Enhancing primary English writing with authentic learning in mobile cloud

This chapter describes the design principles and outcomes of a learning intervention to improve the mathematics abilities related to mental arithmetic and arithmetic/operational skills to solve simple mathematics amongst a group of underprepared first-year Information Technology students at a large university of technology in the Western Cape, South Africa. Although these students had passed mathematics in the South African matriculation examinations, a university placement test showed that their ability in mathematics lay at Grade 6 school level. They had very little understanding of the basic concepts of mathematics as well as a general fear of the subject. Mathematics proficiency of South African school-leavers is generally poor and unequally distributed. The key drivers resulting in poor mathematics results include fear of mathematics, poor teaching, and inadequate resources. Authentic learning offers a means by which the mathematics proficiency of school-leavers can be addressed. Contextualisation develops mathematics concepts and authentic problems can be aligned with students’ careers. The use of everyday objects allows practical exploration, contributing to realistic mathematics. In a mixed method, sequential exploratory study, a series of learning events were designed using the Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate (ADDIE) model. Following the principles of authentic learning, students were given online learning tasks followed by a field trip to a supermarket, where they were exposed to everyday items of various sizes and proportions. With the aid of worksheets, they learned about proportions and fractions. While only 41.27% of the students passed the pre-test, 71.45% passed the post-test. A qualitative analysis of their interview responses showed an increase in their motivation and confidence to complete the subject. The chapter concludes with recommendations for the design of authentic learning experiences in mathematics, as well as suggestions for further development and research.

Authentic learning is widely recognised as critical for graduate employability, yet embedding it across curricula presents challenges, including resourcing, time for redevelopment, and managing large-scale cultural change. Scalable approaches require pilot studies to explore how authentic learning principles can be implemented and scaffolded effectively. This paper presents a case study of an Australian university’s co-created ‘Authentic Learning Blueprint’, designed to embed industry/community engaged learning throughout the learner’s experience. Phase one involved a team of educators, drawing on insights from learners, and employer feedback to co-develop the Blueprint. The Blueprint allows learners to progress through scaffolded stages, Novice, Associate, and Emerging Practitioner, gaining discipline-specific and industry-ready skills through real-world project briefs and work-integrated learning experiences. The Blueprint distributes teaching and learning responsibilities across learners, educators, and industry/community in a three-way partnership model. Learning experiences were designed to reflect knowledge and skills relevant to professional practice. In phase two, the proof-of-concept was applied to two design units, one undergraduate and one postgraduate, and we tested acceptance and scalability, with positive student feedback. Phase three showcases how the Blueprint then informed curriculum redesign within the design school’s flagship course, including trials of ungraded assessment to further support authentic learning. The findings demonstrate that a co-created, scaffolded approach integrating industry-engaged experiences from enrolment to graduation can bridge the gap between academia and professional practice. This study contributes a practical framework for embedding authentic learning at scale, offering insights for institutions seeking to enhance employability through curriculum innovation.

