by Rebecca Florence Kirunda
Original Research
Human survival depends on the ability to acquire and use knowledge to one’s advantage. One avenue of acquiring knowledge is reading. But what is reading? Definitions are numerous and complex. Reading and understanding a text involves a nexus of perceiving the words, evoking memories, ideas and plenty of knowledge. This complexity seems responsible for variations among learners’ reading abilities and their differential academic performances. Basing on data from a quasi-experimental design using pre- and post-tests done by secondary school learners, lesson observations, interviews and focus group discussions, and guided by Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development and The Apprenticeship Model, this study analyses the interplay between the personal, the social, the cognitive and the knowledge building dimensions, scrutinizes the roles played by the internal and external meta-cognition processes to explore possibilities of providing pleasant and gainful reading experiences among Ugandan learners. It establishes that scaffolding is fundamental in teaching reading and suggests strategies for enlivening the reading experience, enhancing the reading culture, and highlights the pedagogical implications on learners’ academic achievements.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2020, 8(2), 112-121. DOI: 10.12691/education-8-2-7
Pub. Date: February 22, 2020
1686 Views630 Downloads
by Slamet Priyanto and Rochmad Novian Inderanata
Case Study
This research was conducted with the aim of wanting to find out about the work readiness of the trainees in terms of mental aspects (affective), intellectual aspects which include cognitive and psychomotor. This research was carried out specifically in the machine tool department at the Yogyakarta Vocational Training Center during the period September - December 2019. The subject of this study was 20 internships who participated in basic skills training for 4 months in the production machinery department. The unit of analysis of this study is the ability of students which includes mental readiness and intellectual readiness (cognitive and psychomotor). Mental readiness is tracked by observation using observation guidelines or check lists. Cognitive abilities are explored using objective test questions. While psychomotor abilities are tracked by observation and measuring the workpieces of the interns' practice. Data are identified and described, then analyzed with basic statistics. The results of the basic analysis are transferred to the qualitative statement. The results of this study found that of 20 internships reaching 20% of mental attitudes less ready for work and 80% of mental attitudes ready for work. While the cognitive abilities of the 20 internship participants reached 30% less ready for work, 30% were quite ready to work and 40% were very ready to work.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2020, 8(2), 105-111. DOI: 10.12691/education-8-2-6
Pub. Date: February 14, 2020
2119 Views699 Downloads
by Diah Ari Saputri, H Hasratuddin and Bornok Sinaga
Original Research
This study aims to: 1) develop learning media based on discovery learning models that are valid, practical, and effective; 2) Analyzing learning media that can improve students' mathematical reasoning so that students easily understand it in the learning process. This research includes development research, using a 4-D centered development model to develop mathematical learning media on row and series material. Based on the results of the validity of instructional media according to the experts fulfilled the valid criteria of all indicators 0.81, the results of the first try out of practicality by the experts met the criteria of quite practical 79.7% and the results of the second trial had met the practical criteria of 85.2%, the results the first phase of effectiveness tested in the X-MM class of Istiqlal Deli Tua Vocational School did not meet the completeness criteria while the second trial met the completeness criteria. The results of the analysis of the data obtained show that discovery learning-based learning media meet valid criteria, test the feasibility of the application of practical and effective learning media and can improve students' mathematical reasoning abilities. The results of the study are recommended that practical and effective trials on learning media developed to be better carried out on different samples and used for all students at the same level.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2020, 8(2), 98-104. DOI: 10.12691/education-8-2-5
Pub. Date: February 14, 2020
2178 Views722 Downloads
by Uranus Yousufi
Original Research
Blended learning is a style of education that allows the instructors to come up with new and useful approaches and methods for improving the teaching and learning process. According to King [1], the term 'blended learning' has been defined in a variety of ways in which all commonly entail two things: asynchronous (online) and synchronous (face-to-face). This indicates that blended learning merges the elements of both face-to-face and online instructions to help teachers and learners in the process of teaching and learning. The universal types of blended learning among EFL/ESL teachers are Lab Rotation, Station Rotation, Individual Rotation, Flex, and Flipped Classroom [2]. Although they are popular methods of teaching and learning, limited studies carried out to confirm their implications in educational practice. Multiple pieces of research, generally, conducted on blended learning, not on its specific types [1,3,4]. To this end, this paper presents a review of the research related to one of the typical types of blended learning (Flipped Classroom) in teaching different language skills and component to justify its practice in classroom teaching.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2020, 8(2), 90-97. DOI: 10.12691/education-8-2-4
