T8 - Insights from Current Research

Rethinking the Makerspace Ethos in K-12 Educational Spaces: Implementing the Makingspace to Promote Active Learning

The traditional makerspace can be a daunting space that is not always inclusive. The long shadow of the maker as championed by Doherty places too much emphasis on having a specific identity in the makerspace to which many K-12 students are not likely to connect. We have run multiple short sessions with Grade 7 students designed to shift the emphasis to the process of making and promote inclusivity in an active learning space.

Presenters: Lynda Yearwood

An Exploration of Students’ Course Interest in EFL Flipped Classrooms

This study adopted a true experimental pretest-posttest control group design to assess the impact of flipped instruction on EFL (English as a foreign language) students’ course interest at the university level. Empirical findings proved that flipped students (n=192) scored significantly higher than their non-flipped counterparts (n=192) in all four dimensions of course interest, namely in attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Conventional instruction proved a less effective classroom design in nurturing students’ interest in instructor-led instruction.

Presenter: Sara Djamàa

Studying the Interaction Between Academic Performance and Student Motivation Profiles, Metacognition, and Learning Strategies With Machine Learning

Student motivation has been shown to be an important predictor of academic success in undergraduate university courses. However, it is impossible to study motivation in isolation from other factors that contribute to a student’s experience in their courses, such as demographics, self-efficacy, learning strategies, mindset, and metacognition. To better understand these interactions and changes in motivation, we used a regression model to predict student grades in undergraduate chemistry and mathematics courses based on these factors.

Presenters: Emma Tomiuk and Armin Yazdani