Print-based multimodal texts: Using illustrated poems for generating ideas and writing narratives

The article provides insights on how print-based multimodal texts can be utilized to generate ideas and help students to write narrative texts. A qualitative approach in research design was employed with a pre-test and a writing assignment. NAPLAN’s (2010) Writing-Narrative Marking Guide was adapted to evaluate the respondents’ narrative essays. Moreover, diary notes were used as instruments to gather data. The respondents were five Year 10 students from a suburban secondary school in Selangor, Malaysia. The findings indicated that the illustrated poem ‘Pond’ enabled the respondents to generate ideas for their writing. The narratives also fulfilled the criteria of text structure, ideas, character and setting, and vocabulary as stated in the Analytical Rubric for Narrative Marking. Therefore, the respondents were able to write narratives. However, the utilisation of picture stimulus only helped to generate ideas to a certain extent. The quality of narrative writing was also further improved through feedback provided during the teaching and learning sessions. The findings also revealed that the respondents were able to achieve the ‘can do’ statement as stated in the CEFR Assessment Format. Furthermore, the use of print-based multimodal texts encouraged multimodal and visual literacy as the respondents exploited semiotic resources within the texts. This study suggested that print-based multimodal texts could be used as instructional materials in narrative writing; thus, teachers should consider them to promote effective learning.

Tutorial on Support Vector Machines

The aim of this tutorial is to help students grasp the theory and applicability of support vector machines (SVMs). The contribution is an intuitive style tutorial that helped students gain insights into SVM from a unique perspective. An internet search will reveal many videos and articles on SVM, but free peer-reviewed tutorials are generally not available or are incomplete. Instructional materials that provide simplified explanations of SVM leave gaps in the derivations that beginning students cannot fill. Most of the free tutorials also lack guidance on practical applications and considerations. The software wrappers in many modern programming libraries of Python and R currently hide the operational complexities. Such software tools often use default parameters that ignore domain knowledge or leave knowledge gaps about the important effects of SVM hyperparameters, resulting in misuse and subpar outcomes. The author uses this tutorial as a course reference for students studying artificial intelligence and machine learning. The tutorial derives the classic SVM classifier from first principles and then derives the practical form that a computer uses to train a classification model. An intuitive explanation about confusion matrices, F1 score, and the AUC metric extend insights into the inherent tradeoff between sensitivity and specificity. A discussion about cross-validation provides a basic understanding of how to select and tune the hyperparameters to maximize generalization by balancing underfitting and overfitting. Even seasoned self-learners with advanced statistical backgrounds have gained insights from this tutorial style of intuitive explanations, with all related considerations for tuning and performance evaluations in one place.

Interferences in Writing Skills Performance of BA Students Enrolled in Norwegian Didactics

This article investigates different types of language errors performed in a written summative exam by ten BA students enrolled in an elective Norwegian Didactics course in Romania. The corpus comprising the students’ exam papers was analysed qualitatively to identify various types of errors. The theoretical model suggested by Gass & Selinker (1994) was used to discuss issues of error analysis. A survey was then conducted to receive student feedback on the reported errors in the texts. Findings indicate that students make both inter-lingual and intra-lingual errors and that error analysis can be helpful when designing L2 Norwegian instructional materials. Keywords: error analysis, foreign language teaching, language transfer, language distance, writing skills, Norwegian, Romanian.

Teacher Training and Online Teaching

The WL profession currently does not have a framework to guide pre-service education programs related to online and/or remote instruction. While the ACTFL/CAEP standards affirm that teachers should be able to use technology and adapt and create instructional materials for use in communication, there is an underlying assumption that the technology will be integrated to supplement rather than supplant instruction. The focus, then, remains on in-class, on-campus experiences for learners and educators. This chapter provides a rationale for including online pedagogy in teacher preparation programs, explores current frameworks for online teaching (TPACK, Community of Inquiry, Pyramid Model, ADDIE), and proposes six considerations for integrating online language teaching as a foundational component of preservice preparation.

CrossQuestion Game: A Design of a Group-Based Assessment Tool to Enhance Student Motivation during Pandemic

This paper explores the effect of applying gamification and flipped classroom approaches through our group-based assessment game, the CrossQuestion, in the course of IT in Business. The course teaches basic IT fundamentals and their application in different functional areas of business and management. In Spring 2020-21, we delivered this course through Moodle platform, integrated with the Zoom video communication tool, to introduce the CrossQuestion game as supplemental resources to engage students. We conducted measurements using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey scales to verify the game's learning effect. We divided students into an experimental group (85 students who played the CrossQuestion game through gamified flipped classroom session–Spring 2020-21) and a control group (60 students who previously underwent lecture-based instructions and individualized formal assessments–Spring 2019-20). The analysis of students’ grades confirms improvement by applying gamified flipped classroom group-based assessments in the learning process. The students’ questionnaire also confirms that group-based assessments can improve students’ motivation. We developed a game system that was attractive to the students, implying that it can be an effective instructional and recreational material to boost morale, increase collaboration, enhance engagement and socialization opportunities, especially during this challenging pandemic.

