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Background: Painting is the foundational expression across all art forms and is one of the key creative practices for fostering students' aesthetic ability and creativity within fine arts courses. Collaborative painting in the form of socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) can be recognized as an effective strategy for enhancing creativity in both individual and group work. However, the absence of contextual experiences and collaborative spaces poses challenges for students in cultivating their creativity in painting. Objectives: The present study explores students' creativity, socially shared regulation (SSR) and positive painting behaviours using an SSRL‐based collaborative painting approach in the metaverse (Meta‐CP). Methods: Via a quasi‐experimental design, a total of 40 Chinese students in fifth grade were recruited and were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group, with 20 students utilizing the Meta‐CP approach, while the remaining 20 students followed the conventional SSRL‐based paper‐and‐brush collaborative painting (C‐CP) approach. The Meta‐CP approach not only offers an authentic painting context and a collaborative space but also facilitates the collaborative process through the SSRL framework. The data collection included students' creative tendency, painting works and painting process. Results and Conclusions: The Meta‐CP approach effectively enhances students' creativity concerning adventure, curiosity and imagination, as well as results in the creation of more distinctive and logical artistic works. Furthermore, the approach significantly improved the quality of students' SSR. Additionally, students utilizing the Meta‐CP approach displayed more positive painting behaviours compared with those employing the C‐CP approach. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic:Collaborative painting is an effective strategy for enhancing creativity.Socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) fosters collaborative learning.Students in collaborative painting may lack a contextual and synchronized painting space.The metaverse benefits in terms of contextual experiences and collaborative spaces. What this paper adds:Using an SSRL‐based collaborative painting approach in the metaverse (Meta‐CP) is effective in improving students' creativity.The Meta‐CP approach has the potential to improve students' quality of socially shared regulation (SSR), and positive painting behaviours. Implications for practice and/or policy:The metaverse provides an immersive synchronized painting space for art education to stimulate students' creative potential.The metaverse with proper learning strategies (e.g., SSRL) provides an effective collaborative learning environment for creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Studies: Captioning and repetition are widely used multimedia instructional devices for non‐native students. Generally, studies in this area have tended to focus on second language literacy skills rather than on learning new content knowledge. Additionally, posttests were administered immediately after the treatments, while the delayed influences of captioning and repetition have never been investigated. Objectives: This paper addressed these research gaps in two separate studies. More specifically, this study attempted to examine the influences of captioning and repetition on non‐native students' immediate and relayed retention. Methods: In Study One, three captioning conditions; word‐by‐word captions, closed captions, and no‐captions; were compared to examine their efficacies in immediate and delayed content knowledge retention on 82 Chinese university students. To address the limitations in Study One as the multimedia lesson was short and played only once, Study Two incorporated captioning and two repetition types in its design. One hundred and eleven Chinese university students watch a video lesson in one of four captioning and repetition conditions. Results: The statistical analyses of Study One indicated that there were no significant differences in both immediate and delayed retention test scores across the three captioning condition. Similarly, in Study Two, there were no significant differences in retention tests scores across the four captioning and repetition conditions. Findings: Neither the availability of captions nor the repetition types had any impact on the Chinese students' immediate or delayed content knowledge retention, which lent support to existing studies. Based on the research results, the limitations and future study possibilities are discussed. Lay Description: What Is Already Known About This TopicEmpirical studies on captioning have focused on immediate learning right after the treatment, so have studies on repetition.Empirical studies on multimedia lessons for non‐native students have focused on English language learning. What This Paper AddsThree types of captioning were compared to examine their efficacies in both immediate and delayed content retention of Chinese students.Two types of repetition were compared to examine their efficacies in both immediate and delayed content retention of Chinese students. Implications for Practice and/or Policy:Neither the availability of captions nor the repetition types had any impact on the Chinese students' immediate or delayed content knowledge retention.The availability of textual keywords adjacent to their corresponding graphics might have compromised the efficacy of captioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inquiry‐based learning is a salient instructional approach to cultivate students' higher order thinking skills (HOTS). With the presence and advancement of new technologies, their usage for inquiry learning in university context is increasingly ubiquitous. However, in most circumstances, college students cannot integrate technologies to their inquiry learning in efficient ways or their abilities to use technologies are not good enough. Previous studies found that intrinsic motivation (IM), peer interaction (PI) and classroom connectedness (CC) were key factors to influence students' approaches to using technologies from the personal, behavioural and environmental perspectives. Objectives: This study investigated the influence of these three essential learning factors (IM, PI and CC) on students' HOTS and the mediate influence of deep approach to using technologies (DAUT) between these learning factors and HOTS in the technology‐enhanced open inquiry‐based learning context. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 80 university students who had studied with the technology‐enhanced open inquiry‐based learning approach. The partial least squares method was employed to investigate the relationships among learning factors, DAUT and HOTS. Results and Conclusions: Results showed that CC and PI were positively directly related to HOTS. DAUT was a significant mediator between two (i.e., IM and PI) of the three learning factors and HOTS. The findings of the study have practical implications for instructors, indicating that they should pay attention to students' IM and PI in deepening their approach to using technologies as well as to improve students' HOTS in technology‐enhanced open inquiry‐based learning. Lay Description: What Is Already Known About This Topic: Inquiry‐based learning is considered to be a salient instructional approach to cultivate students' higher order thinking skills (HOTS).Technologies usage in inquiry learning is ubiquitous in university context.In most cases, college students are not able to integrate technologies in their inquiry learning in effective ways. What This Paper Adds: This paper proposed a research model that explains and predicts the mediating influence of deep approach to using technologies on the association between learning factors and HOTS in the technology‐enhanced open inquiry‐based learning context.The mediating effect of approaches to using technologies between learning factors and HOTS was identified.Two of the three learning factors (peer interaction and classroom connectedness) had direct effect on HOTS.Deep approaches to using technologies variable significantly mediates two of the three learning factors (peer interaction and intrinsic motivation) and HOTS. Implications for Practice or Policy: Instructors should pay attention to students' intrinsic motivation (IM) and peer interaction in order to deepen their approach to using technologies.Instructors should pay particular attention to peer interaction and classroom connectedness when conducting technology‐enhanced open inquiry‐based learning activities to improve college students' HOTS.Students' interest improvement and IM in using technologies, the integration of technologies and open inquiry‐based learning activities could be discussed and decided by both the instructor and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Higher vocational education is an essential part of the higher education system that complements conventional education. In the context of information and communication technology (ICT) development and academic competition, more and more literature has proved the importance of ICT use in educational development (academic achievement and mental health) and the relationship between information literacy and the educational development of higher vocational students. Objectives: Based on one of the most extensive surveys of higher vocational students, the study combined the Opportunity‐Propensity (O‐P) framework and ecological model to explore the direct effects of different types of ICT use on educational development and the indirect effects from psychological and social factors. Methods: The data involved 28,956 students from seven higher vocational colleges. The class fixed effect and causal mediation analysis models verified the results. Results and Conclusion: The results found differential effects of different types of ICT use on academic achievement and mental health. Information literacy ability can improve the academic achievement of higher vocational students, but at the cost of mental health. ICT use not only directly impacts the academic achievement and mental health, but also has an indirect impact through psychological factors represented by self‐efficacy and technostress and social factors represented by social support. Implications: This study promotes integrating and expanding the O‐P framework and ecological model, enriching the relevant research in ICT use and educational development. Meanwhile, it also provides practical suggestions for realizing rational interventions in ICT use and improving the educational development level of higher vocational students. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Information and communication technology (ICT) use is closely related to the educational development of higher vocational students.The trend of ICT use in higher vocational education has become increasingly apparent.The effects of ICT use are heterogeneous among groups with different information literacy. What this paper adds: O‐P framework and ecological model provide the perspective of theoretical integration.The impact of different types of ICT use on educational development varies.Information literacy can improve academic achievement at the cost of mental health.Psychological and social factors play a mediating role in educational development. Implications for practice and/or policy: The research is helpful to guide students to allocate their time reasonably for different ICT uses.Mental health counselling should be strengthened while cultivating information literacy ability.Develop appropriate ICT usage strategies for students with different information literacy.It is helpful to develop appropriate interventions from a psychological and social perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Investigating emotion sequence patterns in the posts of discussion forums in massive open online courses (MOOCs) holds a vital role in shaping online interactions and impacting learning achievement. While the majority of research focuses on the relationship between emotions and interactions in MOOC forum discussions, research on identifying the crucial difference in emotion sequence patterns among different interaction groups remains in its infancy. Objectives: This research utilizes deep learning and sequential pattern mining to investigate whether there are differences in emotion sequence patterns across different groups of learners who exhibit various types of interactions in online discussion forums. Methods: Data from a comprehensive array of sources, including log files, discussion texts and scores from 498 learners in online discussion forums, were collected for this study. The agglomerative hierarchical algorithm is used to classify learners into groups with different levels of interactions. Additionally, we implement and evaluate multiple deep learning models for detecting different emotions from online discussions. Relevant emotion sequence patterns were identified using sequence pattern analysis and the identified emotion sequence patterns were compared across different groups with different levels of interactions. Results and Conclusions: Using an agglomerative hierarchical algorithm, we classified learners into three distinct groups characterized by different levels of interactions: high, average and low level. Leveraging the bi‐directional long short‐term memory model for emotion detection yielded the highest predictive performance, with an impressive F‐measure of 94.01%, a recall rate of 93.83% and an accuracy score of 95.01%. The results also revealed that learners in the low‐level interaction group experienced more emotion transition from boredom to frustration than the other two groups. Therefore, the aggregation of students into groups and the utilization of their MOOC log data offer educators the capability to provide adaptive emotional feedback, customize assessments and offer more personalized attention as needed. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Emotions are dynamic over time when learners experience cognitive disequilibrium/equilibrium.Online interactions are critical components, which influence learners' emotional state, cognitive processes and learning achievement.It is not clear what are differences in emotion sequence patterns across the groups with different interaction types. What the paper adds: An agglomerative hierarchical algorithm was implemented to cluster learners into three groups by analysing behavioural data.We explore possibilities for automated classification of emotions using deep learning approaches.Learners in the low‐level interaction group experienced more emotion transition from boredom to frustration. Implications for practitioners: A considerable amount of effort should be expended to identify and respond to learners who experience boredom and frustration emotions.Designing interventions or scaffolding to facilitate learners' interaction and promote favourable emotions.Educators could provide more personalized support based on learners' online interaction cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peer assessment has played an important role in large‐scale online learning, as it helps promote the effectiveness of learners' online learning. However, with the emergence of numerical grades and textual feedback generated by peers, it is necessary to detect the reliability of the large amount of peer assessment data, and then develop an effective automated grading model to analyse the data and predict learners' learning results. Objectives: The present study aimed to propose an automated grading model with reliability detection. Methods: A total of 109,327 instances of peer assessment from a large‐scale teacher online learning program were tested in the experiments. The reliability detection approach included three steps: recurrent convolutional neural networks (RCNN) was used to detect grade consistency, bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) was used to detect text originality, and long short‐term memory (LSTM) was used to detect grade‐text consistency. Furthermore, the automated grading was designed with the BERT‐RCNN model. Results and Conclusions: The effectiveness of the automated grading model with reliability detection was shown. For reliability detection, RCNN performed best in detecting grade consistency with an accuracy rate of 0.889, BERT performed best in detecting text originality with an improvement of 4.47% compared to the benchmark model, and LSTM performed best with an accuracy rate of 0.883. Moreover, the automated grading model with reliability detection achieved good performance, with an accuracy rate of 0.89. Compared to the absence of reliability detection, it increased by 12.1%. Implications: The results strongly suggest that the automated grading model with reliability detection for large‐scale peer assessment is effective, with the following implications: (1) The introduction of reliability detection is necessary to help filter out low reliability data in peer assessment, thus promoting effective automated grading results. (2) This solution could assist assessors in adjusting the exclusion threshold of peer assessment reliability, providing a controllable automated grading tool to reducing manual workload with high quality. (3) This solution could shift educational institutions from labour‐intensive grading procedures to a more efficient educational assessment pattern, allowing for more investment in supporting instructors and learners to improve the quality of peer feedback. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Peer assessment has played an important role in large‐scale online learning, as it helps promote the effectiveness of learners' online learning.Issues such as disagreement between peer assessors, rough assessment, and plagiarism in large‐scale online learning can decrease peer assessment reliabilityIncorporating extensive data into a training model may result in grading uncertainties. What this paper adds: Detecting the peer assessment reliability before grading is essential in the context of large‐scale online learning.This study aimed to propose and validate an automated grading model with reliability detection for the large‐scale online peer assessment, which will help improve the effectiveness of automated grading, combining the advantages of computer technology and human expertise. Implications for practice and/or policy: The introduction of reliability detection is necessary to help filter out low reliability data in peer assessment, thus promoting effective automated grading results.This solution could assist assessors in adjusting the exclusion threshold of peer assessment reliability, providing a controllable automated grading tool to reducing manual workload with high quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data literacy (DL) is vital for teachers, as it enables them to build on data and improve teaching and learning. Therefore, developing DL among pre‐service teachers is critical. Objectives: The purpose of this study is threefold: to evaluate whether a feedback visualisation of peer assessment‐based teaching approach (FVPA‐based teaching approach) can (1) promote pre‐service teachers' DL; (2) enhance their learning motivation; and (3) improve their cognitive load. Methods: The research was conducted based on a pre‐test‐post‐test control group quasi‐experimental design. With 20 participants in the experimental group and 21 in the control group, a total of 41 pre‐service teachers were included in the study. The pre‐service teachers in the experimental group adopted the FVPA‐based teaching approach, and those in the control group adopted the traditional peer assessment‐based learning approach. Results and Conclusions: The experimental group participants outperformed the control group participants in DL, learning motivation, and cognitive load. FVPA was conducive to helping pre‐service teachers critically interpret data, understand their teaching and learning issues, and improve self‐reflection. The findings indicate a reciprocal relationship between learning motivation and DL; improving the learning motivation of pre‐service teachers could promote their DL. Implications: This study contributes to current knowledge by providing empirical evidence on the benefits of an FVPA‐based teaching approach in improving pre‐service teachers' DL, motivation, and cognitive load. The study findings, limitations, and prospects for future research are discussed. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Teacher data literacy has emerged as a crucial competency for the forthcoming generation of educators, gaining attention from education institutions globally.Peer assessment, a well‐established practice in pre‐service teacher education, has proven effective in enhancing the learning experience for disadvantaged students by fostering motivation and improving academic performance.Despite the acknowledged benefits of feedback visualisation in facilitating self‐reflection, motivation, and academic performance, creating meaningful visualisations remains a challenge for educators and learners. What this paper adds?: This study introduces feedback visualisation in peer assessment to enhance comprehension of feedback information among pre‐service teachers.Feedback visualisation augments the benefits derived from peer assessment, refining data literacy, improving learning motivation, and alleviating cognitive load among pre‐service educators.The analysis of data directly relevant to pre‐service teachers and the provision of timely feedback can motivate critical analysis and utilisation of data, facilitating the identification of pedagogical and learning challenges.The study explores intricate interactions among learning motivation, data literacy, and cognitive load within the context of peer assessment visual feedback. The implications of study findings for practitioners: We encourage teacher educators to implement peer assessment instruction grounded in visual feedback for a comprehensive understanding of learning outcomes, identification of pedagogical challenges, determination of causes, and evidence‐informed instructional decision‐making.Teacher educator should diversify strategies to augment the motivation of pre‐service teachers, cultivating their proactive engagement in data analysis, interpretation, and application to enhance overall data literacy.We recommend that teacher educators provide rich visual feedback or present complex data in a visually accessible format for pre‐service teachers who need additional assistance to mitigate cognitive load and facilitate successful learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited research on the effectiveness of additional online and face‐to‐face practise opportunities for promoting active learning among Chinese EFL learners in higher education. Current understanding of self‐regulated and collaborative learning theories in educational contexts. Objectives: To establish the efficacy of interactive online and face‐to‐face practise opportunities for enhancing active learning among Chinese EFL learners. Methods: Employed mixed methods research to assess the impact of different types of practise opportunities on 116 EFL learners. Utilised methodological triangulation of QUAN + QUAL data and one‐way ANOVA for interpretation. Results and conclusions: The study demonstrated the effectiveness of integrating online and face‐to‐face practise opportunities to enhance active learning. Empirical evidence supports the pedagogical and theoretical benefits of these opportunities for promoting active learning among EFL learners. Lay Summary: What is currently known about this topic: Limited scholarly exploration of supplementary practise opportunities for active learning among Chinese EFL learnersExisting understanding of self‐regulated and collaborative learning theories in educational contexts What does this paper add: Establishes the effectiveness of interactive online and face‐to‐face practise opportunities for promoting active learningProvides empirical evidence supporting the integration of these opportunities to enhance active learning Implications for practise/or policy: Advocates for the combined use of online and face‐to‐face practise opportunities to enrich engagement, problem‐solving, feedback, and motivation among EFL learnersSuggests the development of instructional frameworks based on self‐regulated and collaborative learning theories for enhanced CALL courses [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the development of computational literacy, there has been a surge in both research and practice application of text‐based and block‐based modalities within the field of computer programming education. Despite this trend, little work has actually examined how learners engaging in programming process when utilizing these two major programming modalities, especially in the context of secondary education settings. Objectives: To further compare programming effects between and within text‐based and block‐based modalities, this research conducted a quasi‐experimental research in China's secondary school. Methods: An online programming platform, Code4all, was developed to allow learners to program in text‐based and block‐based modalities. This research collected multimodal data sources, including programming platform data, process data, and performance data. This research further utilized multiple learning analytics approaches (i.e., clustering analysis, click stream analysis, lag‐sequential analysis and statistics) to compare learners' programming features, behavioural patterns and knowledge gains under two modalities. Results and Conclusions: The results indicated that learners in text‐based modality tended to write longer lines of code, encountered more syntactical errors, and took longer to attempt debugging. In contrast, learners in block‐based modality spent more time operating blocks and attempt debugging, achieving better programming knowledge performances compared to their counterparts. Further analysis of five clusters from the two modalities revealed discrepancies in programming behavioural patterns. Implications: Three major pedagogical implications were proposed based on empirical research results. Furthermore, this research contributed to the learning analytics literature by integrating process‐oriented and summative analysis to reveal learners' programming learning quality. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Programming has the potential to improve learners' higher‐order thinking skills.Block‐based and text‐based modalities are two major instructional methods.There has been a growing interest to understand how learning occurs in two modes.Most previous work has evaluated two modalities based on learners' knowledge, skills, and attitudes. What this paper adds: Code4all allows learners to programming in text‐based and block‐based modalities.Quasi‐experimental research was conducted to examine block‐based and text‐based programming modalities.Multimodal learning analytics were used to compare programming under two modalities.Learners' programming features, behaviouralbehavioral patterns, and knowledge gains were identified under two modalities. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Instructors should integrate text‐based and block‐based modalities into programming courses.Process‐oriented assessment should be integrated with summative assessment. Adaptive, timely scaffoldings should be provided with the external support (this should be marked like above two points). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deep discussions play an important role in students' online learning. However, researchers have largely focused on engaging students in deep discussions in online asynchronous forums. Few studies have investigated how to promote deep discussion via mobile instant messaging (MIM). Objectives: In this study, we applied learning analytical tools (i.e., KBdeX and word clouds) to enhance students' shared epistemic agency and thereby support their deep discussions in MIM. Methods: Forty Chinese college students participated in this study and reflected on their MIM engagement by participating in the learning analytics (LA)‐augmented meta‐discourse sessions. The study used multiple data analysis methods, including content analysis, statistical analysis, epistemic network analysis and lag sequential analysis. Results: We found that LA engaged students in deep discussions and shared epistemic agency‐related discourse, such as creating shared understanding, creating knowledge objects, and projective and regulative processes. In particular, word clouds engaged students in more complete shared epistemic agency discourse trajectory which started from creating awareness of unknowns, then progressed to setting projective plans and sharing information, and ultimately, creating shared understanding. Moreover, our analysis indicated that epistemic agency discourse moves of creating shared understanding led students to a high level of deep discussion. Implications: This study contributes to research by extending the 'comparison paradigm', which focuses on comparing (a)synchronous forums with MIM, to a 'design paradigm', which mobilises design features from (a)synchronous forums to MIM and using learning analytical tools to engage students in deep online discussions by promoting their epistemic agency. Lay Description: What is known in this subject matter: Supporting students' online deep discussions is important.Prior studies have shown multiple technological and pedagogical strategies to support deep discussions in (a)synchronous discussion forums, but few studies in mobile instant messaging (MIM).MIM is a quasi‐synchronous tool. It is difficult to transform the traditional external scaffolds (i.e., scripts or teachers' facilitation) which promote deep discussions from (a)synchronous forums to MIM. What this paper adds to this: We constructed a design framework which used learning analytical tools‐augmented meta‐discourse to engage students in shared epistemic agency discourse moves to promote their deep discussion in MIM.We conducted multiple types of analyses (content analysis, statistical analysis, epistemic network analysis and lag sequential analysis) on students' WeChat message (a major MIM in China).Results indicated both learning analytical tools helped engage students in shared epistemic agency discourse moves, such as creating shared understanding, creating knowledge objects, projective and regulative, thus, to promote students' deep discussions. Word cloud especially engaged students in more complete shared epistemic agency discourse trajectory. Moreover, analysis results indicated that shared epistemic agency discourse moves of creating shared understanding would lead students to a high level of deep discussions. Implications of study findings for practitioners: Our study provides a feasible way to educational practitioners who want to promote students' deep discussions in their online learning course (both fully online and flipped classroom mode).Knowledge Building Discourse Explorer (KBDeX presents the original analysis results of students' written messages in discussion forums as socio‐cognitive networks.) could be implemented in the classroom. The objective is to encourage students to understand the importance of connecting with peers' ideas in a one‐session implementation period.If time allows, teachers could use word cloud and meta‐discourse to engage students in socio‐metacognitive conversations in class to promote their shared epistemic agency discourse in online discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Study: Technology‐supported learning environments, act as significant observational and enabling indicators for evaluating and encouraging the digital revolution of education, are of vital importance in current educational research. Keeping track of the dynamics of technology‐supported learning environment research allows for the enrichment of theoretical studies and a prompt innovation of talent‐training environments. Objectives: The present study carried out a bibliometric analysis of the core collection of WoS database over the last two decades. Method: This study is a bibliometric research. We applied CiteSpace and VOSviewer for co‐occurrence and evolution analysis. In addition, we extracted the fundamental ideas and thoughts through reading and analysis. Results: First, the study found that technology‐supported learning environment research is in a growth phase, with core journals such as Interactive Learning Environments or Computers & Education. The findings show that a core research team comprised of such scholars as Hwang Gwo‐Jen, Lester James C. and Wong Lung‐Hsiang. Key nations of publishing and research strength are from China, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Second, the hot topics in research on technology‐supported learning environments were virtual learning environments, technology‐enabled learning environments and interactive learning environments. Nine study specifics were derived from these three topics such as moulding function, generating scenario, stimulating sensation, effect verification, design idea, research reflection, inquiry and research, virtual community, and mixed environment. Lastly, the frontier evolution offers a pattern of development from enhancing performance to changing mode to incorporating experience. Conclusion: Looking ahead, our research recommendations for the field of technology‐supported learning environments include a multifaceted approach. We should aim to enhance research designs and methodologies, develop contemporary guiding theories and strive for a balanced representation across various educational domains, expanding our scope to encompass all academic disciplines. In terms of practical application, it is imperative to focus on the design and implementation of technology‐supported learning environments from three critical perspectives: "change‐demand," "student‐learning" and "online‐offline." These approaches will collectively ensure that technology‐supported learning environments are both innovative and responsive to the diverse needs of the educational landscape. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Technology‐supported learning environments are currently a focal and hot research topic in the field of education.Although numerous studies have been conducted on the learning environment of technical support, there has yet to be a systematic and comprehensive review of the related research. What this paper adds: This study provides a comprehensive review of research on the technology‐supported learning environments over the past two decades.This study primarily presents an overview of research on the technology‐supported learning environments over the past two decades, focusing on main literature, research strength, hot topics and frontier evolution. Implications for practice and/or policy: Researchers need to further advance research on technology‐supported learning environments by enriching research designs and methods, constructing up‐to‐date guiding theories and achieving a balance across different educational domains while extending the reach to all disciplines.Educational practitioners need to pay attention to the design and implementation of technology‐supported learning environments from the three viewpoints of "change‐demand," "student‐learning" and "online‐offline." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As adequate support, virtual reality (VR) has been increasingly introduced into the classroom to help students learn a new language. However, empirical studies exploring the educational potential of using 360° spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) in high‐school Chinese language classrooms are still lacking. Objectives: A mind mapping‐based SVVR learning system is proposed for international high‐school students' Chinese courses and examines its effects on improving Chinese learning achievements and perceptions among Grade 10 students who learn Chinese as a foreign language. Methods: This study adopted a quasi‐experiment design. Participants (N = 66) were assigned to one of three conditions: mind mapping‐based SVVR (MMBSVVR), conventional SVVR (CSVVR), or traditional lecturing (TL). Our mixed‐method approach employed pre‐and post‐tests to measure Chinese learning achievements, questionnaires to measure Chinese learning motivation, problem‐solving ability, and self‐efficacy, and semi‐structured interviews to further explore students' feelings and attitudes about Chinese courses in corresponding learning environments. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that the MMBSVVR classroom significantly improved high students' Chinese learning achievements in Chinese vocabulary and making sentence, problem‐solving ability, and self‐efficacy. Moreover, SVVR stimulates students' learning interest and class participation, and mind mapping provides students with a clear guide to arrange the knowledge. These findings help interpret the relationships between MMBSVVR and learning achievements, Chinese learning motivation, problem‐solving ability, and self‐efficacy in an international high school Chinese courses, thus providing insight on integrating MMBSVVR into existing classrooms. Lay Description: What is Already Known about this Topic: By creating fully immersive 3D environments, 360° spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) in promoting language learning has been confirmed by many scholars with a focus on English language learning.Mind mapping effectively enables second language learners to review and retain new words in the target language meaningfully. Also, it can create a more vivid learning atmosphere through images and graphics and promote learners' memory and learning motivation. What This Paper Adds: A mind mapping‐based SVVR learning system has been developed with the support of the constructivism theory.A mind mapping‐based SVVR learning system is proposed to facilitate international students' Chinese learning performance in Chinese vocabulary acquisition and sentence construction.In addition to promoting international students' learning outcomes, the proposed approach indicated promising results in learning motivation, problem‐solving ability, and self‐efficacy. Implications for Practice and/or Policy: This study provides an evidence base for further research through the utilization of VR learning environments in Chinese language classrooms.This study advocates introducing SVVR technology in the Chinese learning classrooms to increase the learning context for international students. It is also worth encouraging scholars to design VR learning systems with different learning strategies.Due to the cognitive requirements of the Chinese language learning process, it is necessary to introduce mind maps in the SVVR learning system to assist students in constructing knowledge and combining prior and new knowledge to generate long‐term memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assignments that involve writing based on several texts are challenging to many learners. Formative feedback supporting learners in these tasks should be informed by the characteristics of evolving written product and by the characteristics of learning processes learners enacted while developing the product. However, formative feedback in writing tasks based on multiple texts has almost exclusively focused on essay product and rarely included SRL processes. Objectives: We explored the viability of using product and process features to develop machine learning classifiers that identify low‐ and high‐performing essays in a multi‐text writing task. Methods: We examined learning processes and essay submissions of 163 graduate students working on an authentic multi‐text writing assignment. We utilised learners' trace data to obtain process features and state‐of‐the‐art natural language processing methods to obtain product features for our classifiers. Results and Conclusions: Of four popular classifiers examined in this study, Random Forest achieved the best performance (accuracy = 0.80 and recall = 0.77). The analysis of important features identified in the Random Forest classification model revealed one product (coverage of reading topics) and three process (elaboration/organisation, re‐reading and planning) features as important predictors of writing quality. Major Takeaways: The classifier can be used as a part of a future automated writing evaluation system that will support at scale formative assessment in writing tasks based on multiple texts in different courses. Based on important predictors of essay performance, a guidance can be tailored to learners at the outset of a multi‐text writing task to help them do well in the task. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Both product and process features should be used to inform formative feedback on writing.Providing product‐ and process‐oriented feedback to learners is challenging.Automatic writing evaluation systems have mainly relied upon product features.Automated analysis of learners' trace data and their essay drafts is a promising venue. What this paper adds?: An accurate machine learning classifier that identifies low‐ and high‐scoring essays.The classifier utilized both product and process features.We obtained process features from learners' trace data in digital learning environment.We computed product features using state‐of‐the‐art text analytical methods. Implications for practice and/or policy: The classifier can be used as a part of a future automated writing evaluation system.We revealed learning processes and essay characteristics that influence performance.Based on important predictors of performance, formative feedback can be given to learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Study: The effects of the flipped classroom (FC) on students' academic performance remain ambiguous, and the use of pre‐class videos may be one of the main factors hindering students' progress. A software package called GeoGebra has been proposed as a substitute for pre‐class videos to aid students' learning. Objective: This study investigates the effect of the FC using GeoGebra (FCG) on mathematical performance and memory among senior secondary students. Methods: One hundred and sixty students of a senior high school in China were selected. A quasi‐experimental design was implemented in which the classes were split into the intervention group (FCG), control group A (FCV) and control group B (TL) by random assignment. Pretest, Post‐test 1 and Post‐test 2 were introduced. Results and Conclusion: The results indicate that both the FCG and the FC with pre‐class videos (FCV) were more effective than traditional lectures in enhancing students' academic test scores, and that the effect of the FCG was comparable to its video counterpart, F(2, 136) = 3.752, ρ = 0.026, η2 = 0.052. Although their effects were similar, the qualitative results revealed some hidden benefits associated with the replacement of pre‐class video with GeoGebra. Furthermore, although they were equally effective in promoting students' performance in the short‐term, the long‐term effects on academic performance of both forms of FC were non‐significant when compared with traditional lectures. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Flipped classroom is an effective strategy in teaching mathematics.Among those challenges, video may be one of the main factors hindering the effect of flipped classroom. What this paper adds: GeoGebra could be an effective alternative to video.Effect between the flipped classroom using GeoGebra and the flipped classroom using video were similar.Both the flipped classroom with GeoGebra and the flipped classroom with videos were more effective than traditional lectures. Implications for practice and/or policy: Students' short‐term performance could be enhanced by visualisation provided by flipped classroom.To enhance students' long‐term performance, an appropriate amount of homework is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Study: As flipped learning is a flexible pedagogical methodology to tailor students' needs and maximize the learning effects, this study integrated peer learning with MosoTeach‐supported flipped mode in an undergraduate blended EFL course. MosoTeach is a popular online learning platform in China with a variety of learning resources. Objectives: The study aimed to test the impact of MosoTeach flipped learning (MTFL) mode on undergraduate EFL students' perceived motivation, participation, feedback, and test performance. Methods: A quasi‐experimental design was carried out in Z university during the spring semester of 2020, with the experimental group (n = 34) adopting the MTFL model and a control group (n = 33) the non‐flipped mode. Results and Conclusions: The independent t‐test results showed that the experimental MTFL group outperformed the control group in post‐test scores, and a positive correlation was found in the relationship between the experimental MTFL group's post‐test scores and MosoTeach learning experience points (LEPs). Moreover, the course perception questionnaire survey indicated a higher level of students' perceived motivation, participation, and feedback in the experimental MTFL group, which corresponded to the results of the content analysis of students' responses to open‐ended questions and reflective reports. But students in both groups experienced challenges such as isolation, procrastination and technological anxiety. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topicFlipped language learning is mostly reported to be effective in improving EFL learning.Peer learning is mostly reported to be effective in improving EFL learning.MosoTeach was investigated in English learning contexts before, but without experimental design. What this paper addsMosoTeach proved as a valid online learning platform in flipped language learning, and the learning experience points (LEPs) on MosoTeach could predict students' exam performance.Students in the experimental group (MosoTeach‐supported flipped) had better exam performance and a higher level of motivation, participation and feedback.Students in both groups experienced isolation, procrastination and technological anxiety. Implications for practice:Peer discussion boards in MosoTeach provide learning support effectively for students in pre‐class learning.Group projects and peer assessment in MosoTeach integrate pre‐class peer discussion into in‐class interaction successfully.MosoTeach provides equal opportunity for every student in the large‐size Chinese English classes, thus contributing to the equity of in‐class peer interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Integrating programming in K‐12 curriculum has become a global consensus. Teachers are central figures in programming instruction. But the majority of current research focuses on teachers' external teaching behaviours and less on teachers' attitudes towards programming. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to validate the K‐12 in‐service Teacher Programming Attitudes Scale (TPAS), to analyse teachers' programming attitudes and their differences in personal, teaching, and environmental factors, and further explore the predictive relationship. Methods: The sample is 888 K‐12 teachers from China. First, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were adopted to validate the availability and reliability of TPAS; Second, independent sample t‐test and one‐way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were adopted to explain the differences. Finally, correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were adopted to verify the correlation and prediction relationship. Results and Conclusion: TPAS possess good reliability and validity (χ2/df = 2.488, RMSEA = 0.055, CFI = 0.943, TLI = 0.935, and IFI = 0.943). Further analysis found that, first of all, male teachers possess more positive programming attitudes than female teachers; second, young teachers who are under 30 and the length of teaching under 5 years possess more positive programming attitudes; thirdly, in addition to Information and Communication Technology teachers, primary science teachers also possess high programming attitudes, followed by teachers of Humanities and Arts, reflecting the potential of teaching programming in integrated subjects and the humanities. Finally, primary school teachers possess the best programming attitudes. With the growth of grade, teachers' enthusiasm for programming has gradually decreased. Additionally, discipline, grade and gender factors were considered to predict K‐12 teachers' programming attitudes. Implications: The results of this study contribute to integrating programming teaching of teachers and promoting programming education in K‐12 classrooms. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic:.Integrating programming in K‐12 curriculum has become the consensus for most countries.Teacher is one of the core figures of K‐12 programming teaching.There is currently less attention paid to teachers' attitudes towards programming.K‐12 teachers' programming attitudes measurement tool is needed to analyze the impact of various factors on teachers' programming attitudes. What this paper adds: The K‐12 teacher programming attitude scale (TPAS) is developed and validated.Male teachers and teachers under the age of 30 and under the length of teaching of five years possess more positive programming attitudes.Information and Communication Technology teachers and primary school Science teachers possess high programming attitudes.Discipline, grade and gender factors are considered to predict K‐12 teachers' programming attitudes. Implications for practice and/or policy: The K‐12 Teacher's Programming Attitude Scale (TPAS) fills the gap in measurements of teachers' programming attitudes.The study results provide the guidance for interdisciplinary programming teaching for K‐12 teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In a context where synchronous online teaching has become a new trend of instruction for online education due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, it is valuable and insightful to examine what factors contribute to teachers' satisfaction with synchronous online teaching. Objective: Informed by the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study investigated English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language (EFL) university teachers' synchronous online teaching satisfaction in China from social (i.e., subjective norms), institutional (i.e., facilitating conditions), and individual (i.e., self‐efficacy, attitudes toward use, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use) levels during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: A total of 250 in‐service EFL university teachers participated in this study. An online questionnaire was adaptively developed to measure teachers' perceptions of and satisfaction with synchronous online teaching. The structural equation modelling (i.e., path analyses) was performed to find out a model that can best represent EFL university teachers' synchronous online teaching satisfaction. Results and Conclusion: The results showed that facilitating conditions, self‐efficacy, attitudes toward use, and perceived usefulness are direct contributors to EFL university teachers' satisfaction with synchronous online teaching. Whereas, perceived ease of use, self‐efficacy, and subjective norms are indirect contributors through the mediation of attitudes toward use. Moreover, different from previous TAM research, facilitating conditions have been found to be the most significant direct factor positively contributing to satisfaction. The findings of this study are expected to shed light on how to enhance teachers' synchronous online teaching satisfaction. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The technology acceptance model (TAM) has been frequently adopted to examine teachers' acceptance of technology in various contexts over the last two decades.The TAM model identifies three key factors that contribute to people's intention of technology use: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of, and attitudes toward technology use.Although the TAM model has been extensively examined in various technology‐supported teaching contexts, there has been a lack of focus on livestream technology‐supported synchronous online teaching. What the paper adds: EFL university teachers' synchronous online teaching satisfaction during the COVID‐19 in China.Teachers' satisfaction with synchronous online teaching is a joint interplay of individual (i.e., self‐efficacy, attitudes toward use, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use), institutional (i.e., facilitating conditions), and social (i.e., subjective norms) factors.Facilitating conditions, self‐efficacy, attitudes toward use, and perceived usefulness are direct contributors, while perceived ease of use, self‐efficacy, and subjective norms are indirect contributors to teachers' synchronous online teaching satisfaction through the mediation of attitudes toward use.Different from previous TAM research, facilitating conditions have been found to be the most significant direct factor positively contributing to satisfaction. Implications for practice and/or policy: This study offers a diagnostic measure for schools and universities to understand the status quo of their teachers' perceptions of and satisfaction with synchronous online teaching.Universities are advised to provide teachers with readily accessible support and training to enhance their self‐efficacy for synchronous online teaching so that their satisfaction with synchronous online teaching can be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While a number of learner factors have been identified to impact students' collaborative learning, there has been little systematic research into how patterns of students' collaborative learning may differ by their learning orientations. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate: (1) variations in students' learning orientations by their conceptions, approaches, and perceptions; (2) the patterns of students' collaborations by variations in their learning orientations and (3) the contribution of patterns of collaborations to academic achievement. Methods: A cohort of 174 Chinese undergraduates in a blended engineering course were surveyed for their conceptions of learning, approaches to learning and to using online learning technologies, and perceptions of e‐learning, to identify variations in their learning orientations. Students' collaborations and mode of collaborations were collected through an open‐ended social network analysis (SNA) questionnaire. Results and Conclusions: A hierarchical cluster analysis identified an 'understanding' and 'reproducing' learning orientations. Based on students' learning orientations and their choices to collaborate, students were categorized into three mutually exclusive collaborative group, namely Understanding Collaborative group, Reproducing Collaborative group and Mixed Collaborative group. SNA centrality measures demonstrated that students in the Understanding Collaborative group had more collaborations and stayed in a better position in terms of capacity to gather information. Both students' approaches to learning and students' average collaborations significantly contributed to their academic achievement, explaining 3% and 4% of variance in their academic achievement respectively. The results suggest that fostering a desirable learning orientation may help improve students' collaborative learning. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: There are variations in students' learning orientations.Various learner factors have been found to shape patterns of students' collaborations. What this paper adds: Patterns of students' collaborations differed by variations in students' learning orientations.Students' average collaborations significantly contributed to academic achievement. Implications of the findings for practioners: Fostering a desirable learning orientation may improve collaborative learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While automatic speech recognition (ASR) is increasingly used for commercial purposes, its influence on the learners' linguistic performance in terms of oral complexity, accuracy and fluency was under‐explored. To date, few studies have been conducted to investigate how the dictation ASR technology could be incorporated into language classrooms to facilitate the learners' language acquisition. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effects of ASR‐based technology on English learners' oral accuracy and fluency and depict the corresponding development trajectories. Methods: A total of 160 first‐year university students were enrolled in a 14‐week quasi‐experiment based on a longitudinal research design. Both treatment and control groups were taught with the flipped classroom approach, but the students in the treatment group were particularly required to undertake a pre‐class task with ASR technology. Students' Unit Task performance was audio‐recorded, and the metrics of oral accuracy and fluency were coded and computed based on the recording transcripts. A two‐way repeated measures ANCOVA was conducted to investigate the between‐ and within‐subjects effects as well as the corresponding interaction effects. Results: In terms of the between‐subjects effect, the treatment group outperformed the control group on phonological accuracy, speed fluency and repair fluency. In terms of the within‐subjects effect, significant gains in lexical and morphosyntactic accuracy were witnessed over time in both groups, but the performance of the treatment group tended to be more stable. On all the fluency metrics and phonological accuracy, no significant within‐subjects improvement was seen over time. Implications: The development of oral accuracy may generate a negative impact on that of fluency. Therefore, course developers and teachers need to design special tasks and provide conditions conducive to the development of the students' oral fluency. Moreover, the mobile‐based dictation ASR application could incorporate adaptive artificial intelligence, which may escalate the students' fossilization of learner interlanguage. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?The ASR‐based technology is becoming popular in foreign language learning.The effect of ASR‐based technology on oral accuracy and fluency is still in a nascent phase. What this paper adds?This study explores how the mobile‐based dictation ASR technology facilitates English learners' oral accuracy and fluency.The dictation ASR‐based application integrated into pre‐class learning enhances English learners' phonological accuracy, speed fluency and repair fluency.The dictation ASR‐based application also contributed to a stable development of English learners' lexical and morphosyntactic accuracy over time. Implications for practiceEnglish teachers could integrate mobile‐based dictation ASR technology into pre‐class practice to improve the students' oral English accuracy and fluency in a flipped learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Video lectures which include the instructor's presence are becoming increasingly popular. Presenting a real human does, however, entail higher financial and time costs in making videos, and one innovative approach to reduce costs has been to generate a virtual speaking instructor. Objectives: The current study examined whether the use of a virtual instructor in video lectures would facilitate learning as well as a human instructor, and whether manipulating the virtual instructor's characteristics (i.e., voice and appearance) might optimize the effectiveness of the virtual instructor. Methods: Our study set four conditions. In the control condition, students watched a human instructor. In the experiment conditions, students watched one of (a) a virtual instructor which used the human instructor's voice and an AI image, (b) a virtual instructor which spoke in an AI voice with an AI image made to speak using text‐to‐speech and lip synthesis techniques, or (c) a virtual instructor with used an AI voice and an AI likable‐image of an instructor. Results and Conclusions: The AI likable instructor condition had a significant positive effect on students' learning performance and motivation, without decreasing the attention students paid to the learning materials. Implications: Our findings suggest that instructional video designers can make use of AI voices and AI images of likable humans as instructors to motivate students and enhance their learning performance. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Video lectures which include the instructor's presence are becoming increasingly popular.Presenting a virtual instructor (i.e., a pedagogical agent) in video lectures has been shown to reduce costs of video production, both financially and in terms of time. What this paper adds: An AI‐generated voice and an AI‐generated image facilitated more students' transfer performance than a human instructor.The AI likable instructor condition had a significant positive effect on students' learning performance and motivation, without decreasing the attention students paid to the learning materials. Implications for practice and/or policy: We encourage instructional designers to use AI‐generated voices and AI‐generated images connected to a virtual instructor instead of a human instructor in video lectures.We encourage instructional designers to use likable human images (as defined by the students themselves) as a way to motivate students more and enhance their learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Video conferencing learning offers a more accessible and flexible learning mode for students who cannot attend face‐to‐face class in person. However, research about the video conferencing learning is still lacked, especially for students' engagement in this setting. Objectives: This study adopts the self‐system model of motivational development to uncover effects of the video conferencing learning environment (VCLE) to students' engagement. Methods: Two hundred and ninety‐eight primary school students involved in the VCLE were surveyed. The partial least square structural equation modelling was employed to explore the link between the VCLE and students' engagement with a mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPNS). Results and Conclusions: Results showed that the BPNS played a mediating role in the processes from the VCLE to engagement. Both pedagogical and social affordance had a significant effect on the BPNS. However, their influences were different. Specifically, pedagogical affordance yielded a stronger effect on the BPNS for autonomy than social affordance. The predicting power of social affordance on BPNS for relatedness and competence was stronger than pedagogical affordance. Generally, social affordance yielded more contributions to behavioral and emotional engagement than pedagogical affordance. Moreover, BPNS for competence was the only significant mediator between the VCLE and behavioral engagement, and it owned the strongest mediating power on the relationship between the VCLE and emotional engagement, followed by autonomy, and the smallest of relatedness. This study suggests that practitioners and researchers should give more consideration to improve social affordance of the VCLE and to meet students' BPNS especially for competence in order to design and implement an engaged video conferencing course. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Video conferencing learning provides an accessible and flexible learning mode.Mechanism from learning environment to engagement is helpful to design an engaged video conferencing course.Less is known about how video conferencing learning affects students' engagement. What the paper adds: This study uncovered the functioning process of video conferencing learning to students' engagement.PLS‐SEM was employed to verify the mediating role of BPNS in this process.BPNS for autonomy, competence, and relatedness played mediating roles and their powers were different. Implications for practice and/or policy: More attention is needed to improve to social affordance to enhance students' emotional engagement.BPNS especially for competence deserves special consideration to improve students' behavioral and emotional engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the perceptions and experiences of a teacher and students in a Shanghai public primary school when digital games were used in a second‐grade math class. The participants included one teacher and 45 students. Data collection methods included classroom observation, focus‐group and individual interviews, and document analysis. Digital gameplay, when used once daily over a 6‐day period, was found to enhance student engagement and interest in learning; many students, however, were concerned about its effect on academic achievement and eyesight. The teacher employed a "making thinking visible" approach using pencil and paper and problem‐solving strategies to help students understand the game's mathematical principles and master mathematical knowledge. Obstacles included large class size, difficulty evaluating learning outcomes, balancing fun and learning, and effective game–classroom integration. This study found that exam‐oriented education and traditional teacher‐centred teaching in China influenced participants' perceptions and experiences of digital game‐based learning. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Digital game‐based learning is effective and leads to a more relaxed learning environment that promotes students' engagement, interest, motivation, and confidence.Learning with digital games helps students acquire mathematics knowledge more effectively than traditional classroom lectures.Digital game‐based learning is helpful in math class as it makes students feel challenged and more capable, thereby improving self‐efficacy and task persistence. What this paper adds: Mathematics teachers and students have a contradictory attitude that shows both approval and concern towards game‐based learning.In the Chinese context, exam‐oriented culture is an important factor that influences the teacher's and students' perceptions and experiences of digital game‐based learning.While digital game‐based learning helps students' engagement and interest in math, it also faces numerous challenges such as large class size, balancing fun and learning, and effective game–classroom integration. Implications for practice and/or policy: Digital game‐based learning may be more effective when combined with pencil and paper to write down the process and make thinking visible.Fun and learning should be balanced in digital game‐based learning.Teachers need training and support for digital game‐centred programmes to succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self‐regulated learning (SRL) ability is the key determinant of the success of full‐time online learning. Thus, exploring the influencing factors of SRL and their influencing mechanisms is necessary to improve this ability among K‐12 students. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence mechanism of teacher autonomy support on students' online SRL by examining the structural relationship among teacher autonomy support, parental autonomy support, students' self‐efficacy, and students' online SRL. Methods: We use structural equation modelling and effect analysis to analyse the collected data from 961 Chinese K‐12 students who engaged in full‐time online learning in their homes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak. Results and Conclusions: Parental autonomy support and students' self‐efficacy play crucial independent mediating roles in the influence of teacher autonomy support on students' online SRL. Parental autonomy support and students' self‐efficacy have a chain mediating effect on the influence of teacher autonomy support on students' online SRL. Implications: On the basis of the results, we suggest that in order to develop students' online SRL ability, it is important for teacher to improve parental autonomy support and students' self‐efficacy. In addition, base on the chain mediating effect, to improve students' online SRL, teacher autonomy support needs focus on parental autonomy support, and then parental autonomy support needs focus on improving students' self‐efficacy. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: • Self‐regulated learning (SRL) ability is the key determinant of the success of online learning. • To improve K‐12 students' SRL ability, it is important to explore the influencing factors and their influencing mechanisms on students' online SRL. • Teacher autonomy support play an important role for students' learning. What is not known about this topic?: • How does teacher autonomy support influence students' online SRL, especially in full‐time online learning? • Do parental autonomy support and student' self‐efficacy play a chain mediating role in the influence of teacher autonomy support on students' online SRL? What this paper adds: • Parental autonomy support and students' self‐efficacy play crucial independent mediating role in the influence of teacher autonomy support on students' online SRL. • Teacher autonomy support has a indirect influence on students' online SRL through the chain mediating effect of parental autonomy support and students' self‐efficacy. Implications for practice and/or policy: • Given that parental autonomy support and students' self‐efficacy mediating the influence of teacher autonomy support on students' online SRL, it is important to improve parental autonomy support and students' self‐efficacy. • In order to improve students' online SRL ability, teachers need focus on parental autonomy support, and parental autonomy support focus on improving students' self‐efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peer‐to‐peer feedback exchanges have been recognized as crucial to language learning. While studies on peer feedback proliferate, little is known about whether and how peer feedback is affected by learners' motivational levels. Objectives: Situated in a mobile collaborative learning context, the current study examined how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students with different motivational levels participated in mobile‐assisted peer feedback provision, as well as the characteristics of the feedback they provided. Methods: A total of 61 sophomores majoring in Business English at a Chinese university participated in this 16‐week‐long study. They were asked to complete oral assignments and give and receive peer feedback via MosoTeach (a popular mobile learning application in China). Multiple types of data (peer feedback records, questionnaires, reflective journals and interviews) were collected, analysed, and triangulated. Results and Conclusions: Results revealed that EFL learners with higher motivation were more likely to provide feedback on time using more words. Unique characteristics of mobile‐assisted peer feedback among highly motivated learners were also observed. Implications: The study highlights the importance of learner motivation in mobile‐assisted peer feedback practice and provides pedagogical suggestions for better designing and implementing peer feedback in mobile collaborative learning contexts. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Previous research has recognized mobile‐assisted peer feedback as an effective way of mobile collaborative language learning.Previous studies on mobile‐assisted oral peer feedback have examined different dimensions of feedback in relation to their effects on speaking performance.Previous research is less clear about how learners' motivational characteristics may influence peer feedback performance. What this paper adds: Situated in a mobile learning context, this study investigated how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students with different motivational levels participated in mobile‐assisted peer feedback provision, and examined the characteristics of the feedback they provided.Results revealed that EFL students with higher motivation were more likely to provide feedback on time using more words. Some unique characteristics of mobile‐assisted peer feedback among students with different motivational levels were also observed. Implications: This study demonstrates the importance of considering learners' motivational levels in teachers' design and implementation of peer feedback with technology.It is crucial for teachers to provide training and scaffolding to students in their construction of peer feedback with mobile technologies.Teachers are suggested to encourage the students to provide detailed positive comments for their peers, which may increase students' confidence and reduce their anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of mobile technologies, well‐designed fraction apps can be used to help children gain fraction knowledge, a challenging topic for both teachers and students. The present pilot study adopted a quasi‐experimental design to investigate whether children can learn fraction concepts equally well if half of the lesson time (20 min) is replaced with game‐based learning. Keeping the total lesson time (40 min) identical, the control group (N = 33) received traditional instruction, and the experimental group (N = 32) was presented with a blended learning approach spending half of the class time (20 min) playing tablet‐based fraction games, where each of the learners had their own tablet. The results suggested that in the posttest, the experimental group achieved similar learning gains to the control group and appear to have achieved better performance in the transfer test than the control group. This paper also discusses the efficiency of game‐based learning, the mechanism of how fraction games might enhance learning, and the potential of integrating game‐based learning in educational settings. Lay Description: What is already known about this topicAs a significant mathematical concept in daily life, fractions are crucial for later success in math learning.As a promising new technology, educational games show a great potential for improving learning.Well‐designed fraction apps can be used to help children gain fraction knowledge.What this paper addsGame‐based fraction learning can be combined with formal learning in school education.Game‐based fraction learning might provide a more efficient approach to increasing students' conceptual knowledge of fractions.The result showed that the experimental group achieved a similar cognitive level as the control group although they spent half of the time playing a game, suggesting that children can gain knowledge from the experiences of playing games.What are the implications for practice and/or policyThe result suggests that the proper use of educational games in teaching fractions can make learning more efficient.Further research needs to be done to determine whether the fraction understanding gained through playing these games will have an impact on students' future learning of more complicated fraction concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Socially shared regulation is a vital factor that affects students' collaborative programming performance. However, students' weak group metacognitive skills or inability to adopt shared regulation mechanisms lead to unsatisfactory collaborative programming learning. Objectives: This study proposes an approach to support socially shared regulation in collaborative programming learning in order to enhance students' programming achievements and group metacognition. Methods: A quasi‐experimental study was conducted in a junior high school over a 10‐week period to investigate the impact of the proposed approach on programming achievements, group metacognition, and cognitive load. Forty eighth‐grade students participated in the study, with the experimental group learning via the proposed approach, while the control group used the conventional collaborative programming learning approach. Results and Conclusions: The analysis included data from 38 participants. The experimental results showed that the programming achievements and group metacognition of the experimental group were significantly better than those of the control group. Additionally, the proposed approach did not increase the cognitive load of the students. Implications: This study has important implications for teachers, learners, and researchers in collaborative programming and social regulation. Our proposed collaborative programming learning approach enhances learners' social regulation and performance, providing teachers with an effective tool for improving collaborative programming learning. This study also extends the field of socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL), demonstrating its potential to improve the effectiveness of collaborative programming learning and highlighting the need for future research to explore the mechanisms of SSRL in this context. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Programming learning is difficult for most learners.Collaborative programming is an effective method of programming learning.Students' weak group metacognitive skills or inability to adopt shared regulation mechanisms lead to unsatisfactory collaborative programming learning. What this paper adds?: This study proposes a method to enhance collaborative programming learning by supporting socially shared regulation among students.The study utilized a quasi‐experimental to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in improving students' programming learning performance.The shared regulation approach was found to significantly improve students' programming achievements and group metacognition when compared to conventional collaborative programming approaches.Importantly, the shared regulation approach did not increase the cognitive load of the students, indicating its potential for practical implementation in programming education. The implications of study findings for practitioners: This study has shown that an approach that supports social shared regulation can improve student performance in collaborative programming learning, and that teachers can use this approach to help students learn programming better collaboratively.This study also contributes to the field of social shared regulated learning by demonstrating how it can support collaborative programming and improve its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Learning‐by‐teaching is a generative learning strategy in which students are told they will have to teach what they are learning to others. Although learning‐by‐teaching has been shown to be effective in some cases, few studies have established guidelines for how to optimize the benefits of learning‐by‐teaching as a generative learning strategy from a social presence perspective. Objectives: This study seeks to clarify the learning‐by‐teaching hypothesis and to pinpoint the optimal level of social presence during learning‐by‐teaching that is most conducive to learning. Methods: In Experiment 1, college students received a lesson with instructions that afterwards they would explain the material to others by making a video, explain the material aloud to themselves, or restudy the material. In Experiment 2, college students viewed a multimedia lesson with instructions that afterwards they would explain the materials by making a video, explain to an onscreen student, or explain to a student in person. Results and Conclusions: Teaching by making a video was better than restudying, self‐explaining, and teaching face‐to‐face or online. Teaching quality was better in video teaching than self‐explaining and face‐to‐face or online teaching. Teaching by making a video is ideal because it primes generative processing while minimizing extraneous processing. Implications: This study is the first to manipulate different levels of social presence of oral teaching to determine the optimal form of learning‐by‐teaching, which preliminarily clarifies generative learning and social presence theory and has implications for both empirical and theoretical research. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Learning‐by‐teaching is a generative learning strategy in which learners are told they will explain the material in the lesson to others after the lesson.Although learning‐by‐teaching has been shown to be effective in some cases, few studies have established guidelines for how to optimize the benefits of learning‐by‐teaching as a generative learning strategy from a social presence perspective. What this paper adds: Teaching by making a video was better than restudying, self‐explaining, and teaching face‐to‐face or online.Teaching quality was better in video teaching than self‐explaining and face‐to‐face or online teaching.Making a video creates suitable and lower social presence but more generative processing.This work shows the importance of balancing the positive effects of a moderate amount of social presence as a motivator with the potential negative effects of too much social presence as a distractor. Implications for practice and/or policy: Instructors should encourage students to record an instructional video explaining what they learned from a lesson. This serves as a generative learning activity that is more effective than self‐explaining or restudying the materials.The sense of social presence during teaching activities should not be too high. Thus, asking students to teach face‐to‐face is not a recommended approach.Instructors should set an appropriate level of social presence and take care to avoid adding extraneous distractions when implementing learning‐by‐teaching to help students achieve an optimal learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Zoomorphism, an obverse of conventional anthropomorphism, has been shown in many cases to be a powerful tool with respect to the metaphorical use of animals. Objectives: This study introduced zoomorphism into the instructional video design of pedagogical agents (PAs). Method: We first developed three image sets, each of which corresponded to a type of zoomorphic PA image construct (full panda, a human face with a panda body, and a human body with panda head imagery). Then, we conducted an image‐screening experiment in which 177 second‐grade students from a primary school were asked to select their favourite PA image for each image construct set. We used a realistic human PA as the baseline. Next, 114 second‐grade students from another school were randomly assigned to learn instructional videos on the topic of pandas using a PA with one of four imageries. Results and Conclusions: ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis tests indicated that students presented with PAs with full‐panda imagery achieved significantly higher learning performance, learning experience, social presence, and learning interest than those presented with other imageries of PAs. The regression results showed that the effect of zoomorphic PAs with full‐panda imagery on learning performance was exerted in a direct way and that its effect on learning experience was mediated by social presence and learning interest. Implications: Our findings suggest that zoomorphic appearance is an essential quality for video learning that merits further investigation for the efficient imagery construction of PAs. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The inclusion of pedagogical agents with images that are attributed human qualities to animals known as anthropomorphism is very popular in multimedia education; however, the existing studies on the effects of such images on learning have shown inconsistent results. What this paper adds: We introduced the alternative philosophy of animal use‐zoomorphism, which is the obverse of anthropomorphism, into agent image building. Implications for practice and/or policy: Our study demonstrated that the zoomorphism of agent images increases learning performance and experience; thus, our findings suggest the prospect of zoomorphism in the development of agent image patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Computational thinking (CT) has become a crucial skill for individuals in the 21st century, and while more educators are starting to recognize the importance of CT education, there is still a lack of research on how to teach young children CT, particularly outside of traditional school settings. Objectives: To fill the gap in knowledge, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a web‐based parent education program on improving children's CT skills. Additionally, we sought to determine if children's age, gender and family socioeconomic status had any impact on the development of CT skills. Methods: We selected 86 adult–child pairs in the K3 age group to participate in a 4‐week intervention program using a quasi‐experimental approach. Results: After 4 weeks, children in the intervention group had improved their CT skills more than their peers in the control group. This shows that the intervention was successful in enhancing children's CT skills. Age had a moderating effect on CT enhancement, with older children showing a more significant improvement than younger children. However, children's gender and family socioeconomic status did not have any moderating effects. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that CT education can be effectively implemented in the home setting through web‐mediated parent education. Encouraging the use of unplugged CT activities at home can aid children in acquiring CT skills. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Computational thinking (CT) education can be started at the early childhood stage.Both plugged‐in and unplugged activities can promote children's CT.Unplugged activities have many advantages and are suitable for young children. What this paper adds: Web‐mediated parent education is useful for equipping parents with the knowledge and skills to conduct CT activities at home.CT education has a positive effect on children in the home setting.Parents play an important leading role in children's CT education.Parent–child unplugged activities are beneficial to children's CT enhancement. Implications for practice and/or policy: A web‐mediated approach is an appropriate way to encourage parent participation in CT training.CT‐related parent education should be scaled up so that parents can play an active educational role at home.Unplugged CT activities should be designed more for the home settings in addition to school settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Considerable evidence suggests that students' achievement emotions are important contributors to their learning and success online. It is, therefore, essential to understand and support students' emotional experiences to enhance online education, especially under the COVID‐19 context. However, to date, very few studies have investigated how students' achievement emotions might be affected by teaching and learning factors in online learning environments. Objectives: Based on Pekrun's (2006) control‐value theory of achievement emotions, this study examined the influence of students' perceived online teaching quality and appraisals of control and value on their achievement emotions in an online second language (L2) learning context instigated by the COVID‐19. Methods: Data were collected using an online survey of 1503 undergraduates from ten universities across different regions of China. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed to test the validity of the instruments and structural equation modelling were conducted to examine the relations between L2 teaching and learning variables. Results and Conclusions: Results revealed that perceived teacher internet and communication technology competence had positive effects on enjoyment, but negative effects on anxiety and boredom, and these effects were fully mediated by perceived control and/or value. Perceived chaotic teaching structure (CTS) had reverse effects for the three emotions. Perceived CTS effects on enjoyment and anxiety were fully and partially mediated by perceived control, respectively. Takeaways: Online teaching quality is critical for students' appraisals and emotions towards L2 learning. Teachers should strive to improve online teaching quality and design interventions targeting students' perceived control and value to temper their affective experiences associated with the crisis‐prompted online teaching practices. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Teachers' internet and communication technology (ICT) competence and pedagogical design can enhance students' e‐learning efficacy, motivation and interests.Students' perceived control and value can influence their achievement emotions in online learning.Teacher's ICT competence and pedagogical design can impact students' emotions in online learning. What this paper adds: Perceived teacher ICT competence and chaotic teaching structures can have differential impact on students' perceived control and value for e‐learning.Perceived control and intrinsic value differently mediated the effects of the two teaching factors on students' emotions for e‐learning.Perceived teacher ICT competence and chaotic teaching structures can have both direct and indirect effects on students' e‐learning emotions via perceived control and value. Implications for practice and/or policy: Teacher training and development programs should prepare teachers for varying teaching formats including unplanned online teaching due to a forced switch to remote teaching.Teachers should acquaint themselves with using various online platforms and software to communicate the goals, expectations, structures and requirements of their language lessons to students' in a clear manner.Online language teaching interventions aiming to increase or decrease a specific emotion could directly target specific combinations of teaching characteristics and appraisals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Failure to effectively organize and manage learning time is an important factor influencing online learners' performance. Investigation of time‐investment patterns for online learning will provide educators with useful knowledge of how learners engage in and regulate their online learning and support them in tailoring online course design and teaching. However, understanding of how learners invest and manage their time during online learning remains limited. Objectives: This study aims to discover the typical time‐investment patterns of MOOC learners and their temporal‐learning characteristics based on a systematic time‐investment analysis framework and their relationship with learning performance. Methods: Based on a proposed time‐investment‐analysis framework, this study applied statistical, cluster and lag sequential analyses to investigate learners' time‐investment patterns and their relationships with learning performance, session time allocation, and learning sequences by analysing the learning data from 12,463 participants of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in China. Results and Conclusions: Seven time‐investment patterns of MOOC learners were defined, and learning performance was found to differ among them. Further analysis shows that high performers invested time throughout the whole course and allocated time to multiple activities, exam‐takers performed better in time management and produced more behavioural sequences related to cognitive strategy and recourse use, and learners' motivation and prior knowledge affected the management and effectiveness of their time investment. Implications: The results support the recognition and evaluation of online learning time‐investment patterns and suggest relevant cues for improving MOOC design and teaching. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Insufficient learning time affects learning persistence and effectiveness in open and online education programs.Learning time investment and management regarded as an element of self‐regulated learning is a predictor of learning performance.Some proxy behavioural variables or characteristics of online learning time management have been found in previous studies.Learning analysis can be used to dig the knowledge implicit in learning data for online teaching evaluation and improvement. What is paper adds to the subject: Based on a comprehensive analytic framework, seven time‐investment patterns of MOOC learners and their relationship with achievement are identified.Under different time frames, learners' time allocation and learning behaviour pattern are different.Learners performing better in time management across course learning allocate more time to multiple activities in session learning.Exam‐takers perform better in time management across MOOC learning, and produce more behaviour sequences related to cognitive strategy and course recourse use. The implications of study findings for practitioners: The recognition of time investment pattern can support online course design and teaching improvement.MOOC design and teaching need to consider the differences in learners' time resources and their ability of time management.MOOC design and teaching need to encourage learners lacking of performance motivation to engage in various learning activities instead of just watching videos.MOOC design need consider the differences in learners' prior knowledge, and offer personalized learning path based on assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the call to foster computational thinking (CT) in every child has received considerable attention. However, there is little understanding of whether children are developmentally ready to think computationally and what specific CT concepts and skills can be developed at various ages. This study explored the developmental and gender differences in CT skills of 197 Grade 4–6 students (aged 9–13) before being exposed to instruction and investigated the age–gender interaction effects on their CT acquisition in an intervention combining both programming and non‐programming (unplugged) activities. Results show that students' CT skills followed a developmental progression before instruction. Gender difference across ages was insignificant in conditionals, logical operators, pattern recognition and generalization skills. Additionally, students of different ages developed CT differently during the intervention, and their CT acquisition was unaffected by gender. Implications for practice and research in CT education were discussed. Lay Description: What is currently known about the topic: Learning progressions for computational thinking have been defined in K‐12 curricula globally.Engaging in programming and non‐programming (unplugged) activities can increase students' CT skills.Controversial results have been reported on the age–gender interaction effects on CT development.Lack of understanding on children's actual progressive development of CT. What this paper adds: A developmental progression was found in CT skills of students aged 9–13. Students aged 12 and above had some a priori understanding of CT.No gender difference across ages existed in conditionals, logical operators, pattern recognition and generalization skills before instruction.Students aged 9–11 benefitted the most from an intervention combining both programming and unplugged activities compared to older students. Students' CT acquisition in the intervention was unaffected by gender.Given the intervention, students aged 9 and above developed conditionals, logical operators and pattern recognition skills. However, generalization skill was developed only for students aged 12 and above. Implications for practice and policy: The findings lay the foundation for designing evidence‐based age‐appropriate CT learning progression and pedagogies.Age‐appropriate learning content: Given appropriate learning experiences, students aged 9 and above may be ready to learn certain CT concepts and skills, including conditionals, logical operators and pattern recognition.CT pedagogies: Using programming and unplugged activities to develop CT requires careful consideration of students' cognitive development and gender needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the potentials promised by MOOCs (massive open online courses), the adoption rate of MOOCs is still low, especially in developing countries. Research on the adoption of MOOCs in developing countries is also limited. To fill this research gap, this research aims to study the adoption of MOOCs by extending current research on innovation and technology adoption in order to promote the diffusion of MOOCs in developing countries. Here, a conceptual framework, technology–user–environment was proposed to identify influential drivers and barriers of MOOC adoption. Eight hundred and twenty‐seven individuals in a developing country, were invited to participate in a questionnaire survey. Data were analysed by hierarchical regression, and the results show that for the (a) technological characteristics, perceived usefulness has the most significant influence, followed by lack of accessibility and performance‐to‐cost value; for the (b)user factors, self‐regulation was the most significant predictor of MOOC adoption, and female learners showed higher willingness to adopt MOOCs; and for the (c) social environmental factors, tradition and social norms and lack of information about MOOCs were negatively associated with adoption of MOOCs. Implications and suggestions are discussed at the end of this paper. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: MOOCs (massive open online courses), as educational innovations, are supposed to bridge the digital divide and promote educational equity globally.The benefits of MOOCs for learners are obvious.However, the adoption rate of MOOCs is still relatively low while the dropout rate is high, especially in developing countries.Research on the adoption of MOOCs in developing countries is still limited.What this paper adds: This research proposed a conceptual framework, namely, technology–user–environment, in order to identify influential drivers and barriers from the technological characteristics of MOOCs as well as the user and the social environmental factors.After conducting a survey among 827 learners in a developing country, it was found that perceived usefulness of MOOCs, performance‐to‐cost value, and self‐regulation are positively associated with learners' intention of adopting MOOCs, whereas lack of accessibility tradition and social norms and lack of supporting information are negatively associated with their intention of MOOC adoption.Implications for practice and/or policy: For MOOC content provider, it is necessary to enhance the usefulness of MOOCs, as perceived usefulness is ranked as the strongest predictor of MOOC adoption.Universities in developing countries should help students overcome the potential obstacles at the beginning of MOOC learning by providing instructions to learners to search for course materials and how to use MOOCs to supplement their formal learning.Governments of developing countries are encouraged to be involved and support the development and delivery as well as the usage of MOOCs. Such participation by active stakeholders in developing countries has potential to bridge the digital divide between developed and developing countries.For learners, they should be equipped with self‐regulating strategies so that they will be competent to manage challenges (e.g., distractions) while learning in MOOCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the increasing pervasiveness of today's digital society, mobile devices are changing the face of education. Students can interact with mobile devices in context‐aware environment. This paper presents a mobile application based on expert system (Plant‐E) for students to acquire knowledge about plant classification by answering decision‐making questions. In order to study effectiveness of Plant‐E and cognitive load of students who experience different kinds of interaction in learning process, another mobile application (Plant‐G) only providing information pages of plants was developed. A quasi‐experiment was conducted with three classes of 137 seventh graders. The three classes, Class A with 46 students using Plant‐E in campus, Class B with 44 students using Plant‐G in campus, and Class C with 47 students using Plant‐G in a traditional classroom, constitute three groups with different interaction complexity. The research conducted pretest, posttest, and delayed test to evaluate learning performance of students in three classes and used a questionnaire to investigate their perceptions and attitudes towards proposed system. Results show that interaction complexity has an impact on students' learning performance and mental effort in mobile learning; the higher the interaction complexity is, the higher mental effort and the better learning performance in mobile learning will be. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Mobile devices can be used to meet the urgency of learning need and can provide guidance and clues for learners in context‐aware environment.During mobile learning in context‐aware environment, students need to interact with mobile devices and environment.Mental effort reflects cognitive load related to interaction complexity, and it can affect learning performance.Self‐efficacy affects the degree of mental effort by affecting the firmness of performance goal.Cognitive load and learning performance are the main concerns that need to be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of mobile learning. What this paper adds: Interaction complexity has an impact on students' learning performance and mental effort in mobile learning.In terms of the three levels of interaction complexity in this study, the higher the interaction complexity is, the better the results that students will get in mobile learning.The higher the interaction complexity is, the higher the mental effort that students invested into in mobile learning would be.The medium self‐efficacy group invested the most mental effort and got the best grades, rather than the high or low group.Rule‐based mobile learning expert system is feasible and effective for students to learn by interacting with learning objects in context‐aware environment. Implications for practice and/or policy: Efforts should be made to make mobile learning systems more interactive; for example, learners can learn more effectively by interacting with mobile system, which can improve the frequency of observing learning objects.Rule‐based mobile learning expert system can give learners more opportunities to know how experts do when solving problems and can provide a potential method for students to learn in context‐aware environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital competence is critical for university students to adapt to and benefit from digitally enhanced learning. Prior studies on its measurement mostly focus on educators and relied on factor analyses. However, there is a lack of valid and convenient tools to measure university students' digital competence. This study aimed to develop a digital competence scale for university students (DC‐US) in digitally enhanced learning with robust psychometric properties. An initial DC‐US with 23 items was proposed to measure the single latent trait of digital competence. It was validated and refined continuously through a pilot study, a main study and a predictive validity study in three datasets involving 825 participants altogether, using factor analyses, Rasch analyses and the partial least squares modelling. The final DC‐US turned out to comprise two subscales: technical literacy and digital skills, with 10 items retained, and manifested high internal consistency, unidimensionality and measurement invariance. The scale also demonstrated strong predictive validity, with technical literacy greatly predicting digital skills, which negatively predicted technostress. The DC‐US enables instructors and school administrators to conveniently obtain preliminary information of university students' digital competence, informing their digital class preparation and development of timely interventions for addressing digital deficiencies. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Digital competence is critical for university students to adapt to and benefit from digitally enhanced learning (DEL).There is a lack of valid and convenient tools to measure university students' digital competence.Prior studies on its measurement mostly focus on educators and relied on factor analyses. What this paper adds?: A unidimensional, valid and unbiased digital competence scale was developed for university students.Rasch analyses and classical test theory were employed jointly for the scale development.The digital competence scale comprised two subscales: Technical literacy and digital skills. Implications for practice: University students can use the scale for a quick self‐assessment of their digital competence before joining DEL.Instructors can use the scale to gain an initial knowledge of their students' digital competence to inform digital class preparation.University administrators can rely on the scale to quickly evaluate the implementation effectiveness of DEL schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the use of experiments is important for developing students' scientific knowledge and skills, challenges may arise when teachers and students are conducting experiments in class, such as non‐reusable experimental resources, safety issues and difficulties simulating some specific effects. Augmented reality (AR) technology affords an alternative approach to conducting experiments by bringing students a virtual–real mixed learning environment. In this study, taking junior high school physics knowledge on the magnetic field as an example, we designed and developed an AR‐based mobile simulated experiment tool. This study investigates the effect of the AR‐based experiment on students' knowledge improvement and cognitive load compared with 3D and traditional experiments. A sample of 122 ninth‐grade students was randomly chosen and assigned to three groups (AR, 3D and Traditional). The results demonstrate that students in the AR group performed better than those in the 3D and Traditional groups in terms of their knowledge improvement. The AR group students also experienced the lowest cognitive load among the three groups. Moreover, students had positive perceptions about AR and 3D tools. The implications of this study are discussed. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Experiment is an important method for students' magnetic field learning.Traditional magnetic experiment consists of various procedures that may cause some inconvenience during learning.Augmented reality (AR) provides a virtual–real fusion environment to assist teaching and learning.While some studies indicate positive impact of AR on learner's cognitive load, some do not. What this paper adds: An AR‐based mobile simulated experiment tool was proposed based on the junior high school physics knowledge, the magnetic field.A Comparison was made among AR, 3D and traditional experiment for magnetic field learning.Higher knowledge improvement and lower cognitive load were observed in the AR group.3D and Traditional groups showed similar knowledge improvement and cognitive load. Implications for practice and/or policy: The AR design with hand‐held devices has unlimited scalability of educational applications.Serving the real object as marker and using the professional algorithm to simulate some specific phenomenon were recommended in future AR studies.The findings indicated that AR experimental tool had a statistically significant effect on students' knowledge improvement and cognitive load.The similar result between 3D and Traditional groups implies that not everything virtualized is good; we must consider the actual teaching and learning situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational thinking (CT) plays a vital role in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, whether students' learning attitude towards STEM is related to their CT skills remains unknown. Two studies were conducted to address this knowledge gap. In Study 1, we validated a newly developed STEM learning attitude scale among a sample of Chinese primary school students (N = 489). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis results revealed that the scale which consisted of three factors (mathematics, science and information technology) could sufficiently measure primary school students' STEM learning attitude in the current sample. In Study 2, we explored the association between students' STEM learning attitude and their CT skills. Evidence revealed that learning attitude towards STEM significantly predicted CT skills. We also found that girls had a more positive learning attitude towards STEM than boys, and the fourth grade might be the key period for the development of CT skills. Implications for promoting primary school students' STEM learning and CT skills were also discussed. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic: Computational thinking (CT) plays a more and more important role in K‐12 education.STEM has become a natural field for integrating CT into classroom.Students' learning attitude determines their performance and achievements.CT is influenced by personal and situational factors. What this paper adds: Reliability and validity of the STEM learning attitude scale are psychometrically good.Students' STEM learning attitude can positively predict their CT skills.Girls may have more potential for the cultivation of CT in STEM education.The fourth grade may be the key period for the development of CT skills. Implications for practice and/or policy: Promoting CT skills in STEM education by improving students' learning attitude.Adopting teaching methods according to students' psychological and cognitive characteristics.Grasping the key stage of fourth grade to develop students' CT skills.Encouraging and protecting girls' interests and ideas in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, it has become common to use the internet or computer tutoring with a programme or application for additional instruction (ICTPAAI), in addition to the mandatory school schedule. This study aimed to understand students' participation in ICTPAAI and its relation to academic achievement. Multilevel structural equation modelling was conducted on a sample comprising 6,425 Chinese students (Mage 15.72 years; 48.9% girls) who had various forms of additional instruction during the 2014/2015 school year. Results showed that the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to complete schoolwork, whether in school or outside of school, was positively associated with students' participation in ICTPAAI; however, students' ICT interest, ICT self‐efficacy and ICT autonomy were not. Students' participation in ICTPAAI was negatively associated with their academic achievement at the end of the school year; much variance was explained at the school level. These findings suggest that students should be cautious about participating in this form of additional instruction and that schools play an important role in students' participation in ICTPAAI. Lay Description: What is already known about this topicWhen having more ICT opportunities at and outside of schools and higher ICT propensities, students are more likely to participate in ICT‐related learning activities.Students with higher achievement motivation are more likely to be involved in learning activities.ICT use at school and outside of school may not improve students' academic achievement.What this paper addsICT opportunities at and outside of school, and student gender link to participation in internet and computer tutoring with a programme or application for additional instruction (ICTPAAI), but ICT autonomy, ICT self‐efficacy, ICT interest and achievement motivation do not.More variance of participation in ICTPAAI were explained at the school level than at the student level.ICTPAAI negatively associates with academic achievement.Implications for practice and/or policySchools play an important role in students' participation in ICTPAAI.Students, at least Chinese students, should be cautious about participating in ICTPAAI.Pay more attention to boys to prevent them from spending too much time on ICTPAAI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotions are critical to learning. However, the function of emotions in the emerging context of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has been under‐researched. The present study complemented this line of research by modelling the relation between learner emotions, engagement with videos, engagement with assignments, and self‐perceived achievement in a small private online course—a localized instance of an extended MOOC. The results suggested that whereas enjoyment, excitement, boredom, and annoyance were all significant predictors of video engagement, only excitement and annoyance were significant predictors of assignment engagement. Excitement, in particular, was the strongest or stronger predictor of both types of engagement. In addition, both types of engagement predicted self‐perceived achievement, but video engagement predicted self‐perceived achievement via the mediation of assignment engagement. Implications for designing more effective MOOCs were proposed. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject Emotions predict engagement in learning settings other than MOOCs.Engagement predicts achievement in learning settings including MOOCs.Assignment engagement predicts achievement in MOOCs better than video engagement. What this paper adds The two types of engagement are predicted by different sets of emotions.Engagement predicts self‐perceived achievement in the SPOC.Video engagement predicts self‐perceived achievement via the mediation of assignment engagement.The majority of systematic reviews did not evaluate the quality of the primary papers which they examined. Implications for practitioners MOOC researchers should pay more attention to the design of assignments.MOOC developers should try to build more emotionally‐sound courses and platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An instructor's gestures have an effect not only on students' learning but also on teaching itself. In two experiments, this study tested whether instructors' use of gestures while recording video lectures affected their teaching performance, stress, and cognitive load. In Experiment 1, participants recorded video lectures with gestures or without gestures. As hypothesized, t tests showed that participants in the gestures condition had better teaching performance and lower cognitive load than participants in the no‐gestures condition, whereas there was no effect on stress level. In Experiment 2, participants recorded video lectures with either pointing gestures or representational gestures. The t tests indicated that participants in the pointing gestures condition showed better teaching performance and experienced lower stress than those in the representational gestures condition, but there was no difference in cognitive load. Overall, our findings suggest that in the new educational environment of video lectures, instructors should consider using gestures, especially pointing gestures, to improve their teaching and their experience of teaching. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic Instructors' gestures have benefits on learners' learning.Different types of gestures have different effect.Gestures can affect speaker's cognition. What this paper adds This study explored the effect of whether instructors' gestures and different types of gestures (pointing gestures and representational gestures) during recording instructional videos on their teaching.Instructors' gestures improved their teaching performance, induced cognitive load, and enhanced teaching efficacy.Instructors' pointing gestures were outperformed than representational gestures in teaching performance and stress level. Implications for practice and/or policy Instructors should consider using gestures when recording instructional videos, especially pointing gestures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational thinking (CT), the ability to devise computational solutions for real‐life problems, has received growing attention from both educators and researchers. To better improve university students' CT competence, collaborative programming is regarded as an effective learning approach. However, how novice programmers develop CT competence through collaborative problem solving remains unclear. This study adopted an innovative approach, quantitative ethnography, to analyze the collaborative programming activities of a high‐performing and a low‐performing team. Both the discourse analysis and epistemic network models revealed that across concepts, practices, and identity, the high‐performing team exhibited CT that was systematic, whereas the CT of the low‐performing team was characterized by tinkering or guess‐and‐check approaches. However, the low‐performing group's CT development trajectory ultimately converged towards the high‐performing group's. This study thus improves understanding of how novices learn CT, and it illustrates a useful method for modeling CT based in authentic problem‐solving contexts. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Computational thinking competence includes computational concepts, computational practices, and computational perspectives.Collaborative programming has the potential to foster computational thinking competence development.What this paper adds: The low‐performing student group adopted a bottom‐up perspective at the beginning but transformed to a top‐down approach by the end.The low‐performing group's computational thinking development trajectory had convergent evolution towards the high‐performing group's trajectory.Implications for practice and/or policy: Computational thinking competence can be developed in collaborative contexts even when students begin with a bottom‐up approach.Computational thinking should go beyond the cognitive development of computational concepts to connect computational practice and computational identity.Quantitative ethnography approach has potential to model computational thinking competence in collaborative programming context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Close links between students' conceptions of and approaches to learning were established in the past research. However, only a few quantitative studies investigated this relationship particularly with regard to mobile learning (m‐learning). The correlation between learners' conceptions and approaches to m‐learning was analysed using a partial least squares analysis applied to data obtained from a sample of 971 undergraduate students in China. The results indicated that students' conceptions of m‐learning could be classified into reproductive, transitional, and constructive levels. Students may hold multiple m‐learning applications than a predominant one; hence, examining m‐learning as one monolithic entity may provide limited information. Latent profile analysis identified four learning profiles based on students' preferred m‐learning applications: passive, mixed, surface‐supportive, and high‐engagement.. Moreover, a general trend was observed, whereby students with reproductive and surface‐supportive learning profiles showed a tendency to adopt surface approaches, whereas those expressing constructive and mixed learning profiles were more inclined to adopt deep approaches. Interestingly, students with transitional conceptions and high‐engagement learning profiles tended to take both surface and deep approaches. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic Previous studies have confirmed that conceptions of learning are closely linked with approaches to learning that tend to influence on learning performance.Conceptions of ubiquitous learning/mobile learning (m‐learning) appeared a hierarchy, ranging from reproductive to constructivist conceptions. What this paper adds This study indicated that students' conceptions of m‐learning can be classified into reproductive, transitional, and constructive levels. Accordingly, the results of the latent profile analysis revealed four learning profiles that were able to characterize students in terms of their critical applications of m‐learning, namely, the high‐engagement, mixed, surface‐supportive, and passive m‐learning profiles.A general trend was observed, whereby students with reproductive and surface‐supportive learning profiles showed a tendency to adopt surface approaches, whereas those expressing constructive and mixed learning profiles were more inclined to adopt deep approaches. Interestingly, students with transitional conceptions and high‐engagement learning profiles tended to take both surface and deep approaches. Implications for practice and/or policy The structure relationship between conceptions of and approaches to m‐learning and the role of different m‐learning profiles in approaches to m‐learning deepened the understanding of m‐learning processes and outcomes.In order to develop suitable approaches to m‐learning and motivations specific to Chinese educational context, college educators and teachers might consciously guide students to cultivate their perceptions of m‐learning based on the findings in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A semantic diagram tool is proposed in this study in order to structure collaborative problem solving (CPS) based on cognitive load theory (CLT). To investigate its effects on transaction cost and the deepening of user understandings, a comparative quasi‐experiment was designed and conducted with 49 participants from a university in East China. Analysis of group dialogic acts and self‐reported cognitive load showed that a semantic diagram tool can decrease transaction costs during CPS. It can thereby help collaborators invest less effort into those procedural conversations that are necessary for managing social interaction but which do not directly contribute to deepening collaborative learning in the task domain. Data analysis of pretested and posttested domain understanding suggested that learners achieved a greater depth of understanding after CPS supported by the semantic diagram tool. These findings are interpreted in terms of CLT. A semantic diagram tool can release the learner's limited working memory from procedural conversation, creating more working memory capacity for deepening problem understanding. Therefore, this study demonstrates one means whereby a semantic diagram tool functions as a promising technological support to structure CPS. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Group coordination and communication are conducted with a cost, which may impede learning.From the point of cognitive load theory, deep learning would occur when extraneous cognitive load is reduced to its minimal in the learning context.External representations have a positive effect on the cognitive and social dimensions of learning.What this paper adds: Semantic diagram tools can decrease transaction costs during collaborative problem solving (CPS) learning process.Semantic diagram tools can deepen student understanding during CPS.Implications for practice and/or policy: Semantic diagram tools with conceptual and sociocognitive support of CPS are a promising way to stimulate deep learning.The combination of CLT and sociocultural theory is a promising way to deepen our general theoretical understanding of social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the COVID‐19 epidemic crisis, students from higher education institutions around the world are forced to participate in comprehensive online curriculums. In such a scenario, it is worth investigating how students perceived their learning outcomes and satisfaction based on this method of teaching and learning online. This study aims to explore the role of six factors, namely, system quality, course design, learner‐learner interaction, learner‐instructor interaction, learner‐content interaction, and self‐discipline, on university students' perceived learning outcomes and their effect on student satisfaction with online curricula during the COVID‐19 epidemic. A structural equation modelling technique was used to assess survey questionnaires obtained from 457 validated students at a Public University in China. The results demonstrated that these determinants had a positive effect on satisfaction and learning outcomes, whereas learner‐instructor interaction had no significant effect. Furthermore, the strongest determinant that affected not only students' satisfaction but also their learning outcomes was the learner‐content interaction. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Online teaching can support students' learning in COVID‐19 epidemic.Various determining factors affect students' learning outcomes and satisfaction towards online learning. What this paper adds?: This study investigates six determinants on students' learning outcomes and satisfaction towards online learning.Learner‐content interaction yielded a stronger effect on university students' learning outcomes and satisfaction.Learner‐instructor interaction has no significant effect. Implications for practice and/or policy: System quality, course design, learner‐learner interaction, learner‐content interaction, and self‐discipline, had a positive impact on university students' perceived learning outcomes and satisfaction in COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the research in educational technology with a primary concern over how technology enhances learning has been criticized as privileging the immediate learning settings over the other dimensions of learners' social life and the wider social and economic contexts in which learning and technology are located. The ability to develop a rich understanding of learning and technology in various contexts requires careful use of theory that might enable 'looking beyond learning'. To meet this need, this paper proposes the use of a critical realistic account of learning and technology, in particular Margaret Archer's 'three orders of reality' and 'personal Identity'. Drawing on an empirical case study for illustration, the paper argues that such an approach offers a 'way out' to unpack the relationship between learning and technology through a deep exploration of the interrelationship between individual practices of learning, with or without technology, and the bigger picture of how learning intervenes in other dimensions of social life and how other contexts come into play in learning settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research conducted quasi-experiments in four middle schools to evaluate the long-term effects of an intelligent web-based English instruction system, Computer Simulation in Educational Communication ( CSIEC), on students' academic attainment. The analysis of regular examination scores and vocabulary test validates the positive impact of CSIEC, and in most cases, the positive impact is statistically significant. The reliability is ensured by the spectrum of the students from Grade 1 to Grade 3 in three junior high schools and from Grade 1 to Grade 2 in one senior high school, and of the teachers with or without blended learning experience, as well as by the various school locations from rural to urban areas in four provinces of China. The learning content-oriented design and the instant feedback feature of the web-based system, as well as its regular integration into the English class, contributed to its reliable positive effect on students' learning performance in ordinary examinations. This is the research's implication for instructional design. The conclusion of this paper could serve as a reference to the technical feasibility and pedagogical benefit of regular usage of appropriate Computer Assisted Learning system in the mainstream subject of middle schools. The multiple quasi-experiments in divergent school settings to ensure the results' reliability distinguish this research from previous ones that just implemented one single experiment in one school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and assesses the development of an online solution for the experiential support of distance learning by teachers. Three hundred and forty-eight randomly selected K-12 teachers participated in this pilot study using the online learning environment designed in this research. Teachers' products, surveys, and interviews were collected and analysed. Results showed that the teacher-learners could learn as well as in face-to-face learning in an earlier implementation of the course. The learning support system as designed fits teacher-learners' needs. They benefited from learning communities formed online as well as face-to-face. More support for online discussion and example cases are needed to support experiential learning. Suggestions are made to improve the design of the learning support system and the pedagogy for experiential teacher learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While simulations have widely been used to facilitate conceptual change in learning science, results indicate that significant disparity or gap between students' prior conceptions and scientific conceptions still exists. To bridge the gap, we argue that the applications of computer simulation in science education should be broadened to enable students to model their thoughts and to improve and advance their theories progressively. While computer simulations are often used to offer opportunities for students to explore scientific models, they do not give them the space to explore their own conceptions, and thus cannot effectively address the challenge of changing students' alternative conceptions. Findings from our recent empirical study reveal that, firstly, dynamic modelling using the environment WorldMaker 2000 in conjunction with the use of a cognitive perturbation strategy by the teacher was effective in helping students to migrate from their alternative conceptions towards a more scientifically inclined one; secondly, the pathways of conceptual change across groups were idiosyncratic and diverse. Respecting students' ideas seriously and providing cognitive perturbation at appropriate junctures of the inquiry process are found to be conducive to fostering conceptual change. In this paper, we will report on the details of the pedagogical approach adopted by the teacher and portray how students' conceptions change during the entire process of model building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Being easy to learn and fun, block‐based programming tools are widely used to teach students introductory programming. Scratch and LEGO robots are two popular block‐based programming tools. However, the objects they manipulate are completely different. Scratch manipulates graphical virtual sprites, whereas LEGO robots manipulate physical robots. Different manipulating objects may bring students varied learning experiences. Objectives: This study compared undergraduate students' learning engagement and flow experience when programming on Scratch and LEGO robots. Methods: The study was conducted in a programming course which involved 28 Chinese undergraduates. At the end of the 14‐week course, all students were requested to complete the questionnaire twice, one for their perceptions of Scratch and the other for those of LEGO robotics. Three semi‐structured focus‐group interviews were also conducted for students' perceptions of the course. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that LEGO robots scored significantly higher on behavioural and emotional engagement, while cognitive engagement was not significantly different. As for the flow experience, Scratch provided students with a greater sense of control, while LEGO robots allowed students to experience temporal distortion. There were no significant differences in terms of clear goals and immediate feedback. Takeaways: Our study contributes to a better understanding of students' engagement and flow experience in block‐based programming and helps teachers select appropriate programming tools for teaching. Lay Description: Robotics programming engages students more behaviourally and emotionally than Scratch. For cognitive engagement, both are the similar.During robotics classes, students are more immersed, and time seems to fly by. But students also reports the Scratch virtual sprites are easier to control while the robots proved more challenging from the perspective of sense of control.Scratch programming is less demanding and more learners friendly. Robotics programming requires more time and patience from the learner, so it is more suitable for students who enjoy challenges and are persistent.Programming robots requires additional investment, but it can provide students with a more immersive experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a non‐cognitive trait, grit plays an important role in human learning. Although students higher in grit are more likely to perform well on tests, how they learn in the process has been underexamined. Objectives: This study attempted to explore how students with different levels of grit behave and learn in an exploratory learning environment. Methods: In this study, 66 students participated in seven exploratory tasks in Snap! for approximately 60 min after a 30‐min lecture. Students were categorized into a high grit group and low grit group using a grit scale. The Mann–Whitney U test, epistemic network analysis and lag sequential analysis were used to explore the differences between groups in learning performance, technology acceptance and behavioural patterns. Results: Students with different levels of grit engaged in explorative tasks in a short period of time might not present significantly different learning performance, perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, but students higher in grit, actively engaging more different types of activities, tended to put greater sustained effort to solve the challenging task. Take Away: Although grit was not significantly correlated with learning performance when students engage in classroom‐based explorative activities, grit did predict whether students are more likely to explore and put greater sustained effort into solving the challenging task. Lay Description: Students higher in grit are likely to be actively engaging more different types of activities.Students higher in grit tend to put greater sustained effort to solve the challenging task.Grit was not significantly correlated with learning performance in classroom‐based explorative activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]