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Peer review is generally regarded as a useful learning tool for students, providing them with opportunities to interact with their peers when engaging in the process of critical reading and critical thinking, thus possibly raising students' motivation to learn. For peer review to be a manageable task for students, appropriate scaffolding is believed to be pivotal. The present study mainly aims to investigate: 1) how students at two levels of English proficiency will perceive the usefulness of the peer review exercise completed; and 2) whether the scaffolding provided to them is viewed as useful and the reasons behind. The participants involved 76 university students taking two academic writing courses at a university in Hong Kong. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed collectively for the responses to an online anonymous questionnaire. Both groups showed favourable responses to the peer review exercise, including the preference for the retention of the peer review exercise. Several findings, however, differentiated the two groups, e.g., significantly a greater number of higher-ability participants than did the lower-ability students agreed to the benefit of peer review with respect to: a) writing a thesis statement; b) using hedges; c) using in-text citation; and d) building friendship. [This paper was published in "English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies" v5 n4 p180-205 2023. The paper was presented at The 11th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2023), Iafor (17 July 2023), University of London, London. Hybrid mode.]

The primary objective of this research was to investigate the effects of model-based science instruction on the conceptual development of 7th grade students in the topic of electricity. This qualitative research was conducted during the 2022-2023 academic year, using purposive sampling method. The study comprised 33 7th grade students (18 boys and 15 girls) from a secondary school located in the city center of the Aegean Region. Students' conceptions were introduced as a conceptual framework representing individuals' mental models. In the study, a conceptual understanding test consisting of five open-ended questions was developed as a data collection tool within the framework of the related literature and science curriculum. In order to evaluate the effects of the designed learning environment, this achievement test was administered to students before and after the instruction. Rubric was used in the analysis of the obtained data. Analyzes were carried out by one researcher and their accuracy was checked by another researcher. The effectiveness of the learning environment is based on the comparison of the pre- and post-test findings. The implementation process lasted 12 lesson hours. The data were analyzed descriptively and classified according to their conceptual knowledge levels. Conclusively, the study demonstrated that the implementation of model-based lessons within the 'Electric Circuits' unit had positive impact on the conceptual development of 7th grade students. In addition, model-based learning sequence reduced misconceptions of students about the topic of electric. Based on these results, model-based teaching was recommended to teachers in the instruction processes and researchers were recommended to investigate features of models and the nature of modeling, the relation between students' knowledge about modeling and the quality of the models they create. [This paper was published in: "EJER Congress 2023 International Eurasian Educational Research Congress Conference Proceedings," Ani Publishing, 2023, pp. 520-537.]

This research aimed to develop a valid and reliable test to be used to detect sixth grade students' misconceptions and errors regarding the subject of fractions. A misconception diagnostic test has been developed that includes the concept of fractions, different representations of fractions, ordering and comparing fractions, equivalence of fractions, representation of fractions on the number line, and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions. Studies in the literature on misconceptions in fractions were examined and 22 misconceptions were listed. An open-ended test consisting of 23 questions was created in which students justified their answers to the questions. The developed test was applied to 215 sixth grade students studying in a public secondary school in Istanbul. The average item difficulty index of the test was calculated as 0.37. The test was found to be of average difficulty. The average discrimination index of the test was measured as 0.69. This value shows that the test items are quite successful in distinguishing between students who know and those who do not. In addition, when the discrimination values of the test items were taken into consideration separately, there was no need for item removal or item change since there were no items below 0.30. The KR-20 reliability coefficient was calculated for the first stage of the test and was calculated as 0.93. A graded classification system was used for the first part and second part of the test. To determine that the two stages work in harmony, the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated and found to be 0.95. These results prove that the developed test is highly valid and reliable. [This paper was published in: "EJER Congress 2023 International Eurasian Educational Research Congress Conference Proceedings," Ani Publishing, 2023, pp. 255-272.]

