Feedback in the Flipped High School STEM Classroom

This study examined how much feedback students received in the flipped high school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classroom. The flipped classroom is a pedagogical technique where students watch video instruction at home and complete collaborative activities in class. This technique has gained popularity in recent years, especially in STEM classrooms. The literature on the flipped classroom is inconclusive, with studies mainly conducted in higher education. Student and instructor perceptions were often studied, and those perceptions are generally positive about the flipped classroom, though there are concerns to consider. Student performance shows that the flipped classroom is at least not detrimental and may increase performance. Many studies mention that the flipped classroom increases interactions in the classroom, but most studies have not measured these interactions. This instructional model seems like a worthwhile approach to continue studying, especially in the high school classroom where less research has been conducted. This study counted and timed feedback interactions in the flipped and traditional classroom. Student and teacher perceptions were also studied, with a focus on perceptions about feedback. While the quantitative results were inconclusive, the flipped classroom has potential to increase student-student feedback, but teacher-student feedback seems to have more to do with the tasks and/or method of instruction in class. Students seemed to prefer the teacher-student interactions in the traditional classroom, but recognized that student-student interactions were improved in the flipped classroom. Future study is needed to determine what types of tasks and instruction affect feedback in the classroom

Expanding the scholarship of teaching and learning::multimodality and semiotics of teaching-learning interactions in an undergraduate Accounting programme

This conceptual and methodological study investigated the dynamics of teaching-learning interactions to contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning holistically. It is situated in a higher education classroom environment for Accounting undergraduate students at a UK university. The purpose of the study was to provide practical information for tutors’ reflections in developing their approaches to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) for future development of signature pedagogy in a challenge to its status quo. Acknowledging the multimodal nature of communication within the structural-agentic processes in teaching-learning interactions, the study combined selected perspectives from Symbolic Interactionism, Edusemiotics, and Multimodality to provide a communication “turn” for SoTL in recognition of a conceptual and methodological gap. A novel multimodal and edusemiotic analytical tool, Inquiry Graphics, was used for the first time in an Accounting study to analyse the fine level detail of video recordings of classroom teaching-learning interactions. This provides a rich landscape of insights for tutors’ understanding of the multimodal nature of communication, involving human and non-human objects, in developing their pedagogical practices. Data were also obtained from staff and student interviews and surveys about their interactions. Key themes emerged from the analysis regarding identity interactions, nonverbal mediations, and the form of teaching-learning engagements observed. Particular insights for tutor reflection on pedagogical practices were identified around physical infrastructures in classrooms, dialogic interactions and nonverbal communication that can take a future development within the field of socio-materiality of teaching-learning. The study further commented on the implications of using the IG analytical approach for studying teaching-learning interactions in situ and via video analysis. The thesis makes a contribution to knowledge by expanding the SoTL approach with the perspectives of multimodal, symbolic and edusemiotic teaching-learning interactions. It can inform scholars and practitioners interested in the above mentioned concepts, method and analysis

A comparison of public and private positive peer reporting in general education classrooms

Positive peer reporting (PPR) and Tootling have shown to be effective classwide interventions in decreasing maladaptive behavior and increasing positive interactions. In the current study, PPR was implemented as a classwide intervention by using an interdependent group contingency to determine if two variations of student praise reports affect classroom disruptive behavior. PPR uses public praise reports to decrease maladaptive behavior and increase prosocial interactions, while Tootling uses private praise reports on index cards to increase reports of prosocial interactions. This study compared students’ public praise reports to private praise reports of fellow students and evaluated how different praise types affect overall classroom disruptive behavior. The current study used an alternating treatments design with an initial baseline condition. The three alternating conditions included a Control, Public PPR, and Private PPR condition. The Public PPR condition had students publicly praise target students, while the Private PPR condition had students privately write praise reports on index cards. The teacher’s original classroom management strategy was used during the baseline and Control condition. Classwide observations of disruptive behavior were collected daily by using a partial interval recording system. Results suggest that neither public nor private reports affected classwide disruptive behavior. Implications for future research and limitations of the current study will be discussed

