Critical Reflections on ICT and Education: Selected Papers from the HKAECT 2023 International Conference 9819975581, 9789819975587

Table of contents :
Preface
HKAECT
Contents
Applications of Data Visualization, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality
An Exploration of the Current State of Research Related to Open Education Practices—A Visual Analysis Based on CiteSpace
1 Introduction
2 Methodology
3 Results
3.1 Characteristics of the Temporal Distribution of the Study
3.2 Country Distribution Characteristics
4 Keyword Co-Occurrence Analysis
5 Keyword Co-Occurrence Clustering Analysis
6 Reference Co-Citation Analysis
7 Discussion
7.1 Open Education Technology as a Core Component of Open Education Practice
7.2 Attention Should Be Paid to Open Educational Practices Enabled by Open Educational Technology
7.3 Open TPACK Framework for Open Educational Practice
7.4 Geographical Differences in Research on Open Educational Practice
8 Conclusion
References
Teaching English as a Second Language in the Midst of a Paradigm Shift: An Exploration of Students’ and Teachers’ Perception of ChatGPT
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Study Context
4 Methodology
4.1 Participants
4.2 Methods of Data Collection and Data Analysis
5 Results and Discussion
5.1 RQ 1. What Were Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs Concerning the Use of ChatGPT in English Language Learning and Teaching Respectively?
5.2 RQ 2. Is ChatGPT Likely to Revolutionize University Assessments?
6 Conclusion and Future Direction
References
Exploring Students’ Adoption of Virtual Reality in Journalism Practice Education: An UTAUT Perspective
1 Introduction
2 Research Background
3 Literature Review
3.1 VR as an Immersive Technology in Education
3.2 Factors Affecting Students’ Acceptance of VR
4 Theoretical Framework and Research Questions
5 Data Collection/Methods
6 Findings
6.1 Analysis of UTAUT Elements
6.2 Descriptive Analysis of Variables
7 Discussion and Conclusion
References
A Case-Study on Applying Mixed Reality Technology in an Architecture Design Course at a Taiwan University
1 Introduction
2 Literature Reviews
2.1 Development of Digital Technology
2.2 Investment and Development Trends
2.3 Applications in Architectural Design Courses
3 The Impact of Mixed Reality (MR) Tools on Architecture Teaching
3.1 Traditional Design and Architecture Pedagogy
3.2 Internal Discussion on the Teaching of MR Technology
4 Research Methodology and Research Founding
4.1 Methodology
4.2 Responses from Students
4.3 Responses from Teachers
5 Summary of the Interview
6 Recommendations and Research Limitations
7 Conclusion
References
Reflections on Online Learning, Blended Learning, and Self-directed Learning
Online Classroom Interaction Strategies: Voices of Teachers in Disadvantaged Areas
1 Introduction
2 Literature
2.1 Interaction in Language Classrooms
2.2 Technology and Online Classroom Interaction
2.3 Challenges of Promoting Classroom Interaction in Online Teaching
3 The Study
3.1 Setting and Participants
3.2 Data Collection
3.3 Data Analysis
4 Research Findings
4.1 Teachers’ Experience of Online Interaction
4.2 Factors Affecting Positive Online Interaction
4.3 Coping Strategies to Promote Online Classroom Participation
5 Discussions
5.1 Teachers’ General Experience of Online Interaction and Their Teaching Practice
5.2 Facilitating and Hindering Factors Affecting Online Interaction
5.3 Teachers’ Pedagogical Approaches and Strategies
5.4 More Feasible and Practical Recommendations to Facilitate Positive Online Interaction
6 Conclusion
References
Beyond Knowledge: Multiple Faceted Efficacious Impacts of Blended Learning Affordance on EFL Learners
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 A Synopsis of Research on BL
3.1 BL Has Become a Lynchpin in Higher Education
4 Methods
4.1 Research Site and Sample
4.2 The Experimental Stages and Data Analysis
4.3 The Posttest
4.4 The Survey
4.5 Reliability and Validity
5 Findings and Discussions
5.1 The Experiment Results
5.2 Findings from the Survey
5.3 Students’ Comparison of the Two Learning Modes
5.4 Students’ Preferred Activities and Reasons for Their Choices
5.5 Students’ Evaluation of BL in Terms of Skills
5.6 Students’ Evaluation of BL in Terms of Attitude
5.7 Discussion
6 Conclusion
References
Undergraduate Student Groups’ Types of Online Collaborative Learning Engagement and Their Relation to Discussion Content
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Undergraduate Students’ Online Collaborative Learning
2.2 Undergraduate Students’ Engagement in Learning
3 Method
3.1 Participant
3.2 Instrument
3.3 Context
3.4 Data Collection and Analysis
4 Result
4.1 Cluster Analysis & Group Classification
4.2 Content Analysis
5 Conclusion and Discussion
6 Implication and Limitation
References
Evaluation of Good Practices of Using Rewards in Online Classrooms Based on the Five Principles of Motivation
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Student Motivation in Fully Online Learning
2.2 Rewards Contingency in CET
2.3 Use of Rewards in Online Learning
3 Method
3.1 Rewards Schemes
3.2 Participants
3.3 Data Measurement and Analysis
4 Results
4.1 Effects on Learning Performance
4.2 Effects on Students’ Intrinsic Motivation
4.3 Students’ Perceptions: Course Evaluation Based on Five Principles of Motivation
5 Good Practices of the Use of Rewards in Online Learning
References
Exploring Final-Year Undergraduate Students’ Readiness of Self-directed Learning in the Workplace
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Method
3.1 Participants
3.2 Instrument
3.3 Procedure
4 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusion
References
Digital Impacts on Education
ICT Transformation in Vietnam’s Higher Education Sector: From Policy to Reality
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Method
4 Digital Transformation Outlook Represented in Policies
5 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Cultivate Students’ Independent Learning and Improve Students’ Learning Motivation: Implementation of Hands-On Experiments in a General Education Science Course for Non-science Majors
1 Introduction
2 Research Questions
3 Background
4 Research Method
5 Results
5.1 Students Performances
5.2 Students’ Perception
6 Discussion
6.1 Air Project Cultivates Students’ Independent Learning
6.2 Air Project Improves Students’ Learning Motivation
6.3 Air Project Showcases a Science Course Tailor-Made for Non-Science Major Students
6.4 Lessons We Learned: Essentials to Build a Sound Tailor-Made Science Course to Non-Science Majors
7 Conclusion
8 Supplementary Documents
8.1 Students in Air Project Are not “Better” Than Others
References
A Critical Review of the Gender Representation in Children’s eBooks on a Digital Reading Platform
1 The Persistence of Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Books
2 Purpose of the Paper
3 Research Questions
4 Research Methodology
5 Research Findings and Discussion
5.1 The Non-balanced Visibility of Males and Females in ebooks
5.2 Biased Representations of Female Characters
6 Conclusion
References
Reimagining Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Use of Recorded Lessons from Teachers’ Perspectives
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Classroom Recording and Teacher Support
2.2 Digital Records and Educational Narratives
2.3 Self-reflection and Teacher Learning Through Recorded Lessons
2.4 Conceptual Framework
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Paradigm
3.2 Research Approach and Sampling
4 Results
4.1 (Q1) How Do Students Respond to Online and Recorded Lessons?
4.2 (Q2) What Was the Primary Impact of Recorded Lessons on Student Engagement in Regular Lessons? In Coursework and Assessment Performance?
4.3 (Q3) What Impacts Did Recorded Lessons Have on Your Selection and Delivery of the Lesson Material? Of the Performance or Approach to the Lesson Planning?
4.4 (Q4) is This (Online, Hybrid, Synchronous) an Effective Solution for University Education? Why or Why not?
4.5 (Q5) How Comfortable Are You with the Use of Recordings for Synchronous Lessons? Does This Affect Your Role as an Educator?
4.6 (Q6) What is Your Preferred Mode of Classroom Delivery? Why?
4.7 (Q7) What Support Solutions or Teaching Resources Would You like to See Incorporated into Future University Classrooms to Improve Learner Outcomes?
5 Discussion
6 Conclusions
References
The Importance of English in Primary School Education in China: Perception of Teachers in Post-Covid-19 Hybrid Classrooms
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
1.2 Research Aim and Objectives
1.3 Research Questions
2 Literature Review
2.1 English Education and Chinese Aspirations
2.2 Teacher Experiences and English Education in China
2.3 English Education Improvement and Innovation
2.4 Conceptual Framework
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Approach
3.2 Sampling and Participant Selection
3.3 Ethical Concerns
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Demographic Overview
4.2 Structured Prompts
4.3 Factor Ranking
5 Conclusions
6 Appendices
Appendix 1: Questionnaire
Appendix 2: ANOVA Results
References
Author Index

Citation preview

Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook

Anna Wing Bo TSO · Wendy Wing Lam CHAN · Steven Kwan Keung NG · Tiffany Shurui BAI · Noble Po Kan LO   Editors

Critical Reflections on ICT and Education Selected Papers from the HKAECT 2023 International Conference

Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook Series Editor Will W. K. Ma, Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology (HKAECT), Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology (HKAECT) was established in 1989. Its first conference was organized in 1990, addressing “The Role of Educational Communications and Technology in Year 2000,” with speakers coming from the United States, China, and Taiwan to discuss the outlook on educational communication and technology. Throughout these years, the HKAECT has held a number of international conferences, symposiums, workshops, and talks with various themes to provide a platform to enable rich exchanges for academicians, practitioners, and professionals in the fields of communication and education to discourse about the shaping and changing issues on education, communication, and technology. This Yearbook series collect presentations from the annual international conferences held by the HKAECT. Chapters would come from the annual global call for submission, and be selected based on blind review from international review board. Subject areas include but not limited to communication, new media, news media, broadcast journalism, democracy and the media, entertainment and education, learning analytics, AI in education, game-based learning, ubiquitous learning, MOOCs, open education, instructional design, social context and learning environment, social media, risk and ethics in new media, etc.

Anna Wing Bo TSO · Wendy Wing Lam CHAN · Steven Kwan Keung NG · Tiffany Shurui BAI · Noble Po Kan LO Editors

Critical Reflections on ICT and Education Selected Papers from the HKAECT 2023 International Conference

Editors Anna Wing Bo TSO Department of English The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China Steven Kwan Keung NG Ming-Ai (London) Institute London, United Kingdom Noble Po Kan LO Division of Languages and Communication College of Professional and Continuing Education The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, China

Wendy Wing Lam CHAN Communication, Public Relations and Journalism Programme HKU SPACE Po Leung Kuk Stanley Ho Community College Hong Kong, China Tiffany Shurui BAI Department of Mathematics and Information Technology The Education University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China

ISSN 2524-4078 ISSN 2524-4086 (electronic) Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook ISBN 978-981-99-7558-7 ISBN 978-981-99-7559-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Paper in this product is recyclable.

Preface

The Hong Kong Association for Educational, Communications and Technology (HKAECT) International Conference 2023 was held on 15–17 June 2023, marking its 18th conference since the first HKAECT conference held in 1990. As in 2021 and 2022, in 2023, HKAECT co-organized its hybrid conference with The University of Hong Kong (HKU) Libraries, reflecting the role of ICT on education. As the information and communications technology (ICT) proliferates in recent decades, the digital experience has come to play a significant role in modern life. For many, life in the digital era is mediated through digitization, social media, and virtual applications. In the same light, the education landscape has dramatically changed. For example, due to the use of ICT, learning is no longer confined to the classroom. The ubiquity of learning has brought revolutionary changes to pedagogical approaches, diminishing the divide of formal and informal learning in education. In the next couple of years, we can expect that the importance of ICT in education will continue to grow, bringing deep impacts on various educational aspects such as content and pedagogy, leadership, planning and management. With a view to rethinking the effects of technology on society, the HKAECT2023 Conference Organizing Committee set the conference theme as “Critical Reflections on ICT and Education”. From October 2022 to June 2023, the HKAECT International Conference 2023 called for abstract and full manuscript submissions from academics and practitioners all around the world. A considerably high volume of submissions had been received from Asia, Australia, Russia, Europe, and the UK. Following a series of blind peer reviews, the best 14 papers have been selected for the HKAECT Yearbook, marking a rejection rate of about 50%. The book is composed of three parts—the first part: Applications of Data Visualization, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality (4 chapters), the second part: Reflections of Online Learning, Blended Learning, and Self-directed Learning (5 chapters), and the third part: Digital Impacts on Education (5 chapters). On behalf of the HKAECT Organizing Committee, we would like to express our gratitude to our keynote speakers, namely Dr. June Xiaojun Chen, President of the Society of International Chinese in Educational Technology (SICET), Prof. Will v

vi

Preface

Ma, HKAECT’s Honorary President and Professor at Tung Wah College, Dr. John Blake, Senior Associate Professor of The University of Aizu in Japan, and Dr. Sarah Olive, Senior Lecturer of Aston University in the U.K. We would also like to thank our plenary speakers, Prof. Leo Yam, HKAECT’s Founding and Honorary President, and Mr. Aska Yeung, Chairman of the Hong Kong Multimedia Design Association. Last but not least, we are much obliged to all members of the HKAECT International Advisory Board and the HKAECT International Programme Committee, who gave us full support in the peer review process. The Yearbook of 2023, Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, is not only a valuable resource for educators, policymakers, and researchers, but also a must-read for anyone interested in the future of education and the role of technology in shaping it. The book chapters shall inspire readers to question their own assumptions about the intersection of ICT and education, as well as to engage in a meaningful dialogue about the best way to prepare students for a rapidly changing world. Hong Kong, China Hong Kong, China London, United Kingdom Hong Kong, China Hong Kong, China June 2023

Anna Wing Bo TSO Wendy Wing Lam CHAN Steven Kwan Keung NG Tiffany Shurui BAI Noble Po Kan LO

HKAECT

The Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology (HKAECT: http://www.hkaect.org/) was established in 1989. Its first conference was organized in 1990, addressing “The Role of Educational Communications and Technology in Year 2000”, with speakers coming from the USA, China, and Taiwan to discuss the outlook on educational communications and technology. Throughout these years, the HKAECT has held a number of international conferences, symposiums, workshops, and talks with various themes to provide a platform to enable rich exchanges for academicians, practitioners, and professionals in the communication and educational fields to discourse about the shaping and changing issues on education, communications, and technology.

List of HKAECT Presidents 1989–2009 2010–2015 2016–2021 Current President since 2022

Leo P. K. Yam Allan H. K. Yuen Will W. K. Ma Anna W. B. Tso

Themes of the HKAECT Conferences Since 1990 1990 1992 1994 1996 1997 1998

The Role of Educational Communications and Technology in Year 2000 Instructional Technology: Design, Utilization and Evaluation Telecommunications in Education Innovations and Quality in Teaching and Learning Tertiary Teaching in the Use of Technology: Vision and Practice New Challenges and Innovations in Teaching and Training into the 21st Century vii

viii

HKAECT

2001 Education Reform: Integrating Information Technology, Communication, and Curriculum 2004 Media Innovations in Education: Input and Outcome in New Society 2007 Educational Communications and Technology as Learning Experiences 2010 Multiliteracies for the 21st Century: Education, Communication, and Technology 2014 New Media, Knowledge Practices, and Multiliteracies 2017 New Ecology for Education: Communication X Learning 2018 New Media for Educational Change: Effect on Learning and Reflection on Practice 2019 Shaping the Future of Education, Communication and Technology 2021 Learning Environment: Innovation and Design 2022 Innovation and Transformation: The Post-pandemic Landscape of Education and Beyond 2023 Critical Reflections on ICT and Education 2024 Transcending Boundaries in the Digital Age: Teaching, Research and Practice

Organization of the Conference International Advisory Board Hsin-Tzu Chen, TAECT/Chinese Culture University Wing Sum Cheung, Nanyang Technology University Xun Ge, University of Oklahoma Merrilyn Goos, University of Sunshine Coast Michael Grant, University of South Carolina Shih-Chang Hsin, TAECT/National Tsing Hua University Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Open University UK Siu Cheung Kong, The Education University of Hong Kong Feng-Qi Lai, Indiana State University Alice Y. L. Lee, Hong Kong Baptist University Juhong Christie Liu, James Madison University Will W. K. Ma, Tung Wah College Kay A. Persichitte, University of Wyoming Bart Rienties, The Open University UK Roopika Risam, Dartmouth College Allan H. K. Yuen, Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education Jinhua Zhao, Southern University of Science and Technology

HKAECT

ix

Organizing Committee Anna Wing Bo Tso, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong Wendy Wing Lam Chan, HKU Space Po Leung Kuk Stanley Ho Community College Tiffany Shurui Bai, The Education University of Hong Kong Noble Lo, College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Steven K. K. Ng, Ming-Ai (London) Institute Albert Chan, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Miaoting Cheng, Shenzhen University Rose C. W. Fong, QAHE/Northumbria University London Timothy K. F. Hew, The University of Hong Kong Agnes Lam, HKAECT Helena Sit, The University of Newcastle

International Program Committee Beth Teagarden Bair, University of Miami Rik Bair, University of Miami Alex Chi-Keung Chan, Tung Wah College Venus Chan, Hong Kong Metropolitan University Yoo Kyung Chang, Columbia University Jason Chi Wai Chen, The Education University of Hong Kong Shen Chen, University of Newcastle Yang-Hsueh Chen, National Chengchi University Thomas Kin-fung Chiu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hsing-Ning Rebecca Chu, I-Shou University Holly Ho-ying Chung, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong Michele Della-Ventura, Music Academy Studio Musica Lisa Liping Deng, Hong Kong Baptist University Frankie Har, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Kevin Kai-wing Ho, The University of Guam Landon Min Lan, Zhejiang Normal University Iris Yiru Lai, Zhejiang Normal University Yee Man Lam, Hong Kong Shue Yan University Ken Li, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education Liuyufeng Li, The University of Hong Kong Chung Kwan Lo, The Education University of Hong Kong Scott Mcleod, University of Colorado-Denver Shaun S. Nykvist, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Patricia Ng, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong Jae Hyung Park, The Education University of Hong Kong

x

HKAECT

Howard Zhaoxun Song, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong Yun Yi Tan, Universiti Sains Malaysia Kam-Hou Vat, University of Macau Diane M. Wilcox, James Madison University Chi Hung Wong, Hong Kong Metropolitan University Pei-Ying Wu, Chung Hua University Clio Jing Wu, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong Xing Xu, Sichuan International Studies University Eunice Pui Yu Yip, EduCare-HK David Keiman Yip, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) Shuqin Zhai, The University of Queensland Meina Zhu, Wayne State University

Conference Organizers

Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology (HKAECT)

The University of Hong Kong Libraries

Contents

Applications of Data Visualization, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality An Exploration of the Current State of Research Related to Open Education Practices—A Visual Analysis Based on CiteSpace . . . . . . . . . . Chenggui Duan and Jianli Jiao Teaching English as a Second Language in the Midst of a Paradigm Shift: An Exploration of Students’ and Teachers’ Perception of ChatGPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frankie Har

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21

Exploring Students’ Adoption of Virtual Reality in Journalism Practice Education: An UTAUT Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jing Wu, Wendy Wing Lam Chan, Zhaoxun Song, and Xiaran Song

37

A Case-Study on Applying Mixed Reality Technology in an Architecture Design Course at a Taiwan University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shao-Fu Li, Steven Kwan Keung Ng, and Pei-Ying Wu

59

Reflections on Online Learning, Blended Learning, and Self-directed Learning Online Classroom Interaction Strategies: Voices of Teachers in Disadvantaged Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thi Thuy Le, Helena Sit, Shen Chen, and Hauling Sun

79

Beyond Knowledge: Multiple Faceted Efficacious Impacts of Blended Learning Affordance on EFL Learners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Tuyen Van Nguyen, Helena Sit, and Shen Chen

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Contents

Undergraduate Student Groups’ Types of Online Collaborative Learning Engagement and Their Relation to Discussion Content . . . . . . . 129 Weipeng Shen, Yingshan Chen, Juan Jiang, Ruiqing Chen, Xingyu Liao, and Xiao-Fan Lin Evaluation of Good Practices of Using Rewards in Online Classrooms Based on the Five Principles of Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Tiffany Shurui Bai, Yingxue Liu, and Yue Qiu Exploring Final-Year Undergraduate Students’ Readiness of Self-directed Learning in the Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Annie W. Y. Ng Digital Impacts on Education ICT Transformation in Vietnam’s Higher Education Sector: From Policy to Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Thi Thanh Tra Do, Thi Thuy Le, and Thi Thuy Linh Nguyen Cultivate Students’ Independent Learning and Improve Students’ Learning Motivation: Implementation of Hands-On Experiments in a General Education Science Course for Non-science Majors . . . . . . . . 189 Hongyan Geng, Mark McGinley, Ka Fai Wong, Paulina Pui Yun Wong, Yin Kun Lau, Bi Wei Low, Tin Yan Hui, and Ho Lee A Critical Review of the Gender Representation in Children’s eBooks on a Digital Reading Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Anna Wing Bo Tso Reimagining Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Use of Recorded Lessons from Teachers’ Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Noble Po Kan Lo and Alan Man Him Wong The Importance of English in Primary School Education in China: Perception of Teachers in Post-Covid-19 Hybrid Classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Noble Po Kan Lo and Bryan Ka Ho To Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Applications of Data Visualization, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality

An Exploration of the Current State of Research Related to Open Education Practices—A Visual Analysis Based on CiteSpace Chenggui Duan and Jianli Jiao

Abstract In recent years, the focus of research on open education has shifted from open educational resources (OER) to open educational practices (OEP), which emphasizes practical application. To examine the latest developments in OEP on a global scale, this study employs CiteSpace, a tool for visualizing data and information. The findings suggest that OEP is gaining more attention, and analysis of keyword co-occurrence and literature reviews indicate that OEP should encompass not only OER but also open pedagogy and open educational technologies. Consequently, this study puts forth a preliminary framework for open educational practices, termed as Open TPACK, with the objective of promoting the theoretical investigation and progress of open education. Keywords Open education · Open educational practice · Open educational technology

1 Introduction The inception of the open educational resources (OER) movement in 2002, followed by the advent of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in 2012, has engendered a global movement for open education, thereby rendering ‘openness’, one of the most significant themes in education (Knox, 2013). Open educational practices (OEP) are a constituent element of the broader domain of open education, and have arisen from the evolution of research and practice in OER. Consequently, these two concepts are inextricably linked. C. Duan South China Normal University, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] J. Jiao (B) South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_1

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C. Duan and J. Jiao

The term “OER” was first coined at UNESCO’s, 2002 Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries (UNESCO, 2002), which refers to teaching, learning, and research materials that are either in the public domain or have been released under an open license that allows no-cost access, use, adaptation, and redistribution by others. Since then, OER has been promoted by various international organizations and initiatives, such as the OER Dynamic Coalition established by UNESCO in 2020 to support the implementation of the Recommendation on OER (UNESCO, 2023). The term open educational practices first appeared in 2007, “open educational practices that involve students in active, constructive engagement with content, tools and services in the learning process, and promote learners’ self-management, creativity and working in teams” (Geser, 2007, p. 37). The current understanding of OEP varies greatly among researchers. Some view OEP as an evolution of the OER movement (Bossu & Stagg, 2018), while others see it as an extended concept of OER (Fahrer et al., 2022) or as dependent on OER (Olivier, 2020). Despite these differing perspectives, it is clear that open educational resources play a central role in defining and describing open educational practices. However, it is important to consider whether OEP is solely influenced by OER or if it is a distinct and independent concept. In fact, the emergence of OER was influenced by the much earlier free and open-source software, as can also be seen by the following rough chronology of the emergence of related concepts. • • • • • •

1983: The free software GNU protocol 1990s: Open-source software 2002: Open educational resources and Creative Commons License 2007: Open educational practices 2012: Massive Open Online Courses 2015: Open pedagogy

Hence, can it be assumed that the concept of free and open-source software holds significant relevance in the research and development of OEP? Is it possible to claim that open-source software is an essential component of OEP? This study will therefore focus on the following two main questions: Question 1: What is the current status of research concerning OEP? Question 2: What are the essential components of OEP?

2 Methodology The present investigation centers on the utilization of CiteSpace software for visualizing and analyzing co-citation networks of literature records obtained from the Web of Science (WOS). This software is specifically designed to identify emerging trends and changes in scientific literature, and to facilitate comprehension of the

An Exploration of the Current State of Research Related to Open …

5

knowledge structure within a research domain. CiteSpace enables visualization of the distribution, patterns, and structure of scientific knowledge in a particular field of literature, while also measuring significant transitions and critical paths in scientific knowledge. A search of the Web of Science core database (February 19, 2023) with the search terms “open educational practice*” or “open pedagogy” in the title, abstract, or keywords yielded 109 papers. This study will then be analyzed and discussed accordingly. Upon conducting a search on the Web of Science core database as of February 19, 2023, using the keywords “open educational practice*” or “open pedagogy” in the title, abstract, or keywords, a total of 109 papers were retrieved. The ensuing analysis and discussion will be based on these papers.

3 Results 3.1 Characteristics of the Temporal Distribution of the Study The annual frequency of publications is a crucial indicator of the popularity and trajectory of research in the domain of open education practice. As depicted in Fig. 1, there has been a consistent rise in the number of publications in open education practice research literature since 2009, with a significant surge observed after 2016. This trend underscores the growing interest and momentum in open education practice, highlighting its increasing relevance and significance in recent years.

Fig. 1 Distribution of research time related to open education practice

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Following that, this paper collects and organizes the definitions of open educational practices from these papers and the distilled keywords in chronological order, which are detailed in the following Table 1. All of the above definitions include OER, and some even include only OER, arguing that OER practice is the practice of creating, using and reusing open educational resources (Cronin & MacLaren, 2018; Ehlers & Conole, 2010; Murphy, 2013), while some researchers believe that OER practices should include both open pedagogy and open educational resources (Inamorato dos Santos, 2019; DeRosa & Jhangiani, 2017; Skidmore & Provida, 2019). Of course, there are some researchers who believe that open educational practices should also include open-source software or technology (Cronin, 2017; DeVries & Harriason, 2020; Xiao, 2020).

3.2 Country Distribution Characteristics According to Table 2, the USA has published the highest number of articles, with a total of 12, followed by Spain, Canada, the UK, and China. However, when considering centrality, Spain and the UK share the top spot with a centrality indicator of 0.39. This suggests that these two countries are emerging as significant players in the field of open education practice. Overall, these findings highlight the growing importance of open education research and the diverse contributions made by different countries.

4 Keyword Co-Occurrence Analysis A keyword is the main element explored in a relatively large number of articles or projects that are intrinsically linked to a particular issue or topic over a certain period of time. It is a summary distilled by the author of a high frequency of occurrence that reflects the research value and direction of the article, and the words that are used to identify the hotspots in the research field are called keywords. Figure 2 shows the results of the knowledge mapping analysis of keyword co-occurrence for this study for the research area of open educational practice. The top 10 keywords from the frequency count of the keywords (as shown in Table 3), open educational practice, open educational resources, and open education have the highest number of occurrences among all the literature, indicating that these are the key areas of focus for research on open educational practice.

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Table 1 Definitions and elements of open educational practice Definition

Keywords

Open Educational Practices (OEP) are the use of open educational resources with the aim to improve quality of educational processes and innovate educational environments (Ehlers & Conole, 2010, p. 4)

Open educational resources

OEP are defined as practices which support the (re)use and production of OER through institutional policies, promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning path (Ehlers, 2011, p. 4)

Open educational resources

OEP essentially represent collaborative practice in which resources are shared by making them openly available, and pedagogical practices are employed which rely on social interaction, knowledge creation, peer-learning, and shared learning practices (Ehlers, 2011, p. 6)

Resources, teaching practice

Open educational practices will therefore be considered as Open educational resources policies and practices implemented by higher education institutions that support the development, use and management of OERs, and the formal assessment and accreditation of informal learning undertaken using OERs (Murphy, 2013, p. 202) OEP, or Open Educational Practices, can be defined as the set of practices that accompany either the use of OERs or, more to our point, the adoption of Open Pedagogy (DeRosa & Jhangiani, 2017, p. 14)

Open educational resources, open pedagogy

Open educational practices are defined as collaborative practices Open educational resources, that include the creation, use, and reuse of OER, as well as participatory technologies, pedagogical practices employing participatory technologies and social networks social networks for interaction, peer-learning, knowledge creation, and empowerment of learners (Cronin, 2017, p. 18) Open educational practices (OEP) are those teaching and Open educational resources, learning practices enabled and supported by the open movement, open teaching practices either in making use of OER, engaging students in openness, or making professional practice more accessible (Paskevicius, 2017, p. 126) Conceptualisations of open educational practices (OEP) vary Open educational resources widely, ranging from those centred primarily on the creation and use of open educational resources (OER) to broader definitions of OEP, inclusive of but not necessarily focused on OER. The latter, referred to in this paper as expansive definitions of OEP, encompass open content but also allow for multiple entry points to, and avenues of, openness (Cronin & MacLaren, 2018, p. 127) Open Educational Practices (OEP) is broader than but including Open educational resources, OER, OEP captures pedagogical activities and approaches that pedagogy foster a shared, collaborative approach to teaching and learning that is informed by the same spirit as found in OER (Skidmore & Provida, 2019, p. 6) (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Keywords

Definition

OEP refers to specific teaching and learning practices that not Open educational resources, only use OER but are also open to change, adaptations and teaching practice, digital collaboration. Open educational practices are also associated technologies with the formal recognition of open learning certificates and credentials. These practices are often based on the use of digital technologies. OEP support the use and reuse of open educational resources, curricula, recorded lectures and lesson plans, as well as the sharing of teaching and learning experiences and strategies (Inamorato dos Santos, 2019, p. 26) “Open educational practices” was defined as “creation and/or use Open educational resources, of open educational resources; adoption of open pedagogies; use open pedagogy, open of open-source and/or free software and tools; and/or open educational technology sharing of scholarly practice and knowledge with others” (DeVries & Harriason, 2020, p. 5)

Table 2 Characteristics of national distribution No

Country

Number of articles issued

Centrality

1

United States

12

0

2

Spain

10

0.39

3

Canada

9

0.24

4

United Kingdom

9

0.39

5

China

8

0.04

6

Turkey

4

0.1

7

South Africa

4

0.1

8

Germany

3

0.06

5 Keyword Co-Occurrence Clustering Analysis The keywords were analyzed by clustering using CiteSpace’s LLR algorithm and a keyword clustering network map was generated (see Fig. 5). The clustering modularity index Q value for this mapping is 0.5524, which is greater than 0.30, indicating that the clustering structure is significant; the clustering average contour index S value is 0.8759, which is greater than 0.50, indicating that the clustering effect is reasonable and credible. Therefore, it can be said that the results calculated by CiteSpace are valid and reliable and can be used for further research. As can be seen from Fig. 3, through keyword cluster analysis, current hot issues in the field of open education practice can be grouped into six main categories, including distance education, open pedagogy, open education practice, mixed methods, learners with disabilities, and educational technology. The Cluster Explorer shows that in addition to “Open Educational Practices”, “Open Educational Technologies” and “Open Pedagogy”, there is also a high level

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Fig. 2 Keyword co-occurrence map of research related to open education practices

Table 3 Keyword frequency

Serial number

Keywords

Number

1

Open educational practices

23

2

Open educational resources

19

3

Open education

13

4

Oer

8

5

Open pedagogy

8

6

Higher education

6

7

Distance education

6

8

Open educational practices (oep)

5

9

Adoption

4

10

Open textbooks

4

of interest in topics such as “educational technology” and “information and communication technology”. This shows that as the research on open educational practice develops, technologies related to open education also attract the attention of scholars (Table 4).

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Fig. 3 Keyword clustering network mapping

Table 4 Keyword co-occurrence network clustering table Cluster ID

Keywords

Size

Centrality

Top terms

0

Distance education

22

0.857

Distance learning, online learning, teacher education, flexible learning, open learning

1

Open teaching method

21

0.862

Open pedagogy, open educational practices, distance learning, teacher training, benefits of open educational resources

2

Open education practice

19

0.87

Open educational practices, open textbooks, open education, open science, open pedagogy

3

Mixed methods

18

0.838

Mixed methods, K-12 teachers, literature review, qualitative survey, reusable assignments

4

Learners with disabilities

11

0.964

Students with disabilities, learner interaction, open educational practices, open educational resources, literature review

5

Educational technology

7

0.953

Educational Technology, ICT, Reusability, Content Analysis, Learning Objects

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6 Reference Co-Citation Analysis Co-citation analysis is a core feature of CiteSpace, as is evident from the name of CiteSpace. Co-citation analysis has always been at the forefront of CiteSpace software applications when applying CiteSpace analysis. Co-citation analysis can help to see how a topic is being researched in academia, it can give information on which articles are among the highly cited papers, which in turn can infer the rise and fall of the topic and the relationship between peer recognition, and it can also help people to understand the research trends on a topic, which can help them to decide the future direction of their research. In this study, the number of years per slice is 1 and the node type is references, with a total of 1375 references, representing 96% of the total references. As can be seen in Fig. 4 and Table 5, Cronin (2017) is a very important paper, not only does it have the highest citation frequency, but it also has the highest centrality of 0.37, indicating that this article has a significant impact within the field.

Fig. 4 Co-citation analysis graph

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Fig. 5 Technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework

7 Discussion 7.1 Open Education Technology as a Core Component of Open Education Practice Based on the keyword co-occurrence cluster analysis and the comprehensive comparison of the definition of open educational practices, this study contends that open educational practices should encompass not only open educational resources and open pedagogy, but also open educational technologies, specifically open-source software. Cronin (2017), the most frequently cited paper in the co-citation analysis, also supports the inclusion of open technologies in open educational practices, placing them before the use and reuse of open educational resources (Cronin, 2017, p21). Furthermore, Hegarty’s (2015) eight attributes of open pedagogy, which is also highly cited in the analysis, emphasizes the importance of participatory technology as the first major attribute, further highlighting the crucial role of technology in open teaching and learning. This is very much in line with the description of open education in the 2007 Cape Town Open Education Declaration: “Open education is not limited to just open educational resources. It also draws upon open technologies that facilitate collaborative, flexible learning and the open sharing of teaching practices that empower educators to benefit from the best ideas of their colleagues. It may also grow to include new approaches to assessment, accreditation, and collaborative learning. Understanding and embracing innovations like these is critical to the long term vision of this movement.” (Cape Town Open Education Declaration, 2007). In brief, there are at least

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Table 5 Co-citation analysis network of OEP Serial number

Number of citations

Centrality

Year

References

1

21

0.37

2017

Cronin, 2017, INT REV RES OPEN DIS, V18, P15

2

11

0.05

2018

Koseoglu & Bozkurt, 2018, DISTANCE EDUC, V39, P441, https://doi.org/10.1080/ 01587919.2018.1520042

3

11

0.02

2018

Wiley, 2018, INT REV RES OPEN DIS, V19, P133

4

8

0.21

2018

Cronin, 2018, OPEN PRAX, V10, P127, https://doi.org/10. 5944/openpraxis.10.2.825

5

8

0.04

2019

Bozkurt et al., 2019, AUSTRALAS J EDUC TEC, V35, P78, https://doi.org/10. 14742/ajet.4252

6

7

0.19

2015

Hegarty, 2015, EDUC TECHNOL, V0, P3

7

6

0.00

2016

Naidu, 2016, DISTANCE EDUC, V37, P1, https://doi. org/10.1080/01587919.2016. 1157010

8

5

0.02

2018

Weller, 2018, OPEN PRAX, V10, P109, https://doi.org/10. 5944/openpraxis.10.2.822

9

4

0.06

2020

Hilton, 2020, ETR&D-EDUC TECH RES, V68, P853, https:// doi.org/10.1007/s11423-01909700-4

10

4

0.02

2015

Karunanayaka, 2015, OPEN PRAX, V7, P339, https://doi. org/10.5944/openpraxis.7.4.252

three main components of open educational practice: open educational resources, open educational technologies, and open pedagogy. In addition, to date, a number of different studies have adopted a number of different terms for the formulation of the term open educational technology, including: open tools (Geser, 2007) open technology (Cape Town Open Education Declaration, 2007; Cronin, 2017), open educational technologies (Iiyoshi & Kumar, 2008), open-source and/or free software and tools (DeVries & Harriason, 2020), open-source software (Weller, 2018), enabling technologies (Huang et al., 2020), open software (Xiao, 2020), participatory technologies (Hegarty, 2015) and so on. Although the terminology differs, all these researchers are in fact exploring the role of open technologies in education in the context of open education, which of course

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includes and even focuses on open-source software. To avoid confusion and to facilitate understanding, the term open educational technology is used in this paper to represent each of the terms mentioned above.

7.2 Attention Should Be Paid to Open Educational Practices Enabled by Open Educational Technology An analysis of the literature reveals that the vast majority of the current literature exploring open educational practice approaches it from the perspective of OER, for example, seeing OER as the first major stepping stone to support OER practice and OER policy as a catalyst for OER research (Tlili et al., 2021). In addition, there is also research that combines OER and open pedagogy, and even proposes a new term, OER-enabled pedagogy (Tillinghast et al., 2020; Wiley & Hilton III, 2018). However, apart from indirect references to open educational technology, there are few empirical studies that positively explore open education practices from the angle of open-source software. Upon analysis of the current literature, it is evident that the majority of research on open educational practice approaches the topic through the lens of OER. OER is often viewed as the initial stepping stone to support OER practice and policy, and as a catalyst for OER research (Tlili et al., 2021). Some studies also combine OER with open pedagogy, leading to the proposal of a new term, OER-enabled pedagogy (Tillinghast et al., 2020; Wiley & Hilton, 2018). However, there is a lack of empirical studies that directly explore open education practices from the perspective of opensource software, despite some indirect references to open educational technology. Some scholars argue that this is because educators seem so anxious about being labeled as “technology determinists” that many try to deny the importance of technology in any discussion, with “technology doesn’t matter,” “pedagogy comes first,” and “we should be talking about learning, not technology” being common statements at conferences and workshops (Weller, 2011). While there is undoubtedly some truth to these statements, this study argues that it is time to give appropriate attention to the key component of open-source software in the research on open education practice. In fact, it has been found that the main reason why higher education institutions do not engage with open educational practices is that teaching staff do not use open educational technologies and skills, while pedagogical aspects are considered less challenging (Inamorato dos Santos et al., 2016). The reason for the lack of participation in open education is the lack of use of technology and skills by teaching staff. Therefore, although the use of free and open-source software in educational teaching has the potential to improve the quality and efficiency of teaching and learning, there is little research on how this can be done. While open educational technologies are readily available to everyone, more attention should be paid to the implications of open-source software in pedagogy (Czerkawski, 2011). Moreover,

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technology (software) is undoubtedly much more difficult to use than resources (content). Many teachers are still resistant to new (or unfamiliar) technologies in their teaching because of the uncertainties and even risks involved, and the time and effort that can be expended as a result. Therefore, in order to achieve a deep integration of information technology and education teaching, and to realize the digital transformation of education, focusing on open education practices empowered by open education technology can certainly be an important grip.

7.3 Open TPACK Framework for Open Educational Practice It is well known that Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler proposed one of the most influential frameworks for integrating instructional technology in 2006: the Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), as shown in Fig. 5. The TPACK framework distinguishes between technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge (CK), providing an effective approach to many of the dilemmas teachers face when implementing educational technology in the classroom. By distinguishing between these three types of knowledge, the TPACK framework outlines that content (what is taught) and pedagogy (how the teacher delivers that content) must form the basis of any effective integration of educational technology. This sequence is important because the technology being implemented must convey the content and support the pedagogy in order to enhance the student learning experience. The open educational practices previously explored are basically the same three elements: open technology, open pedagogy, and open content; the difference is only that open educational practices emphasize the openness of these three elements; therefore, the present study tentatively designates the open educational practices framework as Open TPACK (Open Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge Framework), as illustrated in Fig. 6. Because of the fact that there is currently very little research related to open education technology, this paper has deliberately left the section on open education technology blank in the framework diagram. Based on the previous discussion, this paper also attempts to propose a definition of open educational practice: “Open educational practice refers to teaching and learning activities and approaches that introduce open learning resources and instructional technologies into teaching and learning and that promote sharing and collaboration between teachers and students.” Although open resources, technologies, or pedagogies can be considered open educational practices, the optimal approach would involve the integration of open technologies, content, and pedagogies. This would allow for a more comprehensive and effective implementation of open educational practices.

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Fig. 6 Open education practice framework map

7.4 Geographical Differences in Research on Open Educational Practice Table 2 reveals that economically advanced countries and regions prioritize research and the implementation of open education practices, such as the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom, while economically disadvantaged countries fall behind. This is significant because open education offers the benefit of being free, as open educational resources and technologies reduce the cost of education. As a result, researchers should address this matter and leverage the advantages of open education to promote educational equality in economically deprived countries and regions.

8 Conclusion This study utilizes CiteSpace data and information visualization tools, along with a literature review methodology, to investigate the current state and recent advancements in research pertaining to open educational practices on a global scale. The findings indicate that open educational practices are gaining more recognition and should encompass open educational resources, open pedagogy, and open educational technologies, as determined by keyword co-occurrence analysis and literature review. To facilitate the effective promotion of open educational practices research and development, this paper proposes a preliminary framework called Open TPACK.

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This paper highlights the uneven distribution of research on open education practice across different regions and the lack of empirical research on specific teaching practices. To advance the study of open education practice, future research should focus on exploring theoretical concepts at various levels. This could lead to further research questions such as the correlation between teachers’ attitudes and their willingness to adopt open educational practices, the extent to which teachers are using open educational technology and how they are using it, whether teachers view open educational technology as a means of achieving educational goals, which OET features are most appealing to teachers, the best examples of open educational technology use, and the areas where teachers require the most support. In addition to theoretical research, practice is also very important, and only in this way can the development of the open education model and its practice be ultimately promoted. Therefore, a strong development of research in practice is also an important step in promoting the development of open education. For example, by developing various teaching tools available based on open technology, students can gain more hands-on experience in the learning process, thus making open education practice more useful. In addition, teacher training events could be organized to explore the theory of open education in depth, thereby attracting more teachers to this area of research and practice.

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Chenggui Duan Ph.D. candidate at South China Normal University; Assistant Manager at School of Open Learning, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong. Jianli Jiao Professor of Educational Technology and Director of the Future Education Research Center (FERC) at the School of Information Technology in Education (SITE), South China Normal University (SCNU), Guangzhou, China.

Teaching English as a Second Language in the Midst of a Paradigm Shift: An Exploration of Students’ and Teachers’ Perception of ChatGPT Frankie Har

Abstract In this qualitative study, students’ and teachers’ perceptions of ChatGPT in English Language Teaching and Learning in EAP and ESP courses at a Hong Kong university with English language instruction (EMI) are examined to determine what opportunities and challenges higher education may face when it comes to the teaching and learning of English language in EAP and ESP courses. In the study, fourteen university lecturers were interviewed along with sixteen students in Years 1, 2, and 4. In spite of the preferences of ESL students at the university level in terms of the use of ChatGPT, it is also evident that there are high barriers to its use among teaching staff at the front line. According to the results of this study, all stakeholders in higher education, including students, front-line teachers, and university policymakers, should use this study as a springboard for narrowing down the differences and recognizing the utility of Artificial Intelligence, particularly ChatGPT in higher education. Keywords Artificial intelligence · ChatGPT · EAP · ESP · Higher education

1 Introduction Artificial intelligence (AI) is touted as a revolutionary technology that will transform society, industry, and even education. It has been described briefly as a system capable of making intelligent decisions autonomously (Ginsenberg, 2012; Jackson, 2019), but Baker and Smith (2019) define it more broadly as “computers that perform cognitive tasks, usually associated with human minds, such as learning and problem-solving” (p. 10). Artificial intelligence encompasses also a variety of

F. Har (B) The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_2

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embedded methods and technologies that can influence AI’s use in various industries, including machine learning, adaptive learning, natural language processing, data mining, crowdsourcing, neural networks, and algorithms (Pokrivcakova, 2019). Rohalevych (2020) states that language learning, which is supported by artificial intelligence, will revolutionize the way educators and students teach languages to the next level, as it will revolutionize the entire teaching process. Additionally, Pokrivcakova (2019) assert that AI-led tools have recently gained a greater degree of prominence in our educational technology world, adding to this very promising potential. Thus, in an effort to get a better understanding of the usefulness of artificial intelligence in university education contexts, the author of this study has conducted interviews with both student and teacher participants to gather their opinions about whether ChatGPT can be applied at the tertiary educational level. In spite of the existence of numerous applications for AI in a variety of fields, its use in foreign language learning is still in its infancy. There is a paucity of research examining the pedagogical effects (e.g., students’ language acquisition) of AI on language teaching and learning (Har & Ma, 2023), as well as student and teacher attitudes toward its application (Pokrivakova, 2019). In light of this, this study aims to assess students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the effects of artificial intelligence on education. A semi-structured interview approach was used to collect data from fourteen university lecturers and sixteen university students at a Hong Kong university. According to the results, university students perceive ChatGPT to be beneficial for learning languages, whereas university lecturers perceive ChatGPT to be detrimental for teaching and assessing languages.

2 Literature Review ELIZA was the first chatbot developed by Joseph Weizenbaum at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1966. Primarily, ELIZA was composed through a mechanized process that consisted of recognizing key words and phrases from inputs to produce pre-defined programmed guidelines relating to those key words in responses (Kohnke et al., 2023). A number of state-of-the-art chatbots followed the earliest version—ALICE—during the internet era of the 2000s. In recent years, we have witnessed the development of virtual and home assistants, most notably Siri (2010), Google Assistant (2012), Cortana (2015) and Alexa (2015) which were capable of performing simple tasks for end users, such as sending text messages, getting directions, checking flight status, etc. Despite the upgrade of the AI system, those chatbots remain insufficiently intelligent for answering questions that are not programmed (Kohnke et al., 2023). Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been gaining prominence in educational setting for almost two decades. A language learning website and app interface, Duolingo beta version, debuted in 2011. It was then made public the following year (Duolingo, 2023). Recently, Duolingo has adopted the latest technology of OpenAI, ChatGPT 4, to enhance conversations on the site. Founded in 1992, Nuance, a speech recognition

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software company, has been involved with conversational AI since the emergence of its first voice recognition system in 1992 (Nuance, 2023). As a company that specializes in adaptive learning, Knewton has developed a platform for individualizing educational content as well as courseware for higher education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Knewton, 2023). A tailored learning experience is possible with Knewton’s use of artificial intelligence, allowing students to master the learning outcomes through a more personalized learning experience (Harvard University, 2021). A similar tool, Querium, launched in 2014, simulates the guidance and encouragement of a teacher by letting students submit their progress for assessment and receiving immediate feedback including hints for the next step (Querium, 2022). Moreover, the Neufast interview AI platform provides future employers, career mentors, and lecturers at the university with an accurate and reliable tool to assess candidates at any time and from any location during the authentic and mock interview processes (Neufast, 2022). Unprecedently, a major breakthrough was about to be made by ChatGPT, the most advanced and ubiquitous intelligent chatbot from San Francisco-based OpenAI in November 2022 (chat.openai.com). A research lab known as OpenAI conducts research in artificial intelligence (AI) with the stated objective of promoting and developing “friendly AI” which will benefit humanity as a whole (OpenAI, 2015). Just like the launch of iPhone, ChatGPT is changing how people perceive technology (Goldman, 2022). As a result of advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), chatbots are more powerful than ever, enabling them to break down the subtleties of human communication, generate human-like responses, and serve as relentless language-learning assistants (Fryer et al., 2019; Kim, 2018). Considering the advantages of artificial intelligence in enhancing education, frontline teachers, educational researchers, and school and university administrators have put an emphasis on the use of AI in education. Research in the early days was, however, primarily focused on engineering aspects, such as developing algorithms and improving machine learning. In comparison with other fields of educational technology, such as blended learning and gamification, AI research in education is more dispersed. Whether and how AI will enhance education remains unclear (Holmes et al., 2021). Schools and universities struggle to introduce and integrate technologies because they are unfamiliar with them (Aziz Hussin, 2018). In order to gain a better understanding of how students and teachers view AI in education, more research studies need to be conducted.

3 Study Context Course Description and Instruction. In this study, students from years 1, 2, and 4 of an EMI University in Hong Kong studied a range of study disciplines, including Social Science, Design, Physiotherapy, Optometry, Mechanical Engineering, Nursing, Land Surveying, Accounting and

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Finance, Management, Global Supply Chain Management, and International Shipping and Transport Logistics. Students who study in these disciplines are required to take three-credit EAPs (English for Academic Purposes) and ESPs (English for Specific Purposes). In the post-COVID-19 landscape, the EAP module is offered for three hours each week for 13 weeks. Two written assignments were required in such module, including a first draft and a second draft of a problem–solution essay, along with a prerecorded presentation video. The purpose of this course is to help students to study efficiently within the University’s English language learning environment, and to enhance and develop their proficiency in the English language within a framework of a university study context in a safe and supportive environment. There were approximately 800 students attending the course during this study. In accordance with the needs of their host departments, students were assigned to specific groups. The learning outcomes of the course are to (a) analyze and practice features of academic writing including word choice, hedging devices and register; (b) learn how to write effective topic sentences and make the flow of ideas much smoother in developing idea; (c) understand the common pattern and elements within a problem–solution essay and argumentative essay; (d) grasp summarizing and paraphrasing skills; and (e) identify and recognize the structure, elements and tone of the academic presentation. Likewise, ESP was also scheduled for three hours a week for 13 weeks in the postCOVID-19 landscape. As part of the course requirements, students were required to submit two written assignments, including a business proposal and a press release, and two spoken assignments, including individual pre-recorded presentation and synchronous meeting with partners. As a part of the course, students were expected to develop advanced English language skills that will enable them to communicate effectively at the professional level during their future careers related to business project management. The course was attended by around 730 students while this study was being conducted. Business majors were grouped according to their primary subject disciplines (for instance, students studying Global Supply Chain Management were placed in the same ESP group). Within the course, students learnt how to (a) plan, organize, and write persuasive business proposals, (b) make effective and persuasive business presentations in which they propose strategies, plans, and projects, (c) conduct effective business meetings, and (d) plan, organize, and produce effective promotional materials. As part of this course, students were introduced to the steps involved in developing an effective business proposal, including how to incorporate the factor of innovation and use accurate and appropriate sentence structures and vocabulary. In the second part of the course, a focus was placed on planning and organizing persuasive business proposal presentations, designing effective visual aids to support presentation delivery, and acquiring a good grasp of business presentation etiquette. By engaging in role-play discussion, students consolidated their negotiation skills after learning various strategies for taking part in business proposal meetings in the third unit. In the last unit, students were introduced to different forms of promotional literature and the significance of newsworthiness. After this, they were instructed

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on how to write a press release, followed by planning and organizing ideas into the various sections of the press release in a logical manner by using an inverted pyramid approach. In order to develop the business project proposal outside of class, students were provided with a business simulation context based on an assigned scenario (i.e. working for E&C Holdings Limited (E&C), an international conglomerate with over five decades of history). This written assignment was accompanied by a set of criteria that served as essential prerequisites to the project’s success, namely creativity, fulfillment of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and a budget of HK$100,000, considered the budget constraint. Another out-of-class assessment required students to produce a pre-recorded video to justify E&C Holdings Limited’s decision to implement the student’s project and introduce it persuasively. As part of their presentation of their project ideas, students should utilize non-verbal communication cues such as facial expressions and gestures. The third assessment was the synchronous negotiation meeting spoken assessment, in which students sold and defended their business proposals in a meeting. To prepare for the assessment, each student was paired up with another project manager and required to watch their classmate’s business presentation video. Subsequently, a couple of students were then asked to explain why their projects should be chosen by E&C Holdings Limited (E&C) for implementation during the meeting. Based on one of the three project requirements mentioned (i.e., Creativity, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fulfillment and within a budget of HK$100,000 at the beginning of the spoken assessment), students were asked to justify why their projects should be selected for implementation by E&C Holdings Limited (E&C). The last part of the assessment consisted of writing a press release outside of class time. After the managing director (the students’ teacher) had selected a particular project from the pool to be implemented, students were asked to write a newsworthy press release to promote their business project in order to promote their business projects to a wider audience.

