Educational Technology - Artificial Intelligence
A. Mehri; E. Sadipour; F Dortaj
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Artificial intelligence has significantly changed the perspectives and methods of education and learning as a new educational technology. A segment of artificial intelligence includes natural language processors that can produce human-like texts, such as AI chatbots. Due to ...
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Background and Objectives: Artificial intelligence has significantly changed the perspectives and methods of education and learning as a new educational technology. A segment of artificial intelligence includes natural language processors that can produce human-like texts, such as AI chatbots. Due to their abilities to understand human language and answer users' questions, AI chatbots are recognized as important tools for education and learning. However, because the use of AI chatbots in education is still a recent development, there are currently very few studies on the effectiveness of this technology in learning. Accordingly, this research aims to examine the effects of AI chatbot-based blended learning in psychology on self-directed learning, student engagement, and critical thinking disposition among 11th-grade female students in the humanities in Zanjan.
Methods: This research was applied in purpose and quantitative in the nature of the collected data. It employed a quasi-experimental method with a pre-test and post-test design, involving a control group. The statistical population for this study comprised all 11th-grade female students in the humanities in Zanjan. A multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used, wherein one public girl’s high school in Zanjan, specifically Roghani Zanjani School, was randomly selected for the study, and two classes of students were assigned to the experimental and control groups. The sample consisted of 45 participants, divided into 21 in the experimental group and 24 in the control group. Data collection tools included the Self-Directed Learning Questionnaire by Fisher et al. (2001), the Academic Engagement Questionnaire by Reeve and Tseng (2011), and the Critical Thinking Disposition Questionnaire by Ricketts and Rudd (2005). The educational intervention spanned 8 sessions, each 90 minutes long, using the Sider software that offers and supports the ChatGPT AI chatbot. Given the multi-dimensional nature of all three dependent variables and the implementation of pre-tests, Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was utilized, and the pre-test and post-test data were analyzed with SPSS version 26.
Findings: The analysis of the data using statistical measures such as mean and standard deviation showed that the mean scores of the post-test for the experimental group increased in comparison to the control group across all three dependent variables when compared to the pre-test. Furthermore, the results from the multivariate analysis of covariance indicated a significant difference in self-directed learning, academic engagement, and critical thinking disposition between the experimental and control groups at the post-test (p < 0.01). Thus, given the higher mean scores of the experimental group in the post-test relative to those in the control group, it can be concluded that the AI chatbot-based blended learning approach in the psychology course proved effective in increasing self-directed learning, academic engagement, and critical thinking among 11th-grade female students in the humanities in Zanjan.
Conclusion: Drawing on the findings from this research, we can conclude that the use of AI chatbots in conjunction with the formal psychology curriculum has great potential to enhance self-directed learning, academic engagement, and critical thinking disposition. However, there is a concern that dependence on the AI chatbot could result in diminished academic engagement, with learners potentially accepting the output data without critical evaluation. Therefore, it is recommended that educators and learners utilize AI chatbots as educational complements and learning aids while considering ethical educational implications, stressing the importance of teacher supervision and instructing adolescents in self-regulation. It should also be noted that this study had limitations, including a lack of resources and prior research, restrictions on access to AI chatbots for IPs within Iran, and various hardware and software challenges in installing the AI chatbot software.
Education technology -training course
M. Sheybani; N. Yaftian
Abstract
Background and Objectives: One of the fundamental difficulties in educational systems has been the academic decline of students in basic subjects such as mathematics. Various factors, such as the low level of self-directed skills of students, affect their mathematical progress. Becoming independent is ...
