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English speaking is a challenging learning objective for EFL (English as Foreign Language) learners owing to the lack of practicing environments. In this study, Interactive Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (ISVVR) was adopted as the learning mode to provide realistic sociocultural contexts for English speaking. In addition, an experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of the SVVR approach on the English speaking performances and anxiety of the EFL students with different cognitive styles. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was conducted to investigate the effects of the interaction between cognitive style and multimedia learning mode on students' learning motivation, speaking anxiety, oral presentation, and move analysis. The student sample consisted of two classes of 93 students. All of the students took the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) to identify whether their cognitive style was field dependent or independent. The results showed a significant effect for the interaction between the cognitive styles and the learning modes on the students' oral presentation and speaking anxiety. Their structural moves in oral presentations with the ISVVR learning mode showed more similar spoken genre patterns to those of TED speakers. Findings further support the benefit of incorporating cognitive styles into the ISVVR learning mode for EFL learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training and examining healthcare practitioners' nursing skills by situating them in a contextualized environment to interact with trained simulated patients and making required decisions based on the collected information is a widely adopted approach in nursing training. In a nursing skills course, the flipped learning method shifts the lecture time to the before-class time, allowing more time for teachers' guidance and skills practice in the class. However, if students do not have in-depth understanding in the individual learning space, their learning achievement is often not as expected. In this study, an ASQ (Annotation, Summarizing and Questioning)-based flipped learning strategy for nursing skills training is proposed to engage nurse practitioners (NPs) in deep and effective learning. Moreover, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of the proposed approach on learners' learning achievement, nursing skills, self-efficacy, cognitive load, and critical thinking tendency. The experimental results showed that the approach not only improved NPs' nursing skills, but also significantly increased their self-efficacy and critical thinking tendency. • An ASQ-based flipped learning approach was proposed. • The approach helps students effectively identify key concepts before the class. • An experiment was conducted in a clinical nursing skills training course. • The approach improved the learners' nursing skills performance. • The approach improved the learners' self-efficacy and critical thinking tendency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the application of the metaverse in higher education has attracted the attention of numerous educators and researchers. It allows students to engage in immersive experiential learning and to experience a variety of real human interaction modes. Researchers have pointed out that although the introduction of emerging technologies may bring a sense of novelty, it cannot sustain student learning for a long time. Learners' learning performance still depends on their learning motivation. The present study aimed to explore the conceptions and perceptions (i.e., growth mindset, learning attitudes, and self-efficacy) of students with different motivation levels regarding the metaverse in higher education. A draw-a-picture analysis and surveys were conducted. The results indicated that most students believed that with the metaverse, they could learn the knowledge of unspecified subject domains in any location, realizing the idea of studying for practical application. In the drawings of students with low motivation levels, they still conducted static learning activities (i.e., reading/studying, and searching for sources) in the metaverse learning environment. On the other hand, students with high motivation levels focused on experiential learning, operation, or practice (i.e., hands-on practicing/performance and observing/experiencing). Moreover, the students with high motivation levels generally show better growth mindsets, learning attitudes, and self-efficacy than those with low motivation levels. This implies that learning motivation could be an important factor affecting students' growth mindsets, learning attitudes, and self-efficacy of learning with the metaverse. The findings of this study serve as a foundation for future research, and provide preliminary evidence for understanding the conceptions of students with different motivation levels regarding the metaverse in higher education. Lastly, based on the analytic results, this study puts forward suggestions for the learning approaches of students in the metaverse as a reference for future researchers and teachers in higher education to design related activities. • Students' conceptions and perceptions of learning with the metaverse are analyzed. • The subjects are university students with different motivation levels. • A draw-a-picture analysis and surveys are employed in this study. • Most students believed that the metaverse would help them learn better. • High motivation students had better growth mindsets, attitudes, and self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a working environment which requires professional knowledge and judgment-making ability, professional trainers play an important role; through effective professional training, they can help newcomers to successfully apply their expertise in the workplace. Hence, how to cultivate excellent professional trainers has become an important issue of talent cultivation for various enterprises. In a hospital, professional trainers with excellent teaching ability can not only help new nursing staff develop their ability for handling practical cases, but may also affect their sense of identity recognition for the nursing profession. Teaching plan design and materials production courses for professional trainers in general hospitals are still taught using a conventional lecturing method. Such training mostly focuses on medical professional content and techniques, rather than teaching plan design and content organization. A few training institutions have attempted to use digital storytelling (DST) to train professional trainers in teaching plan design and content organization. However, conventional DST pays more attention to the content of the story, and lacks emotional expression and interaction. In order to tackle this problem, the present study proposed a robot-based DST approach based on the Brainstorming, Selection, Forming, and Evaluation (BSFE) model. To verify its effectiveness, this study conducted an experiment in a Diabetes Teaching Plan Design and Materials Production course. The results showed that in comparison with the conventional DST (C-DST) learning approach, the R-DST learning approach could enhance professional trainers' learning achievement, learning attitude, critical thinking awareness, and learning satisfaction. On the other hand, it also increased their cognitive load. • A robot-based digital storytelling approach for professional trainers is proposed. • The approach is based on a Brainstorming, Selection, Forming and Evaluation model. • An experiment was conducted in a nursing training program of a hospital. • The approach improved professional trainers' learning effectiveness and quality. • The approach improved trainers' learning attitude, satisfaction and critical thinking awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this study, we systematically reviewed the experimental mobile learning studies published in 2010–2016. Moreover, the activity theory framework was adopted to investigate the insights and trends of mobile learning. That is, the dimensions of context, tools, control, communication, subjects and objectives were employed to analyze the studies. It was found that most experimental mobile learning studies engaged students in real-world contexts, and the activities were conducted based on the existing school curriculums. This means that researchers and school teachers noted the value of situating students in meaningful learning by helping them link what they had learned from the textbooks to real-world scenarios or daily life environments. In the meantime, the studies frequently involved the students in actively using mobile systems with communication facilities to acquire knowledge via interacting with peers, events, and specified real-world learning targets in the environment. On one hand, many researchers proposed to raise students' motivation; on the other hand, they expected to observe more of what the learners, particularly novices and low-achievement students, had done when observing their past interactions. Even so, it was found that mobile devices were considered a main way of allowing students to acquire self-learning materials rather than only mediation learning across contexts. As the current studies can be considered to contain blended rather than purely self-paced learning, there is still a large space for mobile learning progress and development. Highlights • A review on experimental m-learning was done based on the activity theory framework. • The studies published in 2010–2016 were investigated to find the trends of m-learning. • The context, tool, control, communication, subject