4 Methodology 4.1 Participants Between January 2023 and March 2023, full-time Year 1, Year 2, Year 4 students and ESL teachers at an EMI university in Hong Kong were selected for this study. For the selection procedure, the convenience sampling method was used, wherein the nearest respondents were selected to serve as subjects as a result of being chosen by the convenience sampling method (Cohen et al., 2018). An email invitation was sent to a number of ESL English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Special Purposes (ESP) university teachers and groups of students enrolling in the

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three credit EAP and ESP courses, in which around 48 students initially expressed interest in participating in this study. In the final pool of participants, 14 teachers and 16 students were selected as part of the selection process to ensure a statistically significant sample size. Neither previous learning experience at other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong nor experience in similar EAP and ESP courses at other tertiary institutions was considered a prerequisite for selection into the study. To ensure a diverse final selection of students, factors such as gender, place of origin, year of study, and study field were taken into account. The student participants were originally from Hong Kong (n = 7), India (n = 2), Mainland China (n = 2), Malaysia (n = 1), Pakistan (n = 1), South Korea (n = 3). They included 9 females and 7 males either from Year 1, Year 2 or Year 4 entry, representing diverse study disciplines in the university whereas the teacher participants were composed of 10 females and 4 males who originated from Hong Kong (n = 11), Scotland (n = 2) and Malaysia (n = 1). Each participant was guaranteed anonymity, and withdrawal from the study was permitted at any time.

4.2 Methods of Data Collection and Data Analysis As part of this study, 30 semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed with ESL university teachers and students enrolled in the EAPs and ESPs, whose interview times ranged from 18 min up to 29 min. A nonthreatening and comfortable environment was created in order to collect information in a way that yielded rich responses, and the ways in which they perceive AI to aid in understanding ChatGPT were explored. Member checks were conducted twice to confirm the reliability of the data (Merriam, 2009). Transcripts of all interviews were approved without modification by all participants. In light of the relatively small sample size, Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step framework was used for analyzing the data, which included familiarizing myself with data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing themes, and defining and naming themes. In order to develop initial codes, I read the tapescripts carefully to identify key language components that reflect the students’ critical perceptions of an issue. My interim themes were developed after I extracted initial codes, based on their frequency of occurrence and commonalities. Following further comparisons of initial codes, themes were refined and subsequently named. As a result of using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step framework, a rich, detailed, and complex account of the findings could be discovered. Thematic analysis enables researchers to integrate their key ideas and viewpoints while remaining flexible. As part of the second member check, participants had to confirm that the final research findings and discussion accurately reflected their experiences during the research process.

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5 Results and Discussion 5.1 RQ 1. What Were Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs Concerning the Use of ChatGPT in English Language Learning and Teaching Respectively? This study explored how students and teachers perceived ChatGPT’s effectiveness in facilitating English language acquisition. As a whole, student results showed that the use of ChatGPT in English language learning was incredibly interesting, particularly when it came to writing academic essays and speaking. It was, however, found that the application of ChatGPT to the learning of listening evoked mixed reactions.

5.1.1

Reading

As reported by the students who participated in the interview, ChatGPT may assist students in improving their reading efficiency and effectiveness. One of the student interviewees, Jane, stated that: With ChatGPT, I can read English texts a lot faster. As you know, it’s not so easy to understand all the words in English, but using ChatGPT lets me get the definitions of certain words and speed up my reading pace.

Another student, Franco, said that: I love ChatGPT because it’s so easy to use. You can look up the definitions of certain words in just a second. Also, you can still ask ChatGPT some follow-up questions after you’ve found their definitions. ChatGPT can answer more questions and you can wait for more explanations.

Another student, Kelly, agreed with Jane and Franco said previously. On top of these, she added: Because ChatGPT understands and summarizes most books written before 2021, I can really speed up my reading. You can learn the key points of a book quickly and easily with ChatGPT’s natural language processing capabilities. ChatGPT helps us condense the key points and main ideas of a book without spending hours going over it. It’ll be easier for me to understand the main idea of the textbooks, reference books, journal articles or even some business case studies.

As a whole, the students felt that the ChatGPT mode in the EAP and ESP courses is well suited to young learners in the twenty-first century and their preferred means of learning. ChatGPT can summarize, simplify, implement, or even verify the understanding of their own academic research papers or business reports. This research is consistent with research conducted previously by Kessler (2018), who stressed that today’s students are highly tech-savvy. The use of ChatGPT in students’ reading process could revolutionize and maximize the quality of their reading experiences.

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5.1.2

Writing

The student interviewees noted that ChatGPT would be a helpful tool for evaluating their learning effectiveness with regard to academic essays as well as business documents. For example, during the interview process, Clarice, one of the student interviewees, found ChatGPT to be particularly useful for writing academic essays. She commented: You know sometimes, it may be a bit difficult to refine the essay topics if the professor’s given topic is too broad. With ChatGPT’s help, I can be given more concrete topic ideas which seem to be fascinating. Also, I can use ChatGPT to help me generate essay outline which can give me the skeleton of the whole essay.

Jonathan concurred with Clarice by saying: ChatGPT makes my life a lot easier. ChatGPT can help me find and refine essay topics, draft an outline, and cite sources to back up my arguments. In fact, I can even ask ChatGPT to write the whole essay for me and even edit it. The whole thing can be done in one go.

Another student, Keith, who was taking ESP course, also commented: My ESP course covers Business English. You know, I feel very stressful in writing assignments. I feel not so easy to handle persuasive business documents such as business proposals and press releases. Using ChatGPT can help me check if the replies made can be more persuasive.

In general, all of the comments collected indicated that ChatGPT is very beneficial in the completion of students’ academic essay assignments, by fostering their academic knowledge of relevant business concepts and helping them develop persuasive skills, thus boosting their confidence, as well as their academic achievement. The integration of ChatGPT into the writing process resulted in the students learning how to manage and consolidate different ideas, communicate persuasively, and better understand what a persuasive concept is as a result of integrating ChatGPT into the writing process. In light of the diversity of texts generated on various topics, more time was allocated for self-learning activities that followed up active persuasiveness practices, making it an appropriate tool for student writers who prepare for producing content within a wide range of niches and industries in future.

5.1.3

Speaking

In student interviewees’ opinion, ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI, provided personalized feedback and corrections by analyzing annotations and comments. This facilitates the identification and correction of mistakes by language learners in a timely and convenient manner. Also, the Google Chrome Extension offers audio recordings of the user’s speech, so the user can compare their pronunciation with native speakers, regardless of time and space. Joshua, for instance, reaffirmed its effectiveness of ChatGPT:

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With ChatGPT, I can really get engrossed in what I’m listening to. With artificial intelligence models, I’m like having a personal English coach. Because ChatGPT understands and responds to natural language, it helps me practice conversations, a natural dialogue, and I can even ask it to generate a script for me to practice before the academic presentation and my upcoming job interview.

Another student, Crystal, added: You know, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve basically had the full online lessons for about 3 years. Although my high-school teachers called us to answer some questions, students, including me, don’t like to turn on their mics during online lessons. Thanks to ChatGPT, speaking is no longer a problem. It helps me boost my confidence even though I don’t talk to anyone face-to-face. It’s still possible to learn how to speak through a role model, like ChatGPT.

The participants described ChatGPT as engaging and uplifting especially during the post-COVID-19 era since ChatGPT can be used as a type of self-language learning tool as seeking professional language advice, language refinement and consolidation. The way ChatGPT provides language advice and make comments activates and boosts students’ self-efficacy, which is the cornerstone of students’ academic success (Hayat et al., 2020). Despite the fact that all students indicated that ChatGPT was valuable in learning reading, writing, and speaking, some students believed that ChatGPT was less beneficial when it came to learning listening.

5.1.4

Listening

In Matthew’s view, ChatGPT is a practical tool for understanding natural language processing applications; however, he has noted that the textual input nature and representation of ChatGPT affect how natural conversational language patterns are portrayed in ChatGPT. As he observed: It’s good to practice listening as it’s efficient. If I search for ‘ChatGPT Voice Master’, ‘Talk with ChatGPT’, or ‘Voice Control for ChatGPT’ on Chrome Web Store, it may take some time for me. However, the biggest problem is sometimes ChatGPT doesn’t show me what I want. There’s a technical constraint with ChatGPT, I guess. It’s hard for ChatGPT to handle listening practices because of the way the system inputs text. ChatGPT is great at language processing, but it only reads aloud dialogues generated by the ChatGPT. Still, ChatGPT sounds like a machine talking, so it’s not very natural. It’s hard for me to improve my listening skills because I want to know what different native speakers sound like. Also, ChatGPT lacks human interaction.

Some student interviewees expressed such feelings. The non-interrelationship between listening and other language skills, as well as the nature of the text or interaction, can pose a knotty problem for students in terms of facilitating listening acquisition and maximizing their listening learning experience (Picard & Velautham, 2016). The process of listening is described by Graham (2017) as being complex as learners have to describe the process by which they encounter a foreign language. A key

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element of developing listening ability in higher education is the awareness of texttype, which also influences listening with the application of genre-based approaches, which analyze rhetorical and characteristic language structures in listening texts as a means of assisting academic note-taking (Flowerdew & Miller, 2010).

5.2 RQ 2. Is ChatGPT Likely to Revolutionize University Assessments? The second research question involved exploring how both students and teachers perceived the value and mode of assessments following the introduction of ChatGPT at a university. Overall, student participants indicated that ChatGPT can give them an interface to understand concepts potentially and offer fast and easy access to information, thereby boosting their academic performance toward the end of the semester. One of the respondents, Melody, noted that: ChatGPT is a great invention for my essay assignments. I can search all the information in one go. It’s way easier than navigating different sites to get all the data. So I can get better assignment grades.

Another student respondent, Melissa, also stated: The advantages so far are that ChatGPT makes me work easier and faster and I don’t have to be stressful anymore. In addition to text, ChatGPT can help me understand difficult concepts, create images and videos. As a result of ChatGPT’s database of books, online writings, and other media, I’m able to handle many different types of assignments like essay writing, PowerPoint presentation at once, especially during peak assignment submission season. So that I can handle my assignments in an easier way.

It was found that students were having difficulties gaining a comprehensive understanding of difficult concepts. Their response to this situation suggested that ChatGPT was a valuable resource in facilitating their learning and facilitating the explanation of difficult concepts in their studies when handling typical types of assessments ranging from essay writings to presentations. A student participant, Tony, criticized that: It’s crazy how many assignments there are every semester. More written assignments won’t make us smarter. ChatGPT is my savior. It can make my life easier when I still need to write thousand-word essays.

Another student, Jeff, also pointed out that: Honestly, I just feel that writing university essays seems pointless and useless because they don’t help me build up my critical thinking. Every time I write an essay, I struggle with how to meet the word count requirement requested by my professor. Also, even before ChatGPT was launched, I heard some students are trying to find ghost writers to write their essays. That’s why I feel like ChatGPT is a great assistant to make my life easier.

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Observing the two students mentioned above, it appears that neither of them is able to appreciate the value of current assessments in the university setting. The improvement of student learning in higher education plays a critical role in advancing human capital, according to Melguizo and Coates (2017). The key to such improvements lies in the assessment process. During the early 1990s, Boud (1990) questioned the connection between academic institutions’ values and student assessment. His argument further emphasized that many current assessment practices violate the principles of independence, thoughtfulness, and critical analysis that are commonly held by academics; that common forms of assessment do not conform to the behavior of academics when contributing to knowledge; and that there is evidence that many departments have assessment policies that undermine students’ deep approaches to learning. As far as the perception of the use of ChatGPT in university assessments is concerned, university educators, particularly front-line teachers of EAP and ESP appear to be highly reserved about its use. One of the teacher respondents, Paul, stated: There’s no doubt ChatGPT will make students lazier. I’m sure there’s a lot of deadline fighters among students. So using ChatGPT will make things worse. I support the university top management’s decision to ban the use of ChatGPT in assignments. If not, then more issues about plagiarism will be raised.

Another teacher participant, Cecilia, also argued that: There’s no way ChatGPT will help students learn anything. I’m pretty sure they’d just use it to cheat on assignments, tests and exams. In addition, how are you going to prevent people from cheating with ChatGPT?? I do not believe it is possible for it to happen.

There has been a significant amount of discussion among teachers regarding how they believe students will use ChatGPT for nothing more than cheating. The development of bad habits like plagiarism could be developed by ChatGPT, which some have even deemed dangerous for students. A teacher participant, Sammy, even emphasized that: As a teacher, all I care about is how my students are doing. I can imagine that the degree programmes might experience a devaluation once students are able to fully utilize ChatGPT as part of their studies. As long as we still assess students the same way, there may be a time when future employers feel hesitant about how well their employees know how to work in the future. As a matter of fact, it’s just a vicious cycle that keeps repeating itself. Eventually, students’ bargaining power in the job market will become less and less.

Another teacher participant, Fiona, also pinpointed that: When I was a student in the old days, I had to do essays and presentations for my bachelor and postgraduate degrees. After almost 25 years, the assessment method remains the same. With ChatGPT, we won’t be able to measure how much students learn, which is very worrying.

Teachers interviewed above highlighted one important issue, namely the necessity of changing the educational landscape, specifically the re-development of assessments during the post-COVID-19. It should be noted that despite the negative perceptions of ChatGPT, some teacher participants reported that it could be beneficial in the

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assessment process and their teaching. Those teachers felt that it would reduce their workload and allow them to concentrate on other tasks instead of being overburdened with work. For example, a teacher participant, Ben, voiced out that: My teaching could be complemented by ChatGPT. That frees up some time for me to work on higher-level stuff. Grading assignments could be easier with ChatGPT.

Another teacher participant, Rachel, also agreed that: ChatGPT allows me to create assessment rubrics that reflect how much EAP and ESP students learn in their language learning journey based on the competency-based model. Eventually, I can squeeze more time into my schedule so that I can work on more administrative tasks and be available to students.

6 Conclusion and Future Direction This study is intended to examine how students and teachers perceive the effects of artificial intelligence on language education. Unlike traditional academic knowledge that is memorized, AI reduces our dependence on memorizing crystallized knowledge, yet it is essential that we continue to enhance our fluid intelligence through human agency in order to retain its benefits. The general perception of university students is that ChatGPT has the capability of facilitating language learning, while the perception of university lecturers is that ChatGPT constitutes a hindrance to teaching and assessing languages. Big data and smart digital technologies are reshaping the world we live in in a way that is unprecedented. It has, however, not been given enough attention to understand how artificial intelligence (AI) will affect language learning and to set out how artificial intelligence (AI) can be utilized to create tools for language learning that are more efficient, flexible and inclusive than those that are currently available. By using these tools, learners will be better equipped to prepare themselves for the new economy that is quickly being redefined by digital technologies as it grows. AI is a technology that should be embraced by society at large. As this chapter demonstrated, all stakeholders in higher education, including students, front-line teachers, and university policy makers, should use this study as a springboard for narrowing down the differences and recognizing the utility of Artificial Intelligence, particularly ChatGPT in higher education. As reported by Hopp and Speil (2021), research from an Australian university found that approximately a quarter of students admitted to plagiarism even before ChatGPT was implemented. In their study, Cotton et al. (2023) speculated that machine generated text may ultimately be easier to detect than papers bought from professionals. In fact, using Turnitin’s new AI writing similarity detection indicator, teachers can determine whether students’ assignments were generated by artificial intelligence. This response, however, may lead to a game of “cat and mouse,” without adequately addressing the fundamental utility of ChatGPT (Kohnke et al, 2023). In our capacity as educators, we can use ChatGPT and other AI text generation tools as a valuable

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opportunity to (re)design assessments in a way that requires students to demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills that incorporate learning from across the curriculum to achieve higher intended learning outcomes. With the full support by senior management, the design of future university assessments that provide students with a robust academic challenge in a variety of tasks, conditions, and timing to support a flexible and comprehensive set of assessments has been spurred (University of Oxford, 2023). For example, in an ESP context, a pragmatically appropriate dialogue is recommended when using ChatGPT. Formative and/or summative assessments should be developed and prepared utilizing Bloom’s digital revised taxonomy (Churches, 2007) in the AI era. As a result of the EAP and ESP curriculum, students will be able to expand their knowledge, skills, and experimentation skills so that they can reach students’ higher order thinking levels (evaluation, analysis, and creation), thereby facilitating and maximizing their learning experiences. In light of the relatively small sample size, it is not possible to represent the full body of Hong Kong EAP and ESP students, as well as all ESL teachers currently studying and teaching English respectively at universities in Hong Kong. Anyhow, I hope that these findings can contribute to the discussion regarding whether ChatGPT can promote students’ language acquisition and facilitate teachers’ language teaching by illustrating what students and teachers consider important. Currently, the data provide insights into students’ and teachers’ perceptions, but adding perspectives of other potential participants, such as university policymakers, would add a broader perspective. By examining the retrospective dimension of this chapter, we are able to understand how students and teachers viewed ChatGPT, while the prospective dimension provides fascinating insights into pedagogy and assessment for EAP and ESP teaching at the university level in the future. It is interesting to note that the strategies for utilizing Chat GPT in the teaching of English have opened up a variety of new opportunities in this emerging field. Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Cotton, D., Cotton, P., & Shipway, J. R. (2023). Chatting and cheating. Ensuring academic integrity in the era of ChatGPT. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2190148 Duolingo (2023). Duolingo investor relations. https://investors.duolingo.com/ Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L. (2010). Listening in a second language. In A. D. Wolvin (Ed.), Listening and human communication in the 21st century (pp. 158–177). Wiley-Blackwell. Fryer, L. K., Nakao, K., & Thompson, A. (2019). Chatbot learning partners: Connecting learning experiences, interest and competence. Computers in Human Behavior, 93, 279–289. Ginsenberg, M. (2012). Essentials of artificial intelligence. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. https:// doi.org/10.5555/2974989 Goldman, S. (2022). Why ChatGPT is having an iPhone moment (with a unique twist). VentureBeat. http://bit.ly/3ZHr75R Graham, S. (2017). Research into practice: Listening strategies in an instructed classroom setting. Language Teaching, 50, 107–119. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444816000306 Har, F., & Ma, W. L. B. (2023). The future of education utilizing an artificial intelligence robot in the centre for independent language learning: Teacher perceptions of the robot as a service. In C. Hong & W. W. K. Ma (Eds.), Applied degree education and the shape of things to come. Springer. Harvard University (2021). Digital innovation and transformation. https://d3.harvard.edu/platformdigit/submission/knewton-personalizes-learning-with-the-power-of-ai/ Hayat, A. A., Shateri, K., Amini, M., & Shokrpour, N. (2020). Relationships between academic self-efficacy, learning-related emotions, and metacognitive learning strategies with academic performance in medical students: a structural equation model. BMC Medical Education, 20(76). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-01995-9 Holmes, W., Hui, Z., Miao, F. & Ronghuai, H. (2021). AI and education: A guidance for policymakers. UNESCO Publishing. Hopp, C., & Speil, A. (2021). How prevalent is plagiarism among college students? Anonymity preserving evidence from Austrian undergraduates. Accountability in Research, 28(3), 133–148. Jackson, P. C. (2019). Introduction to artificial intelligence (3rd ed.). Courier Dover Publications. Kessler, G. (2018). Technology and the future of language teaching. Foreign Language Annals, 51(1), 205–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12318 Kim, N. Y. (2018). A study on chatbots for developing Korean college students’ English listening and reading skills. Journal of Digital Convergence, 16(8), 19–26. Knewton. (2023). About Alta. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/education/alta Kohnke, L., Moorhouse, B. L., & Zou, D. (2023). ChatGPT for language teaching and learning. RELC Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882231162868 Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Melguizo, T., & Coates, H. (2017). The value of assessing higher education student learning outcomes. AERA open, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858417715417 Neufast (2022). About us. https://www.neufast.com/about-us Nuance (2023). Company overview. https://www.nuance.com/company-overview/what-we-do. html OpenAI. (2015). Introducing OpenAI. https://openai.com/blog/introducing-openai Picard, M., & Velautham, L. (2016). Developing independent listening skills for english as an additional language students. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 28(1), 52–65. Pokrivcakova, S. (2019). Preparing teachers for the application of AI-powered technologies in foreign language education. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 7(3), 135–153. https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2019-0025 Querium (2022). What is StepWise AI? https://www.querium.com/ai/ Rohalevych, V. (2020). Essentials of Artificial Intelligence for Language Learning. Intellias. https:// www.intellias.com/how-ai-helps-crack-a-new-language/

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University of Oxford (2023). Four lessons from ChatGPT: Challenges and opportunities for educators. https://www.ctl.ox.ac.uk/article/four-lessons-from-chatgpt-challenges-and-opportunitiesfor-educators

Frankie Har is an instructor in the English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests are in the areas of second language acquisition, discourse analysis, gamification in ELT, and bilingualism. His publication appeared in RELC Journal and Springer Nature. His most recent work includes the book chapters ‘The Future of Education utilizing an Artificial Intelligence Robot in the Centre for Independent Language Learning: Teacher Perceptions of the Robot as a Service’ and ‘Use of Perusall for Pre-class Reading Assignments in an English Reading and Writing Course at the Tertiary Level: Students’ Perception of a Flipped Approach’.

Exploring Students’ Adoption of Virtual Reality in Journalism Practice Education: An UTAUT Perspective Jing Wu, Wendy Wing Lam Chan, Zhaoxun Song, and Xiaran Song

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) has been widely adopted in education to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to better adapt to the complex industry that operates today. The factors that affect the adoption of new learning technology in journalism education in Hong Kong, however, are not known because of the limited literature on the subject. This study explored students’ motivations by focusing on the factors influencing the acceptance of VR in journalism education at a Hong Kong-based university. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model was used as the theoretical framework. Focus group discussions and surveys with the students who took VR classes were adopted as the research method. We contribute to the literature on students’ technology adaptation by examining their performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived social influence, and the university’s facilitating conditions. Five points of recommendations are made to researchers and educators of VR to enhance its effectiveness in journalism education. Keywords Hong Kong · Immersive technology · Journalism education · UTAUT · VR

J. Wu (B) · Z. Song School of Communication, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] Z. Song e-mail: [email protected] W. W. L. Chan HKU SPACE Po Leung Kuk Stanley Ho Community College, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] X. Song School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_3

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1 Introduction In recent years, virtual reality (VR), enhanced by the latest advances in immersive and interactive technologies, has been continually evolving and is now increasingly influencing our daily lives. A growing number of educational institutions are introducing VR technology in classrooms to introduce students to rich learning experiences and equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to better adapt to the complex setting in which the industry operates today (Alghatrifi & Khalid, 2019; Radianti, 2020). Technological advances have enabled VR to spread to highly diverse fields in education (Vergara et al., 2021). According to UKAuthority (Say, 2019), 96% of universities and 79% of colleges in the United Kingdom are using augmented reality (AR) or VR in some way. VR has been implemented in nursing education (Lange et al., 2020), language learning (Parmaxi, 2020), business education (McGovern et al., 2020), and chemical engineering training (Udeozor et al., 2021). The increasing use of VR in education reflects the great interest it has attracted from educators. In journalism education, professional training usually consists of theoretical and practical sections. Practical training, imparted through interviews, video shoots, news presentations, news writing, and editing, covers the core skills and knowledge that undergraduate students need to acquire. Some of these skills can be taught by regular practice in the classroom, but others, such as the delivery of breaking news in a disaster, are difficult to teach using traditional methods. For example, teaching students how to report on an earthquake is a challenge for educators. VR scenarios allow the student to be placed in various environments with realism, permitting learning experiences that cannot be achieved with a textbook. VR enables better visualisation and near-first-hand experience of various news scenarios, which can add great value to journalism education by highlighting the potential errors and dangers that lurk in such scenarios.

2 Research Background To enhance students’ learning experience and their professional training, since 2020, a local private university in Hong Kong has been developing 3D VR scenes of various simulated earthquake scenarios as an additional pedagogical tool for teaching news reporting. Students are trained to play the role of active working journalists and apply their professional knowledge and skills in a simulated earthquake scene with the assistance of VR technology. In this study, we used a VR simulation of the main streets of Wenchuan, Sichuan, where a huge earthquake occurred in 2008. The earthquake scenes were created by surrounding the user with virtual scenarios in an immersive VR environment called a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). To provide an immersive environment, VR uses tracking equipment for real-time interactions, such as game controllers and motion-tracking devices. The CAVE depicted scenes of the immediate

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aftermath of the earthquake in the streets, such as cracked walls and roads, collapsed houses, fallen doors and furniture, and damaged schools, based on videos and photos collected from media coverage and first-person narratives of the earthquake. During the training session, the students who studied the module on News Reporting and Media Writing in Chinese were divided into five-member groups under the guidance of a lecturer and a technical officer to simulate and practice news reporting in this VR scene. All students wore special glasses for watching the three-side projection walls in the CAVE. The technical officer or a student wore a head-tracking device and held a game controller by hand, which was also tracked by eight cameras mounted on top of the VR lab. With the guidance of the lecturer, the students acquired fundamental knowledge of earthquakes and skills in on-site observation and live news reporting.

3 Literature Review 3.1 VR as an Immersive Technology in Education It is challenging to define VR concisely due to its ever-changing nature, but it is generally understood as a technology that generates virtual immersion in a digital environment. A computer graphics simulation allows users to immerse themselves in an interactive 3D world and experience different types of sensory and emotional experiences (Villena-Taranilla et al., 2022). The main reasons for VR’s popularity are its immersive, visual, sensory, and interactive features (Concannon et al., 2019; Radianti et al., 2020; Raja, 2021). The unique characteristic of VR that differentiates it from other computer applications is immersion (Kalyvioti & Mikropoulos, 2014; Villena-Taranilla et al., 2022). Radianti et al. (2020) defined immersion as the involvement of a user in a virtual environment during which his or her awareness of time and the real world often becomes disconnected, thus providing a sense of “being present” in the task environment rather than in the real world. Raja (2021) stated that the use of VR in education allows students to immerse themselves in diverse settings and time periods and to witness virtual environments, which is not possible in regular classrooms. VR allows real-life scenarios to be simulated for training in a safe setting (Bissonnette et al., 2019; Dholakiya et al., 2019). For example, VR can re-create historical cities, buildings, and monuments, such as Egyptian tombs, which are inaccessible or partially destroyed and would not be accessible in the real world (Villena-Taranilla et al., 2019). Current VR technology also offers interaction capabilities. Lange et al. (2020) pointed out that the advantages of using VR in education are related to its ability to enable students to interact with each other in virtual 3D environments. Yung and Khoo-Lattimore (2019) indicated that VR has the potential to provide beneficial, interesting, and interactive learning experiences, although challenges do exist. VR is

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a valid tool that both supports the teaching–learning process and stimulates interest and engagement among students (O’Connor & Domingo, 2017).

3.2 Factors Affecting Students’ Acceptance of VR Theories and frameworks related to technology acceptance explain the behaviour and motivations of people when they use new technology (Lampo, 2022). In recent years, with the rapid development and application of VR technology, a substantial number of studies have been published about the use of various models and frameworks to understand the acceptance of VR in education. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is one of the most popular theories on the acceptance of VR in education. Lange et al. (2020) investigated the acceptance of VR by nursing students. Their results showed that the students perceived the new technologies quite positively. The finding that VR programmes can play an important supporting role in training by deepening the learning experience which was consistent with previous studies on this topic. However, other researchers have noted that despite the increased popularity of VR, especially during the COVID-19 period, its adoption is relatively low (Toyoda et al., 2021). Given the relevance and growing importance of VR technology in education, it is important to investigate the interrelationship between key factors and behaviour intention (BI). This refers to the motivational factors that influence a given behaviour where the stronger the intention to perform the behaviour, the more likely the behaviour will be performed. The elements of technology acceptance are important for understanding usability and BI, which are factors that affect the usage of VR technology in education. Toyoda et al. (2021) used the UTAUT to study the key factors that motivate trainees to adopt VR and found that they were performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), and facilitating conditions (FCs). Moreover, among these four key factors, they singled out PE as the strongest factor. Many studies have confirmed that several key factors significantly influence users’ motivations for adopting new technologies, for example, an e-scooter VR service (Huang, 2020) and head-mounted VR displays in learning (Shen et al., 2019). Other researchers have reported that in addition to the basic influencing factors of the UTAUT, personal attitudes towards technology and cost also influence the acceptance of VR technologies (Lange et al., 2020). VR technology in education is an emerging industry. As the technology has yet to mature, it is understandable that not all of the studies on the effect of VR have reported positive results. For example, the benefits of new technologies can take several years to be fully achieved, and, in practice, most innovations fail to be widely accepted (Lampo, 2022). Cabero and Fernández (2018), in their review of the influence of VR in educational contexts, pointed out that for various reasons some studies have not found significant effects on academic results. Some of these reasons are the technical demands of some applications, which need high-performance devices; poor-quality Wi-Fi connections in some educational centres; feelings of sickness that may be

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produced by VR devices; failure to take into account the novelty effects; and the poor instructional design of some virtual learning environments. Although VR has proved valuable in education, the results on its acceptance vary from discipline to discipline. Furthermore, research on the elements that influence students’ motivations for using VR technology in journalism education in the Asia– Pacific area has been scarce (Hamilton et al., 2021). The purpose of this study is to review the literature on technology acceptance and understand Hong Kong students’ motivations for using VR technology in journalism education, evaluate the application of the UTAUT model in education to explore the variables that govern student’s motivations for using VR technology, and suggest ways to improve the immersive experience in journalism education.

4 Theoretical Framework and Research Questions The purpose of the UTAUT model (Venkatesh et al., 2003), which was proposed in 2003, is to synthesise the technology acceptance research spread over many domains, such as psychology, behavioural science, sociology, and information systems. The UTAUT provides a unified view to explain users’ acceptance of new technology and serves as a baseline to evaluate the acceptance of new technologies inside organisations (Venkatesh et al., 2003). It presents four key constructs—PE, EE, SI, and FCs—that influence the BI of users to accept a new technology (Fig. 1). The BI, in turn, predicts how the technology is used. As a general rule, the stronger a construct, the stronger the BI to accept a new technology and consequently the use behaviour (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The UTAUT model, which is widely used in the information technology industry, helps management and researchers make more effective decisions by explaining

Behavioural Intention

Fig. 1 The UTAUT model (Venkatesh et al., 2003)

Use Behaviour

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the factors that influence users’ acceptance of technical innovations. Therefore, we adopt the UTAUT as the theoretical model to explore the driving factors of students’ motivations for using VR technology in journalism education. Further, the second iteration of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT 2) model (Venkatesh et al., 2012) is an adaption of the original UTAUT model to the consumer use context. Taking into account the characteristics of young students in Hong Kong, this study added two more factors, hedonic motivation (HM) and individual innovation (II) based on the UTAUT 2 for discussion. These two factors will be addressed by the results of the survey. Besides, the frequency of use (FoU) has been measured too. The following factors—PE, EE, SI, FCs, HM, and II—are defined in Table 1. The above four factors are believed to shape students’ BI to use VR technology in journalism classes. Motivation is the most important determinant of student use behaviour. The stronger their motivation, the more likely it is that students will use VR technology in news reporting classes. We aim to use this model to understand the motivation of students for using VR technology in journalism classes and thereby propose suggestions that operators and institutions can use to help VR better meet students’ needs. Suggestions for further research are also offered. To achieve our study goals, we analysed responses to the following four construct questions corresponding to the four driving factors of the UTAUT model: 1. What are the major benefits you have gained by using VR technology in the news reporting class? (PE) 2. How easy was it to use VR technology in the news reporting class? (EE) 3. Do you think other people’s opinions have a big influence on your use of VR technology in journalism learning? Who influences you the most? (SI) Table 1 Driving factors of students’ motivations for using VR technology Driving factors

Definition

Performance Expectancy (PE)

The degree to which using virtual reality (VR) technology helps students gain knowledge and learn skills in journalism classes

Effort Expectancy (EE)

The ease with which students use VR technology in journalism classes

Social Influence (SI)

The extent to which an individual perceives that important people believe they should use VR technology in journalism classes

Facilitating Conditions (FCs)

Students’ perception of the resources and support they can access to help them use VR technology in journalism classes

Hedonic Motivation (HM)

The pleasure obtained when using a new technology affects the intention to utilise VR technology in journalism classes

Individual Innovation (II)

The attitude towards behaviour measured a person’s interest in and use of new technologies

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4. Do you think the available resources and support were sufficient to help you use VR technology in journalism learning? Do you have any suggestions about what would encourage and promote your use of VR technology? (FCs)

5 Data Collection/Methods We adopted a triangulation approach involving in-class observation focus group discussions and a survey to tackle the four questions above. Each focus group interview took about 40–45 min, with four to six students in a group. The discussion questions were designed using the UTAUT model (Venkatesh et al., 2003), and some of the constructs were borrowed from the model to lay a foundation for the conceptual model that we wished to evaluate. The focus group was considered useful for investigating the students’ learning motivation and the alignment of their thoughts with those of their classmates (Breen, 2006; Hennink, 2017). Twenty-three students in the practical module on news reporting were invited for the focus group discussions to understand their experiences and motivations regarding the use of VR technology. The participants (N = 23) were 47% male (n = 11) and 53% female (n = 12). Seventy per cent of the students (n = 16) were Year 1 students, whereas the other 30% (n = 7) comprised Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4 students. Among the interviewees, 80% (n = 18) were students at the School of Communication. In addition to the focus group discussions, in-class observations were used to record notes and details regarding the performance and motivations of the students who used VR technology for comparison with those who used traditional class learning. The first author of this study teaches this module and so has a better understanding of the difference between the two modes of learning. These data were cross-checked with the responses obtained from the focus group discussions. In addition to close observation and focus group interviews, 74 students learning in a VR setting were required to fill in survey questionnaires. The responses were analysed to help determine the extent to which the UTAUT model applies in a journalism class conducted in a VR setting (Sarstedt et al., 2020). The constructs were measured using the interviewees’ responses, the instructor’s observations, and also the literature on the UTAUT model.

6 Findings The researchers read and analysed the transcripts of the four group discussions. All responses to the construct questions about the research model were analysed. Based on the components of the UTAUT, the results of the analysis indicated that the interviewees’ responses fell within the scope of theoretical discussions.

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6.1 Analysis of UTAUT Elements 6.1.1

PE

Analysis of the focus group data revealed that PE is important for learning in news reporting and influenced the students’ BI to adopt VR technology. In general, the students considered the use of VR in journalism education to be clearly beneficial, indicating that PE positively influences VR adoption. However, the students also reported some unfulfilled expectations. The following cross-section of views was selected to show the PE-related findings based on the discussion with the respondents. A Stimulating and Fresh 3D Environment Raises Interest in Learning The purpose of using VR technology is to immerse students in the virtual world and allow them to experience educational content by interacting with virtual 3D objects. Most of the students were positive about the use of VR technology in news reporting learning. The most frequently mentioned reasons were that a VR 3D classroom can provide a fresh and stimulating learning environment that enables students to experience simulated practical training with new technology. One student stated: Learning in the VR Centre provided us with new experiences in learning, which made me feel fresh and energetic. Learning in the VR Centre made me more active than in a traditional classroom. I think future VR technology will have greater development potential in education because it will raise the interest level of students. (B3)

Conducting Interviews Safely in a Simulated Earthquake Zone As Taljaard (2016) stated, virtual field trips allow users to visit places that could be inaccessible or dangerous. For example, geologists could undertake a VR field trip to the top of a volcano. Almost all of the participants felt that practice with VR technology is necessary for learning to handle the hazards associated with an earthquake. A Year 1 student majoring in journalism agreed: Earthquakes don’t happen very often. Besides, reporting at earthquake sites would require us to invest a lot of funds and time. Also, an earthquake is considered too dangerous in the real world for junior journalists to cover, as they lack sufficient working experience in a disaster. VR learning has bridged this gap by creating custom learning content for news reporting on earthquakes and can reduce the likelihood of accidents involving journalists. (D1)

Enhancing Undivided Attention in Learning Environments The results of analysing the focus group discussions showed that VR-based learning is effective in raising students’ attention levels and giving them a measure of control over the environment. All of the participants felt that a simulated VR learning environment promotes undivided attention on the subject in a classroom setting. One student majoring in social science explained: I am easily distracted just sitting in the classroom and listening to lectures, but it is easier for me to concentrate on what the lecturer is saying in the VR Centre. Sometimes when I sit

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in the classroom, it is easy for me to play with my mobile phone or computer; but in the VR Centre, I have no choice but to concentrate on the content of the class. (A5)

Visualising the Environment Improves Memory All of the students mentioned that visualising a simulated earthquake made it easier to master and remember the information and skills related to news reporting. The students demonstrated that they remembered what they saw in VR. They felt that VR is a powerful tool for promoting learning processes. The current literature review found that VR confers a learning benefit in about half of the cognitive studies, especially where highly complex or conceptual problems required spatial understanding and visualisation (Hamilton et al., 2021). Mastering observation skills in interviews was one of the learning outcomes of this module, and several students mentioned that learning observation skills were valuable. One student explained: What I found most impressive is that I learned the skills of observation and live streaming in the simulated crumbling classroom damaged in an earthquake. In a traditional class, the teacher reminded us to include observations and details in our feature articles. However, I understood how to observe and what to describe only after the teacher required us to observe details in the simulated damaged classroom, such as the map and the blackboard filled with words on the wall. This training has deepened my understanding and recall of observations. (C3)

However, the students also felt that higher quality simulated scenarios, for example, richer stories and more vivid interactions, would be even more pedagogically beneficial. A Year 2 student majoring in Convergence Media and Communication Technology said: I am interested in new technology and have played VR games for entertainment several times. I hope that in our learning context, the interactive stories will become richer and the interactive scenes will become more vivid. For example, only five stories is not enough, because I won’t experience the same scenes next time. Ten stories will be better, which will give students a fresher experience. (A1)

Lack of Physical and Auditory Sensations Although the students responded positively to VR use in news reporting learning, some negative observations were also found in the interviews. The most frequently mentioned point in the discussions was the lack of physical and auditory sensations. One student said: When our teacher informed us that we would experience a simulated earthquake scene and learn the skills of news reporting from a 3D disaster site, I felt very excited. I thought that we would feel the shaking of the ground in an earthquake, but we did not experience it. In the theme park, we feel we are flying and the seat shakes. Besides, the voices of rescue workers and the cries of the injured were not heard at the disaster site. If the VR Centre can provide physical and auditory sensations, the experience will be more realistic. (D2)

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6.1.2

EE

All of the students indicated that new technology in education should be easy for students to use and learn. From the discussion, it was found that students’ past experience influences their EE regarding VR learning, and that EE positively influences the adoption of VR technology in journalism education. Students who had extensive experience in VR technology, in either entertainment or learning, indicated that it was not difficult for them to master the technology in learning. For example, they agreed that previous experience promoted the process of learning with VR and that mastering the controllers did not take much time. One student shared the following: I use VR to play games at home and find it easy to use, so I intend to use this service frequently in the future. I also pay to experience this technology in the theme park and shopping malls, so I do not find it difficult to use the technology. (A2)

On the contrary, the students who did not have much experience in VR or who were not interested in technology felt that the VR controller was hard to use, and that they needed more time to master the required skills. Furthermore, some of them indicated that their interaction with VR was not satisfactory. One Year 1 student said: Even though I had heard of VR on the Internet, I have never used it before. This was the first time I touched the hand controller, which was very hard to handle. I needed help from the technological officer because it was hard for me to control the button. Although it will take me a few days to learn the skills of VR technology and it will necessitate a change in my learning routines, I think I will be able to manage it. (B2)

6.1.3

SI

All in all, the focus group discussions showed that positive attitudes towards VR in the social environment increase the acceptance of the adoption of this technology because social contacts often influence opinion-making. The individuals or channels mentioned most often included families, friends, teachers, the mass media, social media, and technology exhibitions. Some of the students mentioned that family was one of the central points of reference for the recognition of the value of VR technology in education and the motivation to use it. One boy from mainland China said: My father runs a high-tech company that focuses on AI and VR, so I am very familiar with and interested in this field. I am very optimistic about the prospects of VR, and I will continue to follow its development. Yes, VR is still immature, but it will lead to new technology that will power the metaverse. (B4)

Opinions within friend circles seem to be equally relevant. Some of the students stated that their friends’ suggestions and recommendations affected their attitudes towards using any new technology. One female student said: If I often hear about these kinds of new technologies from my friends, I am more aware of them. For me, it is important to know what kind of experiences my friends have, especially when something is completely new to me. When one of my friends uses a new technology, that usually plays a vital role in determining my decision. If he recommends that I use it, I will consider it important to do so because I trust my friends. (D1)

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FCs

The evidence presented thus far indicates that FCs strongly influence the adoption of VR technology in journalism education. FCs for VR are perceived on the following different levels. Technological Support and Prior Instruction The students who were assessed were given an introduction to the technology to enable them to use it in the learning process. All of them mentioned that they got assistance from the lecturer and technical officer when they had difficulties in using VR. A Year 1 student said: In the beginning, when I used VR glasses, I found that the image was blurred. When I told my lecturer and the technical officer, they gave me a new pair of glasses that worked well. The VR image became very clear quickly. The support from my lecturer was very prompt. (C4)

However, some of the students suggested that the lecturer showed the background video of the Sichuan earthquake to the students ahead of time, as it would help them assume the roles of journalists as quickly as possible in the simulated VR environment. A few students opined that it would be better to use VR technology to deepen knowledge of already learned content rather than to learn completely new content. One student explained: I hope to understand my tasks before going into the VR Centre. This will increase my interest in using such technology. Also, I would like to know more about news reporting in a disaster before entering the CAVE, for example, by learning from my lecturer or from books. After that, VR would deepen what I had learned. I believe I will then perform better in the simulated earthquake environment. (B5)

Physical Accessories to Ease Associated Sickness All of the students were pleased with the resources made available to use VR technology in the CAVE, such as VR glasses, controllers, and the tracking system. They appreciated the easy availability of the glasses and technical support. One student said: I think the glasses I wore were very light and easy to use. Everyone can access the glasses and their power was sufficient. Once, the power drained completely, and the technological officer helped me get another pair immediately. (D2)

However, some of the students felt that hardware should be provided to ease the visual fatigue and motion sickness that VR technology sometimes causes. The students found that visual fatigue was a major drawback of using VR devices. They experienced a certain degree of motion sickness during and after the virtual presentation. Prior research has shown that this visual discomfort is caused by the incompatibility between the visual displays of the real world and the virtual world. A student who suffered serious dizziness said:

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J. Wu et al. VR made me feel nauseous and dizzy. The fear of suffering these kinds of side effects caused by excessive usage and incorrect operation will limit my use of VR in education. However, I still hope to get close to this new technology, so I really hope the centre can provide advanced hardware to ease the sickness associated with using VR. (C4)

Use of Only One Controller Reduces Participants’ Interactions In the VR teaching and learning classroom, only one controller was available to regulate the participants’ viewing and movements. Often, the controller could be operated only by the technical officer. During the whole teaching process, only two out of a group of five students had the opportunity to check the equipment. Some students hoped that more students would be able to use the equipment. One student (A3) said: “The ideal situation is to develop a multiplayer mode, which means everyone can choose what to see and what to do, and everyone has a character in the game. This mode can increase interaction between participants.” Low-Resolution Graphics Reduces Immersion Some of the students opined that complete immersion was hard to achieve because the graphics used in the 3D classroom were not clear enough, and were sometimes even used in a cartoon style, which was a serious barrier to an immersive experience in a simulated earthquake. A student who was enthusiastic about new technology said: We really welcome the inclusion of VR technology in the journalism class; however, we hope that more advanced software will be used to improve the quality of the graphics used in the scenarios, which is the most influential factor governing our interest in using VR. But I’m not sure if we have advanced software like this at our university. I hope the designers will first deal with this problem. (B4)

Another student (D5) expressed her ethical embarrassment when she experienced VR technology: “I know that reporting on an earthquake scene is a serious business, but the animated image was stilted, which made me want to laugh. This confused and embarrassed me.”

6.2 Descriptive Analysis of Variables In this study, we conducted a survey with a sampling size of 73 students of VR journalism classes. Despite the limited class size, we adopted the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) model to test the model fit and the significance of the relationship between the potential variables of the UTAUT model. All of the descriptive statistics of the measurement items—PE, EE, SI, FCs, HM, FoU, II, and BI—were clustered in the middle. We used the PLS model to test BI and FoU as the dependent variables, and their correlation with the six independent variables.

Exploring Students’ Adoption of Virtual Reality in Journalism Practice … Table 2 Cronbach’s alphas

Table 3 Composite reliability

6.2.1

Construct

Cronbach’s alpha score

Performance Expectancy

0.796

Effort Expectancy

0.81

Social Influence

0.853

Facilitating Conditions

0.686

Hedonic Innovation

0.882

Individual Innovation

0.856

Frequency of Use

1

Behaviour Intention

0.817

Construct

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Composite reliability

Performance Expectancy

0.863

Effort Expectancy

0.876

Social Influence

0.901

Facilitating Conditions

0.826

Hedonic Innovation

0.927

Individual Innovation

0.913

Frequency of Use

1

Behaviour Intention

0.879

Reliability and Composite Reliability

The consistency of a construct in their assessment is referred to as reliability. Reliable measurements will be consistent across several measurements. Additionally, an internal validity of 0.7 or higher is considered good. Except for one variable, FC, all of the variables had Cronbach’s alphas greater than 0.7 (see Table 2). The model was also tested using composite reliability as a benchmark. The respondents’ scores on these measures were used to define the composite score, which is typically calculated as an unweighted sum and provides an estimate of the relevant construct. All eight of the constructs in this study had a high composite reliability that exceeded 0.8 (Aguirre-Urreta et al., 2013), which is deemed satisfactory (see Table 3).

6.2.2

Convergent Validity, Bootstrapping, and the Standardised Root Mean Squared Residual

The results in Table 3 show all of the constructs that exhibited both convergent and discriminant validity after removing items that did not exceed 0.5. The average

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variance extracted (AVE) is also presented in Table 4. The factor loadings of all of the constructs were larger than 0.6 (Table 4).

6.2.3

Standardised Root Mean Squared Residual

To determine whether the projected correlations are sufficient to account for the observed correlations between variables, standardised root mean squared residuals (SRMRs) close to 0.08–0.09 are considered near a good fit (Lauwerier et al., 2010). The results show that the SRMR was 0.09. To test the model’s explanatory power, we examined the correlation of determination (R2 ). The adjusted R2 values obtained for BI and FoU were 0.661 and 0.126, respectively.

6.2.4

Model Testing Results and Discussions

As shown in Table 6, the two significant paths were (a) FCs in relation to FoU and (b) FCs in relation to BI. FCs are the most crucial factor, because behaviour change commonly takes place in a comfortable and stimulating environment. The more supportive the environment—that is, the more resources students gain from the VR environment—the more willing they are to use the VR laboratory to learn. The results are partially in line with the feedback obtained from the group discussions. A possible explanation for this partial agreement is that when the respondents replied to the instructor, they did so not only from the context of the VR classroom but also from the context of their home, where they played VR games. This dual context made some factors relevant when the students replied to the questions asked by the first author. However, when answering the questions in the survey, very often, they answered the questions only from the context of the VR classroom setting, which reduced the relevance of some factors. For instance, one respondent mentioned his father as a social influence. However, everyone was new to the application of VR in the classroom, which made it difficult for them to relate the SI factor to the learning process. FCs can be seen, touched, and felt, which encourages the students to try the technology.

7 Discussion and Conclusion In this study, we explored students’ motivations to adopt VR by focusing on the factors influencing the acceptance of VR technologies in journalism education. This was achieved by using the UTAUT model, which is composed of four key constructs: PE, EE, SI, and FCs. Analyses using qualitative and quantitative approaches revealed several similarities and differences in their conclusions about the relationships investigated in the current study. Through this study, we make two main contributions.

Exploring Students’ Adoption of Virtual Reality in Journalism Practice … Table 4 Factor loadings and average variance extracted Construct

Factor loadings

PE1

0.824

PE2

0.819

PE3

0.758

PE4

0.725 0.641

Effort Expectancy (EE) EE1

Average Variance Extracted (AVE) 0.613

Performance Expectancy (PE)

0.684

EE2

0.786

EE3

0.880

EE4

0.838

Social Influence (SI)

0.695

SI1

0.790

SI2

0.833

SI3

0.910

SI4

0.796 0.616

Facilitating Condition (FC) FC1

0.871

FC2

0.812

FC3

0.655

FC4 (removed) 0.809

Hedonic Innovation (HI) HI1

0.901

HI2

0.911

HI3

0.886

Individual Innovation (II)

0.78

II1

0.722

II2

0.947

II3

0.960 0.646

Behaviour Intention (BI) BI1 BI2 BI3 BI4

0.810 0.816 0.826 0.761

Frequency of Use (FoU) FoU1

1

1

51

0.486

0.521

0.375

0.977

0.681

0.668

0.601

0.804

Facilitating Conditions

Hedonic Innovations

Individual Innovations

Performance Expectancy

Social Influence

Frequency of Use 0.281

0.615

0.451

0.561

0.661

Effort Expectancy

Effort Expectancy

Behaviour Intention

Behaviour Intention

Table 5 Discriminant matrix

0.41

0.828

0.739

0.67

0.64

Facilitating Conditions

0.256

0.694

0.672

0.511

Hedonic Innovations

0.244

0.611

0.391

Individual Innovations

0.111

0.47

Performance Expectancy

0.167

Social Influence

52 J. Wu et al.

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Table 6 Summary of model testing results and path coefficients Hypotheses and path coefficient

Original sample (O)

Effort Expectancy -> Behaviour Intention

0.016

Facilitating Conditions -> Behaviour Intention

Standard deviation (STDEV)

t-statistic (|O/ STDEV|)

p values

0.021

0.09

0.175

0.861

0.422

0.417

0.121

3.49

0***

Facilitating Conditions -> Frequency of Use

0.419

0.42

0.163

2.572

0.01**

Hedonic innovations -> behaviour intention

0.144

0.135

0.133

1.083

0.279

Individual Innovations -> Behaviour Intention

0.139

0.145

0.1

1.388

0.165

Performance Expectancy -> Behaviour Intention

0.051

0.069

0.107

0.472

0.637

Social Influence -> Behaviour Intention

0.22

0.214

0.129

1.704

0.088

Social Influence -> Frequency of Use

− 0.116

− 0.117

0.182

0.64

0.522

Frequency of Use -> Behaviour Intention

− 0.007

− 0.009

0.082

0.085

0.933

*

Sample mean (M)

p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001

First, the theoretical contribution of this study is that it supports the validity of the UTAUT model and extends our knowledge about the adoption of VR technology for journalism education. The data collected by quantitative research show that the UTAUT model is reliable and valid for analysing the adoption of VR technology for educational purposes. The study results extend the validity of the UTAUT in journalism education by enhancing our knowledge of students’ motivations to adopt VR in journalism education. Using the UTAUT model, we show that the interviewed students rated VR technology in journalism education quite positively; however, the results obtained from qualitative and quantitative research have different emphases. The quantitative research shows that the greatest influence is the FCs for VR technology. The more advanced the technology adopted, the more useful VR appears to the students, and the higher the student acceptance. Our findings support the effect of FCs on the BI to adopt technology, which is also consistent with previous research (Zhou et al., 2019). The qualitative research shows that the students’ responses can be incorporated into the constructs of the UTAUT model, which proves that the model is reliable and valid for analysing the adoption of VR technology in journalism education. The findings show that the students’ responses were positive, and many of the interviewed students found VR beneficial.

