The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher

Xuan, Wenhui; Huang, Xue’e

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0343-4pmid: N/A

Drawing on the framework of Modality from systemic functional linguistics, the present study aimed to explore adolescent ESL learners’ interpersonal meaning-making. Data were collected from 10 writing tasks completed by a group of 50 adolescent ESL learners in China. Functional text analysis was utilized to analyze the data, including Modality types, orientation, value, and polarity. The finding revealed that overuse of certain types of modal verbs is common in Chinese ESL learners’ writing, for instance, the case of “can”. Most of the modality deployed was simple and congruent. In conclusion, systematic introduction of Modality and the provision of more contexts for learners to practice them are highly recommended in such a context.

Zhou, Ying; Chai, Ching Sing; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Jin, Mei; Tsai, Chin-Chung

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0344-3pmid: N/A

The development of e-learning and digital campus has prompted more and more teachers to assign online homework to students. Consequently, teachers need to provide sufficient and relevant guidance for such homework. Teachers’ online homework guidance (TOHG) is conceptually connected with their level of technological pedagogical content knowledge about educational use of Web (TPACK-W). This study employed two questionnaires: a self-developed questionnaire for TOHG and a revised TPACK-W questionnaire to study how TOHG is associated with TPACK-W through correlation and regression analysis. Two hundred and eighty-four teacher participants from China who had experience in assigning online homework were asked to complete the questionnaires. This study validated the questionnaires and established significant relationship between the TOHG and TPACK-W. The study expanded current understanding of TPACK through the factors associated with online homework. The findings showed that the level of teachers’ online homework guidance was significantly related to their TPACK-W, and the two factors of Web-Pedagogical Knowledge and Web-Pedagogical-Content Knowledge in the TPACK-W questionnaire could predict the TOHG. Future teachers’ professional development for the construction of TPACK-W should include discussions and guidelines of online homework.

Shih, Chih-Min

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0345-2pmid: N/A

Although numerous research projects have examined the lives of general education teachers, relevant studies in ESL/EFL are rare. The present study intends to fill this research gap, focusing on Taiwanese EFL teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the political, economic, and educational contexts on their lives. Thirty-eight EFL teachers in Taiwan, from diverse backgrounds, were involved in the study. Results showed that political contexts, such as divergent ideologies, and Taiwan’s capricious cross-strait relations with China, had influenced teachers’ careers. Economic contexts such as the economic depression, the M-shaped income distribution, and the relocation of labor-intensive industries to China have caused certain English language teaching markets to shrink and have had an impact on the life stories of EFL teachers. Educational contexts including the boom in universities and teacher education programs have also altered EFL teachers’ career paths. Overall, this study demonstrates that external contexts significantly affect some EFL teachers’ lives. More research can be conducted in different countries to shed light on this issue.

Zhou, Yisu; Fan, Xitao; Wei, Xiaoxin; Tai, Robert

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0346-1pmid: N/A

This study examined a new form of pervasive gender inequality: the gender gap among high achievers in math and considered its implication for developing STEM talents. Using the cross-nation Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) data from both 2003 and 2012, we examined the mathematics gender gap among 15-year-old high achievers across ten countries/regions. We showed a consistent male advantage among the top performers in mathematics. Follow-up regression analyses revealed that the gap was associated with some socio-demographic and schooling/attitudinal variables, even after controlling for the background variables. We argue that education communities should acknowledge and address this form of gender inequality, as it could have ramifications for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education pipeline. Educators and society in general still face challenges in closing the gender gap among high achievers in math with an aim to develop a gender-balanced STEM talent pool.

Lee, You-Jin; Cha, Kyung-Whan

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0347-0pmid: N/A

Learner journals or diaries have been used in various educational contexts to motivate learning and learner reflection. This study examines how learner journals, especially listening logs for extensive listening in a self-regulated environment, affected university students’ listening proficiency, and how the students reported on their listening activities. Forty-two students who took an English listening practice course at a university kept a weekly listening log for a semester. They wrote their listening experience with various listening materials on different topics they chose. The TOEFL tests as pre-and post-tests were conducted to find out the effects of listening logs. A paired-samples test indicated there was a significant difference between the two tests. Analysis of listening logs showed that writing listening logs regularly influenced the students’ improved listening comprehension and facilitated motivation. Also, students reflected on their listening strategies, and became accustomed to listening to a variety of listening resources. In addition, students often mentioned learning logs built confidence in their own listening and helped them to manage their learning. Finally, the study discusses the educational implications for listening logs and makes suggestions for future research.

Idris, Khairiani; Yang, Kai-Lin

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0348-zpmid: N/A

This article reports the results of a mixed-methods approach to develop and validate an instrument to measure Indonesian pre-service teachers’ conceptions of statistics. First, a phenomenographic study involving a sample of 44 participants uncovered six categories of conceptions of statistics. Second, an instrument of conceptions of statistics was developed on the basis of findings from the phenomenographic study. The instrument was initially piloted with 63 participants. Subsequently, an exploratory factor analysis involving 116 participants, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis involving 232 participants, was executed, suggesting a three-factor structure. In addition, three different types of conceptions of statistical data were identified from the integration of qualitative and quantitative studies. Contributions of the study and implications of the findings for further research and statistics education are discussed.

Kaur, Daisy; Zhao, Yi

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0349-ypmid: N/A

The present study is focused on the detailed description of Physics Attitude Scale (PAS) to measure students’ attitudes toward physics. The development of this new instrument involved extensive interviews with both the experts as well as the students. This was followed by expert reviews and pilot testing of the instrument. The duly revised draft was used to collect responses from 624 students, aged 15–18 from Government Model Senior Secondary Schools, India. The factor analysis carried out on the resulting data revealed that the final form of the Physics Attitude Scale consists of five dimensions: Enthusiasm toward Physics, Physics Learning, Physics as a Process, Physics Teacher, and Physics as a Future Vocation. The content validity of the scale has been confirmed by the close agreement of experts on the statements. The reliability analysis showed that the scale consists of internally consistent items for each dimension. These findings demonstrate that the Physics Attitude Scale (PAS) possesses robust psychometric properties. It has been further found that a positive correlations exist between (a) enthusiasm toward physics and physics learning; (b) enthusiasm toward physics and physics as a process; (c) enthusiasm toward physics and physics as a future vocation; and (d) physics teacher and physics learning. Thus, the newly developed PAS can be used as an effective instrument by researchers and teachers to assess students’ attitudes toward physics.

Toh, Yancy; So, Hyo-Jeong; Seow, Peter; Chen, Wenli

doi: 10.1007/s40299-017-0350-5pmid: N/A

The main goal of this research is to understand how young children use mobile technology such as smartphones to traverse different learning contexts and harness a constellation of resources to make sense of their science learning in daily lives. We adopted Rogoff’s sociocultural lens of transformation of participation that helps us understand how students’ science learning experiences can interact with their wide array of cognitive, social and cultural resources and be mediated through personal, interpersonal and cultural–institutional forces in formal and informal learning spaces. We present an analysis of three contrasting case illustrations of Primary 3 (aged 9–10) students in a Singapore ICT-enriched primary school, and discuss findings in relation to the virtuous and vicious cycles of learning trajectories. In conclusion, we contend that mobile technology, which is considered as a cultural tool and learning hub, has the potential to elevate learning, but this potential can only be realized under two conditions: (a) when learners have created the habit of mind for utilizing and harnessing cultural, epistemic and social resources to foster connections between formal and informal knowledge; and (b) when the use of mobile technology is situated within the broader knowledge bases that our current formal curriculum recognizes.