The paper reports the first results of an experience of university teaching innovation in progress. It is based on multiple means of "Engagement", "Representation", and "Action & Expression" in the framework of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach. The action repeats, with some improvements, a previous university experience of Flipped Classroom in distance learning, and it has been proposed in dual mode to second year students enrolled in a course on "Teaching and Learning" of the bachelor's degree program in Education of the University of Bergamo, in Italy. The paper investigates the students' perception about: 1) the attractiveness of the proposal compared to more traditional approaches; 2) their own learning paths; 3) their motivation. A quantitative and qualitative survey detected the students' perception of the teaching methods for this course, with main focus on the use of active teaching aimed at breaking down learning barriers, in the UDL perspective. [This paper was published in: "Transforming our World through Universal Design for Human Development: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Universal Design (UD2022). Studies in Health Technology and Informatics," edited by Ilaria Garofolo et al., IOS Press, 2022, pp. 541-48.]

This research attempts to add to the existing literature of language learning strategy uses by advancing our understanding of what language learning strategies (LLS) are preferred by learners who were given a one-year English education at two state universities and to find out whether strategy uses were directly related to being successful in language learning. A total of 286 students filled out a questionnaire called Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), participated in the study. For deeper information 6 students from each university were asked to answer interview questions. It also aimed at discovering what strategies the students mostly preferred and whether there were any changes in strategy choices at the end of the learning program. The results of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between students' language learning strategy use and language learning levels. In addition, in the pre-test post-test comparison applied to see the possible effect of the preparatory education, it was observed that there was a positive increase in the use of language learning strategies by the students at the end of the preparatory education. Based on the results, the study is expected to contribute to the theory behind language teaching and learning in Turkey. Keywords: Language proficiency, Learning strategies, Preparatory education, University students, Turkish learners. [This paper was published in: "EJERCongress 2022 Conference Proceedings," Ani Publishing, 2022, pp. 89-102.]

Pandemic-related policies are typically developed by districts and translated to all schools for implementation. Understanding the degree to which the pandemic impacted school-level performance would provide additional perspective for researchers looking to help district and school officials move forward. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the pandemic impact at the school level using three different regression approaches. Large scale assessment datasets in ELA and Mathematics grades 5-8 were used in this study. The reference group data included test-takers from the Spring 2017 and 2019 administrations, which were not impacted by the pandemic. The study group data was test-takers from the Spring 2019 and 2021 administrations. Residual values were estimated by subtracting predicted 2021 scores with the regression coefficients of 2017 to 2019 from observed 2021 scale scores, with the residuals being considered as the pandemic impact. A school residual was calculated by averaging the residuals of the students in the schools. There were three study questions. The first question was about the stability of school effects on students' performances across 2019 and 2021. For both 2019 and 2021, there were some school effects on students' performance. For ELA, ICC values for spring 2021 were lower than those for spring 2019. The second question was regarding which regression method produced the best-fit model. As expected, the regression model with the nested school design produced the best fit. The third question was how to flag schools impacted by the pandemic. In this study, the two flagging criteria utilized were the SD and effect size flags. Because the SD flag compares school residuals to state residuals, it can be considered a relative criterion. These effect size flags compared expected performance under a normal environment and the 2021 observed performance of a school and thus can be regarded as an absolute criterion.

This study investigated the impact of a computer-adaptive reading program, Waterford Early Learning (WEL), in an elementary school in Indiana. The study investigated how educational technology, specifically computer-assisted instruction (CAI), would impact the literacy scores of kindergarten students when paired with traditional instruction: Students with active special education status and no special education status used the program during an educational year when they acquired vital literacy skills. Experimental students across demographics, including lunch status and special education status, outperformed their control counterparts on all strands. From these findings, researchers can tentatively conclude that students with active special education status can potentially greatly benefit from CAI in the classroom, especially during a year when so many critical literacy skills are practiced and mastered. Furthermore, students who used WEL with fidelity significantly outperformed their control counterparts across all reading strands. Findings indicate that CAI technology can positively impact students' scores in a single school year.