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During the focus group discussions, the constructs that the participants were most concerned about were PE and FCs, which can increase their acceptance of VR technology in journalism education. Most of the students’ responses focused on the aspects of motivation, engagement, immersion, interaction, and convenience in relation to technology to promote learning about news reporting skills in disasters. VR contributes to education by allowing students to directly experience environments that are difficult to replicate with traditional teaching methods. Moreover, the use of VR technology in scenario-based learning can improve professional competencies that are important for problem-solving and communication skills. We also used focus group discussions and the theoretical framework of the UTAUT to explore the barriers that prevent students from using VR technology. The students emphasised that FCs should be improved and updated to enhance students’ motivations for using VR. Second, based on the students’ responses and the quantitative analysis, the following recommendations can be made to researchers, education practitioners, designers, and developers of VR technology to enhance its effectiveness in journalism education: 1. VR technology should be designed to align with the objective and proposed learning outcome of the module. To ensure that students use these technologies as planned, VR technology should be designed with the intended learning outcomes at the heart of the system. The adopted technologies should match the curriculum learning outcomes. For this practice of journalism education, the learning outcomes of this module, such as basic knowledge of a serious disaster, communication skills and ethics, observation of the environment, and storytelling in a live broadcast, can be successfully presented using VR technology in the CAVE. 2. VR design should respond to students’ requirements. One of the most important potential benefits of VR environments is their ability to re-create multisensory simulations related to scenarios that would be impractical or impossible to explore in the real world (Villena-Taranilla et al., 2019). The VR design should incorporate physical and auditory sensations, for example, the feeling of the ground shaking in an earthquake, which can improve students’ immersion in the simulated environments. 3. Comfortable VR headsets and glasses should be provided to students. Longduration use of VR headsets and glasses causes discomfort. Educators should consider deploying more advanced educational programmes that fit the nature of these technologies and fulfil the needs of students well. When applied properly, these technologies can enhance the educational environment and enrich the learning of students. The equipment and accessories of VR technology should catalyse students’ motivations rather than discourage usage. 4. VR technology should balance interactivity and ethical content. Through simulated scenario training, it can be used to enhance collaboration among students by setting realistic tasks. However, whereas some stories are suitable for an

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interactive or even a game-based design, other stories should be presented more sensitively rather than merely focusing on interactivity. 5. VR technology is an appropriate tool for reviewing and consolidating students’ existing knowledge and skills. The research data show that VR technology is more effective for deepening knowledge of already learned content than for learning completely new content. Therefore, it is recommended that lecturers equip students with related knowledge first before exposing them to VR learning. This study suffered from a couple of limitations. First, the group consisted of new students trying VR technology in their classroom setting, which could have affected their attitudes towards VR as they were new to the environment. Second, there were only 73 survey respondents, which might affect the generalisability of the study findings. An interesting research pathway is to explore possible improvements of the suggested research framework by adding factors as moderating variables to improve its significance level. In sum, when VR technology is embedded in module teaching, it is necessary to consider the balance between teaching and experience. The similarities and differences between the conclusions of the quantitative and qualitative research show that VR technology is a trend that will change the way students learn inside and outside the classroom. However, the educational content that is developed and deployed must be well adapted to this technology to meet the requirements of twenty-first-century learners.

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Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. https://doi.org/10.2307/300 36540 Venkatesh, T., Thong, J. Y., & Xu, X. (2012). Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 157. https://doi.org/10.2307/41410412. Vergara, D., Antón-Sancho, Á., Extremera, J., & Fernández-Arias, P. (2021). Assessment of virtual reality as a didactic resource in higher education. Sustainability, 13(22), 12730. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su132212730 Villena-Taranilla, R., Cózar-Gutiérrez, R., González-Calero, J. A., & López Cirugeda, I. (2019). Strolling through a city of the Roman Empire: An analysis of the potential of virtual reality to teach history in primary education. Interactive Learning Environments, 30(4), 608–618. https:// doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2019.1674886. Villena-Taranilla, R., Tirado-Olivares, S., Cozar-Gutierrez, R., & González-Calero, J. A. (2022). Effects of virtual reality on learning outcomes in K-6 education: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 35, 100434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2022.100434 Yung, R., & Khoo-Lattimore, C. (2019). New realities: A systematic literature review on virtual reality and augmented reality in tourism research. Current Issues in Tourism, 22(17), 2056–2081. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2017.1417359 Zhou, L. L., Owusu-Marfo, J., Antwi, H. A., Antwi, M. O., Kachie, A. D. T., & Ampon-Wireko, S. (2019). Assessment of the social influence and facilitating conditions that support nurses’ adoption of hospital electronic information management systems (HEIMS) in Ghana using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 19(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-019-0956-z

Dr. Jing Wu is Assistant Professor at the School of Communication, the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Dr Wu obtained her Ph.D. in Journalism from Fudan University, Shanghai. Prior to joining HSU, Dr Wu was Associate Professor at the South China Normal University (SCNU), Guangzhou, China. Her research interests include media history and society, digital media, journalism education, and urban communication. Dr. Wendy Wing Lam Chan Before moving to academia, Dr. Wendy Chan has worked in various news organisations, including Radio Television Hong Kong, Travel QnA, and Island East Markets Magazine, etc. With her hard-earned experience, she accomplished her Ph.D. study on communication at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2017. Apart from having taught in Mainland China (BNU-HKBU-United International College) and in Hong Kong (Chu Hai College of Higher Education and The Hang Seng University of HK), she has also experienced teaching and carried out research in London—when she took a visiting researcher role at the University College London in 2016 for an academic exchange. Her research outlets are on media creativity, media writing, journalistic presentations, and consumer behaviour. Her publications can be seen from SSCI, AHCI, TSSCI journals, and other renowned journals, for instance, Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, Mass Communication Research, Journalism Practice, and International Communication Research Journal. Dr. Zhao Xun Song is Associate Professor at the School of Communication, the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. His research interests include organisational communication, nonverbal communication, business and financial journalism education, and online journalism. Miss Xia Ran Song is a new media artist and a doctoral student at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University. Her research focuses on interactive media, data visualisation, and sonification.

A Case-Study on Applying Mixed Reality Technology in an Architecture Design Course at a Taiwan University Shao-Fu Li, Steven Kwan Keung Ng, and Pei-Ying Wu

Abstract This paper explores an important aspect of today’s architecture student training, namely the development of high technology, such as the mixed-use of virtual reality and augmented reality skills, which is essential for integration into the labor market. After an overview of how the topic is currently applied, practical education in higher education is also investigated. The study is expected to yield a number of key findings through in-depth interviews with the lecturers and a needs analysis and questionnaire-based feedback with students aimed to make recommendations to support the role of building designers in emphasizing immersive visual skills and competencies. The research findings will provide recommendations for the effective use of MR in teaching, including the best practices for designing MR-based curriculums and how to integrate them with other teaching methods. Keywords Augmented reality · Digital technology · Immersive technology · Learning-by-doing · Mixed reality · Virtual reality

1 Introduction With the continuous advancement of technology and techniques, how should the traditional disciplines respond? For example, should the training of architects be taught in a time-for-experience manner (Nicol & Pilling, 2000)? Can new and popular sensory technologies be applied to architectural disciplines? The physical space world of civil engineering, landscaping, and architecture is something that can only S.-F. Li College of Architecture and Design, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan S. K. K. Ng (B) Ming-Ai (London) Institute, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] P.-Y. Wu College of Tourism, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_4

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be learned by being there (Ummihusna amp; Zairul, 2022). At present, the concept of metaverse development in our school is to use MR technology to realize it, and the Department of Architecture is the first department to put it into experimentation. This study aims to shed light on the important aspect of architecture student training nowadays via the development of virtual reality and augmented reality skills and technology. The study is expected to yield a number of key findings through in-depth interviews with the lecturers and a needs analysis and questionnaire-based feedback with students. The aim is to make recommendations to support the role of building designers in emphasizing immersive visual skills and competencies. Firstly, it is expected that the participants will report on the benefits of VR/AR for teaching and learning. This study will investigate if the increase in engagement and motivation will simulate the real-world experience ability (Kharvari & Kaiser, 2022). Secondly, the participants are expected to discuss the challenges of using VR/AR for teaching, such as the cost of VR technology and the need for adequate training and technical support. Finally, this study reported and provided recommendations for the effective use of VR in teaching, including the best practices for designing VR-based curriculums and how to integrate VR with other teaching methods.

2 Literature Reviews Related virtual technologies require a lot of hardware assistance before they have the opportunity to be applied in different fields. As far as today’s situation is concerned, it still depends on whether the equipment allows the user to have an immersive effect. A device with limitations can only provide partial functions. Therefore, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are no longer used alone, but are mixed together, and the so-called mixed reality (MR) technology appears. The development of related technologies is how to transform the physical environment into a virtual environment, and finally obtain a sensory world that is safe and able to experience any situation. Taking the application of the Department of Architecture of our school as an example, the virtual continuum (Fig. 1) is still being discussed, and the method to be used to present the best effect is yet to decide.

2.1 Development of Digital Technology As early as the early 1990s, the possibility of virtualized vision has been discussed from the technical level. Milgram and Kishino (1994) has listed the application methods of six classes of MR displays in different situations. The term “mixed reality” was not (yet) well known at the time, but several types of display environments have been found. From the definition of Milgram, it is reasonable to think that they constitute the MR interface:

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Fig. 1 Representation of the virtuality continuum (Adapted from Milgram & Kishino, 1994)

• Class 1: Monitor-based (non-immersive) video displays (i.e., window-on-theworld, WoW) upon which computer-generated images are electronically or digitally overlaid. • Class 2: Video displays as in Class 1, but using immersive head-mounted displays (HMDs), rather than WoW monitors. • Class 3: HMDs equipped with a see-through capability, with which computergenerated graphics can be optically superimposed, using half-silvered mirrors, onto directly viewed real-world scenes. • Class 4: Same as 3, but using video, rather than optical, viewing of the “outside” world. • Class 5: Completely graphic display environments, either completely immersive, partially immersive or otherwise, to which video “reality” is added. • Class 6: Completely graphic but partially immersive environments (e.g., large screen displays) in which real physical objects in the user’s environment play a role in (or interfere with) the computer-generated scene. This paper focused on a particular subclass of VR-related technologies that involve merging real and virtual worlds, which is generically referred to as MR. Their goal was to classify various ways of implementing the “virtual” and “real” aspects of MR environments. This study borrows the concept of “virtual continuum,” as shown in Fig. 1, trying to present a display of a real environment under specific circumstances, and the virtual environment can be watched by the audience. Januszka and Moczulski (2006) emphasized that through the HMD display, they can see each other. They can see a 3D virtual image of their computer-aided design (CAD) model in the middle of the table. In a design meeting of the future, a few designers just sit around a table and check out the projects they are about to design. The images perfectly align with the real world, so designers can freely move around the table and examine it from any angle. Every designer and student can have their own opinion about the model. Phan and Choo (2010) examined virtual furniture and adjustment work to create a new design approach for interior design education using AR. With AR, the virtual products of graphics technology can not only be simulated but also get a real higher

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value. It can be a new animation simulation tool for interior design, allowing users to see mixed AR scenes through HMDs, video displays, or PDAs. On the other hand, research has explored the pedagogical value of using AR and simulation games to enhance architectural engineering and design education (Ayer et al., 2016). To explore the value of these technologies and contemporary research on their application in the education of architecture and related disciplines, they developed an educational game called ecoCampus and compared it to more traditional paper-based design activities. As there is a gap in the literature that this research closes to some extent, the findings showed that students of all disciplines using the eco-Campus were able to break down the tendency to fixate on design. These students were also able to evaluate their designs and generate more concepts using the app and performed better overall across all disciplines than students using the paper format (Gillette, 1999).

2.2 Investment and Development Trends Researchers (Yuen et al., 2011) have also explored the use of AR applications in various fields, many of which have been directly related to education. They have explored and summarized five important educational applications of AR technology: AR books, AR games, discovery-based learning, object modeling, and skills training. For object modeling, architecture students in Brazil are exploring the possibility of using AR to project scale models of buildings, thereby reducing the time required to construct and present architectural proposals. Building models can be quickly generated, manipulated, and rotated. Teachers and students can work together to envision a given project, and how it would look in different settings. Students receive immediate visual feedback on their ideas and designs, allowing them to identify topics to address. Stouffs et al. (2013) further concluded that education is an essential driving force to promote the application of VR and AR technologies in architectural practice. This was to discover the research and application trends of VR/AR from 200 papers. Researchers observed that the rhythm of such articles published at the annual conference organized by ACADIA was irregular, with a pattern of slight reduction or maintenance of publications. Although VR and AR have existed and developed in other technological fields for nearly half a century, they have not yet been fully integrated into architectural practice. This shows that continuous innovation and follow-up are still needed. Diao and Shih (2019) also emphasized that architectural and civil engineering (ACE) education is inseparable from real-world practice. The application of AR technology can help students establish connections between virtual and real-world information. The research on applying AR to ACE education is increasing year by year, and a large number of studies have shown that AR has great application potential. The combination of AR and building information modelling (BIM) in

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architectural and civil practice has great application potential and has become an emerging research trend (Hajirasouli et al., 2023).

2.3 Applications in Architectural Design Courses Researchers (Milovanovic et al., 2017) aimed at the orientation of architectural education, and outlined the application of VR and AR in the field of design. Statistically and practically, very few studios or companies still benefit from these technologies. Only the laboratories of the Faculty of Architecture have developed several devices and systems. And only a few of these systems are designed to support educational outcomes, which distinguishes the six families of systems used for any design studio session: HMD VR, immersive screen-based VR, tangible AR, smart device AR, and screen or any surface AR. In outlining project outcomes, Kerr and Lawson (2019) proposed a set of key design principles, strategies, and methodologies for educators to apply when developing AR learning experiences across disciplines. They examined the learning potential and benefits of AR technology, with a focus on new practices for creating digital storytelling within contextual experiences. Researchers outline the development of “Master of Time,” an AR prototype designed to educate first-year students and non-designers in the fundamentals of landscape architecture. Lee et al. (2020) also believe that most of the efforts are mainly focused on technology development, so there is limited focus on the end-user application of AR systems. Therefore, the researchers investigated how AR systems can affect architectural design reviews based on the user’s perspective. AR scored the highest in terms of acceptance and user experience. Compared with other systems, the results also showed that the AR system could more effectively review the visual elements of the building. Because this is an important assumption, participants can enter the designer’s work as they like, and in addition to experiencing the fun of the space, they can also put forward suggestions for improvement. In a critical manner, Hajirasouli and Banihashemi (2022) analyzed the current state-of-the-art. They presented developed and improved AR methods in ACE teaching and learning methods, addressing the identified gaps in the existing literature. Also, they simultaneously developed a transformational framework to link them to the future Gaps in the research agenda. The analysis combines AR’s impact on ACE students’ skill sets, pedagogical concepts in ACE courses, educational aspects of technology, and the critical role of content areas in designing and implementing ACE learning AR environments.

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3 The Impact of Mixed Reality (MR) Tools on Architecture Teaching Design studios are at the heart of architectural education, with most architecture schools dedicating 30–50% of their curriculum to design training and teaching (Salama, 2005). Salama also places special emphasis on the design studio as a kiln that shapes future architects and a major forum for creative exploration, interaction, and absorption. However, theorists, academics, and researchers say that most design studio instruction continues to teach students little about the value of design as a technique, process, or set of purposeful programs (Sanoff, 2011). Additionally, with the advent of computer technology, VR has become an integral part of design studios in architectural education. Researchers have been exploring how to evaluate VR-augmented design studios from a student-centered perspective (Aydin & Aktas, 2020).

3.1 Traditional Design and Architecture Pedagogy An architectural design studio is a learning and working environment for students of architecture or professional architects where they collaborate on projects to develop design solutions for buildings, structures, and other physical spaces. It is often the primary mode of instruction in architectural education and is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in the design process. They are tasked with creating designs that meet specific criteria such as functionality, aesthetics, sustainability, and safety. Students are required to work on a variety of projects, including theoretical and practical projects, and they must learn how to use various design tools, techniques, and software programs. Overall, the architectural design studio is an essential component of architectural education and professional practice, as it provides students and architects with an opportunity to develop their design skills, learn from their peers and mentors, and create innovative solutions to complex design problems (Grover et al., 2020). Our school is the only department in the country that integrates architectural and urban planning professional education. It focuses on the development of architectural design and urban planning capabilities. The department has more than 30 professional teachers to teach together, strengthen practical training with off-campus practice, and implement studio and mentor-apprentice group teaching, with independent planning, design, and teamwork capabilities. All graduates are qualified to take the exams for architects or urban planning technicians. In terms of the performance of national examinations over the years, the total admission rate of architects has reached 14%, which exceeds the national average of 6.8%. It provides a variety of opportunities for employment or further education after graduation. The design studio offers a “comprehensive learning experience,” including small group instruction, off-campus visits, critique sessions, and final project presentations

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(a) small group instruction

(c) critique sessions

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(b) off-campus visits

(d) final project presentations

Fig. 2 A comprehensive learning experience in design studios. (Source Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chung Hua University (CHU), 2019–2022)

(Fig. 2). Our goal is to provide a collaborative environment that fosters creativity and innovation. Students also have the opportunity to work closely with their peers and receive individualized guidance from experienced instructors. Our small group instruction allows for personalized attention and a supportive learning environment. We also organize off-campus visits to design firms and other creative industries to expose students to real-world design practices and techniques. These visits provide students with valuable insights and experiences that they can apply to their own projects. Throughout the course, students participate in regular critique sessions to receive feedback on their work and learn how to evaluate the work of others. This process helps students develop a critical eye and refine their design skills. At the end of the course, students present their final projects in a public forum to showcase their achievements and receive recognition for their hard work. Our studio is committed to helping students develop their design skills and prepare them for success in their future careers.

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3.2 Internal Discussion on the Teaching of MR Technology The school and Microsoft jointly built the first AI+ Experience Center (Fig. 3) in Taiwan in 2018, bringing the world’s latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology applications to the campus. We expect to combine AI with the majors of various colleges, create application fields and customized practical exercises, so that students can have a certain level of AI artificial intelligence application ability. In order to arouse students’ interest in the application of AI technology, we have created situational experiences such as smart access control, smart restaurants, smart retail, and smart buildings. Since the center was officially established in June 2018, more than 2,500 foreign guests, including industry leaders, academic professors, and high school students, have come to this Center to experience and visit AI scenarios. This is because “AI-focused teaching” has been a new teaching feature of our school since 2019. At the end of 2020, all departments must assign at least one full-time teacher to participate in the seed teacher training course and are encouraged to obtain the Azure AI-900 certificate. At the same time, colleges must start planning to add AI content to existing professional courses or open new ones. In the College of Architecture and Design, the two departments of civil engineering and architecture are the first to be required to invest relevant resources since these two departments are the first to apply building information modeling (BIM) in architectural design courses. Back to the task of architecture, all teachers and teaching assistants, including adjunct teachers, also joined the discussion on how to deal with this new teaching requirement. The most confusing aspect is how to apply the existing services or tools to plan AI courses and also the Metaverse. For those who do not have a background in information and electronics, they will also feel relatively weak when teaching such content. One of the authors of this paper first tried to apply Microsoft’s visual recognition as a teaching material for computer graphics (Li, 2022). This is the first approach to tackle schools in 2021, not the best, but at least the push for “AI/ Metaverse teaching” has begun. With the Covid-19 epidemic, teachers and students have become accustomed to the use of Microsoft Teams. The internal discussion was still ongoing, as the department

Fig. 3 The main teaching space of the AI Center. (Source AI+ Experience Center, CHU, 2018)

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believes it is not very useful for students, at least not in terms of employment. Since teachers from the industry are invited to participate in each discussion, their opinions are the most responsive to the needs of the construction market. During this period, the application of the metaverse became a central topic of discussion. Does the metaverse application satisfy part of the design studio’s requirements if it is available? In terms of “comprehensive learning experience,” the department would like to apply it to the critique sessions of architectural works. The use of metaverse technology in the judging occasion should allow the audience present to experience both virtual and real spatial experiences. Although it is not directly related to AI, it is a work item that can be expected to be successful, and it is also one of the current trends. According to the current existing 3D drawing applications and Microsoft’s VR or AR service platform, the department has constructed a set of blended learning process: • Step 0: Creating 3D models from Autodesk Revit, SketchUp, and/or Rhino; • Step 1: Export and import in Unity format, and then transfer and import for Microsoft AltspaceVR; • Step 2: Upload AltspaceVR’s World into Meta Quest’s VR headset; A 3D model can be created using software such as Revit, SketchUp, or Rhino. Once the model is complete, it can be exported to a format compatible with Unity, a popular game engine used for developing virtual reality experiences. The Unity format allows the 3D model to be easily imported and used within a virtual reality environment. The 3D model can be experienced in a variety of ways, including through social VR platforms like AltspaceVR or Spatial. These platforms allow users to interact with each other in a virtual space while experiencing the 3D model together. A Meta Quest VR headset can be used to immerse oneself in the 3D model fully. This headset provides a high-quality, immersive virtual reality experience that allows the users to feel like they are truly present within the 3D model (Fig. 4). The above stages of learning are actually experimental steps, which are partly in accordance with the teaching process of the AI+ Experience Center. To this end, the department has allocated funds on an annual basis, and purchased 10 VR headsets (7 sets of Meta Quest 2 and 3 sets of HTC VIVE Focus 3) in the first year. There are still quite a few implementation details that have not been discussed, such as the fineness of 3D modeling, the conversion restrictions of file formats, the completeness and accuracy of conversion, and most worryingly, the maintenance of the hardware. The consensus of the teachers in the department is that an immersive space experience system must be constructed.

4 Research Methodology and Research Founding This research aims to explore the experiences of teachers and students who have used VR, AR and/or MR as teaching tools. Specifically, this study will conduct interviews with teachers who have used VR/AR/MR for teaching, as well as students who have

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(a) Explanation and experience for students for the first time

(b) Introductions to Board Members

(c) Showcase of off-campus admissions

Fig. 4 VR/AR display at the BIM Center of the College of Architecture and Design. (Source Dept. of Architecture and Urban Planning, CHU, 2021–2022)

undergone VR-based education. The interviews will be conducted in order to gain insight into the benefits and drawbacks of using VR/AR/MR for teaching, as well as the best practices for incorporating VR/AR/MR into the classroom. In contrast, the College of Architecture & Design and other colleges need an extra layer of pre-requisite work in applying MR. Most users are likely to borrow directly from a virtual space or world that has already been constructed to experience it. But the architecture faculty and students had to create the new virtual environment by themselves and go back and revise it often. Figure 5 shows the necessary procedures for the application of MR technology in architectural design and the consensus among the faculty and students.

Fig. 5 Current MR technology applied to the program of architectural design

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4.1 Methodology The research used a qualitative methodology in the form of interviews. As the department is still in the exploratory stage, this method allowed us to understand the experiences, attitudes, behaviors, and interactions of teachers and students. The participants were chosen through purposive sampling, with teachers and students who have used MR for teaching and learning being selected. Sampling with all students who have attended the AI courses; and teachers who have taught the AI courses were invited to this survey. The interviews were conducted face-to-face, with the participants being asked open-ended questions to allow for a deeper exploration of their experiences. By avoiding pre-defined choices, these questions promoted a rich and diverse range of answers, allowing for a deeper understanding of individual perspectives. They went beyond surface-level observations, providing detailed and nuanced perspectives on a particular topic or phenomenon. The interviews were audio-recorded and then recorded and reviewed point by point. All issues will be identified and analyzed in order to draw conclusions and make recommendations for future teaching practices. There are four faculty members in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, one in the Department of Civil Engineering, and one in the College of Tourism who are involved in the application of VR/AR/MR technology. Only the architectural members who are involved in the whole process of teaching (please refer to Fig. 5) are invited to the interview. The interview questions for the discussion include: A. What did you find most challenging about teaching 3D modeling and VR/AR technologies? B. What specific features or concepts did you find most useful or interesting in the VR/AR experience? C. How could the course be improved to better support students’ learning and understanding of 3D modeling, VR, AR, and HMD technologies? D. Any comments or proposals? Therefore, in order to obtain feedback on the whole process of learning and teaching, this study only collects feedback from students taking courses in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at this stage. This paper takes the number of students studying architectural design and CAD in the second semester of 2022 as a sample. A total of 56 students taking the AI course responded to the questionnaire surveys at the end of the semester. The questionnaire in the survey was generated based on the concept of MR-based learning and teaching approach. It contained 6 closed-ended questions on a five-point Likert scale (where 1 being “Strongly Disagree” and 5 being “Strongly Agree”). The questionnaire items are listed as follows: 1. How comfortable do you feel using 3D modeling software for creating architectural designs? 2. How likely are you to use a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) for experiencing immersive environments in the future?

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3. If you have used VR/AR for architectural design, how satisfied were you with the experience? 4. Do you think the use of AR in architectural design can improve efficiency? 5. Would you recommend others to use 3D architectural models, VR/AR headsets, or AR for architectural design? 6. How confident do you feel in your ability to use 3D modeling software and VR/ AR technologies after completing this course?

4.2 Responses from Students Among the 56 students who responded, 16 students participated in architectural design courses with the theme of VR/AR, and the rest were students who took CAD courses. Table 1 shows a comparison of average scores between the Architecture Design and CAD Class of students. Overall, the results showed that students across all years agreed with the current experimental learning style. Responses to the questions ranged from 3.22 to 4.76 on a five-point Likert Scale. The current 3D computer graphics is already an essential skill for construction practitioners, so everyone agrees with Q1’s opinion (from 4.49 to 4.76). As far as Q2 is concerned, students seem to accept the immersive experience of HMD (from 4.27 to 4.59). In Q3, most students expressed that their handheld devices are really helpful to use (from 4.31 to 4.53). When asked about the efficiency of design in Q4, it was obviously lower (from 3.87 to 3.91). But it can be seen from Q5 that the participants were willing to use VR or AR (from 4.13 to 4.24). In the final Q6, the responses of design courses were all lower than the median (only 3.22 points), and students in CAD courses did not reach 4 points. The general opinion is that students still lack confidence in the application of VR or AR. Internal discussions suggested that the department still needs to enrich the content of teaching materials, especially by providing practical cases. As Phan and Choo (2010) also mentioned the use of interior furniture, this kind of visual content involving a lot of details is necessary. Because the current architectural design content only has openings such as walls, doors, and windows. The above is just a standard way of asking questions. Afterwards, in the design class, many students agreed with using HMD as a medium, but some inconveniences Table 1 Mean scores of responses of the two classes’ students Class

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6

Architecture design (year 2)

4.76

4.27

4.31

3.87

4.24

3.22

Computer-aided design (year 1 & 2)

4.49

4.59

4.53

3.91

4.13

3.98

Average value

4.63

4.43

4.42

3.89

4.19

3.60

(Source Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, CHU, 2022–2023)

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still cannot be explained. At this point, the authors also share the same feeling. The intuition is that it is exhausting and have a feeling of discomfort in the head.

4.3 Responses from Teachers A total of 6 teachers (including the authors) responded to the discussions at the end of the semester. Two of the Faculty of Architecture and Design are hosts of the BIM Centre, and two teachers from the Department of Civil Engineering and the College of Tourism only use the experience of HMD. In summarizing the matters discussed below, there have been several exchanges of views among us, and the questions have been mostly technical in nature. A. What did you find most challenging about teaching 3D modeling and VR/AR technologies? The Tourism Academy borrows the existing Google’s Street View service to support the teaching of outdoor tour guides. The Tourism Academy will know how to use AI or Metaverse? We directly asked the manufacturer to import the Google Street Map into the memory of the HMD to run. The students also had a great time. This is somewhat effective in the course of the tour guide. It’s a pity that there is no traditional building content yet

Civil engineering is applied to teaching on the construction site. We first use a 360-degree camera to build a database, and then let students experience the environment of the construction site through the method of HMD delivery. But there is a small problem here, that is, the 360 camera can be displayed on the tablet. In this case, the function of HMD is not obvious, and it is not easy to use.

The two lead teachers of the BIM Centre mainly use HTC’s HMD to walk around the interior model of the Revit Project. If you want to present the 3D model of Revit in HMD, you only need the relevant wiring and conversion card to complete it. The relevant technical settings are also very simple, just follow the instructions and operate step by step. It’s just that the visual experience presented is still not realistic enough, because the light and shadow and materials are limited. But the students were still very excited

Since their assignments are all practical cases, students quickly learn to use HMDs to experience. Relatively speaking, it is not necessary to make any model modifications. The part-time teacher and the author spent a lot of time on file exchange, especially the import process of the Unity interface and the AltspaceVR system. There are many technical obstacles here. B. What specific features or concepts did you find most useful or interesting in the VR/AR experience?

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Using the handheld controller gives one the feeling of playing a game. This makes the whole teaching process easy and enjoyable, but it also takes a lot of time for the system to set up. In addition, if one designs their own virtual space once online success, one may forget how to fix the design, because they have been addicted to it. In terms of the physical environment, it adds a lot of unexpected and interesting effects because it can be set for morning and evening. C. How could the course be improved to better support student’s learning and understanding of 3D modeling, VR, AR, and HMD technologies? Currently, only 7 sets of HMD (only Meta Quest 2 for teaching) can be used at the same time and must be taught in small groups to be implemented. For larger classes, we will still need the assistance of a flat panel (2D) display. Of course, the effect is quite limited, and there is no immersive feeling. The teaching of artificial lighting design requires early preparation. D. Any comments or proposals? The immersive effect of VR products currently on the market is already satisfactory. Some kind of specially designed physical space may be required, and its use will be better. The use of HMD does cause discomfort to the eyes and is not suitable for prolonged use. Since quite a few students are nearsighted, wearing the HMD with the glasses off can cause difficulty focusing. The author himself has the same problem too.

5 Summary of the Interview Generally speaking, the technical level of the hardware is important, but the teaching content is the most important. We all believe that the hardware equipment is still developing, and any inconvenience is just a transitional problem. Since the real world is quite rich, and the gap between what we currently construct is very empty, the gap seems to be insufficient at this stage. The following points are of current interest to the department: • The first thing to emphasize is that the teacher’s teaching method is also a state of “learning by doing.” This VR/AR skill is a challenge for older teachers. • The results of the survey suggest that current 3D computer graphics is an essential skill for construction practitioners, with most participants agreeing with this opinion. The immersive experience of HMDs was also generally accepted by students, suggesting their potential for enhancing the learning experience. • Students expressed their willingness to use these technologies, despite the lower confidence in their application in design and CAD courses. As a teaching unit, more practical cases and rich teaching materials must be provided to enhance students’ confidence in using VR or AR in design courses.

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• Therefore, it is essential to focus on improving teaching materials’ content to increase students’ confidence and understanding of the potential benefits of these technologies in the construction and design fields. • Teaching artificial lighting design requires early preparation and the need for a specially designed physical space to achieve optimal use.

6 Recommendations and Research Limitations From the beginning of internal discussions, the department thought about the scope of application of VR/AR/MR technology, which course is acceptable, the degree of intervention, and whether it can be used as an assessment for students. The capstone course in architecture is of course the architectural design course that is compulsory for every grade. As mentioned above, this course mainly involves the “comprehensive learning experience” (refer to Fig. 2) of (1) small group instruction, (2) off-campus visits, (3) critique sessions (architectural crit), and (4) final project presentations. Except for the second item, the off-campus visit is irreplaceable, and the department hopes to apply VR in all situations, especially in the third item of architectural crit. This teaching process usually centers on students presenting design work to instructors and interviewing critics and fellow students. At its best, it can be used to explore ideas and increase understanding through dialogue between the parties (Sara & Parnell, 2013). More commonly, it revolves around the dual role of the instructor’s “critique” and the student’s “defense” of the design work. With the assistance of VR/AR or MR equipment, can the students’ performance be more stable in such a tight venue, and can the reviewers better understand the students’ thoughts? Here, let us revisit the collaborative mechanism (Fig. 5) of the whole VR/AR/MR technology on architectural design: • Creating a 3D model using software like Revit, SketchUp, or Rhino can be timeconsuming and challenging, requiring significant skill and expertise. The level of detail and accuracy needed for the 3D model can affect the level of effort and focus required to create it. • Exporting the 3D model to a Unity format is a relatively straightforward process and doesn’t require as much effort as creating the 3D model itself. • Using social VR platforms like AltspaceVR or Spatial can involve some technical knowledge to set up and use effectively. However, once set up, it is mostly a matter of navigating the virtual environment and interacting with others in the space. • Lastly, using a Meta Quest VR headset requires higher technical proficiency, including setting up the device, understanding the controls, and calibrating the experience to ensure optimal immersion. Overall, each step involved in creating and experiencing a 3D model can require varying degrees of effort and focus, depending on the individual’s skill level and experience. Facts such as the performance and convenience of hardware devices are definitely make-or-break factors for MR experiences. Although the equipment currently in the

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market is still insufficient, it should improve in the near future, and even experience VR/AR without a headset. In this department, more attention is paid to how to bring the existing architectural database into the context of the metaverse. This work is related to manpower, technology, and funds. The current social VR platforms are still in their infancy or incompletely developed. For example, the AltspaceVR platform was discontinued on March 10, 2023, and all content created by our faculty and students is no longer available. At this stage, it is necessary to contact another platform again. Currently, the AI+ Experience Center is in contact with local manufacturers to use the Spatial System (https:// www.spatial.io/) to create a personal metaverse space. It is also suggested that the relevant social VR platforms must lower the technical threshold for connecting 3D models to any kind of headset.

7 Conclusion In conclusion, the department has carefully considered the scope and application of MR technology, particularly in the context of the compulsory architectural design course. While off-campus visits are irreplaceable, the department sees great potential in incorporating MR technology, especially in the architectural critique sessions. By leveraging VR/AR equipment, students’ performance can potentially become more stable, and reviewers can better understand their design thoughts. The collaborative mechanism of VR/AR/MR technology in architectural design involves several steps, including creating a 3D model, exporting it to a Unity format, using social VR platforms, and utilizing VR headsets like Meta Quest. Each step requires varying levels of effort and focus, depending on individual skills and experience. However, there are challenges to overcome. The current market price of VR/ AR hardware is high, hindering accessibility for students and the widespread adoption of these applications. Issues such as device compatibility with myopia and limited battery life also impact the user experience. Nevertheless, hardware advancements are expected to improve soon, and the potential for experiencing VR/AR without a headset is promising. The department is particularly focused on integrating the existing architectural database into the metaverse, which requires attention to manpower, technology, and funding. Social VR platforms are still in their early stages of development, with some platforms discontinuing their services. It is essential for social VR platforms to lower the technical threshold for connecting 3D models to any type of headset, facilitating a smoother and more accessible user experience. As a result, the department is exploring alternatives, such as the Spatial System, to create a personal metaverse space.

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Overall, despite the current challenges and limitations, the department remains enthusiastic about the potential of MR technology in enhancing architectural education and design processes. With further advancements and improvements, the integration of virtual technologies is expected to play a significant role in the future of architectural education.

References Aydin, S., & Akta¸s, B. (2020). Developing an integrated VR infrastructure in architectural design education. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 7, 495468. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.495468 Ayer, S. K., Messner, J. I., & Anumba, C. J. (2016). Augmented reality gaming in sustainable design education. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 22(1), 04015012. Diao, P. H., & Shih, N. J. (2019). Trends and research issues of augmented reality studies in architectural and civil engineering education—a review of academic journal publications. Applied Sciences, 9(9), 1840. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9091840 Gillette, D. (1999). Pedagogy, architecture, and the virtual classroom. Technical Communication Quarterly, 8(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572259909364646 Grover, R., Emmitt, S., & Copping, A. (2020). Critical learning for sustainable architecture: Opportunities for design studio pedagogy. Sustainable Cities and Society, 53, 101876. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.scs.2019.101876 Hajirasouli, A., & Banihashemi, S. (2022). Augmented reality in architecture and construction education: State of the field and opportunities. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 19(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-022-00343-9 Hajirasouli, A., Banihashemi, S., Sanders, P., & Rahimian, F. (2023). BIM-enabled virtual reality (VR)-based pedagogical framework in architectural design studios. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-07-2022-0149 Januszka, M., & Moczulski, W. (2006). Collaborative augmented reality in CAD design. Machine Dynamics Problems, 30(3), 124–131. Kerr, J., & Lawson, G. (2020). Augmented reality in design education: Landscape architecture studies as AR experience. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 39(1), 6–21. https:// doi.org/10.1111/jade.12227 Kharvari, F., & Kaiser, L. E. (2022). Impact of extended reality on architectural education and the design process. Automation in Construction, 141, 104393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon. 2022.104393 Lee, J. G., Seo, J., Abbas, A., & Choi, M. (2020). End-users’ augmented reality utilization for architectural design review. Applied Sciences, 10(15), 5363. https://doi.org/10.3390/app101 55363 Li, S. (2022, July). Potential of using computer vision to predict graphics for learning-bydoing. In 2022 IEEE 5th International Conference on Knowledge Innovation and Invention (ICKII) (pp. 169–172). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICKII55100.2022.9983585. Milgram, P., & Kishino, F. (1994). A taxonomy of mixed reality visual displays. IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information and Systems, 77(12), 1321–1329. Milovanovic, J., Moreau, G., Siret, D., & Miguet, F. (2017, July). Virtual and augmented reality in architectural design and education. In 17th international conference, CAAD futures 2017. Nicol, D., & Pilling, S. (2000). Architectural education and the profession. Changing Architectural Education: TOwards a New Profession, 1, 22. Phan, V. T., & Choo, S. Y. (2010). Interior design in augmented reality environment. International Journal of Computer Applications, 5(5), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.5120/912-1290

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Salama, A. M. (2005). A process oriented design pedagogy: KFUPM sophomore studio. Centre for Education in the Built Environment Transactions, 2(2), 16–31. https://doi.org/10.11120/tran. 2005.02020016. Sanoff, H. (2011). Multiple views of participatory design. Focus, 8(1), 7. Sara, R., & Parnell, R. (2013). Fear and learning in the architectural crit. Field Journal, 5(1), 101–125. Stouffs, R., Janssen, P., Roudavski, S., & Tunçer, B. (2013). What is happening to virtual and augmented reality applied to architecture. In Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2013) (Vol. 1, p. 10). https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caa dria.2013.407. Ummihusna, A., & Zairul, M. (2022). Investigating immersive learning technology intervention in architecture education: A systematic literature review. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 14(1), 264–281. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-08-2020-0279 Yuen, S. C. Y., Yaoyuneyong, G., & Johnson, E. (2011). Augmented reality: An overview and five directions for AR in education. Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE), 4(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.18785/jetde.0401.10.

Dr. Shao-Fu Li received his DipArch from the University of Sheffield, England, and Ph.D. from the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, UK. He is working as a Lecturer of Architecture at Chung Hua University, Taiwan, where he is responsible for several Architectural Design programs. Currently, he also serves as director of the University Social Responsibility (USR) Promotion Office, assisting schools in promoting UN-SDGs courses and managing USR practice programs across the University. His research interests include exploring aged and historic buildings under ecological design concepts and AI applied to teach architecture, research and analysis of people flow activities. Prof. Steven Kwan Keung Ng received his BBA from the University of Hawaii (Hilo), MBA from the Chaminade University of Honolulu, and DBA from the University of South Australia. He is concurrently a Professor at College de Paris, a Visiting Professor at Ming-Ai (London) Institute, and an Honorary Professor at Chung Hua University. Previously he was the Campus Director cum Professor at the University of Sunderland in Hong Kong. Prof Ng has published over sixty research papers in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences. His research interests include marketing, brand management, international business, consumer behavior, service quality, teaching and learning, e-learning, and hybrid learning. Dr. Pei-Ying Wu is an Assistant Professor in International Tourism and Hospitality Management Double Degree Program at Chung Hua University, Taiwan. She received her Ph.D. in Events Management from the Leeds Beckett University in England, UK, and her MSc in International Hospitality Management from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She is also a qualified NCDA (National Career Development Association) consultant. Her research interests include marketing in events management, Service Quality Management in business events, events impact measurement, career development, Tourism and Hospitality Management, E-Learning, and teaching.

Reflections on Online Learning, Blended Learning, and Self-directed Learning

Online Classroom Interaction Strategies: Voices of Teachers in Disadvantaged Areas Thi Thuy Le, Helena Sit, Shen Chen, and Hauling Sun

Abstract The adoption of technical innovation tools in the virtual classroom has prompted new teaching strategies and interactional patterns for class participation. During the pandemic, temporary shutdown of schools increased our awareness of the indispensable benefits of face-to-face interaction between students and teachers. Unequal access to technological applications in different countries and/or regions was revealed due to the transition to online teaching. Enhancing equal access and quality of education should start with improving the quality of teaching forces in response to digital innovations. The pandemic has prompted considerable research into online teaching; however, there is a paucity of research regarding the interactional aspects of online teaching. The issues of how teachers interacted with technology to facilitate their online interaction in pandemic-initiated online teaching have yet to be inadequately investigated in disadvantaged areas. For example, although recent Vietnamese scholars have drawn attention to interaction patterns during their online teaching, their studies were conducted primarily at the tertiary level and in urban areas; school teachers in marginalised areas have been neglected. This current study aims to address interactional aspects of online teaching in the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam to enhance the quality of teaching forces in disadvantaged areas. In-depth experiential and semi-structured interviews were used to explore the online interaction experience of twenty upper-secondary school teachers working in this region. Identifying teachers’ perceptions, challenges, and coping strategies paves the way for initiating help and support and enacting responsive and equitable teacher training and professional development policies in Vietnam’s disadvantaged educational contexts. It should provide wider implications to the online language teaching

T. T. Le (B) Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam e-mail: [email protected] H. Sit · S. Chen The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia H. Sun Xin Jinn Shan Chinese Language and Culture School, Victoria, Australia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_5

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and learning practices in other countries and/or regions that share similar contextual similarities. Keywords Computer-aided learning · Disadvantaged areas · Online classroom interaction · Pedagogical approaches and strategies

1 Introduction Learning a language is best conducted in interactive and authentic environments (Suen, 2014) and schools offer social interaction opportunities for students and teachers (Wang et al., 2020). The temporary shutdown of schools due to the pandemic increased our awareness of the indispensable benefits of face-to-face interaction between students and teachers (Adnan & Anwar, 2020). Although many governments and education sectors rapidly adapted to the online teaching mode, they considered this shift a temporary solution while waiting for the “back-to-normal” situation of the world. Therefore, the online teaching issues were not addressed comprehensively; priority was given to technological aspects rather than pedagogical concerns. In many countries, the lack of technological and pedagogical support resulted in teachers’ discomfort and stress (Klapproth et al., 2020). Online classroom interaction, one of the significant issues that challenge different educational systems (Arora & Srinivasan, 2021; Bozkurt et al., 2020), has been understudied, especially in disadvantaged areas. Recent Vietnamese scholars have drawn attention to interaction patterns during their online teaching; however, their studies were conducted in the contexts of urban areas, and school teachers in marginalised areas have been neglected. Enhancing equitable and high-quality education should start with improving the quality of teaching forces in response to digital innovations. It becomes essential to study factors and promotion strategies that influence online classroom interaction. The issues of how teachers interacted with technology and how teachers used technology to facilitate their online interaction in pandemic-initiated online teaching should be equally addressed. Therefore, this study investigated interactional aspects of online teaching in the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam to enhance the quality of teaching forces in disadvantaged areas. Insights into school teachers’ interactional strategies and practices will lay the cornerstones for responsive and equitable teacher training and professional development policies in Vietnam’s rural and mountainous areas.

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2 Literature 2.1 Interaction in Language Classrooms The vital role of interaction in second-language classrooms has been documented in the existing literature. Classroom interaction is a source of cultural learning, a protective environment for learners to explore culture by engaging in communication and interaction (Kramsch, 2013). Without opportunities for interaction and communication, it is easy for language learners to form incorrect assumptions about other cultures (Le, 2017). Interaction, especially spoken communication (conversations, providing feedback, asking-answering dialogues), is critical to learners’ second language development (Kramsch, 2013; González-Lloret, 2020). More specifically, student–student interaction enhances students’ communicative ability (Gass & Varonis, 1994). When interacting with computers and peers, students experienced joy and interest in their learning (Dong, 2014). Students tend to develop positive self-esteem, self-confidence, and a sense of identity when interacting with teachers and other students (Pietro et al., 2020).

2.2 Technology and Online Classroom Interaction Technological tools are crucial in teachers’ adaptive processes and choices (Bento et al., 2021). Teachers’ adequate digital literacy and appropriate use of technologies foster interaction and cooperation between student and student or between teacher and student (Çebi et al., 2022). The use of educational technologies can help to engage students to learn, interact, and empower more autonomy in self-study (Murphy et al., 2011; Pop, 2010). Using technological applications is claimed to enable new forms of interaction and facilitated learner-learner interaction, communication, and collaborative work (Engen, 2019; Esteve-Mon et al., 2020; González-Lloret, 2020; Mahdi, 2014; Rehn et al., 2018; Tran, 2019; Wu, 2014). However, technology disrupts the modes of communication and interaction expected in face-to-face classrooms or, in other words, changes the learning environment (Hampel, 2019; Stickler, 2022). The adoption of technical innovation tools in the classroom has prompted new teaching strategies and assessment methods, which are no longer based on individual interaction between teacher and student (Caswell et al., 2008). Online teaching, a new delivery mode, prioritises the flexibility of time, place, space, and interaction (Anderson, 2011). Technological tools become the platforms on which social relationships and learning collaborations in online courses operate. Different types of interaction occur during online teaching: student–student interaction, student–content interaction, and student–teacher interaction (Dinh & Nguyen, 2020; Dong, 2014; Le et al., 2020; Moore, 1989; Nguyen, 2017). These types of interaction differ from face-to-face interactions in different aspects (Payne,

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2020), such as learner interaction, engagement, motivation, and student learning outcomes assessment (Doucet et al., 2020).

2.3 Challenges of Promoting Classroom Interaction in Online Teaching Online teaching brought a temporary relief to classroom contexts during the pandemic. However, teachers and students faced challenges when transitioning to online teaching. This mode soon received much criticism regarding the interactional aspects such as missing, restricted interaction, and lack of oral interaction between student and student (Adnan & Anwar, 2020; Arora & Srinivasan, 2021; Cheung, 2021; Eroglu & Senol, 2021; Redmond, 2015; Selvam, 2020). In many countries, the interaction between teachers and students was mostly ignored (Bozkurt et al., 2020); a lack of regular interaction between teachers and colleagues was also reported (Cutri et al., 2021). A growing body of work has investigated factors affecting the lack of interaction in online classrooms. The existing literature has indicated unequal access to technology during the pandemic (OCED, 2020). The lack of technology or inappropriate application, on the contrary, hinders online classroom interaction. In addition to the lack of educational tools, internet connection problems, and other strictly technical problems negatively affect online interaction patterns (Bagherbeigi, 2019; Simut et al., 2020). These obstacles were exacerbated for both teachers and students who experienced a shortage of support and financial resources during the COVID-19 pandemic (Bento et al., 2021). At universities in remote places in Vietnam, emails and Google Hangouts were initially used as simple online technology (Nguyen & Pham, 2020); Zoom and Microsoft Office 365 were most popularly used for teacher-student online communication (Lee, 2020). On the teacher’s side, the success of online teaching was inhibited by their deeprooted beliefs that face-to-face interaction between teacher and student is the most effective. They were confronted with such a sudden transition and found it challenging to transform their teaching methods (Dinh & Nguyen, 2020). Furthermore, online interaction is restricted due to the lack of teachers’ digital competence and professional training. While some feel competent in using digital tools in their teaching and find online instruction rewarding, many teachers feel they were not well prepared and competent to adopt technology to enhance class interaction. These combined problems have posed unprecedented challenges for teachers in online interaction. A substantial body of studies has examined how Vietnamese teachers integrate ICT into their online teaching (e.g. Dinh & Nguyen, 2020; Le, 2017; Tran, 2019). The pandemic has prompted considerable research into online teaching in Vietnam; however, there is a paucity of research regarding the interactional aspects of online teaching. Although recent Vietnamese scholars have focused on interaction patterns

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during their online teaching (e.g. Hoang et al., 2022; Le et al., 2020), their studies were conducted primarily at the tertiary level and in urban areas. Available studies have explored how teachers organise various types of student interaction such as student–content interaction, student–teacher interaction, and student–student interaction. Teacher interaction, another side of the coin, has not been adequately investigated. This current study aims to fill the gap by exploring two aspects of uppersecondary school teachers’ online interaction, namely interaction through technology and interaction with technology. More specifically, the study addresses the following research questions: 1. What are the benefits and challenges of online interaction? 2. What factors impact online interaction? 3. What coping strategies were adopted by the teachers in their online interaction?

3 The Study 3.1 Setting and Participants The study was conducted in multiethnic and multilingual provinces in the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam, home to 11 ethnic minority groups living in 14 provinces, with 85% of residents in multi-cultural mountainous provinces from different minority groups (Bui, 2013). This region is the largest but the poorest of all the regions in Vietnam (Tran et al., 2018). Minority people in this region are challenged by unresponsive education, linguistic and cultural marginalisation, economic and geographical inequity, and shortages of teachers who are ethnic minorities or can speak minority languages (Tran et al., 2015, 2016). Despite various contextual challenges, this region contributed significantly to the overall development of Vietnam. This region was purposely selected as the research site because one of the researchers was born, living, and working in this region and had worked there as a teacher educator. Her struggles, experiences, and multiple identities as a community member, a teacher, and a researcher helped shape her understanding of this research setting. Also, the researcher has knowledge and experience in training teachers residing and working in these areas. She is committed to promoting high-quality and equitable education for this region. A total of twenty upper-secondary school English language teachers working in urban or remote schools in the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam volunteered to participate in the current study. Sampling in this qualitative research is strategic and purposeful to meet the aims and nature of the research (Maxwell, 2005). The teacher participants were asked to provide demographic information such as gender, age, experience, and professional years. They undertook at least 4-year training in the English language, and eight teachers had a Master’s degree in TESOL. To make the data generalisable, the participants were purposefully selected from various career stages. Teachers having fewer than five years of teaching, 6 and 15 years of

84 Table 1 Teacher qualifications, programs, and school origins

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Demographic

Category

N (%)

Gender

Male

4 (20)

Female

16 (80)

Age

Qualification Career stage

Location of school

22–29

6 (30)

30–40 40+

9 (45) 5 (25)

Bachelor in TESOL

12 (60)

Master in TESOL

8 (40)

Early career (0–5 years)

7 (35)

Mid-career (6–15 years)

8 (40)

Late-career (15+ years)

5 (25)

Urban

14 (70)

Remote

6 (30)

teaching, and over 15 years were categorised as early-career teachers, mid-career teachers, and late-career teachers, respectively. In addition to the English language, all the participants speak the national language, Vietnamese, and 50 per cent of these teachers speak one of some minority languages such as Thai, Hmong, Tay, and Nung. The demographic characteristics of participants are summarised as follows (Tables 1 and 2).

