Class Representatives and Students’ Behaviour: An Overview at the Post-Covid-19 Pandemic in the Perspective of the Community of Practice

Engagement of students and the learning process in the classroom has become one of the significant challenges that higher education (HE) institutions face in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, with classes running in the virtual environment. One of the approaches that can be used to understand student behaviours and their social interactions is the community of practice (CoPs) as a construct that can be strategic to connect classes representatives, college's objectives and the student's behaviour. The class representatives can play a diverse role, from helping the tutors motivate the students on their learning process to acting as a central and essential communication channel between the students and the academic coordinators. Yet, little is known about the role of these students as a strategy to tackle such problems increased with online classes. This study investigates the impact of class representatives on students' behaviour in the sense of their engagement and learning in virtual classes context post the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a conceptual paper to bridge the mentioned theories, link work across disciplines, provide multi-level insights, and broaden the scope of thinking. The theoretical findings show that class representatives can play a relevant role by increasing engagement and facilitating the students' learning. The results can help HE institutions to develop policies and practices to be more competitive and move forward. This study advances the emergent research efforts to respond to the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thorns amongst Roses? Lived Experience of Philippine Male College Students Aspiring to Become Professional Elementary Teachers

There is a noticeable under-representation of the male gender particularly in the field of elementary teacher education. The main aim of this paper is to understand the lived experience of male college students aspiring to become professional elementary teachers. As phenomenological research, it involved six purposively selected male students enrolled in a predominantly female elementary teacher education program in a Philippine university. The data were gathered through online interviews and analyzed based on a phenomenological analysis framework. The following themes emerged: 1.) We hear discouraging stereotypes about teaching; 2.) We are passionate about educating the young ones; 3.) We feel that awkward moment in a room of females; and 4.) We have an inclusive learning environment. These themes are based on the individual textural and structural descriptions and form the basis for the composite textural and structural descriptions of the phenomenon of interest. This paper confirms the experiences encountered by males in the formal teaching career stage as relative to experiences received by males in the early stage of the teacher preparation. It also identifies factors that encourage males to enter elementary teacher education as a field of study, providing practical insights for designing a more inclusive program.

The Challenges of Effective Teaching and Learning of English in Public Secondary Schools in Nigeria

The strategic place of English language in national development and mutual co-existence of Nigerians is not debatable. English has become a foreign national language to which the destiny of Nigeria is inextricably tied. The teaching of English at all levels of education in Nigeria is bedeviled with certain debilitating challenges. This paper examines some of the challenges of teaching and learning English in public secondary schools in Nigeria. It identifies such problems as poor quality of pupils admitted to secondary school, incompetent teachers of English, poor methodology and lack of motivation among others. The paper concludes that effective teaching of English language is a sine qua non for meaningful development in Nigeria and emphasizes the need for collective efforts in this direction. It recommends better training and retraining of teachers through continuing professional development practices and better commitment on the part of the government to the course of English studies in schools in Nigeria.

Barriers and Enablers of Emergency Remote Education amid COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives of English Language Teachers

The aim of this paper is to describe the barriers and enablers in emergency remote education from the views of language teachers amid COVID-19 pandemic. It involved eleven purposively sampled high school English language teachers in the Philippines during the school year 2021-2022. The qualitative data were processed using thematic analysis technique. The results revealed two superordinate themes: 1.) barriers of emergency remote English language education and 2.) enablers of emergency remote English language education. Under the first superordinate theme, barriers of remote emergency education, three subordinate themes emerged: 1.1.) problems in internet connection and materials; 1.2.) unfamiliarity with remote instructional design; and 1.3.) lack of skills in using remote technologies. Furthermore, under the second superordinate theme, enablers of remote emergency education, three subordinate themes were revealed: 2.1.) self-learning in using technology; 2.2.) instructional accommodations; and 2.3.) school and community support. These study outcomes provide practical insights that shape emergency remote education amid the current novel crisis. The barriers should be addressed, and the enablers should be cultivated, so that a successful remote English language education can be attained.

Quantitative Analysis of Eye Movements during Singing of Early Childhood Children

Early childhood children tend to make musical expressions watching other children or the teacher’s piano accompaniment. However, it has not been inspected yet how eye movement is affected by music. To provide the optimized procedure to capture eye movement’s characteristics reflecting music, the statistical technique was used to evaluate effective parameters. In this study, eye trackers (Tobii Glasses 2) were used to acquire data of eye movements during musical expression of early childhood children and to conduct quantitative analysis. 3-year-old, 4-year-old, and 5- year-old children in two early childhood facilities (n=58) participated in eye-tracking while singing multiple songs of major and minor. This paper focuses on saccade (rapid eye movement) and gaze behaviors of early childhood children and mainly conducts, a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the acquired data (age * facility*tonality). As a result, it was found that the number of occurrences of saccade and the total moving distances of saccade showed a statistical significance between means regarding differences in the tonality of major/minor key of songs, and childcare forms.

