Implementation of Aptitude Treatment Interaction (ATI) in Nahwu Learning: Identification of Student Ability Characteristics

Aptitude Treatment Interaction (ATI) is used as a learning method that treats differences in student abilities; this is considered appropriate for Nahwu learning. The purpose of this study is to elaborate on Nahwu's learning activities using Aptitude Treatment Interaction (ATI) through the involvement of lecturers and students. This study uses a qualitative approach; the participants are non-Arabic speaking Nahwu students in Indonesia, totaling 40 students. Data collection techniques are using observation, structured interviews, and using questionnaires. The results showed that there were implications for the use of Aptitude Treatment Interaction (ATI) in learning motivation, as indicated by an increase in scores on the evaluation of students' Nahwu understanding abilities and perceptions that showed a good assessment of this method. The recommendation of this research is the preparation of teaching materials based on Aptitude Treatment Interaction (ATI) for Nahwu learning that can be done at universities in Indonesia

Gender Segregated Learning Environments An Analysis Of The Perceived Impact Of Single-sex Classrooms In South Carolina

Educating male and female students in separate learning environments has been a common practice since the early inception of educational programs. However, this practice was heavily debated in the 20th century for its perceived inequalities in the treatment of students based on their gender resulting in today\u27s coeducational classroom structure. Recently, interest in single-sex classrooms returned as an alternative for educating America\u27s youth. Political support for this educational approach was evident in modifications to the 2006, No Child Left Behind Act which in turn led to increased availability and popularity of this educational venue. Despite same-sex classrooms\u27 acceptance, research results on the effectiveness of single-sex classrooms have been mixed contributing to inconclusive findings that do little to support the use of public funds for such initiatives. The purpose of this research is the analysis of data to clarify the outcomes of single-sex classroom environments and their effects on students. South Carolina Department of Education survey results (2008) were examined using ANOVA analysis to identify differences in the group means between the male and female students and regression analysis was used to test the influence of the control (independent) variables on the dependent variables. The statistical analysis did not find significant differences in how the single-sex classrooms impact males and females in terms of academic achievement. However, motivation and self-esteem were found to have significant differences for male and female students in single-sex classrooms. Notably the analysis results iv indicated 4th, 5th, and 6th grade levels demonstrated the greatest disparities between the genders. Regression results highlighted the inability of the independent (control) variables of grade level, gender, or ethnicity in explaining the variation in any of the dependent variables, failing to confirm the model used in analysis. Likewise, grade level was generally found to have a greater impact than gender or ethnicity on the academic achievement, motivation and selfesteem dependent variables. It is recommended that additional research be conducted to further consider these variables and their effects on students utilizing a wider range of control (independent) variables

Interação didática em língua estrangeira: contributos de um estudo baseado na dimensão sócio-afetiva da aprendizagem colaborativa

