Investigating Students’ Use of a Social Annotation Tool in an English for Science and Technology Course

Tian, Jianqiu

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-38778-5_33

Cited by 5 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This study contributes to the general understanding of second-language user performance in an online social learning environment. This work shows, as demonstrated in earlier research (Cecchinato et al 2020, Tian 2020, Mark 2001, that a collaborative interactive environment such as Perusall facilitates peer-to-peer language learning support by successfully leveraging the collective language knowledge of students and making it accessible in an engaging way.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Perusall is an online social media annotation platform that incorporates an AI-based evaluation feature that assigns each student a grade based on interaction with the given media and quality of annotations produced in response to the text. Prior work shows that Perusall can effectively facilitate student interaction and feedback that allows them to better understand, analyze and critically evaluate at text (Cui and Wang 2023, Hanc et al 2023, Porter 2022, Cecchinato and Foschi 2020, Tian 2020. With respect to the AI evaluation component, students have expressed concerns about the ability of AI to adequately evaluate their work and the potential of manipulating the system to inflate grades; however, one survey finds that students' confidence for the system increases when the instructor combines the AI evaluation process with instructor direct evaluation metrics (Cecchinato and Foschi 2020).…”

Section: Perusall and Student Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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– The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2024 Official Conference Proceedings

2024

IICAH Official Conference Proceedings

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This is my sixth consecutive year of doing the research. As China is still the engine of world economy, there is a rapid increase in the number of foreign students coming to The University of Hong Kong to learn Chinese. As Chinese is one of the popular subjects for them to choose. Despite COVID-19, from 2022 to 2023, there are still around 900 foreign students come to the University of Hong Kong to learn Chinese as a Foreign Language courses. A language teacher is a facilitator and an instructor of Chinese learning for foreign students. However, in the real world, there are always some good language learners and some less talented language learners in one classroom. So what is the secret of the Good Chinese Learners? What can the language instructors do in order to support good Chinese learners and help the less talented learners to learn Chinese? In the TESOL field, there are a lot of researches have been done by scholars. In the early 1970s, several researchers isolated and defined the concept of Good Language Learner. But in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language field, there are relatively fewer researches. So from January 2017 to May 2023, I conducted a survey about good Chinese learners in CHIN9503 and CHIN9504 classes. The survey consisted of an interview with several questions and I will discuss the result of a survey and its implications in this paper.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Perusall and Student Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

– The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2024 Official Conference Proceedings

2024

IICAH Official Conference Proceedings

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“…Furthermore, students reported positive changes in their pre-class learning behaviour, including spending more time reading and discussing the learning contents with their peers. Researchers have found that students engaged in pre-class learning with social annotations actively (Tian, 2019). But students claimed that they spent more time in pre-class preparation than before.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers have summarised the purpose of teaching with social annotations into five categories: 1) processing domain-specific knowledge; 2) supporting argumentation and inquiry; 3) improving literacy skills; 4) supporting instructor and peer assessment; and 5) connecting online learning spaces (Zhu et al, 2020). Although integrating social annotations in teaching requires consideration of the context and sometimes brings challenges (Kalir et al, 2020), social annotations are found effective when facilitating the co-construction of knowledge and scaffolding of learning during reading and annotation activities (Miller et al, 2016;Tian, 2019). Therefore, we decided to implement social annotations in the postgraduate taxation law unit to address the challenges.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Social Annotation

Cui,

2023

APUBS

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This research aimed to gain an understanding of how social annotations can be used to facilitate students' pre-class learning in a postgraduate unit at an Australian university. We analysed both survey data and system logs to examine students’ participation, performance, and experience when engaging in social annotations. The results show that online offshore students had a better overall unit result when considering their WAM before starting the unit. Furthermore, students had positive experiences with the social annotation activities. The students have identified several key benefits of engaging in social annotation and the associated challenges, providing valuable information for future course design. In summary, this investigation reveals the value of social annotation tools to facilitate student pre-class learning in both online and face-to-face classes.

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“…Perusall also provides automated evaluation of annotations, analytics and a “confusion report” to identify areas where students need support. Studies have shown that Perusall facilitates co‐construction of knowledge and scaffolding of learning during reading and annotation activities (Miller et al, 2016; Tian, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empowering active learning: A social annotation tool for improving student engagement

Cui,

Wang

2023

Brit J Educational Tech

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This study investigates the impact of Perusall, a social annotation tool, on an online postgraduate course conducted over two semesters at an Australian university. We examine the connection between students' pre‐class engagement and learning outcomes, utilizing both secondary data from Perusall platform and primary data through a survey. The findings indicate that pre‐class social annotations have a positive impact on students' performance on post‐class assessments. Notably, English as an Additional Language students with low English proficiency achieve comparable results in Perusall as those with high English proficiency. Additionally, the study identifies key aspects of social annotation that students highly value, providing insights for future implementation. Overall, this study highlights the potential of social annotation tools like Perusall to improve pre‐class engagement and enhance learning outcomes. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Student engagement with pre‐class activities is critical to their learning outcomes. The integration of social annotation tools for completing pre‐class reading has become progressively prevalent among teachers. The use of social annotation tools for reading and annotating has been found to have a positive influence on students' motivation, interactions, and academic performance. What this paper adds Online social annotation on lecture content has a short‐term positive impact on subsequent assessments, indicating that it is an effective way to engage students in pre‐class learning and improve their understanding and retention of course material. English as an Additional Language (EAL) students of varying levels of English proficiency achieve comparable results in social annotation assignments, highlighting the potential of this tool to provide an equitable learning experience for all students regardless of their language abilities. Social annotation activities promote a strong social presence with cohesive communication, positively impacting online learning's cognitive presence. This highlights the significance of collaborative learning and social interaction in online education, and the potential of social annotation tools to create an engaging and supportive learning environment. Students prefer receiving feedback from teachers within a Community of Inquiry (CoI) rather than through traditional modes of direct instruction or conversation initiation, highlighting the importance of teaching presence in refining their cognitive and social presences, and ultimately enhancing the quality of their learning experience. Implications for practice and/or policy This study provides practical suggestions for designing pre‐class learning activities that build upon pre‐class lessons, helping teachers to optimize students' learning experiences and outcomes. It sheds light on using inclusive and collaborative assessments as an effective way to enhance engagement and performance of EAL students. To cultivate a productive CoI within online educational contexts, teachers need to prioritize personalized feedback to students.

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Investigating Students’ Use of a Social Annotation Tool in an English for Science and Technology Course

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

– The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2024 Official Conference Proceedings

– The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2024 Official Conference Proceedings

Online Social Annotation

Empowering active learning: A social annotation tool for improving student engagement

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