Teaching about biodiversity and its conservation could be an effective way to teach the importance of different species and human dependence on ecological support systems. This study compares the effectiveness of a digital and a paper-based dichotomous identification key for teaching pre-service teachers about plant species diversity. Twenty-four Slovenian teachers in pre-service training used a digital version of the key on tablet computers and twenty-nine used a paper-based version to identify woody species in the garden near their university faculty. Both keys contained the same species, identical photographs and the same sequence of steps to identify the species. The accuracy and time taken to identify the five species were measured. The participants also completed a questionnaire about the usability of the identification key. Overall, both versions of the key were equally good for determining species names. The digital version of the key was found to be more time-effective than the paper version only when multiple identification steps were required to identify species. The results confirm that those who scored better on the identification tasks have a better general opinion about the usability of the key; especially students using digital version of the key. Implications for teachers using or creating identification keys are discussed in the conclusion.

This study aims at exploring the professional identities of six ELT students through the lens of critical incidents. For the sake of this aim, six ELT students took part in this research at an Anatolian High School in 2018-2019 spring semester. The teaching practicum process was conducted from April to mid of May 2019, once a week over six-week practicum. The main data collection of this study was the Critical Incident Questionnaire (CIQ). Additionally, two questions were asked to the participants to evaluate their actual and designated professional identities. The first question was answered before the practicum and the second one was answered at the end of the practicum process. The results showed that some internal and external factors influenced their professional identity. Additionally, it was found that critical incidents could be used to spot the changes in the participants’ professional identity formation processes. Results of the study indicated that not only negative but also some positive critical incidents contributed to the participants’ professional identity formation. As a result of the encountered incidents that influenced their formation of identities, it was observed that the actual identities of four students changed from positive to negative at the end of the process. Correspondingly, the findings of this study put forward that how the participants explored their identity formation process through the critical incidents.

Central to the creativity development in elementary schools are competent teachers. Enhancement of teachers’ competence could be done through the provision of guidance handbooks for the teachers. As based on the problem statements, this research was aimed at developing handbooks of guidance and counseling that could improve teachers’ competence in providing quality guidance and counseling services; the handbooks were expected to help teachers in cultivating the creativity of elementary school students. In this research and development study, the designed handbooks consisted of book 1 Guidance and Counseling Implementation Plan, Book 2 Service Materials, Book 3 Teachers’ Guideline, and Book 4 Evaluation Guideline. The effectiveness of the handbooks was examined using a quasi-experimental method with one group pre-test and posttest. According to the results of experimental data analysis, the tcount and ttable arrived at 7.665 (significance level of 0.05 (14)) and 1.76, respectively, meaning that tcount > ttable. This result signified that the handbooks were practical to build teachers’ competence in providing quality guidance and counseling services, which was helpful in assisting the teachers in instilling the creativity of elementary school students. In brief, the handbooks are recommended to be used by teachers in promoting the creativity of elementary school students.

Industrial revolution 4.0 is currently present in various countries, including Indonesia. Indonesia responded quickly through technological developments, especially education. The actions of the Indonesian government to deal with industrial 4.0 are contained in the 4C principle, one of which is Critical Thinking. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning approach has become an alternative in building critical thinking skills, especially in science learning. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively measure the impact of the STEM-inquiry model based on the K-13 Indonesian Curriculum towards critical thinking skills of 15-16 years old students. This study employed quasi-experimental with non-equivalent control group design at SMAN 1 (State Senior High School) Padang Cermin, Lampung, Indonesia. The research subjects consisted of 50 students. The critical thinking skill was measured through 10 items of an essay question on the momentum and impulse material. Based on the results of the non-parametric statistical hypothesis test Mann Whitney, the significance level of 0.004 was obtained (sig <0.05). The results of the hypothetical test showed that the student's critical thinking skills before and after using the STEM-based inquiry model were different. It can be concluded that the application of the STEM-based inquiry model was effective in increasing students' critical thinking skills.

