Effects of Embodied Learning and Digital Platform on the Retention of Physics Content: Centripetal Force

abstract: Embodiment theory proposes that knowledge is grounded in sensorimotor systems, and that learning can be facilitated to the extent that lessons can be mapped to these systems. This study with 109 college-age participants addresses two overarching questions: (a) how are immediate and delayed learning gains affected by the degree to which a lesson is embodied, and (b) how do the affordances of three different educational platforms affect immediate and delayed learning? Six 50 min-long lessons on centripetal force were created. The first factor was the degree of embodiment with two levels: (1) low and (2) high. The second factor was platform with three levels: (1) a large scale “mixed reality” immersive environment containing both digital and hands-on components called SMALLab, (2) an interactive whiteboard system, and (3) a mouse-driven desktop computer. Pre-tests, post-tests, and 1-week follow-up (retention or delayed learning gains) tests were administered resulting in a 2 × 3 × 3 design. Two knowledge subtests were analyzed, one that relied on more declarative knowledge and one that relied on more generative knowledge, e.g., hand-drawing vectors. Regardless of condition, participants made significant immediate learning gains from pre-test to post-test. There were no significant main effects or interactions due to platform or embodiment on immediate learning. However, from post-test to follow-up the level of embodiment interacted significantly with time, such that participants in the high embodiment conditions performed better on the subtest devoted to generative knowledge questions. We posit that better retention of certain types of knowledge can be seen over time when more embodiment is present during the encoding phase. This sort of retention may not appear on more traditional factual/declarative tests. Educational technology designers should consider using more sensorimotor feedback and gestural congruency when designing and opportunities for instructor professional development need to be provided as well.View the article as published at http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01819/ful

Dialogic Learning and Self-Explanation in Classrooms Implementing Worked Example Instruction with Interactive Whiteboard Technology

This purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between classroom discourse and interactive pedagogies when using the interactive whiteboard (IWB) for worked example instruction. Using an embedded single case study design (Yin, 2003), the researcher examined the effect of interactive pedagogies and the differences in whole class dialogue and student self-explanation about the worked example. The sources of data included two classroom observations of teacher directed instruction and one classroom observation of student directed instruction. Each worked example presentation used a different level of interactive pedagogy as defined by Glover, et al., 2006. These included the supported didactic, interactive, and enhanced interactive. Results of the content analysis indicated the students used more features and affordances of the IWB to facilitate conceptual development than the teacher. However, under both the teacher directed and student directed instructional methods, the IWB was used mainly for the display of the procedural steps. As a result, the IWB supported explanations that gave meaning to a set of quantitative expressions or imposed the purpose of an action rather than expand on conceptual conditions or inferences about the worked example. Teachers’ understanding of content, learning, and pedagogical practices for using the IWB is an essential element in their ability to present worked example instruction so that it facilitates student learning about the worked examples. Findings suggest implications for rethinking Activity Theory informed professional development and the need to explicitly task the teacher as a role model for students to engage with interactive display technologies for dialogic understanding

JuxtaLearn D3.2 Performance Framework

This deliverable, D3.2, for Work Package 3 incorporating the pedagogy from WP2 and orchestration factors mapped in D3.1 reviews aspects of performance in the context of participative video making. It reviews literature on curiosity and engagement characteristics of interaction mechanisms for public displays and anticipates requirements for social network analysis of relevant public videos from WP6 task 6.3. Thus, to support JuxtaLearn performance it proposes a reflective performance framework that encompasses the material environment and objects required, the participants, and the knowledge needed

The Smartpen as a Mediational Tool for Learning Language and Content Areas: The Case of English Learners in Mainstream Classrooms

The use of mobile devices for supporting the instruction of second language (L2) learners is an emerging and rapidly growing area of inquiry. Previous research on mobile assisted language learning (MALL) has concentrated on the development of isolated linguistic skills through a common set of mobile technologies, such as PDAs and iPods, with limited attention given to alternative mobile devices or situations of L2 learning that require the simultaneous learning of language and academic content (Wu, Jim Wu, Chen, Kao, Lin, & Huang, 2012; Viberg & Grönlund, 2012; 2013). In particular, little is understood about how English Learners (ELs) educated within mainstream classrooms choose to appropriate mobile technologies to meet their learning needs, with respect to both their development linguistically and across academic course disciplines. To inform this gap in research, this study used a quasi-ethnographic, instrumental case study design to explore how a group of middle school ELs used an understudied mobile device, the Echo Smartpen, to mediate their learning of language skills (e.g., speaking, reading, writing, listening, vocabulary) and of academic content areas (e.g., math, science, social studies). It also sought to examine how the Smartpen could assist ELs\u27 learning processes with respect to individual learner characteristics (e.g., affective, cognitive, metacognitive). To accomplish this purpose, multiple sources of data were collected from seven student participants, their English as a Second Language (ESL) specialist, and primary mainstream teacher. These sources consisted of technologically-mediated digital data, such as the students\u27 digitized notebooks, as well as traditional methods qualitative data collection, including individual and focus group interviews, and learning artifacts. The overall theoretical framework guiding the data analysis was Vygotskian sociocultural theory (SCT), complemented by grounded theory and the constant comparison coding method (Strauss & Corbin, 1990; 1998). Key principles for the analysis were the Vygotskian notions of mediated learning through physical and psychological tool use (Lantolf, 2000). Findings from this study provide insights about the process of mediated language and content learning with the Smartpen for ELs clustered around three major themes: 1) extended opportunities for language learning through self-constructed artifacts; (2) extended opportunities for content learning through co-constructed artifacts; and (3) extended learning self with the Smartpen. In addition to the main emergent themes, research findings incorporate the participant-based metaphorical concept of time travel as an important sub-thematic element in tracing ELs\u27 use of the Smartpen across temporal and educational contexts (e.g., school and home). Finally, this study concludes with a discussion of theoretical and pedagogical implications for the integration of mobile devices for ELs in mainstream settings, as well as with recommendations for future research deriving from this research

Meaningful Hand Gestures for Learning with Touch-based I.C.T.

