Evidence-based instructional practices were incorporated in class, which gave immediate indication on student's problem solving skills and class participation information. This pedagogy showed positive results and broader acceptance by students in several semesters of intervention. Significant usage of mobile devices during class motivates the extension of this pedagogical approach of asynchronous problem solving using mobile devices. We believe that use of such devices in the classroom for solving interactive problems will enhance student's abilities to solve problems by using their preferred interaction mode. This paper presents the results of the evidence based pedagogy and development of a mobile classroom response system that extends this pedagogy to help student solve interactive problems in their mobile devices to improve their class engagement and problem solving skills.
To improve student's class experience, the use of mobile devices has been steadily increasing. However, such use of mobile learning environments in the class is mostly static in nature through content delivery or multiple choice and true/false quiz taking. In CS courses, we need learning environments where students can interact with the problem in a hands-on-approach and instructor can assess their learning skills in real-time with problems having different degree of difficulty. To facilitate such interactive problem solving and real-time assessment using mobile devices, a comprehensive backend system is necessary. This paper presents one such system, named Mobile Response System (MRS) software, associated interactive problem-solving activities, and lessons learned by using it in the CS classrooms. MRS provides instructor with the opportunity of evidence-based teaching by allowing students to perform interactive exercises in their mobile devices with different learning outcomes and by getting an instant feedback on their performance and mental models. MRS is easy-to-use, extensible and can render interactive exercises developed by third-party developers. The student performance data shows its effectiveness in increasing student understanding of difficult concepts and the overall perception of using the software was very positive.
This exploratory study investigated the status of education in war torn communities of Eastern Sudan. A questionnaire was sent out to all the principals of the schools in four communities in war torn area of Eastern Sudan. There were also two visits to each of the schools. The study focused on these questions-(a) What are the levels, quality and the type of education provided to 5-16 year olds in the war affected towns/ areas of Eastern Sudan? (b) What are the gender make-up of teachers and principals and the educational qualification of teachers? (c) What are the numbers of subjects taught by grade level and the availability of textbooks for the subjects taught? (d) Are the textbooks written at the level of the students? (e) What are most threatening things to the education of the learner? (f) What are the numbers of school days for the school year and how much work are teachers able to cover during a school year with little or no conflicts compared with a school year with conflicts and natural disasters? Data was collected mainly by interviews of principals in the schools of the study area. An analysis of data from seven principals for all the schools in the area showed four of ISSN 2162-6952 2014 www.macrothink.org/jse 109 the schools were built by NGO's, while three were built by the Government; that more than 57 percent of teachers had a bachelor's degree with a teaching certificate, that the average teaching experience for male teachers was 15 plus years and for female teachers, it was a little more than 6 years. In the areas of English Language, Mathematics and Science, it was found that textbooks were not available for about 50 percent of the students and that these textbooks were not at the level of the student. There were several threats to the continued education of the learner, the three most important being lack of feeding during the school day for students, lack of family support and early marriages for the girls. Recommendations in the study included campaigns to encourage students to stay in school, and the possibility of some law that will discourage parents from allowing early marriages (for ages less than 16) for the girls. Journal of Studies in Education
Acquiring writing skills is a prerequisite for success in school and in jobs. This study emanated from the fact that middle and high school students in Nigeria have shown poor performance in national and international examinations. It has set out to answer questions like whether there a relationship between teachers' gender and teaching persuasive/argumentative essays in middle and high schools or whether there is a relationship between teaching experience and the teaching of persuasive /argumentation essays in middle and high schools. A questionnaire was designed to collect data. 100 English Language teachers from 15 junior secondary and senior secondary schools in South-South Nigeria participated and responded to the questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS package. Findings revealed a positive relationship between teacher gender and the teaching of persuasive/argumentative essays, with more male teachers teaching argumentative essays than female teachers. It was also discovered that there was a positive relationship between teacher gender and the teaching of comparing and contrasting type writing with female teachers found teaching more this type of writing The study also revealed a positive relationship between teacher gender and communicating with students on drafts before final submission with female teachers communicating more than male teachers. Based on these findings several recommendations have been made that would help improve the performance of students in writing. Contribution/ Originality:This study contributes to our understanding of why middle and high school students in Nigeria show poor performance in national and international examinations in the area of writing. It is one of the unique studies that examined the relationship between teachers' gender and teaching writing types as well as relationship between teaching experience and teaching of persuasive /argumentation essays.
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