’ accents and their influence on students’ ability to concentrate on and comprehend the lecture material. The research included a quantitative analysis of gathered descriptive data. The results of the study show Russian students’ tolerant attitudes to foreign accents of non-native lecturers and demonstrate their readiness to comprehend non-standard English-medium speech of non-native representatives of the international natural sciences academic community.

‘Immersed in Art’: Engaged learning in art and design history

Established approaches to art history pedagogy typically involve a primarily passive form of instruction incorporating the viewing of works projected on screens. While such approaches can convey valuable information, they can also contribute to student disengagement and do not necessarily support deep learning. This article examines three learning initiatives incorporating an immersive teaching space to determine how these forms of technology-enhanced active learning might enhance student comprehension and engagement. The article considers how learning design incorporating the affordances of such immersive environments can provide multimodal learning experiences that stimulate student imaginations and support learning and engagement in a manner that complements rather than replaces traditional modes of instruction.

The Impact of Classroom Chatter Noise on Comprehension: A Systematic Review

Communication through discussion and conversations is fundamental to human life; but when such discourse escapes the control of a teacher in the classroom, it becomes little more than chatter. This noise challenges teaching methods and the teaching stance with students. Yet, its impact on comprehension has rarely been studied. The aim of this literature review was to examine the research on the impact of classroom noise generated by chatter on students’ comprehension performance. We adopted the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Metanalysis) guidelines to examine this literature. This review covered a 10-year period (papers written between 2009 and 2019), with nine experimental studies selected from the 2,954 papers screened. In 89% of these nine studies, there were significant comprehension differences on all tests, revealed when comprehension took place in a noisy environment due to chatter. This review indicated an essential need for a field survey to better understand the impact of chatter on comprehension. Other studies are recommended to highlight any correlation between measured chatter and student comprehension in a real classroom environment.

PENGARUH METODE PERMAINAN BOARDGAME EDUCATION “PHARMAPOLEIN” TERHADAP PEMAHAMAN MATERI KEFARMASIAN MAHASISWA

ABSTRACT Mission of pharmacy education is to develop and nurture skills in lifelong learning. Broad insight, skills in communication, and teamwork is a must for the pharmaceutical profession. The learning method greatly affects the results of understanding each individual, especially in understanding pharmaceutical material which is considered difficult. Educational games are used as a teaching method because they help complement and strengthen the material being taught. Board games have continued to grow in popularity and the pedagogical value of the games has been supported many times. So, this board game is designed to have enough challenging elements to nurture student interest. The game tactic used collaboration and competition in the classroom. Competition has been found to increase motivation. Thus, that motivation can be used to understand the pharmaceutical material contained in the game. Aim this study is to determine the potential modification of the monopoly board game in increasing student comprehension of pharmaceutical material. The pharmapolein game was examined on both pharmacy and non-pharmacy student respondents (n = 12). From the test, it was obtained a correlation value of and 0.885 and a significance value of 0.000, so the conclusion was that the board game game could increase student knowledge in mastery of pharmaceutical science. Keywords: Board Games, Pharmapolein, Pharmacy

Penerapan Data Mining Klasifikasi Tingkat Pemahaman Siswa Pada Pelajaran Matematika

The purpose of the research is to classify the concept of understanding students in Mathematics lessons. In the learning process teaching students understanding learning materials is very important. The attainment of student understanding is a function of the being of an educator. Many formulas and concepts to understand make it difficult for students to solve math problems. The data source was obtained from the results of a math comprehension questionnaire of eighth graders at Tamansiswa Tapian Dolok Private Junior High School. The classification method used is the C4.5 Algorithm and assisted with RapidMiner software. Attributes used are student interests, how students learn, student motivation, how to teach teachers, learning media, and infrastructure facilities. The results of the calculation of entropy values and attribute gains obtained 15 rules of mathematical comprehension decisions with 9 rules of understanding status and 6 rules of inconsistency status. Classification modeling with C4.5 Algorithm on RapidMiner obtained 96.00% accuracy Classification with C4.5 Algorithm can be applied and provide new information about the classification of student comprehension concepts in math lessons

Supporting Today’s Students in the Library: Strategies for Retaining and Graduating International, Transfer, First-Generation, and Re-Entry Students. Ngoc-Yen Tran and Silke Higgins, eds. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2020. 275p. Paper.

This collection brings together research from the library and student affairs fields to present a thorough look at methods for increasing student success among populations with distinct needs and characteristics: international, transfer, first-generation, and re-entry students, with international and first-generation populations receiving the most attention. It is a welcome addition to the academic library literature. The theories of well-established student affairs scholars, such as George Kuh and Vincent Tinto, are highlighted in many chapters’ literature reviews and appear in the bibliographies of nearly all chapters. Familiarity with this literature is key in engaging outside units within the academy and building the kinds of partnerships suggested by many authors in this work. Common themes include robust partnerships with academic writing centers, collaborating with graduate programs to increase ESL students’ research and writing skills, and deliberately structuring assignments to aid student comprehension and skill development.