Abstract: Item analysis is essential in improving items which will be used again in later tests; it can also be used to eliminate misleading items in a test. The study focused on item and test quality and ex...

Abstract: In order to progress as a field, school psychology research must be informed by effective measurement techniques. One approach to address the need for careful measurement is Rasch analysis. This te...

Abstract: In recent years, the expansion of digital technologies, multimedia, and social networks, dramatically transformed our lives. Education in general and the area of foreign language teaching and learning have also benefited hugely from those developments and advances. As a result, the face of language learning is changing and new technologies provide language learners and teachers with tools and opportunities unimaginable before. Current study examined the effectiveness of using social media network Telegram® in teaching English language pronunciation to Iranian EFL learners. Participants of this study included 30 Iranian EFL learners (in two experimental (N = 14) and control (N = 16) groups) who received different treatments over the four weeks. The results of pre-test and post-test revealed that the pronunciation of participants in experimental group improved significantly compared to control group but we found no significant improvement in pronunciation of participants in experimental group from p...

Abstract: Over 30 years ago, Freire warned of the dangers of neoliberalism and Chomsky today sees this as the greatest threat to democracy. Education is particularly targeted by the neoliberal state because ...

Abstract: The present study investigated the effects of offline vs. online digital storytelling on the development of EFL learners’ literacy skills (reading and writing). Forty-two lower intermediate language learners participated in the study as the experimental (n = 21) and control groups (n = 21). The Reading-Writing section of the Key English Test was administered to both groups before the treatment so as to assess their reading and writing skills in English as a foreign language. Process-oriented writing instruction was subsequently given to both groups for a period of five months. The experimental group was trained to undertake the process of writing using an online platform, while the control group benefited an offline content producing program in writing instruction. Both groups’ literacy skills were assessed once more at the end of the intervention. The results of Analysis of Covariance primarily revealed that the literacy skills of those who produced their stories with the online platform improved...

Abstract: The study explores the development of teamwork among a group of Israeli student teachers enrolled in a practicum, in order to help teacher educators to understand better the processes student teach...

Abstract: This study investigated the influence of strategy training instruction and an extrinsic incentive on American fourth- and fifth-grade students’ (N = 35) performance, confidence in performance, and ...

Abstract: This study evaluates a 12-item instrument for subjective measurement of mental load (ML) and mental effort (ME) by analysing different sources of validity evidence. The findings of an expert judgement (N = 8) provide evidence based on test content that the formulation of the items corresponds to the meaning of ML and ME. An empirical study was conducted in which secondary school students (N = 602) worked on multiple choice (mc)-tasks and thereafter using the developed instrument to self-report ML and ME. The findings show that the instrument reliably measures the two positively correlated constructs ML and ME (evidence based on internal structure). Students working on mc-tasks with high complexity self-reported higher amounts of ML and ME than students working on mc-tasks with low complexity, and there is a negative relation between test performance and ML (evidence based in relation to other variables). Implications for educational assessment and limitations of the study are discussed.

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate and compare in-service and pre-service teachers’ self confidence on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in relation to their teaching experience, expertise, technology usage, and gender. To achieve this goal, survey method was conducted as part of a quantitative method design. Participants of the study consisted of 388 pre-service and 211 in-service teachers from four different concentrations: science, mathematics, information, and communications technology (ICT) and classroom teachers. The data were analyzed using paired Sample T-test and MANOVA statistical analysis. Results showed that both pre-service and in-service participants exhibit the highest self-confidence level in the technological content knowledge domain. While pre-service teachers had the lowest score in TPACK, in-service teachers had the lowest score in the technological knowledge domain. While pre-service mathematics teachers have significantly lower TPACK than pre-service science te...

Abstract: The aims of this study were to determine: (1) the differences in learning outcome between Blended Learning based on Schoology and Problem-Based Learning, (2) the differences in learning outcome between students with prior knowledge of high, medium, and low, and (3) the interaction between Blended Learning based on Schoology and prior knowledge to the learning outcome. This type research was quasi-experimental with research subjects as many as 64 students were determined by random sampling assignment. The data collection technique used multiple-choice tests. The obtained data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA. The results of this study revealed that: (1) there was significant differences in learning outcome between Blended Learning based on Schoology and Problem-Based Learning (sig p = 0.000 < α = 0.05), (2) there were significant differences in learning outcome between students with high, medium, and low prior knowledge (sig p = 0.000 < α = 0.05), and (3) there was no interaction between Blended Lear...

Abstract: The debate regarding the inclusion of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in mainstream education in the UK partly revolves around what makes the classroom environment i...

Abstract: Previous studies found that girls have higher academic achievement than boys in most school subjects. Teachers’ grading of academic achievement seems to be based not only on students’ knowledge but...

Abstract: Quality physical education (QPE) in primary school optimises children’s well-being. However, international research indicates that the preparation of classroom teachers is impeded by systemic barri...

Abstract: This study aims to explore the effects of teachers’ psychological capital competencies on their emotional labor competencies based on their perceptions. It follows a quantitative research design adopting survey method. Data were collected from 266 teachers working in Siirt Province, Turkey. The results show that teachers have high levels of positive psychological capital (all self-efficacy, optimism, trust, extraversion, and hope dimensions) and though relatively low compared to psychological capital competencies, they often display emotional labor behaviors. It was also found out that PsyCap competencies teachers possess have an impact on their tendency to display emotional labor behaviors. The study presents valuable theoretical and practical implications for research on PsyCap and emotional labor at school organizations.