3.2 Data Collection Since a qualitative inquiry enables the researchers to explore one’s subjective experience of specific situations and circumstances (Royer & Moreau, 2016), this study employed a qualitative approach in data collection and analysis. In-depth and semistructured interviews were used because they allowed participants to share their perspectives, experiences, and insights about what they perceive as online interaction in online teaching while enabling the researchers to exercise less control of the interview data (Chen & Le, 2021). Some guided questions were also used to give the researchers the flexibility in eliciting interviewees’ articulation of why such factors were considered constraints, potentials, or challenges. For example: 1. During your online teaching, what are your challenges in terms of student– student interaction, teacher–student interaction, students-teaching content? Please describe at least three challenges. 2. What are the positive impacts of online teaching on classroom interaction (i.e. students’ interaction and your interaction with students)? Please describe some. 3. What are the factors that facilitate or hinder your interaction with students? 4. What techniques/strategies did you use to promote students’ interaction?

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Table 2 Participants’ demographic information Ppt

Pseudo

Gener

Age group

Exp

Languages

Qual

1

An

Female

>40

>15

Vietnamese

B.A.

2

Chi

Female

22–29

0–5

Vietnamese and Thai

M.A.

3

Dung

Female

22–29

0–5

Vietnamese and Nung

B.A.

4

Hanh

Female

>40

>15

Vietnamese

M.A.

5

Hoa

Female

30–40

6–15

Vietnamese and Hmong

B.A.

6

Khoa

Male

30–40

6–15

Vietnamese

B.A.

7

Mai

Female

30–40

6–15

Vietnamese and Thai

B.A.

8

Lam

Male

30–40

6–15

Vietnamese and Thai

B.A.

9

Lan

Female

22–29

0–5

Vietnamese

B.A.

10

Nam

Male

>40

6–15

Vietnamese and Nung

M.A.

11

Nga

Female

30–40

6–15

Vietnamese

M.A.

12

Oanh

Female

22–29

0–5

Vietnamese

M.A.

13

Phong

Male

22–29

0–5

Vietnamese, Thai and Hmong

B.A.

14

Quy

Female

22–29

0–5

Vietnamese and Tay

B.A.

15

Tham

Female

30–40

0–5

Vietnamese and Thai

M.A.

16

Thao

Female

30–40

6–15

Vietnamese

M.A.

17

Thi

Female

>40

>15

Vietnamese

B.A.

18

Thu

Female

30–40

>15

Vietnamese

M.A.

19

Trang

Female

30–40

6–15

Vietnamese and Hmong

B.A.

20

Xuan

Female

>40

>15

Vietnamese

B.A.

These questions helped reveal what remains hidden or unexplained in the interviewees’ responses, elaborate, clarify, and gain insights into the participants’ experience. Teachers were asked to report their previous experience of online interaction, so it was not surprising that all the teachers reflected on their online teaching during the pandemic. This study was conducted in the context of social restrictions being lifted and face-to-face teaching being back to normal. Letters were sent to the school principals or teacher-in-charge of five participating schools in the North mountainous region together for approval. The interviewees were allowed to speak English or Vietnamese, according to each participant’s preference. Each interview took place on Zoom or by phone and was audio-recorded and verbatim transcribed. Each interview lasted roughly within an hour. Before the data were collected, information sheets and consent forms were distributed for the informants’ approval. Participants were informed of the research, the secure data storage, their access to the collected data, and the right to withdraw at any time. Anonymity and confidentiality were guaranteed to ensure that every individual who participated in the study would not be affected by the research. All personal names of people, schools, and provinces were not published, and the names of interviewees were replaced with pseudonyms.

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3.3 Data Analysis The transcripts were emailed to the participants for cross-checking. The Vietnamese transcripts were translated into English. Once the raw qualitative data were checked and translated into English, they were tallied, collated, and tabulated for analysis. NVivo software was adopted as an aiding tool, allowing the researchers to identify emerging major themes and subordinate themes. In this study, the inductive analysis and the constant comparative method were adopted to analyse the data (Hong, 2012). More specifically, the emerged themes were cross-checked and constantly compared to identify the commonalities and variations between two sets of data (pre-determined and preliminary emerged themes and categories). All the themes and findings were compared with previous literature and findings.

4 Research Findings 4.1 Teachers’ Experience of Online Interaction 4.1.1

Benefits of Online Interaction

When asked about positive experiences related to online interaction, all early-career and mid-career teachers (n = 15) appraised numerous benefits of online interaction in virtual teaching. The most obvious advantage of online teaching was the inevitable adoption of technological tools, which empowered teachers’ pedagogical adaptations in organising and promoting student–student interaction. For example, Nga elaborated: Interactive game platforms open up a new world of excitement and joy for my students. I often use Quizizz or Kahoot at the beginning of my lessons. I can do many thanks to the assistance of interactive worksheets, brainstorming, and assessment platforms such as google forms or Microsoft forms. (Nga)

Among those supporting online teaching, 10 teachers reported that online teaching helped them better organise students’ interaction: “The group division is also assisted by online learning. I can divide students into random groups, or they can choose groups that they prefer.” (Chi). An interactive classroom where students engage in interacting and contributing to the learning process was achievable with the appearance of digital innovations. This benefit was clarified by Chi: Students can interact with each other at a fast speed, and everyone can see comments in the chat box. Many students can contribute their ideas simultaneously thanks to some brainstorming platforms such as padlet. For games, every member gets an equal chance to participate, and everything is clear, right from the rules, the marking and the ranking. (Chi)

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For Thao, online teaching allows students to learn more about technology and digital content and interact with each other in an effective and meaningful way. For Quy, online teaching increased students’ motivation to interact with content: “I think that my students become more motivated and eager to learn after being warmed up by a small game challenge.” (Quy). Quy added that student–student interaction was enhanced due to teachers’ increased confidence in interacting with peers, and they are more willing to provide and receive feedback from their classmates. This benefit becomes a distinguishing feature for online lessons: The best merit is that some of my students seem bolder and more ready to voice their opinions when having online classes. They are more critical in judging and commenting on their peers’ performance. Well, reversely, during face-to-face lessons, only a few students are willing to ask their friends questions and get feedback from each other. (Quy)

All these teachers agreed that online teaching provided them with many ways of interacting with students, and “using social networks such as Facebook and Zalo is one of the ways of connecting and interacting with students” (Dung). Teachers were given convenience for interaction: “We had a 24/7 channel to contact each other whenever needed, Zalo. We did not have such practice during the offline time.” (Hoa). They were also allowed to employ specific techniques to suit their students. For example, Hoa explained how teachers would be equipped with various empowerment tools to enhance teacher–student interaction: During the lesson, the teacher can ask questions, post statuses and ask students to contribute their ideas by commenting under that Facebook post or typing something in the chat box. Teachers can make use of Zalo, Facebook, and Google classroom. With introverted ones, teachers may ask them to write a small reflection on Google forms. (Hoa)

Nevertheless, teachers claimed that oral interaction is limited in online classes, but written communication and interaction bring about different learnings for teachers and students. Teachers had a chance to understand their students. Engaging in casual written daily chats, discussions, and conversations via Zoom and social media such as Facebook and Zalo group chats enabled teachers to build and nurture close relationships with their students. Some even developed new awareness of their students: When we were interacting online on Facebook, some students differed from how they often behave in face-to-face classes. Those who were often quiet previously were the noisiest in online discussions. They were prompt in interacting with my questions and other students. Some students showed their thoughtfulness, maturity, and sense of humour in their comments and replies. (Dung)

It was advocated that online teaching facilitated students’ feedback. According to Phong, online teaching and learning make it easier to collect feedback from students whenever he wants and without effort.

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4.1.2

Challenges of Online Interaction in Online Teaching

Despite many potentials of online interaction, teachers perceived tremendous interactional constraints when interacting through technology. All the participants (n = 20) reported that online interaction, especially oral interaction, is weaker than faceto-face interaction in a traditional class. Complaints about limited student–student and teacher–student interaction were heard: They have off-topic chats when being divided into the breakout rooms. Some disappear from the screen. I have no idea why they hesitate and try to decline my offer by resorting to all sorts of reasons. (Xuan)

When eliciting questions from the whole class, the teachers often received no or slow responses from these students. When I asked the questions, the students were not interested in answering. Some even turned off their cameras as soon as I finished. (Thi) I did not get prompt responses from my students when I asked questions, and I even did not know if they understood my points. It was like I was delivering a mono talk to students, and they even did not give me any hints to let me know if they were confused or happy with my presentation (Khoa).

For Lam, online interaction itself is challenging: Living in modern times, students seem to be familiar with ‘fast food culture. They tried to grasp everything without spending sufficient time thinking and reflecting. Sometimes I posted the questions, tasks or requests, but these one – to – three simple sentences could be misinterpreted due to their careless reading without asking for clarification. (Lam)

According to teachers such as Phong and Tham, the main reason for the lack of interaction was the nature of this type of interaction, “creating less sharing and interaction between teacher and student than in face-to-face contexts” (Phong). Tham also said, “Because teachers and students do not have face-to-face contact, their interaction was hindered.” Most teachers said their students were not active and engaged in class activities. They also added that the interaction level of students is different. Some students are very active and attentive, while others are too passive that they always blame external factors for their lack of engagement. For example, “My internet connection is not OK!”, “I can’t turn on my microphone!”, “I can’t see your screen share!”. Some teachers were demotivated by the lack of prompt responses. Nam said, “I lost interest and motivation with online teaching.” The lack of interaction with students during online teaching caused a negative impact on teachers both physically and psychologically teachers. For example, Oanh claimed that she became more apathetic with online interaction because she lost the warm and caring connections that she used to feel with face-to-face communication. Thi felt embarrassed and discouraged when her students stubbornly declined her request for students to turn off their cameras. Teachers like Mai and Xuan were exhausted due to long hours sitting in front of the computer screen:

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I am really exhausted since I have to sit and look at the screen for a long time and students take too long to respond to my questions. (Mai) It is totally exhausting to spend too many hours in front of the computer screens, like 6-7 hours every day attending online lessons and then at least 2-3 hours of self-study or group work. In total, it is more than 10 hours, and our backs are prone to suffer. (Xuan)

Several teachers complained about the weak trust and bonding between teachers and students in online teaching, which entailed weak online interaction. Nga preferred face-to-face teaching to online ones because she could make frequent eye contact and jokes to make the lessons more interesting. Dung explained why she found a lack of bonding with students when teaching online: Just imagine you are interacting with black avatars and not knowing what is happening behind them. Students are doing something else and are not listening to the lecturer. We only connected with the internet but lost our bond and connection. (Dung)

4.2 Factors Affecting Positive Online Interaction 4.2.1

Interaction-Enhancing Resources

Many teachers expressed how they were assisted by technology in facilitating class interaction. They also highlighted the importance of selecting appropriate tools to meet student’s diverse needs. Lam recommended using applications or websites that help create interactive worksheets: “I can upload my worksheets, make some adjustments and turn them into self-correcting interactive exercises that students can do online” (Lam). Other advantages of interacting with students through technology were listed by Hoa, namely, learning students’ names better and building teacherstudent relationships. Thanks to Zoom, I learned students’ names better (especially for large classes). While I couldn’t reach all students, some became closer to me as they shared about what they had been doing during the pandemic. (Hoa)

Some teachers also indicated how students’ prompt responses and interactions positively affected their teaching motivation: “Sometimes, I notice students may drop some reaction icons such as heart, happy or sad, at least by this, I feel more propelled to continue my lessons.” (Mai).

4.2.2

Personal and Contextual-Based Factors Affecting Online Interaction

All the respondents (n = 20) reported insufficient classroom interaction during online teaching and attributed it to technical or technological issues. For instance, Hanh shared her situation like this:

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T. T. Le et al. My students had countless reasons as excuses for their inactive participation in class activities: unstable internet access, out-of-order speakers or cameras. They were not interested in interacting and communicating with peers or group discussions. (Hanh)

Phong also shared similar problems with his students. Sometimes he called one or two students without hearing any responses or was unsuccessful in sharing the screen. These typical issues happened due to unstable connections. Lack of access to educational technologies was one of the teachers’ challenges. The following teacher reported inadequate support from her school, such as technological facilities or technical assistance: We were not provided with sufficient technological tools. I have to buy the licensed version of Zoom. I had already asked for assistance from the principal to buy Zoom, but you know the answer. (Quy)

This teacher also added that many times during the discussion, all students kept silent with their cameras off. They had several reasons to excuse for not being interactional in the activities, such as unstable internet access or something wrong with their speakers or cameras. In addition to technical challenges, class size was revealed as a contributing factor to interaction by all the teachers teaching in remote schools. Trang said that sometimes she could not control the student–student interaction because the class was too crowded. The study recorded some combined factors that inhibit online interaction. One is the students’ lack of digital competence: “My students only had a basic knowledge of ICT, so they could not function effectively every time I assigned them tasks” (Chi). Also, students’ passiveness, unwillingness, and ignorant attitudes were the most significant problems teachers had to handle during their teaching. Phong provided a further explanation: Most of my students were only sometimes willing to answer my questions. I could spot the fact that some students turned off their cameras when they heard my questions. Perhaps it was a trick to make an excuse not to answer. Technology was always blamed for this. (Phong)

In terms of teachers’ side, 16 out of 20 interviewees reported that their preferences for face-to-face interaction resulted in their limited interaction and affected pedagogical strategies in facilitating interaction: “I prefer face-to-face teaching to online teaching. Online teaching takes away the merits of physical interaction that are often in the form of eye contact.” (Hanh). The data also showed that late-career teachers were struggling with how to facilitate class interaction because they lacked digital competence to mediate digital tools in their teaching: Managing students’ interaction is a big challenge for me. I did not know how to use technology to engage the students in interactive activities. I could not do much because they were not interested in this learning mode: sitting in front of the screen without face-to-face interaction deactivated their enthusiasm and independence. (Xuan)

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Some late-career teachers were aware of their weakness: their lack of technical competence as a hindrance to interactive classes. They found it hard to design interactive activities to prompt their students, although they were aware that technology makes their lessons more exciting. It was too difficult to manage and know if they were with me or doing other kinds of stuff during the lesson delivery. I found it hard to create an inclusive and caring atmosphere in my virtual class despite being aware of its value to students’ well-being and academic achievement. (Hanh)

An, a late-career teacher, felt confident with the traditional teaching styles, so what she often did was only changing the channel of teaching, not the way of teaching: “I delivered the lessons in the same way, the only difference was only instead of giving the students paper slides, now they received the lesson notes in electronic slides. The students did not have to print out.” (An). In Thao’s case, the mixture of students from ethnic minority groups and Kinh caused double pressure on her to interact with culturally diverse students. Her situation reflected a shared experience of many teachers who may struggle with communicating in comprehensible minority languages or the Kinh language (or Vietnamese), let alone English. Similarly, Thu’s limited knowledge of her student’s learning needs and styles hinders her interaction with these students: I knew little about the social and cultural backgrounds of my Tay and Hmong students. It was hard for me to design authentic materials to meet their needs because I must confess that I was not confident about that spectrum of content knowledge. I could only design the standard culture-oriented rather than ethnic minority culture-oriented materials and teaching activities. (Thu)

Almost all the late-career teachers agreed that they were not well prepared for the new way of teaching in digital environments, so they found it challenging to organise different types of interaction in online teaching. The voice of An represents the shared experience of other participants: My colleagues and I considered this teaching move only a temporary solution during the lockdown, so we tried to maintain the teaching and learning activities as best as we could not make them stop. We had never had the skills or professional training to handle emergency education like this before. (An)

4.3 Coping Strategies to Promote Online Classroom Participation The study showed that during online teaching, teachers took advantage of various sources of strategies in making their pedagogical adaptations. Some strategies were applied, including changing learning goals, seeking effective teaching techniques, and adapting teaching and learning resources. I also resort to other methods such as asking students questions about what they have just learnt, designing quick tests at the end of the lessons or writing reflections or memos. (Dung)

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The teachers also tried to overcome adverse situations by adjusting their teaching methods. While Lan, Thao, and Mai created an open and friendly environment and designed ice-breaking activities and games to allow her students to interact, Oanh’s strategy was adapting pedagogy to meet students’ diverse needs by employing discussion-oriented activities and interactive games to motivate students to interact: Due to the students’ low English competence, I removed some tasks/activities. I tried to create interactive classes, whatever language they were using, but they had to interact, talk, and engage in the learning. So, I added more authentic videos (with URLs) to my teaching plans (transcriptions were sent to two students who had problems with hearing). I asked them to share their opinions and feelings when watching the films in Vietnamese or English. This adjustment enhanced their motivation and engagement throughout the course. (Oanh)

Oanh also used rewarding systems to encourage student interaction: presenting certificates or vouchers for their active contribution to classroom interaction. Many teachers, such as Lan and Nga, contextualised the learning materials to tailor specific learner groups to address the significant diversity at their schools: My students come from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and English is their foreign language. I tried to develop authentic, meaningful materials to motivate them. I often incorporated podcasts and websites that students could visit later to search for more information. (Lan) Based on my student’s feedback, I adjusted and adapted learning materials to make the class more interactive. I used more videos and audio materials for classes with students from indigenous groups, Thai, Hmong, Kme, and Kmu, whose cultures and languages were predominantly oral. (Nga)

Continuous teaching reflection also enabled these teachers to develop their teaching ability. Teachers’ self-development enables them to upskill themselves in promoting online interaction. Teachers joined paid online courses on using Zoom to teach languages because they thought, “It is worth the investment. I benefitted a lot from this course. The course targets both technical and pedagogical training aspects. I felt more confident and competent in handling technical issues.” (Lan). High ICT competency enables many teachers (n = 15) to adapt more quickly. Quy described her process from being panicked to a sense of comfort: In the beginning, I panicked and lost all my confidence in interactive remote teaching. Nevertheless, gradually, I became more comfortable with digital tools and platforms and enjoyed new ways of interacting with my students in online classes. (Quy)

One reported strategy was building trust outside the classroom to unblock the students’ hesitancy in classroom interaction. The significance of creating and developing trust between teacher and student was emphasised by almost all the respondents (n = 18). One teacher elaborated: We created a fan page for our class and often chatted. Sometimes we played the games like confessions to understand each other. I look forward to knowing what obstacles my students face and what they expect from their teachers and peers. We chatted and had informal conversations through social media because class time is not sufficient and appropriate for such casual talks. (Thi)

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All the participants emphasised the importance of two-way communication between teachers and students to make sure that all the issues, such as teacher’s expectations, classroom discipline, their preferred communication, and interactional channels, were passed to students. According to Oanh, teachers need to give detailed instructions to show the students the appropriate manner, teacher’s expectations, and communication channels to interact with each other. The respondents prioritised classroom management skills to enhance interaction, such as using applications to check students’ participation or peer feedback to encourage interaction in writing lessons. The following teachers reported their teaching strategies: Setting rules and having knowledge of students’ expectations and appropriate behaviours were significant for managing virtual classrooms to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings. (Lam) We discussed and agreed on classroom discipline, such as using real names, being punctual, using the chat function to ask questions, turning on cameras, muting when not speaking, dressing as they would be in class, showing respect and avoiding distractions or multi-tasking, and participating in activities etc. (Thi) Assigning group work for different tasks and their performance reflected in group chat helped me easily track the active members/groups’ in-class activities. Some reactions like heart and clapping hands also show their emotions during class. (Xuan)

Professional learning networks on Facebook and Zalo permit more interaction and sharing of resources. For instance, Phong and Quy elaborated on how they could manage their psychological issues when being a part of these networks: I have been lucky to have supportive teachers’ networks. We have operated primarily online. We share challenges and solutions to teaching issues. Every day we have posted about asking for help with technical issues. In the past, some even did not know how to set up a Zoom and invite students to chat rooms. They even needed to figure out what to do to share the screen. Some problems were even harder to handle than mine. Then I realised I was more stressed than necessary. I felt more relaxed when hearing about their problems. I even became a consultant for those needing help and assisted them with technical enquiries. (Phong) The academic communities and networks have supported me a lot in my teaching. What I mean by the academic community is the Head of the Division and my colleagues. We have organised meetings and seminars where we shared our difficulties in online teaching. They helped me be more confident because we know we are in the same boat and have experienced similar difficulties. (Quy)

5 Discussions As previously reviewed, there are at least four themes emerged from the research results, which are elaborated further as follows.

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5.1 Teachers’ General Experience of Online Interaction and Their Teaching Practice It has been learned from this study that upper-secondary school teachers working in disadvantaged mountainous areas encounter tremendous contextual and personal constraints that hinder their online interaction. The overall scenario of EFL teacher trainees is that they were learning to survive and cope with the sudden shift of teaching mode. The most significant concerns were their unpreparedness for new teaching experiences, which made them struggle with appropriate pedagogy that could promote interaction in the virtual class. While interaction with technology was essential during the pandemic, this study indicated that different types of classroom interaction are present in online teaching: teacher–teacher interaction, teacher– student interaction, and student–student interaction. Teachers also used technology to enhance their interaction with learners, the interaction between learners, with other colleagues, within and outside the learning session.

5.2 Facilitating and Hindering Factors Affecting Online Interaction With the adoption of technical innovation tools, online teaching has prompted new interactional patterns and strategies, and advanced technology enhances different patterns of interaction. The finding supports the previous studies’ call that technology must be integral in face-to-face and online teaching to create an interactive environment for meaningful communication and interaction. However, this finding affirms the importance of prioritising psychological and pedagogical dimensions of teaching and learning over the technological aspect. In other words, technology should be a medium of teaching and learning, a platform on which teaching and learning operate. The findings of Bozkurt et al. (2020)’s study revealed that technology could not replace face-to-face interaction, the care and emotion present in a classroom, or the ‘human side of an online classroom (Gacs et al., 2020). Maintaining trust and close relationships with students brings about a positive experience for online teaching and learning, similar to the recommendation made by Tu and McIsaac (2002). The teachers maintained communication via multiple pathways such as emails and social networking sites (Facebook, Zalo), and these social interaction pathways increased teacher-student interaction and student engagement. Some constraints need to be addressed in the long term. The study revealed that inadequate digital competence of teachers leads to their limited participation and interaction. The interviewees also reported a big class size as a barrier to online interaction: They found it difficult to use technology to engage students in interactive activities. The finding of this study is consistent with an argument that learner-centred activities are best conducted in small classes (Wright et al., 2019), and student– student interaction and teacher-student interactions are enriched in small classes

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(Deutsch, 2003). The findings indicated that teachers’ appropriate pedagogy allows them to foster online interaction. The study suggests that teachers can foster interaction by providing timely and regular feedback to students in online learning courses and increasing their frequent interaction with students (Baran et al., 2013; Doucet et al., 2020). The study also emphasises the need to foster teacher competence in ICT-related teaching, including teachers’ ability to identify students’ communication competency and understand how classroom interactions assist students in using technology to learn the language.

5.3 Teachers’ Pedagogical Approaches and Strategies Teachers had to rely on support from online professional communities to overcome the obstacles of online teaching during the pandemic. This finding is similar to what has been found in previous studies: Teachers attempted to solve the problem of interaction through self-help and support from online communities and networks, although many struggled with insufficiently developed digital competence and institutional support (Damsa et al., 2021). Our study also supports the argument that social connection and communication within the community is an effective method to support teachers’ social-emotional health (Flack et al., 2020). Teaching and learning activities cannot be separated from an environment full of interaction and collaboration among the participants (Kanakri, 2017). The collaboration between multiple parties can result in the shared construction of knowledge and practice in multiple communities. Participants of this study showed their ability to connect with others, participate in online networks and communities, and interact constructively, which is understood as digital competence (Cania & Oreo-Blat, 2021). Teachers’ ability to use technologies to enhance the interaction with learners, the interaction between learners with other colleagues, within and outside the learning session, and professional engagement (Cabero-Almenara et al., 2020) was manifested among many teachers. It has been argued that teachers need three competencies: technological competencies, online environment management competencies, and online teacher interactional competencies to mediate and assist language learning in online synchronous lessons (Moorhouse et al., 2021). This current study raises the need to integrate technological competence into teaching practices in disadvantaged areas where the digital divide triggers inequity in education, and teachers are vulnerable to this divide (Bozkurt et al., 2020).

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5.4 More Feasible and Practical Recommendations to Facilitate Positive Online Interaction Learning should never be one-way reception of information or passive learning without interaction (Suen, 2014). Class interaction should be fostered because it contributes to students’ future preferences and intentions for online learning (Maheshwari, 2021). Providing access to content is the first step in developing online pedagogical practices (Riggs, 2020). Educational technologies and the internet should be accessible to both teachers and students so that they can maximise the benefits of digital innovations. Informed and conscious use of technology for educational purposes, that is, technology awareness or literacy, can improve teaching and learning outcomes (OCED, 2020). The study indicates that online interaction is facilitated by infrastructure development and, more importantly, teachers’ interactional competence. To prepare for future education, schools should provide organisational, technical, and pedagogical support to develop teachers’ digital competence in general and interactional competence in particular. Teachers need to be equipped with interaction-initiated sets of skills. Teachers need to customise their interaction in different contexts with students, colleagues, technology, and communities, along with new adoptions of emerging pedagogies. Digital training should be included in teacher development programs to better prepare teachers for efficient and sustainable education. New teacher competencies should be incorporated into national curricula and standards, and proper training should be included in teacher training programs. Digital competence should be expanded to include interactional competence because the interaction is an essential part of language teaching. Digital literacies and systems should be developed to allow teachers to focus on learner communication, interaction, and feedback into account (Bozkurt et al., 2020). Digital learning communities should be built and nurtured. They must be accessible for support, collaboration, professional development, and resource sharing. Techniques have been incorporated: rescheduling the teaching course, integrating reciprocal teaching, peer discussions, group activities, and open communication to help students build their confidence (Pu, 2020). Such capacities as collaboration and professional engagement should focus on continuous digital professional development. Teacher reflection, based on the beliefs that both experienced and novice language teachers can enhance their understanding of their teaching through the conscious and systematic reflection of their teaching experiences, plays a significant role in achieving the integration of theory and practice in language teacher education programs (Farrell, 2015, 2019). It is vital to include reflection on how teachers’ interactional strategies contribute to the success of online teaching.

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6 Conclusion It has been gleaned from this study that upper-secondary school teachers working in disadvantaged mountainous areas in Vietnam faced both opportunities and challenges in online interaction and teaching. There is no denying that the existing problems have been further exacerbated by the unforeseen pandemic. Various contextual and personal such as insufficient technical support, teachers’ and students’ low technological competence, class size, and teachers’ preference factors, more or less cause restrictions on online interaction. However, the study documented numerous benefits of online teaching on interaction. Identifying teachers’ perceptions, challenges, and coping strategies paves the way for initiating help and support. The rush to online teaching indicated immense opportunities for the digital world and the essential part of our physical world. It highlighted the role of face-to-face connection and interaction, which humans, as social beings, thrive on (Burns & Gottschalk, 2020). It also served as a wake-up call for teacher preparation programs to cater to the immediate and long-term future (Meirovitz et al., 2022). This study enables the authors to inspire members of the ELT profession to challenge long-held beliefs and policies about teaching English in response to the new global context. To some extent, the study calls for a review of foreign language policy in the new era, particularly evidence-informed policy for teacher well-being in disadvantaged educational contexts. There should be more sustainable research in online education and more focus on online teaching for equitable education in rural and remote regions, in the context of abrupt transformational challenges being likely scenarios for the future of education.

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Dr Thi Thuy Le is a Lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam. Her research expertise includes English foreign language teacher (EFL) education, digital literacy, intercultural communication, culture teaching, multilingualism, and research training. Since 2018 she has published two journal articles, three book chapters, and two research books. She was awarded several conference scholarships and presented at many international conferences. One of the most prestigious awards was a Solidarity Award at the 18th AILA Conference in 2017 with her presentation entitled “New perspectives in EFL/ESL language teacher education.” Dr Helena Sit is a teacher educator and Ph.D. supervisor in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She publishes widely on internationalisation, transformative learning, and innovative language education studies. She is the recipient of the 2022 College Excellence Award for Research Supervision. Prof. Shen Chen is a multilingual teacher educator in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. In his more than 30 years of teaching career, he taught in Melbourne University, and Deakin University in Australia before he moved to the University of Newcastle in 1993. He has been invited as a visiting scholar or professor at the University of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, University of British Columbia, University of Hong Kong, etc. Mr Haoliang Sun is the founder and principal of Xin Jin Shan Chinese Language and Culture School in Melbourne, Australia. He was appointed as the Vice President of the China’s Central Institute of Fine Arts in Beijing. He has published extensively and cooperated many joint research projects with Monash University and the University of Newcastle.

Beyond Knowledge: Multiple Faceted Efficacious Impacts of Blended Learning Affordance on EFL Learners Tuyen Van Nguyen, Helena Sit, and Shen Chen

Abstract This research aims at exploring evidence of multiple-faceted but salient effects that the affordance of blended learning (BL) impacts learning experiences of English as a foreign language (EFL) students. Methodological triangulation was employed in this study. The pretest–posttest results were compared, survey was conducted, and study logs were analyzed from the learning management system (Moodle platform) of the experiment. The total number of 166 participants at a university in Vietnam were involved in the study. The findings show that besides knowledge enhancement, learners being exposed to an appropriate instructional design of BL environment derive more benefits, including improvement of substantial learning skills and positive changes in attitude toward their learning. Recommendations to improve professional development programs in language teacher education with BL and EFL teaching are also addressed. It provides wider implications for researchers, language teacher educators, and practitioners in the contexts that share similar teaching culture with Vietnam. Keywords Affordances of technological innovation · Blended learning · Curriculum and pedagogy · Second language teacher education

1 Introduction Literature shows that blended learning (BL) interests educators because it raises their awareness of such technology-related issues as active learning, personalized learning, self-paced learning, learning styles, its relationships with the theory of constructivism, TPACK model (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), and the diverse roles of the teacher. There are different definitions of BL, among which the concept given by Staker and Horn (2012) is widely cited as follows: T. Van Nguyen (B) · H. Sit · S. Chen School of Education, College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_6

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Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace and at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home (p. 3)

Recent research shows that the ultimate definition and perception on BL has not come to an end (Hrastinski, 2019). It is mostly understood as a way of blending faceto-face (F2F) and web-based teaching. The term BL can be used interchangeably with hybrid learning and/or mixed-mode learning. Regarding educational technology, numerous studies from the current literature have examined how scientific technology has been changing the world of education. The recent Covid-19 pandemic has made a globally temporary shift paradigm to online teaching (Dhawan, 2020). After that trend, BL is probably considered to attract more attention from the world of education (Yan & Chen, 2021). Despite bichronous teaching (Martin et al., 2020) is currently the most employed mode of instruction as a result of the pandemic, BL is still a modality of delivery and its multi-dimensional impacts on learners need to be investigated. Though the effectiveness of using BL has been reported in various disciplines around the world (Al-Maroof et al., 2022; Ibrahim & Nat, 2019), not much experimental research attention is paid to the affordance in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in Vietnam. This paper aims to address this research gap to investigate how BL affordance impacts students’ EFL learning outcomes at tertiary educational level.

2 Literature Review Over the years, research focusing on BL has become an important part of computer assisted language learning (CALL) and/or mobile assisted language learning (MALL) (Graham, 2019; MacLeod et al., 2019; Sharpe et al., 2006; Staker et al., 2011; Thorne, 2003). These researchers share a common view that BL is the widespread approach to instructional design. Thorne (2003) predicted that BL “could become one of the most significant developments of the twenty-first century” (p. 18), which is in line with a conclusion that information and media skill is considered as one of the important factors of learning skills in the twenty-first century (Saavedra & Opfer, 2012; Sahin, 2009). Regarding learners’ epistemology, teachers recognize that students have dissimilar pace of learning (Powell et al., 2014). Students need to learn to apply their learned knowledge to real life. Apparently, different teaching and learning modes might have its own advantages and disadvantages, so an eclectic approach has been found to be of great importance in language teaching and learning (LarsenFreeman, 2000; Li, 2012). This supports “blended courses allow students and faculties to take great advantage of the flexibility and convenience of an online course while retaining the benefits of the face-to-face classroom experience” (Moskal & Cavanagh, 2014, p. 35). Sharpe et al. (2006) assert that BL offers teachers and students various benefits including Flexibility of provision, learning diversity through

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both synchronous and asynchronous teaching–learning experience, and professional development engagement. Hence, BL combines the positive aspects of more diverse learning environments, classroom-based learning, and e-learning (Bonk et al., 2012).

3 A Synopsis of Research on BL Halverson et al. (2014) published a thematic analysis of the most highly cited scholarship in the first decade of BL research by reviewing research in a large scale of BL research questions, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks which address not only future research, but also future practice of BL. The range of BL-related topics being explored is ordered from the most to the least frequency as follows: instructional design (41.2%), disposition, exploration, learner outcomes, comparison between two learning modes, technology, interaction, demographics, and professional development. Yan and Chen (2021) find that in the period from 2014 to 2020, the current research fronts and emerging trends of BL include “learning environment, online component, covid-19 pandemic, procrastinating behavior, active blended learning, and observed learning orientation” (p. 160). Following the suggested research trend, this current paper places foci on BL impact on EFL teaching and learning and teacher professional development.

3.1 BL Has Become a Lynchpin in Higher Education In higher education, Gaol and Hutagalung (2020) agree a growing body of literature supporting the use of BL. In a similar vein, scholars have initiated the concept in language teaching as an alternative to the traditional method that was solely based on direct instruction (pp. 660–661). Thus there is an urgent need “to establish an evaluative framework that assesses what blended learning brings to the table for language learning” (Gaol & Hutagalung, 2020, p. 661). Pugliese (2012) asserts the learning management system to facilitate the rapidly expanding BL industry has been one of the fastest-growing technology-adoption phenomena in the 400-year history of higher education. It adds to the explanation in a finding that higher education is the context of “most top-cited publications on blended learning, with 66.1% of the top-cited publications focused solely on the higher education setting” (Halverson et al., 2014, p. 21). Because BL has become a lynchpin in higher education, a vehicle to help institutions achieve a variety of strategic curricular goals is vital and critical. Echoed by Picciano et al., (2013, p. ii) “research into best practices in blended learning is therefore of the highest importance to higher education”. Bi and Shi (2019) also provide further evidence that BL based on the Moodle platform is effective and “can serve as a reference for the innovation of teaching models and methods” (p. 58).

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Research trends and gaps Despite the rich findings in the literature about different learning models, there are still controversies over the comparison of three main modalities of teaching, the traditional F2F, online, and BL deliveries. Two mainstreams of comparison are between either online or BL with traditional F2F learning. Some research compares all these three modalities together. Findings and conclusions by different studies about the effectiveness of each modality are controversial in terms of learning outcomes. Some researchers find no significant difference in learning outcomes between online and F2F learning (Brownstein et al., 2008; Chen & Jones, 2007; Gagne & Shepherd, 2001; Hiltz & Turoff, 2005; Kirtman, 2009). Another research finding focuses on whether online teaching (Carle, 2009; Gibson, 2008; Means et al., 2009; Reasons et al., 2005) or F2F teaching (O’Toole & Absalom, 2003; Ponzurick et al., 2000; Terry et al., 2001) is better. Moore and Diehl (2018) find that BL yields better outcomes than online learning. Grandzol (2004) also supports there is no difference in F2F and BL outcomes, whereas Laumakis et al. (2009) and Means et al. (2013) claim the opposite results. Whilst Vignare (2007) finds no difference, Dziuban et al. (2018) and Rovai and Jordan (2004) argue that BL has better outcomes among all modalities. For these controversial conclusions, Means et al. (2013) suggest that further “experimental research testing design principles for blending online and F2F instruction for different kinds of learners is needed.” (p. 2) So far there is a paucity of research on the effectiveness of BL employed in teaching EFL to tertiary students in Vietnam, especially the learning outcomes in terms of students’ knowledge, skills, and attitude. In the next part, an experimental study on comparison between BL and traditional F2F learning of EFL in context of tertiary students in Vietnam is presented.

4 Methods 4.1 Research Site and Sample The participants of the experimental program were university students, ranging between 19 and 23 years old in English Department at a Vietnamese institution. All had already studied English for 7 years at high schools prior to their tertiary study programs. Based on the research design along with the ethics approval, the first author was randomly assigned by the Dean of English Department to teach EFL to 80 first-year students in semester one, and 86 sophomores in the following semester. The School curricula, in each semester, requests EFL learners to attend 50 h of English language learning. In total, the number of students who took part in the research in both semesters was 166.

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4.2 The Experimental Stages and Data Analysis In order to conduct the first experiment during semester one, the 80 students were divided into two classes (hereafter called groups). Before the pretests of both groups, the first one was assigned as the controlled group (CG), and the second group was the experimental group (EG). The CG experienced traditional F2F teaching and learning method for 50 h. Each class session lasted for 2 h. The EG was taught with the BL mode in which students attended 25 h F2F and 25 h online asynchronous learning respectively. Each class session included one hour F2F and one hour asynchronous online learning. The EG group was provided with an account to access their online courses in the Moodle platform so that they could receive online instruction and participate in asynchronous learning activities designed by the teacher. Their online participation activities were observed from the Moodle platform login reports. A unique login module was set up to enhance web security. When that module was set up, one account cannot be logged in from two computers at one time. All the contents and activities in their textbooks were archived in the Moodle system. Moreover, multimedia and additional modules were designed in the platform to help enhance live instructorstudent interactions. The modules allowed the instructor to integrate diverse learning affordances such as SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) to share lectures via video, quizzes, tests, games, and feedback. Group email, class forums, bulletins, assignments, and workshops were also mostly employed in this study (see Fig. 1). To collect the data for the comparation of students’ learning outcomes, pretests and posttests were conducted. The pretests were designed in the format of placement

Fig. 1 Description of instructional design of the BL experiment

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tests with multiple-choice questions. All the participants completed the same test in 90 min allotted in a local area network (LAN) computer lab. All the possible answers to each question were shuffled to enhance the reliability of the test results. Their test results were evaluated by computers right after the participants submitted their performance or after the allotted time for the test was over. During the experimental program, the participants in both groups learnt with the same curriculum, and the same contents with the same teaching method when their F2F class sessions were delivered. For groups with the BL modality, 50% of the class activities was designed with online learning mode. In semester two, all the participants in other two classes participated in BL method. The purpose of the experiment in this semester was to find out how students’ interaction with the asynchronous online learning activities on Moodle affected their learning outcomes. Participants’ studiousness in the second semester was measured by their frequency of interaction in the Moodle platform from which all users’ logs were earlier recorded during the semester. The relationship between their learning outcomes and the frequency of interaction with the online asynchronous learning activities was tested with Pearson correlation in SPSS software. A regression model was also introduced to forecast students’ final learning scores based on their extent of interaction during the asynchronous learning activities. To minimize extraneous variables of the experiments, both the CG students and EG were assigned with the same contents in homework requirements.

4.3 The Posttest The data collection of the posttests was based on the results of the final exam of the course. All the participants were encouraged to undertake the same test with the same allotted time. The participants’ posttest results were also measured with selected-item response format, such as multiple-choice questions, matching, and gap filling with given words or phrases. To ensure objective testing results, the researcher asked colleagues who applied the same syllabus to teach other similar classes to pilot the tests. These tests were submitted to the Center for Educational Testing and Quality Assessment of the University and then the examination was organized. According to the regulation of this center, each teacher would propose two paper tests to the office center. This center for Educational Testing and Quality Assessment would randomly choose among the contributed tests as the official one for every student who studied the same curriculum. After finishing the tests, the students’ answer sheets would be sealed by invigilators. The staff of the center would replace all examinees’ personal information with a secret code for each of the test before examiners could start the anonymous scoring. This practice is applied to all semesters at the University.

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4.4 The Survey The purpose of the survey was to identify how BL impacted learners at a broader context. A survey with questionnaire was mostly designed with Likert scale format and then computed by SPSS software for analysis. While the data collected through the results of tests in both pretests and posttests enabled the researchers to test the effectiveness of BL and traditional learning in terms of test scores on students’ content knowledge, data collected from the questionnaire helped to identify students’ preferences for mode of learning and perspectives on the impact of BL modality on their learning skills, and attitude. The questionnaire also aimed to identify students’ preferred learning activities to support teachers’ instructional design afterward. In pursuit of those purposes, the questionnaire was designed, piloted, and delivered to the participants who had studied with BL modalities from 2016 to 2020 at three universities in Vietnam.

4.5 Reliability and Validity The researchers were fully aware of the need for controls of extraneous variables such as the amount of time and kinds of activities that participants engaged in the courses of both groups. In the F2F class sessions, students in both CG and the EG followed the same instructional design. All of them did the same pretest and posttest with the same test administration. The contents in the pretest and posttest were all related to the common topics that the participants had studied. For the sake of research ethics, the need of accuracy in data and data fabrication avoidances were also carefully addressed. Data collected were cross checked carefully among the researchers.

5 Findings and Discussions 5.1 The Experiment Results Independent-samples T-tests academic Term 1 According to Bryman and Cramer (2002) the independent-samples T-test is used to determine if the means of two unrelated samples differ. For the current study, the t-test was explicitly designed to test whether the difference between the means of two groups is real, or statistically significant t value tells researchers how far away from zero (the null hypothesis). The pretest in Term 1 was run to help compare the scores between the two groups. Their means and score distributions are illustrated in Fig. 2a and b.

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Fig. 2 a Range of score of the controlled group’s pretest, b Range of score of the experimental group’s pretest

(a)

(b)

As shown above, the score ranges of the CG and the EG are from 3.6 to 7.5 and from 3.6 to 7.9, respectively. The mean of the CG is 5.39 and that of the EG is 5.33. To test if the means of the two groups are statistically different, the T-test formula and Levene’s test in SPSS program were employed. The p. value in the Levene’s test and the T-test shows the results as in Tables 1 and 2. The F value in Levene’s Test is larger than 0.05 (0.019), so the values in row equal variances assumed are used. The sig value in the test result shows that there is no Table 1 The comparison of means between the two groups—pretest statistics Group statistics The comparison of means of the two groups in pretest

Groups

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error mean

Experimental group

40

5.327

0.9450

0.1494

Controlled group

40

5.386

0.9675

0.1530

The comparison of means of the two groups in pretest

Equal variances not assumed

Equal variances assumed

Independent samples test

Table 2 Independent samples test—pretest

78 77.957

−0.277 −0.277

0.019

0.892 0.782

0.782

Sig. (2-tailed)

df

t

F

Sig.

t-test for equality of means

Levene’s test for equality of variances

−0.0593

−0.0593

Mean difference

0.2138

0.2138

Std. Error difference

−0.4850

−0.4850

Lower

0.3665

0.3665

Upper

95% Confidence interval of the difference

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significant difference between means of results in the pretest with the experimental group (M = 5.327, SD = 0.9450) and the controlled group (M = 5.386, SD = 0.9675), t (78) = −0.277, p = 0.782. In other words, the means of two groups’ pretest scores are statistically equal. After the experiment was carried out, a posttest was done to compare again the means of the two groups. The same method of comparison was done with the posttest. Their means and score distributions are illustrated as in Fig. 3a and b. The score ranges of the CG and the EG are from 4.5 to 8.0 and from 4.9 to 8.4, respectively. The mean of the CG is 6.21 and that of the EG is 6.97. The differences between these mean scores are determined by SPSS program (see Tables 3 and 4). Table 4 shows that there is a significant difference in means of the experimental group (M = 6.973, SD = 0.7555) and the controlled group (M = 6.205, SD = 0.8849), t(78) = 4.172, p = 0.000. In other words, the means of two groups’ posttest scores are statistically different at 0.7675.

Fig. 3 a Range of score of the controlled group’s posttest, b Range of score of the experimental group’s posttest

(a)

(b)

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Table 3 The comparison of means between the two groups—posttest statistics Group statistics The comparison of means of the two groups in posttest

Groups

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error mean

Experimental group

40

6.973

0.7555

0.1195

Controlled group

40

6.205

0.8849

0.1399

Independent-samples T-tests academic Term 2 The data collected in this term aim to compare the learning results of students who all participated in BL. They were classified in two groups in which one group more frequently interacted with online asynchronous learning activities in Moodle platform than the other. Students’ index of asynchronous online interaction was determined by the recorded frequencies that they participated in the online class with Moodle platform. The number of students’ interaction recorded in the system was downloaded, sorted from highest to lowest in number, and then divided into two groups, viz. more frequent and less frequent interaction. The test scores of the two groups in academic terms 2 were compared by T-tests below (See Tables 5 and 6). The facts of the T-test show that there is a significant difference in means of the more frequent interaction group (M = 5.884, SD = 1.5073) and the less frequent interaction group (M = 4.919, SD = 1.3404), p = 0.002. To test the relationship between students’ learning outcomes and the degree of engagement in online asynchronous learning activities, the Pearson Correlation function was employed as in Table 7. This finding also matches a study by Atherton et al., (2017, p. 195) that “students who frequently use the online learning system to access materials have better assessment and exam results.” The test above shows that there is a correlation coefficient between the two variables. The correlation coefficient between the index of students’ records of learning log in Moodle and the posttest is moderate (r = 0.402). According to Taylor (1990), the range of r value between 0.36-and 0.67 is considered to represent moderate correlation. Based on the above correlation coefficient (see Table 8) a linear regression in the formula y = ax + b (Jonasson, 1988) can be employed to formulate prediction model (where Y = expected learning outcome scores; a = 0.001, b = 4.345). The constant (or intercept) is the expected value of Y when all x = 0. With the constant being equivalent to 4.345, it shows that when a student does not interact with the online learning at all, they can get the average of 4.3/10 marks as a result of the F2F learning mode. For example: if the record of activities learning log in Moodle is zero, then the score (Y) will be Y = 0.001 * 0 + 4.345 = 4.345. The correlation between students’ records of online learning log and the posttest scores is just moderate (r = 0.402). This also explains why a student still receives 4.3 mark with zero engagement in the online activities, albeit the allocation of percentage of time between the F2F and online learning activities is 50/50. The regression analysis indicates that students’ asynchronous interaction in the LMS is directly proportional to their posttest results. Student’s learning outcomes of

The comparison of means of the two groups in posttest

Equal variances not assumed

Equal variances assumed

Independent samples test

Table 4 Independent samples test—posttest

0.886

0.349 4.172

4.172 76.128

78

df

0.000

0.000

Sig. (2-tailed)

t

F

Sig.

t-test for equality of means

Levene’s test for equality of variances

0.7675

0.7675

Mean difference

0.1840

0.1840

Std. Error difference

0.4011

0.4012

Lower

1.1339

1.1338

Upper

95% Confidence interval of the difference

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Table 5 The comparison of means between the two groups in the term 2 Group statistics Term 2 posttest

Groups

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error mean

More frequent interaction

43

5.884

1.5073

0.2299

Less frequent interaction

43

4.919

1.3404

0.2044

the experimental program can be predicted with the formula Y = 0.001 * x + 4.345 where x factor is the recorded number of online interactions in the LMS’s log.

5.2 Findings from the Survey A survey was delivered to all students who had experienced BL modality in five years (2016–2020). It includes three parts: (1) students’ perception of the effectiveness of BL in comparison to traditional learning activities, (2) their preferences for learning activities, and (3) evaluation of BL in terms of skills and attitude. The following section presents all these survey results:

5.3 Students’ Comparison of the Two Learning Modes To inquire students’ viewpoint of the two modalities of delivery, the authors employed three questions with Likert scale, as shown in Table 9. The results from the comparison of the two learning modes show that with BL students become more studious (M = 4.03). Their learning is more effective (M = 3.81) and more flexible in time and pace of learning (M = 3.75). The chart in Fig. 4 shows a high level of students’ preference for BL compared to eLearning or F2F learning only at 85.22%, 6.96%, and 7.82% respectively.

5.4 Students’ Preferred Activities and Reasons for Their Choices During the BL courses, different activities were designed. The purpose of this variety is to meet learners’ different needs, such as learning language skills, critical thinking skills through self/peer assessment, games, information gap activities, tutorial clips, written or oral assignments, and forum discussions. The activities designed underpin the tenet of how to boost interaction between teachers and students and among

Posttest

Equal variances not assumed

Equal variances assumed

Independent samples test

0.714

F

0.400

Sig.

3.138

3.138

t

82.870

84

df

0.002

0.002

Sig. (2-tailed)

Levene’s test for t-test for equality of means equality of variances

Table 6 Independent samples test for two groups’ learning scores in term 2

0.9651

0.9651

Mean difference

0.3076

0.3076

Std. Error difference

0.3533

0.3534

Lower

1.5769

1.5768

Upper

95% Confidence interval of the difference

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Table 7 Correlation between students’ records of learning log in Moodle and posttest scores Correlations

Index of students’ records of learning log in Moodle

Pearson correlation

Records of learning log in Moodle

Posttest

1

0.402**

Sig. (2-tailed) Posttest

**

0.000

N

86

86

Pearson correlation

0.402**

1

Sig. (2-tailed)

0.000

N

86

86

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Table 8 Correlation coefficient value Coefficientsa Model

1

(Constant)

Unstandardized coefficients

Standardized coefficients

B

Beta

Std. Error

4.345

0.301

Index of 0.001 students’ records of learning log in Moodle

0.000

a Dependent

0.402

t

Sig.

14.410

0.000

4.030

0.000

Variable: posttest

students in the class. The variety of activities (see Fig. 5) also helps to match students’ divergent learning styles. When the students were asked to choose five activities that they liked best in the courses, the most preferred choices were vocabulary games (73.7%), tests and quizzes (71.1%), exercise drilling activity (68.4%), teacher’s feedback (61.1%), and lecturing slides with videos (60.5%). Not many students show their interest in individual and/or group assignments and discussion with teachers (35.1%, 38.6%, and 39.5% respectively). When being asked why they preferred the chosen learning activities as found in Fig. 5, most students reasoned that the activities they chose benefit them in terms of knowledge such as helping them to redeem the time pressure in F2F classes, to revise their lessons, to enrich their vocabulary, grammatical structures at their own learning pace after class. There are more online discussions than the F2F model because the online learning platform can be accessed asynchronously and 24/7, whereas F2F

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Table 9 Students’ comparison of the two learning modes Sq

SD

D

N %

N

N %

N

A %

N

SA %

N

Mean SD %

Mean rank

1

When BL is applied, students are more studious in comparison to working with the traditional method

4

3.5

5

4.4

15 13.2

43 37.7

47 41.2 4.03

1.09 1

2

Online 7 learning combined with F2F learning is more effective than only F2F learning in class

6.1

4

3.5

24 21.1

42 36.8

37 32.5 3.81

1.16 2

3

The 2 asynchronous class is much more flexible in time and pace of learning

1.74 14 12.17 31 26.96 35 30.43 33 28.7 3.75

1.09 3

Fig. 4 Students’ preference for modality of delivery

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Fig. 5 Students’ preferred online activities

learning is not so flexible. The online games also bring them more motivation in learning. By identifying students’ preferences for learning activities, teachers can enhance the effectiveness of their instructional design by focusing on learners’ needs. For whatever class activities in both F2F and online classes, it is recommended that teachers are mindful of such factors as [1] background knowledge, [2] competence and performance, [3] voice, intonation, [4] dialog manner, [5] speed, [6] eye contact, [7] facial expression, [8] simple wording, [9] learner center, [10] timely feedback, [11] sense of humor, [12] egalitarianism, [13] authentic and comprehensible input, [14] turn allocation and [15] flexibility (Nguyen, 2017a, b).

