This study aims to explore the role of lesson analysis in the development of mathematical knowledge for teaching. For this purpose, a graduate course based on lesson analysis was designed for novice mathematics teachers. Throughout the course the teachers watched videos of group-mates and discussed the issues they identified in terms of student-teacher relationship for a student centered instruction. Analysis over the video made teachers notice points and came to realize the thoughts of students; they had otherwise missed at the classroom. They achieved improvements regarding the awareness of the need to identify the cases presenting the most difficulty to the students in terms of teaching, and the necessity to take precautions regarding such points, to learn about the reason of the difficulty, and to pay attention to the statements by the students. Therefore, it is possible to note that the teachers improved themselves in terms of student’ knowledge with respect to the mathematical knowledge for teaching.

In order to plan and enact appropriate learning environments in physical education (PE) teachers are increasingly directed to models based practice. The Sport Education model is one of these models for PE curriculum and teaching design that informs the content and pedagogical direction of sport teaching in PE. Despite Sport Education being well researched internationally, there are few examples of research consideration of this model in Australian PE in the last ten years. In this paper the aim is to appreciatively examine two secondary school PE teachers use of the Sport Education model in the context of their familiarisation of the new Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education. At the same time, exploring the use of Appreciative Inquiry to examine models based practice in PE was also an aim of the study. Data were collected from pre and post interviews with the teachers and an end of unit survey of the Year 9 students undertaking the Sport Education unit. The Sport Education model was found to be most suitable to teaching for student evidence of the personal and social skills elements of the Achievement Standard. Appreciative Inquiry was found to be suitable for foregrounding existing examples of teacher use of models based practice, highlighting what it is about the teachers that led them to stay with the model when the literature particular to Australian PE suggests mostly a continuation of the “traditional” physical education method.

Nowadays, technology is developing in a geometrically progressive manner. Its usage in different social areas is an imperative, rather than a choice. As expected, digital devices are applicable in the educational context, as well. Hence, the scope of the present study is to examine attitudes toward mobile learning among English teachers. For this purpose, we conducted a survey with 159 teachers from both state and private schools as well as universities in Turkey. In general, our results showed that teachers have positive attitudes toward the usage of mobile devices in the ESL learning context. However, there is an almost equal number of teachers who use and who do not use mobile devices and other digital contents in their classrooms. In addition, and according to teachers, there were two main obstacles to using mobile devices in teaching processes – lack of training and students' attitudes. On the other hand, the lowest ranked obstacles were school administrations and pedagogical justification.

This exploratory study is concerned about the extent to which a sample of 163 pre-school, primary and secondary Brazilian school teachers, expressed their opinion on how neuroscience might help their teaching and pupils´ learning. Evaluation instruments for Brazilian pupils were analysed. Two questionnaires were completed by the teachers. Results of a quantitative analysis indicated that in general teachers believe that neuroscience may contribute to the teaching and learning of their subject matter. An outline for an elective neuroscience and education course is presented. Educational implications are discussed.

All over the world, countries are paying close attention to how teachers are recruited, selected, and prepared for the nation’s schools. Increasingly, teachers are expected to teach all students to high standards at the same time that they play a major role in meeting rising expectations regarding social equity. Preparing teachers for these challenges is among the most pressing and complex tasks in teacher education. In response to these and other challenges, some initial teacher education programs now include among their major goals preparing teachers to teach for social justice, work toward equity and access for all students, and/or challenge inequities in existing educational systems and policies. This article focuses on three initial teacher education programs—one each in the United States, New Zealand, and Ireland. Although these programs differ from one another in many ways, they also share some goals related to teaching for social justice and equity. The article examines longitudinal survey data regarding teacher candidates’ scores on the “Learning to Teach for Social Justice-Beliefs” scale, which was designed to measure candidates’ endorsement of beliefs consistent with the concept of teaching for social justice. For each of the three research sites, the article analyzes: (a) demographic and teacher quality contexts, (b) initial teacher education program goals related to social justice/social equity, and (c) the results of surveys administered to teacher candidates at entry to and exit from the programs. The article concludes with discussion of learning to teach for social justice as a cross-cultural concept.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how mental rotation strategies affect the identification of chemical structural formulas. This study conducted event-related potentials (ERPs) experiments. In addition to the data collected in the ERPs, a Chemical Structure Conceptual Questionnaire and interviews were also administered for data collection. Eighteen university students majoring in chemistry were recruited. In the ERP experiments, the participants were required to identify 2D figures, 2D chemical structural formulas, 3D objects and 3D chemical structural formulas. The contours of 2D figures are similar to those of 2D chemical structural formulas, but they contain no content knowledge. Likewise, the contours of 3D objects are similar to 3D chemical structural formulas without content knowledge. The results showed that all students used similar strategies of mental rotation in identifying 2D figures, 3D objects and 3D chemical structural formulas. However, the high-achieving students used different strategies in identifying 2D figures and chemical structural formulas, while the low-achieving students tended to use similar strategies of mental rotation in identifying both 2D figures and chemical structural formulas. The results indicate that some of the difficulties in identifying 2D chemical structural formulas that students encounter are due to their inappropriate strategies of mental rotation.