The role of technology in educational contexts is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, with very few students and teachers able to engage in classroom learning activities without using some sort of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Touch-based computing devices in particular, such as tablets and smartphones, provide an intuitive interface where control and manipulation of content is possible using hand and finger gestures such as taps, swipes and pinches. Whilst these touch-based technologies are being increasingly adopted for classroom use, little is known about how the use of such gestures can support learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate how finger gestures used on a touch-based device could support learning

Mobile learning: benefits of augmented reality in geometry teaching

As a consequence of the technological advances and the widespread use of mobile devices to access information and communication in the last decades, mobile learning has become a spontaneous learning model, providing a more flexible and collaborative technology-based learning. Thus, mobile technologies can create new opportunities for enhancing the pupils’ learning experiences. This paper presents the development of a game to assist teaching and learning, aiming to help students acquire knowledge in the field of geometry. The game was intended to develop the following competences in primary school learners (8-10 years): a better visualization of geometric objects on a plane and in space; understanding of the properties of geometric solids; and familiarization with the vocabulary of geometry. Findings show that by using the game, students have improved around 35% the hits of correct responses to the classification and differentiation between edge, vertex and face in 3D solids.This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Design Star CDT (AH/L503770/1), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) projects LARSyS (UID/EEA/50009/2013) and CIAC-Research Centre for Arts and Communication.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How does the Type of Task Influence the Performance and Social Regulation of Collaborative Learning?

In this paper we analyze the effects of the type of collaborative task (elaboration of concept map vs elaboration of expository summary) on the performance and on the level of collaboration achieved by Mexican university students in the multimedia learning of a social sciences content (Communication Psychology). Likewise, the processes of social regulation that are put into play in these collaborative tasks are described. Forty-five students (17 women and 28 men) grouped in 15 triads participated in the study. Each triad was assigned to one of the two collaborative conditions: elaboration of concept map (8 groups) and elaboration of an expository summary (7 groups). It was monitored that there were no significant previous differences between two conditions regarding: reading comprehension, reading comprehension regulation strategies and domain-specific prior knowledge. To evaluate the performance in learning, the quality of the proposals made in concept maps and summaries were taken adapting the procedure proposed by Haugwitz, Nesbit and Sandmann (2010), and also the results obtained by the students in a multiple-choice questionnaire about the knowledge area. Likewise, the level of collaboration perceived by each member of the teams was examined using a Collaboration questionnaire developed by Chan and Chan (2011). The identification and characterization of the processes of social regulation was carried out through a qualitative analysis of the exchanges registered during the collaborative activity, considering the type (co-regulation and shared regulation) and the regulation orientation (directed to the task or to the management of collaboration). The quantitative results analysis showed the existence of significant effects working with collaborative concept maps in the knowledge acquired during the collaborative task and in some of the indicators of perceived collaboration. Although no significant statistical differences were found, in the teams that elaborated expository summaries, a predominance of episodes of regulation directed towards the cognitive activity of the collaborative task was observed, being scarce, in both conditions, the episodes of social regulation directed towards collaboration within the triadsThis work integrates a series of studies in progress on collaboration and digital technologies that were carried out within the framework of the research project called "Communicative innovation and management in organizations" of the Thematic Network of Academic Collaboration "Management, Culture and Communication in Organizations", which was supported by PRODEP-SEP (México) DSA/103.5/15/11048 (UASLP-CA-232), in which the first author participate

Students learning science: Representation construction in a digital environment

This thesis showed the viable digital delivery for a representation-focused approach for teaching science. This study has led to guidelines for a generative digital design and sequencing of representational tasks and resources. It has also illustrated students’ collaborative reasoning processes during a problem-solving task, reflective of an authentic scientific inquiry

Effects of immersion in inquiry-based learning on student teachers’ educational beliefs

Professional development on inquiry-based learning (IBL) generally draws heavily on the principle of providing instruction in line with what teachers are expected to do in their classroom. So far, however, relatively little is known about how this impacts teachers' educational beliefs, even though these beliefs ultimately determine their classroom behavior. The present study therefore investigates how immersion in inquiry-based learning affects student teachers' beliefs about knowledge goals, in addition to their self-efficacy for inquiry. In total, 302 student history teachers participated in a 4-h long inquiry activity designed within the WISE learning environment, and completed a pre- and posttest right before and after the intervention. Multilevel analyses suggest that the intervention had a significant positive effect on the value that student teachers attributed to procedural knowledge goals, or learning how historical knowledge is constructed, and on student teachers' self-efficacy for conducting inquiries. Despite these general positive results, however, the results also show that the impact of the intervention differed significantly across students. In particular, it appears that immersion in IBL had little effect on a subgroup of 25 student-teachers, who held largely content-oriented beliefs. Based on these findings, the present study discusses a number of implications for professional development on IBL