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5.5 Students’ Evaluation of BL in Terms of Skills Seven issues related to how BL affects students’ learning skills have been investigated and they are listed in descending order by means as in Table 10. The results of the survey indicate that there is a high percentage of participants agreeing that BL can benefit them with many skills namely [1] searching for information (93.71%), [2] self-learning skills (95.80%), [3] technological skills (90.91%), [4] online communication skills (81,82), [5] recognizing learning styles (74.83), [6] time management (70.03%) and [7] skills for working in groups (58.74%). BL can make a change in learners’ researching skills for information (M = 4.32) as a result of frequent exposure to the online learning environment. When they encounter a problem, rather than waiting to consult their teacher, they can search for the related knowledge and/or information online. In this way, their autonomous and self-paced learning is also enhanced (M = 4.30). The findings above match the necessary learning skills in the twenty-first century as reviewed in the literature. The total mean score for the benefit of BL in terms of developing students’ technological skill is 4.23. However, the mean of agreement on benefit from working in groups is not as high as other skills. This makes sense because the instructional design for the online mode was mostly asynchronous, so participants did not have frequently direct communication with each other. Overall, in all categories, except for oral skills for working in group, over 70% of respondents rate for agreement that BL can benefit them with the investigated skills. To check whether the multiple-question Likert scale survey is reliable, and inter-item correlated, the Cronbach’s alpha test is applied at the result of 0.777. According to (Bland & Altman, 1997), this tested result shows the satisfactory internal validity of the items (See Table 11).

5.6 Students’ Evaluation of BL in Terms of Attitude Table 12 shows how instructional design of BL affects students’ learning attitude, the components of which are also listed in descending order by means. The findings from the survey (Table 12) reveal that BL affects students’ learning attitude in many different dimensions. For example, 91.61% of the respondents agreed that they realized the importance of self-pace learning. With BL, they tend to consider their purpose of learning to be changed from passing the exam to learning for their future work. Teacher’s public online feedback can make them study harder (M = 4.11) in comparison to paper-based private feedback. Similarly, a fairly high percentage of respondents (76.93%) agree that they have more positive attitude toward learning activities in comparison with only F2F learning. However, not all the students believe in the effectiveness of BL when it was introduced to them. More than half of the respondents (53.85%) agree that they had doubted about the effectiveness of BL before their first time of applying this learning mode. Despite this fact, the

40.56

36.36

58

Helping students with better searching skills for information

Making them have better 52 self-learning skills

Developing their technological skills

Helping them have better online communication skills via forum discussion

Helping them see what their best learning style is

Enhancing their time management skills

Helping students have better oral skills for working in groups

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

17

33

33

45

50

11.89

23.08

23.08

31.47

34.97

67

70

74

72

80

85

76

Agree N

%

Strongly agree

N

Opinions on skills

Sq

Table 10 How BL affect students’ learning skills

46.85

48.95

51.75

50.35

55.94

59.44

53.15

%

38

32

32

19

10

4

6

26.57

22.38

22.38

13.29

6.99

2.80

4.20

%

Not sure N

Disagree

21

8

3

6

3

2

3

N

14.69

5.59

2.10

4.20

2.10

1.40

2.10

%

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0.00

0.00

0.70

0.70

0.00

0.00

0.00

%

Strongly disagree N

3.55

3.89

3.94

4.07

4.23

4.30

4.32

Mean

0.88

0.81

0.77

0.82

0.67

0.59

0.65

SD

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122 Table 11 Reliability statistics of 7 skills related to BL

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Reliability statistics Cronbach’s alpha

N of items

0.777

7

above results of the survey show that when students are exposed to the BL, they have more positive attitude toward this modality of delivery.

5.7 Discussion The research findings indicate that BL learning benefits not only learners’ knowledge, but also their learning skills with ICT, and positive changes in their learning attitudes. First, diversifying teaching–learning methods can match learners’ divergent learning styles and needs by combining F2F with online asynchronous classes. This strategy helps teachers to avoid the pitfall of “one-size-fit-all” teaching method. If the teacher utilizes more diverse and suitable modes of teaching and learning, more effective class management and interaction with learners can be assured. The proportion of time allocation between F2F and online depends on the teaching context. Teachers’ variety of activities in every mode of delivery (both F2F and online) and paying more attention to giving feedback on learners can significantly motivate them. It is well-documented in the literature that students’ attention span is approximately 10– 15 min (Wilson & Korn, 2007). Grounding on such findings about learners’ attention span, the change in learning activities to accommodate students’ learning needs and sustain their learning interests in a class session is highly recommended. In comparison to F2F teaching, the asynchronous online mode provides more diverse and versatile tools/platforms for the teacher to employ. For example, teachers can utilize emotion icons, symbols, voice, or even colors to communicate with their students both asynchronously and synchronously. However, teachers are also recommended to be culturally aware of interpretation of colors. For example, red color is a symbol of good luck in China, whereas it is perceived as conveying the opposite meaning in Korean culture. Culturally appropriate instructional design with BL can boost the teaching outcomes. When students are motivated by their teacher’s teaching methods, they will become more involved in both F2F and online/eLearning activities. As suggested by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2020) that “literacy involves students listening to, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating oral, print, visual and digital texts, and using and modifying language for different purposes in a range of contexts” (para. 1). With a BL learning management system, such as Moodle or Canvas platform, teachers can find it possible to easily integrate their multimodal media literacy into their instructional design to motivate students with different learning styles. The more getting involved in learning activities, the more chance the students can be exposed to the learning environment to improve their language skills. Teachers can maintain the

44

39

Changing students’ attitude toward the purposes from learning to pass the exam to learning to work in future

Different ways of instructional design can change learning attitude

Teacher’s public online feedback (comments) makes students to work harder than paper-based private feedback

Online discussion forums in blended learning make students more aware of audience-oriented writing

Having more positive attitude toward learning activities in comparison with only F2F leaning

Students doubted about the 17 effectiveness of BL before their first time of learning

2

3

4

5

6

7

33

31

47

58

Realizing the importance of self-learning

11.89

23.08

21.68

32.87

27.27

30.77

40.56

60

77

85

74

88

87

73

N

1

Agree

N

%

Strongly agree

Opinions on attitudes

Sq

Table 12 How BL affect students’ learning attitude

41.96

53.85

59.44

51.75

61.54

60.84

51.05

%

34

20

22

14

13

10

9

N

23.78

13.99

15.38

9.79

9.09

6.99

6.29

%

Not sure

30

11

4

8

3

2

3

N

Disagree

20.98

7.69

2.80

5.59

2.10

1.40

2.10

%

2

2

1

0

0

0

0

N

1.40

1.40

0.70

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

%

Strongly disagree

3.42

3.89

3.98

4.11

4.14

4.21

4.30

Mean

0.99

0.89

0.741

0.80

0.65

0.62

0.68

SD

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perceived teaching standards in general and in EFL teaching and learning as well. The mean score of changes in learners’ skills and attitudes indicates that a tail-tailored instructional design of BL for ELF learners yields a positive outcome of not only their knowledge, but also in their skills and attitude. After realizing the importance of development of 21st digital literacy skills, students’ learning attitudes toward ICT used in teaching and learning can be more positive and their language skills can be enhanced. Second, after the experiments have been conducted, it is recommended that teachers who apply BL well understand their teaching contexts and set specific objectives of the course before commencing their instructional design. Comprehensible and authentic input with adaption in lesson planning is crucial to make it more engaging to students. It is believed that, in designing a BL course, comprehensible activities in zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Vygotsky, 1978) can motivate learners. Beside ZPD and with the understanding of their teaching contexts, EFL teachers also need to be aware of the i + 1 hypothesis to make sure that they provide students with comprehensible input (Krashen, 1982). BL can help to improve learners’ both reactive and proactive autonomy. Teachers design somehow to make EFL learners be exposed to an on-going practice environment of four language skills equally, to give them instant or timely feedback, and to provide a variety of input resources, for the sake of communicative purposes, lifelong learning, and lifelong use. Knowledge changes very fast so keeping it up to date is necessary. Although the roles of teacher have changed today, e.g. knowledge transferer to facilitator, tutor, etc., (Nguyen, 2017a, b) it does not mean that their roles are less important. Their early status to transfer students into independent learning stage is still very important. It is also widely known no matter how advanced technology is, machines can never take the place of teachers totally. This explains the reason why fully online learning without a teacher cannot always replace BL in certain formal EFL teaching contexts. Third, in planning and designing a course, it is recommended that teachers use eclectic methods, integrate four macro skills, and provide students with more engaging interactive activities, and assignments during the BL course. Furthermore, when teachers create a safe environment for discussion, students will benefit much from it. They will share their ideas more openly when they feel safe in that environment. Students’ additional presentations in F2F class are needed to redeem the disadvantage of asynchronous online learning only. Attention to the benefits of BL is recommended to be captured and to be researched in order that it will be applied in different contexts. When the leaders and learners find effectiveness in BL, it will be disseminated in a larger scale as some developed countries are doing. Beside content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge, teachers also need ICT skills to solve their own common technical problems (Arzal et al., 2022). This issue should be improved through their pre-service and in-service professional development via a community of practice (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). Teachers should know how to use an LMS that is available at their teaching context such as Moodle, Canvas, or Blackboard if online/BL is applied. An LMS platform is an indispensable affordance for BL modality of delivery. It can also support teachers and researchers with

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learning analytics with data amassed in the system through the years. Their ability to handle HTML codes is also advantageous because it helps them design, embed, and/or customize multimedia and various learning activities from free resources with Creative Commons license on the Internet. For example, if teachers know how to embed a video on YouTube by using HTML code, they can customize the embed clip with properties at their preferred customization. Overall, when whatever activities are designed, teachers need to underpin the questions what, when, how, and why they are designed. The designing of a BL course is time-consuming, and it is somewhat similar to preparing a traditional lesson plan, therefore it is necessary to modify the course continually to match each specific teaching context.

6 Conclusion After some experimental courses with BL methods with ELF students in two academic terms, the researchers collected data from students’ test scores, students’ learning logs from the server of an LMS (Moodle), and surveys for data analysis. The findings show that beside knowledge enhancement, learners being exposed to an appropriate instructional design of BL environment derive more benefits including improvement of substantial learning skill and positive changes in attitude toward their learning. The authors are aware of the fact that students’ autonomous learning outside the LMS cannot be easily controlled. For example they might study on YouTube or other online resources. We regard this as a limitation of the study. Despite of the discussed limitations, this current study provides practical recommendations to improve professional development program in language teacher education in BL and EFL in Vietnam. The results also offer wider implications for researchers or second language educators and practitioners in the contexts that share similar teaching culture with Vietnam.

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Tuyen Van Nguyen is a Ph.D. candidate in Education at the University of Newcastle, in Australia where he was awarded by this University a full scholarship entitled “The Vice Chancellor’s Higher Degree by Research Training Program”. His interests in research include ICT-related teachers’ PD, ICT in ELT, language testing and assessment, cross-culture, and communication. Dr. Helena Sit is a teacher educator and Ph.D. supervisor in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She publishes widely on internationalization, transformative learning, and innovative language education studies. She is the recipient of the 2022 College Excellence Award for Research Supervision. Honoured Prof. Shen Chen is a multilingual teacher educator in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. In his more than 30 years of teaching career, he taught in Melbourne University, and Deakin University in Australia before he moved to the University of Newcastle in 1993. He has been invited as a visiting scholar or professor at University of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, University of British Columbia, and University of Hong Kong.

Undergraduate Student Groups’ Types of Online Collaborative Learning Engagement and Their Relation to Discussion Content Weipeng Shen, Yingshan Chen, Juan Jiang, Ruiqing Chen, Xingyu Liao, and Xiao-Fan Lin

Abstract Undergraduate students’ engagement is a multidimensional and significant factor in their regulated online collaborative learning. Group members with different levels of engagement perplex their co-regulation. Reflection on undergraduate student groups’ characteristics from the perspective of students’ engagement is necessary. This study tried to classify the types of undergraduate student groups’ engagement in online collaborative learning. Thirty-six participants of a blended online course were clustered based on their five dimensions of engagement. The characteristics of 11 student groups with members in different clusters were identified using cross-analysis. Furthermore, this study named student groups according to four types of online collaborative learning engagement (devoted, engaged, conform, and divisive). The discussion content of corresponding groups was also analyzed. The word frequency analysis shows no obvious difference. However, the semantic network and sentiment analysis demonstrate that the four types of student groups differed in the depth of discussion and emotional state. Keywords Engagement · Group · Online collaborative learning · Online discussion · Undergraduate student

W. Shen (B) · Y. Chen · J. Jiang · R. Chen · X. Liao · X.-F. Lin School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China e-mail: [email protected] X.-F. Lin Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Smart Learning, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_7

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1 Introduction As a global challenge, online learning is an irreplaceable part of students’ learning after Covid-19, especially for undergraduates. Computer support collaborative learning (CSCL) has become undergraduate students’ main form of online learning (Wang & Hong, 2018). In the process of students’ online collaborative learning, students were commonly divided into small groups. The benefit of students’ adequate online group learning was well established (Sadeghi & Kardan, 2015). To create productive online group learning, undergraduate students will encounter numerous barriers. They often engaged less and could not construct knowledge independently or with peers (Zheng et al., 2023). Considering productive teamwork is getting more value in the background of the post-pandemic era, it is necessary to improve undergraduate students’ performance in online group learning for their academy and career development (Zamecnik et al., 2022). Students’ engagement is vital to online collaborative learning (Cherney et al., 2018). It has long-term impacts on students’ performance because students tend to keep engagement patterns in their online group learning (Ouyang & Chang, 2019). The improvement of online collaborative learning necessarily relies on understanding and enhancing undergraduate students’ different dimensions of engagement (Chen et al., 2022; Zhou & Tsai, 2022). As a multidimensional factor, students’ engagement has multifaceted constructs (Chiu, 2022). Students’ multiple dimensions of engagement enhance the complexity of their online group learning. Ouyang and Dai (2021) also emphasized that students’ different engagement levels should be considered in their online collaboration because it could impact student groups’ cognitive and social presence. However, though previous studies have taken engagement as individual undergraduate students’ influential characteristics, very few studies have focused on student groups’ engagement. The engagement of a student group can not be simply divided because group members’ engagement can be various. Students’ online discussion is the main data source for assessing their online collaborative learning. The content of students’ online discussion records students’ dialogue, which shows their thinking process, like reflection (Gillingham et al., 2020). Previous researchers frequently applied content analysis in studying student groups’ collaboration (Popescu & Badea, 2020; Sun et al., 2018). Specifically, relationships have been constructed between students’ engagement and their online discussion content (Xiong et al., 2022). However, to the best of our knowledge, the characteristics of student groups with different multidimensional engagement have not been explored. This study further analyzed students’ online discussion content to identify different student groups’ characteristics. In conclusion, this study applied quantitative and qualitative methods to study undergraduate students’ online group learning. Different types of student groups were divided according to group members’ level of multiple dimensions of engagement, and then the content of each type of student group’s online discussion was analyzed. Two research questions were proposed:

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1. By cluster analysis and cross-analysis, what are the types of undergraduate student groups’ online collaborative learning engagement according to group members’ engagement? 2. By content analysis, what are the differences between the content of students’ online discussions in terms of different student groups?

2 Literature Review 2.1 Undergraduate Students’ Online Collaborative Learning 2.1.1

Group Learning

Group learning is a basic component of undergraduate students’ online collaborative learning. Undergraduate students usually be divided into small groups for online co-regulated learning (Lai, 2021). Educators are concerned with the productivity of student groups and study the tools, processes, and outcomes of student groups. Multiple factors can affect student groups’ outcomes, and students’ characteristics are significant in these factors. Two types of student characteristics, as demographic and academic characteristics, were emphasized by researchers (Han et al., 2020). Students’ demographic characteristics decide their background, which impacts groups’ engagement (Mittelmeier et al., 2018). On the other hand, students’ academic characteristics impact their essential self-regulation in online learning (Xie et al., 2019). Nevertheless, an individual student can only reflect the limited aspect of a student group. Furthermore, previous research has discovered that student groups’ characteristics also play an important role in their group learning. For example, Luo et al. (2023) found that group size and role script can affect the achievement of students’ group learning. Moreover, student groups’ social connectedness could also impact students’ collaboration (Yang et al., 2022). However, it is rather a lack of studies to analyse the online activities of student groups from the perspective of group members’ engagement. This results in a deficient understanding of the differences between student groups’ online collaborative learning.

2.1.2

Online Discussion

Online discussion is one of the important activities in undergraduate students’ online collaborative learning. The content of students’ online discussions could reveal their social and cognitive presence (Sun et al., 2018). Thus, undergraduate students’ online discussions partly imply their characteristics. Various tools and methods have been applied to analyze the content in online discussion forums. The result demonstrated students’ interaction and integration as their group cognitive processes (Gillingham et al., 2020). Besides, content analysis can support a more complete analysis with quantitative data (Junus et al., 2022). In this study, students’ online discussion content

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was also collected and analyzed by a text analysis tool. It was supposed that the analysis would show important characteristics of different student groups.

2.2 Undergraduate Students’ Engagement in Learning Students’ engagement is regarded as a significant factor affecting educational outcomes such as academic achievement (Lei et al., 2018). Despite the definition of learning engagement that has accumulated from different perspectives over the past few decades, common points include that students’ engagement refers to students’ active involvement in the tasks or activities to achieve specific learning goals (Chiu, 2022). There is an increasing tendency to understand engagement as a multidimensional construct (Sinha et al., 2015). Henrie et al. (2015) summarized the research literature on student engagement and found that behavioural, cognitive, and emotional indicators were the most common indicators when measuring engagement. Besides, agentic engagement is broadly included by researchers and has been demonstrated as qualitatively distinct from other forms of engagement (Patall et al., 2022; Reeve et al., 2020). Specifically, agentic engagement refers to the proactive, collaborative, and constructive action to transform learning activities (Reeve & Tseng, 2011). To cover the social interactions between students in collaborative learning contexts, Sinha et al. (2015) also included social engagement as the sub-construct of engagement. In summary, learning engagement is a multifaceted construct comprising different dimensions, leading to complex categories of students that can not only be divided into three categories of high, middle, and low by one single dimension. This study selected students’ behavioural, cognitive, emotional, agentic, and social engagement for assessment. Furthermore, the high-quality online collaborative discussion was found to be closely related to students’ learning engagement (Ouyang & Dai, 2021). There is various research about students’ engagement in the field of online collaborative learning. Researchers have explored the relationship between multifaceted forms of engagement and other related factors in collaborative learning through large-scale surveys (Xing et al., 2022). There are also growing numbers of research focused much on the approach of engagement recognition by using learning analytics (Ma et al., 2022). However, prior research paid little attention to the characteristics of collaborative learning of students with different levels of engagement from the perspective of multifaceted engagement.

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3 Method 3.1 Participant Thirty-six undergraduate students (7 males and 29 females) from a university in South China participated in this study. They were divided into 12 groups with 2 or 4 students. All of them had participated in online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, they were all familiar with blended learning and online discussion. Participants were required to take part in a blended online course. After deleting some unqualified data from one group, 34 samples from 11 groups were analysed.

3.2 Instrument 3.2.1

Questionnaires

The scale for measuring students’ cognitive engagement, behavioural engagement, emotional engagement, and agentic engagement was developed by Chiu et al. (2022). The scale for social engagement was derived from Wang et al. (2016). Both questionnaires presented high validity with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.938 and 0.911. Based on these scales, this study developed a questionnaire with 17 items consisting of these two scales to measure students’ engagement levels. All the items were measured by a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1–5, from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

3.2.2

UMU Platform

The UMU platform was used for online discussion in this course. Students could comment and interact with the teachers’ questions in the discussion forums. Figure 1 shows the details of the online discussion of student groups on the discussion forum.

3.2.3

ROSTCM6

ROSTCM6 is a text analysis tool. It could conduct content analysis with text data. Functions of word frequency analysis, sentiment analysis, and semantic network analysis in this tool were frequently used to explore the meaning of the content data.

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Fig. 1 The online discussion forum on the UMU Platform

3.3 Context All students participated in a 10-weeks blended online course named “Educational Communication”. They were required to select a group subject and produce creative works. The group subject they chose should relate to the course topic. Before the online learning, teachers provided videos for students to support their co-regulated study in the first week. As participants learned the use of the platform, they were engaged in two rounds of online discussions to improve their group’s selected subject in the fourth and fifth weeks. All groups’ discussions were guided by the same inquiry questions, but each group developed discussions in a separate forum.

3.4 Data Collection and Analysis Participants completed the questionnaire after the online classes in Week 10. Their answers were analyzed in SPSS 26.0. The data analysis procedure includes the reliability of the questionnaire, cluster analysis, cross-analysis, and content analysis. The Cronbach’s alpha of the questionnaire exceeds 0.8, which shows excellent reliability. Based on the results of the questionnaires, a cluster analysis was applied to identify individual students’ engagement. As students were classified into different clusters, this study combined the clusters and their groups in a cross-analysis. Thus the groups were divided into several types according to the members’ general engagement. Finally, content analysis, including word frequency analysis, sentiment analysis, and

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Fig. 2 The process of data collection and analysis

semantic network analysis, was employed to explore the characteristics of each group further. Figure 2 shows the process of data collection and analysis.

4 Result 4.1 Cluster Analysis & Group Classification A Hierarchical Cluster Analysis with the Ward’s minimum variance method was employed, revealing that the approximate number of clusters is between 4 and 5. Through the two-stage clustering approach, 5 Clusters were identified with better quality. K-means analysis was further employed to reveal the final result of the five clusters according to students’ engagement, as shown in Table 1. According to the results of ANOVA tests, the significance p-value of each sub-dimension is less than 0.05. It can be considered that there are significant differences between the five clusters in five factors.

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Table 1 The results of cluster analysis Engagement

Cluster 1 (N = 8) mean

Cluster 2 (N = 8) mean

Cluster 3 (N = 12) mean

Cluster 4 (N = 2) mean

Cluster 5 (N = 4) mean

F(ANOVA)

Cognitive engagement

4.88

4.44

4.21

3.63

3.38

F = 13.82*

Behavioral engagement

4.78

4.53

4.15

3.5

3.31

F = 21.458*

Emotional engagement

4.34

3.69

3.77

2.25

3

F = 18.99*

Social engagement

4.91

4.72

3.96

4

3.19

F = 54.32*

Agentic engagement

4.63

4.2

3.87

3.6

3

F = 23.49*

p < 0.001*

Students in Cluster 1 performed the best in all types of engagement. They were deeply engaged in the online collaboration. Cluster 2 showed a low emotional engagement, while other dimensions of engagement were similar to Cluster 1. The levels of cognitive and behavioral engagement were higher than the levels of the other three dimensions in Cluster 3. Compared to other clusters, Cluster 4 indicated the lowest emotional engagement, but they still had a deep level of social engagement. Lastly, participants in Cluster 5 presented the lowest engagement overall. Based on students’ engagement, this study divided student groups’ online collaborative learning engagement into four types with cross-analysis (Table 2). The ratio of members with different-level engagement was mainly considered as the characteristic of each type. The five types of student groups’ online collaborative learning engagement correspond to four types of groups. Table 3 shows the percentage of different students in each type of group. The devoted group has the most members belonging to Cluster 1 with the highest level of engagement. The engaged group has fewer members belonging to Cluster 1 and more members belonging to Clusters 2, 3, and 4, who have deficiencies in some engagement dimensions and relatively low engagement levels. The conform group has no members belonging to Cluster 1 and mainly members belonging to Clusters 2, 3, and 4. The divisive group comprises members of both Clusters 1 and 5, which is polarized and divisive.

4.2 Content Analysis The 34 participants in 11 groups generated 547 discussion statements during the online discussion. The number of discussion states of each type of group is shown in Table 4.

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Table 2 The results of cross-analysis Clusters Type

Cluster 1

Devoted Engaged Conform

Divisive

Cluster 2

Cluster 3

Cluster 4

Cluster 5

Total

Group 7

1

1

1

0

0

3

Group 8

2

1

1

0

0

4

Group 1

1

0

2

0

0

3

Group 4

1

1

0

1

0

3

Group 3

0

1

3

0

0

4

Group 5

0

0

2

0

1

3

Group 10

0

1

1

0

0

2

Group 11

0

2

0

0

0

2

Group 2

1

0

1

0

1

3

Group 6

1

1

0

1

1

4

Group 9

1

0

1

0

1

3

Total

8

8

12

2

4

34

Table 3 Percentage of clusters in each type of group Cluster Type

Cluster 1 (%) Cluster 2 (%) Cluster 3 (%) Cluster 4 (%) Cluster 5 (%) Total (%)

Devoted 42.86

28.57

28.57

0.00

0.00

100.00

Engaged 33.33

16.67

33.33

16.67

0.00

100.00

Conform

0.00

36.36

54.55

0.00

9.09

100.00

Divisive

30.00

10.00

20.00

10.00

30.00

100.00

Table 4 Number of discussion states in each type of group

4.2.1

Type

Number of discussion states

Devoted

151

Engaged

77

Divisive

155

Conform

164

Discussion Topic Analysis

In the word frequency analysis, the top five high-frequency words within each group were extracted, and the proportion of the top 100 high-frequency words in each group was calculated, as shown in Table 5. It is found that the differences between each group are not very obvious. However, all frequency words were related to students’ main topics during the online discussion. The semantic network of the four types is shown in Fig. 3. The network center of the devoted group included many keywords about the course topic and the groups’

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Table 5 Top five high-frequency words and their percentage in top 100 high-frequency words Engaged

Devoted Educator

5.05%

Study

Conform 5.37%

Student

Divisive 7.92%

Game

4.87%

Student

4.52%

Teaching

4.13%

Study

5.28%

Student

4.60%

Study

4.52%

Student

4.13%

Teaching

4.42%

Study

3.65%

Methods

3.59%

Methods

3.51%

Teacher

3.99%

Teaching

3.11%

Game

3.05%

Teacher

3.10%

Educator

3.14%

Knowledge

2.98%

selected subjects, which showed that the devoted group was highly focused on discussing their task and using more terms in the online discussion. The network center of the engaged group presented similar characteristics to the devoted group, but some parts of their discussion departed from the important topics. The conform group could focus on the course topics, while the words about group subjects were not closely connected with the course topics. Similar features in conform group also appear in the divisive group, but the discussion of the divisive group showed the fewest terms in all four groups.

Fig. 3 Semantic network of four types of groups

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Fig. 4 The results of sentiment analysis of four types of groups

4.2.2

Discussion Sentiment Analysis

Emotions are divided into three dimensions: positive, natural, and negative (Fig. 4). The overall level of negative emotion was similar. The proportions of the devoted, engaged, conform, and divisive groups were 13.33%, 13.75%, 13.17%, and 13.25%, respectively. The results showed that the engaged and the conform group tended to be positive, accounting for 67.5% and 68.78%, respectively, while the natural emotion accounted for 18.75% and 18.05%, respectively. Although positive emotions accounted for the largest proportion of the other emotions in the devoted group, the proportions of the three emotional works were more even than other groups. The devoted group had the highest natural emotion (37.78%) and the lowest positive emotion (48.89%). The divisive group’s emotion fluctuated less positive emotion and natural emotion accounting for 54.82% and 31.93%.

5 Conclusion and Discussion In summary of the results of the previous part, the comparative analysis of each type of group is shown in Table 6. For research question one, 11 groups were divided into four types (devoted, engaged, conform, and divisive) using cluster analysis and cross-analysis. For research question two, the content analysis showed differences in the focus degree of topic discussion and the frequency of different emotional words between each type of group. In this study, students’ levels of five dimensions of engagement composed groups’ characteristics. It appears that students’ behavioral, cognitive, and social engagement showed much more differences. Student groups hence differ in cognitive and social

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Table 6 Comparative results of online collaborative discussions in different types of groups Group type

Count of group and count Discussion of different cluster of topic student

Discussion sentiment

Characteristic

Devoted

2 groups; This type of group includes more students in the first cluster who had high levels of all dimensions of engagement

The topic of discussion is highly focused on class topic, and terminology appears more frequently

The proportion of positive emotion words and neutral emotion words is close

The number of groups in this type of group is small; group members have high levels of engagement; the proportion of neutral emotion words is high, and the discussion topic is highly focused

Engaged

4 groups; This type of group includes fewer students in the first cluster and includes students in the fourth cluster with high social engagement but low emotional engagement

The discussion focuses on class topic, but some discussions are not closely connected

The proportion of positive emotion words is much higher than neutral emotion words

The number of groups is the largest; the engagement of group members is relatively high, but there are also group members with low engagement in some aspects; the discussion was relatively focused

Their discussion topic deviates from the course’s topic

Positive emotion words accounted for the highest proportion in the four types of groups

The number of groups in this type of group is small; group members lack emotional engagement and only show engagement in behavior and cognition; the discussion topic deviates from the course theme

Their discussion topic deviates from the course’s topic, and terminology appeared less

Roughly consistent with the distribution of emotion words in the engaged group

The number of groups is respectively large; the engagement degree of group members is polarized; the discussion topic deviates from the course theme

Conform 2 groups; No student in the first cluster is in this type of group. Only the second cluster of students with low emotional engagement and high behavioral engagement and the third cluster of students with high cognitive engagement are included Divisive

3 groups; This type of group includes students in the first cluster who had high levels of all sub-construct of engagement and the students in the fifth cluster had low levels of all sub-construct of engagement

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presence due to their composition (Luo et al., 2023). Moreover, student groups’ co-regulation reflects their discrepancy (Kwon et al., 2014). The co-regulation of student groups was analysing by content analysis. The result showed that the word frequency analysis might not be suitable for analysing student groups’ characteristics because each type of group shared many similarities in their frequent words. This may be because all student groups had the same course topic in this study. Besides, the semantic network analysis demonstrated more insightful results. In their online discussion, students in the devoted group focused more on the course topic and related their group subjects to it. It was also discovered by Aldemir et al. (2022) that student groups’ grounding with narrative and aim improves their productivity. The devotion of the student group implies their productivity. On the contrary, the discussion of other groups had varying degrees of digression. The divisive group performed the worst in the process. It indicates that the student group’s cohesion plays an important role in their co-regulation (Zamecnik et al., 2022). Additionally, the findings of sentiment analysis provided more characteristics of each group. Students in the devoted group interacted with more natural words in their discussion than other groups. Their discussions were more focused and had more terms, so they lacked emotional phases. It also implies that students’ efficient discussion was not always accompanied by obvious emotions (Firer et al., 2021). On the other hand, students in the engaged and conform group discussed with more positive words, but their engagement still needed improvement. Interestingly, the divisive group is similar to the devoted group in the emotional state, but the divisive group chatted with more words that reflect positive emotions than the devoted group. The result indicated that students’ engagement is not directly related to their verbal positivity. Different aspects need to be analysing in combination to avoid misunderstanding in analysing student groups.

6 Implication and Limitation The findings of this study can guide teachers in optimizing their online pedagogy. For example, teachers can provide more detailed guidance to different types of groups according to their characteristics. Specifically, reminders and support should be provided to students in Conform or Divisive groups, whose discussion was deviated from the subject of the course. These students can be identified by the content of their discussion. The reminders could help them clarify their learning goals and focus on course content as well as main tasks. Teachers can also observe the collaboration of students in devoted and engaged groups, and then promote their successful experience to the whole class. Moreover, this study can provide new insight for technicians to optimize the online teaching platform, such as designing automatic recognition of student groups’ learning conditions and providing automatic support. However, some limitations of this study should be noted. The limitation of this study includes the small sample size, the participants’ limited range of demographic backgrounds,

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and the analysis method. Future research could apply new analysis techniques and a large sample size to validate the results and the proposed implications further.

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Ouyang, F., & Dai, X. (2021). Using a three-layered social-cognitive network analysis framework for understanding online collaborative discussions. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 164–181 Patall, E. A., Kennedy, A. A. U., Yates, N., Zambrano, J., Lee, D., & Vite, A. (2022). The relations between urban high school science students’ agentic mindset, agentic engagement, and perceived teacher autonomy support and control. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 71, 102097. Popescu, E., & Badea, G. (2020). Exploring a Community of Inquiry Supported by a Social MediaBased Learning Environment. Educational Technology and Society, 23(2), 61–76. Reeve, J., Cheon, S. H., & Jang, H. (2020). How and why students make academic progress: Reconceptualizing the student engagement construct to increase its explanatory power. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 62, 101899. Reeve, J., & Tseng, C.-M. (2011). Agency as a fourth aspect of students’ engagement during learning activities. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36(4), 257–267. Sadeghi, H., & Kardan, A. A. (2015). A novel justice-based linear model for optimal learner group formation in computer-supported collaborative learning environments. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 436–447. Sinha, S., Rogat, T. K., Adams-Wiggins, K. R., & Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2015). Collaborative group engagement in a computer-supported inquiry learning environment. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 10(3), 273–307. Sun, Z., Lin, C.-H., Wu, M., Zhou, J., & Luo, L. (2018). A tale of two communication tools: Discussion-forum and mobile instant-messaging apps in collaborative learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49(2), 248–261. Wang, M.-T., Fredricks, J. A., Ye, F., Hofkens, T. L., & Linn, J. S. (2016). The math and science engagement scales: Scale development, validation, and psychometric properties. Learning and Instruction, 43, 16–26. Wang, S.-L., & Hong, H.-T. (2018). The roles of collective task value and collaborative behaviors in collaborative performance through collaborative creation in CSCL. Educational Technology Research and Development, 66(4), 937–953. Xie, K., Hensley, L. C., Law, V., & Sun, Z. (2019). Self-regulation as a function of perceived leadership and cohesion in small group online collaborative learning: Self-regulation and leadership in group learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(1), 456–468. Xing, W., Zhu, G., Arslan, O., Shim, J., & Popov, V. (2022). Using learning analytics to explore the multifaceted engagement in collaborative learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education Xiong, X. B., Ching Sing, C., Tsai, C.-C., & Liang, J.-C. (2022). Exploring the relationship between Chinese pre-service teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their perceptions of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). Educational Studies, 48(6), 750–771. Yang, T., Luo, H., & Sun, D. (2022). Investigating the combined effects of group size and group composition in online discussion. Active Learning in Higher Education, 23(2), 115–128. Zamecnik, A., Villa-Torrano, C., Kovanovi´c, V., Grossmann, G., Joksimovi´c, S., Dimitriadis, Y., & Pardo, A. (2022). The cohesion of small groups in technology-mediated learning environments: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 35, 100427. Zheng, L., Long, M., Niu, J., & Zhong, L. (2023). An automated group learning engagement analysis and feedback approach to promoting collaborative knowledge building, group performance, and socially shared regulation in CSCL. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Zhou, X., & Tsai, C.-W. (2022). The Effects of Socially Shared Regulation of Learning on the Computational Thinking, Motivation, and Engagement in Collaborative Learning by Teaching. Education and Information Technologies

Weipeng Shen is a master’s student in Educational Technology, School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.

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His current research interest is in digital transformation of teaching and learning; augmentedreality learning; AI education; ICT-supported teachers’ professional development. He is currently working on the area of ICT-supported teachers’ professional development. Yingshan Chen is a master’s student in Educational Technology, School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Her research interests include Computational thinking and AI education. She is currently working on the area of AI education for primary school students. Juan Jiang is a master’s student in Educational Technology, School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Her current research interest is in data-supported teaching and learning assessment, ICT integration, and AI education. Ruiqing Chen is an undergraduate student majoring in Educational Technology, School of Information Technology in Education, South China University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Her research interest includes AI education and computational thinking. She is currently working on the area of ICT-supported teachers’ professional development. Xingyu Liao is an undergraduate student majoring in Educational Technology, School of Information Technology in Education, South China University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. His current research interests are in AI-supported teaching and Ethical education of AI. Xiao-Fan Lin graduated from School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China with a doctorate degree in educational technology. He currently is an Associate Professor at the School of Information Technology in Education and the Department of Learning Sciences and Smart Education. His research interest includes mobile learning; augmented-reality learning; AI education; ICT-supported Teachers’ professional development; students’ core competence.

Evaluation of Good Practices of Using Rewards in Online Classrooms Based on the Five Principles of Motivation Tiffany Shurui Bai, Yingxue Liu, and Yue Qiu

Abstract Rewards are often used as a stimulus to engage students in activities they may not be interested in at first. According to Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET), the impacts of rewards on one’s motivation can vary in rewards contingency, that is, how the rewards have been given and administrated. The two most adopted rewards in education are completion- and performance-contingent rewards. Completion-contingent rewards are given upon completing a task, regardless of the performance quality, while performance-contingent rewards are awarded only when a certain level of competency is met. Previous studies presented mixed results of using these rewards on student intrinsic motivation and learning performance. There is a lack of research investigating the effects of rewards contingency on student online learning outcomes, despite student satisfaction and engagement in online classes were reported to be relatively low compared to traditional in-person classes. Therefore, this study aimed to address the gaps by implementing, comparing, and evaluating both completion- and performance-contingent rewards in a fully online class. Thirty-one postgraduates participated in the study. All reward tasks were incorporated in pre-class individual online quizzes. The quantitative data analysis showed that using performance-informational rewards can lead to significantly higher intrinsic motivation and enhanced learning performance compared to adopting completioncontrolling rewards. Qualitative data analysis based on semi-structured student interviews revealed that both completion- and performance-contingent rewards could help to enhance students’ online learning motivation from different aspects. Implications for good practices of using rewards in online learning were implementing reward tasks unexpectedly, providing positive and informational feedback with reward tasks, and designing reward tasks that facilitate students’ social presence and relatedness. T. S. Bai · Y. Liu (B) · Y. Qiu Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] T. S. Bai e-mail: [email protected] Y. Qiu e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_8

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Keywords Higher education · Motivation · Online learning · Rewards

1 Introduction Motivation is the driving force behind our actions and behaviors. It is the reason why we engage in any activity. It is an internal push or urge to perform a particular action or behavior (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Motivation is a crucial aspect of both teaching and learning. Student motivation affects their participation, mental and emotional investment in-class activities, and self-improvement in the long run (Filgona et al., 2020). Rewards have often been used to motivate students in behaviors they may not initially be interested in (Duggal et al., 2021; Treiblmaier and Putz, 2020). Current literature shows inconsistent findings of using rewards on students’ motivation, varying from positive (Duggal et al., 2021), neutral (Me¸se & Dursun, 2019), to even negative effects (Hanus and Fox, 2015). We found two possible explanations. First, many studies do not explicitly reveal the function of rewards which can be a factor in influencing student motivation differentially. Based on Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) (Deci et al., 1975), students’ motivation can be enhanced when the rewards are given as feedback on their learning, signifying the informational function of rewards. Yet students’ motivation may decrease if they are manipulated to change behaviors to achieve rewards. In this case, the controlling function of the rewards is more salient. Second, the undesired reward administration may not align well with some existing practices’ learning tasks and goals. Rewards contingency refers to the administration criteria based on which the rewards will be assigned (Ryan et al., 1983). If the rewards are given based on task completion regardless of its quality, it is unlikely that students’ motivation will be improved. The two most used types of rewards contingency are completionand performance-contingent rewards. The completion-contingency rewards are given for achieving the intended learning objective of behavioural engagement, and the performance-contingency rewards are offered for achieving the intended learning objective of quality work. For instance, giving coins for submitting assignments on time is viewed as a completion-contingency reward (Zaric et al., 2021). Giving achievement badges for correctly answering all questions or performing the best is regarded as a performance-contingency reward (Ryan et al., 1983). Hitherto, limited studies have been done on rewards contingency in teaching and learning. Specifically, there is no research implementing both completion- and performance-contingent rewards in a fully online learning environment. This study aims to address this gap by applying, comparing, and evaluating both completionand performance-contingent in a fully online course. Good practices of using these two rewards for enhanced motivation are then discussed.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 Student Motivation in Fully Online Learning Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational institutions have shifted to fully online learning, which utilizes the internet to deliver content. Fully online teaching and learning is often considered a less effective choice (Hodges et al., 2020) and is associated with lower student satisfaction than traditional in-person classes (Wang et al., 2021). A survey of over 400 college students who attended online classes revealed that primary challenges in online learning include the absence of face-toface interaction and the lack of motivation to begin their learning tasks (Friedman, 2020). Even in the post-pandemic current, how to enhance student motivation is still relevant for teachers and educators.

2.2 Rewards Contingency in CET CET posits that the impact of rewards on motivation depends on the rewards contingency, that is, how the rewards have been assigned (Ryan et al., 1983). If extrinsic rewards or constraints are present, intrinsic motivation will likely decrease. In contrast, intrinsic motivation may increase if autonomy and positive feedback on doing activities are given (Ryan, 1982). Ryan et al. (1983) summarized four types of rewards contingency based on the way of administrating the rewards: task-non-contingent, completion-contingent, performance-contingent, and competitively contingent rewards. The most used two are completion-contingent and performance-contingent rewards. Completioncontingent rewards are given upon completing a task, regardless of the performance quality. Performance-contingent rewards are awarded only when a certain level of performance is met. This type of reward is used to acknowledge one’s competence in completing a task to a specified standard.

2.3 Use of Rewards in Online Learning Most empirical studies that investigated the effects of rewards on student learning outcomes are in the field of gamification (Duggal et al., 2021; Hanus and Fox, 2015; Treiblmaier and Putz, 2020) because rewards can be an integral element of gamified learning. It was suggested that achievement badges as intangible rewards used in gamified classes can motivate students to complete more course exercises (Ibáñez et al., 2014). Likewise, Bai et al. (2021) found that assigning tangible rewards of high-quality assignment samples to students in gamification could enhance their classroom participation, knowledge construction, and self-reflection. In contrast,

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negative results (i.e., lower motivation, satisfaction, and learning performance) were shown in Hanus and Fox’s (2015) investigation where students were awarded coins for meaningful contributions to class discussions or sharing useful learning resources. The mixed findings could inhibit teachers from making informed decisions on using rewards to improve student learning motivation and performance. In addition, predominant attention to the reward use in gamification can cause weak generalizability of the results and implications to other educational settings, such as fully online learning. More importantly, to our knowledge, there is a dearth of research specifying and exploring the effects of reward contingency, for instance, completion- and performance-contingent rewards in fully online classes. However, the reward contingency can be a potent variable which may affect student learning in differentiated ways. Thus, this study aims to understand how completionand performance-contingent rewards would influence student intrinsic motivation, learning performance, and perceptions in a fully online learning class. The research questions are as follows: RQ1: What are the effects of completion-controlling and performance-informational rewards on students’ intrinsic motivation in fully online learning? RQ2: What are the effects of completion-controlling and performance-informational rewards on students’ learning performance in fully online learning? RQ3: How do students perceive the use of completion-controlling and performanceinformational rewards in fully online learning?

3 Method 3.1 Rewards Schemes The course used for this study is an elective taught master course offered for educational technology majors at a university in Hong Kong. This course explores educational and corporate uses and the design of digital stories and educational videos. The intervention lasted for four weeks with eight sessions (three hours for each session, 24 h in total). We set up eight pre-class individual quizzes to implement the reward scheme. Students were asked to complete the questions to test their understanding of facts, concepts, and principles discussed in class. Table 1 presents the rewards scheme in four weeks. We assigned 10% of the entire course grade and many stickers to the Part A weekly quiz (each weekly quiz is 2.5%) throughout four weeks. The grade and stickers were used as the completioncontingent rewards, highlighting the controlling function of rewards administration. Students could attain these rewards as long as they submitted the quiz. The stickers in four weeks were different and visually appealing. For instance, week 1 was an astronaut, and week 2 was a space station on Mars. Students could also customize

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Table 1 Reward scheme in four weeks Week

Quiz

Reward contingency

Informational/ controlling orientation

Reward content

No.1

Part A weekly quiz

Completion

Controlling

Stickers, gradea

Part B weekly quiz

Performance

Informational

Submission deadline extensionb

Part A weekly quiz

Completion

Controlling

Stickers, gradea

Part B weekly quiz

Performance

Informational

Extra learning materialc

Part A weekly quiz

Completion

Controlling

Stickers, gradea

Part B weekly quiz

Performance

Informational

Submission deadline extensionb

Part A weekly quiz

Completion

Controlling

Stickers, gradea

Part B weekly quiz

Performance

Informational

Extra learning materialc

No.2

No.3

No.4

a Four

Part A weekly quizzes are 10% of the course grade (i.e., 10 out of 100 marks). 1 and 3 used the same rewards for the Part B weekly quiz. c Weeks 2 and 3 used the same rewards for the Part B weekly quiz. b Weeks

their obtained stickers to show their creativity and personality. We used individual assignment submission deadline extensions (weeks 1 and 3) and extra learning material (weeks 2 and 4) as performance-contingent rewards for the Part B weekly quiz. Students could attain these rewards only if they answered all questions in the quiz correctly. These rewards were expected to activate the informational function of rewards and the performance on these quizzes would not bring real-world impacts (i.e., course grades). Figure 1a shows the rewards scheme in four weeks and Fig. 1b shows a snippet of the reward scheme in weeks 1 and 2.

3.2 Participants Thirty-one postgraduates (20 females and 11 males) participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 22 to 35 (M = 27.23, SD = 4.54). Thirteen participants were from mainland China, and eighteen were from Hong Kong SAR. To answer the first and second research questions, we classified participants into two reward groups based on their most often completed quiz type (i.e., Part A: completion-controlling versus Part B: performance-informational). Fifteen participants fell into the completion-controlling group and sixteen in the performanceinformational group.

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(a)

(b) Fig. 1 Rewards scheme in four weeks a and a snippet of reward scheme in weeks 1 and 2 b

3.3 Data Measurement and Analysis A mixed-method approach was adopted for data collection and analysis. First, the pre-and post-intervention performance tests were implemented to compare participants’ learning performance between completion-controlling and performanceinformational reward conditions. The pre-test was four multiple-choice questions and three short essay questions about conceptual knowledge of storytelling and the application of video editing skills. The post-test was measured by the course final

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assignments grade. There were three components in the final assignments: (1) instructional video production about teaching educators how to use a given e-learning software (individual assignment, 40%), (2) course trailer production about one common core course (group assignment, 40%), (3) weekly assignments (individual assignment, 10% for weekly quiz and 10% for weekly short-video clip). Second, we examined participants’ self-reported intrinsic motivation levels using Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Ryan, 1982) at the pre-and post-intervention stages. Qualitatively, we did a semi-structured interview at the end of the session, and 14 participants accepted our interview (response rate: 45.2%) to understand participants’ perceptions of using two types of rewards. The sample interview questions are: How do you describe your learning experience? What do you think of the rewards scheme used in this class? Only data from participants who endorsed the consent form were included in the results report. For the interview response, we used the thematic analysis method to code and generate themes in the interview data. The development of the relevant themes went through four stages: initiation, construction, revision, and finalization (Vaismoradi et al., 2016). The inter-rater reliability of generated themes between the second and third authors was 92%. The disagreement was thoroughly discussed and resolved.

4 Results 4.1 Effects on Learning Performance The normality test revealed a normal distribution of the sampled data regarding learning performance scores in both pre-and post-test across groups. The results of an independent samples t-test indicated no significant difference in learning performance between the two groups in the pre-test, t(29) = -0.646, p = 0.523. However, a significant difference in learning performance scores was observed between the groups in the post-test. The performance-informational group displayed significantly higher learning performance compared to the completion-controlling group, t(29) = -8.333, p < 0.001. To summarize, our result showed that the performanceinformational rewards positively impacted student learning performance compared to the completion-controlling rewards.

4.2 Effects on Students’ Intrinsic Motivation The normality test revealed a normal distribution of the sampled data regarding the level of intrinsic motivation in both pre-and post-test across groups. The results of an independent samples t-test suggested no significant difference in intrinsic motivation between the completion-controlling and performance-informational

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groups in the pre-test, t(29) = -0.487, p = 0.630. However, students in the performance-informational group showed significantly higher intrinsic motivation scores compared to the completion-controlling group in the post-test, t(29) = -3.052, p = 0.005. To summarize, our result showed that the performanceinformational rewards positively impacted student intrinsic motivation compared to the completion-controlling rewards.

4.3 Students’ Perceptions: Course Evaluation Based on Five Principles of Motivation The evaluation of the use of completion-contingent reward and performancecontingent rewards in our fully online course will be divided into three parts. First, we briefly revisited the nature of each motivation principle. Then, we analyzed the appropriateness of two reward schemes by examining how they align with each motivation principle. Finally, we reported on the impact of the schemes on student motivation based on their perception. Student learning motivation can be empowered when the following five principles of motivation are incorporated into learning design (Keller, 2008): (1) Motivation to learn is promoted when a learner’s curiosity is aroused due to a perceived gap in current knowledge. (2) Motivation to learn is promoted when the knowledge to be learned is perceived to be meaningfully related to a learner’s goals. (3) Motivation to learn is promoted when learners believe they can succeed in mastering the learning task. (4) Motivation to learn is promoted when learners anticipate and experience satisfying outcomes to a learning task. (5) Motivation to learn is promoted and maintained when learners employ volitional (self-regulatory) strategies to protect their intentions. Principle 1—Motivation to Learn is Promoted When a learner’s Curiosity is Aroused Due to a Perceived Gap in Current Knowledge Learning motivation can be enhanced by gaining attention, building curiosity, and sustaining active engagement in the learning activity (Keller, 2008). Various approaches, such as interesting graphics and animation that introduce incongruity or conflict can be used to arouse students’ attention (Keller, 2008). In our completioncontingent reward scheme, students were rewarded beautiful stickers after finishing the weekly basic knowledge quiz. This reward might equip them with a clearer sense of whether they have achieved the intended learning goal and inspire them to go for a higher correct rate. As one student mentioned, “When I see the sticker, I know that I don’t need to check [my knowledge] and it’s ok. On the other hand, I will keep trying [until I get the correct answer]” (student 5).