The aim of this paper is to provide an objective overview of the impact of teacher salaries on the educational achievements of students. It is often debated about teacher salaries and improvement or jeopardizing their standard, but educational consequences that may ensue as a result of these intentions are rarely addressed. Teacher's role in student's achievement outcomes is unquestionable. There are many factors that have an impact on student achievement, but this paper will analyze only the impact of teacher's income on student's achievement. A hypothesis for further study has been set by collecting and analyzing pedagogical documentation on teacher salaries and student's educational achievements. Qualitative approach to statistical results of PISA study published in 2013 analyzes following categories: reading, mathematics and science, student's sense of belonging to school and student's personal opinion on does school prepare them for adult life. The study of these elements in selected countries gives us a concrete insight into their interrelationship. The comparative analysis compared the educational achievements of students with the level of teacher's salaries in the following countries: Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. The results of the research show that the level of teacher's income has an impact on student's achievements. The paper confirms the facts that the teaching profession is more popular as incomes increase and therefore attracts more motivated and skilled individuals. [This paper was published in the SGEM2014 Proceedings, ISBN-978-619-7105-24-7 / ISSN 2367-5659, September 1-9, 2014, Vol. 3, pp. 383-390.]

The aim of this study was to establish whether there are differences between the computer self-efficacy of pupils and teachers (N = 507) in the context of the classroom, as a developing workplace of the teacher in elementary education. The survey covered 184 teachers and 323 pupils in elementary school. The results show that there is no statistically significant difference in the Basic Computer Skills dimension. In other words, both pupils and teachers assess their own self-efficacy in Basic Computer Skills equally. Further, the results show a statistically significant difference of the medium effect size in Media-Related Skills. In other words, pupils assess their self-efficacy in this dimension higher than the teachers. The results also reveal a statistically significant difference in the medium effect size concerning the self-efficacy dimension of Web-Based Skills, i.e. the pupils' assessment of self-efficacy in the skill of internet use is higher than the teachers' assessment of self-efficacy in the same area. The results also show that pupils generally assess their computer self-efficacy more highly than the teachers do, which may be explained by the fact that these pupils are digital natives, belonging to what is known as the Net Generation, while their teachers are known as digital immigrants. This paper explains the implications of these results for modern multimedia student-centred classes, and the role of the pupil and teacher in such classes. [This paper was published in: "E-Learning at Work and the Workplace: From Education to Employment and Meaningful Work with ICTs." Proceedings of the European Distance and E-Learning Network 2014 Annual Conference (Zagreb, Croatia, June 10-13, 2014). p517-526. ISBN 978-963-89559-7-5.]

Considering the contradictory research on explicit teaching of suprasegmentals, the present study aims to investigate the effects of explicit instruction of L2 English learners' perception of prosodically ambiguous intonation patterns, as well as the possible effects of reported musical familiarity on intonation acquisition. A control group and a treatment group of low-intermediate international English students were asked to judge the meaning of three types of sentence-final intonation patterns: declarative sentences, tag questions, and wh- questions. Overall, the group that received explicit instruction during the four-week treatment phase scored higher on the perception post-test than those who received no treatment, although the improvement was not found to be statistically significant. A small number of learners with self-reported musical familiarity in the experimental group did not significantly improve in their perception of intonation patterns compared to their peers. [This paper was published in: "Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech. Concordia Working Papers in Applied Linguistics. Volume 5" (pp. 353-372). COPAL, 2014.]

This study analyzed the Science teachers (ST) and non-science teachers' (NST) perceptions of supervisory practices in an autonomous national high school in the Division of Zambales during the School Year 2016-2017 in relations to curriculum and instruction, communication, staff development, evaluation, leadership; and classroom visits. It utilized descriptive cross-sectional design of research with the standardized instrument to measure the perceptions of the two groups of respondents on the supervisory practices within the specified time frame. The perceived supervisory practices in relations to the identified areas were analyzed per group of teacher using Weighted Mean and the comparative analysis on the level of agreement regarding the perceptions of the two groups of teachers, independent t-Test was used. Both the group of teachers registered the same level of agreement on the various aspects of supervisory practices. There was no significant difference between the perceptions of ST and NST on the supervisory practices in an autonomous national high school.

