It is widely recognized that feedback is important for the improvement of second language (L2) writing skills; however, teachers are facing challenges in providing sufficient and quick feedback on students' written works. This study proposes to employ the flipped classroom approach and peer feedback in L2 writing classes. Though previous studies provided sufficient theoretical frameworks and design guidelines in both fields, there is still a lack of actionable process designs specifically for L2 writing that combine flipped learning and peer feedback. To address the aforementioned gaps, this article uses a 'design thinking' approach to establish a framework named the Flipped Learning Wheel (FLW), which contains the components and principles of a typical flipped learning class. To achieve collaborative and reflective learning, which have been rarely specified in previous flipped learning research, this study involves the jigsaw technique and process writing approach in the design. The paper presents a detailed explanation of the FLW implementation process in L2 writing classes that contains 18 steps. We also interviewed eight L2 writing teachers about their perceptions on the FLW framework's feasibility in practice. Respondents report that the teaching process is specific, actionable and feasible for real-life teaching, which also leaves sufficient freedom for teachers to make adjustments. However, more attention should be paid to classroom management, class size and teacher competence. The FLW framework and implementation process presented in this article can be directly used, adapted or reshaped by L2 writing teachers for students with middle and upper language ability. Future studies can also implement this process design in practice and test its impact on writing ability and engagement.
Gamification has emerged as a promising approach for foreign language learning (FLL), which refers to the use of game design elements to engage learners or improve academic performance. However, the features of gamification studies in FLL and their effectiveness are unclear. Additionally, how previous studies measured the effectiveness of gamified FLL tools is not well understood. In this systematic review, this author addressed these questions based on 21 empirical studies. The findings revealed that the effectiveness of gamified tools in FLL was mixed, with some bringing positive changes, others negative changes, and some showing no differences. The factors that influenced the effectiveness include methodological limitations, biases in the experiment setting, technical limitations, individual differences, failure to achieve meaningful gamification, a mixture of element selection, sub-optimal measurement, and data interpretation biases. This study identified research gaps in previous studies and offers suggestions for future research in this area.
Purpose
To build adaptive learning systems for a better learning experience, designers need to identify users’ behaviour patterns and provide adaptive learning materials accordingly. This study involved a quasi-experiment and also this paper aims to investigate the accuracy of eye-tracking technology in identifying visualisers and verbalisers and the contributing factors to diverse levels of accuracy, which lays the foundation for the establishment of adaptive learning systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors prepared eight documents with different image-text combinations with the intention of triggering participants’ natural reading habits. By analysing the eye-movement data, this author categorised the 22 participants as visualisers or verbalisers. The results were compared for accuracy measure with participants’ self-reports in response to the index of learning style questionnaire.
Findings
The results showed that visualisers and verbalisers presented significantly different eye-movement patterns, which was confirmed by the fixation data from the Tobii eye-tracker with the detection accuracy ranged from 38% to 77%. Various factors contributed to a range of levels of accuracy, including highlighted elements, learning context, complex background, low relevance of images and texts, learner differences, awareness of experimental settings, self-conception and prior knowledge.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper investigating the feasibility of eye-tracking technology to identify visualisers and verbalisers for the development of adaptive learning systems.
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