Advancing video research methodology to capture the processes of social interaction and multimodality

In this reflective methodological paper we focus on affordances and challenges of video data. We compare and analyze two research settings that use the latest video technology to capture classroom interactions in mathematics education, namely, The Social Unit of Learning (SUL) project of the University of Melbourne and the MathTrack project of the University of Helsinki. While using these two settings as examples, we have structured our reflections around themes pertinent to video research in general, namely, research methods, data management, and research ethics. SUL and MathTrack share an understanding of mathematics learning as social multimodal practice, and provide possibilities for zooming into the situational micro interactions that construct collaborative problem-solving learning. Both settings provide rich data for in-depth analyses of peer interactions and learning processes. The settings share special needs for technical support and data management, as well as attention to ethical aspects from the perspective of the participants’ security and discretion. SUL data are especially suitable for investigating interactions on a broad scope, addressing how multiple interactional processes intertwine. MathTrack, on the other hand, enables exploration of participants’ visual attention in detail and its role in learning. Both settings could provide tools for teachers’ professional development by showing them aspects of classroom interactions that would otherwise remain hidden.

Lessons from the COVID epicenter: how teacher candidates of color and the academy adapted to remote instruction

Purpose Given the challenges of remote learning and the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on communities of color, this paper aims to present the voices of teacher candidates of color working on the frontlines of remote learning in communities of color hard-hit by the pandemic and to understand changes made in the shift to remote instruction for teacher education at the university level. Design/methodology/approach Two teacher candidate narratives are presented as case studies along with findings from a self-study on the changes necessitated by remote instruction in two teacher preparation courses at the university level. Findings Findings underscore teacher candidates’ fortitude amidst compound stress. Emergent themes included flexibility, adapting, reaching out for help, problem-solving and drawing on their own experiences. Themes also included struggle, fatigue and feelings of incompetence. At the university level, teacher education preparation required flexibility and opening up space for collaborative problem-solving. Originality In urban communities of color, pre-pandemic disparities in under-resourced public schools not only persisted but were intensified by the pandemic’s unequal impact on people of color. This study foregrounds the voices and experiences of teacher candidates of color teaching remotely, providing contributions to the field derived from their lived experiences. Their voices are essential data, bringing much needed attention to obstacles of remote teaching in communities of color and to the resourcefulness teacher candidates demonstrated in service of multicultural education.

Computational Thinking and Participatory Teaching as Pathways to Personalized Learning

This chapter discusses personalized learning by briefly outlining historical trends and deficiencies associated with what can be referred to as production style or assembly line approaches to education before contrasting personalized learning definitions. The chapter extends those definitions. It discusses participatory teaching as a personalized learning strategy by which students take on roles of co-teaching, co-designing lessons, or co-designing curriculum with adult teachers. One participatory teaching example involves an international group of students who help one another learn science and mathematics through shared video production. This example involves a US school involved in a larger districtwide effort comprehensively designed to involve each student. Organized around computational thinking, multidisciplinary innovation, arts integration, and collaborative problem-solving, the district may be viewed as a case study in implementing personalized learning. The chapter furnishes several examples that blend participatory teaching and computational thinking.

Crafting to Code

Critter Code is an innovative informal arts-integrated computer science experience created to provide a unique opportunity to reach students from underserved urban populations. Designed to make the connections between physical making and coding, learning to program becomes the bridge between a crafted “Critter” and its digital version starring in a student-created video game. This chapter offers a rich analysis of the impact of Critter Code on participants, families, and instructors through the framework of the self-determination theory of motivation. The chapter then describes Critter Code's application of collaborative problem-solving and student agency to create personal connections to the content to positively affect students' computer science self-identity and interest. Finally, potential classroom applications and future research directions are explored.

How Covid-19 Pandemic Reshaped Cultural Environment in Italy and Ukraine: Facebook Content Analysis

<em><span>The need to incorporate cultural aspects into business practice is long-standing. The cultural environment in Ukraine and Italy was reshaped, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Social networks reflected such transformation both at the personal level and in the business activities of national companies on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other media. Facebook pages were analyzed as the most popular social platform in Ukraine and Italy to reveal these changes. Content analysis of countries' leaders in retail, e-commerce, and service was carried out, namely </span><span>EVA, Rozetka, and Nova Noshta for Ukraine; and Conad, Bottega Verde, and Italo Treno for Italy. T</span><span>wo-phase desk research was conducted with ten research questions for each cultural dimension encoded in a binary system. The research has shown that Ukrainian business still manifests collaborative problem solving, compliance with social standards, and the value of human life. It demonstrates a low level of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Ukraine is gradually changing its paradigm of thinking to a more hedonic and individualistic similar to Western Europe. In contrast, Italy shows less respect for power in all its manifestations and a greater willingness to take risks than before. The country has become less goal-oriented, restrained, and masculine but more collectivistic.</span></em>

