e-learning
R. Nejati
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Recognizing the unique requirements of online education is crucial due to its wide spread use. Self-regulation in learning seems essential for this instructional approach, as students and instructors are physically separated. To effectively manage their time, establish goals, ...
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Background and Objectives: Recognizing the unique requirements of online education is crucial due to its wide spread use. Self-regulation in learning seems essential for this instructional approach, as students and instructors are physically separated. To effectively manage their time, establish goals, and sustain motivation, individuals must adopt practical strategies. Active engagement in the learning process is also vital, requiring students to actively participate, contribute, and engage with instructors and peers. Assessing students' self-regulation and engagement can help educational managers and professors supervise the educational process and implement necessary measures when student participation is lacking. The objective of this study was to investigate how self-regulated learning and engagement contribute to outcomes of leaning as measured in terms of reading comprehension skills of Iranian students in online classrooms.
Materials and Methods: The study investigated research questions using two questionnaires and a test, namely, the Online self-regulation questionnaire (OSQ), the Online Student Engagement Scale (OSE), and the reading part of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The self-regulation questionnaire had three constructs with 10 items each, while the engagement questionnaire had four constructs with 19 items. These scales were translated into Persian and sent to 345 students. Out of the 287 returned questionnaires, 21 were excluded due to inattention. The remaining 266 responses, along with their test scores, were analyzed statistically. Both the questionnaires and the language test were administered via the LMS in 2022.
Findings: The data underwent a rigorous process of statistical analyses to evaluate reliability, construct validity, and the relationships between variables. These analyses aimed to ensure the accuracy and robustness of the findings. To assess reliability, Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were calculated for three key variables: Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading. The obtained coefficients were .89, .94, and .86, respectively. These values indicate high levels of internal consistency within each variable, suggesting that the measurement instruments used to assess these constructs were reliable. Construct validity was also examined through Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values for Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading. The reported RMSEA values were .08, .07, and .01, respectively. These values fall within an acceptable range, indicating that the measurement models adequately fit the observed data and supported the construct validity of the variables. All three variables (Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading) exhibited statistically significant t-values, providing strong evidence that students' engagement, self-regulation, and reading ability were deemed satisfactory based on the collected data. The analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between regulatory engagement and reading comprehension. This finding suggests that higher levels of regulatory engagement are associated with better reading comprehension skills among students. Additionally, a regression analysis was conducted to explore the associations between specific factors and reading comprehension. The results indicated that both 'performance' and 'student-student interactions' had strong and positive associations with reading comprehension. The beta coefficients for these variables were 0.25 and 0.21, respectively. This implies that improvements in performance and increased student-student interactions are related to enhanced reading comprehension abilities.
Conclusions: The relationship between regulatory engagement and reading comprehension holds significant implications for educators and policymakers. Understanding this connection is essential to develop effective interventions and instructional approaches aimed at enhancing students' regulatory engagement abilities, ultimately leading to improved reading comprehension outcomes. However, it is important to acknowledge that the study conducted had certain limitations that restricted its scope and prevented a thorough examination of all potential factors influencing reading comprehension skills. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the topic, future research should explore additional variables beyond regulatory engagement. For instance, considering the influence of cultural background on reading comprehension can provide valuable insights into how diverse learners may approach and interpret texts differently. Similarly, investigating various teaching methods employed in different educational settings can shed light on the effectiveness of specific instructional approaches in promoting reading comprehension. Furthermore, individual cognitive factors such as working memory and attentional control warrant attention in future studies. These cognitive processes play integral roles in reading comprehension, and exploring their impact can help identify strategies to support students with specific cognitive profiles or challenges.
Educational Technology - Augmented Reality
S. Khazaie; R. Nejati; M. Karbasi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Planning for the success of students in the world is one of the priorities of teaching English in the secondary schools in Asia. The improvement of the English reader's skills to understand the actual needs defined as the +language by representing the events of the world in ...
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Background and Objectives: Planning for the success of students in the world is one of the priorities of teaching English in the secondary schools in Asia. The improvement of the English reader's skills to understand the actual needs defined as the +language by representing the events of the world in language learning milieu based on educational technology is in progress. Although extending the sense in the scenes of serious games is done for easy language learning, the active visual and verbal working memory of students has not been considered as an effective factor in reading. This study endeavored to investigate the allocation of sensory weight in virtual reality games for teaching English reading to Asian students with different working memory abilities.Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted by selecting 916 male and female students from secondary schools. Using parallel-group design, students participated in the working memory tests. These Iranian (N = 612) and non-Iranian (Pakistani, N = 204; Iraqi, N= 40, and Kashmiri, N = 64) were studying in the 10th grade of the second year of high school and were enrolled in language institute to learn English in the fall semester of academic year 2022-2023. In order to ensure homogeneity of the participants according to the level of English proficiency, a junior TOEFL test was administered, and students whose English proficiency score was between one standard deviation higher and one standard deviation lower than the mean were selected to take part in the study. The scores of the participants' working memory test were converted into standard scores with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. Based on the working memory capacity, the participants were placed in one of the active memory quadrants. Then, they were randomly divided into intact and experimental groups to learn English reading online or through virtual reality games in 14 sessions. In each session, first, the main researcher taught English reading passages to the participants using Skyroom educational software for 30 minutes. Then, online or virtual reality-based activities were provided to students to practice reading skills for 20 minutes. Participants were assessed formatively each session and a score of 0-20 was recorded for each student. The participants expressed their experience of the senses in the course of reading in each session verbally.Findings: The results of the analysis of repeated measures ANCOVA showed that extending the sense in teaching English readers through virtual reality games significantly facilitated students' learning. Adding auditory sense to scenes of virtual reality game significantly improved the reading progress of students who had high verbal working memory capacity. Although psychological and real-life categories were emphasized in the interviews, students with high working memory underlined the sense extension as useful for learning English reading in relation to the surrounding world.Conclusion The findings of this study revealed that extending the sense in virtual reality games is beneficial for learning English reading when it is in line with students' working memory. The correct allocation of the sense in the scenes of virtual reality games results in the use of English reading in the world, namely + language.
English teaching
R. Nejati
Abstract
A key issue in assessing the learning styles of English as foreign language (EFL) students is the development of a valid and reliable instrument. This paper reports and discusses the results of administering one learning styles questionnaire, which is a further development of Wintergerst , DeCapua (2002) ...
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A key issue in assessing the learning styles of English as foreign language (EFL) students is the development of a valid and reliable instrument. This paper reports and discusses the results of administering one learning styles questionnaire, which is a further development of Wintergerst , DeCapua (2002) Learning Styles Indicator (LSI) originally developed for the ESL learners. The questionnaire has three constructs, namely, group activity orientation (GAO), individual activity orientation (IAO), and project orientation (PO). The new questionnaire has two more constructs, namely, induction (INDUC) and deduction (DEDUC). Five hundred Iranian students were given the questionnaire. However, three hundred sixty three questionnaires were returned. The results, investigated through confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha, revealed that the questionnaire would be a valid and reliable measure of the learning styles of the Iranian students of English.
