Articles

This study seeks to explore if student behaviour can be changed using social modelling, specifically to increase usage of a learning management system (LMS), and whether any such increased LMS usage leads to higher student grades. After years of research into learning analytics, exploring which indicator can best predict student performance, with hopes of using that insight to improve student outcomes, there remain very few empirical studies which are randomized controlled trials, which is necessary to identify causation, and none that take place in a blended learning environment in the Global South. As learning analytics is a subject area for improving the learning of students worldwide, it is time to include more than just the Global North. In this experiment, 309 first year undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. Each member in the treatment group was sent a weekly email containing a link to an online dashboard showing the student’s performance compared against other students in the same cohort. Students in the treatment group did increase their use of the LMS but that increased usage did not translate into higher grades implying that the most important learning behaviours are not captured by the LMS, at least not in this study. Also of interest were that female students showed higher levels of engagement with the online dashboard and that the best predictor of a student’s grade in the second half of the semester was the student’s grade in the first half, supporting existing literature.

As a result of the growing awareness of the importance of the first six years of a child’s life, an enormous number of initiatives are being made across the globe to ensure universal access to quality ECCE for all children. India, too, has made major reforms in this direction. In this context, one of the significant developments has been the National Education Policy 2020. This is the first education policy of the 21st Century. This policy lays significant emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education (3-6 years) by ensuring universal access to high-quality ECCE across the country to be achieved no later than 2030. Over the last decade, India has seen a drastic change in the ownership of preschools; in terms of private preschools, though fewer in number, multiplying rapidly. The popular perception of preschool education is that the government can address coverage, and private initiatives can provide efficiency. Many parents also perceive private preschools as more efficient in fulfilling their aspirations. They are also willing to pay for their children’s preschool education disregarding the affordability. There is monopolistic competition in private preschools at the national level, specifically by the growth of many branded private preschools. Apart from this, there are a large number of private stand-alone preschools that have emerged to cater to the growing needs of the preschool provision. Among these private preschools, there are also small-budget private preschools (SBPPS) run by individual enterprises. These SBPPS charge low fees and are affordable to middle and lower-middle-class families. The present study attempts to study the SBPPS regarding infrastructural facilities (human and physical), the teaching-learning strategies, and the parents’ connotations regarding preschool education.

This study is an attempt to improve students’ writing proficiency at a high school in Vietnam. To achieve this aim, a two-cycle Critical Participatory Action Research project was conducted. During the intervention procedure, Process-genre approach was implemented into writing lessons which focused on expository essays. The data were collected from the teacher’s journal, questionnaire as well as the pre-test and post-test. The results indicate that students made considerable progress in most aspects of their writing, and they expressed positive opinions about this approach.

Overall, this article focuses on the implementation of STEM education in Ukraine and the description of different models of STEM education. Specifically, it defines the concept of STEM literacy, and concentrates on the interdisciplinary links between mathematics and coding in the context of STEM education by analysing various curricula of mathematics and coding. Firstly, this paper gives examples of the Ukrainian mathematics curriculum for the 5th and 6th graders, including the necessary themes that form a mathematical base for the further study of coding and other STEM subjects. This paper also provides an overview of the students’ prerequisite mathematical knowledge to take part in the 7th grade’s coding class. Secondly, it provides examples of specific mathematics tasks (e.g., compiling algorithms, working with flowcharts, reading parts of codes) that help strengthen the mathcoding links. A survey was sent out to mathematics and ICT teachers for data collection