New technologies have had a large and transformative impact on education. This study explored the benefits of a comprehensive, computer-adaptive reading program for the literacy skills of young learners. Second grade students enrolled in a public school district used a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program and were evaluated at the beginning and end of the school year on a standardized literacy assessment. Analysis indicated that end of year literacy scores made by students who used the CAI program were higher than those made by students who did not use the CAI program. Similarly, students who used the CAI program had higher end of year scores while controlling for beginning of year scores than students who did not use the CAI program. This study supports the use of CAI, when used with fidelity, in early literacy instruction.

Sixteen scholarly papers and twenty abstracts comprise the content of the eighteenth annual Brick & Click Libraries Conference, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the conference, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship. The 2018 paper and abstract titles include: (1) Committee on Diversity & Inclusion: Cultivating an Inclusive Library Environment (Orolando Duffus, Andrea Malone, Margaret Dunn, Lisa Cruces, Matthew Moore, Annie Wu, and Frederick Young); (2) Checking Out the LGBT+ (Kayla Reed); (3) Tailoring Library Instruction to Adult Students: Applying the Science and Methods of Andragogy for Modern Instructional and Reference Services (Eric Deatherage and Jason Smith); (4) Library-Faculty Collaboration for OER Promotion and Implementation (Paula Martin); (5) The Facts of Fiction: Research for Creative Writers (Addison Lucchi); (6) Location and the Collection Connection (Kayla Reed and Amber Carr); (7) Gay for No Pay: How to Maintain an LGBTQ+ Collection with No Budget (Rachel Wexelbaum); (8) A Step Up: Piloting Integrated Information Literacy Instruction Throughout a Discipline (Nathan Elwood and Robyn Hartman); (9) Not Just a Collection: The Emergence and Evolution of Our Contemporary Collection (Hong Li and Kayla Reed); (10) Flipster: How One Community College Library Supports Faculty and Student Academic Needs with Flipster Digital Magazines (Stephen Ambra); (11) Three Ring Circus: A Model for Understanding and Teaching Students about Bias (Virginia Cairns); (12) Demystifying DH: How to Get Started with Digital Humanities (Sherri Brown and Forstot Burke); (13) Academic Libraries Embracing Technology with a Purpose (Lavoris Martin); (14) (A)ffective Management: A People First Management Approach (Ryan Weir); (15) Plugged & Unplugged Active Learning Strategies for One Shots (Judy Bastin, Justina Mollach, Leslie Pierson, Ruth Harries, and Teresa Mayginnes); (16) Giving a Booster Shot to Your One Shot: Incorporating Engaging Activities into Library Instruction (Kelly Leahy, Gwen Wilson, and Angela Beatie); (17) Adventures with Omeka.net: Metadata, Workflows, and Exhibit-based Storytelling at UNO Libraries (Yumi Ohira, Angela Kroeger, and Lori Schwartz); (18) Online Badge Classes for High School Students (Angela Paul); (19) Fake News: The Fun, the Fear, and the Future of Resource Evaluation (Lindsay Brownfield); (20) Making Outreach the Library's Mission (April K. Miller); (21) Active Learning for Metaliteracies: Digital Modules from the New Literacies Alliance (Rachel R. Vukas, Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan, and Brenda Linares); (22) Calculating Return on Investment in Libraries (Nicholas Wyant); (23) Crossing Borders: Expanding Digitization Efforts Across Library Departments (Jay Trask, Jane Monson, and Jessica Hayden); (24) From Silos to Collaboration (Joyce Meldrem); (25) Key Performance Indicator Tracking Using Google Forms (Joshua Lambert); (26) Bridging the Gap: Providing Equal Access of Library Resources and Services to Distance Learners (Nancy Crabtree, Xiaocan (Lucy) Wang, Bob Black); (27) Coming to the Plains: Latino/a Stories in Nebraska (Laurinda Weisse, Michelle Warren, and Jacob Rosdail); (28) Five Keys to #SocialMediaSuccess in Academic Libraries (Hannah E. Christian and Alison Hanner); (29) Easy Information Literacy Assessments for Small Academic Libraries (Julie Pinnell); (30) Traversing the Path: A Library Director's Guide to the Higher Learning Commission's Open Pathway for Accreditation (Sandy Moore); (31) Drawing Magic: Visualizing the Internet to Introduce Information Literacy (Kelly Leahy); (32) Chatspeak for Librarians: Best Practices for Chat Reference (Tanner D. Lewey); (33) The Creative Learning Spiral: A Python Learner in the Library (Greta Valentine); (34) The Poet's Papers: Literary Research in the Small College Archives (Martha A. Tanner); (35) Giving Students an Edge: Enhancing Resumes with a Digital Information Research Certificate (Rachel R. Vukas); and (36) Where Did You Get That eBook? Comparison of Student/Faculty Use of eBooks, Library Space, and Citation Management Programs (Alice B. Ruleman). (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2017 proceedings, see ED578189.]