Teachers are one of the professional classes most vulnerable to emotional instability and fatigue associated with their professional activity. The present study is a systematic review about burnout in Portuguese teachers and has two main objectives. The first is to understand the state of the art of the burnout phenomenon in Portuguese teachers from basic education to secondary education. The second is to analyze the types of variables considered in the exploration and understanding of the burnout phenomenon, from a three-dimensional structure: personal, organizational, and classroom. Results show that the set of personal and organizational variables are the most frequently analyzed in studies on burnout in teachers. Nevertheless, the results of the analyzed studies are unclear and inconsistent, highlighting the need for further studies that allow to clarify the role of different variables on burnout in Portuguese teachers. More studies are needed to determine the actual extent of burnout and, consequently, to design educational and psychological interventions to support teachers.

In educational research, audio-video recordings allow observing a lesson repeatedly. The collected data needs to be transcribed for analysis. Although methodologies for transcribing video-recorded lessons are established, there is lack of transcription methodologies for certain types of lessons, such as in arts education or the teaching to create new products. In our research project, we examine the teaching–learning of songs in class. Because of the absence of suitable transcription methodologies, we developed a new systematic approach. This paper presents the Lesson Activities Map (LAMap), which consists of symbols and icons representing graphically the constitutive elements of a domain-specific lesson. As a result, the LAMap provides a visualisation of the lesson content – in this context the song – and of how a teacher works on parts and the whole. The graphic representation supports the lesson analysis from different perspectives. The LAMap methodology and applications are valuable for transcribing other subject-specific lessons.

This study aims to develop a standard instrument for measuring mental health among urban adolescents in Indonesia. The objective is to produce valid and reliable school adolescent mental health instruments to be used by agencies or schools to identify students' mental health. The survey was conducted in Jakarta and South Tangerang with a total of 1007 respondents divided into two experiments where the first trial was conducted on 597 students and the second trial was conducted on 410 students. Measurements were made using a Likert scale questionnaire. Instrument testing begins with a theoretical validity test by 4 experts and 20 panelists who test the instrument material in terms of construction, content and language. Experts analyze and correct the instrument qualitatively. The instrument was then reviewed and analyzed quantitatively by panelists using the Aiken index. At this stage, 44 items, 9 indicators and 3 variable dimensions were obtained. The next test is done by testing the validity empirically, by analyzing the measurement model using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with the LISREL 8.80 Full Version program. By using the criteria for the SLF value ≥0.30 and t-value ≥1.96, and calculating the reliability with the construct reliability (CR) at the level> 0.70, the results of the second trial showed that 35 items were valid. The observations of the model fitness through Goodness-of-Fit test showed that there is a fitness between the theoretical model and the empirical model for the mental health instruments in this study.

Considering the low achievement of Indonesian students in international studies (PISA), which measures Higher-Order Thinking Skill (HOTS) in solving the problem, improving the quality of mathematics learning in Indonesia is very important. The purpose of this research was conducted to explore the variations in students’ learning strategies and students’ Self–Regulated Learning (SRL) in solving mathematical HOT problems. The study employed a mixed-method, namely quantitative and qualitative methods were applied through five tests and seven interviews for over eight weeks. Two types of instruments were employed in this study, and they include tests and interviews. At the initial stage, we randomly selected 30 students from all those in grade 10 (Senior High School ), after which 12 were chosen purposively after the pre-test for an interview, having satisfied all complete group, middle group, and lower group. All of them were treated using metacognitive questions. Data analysis techniques used were percentage, data reduction, presentation, and conclusion. The quantitative results showed the students could generally use orientation, organization, and elaboration learning strategies as observed with 68.3%, 60%, and 56.7% for complete, middle, and lower groups. Moreover, the students were also observed to have conducted three cognitive processes in selecting the rules for solving the mathematical HOT problem, namely using models and drawing, written texts, and combining both. Furthermore, their final solution failures were affected by their misconceptions and errors in creating the mathematical model. The interview results on designing the learning procedures, monitoring the progress, and evaluating the outcomes, show that the students’ SRL level is good for complete (89.3%), middle (75%), and lower groups (60.7%).