and objective aspects were analyzed. • The phenomena of the m-learning activities conducted in the studies were reported. • Possible research issues of m-learning in the future were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, flipped learning has received increasing emphasis; it engages students in deriving basic knowledge through instructional videos before the class, and hence more time is available for practicing, applying knowledge, or student-teacher interaction in class. Many scholars have pointed out that, with such a learning approach, teachers can design more effective in-class activities by guiding students to have higher order thinking as well as interactions with peers and teachers. In the meantime, researchers have also indicated that employing proper educational technologies or learning strategies could further improve students’ performance. Therefore, in this study, an Augmented Reality (AR)-based learning guiding mode is proposed for developing a flipped learning system. To examine the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted in a natural science learning activity of an elementary school using the developed system. The participants were four classes of 111 fifth graders. Two classes were assigned to the experimental group, while the others were the control group. Those learning in the experimental group used the AR-based flipped learning mode, while those in the control group learned with the conventional flipped learning mode. From the experimental results, it was found that the AR-based flipped learning guiding approach not only benefited the students in terms of promoting their project performance, but also improved their learning motivation, critical thinking tendency, and group self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situating learners in a context relevant to scientific phenomena enables them to acquire knowledge through experience, reflection, conceptualization, and practice, which is an important learning mode in science education. However, learners generally do not have opportunities to experience many scientific phenomena in the real world. Therefore, virtual learning environments (VLE) are becoming a frequently adopted technology to provide authentic learning contexts. In particular, spherical video-based learning environments (SVLE), which are a low-tech form of VLE, have attracted the attention of school teachers and educational technology researchers. Additionally, effective assessment methods, such as the two-tier-test, have been adopted to examine learners' performance during the virtual learning process. On the other hand, researchers have pointed out that lack of effective learning strategies may decrease the learning effects in a virtual learning context. Hence, this study integrated a graphic organizer into a two-tier test-based learning mode, in which the first-tier questions were declarative items with a short answer (e.g., the questions of where, what, and when), whereas the second-tier questions were more in-depth, deeper causal-type questions (e.g., the questions of why and how), in the contexts of SVLE. To verify the effectiveness of this learning approach, a graphic organizer-based two-tier test SVLE was developed; moreover, a quasi-experimental design was conducted in the "Mysteries of the Earth" unit of the sixth graders' natural science course. A total of 41 sixth graders from two classes, with an average age of 12, were recruited in this experiment. One class was assigned to be the experimental group adopting the graphic organizer-based two-tier test SVLE (GT-SVLE), while the other was the control group adopting the conventional two-tier test-based SVLE (CT-SVLE). All of the students learned with the SVLE using tablet computers. Based on the results, the GT-SVLE could better improve students' learning achievement than the CT-SVLE. Besides, according to behavioral analysis and interviews, the control group had significantly more learning behaviors of repeated reading of supplementary materials and repeated wrong answers, indicating that the proposed approach facilitated students' positive behaviors through observation and knowledge construction in SVLE, which helped them achieve the learning objectives. • A spherical video-based learning environments (SVLE) learning approach is proposed. • The approach advanced students' positive behaviors through observation and knowledge. • The approach was conducted with two-tier test strategy. • The study was conducted in the unit of the sixth graders' natural science course. • The study used concept map as a tool for researching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In traditional teacher-centered mathematics instruction, students might show low learning motivation owing to the lack of applied contexts. Game-based learning has been recognized as a potential approach to addressing this issue; however, without proper alignment between the gaming and math-applied contexts, the benefits of game-based learning could be limited. Therefore, this study aims to develop a microworldbased educational game, which provides simulated contexts encouraging students to explore, discover, and solve practical problems using the mathematics knowledge gained in the class. A quasiexperimental design was implemented in the learning activity of the "Speedy World" unit in an elementary school mathematics course to examine the effectiveness of the proposed approach. A total of 107 sixth graders participated in the experiment. The experimental results showed that the students who learned with the microworld-based gaming approach had better learning achievement and motivation in the mathematics course than those who learned with the conventional technology-enhanced learning approach. In addition, the students also showed that they highly accepted the microworld-based game for learning mathematics. The findings of this study provide good evidence for the importance and necessity of associating authentic applied contexts with gaming contexts in developing computer educational games for mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviewed the literature on mobile technology-supported collaborative learning from 2007 to 2016. Several issues, such as the distributions and research methods, learning devices and learning environments, participants, research issues, application domains, grouping methods and collaborative learning strategies, are addressed. In addition, the relationship between the learning strategies and measurement issues are investigated. The review found that the amount of research on mobile collaborative learning increased and the connection between new mobile technology and collaborative learning activities became tighter. College students received the greatest emphasis, but more focus should be put on junior and elementary school students. Few studies were conducted on teachers and adults. In the most recent five years, the research was focused on improving learners' performance in science, especially social science, and in natural scenarios outside of the classroom, but less emphasis was put on developing learners’ skills and higher order skills. There was little research focusing on different selection methods of group members and the teaching effects of grouping design. Most research adopted conceptualized collaborative learning strategies. Furthermore, some studies proposed that the collaborative learning activities conducted in mobile learning environments should be designed carefully to guide students to experience more effective collaborative constructivist learning. Based on the findings, in-depth discussion and suggestions for future studies are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance students' learning motivation and learning interest, scholars have attempted to incorporate game-based learning (GBL) into courses to improve conventional teaching which is mostly carried out using textbooks, presentations, or videos. However, one-tier tests were mainly adopted in previous GBL, meaning that it was difficult to identify whether students answered questions correctly by understanding knowledge or merely guessed the correct answer. Such tests also make it difficult to provide adequate feedback and guidance during the learning process. In order to solve this problem, a two-tier test-based digital gaming approach (TT-DGA) developed using RPG Maker was proposed in this study. It not only provided students with a more interesting way to learn art and view world-famous artworks in the game, but also introduced a two-tier test in the learning process to help students gradually construct professional art appreciation knowledge. To explore the effects of this approach, a total of 62 university students who took an elective art course were recruited in the current study. A quasi-experimental design was employed and the course was conducted physically during the Covid-19 pandemic. One class was the experimental group which adopted the TT-DGA for learning, while the other class was the control group which adopted the conventional gaming approach (C-DGA). The results showed that the TT-DGA could significantly enhance students' learning achievement of art appreciation, learning motivation, learning attitudes, and flow experience. Based on the behavioral analysis, students in the experimental group were more active than those in the control group in terms of reading art history materials, watching videos, engaging in tests, and playing the game again. Finally, the interview results uncovered that the two-tier test could help students conduct self-inspection, confirm the accuracy of their understandings of knowledge, and correct misconceptions, and