Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language with the Use of LearningApps Service

The article describes the experience of using applications of the LearningApps service in the practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language (hereinafter - RFL) to students of the Institute of International Education, Henan University of Science and Technology in the 2018-2020 academic years. The relevance of the topic is due to the lack of a comprehensive description of the potential of the LearningApps service simulators in traditional and distance teaching of foreigners. The purpose of the article is to show the possibilities of LearningApps service simulators as an accompanying electronic resource in teaching various aspects of RFL. The study of the service teaching potential was carried out using the analysis of scientific literature and the study of the service functionality, observation and generalization of pedagogical experience, conversations with students and teachers. In the course of the study, the positive and negative aspects of the resource under consideration were identified. Its advantages for a student are interactivity, individual trajectory of the student's performance, the possibility of receiving prompt advice and multiple execution, game form, availability of a large variety of task templates (more than 20). The advantages of the resource for a teacher are simplicity in learning, lack of linkage of exercises with a certain training platform, which allows including them in printed and electronic teaching aids, availability of ready-made exercises in the public database or possibility to make your own exercises based on them, the ability to use it for different methodological purposes: demonstration, search for information, formation of skills and abilities in different types of speech activity, the possibility of intensive learning of vocabulary, grammar, speaking, listening, control, conducting students individual work, depending on the level of language proficiency. The disadvantages include the impossibility of quick assessment using a point-rating system, the absence of the Cyrillic font in some templates, the absence of some templates in the database. The prospects for using the resource are associated with the need to develop distance learning of RFL.

Acquiring the Art of Conducting: Deliberate Practice as Part of Professional Learning

Research was and still is involved in the controversial issue about innate talent or extensive practice as the determinants of excellent performance in a range of domains. This study aims to contribute by presenting an analysis of practice activities in a domain that appears to be particularly suitable—orchestral conducting. Most conductors usually attain expertise in instrument playing prior to commencing conducting studies. Twenty-seven students of German study programs of orchestral conducting (approximately 18.7% of the population) responded to a questionnaire about their practice activities in conducting programs and their instrumental experiences. Descriptive results show the wealth of prestudy experiences conducting students have. A clear influence on practice activities cannot be stated. During study, students rated conducting-specific practice activities as more demanding and devoted more time to them than to general music practice activities. Therefore, conducting-specific practice activities might have been practiced more deliberately than general music practice activities.

METHODICAL-SOFTWARE COMPLEX “MULTIMEDIA BIOMECHANICS” IN THE RESEARCH WORK OF STUDENTS OF THE INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL CULTURE AND SPORTS

We consider the methodical-software complex “Multimedia Biomechanics” (MSC “MB”), developed by us in 1998 and the practice of its use. MSC “MB” is based on the method of video cyclography, in which three-dimensional spatial motion is replaced by plane-parallel. The source material for biomechanical research of motor actions in the MSC “MB” is a video recording of sports equipment and a video cyclogram based on a rod model. The purpose of the research is to analyze and generalize the experience of using MSC “MB” in the research work of students of the Institute of physical culture and sports of Udmurt State University. A review of the diploma works and graduate qualification works, in which the MSC “MB” was used, is given. Students’ research was carried out in the fields of karate-do, kobudo (weapons technique), step aerobics, health running, always solving important practical problems of biomechanics of motor actions. The MSC “MB” does not use expensive components (high-speed video cameras, inertial sensors, reflective elements, etc.), so the complex is not expensive, but, at the same time, it is multifunctional and has a good accuracy in determining the numerical characteristics of movement. MSC “MB” is an effective tool for solving educational problems and conducting students’ research.

Leading with score study: changing priorities in undergraduate conducting curricula

The purpose of this study was to examine student learning in an introductory conducting course in which score study was the primary foundational focus; gesture was viewed as part of a larger conducting process and a secondary learning goal to score study. Research has indicated a need for greater emphasis on score study in introductory conducting courses (Silvey, Springer, & Eubanks, 2016; Stewart, 2011). Student reflection is often used to guide students in understanding the relationship of their gesture to the sound of a live ensemble; however, within the studied course, reflection was expanded to focus on the score study process – developing score study skills, practice habits, and concepts. Researchers analyzed student reflections (N = 25) in order to understand student learning and identify potential improvements to the course. Student reflections were coded using a general inductive approach. In their reflections, students discussed evaluating, revising, refining, and integrating approaches; making connections between conducting and other coursework; analyzing the conducting process; and developing their own conducting philosophy. A model that captures the students’ collective learning process is described. Focusing on score study in this introductory conducting course resulted in substantial student learning about an array of conducting skills and concepts in relation to score study. Reflection assisted students in developing a score study process and a growth mindset, both of which support future learning. Findings provide a springboard for future research that examines how a comprehensive and integrated score study process occurring over time can best contribute to the learning of beginning conducting students.