Technology use in classrooms is often employed for all the wrong reasons—such as convenience, pressure from school administrators, the belief that students need to be entertained, and so on. In this article, the authors argue that technology presents the opportunity to employ powerful cognitive tools that can be used by students to solve complex and authentic problems. In order for this to occur, however, technology needs to be used in theoretically sound ways, and it needs to be used by students rather than teachers. Ten practical ways are presented for technology to be used effectively and meaningfully in school classrooms that are based on principles of authentic learning. La technologie, support d’un apprentissage authentique: 10 suggestions et exemples d’intégration dans les classes On emploie souvent la technologie dans les classes pour toutes sortes de mauvaises raisons telles que la facilité, la pression des administrateurs scolaires, la croyance qu’il faut distraire les élèves et ainsi de suite. Dans cet article, nous avançons que la technologie offre la possibilité d’utiliser des outils cognitifs puissants que les étudiants peuvent utiliser pour résoudre des problèmes complexes et authentiques. Pour que cela se produise, il faut cependant utiliser la technologie de façon théoriquement saine et il faut que ce soit les étudiants qui l’utilisent plutôt que les professeurs. Nous présentons 10 modes pratiques d’utilisation effective et pertinente de la technologie dans les classes basés sur les principes de l’apprentissage authentique. Authentisches, von Technik unterstütztes Lernen: 10 Vorschläge und Integrationsmöglichkeiten im Unterricht Der Gebrauch von Technologie im Unterricht wird oft mit all den falschen Argumenten begründet, wie Annehmlichkeit, Druck der Schulaufsicht, dem Glauben, dass Studenten unterhalten werden müssen und so weiter. In diesem Beitrag zeigen wir, dass Technologie Möglichkeiten eröffnet, mächtige von den Studenten zur Lösung komplexer Probleme nutzbare kognitive Werkzeuge anzuwenden. Damit das jedoch passieren kann, muss die Technologie in theoretisch einwandfreier Weise genutzt, außerdem sollte sie mehr von den Schülern als von den Lehrern angewendet werden.Wir präsentieren zehn praktische, auf den Prinzipien des authentischen Lernens beruhenden Möglichkeiten zum effektiven und sinnvollen Technologiegebrauch im Schulunterricht. La tecnología como soporte de un aprendizaje auténtico: 10 sugerencias y casos de integración en las aulas Muchas veces se usa la tecnología en las aulas por muchas malas razones como la comodidad, la presión de los administradores escolares, la creencia de que los alumnos deben ser divertidos y así sucesivamente. En este artículo, apuntamos que la tecnología ofrece la posibilidad de aprovechar poderosas herramientas cognitivas, que los estudiantes pueden utilizar, para solucionar problemas complejos y auténticos. Sin embargo, para llegar a esto, la tecnología debe ser utilizada de manera teóricamente sana y tienen que ser los estudiantes, más bien que los profesores, los que tienen que utilizarla. Presentamos 10 formas prácticas de utilizarla de una manera significativa y efectiva en aulas basadas en los principios del aprendizaje auténtico.

Peer feedback in second language writing: Investigating junior secondary students' perspectives on inter-feedback and intra-feedback

Arts education research over the years has highlighted the situation of nonspecialist preservice primary arts teachers as having little confidence in their own artistic ability and their ability to...

Teacher learning on mathematical modelling is a significant goal of mathematics education. This article presents the results of a study conducted within a course designed for prospective teachers. Rooted in the principles of authentic learning, authentic tasks were designed to promote the prospective teacher's learning of mathematical modelling and its teaching. Data were collected from 18 prospective teachers across two groups of a mathematical modelling course at a public University. Analysis of documents, videos, and interviews evidenced the learning achieved by prospective teachers about learning environment configuration, use of context, and modelling project development. The results of this study provide empirical evidence regarding characteristics and components that configure authentic tasks that contribute to mathematical modelling learning and its teaching. Some implications regarding the way to integrate authenticity in mathematical modelling emerged from this study.

This study investigates the implementation of peer feedback in an advanced English-Chinese translation course. Teacher scaffolding was provided to 20 students who completed two translation-feedback-revision cycles. A survey was then administered to the class, followed by a semi-structured interview with six students. The study yielded rather positive results, with the overall accuracy rate of peer feedback comments and the incorporation rate surpassing 75% in both tasks; students were generally positive about the peer feedback processes; doing peer feedback triggered reflective comparisons and internal feedback mechanisms. The findings provide empirical evidence that peer feedback not only has great potential to enhance student performance, but can also help to promote subsequent action upon feedback, facilitate engagement with translation criteria, and foster the ability to make evaluative judgments.

Ethnicity, native and/or foreign language knowledge, as well as the learned writing systems potentially influence the development of an individual’s handwriting. The unique education system consisting of National schools, Chinese-medium vernacular schools, Tamil-medium vernacular schools, and Islamic religious schools in Malaysia may have established specific characteristic handwritten allographic features that deserve investigation within the intelligence context. This study was aimed to explore handwritten allographic features of handwriting samples from 120 subjects (30 writers from four different educational backgrounds mentioned above). Characteristic features which could be attributed to the study groups were statistically analyzed and identified. In this study, thirteen allographic features, including letters "A", "B", "D", "H", "p", "T", "t", "w", "X" and "x", were found to be discriminative. Such information could serve to indicate the primary education system undergone by a writer; enabling the comparison of different handwriting profiles and allowing characterization of writers to a specific group of people.

