The Impact of Using Task-Based Activities on Iranian EFL Learners’ Speaking Skill

This study explored the impacts of task-based activities on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ speaking skill. To do the current study, the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was given to 75 students and 50 intermediate participants whose scores were between 40 and 47 were selected. Then, the participants were randomly divided into two groups; one experimental group and one control group. Then they were given three topics to talk about in two minutes as a speaking pre-test. Afterwards, the experimental group received the treatment through task-based activities while the control group received a traditional instruction. The whole instruction lasted eight sessions. In the first two sessions, the OQPT and the pre-test were administered, respectively; in five sessions, the participants received the treatment, and in the eighth session, the post-test of speaking was given to the participants of both groups to measure the effects of the treatment on their speaking improvement. The collected data were analyzed through independent and paired samples t-tests and the results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test. In other words, there was a significant difference between the speaking post-test of the two groups. The implications, the conclusions, the limitations, and the suggestions of the research were explained.

Blended Instruction in Symbolic Logic

This study examines through action research whether blended instruction in an upper-level philosophy course in introductory symbolic logic can help undergraduate philosophy students to achieve better learning outcomes than undergraduate philosophy students in a traditional, face-to-face version of the same course. The authors conclude that the change from traditional instruction to blended instruction did have a positive and significant effect on student learning as measured in course grades and student assessment scores for one course learning objective, as well as a positive but non-significant effect on student assessment scores for two additional course learning objectives.

Bandwidth and Online Course Design

This chapter is designed to provide resources and answer questions on two levels. In the first part, the authors present a menu of considerations and challenges that they have experienced when shifting an accredited undergraduate program to a parallel online modality over the past several years. In addition, they offer suggestions for working within the BlackBoard learning environment and give a glossary of commonly encountered online instruction terms. They identify some commonalities between online and traditional instruction that can serve to make newcomers more comfortable adding online teaching to their skill set.

Theology in 3D

Since their introduction in the mid-1990s, virtual web tours have existed alongside traditional instruction and outreach methods as digital tools to increase access and knowledge in a variety of institutions (Mosley and Xiao 1996). By 2002, tours available on the web constituted the third-most popular tour option in a survey of 111 academic libraries (Oling and Mach 2002). In the spring of 2019, Pitts Theology Library (Emory University) launched its own virtual tour project using Matterport technology to supplement instruction and outreach for students, faculty, staff, and community members. Systems & Digital Scholarship Librarian Spencer Roberts captured and processed the 3D images to make available for the public, while Reference Librarian & Outreach Coordinator Anne Marie McLean capitalized on the technology in volunteer projects, orientation sessions, and exhibition promotion. This session details the envisioning and execution of virtual tours of Pitts Theology Library, as well as practical applications for its use in both outreach and instruction in a theological library setting.

Development of Students’ Learning to Learn Competence in Primary Science

The aim of this study was to determine if there is a connection between the inquiry-based teaching of science in primary school and the development of the students’ learning to learn competence. The research involved 333 fourth-grade students at primary schools in Croatia. The experimental research with parallel groups included a number of students who were exposed to inquiry-based teaching of science for three months, and a control group that was, at the same time, exposed to traditional instruction in the same curriculum content. The results of this research show that through inquiry-based teaching students developed a higher level of the learning to learn competence than by using traditional teaching methods. Therefore, it is recommended to use inquiry-based learning as often as possible, because by developing the students’ learning to learn competence, students will be empowered for the process of lifelong learning.

An eye-tracking study on the effects of structured input and traditional instruction on the acquisition of English passive forms

The present study explores the effects of structured input and traditional instruction on the acquisition of English passive forms using online measurements (eye-tracking). Previous empirical research investigating the effects of processing instruction through offline measurements (sentence and discourse-level) has overall shown that it is an effective pedagogical intervention. Research investigating the main factor responsible for the effectiveness of processing instruction has confirmed that it is the structured input component that is the causative factor for the positive effects of processing instruction. The two main questions of this study are: (1) What are the effects of structured input and traditional instruction on accuracy when measured by an eye-tracking picture selection task? (2) Would possible differences in accuracy between structured input and traditional instruction be accompanied by changes in eye-movement patterns? To provide answers to the questions formulated in this study, one eye-tracking study was carried out. Sixty-four school-age learners (15–16 years old) participated and were assigned to one of two groups: structured input (n = 32 or traditional instruction (n = 32). Neither instructional group received explicit information. A pre- and post-training design was adopted and the two groups received two different instructional treatments (structured input vs traditional instruction). Participants were assessed through a picture selection eye-tracking task to measure accuracy and eye-movement patterns while they were processing auditory sentences. Results of the eye-tracking task indicated that the structured input group achieved significantly higher accuracy scores compared with the group receiving traditional instruction. The main findings from the present study reveal that structured input training might cause a change in learners’ eye-movement patterns.