Improving Remedial Middle School Standardized Test Scores

The purpose of this applied study was to solve the problem of low standardized test scores in a remedial class for a middle school in southern Virginia and to formulate a solution to address the problem. The central research question that data collection attempted to answer was: How can the problem of low standardized test scores in a remedial math class be solved in a middle school in southern Virginia? Data were collected in three ways. First, interviews of teachers and administrators of the remedial math class, called Math Lab, were conducted. These interviews were transcribed and coded, with the codes collected into themes and then displayed visually. Second, an online discussion board was conducted with current and former teachers of Math Lab, school administrators, and classroom math teachers. Third, surveys of teachers and administrators with knowledge of Math Lab and how it impacted students were completed. The quantitative surveys were analyzed by finding descriptive statistics of the data. After reviewing all data sources, a solution to address the problem was created that included designing a curriculum for Math Lab, requiring communication between Math Lab teachers and general classroom math teachers, and professional development of the Math Lab teacher about teaching remedial classes

The Relationship Between Motivation, Academic Achievement, and Engagement in Mathematics Using Digital Game-Based Learning: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has unique factors that can engage students in the learning process. It has been shown that incorporating DGBL into mathematics can help bridge the learning gap, differentiate instruction, and engage students (Yang et al., 2018; Hulse et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2012; Naik, 2017). This study examined how students’ prior engagements are related to their academic achievement as well as investigated students’ motivation while utilizing DGBL in mathematics. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was utilized to collect the quantitative data followed by the qualitative data. There were eighteen middle school participants in grades six through eight who all attended the same school within the Northeastern United States. The self-determination theory (SDT) served as the theoretical framework for examining the results. Data was collected through a pretest, posttest, an open-ended survey, and a closed-ended survey. The results of this study indicated that DGBL can improve academic achievement in mathematics. However, it was determined that students’ prior engagement was not related to their academic achievement. Additional research should be conducted on the motivational aspect of relatedness and DGBL since it was shown that there was a strong correlation between relatedness and the engagement themes of learning with peers and experiences with faculty

Proceedings of the CUNY Games Conference 6.0

The CUNY Games Network is an organization dedicated to encouraging research, scholarship and teaching in the developing field of games-based learning. We connect educators from every campus and discipline at CUNY and beyond who are interested in digital and non-digital games, simulations, and other forms of interactive teaching and inquiry-based learning. These proceedings summarize the CUNY Games Conference 6.0, where scholars shared research findings at a three-day event to promote and discuss game-based pedagogy in higher education. Presenters could share findings in oral presentations, posters, demos, or play testing sessions. The conference also included workshops on how to modify existing games for the classroom, how to incorporate elements of play into simulations and critical thinking activities, math games, and how to create computer games

Using Educational Applications on tablets to Support Science Learning Among First-Grade Saudi Primary School Children

Multi-touch tablets and educational apps provide young learners with opportunities to support science learning, rarely offered by traditional science teaching methods such as the chalk and talk method, which is heavily employed in Saudi schools. In many developed countries such as United States and Canada the use of tablets in classrooms has increased when compared with other mobile devices due to the educational advantages of tablets’ unique affordances (Fritschi & Wolf, 2012). To date, research conducted on using tablets as educational tools and the potential of educational apps, especially with reference to science learning among children, is insufficient. The aim of this research therefore, was to explore the role of educational apps on tablets’ potential to support science learning and engagement among first-grade Saudi children, as well as to investigate the challenges encountered in implementing mobile learning to support science education. To fulfil this aim, I designed and carried out an interpretative study in a first-grade class in a private school in Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I employed a qualitative approach to obtain deep and extensive understanding of mobile learning. I adopted social-constructivist theory to underpin my study. To collect data, I utilized semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. The current study involved 17 female students between 6 and 7 years old. The data was examined by inductive thematic analysis. The findings indicated that these young learners’ experiences of learning using educational and gamified apps was both personally enjoyable and meaningful. It highly engaged them emotionally and cognitively. Furthermore, social interactions between peers regarding apps’ contents and activities scaffolded their science learning and constructed their personal understanding. Also, these findings suggest that animations and multimodal apps provided children with unique learning experiences regarding abstract scientific concepts and assisted them in gaining new knowledge. Mobile apps afforded the children scaffolds and challenges in proper balance, which maintained their motivation, helped them solve problems, and promoted persistence and risk-taking. The findings of this thesis will provide science teachers, policymakers, researchers, and app developers with an understanding of the potential impact of tablets’ affordances and apps’ educational advantages in supporting and facilitating science learning and their roles in encouraging engagement and scaffolding. Which might encourage science teachers to change the traditional methods that they use in teaching science and employ mobile learning and other modern methods

Using Gamification to Design and Develop an E learning Environment to Prepare Students for Reflective Writing

This thesis explores the impacts of a gamified e‑learning environment on undergraduate engineering students’ reflective skills and engagement in reflective writing. Reflective skills are essential because they are crucial to Experience-based learning activities provided to students in their courses. However, preparing students to reflect faces many challenges. Educators may be reluctant to prepare students to reflect because of the time required to do so and the complexity of reflective learning practices. At the same time, many students believe that reflection is daunting or not important. This thesis presents the design and development of a practical solution for preparing students to reflect by using a gamification approach to design an e‑learning environment suitable for teaching students reflective writing. Gamification may be a suitable means for teaching reflection because it provides educators/designers with various elements and strategies suitable to facilitate reflection and develop engaging learning experiences. Also, many studies have shown promising positive results of using gamification in education. A design-based research methodology involving quantitative and qualitative studies using undergraduate engineering students in Australia was adopted. The methodology consisted of three main stages used to collect data and reflect on the e‑learning implementation. These stages were 1) Analysis and Exploration, 2) Design and Construction, 3) Evaluation and Reflection. In the Design and Construction stage, two iterative cycles of design – reflect – redesign were carried out; in each cycle, students tested the module and were then interviewed or surveyed to gain insights into their perspectives and suggestions to enhance the module. In the evaluation stage, the reflective skills module demonstrated its ability to significantly enhance students’ reflective writing, and it also was positively valued by students and they were satisfied with their learning experience

Technology-supported personalised learning: Rapid Evidence Review

This Rapid Evidence Review (RER) provides an overview of existing research on the use of technology to support personalised learning in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The RER has been produced in response to the widespread global shutdown of schools resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19. It therefore emphasises transferable insights that may be applicable to educational responses resulting from the limitations caused by COVID-19. In the current context, lessons learnt from the use of technology-supported personalised learning — in which technology enables or supports learning based upon particular characteristics of relevance or importance to learners — are particularly salient given this has the potential to adapt to learners’ needs by ‘teaching at the right level’