Abstract: Students spend 12 to 14 years in school settings learning in what could be considered a carefully controlled and structured environment. Higher education may not offer the same landscape to student...

Abstract: In this paper I intend to illustrate Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and then extend the discussion to scaffolding and its relationship with the ZPD. This is then followed by some concerns raised in literature regarding scaffolding as a concept and as a metaphor which involves analysing the arguments for regarding the role of cultural tools and peers as scaffolds akin to instructors. In consideration of some of the criticisms directed at scaffolding, I introduce the concept of the Two Gradient Model (TGM) which is a descriptive model that attempts to clarify the interaction between the instructor and learner. Furthermore, the TGM also demonstrates the need to differentiate between instructors and cultural tools as scaffolds where the latter should be kept relegated as secondary components in the scaffolding process. Additionally, the TGM also differentiates between instructors and peers whereby the latter do not occupy the same interpersonal dynamics as the former in a pedagogical en...

Abstract: Textbooks are the only available source/s of teaching and learning English in Pakistani public education system. Whether the textbooks serve their intended purposes as mentioned in the National Curriculum of English, the researchers conducted a mixed methods teachers’-led evaluation to investigate the effectiveness of English textbooks. The study aimed to understand how Pakistani government primary school teachers in the province of Balochistan view the English textbooks of Grades 1–5 and what impacts the effectiveness of the English textbooks. Using an exploratory sequential design, the researchers first recruited 188 government teachers for survey in quantitative part of the study and later selected 12 participants from those who completed the survey for semi-structured interviews in qualitative part of the study. The quantitative findings revealed that the teachers were moderately in favor of the effectiveness of the English language textbooks of Grades 1–5. However, qualitative results reveale...

Abstract: A growing interest in the concept of practice within workplace settings has been seen in the last two decades in a variety of fields. Although some authors highlighted the importance of this type o...

Abstract: This study explores teachers’ and learners’ views on the impact of the storytelling strategy on developing the story writing skills of Omani seven graders. One hundred and twenty grade seven learners and five teachers participated in this study. The participants completed two questionnaires. The first questionnaire administered to the learners referred to the benefits gained from the storytelling strategy. The second survey was designed for the five teachers who applied this strategy to the grade seven learners. Semi-structured interviews were also used for the five teachers participating in this study. The main findings of the study were: 93.4% found the strategy useful, 92% liked this strategy and 92.4% agreed that whilst they prepared for writing the story, they were doing more things during their preparation, such as organising their ideas and creating conceptual maps Furthermore, teachers’ opinions indicated that most of the teachers agreed that they have benefited from the strategy.

Abstract: This paper argues that during the perestroika period the institutionalised context of the Soviet higher education governance was transformed dramatically, and has attempted to explain the outcomes ...

Abstract: The purpose of the present article is to provide an overview of gifted education in China, by tracing the social and cultural roots of the education system, and to review recent research that relat...

Abstract: This study reports on the perspectives of a group of Iranian EFL teachers about peer observation effects. The aim was to investigate if peer observation as a reflective tool could significantly affect EFL teachers’ professional development. It has been done based on a mixed method approach. The participants have stated their viewpoints on the effects, benefits, and weaknesses of peer observation by means of a peer observation questionnaire. Finally, it has become obvious that peer observation as a reflective tool could significantly affect on EFL teachers’ professional development; or it has played a significant role in improving EFL teachers’ professional development.

Abstract: Kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms is almost exclusively inclusive instructional settings. Supports for the regular education teachers vary as time and budgets permit, placing incre...

Abstract: This paper focuses on the conceptual model of an academic course inspired by complexity theory. In the proposed conceptual model, the aim of teaching is to form a learning organization: a knowledge...

Abstract: In this article we discuss the concept of improvisation as a professional teaching skill. Our professional context is teacher education and our discussion is aimed at developing a categorized understanding, or rather a tentative typology, of what professional improvisation in teaching and teacher education might be. Undertaking such a bold endeavour has included literature reviews and in-depth interviews with practicing physical education teachers. We argue that improvisation in teaching needs to be professionalized. We suggest that a tentative typology of professional improvisation should include sequential, dialogic and exemplary improvisation, and that a description and introduction of such a typology could be a first step towards making improvisational skills accessible to student teachers as part of their pre-service teacher education. We conclude by arguing that further research is needed within classroom teaching and teacher education contexts in order to explore how improvisational practic...

Abstract: Within mathematics teaching, ways to help students resolve proportional reasoning problems remains a topical issue. This study sought to investigate how a simple innovative procedure could be intro...

Abstract: With graduate employability being high on many universities’ agendas, it becomes vital that a curriculum delivers not only subject knowledge but also the opportunity for students to develop and enhance industry-specific skills. This paper is concerned with how a work-based project can support skill development and considers the views of students and employers as to the application of these skills in the context of a sports undergraduate programme in a UK university. Using a mixed-method approach to data collection, 30 students and 5 project hosts took part in the study. The research findings reported a mismatch between the students’ and hosts’ viewpoints on whether skills were developed as a result of the project. Students appeared to have a lack of understanding how to apply the skills in the context of a sports organisation and were viewed by the employers as having an inflated opinion of their ability.

Abstract: Many teacher education institutes (TEI) are expected to provide preservice teachers (PTs) with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to teach with information and communication technology ...

Abstract: Emotional intelligence is the capability to realize, to create, to comprehend emotions and sentimental knowledge, and to reflectively control emotions and to improve emotional and mental growth. Th...