In India, the concept of inclusive education schools is gaining importance to provide equal opportunities for education for all. Aims of schools in India has is to include students with special needs in the regular classrooms. However, biggest challenge they face is lack of awareness among teachers about inclusive education. Educationists across India have felt the need to make teachers aware about inclusive education. This research paper discusses about the effect of inclusive education awareness programme, developed to create awareness among preservice teachers. Methodology used was quasi-experimental design-pretest and posttest non-equivalent group along with factorial design to study the interactive effect of moderator variables on treatment. Questionnaire on awareness about inclusive education was prepared, it comprises of 48 items, and its reliability index is 0.85 by Split-Half method and 0.88 by Cronbach's Alpha. Purposive sampling technique was used and sample consisted of 77 preservice teachers in the experimental group and 53 in the control group from two colleges offering D.T.Ed (Diploma in Teacher Education) Course. Treatment, inclusive education awareness programme was implemented using different interactive teaching methods for 52 hours across five weeks. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics t-test, ANOVA (Two-way), Wolf's test. Findings revealed that preservice teachers from experimental group have gained awareness about inclusive education to a moderate extent. No significant interactive effect of gender, socio-economic status, social intelligence, emotional intelligence and treatment was found. This confirms that treatment given to experimental group was effective.

This paper describes a secondary analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores by gender. Data were national public 4th- and 8th-grade reading scores from composite and subscales for 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013. Twelfth-grade scores for composite and literary experience from 2005, 2009, and 2013 and gain information from 2005 were included. Differences (p.<0.001; Cohen's "d" effect size) in reading average scale scores by gender were consistent across grade level and years with females scoring higher than males. Results are congruent with a previous study of NAEP reading by gender across fourth-, eighth, and twelfth-grade-levels for 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003 (Klecker, 2006). Discussion includes comparisons with cross-cultural international assessments and possible explanations for the widely-observed gender difference in large-scale standardized reading assessments.

This study examines undergraduate students' college readiness and educational engagement gaps in a U.S. public research university. The study reveals the heterogeneity of domestic (American) and international student groups. While typical international students may have disadvantages in college readiness and engagement, English speakers and American high schoolers among international students perform even better than domestic peers. In contrast, English learners and foreign high schoolers among domestic students, such as recent immigrants face the same challenges as typical international peers lacking adequate language and cultural preparation for college success. The study re-envisions educational diversity and equity for global campus where an integrated system of academic and sociocultural support enables transnational students to succeed.