The aim of this study was to explore the degree to which a professional development (PD) program designed using GeoGebra influences a group of Turkish middle school teachers’ beliefs in relation to mathematics and role of GeoGebra in mathematics education. In order to collect the required data, the PD course was established to provide six teachers with an opportunity to obtain practical experiences with and necessary knowledge about the use of GeoGebra in mathematics education. In this context, a multiple case study approach was utilized, in which mathematics teachers were observed and interviewed using a variety of procedures to expose qualitative data about their beliefs and the dynamics of their beliefs changes during the course. The main findings illustrated that teachers’ beliefs were transformed to some extent in favour of the use of GeoGebra, as well as using constructivist ideas in their mathematics teaching and learning can be attained through the GeoGebra based PD course. In fact, the relationship amongst stated beliefs and intended teaching practice is complex and the social issues were very influential on teachers’ pedagogical decisions. This research also introduces some suggestions for researchers who focus on professional development of mathematics teachers relative to their beliefs..

It was aimed in this study to determine the teacher candidates' views on the augmented reality applications in education. It is a descriptive study to identify the present situation. Survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The sample group of the study is comprised of 220 teacher candidates who are studying in the 2nd Grade of 8 departments in Mersin University Faculty of Education. Consisting of 4 sections, 22 items and an open-ended question, a questionnaire was used as a data collection tool in the study to determine the views of teacher candidates about the augmented reality applications in education. The findings obtained from the analysis of the data were shown in frequency and percentage. Qualitative findings obtained from the open-ended question were classified into codes and themes through content analysis method, and frequency and percentages of codes were given. It was found in the study that the teacher candidates did not know well enough about the augmented reality applications and that those who knew them found these applications very entertaining, motivating and facilitating learning, and were also of the same mind to use them widely in education.

The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of blended learning environments on self-regulated and self-directed learning skills of undergraduate students. The explanatory sequential mixed method was used. In total 167 students participated in the study. While sixty students taking “Programming Languages” course at Computer Education and Instructional Technologies Department constituted the experimental group, 102 undergraduates-65 of them from the same department (Control 1) and 42 from Electronic Engineering Department (Control 2) formed the control groups. Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale, Self-regulated Learning Scale and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection instruments. While the experimental group received blended instruction, control groups received traditional instruction for weeks. The findings of the study revealed that self-regulated and self-directed scores of experimental group differed significantly from the control groups` indicating that the use of blended instruction is more effective than traditional instruction in terms of developing self-regulated and self-directed learning skills. Students in the experimental group pointed out that the blended learning environment presented rich content, easy accessibility, effective guidance and motivation.

Teachers’ use of everyday cognitive heuristics can lead to biases in information processing and, thus, to unfair assessments of student characteristics. This problem can be addressed by a core aspect of research-based learning, i.e., by making use of principles and methods of empirical research in order to systematically collect information. However, pre-service teachers’ attitude towards the use of empirical research methods is usually rather low. To foster their attitudes, a total of 444 student teachers were confronted with their own biased perception during a methodology course. Biased perception was triggered by a halo effect inducing experiment. In a subsequent semester, n = 113 of these students participated in an online survey. They answered questions about their cognitive activity and affective reaction following the presentation of the results of the experiment. Moreover, they reported about perceived attitude changes towards systematic thinking and research methods. The results demonstrate the successful implementation of the halo effect, which affected the students cognitively and emotionally. Structural equation modelling showed, that attitude change was dependent on both cognitive and affective reactions. The findings indicate that the halo effect is not only easy to implement in university courses but also appears to have substantial impact on students’ attitudes towards research-based learning.

Recently, there has been growing interest among practitioners and scientists in teaching children computer programming languages. The international efforts to raise generations who produce technologies are supported at the national level in Turkey too. Programming language education is included beginning from secondary school curricula of computer science education. However, it can be mentioned that up-to-date methodological and pedagogical requirements of the courses are not adequately researched. Therefore, the primary aim of the study is to share innovative methods regarding programming education processes with middle school computer science teachers. This paper presents the details of a project conducted to design an in-service training model for computer science teachers and funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with the project number of 116B298. During the training period, up-to-date methodology and technologies were presented in workshops with an integrated approach. At the end of the courses, the participants’ development and the efficiency of the activities were investigated based on the analyses of qualitative and quantitative data and positive results about the content of proposed in-service teacher training methodology were yielded.