The research investigated whether there is a correlation between participation in a course entitled "Diversity and multiculturalism in the global era" as perceived by Jewish and Arab students in Israel and a change in the students' attitudes and behaviors and their performance of activities in a multicultural context in the education field. The course was part of a master's degree program in Policy and Administration in Education in an academic college in central Israel. Pre-course and post-course questionnaires were administered to the course participants. Participants were 528 students; 177 responded to the pre-course questionnaire and 351 responded to the post-course questionnaire. The research findings indicated a direct association between participation in the course and activities conducted in the education field. In addition, students’ acquisition of knowledge on multiculturalism mediated the association between participation in the course and performance of multicultural activities in the education field. Differences were found between Jewish and Arab students' reports: Jews reported a multicultural academic atmosphere significantly more than Arabs. Contrastingly, Arab students gave significantly higher grades than Jewish students to reciprocal relations between the groups in the college and reported a more positive change in their attitudes towards the other group and towards multiculturalism and were more convinced that the course contributed to their multicultural thinking. These findings have theoretical and practical implications that can inform policymakers planning education for multiculturalism as a permanent component in academic programs, while responding to different sectors' cultural uniqueness to promote equality between them.

This study aims to test proving the scale of measuring the character of students' curiosity using confirmatory factor analysis. This study uses a quantitative approach. The sample used was 325 randomly selected participants. The variable examined in this study is the character of curiosity. The curiosity variable is focused on elementary school students. In this study, this variable was measured by four indicators and 16 measuring items. The four indicators include: paying attention, taking notes, asking questions, and comparing. Data collection was carried out by distributing curiosity questionnaires to participants. The data analysis technique used was confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability analysis used was the composite score reliability analysis. The results of the study concluded that the constituent indicators of the latent variables of students' curiosity show that all loading factor values have a significant effect on the latent variables in the first order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Meanwhile, in the second order CFA, the variable of curiosity, the biggest contribution was the indicators compare. This student curiosity assessment model has fulfilled the goodness of fit aspect of the model and has been reliable based on construct reliability. This study recommends a scale measuring elementary school students' curiosity.

An evidence-based, interactive teaching method peer instruction (PI) is promoted to support effectiveness over more commonly used teaching methods. Usually it is proposed for the university and upper secondary school. The research reports on the implementation of the PI approach in teaching subject Science and Technology (S&T) in the 4th grade of primary school. The aim of this research was to verify the feasibility of this approach for much younger students in primary school by evaluating the students’ progress in the subject S&T, identifying the differences in individual progress in relation to students’ general learning success, and determining students’ opinions about the approach and where no desired progress has been made. In a selected Slovenian primary school, a classroom with 26 students (age 9 – 10) was included in the study and 5 different content areas (Earth’s motion, Matter, Magnetism, Forces and motion, and Electricity) were taught using this PI approach. Results show that students made progress in all content areas and no differences were identified in the progress of individual students in terms of general learning success. Students were satisfied with the approach, although more than half of them found the multiple-choice questions as too difficult. Although the PI approach is successful, teachers must be aware that some persistent and widespread misunderstandings may still remain and require additional intervention.

Professional teaching competence is significantly influenced by beliefs about teaching and learning. Prospective teachers start their teacher training with quite persistent beliefs about learning processes. These beliefs are mainly influenced by the way they experienced their own lessons as a student at school. Previous biology lessons at school might be linked to the imagined biology lessons of prospective teachers. We interpret these future lessons as a representation of their beliefs about teaching and learning. The present study investigated how prospective teachers remembered their previous biology lessons as well as how they imagine the lessons they will conduct in the future. The drawings of 181 prospective biology teachers in Germany (Mage = 22.1; SD = 3.6; 64.1 % female) were analyzed using the Draw-a-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C). Results of the study indicate that the lessons they experienced were mainly teacher-centered, whereas the lessons they imagined were mainly student-centered. Results of a chi-square-test indicate that there is no connection between these two drawings of biology lessons. This suggests that experiences from one’s own schooling may have no connection with the way prospective teachers would like to teach in the future. The results of this study might be used as a basis for further studies examining the development of prospective biology teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning.