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Background and Objectives: One of the fundamental difficulties in educational systems has been the academic decline of students in basic subjects such as mathematics. Various factors, such as the low level of self-directed skills of students, affect their mathematical progress. Becoming independent is one of the goals of self-directed learning and the necessity of the math classroom. Most of the time, students are dependent on the teacher in math lessons and are unwilling to solve challenging problems. Cultivating independent learners who can be curious, creative and able to lead their learning is one of the main goals of any educational system. Self-directed learning can increase self-confidence, independence, learning capacity to remember material over a long period of time, and students' ability to transfer concepts and develop lifelong learning skills in themselves. Active teaching methods can be used to improve students' self-directed learning level. One of the active teaching methods is gamification teaching. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of gamification teaching on the mathematical self-directed learning of the tenth-grade technical and professional students.Methods: The current research was conducted using semi-experimental method with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the research included female students of the 10th grade of Varamin studying at technical and vocational high school, and the sample included 194 students (96 people in the experimental group and 98 people in the control group) who were selected by convenience sampling. During eight sessions, the students of the experimental group were taught some of the challenging math concepts with the help of gamification, and in the control group, the conventional and traditional method was used to teach the same math concepts. The research instrument was a mathematical self-directed questionnaire that included 15 items that measured the components of learning motivation, planning and implementation, self-monitoring and interpersonal communication. Cronbach's alpha of the math self-directed questionnaire was 0.892 and Cronbach's alpha was obtained for the components of learning motivation, planning and implementation, self-monitoring and interpersonal communication, as 0.846, 0.787, 0.735 and 0.704 respectively. For data analysis, descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics such as multivariate covariance analysis were used.Findings: The results of the multivariate covariance analysis test showed that teaching by gamification in the experimental group, except for the learning motivation component (F=2.648, Sig=0.105) on other components of students' mathematical self-directed including planning and implementation (9.524) =F, Sig=0.002), self-monitoring (F=10.248, Sig=0.002) and interpersonal communication (F=5.598, Sig=0.019) had a significant effect so that the average scores the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group, and also the mean of learning motivation component increased in the experimental group, but the difference was not significant.Conclusion: The results of the data analysis showed that teaching by gamification has an effect on promoting the independence and responsibility of students' learning in mathematics and on the three components of self-directed learning in mathematics. In other words, teaching by gamification had a positive effect on students' self-directed learning by creating a feeling of need to learn and accepting their role and responsibility in it. The research results showed that teaching by using games had a positive effect on their mathematical performance by increasing the level of interactive learning and creating independence in students. Teachers, authors of textbooks, planners and educational experts can benefit from the results of this research to improve and modify educational methods.
Education technology - Evaluation and testing
M. Bagheri; F. Sahraeei; M. Khanmohammadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The changes in the new world, due to social, cultural, and the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), have led to a modification in the objectives and educational approaches to align with the changes occurring in the learners' environment. One of ...
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Background and Objectives: The changes in the new world, due to social, cultural, and the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), have led to a modification in the objectives and educational approaches to align with the changes occurring in the learners' environment. One of the new approaches that has received attention in teaching and learning to acquire 21st-century skills is peer assessment. This study examined the impact of web-based peer assessment on the self-directed learning skills of educational sciences students at Arak University.Materials and Methods: Researchers employed a quasi-experimental research method with a pre-test-post-test design and included a control group in the study. The target population consisted of all educational sciences students in the academic year 2022-2023 at Arak University (178 students), from which 32 participants were selected through the convenience sampling method and assigned randomly into two groups: experimental and control. To gather data for the study, the researchers utilized the Self-directed Learning Readiness Questionnaire, which comprised 40 items and three subscales: self-management, desire for learning, and self-control. The questionnaire was administered before and after the course. During the 10 sessions, web-based peer assessment was integrated into the training process in the experimental group. In this way, courses, students, and the instructor were defined in the Learning Management System (LMS) of Arak University. After each teaching session, the teacher added an activity (peer assessment) in the system, in such a way that the students did homework related to the subject of the lesson. The teaching approach in both the experimental and control groups involved the teacher following a lesson plan and allowing the learners to ask questions during the teaching process. However, there was a difference in how the two groups were assessed. In the experimental group, peer assessment was utilized, where students reviewed and assessed their classmates' assignments. On the other hand, the control group followed a conventional evaluation method. In the classroom, the teacher delivered lessons and assigned homework to the students. The students needed to complete the assignments and submit them to the teacher for assessment. The teacher reviewed the student’s homework in each session and provided feedback. Statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics (i.e., mean and standard deviation), as well as inferential statistics (i.e., Analysis of Covariance), were employed to analyze the data.Findings: The findings indicated that peer assessment training had a notable impact on self-directed learning skills and their sub-scales, including self-management, desire for learning, and self-control (p<0.5).Conclusions: Based on the findings of this research, utilizing peer assessment can serve as an effective approach to enhance students' self-directed learning abilities, a crucial skill for learners in the 21st century. However, the successful implementation of peer assessment requires certain conditions that teachers should consider. These include having an appropriate e-learning platform, the instructor's formulation of assessment criteria, and providing proper guidance to learners acting as evaluators. It is important to note that the implementation of peer assessment comes with its own set of challenges, which should be thoroughly explored in studies examining its different aspects.
Electronic learning- virtual
N. Zanjani; z. Mirmoghtadaie; D. Rasouli
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Due to the evolving nature of medical sciences, it is necessary for medical students to acquire life-long learning skills such as self-direction in addition to professional knowledge so that they can keep up with the ever-increasing advancement of knowledge in this field. Using ...