This study considers the interaction between an e-learning system, the Blackboard system, and the students who use it in Saudi Arabia. While previous work exists, there is limited consideration of the assessment of the preferences of e-learning system usability variables based on students’ perspectives, especially in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia. This paper attempts to fill the gap by investigating the relative importance of the design criteria developed for e-learning system usability evaluation from the students’ perspective in Saudi tertiary education. Based on reviewed literature, a set of usability principles was developed that have had an influence in the students’ learning process and use of the e-learning system. The list includes system navigation, system learnability, visual design, information quality, instructional assessment and system interactivity. An exploratory study was carried out to identify the most important usability design characteristics from a student’s perspective and then evaluate the overall usability of the current e-learning system, based on this subset. A quantitative approach was adopted to weigh usability design characteristics, based on 181 learners’ perceptions. The sample consists of undergraduates who are users of a web-based e-learning system in a university in Saudi Arabia. The research instrument was tested for construct validity and reliability. The analysed results have shown that information quality is the most important dimension followed by the navigation of the e-learning system. The study has also revealed that the system learnability and visual design came third and fourth in order of importance of e-learning system usability assessment. Finally, the least important design categories that influenced the e-learning system usability assessment were instructional assessment and system interactivity. The empirical results of this study may help to provide insights for designers and evaluators leading to a more effective approach to improve the usability and uptake of the e-learning system.

This paper presents how the process of flipped teaching with Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) works in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing in the Indonesian context. As well, it also elaborates how the teaching model affects learner autonomy. This flipped teaching with CALL was experienced by some lecturers of private universities in East Java, Indonesia. This study used a multi-site case study research design. The data were yielded from in-class observation, lesson plan analysis, focus group interviews, and questionnaires. The total of 5 EFL writing teachers and 150 students from 5 private universities in East Java, Indonesia had participated in this study. Experimenting with flipped teaching with CALL in teaching EFL writing enabled the teachers, as course developers, to get an idea of their students’ response to the challenges of new ways, methods, and techniques of their study. The flip-class environment fostered better communication amongst learners and learner autonomy as well. The flip-class atmosphere also had a beneficial impact on the motivation of learners. The qualitative results from interviews of the learners showed that the learners had inspired themselves to engage in in-class learning activities and self-regulated teaching environments. The findings gave reflection to the teachers on several vitally necessary conditions enabling a course in a flipped teaching with CALL format to contribute to developing students’ professional competencies.

The study aims to promote relevant and effective environmental education (EE) through extracurricular clubs. For this, we studied the state of play of environmental activities (EA) carried out by 48 environmental clubs belonging to urban and rural areas of the Regional Academy of Education Fez-Meknes, Morocco. These extracurricular environmental clubs remain so far without formal environmental education programs. In this study, we identified the bulk of programs offered by extracurricular environment clubs, including types of scheduled activities and percentages of achievement and student beneficiaries in urban and rural settings. In addition, we have identified the main barriers to achieving certain environmental activities. The significant correlations detected between some of the variables studied allowed us to better explain the achievements and the weaknesses of these clubs. Finally, we have made recommendations to promote relevant and effective extracurricular environmental education.

El Oro province undergoes a high rate of student’s withdrawal from distance courses offered by the local university. The distance education model gives for granted that the regular teachers are proficient for remote tutoring. This research attempts to reveal the state-of-art of this educative model in a provincial university. The study focused on a quantitative-qualitative explorative approach to determine, whether, if withdrawal is more frequent in introductory courses or not. Among the main causes for withdrawal were found: (1) the naive of learners in high education programs, (2) the inconsistency of the university proposals (academic and administrative) and; (3) the most important, the deficiencies in remote tutoring.

The current study aimed to adopt and assess the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of Grit-S among Omani and American students (N = 487) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The scale’s construct validity was estimated by investigating its associations with achievement goal orientations (AGOs). EFA results suggested that a two-factor solution (i.e., perseverance of effort [G_PE] and consistency of interest [G_CI]) was the best factorial structure, explaining 47.74% and 51.02% of the variance in the Omani and American samples, respectively. The factors had good reliability coefficients in the two samples. Related to the intercultural differences, G_PE explained more variance among Omanis (31.02%) relative to American sample, whereas G_CI explained a larger proportion of variance among Americans (36.86%) compared with Omani sample. The first level of measurement invariance, configural invariance, was not supported, necessitating the investigation of the other levels of measurement invariance using a new sample. Grit correlated positively with mastery and performance-approach goals (r = .29 and .12, respectively) and negatively with avoidance goals (r = -.25), supporting the scale’s construct validity. These findings showed that Grit-S scale can be used as valid and reliable assessment tool to assess student interest and perseverance in the academic context in Arabic/Omani and American cultures.