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Sustaining and deepening student attention or curiosity can be a problem (Keller, 2008). To address this issue, in our performance-contingent reward scheme, students could only get the reward by achieving a full mark in the “extra” weekly challenge. This design encouraged a sense of inquiry among students to maintain their attention and effortful participation. One student said, “It can be this kind of step-by-step method. Feedback will be given only if we complete these tasks and answer all of them correctly” (Student 4). However, we found that both of our reward schemes could not afford to maintain student learning interests over a long period. This was mainly because both rewards were expected and unchanged throughout the course. To this, students gave their suggestions as one stated, “I think it is okay not to tell in advance that the reward is … You will only know when you finish and get the answer right. It’s like opening a blind box, full of surprises” (Student 6). Principle 2—Motivation to Learn is Promoted When the Knowledge to Be Learned is Perceived to Be Meaningfully Related to a learner’s Goals Learning motivation can be enhanced by making the instructional environment relevant and useful to a learner’s goals (Keller, 2008). In both of our reward schemes, students were informed of the pathway to attain the reward by referring to clear guidelines and prompt feedback. This could enable their goal-setting. As one student mentioned, “Email feedback is very useful, just tell what you need to do and how to do it” (student 5). A higher level of motivation can be achieved when learners experience intrinsic goal orientation by engaging in activities that can be freely chosen and attractive to them (Keller, 2008). In our case, students could voluntarily participate in reward tasks of both weekly basic knowledge quizzes and “extra” weekly challenges. Several intriguing scenarios were also presented using multimodal narratives before students explored the reward task. Apart from goal setting, both of our reward schemes seemed to have the potential to facilitate student learning goal achievement. For instance, students could get feedback along with a reward as an indicator of their learning performance when finishing the reward task, and this could function as scaffolding for their learning. Particularly, in our performance-contingent reward scheme, students received extra learning material if they answered all questions correctly. They reported its advantage in promoting content knowledge mastery. One student said, “The material can help us do our assignment” (Student 8). Principle 3—Motivation to Learn is Promoted When Learners Believe They Can Succeed in Mastering the Learning Task Learning motivation can be enhanced when learners accumulate confidence during the learning process and attribute learning success to their own abilities and efforts (Keller, 2008; Weiner, 1985). Our completion-contingent reward scheme could foster a sense of competence through social comparison. Students could see their peers’ learning progress by looking at the stickers on the team map. Some reported growth in self-efficacy when comparing or even competing with others. As one student mentioned, “I do enjoy it because you can see that we have many stickers here, and

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it shows us that we completed a lot of challenges” (Student 9), and another student put, “I felt that putting the stickers on the team map would demonstrate their [peers’] abilities” (Student 2). Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that this social comparison may not necessarily help intrinsically motivate students if the controlling aspects of the reward are too salient. Some students felt an urge and pressure to finish the task to avoid being left behind. One student stated, “If you see that some classmates have put the sticker on it, it is invisible, and will urge you to do the quiz quickly. Your classmate has already done it, but you haven’t done it yet” (student 6). As for the performance-contingent reward scheme, no substantial evidence showed that students felt more competent at this task, although the difficulty level of the “extra” weekly challenge was higher. This was possibly because the performancecontingent reward may even pose stronger control to students as they may perceive that they must meet a standard to maximize rewards instead of focusing on internal needs and pursuits (Deci et al., 2001). Principle 4—Motivation to Learn is Promoted When Learners Anticipate and Experience Satisfying Outcomes to a Learning Task Learning motivation can be enhanced when learners hold positive expectations of their learning and have access to satisfying learning outcomes (Keller, 2008). Research shows that extrinsic reinforcement, such as using rewards in our case, can help foster student learning satisfaction. In our case, tangible rewards of stickers, extra learning material, or an extended assignment deadline all represented a recognition of students satisfying learning progress. As one student mentioned, “I like the idea of virtual rewards…and these rewards are appreciation for our good work” (Student (1). Specifically, in our completion-contingent reward scheme, students demonstrated a sense of self-differentiation by intentionally showcasing their personalities using different stickers. This may help to contribute to their positive self-image and learning experience. As one student stated, “He [the student’s teammate] threw a sticker on the team map, and I also threw a sticker on it. I said that I want to be different from you” (Student 2). On the other hand, some students reported that both of our reward schemes, particularly the performance-contingent reward scheme, could not fully address their needs for better outcomes since it was non-graded. As one student mentioned, “I think that most of the student’s motivation for doing this is not to get a sticker [or learning material/extended deadline] but more points” (Student 3). While it is a common desire for students to get the reward as extra points or grades, caution needs to be taken that high-impact rewards must follow other established motivation principles so that students’ intrinsic needs of autonomy and competence will not be hurt [20]. Principle 5—Motivation to Learn is Promoted and Maintained When Learners Employ Volitional (Self-Regulatory) Strategies to Protect Their Intentions Learning motivation can be enhanced when learners are in favorable conditions to employ volitional strategies, such as self-control and self-regulation, to stay on task and achieve learning intentions (Keller, 2008). In both of our reward schemes,

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students reflected they learn from the feedback embedded in the reward task, inspiring them to monitor, evaluate, and further act on their own learning. As one student stated, “The most important thing is to understand the correct answer and where I am wrong. For the feedback, I can simply locate it, which is enough to guide me to re-learn and find knowledge points” (Student 2). In our completion-contingent reward scheme, students were rewarded with either extra learning material or an extended assignment submission deadline. This was beneficial for them to maintain goal-oriented behavior and overcome obstacles in learning. As one student mentioned, “Yes, I like it [extra learning material] as well… this gives us more information to prepare for the assignment” (Student 9) and another student put, “I think deadline extension is very useful…which will allow me to make that thing [homework] more refined” (Student 2).

5 Good Practices of the Use of Rewards in Online Learning We offer some practical suggestions on the use of rewards to facilitate student learning outcomes (i.e., learning motivation) in online classes based on our findings. First, according to our study, the performance-informational rewards can be more effective in enhancing students’ intrinsic motivation and learning performance than the completion-controlling rewards. To this, teachers are suggested to align the intended teaching objectives with appropriate learning tasks, then assign performance-informational rewards based on the teaching context. In this way, students could not only get timely feedback on their performance for further improvement but also achieve a sense of competency upon obtaining rewards that are not available for all. Second, the reward tasks in online learning can be implemented and administrated unexpectedly (Deci et al., 2001; Freeman et al., 2007), meaning a portion of rewards can be given as an extra surprise without informing students at the beginning. The schemes can be adjusted regularly (e.g., every week) according to the learning context and students’ needs to facilitate a sense of variability and unpredictability in learning. Third, the reward tasks in online learning should be presented with positive and informational feedback to students’ learning (Ryan et al., 1983). Constructive reward feedback, for instance, providing relevant and useful extra learning materials to students when completing a specific task, can help convey the value of learning activities and imply students’ satisfying learning achievement. Fourth, the reward tasks in online learning should be designed to facilitate students’ social presence and relatedness, considering that motivation is most robust when learners’ sense of belonging and connection is strengthened (Freeman et al., 2007). A team map can provide a place to display students’ learning abilities and teams’ learning progress, thus potentially fostering constructive comparison and collaboration, as well as a favorable climate among all group members.

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Acknowledgements The research was supported by a Departmental Research Grant from The Education University of Hong Kong awarded to the first author (Project Reference No: 04782).

References Bai, S., Gonda, D. E., & Hew, K. F. (2021, December). Effects of tangible rewards on student learning performance, knowledge construction, and perception in fully online gamified learning. In 2021 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology & Education, Wuhan, China. (pp. 899–904). https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE52509.2021.9678741 Deci, E., Cascio, W., & Krusell, J. (1975). Cognitive Evaluation Theory and Some Comments on the Calder and Staw Critique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 81–85. https:// doi.org/10.1037/h0076168 Deci, E., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. (2001). Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation in education: reconsidered once again. Review of Educational Research—REV EDUC RES, 71, 1–27. https:// doi.org/10.3102/00346543071001001 Duggal, K., Singh, P., & Gupta, L. (2021). Impact of gamification, games, and game elements in education. In pp. 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66218-9_23 Filgona, J., Sakiyo, J., Gwany, D., & Okoronka, A. (2020). Motivation in learning. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 10, 16–37. https://doi.org/10.9734/AJESS/2020/v10i430273 Freeman, T., Anderman, L., & Jensen, J. (2007). Sense of belonging in college freshmen at the classroom and campus levels. Journal of Experimental Education—J EXP EDUC, 75, 203–220. https://doi.org/10.3200/JEXE.75.3.203-220 Friedman, C. (2020). Students’ major online learning challenges amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Hanus, M., & Fox, J. (2015). Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance. Computers & Education, 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.019 Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, M. (2020). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning Ibáñez, M. B., & Á, D.-S., & Delgado-Kloos, C. (2014). Gamification for engaging computer science students in learning activities: A case study. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 7(3), 291–301. https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2014.2329293 Keller, J. (2008). First principles of motivation to learn and e3-learning. Distance Education, 29, 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587910802154970 Me¸se, C., & Dursun, O. (2019). Effectiveness of gamification elements in blended learning environments. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 20, 119–142. https://doi.org/10.17718/ tojde.601914 Ryan, R. M. (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 450–461. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68 Ryan, R. M., Mims, V., & Koestner, R. (1983). Relation of reward contingency and interpersonal context to intrinsic motivation: A review and test using cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 736–750. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.736 Treiblmaier, H., & Putz, L.-M. (2020). Gamification as a moderator for the impact of intrinsic motivation: Findings from a multigroup field experiment. Learning and Motivation, 71, 101655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2020.101655 Vaismoradi, M., Jones, J., Turunen, H., & Snelgrove, S. (2016). Theme development in qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 6, 100–110. https://doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v6n5p100

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Wang, Y., Stein, D., & Shen, S. (2021). Students’ and teachers’ perceived teaching presence in online courses. Distance Education, 42, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2021.1956304 Weiner, B. (1985). An Attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92, 548–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.92.4.548 Zaric, N., Röpke, R., Lukarov, V., & Schroeder, U. (2021). Gamified Learning Theory: The Moderating role of learners’ learning tendencies. International Journal of Serious Games, 8, 71–91. https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v8i3.438

Tiffany Shurui Bai is assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology at The Education University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in technologyenhanced learning, gamification, and intrinsic motivation to learn. Yingxue Liu is a research assistant in the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology at The Education University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in the interdisciplinary field of educational technology and multiliteracies learning. Yue Qiu is a doctoral student in the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology at The Education University of Hong Kong. Her research interests are digital storytelling and student engagement.

Exploring Final-Year Undergraduate Students’ Readiness of Self-directed Learning in the Workplace Annie W. Y. Ng

Abstract Self-directed learning, one of the typical forms of informal learning, is nowadays seen as an essential competence for workplace. Research objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the self-directed learning readiness of 358 final-year undergraduate students at a university in Hong Kong before entering into workplace. Methodology: The Guglielmino’s Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) was used. Students indicated the degree to which the 58 statements accurately described their own attitudes, beliefs, actions, or skills on the five-point rating scale. Key results: The mean SDLRS score of these students was 207.14 ± 23.14, indicating that they generally reached the ‘average’ level of readiness for self-directed learning but there was still room for improvement. Compared to the selfdirected learning studies in the literature, the mean SDLRS score of these students was higher than that of students from Taiwan and Japan, but lower than that of Indonesia, Australia, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates. Keywords Graduate attribute · Higher education · Informal learning · Lifelong learning · Student capability · Undergraduate study

1 Introduction One of the typical forms of informal learning, self-directed learning, has been recognized for helping promote students’ lifelong learning attitudes (Fok et al., 2018; Marsick & Watkins, 2001; Mok et al., 2007). Self-directed learning is also seen as an essential competence for workplace nowadays (Hutasuhut et al., 2018; Lemmetty & Collin, 2019; Morris, 2019). To meet the demands of the rapidly changing business environment, employees should possess self-initiative in learning the continuous development of respective fields of work and making their up-to-date knowledge applicable in daily profession. In accordance with Knowles’ conceptual definition, A. W. Y. Ng (B) The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_9

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self-directed learning is ‘a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies and evaluating learning outcomes’ (Knowles, 1975). This definition of self-directed learning has been the most frequently adopted in literature for around fifty years. In literature, the term self-directed learning has been used interchangeably with self-regulated learning (Linkous, 2021). Education aiming for fostering self-directed learning competence would offer better preparation for students in their future life (Morris, 2019). In Hong Kong, selfdirected learning has been the focus of education with emphasis on enabling students to take the initiative to learn and promoting students’ lifelong learning attitudes (Hong Kong Education Commission, 2000). Cultivation of students’ capacity for self-directed learning has also been turning out to be a major education aim in modern educational reforms (Mok & Cheng, 2001). Thus, there are numerous research studies in Hong Kong on the self-directed learning of students from the beginning of their primary and secondary schools (Fok et al., 2018; Hew et al., 2016; Mok et al., 2005, 2007; Tsang & Cheung, 2018). As self-directed learning is a critical competence that empowers university students to drive success in learning outcomes and workplace after graduation, studies on university students’ self-directed learning in Hong Kong have also been reported (Lee et al., 2017; Zhoc et al., 2018). The great importance of self-directed learning attribute at workplace implied that there is a need for university administrators and educators to have an updated and thorough understanding about the self-directed learning readiness of their undergraduate students. The purpose of this study was to examine the self-directed learning readiness of final-year undergraduate students, i.e. potential graduates at a university in Hong Kong before entering into workplace. The Guglielmino’s Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2017), a widely used instrument for measuring of self-directed learning of students, was adopted in this study. Research studies on the level of self-directed learning readiness, i.e. SDLRS score among potential graduates in Hong Kong are limited. The results of this study provided a portrait of the self-directed learning of university students in Hong Kong, which would be useful in reviewing and developing strategies to cultivate the attribute of self-directed learning for university students.

2 Literature Review There are a number of research studies in Hong Kong concerning with the selfdirected learning of university students. Comprehensive review on previous studies from year 2010 to 2022 was conducted. These studies mainly included factors relating to self-directed learning of university students, how the students develop self-directed learning through educational intervention, and perceptions and practices of assessing and facilitating self-directed learning of the students.

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Factors relating to self-directed learning are frequently of interest in the education sector. Individual learning style, emotional intelligence, learning outcomes, achievement emotion, and parenting style were shown to be significantly associated with self-directed learning of university students in Hong Kong. Lee et al. (2017) examined three key self-directed learning constructs viz. self-management, desire for learning, and self-control with undergraduate and postgraduate students from two universities in Hong Kong. The self-management refers to managing the self and time; desire for learning signifies the need to learn and the enjoyment gained from learning, and selfcontrol means decision-making. Results indicated that the three self-directed learning constructs were related to computer use for learning and individual learning style. Zhoc et al. (2018) found that the first-year undergraduate students’ emotional intelligence, i.e. ability to appraise, express, and regulate emotions had a strong effect on their self-directed learning. The self-directed learning of the students was also positively correlated with students’ learning outcomes in terms of grade point average, generic learning outcomes, and university experience satisfaction. Yip and Leung (2016) revealed an impact of perceived parenting style on self-regulated learning of undergraduates with mediating effect of positive achievement emotions such as enjoyment, hope, and pride. Studies on how university students develop self-directed learning through educational intervention have been of significant concern to higher education practitioners in Hong Kong. Most of these studies focused on the online-based intervention for selfdirected learning. This was not surprising as the landscape of the universities’ ways of channels to communicate and deliver information to students has been transforming to online platforms (Ng, 2023). Li et al. (2016) studied the social network educational games as self-directed e-learning environments for undergraduates to learn more about mental health and depression. They showed that Internet self-efficacy and having more fun in the game were significantly related to perceived learning effectiveness. Self-directed mobile learning activities are also typical kinds of intervention for autonomous learning. Lai and Zheng (2018) found three dimensions of undergraduates’ self-directed out-of-class mobile foreign language learning experience. These included personalization (autonomous, customized learning anytime and anywhere), authenticity (authentic learning experience such as listening to songs of the target language), and connectivity (connection with native speakers of the target language and peer learners). Such self-directed mobile language learning experience was affected by, for instance, learners’ culturally informed and habitual use of mobile devices. Problem-based learning has also been a common intervention for fostering selfdirected learning of students in medical and healthcare disciplines (Frambach et al., 2012). Though universities moved their education online during the worldwide pandemic outbreak to ensure continuity of teaching and learning for students (Ng, 2022), problem-based learning intervention for self-directed learning was experimented in live online classes. During the pandemic, Wong and Kan (2022) studied the influence of online problem-based learning intervention on self-directed learning abilities with undergraduate nursing students through authentic case scenario group work in a course. The problem-based learning intervention had marked improvement

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and sustained effects on self-directed learning of the nursing students. International exchange program as a kind of university students’ favorite experiential learning activity was revealed to be able to cultivate their self-directed learning skills (Chak & Makino, 2010). The exchange program study also facilitated self-development and adaptability to changes in the students (Ng & Lee, 2020). Regarding the challenge of self-directed learning in conventional assessment practice, there were research studies in Hong Kong about the perspectives of university teachers toward assessing and facilitating self-directed learning of their students. Lau (2018) interviewed university English teachers’ perceptions and practices of assessing self-directed learning. The university teachers reported cognitive development as an indicator of success in self-directed learning for students. The challenges for university teachers when assessing self-directed learning not only included monitoring students’ progress but also reification of autonomy. Lai et al. (2013) investigated the pre- and post-perceptions of and attitudes to self-directed learning of teachers of an undergraduate language course containing a substantial self-directed learning component. The teachers were new or relatively new to facilitate selfdirected learning. Results showed that the teachers’ attitudes toward self-directed learning were largely positive at the beginning and became more positive at the end of the course. Student behavior in the course (e.g. students’ willingness to engage with self-directed learning) was the major source of influence over teachers’ attitudes to self-directed learning. To enable university administrators and teachers further promoting and nurturing the attribute of self-directed learning for university students, an updated and thorough understanding of the self-directed learning readiness of the potential graduates is critical. This research study aimed to measure the self-directed learning readiness of final-year undergraduates at a university in Hong Kong with a commonly used instrument called Guglielmino’s Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale.

3 Method 3.1 Participants There were 358 final-year undergraduate students (176 males and 182 females) at a university in Hong Kong voluntarily participating in the study. The proportions of males (49.16%) and females (50.84%) were approximately equal. The participants studied in the disciplines of business, engineering, science, social science and humanities, and interdisciplinary curriculum in the university.

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3.2 Instrument The Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) developed by Dr. Lucy M. Guglielmino was adopted (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2017). It has been a widely used instrument for measuring self-directed learning of students. It is a self-reported questionnaire with 58 Likert scale statements about the attitudes, abilities, and characteristics that comprise readiness to engage in self-directed learning. Responses were measured on a five-point rating scale ranging from one (almost never true of me; I hardly ever feel this way) to five (almost always true of me; there are very few times when I do not feel this way). The content validity, construct validity, criterionrelated validity, internal consistency reliability, and test–retest reliability of SDLRS were comprehensively examined (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2017). For each individual, the SDLRS score was determined by taking the sum of the scores for statements; 17 of the 58 statements were reversely coded prior to calculation. The range of SDLRS scores was from 58 to 290. The readiness for selfdirected learning was considered to be below average if the SDLRS score was 58– 201, average if the score was 202–226, and above average, i.e. high if the score was 227–290. Students with average SDLRS scores were likely to be successful in selfdetermination situations; however, they were not fully comfortable with identifying their learning needs as well as planning and implementing their learning. Students with above average SDLRS scores preferred to determine their learning need and plan as well as to implement their own learning; and those students with below average SDLRS scores usually preferred structured learning options.

3.3 Procedure The SDLRS was administered near the end of students’ final semester of their undergraduate education. To avoid response bias, the students were told to complete a learning preference assessment throughout the study. The students were briefed about the objective and procedure at the beginning of the test. They then performed the test individually for approximately 20 min. In the test, they read each of the 58 statements carefully and indicated the degree to which the statement accurately describes their own attitudes, beliefs, actions, or skills on the five-point rating scale through the testing window. The SDLRS score for each student was then calculated and analyzed.

4 Results In all, for this group of Hong Kong students, the minimum SDLRS score was 126 while the maximum score was 275. The mean SDLRS score of the students was 207.14 ± 23.14. The readiness for self-directed learning was determined to be below

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average if the SDLRS score was 58–201, average if the score was 202–226, and above average if the score was 227–290 (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2017). The results indicated that, in general, the students reached the ‘average’ level of self-directed learning readiness. When the SDLRS scores were analyzed at the individual level, among the 358 Hong Kong students in this study, 156 students (44%) attained ‘average’ level of self-directed learning, 58 students (16%) were ‘above average’, and the remaining 144 students (40%) were ‘below average’. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine the existence of any gender effect on self-directed learning readiness. In this study, no significant difference was found between the SDLRS scores of male and female students (ANOVA, p > 0.05). Female students had a mean SDLRS score of 207.81, which was slightly higher than male students’ mean score (206.44). In terms of the level of self-directed learning readiness, there was the same percentage of male and female students (16%) with ‘above average’ SDLRS scores. The proportion of male students (41%) with ‘average’ SDLRS scores was lower than that of female students (46%); and the proportion of male students (42%) with ‘below average’ SDLRS scores was greater than their female counterparts (38%). Binomial test showed that there was also no significant difference between number of males and females in each category of self-directed learning readiness (p > 0.05).

5 Discussion The purpose of this study was to examine the self-directed learning readiness of finalyear undergraduate students at a university in Hong Kong who would immediately enter into the workforce after graduation. Their mean SDLRS score indicated that the students reached the ‘average’ level of readiness for self-directed learning. In general, students were likely to be successful in self-determination situations, but were not entirely comfortable with recognizing their learning needs, and planning and implementing their learning (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2017). Self-directed learning is an indispensable competence for workplace nowadays to encounter the continuous change as well as new knowledge and technology in the competitive business environment (Hutasuhut et al., 2018; Lemmetty & Collin, 2019; Morris, 2019). The results showed that there is a need to emphasize students taking initiative to learn and promoting students’ autonomous learning attitudes before graduation. Gender-based differences in self-directed learning readiness amongst students were undertaken in this study. Comparisons across gender on students’ self-directed learning were conducted, and the results were in line with previous studies (Sahoo, 2016; Shaikh, 2012) that significant difference between the SDLRS scores of male and female students were not found. Generally, both male and female final-year students in this study had average readiness toward self-directed learning. They would take responsibility to be aware of and improve their deficit areas of selfdirected learning in future. To meet the demands of the rapidly changing environment,

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people should enhance self-initiative in learning and gaining up-to-date knowledge and applicable skills. Compared to some of the recent self-directed learning studies in the literature, the mean SDLRS score of the Hong Kong students in this study (207.14) was higher than that of students from Japan (Rutson-Griffiths & Rutson-Griffiths, 2019) (mean = 192) and Taiwan (Chou, 2012) (mean = 200.56), but lower than that of Australia (Slater et al., 2017) (mean = 212.74), Indonesia (Afnaria & Sembiring, 2022) (mean = 216), Canada (Premkumar et al., 2013) (mean = 230.58), and United Arab Emirates (Shaikh, 2012) (mean = 214.7) students. Similar to the Hong Kong students of this study, the readiness for self-directed learning for university students in Indonesia, Australia, and United Arab Emirates was at ‘average’ level. The learning self-directedness of Canadian students was at ‘above average (high)’ level. The selfdirected learning readiness of students from Taiwan and Japan was at ‘below average’ level. Table 1 shows the comparison between SDLRS scores for university students in Hong Kong and other regional areas. It should be noted that such SDLRS score comparison was for reference only. Students’ year of study and major discipline in previous research studies which were used for comparison here were varied. Overall, the results showed that there was room for improvement on the level of self-directed learning readiness for the potential graduates before entering into workplace. Further fostering the self-directed learning competence of Hong Kong students progressively through appropriate educational interventions and guidance during university education is highly recommended. Similar to other graduate attributes such as creativity and intercultural competence (Ng & Lee, 2019a, 2019b), understanding of freshmen students’ self-directed learning readiness at the commencement of university study is also necessary in future. This would be better to help point out the ways for facilitating and nurturing the development of self-directed learning for students throughout their undergraduate education. For human resources practitioners responsible for organizational design and management, the results of this study would be a useful reference for the design of graduate trainee programs and in-house training for fresh graduate employees. However, this study had a limitation. It was conducted with final-year undergraduate students from one of the universities in Hong Kong. Future studies may consider including undergraduates of other universities so the generalization of the results to all the Hong Kong universities would be possible.

6 Conclusion This study investigated the self-directed learning readiness of final-year undergraduate students at a university in Hong Kong before entering into workplace. Compared to other geographical areas, these students generally have reached the ‘average’ level of readiness for self-directed learning, which was similar to that of Indonesia, Australia, and United Arab Emirates. The self-directed learning readiness of Canadian students was at ‘above average’ level, which was better than the Hong Kong

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Table 1 Comparison between SDLRS scores for university students in Hong Kong and other regional areas Study

Regional area

Number and type of Mean SDLRS students score

Self-directed learning readiness level

This study

Hong Kong

358 final-year undergraduates from different disciplines

207.14

Average

Chou (2012)

Taiwan

48 electronic engineering undergraduates

200.56

Below average

Shaikh (2012)

United Arab Emirates

78 third-year medicine students

214.70

Average

Premkumar et al. (2013)

Canada

375 medicine undergraduates

230.58

Above average

Slater et al. (2017) Australia

407 first-year undergraduates from health professional programs

212.74

Average

Rutson-Griffiths and Rutson-Griffiths (2019)

Japan

71 university first-, 192.00 second-, and fourth-year students majoring in global communication

Below average

Afnaria and Sembiring (2022)

Indonesia

64 mathematics 216.00 education university students

Average

students of this study. For students from Taiwan and Japan, their self-directed learning readiness was at ‘below average’ level, which was lower than the students of this study. The results of this study would deepen the understanding of the self-directed learning of potential university graduates. For university administrators and management, the findings would be a useful reference for reviewing and developing strategies to promote self-directed learning in undergraduates during their university education. The findings would also provide insights for human resources practitioners to develop internship and graduate trainee programs.

References Afnaria, A., & Sembiring, M. B. (2022). Self-directed learning readiness level of prospective mathematics teacher students in completing their thesis. MathNesia: Journal of Math Education, 1(2), 62–66.

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Mok, M. M. C., Leung, S. O., & Shan, P. W. J. (2005). A comparative study on the self-directed learning of primary students in Hong Kong and Macau. International Journal of Self-Directed Learning, 2(2), 39–54. Morris, T. H. (2019). Self-directed learning: A fundamental competence in a rapidly changing world. International Review of Education, 65, 633–653. Ng, A. W. Y., & Lee, C. Y. (2019a). Assessment of creative thinking of Hong Kong undergraduate students using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. In 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’19). Universitat Politècnica de València, València. https:// doi.org/10.4995/HEAd19.2019.9051 Ng, A. W. Y., & Lee, C. Y. (2019b). The global perspective of undergraduate freshmen in Hong Kong. In Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Education and Learning (pp. 42–53). Global Academic-Industrial Cooperation Society. Ng, A. W. Y. (2022). Online teaching and assessment practices during COVID-19 crisis: Perspectives from university students. In A. W. B. Tso, A. C. K. Chan, W. W. L. Chan, P. E. Sidorko, & W. W. K. Ma (Eds.), Digital communication and learning, educational communication and technology yearbook (pp. 19–31). Springer Nature Singapore Pte. Ng, A. W. Y. (2023). Changes in the usefulness of communication channels for prospective undergraduates about university studying: Afore and during the pandemic. International Journal of Educational Management, 37(2), 361–372. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-04-2022-0154 Ng, A. W. Y., & Lee, C. Y. (2020). Expectations and experience of inbound exchange students: Insights for improving the university’s image. The Southeast Asian Conference on Education 2020: Official Conference Proceedings. The International Academic Forum. https://doi.org/10. 22492/issn.2435-5240.2020.4 Premkumar, K., Pahwa, P., Banerjee, A., Baptiste, K., Bhatt, H., & Lim, H. (2013). Does medical training promote or deter self-directed learning? A longitudinal mixed-methods study. Academic Medicine, 88(11), 1754–1764. Rutson-Griffiths, Y., & Rutson-Griffiths, A. (2019). The relationship between independent study time, self-directedness, and language gain. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 11(1), 24–39. Sahoo, S. (2016). Finding self-directed learning readiness and fostering self-directed learning through weekly assessment of self-directed learning topics during undergraduate clinical training in ophthalmology. International Journal of Applied & Basic Medical Research, 6(3), 166–169. Shaikh, R. B. (2012). Comparison of readiness for self-directed learning in students experiencing two different curricula in one medical school. Gulf Medical Journal, 1(S2), 164–169. Slater, C. E., Cusick, A., & Louie, J. C. Y. (2017). Explaining variance in self-directed learning readiness of first year students in health professional programs. BMC Medical Education, 17, 207. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-1043-8 Tsang, M., & Cheung, T. (2018). Promoting self-directed learning (SDL) and assessment as learning (AaL) in science education in Hong Kong: A pilot study in a Hong Kong secondary school. In T. W. Teo, K. S. Tan, H. K. Tan, S. F. Goh, & L. W. Yeo (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Science Education Conference 2018 (pp.85–101). Singapore. Wong, F. M. F., & Kan, C. W. Y. (2022). Online problem-based learning intervention on self-directed learning and problem-solving through group work: A waitlist controlled trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), 720. https://doi.org/10.3390/ije rph19020720 Yip, K. Y., & Leung, M. T. (2016). The structural model of perceived parenting style as antecedent on achievement emotion, self-regulated learning and academic procrastination of undergraduates in Hong Kong. In Applied Psychology Readings: Selected Papers from Singapore Conference on Applied Psychology (pp. 171–190). Springer Singapore. Zhoc, K. C. H., Chung, T. S. H., & King, R. B. (2018). Emotional intelligence (EI) and self-directed learning: Examining their relation and contribution to better student learning outcomes in higher education. British Educational Research Journal, 44(6), 982–1004.

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Annie W. Y. Ng Ph.D., Head (Student Evaluation and Assessment) at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Her research interests include student learning experience, graduate attribute assessment, education technology, quality education, and human factors. She served as conference chair for 2020 International Conference on Education and Learning, keynote speaker of 2020 Interdisciplinary Conference on STEAM Education, review committee member of European Conference on Education 2021, and judge panel member of Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards 2022. She is a member of Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Digital Impacts on Education

ICT Transformation in Vietnam’s Higher Education Sector: From Policy to Reality Thi Thanh Tra Do, Thi Thuy Le, and Thi Thuy Linh Nguyen

Abstract This paper addresses the transformation of information and communication technology (ICT) in Vietnam’s higher education (HE) sector. A qualitative content analysis of national policies and a desk review of relevant research provided an outlook of digital transformation in Vietnam’s HE sector and contextual challenges that impact educational organisations’ implementation. Despite coherence in national policies regarding ICT implications and transformation in the educational system in Vietnam, some concerns include the concept of ICT competence represented in policy and practice, human resources preparation, stakeholders’ readiness, ICT infrastructures, and contextual obstacles within educational organisations. Implications are provided for more successful pedagogical practices for digital competence empowerment in higher education in Vietnam and countries experiencing similar contextual challenges. Keywords Higher education · ICT transformation · Policy · Vietnam

1 Introduction Significant changes in the global context have resulted in the ubiquitous use of digital technologies for various purposes. The advancement of information and communication technology (ICT) in all aspects of life and the increasing need for flexible learning environments have brought popularity to online education over the last decade (Seaman et al., 2018). It is vital for employees to engage in lifelong learning T. T. T. Do (B) Tay Bac University, Son La City, Vietnam e-mail: [email protected] T. T. Le Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam T. T. L. Nguyen Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies—VNU, Ha Noi City, Vietnam e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_10

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and acquire new competencies to adapt to a constantly changing working environment. The lockdown in the 2020s has highlighted the urgent need to initiate and embed online teaching in the curriculum permanently for the future (Maheshwari, 2021) and has stimulated innovation within the education sector. Extensive research has highlighted the benefits of ICT for long-life learning in particular and education in general. Online teaching brings teachers and students worldwide flexibility without geographical and time zone constraints. It has effectively reduced the cost of education and maximised its accessibility on a mass scale (Mikheev et al., 2021). ICT application benefits students’ life-long learning such as enhancing language learning and centring on learners’ needs with flexibility (Redmond, 2011), encouraging an active independent learning process (Priatna et al., 2020), producing a creative learning environment characterised by critical thinking skills (Fu, 2013) and promoting students’ communication skills and classroom engagement (Halim & Hashim, 2019; Yunus et al., 2012). Learning with mobile technology requires student creativity, one of society’s twenty-first-century skills (Van de Oudeweetering & Voogt, 2018). In Vietnam, education is one of eight priority areas for digital transformation in 2025–2030, aiming to achieve 100% of educational institutions implementing online teaching by 2030 (Government of Vietnam, 2022a). Although the Vietnamese Government supports the training of human resources in accordance with the trend of technological revolution 4.0 (Huynh & Le, 2017) and advocates for the integration of new technologies into national higher education (HE) to catch up with the global market (Pham & Ho, 2020), the topic of ICT transformation in the HE sector still seems to be in its infancy in Vietnam. There have been few investigations into the context of the higher education sector. Therefore, this research addresses the current digital transformation trends in Vietnam’s higher education (HE) sector in light of policy implementation. More specifically, this study aims to (i) investigate how the Government/Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) requirements regarding digital transformation in HE sectors are represented in Vietnam’s educational policies; (ii) identify major issues and challenges that affect digital transformation in HE in Vietnam.

2 Literature Review Acknowledging the critical value of digital technologies in today’s world, reconceptualising and defining what knowledge and skills regarding ICT an individual needs have been in the spotlight within the education sector. In Vietnam, the application of ICT in teaching and learning has received attention for decades (Dang, 2013; Ngo, 2016; Peeraer & Van Petegem, 2011b; Tran, 2020; Vo, 2019). It has become even more essential since the educational crisis of the 2020s when face-to-face classes were forced into virtual learning.

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Within the educational sector, there have been confusion and inconsistency in much educational research regarding digital competence/literacy and digital pedagogy (Pettersson, 2018). In this research, the term ICT refers to all digital applications that facilitate teaching and learning, including computer- and internet-based technologies, CALL (computer-assisted language learning) software applications, websites, communication networks, and social networks (Dang, 2013; Vo, 2019). Although ICT application has been promoted in the Vietnam Government’s policy and plays a central role in the education reform process (Government of Vietnam, 2017a, 2017b), a number of barriers occur from the national to the organisational level that hinder this transformation process. Any educational change occurs at various levels (institutions, state-wide, and nationally) and involves different stakeholders (learners, teachers, and administrative staff) (Fullan, 2016). Much research has looked into these issues in light of the reality of ICT implementation. At the teacher level, their beliefs, attitudes, ICT competence and confidence, social influence, workloads, teaching experience, age and gender are all factors which influence the application of ICT (Dang, 2013, p. 18), as are institutional factors (Dang, 2013; Le, 2015), and national factors (Vo, 2019). Teachers and students worldwide have also faced multi-layered challenges in applying technology to teaching and learning (Cheung, 2021; Cutri et al., 2020; Moorhouse, 2020; Morgan, 2020; Scherer et al., 2021). Some challenges identified in recent research across contexts include limited digital resources (Morgan, 2020), maintaining students’ interest (Moorhouse, 2020), learning and teaching resources, teachers’ low confidence in applying ICT to their pedagogy (Hu & McGrath, 2011), and barriers related to organisational culture to the digital format (Mikheev et al., 2021), particularly inappropriate teacher training in terms of technological skills and pedagogical knowledge (Bozkurt et al., 2020). This highlights the urgent need to train teachers to use ICT skills in a pedagogic context, as they are vital to any education changes (Fullan, 2016). The teacher plays a pivotal role in determining students’ adoption and usage of technological devices in both formal and informal learning environments (García Botero et al., 2019). In Vietnam, a few empirical studies have examined teachers’ ICT uptake and the factors that affect their ICT use, providing some relevant insights (Dang, 2013; Le, 2015; Ngo, 2016; Nguyen & Pham, 2022; Pham & Ho, 2020; Vo, 2019). Some studies have examined teachers’ ICT absorption and their impacting factors on teaching practice (Dang, 2013; Ngo, 2016), students’ online learning assessment challenges (Nguyen & Pham, 2022), barriers identified include a lack of guidelines, inadequate ICT training, limited access to ICT facilities, technical issues, and a lack of leadership support (Dang, 2013; Vo, 2019). In addition to the university’s low motivation for digital transformation and insufficient support from policies (Pham & Ho, 2020), these studies show that teachers’ ICT usage is restricted to word processing software, presentation software, and web browsers (Dang, 2013). Teachers were skilled in performing basic operations, but their ability to use technology to promote learning was limited (Dang, 2013; Peeraer & Van Petegem, 2011a, 2011b).

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One major concern that has been highlighted is the ineffective integration of ICT into practice in the HE in Vietnam (Ngo, 2016), stemming from a lack of technical guidelines or technological requirements in the curriculum (Gruba & Chau Nguyen, 2019). Echoing these findings, Vo (2019) conducted a study of ICT policy implementation in an EFL teacher education program and found that ICT was not fully integrated into the teacher training program. Some hindering factors were the gap between ICT-related policies and classroom practice, the absence of clear ICT guidelines, and a lack of professional development, maintenance, and support. Findings of Vo’s (2019) calls raised the need to redefine ICT pedagogy in educational reform in Vietnam, and it can be considered as a method in which ICT is effectively integrated into teachers’ pedagogical and content knowledge to promote students’ learning, focusing on self-regulation and collaboration. Integrating technological competence into teaching practices has been suggested as a critical means for educational innovations in Vietnamese HE and other similar contexts. Even though higher education is considered the critical sector of national capacity building, some weaknesses have been identified. These include students’ inappropriate preparation that does not meet the demands of the current labour market, outdated curriculum (Tran et al., 2014, 2018), and the disconnect between the higher education curriculum and the needs of the labour market (Bodewig et al., 2014). There has also been a recent push towards reform focused on integrating ICT into teaching with an appropriate pedagogy (Ngo, 2016). In recent years, attempts have been made to elaborate on the digital competence with two years closure in the early 2020s, like teachers worldwide, teachers in Vietnam were forced to continuously improve technological knowledge and skills to survive a crisis and the need to shift to more student-centred practices and pedagogies that involve students’ experience and engagement online. There was significant growth in e-learning platform user numbers across tertiary institutions nationwide (Dharmaraj, 2020). Zoom and Microsoft Office 365 were also found to be most popularly used for teacher-student online communication due to teachers’ immediate response to the unprecedented situation (Lee, 2020). However, many challenges emerged, including teachers’ shortage of digital literacy, lack of support for online learning and teaching, and inconsistent guidelines at the school level (Le et al., 2022; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2021). Although the Government of Vietnam has highlighted ICT implementation as the core focus of education reform for decades, the findings of these studies indicate the need for more research exploring how to empower teachers with technological competence. The Vietnamese Government has prioritised implementing and integrating ICT in learning, teaching, and research to improve the quality of education and training, especially in the HE sector. Many plans, strategies, and guidelines have been issued to boost this determination (Government of Vietnam, 2017a, 2017b; Ministry of Education and Training, 2016, 2017, 2018). However, it is critical to have desk reviews that analyse policy documents and further synthesise the empirical studies’ results to provide an outlook of digital transformation within HE sectors to report on existing challenges that hinder teachers’ ICT application in practice. From that, there will be suggestions to address emerging issues regarding digital transformation in HE innovations in Vietnam and other similar contexts.

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3 Method A qualitative review of document analysis and a literature review were conducted to examine how digital transformation in HE sectors is represented in Vietnam’s educational policies, as well as the major issues and challenges that affect digital transformation in HE in Vietnam. Document analysis was used to investigate the Government/MOET requirements regarding digital transformation in HE sectors in Vietnam. About 15 Vietnamese governance policy documents at the state and ministry level in relation to ICT application and requirements were collected by the researchers. These documents are available on the Government and MOET’s official websites as well as public online libraries in Vietnam. Multiple-step, topic, and analytical coding (Creswell, 2012) were employed to code these qualitative data form documents. Content analysis was used to map the Government’s requirements regarding digital transformation in HE sectors represented in educational policies in Vietnam. The qualitative content analysis put the data into efficient categories representing similar meanings. This process allowed for the subjective interpretation of text data systematically, including coding and identifying themes and patterns (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). A desk review of research relevant to the topic under investigation in Vietnam and internationally was conducted to identify major issues and challenges that affect digital transformation in HE in Vietnam. This “systematic literature review” refers to a form of secondary-level analysis that brings together the findings of primary research to answer a research question (Newman & Gough, 2020, p. 4). This review included articles to be published in a peer-reviewed with full-text availability, dissertations, conference papers, books, and book chapters. The review provides an overarching overview of the challenges at multiple levels that hinder the implementation of ICT in HE in Vietnam.

4 Digital Transformation Outlook Represented in Policies This review of legal policies revealed that the integration of ICT into education in Vietnam has been put in the spotlight for over two decades. The educational policies have accentuated the value of integrating ICT, especially in the tertiary sector, to prepare human resources to respond to globalisation. Since 2005–2006, Vietnam has promulgated several policies and strategies to prioritise investment in ICT for the country’s development. In the “ICT Development Strategy up to 2010 and Orientations toward 2020”, ICT was highlighted as a critical tool for the country’s economic industrialisation, modernisation, and international participation (Government of Vietnam, 2005, 2006). Especially, Article 34 focussed on the application of ICT in education and training. It encouraged the application of ICT in teaching, learning, training, and other activities in education and cyber environment development. ICT was considered a means of modernising and

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democratising the Vietnamese education system. In light of this national strategy, the National Education Development Strategy 2010–2020 (Government of Vietnam, 2012) highlighted ICT applications to improve education management quality, learning and teaching flexibility in terms of form and content, and e-textbook usage. MOET also distributed guidelines to assist ICT implication in teaching and training, focusing on the period 2008–2012. In 2017, to boost the implementation of ICT into the quality of education and training, a project entitled “Promoting the use of ICT in the management and support of teaching, learning, and scientific research activities; contributing to the improvement of training and education quality, period 2016–2020, vision to 2025” was issued (Government of Vietnam, 2017a, 2017b). HE institutions were encouraged to apply technologies such as AI, blockchain, data analysis, and large database systems to their administrative management systems. In addition to the research and management, educational institutions nationwide were required to apply ICT in the innovation of teaching methods, learning content, and testing and assessment. It was expected that this project would contribute to the modernisation and improvement of education and training quality in Vietnam. Following the Government’s national principles and strategies, MOET has also issued numerous documents and guidelines annually to assist stakeholders, mainly higher education institutions and provincial education and training departments (Tran, 2020; Vo, 2019). Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, ICT transformation has been an important topic of discussion, especially after the promulgation of “The National Digital Transformation Program up to 2025 and Orientations toward 2030” (Government of Vietnam, 2020). Education is one of eight priority areas for digital transformation in Vietnam in 2025–2030 to prepare workforces with ICT competence to be ready for the digital environment of the globalisation phenomenon. The focus is on integrating information technology, engineering, mathematics, art, English, business, and technology into the education system at all levels. The intention is to provide training and retraining to improve digital skills for employees in different industrial sectors. A trial retraining program, which offers at least one hour per week for employees working in three provinces of Thai Nguyen, Quang Nam, and Binh Duong has been proposed. If successful, such a program will be delivered across the country (Government of Vietnam, 2020, p. 14). Successful transformation in education is critical and the most effective way to change people’s perceptions and create motivation for digital transformation in other sectors. The Government proposes tasks for the education sector to (i) develop infrastructure to support distance learning; (ii) apply ICT in administrative management, teaching, and learning; (iii) digitalise learning resources to assist in shifting from face-to-face and online learning; and (iv) personalise students learning (Government of Vietnam, 2020, p. 15). The specific objectives are that 100% HE institutions will offer distance learning and teaching, pilot programs that provide 20% of online content, and apply ICT in assigning and checking students’ homework for studying at home.

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As a booster to prepare human resources in the era of the digital world, in January 2022, the Government of Vietnam approved the project “Raising awareness, disseminating skills, and developing human sources for the national digital transformation up to 2025, and Orientations toward 2030” (Government of Vietnam, 2022b). This national project aims to (i) raise awareness and change the perceptions of leaders and employees about digital transformation; (ii) provide digital literacy and skills needed for the national digital transformation; and (iii) improve the quality of human resources training for different sectors and various regions across the country. The specific objectives related to digital transformation in the education system up to 2025 include: (i) perfecting the digital university model and piloting this model at some HE institutions; encouraging other private HE institutions to join this piloting process; (ii) training about 5,000 qualified bachelor degree students majoring in ICT at institutions that are famous for digital transformation; and (iii) 50% of schools from primary to high secondary provide educational activities related to STEM and digital transformation. By 2030, at least 50% of public higher education institutions will be “digital universities”, the number of high-quality ICT engineers will be 20,000, and 80% of schools will offer STEM and digital transformation activities. As one of eight critical priorities stated in The National Digital Transformation Project, the Government of Vietnam has approved another project entitled “Promoting the use of ICT implementation and digital transformation in education and training period 2022–2025, and Orientations toward 2030” (Government of Vietnam, 2022a). This national project highlights the importance of ICT implication and digital transformation in renovating training and educational management, improving the quality of training and equality in education. The success of this process depends on the awareness and attitudes of different stakeholders, especially educational institutions, in which teachers and learners are considered the centres of this changing process. The foci were also in alignment with The National Digital Transformation Project with suitable and flexible timelines and objectives, especially while managing Covid 19 effectively. Renovation in training and management in educational institutions are two areas of the digital transformation process. Regarding education and training, the following objectives are expected to be achieved by 2025: (i) 50% of teachers and students will have sufficient conditions (equipment, internet, software) to participate in online teaching and learning; (ii) domestic online teaching and learning platforms, will be built and used by 50% of the students; (iii) national online resources which meet the requirement of 50% students will be built; (iv) 50% of the higher education institutions will offer distance learning; and (v) 50% of those who undertake a second bachelor degree will enrol in online courses. Using metadata and technologies in educational institutions’ management is vital in the second area. Specific objectives include: (i) 100% of educational institutions will use the school administration systems that are based on data and digital technologies, information about teachers and students with unique numbers nationally will be stored in digital profiles, and 80% of equipment and resources will be managed via digital documents; (ii) information and data will be stored and shared within the educational system and linked to the national data resources; (iii); 100% of pre-planned financial paperwork will be

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done online (iv) 80% of parents and students will be pleased with the online services of educational institutions. All the objectives are expected to be 100% by 2030. The past COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of ICT in teaching and learning from primary to tertiary level in Vietnam, specifically using synchronous technologies to shift from face-to-face to online lessons. Ultimately, this health crisis has stimulated blended learning approaches within the education system to support learning continuity. Never in history has the worldwide education system experienced so many ICTs available as in the present. However, the pandemic has marked the issue regarding preparing human resources with critical knowledge and skills in the era of 4.0 and the upcoming 5.0. The Government of Vietnam has issued many legal policies to boost the training of human resources in accordance with the trend of the technological revolution. However, to what extent these policies support the ICT implementation and transformation across local contexts has been of concern and discussed in some recent research. It is critical to have an overview of digital transformation from policy to implementation reality at the institutional level to have a suitable map to realise the expected goals.

5 Discussion and Conclusion Policy analysis revealed coherence in policies at the top levels (national) regarding ICT implications and transformation in the educational system in Vietnam (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2021). The overarching aim, specific objectives, fundamental steps, financial sources, roles and responsibilities of related stakeholders, and outlined timetable were stated clearly at the national level. The main focus of digital transformation in education aims at empowering Vietnam’s socio-economic status, contributing to the modernisation and improvement of education and training quality in Vietnam. The HE sector is key because of its critical role in the national digital transformation. Educational institutions nationwide have been required to prioritise ICT applications in their innovation process, teaching methods, learning content, testing, and assessment. However, some issues regarding clarifying ICT competence in policy and practice, contextual challenges nationwide, and timeline in light of the degree of readiness should be considered. This transformation is a long-term process of changing all stakeholders’ beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and practice. Looking closer at the organisational level, one notable concern is a lack of a clear plan and agenda with a suitable timeline for school innovation and changes (Le et al., 2022; Vo, 2019). Teachers’ ability to use technology is limited due to a lack of technological requirements in the curriculum (Dang, 2013; Peeraer & Van Petegem, 2011a, 2011b). Although the policies provide principles and guidelines at multi-levels, the institutions seem to struggle with implementing digital competence development, especially teachers and educators. There is a shortage of consistency regarding knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to work and study in a digitalised environment. In a review of education research in various contexts, policies become a dilemma to be handled by teachers (Pettersson, 2018, p. 1015). The question of how

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digital competence can be integrated into institution-wide policies so that teachers can meet the requirements of today’s digitalised schools should be clearly clarified in legal documents. Reconceptualising and defining the notion of digital competence in educational contexts is one significant issue that should be taken into consideration. The review has highlighted the need for educators to be trained with technological skills and to develop effective online pedagogical strategies (Bozkurt et al., 2020; Rehn et al., 2018). Teachers are required to develop digital competence, however, this ability has not been fully conceptualised (Moorhouse et al., 2021). Teachers’ ability to use technology to augment learning is considered a critical teaching skill in the twenty-first century and is a must-task for teacher professional development in any country’s educational reform agenda (Leach, 2005), especially for developing countries like Vietnam (Peeraer & Van Petegem, 2011a, 2011b). Conceptualising knowledge and skills teachers need to meet the requirements of digitalised schools should be formulated in the policies. Most research has investigated teachers’ digital competence, leaving knowledge on digital competence in relation to organisational infrastructures and strategic leadership needing research. Of note is that digital competence should be regarded as an organisational task which is influenced by contextual factors embedded in the school setting (Pettersson, 2018). Although a number of policies have been proclaimed to promote ICT in the HE sector with a focus on operational components, such as infrastructure, professional development, technical support, and pedagogical, curricular and assessment reform, there is a lack of the critical elements for the success of implementation at local contexts. Appropriate preparation for all involved stakeholders in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and readiness, in addition to technology infrastructures, is critical to success. Among these, in addition to the multi-level support of different stakeholders, especially educational leaders, teachers play a key role in this changing process (Fullan, 2016), as the lockdown in the 2020s witnessed. Since then, blended learning has attracted much more attention. Blended learning and virtual learning have been prioritised in Government policies. Most Vietnamese tertiary institutions have launched e-learning to support blended learning by using Moodle, a platform software for a learning management system (LMS). Universities are encouraged to switch learning modes flexibly in line with their vision. This flexibility will create a combined model that can include a wider variety of configurations and better adapt to the conditions that higher education institutions may face under different circumstances, and will ultimately better tailor students’ learning needs (Morgan, 2015). However, despite some advantages of online classes, some considerations should be taken into account to ensure equity in education, especially for students with special needs. This is because some students learn best in a face-to-face environment, and those with special needs have more problems with online learning (Morgan, 2020), and so as disadvantaged students from low-income families with poor internet access. Nevertheless, there is uncertainty about the quality of these blended learning courses due to poor technology facilities, lack of synchronous and asynchronous interaction, and a lack of teachers’ capability of teaching and managing online

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sections, in addition to curriculum and syllabus design, testing, and assessment. The pandemic has highlighted the need for educators to be trained in technological skills and to develop effective online pedagogical strategies (Bozkurt et al., 2020; Rehn et al., 2018). Teachers are required to develop technological competence to combine and adapt face-to-face to online teaching; however, this competence has not been fully conceptualised. It has been argued that teachers need three competencies: technological competencies, online environment management competencies, and online teacher interactional competencies to mediate and assist language learning in online synchronous lessons (Moorhouse et al., 2021). Research suggests Pedagogical Digital Competence (PDC), meaning knowledge and skills needed to work in a professional context where digital technology is used, should be embedded within and across the wider school settings (From, 2017). One of these is the ability to design courses in which a variety of technology tools and potential resources are combined and mobilised to enhance students’ learning, also being aware of its limitations (From, 2017, p. 48). Teachers are encouraged to adopt the “virtual flipped classroom” approach, where students are provided with materials and videos asynchronously regarding the lesson content in advance (Moorhouse et al., 2021). However, a systematic review also reported challenges regarding teachers’ extra workload, students’ anxiety, and technology-related issues (Turan & AkdagCimen, 2020). The challenge is how to systematically explore the integration of pedagogical ideas and new communications technology that will advance the evolution of higher education as opposed to reinforcing existing practices (Garrison et al., 2010, p. 31), in addition to obstacles regarding students and administrative staff (Fu, 2013). Leadership vision towards ICT implication is critical for successful implementation because Vietnam is a Confucian philosophy-influenced country characterised by a hierarchy regarding authority and authority power. Leadership support has also been highlighted in other Asian contexts and is considered a vital factor for creating a work culture and implementing policies (Priatna et al., 2020). Leaders’ mindset towards digital transformation regarding teaching, learning, and managing at the organisational level, in light of their determination and willingness to change, is crucial to this transformation process. This paper aims to address how digital transformation in Vietnam’s HE sectors is represented in policies and identify major issues and challenges that affect this process. Content analysis of national policies and desk review of research has provided an outlook of digital transformation in Vietnam’s HE sectors and contextual challenges that impact higher educational organisations’ implementation. Despite coherence in policies at the national level regarding ICT implications and transformation in the educational system in Vietnam, there are some concerns regarding the notion of ICT competence represented in policy and practice, human resources preparation, degree of readiness of stakeholders, ICT infrastructures, and contextual factors at the organisational level. The outcomes of this research might advance knowledge about the post-pandemic landscape of HE by providing evidence from the Vietnamese context. It will suggest implications for more successful pedagogical practices, namely digital competence empowerment in the HE sector, by providing

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more insights into what models might work best in the Vietnam context. It is also anticipated that this research lays the cornerstone for future long-term research projects which help bridge the gap between theory and practice or digital-related higher education in Vietnam and in countries where there are contextual similarities in response to educational interruptions caused by pandemics or other crises we may face in the future.