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Background and Objectives: Due to the evolving nature of medical sciences, it is necessary for medical students to acquire life-long learning skills such as self-direction in addition to professional knowledge so that they can keep up with the ever-increasing advancement of knowledge in this field. Using the jigsaw approach, as a collaborative method, provides an opportunity to overcome the limitations of traditional teaching approaches and can increase students' voluntary participation in class, self-directed learning, and learning quality. In the Jigsaw method, each group studies a specific topic and then teaches a larger group of classmates about it. Although different aspects of the jigsaw approach, flipped classroom and self-directed learning have been studied, the effectiveness of the jigsaw method in a virtual flipped classroom on students' self-directed learning skills has not been well studied. Therefore, the current research examined the effect of this teaching method in the virtual flipped classroom on students' self-directed learning skills.Methods: The current research was semi-experimental research with pre-test, post-test, intervention group (jigsaw group) and control group, both of which participated in a virtual inverted classroom. The participants were 50 people (25 people in each group) who were master's students in the field of medicine in the course of research methods. Self-directed learning evaluation questionnaire in the e-learning environment was used in this research. For this purpose, the content was first prepared and all the resources including texts, curriculum and timetable were loaded by the teacher in a customized content management system (LMS). Students were required to review course material, complete assignments, and submit in a pre-planned schedule. The instructor used the problem-based learning method in virtual sessions where a problem or scenario was presented and the students had to solve the problem individually based on their knowledge and through private chat. In the last stage, all the students talked with each other to reach a common understanding of the problem. In the intervention group, students were divided into 5 groups of 5 and the content of the lesson plan was divided between the groups. Jigsaw groups assigned topics to expert groups and learned collaboratively, and then in home groups, they used the virtual inverted teaching method to teach other students. At the end of each training session, the members of the groups had the opportunity to exchange opinions and discuss the learned material. In the control group, all steps were performed by the teacher. In the evaluation stage, each member of the group was evaluated based on all educational materials.Findings: The results showed that self-directed learning enhanced in both virtual inverted classes managed by the teacher or the student, but a significant difference was observed in the intervention group (Jigsaw).Conclusion: Considering the advantages of virtual education and its effective capabilities in medical education, the integration of this approach in the current curricula of universities seems inevitable. This study showed how face-to-face educational approaches could be effectively implemented in a virtual environment. Educators can use the method used in this research to strengthen student collaboration in order to make more use of e-learning facilities and reduce the shortcomings of virtual education in attracting student participation. If the virtual flipped classroom is implemented along with the jigsaw approach, students' self-directed learning skills would improve.
English teaching
M. Piri; H. Sahebyar; A. Sadollahi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The present age is called the information age, because the acceleration of the evolution of science and technology in the present age is very high and significant. Every day new technologies are produced and made available to the audience. Much of the knowledge and science ...
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Background and Objectives: The present age is called the information age, because the acceleration of the evolution of science and technology in the present age is very high and significant. Every day new technologies are produced and made available to the audience. Much of the knowledge and science taught in schools and universities needs to be revisited over time due to social and technological changes. In addition, personal and professional situations increasingly depend on continuous learning. In recent decades, due to dramatic changes and the breadth of science, the need to upgrade and update human knowledge and skills, upgrading lifelong learning skills has become one of the primary goals of the education system. With the advent of information technology and the increasing development of the educational system, it has shifted its activities to the use of e-learning. The general popularity of this type of education is such that some have overlooked the benefits of traditional education and the interaction between teacher and student, and considering e-learning as the only way of education for sustainable learning at the forefront of formal education. Therefore, in terms of education, a new atmosphere has ruled the world. The large amount of information and its evolution in a short time that must be addressed in the education system; but due to limitations such as lack of time, lack of motivation to learn, update information is not compatible with the new atmosphere of the education system. This research has been conducted in an attempt to examine the effect of Flipped classroom on self-directed learning in English language classes. Method and Materials: The participants were female 10th grade students of Kaleybar in academic year 2016-2017. The research is a quasi-experimental one and is performed using the pre-test, post-test method with a control group. Participants in the study were 30 students selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. For data collection, the self-directed learning questionnaire was used with a reliability of.82 for the whole test and with face and content validity approved by the experts. Findings: Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software. The results of ANCOVA showed that Flipped Classroom influenced the self-directed variable (with the exception of self-management) in learning with the help of covariate (pre-test) (p <.05). Also, the mean scores of students at the pre and post-test in the experimental group were significantly different. The mean scores of self-directed learning for students trained through Flipped Classroom were higher. Conclusion: Findings of this study, despite methodological limitations, such as non-random selection of subjects and limited number of sessions of educational interventions, can have scientific and practical implications for the educational system. The specific proposal of this research is to this method in compiling curricula and textbooks, as well as holding in-service training courses for inverted classes for new teachers unfamiliar with this method, as well as using this method by teachers for students' academic engagement. Strengthening the necessary academic skills in this age of information explosion is suggested. Studies on the long-term effects of the flipped class, conducting the same research in different courses and grades, as well as studying it on more examples in other educational areas, are among the suggestions for future researchers.