Doutoramento em EducaçãoPretendeu-se com este projecto de investigação estudar a interação didática co-construída por alunos do ensino superior em moldes de aprendizagem colaborativa na aula de Inglês língua estrangeira, com enfoque na dimensão sócio-afetiva da aprendizagem. Na base do quadro teórico encontra-se o pressuposto de que o conhecimento é algo dinâmico e construído colaborativamente, e que é na interação didática que emergem os comportamentos verbais reveladores do Saber―Ser/Estar/Aprender dos sujeitos, nomeadamente através da coconstrução e negociação de sentidos. Subjacente portanto ao estudo está a convicção de que “o trabalho crítico sobre a interação permite entender os modos relacionais entre os sujeitos pedagógicos, as relações interpessoais que se estabelecem e articular o desenvolvimento linguístico-comunicativo com o desenvolvimento pessoal e social dos alunos” (Araújo e Sá & Andrade, 2002, p. 82). Esta investigação centra-se exclusivamente nos aprendentes, na sequência de indicações provenientes da revisão de literatura, as quais apontam para uma lacuna nas investigações efetuadas até à data, referente ao número insuficiente de estudos dedicado à interação didática interpares, já que a grande maioria dos estudos se dirige para a relação professor-aluno (cf. Baker & Clark, 2010; Hellermann, 2008; O'Donnell & King, 2014). Por outro lado, o estado da arte relativo às investigações focalizadas na interacção entre aprendentes permite concluir que a melhor forma de exponenciar esta interação será através da aprendizagem colaborativa (cf. Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000; Slavin, 2014; Smith, Sheppard, Johnson, & Johnson, 2005). Circunscrevemos o nosso estudo à dimensão sócio-afetiva das estratégias de aprendizagem que ocorrem nessas interações, já que a revisão da literatura fez evidenciar a correlação positiva da aprendizagem colaborativa com as dimensões social e afetiva da interação (cf. Byun et al., 2012): por um lado, a dinâmica de grupo numa aula de língua estrangeira contribui grandemente para uma perceção afetiva favorável do processo de aprendizagem, incrementando igualmente a quantidade e a qualidade da interação (cf. Felder & Brent, 2007); por outro lado, a existência, na aprendizagem colaborativa, dos fenómenos de correção dos pares e de negociação de sentidos estimula a emergência da dimensão sócio-afetiva da aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira (cf. Campbell & Kryszewska,1992; Hadfield, 1992; Macaro, 2005). É neste enquadramento teórico que se situam as nossas questões e objetivos de investigação. Em primeiro lugar procurámos saber como é que um grupo de aprendentes de Inglês língua estrangeira do ensino superior perceciona as estratégias de aprendizagem sócio-afetivas que utiliza em contexto de sala de aula, no âmbito da aprendizagem colaborativa e nãocolaborativa. Procurámos igualmente indagar quais as estratégias de aprendizagem sócio-afetivas passíveis de serem identificadas neste grupo de aprendentes, em situação de interação didática, em contexto de aprendizagem colaborativa. Finalmente, questionámo-nos sobre a relação entre a perceção que estes alunos possuem das estratégias de aprendizagem sócio-afetivas que empregam nas aulas de Inglês língua estrangeira e as estratégias sócio-afetivas identificadas em situação de interação didática, em contexto de aprendizagem colaborativa. No que respeita à componente empírica do nosso projecto, norteámo-nos pelo paradigma qualitativo, no contexto do qual efetuámos um estudo de caso, a partir de uma abordagem tendencialmente etnográfica, por tal nos parecer mais consentâneo, quer com a nossa problemática, quer com a natureza complexa dos processos interativos em sala de aula. A metodologia quantitativa está igualmente presente, pretendendo-se que tenha adicionado mais dimensionalidade à investigação, contribuindo para a triangulação dos resultados. A investigação, que se desenvolveu ao longo de 18 semanas, teve a sala de aula como local privilegiado para obter grande parte da informação. Os participantes do estudo de caso foram 24 alunos do primeiro ano de uma turma de Inglês Língua Estrangeira de um Instituto Politécnico, sendo a investigadora a docente da disciplina. A informação proveio primordialmente de um corpus de interações didáticas colaborativas audiogravadas e posteriormente transcritas, constituído por 8 sessões com uma duração aproximada de uma hora, e das respostas a um inquérito por questionário − construído a partir da taxonomia de Oxford (1990) − relativo à dimensão sócio-afetiva das estratégias de aprendizagem do Inglês língua estrangeira. O corpus gravado e transcrito foi analisado através da categorização por indicadores, com o objetivo de se detetarem as marcas sócio-afetivas das estratégias de aprendizagem mobilizadas pelos alunos. As respostas ao questionário foram tratadas quantitativamente numa primeira fase, e os resultados foram posteriormente triangulados com os provenientes da análise do corpus de interações. Este estudo permitiu: i) elencar as estratégias de aprendizagem que os aprendentes referem utilizar em situação de aprendizagem colaborativa e não colaborativa, ii) detetar quais destas estratégias são efetivamente utilizadas na aprendizagem colaborativa, iii) e concluir que existe, na maioria dos casos, um desfasamento entre o autoconceito do aluno relativamente ao seu perfil de aprendente de línguas estrangeiras, mais concretamente às dimensões afetiva e social das