Authentic learning is well documented in the education literature, whether drawing upon the dimensions of social capital in which student learning is enhanced through partnerships and group learning or the teacher acting as facilitator. What does this all mean in practice? This reflective article observes a number of practical learning points that embrace the principles of authentic learning as described by the author when making a series of changes to a tourism postgraduate course. This article highlights the role of formalizing incremental learning as a feedback mechanism for nonclassroom learning, which includes the importance of variety in assignments to stimulate creative and critical skills. This article creates a sense of authentic learning through action research, which encompasses a student's construction and negotiation of knowledge, shows how the role of the teacher is that of a facilitator rather than a formal teacher, and finally, presents the difficulties students encounter engaging with this learning approach.

E-portfolios supporting primary students' writing performance and peer feedback

Ever since the first establishment of the public school (primary and secondary school) in Malaysia, the building design for most of the schools is almost the same until now. Public school for primary and secondary education is based on a standard layout designed by the Malaysian Public Works Department. Evolution of varieties education system employed by the schools does not affect the physical design of school. The emergence of awareness on sustainability and promotion towards green way of life has made it crucial for designer to rethink the best design for school in enhancing its environment that could be the “third teacher” to the pupils. The research attempt to explore design criteria of green school in Malaysia based on the critical elements of green initiatives. Recommendation of green/eco school design will be presented based on site and building planning, climate and green technology application

The article highlights the pedagogical ideas of S. Rusova in the context of the socio-cultural concept of the functioning of the developing environment for children of preschool and primary school age on the territory of the then Ukraine. We consider the sociocultural concept of the functioning of developing environments in the pedagogical heritage of S. Rusova in the context of the influence of social and cultural factors on the formation of the child’s personality. The results of the study of printed works and manuscripts from the personal fund of S. Rusova (Form 3889) of the Central State Archive of the highest authorities and administration of Ukraine are evidence of the influence of the environment on the comprehensive development of children of preschool and primary school age and the formation of their social and cultural skills. To achieve the goal of the study, we used the following methods: historical and retrospective methods to study the views of S. Rusova on the role of the developing environment for the social and cultural development of children of preschool and primary school age; constructive-genetic for the analysis of the socio-cultural concept of the functioning of developing environments in the works of S. Rusova; chronological – to establish the time limits of S. Rusova’s pedagogical activity; hermeneutic for a new reading of works and pedagogical materials from the personal archive of S. Rusova. To generalize the data, we used a complex of general scientific and historical-pedagogical research methods: specific historical analysis – with the aim of analyzing the works of S. Rusova about the role of the social and cultural component in creating a developing environment in public institutions for children on the territory of Ukraine within certain chronological limits; generalization of the worked out materials – for the formulation of conclusions, recommendations for the introduction of S. Rusova’s pedagogical ideas into the modern system of preschool and primary education in Ukraine. Application of our research: the results of the research will help teachers creatively adapt the productive ideas of S. Rusova regarding the socio-cultural concept of the functioning of the developing environment for preschool and primary school children in the modern educational space of preschool education institutions and primary schools. The purpose of the study is to highlight the socio-cultural concept of the functioning of developing environments for children of preschool and primary school age in the legacy of Sofia Rusova. To achieve a scientific search, the following tasks have been identified: to highlight the pedagogical views of Sofia Rusova on the creation of developing environments for children of preschool and primary school age, taking into account the socio-cultural factor; to highlight the socio-cultural significance of the developing environment in the personal development of children of preschool and primary school age in the works of Sofia Rusova. Based on the results of studying the theoretical and practical heritage of Sofia Rusova, we have identified ideas that reflect the sociocultural basis of the functioning of developing environments for children of preschool and primary school age. It was revealed that the environments of kindergartens and schools are separate social organizations for the allround development of the child and a factor in the formation of culture. Therefore, the activity of Sofia Rusova was aimed at adapting the software of kindergartens and schools to the individual characteristics of children of preschool and primary school age.