The aim of this study is to find out the influence of online project collaborative learning and achievement motivation on problem-solving ability in the area of citizenship. This study uses a quasi-experimental design. The total of study subjects is 71 students of higher education; consist of 36 students as the experimental group and 35 students as the control group. Data of problem-solving ability is obtained by using an essay test, while data of achievement motivation is obtained by using a questionnaire. Data analysis is done with ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). The study results show that online based-project collaborative learning strategy has a positive influence on civic problem-solving ability. There is a difference in civic problem-solving ability between students with high achievement motivation and students with low achievement motivation. Online project collaborative learning strategy and achievement motivation interact in influencing the civic problem-solving ability of students. It is recommended that further study corroborate this finding by testing again the effectiveness of using online-based project collaborative strategy in the aspect of problem-solving in a similar field of study.

One of the issues that hinder the students’ learning progress is the inability to construct an epistemological explanation of a scientific phenomenon. Four-tier multiple-choice (hereinafter, 4TMC) instrument and Partial-Credit Model were employed to elaborate on the diagnosis process of the aforementioned problem. This study was to develop and implement the four-tier multiple-choice instrument with Partial-Credit Model to evaluate students’ learning progress in explaining the conceptual change of state of matter. This research applied a development research referring to the test development model by Wilson. The data were obtained through development and validation techniques on 20 4TMC items tested to 427 students. On each item, the study applied diagnostic-summative assessment and certainty response index. The students’ conceptual understanding level was categorized based on the combination of their answer choices; the measurement generated Partial-Credit Model for 1 parameter logistic (IPL) data. Analysis of differences was based on the student level class using Analysis of Variants (One-way ANOVA). This study resulted in 20 valid and reliable 4TMC instruments. The result revealed that the integration of 4TMC test and Partial-Credit Model was effective to be treated as the instrument to measure students’ learning progress. One-way ANOVA test indicated the differences among the students’ competence based on the academic level. On top of that, it was discovered that low-ability students showed slow progress due to the lack of knowledge as well as a misconception in explaining the Concept of Change of State of Matter. All in all, the research regarded that the diagnostic information was necessary for teachers in prospective development of learning strategies and evaluation of science learning.

The purpose of the research was to identify whether the English language e-classes that are automated and delivered through the Smart Sender platform influence the students’ attendance and procrastination rates, their motivation, time management skills, cognitive processing speed, and satisfaction. The study used qualitative and quantitative methods to monitor students’ attendance and procrastination rates, motivation and engagement, time management skills, thinking speed, and satisfaction. The questionnaire on learning motivation, engagement, and competence, the time management skills test, the mental speed test, and the course satisfaction questionnaire were used to collect data. The focus group discussion questionnaire was used to obtain verbal feedback for the participants. The Smart Sender platform proved effective as an instructional tool for teaching the English Language to students majoring in Philology, International Business, and Law. The automated delivery of the English language e-classes was effective in addressing the issues of dropouts and procrastination in distance learning through automation of the lesson delivery based on the ‘push’ factor. It increased students’ motivation, improves time management skills, and satisfaction. The quantitative findings showed that the students experienced a positive change in attendance, motivation and learning engagement, time management skills, and thinking speed due to the intervention. The students perceived the automated delivery-based approach to language teaching positively. They reported that the delivery approach content met the participants’ expectations and needs. Focus group discussion revealed that the intervention changed their learning behaviour and strategies which were considered the improvements of the quality learning outcomes.

The purpose of the study was to identify how debates effected the analytical thinking abilities of tertiary students and how the debates as an instructional approach were perceived by the students. The study used quantitative data collection methods such as tests and observation checklists and qualitative data collection methods such as a focus group discussion. The data was yielded from the measurements of students’ analytical thinking, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills. The pretest and posttest measurements were administered using the test of analytical skills, the quiz entitled “Get Ready to Test Your Analytical Skills!”, and the problem-solving test. The study found that the debates improve the students’ analytical thinking abilities and are perceived positively by them. The pretest and posttest measurements results, observation reports, and a focus group discussion showed that the debate-driven instructional model brought positive change to students’ analytical thinking, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills which are supported by the statistically significant Mean differences in all the variables. The findings from observations implied that the lessons were organised in a way that could sufficiently challenge the students, engage them in the search of information, and presenting their findings based on the facts and statistics. The results obtained from the students’ responses in the outline focus group discussion found that the students appreciated participation in the debates as they associated the experience with job benefits, the practical value of the debates, learning engagement, and research.