that DGBL made the art course more interesting. • A two-tier test-based digital gaming approach for art education is proposed. • An educational computer game was developed based on the proposed approach. • The approach improved students' learning achievement of art appreciation. • The approach improved students' learning motivation. • The approach improved students' self-inspection and accuracy art concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Analects of Confucius is an important course in the curriculum of Asian Studies in the Chinese community and around the world. Students have to learn a collection of the thoughts of Confucius which have shaped world history and the soul of China. However, educators have indicated that most students fail to understand its abstract thoughts, or even realize its spirit in their daily life experience. Meanwhile, with the advancements of technology, learning with computer games is currently a rapidly developing area of interest for researchers, teachers, material writers and application developers in the educational field. Several studies have shown that by properly incorporating learning contents into game scenarios, an experiential game-based learning approach might foster students' motivation to learn through experience. In addition, the experiential game-based approach is a learning method with great potential for motivating students and stimulating their willingness to engage in continuous and constant learning. Thus, in this study, an experiential digital game has been developed and presented to a fifth grade class learning the Analects of Confucius at an elementary school in Taipei city. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach by situating the experimental group in an experiential game-based learning scenario, while the control group learned with a conventional technology-enhanced learning system. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach effectively enhanced the students' learning effects in terms of their learning motivation, deep learning strategy and acceptance of the technology. As a consequence, it is concluded that an experiential digital game-based learning approach can help students understand the conception and meaning of learning, which is important for them to become life-long learners with positive learning attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have indicated the importance of considering anxiety in language learning. They have also pointed out the potential of integrating learning content into gaming contexts. However, few have explored in-depth the learning processes in game-based learning environments while also taking students' learning anxiety into account. To address this issue, a problem-based English listening game was developed, and 77 ninth graders took part in the study by playing the game. A quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate students' learning achievement, learning motivation and English anxiety. In addition, progressive sequential analysis was employed to explore the learning behavioral patterns of students with different levels of English anxiety. According to the three learning phases, it was found that the gaming approach benefited the students' learning achievement and motivation. Moreover, the students with higher levels of English anxiety progressively performed more complex learning and gaming behaviors in the gaming context, and had better learning achievement than those with lower levels of anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a situated computer game was implemented for engaging students in English vocabulary contexts. Furthermore, two test-item guiding approaches, the cloze and multiple-choice guiding strategies, were embedded in the game to serve as guidance for the students. To investigate the students’ performance and behaviors of learning English vocabulary with different guiding strategies, two classes of students were included to learn with the two approaches. The experimental results showed that the students using the game with the cloze guiding strategy had significantly better learning achievement with higher cognitive load than those learning with the multiple-choice guiding strategy. Moreover, from the behavioral pattern sequential analysis, it was found that the game with cloze item guidance engaged the students in both single loop situated learning (i.e., repeatedly trying to deal with the same set of learning tasks) and double-loop situated learning (i.e., trying to deal with the same learning tasks after reviewing relevant materials and adjusting their learning strategies). On the other hand, those using the game with multiple-choice item guidance only performed single-loop situated learning during the gaming process, meaning that they seldom reviewed relevant materials or adjusted their learning strategies before trying to solve the same learning tasks again. The findings imply that it is worth considering different test-item guiding approaches when developing English vocabulary games for future studies and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flipped classroom is a well-recognized learning mode that enables effective practice and interactions among teachers and students in the class by switching the in-class instructional time and out-of-class practicing time. However, owing to their lack of self-regulated competence, most students might fail to browse and comprehend the instructional materials out of class by themselves. In this paper, a self-regulated flipped classroom approach is proposed to help students schedule their out-of-class time to effectively read and comprehend the learning content before class, such that they are capable of interacting with their peers and teachers in class for in-depth discussions. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a quasi-experimental design was employed in an elementary school Mathematics course. The experimental group students learned with the self-regulated flipped classroom approach, while the control group students learned with the conventional flipped classroom approach. The study was conducted using a quantitative approach. The instruments used were a performance test, and questionnaires of self-efficacy and self-regulation. The experimental results indicated that the post-test score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. It was also found that the higher self-regulation students showed significantly different learning achievements when learning with different approaches, while there was no significant difference between lower self-regulation students with the different learning approaches. Moreover, the experimental group showed significantly higher self-efficacy than the control group. In addition, the learning log analysis results further showed that, conforming to the objective of the self-regulated strategy, the students would determine the goals for the next learning phase based on their current performance. To sum up, the findings of this study indicate that integrating the self-regulated strategy into flipped learning can improve students’ self-efficacy as well as their strategies of planning and using study time, and hence they can learn effectively and have better learning achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In professional training programs, how to help learners fully understand the contexts and problem-solving procedure in the workplace is a crucial and challenging issue. Due to the advancements of computer and multimedia technology, many professional training programs have applied technology to provide richer learning content. Blended learning is a learning approach combining online and physical courses. In the blended learning mode, learners can not only learn through multimedia teaching materials, but also interact and practice with teachers and students in online and physical classrooms. However, the conventional blended learning (C-BL) mode mainly presents teaching content through online videos and physical courses. In such a learning environment with one-way information transmission and without experience, it is not easy for most learners to experience the actual situations encountered in the professional training process, which affects their judgment and actual handling performance. In order to tackle this problem, this research adopted spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) technology and applied it in a general registered nurse (RN) training program via a blended learning mode. To verify the effects of this teaching approach, a quasi-experimental study was conducted in a RN training program in a large-scale hospital. The experimental group employed the SVVR-BL mode while the control group employed the C-BL mode. The results indicated that the SVVR-BL mode could not only improve learners' learning achievement, but also enhance their problem-solving tendency, meta-cognition tendency, and classroom engagement. The practical skills test results in the workplace further implied that, compared to the learners who adopted the C-BL mode, learners who adopted the SVVR-BL mode had better judgment, analysis, and overall performance of the handling process when encountering practical problems. As a result, SVVR-BL not only helped learners gain knowledge and improve their higher order thinking, but also assisted them in applying what they had learned to solve real problems. This result can serve as an important reference for SVVR-BL studies and the design of professional training programs in the future. • A VR-based blended learning approach for professional training is proposed. • A learning environment is implemented using SVVR technology. • An experiment was conducted