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Thi Thanh Tra Do (Ph.D., University of Newcastle, Australia) has been a lecturer and educator at Tay Bac University, Vietnam, since 1999. She has also participated in different educational projects at the School of Education, University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research areas include, but are not limited to, curriculum and syllabus design, material development, pedagogy, teacher education, teacher professional development, multilingualism, equity in education, digital literacy and language policy implementation. Thi Thuy Le is a Lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam. Her research expertise includes English foreign language teacher (EFL) education, digital literacy, intercultural communication, culture teaching, multilingualism, and research training. Since 2018 she has published two journal articles, three book chapters and two research books. She was awarded several conference scholarships and presented at many international conferences. One of the most prestigious awards was a Solidarity Award at the 18th AILA Conference in 2017 with her presentation entitled “New perspectives in EFL/ESL language teacher education”. Thi Thuy Linh Nguyen holds a Doctor of Applied Linguistics degree from the University of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Currently, she is actively engaged at the Faculty of English, University of Foreign Languages, VNU. Dr. Nguyen Linh’s academic pursuits encompass a wide range of fields, including intercultural communication, ICT, and language assessment. Since 2015, Dr. Nguyen Linh has actively participated in numerous National and

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International Conferences, including UNC and IGRS, where she has shared her expertise and research findings. Within the university setting, her responsibilities are multifaceted, encompassing teaching English as a medium of instruction, General English, research endeavors, and the development of new subjects such as Intercultural Communication & Conflict Management.

Cultivate Students’ Independent Learning and Improve Students’ Learning Motivation: Implementation of Hands-On Experiments in a General Education Science Course for Non-science Majors Hongyan Geng, Mark McGinley, Ka Fai Wong, Paulina Pui Yun Wong, Yin Kun Lau, Bi Wei Low, Tin Yan Hui, and Ho Lee

Abstract Science general education for non-science majors has been a challenge in higher education. Experiential learning, which has been widely cited as an effective method to ground learning objectives and improve students’ learning motivation, however, has seldom been applied to general education science courses. To address this gap, this study introduces a hands-on experiment to a general education science course for non-science majors. We employed a handy, standardized instrument (an air quality meter), enabling students to undertake actual measurements on common environmental parameters. 57 students from different years of study/majors H. Geng (B) · M. McGinley · P. P. Y. Wong · Y. K. Lau · B. W. Low · T. Y. Hui · H. Lee Science Unit, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] M. McGinley e-mail: [email protected] P. P. Y. Wong e-mail: [email protected] Y. K. Lau e-mail: [email protected] B. W. Low e-mail: [email protected] T. Y. Hui e-mail: [email protected] H. Lee e-mail: [email protected] K. F. Wong Industrial Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_11

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attended this project in 3 different academic terms. Pre-, post-test Likert scale questionnaire and focus group interview were conducted to collect students’ feedback. Our data reveals that hands-on experiments enhanced students’ academic performance, nurtured students’ independent learning and improved their learning motivation. A reflection summary was discussed to foster the potential implementation of experiential learning in general science education. Keywords General education · Hands-on experiment · Learning by doing · Non-science majors · Science education

1 Introduction Science general education for non-science majors has been challenging in tertiary education. One of the major reasons is that the current common practice of science general education is that instructors from different majors offer introductory courses in their specialized fields, such as chemistry, physics, biology, etc., (such as Hundley, 2007; Kapp et al., 2011; Movahedzadeh, 2011; Prather et al., 2004). However, students in non-science majors are usually reluctant to take those courses because rather than introducing the general knowledge of a science field and/or facilitating the build-up of students’ intellectual skills and capacities (which is the key aim of general education), those courses tend to set up the knowledge foundation and help students prepared for advanced courses in that science field (Cook & Mulvihill, 2008; Gasiewski et al., 2012; Venkataraman, 2009). In this regard, non-science students often feel isolated, less motivated, or find it difficult to understand the course materials. In this context, general education courses in science have been ineffective in motivating students with non-science majors. There has been a pressing demand for a tailor-made general education course specifically for non-science majors. Experiential learning, i.e., learning by doing, proposed by David Kolb (1984), is regarded as an effective way to cultivate students’ independent learning and to improve students’ learning motivation (Kolb et al., 2014). A typical experiential learning process includes four stages: concrete learning, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation (Kolb, 2014). Students may participate in the learning at any of the four stages and, therefore, experiential learning caters to different kinds of learning styles (Kolb & Kolb, 2005). In recent years, experiential learning has been widely employed in tertiary education, and has been proven to be effective in enhancing students’ retention of information, learning motivation, problem-solving skills, and ability to work in teams (Kolb, 2014; Tofade et al., 2013). As such, experiential learning has been incorporated across a number of disciplines: medicine (Schmidt et al., 2011; Yardley et al., 2012; Zendejas et al., 2013; StegersJaper et al., 2013); engineering (Kolmos et al., 2004); business (Brouwer et al., 2010); and tourism (Arcodia et al., 2021; Ruhanen, 2006) to enhance learning by providing the opportunity for students to apply what they have learned in real-life scenarios.

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However, experiential learning has seldom been implemented in general education science courses, especially those for non-science majors students, probably because (1) general education courses usually host a large number of students, which makes experiential learning activities logistically difficult, and (2) non-science major students vary substantially in their background of science and thus experiential activities need to be flexible enough in order to accommodate and engage all students. To address these issues, this study investigated students’ learning experiences in a general science course at a liberal arts university where all students are nonscience majors. By allowing students to undertake independent research projects in the course, this study examines how hands-on experiments facilitate the learning of science among non-science students.

2 Research Questions This study aims to investigate 1. What kind of experiential learning, i.e., hands-on experiments, would be interesting to non-science majors? 2. How does the hands-on experiment affect students’ learning in general education science course for non-science majors? 3. What are the pedagogical implications of the study in enhancing effective learning in a general education science course for non-science majors?

3 Background Lingnan University (LU), the only liberal arts university in Hong Kong, offers undergraduate, taught postgraduate, and research postgraduate programs in the areas of arts, business, and social sciences. There are no science majors, which distinguishes LU from other liberal arts universities. The current total undergraduate enrollment of LU is 3,323 in academic year 2022–23. LU has four common core courses (courses that all students must take to graduate, see McGinley and Li, 2020 for fuller description of Core Curriculum at LU) designed to provide undergraduate students with a broad and balanced foundation, irrespective of their major. Among these core courses, “The Process of Science”, is the only science course students need to take. Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be scientifically literate (OECD, 2013), i.e., equipped with fundamental knowledge of science, evidence-based analytical skills, and critical thinking ability (see Geng & McGinley, 2021 for fuller description of the course). In the course, students were assessed based on their performances on five different coursework (Supplementary Table 1). The major coursework of the course is the independent research project, where students choose to work on any topics they are interested in so long as they employ the scientific protocol in their

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Table 1 Mean grades of students working on air and non-air research projects across different terms from 2021 to 2023 Mean grades of students from Air Project

Mean grades of students from non-air projects

p value*

2021–2022 Term 1

26.2 (n = 30)

25.4 (n = 359)

0.04

2022–2023 Term 1

26.7 (n = 15)

26.2 (n = 362)

0.25

2022–2023 Term 2

25.0 (n = 12)

24.7 (n = 461)

0.01

Mean of the three terms

26.0

25.4

*

p value is calculated based on Welch’s t-test due to the different variance of air and non-air project

projects. This involves defining a research topic, developing a workable hypothesis, collecting (which is often by questionnaires/online databases) and analyzing data (descriptive statistics and graphs), and writing the final report in a standard scientific writing format. Although the project itself offers experiential learning to the students, previous student feedback indicated that data collection using questionnaires/databases was unable to adequately arouse their interest, but they were willing to undertake data collection that involved “actual experiments”. As such, a number of air quality meters (AirBeam2 https://www.habitatmap.org/blog/airbeam2-techni cal-specifications-operation-performance) have been introduced to the course since 2021, where students use this hands-on instrument for projects to investigate and quantify air quality in their everyday life. Students were allowed to work on projects using the air quality meter (hereafter referred to as “air project”) or other topics not involving the air quality meters (hereafter referred to as “non-air project”). Up to now, the air project has been implemented for four phases, i.e., 2021–22 term 1 (Sep-Dec 2021), 2021–22 term 2 (Jan-Apr 2022), and 2022–23 term 1 (SepDec 2022), and currently phase IV (2022–23 term 2, Jan-Apr 2023) is undergoing. However, due to the lockdown at term 2, academic year 2021–22 (i.e., January to April 2022), students were not able to collect the air meter at the campus. In that term, only two students attended the air project. Considering the limited sample size and high potential of sampling bias, 2021–22 term 2 will not be included in this study. Therefore, three terms, i.e., 2021–22 term 1 (Sep-Dec 2021), 2022–23 term 1 (Sep-Dec 2022), and 2022–23 term 2 (Jan-Apr 2023) will be discussed in this study.

4 Research Method Since the course is open for every undergraduate, students in this study, therefore, cover any major in LU. As for the year of study, year 2 students typically occupy the biggest part (usually around 60%), and year 1 students make the second biggest

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(usually more than 35%), with senior years, i.e., year 3 or year 4 students, typically less than 5%. Students from air project and those from non-air projects had similar performances for coursework of the course, i.e., students from air project were not academically superior to those from non-air projects (see Supplementary Information). Students’ performances (using their grades of the research projects) between the air and non-air projects were compared upon completion of the course. Such comparison was repeated for three terms (2021–22 term 1; 2022–23 term 1and 2022–23 term 2) to accommodate variations across different cohorts of students. Student feedback were collected by employing a set of Likert scale online questionnaire which consisted of a set of multi-choice questions and 3–5 short answer questions both before and after the project. In the pre-test, students were asked for (1) their background on basic science knowledge and terms, (2) how confident they are at studying science, (3) how much they are interested in science, and (4) how comfortable they are at hands-on experiments. The post-test collected students’ opinion and feedback on (1) how much the project (not) help them in the retention of science knowledge, (2) how did the project (not) promote their interest in science or stimulate the learning motivation and (3) how was the learning experience with the hands-on experiment. A total number of 87 and 71 valid responses for pre- and post-test, respectively, were collected (Tables 2 and 3). In addition, based on the posttest, focus group interviews, each typically last for around 30 min, were conducted to gather in-depth feedback from the students via face-to-face meeting. 65 students attended the interview individually to reflect on their learning experience. Since focus group interviews were designed to understand more in-depth about students’ perception, for example, a student states that the project enhances his/her critical thinking, during the interview, the students were asked about the details of how critical thinking enhanced. Post-test and focus group interviews, therefore, will be discussed in one session.

5 Results 5.1 Students Performances In 2021–22 term 1, 30 students attended the air project. Students from air project obtained higher scores (26.2, Table 2) than those from non-air project (25.4, Table 2), with the p-value of 0.04, indicating a statistically significant difference between the two terms. In 2022–2023 term 1, 15 students did the air project. Students from the air project and non-air project generated scores of 26.7 and 26.2 (Table 2), respectively, with the p-value of 0.25 (Table 2), indicating there was no statistically significant difference between the two cohorts.

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Table 2 Pre-test mean score of students’ background on science. (Maximum score was 5 for each question) Air project (n = 31)

Non-air project (n = 56)

mean

s.d

mean

s.d

I took science courses in my secondary school

/

/

/

/

My current science knowledge is adequate to help understand the science in daily life/news

2.51

0.72

2.47

0.68

I am confident with the study of “The Process of Science”

2.73

0.15

2.82

0.24

I am interested in science (such as 2.28 science in daily life or science in news)

0.53

2.34

0.67

3.26

0.34

3.07

0.48

Pre-test Questions

I would like to try hands-on experiments in “The Process of Science”

Table 3 Post-test mean score of students’ perception and feedback on the air project. (Maximum score was 5 for each question) Air project (n = 25)

Non-air project (n = 47)

mean

s.d

mean

s.d

The project helps me to understand 4.07 and experience the process of science

0.52

4.03

0.34

The project enhances my ability to analyze and visualize the data

3.95

0.43

3.96

0.22

The project cultivates independent learning, i.e., I can locate a topic/ design experiment/collect data / process data by myself

4.12

0.28

3.95

0.25

The project enhances my critical thinking

4.02

0.39

3.87

0.28

The project aroused my interest in science

3.87

0.25

3.62

0.37

Post-test questions

As for the 2022–23 term 2, 12 students joined the air project. Students from the air project and non-air project generated the scores of 25.0 and 24.7 (Table 2), respectively, with the p-value of 0.01 (Table 2), indicating a statistically significant difference between the two terms.

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5.2 Students’ Perception According to the pre-test responses, for both air and non-air projects, ~10% students were very confident with the studying of science, with the score of up to 5/5, ~20% students feel worried, with the lowest score of 1/5. For the majority of students, it scored 2/5 (~25%) or 3/5 (~30%), generating a mean score of 2.73/5 and 2.82/ 5 for air and non-air projects, respectively (Table 2). Therefore, students, either those from the air project or from non-air projects, showed a varied background, but generally were not very confident with the study of science. It is worth mentioning that compared with non-air project students (with the score of 3.07), air project students showed higher interest (with the score of 3.26) in hands-on experiments (Table 2). According to the students’ replies to the post-test and focus group interviews, we summarized students’ perception shown in Table 3. Generally, students from both air and non-air projects consistently agreed that both the air project and non-air projects help them to experience the process of conducting a science project and to analyze the data (Table 3). Compared with non-air project, air project students received more positive feedback on independent learning (4.12 vs. 3.95), critical thinking (4.02 vs. 3.87), and interest in science (3.87 vs. 3.62).

6 Discussion 6.1 Air Project Cultivates Students’ Independent Learning We found students from the air project turned to more frequently approach their instructors or research assistant for consultation. For example, 60% of air-project students usually come to the instructor right after the class to consult the project or contact the teaching assistant for technical support of the air meter, while less than 10% of non-air project students do the same. Although, this may be partially due to air project using the air meter (and therefore need to deal with the technical issues they encountered), the focus group interview, however, indicates that air project students are more motivated because “actual hands-on experiment makes me engaged in the project. I should be responsible for this project, and I do want it done well”. Another finding from the focus group interview is that compared with non-air project students, air project students tend to spend ~20% more time on the project. This may be due that air project students need to physically take measurements. The students reflected that “a connection and commitment was built up between me and the project”. To this point, we argue the air project cultivates students’ independent learning, which is echoed by the independent learning score of 4.12 vs 3.95 for air and non-air projects, respectively (Table 3).

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6.2 Air Project Improves Students’ Learning Motivation Typical non-air project students usually discuss with instructors about the feasibility of the topics (such as “is this topic doable”), or how to process the data in their projects (such as “may I categorize the samples into groups and compare the mean”). On the other hand, typical air project students show strong willingness to discuss why they chose the topic and how they will conduct the project. For example, an air project student intended to work on the topic “how the household cleaning products affect the particulate matters in my apartment” because she thinks the family members use too much cleaning product in the apartment, which may affect the indoor air quality. Although it turned out that the topic is not feasible because household cleaning products mainly emit gaseous pollutants, which seldom affect the particulate matters. Students, however, are greatly motivated in this “dig out why” process. That student finally located a topic she is interested in, which is “is there a difference between cooking with electric stove and with gas stove?”. Besides locating the topic of the project, air project students are more active and willing to ask questions (see also Session 6.1). This echoes the connection and commitment between the student and project (see also Session 6.1). Therefore, we argue the air project improves students’ learning motivation.

6.3 Air Project Showcases a Science Course Tailor-Made for Non-Science Major Students It has been an issue that the science education for non-science majors has not been adequately addressed. One of the major reasons is that the universities, either comprehensive universities or liberal arts universities, are easy to overlook this issue since the university is assured by the fact that it already offers a wide spectrum of introductory science courses to everyone (including non-science majors) (Hundley, 2007; Kapp et al., 2011; Movahedzadeh, 2011; Prather et al., 2004). However, non-science majors are usually not willing to take those courses because the course materials are difficult to understand or not applicable to non-science majors’ academic or personal life context (Cook & Mulvihill, 2008; Gasiewski et al., 2012; Venkataraman, 2009). Therefore, it is in critical need to develop a tailor-made general education course specifically to non-science majors. We argue the air project provides an example of a science course tailor-made for non-science majors, which filled the gap that has been overlooked by tertiary education. Bypassing complex, specialized scientific theories, the air project not only enables students to choose a topic they are interested in and focus on data measurements and analyses, but also provides non-science major students a platform to experience the whole process of science. Thanks to the easy-to-adopt feature, the air project may also be feasible in secondary/primary schools or even family education, where teachers/

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parents can facilitate children to locate a topic they are interested in and collect the data, i.e., the air project could be extended to wider implications.

6.4 Lessons We Learned: Essentials to Build a Sound Tailor-Made Science Course to Non-Science Majors We tried to summarize the key features of the air project, aiming to provide a checklist to evaluate whether a project can be adopted to a general education science course, especially to non-science majors. Accessible and Flexible We found that accessibility and flexibility were two key criteria for introducing hands-on experiment in general education course. Accessibility requires any such instrument to be able to be used by students without intense advanced training and to measure quantities typically occurring in everyday life (such as air quality). Flexibility allows students the freedom to work on any topics they are interested in to accommodate the students’ varied background in science. For example, in the air project, students preferring indoor work chose topics like “Is there any difference in the air quality in my room between windows on and off ”, and students enjoying outdoor work chose topics like “No lingering in tiny/small parks: a study of the air quality between roadside and tiny/small parks”. Students who live at home chose topics like “Comparing the air quality of my apartment between incense burning on and no incense burning”, and students at the hostel worked on the topic “Comparing the air quality between candle burning on and no candle burning”. Extensive Support Despite the easy-to-adopt nature of the hands-on experiment, extensive support is essential to maximize student’s learning. In terms of instructors, the support generally includes facilitating students to generate a sound research topic, discussing the data analysis, and guiding the project. Due to the limited background in science, students often get confused (or lost) with the project. Our practice is instead of telling students what to do, instructors guide and stimulate students to think and to find the solution by themselves. For example, some students showed interest in the air project, but were not sure what topic they would work on. Instead of showing them some topics, instructors discussed with students what kind of air quality topics they are interested in, such as indoor or outdoor air quality. With guidance, students can locate the topics they are interested in. It is worth mentioning that a research assistant provided help during the implementation of the air project. The major job duties include technical support for the use and troubleshooting of the air meter, logistic coordination (such as borrow and return the air meter), management of the pre-, post-tests, which turned out to be crucial to maintain the smooth running of the project.

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7 Conclusion Accessible hands-on experiment can improve non-science major students’ learning on science general education. Feedback from students showed that the hands-on experiment cultivates students’ independent learning and improves students’ learning motivation. This study establishes an effective strategy for teaching general education science courses to students, especially for non-science majors.

8 Supplementary Documents 8.1 Students in Air Project Are not “Better” Than Others 30 students attended air project in 2021–22 term 1. Compared with the students for non-air projects, air project students achieved comparable scores on the non-research project assignments, i.e., assignments 1–4 with scores of 19.2 vs 19.4, 15.5 vs 15.1, 12.6 vs 12.6, and 12.0 vs 12.4 (Supplementary Table 2). When calculating the p values, they consistently produce the p values of > 0.05 (Supplementary Table 2). Therefore, students in air project are not “better” than those who are in non-air project. 15 students did air project in 2022–23 term 1. Compared with the students for non-air projects, air project students achieved comparable scores on assignment 1 (19.4 vs 19.4, p value = 0.95, Supplementary Table 2), 2 (14.1 vs 14.4, p value = 0.72) and 4 (12.5 vs 12.3, p value = 0.52), but a little bit better score on assignment 3 (13.7 vs 13.1, p value = 0.04). Therefore, air project students in 2022–23 term 1 (a slightly better?) or comparable to non-air project students. 12 students joined air project in 2022–23 term 2. Compared with the students for non-air projects, air project students achieved comparable scores on assignment 1 (19.3 vs 19.4, p value = 0.91, Supplementary Table 2), assignment 3 (12.8 vs 12.9, p value = 0.31) and assignment 4 (12.3 vs 12.1, p value = 0.53), but a bit worse score on assignment 2 (14.5 vs 15.0, p value = 0.01). Therefore, air project students in 2022–23 term 2 (a slightly worse?) comparable to non-air project students. Put the students from different three terms, i.e., 2021–22 term 1, 2022–23 term 1, 2022–23 term 2, students from air projects and those from non-air projects are comparable at academic performances, i.e., students with comparable academic qualities are evenly distributed in air or non-air projects (Supplementary Table 2).

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Supplementary Table 1 Assessments of the course Code of assignments

Name of course assignments

Description of assignments

Assessment 1 (20%)

Guided reflection

Four guided reflections (each occupies 5% of the final score) spread over the whole term. It requires an informal, reflective writing. Students can reflect on their learning of the course materials, and anything they observed in their daily life but related to the course

Assessment 2 (20%)

Midterm

It is made of 40 multiple-choice questions, testing students’ understanding of basic science concepts and knowledge

Assessment 3 (15%)

Science literacy assignment

It is a short essay assignment, asking students to apply science literacy to explain recent global challenges (e.g., climate change, genetically modified food) to a lay person

Assessment 4 (15%)

Sustainable development goals assignment

It is a short essay assignment, asking the whole class to log their daily consumption of water, plastics, etc., for three days. Based on the data of the class, each student finds a question and writes a short essay to address the Sustainable Development Goals issues they observed

Research project (30%)

Research project

Each student chooses his/her topic, and collects the data independently (with tutors’ facilitation). A research report is submitted when the project ends

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Supplementary Table 2 Mean grades of coursework for students from air project and non-air project Mean grades of students from air project

Mean grades of students from non-air projects

2021–2022 Term 1

n = 30

n = 359

Research Project

26.2

25.8

0.003

Assignment 1*

19.2

19.4

0.88

Assignment 2*

15.5

15.1

0.25

Assignment 3*

12.6

12.6

0.24

Assignment 4*

12.0

12.4

0.68

2022–2023 Term 1

n = 15

n = 362

Research Project

26.7

26.2

0.14

Assignment 1*

19.4

19.4

0.95

Assignment 2*

14.1

14.4

0.72

Assignment 3*

13.7

13.1

0.04

Assignment 4*

12.5

12.3

0.52

2022–2023 Term 2

n = 12

n = 461

Research Project

25.0

24.7

0.01

Assignment 1*

19.3

19.4

0.91

Assignment 2*

14.5

15.0

0.01

Assignment 3*

12.8

12.9

0.31

Assignment 4*

12.3

12.1

0.53

*

p value^

more details about the assignments see Supplementary Table 1 ^ p value is calculated based on Welch’s t-test due to the different variance of air and non-air project

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Acknowledgements Ms SOO Hiu Tung Audrey, currently teaching assistant of the course, not only provided technical support to students but also summarized the data of this paper. Ms TONG Yuen King Belva and Ms MOK Wing In Rainie worked as the teaching assistant for term 1, 2022-2023 and terms 1 and 2, 2021-22, respectively. This project would not be possible without their help. This project was financially supported by the Teaching Development Grant (project code: 102498), Lingnan University.

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Hongyan Geng is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at Science Unit, Lingnan University. She has extensive experience in teaching general education science courses to non-science majors. Her areas of specialization include environmental geochemistry and interdisciplinary studies on sustainability. Her recent interest is on science education to non-science majors and liberal arts education. Mark McGinley is a Professor of Teaching at Science Unit, Lingnan University. His areas of specialization include Marine biology and ecology. He has extensive experience in liberal arts education and service learning in science education. Ka Fai Wong is a Senior Engineering Manager of Industrial Center, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His areas of interest include electrical motor drive and traction, power electronics, and electrical services in building. His recent interest is on the application of immersive technologies on teaching and smart building systems. Paulina Pui Yun Wong is an Associate Professor in the Science Unit at Lingnan University. Her areas of specialization include air pollution, urban climate, GIS modeling, and environmental health. Her current research interests concern environmental impact assessments with particular reference to health-related problems in Hong Kong. Yin Kun Lau is an Assistant Professor in the Science Unit at Lingnan University. His areas of interest include population ecology, conservation genetics, and disease ecology. Bi Wei Low is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Science Unit at Lingnan University. His research interests lie in the ecology and evolution of Southeast Asian freshwater fishes, aquatic invasions, and species distribution modeling. Tin Yan Hui is an Assistant Professor in the Science Unit at Lingnan University. His areas of interest include intertidal ecology, behavioral ecology and eco-physiology, and thermal biology.

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Ho Lee is a Research Assistant Professor in the Science Unit at Lingnan University. His areas of interest include community ecology, applied ecology, urban ecology, and insect conservation.

A Critical Review of the Gender Representation in Children’s eBooks on a Digital Reading Platform Anna Wing Bo Tso

Abstract Children’s literature plays a significant role in socialization in early childhood. The social norms it carries influence children and young people as they start to establish their own identities and sense of self-worth. Yet, despite feminists and educators’ tireless efforts in harnessing gender equality and women empowerment, gender imbalance and character gender gaps can still be found in children’s books, according to recent research. With a view to raising public awareness about gender representation in children’s books frequently read by young readers, this paper looks into the gender representation in all the Level 2 e-books (for children aged 4–8) currently catalogued in Highlights Library, one of the leading digital reading platforms in the world. Through examining the male-to-female ratio in the book titles, book cover illustrations, page illustrations, and central characters of a collection of 93 e-books, it is revealed that male dominance is apparent in most picture books featured in the digital library. Females are often under-represented. For e-books with high female visibility, the female characters are often portrayed as mothers, grandmothers, and helpers. In alignment with the research in Australia and the United States, the research results of this study reflect that traditional gender stereotypes in children’s books, print and electronic alike, remain persistent. Keywords Children’s ebooks · Digital library · Gender representation · Gender stereotypes · Male dominance

1 The Persistence of Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Books Digital advances in technology have revolutionized the form of children’s literature. Numerous apps, software, programs, websites and platforms have been created to engage children in reading while training up their digital literacy. From 2019 to 2022, A. W. B. Tso (B) The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_12

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the sales volume of children’s books (print books and electronic books included) has also increased tremendously due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing strategies in social media, and the ubiquitous nature of the digital reading platforms such as Kindle eBooks and Highlights Library. According to Publishers Weekly (2022), the sales volume of the children’s and young adults’ (YA) category has soared up 17%, and the global children and YA book market is expected to grow from US$11.35 billion in 2022 to US$11.59 billion in 2023 (Open PR). Should parents and teachers want to educate children and promote gender equity, children’s literature is undoubtedly an important medium to “disseminate the norms, values, and cultural attitudes to children” (Lestari & Yulindrasari, 2021). However, the assumption that all children’s books advocate gender equity is questionable. In The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir points out that patriarchal society often imposes its laws and manners upon individuals through ideological stereotypes in myths, folklore, and children’s literature. Till today, de Beauvoir’s observation is still of great concern. According to Adam and Harper’s recent crosscultural study (2021), gender stereotypes and conventional binary gender roles are common in most of the frequently read picture books in early childhood classrooms in Australia and the United States. Biased female representations can be found in popular children’s books written by C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, and Philip Pullman (Tso, 2012). Likewise, McCabe et al. (2011) have also found that in terms of gender representations, rarely any consistent improvement can be found in 6,000 books published from 1900 to 2000. Similar findings were found in recent studies in Hong Kong too. Lee (2021) examines readers in the Primary Reading Programme developed by the Education Bureau of Hong Kong (EDB), and her study confirms the presence of gender inequality in the children’s text, though female visibility has increased in the children’s readers. This research result is congruent with Lee and Chin’s study (2019) on gender representation in early readers selected by the EDB to promote “Reading to Learn” and “Reading across the Curriculum”. Gender stereotypes that confine females to the domestic sphere and traditional gender roles have been found in the early readers, which are supposed to be recommended readings for young readers in the city. While the research findings of the above-mentioned studies are significant and revealing, the readers chosen for investigation in the past studies are print books chosen in school libraries and/or recommended by the education department. The gender representation in ebooks currently read by young readers has yet to be accurately reflected.

2 Purpose of the Paper To understand the gender representation in ebooks frequently read by children in Hong Kong and beyond, this paper aims to look into the gender representation in Level 2 electronic books shelved in Highlights Library, a leading digital reading platform popular among young readers all over the world. Firstly, it calculates the gender ratio through the book titles, cover illustrations, page illustrations, as well

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as central characters in a selection of 93 English children’s books for readers aged 4–8. In addition to the gender ratio, the paper also looks into the gender representation in ebooks with a high female visibility. The research findings, together with the evaluation criteria used in the project, will serve as a point of reference to guide librarians of kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, universities, and public libraries on how to choose books that celebrate gender equality. Parents and young readers are the primary beneficiaries of the study too. When parents and children read ebooks in digital reading platforms such as Highlight Libraries, the evaluation criteria suggested in the paper can serve as practical guidelines for detecting gender biases.

3 Research Questions While it is impossible to examine all the children’s books available in the market, this study focuses on ninety-three (n = 93) Level 2 electronic books (for children aged 4–8) catalogued in Highlights Library. The research questions of this study are: (i) What is the gender ratio in the ebooks chosen for inclusion in the study? (ii) In ebooks with high female visibility, how are female characters portrayed?

4 Research Methodology The visibility of males and females in children’s books is the first step for detecting the occurrence of gender stereotypes. The degree of visibility can show whether male or/and female characters are neglected or under-represented in comparison. Visibility refers to the “frequencies and percentages that women and men appeared in book titles, illustrations, and texts” (Shu, 1998, p. 10). Based on the quantitative research methodology of Gooden and Gooden (2001) and Brugeilles et al. (2002), a framework is developed to evaluate the relative proportion of males and females featured in the ebooks. On one grid, the gender of book characters is classified into four types: (i) female, (ii) male, (iii) equal, and (iv) unidentified. On the other grid, information given in the book titles, in the book cover illustrations, in the page illustrations, and in the book contents are coded under the following: (a) Distribution of books by gender featured in the titles; (b) Distribution of books by gender of the characters featured in the cover illustrations; (c) Distribution of books by gender of the characters featured in the page illustrations; and (d) Distribution of books by gender of the central characters (Table 1). To answer the first research question, the number of male and female characters, namely “the main human or human-like creatures who could speak, had proper

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Table 1 A quantitative observation framework that illustrates gender proportion in children’s books chosen for the study Book proportion (%)

Gender of characters Female Male Equal Un-identified

a. Distribution of books by gender featured in the titles b. Distribution of books by gender of the characters featured in the cover illustrations c. Distribution of books by gender of the characters featured in the page illustrations d. Distribution of books by gender of the central characters

names, and/or were designated as male or female” (Shu, 1998, p. 11), will also be counted. When multiple characters are depicted in the ebook, the case will be classified as “female” if the total number of female characters outnumbers that of male characters. Likewise, the case will be classified as “male” if the total number of male characters outnumbers that of female characters. If the total number of female characters and male characters are the same, then the case will be labelled as “equal”. If the gender of the character(s) is unknown, the case will be labelled as “unidentified”. Besides the male and female visibility in ebooks, gender representation can also be detected through the gender portrayal created by the author and the illustrator. The gender portrayal of a character is determined by several factors, the most essential of which are the character’s gender roles and occupation. Other important factors also include the character’s personality, level of intelligence, physical attractiveness, etc. In addition, subtler language features in the narrative, such as the use of genderbiased vocabulary, sexist proverbs, word order, and active and passive expressions in the descriptions of the male and female characters, can be taken into consideration as well (Tso, 2014). Nonetheless, to provide a direct and straightforward answer to the second research question, this paper will examine the gender roles and occupations of female characters in ebooks with a high female visibility.

5 Research Findings and Discussion 5.1 The Non-balanced Visibility of Males and Females in ebooks The gender ratio calculation in this study reveals that among the 93 Level 2 ebooks shelved in Highlights Library, males have a significantly higher visibility than females. As shown in Fig. 1, out of 93 ebook titles, 32 titles have male depictions, 5 titles have female depictions, and 1 title mentions both male and female names.

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Simply put, males occur in 34.4% of the ebook titles, which is 6.4 times as much as that of females. Over-representation of males can be found in ebook cover illustrations too. As Fig. 2 indicates, out of 93 ebook covers, 38.71% (n = 36) has a higher male visibility; 22.58% (n = 21) has a higher female visibility, and 13.98% (n = 13) equally features male and female characters on the book cover. Also, in a total of 564 page illustrations contained within the 93 ebooks in Highlights Library, the male to female ratio is 2.14:1. More specifically, 48.9% (n = 276) of the page illustrations contain mostly male characters, while only 22.9% (n = 129) contains mostly female characters. Meanwhile, 15.8% (n = 89) contains an equal amount of male and female characters, whereas 12.4% (n = 70) contains illustrations with non-gendered characters (Fig. 3). Likewise, male dominance is reflected in the gender ratio in the ebook’s central characters. In the 93 ebooks selected for the study, 49.46% (n = 46) features more male central characters than females; 22.58% (n = 21) features more female central characters than males. Only 16.13% (n = 15) has equal numbers of male and female

TITLE

55 Titles with unidentified gender depictions (59.14%)

1 Title with equal gender depictions (1.08%) Fig. 1 Gender ratio in the ebook titles

32 Titles with male depictions (34.40%)

5 Titles with female depictions (5.38%)

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COVER Illustrations 23 Book covers with unidentified gender depictions (24.73%)

13 Book covers with equal gender depictions (1.08%)

36 Book covers with more male depictions (38.71%)

21 Book covers with more female depictions (5.38%)

Fig. 2 Gender ratio in the ebooks’ cover illustrations

central characters, and the rest have non-gendered main characters, which are mostly animals, plants, and personified objects (Fig. 4).

5.2 Biased Representations of Female Characters In the 21 ebooks that feature more female central characters than male characters, it is found that the female characters are often limited to traditional women’s jobs and stereotypical domestic roles: 33.33% of the female characters (n = 7) are housewives and mothers; 14.29% (n = 3) are elder sisters and helpers. In a number of ebooks, female family roles are even spelled out directly in the book titles, such as Ma Knows Best and Grandma’s Visit. When occupations are not mentioned in the story, the female characters are either nice little girls (33.33%; n = 7) who participate in indoor activities such as drawing, writing, and studying, or cute pets being taken care by humans (19.05%; n = 4). The findings are in line with those in print children’s books, in which “women take as high as 82% of the homemaking and child-rearing

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70 Page illustrations with unidentified gender depictions (24.73%)

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PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 276 Page illustrations with more male depictions (48.9%)

89 Page illustrations with equal gender depictions (15.8%)

129 Page illustraions with more female depictions (22.9%) Fig. 3 Gender ratio in the ebooks’ page illustrations

responsibilities” (Shu, 1998, p. 239), and female main characters are found more indoors than outdoors (Hamilton, 2007), as reflected in book titles such as Sharing in Art Class and The Family Show. By and large, with regard to the above findings about gender ratios in ebook titles, cover illustrations, page illustrations, central characters, as well as the stereotypical portrayals of female characters, we can draw the conclusion that females in ebooks for Level 2 readers are not only under-represented, but also often confined to domestic roles in private spheres such as the kitchen and the household. The biased gender representation is no different from that in print children’s books.

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11 Books with non-gendered central characters (11.83%)

CENTRAL CHARACTERS

15 Books with equal numbers of male and female central characters (16.13%)

46 Books with more male central characters (49.46%)

21 Books with more female central characters (22.58%) Fig. 4 Gender ratio of the central characters in the ebooks

6 Conclusion Children’s literature plays a significant role in socialization in early childhood. The social norms it carries influence children and young people as they start to establish their own identities and sense of self-worth. Despite feminists and educators’ tireless efforts in harnessing gender equality and women empowerment, significant gender imbalance and stereotyping can still be found in children’s books, according to recent research. This study has further proven that gender gaps and stereotypes are found in ebooks frequently read by young readers too. Often times, parents and school librarians just purchase the digital reading platform and encourage children to read the ebooks available. However, these ebooks do not always guarantee that they are free of gender bias and stereotyping. Should parents, teachers, and librarians want to educate their children about gender equity, the evaluation criteria used in the paper can serve as initial guidelines for detecting gender biases in children’s books, print, and digital books alike. It is also envisaged that this critical review of gender representation in ebooks shall act as a point of reference for children’s authors, illustrators, and publishers to create children’s ebooks that liberate women, challenge sexist stereotypes, and promote gender equity.

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References Adam, H., & Harper, L. J. (2021). Gender equity in early childhood picture books: A cross-cultural study of frequently read picture books in early childhood classrooms in Australia and the United States. The Australian Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-021-00494-0 Brugeilles, C., Cromer, I., & Cromer, S. (2002). Male and female characters in illustrated children’s books: How children’s literature contributes to the construction of gender. Population, 57(2), 292. https://doi.org/10.3917/popu.202.0261 De Beauvoir, S. (2015). The Second Sex. Vintage Classics. Global children and young adult books market size: Industry analysis, segments, drivers and trends to 2032 (2023, January 18). Open PR. https://www.openpr.com/news/2887770/global-childrenand-young-adult-books-market-size-industry Gooden, A. M., & Gooden, M. A. (2001). Gender representation in notable children’s picture books: 1995–1999. Sex Roles, 45, 89–101. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013064418674 Grauerholz, E., & Pecosolido, B. A. (1989). Gender representation in children’s literature: 1900– 1984. Gender & Society, 3(1), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124389003001008 Hamilton, M. C., Anderson, D., Broaddus, M., & Young, K. (2007) Gender stereotyping and underrepresentation of female characters in 200 popular children’s picture books: A 21st century update. Centre College website. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from http://www.centre.edu/web/ news/2007/2/gender.html Lee, J. F. K. (2021). Gender portrayal in a popular Hong Kong reading programme for children: Are there equalities? Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35(3), 567–583. https://doi. org/10.1080/02568543.2020.1784323 Lee, J. F. K., & Chin, A. C. O. (2019). Are females and males equitably represented? A study of early readers. Linguistics and Education, 49, 52–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2018. 12.003 Lestari, M., & Yulindrasari, H. (2021). Does gender in children’s books matter? Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 538, 33–36. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210 322.008 McCabe, J., Fairchild, E., Grauerholz, L., Pescosolido, B. A., Tope, D. (2011). Gender in twentiethcentury children’s books: Patterns of disparity in titles and central characters. Gender & Society, 25(2), 197–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243211398358 Op De Beeck, N. (2022). NPD gauges the children’s and YA book market. Publishers Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/ 89778-we-are-bullish-on-stores-in-2022-npd-gauges-the-children-s-and-ya-book-market.html Shu, H. (1998). Sex role socialization in Chinese and American children’s books: A comparative study. UMI A Bell and Howell Company. Tso, A. W. B. (2014). Masculine hegemony and resistance in Chinese language. Writing from Below, 2(1), 1–15. Tso, A. W. B. (2012). Representations of the monstrous-feminine in selected works of C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl and Philip Pullman. Libri & Liberi: Journal of Research on Children’s Literature and Culture, 1(2), 215–234. https://hrcak.srce.hr/99904

Anna Wing Bo Tso is the President of the Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology. She is also the Department Head and Associate Professor of English at The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, an award-winning children’s writer, the lead editor of Digital Communication and Learning (2022) and The Post-pandemic Landscape of Education and Beyond (2023).

Reimagining Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Use of Recorded Lessons from Teachers’ Perspectives Noble Po Kan Lo and Alan Man Him Wong

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant disruptions to the traditional modes of educational delivery, with recorded lessons emerging as a solution. Focusing on teachers’ perspective, this study investigates potential strategies for improving the use of lecture recordings in higher education, taking into account the challenges and opportunities associated with their use. Through the development of a conceptual framework based on an in-depth literature review, the areas of enquiry were refined and seven targeted questions were generated for interviews with 40 teaching professionals from eight institutions to obtain data for thematic analysis. The findings revealed that recorded lessons offer advantages such as improved knowledge retention and asynchronous review, but also present challenges such as additional workload and inconsistency in required skills. It was suggested that, despite an open attitude to the implementation of recorded lessons, improved technological support and additional training should be pursued to aid teachers in delivering recorded content. Keywords Digital learning · Hybrid classroom · Pedagogy · Recorded lessons · University education

N. P. K. Lo (B) Division of Languages and Communication, College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] A. M. H. Wong English Language Teaching Unit, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_13

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1 Introduction Following the global pandemic in 2019, efforts to preserve the educational process accelerated the transition towards a virtual educational ecosystem (Xu et al., 2021). The structural shift from traditional to online classrooms has resulted in a hybridised (on and offline) solution that integrates virtual learning resources into the scope of pedagogical tools. This revised, interactive solution encourages student engagement, while also utilising an array of innovative technological tools to assist teacher effectiveness and actively motivate student learning (Garcia-Vedrenne et al., 2020). Whereas teachers were tasked with developing skills and competencies to perpetuate the changing educational requirements, the virtualisation of education has created new opportunities for teaching strategies including recorded lessons and multi-media presentations (Laster-Loftus & Cooper, 2019). Despite such opportunities, the adoption of recorded lessons and digital resources in modern higher education courses is emergent, thereby leading to a need for additional research and exploratory study to frame the experiences of both teachers and students. This study focuses on the teacher perspective, contributing new insights regarding recorded lessons and their future role in Hong Kong educational institutions. To assess the perceived effectiveness and intrinsic value of such recorded lessons, this investigation has undertaken to compare the broader conceptual basis for implementation against a representative study of teacher experiences in Hong Kong English language higher education classrooms. Specifically, the primary aim of this study was to critically compare teachers’ perspectives regarding the efficacy and learning value of recorded lessons to identify strategies for improving future applications in university settings. Through an indepth review of the prior literature regarding digital learning and the design and administration of an empirical survey of students and teachers, the following core research objectives have been accomplished: • To consult and analyse prior literature to develop a conceptual representation of digital learning in practice and classroom design strategies. • To identify the core expectations and challenges in designing recorded lessons, weighing the balance between delivery and receptivity in SPOCs. • To conduct an interview with teachers to capture experiential feedback regarding recorded lessons and their effects on the learning process from both perspectives. • To propose best practices and strategies for improving recorded lesson design and maximising student learning outcomes in virtual learning settings in Hong Kong higher education institutions. In pursuing this study, there was a single, central research question guiding this investigation: What perceptions and experiences do teachers report regarding recorded lessons and student learning outcomes in English language education?

This question focuses on the primary stakeholder in the lesson administration procedure, i.e. the teacher, and the downstream effects of an emergent teaching

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modality, i.e. recorded lessons, on student learning outcomes as they relate to knowledge transfer and assessment performance. In addition to this broader question, several sub-questions were answered during this research process: 1. What are the primary goals of recorded lessons and how are such goals achieved? 2. What effects do recorded and virtual lessons have on student engagement in the learning process? 3. How prepared are teachers for recorded lessons, and are there skills or resources needed to improve this role? 4. What strategies or techniques could be applied to future recorded lessons to improve student learning outcomes? The remaining sections present an in-depth review of the conceptual underpinnings of virtual and recorded lesson administration, student learning processes, and teacher experiences. An empirical exploration of teacher narratives and perspectives regarding the effectiveness of recorded lessons following the Covid-19 pandemic is provided to highlight a variety of specific challenges and opportunities. Finally, conclusions are drawn which redirect the findings to the specific research aim and its underlying objectives.

2 Literature Review 2.1 Classroom Recording and Teacher Support Applied to both large-scale (Massively Open Online Course, MOOC) and smallscale (Small Open Online Courses, SOOC) technological solutions, recorded video involves both a disciplined techno-educational craft and a networked distribution system capable of providing access to students across distributed networks (Yang, 2021). Further, as additive resources in traditional classrooms, Laster-Loftus and Cooper (2019) observe that video resources can provide conceptual reinforcement, allowing instructors to target specific information and details that might be otherwise neglected or misunderstood. Where video reinforcement supports asynchronous learning opportunities, students are able to review course materials and lectures remotely after class hours, improving their overall clarity and understanding of the expectations (Laster-Loftus & Cooper, 2019). In-classroom support from recorded lessons also leverages digital on-demand accessibility to support in or out-of-sequence learning needs (Yang, 2021). Despite the potential advantages of video lessons from both the perspectives of both teachers and students, Wijnker et al. (2019) caution that, due to variations in cinematography, content, and design, the relative effectiveness of some recorded lessons is inconsistent. From a conceptual basis, recorded lessons extend common teacher aims or lesson objectives including doing, engaging, saying, and seeing to achieve varied student outcomes such as modelling, association, simulation, and narrative

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Fig. 1 Assisting framework for educator recorded video design (Source 2019, p. 3185)

interpretation (Wijnker et al., 2019). In a critical review of recorded lessons from the perceptions of student effectiveness, Wijnker et al. (2019) observed that problematic or problem-centred videos were found to have the most direct effect on learner engagement, while videos with highly informative messages featuring authoritative speakers were found to improve students’ self-perceived conceptual knowledge. Figure 1 visualises a video framework that supports educators in progressing from an initial, general lesson design to the inclusion of video elements that reinforce and support the underlying concepts and curriculum. To demonstrate the effectiveness of recorded and digital lessons in educational systems, researchers have undertaken an array of comparative approaches which address the instrumental and the affective constructs of learner achievement. Soffer and Nachimas (2018), for example, conducted a multi-stage experiment which compared student learning performance in 3 online classrooms with 3 traditional, face-to-face classrooms to assess effectiveness. Based upon 11 measures of effectiveness, the findings confirmed a significantly higher performance outcome for online students, particularly in areas of satisfaction and engagement. Further, objective measurements related to assessment performance revealed that online students performed higher than their face-to-face counterparts. Importantly, Soffer and Nachimas (2018) demonstrated that for these traditional classes, readings and supplementary materials were found to have a more significant impact on student learning than for those completing online courses. This evidence suggests that due to limitations in comprehension of lecturer discussions and presentations, students were

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forced to engage in self-directed research beyond the limited in-classroom exercises and lecturing.

2.2 Digital Records and Educational Narratives Where lecture-based education involves a one-directional means of knowledge transfer, modern hybrid, and virtual classrooms are increasingly adopting digital artefacts and systems to support positive student learning outcomes. Shelton et al. (2016) suggest that there are several advantages to a digital storytelling solution including allowing students to rewind or skip chapters, increasing time for content processing (e.g. pausing, rewatching), linking digital pop-ups and interactive prompts (e.g. questions), and framing the ongoing learning process (e.g. current and future lessons). Based upon an expectation of content engagement, empirical evidence suggests that students improve their short-term content retention and reported a higher level of engagement in the recorded content (Shelton et al., 2016). However, students were required to maintain learning accountability, navigating procrastination and lesson avoidance to demonstrate consistency in the learning experience, conditions that could not be effectively measured by digital administrative systems (Shelton et al., 2016). Despite the assumption that additional or supplemental video resources will universally assist students in accessing critical knowledge resources, evidence presented by Laster-Loftus and Cooper (2019) suggests that student learning preferences or strengths (e.g. auditory, kinetic, written) are likely to moderate how valuable and effective such resources are for gaining and retaining knowledge. In classrooms with students of mixed backgrounds and experience levels, Zhang et al. (2019) have demonstrated empirically that video lessons overcome specific gaps in the various learning systems, allowing students a fairer and more consistent learning outcome. Further, Seo et al. (2021) have demonstrated that by creating reinforcement solutions, students can actively review key concepts, particularly during assessment periods, to address particular gaps or incongruities in their learning regimen.

2.3 Self-reflection and Teacher Learning Through Recorded Lessons The expectation of critical and developmental self-reflection is central to the discussion regarding recorded lessons. Hollingsworth and Clarke (2017) argue that by watching their own presentations and self-assessing their professionalism, their communication strategies, and their conceptual expressions, teachers can weigh the effectiveness of their teaching against core course and lesson objectives. This video record frames an ‘artefact of the teacher’s own practice’ which not only extends

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the understanding of what students are receiving in terms of knowledge cues, but the various aesthetic and presentation features which facilitate learning experiences (Hollingsworth & Clarke, 2017, p. 457). Characterised as a ‘blended learning’ architecture, the introduction of recorded lessons into the teaching discipline involves an array of feedback cycles including personal (e.g. self-assessment), professional (e.g. formal assessment), and reciprocal (e.g. student to teacher) (Istenic, 2021, p. 119). Where teachers may enjoy the additional ability to record, review, and revise their lessons outside of a direct, lecture-based setting, Istenic (2021) acknowledges that this does not alleviate the burden of a heavy workload. Instead, the video resource becomes a supplement, an integral part of the feedback loop through which educational systems are developed and adapted to support student learning (Wisniewski et al., 2020). As an assessment measure, recorded lessons may allow teachers to not only evaluate the effectiveness of their own presentations, but the scope and depth of student engagement in such lessons. McGowan and Hanna (2015) observe that by weighing student investment and participation in lectures through eye tracking and attendance monitoring, it is possible to predict the relative strength of such experiences and the potential limitations or gaps in teacher performance. Where concepts are particularly challenging, Ghilay (2018) reports that video support resources are likely to provide the reinforcement needed to address student limitations in the learning cycle, overcoming areas where gaps or inconsistencies might have resulted in missed concepts. Ultimately, it is the conjoint combination of student and teacher assessments that will result in the ability to adjust classroom lessons towards more productive, student-centred outcomes (Ghilay, 2018; McGowan & Hanna, 2015).

