Educational environment influences students' learning attitudes, and the classroom conveys the educational philosophy. The traditional college classroom design is based on the educational space that ...first appeared in medieval universities. Since then classrooms have not changed except in their size. In an attempt to develop a different perspective of educational environment, a new design of classroom, the active learning classroom (ALC), was established at SoongSil University in Korea. Two questionnaire surveys were conducted for diagnosing the educational effects of students' learning in the ALC and comparing the results with those obtained regarding the traditional classroom. The result proved the existence of a 'golden zone' and a 'shadow zone' in the traditional classroom, which discriminate students' learning experiences depending on seating positions. On the contrary, the ALC did not produce such positional discrimination. Students perceived the ALC environment as more inspirational, especially in regards to active class participation. Students with more emphasis on academic achievement showed greater tendency to share information and to create new ideas in the ALC. However, in the traditional classroom setting, only students with high GPAs were more motivated to learn while the gap in learning attitudes was offset in the ALC setting. In-depth discussions about research findings were undertaken and four suggestions were provided in support of school administrators and relevant institutional personnel, faculty members, and researchers for future utilization of the ALC.
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) has been used extensively to measure teacher-student interactions and classroom quality. With a theoretical foundation rooted in the developmental ...theory of learning, CLASS has three primary domains-Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of the factor structure of CLASS using Cheung's two-stage structural equation modeling (TSSEM) approach. After searching the literature, we obtained 26 correlation matrices of the 10 dimensions shared by multiple versions of CLASS. This meta-analysis supports the three-factor model initially proposed by CLASS developers. The finding of this meta-analysis provides important evidence pertinent to the CLASS factor structure and has significant implications regarding the interpretation and use of CLASS scores.
This article reports on a multiple case study that investigated the dynamic and situated nature of learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) in second language (L2) classrooms. Framed within a ...sociocognitive perspective on L2 learning which draws together social, environmental, and individual factors, this study traced WTC among six learners of English as a second language enrolled in an English for academic purposes programme in New Zealand for 5 months. Data were collected through classroom observations, stimulated-recall interviews, and reflective journals. Analysis of the data suggests that the classroom WTC construct is best described as a dynamic situational variable rather than a trait disposition. This article argues that situational WTC in class results from the interdependence among individual characteristics, classroom environmental conditions, and linguistic factors. These three strands of factors interdependently exert either facilitative or inhibitive effects on an individual student's WTC in class at any point in time. The effect of the combinations of factors differs between individuals, and the interrelationship is too complex to be predicted.
This study examined development of academic, language, and social skills among 4-year-olds in publicly supported prekindergarten (pre-K) programs in relation to 3 methods of measuring pre-K quality, ...which are as follows: (a) adherence to 9 standards of quality related to program infrastructure and design, (b) observations of the overall quality of classroom environments, and (c) observations of teachers' emotional and instructional interactions with children in classrooms. Participants were 2,439 children enrolled in 671 pre-K classrooms in 11 states. Adjusting for prior skill levels, child and family characteristics, program characteristics, and state, teachers' instructional interactions predicted academic and language skills and teachers' emotional interactions predicted teacher-reported social skills. Findings suggest that policies, program development, and professional development efforts that improve teacher — child interactions can facilitate children's school readiness.
Recent technological developments have given rise to blended learning classrooms. An inverted (or flipped) classroom is a specific type of blended learning design that uses technology to move ...lectures outside the classroom and uses learning activities to move practice with concepts inside the classroom. This article compares the learning environments of an inverted introductory statistics class with a traditional introductory statistics class at the same university. This mixed-methods research study used the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), field notes, interviews and focus groups to investigate the learning environments of these two classrooms. Students in the inverted classroom were less satisfied with how the classroom structure oriented them to the learning tasks in the course, but they became more open to cooperative learning and innovative teaching methods. These findings are discussed in terms of how they contribute to the stability and connectedness of classroom learning communities.
This interdisciplinary study investigates whether, and to what extent, grit (consisting of perseverance of effort and consistency of interests) and classroom enjoyment are linked with EFL learners' ...willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC), the final psychological step before actual English communication. To this end, three groups of Korean EFL learners (N = 647) from five schools, who at the time of the study had no overseas experience, were surveyed: middle school (n = 137), high school (n = 323), and university students (n = 187). Results of hierarchical regression analyses show that grit (perseverance of effort) and classroom enjoyment are predictors of all cohorts' L2 WTC, while grit (consistency of interests) is not predictive of L2 WTC among all participants. These results suggest that L2 teachers, who instruct in a relatively monolingual and monocultural EFL classroom, can boost learners' L2 WTC by encouraging continuous efforts to initiate English communication. Moreover, by creating a positive classroom environment, EFL teachers can increase learners' level of L2 WTC and potentially boost their English communicative competence. Theoretically, these findings support an emerging view of the application of positive psychology in L2 learning and teaching.
This study integrates 40 years of teacher self-efficacy (TSE) research to explore the consequences of TSE for the quality of classroom processes, students' academic adjustment, and teachers' ...psychological well-being. Via a criteria-based review approach, 165 eligible articles were includedfor analysis. Results suggest that TSE shows positive links with students' academic adjustment, patterns of teacher behavior and practices related to classroom quality, and factors underlying teachers 'psychological well-being, including personal accomplishment, job satisfaction, and commitment. Negative associations were found between TSE and burnout factors. Last, a small number of studies indicated indirect effects between TSE and academic adjustment, through instructional support, and between TSE and psychological wellbeing, through classroom organization. Possible explanations for the findings and gaps in the measurement and analysis of TSE in the educational literature are discussed.
The flipped classroom, a form of blended learning, is an emerging instructional strategy reversing a traditional lecture-based teaching model to improve the quality and efficiency of the teaching and ...learning process. The present article reports a study that focused on the implementation of the flipped approach in a higher education institution in Turkey. For this pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study, a classroom management course in a pre-service English teacher education program was flipped and its effectiveness was measured against a traditionally taught class. Quantitative and qualitative data came from 62 pre-service teachers (PTs) in two intact classes randomly assigned as the experimental and the control groups. Findings revealed a higher level of self-efficacy beliefs and better learning outcomes for the experimental group PTs in the flipped classroom compared to the control group PTs in the traditional classroom. PTs' perceptions of the flipped classroom were also positive.
The Way to Inclusion Causton, Julie; MacLeod, Kate; Pretti-Frontczak, Kristie ...
ASCD,
2023, 2023-04-00
eBook, Book
A step-by-step guide through the authors' inclusivity change process outlines seven milestones that will enable leaders to create a more inclusive school system.
More than forty years ago, Dan Lortie famously lamented the lack of a common language with which to describe teaching and noted this scarcity as a key problem within studies of teaching and teacher ...professionalism. I argue that recent developments in video technology and supporting methodological designs have paved the way for a new generation of classroom studies. Today, large-scale classroom studies and targeted subject-specific studies have contributed to a renewed interest in classroom designs as lenses to shed light on how and why teaching and teaching matter. In this article, I summarize recent developments in classroom studies in terms of technologies, research design and analytical frameworks and discuss how these developments allow for integrative efforts and more programmatic research within studies of classroom teaching and learning, thus providing a platform for building a shared vocabulary for describing teaching. A key argument will be how video recordings nurture a new generation of generic and subject-specific classroom studies that enable us to systematically investigate key features of classroom teaching across subjects, grades, and learning environments.
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