in a professional training program. • The approach improved learners' problem-solving and meta-cognition. • The approach promoted learners' performance in solving real problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mission of professional training is to foster learners' abilities to perform analysis and to carry out problem-solving. During the process of professional training, how to promote learners' self-efficacy, re-organization, and reflection is the key to boosting their problem-solving abilities. However, conventional professional training programs tend to rely on teachers' elaboration of basic knowledge and cases. They also use graphical organizers for knowledge organization. The main focus of this learning method aims at promoting learners' memory and assisting their comprehension of the overall structure of the knowledge. However, learners who use this method often fail to develop a deep understanding of the relationship of different cases without additional supports. To solve this problem, this study proposed a technology-enhanced Annotation, Questioning, Summarization, and Reflection (AQSR) training approach which uses a graphic organizer to guide trainees to gain knowledge during the process of comprehending and organizing learning content. To evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies, a quasi-experiment was conducted to compare the performances of the AQSR-based graphic organizer approach and the conventional graphic organizer-based training. The participants were new nursing staff who were enrolled in two classes of a training program. From the experimental results, it was found that the nursing staff who used the AQSR training approach showed significantly better learning achievements and case analysis test scores as well as more positive learning attitudes than those who used the conventional graphic organizer-based training, showing the potential of the proposed approach for professional training. • A structured reflection-based concept mapping for professional training is proposed. • It consists of four stages: annotation, questioning, summarization, and reflection. • An experiment was conducted on a new nursing staff training program. • The approach improved the trainees' learning achievements and case analysis outcomes. • The approach improved the trainees' learning attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging students in higher order thinking such as evaluation and analysis has been recognized as being an important strategy for helping them develop knowledge and skills, in particular, in creativeness-oriented learning activities such as artwork design. In this paper, an interactive peer-assessment criteria development approach is proposed to help students develop assessment criteria, learn from viewing peers' work, and make reflections in artwork design activities using mobile devices. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted in an elementary school art course. A total of 103 students participating in the experiment were assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The students in the experimental group learned with the proposed approach, while those in the control group learned with the conventional peer assessment approach. From the experimental results, it was found that the proposed approach significantly improved the students' learning achievement, learning motivation and meta-cognitive awareness, suggesting the effectiveness of engaging students in assessment criteria development in an interactive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heath education is an important component of the curriculum for fostering children's correct health knowledge and good daily life habits. However, educators have indicated that most children might fail to realize the importance and meaning of health education content owing to the lack of authentic scenarios and daily life experience. With the advancement of computer technologies, researchers have tried to develop multimedia learning content in order to improve students' learning performance. Among various technology-enhanced learning alternatives, digital game-based learning has been recognized as a highly potential approach to motivating students. However, several previous studies have indicated that, without properly incorporating learning content into game scenarios, the effectiveness of digital game-based learning might not be as good as expected in comparison with conventional technology-enhanced learning. In this study, a contextual digital game was developed for improving students' learning performance in an elementary school health education course. A quasi experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach by situating the experimental group in the game-based learning scenario and the control group to learn with conventional e-books. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach not only improved the students' learning motivation, but also their learning achievement and problem-solving competences. Moreover, the significant two-way interaction suggested that the contextual game-based learning approach benefited the higher motivation students more than the lower motivation ones in terms of the advanced knowledge, showing the importance and potential of applying contextual games to health education activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inquiry-based learning, an effective instructional strategy, can be in the form of a problem or task for triggering student engagement. However, how to situate students in meaningful inquiry activities remains to be settled, especially for social studies courses. In this study, a contextual educational computer game is developed to improve students' learning performance based on an inquiry-based learning strategy. An experiment has been conducted on an elementary school social studies course to evaluate the effects of the proposed approach on the inquiry-based learning performances of students with different learning styles. The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach effectively enhanced the students' learning effects in terms of their learning achievement, learning motivation, satisfaction degree and flow state. Furthermore, it is also found that the proposed approach benefited the “active” learning style students more than the “reflective” style students in terms of learning achievement. This suggests the need to provide additional supports to students with particular learning styles in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an augmented reality-based mobile learning system is proposed for conducting inquiry-based learning activities. An experiment has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of learning achievements and motivations. The subjects were 57 fourth graders from two classes taught by the same teacher in an elementary school in northern Taiwan. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach is able to improve the students' learning achievements. Moreover, it was found that the students who learned with the augmented reality-based mobile learning approach showed significantly higher motivations in the attention, confidence, and relevance dimensions than those who learned with the conventional inquiry-based mobile learning approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, a prompt-based annotation approach is proposed for developing mobile learning systems for architecture design courses. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted by assigning 56 freshmen randomly to an experimental group and a control group. The students in the experimental group adopted the mobile learning approach with a prompt-based annotation strategy, while those in the control group learned with the conventional in-field instruction and annotations. From the experimental results, it was found that the proposed prompt-based annotation strategy not only promoted the students' self-efficacy, but also improved their learning achievements. In the meantime, it is interesting to find that the experimental group students had medium cognitive load during the field trip, while the control group had rather low cognitive load. This implies that the prompt-based annotation approach engaged the students in mobile learning tasks with reasonable challenges and efforts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article describes the design and development of a context-aware ubiquitous learning (u-learning) system for users to increase fitness-related reading comprehension in a fitness centre. With the use of mobile devices and sensing technologies, practitioners and researchers of ICT and ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) are paying attention to the planning and use of u-learning components to provide users more interactions with authentic learning objects in a real context. Meanwhile, English for specific purposes (ESP) with interaction design has been a focus in recent years; however, few ESP practitioners and researchers have explored fitness-related English with ubicomp. All of the users were satisfied with the use of the smart phones and scanning of QR codes on the machines in the fitness centre to develop their reading comprehension of fitness-related English. Finally, a learning design model for Fitness English reading with u-learning components was developed and elaborated from designers' perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although students could effectively search for web data with proper keywords and select web pages related to the studied core issue, however summarizing or organizing the retrieved information remains a difficult task for them. Concept mapping is known to be an effective