Pub. Date: February 07, 2020
1653 Views625 Downloads4 Likes
by Emmanuel Etu Odo and John Njoku Nwachukwu
Original Research
This research titled Effects of two peer instructional strategies on secondary school students’ achievement in science was aimed at determining the relative effects of the Jigsaw and Peer Tutoring instructional strategies on secondary school students’ achievement in science. Three research questions and three null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Quasi-experimental design was adopted. The population of the study comprised all SS 2 science students in Abakaliki Education Zone of Ebonyi State Nigeria. The sample for the study was 202 science student. A 30-item instrument, Science Achievement Test was used for data collection. The instrument was face validated and the reliability coefficient tests gave 0.83 and 0.95 using Product Moment Correlation and KR-20 respectively. Permanent teachers of the sample classes taught chemical equilibrium and administered the pretest and posttest. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. ANCOVA was used to test HO1 while t-test was used to test HO2 and HO3. The findings include that secondary school students taught science using Jigsaw instructional strategy had higher achievement mean score than students taught using the Peer Tutoring strategy, male students in the jigsaw group achieved higher than male students in peer tutoring group, female students taught science using the Jigsaw IV instructional strategy had significantly higher achievement mean score than female students taught using the Peer Tutoring instructional strategy and there was significant difference between the mean achievement scores of students taught science using Jigsaw instructional strategy and those taught using Peer Tutoring. The findings implied that jigsaw instructional strategy yields greater achievement. It was recommended among others that science teachers should make use of the Jigsaw instructional strategy to enhance students’ achievement in science.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2020, 8(2), 80-89. DOI: 10.12691/education-8-2-3
Pub. Date: February 05, 2020
1690 Views576 Downloads
by Juliana Nwanneka Onuoha and Odo Stella O.
Original Research
The study addresses the problems of teachers’ education and its effect in the realization of the objectives of Universal Basic Education programme in South East Nigeria. To guide the study, two research questions were formulated and two null hypotheses was postulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population consisted all teachers under the Universal Basic Education Board in government owned schools in the zone. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select four hundred (400) public primary school teachers from the zone which made up 50% of the entire population. A -27 item researcher – developed questionnaire entitled Problems of Teachers’ Education Questionnaire (PTEQ) was constructed, validated and trial tested and used to elicit data from the respondents. The reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha statistic and it yielded 0.92. Data obtained were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses. The study revealed amongst other things that lack of adequate educational funding, non-availability/presence of obsolete teaching and learning facilities in the school system, absence of qualified and competent teachers in the school system, poor teachers’ motivation pose a threat to the realization of the UBE objectives in the south east, Nigeria. The researchers recommended that government should provided packages that motivate teachers, provide incentives, provide adequate and modern teaching and learning facilities, increase educational funding and most importantly recruit only trained, qualified and competent teachers into the school system.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2020, 8(2), 71-79. DOI: 10.12691/education-8-2-2
Pub. Date: February 05, 2020
1484 Views507 Downloads
by Huong Do Thi Thu and William H.Salazar
Original Research
An Idiom is a unit in the lexical system, it is like an uninterrupted river, always flowing, moving, changing and developing. During significant socio-cultural changes in society, people add idioms and eliminated old idioms almost simultaneously. This paper analyzed some popular Vietnamese idioms. This analysis utilized a survey questionnaire that was administered to two groups: Older adults (over the age of 30) and younger people. This paper analyzed three main idiom groups, and is divided into three categories: Recently created Vietnamese - of which did not have American English equivalent - idioms, and idioms that are disappearing and idioms that have disappeared idioms from current communication. Based on survey findings from these three idiom groups, this paper illustrated “rules” of how recently created idioms and archaic Vietnamese idioms were formed. This paper also briefly discusses the socio-cultural nuances in which idioms became standard use. Furthermore this paper offers timely recommendations on how to collect new idioms and why it is important to preserve old idioms.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2020, 8(2), 66-70. DOI: 10.12691/education-8-2-1
Pub. Date: February 02, 2020
1414 Views473 Downloads