Improving Female Students’ Academic Achievements: Special Evidence from 2nd Year Management Department Students of Bonga University, Ethiopia

Action Research is a formative study of progress commonly practiced by teachers in schools. It enables a teacher to craft most appropriate strategy within its own teaching environment. Action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science simultaneously. This paper is aims to improve the academic performance of female students with special evidence from 2nd year management department of Bonga University. further, factors affecting the academic achievement of female students were examined. Finally, the role of teachers in improving female student academic performance were investigated. In doing so, the researcher adopted interview, focused group discussion and observations as data collection instruments. In addition, the researcher, prepared schedule composed of Proposed plan, action and evaluation for achieving the goals of this project. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and Paired sample T- test. The finding of this Action research project revealed that; Lack of proper Tutorial class has significant effects on female students’ achievement with average mean of 3.55, followed by lack of pear learning with mean score of 3.40. further, the overall Average Score of female students Before intervention was 3.98. but, After the researcher and course instructor made intervention which described in methodology parts the overall Average Score of female students has increased to 6.65. The researcher recommends the female students to give due consideration for their education and to read cooperatively with their colleagues. Further, Teachers should encourage female students through providing enough and timely tutorials. Finally, Bonga university shall establish female students club that actively serves all female students of the university through preparing training and conferences on which they exchange experiences with each other if possible with other universities female students.

Academic Qualification and Teachers’ Job Satisfaction in Secondary Schools in Nakuru County-Kenya

Teacher job satisfaction is one of the critical determinants of the rate of progress in students learning outcomes. The teaching profession in Kenya has in the recent past experienced industrial disharmony by way of teachers’ strikes, which could be a pointer to dissatisfaction among teachers. Teacher dissatisfaction is typically rooted in failure by entities responsible for teacher management to meet teachers’ needs. Research-based evidence demonstrates that employees have different needs and that these needs are influenced by factors such as employee’s level of training or education for that matter. Drawing on these observations, the study sought to determine whether an academic qualification has any bearing on teachers’ job satisfaction in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. Data was collected using a self-delivered questionnaire from 341 teachers who were randomly selected from 3,092 teachers in the study locale. The instrument’s validity and reliability as estimated through split-half and Cronbach’s alpha stood at r=.945 and r=.905 respectively. Collected data was analyzed using ANOVA statistic at .05 alpha level. A major finding of the study was that teacher satisfaction decreased with an increase in the level of academic qualification. Qualification–differentiated satisfaction was also statistically significant (p<.05). The study offers useful insights to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and school managers on how to enhance teachers’ job satisfaction by way of addressing the needs of teachers in different levels of academic qualification.

The Kids are Alright: Middle-Level Students’ Perceptions of School during COVID-19

This research sought to determine middle school students’ perceptions of the academic year they experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in a district in South Carolina. The students were surveyed three times throughout the year (beginning, midyear, and end of year), and their responses were disaggregated by the instructional model choice (face-to- face, in-person instruction, and online, virtual instruction via webcam technology). Families of students in this district were offered a choice of these two instructional models throughout the year, and the reasons for their family’s choice were surveyed. Students who were face-to-face for the entire year were more likely to perceive their school year as a positive experience than their online peers, but both groups identified that despite the circumstances, they mostly felt positive about the year, except in the case of being able to make friends, in which face-to-face students’ responses were significantly more positive. Also, students reported spending time during the previous school year’s shutdown (March 2020 to the end of the school year in June) completing many different academics and social tasks in which they were able to develop skills and direct their free time. The results of this research suggest that consistent with previous research suggesting that offering a few options results in people feeling satisfied, this research suggests that in the future, when faced with difficult choices at the district level on how to handle student experiences in unprecedented circumstances, offering choice to the students and families may benefit the outcomes of those students and the district overall.

Building a Scale to Measure the Psychological Effects of the COVID -19 Coronavirus on Omani University Students

The world was surprised by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic started in China and rapidly spread in the world. This pandemic impacted different aspects of life such as the economy, health, and social life. The study aimed to build a tool to measure the psychological effects of the corona COVID-19 pandemic on Omani university students. The sample of the scale consisted of (566) students from different Omani universities. The researcher used an electronic method to distribute the questionnaire, which was Google Drive. Fifty-nine factors were used in its initial form to measure the psychological effects of the pandemic on Omani university students. The results showed that the tool is an appropriate indication of validity and reality. They revealed the results of factor validity and face validity on a scale consisting of (45) items divided into five areas: thinking about the future, pressures resulting from the requirements of the study, restrictions of movement and communication, and concern about the disease. The study recommended that student councilors and people in charge of Omani universities can use this measure to overcome the psychological effects of the pandemic on students and conduct other studies to verify the applicability to other samples.

Examining Piano Playing Proficiency among Selected Music Students in a Ghanaian Public University

Piano instruction—composition, arrangement and tutoring has been a pivotal part of music education. Several countries across the globe have encapsulated it into curriculums and syllabi. Its benefits span several genres of music. It has been part of music education at the tertiary level in Ghana but has not received enough attention and is also faced with several challenges. The study sought to examine the piano playing proficiency among tertiary students within the Ghanaian context and the various factors responsible for the challenges faced and propose contextual interventions to address the issue. The study made use of the qualitative methodology. The instruments used for data collection were semi-structured interviews and participant observations. It was evident that piano playing among tertiary students needs rapt attention in terms of tutorials, well-equipped studio space and competent personnel to handle the tutelage. It is recommended that stakeholders shift the focal lens to piano playing proficiency in music education students as one of the requirements for graduation.