knowledge construction tool for helping learners organize important concepts related to a core issue. To address the problem, an integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving environment, CM-Quest, has been developed; moreover, an experiment has been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach on students' learning performance, learning satisfaction and cognitive load in an elementary school social studies course. The results show that the concept map-integrated approach can significantly enhance the students' web-based problem-solving performance, although the students showed lower degrees of technology acceptance and learning satisfaction in comparison with the conventional web-based problem-solving approach. Moreover, it is found that the students in the concept mapping group revealed higher cognitive loads than those in the control group, which could be the factor contributing to the lower technology acceptance degree and learning satisfaction. As a consequence, it is concluded that the integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving approach is helpful to students in guiding them to learn in a more effective way. On the other hand, it remains an open issue to find a suitable way of integrating concept maps into the learning process without introducing too much extra cognitive load so as to promote students' acceptance degree of using technology for better learning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many recent studies have reported the benefits of educational computer games in promoting students' learning motivations. On the other hand, however, the effect of digital game-based learning in improving students' learning performance has been questioned. Several previous studies have reported that without properly integrating learning strategies into gaming scenarios, the effectiveness of educational computer games could be limited, or may be even worse than that of the conventional technology-enhanced learning approach. In this study, a concept map-embedded gaming approach is proposed for developing educational computer games by integrating concept mapping as part of the gaming scenarios to help students organize what they have learned during the game-based learning process. Moreover, a role-playing game has been developed for an elementary school natural science course based on the proposed approach. From the experimental results, it is found that the concept map-embedded gaming approach can significantly improve the students' learning achievement and decrease their cognitive load. Moreover, the students who learned with the proposed approach revealed a significantly higher degree of perceived usefulness than those who learned with the conventional game-based learning approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The study provides a systematic review to aim the applications in game-based learning. • This study conducts bibliometric mapping analysis to visualize the GBL trends. • Keyword analysis highlights the hot topics in game-based learning. This study aimed to highlight the applications and trends in game-based learning (GBL) by conducting a systematic review as well as bibliometric mapping analysis of the studies published in seven SSCI (Social Science Citation Index) educational journals from 1990 to 2019. A total of 743 journal papers were included in this study. The results revealed that most publications and citations for GBL research were from Taiwan and the United States. The author who contributed the most is Gwo-Jen Hwang, while Computers & Education is the journal with the most publications and the most citations. The most frequently studied keywords are interactive learning environments, followed by game-based learning and teaching/learning strategies. Based on reviewing the literature, this study provides a comprehensive summary overview of the existing research, integrating the available information on the research hot topics, and visualizing and identifying the main GBL trends. In addition, the roles of gaming in educational technology research were investigated. Accordingly, some suggestions regarding the application and research directions of GBL are provided based on the study's findings, which could be a reference for researchers conducting related research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a personalized recommendation-based mobile language learning approach is proposed. A mobile learning system has been developed based on the approach by providing a reading material recommendation mechanism for guiding EFL (English as Foreign Language) students to read articles that match their preferences and knowledge levels, and a reading annotation module that enables students to take notes of English vocabulary translations for the reading content in individual or shared annotation mode. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted on a senior high school English course by assigning three classes of students to two experimental groups and a control group. One experimental group learned with the recommendation system with the individual annotation function, the other experimental group learned with the recommendation system with the shared annotation function, while the students in the control group learned with the individual annotation function, but without the recommendation system. The experimental results show that both experimental groups outperformed the control group, but there was no difference in learning outcome between the two experimental groups in terms of learning achievements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, a collaborative game-based learning environment is developed by integrating a grid-based Mindtool to facilitate the students to share and organize what they have learned during the game-playing process. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment has been conducted in an elementary school natural science course to examine the students'' performance in terms of their learning attitudes, learning motivation, self-efficacy and learning achievements. From the experimental results, it is found that the Mindtool-integrated collaborative educational game not only benefits the students in promoting their learning attitudes and learning motivation, but also improves their learning achievement and self-efficacy owing to the provision of the knowledge organizing and sharing facility embedded in the collaborative gaming environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, an online game was developed in the form of a competitive board game for conducting web-based problem-solving activities. The participants of the game determined their move by throwing a dice. Each location of the game board corresponds to a gaming task, which could be a web-based information-searching question or a mini-game; the former was used to guide the participants to search for information to answer a series of questions related to the target learning issue, while the latter was used to provide supplementary materials during the gaming process. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted on an elementary school natural science course. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach not only significantly promoted the flow experience, learning attitudes, learning interest and technology acceptance degree of the students, but also improved their learning achievements in the web-based problem-solving activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Spatial ability has been recognized as one of the most important factors affecting the mathematical performance of students. Previous studies on spatial learning have mainly focused on developing strategies to shorten the problem-solving time of learners for very specific learning tasks. Such an approach usually has limited effects on improving the mathematical performance of students. In this study, a cognitive analysis approach is proposed for developing spatial learning tools by taking game characteristics into consideration. Moreover, the validation of the cognitive components of the spatial sense test for constructing two different kinds of intervention is verified, and the effects of the interventions are compared. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted on the mathematics course of an elementary school. The experimental results show that the spatial learning tool promotes not only the learning achievement, but also the spatial sense of the students. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Fostering problem-solving abilities has long been recognized as an important issue in education; however, past studies have shown that it is difficult and challenging to find effective learning strategies or tools for improving students’ problem-solving abilities. To cope with this problem, in this study, a hybrid approach that integrates the cognitive apprenticeship model with the collaborative learning strategy is proposed for conducting web-based problem-solving activities. Students’ problem-solving performance is examined in such a hybrid learning context. Furthermore, past studies indicate that cognitive load could affect learners’ performance; thus, the influence of cognitive load on students’ problem-solving effectiveness with this new approach is investigated in depth. The experimental results show that middle- and low-achievement students in the experimental group gained significant benefits from the hybrid approach in comparison with those who learned with the traditional approach. Accordingly, a discussion of how to accommodate the needs of different learning ability groups is provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mobile and wireless communication technologies not only enable anytime and anywhere learning, but also provide the opportunity to develop learning environments that combine real-world and digital-world resources. Nevertheless, researchers have indicated that, without effective tools for helping students organize their observations in the field, the mobile learning performance could be disappointing. To cope with this problem, this study proposes an interactive concept map-oriented approach for supporting mobile learning activities. An experiment has been conducted on an elementary school natural science course to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed approach not only enhances learning attitudes, but also improves the learning achievements of the students. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Previous studies have reported the importance and benefits of situating students in a real-world learning environment with access to digital-world resources. At the same time, researchers have indicated the need to develop learning guidance mechanisms or tools for assisting students to learn in such a complex learning scenario. In this study, a grid-based knowledge acquisition approach is proposed and a Mindtool is developed to help students organize and share knowledge for differentiating a set of learning targets based on what they have observed in the field. An experiment has been conducted in an elementary school Natural Science course for differentiating different species of butterflies. Forty-one fifth-grade students have been assigned to a control group and an experimental group to compare the effect of the conventional approach and that of the proposed approach. The experimental results show that the proposed approach not only improves students’ learning achievements, but also significantly enhances their ability of identifying species in the field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The advancement of mobile and wireless communication technologies has encouraged an increasing number of studies concerning mobile learning, in which students are able to learn via mobile devices without being limited by space and time; in particular, the students can be situated in a real-world scenario associated with the learning content. Although such an approach seems interesting to the students, researchers have emphasized the need for well-designed learning support in order to improve the students’ learning achievements. Therefore, it has become an important issue to develop methodologies or tools to assist the students to learn in a mobile learning environment. Based on this perspective, this study proposes a formative assessment-based approach for improving the learning achievements of students in a mobile learning environment. A mobile learning environment has been developed based on this approach, and an experiment on a local culture course has been conducted in southern Taiwan to evaluate its effectiveness. The experimental results show that the proposed approach not only promotes the students’ learning interest and attitude, but also improves their learning achievement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In a context-aware ubiquitous learning environment, learning systems can detect students’ learning behaviors in the real-world with the help of context-aware (sensor) technology; that is, students can be guided to observe or operate real-world objects with personalized support from the digital world. In this study, an optimization problem that models the objectives and criteria for determining personalized context-aware ubiquitous learning paths to maximize the learning efficacy for individual students is formulated by taking the meaningfulness of the learning paths and the number of simultaneous visitors to each learning object into account. Moreover, a Heuristic Algorithm is proposed to find a quality solution. Experimental results from the learning activities conducted in a natural science butterfly-ecology course of an elementary school are also given to depict the benefits of the innovative approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent developments in computing and mobile technologies have enabled the mobile and ubiquitous learning approach, which situates students in an environment that combines real-world and digital-world learning resources. Although such an approach seems to be innovative and interesting, several problems have been revealed when applying it to practical learning activities. One major problem is owing to the lack of proper learning strategies or tools that can guide or assist the students to learn in such a complex learning scenario. Students might feel excited or interested when using the mobile devices to learn in the real world; however, their learning achievements could be disappointing. To cope with this problem, in this study, a knowledge engineering approach is proposed to develop Mindtools for such innovative learning scenarios. Experimental results from a natural science course of an elementary school show that this innovative approach not only enhances learning motivation, but also improves the learning achievements of the students. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Designing activities for learners to deal with problems and cultivate their higher order thinking is critical in professional training. Peer review is to allow a group of learners with similar abilities and knowledge background to promote their higher order thinking and reflective thinking through mutual observation and comments. However, in the conventional peer-review approach, the interaction between assessors and assessees is one-way. That is, assessors cannot receive any responses from assessees, so they have no opportunity to reflect on their comments. The online interactive peer-review approach aims to enable assessees to express their points of view and to allow assessors to understand whether their ratings and comments are accurate or helpful to assessees. During the interaction, both assessors and assessees have the opportunity for reflection, which then promotes the quality of ratings and comments and facilitates their learning effectiveness and critical thinking. The present study developed an online interactive peer-review system and applied it to the health assessment learning course for nurse practitioners (NP). An experiment was designed to explore the effects of different online peer-review approaches on NP students' learning achievement and higher order thinking. Also, the study recorded the students' peer-review content and analyzed its effects on the quality of their peer review. The experimental group adopted the online interactive peer-review approach, while the control group adopted the conventional online peer-review approach in a flipped learning context. The results indicated that integrating the online interactive peer-review learning approach could not only strengthen the NP students' knowledge and clinical skills, but could also significantly improve their critical thinking tendency and reflective thinking. Moreover, based on the analytic findings of the peer-review content, students using the online interactive peer-review approach were better able to significantly address more specific suggestions to assist their peers in improving their health assessment performance than those using the conventional online peer-review approach. • An online interactive peer-review approach was proposed. • The approach aimed to promote students' performance in decision-making tasks. • An experiment was conducted in a health assessment skills training course. • The approach improved the performance of students' health assessment skills. • The approach improved the students' reflection and peer-assessment quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immersing learners in authentic scenarios to prompt them to apply what they have learned to problem solving is an essential learning approach in medical and nursing education. However, nurses often do not have the opportunity to experience many specialized or emergency situations in the real world, such as providing grief counseling to terminally ill patients and their families. Therefore, this study proposed a model of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in Virtual Reality (VR) which allowed learners to experience the sorrowful scenario of dealing with families facing a “patient nearing end of life,” and to learn grief counseling strategies. To validate the effectiveness of this learning method, a quasi-experimental design was conducted in a nurse preceptor training course in a teaching hospital. The participants were 34 nurses from a teaching hospital in Taiwan, randomly assigned to two groups; the experimental group adopted a Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality-integrated Problem-Based Learning (SVVR-PBL) model, while the control group utilized a Conventional PBL (C-PBL) model. Experimental results indicated that the SVVR-PBL model can better enhance nurses’ professional knowledge in palliative care, and supports superior memory retention. Simultaneously, in terms of attitudes toward palliative care, problem-solving orientation, and perceived value, it also significantly outperformed the C-PBL model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most university degrees often require students to demonstrate proficiency in mathematics, which is the basic requirement in many fields, such as science, engineering, or technology. Mathematical knowledge is so common as to be essential in higher education. Although mathematical skills are crucial to the success of study in many domains, a large number of students are not willing to study