One of the largest challenges in educator preparation in higher education is the effective use of data for actionable and meaningful decision making about programs for current and future educators, administrators, and educational leaders. Within programs there are many types of students. These may include elementary, secondary, special education, foreign language, social studies, science, literacy, health, school level administrators, district administrators, curriculum leaders, and many others based on school and program. However, in all instances the program (i.e. college, university, school, etc.) is charged with using data in a meaningful manner to guide program decisions, make revisions to curriculum and clinical experiences, and determine the overall quality of the program. Visual Scaling provides an effective solution, and is a process whereby goals and expectations are clearly articulated, and baseline and performance assessments are compared against the expected level of performance. A bibliography is included.

Students are accessing graduate study online in ever-increasing numbers with interactive experiences differing from those who traditionally enroll in corresponding face-to-face (F2F) classes. Soft skills such as collaboration/teamwork, communication and presentation are important to learning but difficult to practice outside the F2F environment. Robotic telepresence units (robots) might benefit distance learners by enriching their online experience, making it more similar to corresponding F2F classes. This study examines students' sense of social presence in courses that are accessed fully online, attended via robots or face-to-face. These experiences are compared through the lens of Social Presence Theory (Garrison, Anderson and Archer, 2000). Of the 227 enrollments in 30 educational leadership courses offered during the summer and fall semesters of 2016, a sample consisting of 66 students was selected to measure graduate students' perceptions of social presence. A one-way ANOVA yielded no significant differences between groups with regard to overall social presence and when social presence's effect was subsequently compared using eta-squared, only a small effect was found. When asked specifically, however, students using robots report an increased sense of class membership; a heightened appreciation for peers' humor, and a greater ability to form distinct impressions of fellow classmates. These preliminary results give reason to continue pursuit of this line of inquiry as subsequent findings could yield important implications for distance education programs. The Perceptions of Social Presence Survey is appended.

What are the challenges faced by a mid-south liberal arts college teacher education program, in its attempt to successfully meet the new Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accreditation requirements? The Investigator studied the Educator Program Provider (EPP) during academic year 2015-2016. The challenges faced by the EPP are chronicled in case study form. The program is one of the first in the United States preparing for the new national teacher education accreditation, as well as being one of the first of two in its state to experience the new accreditation process and requirements. The Investigator shares discussions and analyses, describing the challenges of assessment validity and reliability, reconfiguring program assessments, data collection and analysis, electronic portfolios, clinical experiences, P-12 school partnerships, college wide recruiting efforts, state partnerships, and quality assurance system revisions. The five new CAEP Standards, and their components, are compared and contrasted across, and within, topics. Discussion follows regarding new regulations regarding state rankings of teacher education programs, and entrepreneurial academies being readied to take the place of programs that close or fail. The case study can be useful for other teacher education programs, in their contemplations about how best to prepare for the challenges of CAEP accreditation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of integrating theatre-arts strategies and traditional strategies in high school English classrooms. The sample consisted of one eleventh grade English class of twenty-one students. Data were collected from students' cumulative grades. The study was conducted throughout an eighteen-week term, divided into two nine-week semesters. Theatre-arts strategies were implemented for four weeks of the first nine-week semester. Traditional teaching methods were employed for four weeks of the second nine-week semester. The data from the study were analyzed using a dependent T-test to compare the scores of students when taught using theatre-arts strategies and traditional teaching methods. Although each student's score increased 3.05 points when taught using theatre-arts strategies, the results indicated no significant difference found between the scores (t (20) = 1.86, p> 0.05). An independent T-test was conducted to determine whether there was a difference in academic achievement between genders when taught using theatre-arts integrated strategies. A significant result was found between the mean scores of males and females (t (19) = -2.93, p< 0.05). Another independent T-test was also conducted to determine whether there was a difference in academic achievement between genders when taught using traditional methods. A significant result was found between the mean scores of males and females (t (19) = -2.46, p< 0.05). These findings suggest that theatre integrated strategies are beneficial to both males and females, although females tend to excel in theatre integrated classes.