The role of goal structures and peer climate in trajectories of social achievement goals during high school

Students’ social goals—reasons for engaging in interpersonal relationships with peers—are consequential for students’ interactions with their peers at school and for their well-being. Despite the salience of peer relationships during adolescence, research on social goals is generally lacking compared with academic goals, and it is unknown how these social goals develop over time, especially among high school students. The aim of the study was to assess trajectories of students’ social goals and to determine how relevant individual and contextual variables predicted initial levels and trajectories of students’ social goals. Participants were 9th through 12th grade students (N = 526) attending a U.S. high school. Students filled out surveys of their social goals (social development, social demonstration-approach, and social demonstration-avoidance) 6 times across 2 school years. Nonlinear growth curve analyses and piecewise growth curve analyses were used to assess trajectories of social goals across time. Students’ initial levels of social goals differed based on their gender, grade level, prior achievement, and perceptions of classroom goals structures and peer climate. Furthermore, despite substantial stability over time, the shapes of these goal trajectories were predicted by students’ gender, grade level, and perceptions of classroom goal structures and peer climate. In particular, students who perceived an increase in performance-avoidance classroom goals maintained higher demonstration social goals and decreased in developmental social goals over time, and students who perceived an increase in positive peer climate decreased in demonstration-avoidance social goals. Implications and directions for future research on social goals are discussed

Classroom dialogue and digital technologies: A scoping review

AbstractThis article presents a systematic scoping review of the literature focusing on interactions between classroom dialogue and digital technology. The first review of its type in this area, it both maps extant research and, through a process of thematic synthesis, investigates the role of technology in supporting classroom dialogue. In total, 72 studies (published 2000–2016) are analysed to establish the characteristics of existing evidence and to identify themes. The central intention is to enable researchers and others to access an extensive base of studies, thematically analysed, when developing insights and interpretations in a rapidly changing field of study. The discussion illustrates the interconnectedness of key themes, placing the studies in a methodological and theoretical context and examining challenges for the future.</jats:p

The Use of Feedback in Classroom Interaction in Moroccan Primary School

This study explores the verbal feedback utilized by a group of Moroccan primary school teachers. The intent is to identify feedback types used and how effective they are in building knowledge and scaffolding thinking. The theoretical framework underpinning this study is embedded within the sociocultural perspective that conceptualizes the classroom as a cultural location of meaning in which relationships, functions, regulations, values, and norms are socially constructed. The study draws on observation data in large-class settings. Twenty two teachers from five different schools took part in the study. Twenty two lessons covering a range of subjects and topics were observed. Verbal manuscripts of classroom discourse were analyzed qualitatively. The analysis of the transcripts revealed that although four different types of feedback were identified, there was little variation in teacher provision of feedback. One particular form was preponderant— evaluative feedback. Interactional issues related to encouraging student responses and thinking are also addressed. Findings reveal that teachers infrequently offer the types of feedback interventions categorized as effective in improving learning during typical classroom interactions. These results are important as they provide an awareness of the feedback practices employed in the observed classrooms and the significant effects they have on classroom interaction and student learning. We conclude by highlighting consequences of these findings on professional development, and offer opportunities for future research

Inclusion of Special Needs Students in a Montessori Elementary Classroom

This study project was designed to study the effectiveness of implementations to aid in the successful inclusion of special needs students in a Montessori elementary classroom. This study also looked at the impacts that inclusion has on special-needs students. This study took place in a small Montessori upper elementary classroom of fourth through sixth grade in the southern United States. The implementations included self-control building, self-regulating and calming activities, Grace and Courtesy lessons, team building activities and oral reading, discussions and journal entries of Wonder (Palacio, 2012) Data was collected using student journals, an observational tally, researcher’s field journal, discussion notes and parent pre mid and post surveys The findings indicate there is a correlation of use of the implementations and a reduction of inappropriate interactions. It is recommended that future studies focus on a larger subject base as well as a more longitudinal period of implementations and data collection