related courses. Anxiety and pressure triggered by previous failures in mathematic learning are considered as the reason. The online learning environment provides students with opportunities to exchange opinions with others and facilitate their self-regulated learning. Scholars believe that the learning performances of students can be enhanced if they make reference to other students' learning strategies during the study process. The practice of making references to other students' learning strategies and mutually monitoring each other during the study process is called social regulation. The study efficiency of social regulation in learning mathematics will need to be verified. This study has adopted a social regulation-based online learning approach for assisting students in achieving learning goals with peers' power. At the same time, this study conducted an experiment with an experimental group and a control group. The social regulation-based online learning approach was used by the experimental group while the conventional self-regulated learning approach was used by the control group. According to the results, the social regulation-based online learning approach enhances students' learning achievements and learning motivations in mathematics. Based on the results of the sequential pattern analysis for investigating the online learning behaviors of the two groups of students, students who use the social regulation-based online learning approach have more positive online learning behaviors, such as reading the supplementary materials regarding the wrongly answered questions and revising the notes. On the contrary, students who use the conventional self-regulated learning approach only pay attention to the results of tests and feedback provided by their teacher. They seldom have behaviors of looking at the supplementary materials, adding or deleting notes. With the above verification, the developed system of this study not only enhances students' learning performances, but also guides them to have more meaningful learning behaviors in mathematics. • A social regulation-based online learning approach is proposed. • An experiment was conducted to evaluated the performance of the learning approach. • The approach has been applied to a high school math course. • The approach improved the students' learning achievement and learning motivation. • The approach stimulated students to have more positive learning behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The educational value of digital game-based language learning has aroused attention in the English language teaching field. Among all language-specific skills, grammar is seldom addressed in game-based language learning, despite the fact that learning grammar is one of the challenging tasks for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Learners often lack the motivation and enthusiasm to learn and pursue goals for using target grammar in authentic contexts relevant to their lives. The contextual gaming approach could therefore be a potential strategy to provide a springboard for practice and personalization. Thus, to inspire learners and to provide a meaningful English learning context, a contextual game-based learning approach was proposed and presented to an EFL grammar course for first-year college students in a northern Taiwanese university. The treatment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and game learning behaviors of the proposed learning approach by situating the experimental group in a contextual game-based learning approach, while the control group learned with a conventional technology-assisted English learning approach. The results revealed that the experimental group's contextual error rate was significantly lower than that of the control group. Analysis of their game learning behaviors further showed differences in the high- and low-achievers' behavior patterns according to Halliday's functions of language development. Some guiding strategies are suggested for low-achievers in future game-based English grammar instruction and research. • A contextual game-based learning approach was proposed. • The experimental group' contextual grammar error rate was significantly decreased. • High-achievers usually tried to collect and apply information to resolve problems. • Low-achievers usually tended to use surface-layer strategies. • Several suggestions for this line of research are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature indicates that the use of mobile devices, wireless communication and sensing techniques can enhance students' learning in authentic environments and improve their learning effectiveness. Good learning strategy guides are essential for successful inquiry learning, and the question-posing strategy has been acknowledged as a type of high-level cognitive strategy that plays an important role in facilitating students' knowledge integration in the inquiry learning process. However, question posing seems challenging for many students and may lead to heavy cognitive load when appropriate scaffolding is not available. To solve this problem, the present research imported a concept mapping knowledge representation model as an auxiliary strategy for question-posing activities based on the research finding that visual knowledge representations are conducive to high-order thinking. It also developed a ubiquitous learning system which integrated multilevel concept mapping and question-posing strategy guidance to investigate the application effects of this learning model. A quasi-experimental design was applied, and an experiment was conducted to measure 5th graders' learning of a plant unit of the natural science curriculum. Students in the experimental group learned with the proposed ubiquitous learning system based on the multilevel concept mapping and question-posing approach, while those in the control group learned with the ubiquitous learning system based on the question-posing approach. The results showed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group from the perspectives of learning achievement and question-posing performance, but no significance was found in their cognitive load, meta-cognitive awareness, and science learning strategies. • The concept mapping-based question-posing approach promotes effective learning. • The concept mapping-based question-posing approach lowers cognitive load. • The concept mapping-based question-posing approach motivates learning. • Scaffolding question posing with concept mapping increases question-posing quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To situate students in authentic English learning and practicing contexts so as to facilitate their writing performance, in this study, a mind mapping-based contextual gaming approach was proposed. A quasi-experiment was implemented by recruiting two English tourism classes of students from a university of science and technology in northern Taiwan. One class was scheduled to learn with the proposed approach, and the other was arranged to learn with the conventional contextual gaming approach. The students' writing performance, learning perceptions and generative uses were measured to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. It was found that, compared to the control group students; the experimental group students who learned with the proposed learning approach had better writing performance in the aspects of fluency and elaboration with a small effect size. Additionally, it was found that most students considered the game to be beneficial and interesting, and they were in favor of the mind mapping strategy. Moreover, it was also found that the proposed learning approach is more likely to help students produce positive thoughts and feelings, generate diverse ideas, create a sense of exoticism and express actions or intent of actions. Finally, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for improvement of this proposed gaming learning environment and approaches are provided. • A mind mapping-based contextual gaming approach was proposed. • An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. • The approach has been applied to an English tourism course. • The approach improved the students' writing performance and language use. • Some suggestions for improvement of this proposed approach are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, the issues related to mobile learning have been widely discussed around the globe; however, the development and trends of applying mobile technologies in nursing education still lack systematic analysis. In this study, a meta review of the studies published in academic journals from 1971 to 2016 was conducted to analyze the application domains, subjects, adopted learning strategies, investigated research issues and findings of mobile technology-supported nursing education. From the review results, it was found that the use of mobile technologies in nursing education and training have made great progress in the past decades. In addition to the changes in mobile technologies and the increasing number of mobile learning studies in nursing education, the subjects and research issues have also become more diverse in recent years. It was also found that mobile learning has mainly been applied to the training of basic nursing concepts and skills as well as to long-term care and obstetrics and gynecology, while few or even no studies are related to other nursing education domains. In addition, several widely adopted mobile learning strategies, such as inquiry-based learning, contextual mobile learning, snychronous sharing, Mindtools, project-based learning and peer assessment, have seldom been adopted in mobile nursing education. This