Assessment for Learning and Feedback in Chemistry: A Case for Employing Information and Communication Technology Tools

Assessment is essential in the learning and teaching process. In chemistry teaching, deployment of assessment to ascertain the levels of assimilation and understanding of concepts being taught in the class is considered central in the learning process. Through the assessment for learning, teachers check students’ understanding and get valuable feedback data on students’ learning. This data is used to modify and improve instruction. Educational world order has drastically changed due to the emergency of COVID-19 that influenced the modes of educational delivery at such a time like this. The only option to deliver learning and assessment processes is the deployment of technology to be able to meet the demands of pandemic and its associational protocols. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) affects every facet of life including education. This paper, therefore, examined the nature of assessment of chemistry learning and the ICT tools that are required to drive the assessment procedures. In addition, it discussed the ICT feedback mechanisms in assessing the learning process in chemistry. Consequently, the paper suggested that relevant ICT tools should be used by chemistry teachers to monitor students’ academic progress and foster ICT-driven effective feedback for assessment of chemistry learning. As a result, ICT should be deployed to assist chemistry teachers in carrying out assessment for learning to diagnose learners’ understanding and difficulties during the process of instruction.

Paint A Portrait: Lived Experience of Parents in the Implementation of Modular Distance Learning

This study determined the issues and challenges encountered by the parents who facilitated learning at home. This research was a Qualitative-Phenomenological study that utilized the Narrative Form using the responses of the parent-participants in the Key Informant Interview conducted by the researcher. Creswell Method applied in qualitative analysis of these reactions to explore the lived experience of parents who served as Learning Facilitators in Modular Distance Learning. From the responses of the participants in the Key Informant Interview conducted, the researcher was able to extract the following themes that describe their overall ability in painting the portrait of their children: FB: Keeping You Informed, Education Must Continue, Education Cannot Wait, MDL Finds a Way, Painting a Portrait as Consecrated Responsibility, Race Against Time, and Time Works Wonders. The researcher was able to draw out issues with implications of the findings on the lived experiences of the parents in painting the portrait of their children as not just a simple task. Their ability to paint the picture and helping their children with their studies were perceived as challenging but added colors in making their future even more meaningful. Keywords: Paint a Portrait, Modular Distance Learning, Learning Facilitator

Rating of Physics Laboratory Resources Management in Tertiary Institutions: Implications for Teaching and Learning STEM Subjects

Physics, a major branch of science requires adequate implementation of its theoretical and practical components. The critical role played by the use of laboratory in realising this goal cannot be overemphasized hence, the need for proper management of laboratory resources. This study investigated the rating of physics laboratory resources management in tertiary institution and its implications for STEM subjects using student’s voice. The investigation adopted a descriptive-survey research design which comprised 596 students taking physics-related courses in six tertiary institutions in Ondo State. A questionnaire with 19 item statements was designed titled ‘Questionnaire on Physics Laboratory Resources Management’ (QPLRM) and used to collect data for this study. The data collected were analysed using mean scores and ranking. Inadequate funding to carry out managerial plans and lackadaisical attitude on the part of lecturers were rated highest to have hindered the proper management of physics laboratory resources for improving STEM subjects. The study concludes that adequate funding and improved positive attitude on the part of lecturers and support staff are important to guarantee proper teaching of STEM subjects. The study recommends that government through its agencies should provide more funds for the adequate implementation of STEM subjects.

Perception on the Adoption of WhatsApp for Learning amongst University Students’

This paper “perception on the adoption of WhatsApp for learning amongst two hundred level curriculum and instruction I students of Sokoto State University, Nigeria” was guided by three objectives, three research questions. The researcher used descriptive survey research design in the study. The researcher used qualitative method with the use of individual interview for data collection. Random sampling technique was employed to select the sample. The entire sample that was chosen is 10. The instruments used for data collection was data-blank. Coding system was applied to gather and interpreted data. The results indicated that majority of students used WhatsApp for learning, poster that WhatsApp is very easy to operate for learning and also shows that the attitude of students towards the use of WhatsApp for learning is positive. The research manifested that WhatsApp may be accepted as instructional tool in teaching and learning. Keywords: WhatsApp; Learning; Social media; E-learning.

Learning of uncertainty in an introductory astronomy course in remote asynchronous delivery during Covid-19 lockdown

The teaching of an introductory astronomy course in remote delivery during Covid-19 lockdown encountered a unique issue in terms of a mixture of three student groups. They are the science majors, science-interested students, and non-science majors to satisfy science requirement in our Two-year community college located in New York City. The learning of how to assess uncertainty would be of a universal concern in the three groups. Uncertainty examples includes shoe size selection experience in daily life for non-science majors, distance measurement uncertainty for science-interested students who are parents, and simulation uncertainty for science majors. Reciting or memorizing a narrative in remote learning should be supplemented with a discussion using an alternative perspective with intellectual maturity, and the uncertainty theme would fit well for the learning of any chapters in an astronomy textbook. Assessment exercise questions are developed. The strategy to discourage rote learning and plagiarism in the remote asynchronous delivery of introductory astronomy at the college level is discussed.

