Creating space for agency: a conceptual framework to understand and study adolescents’ school engagement from a Funds of Identity perspective

A conceptual framework is presented to understand and study the role of students’ agency in their school (dis-)engagement from a Funds of Identity (FoI) perspective. The framework includes the notion of agency combined with Funds of Learner Identity (FoLI): learning preferences that can be considered part of people’s Funds of Identity. The framework holds that students manifest agency to negotiate engaging learning experiences when the school’s affordances and constraints are considerably relatable to their FoLI and allow them to define themselves in desired ways. However, adolescents who feel that possibilities to engage their FoLI are rather limited in school are expected to turn to other contexts to learn, such as home, peer groups and workplaces. An exemplary case study is presented to illustrate the framework and implications are discussed

Effects of flipping the classroom on learning outcomes and satisfaction:: A meta-analysis

In a flipped classroom, students study instructional material before class and apply this material during class. To provide a statistical synthesis of current research on effects of flipped classrooms, we conducted meta-analyses that included 114 studies which compared flipped and non-flipped classrooms in secondary and postsecondary education. We found a small positive effect on learning outcomes, but no effect was found on student satisfaction regarding the learning environment. In addition, we found considerable heterogeneity between studies. Moderator analyses showed that students in flipped classrooms achieve higher learning outcomes when the face-to-face class time was not reduced compared to non-flipped classrooms, or when quizzes were added in the flipped classrooms. We conclude that a flipping the classroom (FTC) approach is a promising pedagogical approach when appropriately designed. Our results provide insights into effective instructional FTC design characteristics that support an evidence-informed application of FTC

Personalizing learning with mobile technology in a secondary school in the Netherlands: Effects on students’ autonomy support, learning motivation and achievement

Personalizing learning with technology in secondary schools is a way to empower students to take control of their learning. The more learners can direct their own learning experiences, including path, pace and instructional approach, the more they may learn what they want and need to learn. In a quasi-experimental design, data about the implementation and evaluation of three interventions in one secondary school in the Netherlands have been gathered with student questionnaires and regular exams. In these three interventions, each lasting one entire school year, teachers attempted to support their students’ autonomy in decisions during their learning process. Effects on students’ perceived autonomy support, learning motivation and their achievement have been examined. One intervention – the one with the highest scores on perceived autonomy support – shows small positive effects on students’ learning motivation and their achievement. Learner control over structural aspects of the curriculum, such as students’ autonomy to choose their tasks for practicing and reviewing and the way to complete them, is a possible effective way of designing personalizing learning in secondary education. In future research, more attention should be addressed to which combination of autonomy supportive activities might be effective. These effects might also be different for different student groups, based on, for example, their learning preferences and abilities

Secondary students’ online self-regulated learning during flipped learning: A latent profile analysis

Flipped learning (FL) makes greater use of students' self-regulated learning (SRL) skills when they regulate their online learning behavior. Previous research has shown the value of SRL support during FL to enhance students' SRL and learning outcomes. However, as previous studies have indicated that SRL behavior varies, should SRL support be tailored to these differences in SRL? We applied latent profile analysis to identify subgroups in 150 eighth-graders during FL. We used practically relevant online behavioral data to represent students’ online SRL activities, which we gathered unobtrusively in an ecologically valid secondary educational classroom setting. We found five distinct SRL profiles from low completion and no activity to full completion and very high activity. In addition, students in the profile who showed low SRL activity achieved significantly worse learning outcomes than students in the three profiles with higher SRL activity. Finally, we explored whether SRL activity profile membership can be explained by student characteristics (i.e., self-reported SRL, motivation, and prior knowledge). None of the student-level variables predicted profile membership, but our approach offers leads for future research to further investigate the potential of tailored SRL support