also reflects the fact that most of these studies focused on skills training and basic knowledge comprehension, while few were conducted in the domains aimed at fostering learners' higher order thinking competences, such as problem solving or critical thinking. On the other hand, it was found that the number of studies using an experimental design has increased in recent years; moreover, most studies reported the learners’ cognitive performance and perceptions, while their learning behaviors were seldom analyzed. Accordingly, the research trends and potential research issues of mobile nursing education are proposed as a reference for researchers, instructors and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has become common practice to video record students' in-class dance moves. Such a teaching strategy is able to help students reflect on their dance performance by providing them with visualized feedback. Therefore, in this study, an online peer-feedback system for dance education has been developed in order to compare the effects of different modes of online peer-feedback on students' dance skills performance, learning motivation, self-efficacy, peer review quality, peer assessment correctness, and online learning behaviors. Moreover, interviews were also conducted to elicit the students' opinions regarding this teaching method. The participants were 100 college students from three classes who learned with different online peer-feedback modes: videos with peer comments, videos with peer ratings, and videos with a mixed mode (i.e., peer ratings plus peer comments). A 12-week experiment was conducted to evaluate the performances of the three approaches. The experimental results show that, in terms of dance skills, peer ratings could improve the students' group performance, while the mixed mode improved individuals' learning performance. In terms of learning motivation and self-efficacy, the correlation analysis shows that the students' intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and dance skill performance were positively correlated. Via analyzing the peer feedback content, it was found that the feedback provided by the mixed mode group was of better quality than that provided by the “peer comments” group; that is, the former provided more detailed feedback to individuals than the latter. Furthermore, it was found that the scores provided by the mixed mode group were highly related to those provided by the teachers, while those provided by the “peer ratings” group were not. The online user behavior analysis further shows that the integration of peer commenting and peer rating is able to promote students' willingness to participate in online learning activities. The interview results also confirm these findings. To sum up, the integration of both peer rating and peer comments is an effective approach that can meet the students' expectations and help them improve their dance skills, peer-feedback quality, peer-scoring correctness as well as their willingness to participate in online learning activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the artificial intelligence age, cultivating young children's computational thinking (CT) has sparked tremendous attention. Programmable robotics is a developmental-appropriate and screen-free means that provides young children with great opportunities to learn programming and develop CT. However, it is reported that young children might have difficulties learning abstract CT concepts. As a helpful pedagogical facilitator, metaphors can help turn abstract concepts into more concrete and clear concepts that learners are familiar with. Therefore, this research proposed a metaphor-based robot programming (MRP) approach and explored its impact on young children's CT and behavioral patterns. A total of 118 children aged 5–6 were recruited in this experiment with two conditions: the experimental group adopted the metaphor-based robot programming (MRP) approach while the control group used the conventional robot programming (CRP) approach. Results revealed that children who adopted the MRP approach outperformed children who adopted the CRP approach on CT. In addition, behavioral analysis indicated that the proposed MRP approach could facilitate children's superior learning performance and more positive learning behaviors, so as to help them achieve learning objectives. Accordingly, this study can provide insightful guidance and inspiration for future research on effective programming teaching and CT development for young children. • A metaphor-based robot programming approach was proposed. • The approach aimed to facilitate young children's computational thinking. • An experiment was conducted in a kindergarten. • The approach improved young children's computational thinking. • The approach improved young children's positive learning behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial to design learning strategies for English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners in the context of proliferating and cultivating argumentative speaking. Argumentation mapping aims to provide a visual depiction of collaborative arguments in order to unravel students' engagement in constructing argumentative discussion. The employment of argumentation mapping is fundamental to maintaining students' virtual social practice. However, in the conventional argumentation mapping approach, the acquisition of argumentation skills does not yield successful argumentative dialogue-to-speaking practice. The collective reflection aims to promote a group of learners' reflective thinking and higher order thinking by way of collaborative tasks and group monitoring. This strategy allows students to reflect on their group works when dealing with argumentative knowledge. Hence, this study referred to the educational theory of collective reflection practice and proposed its practice in the Collective Reflection-based Argumentation Mapping (CR-AM) learning strategy. This strategy was applied to an EFL speaking course to enhance students' argumentative speaking. Twenty-four students were recruited as the CR-AM strategy group, with 22 in the conventional Argumentation Mapping (AM) strategy group. The findings indicated that the CR-AM learning strategy could significantly improve students' argumentative speaking performance and their lexical complexity. Although students' critical thinking was at an equivalent level in both groups, students' communication and collaboration tendencies were much higher in the CR-AM strategy group. Based on the argumentation mapping discourse, it was verified that instructing students to extend their activities of classifying collective arguments and monitoring group reflection could effectively support their engagement in argumentation mapping discourse and enhance their argumentation skill performance. • A collective reflection approach in argumentation mapping was proposed. • The approach aimed to enhance students' argumentative speaking based on argument schema theory. • An experiment was conducted in an EFL aural-oral drill course. • The approach improved students' argumentative speaking performance and lexical complexity. • The approach improved students' ill-structured discussion through argumentation mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, programming skills have become a core competence. Many teaching strategies were developed to improve programming skills. Among them, online tests were widely applied to enhance students learning. Nonetheless, they may not be able to engage students in deep thinking and reflections. Thus, a two-tier test strategy was proposed to address this issue. However, previous research mainly focused on investigating the effectiveness of the two-tier test strategy but there is a lack of studies that investigate why the two-tier test approach is effective. To this end, we developed an online test, where the two-tier test strategy was implemented. Additionally, an empirical study was conducted to explore the influences of the two-tier test approach on students' learning performance and behavior patterns. Pre-test and post-test scores were applied to assess students' learning performance while a lag sequential analysis was used to analyze behavior patterns. Regarding learning performance, the proposed two-tier test can improve students' programming skills. Regarding behavior patterns, the two-tier test approach facilitates students to develop a learning by reviewing strategy, which is useful to improve their programming skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the advancement of information and communication technology, researchers have pointed out the necessity and challenges of developing effective instructional strategies to enhance students' web-based problem-solving performance, which refers to the ability of investigating a series of related problems via searching for, abstracting and summarizing information on the web. In this study, a creative thinking strategy is proposed to cope with this problem. Moreover, an experiment was conducted on 80 freshmen from two classes of a university to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The experimental results show that the proposed approach improved the students' web-based problem solving performance in comparison with the conventional approach in terms of “problem finding” and “idea finding.” Moreover, it was found that the proposed approach could improve the “fact finding” performance of the students with intuitive-type cognitive style. Accordingly, some implications and suggestions are given for educators who attempt to conduct web-based problem-solving activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]