The study is intended to expose mind mapping used as strategy for learning which is able to assist students to write their writing assignments. Thirty students who registered in the Teacher Qualification Improvement Program of Universitas Terbuka (UT) was involved as the participants in this present study. The participants had to follow the face-to-face tutorial session of the Instructional System Design course (ISD) course. One of the given assignments of the course was writing the modular based learning materials for the primary school students. The participants had to study the required knowledge and skills of writing the printed modular based learning materials through the systematic and systematic ways. The mind mapping strategy was used to help the students to complete their writing assignments – the printed modular based leaning resources. At the beginning the participants felt uncertain about the writing assignment. The study was found that the use of mind mapping as learning strategy increased the students learning motivation and improve the ability to write the printed modular based learning materials.

As a part of learning process, project-based assessment (PBA) is determined to be a potential approach in higher education evaluation that focuses on developing the important objectives related to critical thinking, team working and problems solving skills. The aim of the paper is to find out students’ reflection and teachers’ beliefs towards using this project-based assessment method in teaching Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC). To collect the data, a project-based assessment design was applied for 124 English major students at B University in the 9 weeks ICC course. This project was implemented from the beginning of the course, and at the end of the course, learners’ products were performed with specific activities regarding culture knowledge competition, online cultural community activities, talent performance, situational judgment ability, and eloquence skills. In addition, a set of questionnaires were delivered to the participants, plus the interviews with 36 teachers who have taught culture-related subjects from the universities in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. The findings revealed that although there were certain challenges, using project-based assessment in teaching culture had satisfactory effects on students’ intercultural competence, problem- solving skills, critical thinking, and learning motivation.

Transcript Based Lesson Analysis (TBLA) is a transcript-based learning analysis method developed at Nagoya University, Japan. This new method is believed to justify the success of instructional design planned by the teacher. So far, the success of learning design has been reflected in student learning outcomes, even though the learning outcome data are not sufficient to provide an overview of the actual classroom conditions. This study aims to analyse the communication patterns in learning Chemistry using the TBLA method. This research is a descriptive qualitative study that analysed the lesson of Chemical Bonds and Carbon Atoms Characteristics, which were conducted in two Senior High Schools in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. The data were collected using observation and documentation study. The lessons recorded using cameras and camcorders devices were transcribed and analysed using the Excel program based on the number of words spoken by teachers and students and the frequency of keywords in learning chemistry. The data were transformed into graphs. The results showed that analysis using TBLA provided integrated information about communication patterns and classroom quality. In these two classes, communication pattern occurs in Chemistry learning was teacher-student interaction only. The multi-ways transactions pattern has not occurred. The low quality of teacher questions and the incomplete deep learning phase in learning chemistry caused the expected multi-directional transaction communication has not been conducted. The result implies that TBLA is an effective tool to reflect on teacher practices and improve their teaching process for better instructional practices.

We investigated the effects of just-in-time guidance at various stages of inquiry learning by novice learners. Thirteen participants, randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 8) or control (n = 5) group, were observed as they learned about DC electric circuits using a web-based simulation. Just-in-time instructional prompts to observe, predict, explain, systematically test, collect evidence, and generate rules were strongly associated with diagnosing and correcting misconceptions, and constructing correct scientific concepts. Students’ repeated use of predictions, systematic testing, and evidence-coordinated reasoning often led to formulating new principles, generalizing from observed patterns, verifying comprehension, and experiencing “Aha!” moments. Just-in-time prompts helped learners manage embedded cognitive challenges in inquiry tasks, achieve a comprehensive understanding of the model represented in the simulation, and show significantly higher knowledge gain. Just-in-time prompts also promoted rejection of incorrect models of inquiry and construction of robust scientific mental models. The results suggest ways of customizing guidance to promote scientific learning within simulation environments.