Search

Teachers and students have experienced an unusual year in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. To minimize the risk of the epidemic spreading, face-to-face lecturing hours have been reduced, resulting in a substantial need for online instruction. Our project thus aims to develop open access flipped learning resources (e.g. dynamic courseware and instructional videos) for secondary school mathematics teachers and students in Hong Kong. The overarching goal of this study is to make theoretically and empirically supported suggestions for developing the resources. Experiential learning theory was used as the theoretical foundation for developing the resources. A three-cycle recursive instructional design approach involving 34 mathematics educators was used to develop and improve materials that better meet the needs of frontline teachers. Both the qualitative (semi-structured interviews and written feedback) and quantitative (evaluative survey) data collection methods were conducted. The findings of this study reveal the concerns of and requests from our teacher participants, such as providing more detailed guidelines, advanced questions, and interactive quizzes. The findings also reflect the substantial need for open access flipped learning resources in secondary schools. Based on the lessons learned, suggestions are made to inform future development of resources (e.g. inviting retired teachers for assistance).

To address the limitations of general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) tools, we developed a task-oriented AI chatbot based on the 5E (i.e. “engage”, “explore”, “explain”, “elaborate” and “evaluate”) model to scaffold students’ instructional design process. We examined the impact of integrating the 5E instructional model-informed AI chatbot on students’ learning performance and perceptions. The results indicated that the AI chatbot, when combined with human teacher scaffolding, significantly improved the students’ instructional design performance relative to receiving human teacher scaffolding only. The chatbot provided valuable suggestions on instructional design frameworks, class activities and teaching topics during the “explore” phase. In the “evaluate” phase, the chatbot offered immediate feedback on the students’ design plans and proposed alternative instructional frameworks regarding areas for improvement. However, the students expressed concerns about the chatbot’s evaluation quality, noting that it needed to be better aligned with the course assessment rubric. We recommend using AI chatbots for instructional design conceptualisation, although we emphasise the critical role of human teachers in evaluating final design work and providing timely support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted schools and universities worldwide to switch to the online delivery of instructional activities. The use of fully online flipped learning correspondingly increased. This review identifies the challenges to this instructional approach and the elements required for effective course design and implementation across studies during the first two years of the pandemic (i.e. 2020–2021). The aim of this review is to draw on the experience gained through pandemic-led passive practices to establish a foundation for active instructional improvement. In the included articles (N = 70), new challenges (e.g. students' poor in-class participation, instructors' inability to observe students on-screen, and the lack of tangible hands-on practice) emerged when offering flipped courses remotely online. Using the identified course-design elements, this review proposes a RAISE design framework which can inform future practice in five aspects: Resources (e.g. providing instructional videos), Activities (e.g. stressing the application of knowledge and skills), Institutional facilitation (e.g. allocating budgets for educational technology), Support (e.g. employing online tools for student response and collaboration), and Evaluation (e.g. providing formative assessment and instructor feedback). This instructional approach can serve as an alternative to offering quality education independent of locations or during interruptions of campus operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines Grade 9 students' mathematics achievement and cognitive engagement under three different instructional approaches: traditional learning, flipped learning with gamification, and online independent study with gamification. The duration of the study lasted an entire school year. The central theories underpinning flipped learning with gamification design were based on the first principles of Instruction and self-determination theory. A mixed methods approach was used with quantitative (i.e., tests and an optional assignment) and qualitative (i.e., student interviews) methods applied. The test results indicate that students in the flipped class (n = 28) significantly outperformed those in the traditional (n = 27) and online independent study (n = 21) classes. In addition, flipped learning with gamification promoted students' cognitive engagement better than the other two approaches. The findings of student interviews suggest that peer interactions inside the flipped classroom were critical to promoting students' mathematics achievement and cognitive engagement, as opposed to online learning resources and gamification per se. In future practice, teachers can ground their flipped classroom design in the theoretical framework proposed in this study.

Despite the increasing popularity of using video-recorded lectures, we still understand little about how different video styles and study strategies during video lectures may affect student learning. In this paper, we present a systematic investigation of video-recorded lectures in the context of secondary school mathematics education. Study 1 investigated students' (n = 24) preferences and teacher's comments regarding six different video styles in a flipped learning environment. Study 2 consisted of two stages and examined the learning effects of different video styles and study strategies. In Study 2A, we randomly assigned 129 students to one of the three most preferred video styles from Study 1. No significant difference was found among the three video styles in terms of learning performance. Nevertheless, Khan-style + teacher's talking head videos required the least teacher effort and registered the highest mean scores in both the recall and application questions. Study 2B thus focused on this video style and randomly assigned 87 students to two different study strategies: interpolated short-answer quizzes and interpolated copying of worked answers. The results suggest that the interpolation of video lectures with short-answer quizzes significantly improves students' ability to solve novel problems. Overall, we recommend that teachers use Khan-style + teacher's talking head videos with interpolated short-answer quizzes in the future practice of video-recorded lecturing for secondary school mathematics.

In recent years, flipped learning has attracted much attention around the world. This instructional approach is appealing because it can free up class time for knowledge application activities with help from the instructor and peers. However, its implementation can be fraught with challenges. Student disengagement in out-of-class activities, for example, is one of the major challenges of flipped learning. The purpose of this study is to examine whether gamification can enhance student engagement in a flipped course. A comparison study was conducted, involving two classes of undergraduate students in an Information Management course. The results indicated that students in the gamification-enhanced flipped learning group (n = 48) were more likely to complete the pre-class and post-class activities on time than those in the non-gamified flipped learning group (n = 48). Students in the gamification-enhanced flipped learning group also produced higher quality artifacts than the non-gamified flipped learning group in the pre-class thinking activities. Moreover, students in the gamification-enhanced flipped learning group scored significantly higher in the post-course test than did their non-gamified counterparts.