Effects of self-regulated learning prompts in a flipped history classroom

Flipping the classroom (FTC) is a didactical approach aimed at letting students come to class prepared and apply the learning material actively during class. As FTC places a higher demand on students' self-regulated learning (SRL) skills, our goal in the current study was to research the effects of SRL support in a flipped classroom on students' SRL (self-reports and online activities) and learning outcomes. Previous research showed that video embedded SRL prompts enhances students’ SRL and learning outcomes. We measured the effects of SRL prompts with a quasi-experimental design in six flipped History classrooms in secondary education where 154 students were randomly assigned to the SRL prompts or no SRL prompt condition. We found positive effects of the SRL prompts for the completion rate of the instructional videos (i.e., students in the SRL prompts condition watched more videos), but not for other indicators of SRL or learning outcomes. Thus, in contrast to previous research from higher education, our results show that implementing SRL prompts in a flipped classroom is not directly effective in secondary education. We address potential explanations for the absence of effects of the SRL prompts for theory and practice into SRL support in flipped classrooms

Self-regulated learning support in flipped learning videos enhances learning outcomes

In flipped learning, students study learning material before class and apply the content of the learning material during class. This requires self-regulated learning (SRL) behavior due to the increased autonomy in this instructional approach. Providing students with video-embedded SRL support (i.e., prompts and explicit instruction) during the learning activities before class has proven to be an effective strategy in primary and higher education to enhance students’ SRL and learning outcomes. The current study aims to replicate the effects of SRL support in a Flipped class in secondary education over the course of eight weeks. In total, 115 eighth-grade students from five classes participated in a quasi-experimental study, which measured the effects of SRL support on students’ SRL (self-reports and online activities), learning outcomes, and satisfaction. We found a positive effect of SRL support on learning outcomes, but we could not explain this by differences in students’ SRL. Although all the students were generally positive about the flipped learning environment, some students clearly disliked the SRL instruction. We conclude that SRL support is beneficial for students’ learning but that it should be carefully designed to avoid students’ dissatisfaction, which could potentially nullify these beneficial effects on learning

Exploring the link between self-regulated learning and learner behaviour in a massive open online course

Background: Learners in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are presented with great autonomy over their learning process. Learners must engage in self-regulated learning (SRL) to handle this autonomy. It is assumed that learners' SRL, through monitoring and control, influences learners' behaviour within the MOOC environment (e.g., watching videos). The exact relationship between SRL and learner behaviour has however not been investigated. Objectives: We explored whether differences in SRL are related to differences in learner behaviour in a MOOC. As insight in this relationship could improve our understanding of the influence of SRL on behaviour, could help explain the variety in online learner behaviour, and could be useful for the development of successful SRL support for learners. Methods: MOOC learners were grouped based on their self-reported SRL. Next, we used process mining to create process models of learners' activities. These process models were compared between groups of learners. Results and conclusions: Four clusters emerged: average regulators, help seekers, self-regulators, and weak regulators. Learners in all clusters closely followed the designed course structure. However, the process models also showed differences which could be linked to differences in the SRL scores between clusters. Takeaways: The study shows that SRL may explain part of the variability in online learner behaviour. Implications for the design of SRL interventions include the necessity to integrate support for weak regulators in the course structure

A mixed method approach to studying self-regulated learning in MOOCs: Combining trace data with interviews

To be successful in online education, learners should be able to self-regulate their learning due to the autonomy offered to them. Accurate measurement of learners’ selfregulated learning (SRL) in online education is necessary to determine which learners are in need of support and how to best offer support. Trace data is gathered automatically and unobtrusively during online education, and is therefore considered a valuable source to measure learners’ SRL. However, measuring SRL with trace data is challenging for two main reasons. First, without information on the how and why of learner behaviour it is difficult to interpret trace data correctly. Second, SRL activities outside of the online learning environment are not captured in trace data. To address these two challenges, we propose a mixed method approach with a sequential design. Such an approach is novel for the measurement of SRL. We present a pilot study in which we combined trace data with interview data to analyse learners’ SRL in online courses. In the interview, cued retrospective reporting was conducted by presenting learners with visualizations of their trace data. In the second part of the interview, learners’ activities outside of the online course environment were discussed. The results show that the mixed-method approach is indeed a promising approach to address the two described challenges. Suggestions for future research are provided, and include methodological considerations such as how to best visualize trace data for cued retrospective recall

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