This paper focuses on parental intra-family support of the child, encompassing all interactions between parents and child pertaining to education (proximal processes), occurring within the family. For the purposes of this paper, this support is hereby described by the term parental intra-family support of the child's primary education. The empirical part of the paper aims to address the construction of parental intra-family support of the child's primary education, adapted to the domestic context and parental perspective. Parental intra-family support of the child's education is placed within the paradigm of social constructivism, as viewed through the lens of the Bronfenbrenner bioecological process– person–context–time model and grounded in pedagogical perspective. By adopting a three- component structure of the theoretical framework, this research suggests that the parental construction of their intra-family support of the child's primary education is shaped not only by the characteristics of the parents and child, but also by various narratives conveyed to the parents through social structures that the parents actively process in line with the micro, meso, exo, macro and chrono-contextual factors. The research, based on the described theoretical grounds, has a twofold aim: 1. To identify and systematize a range of parental practices of intra-family support of the child's primary education 2. To describe narratives that dominate parental understanding of their own role in supporting the child's primary education in their microcontext. In this research, the term narratives implies a socially mediated and established understanding of optimal behavior of a parent as a person who supports the child's education within the family. The research originates from qualitative research values (critique of quantitative values, the researcher's subjectivity and reflexivity as a resource, knowledge and meaning as contextual, situated, partial) and the application of qualitative methods of data collection and data analysis. Two methods were applied to collect qualitative data in the study: a parent diary and individual, semi-structured in-depth interview. The combination of the parent diary and the first part of the interview was used to address the first part of the research objective, while the second part of the interview was used to address the second part of the research objective. Bronfenbrenner's process-person-context-time model was used as a guide for shaping the semi-structured interview protocol. The interview protocol itself was observed as developmental, and after each interview it was adjusted according to the reactions of previous participants and focusing on the objective of the research. The data collected in the parent diary and the first part of the interview were analyzed by inductive conventional content analysis according to the steps for conducting inductive content analysis described by Vears and Gillam (2022), where codes were derived directly from the data. The data collected through the second part of the interview were analyzed applying the six phases of reflexive thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke (2022a). A predominantly inductive approach to reflexive thematic analysis was applied, which implies open coding, but also a certain degree of deductive analysis, which ensured that the shaped themes would be relevant to the research objective. When identifying codes/themes, manifest and latent meanings were taken into account. In the coding process, within both methods, the NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used, to an extent that does not compromise the reflexive component of the thematic analysis, and Sonix software was used for the transcription of the interviews. The study involved 24 parents (20 mothers and 4 fathers) of primary education students from Primorje-Gorski Kotar county (N=21) and neighboring counties: Istria County (N=1) and Karlovac County (N=2). The basic criterion that the participants had to meet in order to participate in the survey was that they were parents of at least one primary education student in Primorje-Gorski Kotar, or neighboring counties. Therefore, a convenient participant recruitment strategy was applied, resulting in the desired variability across several key elements: parents' level of education, economic status, employment status, gender, and marital/family structure. However, it should be noted that among the study participants, individuals who had only completed primary school were not represented, nor were parents who assessed their economic status as below average. The final number of participants was within the previously defined range, which was determined using key elements of the pragmatic model to estimate the required number of participants in qualitative studies (Malterud et al., 2016). Potential participants received the Invitation to participate in the research (with an accompanying video) sent through representatives of the Parents' Council. The survey was conducted during the school year 2022/2023. All research phases have been continuously considered and adhered to current research ethics standards in the social sciences. In the research process, I reflexively identified my own assumptions, prejudices, values, personal background and choices, i.e. activities during the research process, and reported on reflexivity supported by the entire research and recording in the reflexive diary. An inductive conventional content analysis resulted in systematization of parental intra-family support of the child's primary education, consisting of four categories (with associated subcategories): 1. Supporting the development of the child's knowledge and skills; 2. Shaping the child's desired behavior; 3. Providing affective support to the child and 4. Supporting the child's interests and affinities. The results obtained by inductive conventional analysis suggest that the participants perceive the concept of education as what includes, but also what goes beyond the process of formal education, therefore they used a number of direct, but also subtle practices of intra-family support of the child's education. The results also suggest that, while there are certain tendencies for parents to adopt certain practices based on their gender, both fathers and mothers are actively engaged in supporting their child's education. The division of roles appears to be influenced more by individual preferences, affinities, and skills rather than strictly by sex/gender. Furthermore, the results showed that among the participants there is no difference in the adoption of certain practices based on the sex/gender of the child. Instead, parental practices appear to be influenced by other child characteristics and contextual factors. The systematization of parental practices identified among the subjects of this research confirmed some previously established systematizations (only partially coinciding with the other level of the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model, 2005). The consolidated systematization brought some new insights into the practices of the parents in the domestic (micro)context, distinguishing it from the existing systematizations/models. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in a description of narratives that dominate parental understandings of their own role in three interrelated themes (with associated subthemes): Social construction of optimal parenting, Social intervention in parenting and Performative action of parents. Starting from a critical perspective to thematic analysis, I wondered what the analysis of parental understandings of their own role potentially tells us about the domestic context. The interpretative analysis of the participants' understandings, brought me to the realization that in the narratives of social structures of the domestic (micro)context, there is a tendency toward high expectations: 1. regarding the child’s competences and academic excellence and 2. regarding intensive parental engagement in the child’s education. This highlights the increasingly widespread ideology of intensive parenting, alongside the growing emphasis on inclusive fatherhood. The following conclusion pointed our that parenting, i.e. parental role in child’s education is a topic present in the social structures at all levels of Bronfenbrenner ecological systems, indicating an increased importance attached to the parental role in the context of child’s education, and consequently an increase in the social responsibilization of the parents. Despite the impact of individual social structures on participant’s beliefs and practices of intra-family support of child's primary education, it has been shown that their role is secondary, i.e. that parents in the target (micro)context still made decisions autonomously and constructed their own parental role and practices of intra-family support of the child's education, in accordance with their own beliefs and capabilities. It has been shown that parental selection of practices is primarily guided by the child’s needs, leading to the conclusion that there is a presence of mindful parenting patterns among the participants of the study.