Students’ Teaching Competency Preparedness in Attending Field Experience Practice

This research focuses on the readiness and the lack of students’ competence as pre-service teacher in dealing with field experience practice (PPL). The research was carried out using a mix method. Researchers develop research designs using qualitative method first, and then explain the findings obtained more comprehensively using qualitative method. The results of quantitative research were obtained through questionnaires, while qualitative data were obtained through interviews and literature studies. The results of the study show that the low competence of students is in three domains, that are 1) mastery of making learning tools, 2) determining learning strategies and models, and 3)mastering materials.

Students’ Perception of Online Learning During Covid-19: An Evidence from University of Muhammadiyah Banda Aceh, Indonesia

The pandemic of Coronavirus has influenced all levels of education in the whole world. This impact forces the Ministry of Education to switch from traditional education to online education. As a result, educators must run this policy to teach the classroom and students must adapt to this situation. This research aimed to find out students’ perception of online learning during the Coronavirus pandemic. This research employed the qualitative design and used the survey method to distribute the questionnaires. The object of this research was twenty-seven students of the English Department, University of Muhammadiyah Aceh. The obtained data was analyzed through descriptive analysis to see how online class is perceived by students during the pandemic. The result of this research shows that the students share the positive perceptions toward online learning during the Coronavirus pandemic. The finding also displays the hesitation of students in deciding the problem faced in having the online class.

The Comparison of Students’ Perceived Levels of Self-Efficacy in Live, Online and Live Online Courses

Education during COVID-19 pandemic has been greatly disrupted. While live courses where students meet face-to-face in classrooms are physically limited, online courses become more popular where students learn from pre-recorded videos at their own pace. In contrast, live online courses are learning modes where students and teachers meet via webinar tools such as zoom, skype, google meet, webex, teams, to name a few. This study compared students’ perceived levels of self-efficacy in these three different settings. Self-efficacy is defined as belief in one’s own ability to accomplish a task, which can be influenced by mastery experiences, verbal persuasion, vicarious experiences, and physiological states. An online questionnaire with 12 closed-ended statements based on a 5-Likert scale was developed, representing the four factors in the three modes of learning. A total of 105 voluntary responses were received. Statistical differences in the mean scores were determined by a paired sample t-test. The results at the significance level of 95% showed that the mean score of mastery experiences was the greatest in live courses (4.5), followed by live online (4.4) and online courses (3.3). The same was observed in vicarious experiences where live courses gained the greatest mean (4.5), followed by live online (4.3) and online courses (1.7). The means of verbal persuasion between live (4.5) and live online courses (4.3) did not differ significantly, but the lowest was in online courses (1.6). Interestingly, the reverse trend was found in psychological states in which the greatest was found in online (4.7), followed by live online (4.5) and live courses (3.6). The analysis above was based upon students who had no technical difficulties to access live online courses. However, this may not be applicable to contexts where internet connect is problematic. For educational implications, the findings revealed that live online courses are proven to be the most appropriate mode of learning during the pandemic. In contrast, online courses are associated with lower levels of mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, and verbal persuasion perceived by learners; whereas live courses lowered psychological states.

Amygdala Changes Through Breathing Exercise in Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brings many psychological and physical changes. In coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, breathing exercise meditation is useful to calm the mind and body. Breathing exercise practice can change the brain, especially amygdala. This paper aims to give insight about amygdala changes through breathing exercise meditation in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This paper is a literature review. Literature was identified from the archives from PubMed, Scopus, and Elsevier. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed paper. Keywords were amygdala, breathing, COVID-19, meditation, mindfulness. Results: Breathing exercise meditation and mindfulness practice can increase our awareness and reflections. In the long term, there will be changes in brain structure such as the amygdala. Conclusion: This paper is useful for psychology health knowledge. Patients, individuals, psychologists, physiotherapists, and psychiatrists can apply breathing exercise meditation and mindfulness methods for relaxing to prevent bad brain changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

STEM Students' Engagement in Horizontal Transfer from Calculus to Physics and their Difficulties

Majority of science students are facing different problems in applying their calculus knowledge to physics courses. Researchers started to develop an integrated approach to address this problem however, many schools are still teaching calculus and physics as two separate subjects. Moreover, there has been no significant research on senior high school students' transfer of learning and difficulties in calculus-based physics subjects. It is crucial because this is when the students first experience applying calculus in a physics context. Hence, the study investigated the engagement of senior high school STEM students to horizontal transfer from Basic Calculus to General Physics subjects and the difficulties they experience in solving calculus-based-physics problems. A correlational study research design was employed to explore the relationship between the students’ physics and calculus performance using a physics worksheet. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were also employed to determine the difficulties of the students in calculus-based-physics problems. The Pearson correlation revealed that there is a significant positive correlation between the students’ physics and calculus performance. Although this could not serve as strong evidence of transfer, this strong correlation implies that senior high school STEM students were able to construct the similarities between the calculus-based physics problems and their calculus schema. As revealed in the questionnaire and the students’ responses in the worksheet and interview, students have difficulty in solving calculus-based physics problems in terms of identifying the variable that needs to be integrated, setting-up the limits of integration, evaluating the limits of integral, and identifying the appropriate rules of integration and applying it in solving the physics problem. These difficulties are rooted in the fact that students have little experience applying calculus in word problems, especially in the physics context.