Understanding facilitator practice in the problem-based learning classroom

This study looks at eight individual PBL facilitator cases in the field of medical education at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of what affects facilitation practice in a problem-based leaning (PBL) classroom. The facilitators come from various backgrounds and have different levels of knowledge and experience. They are, however all employed in a course on a part-time basis during the second semester of the MBChB first year programme. Each facilitator was observed during their facilitation of a PBL tutorial and thereafter they were interviewed about their actions in the classroom. Bourdieu's theory of practice was used as the theoretical and descriptive framework in this study of educational practice in PBL. Bourdieu speaks of 'habitus' or the 'dispositions' of facilitators that influences their practice. He describes the 'field' as the specific area where interactions occur that are shaped by the habitus of its participants and in turn shapes their habitus. He also describes 'capital' or assets that the facilitators may possess from their previous or current fields that shape the interactions in a field. This theory offers insight about who the facilitators are, how they behave in the teaching practice setting and provides an understanding of what contributes to their practice in PBL. The findings are that facilitator actions in the classroom were shaped by a number of factors including their personalities, social backgrounds, qualifications, experience, beliefs and perspectives, their fields of practice as well as the medical education field at UCT with its institutional factors and values. Theory of practice not only illustrates the principles underlying facilitator practice in the PBL classroom, but allows a description of the interactions between unique facilitator dispositions, experiences, assets and values within a field of medical education. This study forms the basis for future studies in the area of PBL facilitator practice and will contribute to improved staff development, placement and appreciation of PBL facilitators

Black Faculty Perceptions of Classroom Interactions With Students at a Predominantly White Institution

Current research generally reveals the classroom experiences of black professors at predominantly white institutions (PWI) as largely negative, whether or not issues of race are featured prominently in course content. The literature on this overall topic is, however, sparse and no published research study exists involving the use of originally conducted fieldwork observations and interviews. Consequently, this exploratory case study uses an interpretive (qualitative), ethnographic fieldwork research approach to examine a black professor’s perceptions of her interactions with her students during instruction at a PWI. This study yielded eight overarching themes pointing to a generally negative perception of classroom interactions with students. Several key findings aligned with existing literature included white student resistance and problematic responses from department/university administration to these troubling interactions. Other major findings, such as frustration with black student performance, were unexpected and not discussed in the literature. Additionally, there were several nuances in this informant’s reported experience during instruction that are also essentially absent from the often aggregately reported experiences of black faculty. These included not always being sure how much race (as opposed to other characteristics such as student generational tendencies) actually played a role in her current perceptions, and wondering if she sometimes projected her past racialized experiences onto her present classroom reality. Further, analysis of emergent findings, such as the informant’s perceptions of black students, extends the conversation about the experiences of black professors at PWIs. The dissertation ends with a set of recommendations for black faculty, university administrators, black and white students, and future research

Writing in the Digital Age: A Case Study of Fifth-Grade Boys

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the digital-related writing practices of one classroom of fifth-grade boys in a private school who had embraced a 1:1 laptop model in every classroom for over 12 years. As a response to discussions concerning the role of writing and technology in education, especially as states across the United States had been preparing for computerized writing assessment through measures such as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), this study asked what influenced the digital writing practices and products of students with experience in digital writing technologies. Additionally, as girls have outperformed boys on traditional literacy achievement measures, the study asked what influences in the digital writing environment impacted the boys\u27 development of their identity as writers. The study found a multiplicity of influences on students\u27 digital writing practices, products, and confidence in participating in the classroom; more specifically, the researcher concluded that peer interactions were a particularly salient finding across the data. Discussions were provided with a proposed model for social intergration in digital writing environments. Future recommendations to research were suggested to extend the limited scope of the research to a variety of contexts. In particular, future research was suggested to explore a variety of student-centered and teacher-centered approaches for understanding the role of social support in digital writing environments such as the influence of peer feedback for improving digital writing products in various educational contexts and the impact of teacher training for facilitating quality peer responses for improving digital writing