estratégias de aprendizagem que mobiliza, e a forma como este aprendente recorre a estas mesma estratégias na sala de aula. Concluímos igualmente que, em termos globais, existem diferenças, por vezes significativas, entre as representações que os sujeitos possuem da aprendizagem colaborativa e aquelas que detêm acerca da aprendizagem não colaborativa.The aim of this research project was to study classroom interaction in higher education, in a group of English as a foreign language learners, who were working in a collaborative learning setting, with a focus on social and affective learning strategies. Our theoretical framework was built on the assumption that knowledge is dynamic and built collaboratively, and that it is during classroom interaction, through co-construction and negotiation of meaning, that significant and revealing verbal behaviors emerge. Thus, we believe that "critical work about interaction allows us to understand the relational approaches between subjects as well as the interpersonal relationships established. It also enables us to connect the students’ linguistic and communicative development with their personal and social development" (Araújo e Sá & Andrade, 2002, p. 82). Since our literature review pointed to a gap in previous researches, related to the inadequate number of studies dedicated to peer interaction in the classroom, as the vast majority of studies focuses on the teacher-student relationship, our study is entirely focused on learners (see Baker & Clark, 2010; Hellermann, 2008; O'Donnell & King, 2014). Moreover, the state of the art of peer interaction research led us to conclude that the best way to foster this interaction was through collaborative learning (see Johnson, Johnson & Stanne, 2000; Slavin, 2014; Smith, Sheppard, Johnson & Johnson, 2005). We limited our study to the social and affective learning strategies that occur in these interactions, since the literature established a positive correlation between collaborative learning and the social and affective dimensions of interaction (cf. Byun et al., 2012): on the one hand, group dynamics in a foreign language class contributes greatly to a positive affective perception of the learning process, also increasing the quantity and quality of the existing interaction (see Felder & Brent, 2007); on the other hand, the existence, in collaborative learning, of peer correction phenomena enhances the socio-affective dimension in foreign language learning (cf. Campbell & Kryszewska, 1992; Hadfield, 1992; Macaro, 2005). It is within this theoretical framework that our research questions and objectives lie. First of all we sought to know how a group of Higher Education learners of English as a foreign language envisaged the socio-affective learning strategies used in the classroom within a collaborative and noncollaborative learning context. We also tried to find which socio-affective learning strategies could be identified in this group of learners, in a situation of collaborative learning classroom interaction. Finally, we tried to understand the relationship between the perception that these students had of the socio-affective learning strategies employed during classes and the socio-affective strategies identified in a classroom interaction situation in the context of collaborative learning. With regard to the empirical component of our project, we followed the qualitative paradigm, in the context of which we carried out a case study. Our approach was mainly ethnographic, for the reason that it was appropriate for our research questions and also due to the complex nature of the interactive classroom processes. The quantitative methodology is also present, providing more dimensionality to the research, by contributing to the triangulation of the results. This research, which was developed over 18 weeks, took place mainly within the classroom. The case study participants were 24 English as a foreign language students of the first year in a Polytechnic Institute, and the researcher was the lecturer. The information came primarily from a corpus of collaborative classroom interactions, which were audio recorded and later transcribed, consisting of 8 sessions with an approximate duration of one hour, and the answers to a questionnaire - built from Oxford’s (1990) Taxonomy - on the social and affective learning strategies used in the English as a foreign language classroom. The recorded and transcribed corpus was analyzed by means of category indicators, with the aim of detecting the socio-affective learning strategies employed by learners. Questionnaire responses were analyzed quantitatively in a first phase, and the results were then triangulated with those originating from the interaction corpus analysis. This study allowed us to: i) list the learning strategies learners use in collaborative and non-collaborative learning situations ii) detect which of these strategies are effectively used in the collaborative learning classroom iii) and conclude that there is, in most cases, a mismatch between the learners’ self-concept regarding their foreign language learner profile, particularly in what concerns the affective and social dimensions of the learning strategies used, and the way these learners employ these same strategies in the classroom. We were also able to determine that, by and large, there are significant differences between the representations that subjects have of collaborative learning in comparison with non-collaborative learning