The Impact of PowerPoint on Undergraduates’ Technical Communication Achievement

AbstractPowerPoint, one of the most well known ICT tools, plays a vital role in our society nowadays as it has been utilized widely and actively in facilitating the process of teaching and learning, especially in the educational domain. The study examined the effect of PowerPoint lecturing on undergraduates’ Technical Communication final examination grade. The experimental group was taught in a PowerPoint lecture format while the control group in a traditional whiteboard lecture format. The results revealed that the experimental group grades were significantly higher than the control group at p = 0.00

Assessing a Collaborative Online Environment for Music Composition

The current pilot study tested the effectiveness of an e-learning environment built to enable students to compose music collaboratively. The participants interacted online by using synchronous and asynchronous resources to develop a project in which they composed a new music piece in collaboration. After the learning sessions, individual semi-structured interviews with the participants were conducted to analyze the participants\u2019 perspectives regarding the e-learning environment\u2019s functionality, the resources of the e-learning platform, and their overall experience with the e-learning process. Qualitative analyses of forum discussions with respect to metacognitive dimensions, and semi-structured interview transcriptions were performed. The findings showed that the participants successfully completed the composition task in the virtual environment, and that they demonstrated the use of metacognitive processes. Moreover, four themes were apparent in the semi-structured interview transcriptions: Teamwork, the platform, face-to-face/online differences, and strengths/weaknesses. Overall, the participants exhibited an awareness of the potential of the online tools, and the task performed. The results are discussed in consideration of metacognitive processes, and the following aspects that rendered virtual activity effective for learning: The learning environment, the platform, the technological resources, the level of challenge, and the nature of the activity. The possible implications of the findings for research on online collaborative composition are also considered

Uso das TIC na educação superior a distância = Use of TIC in higher education at distance = Uso de las TIC en la educación superior a distancia

Este artigo aborda como tem acontecido o uso das tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TIC) na educação superior a distância em estudo no período de 2012 a 2016. A metodologia aplicada foi a revisão sistemática com coleta de dados via Portal da CAPES em diferentes bases de dados. Posteriormente, os resultados foram tratados com auxílio do software StArt3 e analisados, sintetizados e organizados por adjacências de ideias. Da análise conclui-se que a integração das TIC na educação superior a distância está acontecendo de forma e ritmo diferente nas instituições. Os estudos reforçam a necessidade da melhoria do desempenho acadêmico com o uso das TIC, aponta para o desenvolvimento das competências integrais dos professores, estudantes e equipe acadêmico-administrativas, bem como, a necessidade de novos estudos voltados às complexidades da aplicação das TIC na educação superior a distânci

Self-regulation in pre-service teacher training

The meaning of the term self-regulated learning (SRL) could be summed up with the phrase "learn how to learn". It’s a dynamic and creative procedure, according to which learners set goals of their own, while trying to direct, regulate and monitor ways of achieving those. At the same time, the contribution of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), especially in recent years, is quite important in the field of adult education. This study focuses on applying SRL methods on adult educators-to-be with the assistance of modern ICT. The process takes place in a blended learning environment, where traditional education techniques meet distance education, and spans across two semesters of getting acquainted with a variety of ICT tools and platforms (Microsoft PowerPoint, Windows Movie Maker, Google Sites, Concept Maps, Webquest). With that in mind, we’ll investigate the parameters that affect self- regulation and the strategies each future educator develops while going through the already established learning process. For the purposes of our study, we conducted a research by putting together and handing out to our target group a digital questionnaire. The analysis of the survey’s outcome brings to light several positive remarks. Apparently, all involved ICT tools contribute, some in greater and some in lesser length, towards regulating the learning process of the educators-to-be, improving eventually their self-efficacy

Native vs. non-native English speaking teachers: an analysis of business schools in the tertiary education sector

The study examines how Business Schools at universities in Korea can motivate Korean, English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in business courses under the policy of English-medium instruction (EMI). This research focuses on the role of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) and native English speaking teachers (NESTs) in an EFL environment. To conduct the experiment, EFL learners' motivation changes and qualitative interviews are collected; the NNEST class (n = 19), and NEST class (n = 18). The results of the motivation survey showed that at the beginning of the semester, the NNEST class learners displayed a lower level of confidence and intrinsic motivation than that of NEST class learners. However, by the end of the semester, while the intrinsic motivation levels remained the same, the NNEST class showed a higher level of confidence, interest, and extrinsic motivation than that of NEST class. Qualitative interviews were also done after the semester ended. The results of the interviews showed that motivation changes had no direct effect on classroom satisfaction in EFL contexts as learners understood the differences between NNESTs and NESTs, and their expectations in class of these two teachers were clearly different. Based on the findings, the paper also provides some policy advice to universities so as to help increase Korean EFL learners' motivation and class satisfaction under the English-medium instruction policy

Situaciones académicas que provocan mayor estrés en el estudiante universitario de grado

Memoria ID-033. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2013-2014

The use of social networks within the European Higher Education Area

Este trabajo recoge la experiencia de tres profesores noveles y una profesora mentora tras su participación en el proyecto “Formación del Profesorado Novel”, organizado por el Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación (ICE) de la Universidad de Sevilla durante el curso académico 2011-2012. La incorporación de las redes sociales a la metodología docente universitaria, así como un uso intensivo de la plataforma virtual WebCT, se propusieron como dos de las actividades a desarrollar. El objetivo del artículo es analizar si se produce una mejora en la participación activa y los resultados académicos del alumnado al incorporar tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TICs) como base de las metodologías docentes. Para ello, se ha realizado un experimento de campo utilizando los resultados de tres asignaturas diferentes durante el curso académico 2011-2012: Introducción a las Finanzas, de primer curso, y Mercados Financieros Derivados, de tercer curso, ambas del grado en Finanzas y Contabilidad, y Dirección Financiera, de cuarto curso de la Licenciatura en Administración y Dirección de Empresas. Con este análisis buscamos: (a) contribuir a un mejor conocimiento a la hora de aplicar nuevas tecnologías como metodología docente; y (b) comprobar en qué medida una participación activa del alumno puede pronosticar una buena nota en el examen. Tras la aplicación de estadística descriptiva y análisis de regresión logística (logit), nuestros resultados muestran que aquellos alumnos con una participación más activa en el seguimiento de la asignatura mejoran significativamente su rendimiento académico.This paper describes the experience of three novice lecturers and a mentor lecturer, after their participation in the project "Beginner Teacher Training" organized by the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) at the University of Seville during the academic year 2011-2012. The incorporation of social networks to the university teaching methodology and an intensive use of the WebCT virtual platform were proposed as two of the activities to be developed. Our objective in this article is to determine if there is an improvement in the student results when new technologies that require active student participation are incorporated as the basis of the teaching methodology. To this end, a field experiment is carried out by using the results of three different subjects for the academic course 2011-2012: Introduction to Finance (first year), Derivatives Financial Markets (third year), both belong to the degree in Finance and Accounting, and Corporate Finance (fourth year) of the degree in Business Administration and Management. With this analysis we aim to: (a) contribute to a better understanding when implementing new technologies into the teaching methodology, and (b) verify to what extent a student's active participation can predict a good mark in the exam. By using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis, the results show a marked improvement in the academic performance of those students whose participation is more active in the pursuit of the subject