Learning Activity as a Means of Developing Theoretical Thinking Capacities

The main purpose of this article is to discuss the development of capacities linked to theoretical thinking during the formation process of Learning Activity in students of the early years of elementary school. It considers some elements which could form the basis for thinking about teaching activity as a means of conducting students toward that development. It starts from the hypothesis that the development of the capacities of analysis, reflection, and mental planning depends, essentially, on the systematic organization of the principles and ways of action of the students on the theoretical contents in their learning process. The hypothesis further states that Learning Activity is the most appropriate way to organize pedagogical work for the development of methods of action that would enable students to achieve new higher psychological formations and develop new ways of thinking and acting in the learning environment. The theoretical study was carried out through locating, gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, and reframing the theorical ideas contained in publications, texts, articles, and books by authors of the Cultural-Historical Theory. The study places emphasis on Learning Activity as an adequate way to develop psychic neoformations in school-age children, since their organization, based on the solution of learning tasks through learning actions, is the source of the development of analysis, reflection, and mental planning skills, as constituent parts of theoretical thinking in school-age children.

Identify Maths Learning Difficulties on the Set Subject

In conducting students' learning activities that do not always work, there are often things that cause failure. The study aims to describe the difficulties students have experienced and to study the mistakes of the students in working on the tests in mathematics learning on the set subject. This type of research is a qualitative descriptive with a case study approach. Data collection techniques with problem instruments, interviews, and documentation. The legitimacy of data using technique triangulation. Data analysis through the data reduction phase, data presentation, and withdrawal of conclusions. The research was conducted with the subject of his research 30 students. The results showed that the type of difficulties experienced by students in the form of 1) difficulty in understanding the problem is the inability of the students to interpret the mathematical symbols on the subject of the set, 2) difficulty transforming that is the inability of students determining the set formula, 3) difficulty in the completion process is that students are not able to perform binary counting operations to solve the set problem. Then it can be concluded the types of difficulty learning mathematics that students experience in the subject of the association can be classified into 3 types, namely difficulty in understanding the problem, difficulty transforming the problem, and difficulty solving problems.

Latent structure of gestures in orchestra conducting students under self-observation conditions

Self-observation has proven to be a powerful medium for personal and professional growth and development. This research makes use of self-observation through video to determine the latent structure that underlies the gestures to be learned and mastered by orchestra conducting students. Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) techniques have been applied to the assessments of the performances of the orchestra conducting students who participated in the experimental group of this study ( N = 13, males: 38.5%, females: 61.5%) before and after a self-observation experience. The results show a better integration of the gestures performed, and an improvement in the awareness of gestural details that go unnoticed if they are not visualized from outside; an improvement in gestural learning and in the self-regulation of learning; gestural maturation and a more selective focus on the gestures that must be corrected, as well as propitiating a vision of the body as a whole.

Academic Business Intelligence: Can a Small and Medium-sized University Afford to Build and Deploy it within Limited Resources?

Background: For many years, researches on Business Intelligence (BI) development have been popular in primary industry (trading, telecommunication, and manufacturing). Nevertheless, the academic sector has not been the primary beneficiary. This lack of practices also means there has been limited knowledge relating to the development of BI in the academic sectorObjective: This study presents the development of an Academic Business Intelligence (ABI). Taking an actual ABI development project in a small and medium-sized university in Indonesia context, it specifically sought to understand as to why the university needed an ABI and how it could be developed within the limited resources (funding, IT infrastructure and expertise).Methods: Following the business intelligence development roadmap, this study was able to develop an ABI as an attempt to provide a smart way for generating valuable information from scattered data interactively. It also successfully deployed the newly developed ABI into the existing IT legacy and then run a series of pilot testing involving the intended users.Results: The results showed the acceptance rate was high (87.25%) and suggested that the system found to be usable for conducting students' performance assessment and decision making faster. In short, this study contributes to the growing body of BI development literature by providing empirical evidence on how to successfully develop a BI within the unique context of the academic sector.Conclusion: Considering the findings, this study also draws practical recommendations and highlights a few limitations from which future study could address, especially when developing BI or similar ABI in particular.

ENHANCING STUDENTS’ CORRESPONDING REASONING OF COGNITIVE PERFORMANCES BY ANIMATED CONCEPT MAPPING IN ELECTROCHEMISTRY

The use of animated concept mapping (ACM) has been linked to an innovative learning skill when conducting students’ guidance of 4 corresponding reasoning processes in electrochemistry. This research aims to establish a new perspective with ACM cognitive reasoning to broaden students’ individual developments of problem-solving skills. It is followed by a quasi-experimental approach of pre-tests, post-tests and retention-tests designed for 274 qualified college students in Taiwan. All data collected from students’ learning performances and feedback is further analyzed by means of achievement covariance, t-tests and one-way ANOVA. Analytical results reveal that ACM facilitates learning comparisons and out-performances in two groups of students in different post-test and retention-test scores. Students’ positive feedback and learning disposition also provide the predominant advantage for participants’ successful reasoning processes. Pedagogical implications suggest that ACM learning performances result in more significant collaborative reasoning. Key words: animated concept mapping, corresponding reasoning processes, electrochemistry learning performances, problem-solving