Learning analytics of peer feedback on communicative skills in an EFL course across different learning modalities

The article highlights the ways of organizing the artistic space of children in educational institutions, which require new approaches aimed at revealing the algorithm of artistic interaction between the teacher and children, directing all efforts to the development of the preschooler's intelligence, his emotional sphere. The formation of artistic competence is a way of humanizing and aestheticizing the pedagogical process and the humanistic position of the teacher, which involves the ability to take responsibility for the fate of the child, his life, spiritual and psychological comfort; focus on the organization of a humane pedagogical process in preschool and primary education, the adequacy of artistic values, the flexibility of professional thinking, the presence of a professional humane orientation. The article is devoted to the current problems of the formation of the aesthetic culture of the younger generation – children of preschool and primary school age. On the basis of empirical research, the pedagogical potential and prospects of methods and forms of art pedagogy in the context of the continuity of preschool and primary education are presented, the key approaches to the definition and characteristics of the concepts of "artistic competence" and "aesthetic culture" in modern psychological and pedagogical research are highlighted and summarized. The essence and significance of aesthetic culture in the spiritual development of a child's personality, art pedagogy as a special direction and the conditions under which education, upbringing and development of a child takes place on the basis of art are determined. The special role of the teacher in the process of aesthetic education of children of preschool and primary school age, development of their emotional sphere, is clarified. As a result of the study, the factors affecting the formation of positive dynamics of the formation of artistic competence in preschool age and its development in primary school age were determined. The article reveals the peculiarities of the formation of artistic competence of children in the conditions of the educational process with the aim of forming the general and aesthetic culture of younger schoolchildren. The authors of the article present the ways and means of forming the artistic and aesthetic competence of children of preschool and primary school age.