Readability and Suitability Assessment of university students Educational Materials in Preventing Smoking

Background: Educational materials are frequently used by health care providers to inform university students and young people about smoking and the health risks of smoking. However, little attention has been paid to the readability and suitability of these educational materials. Objectives: The study aimed to determine the readability and suitability of educational materials in preventing smoking for university students. Methods: Multiple instructional materials and books were used for the design and preparation of educational materials and were then tailored to the target group. Readability was measured by using the readability assessment of materials (RAM); and suitability was determined by the suitability assessment of materials (SAM) that considers characteristics such as content, graphics, layout/topography, and cultural appropriateness. Twenty reviewers, including 15 students and 5 health specialists scored the educational materials. Results: The mean readability score _ standard deviation(SD) of the educational materials was 8±1.6, 9±1.5 and 10±1.7, for the booklet, the pamphlet of the skill of saying no, smoking pamphlet and quitting it , respectively, which were increased to 15±1.4, 16 ±1.7and 17±0.8, after tailoring the content. The average SAM scores before and after tailoring the content were 45% for the booklet, which was increased to 88% and 75% for the pamphlet of the skill of saying no, which was increased to 93% and 79%for the smoking pamphlet and quitting it ,which was increased to 95%.The increase in all scores was significant (p< 0.01).The final tailored educational material was rated “superior media” on the SAM ratings. Conclusions: Given that most of the printed materials are suitable for people with higher education levels, health providers are strongly advised to prepare simple and understandable education materials that may increase the likelihood of consumer perception and recall.

Amulab - Advanced multimedia learning laboratory

Amulab states for advanced multimedia learning laboratory. Here we explore how people learn from instructional materials that combine verbal and visual information, and we help develop such materials. Our main focus is on advanced materials in the sense of new media – animations, tutorials, interactive simulations, educational games, and so on.

Evidence of gender equity in pupils’ achievement in phonics, when exposed to adult and children-generated illustrations

The study examined evidence of gender equity in pupils achievement in phonics, when exposed to adult and children-generated illustrations in Njikoka Local Government Area of Nigeria. The study employed a non-equivalent quasi‐experimental 2 x 2 factorial research design. Some 158 primary two pupils from 4 schools were used for the study. The English Achievement Test (EAT) was used to collect data. Three hypotheses were tested. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results showed that there was a significant main effect for the mode of illustration on pupils’ achievement in phonics F(1,153) = 21.315, p=.000; there was no significant main effect of gender F(1,153) = 1.082, p =.300, and there was no significant interaction effect of mode of illustration and gender F(1,153) = .701, p =.404. The study recommended that since the children-generated illustrations were more effective in teaching phonics and enhancing pupils achievement in phonics, the Ministries of Education should ensure that textbook authors incorporate children-generated illustrations in the instructional materials for pupils in primary schools. Mode of illustration had no differential effects on male and female pupils achievement in phonics. As such the present system of teaching both males and females in the same class should be encouraged. Authors and publishers of children’s books should engage pupils’ in illustrating their books.

The Architecture of ELT Coursebooks

This paper is an attempt to develop a design-oriented approach to ELT coursebook evaluation, with a particular focus on the internal organization of coursebook units at both intra-unit and inter-unit levels. We believe that looking at coursebooks from the position of the materials designer sheds some additional light on ELT coursebook evaluation. The design-oriented approach to ELT coursebook assessment proposed in the paper goes well beyond the immediate, and often superficial, ‘check-list’ methods commonly used to help teachers select coursebooks. In other words, the design-oriented approach to ELT coursebook assessment enables teachers an insight into ‘the architecture’ of textbooks. On this ‘journey to the centre of ELT textbooks’, we try to highlight how language teaching materials have been resolving the conundrum of the dynamic combination of the What (content), and the How (pedagogy/methodology). In presenting a materials design process, we start off with the assumption that there has always been a broad basis of theoretical and pedagogical notions that can inform the content and organization of ELT coursebooks, and upon which coursebook writers can build when designing instructional materials. The article then discusses three stages of the design process, offering a more detailed analysis of the complex issue of unit structure at intra- and inter-unit levels. We explore different formats of unit structure, its components, ways of creating coherence throughout the unit, and its underlying methodology/pedagogy. The last point prompts the conclusion that today’s ELT materials are produced in response to a perceived market demand that is often at variance with the latest theoretical developments in ELT.

Interaction Effect of Mode of Illustration and Colour Preference on Pupils’ Achievement in Phonics

The study investigated the interaction effect of mode of illustration and colour preference on pupils’ achievement in phonics in Nnobi in Idemili South Local Government Area of Nigeria. The study employed a non-equivalent quasi‐experimental 2 x 3 factorial research design. Some 167primary two pupils from 4 schools were used for the study. The English Achievement Test (EAT) was used to collect data. Three hypotheses were tested. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results showed that there was a significant main effect for the mode of illustration on pupils’ achievement in phonics F(1,165) = 123.221, p = .000; there was a significant main effect of colour preference on pupils’ achievement in phonics F (2,165) = 55.198, p = 000; and there was a significant interaction effect of illustration and colour preference on pupils’ achievement in phonics F (2,165) = 7.593, p = .001. Because the children-generated illustrations were more effective in teaching phonics and enhancing pupils achievement in phonics, the Ministries of Education should ensure that textbook author incorporate children-generated illustrations in the instructional materials for pupils in primary schools. These materials should be rendered in pupils most preferred colours.