2.4 Conceptual Framework Based upon this review of literature regarding the introduction of recorded lessons in modern classrooms, the following core concepts have been identified, resulting in a multi-layered solution visualised in Fig. 2. • Accessibility: The availability of key coursework following lectures and classroom exercises (Laster-Loftus & Cooper, 2019; Yang, 2021). • Engagement: The active pursuit of knowledge and investment in the learning process by students (McGowan & Hanna, 2015; Shelton et al., 2016). • Reinforcement: The supply and repetition of key concepts to reinforce student learning (Soffer & Nachimas, 2018). • Student Support: The ability to monitor and support student learning with specific reference to recorded lessons (Seo et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2019). • Knowledge-Building: The pursuit of new knowledge and competencies over time (Ghilay, 2018; Zhang et al., 2019).

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Fig. 2 Conceptual framework of recorded lesson contributions (Created for Study)

• Reflection and Improvement: The active evaluation of lesson value and student engagement through critical teacher and student reflection (Hollingsworth & Clarke, 2017; Istenic, 2021). To review the aim of the study, the central research question is What perceptions and experiences do teachers report regarding recorded lessons and student learning outcomes in English language education? Based on prior literature review, the proposed conceptual framework has identified six core concepts in relation to the introduction and implementation of recorded lessons, clarifying the theoretical underpinnings of the study and providing insights into the areas of enquiry. Ideally, the results of the investigation would confirm, from teachers’ perspectives, that the use of recorded lessons can lead to increased student engagement in the learning process and reinforcement of learning, for example. Such confirmation can serve to provide strong reasons for the adoption of this approach by institutions that have not yet done so, benefiting a broader population of students. On the other hand, a discrepancy between the contributions of recorded lessons as suggested in the framework and the teachers’ perceived value of recorded lessons can shed light on the practical concerns that should be taken into consideration before, while, and/or after providing recorded lessons for student access. In short, the conceptual framework and the research question are closely linked—the former provides a theoretical foundation for the research question while the latter may suggest adjustments to be made to the implementation of recorded lessons. Ultimately, it has the potential to provide valuable insights into how to maximise the contributions of recorded

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lessons while proactively preventing and overcoming potential challenges in the actual implementation.

3 Research Methodology 3.1 Research Paradigm Drawing from the positivist philosophy, quantitative research is frequently applied to social investigations as a means of comparing behaviours or beliefs across a range of explicit indicators or weighted instruments (Bryman, 2015). Soffer and Nachimas (2018), for example, adopted a purely quantitative design to compare student learning outcomes across traditional and online courses by weighing performance indicators following a 6-month period. Although valuable in terms of weighing the effectiveness of the specific course and/or its link between student engagement and learning, the method is limited in its scope, its depth of analysis, and its general capacity to resolve comparative dimensions (e.g. student intelligence, student metacognition, teacher proficiency). Alternatively, the constructivist philosophy relies upon a predominately qualitative approach to extract meaning from individual experiences, personal narratives, and phenomenological observations. Ghilay (2018) demonstrates how constructivism can be applied to a critical and comparative analysis of participant feedback regarding recorded lesson experiences, allowing for deeper exploration of personal narratives and experiences. For the current study, the scope of evidence targeted for this comparative analysis was smaller than the previous exploration of in-classroom student data and performances. Therefore, by targeting teachers, the scale of this research sample was inherently constrained, thereby justifying the pursuit of a qualitative, thematic analysis of specific teacher experiences and insights.

3.2 Research Approach and Sampling The sampling of participants for this study involved targeting teaching professionals with direct experiences with recorded lessons currently employed within the Hong Kong English language departments at various higher-education institutions. This purposive, non-probabilistic sampling approach restricted the population to a select band of pre-qualified representatives that would provide insights regarding this technological transformation and its effects on their teaching practices (Bryman, 2015). The authors’ contact with various university gatekeepers and administrative professionals yielded a directory of more than 150 unique individuals potentially targeted for this study. Following multiple series of e-mails, a combined sample of 40 teaching

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professionals representing 8 distinct institutions was identified, all of whom met the criteria for inclusion in this study. The interview procedure was conducted individually using virtual resources including Zoom and Microsoft Teams. This remote administration process ensured that participants could participate according to their schedules and allowed for the extension of the interviewing procedure over a 3-week period. All participants completed a standard form query letter which established their rights including their right to anonymity and their right to at-will participation. All interviews were recorded, and the results were transcribed using automated online technologies. To improve the overall accuracy of the results, all interviews were conducted in English. The end results of this study were analysed thematically by applying Merriam’s (2015) analytical thematic coding technique, which involved a line-by-line identification of major thematic elements related to each of the targeted interview questions. The instrument itself was purposefully limited in its scale to just 7 big questions which targeted specific insights and experiences relative to recorded lessons rather than more general analysis of such solutions.

4 Results 4.1 (Q1) How Do Students Respond to Online and Recorded Lessons? Major Themes: Engagement, Review, Time, Focus, Questions, Learning, Feedback, Video, Technology, Concepts, Lecture. This first question prompted the teachers to reflect upon their online and recorded lessons to assess the typical student response. In general, the feedback suggested that students responded positively, with P2 observing ‘a positive engagement with the recorded lessons; lots of positive feedback.’ Similarly, P16 acknowledged a ‘short learning curve and a successful level of participation and investment in the recorded lessons; it’s great for reinforcement of concepts.’ Despite these and many other similar experiences, there were several concerns about student responses. For example, P37 indicated that ‘I think there is an expectation that you can slide by in recorded lectures, it affects a student’s attention span, and to be honest, it may have a negative effect on their knowledge retention.’ Also, P1 argued that ‘it is too easy when there are no consequences for students; I can’t track their level of focus; it gives a lot more freedom and some lack the discipline to use it wisely.’ In response to both the positive and negative effects of recorded lessons, the participants outlined the practical advantages of such technologies. P24 indicated that ‘most of my students maintained their attention span in our virtual activities, and were very participative in classroom discussions and active learning exercises.’ By combining recorded lessons with in-class exercises (traditional or virtual),

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students were ‘applying the knowledge they gained and reinforcing their understanding through practical exercises’ (P12). Further, P40 indicated that ‘there is a lightness, a level of freedom in the classroom now that students aren’t afraid of falling behind and can review lessons at home.’ This flexibility was widely cited as the primary benefit of recorded lessons despite the other concerns regarding the depth of focus and the effectiveness of such experiences. Although the procedural value of recorded lessons was expected, the feedback indicated that there was a continued expectation of teacher involvement and student support as observed by P14: Despite having the recorded lessons available on-demand, I still encountered a significant number of students seeking assistance. This really wasn’t any different to my traditional lectures. I think sometimes it’s about reinforcing their doubts and ensuring they have the concepts right.

4.2 (Q2) What Was the Primary Impact of Recorded Lessons on Student Engagement in Regular Lessons? In Coursework and Assessment Performance? Major Themes: Focus, Discussion, Practice, Awareness, Engagement, Questioning, Reflection, Group Work, Outcomes, Performance, Assessment. This second question focused more specifically on the performance effects of recorded lessons, highlighting a range of themes related to active engagement and conceptual awareness. Focusing on participation in the classroom, P5 reported that ‘students appreciate multitasking when they know that they can always refer to the video lectures; it affects their focus during class time, but not their overall performance.’ Similar feedback from P11 suggested that ‘there is a basic learning curve, but once students start to understand that the lectures align with the curriculum and the exercises, I see a lot more active involvement in recorded lesson usage.’ By overcoming this initial hurdle, the outcome is one of ‘deeper connection to the curriculum and improved assimilation of the core knowledge’ (P22). In ensuring that lessons were specific, focused, and relevant to ongoing coursework, students were ‘engaged in the learning process and able to review key concepts at their own leisure to make sure that they had a complete understanding’ (P30). From an English language position, there is also a unique content profile in recorded lessons which P29 suggested was ‘a verbal representation of how things sound, how words and sentences join together, and the variations in the English language.’ Similarly, P6 recognised that ‘a lot of times in traditional classrooms, students hear phrases once or twice; then they need reinforcement. There isn’t always time, so recorded lessons support this process.’ Despite the positive insights afforded by these professionals, P2 still cautioned that ‘direct lessons without recordings are more effective; students don’t have the luxury of returning for content; they have to pay attention in the moment and take notes or participate to assimilate the knowledge.’

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4.3 (Q3) What Impacts Did Recorded Lessons Have on Your Selection and Delivery of the Lesson Material? Of the Performance or Approach to the Lesson Planning? Major Themes: Specific, Focused, Combined, Targeted, Agreement, Reinforcing, Lesson, Time, Involvement. The feedback from the participants confirmed that recordings were specific and focused on what P3 described as ‘the curricular guideline for the day or week.’ By narrowing the scope of lessons to a ‘time-based progression from concept to concept’ (P18), students were encouraged to selectively invest in reviewing each lesson across time, ‘reducing confusion and also making sure that concepts are clear and reinforced’ (P22). At the same time, these educators indicated that ‘we have to make choices about what is going to be delivered, so it is a game of what holds the most value and how people are going to learn the best’ (P10). This efficiencyoriented pedagogy prioritised a ‘targeted approach to lesson planning’ (P32) that was enhanced by recorded lessons as new stages of the curriculum were introduced over time.

4.4 (Q4) is This (Online, Hybrid, Synchronous) an Effective Solution for University Education? Why or Why not? Major Themes: Positive, Support, Reinforcement, Communication, Feedback, Exploration, Learning, Students, Priorities. The unanimous observation in response to this question was that recorded lessons are positive and have a positive effect on university education. Exemplifying the group perspectives, P14 suggested the following: This is about improving student learning outcomes; and that begins with reinforcing their conceptual knowledge alongside new lessons and new information. We use recordings to supplement our other exercises, and they are something to refer back to. It is more effective than one-off lectures that lack such repeatable capabilities.

4.5 (Q5) How Comfortable Are You with the Use of Recordings for Synchronous Lessons? Does This Affect Your Role as an Educator? Major Themes: Time, Demands, Restrictions, Technology, Learning, Skills, Challenges, Support, Resources. Across the participant feedback, there was about half of the teachers that agreed with P3 who ‘embraced recorded lessons and have used it as a tool to improve my own teaching practices.’ Alternatively, the other half agreed with P9 who critiqued

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that ‘I found it challenging to fulfil my teaching objectives in the classroom (hybrid) and then also make video recordings for online students of the lectures and exercises at the same time.’ Further, P27 indicated that ‘there is a learning curve to using the technology to record, and if you don’t like your voice on video or your mannerisms, it is hard to adapt at first to such expectations.’ Where teachers were confronted with hybrid classroom expectations, there was a sense of ‘performing double duty, recording lectures, and then giving lectures, and it creates a significant time burden that we need to be supported in or compensated for’ (P13). Despite such concerns, P14 reported the following: There is a sense of freedom with recorded lectures that I felt offered a positive solution to missed or lost time in repetition and redress in the classroom. Even those students who are not motivated to pay attention can still go back and get access to the information (if willing) after the course is completed.

4.6 (Q6) What is Your Preferred Mode of Classroom Delivery? Why? Major Themes: In-Classroom, Face-to-Face, Support, Learning, Technology, Style, Knowledge. Despite the advantages of recorded lessons, most confirmed that traditional, faceto-face classrooms were their preferred mode of delivery, with several key insights reported regarding teaching tricks and practices. For example, P18 suggested that ‘I value my time in front of my students and I value the ability to observe their reactions in class, to see if they are paying attention, and to back-track on concepts if we need to reinforce them.’ P21 further indicated that ‘I think that we set a strong example in traditional classrooms and there is no experience like learning face to face.’ However, as such resources have evolved, P38 reported that ‘there is a new generation of students who know only video and digital experiences; this means that they value teachers who support them in the same way and it motivates their learning.’ Drawing upon this next-generation proposition, P14 proposes that ‘we can complete both in and online classes with recorded lectures; we shouldn’t have to do this separately, it can be a simultaneous discipline which is posted online later to support student learning and self-reinforcement.’

4.7 (Q7) What Support Solutions or Teaching Resources Would You like to See Incorporated into Future University Classrooms to Improve Learner Outcomes? Major Themes: Technology, Coaching, Training, Resources, Student, Videography, Tech, Portals, Online, Equipment.

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In terms of the support the participants would like to receive, the feedback provided underlined the importance of the role of technical support staff in the following domains. The first identified support solution suggested by the participants was improving educators’ digital literacy. In particular, P9 and P14 both mentioned their desire for ‘technology training and support for videography’ and ‘video coaching’ respectively. With dedicated technology training and support for teachers, it can ensure that teachers, who are on the front line, have the necessary skills and knowledge to adapt their teaching to the ever-changing educational landscape and to overcome potential challenges that may arise in a high-tech classroom. The second recommendation concerned strengthening the existing technological infrastructure and support systems to enhance online portals’ service capacity and existing recording tools and equipment that allow for better playback and display of video content. For example, P14 highlighted the need for ‘enhanced recording tools and equipment’, while P22 and P33 would like to see improvement in ‘online support portals ’and ‘in-class video terminals’ respectively. A further aspect identified from the feedback was the provision of technical assistance for students, transferring such responsibility from teachers to dedicated technical support personnel. In particular, P29 suggested the provision of ‘student tech support’ such that it is outside the purview of teacher responsibilities. Last but not least, the feedback drew attention to the video production process to facilitate the development of interactive digital resources and integration of videography into teaching practices, as recommended by P33 and P38, who suggested ‘interactive digital resources’ and ‘time and additional support for lesson construction for video’ respectively could be useful.

5 Discussion Throughout the participant feedback, it was evident that the next generation of university students will be supported by a hybrid classroom approach that combines recorded lectures and lessons with traditional, in-classroom (or online classroom) experiences. From a practical perspective, more robust lesson planning such as interactive digital storytelling (See Shelton et al., 2016) can be used to engage students in concept learning and knowledge assimilation, particularly as concepts overlap with personal meaning or significance. In addition, self-review and video assessment can be used to improve teacher awareness of the productive (or disruptive) relationship between recorded features and student learning outcomes (Hollingsworth & Clarke, 2017). Ultimately, it is the improved exchange of information and digital evidence across this hybridised educational landscape that will support the broader learning outcomes for these university students. Whereas conceptual evidence and topical presentations may characterise the central foundations for recorded videos, Wijnker et al. (2019) have linked effectiveness in such displays to an informative, aim-oriented standard capable of engaging students in the learning process. The feedback provided by these teachers suggests that digital and recorded videos offer opportunities to support those students

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who require reinforcement of key concepts and specific language learning needs (e.g. emphasis, tone, semantics, and usage). One possible explanation for this is learner diversity. Students have varying intellectual abilities, linguistic competence, preferred learning styles, etc., contributing to the discrepancy in learning pace in the classroom and thus the need for learning resources that enable weaker students to learn and review learning content at their own pace. In addition, it may be simply because students have different attention spans, leading to the need to review specific parts of the lectures. Such findings align with Zhang et al. (2019) who demonstrated the reinforcement value of video learning for students of varying skill sets, citing the range of competencies and learning needs that can be addressed through video support. However, these teachers have also argued that dependency upon video lessons can dilute learning effectiveness and may result in students distancing their attentions and engagement from the coursework and other class members. The implication here is that while the availability of recorded lessons for students can be beneficial to learning outcomes, caution should be exercised so as not to compromise the value of real-time, face-to-face learning. For example, educators may consider for how long the videos are accessible for students such that the lesson content will have been reviewed before the next topic is covered. Given the teacher feedback in this study, it is observed that there is a developmental relationship between students engaged in self-directed behaviour and knowledgeseeking and concept acquisition and retention. Soffer and Nachimas (2018) demonstrated how online students using recorded and virtual lessons were able to capitalise upon reinforcement effects to improve their conceptual mastery and subsequently, their assessment performance. However, Laster-Loftus and Cooper (2019) caution that educators must be aware of student learning preferences and strengths, weighing the effectiveness of educational resources (e.g. recorded lectures, virtual reinforcement) against student engagement and knowledge acquisition outcomes. Although these teachers reported support for more traditional classroom services, the successes they cited in this study indicate that future educational opportunities will include a hybridised, multi-technological solution that likely relies upon recorded lessons and lectures.

6 Conclusions This study began with the realisation that Hong Kong’s educational system had fundamentally shifted its learning practices away from the rigidity of the traditional classroom and towards a hybridised solution that combines both face-to-face and virtual learning solutions. The primary aim of this study was to critically compare the perspectives of teachers regarding the efficacy and learning value of recorded lessons to identify strategies for improving future applications in university settings. This research included a critical review of prior literature related to recorded lessons and the hybridisation of modern university classrooms. Subsequent empirical analysis

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of teacher perceptions and experiences with recorded lessons in Hong Kong higher education English courses was captured and comparatively analysed. The evidence indicates that there are two competing perspectives in relation to recorded lessons and the virtualisation of university coursework: (1) teachers prefer face-to-face courses, (2) teachers value the additional digital resources provided to their students. Therefore, the evidence suggests a degree of acceptance regarding recorded lessons and digitalisation which is based upon a central variable in the educational process: the student. If, as demonstrated by various prior studies in this field, students are continuing to improve in performance, engagement, attentiveness, and participation through the hybridisation of university education, then, it is clear from these findings that teachers will support such practices and productively engage recorded lessons in their future curriculum. Despite the sudden and disruptive effects of Covid-19, the past year has provided teachers with the unique opportunity to experiment with various digital technologies and recorded options. The feedback from these educators suggest that additional training and skill development should be pursued to aid teachers in crafting highly effective and engaging multimedia presentations. Further, these participants report that their own aspirations are aligned with student participation, a condition that is dependent upon their ability to interweave and gamify prompts, exercises, and lecture materials into a single class. Ultimately, it is concluded that the future of recorded lessons and their effectiveness are based upon an improved support system which leverages technology, skill sets, and student solutions to create an equitable hybrid education system with high-performing outcomes for all students.

References Bryman, A. (2015). Social research methods (4th ed.) Oxford University Press. Garcia-Vedrenne, A. E., Orland, C., Ballare, K. M., Shapiro, B., & Wayne, R. K. (2020). Ten strategies for a successful transition to remote learning: Lessons learned with a flipped course. Ecology and Evolution, 10, 12620–12634. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6760 Ghilay, Y. (2018). Video-based learning of quantitative courses in higher education. I-Manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, 15(2), 16–26. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3736674 Ho, I. M. K., Cheong, K. Y., & Weldon, A. (2021). Predicting student satisfaction of emergency remote learning in higher education during covid-19 using machine learning techniques. Plosone, 16(4), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249423 Hollingsworth, H., & Clarke, D. (2017). Video as a tool for focusing teacher self-reflection: Supporting and provoking teacher learning. Journal of MathTeacher Education, 20, 457–475. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-017-9380-4 Istenic, A. (2021). Online learning under Covid-19: Re-examining the prominence of video-based and text-based feedback. Education Tech Research Development, 69, 117–121. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s11423-021-09955-w Laster-Loftus, A., & Cooper, L. J. (2019). The role of instructional videos in psychology schools’ course success. Journal of Educators Online, 16(2), 1–9. McGowan, A., & Hanna, P. (2015). How video lecture capture affects student engagement in higher education computer programming course: A study of attendance, video viewing behaviours,

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and student attitude. E Challenges Conference Proceedings, 1–8. IEEE Xplore Full-Text PDF: (oclc.org). Merriam, S. B. (2015). Qualitative research: Designing, implementing, and publishing a study. In Handbook of research on scholarly publishing and research methods (pp. 125–140). IGI Global. Seo, K., Dodson, S., Harandi, N. M., Roberson, N., Fels, S., & Roll, I. (2021). Active learning with online video: The impact of learning context on engagement. Computers & Education, 165, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104132 Shelton, C. C., Warren, A. E., & Achambault, L. M. (2016). Exploring the use of interactive digital storytelling video: Promoting student engagement and learning in a university hybrid course. TechTrends, 60, 465–474. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-016-0082-z Soffer, T., & Nachmias, R. (2018). Effectiveness of learning in online academic courses compared with face-to-face courses in higher education. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 34, 534–543. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12258 Wijnker, W., Bakker, A., Van Gog, T., & Drijvers, P. (2019). Educational videos from a film theory perspective: Relating teacher aims to video characteristics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(6), 3175–3197. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12725 Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of education feedback research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg. 2019.03087 Xu, Z., Yuan, H., & Liu, Q. (2021). Student performance prediction based on blended learning. IEEE Transactions on Education, 64(1), 66–73. https://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2020.3008751 Yang, S. (2021). Construction of video courses of physical education and health education in colleges and universities under the MOOC platform. Hindawi, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1155/ 2021/9925838 Zhang, Y., Qian, A., Pi, Z., & Yang, J. (2019). Danmaku related to video content facilitates learning. Journal of Educational Technology, 47(3), 359–372. https://doi.org/10.1177/004723951881 1933

Noble Po Kan Lo completed his postgraduate degrees at HKU, CUHK and the University of Oxford. He obtained his Cambridge CELTA and Harvard Certificate in Advanced Education Leadership. He served as a member of the Senate at the Open University of Hong Kong (now known as Hong Kong Metropolitan University). He is an ambassador of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a chartered linguist of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, and a member of the British Educational Research Association and the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. He is teaching at PolyU CPCE. Alan Man Him Wong obtained his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of Hong Kong, and is now a Lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining CUHK, he taught students of different levels at various educational institutions. His primary research interests lie in shadow education, teaching pedagogies, and teacher language awareness, but he has also presented and published in the areas of critical discourse analysis, service learning and gamification in education.

The Importance of English in Primary School Education in China: Perception of Teachers in Post-Covid-19 Hybrid Classrooms Noble Po Kan Lo and Bryan Ka Ho To

Abstract In 2021, China’s ‘double reduction policy’ aimed to lessen students’ learning burden by reducing extracurricular work, affecting off-campus tutoring, including English language learning. China’s competitive academic environment led students to seek additional tutoring to improve their higher education prospects. Recent reforms, such as Shanghai’s ban on English proficiency exams and reduced in-classroom English instruction, have raised concerns amongst parents about their children’s future opportunities and global competitiveness. This paper highlights the emergent problems facing an embattled Chinese English education system. With public schools seeking to alleviate the student burden through coursework and testing reduction, the burdens placed upon EFL educators are evolving. This paper therefore explores this phenomenon, weighs the roles and approaches of these educators to EFL, and highlights opportunities for shifting the Chinese educational system towards an inclusive, student-centred approach that supports English language teachers within a new hybridised standard. Keywords English language learning · Hybrid education system · Pedagogy · Primary school education · Student achievement

N. P. K. Lo (B) College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] B. K. H. To Suzhou Singapore International School, Suzhou, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4_14

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1 Introduction 1.1 Research Background In 2021, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE, 2022, p. 1) adopted what has become known as the ‘double reduction policy,’ a position based upon the student-centred rationale of reducing the learning burden on students by reducing the total amount and duration of work for students outside of the normal, daily classroom. Within China’s hypercompetitive academic system, the scholastic burden has historically become magnified by off-campus extracurricular tutoring and additional study opportunities for aspiring students (TCG, 2021). As many students have historically attended off-campus courses to improve their potential opportunity for attending competitive university programmes, key course supplements such as English language learning have become the purview of for-profit, third-party tutors (Chen, 2022). However, as additional reforms such as Shanghai’s ban on English proficiency exams and a dilution of in-classroom English education across public institutions threaten the potential for English learning, many parents have raised concerns about their children’s future status and competitive potential within the global community (Cai, 2021). As an increasingly multilingual country, Qi (2016) reports that China has historically promoted English language learning throughout primary and secondary education as a ‘key to modernisation.’ Despite lacking formal legal status in China and receiving less time and curriculum investment than other core courses, English as a foreign language (EFL) education remains a critical instrument of global commerce, national development, and socio-economic success (Gil & Adamson, 2011; Hu, 2008). A recent market analysis performed by Dauxe (2018) revealed a widespread shortage of English language teachers in China, with 90% of existing English teachers responsible for more than 40 students in each class. Despite the government efforts to reduce the educational burden and the potential private sector consequences of the double reduction policy, the persistent demand for English learning opportunities challenges China’s current approach to EFL education and raises questions about possible solutions to teaching shortages and curricular hurdles. This study explores this problem, weighing student needs against teacher experiences within the Chinese public school system.

1.2 Research Aim and Objectives The primary aim of this study was to critically analyse the perceived effectiveness of pedagogical strategies adopted by primary and secondary school teachers in China’s English learning courses following Covid-19 to develop lesson and coursework recommendations for future hybrid classroom applications. By focusing on teaching strategies in the context of a single curricular focus (EFL), the following core research objectives have been accomplished:

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• To critically analyse the expectations for English education in Chinese primary and secondary schools. • To assess the curricular effects of remote and hybrid learning expectations on teacher techniques and approaches to English education. • To analyse teacher experiences and needs in a post-Covid-19 hybrid educational system. • To propose strategies for enhancing EFL outcomes and student achievement through teacher support and adaptive pedagogy.

1.3 Research Questions There were several core questions that were answered over the course of this study: 1. What are the primary English education needs for the Chinese primary and secondary education system? 2. What factors are affecting the adequacy and stability of the English education industry in China? 3. What do teachers report regarding their roles in English learning and their needs in the evolving hybrid educational system? 4. What recommendations or strategies can be introduced to improve student learning outcomes and address gaps in the Chinese English language system?

2 Literature Review 2.1 English Education and Chinese Aspirations Historically, Chinese schools have encouraged Chinese bilingualism, whereby students pursue an academic career that is characterised by both English and Chinese education (Tong & Shi, 2012). Characterised by Kachru’s (1986, 1998) three concentric circles model of English dissemination (Inner: Australia/New Zealand; Outer: India/Malaysia/Others; Expanding: China/Japan/Others), the propagation of English and its functional variations across Southeast Asia is increasingly supported by practical and strategic adaptations. As a medium of international communication, English language education is viewed as a gateway towards future business and career development for Chinese nationals (Xiaoqiong & Xianxing, 2011). Despite this opportunity effect, Liu et al. (2016) report that due to curriculum dependency and a restricted education system, Chinese students report a lack of usage and practice-based opportunities for gaining English language experience. Originally proposed by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) to explain the relationship between attitude and behaviour, the expectancy-value theory is a critical theoretical foundation for educational systems and teacher motivation strategies. Highlighting this effect through a survey of Chinese primary school students, Hu and

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McGeown (2020) reveal that when EFL learners expect to perform highly and expect the personal rewards of English learning to be sufficiently valuable, their motivation towards engagement and learning is increased. Without such intrinsic motivation, however, such as in environments without practical applications of course materials, multiple studies have shown that performance trajectories are likely to decline (Archambault et al., 2010; Bergey et al., 2018; Carreira, 2011). Where students expect English learning to provide lifelong value or career-based advantages, Hu and McGeown (2020) confirm that motivation is likely to increase, leading to improved self-efficacy as a language learner. Alternatively, Hu et al. (2021) report that where students are confronted with anxiety over the stakes or pressures of English language courses and assignments, a lack of support and practical experience (e.g. conversations, practice) is likely to lead to demotivation and learning resistance.

2.2 Teacher Experiences and English Education in China Despite demand for English language education by parents and students throughout China, Kirkpatrick (2012) reports formal governmental aversion to foreign language education, seeking to refocus on a curriculum based on local languages and culture. By drawing upon what Ai and Wang (2017) describe as an ‘imagined third space’, teachers become responsible for culture-spanning education which injects the value and practical applications of English competency into the future identity and goals of the students they are teaching. Without support from the educational administration, Zheng and Borg (2014) observe educator difficulties in selecting and administrating the standardised curriculum, particularly where their own language skills were under-prepared or lacked English mastery. As classrooms have evolved towards more practical, verbal learning exercises, teachers are confronted with limited guidance and difficulties in selecting appropriate videos for the learners’ stages in language learning. With teacher roles evolving, Li (2022) reports that the identity and responsibilities of these professionals are evolving through various professional pressures, from non-native speaking expectations to knowledge and skills development to technological administration. Due to a shortage of native English speakers for educational positions in China, Li et al. (2022) report that non-native speakers are often commissioned to fulfil educational roles, positions that are viewed as secondary or unnecessary in these varied educational systems. Whereas English competency is an essential antecedent for educational appointments, Macaro and Han (2020) report that the tension between teaching proficiency in general and English language mastery informs educators approaches in Chinese classrooms. Preference for rule-based and schema-oriented educational practices, for example, has recently shifted the nature of pedagogy away from more immersive cue and example-based educational strategies (Xu, 2013; Macaro and Han, 2020). Such dependency upon structural and rule-based cues can be resolved by employing native English speakers; however, attracting and retaining

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these educators in educational systems that prioritise performative models can lead to teacher dissatisfaction and frustration (Rao & Yuan, 2016).

2.3 English Education Improvement and Innovation In the wake of the recent Covid-19 crisis, many Chinese schools shifted their learning systems to an online only, and more recently, a hybridised educational solution that relied heavily upon teacher administration and remote student engagement (Lu & Han, 2022). The future of English education in China is contingent upon improvements in the training and professional education being provided to aspiring EFL educators. Where native English speakers are inaccessible or under-represented in Chinese primary and secondary schools, recruiting these professionals to assist in training and development for aspiring teachers may assist in enhancing the overall profile and consistency of the classroom experience. Due to changing attitudinal forces and student expectations regarding the value and relevance of English learning, Liu et al. (2023) observe that systemic pressures and changing teacher profiles require additional support and guidance to improve student motivation.

2.4 Conceptual Framework Based upon the prior research in this field and the overarching expectancy-value theory of learner motivation, it is possible to consolidate these core concepts into a representative model of the variables and tensions determining the effectiveness of the Chinese educational system. Figure 1 provides a visual representation of the proposed conceptual framework which reflects a multidimensional array of influences related to the English language proposition. In accordance with the expectancy-value theory evidence of language learner expectations presented by Hu and McGeown (2020), student expectations are informed by a variety of confirming and disconfirming effects that will ultimately predict their success as a scholar. At the bottom of this model is the emergent role of curricular innovation and hybridised, multimedia learning solutions capable of stimulating learner interest and motivating active learning behaviours (Lu & Han, 2022). For educators, establishing a strong and resilient professional identity is critical to attaining the self-efficacy needed to teach EFL (Li, 2022). This means that the educational pathway, training, and confidence of the teacher must be sufficient to reflect a high level of training and preparation (Liu et al., 2023). To achieve this outcome, there must be adequate administration support including investment, resources, training, and a status-based recognition of the importance of these teachers in the Chinese educational system. There must also be subjective learning value for the students based upon career prospects, parental feedback, social norms, and cultural standards. It is predicted that if teachers have adequate training, if the curriculum is sufficiently engaging and innovative, and if

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Fig. 1 Expectancy-value theory of English learning in Chinese Primary and Secondary Schools (Created for Study)

the students perceive adequate value in the learning outcomes of EFL, then their engagement with the EFL content will increase.

3 Research Methodology 3.1 Research Approach In weighing the methods available for the current study, consideration was given to two overlapping paradigms identified by Bryman (2015) as central instruments in social research: positivism and constructivism. The positivist paradigm applies a predominately quantitative approach to the capture and analysis of empirical evidence that seeks to inform knowledge or prove a given theory or hypothesis (Jonker & Pennink, 2010). For example, Hu and McGeown (2020) developed a structured, quantitative survey instrument for student assessment, weighing the motivation to

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learn English against the student in-class experiences with the actual learning process. By adapting this approach to the current study, it was considered that student and/or teacher feedback regarding English learning opportunities and challenges could be captured via a single, comparable instrument. Alternatively, constructivism seeks to inform theory and frame beliefs from qualitative insights extrapolated from individual experiences and feedback (Jonker & Pennink, 2010). Qi (2016) utilised a purely qualitative interview approach to discuss the attitudes and perceptions of primary school children in China regarding the importance of English learning in the Chinese educational system. By adapting this approach to the current study, interviews with students or teachers mirroring the evidence presented by Qi (2016) was considered, with emphasis placed upon representation and cross-segment comparisons. For this investigation, the changing importance of English as an essential skill in Chinese education following Covid-19 and recent government policy initiatives was established as the core problem. The objectives, therefore, revolved around capturing insights from those inside stakeholders with the most direct experience with such changes and the evolving foundations of English pedagogy: the teachers and students. Accordingly, a comparative, quantitative questionnaire was developed to administer to a sample population of representatives from each of these stakeholder groups. The stages of the study included the following: • Stage 1: Design questionnaire and assess for reliability (e.g. pilot study.) • Stage 2: Identify sample population and negotiate administration with school officials. • Stage 3: Administer questionnaire and collect results. • Stage 4: Analyse findings using statistical tools and comparative models. There were two primary hypotheses tested via this questionnaire: Hypothesis 1: If students are provided adequate educational resources and supportive pedagogy, their motivation for English education will stimulate improved engagement and participation in classwork. (Test Variables: Resources, Teachers, Engagement, Motivation, Importance) Hypothesis 2: If Chinese school systems provide sufficient support to educators in the form of an adequate number of teachers, resources, and training, the engagement of both teachers and students in EFL will improve. (Test Variables: Support, Teachers, Resources, Training, Engagement, Motivation).

3.2 Sampling and Participant Selection Through peer contacts and affiliations with Chinese schools, the standardised questionnaire was distributed to EFL classrooms by their teachers. A total student sample of 200 individuals was captured. The administration procedure was completed by 30

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EFL teachers distributed across 19 schools across a peer and connection network in China.

3.3 Ethical Concerns To analyse these findings, appropriate quantitative techniques that included statistical analysis within SPSS and Excel to weigh correlations, intra-group relationships, and cross-group perspective were adopted (Singh, 2007). Therefore, the potential for researcher interference or data reliability issues was mitigated by the software used to interpret the datasets. Further, all participants in this study were provided with a standardised query letter to outline their rights and any ethical protections used to mitigate risks (Hammersley & Trainou, 2012). Specifically, they were advised that all responses would be collected anonymously, they were able to exit the questionnaire at any time during the process, and their results would be used for academic purposes and destroyed upon completion of the study (Babbie, 2015).

4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Demographic Overview The first stage of the questionnaire analysis was a brief demographic overview which outlined the traits and features of the two sample populations of students and teachers. There was a slight gender bias in the sample, with 56.9% of the respondents identified as female and the remaining 43.1% identified as male. Amongst the students, 68.5% were enrolled in secondary education, whilst 46.5% were enrolled in primary education. As visualised in Fig. 2, the distribution of student proficiency in English was varied with around 44.5% of the sample reporting they had less than a limited or basic level of experience. There was a strong correlation between student proficiency and grade level (P = 0.000, PC = 0.844). Crosstabular analysis revealed that 90.9% of the secondary level students reported developing skills or competency in English in comparison to 100% of the primary students who reported beginning or limited experience. The teacher proficiency in English education was also captured, as visualised in Fig. 3. The findings reveal that 60% have intermediate or native speaker competencies, whilst just 20% indicated developing skills that need work.

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Student Proficiency in English Advanced, Confident in Speaking and Regular Use

0

Competent, Experienced and Educated

34

Developing, Courses Completed

77

Limited, Some Basic Experience

44

Beginning, Novice

45 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Fig. 2 Student proficiency in English

Teacher Proficiency in English Education English Native Speaker

3

Intermediate, Confident in English Ability

15

Proficient, Comfortable Teaching Core Concepts

6

Developing, Formal Training, Needs Work

6

Limited, Basic Competency

0 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Fig. 3 Teacher proficiency in English education

4.2 Structured Prompts The structured prompts were subdivided into three themes including expectations, value, and themes. Figure 4 visualises the range of expectations regarding English learning. 47.4% of the respondents disagreed with the claim that learning

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Expectations Regarding English Learning 90 78

80 70

59

60

61

64 62 63

62

61

50

50

43

40 30

77

28 22

34

33

37

33 25

22

20 6

10 0 Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree

Strongly Agree

English proficiency is an important skill for future career and business opportunities Our school curriculum prioritises student language proficiency and capabilities Learning (Teaching) English is interesting and engaging There are many opportunities for speaking and practising English outside of the classroom

Fig. 4 Expectations regarding English learning

(teaching) English is interesting and engaging. Complicating such engagement, 43.4% disagreed with the claim that there are opportunities for speaking and practicing English outside of the classroom. Despite such hurdles, 69.1% of the sample at least somewhat agreed that the school curriculum provides language proficiency and capabilities. In general, 76.1% of the sample at least somewhat agreed that English proficiency is an important skill for future career and business opportunities. The ANOVA comparison of means confirmed variations in student and teacher perceptions, gender, and student proficiency in English (see Appendix 2). A crosstabular comparison revealed several important trends. Firstly, teachers do not feel as strongly as students that their schools prioritise student language proficiency and capabilities; not all students believe that English is important for future career paths. Most male students feel that English proficiency is important for their future career opportunities. Beginning students find English learning less engaging than developing or competent students; they were also less likely to find English essential for future career opportunities. The second theme visualised in Fig. 5 focused on the value being placed on English learning in primary and secondary school systems. Problematically, 64.7% of the sample disagreed that the school administration values English education at their school. Further complicating this learning process, 43.9% disagreed that the community supports English learning. Finally, just 61.7% of the sample disagreed that there are sufficient teachers for English instruction in Chinese schools, confirming that a learning gap exists within the current system. As presented in Appendix 2, the ANOVA comparison of mean results confirmed statistical relationships between these three prompts and Gender, Grade Level, and

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Value Placed on English Learning 90

83

80 70

72

70

66

60 50

53

48

50

53

55

50

40

33 26

30 17

20

14

10

0

0 Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree

Strongly Agree

School administrators value English language education in our school

The local community supports and encourages English language learning There are sufficient teachers for English instruction

Fig. 5 Value placed on English learning

Student Proficiency. From a gendered perspective, a higher number of male respondents believe that school administrators value English language education and that the community supports and encourages English learning. Further contrasting gender positions, only female respondents agreed that there were sufficient teachers for English instruction. This finding may be linked to the higher priority placed by male students on English language learning for career development. From a grade level perspective, there was higher agreement with the value placed on English education and local community support by secondary school students than primary students, suggesting a variation in experiential learning outcomes. The more competent students disagreed in the sufficiency of teachers for English instruction than their early-stage peers. The final theme visualised in Fig. 6 focused on teaching solutions for future EFL applications. 51.3% of the sample agreed that if students want to learn English, they should recruit a private tutor. At the same time, 57.8% believed that a virtual education system would offer advantages over traditional, rote memorisation strategies. With 70% of the sample at least somewhat agreeing that students would learn better from a native English speaker, there is an expectation for some shift in the system towards higher skilled or more qualified educators within this system. The ANOVA results revealed several statistically significant relationships (see Appendix 2). One important finding was that most teachers disagreed that students need a private tutor to learn English. At the same time, 70% of the teachers agreed that students would rather learn from a native English speaker, whilst 55.5% of the students disagreed with this claim, indicating openness to Chinese native speakers who are properly qualified. From a gendered perspective, more male students were supportive of native English speakers as educators than female students, suggesting

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Teaching Solutions for EFL 90 79

80 69

70

69

68

67

65

58

60

51

51

50 37

40

39 31

30 20 10 0

6 0

0

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree

Strongly Agree

If students really want to learn English, they should get a private tutor

A virtual education system offers advantages over traditional rote memorisation Students would rather learn from a native English speaker than a teacher trained to teach English

Fig. 6 Teaching solutions for EFL

a greater openness for female learners to varieties of educators. When compared by skill level, students with higher competencies preferred a private tutor or a virtual classroom, whilst less skilled students disagreed with the efficacy of such solutions. This finding suggests a gap in the educational system that is resolved through education and experience over time.

4.3 Factor Ranking The final segments of the study asked the students and teachers to rank various factors according to their level of importance in English education. Figure 7 groups the student responses which yielded top rankings for a high proficiency teacher (M = 4.01) and the importance placed on the expected value of English language in their future career path (M = 3.90). Other variables such as opportunities to practice English speaking were diluted in their perceived importance (M = 2.86). Figure 8 groups the teacher responses which yielded top rankings for the degree of support from school administration (M = 4.00) and personal confidence in teaching ability or English proficiency (M = 4.00). This finding highlights the critical role of support and self-efficacy in framing and shaping the pursuit of EFL proficiency and pedagogical successes in these schools. Expectancy-value theory predicts that students in EFL programmes are motivated by their expectations regarding self-efficacy as a learner (Carreira, 2011), and as demonstrated by Hu and McGeown (2020) in China, the transferability of English learning into future life and career paths. Characterised by Ai and Wang (2017) as an

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Fig. 7 Student ranked importance of key factors in EFL

Fig. 8 Teacher ranked importance of key factors in EFL

imagined third space, this idea of practical applications and post-educational transference in English learning not only enhances the value of English, but the value of the teachers responsible for its dissemination. Whereas students may experience a conflict of culture or parental pressures, the expected value of English in the future may have a positive effect on engagement and motivation in the classroom (Hu et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2023). The students in this study have shown that most predict practical value for future career or international objectives; however, without opportunities to practice in public, limited parental support, and a lack of administrative investment, the success of such programmes will likely suffer. Despite changes in the educational system, Daxue (2018) reports that shortages in Chinese teachers have imposed an untenable burden upon existing compulsory

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education systems, often leading to under-trained and unskilled teacher appointments. The students and teachers in this study both observed that teacher shortages are negatively impacting English language learning, whilst the teachers also emphasised the need for more robust administrative support to fulfil their existing roles. Providing the resources and skills required to address changing institutional needs in EFL, Lu and Han (2022) propose that additional support is required for teachers involved in hybrid learning systems as they amend their teaching styles, their technological capabilities, and their student engagement tactics. Problematically, Cai (2021) and Chen (2022) have reported that Chinese administrators are increasingly pressuring educational systems to reduce the academic burden on students by alleviating out-of-school work, whilst eliminating the role of private tutors in English education. There was consensus amongst both students and teachers that additional institutional support in the form of training, resources, and teachers will be needed to achieve future educational goals.

5 Conclusions The changing profile of the Chinese educational system reflects a government emphasis on Chinese language learning and domestic culture. Confronted with the international architecture of global commerce, however, the demand for EFL education remains high despite this lack of support and investment. For educators within China’s primary and secondary school systems, however, the responsibility for post-Covid-19 EFL education remains complicated as hybrid systems, teacher shortages, and changing learner expectations reshape teacher identities and threaten self-efficacy. The primary aim of this study was to critically analyse the perceived effectiveness of pedagogical strategies adopted by primary and secondary school teachers in China’s English learning courses following Covid-19 to develop lesson and coursework recommendations for future hybrid classroom applications. This research was conducted in two stages including a critical exploration of literature related to EFL education and an empirical survey of student and teacher perceptions regarding EFL courses in Chinese schools. Within the literature, the conceptual foundation of the expectancy-value theory was introduced to highlight the complex relationship between learner motivations and the confirmative forces such as career orientation, social norms, and teacher proficiency that shape student learning experiences. For educators, however, the lack of administrative support and challenges associated with limited professional development and a shortage of teachers results in performance pressures and learner expectations that result in professional conflicts. As Chinese leaders continue to reduce their investment in English education solutions, it is predicted that this role will evolve, requiring teachers and schools to adapt their English objectives to accommodate changing systemic pressures.

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The second phase of this study involved surveying teachers and students to assess their experiences with English language learning within the current hybridised educational environment. The students in this study have highlighted key motivational factors such as teacher proficiency and the future expectation of applicability in careers and personal applications. As virtual classrooms emerge, there was also a positive affiliation with these resources as students are able to engage in self-paced or collaborative learning that may afford more opportunities for review and practice than traditional classroom settings. There was consensus amongst both teachers and students that rote memorisation and traditional language teaching strategies based on performance were inadequate for this new generation. Accordingly, it is concluded that alongside the shift away from private sector tutoring, the public education system will need to shift its priorities in English education towards student-centred, practical, and practice-based coursework. This approach will require engagement from both teachers and students; however, aligned with the expectancy-value theory, more positive expected outcomes will stimulate a more productive student response.

6 Appendices Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Mr. Germen Hon, the former councilor of the Hong Kong Open University (now known as Hong Kong Metropolitan University), for his invitation to be the honorary guest speaker of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen bridging programme in English Language Teaching for primary school teachers in 2022. This programme has been organised and subsidised by the Education Bureaus of Shenzhen and Hong Kong for almost 10-consecutive-years. Without this peer and connection network, this research project could not have been possible.

Appendix 1: Questionnaire

(Teacher) Limited, basic Self-reported competency proficiency as English educator

5

1

6

33

61

Somewhat agree

6

Developing, formal Proficient, training, needs comfortable work teaching core concepts

Strongly Disagree disagree

0

77

45

44

Developing, courses completed

137

93

Beginning, novice Limited, some basic experience

English proficiency is 22 an important skill for future career and business opportunities

Please evaluate each of the following statements and report your level of agreement according to the scale to the right

(Student) Proficiency in English education

4

99 Secondary

Primary

131

Grade level (taken or taught)

3

30 Male

Female

Gender

200

2

Teacher

Student

Status in School

1

77

Agree

15

Intermediate, confident in English ability

34

Competent, experienced and educated

37

Strongly agree

3

English native speaker

0

Advanced, Confident in speaking and regular use

3.32

Mean

(continued)

1.19

SD

246 N. P. K. Lo and B. K. H. To

50

Our school curriculum 28 prioritises student language proficiency and capabilities

48

72

Learning (Teaching) English is interesting and engaging

The local community supports and encourages English language learning

There are sufficient teachers for English instruction

If students really want 6 to learn English, they should get a private tutor

There are many opportunities for speaking and practising English outside of the classroom

3

4

5

6

7

8

22

66

School administrators value English language education in our school

2

(continued)

78

37

70

53

43

59

83

63

69

55

53

64

62

50

61

51

33

50

62

34

17

6

67

0

26

33

25

14

2.79

3.59

2.21

2.80

3.13

2.67

2.26

(continued)

1.03

1.14

1.04

1.30

1.23

1.27

1.13

The Importance of English in Primary School Education in China … 247

11

Expected value of English language in future career path

Parent support for English language learning

Opportunities to practice English speaking

Hybrid lessons with virtual review opportunities (e.g. at home practice)

1

2

3

4

0

45

0

Not important at all

(Student) Please rank each of the five variables according to their level of importance

Students would rather 0 learn from a native English speaker than a teacher trained to teach English

10

0

A virtual education system offers advantages over traditional rote memorisation

9

(continued)

51

58

34

59

69

11

70

0

60

36

Not very important Somewhat important

69

39

47

72

35

71

Important

31

68

49

24

36

71

Very important

79

65

3.56

2.86

3.19

3.90

Mean

3.52

3.69

(continued)

1.04

1.42

1.10

1.12

SD

1.24

1.06

248 N. P. K. Lo and B. K. H. To

Motivation and engagement of students for English learning

Enhanced course 3 materials and evolving curriculum (e.g. digital, hybrid)

Personal confidence in 0 teaching ability and English proficiency

3

4

5 6

9

3

9

Interest and 3 engagement of student parents in EFL programme

2

0

3

0

Degree of support from school administration for English education

1

70

3

6

6

12

9

Not very important Somewhat important

0

Not important at all

Teacher who is highly 0 proficient in English speaking and curriculum

(Teacher) Please rank each of the following five statements according to their level of importance

5

(continued)

6

3

12

3

3

Important

58

15

9

9

3

15

Very important

72

4.00

3.20

3.90

2.80

4.00

Mean

4.01

1.20

1.42

0.96

1.10

1.11

SD

0.85

The Importance of English in Primary School Education in China … 249

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N. P. K. Lo and B. K. H. To

Appendix 2: ANOVA Results

Theme 1 ANOVA

Status

Gender

Student proficiency

F

Sig.

F

Sig.

F

Sig.

3.942

0.048

13.668

0.000

13.047

0.000

Our school 9.292 curriculum prioritises student language proficiency and capabilities

0.003

39.318

0.000

5.574

0.001

English proficiency is 26.032 an important skill for future career and business opportunities

0.000

6.929

0.009

32.457

0.000

There are many opportunities for speaking and practising English outside of the classroom

0.018

36.161

0.000

3.468

0.017

Learning (Teaching) English is interesting and engaging

5.718

Theme 2 ANOVA

Gender F

Grade Level

Student proficiency

Sig.

F

Sig.

F

Sig.

School administrators 4.629 value English language education in our school

0.032

8.538

0.004

10.954

0.000

The local community supports and encourages English language learning

41.640

0.000

7.374

0.007

24.227

0.000

There are many opportunities for speaking and practising English outside of the classroom

36.161

0.000

3.468

0.017

The Importance of English in Primary School Education in China …

251

Theme 3 ANOVA

Status F

54 187 If students really want to learn English, they should get a private tutor

Gender Sig.

F

Sig.

0 000

A virtual education system offers advantages over traditional rote Students would 5.208 rather learn from a native English speaker than a teacher trained to teach English

0.023

14.348

0.000

Grade Level

Student proficiency

F

Sig.

F

Sig.

42,358

0 000

15.740

0 000

20.520

0.000

13.805

0.000

3.629

0.014

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Noble Po Kan Lo completed his postgraduate degrees at HKU, CUHK and the University of Oxford. He obtained his Cambridge CELTA and Harvard Certificate in Advanced Education Leadership. He served as a member of the Senate at the Open University of Hong Kong (now known as Hong Kong Metropolitan University). He is an ambassador of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a chartered linguist of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, and a member of the British Educational Research Association and the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. He is teaching at PolyU CPCE. Bryan Ka Ho To received his Bachelor of Education and Master of Arts degrees from HKU and has spent over a decade teaching English and Humanities at both local and international secondary schools in Hong Kong and Mainland China. He also holds a CertTESOL from Trinity College London. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate at the University of St Andrews, where he is eager to continue learning and expanding his knowledge of linguistics and English education. His research interests lie at the intersection of linguistics, education, and identity, with a particular focus on how technology enhances English teaching in higher education.

Author Index

B Bai, Tiffany Shurui, 145

C Chan, Wendy Wing Lam, 37 Chen, Ruiqing, 129 Chen, Shen, 79, 103 Chen, Yingshan, 129

D Do, Thi Thanh Tra, 173 Duan, Chenggui, 3

G Geng, Hongyan, 189

H Har, Frankie, 21 Hui, Tin Yan, 189

J Jiang, Juan, 129 Jiao, Jianli, 3

L Lau, Yin Kun, 189 Lee, Ho, 189 Le, Thi Thuy, 79, 173 Liao, Xingyu, 129 Lin, Xiao-Fan, 129 Li, Shao-Fu, 59 Liu, Yingxue, 145 Lo, Noble Po Kan, 215, 231 Low, Bi Wei, 189

M McGinley, Mark, 189

N Ng, Annie W. Y., 159 Ng, Steven Kwan Keung, 59 Nguyen, Thi Thuy Linh, 173 Nguyen Van, Tuyen, 103

Q Qiu, Yue, 145

S Shen, Weipeng, 129

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. W. B. TSO et al. (eds.), Critical Reflections on ICT and Education, Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7559-4

255

256 Sit, Helena, 79, 103 Song, Xiaran, 37 Song, Zhaoxun, 37 Sun, Hauling, 79 T To, Bryan Ka Ho, 231 Tso, Anna Wing Bo, 205

Author Index W Wong, Alan Man Him, 215 Wong, Ka Fai, 189 Wong, Paulina Pui Yun, 189 Wu, Jing, 37 Wu, Pei-Ying, 59