Abstract

The goal of the study is to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with Project Based Learning strategy in a global context on the aspects of both fostering learning community of practices and nurturing the 21^st century skills. For collecting empirical data, the study implements and administers an online international project-based learning program for high school students. Since it is claimed that interpersonal interaction is key to the success of online project based learning programs, the study first focuses on investigating patterns of community of practice, which is a combination of online learning behaviors and interpersonal interaction, among students against a claimed theoretical framework. For unveiling the impacts on fertilizing the 21^st century skills, the study examines the perceptions of students and teachers participating in the online international project-based learning program. Results of the study confirm the asserted theoretical framework regarding the community of practices and reveal that students of various countries perform differently in terms of community of practices in virtual learning space. As to building the 21^st century skills on students, the study credits the project-based learning strategy deploying in a global context for providing intuitive and essential aspects of learning ingredients to students for pursuing skills related to Communication, Collaboration, Complex Problem-solving, Critical Thinking, and Creativity.

Abstract

The study investigates the effect of Activity based Blended Learning strategy and Conventional Blended Learning strategy on students' achievement and motivation. Two groups namely, experimental and control group from Sultan Qaboos University were selected randomly for the study. To assess students' achievement in the different groups, pre- and post. achievement tests were used. Three ways 2x2x3 ANCOVA and 2x2x3 ANOVA were used to test for significance. The results of the study (N = 52) show that there was a statistically significant difference between the two methods in terms of students' achievement and motivation favoring the activity based blended learning method (n =26). No significant difference was found due to gender or GPA for both achievement and motivation. In addition the results show no interaction effects for the independent variables. The study concluded with some recommendations.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to find out the effect of learning through Wireless technologies and the traditional method in teaching and learning Mathematics. The investigator adopted experimental research to find the effectiveness of implementing Wireless technologies in the population of B.Ed. trainees. The investigator selected 32 B.Ed. Mathematics Trainees from a College of Education in Tamil Nadu. Tools used were Mathematics learning package developed by the investigator and Achievement test in Mathematics developed by the investigator. In the experimental group, B.Ed. trainees were learning the Mathematics by Wireless technologies in their convenient place and time. The control group B.Ed. trainees were taught using traditional method. Findings of the study showed that there was significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores for the experimental group in learning Mathematics. That is experimental group B.Ed. trainees have achieved high in post- test than the Pre-test. And also there was significant difference in the Post-test Scores of the experimental and control group. That is experimental group B.Ed. trainees have achieved high in post- test than the control group B.Ed. trainees. The investigator concludes that the experimental group is more effective than the control group. Thus the Trainees using Wireless technology for their learning is more successful than the traditional method.

Abstract

The importance of mathematical concept development and language is recognized early in children's schooling as they mature through shape and counting experiences. The reader may recall instances of a youngster referring to a “corner” of a shape before the reader has the language of vertex. This language precision needs to continue to grow as the learner moves through arithmetic into algebra, geometry, and further mathematics. This precision is essential and is reinforced in the common core standards for mathematics (2010). If the primary goal is to facilitate proficiency in math for all students (including students with disabilities), there needs to be an emphasis on the deeper conceptual development and the uniquely precise nature of mathematics language both at the pre-service and in-service levels. This is essential as literature suggests that there is a significant relationship between teachers' mathematical knowledge and student achievement. The lack of teachers' mathematical knowledge prevents explicit instruction in the area of math concepts and/or a lack of focus on the mathematical language. This in turn causes barriers for k-12 students as they advance in the math curriculum. In this paper, the authors will discuss (a) the importance of mathematical concept development and language; (b) provide an example of a lack of precise conceptual understanding of prime number among pre-service teacher math educators; and (c) list explicit strategies that can be used to facilitate both the conceptual and language development at the pre-service level.

Abstract

School science textbooks are an amalgamation of concepts collected from different fields of Science like Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The actual number of concepts in the different domains of science are enormous. Educationists have to make a decision of choosing some concept that they think are necessary for students to know at a certain age. Moreover, these concepts have to be arranged in a certain order of arrangement from first chapter to the last in a textbook. The aim of this paper is to question the ontological basis of filtering concepts from the larger world of science to placing them in a school science textbook. Through two informal studies presented in this paper, the author has tried to demonstrate that different groups of people can form concept maps of a topic that are very different in structure compared to what is given in NCERT textbook. If there are multiple ways of arranging the same set of concepts, then how do educationist validate one set of arrangement of topics against the other? The result of study puts light on the fact that currently there are no criteria available for judging the ontological validity of concepts that are present in existing textbooks in school science curriculum. The selection of topics is dependent upon limited individual knowledge base of the expert who is writing the chapter.

The article briefly provides a framework by which ontology of a subject can be developed collaboratively by a community of teachers and subject matter experts. This ontology can be used as a valid guide for choosing and arranging topics in a school level science textbook.