The vision that we will present is not intended to be exhaustive or totalizing, although it does attempt to highlight the most significant aspects that characterize it. It is a reflection of more than twenty years of work in the educational field, at different levels and with different functions, it is also the result of personal evolution, and how she will be subject to evolution. Comparing media studies with the 19th century, it seems that media has conquered an essential position in every individual's life. This study meets the requirements of a growing pool of traditional and non-traditional students, including teachers, who find education as an important aspect for jobs in the modern age of information and technology. This research will utilize the literature which has been published already, including quantitative as well as qualitative measures. Past papers were selected, which were published in different areas. Comparing with other empirical research, the first phase of the procedure of the study is to collect the data The study is to identify the teachers and learner's characteristics such as affective, cognitive, and social factors which causes an impact on learning and teaching enhanced environment in media studies.

The empowerment of metacognitive skills has an important role in increasing the capacity of critical thinking and active control of students' cognitive processes in learning. Metacognitive skills can be enhanced through the implementation of learning strategies involving higher-order thinking. The RQA, ADI, RQA integrated with ADI are constructivistic learning strategies that can accommodate these skills. The researches specifically examining the correlation between metacognitive skills and critical thinking skills at the implementation of RQA, ADI, and RQA integrated with ADI learning strategies are still rarely found. This research is a correlational research, aiming at revealing the correlation between metacognitive skills and critical thinking skills. The data of metacognitive skills and critical thinking skills are collected by using a valid and reliable essay test. The samples of this research are the fourth semester (IV) biology education students programming Animal Physiology course in the 2016/2017 academic year consisting of 109 students. The results of this research show that (1) there was a significant correlation between metacognitive skills and critical thinking skills at the implementation of the four learning strategies, (2) the regression equations analyzed using Anova obtain regression lines (not coincide), and non parallel regression lines (intersected); meaning that there is a difference in the increase rate and magnitude of the critical thinking skills influenced by the four learning strategies. It is expected that the teachers and the lecturers always strive to improve the quality of the learning process through the implementation of active and constructive learning strategies.

Environmental learning in the 21st century must be contextual and require the ability of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) to solve environmental problems such as green consumerism. The purpose of this study was to implement an Android-based Supplementary Book of Green Consumerism (SBGC) to improve students' HOTS abilities in environmental learning. The method used experiment with a sample of 144 students in 8th grade of Junior High School. Students divided into 72 students in control classes and 72 students in experimental classes. The treatment given was in the form of using SBGC in the experimental classes. The results showed that the students HOTS score increased significantly in the pre-post test in the experimental class or when compared to the control class. Increased in the experimental classes from a score 15.7 (very low) to 32.73 (low). Meanwhile, when compared between the experimental classes with a score 32.73 (low) and control classes with a score 25.25 (very low). This showed that SBGC is easy to understand. SBGC is also interesting so that makes students become active in learning. The conclusion of this study was that SBGC can increased students' HOTS in environmental learning.

The amount of empirical research conducted in the area of differentiated instruction (DI) is overwhelming, necessitating this bibliometric analysis in order to produce an overview of literature on the topic. The objective of this study is to identify the characteristics of the most-cited educational research published on the topic of DI using science mapping and multi-dimensional bibliometric analysis methods. To answer the research questions which were related to: i) publication, ii) authorship, iii) authors’ keywords, and iv) journals, a total of 100 articles published between 1990 and 2018, generated from SCOPUS, were analysed. The results showed that the most-cited articles and the number of publications were highest between 1995 and 2011. With a total of 545 citations “A Time for Telling”, published in the Journal of Cognition and Instruction (1998), was the most cited. The most significant keywords were: a) differentiated instruction, b) differentiation, c) curriculum, d) mathematics, and e) reading. The analysis showed that there were 283 authors who contributed to the 100 articles, and amongst them Carol McDonald Connor was the greatest contributor. It was also revealed that the great majority of the most-cited publications were from Q1-ranked journals. These findings inform scholarly efforts adopted in developing a diverse knowledge base in the field. The findings are important to scholars as they provide an overview of the progress of research on the topic of DI.