Trajectories of Idea Emergence in Dialogic Collaborative Problem Solving: Toward a Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective

According to the complex dynamic systems (CDS) perspective, learning emerges at various system levels. This study built a coherent theoretical framework based on CDS and Bakhtinian dialogic theory and further employed the concept of attractor (i.e., certain stable states that recur over time) in CDS theory to investigate the trajectories of idea emergence and how they diversified group outcomes in dialogic collaborative problem solving (D-CPS). Two contrasting groups were compared using visual and qualitative analysis approaches. The analysis based on idea tree diagrams showed that new ideas emergent in group discussion tended to attract local utterances and performed features of attractors in CDS in both high-performing and low-performing groups. The analysis based on idea hierarchy diagrams revealed how ideas emerged at various system levels. It was also found that status problems were likely to affect the functioning of regulative feedback loops, which might give rise to different structures of idea evolution. This study proposed CDS theory as an alternative perspective, augmented by the ethical considerations of Bakhtinian dialogism, for examining the dynamics of D-CPS.

Students’ perceptions of team learning across teaching frameworks and settings

The benefits of team learning include increased achievement, increased motivation, and greater retention of concepts learned. While team learning has been implemented since the early 20th century, instructors in higher education settings may still experience challenges managing implementation, such as unmotivated students and a lack of accountability among group members. One team learning pedagogy is team-based learning (TBL), a structured course design that combines individual preparation with collaborative problem-solving. Given the benefits of TBL in face-to-face settings, including student learning and improved attitudes, educators have also adapted TBL to online settings. This embedded mixed-method study examined students’ perceptions of TBL in face-to-face and online teacher education courses. We found that students in TBL courses, regardless of delivery method, reported positive perceptions of TBL, and commonly identified the course structure and teams as the most effective aspects of the course.

Collaborative programming problem-solving in augmented reality: Multimodal analysis of effectiveness and group collaboration

Although numerous studies have demonstrated different ways that augmented reality (AR) can assist students to understand the learning content via contextualised visualisation, less explored is its effect on collaborative problem-solving (CPS) in computer programming. This study aims to investigate how AR affects a CPS in a programming task. We designed a mobile app that could visualise computer programming in AR and non-AR 3D images. The app could involve two participants working together on a programming problem face to face in the same workspace. We conducted a within-subjects experiment to compare their AR experience to the non-AR experience and collected multimodal usage data about the task performance, verbal communication, and user experience. The analysis showed that the participants in the AR experience had higher task performance and more insightful communication than the non-AR. The participants also had positive attitudes toward the use of AR in classroom instructions. In a semi-structured interview, the participants reflected that AR helped them engage in the content and analyse the task easier. Based on this study, we discuss several challenges and implications for future instruction designers. Implications for practice or policy: AR can improve student engagement in a collaborative problem-solving task. AR has the potential to promote and improve group communication in collaborative work. Instruction designers may need to carefully align the characteristics of AR with the task content especially when physical models are rarely used in the learning content.

Distress Behavior Conversations: Supporting Whole Person Whole Team Responses in VA Community Living Centers

Resident distress behavior, a prevalent challenge in long-term care, contributes to resident morbidity, staff burden, and turnover. We describe an education model developed in the Veterans Administration (VA) Community Living Centers (CLC) through a CONCERT (VA CLCs’ Ongoing Center for Enhancing Resources & Training) quality improvement series. The Distress Behavior Conversation (DBC) uses a team meeting structure and process. Informed by unmet need and relational coordination theories, it guides the whole team, inclusive of interdisciplinary team members and front-line staff with resident contact, through a collaborative problem-solving action-planning discussion. DBC uses facilitated round-robins to identify potential resident behavior causes and individualized solutions. DBC supports the team in maintaining whole person and whole team mindsets, thus challenging the narrower medical model of discipline-specific clinical mindsets and staff level hierarchies. Over two years we have co-created and refined DBC through trainings and team debriefings with over 80 CLCs. Care teams reported “aha” moments during DBCs their thinking shifted (“we are now looking at the REAL why”; “we went from asking, how did he fall? to, why did he fall?; “tended to try to treat falls in a standardized way, [but] when you focus on a specific person you get to focus on HIS needs”; “personal information about the Veteran is the 5th vital sign!”). Teams additionally reported reduced strain and improved collaborative thinking (“I feel better about what I’m doing...more motivated to keep going!; “Now I see it is a team approach – don’t have to do it by myself.”).