Flow theory explains the conditions for optimal engagement (enjoyment, interest, and concentration). There are three types of engagement: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. When these are combined and present at their peak, flow takes place. In the era of information, media, and technology, current concerns in education include an increasing student disengagement and disaffection. Recently, educational organizations have focused on 21st century skills and the importance of developing these in order to better engage with society. This mixed study explores the relationship between the inclusion of 21st century skills in an L2 task and the level of engagement of students, and whether it reaches flow. Participants came from two sections of intermediate-low Spanish FL classrooms. Findings show there is a positive relationship between 21st century skills and all three types of engagement. 21st century skills are also related to authentic work. Sense of control, clear goals, high challenges matched with high skills in a contextualized setting lead to increased engagement. Flow did not take place, but different levels and intensity of engagement in all areas did.

In response to the demands of 21st century teacher preparation practices, this developmental study was instigated by the need to employ appropriate strategies in the teaching of English as second language (L2) in Malawi. Using situated cognition theoretical construct as a basis, a framework for teaching L2 English as a situated practice was created. The development process was guided by views and practices of English methodology faculty members in Malawi's five secondary school teacher training institutions. The study was conducted in three phases, (i) analysis, where eight English methodology faculty members from Malawi's five institutions of higher learning were interviewed on the strategies they use to train pre-service secondary school teachers of English, (ii) development, where the framework was created based on results from the analysis phase, and (iii) evaluation and revision where the framework was reviewed and validated by a situated cognition expert and three of the faculty members interviewed in Malawi before it was revised. / Ph. D.

By grounding my work in this series of four essays in literary theory, but telling stories to which almost anyone can relate I hope to begin making the connection between sometimes heady academics and everyday working-class Americans. Only when learners understand their circumstances and the need for education, can they begin to take control of what they learn and how they employ that knowledge.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Many teaching and learning practices in higher education, including social work education in South Africa, tend to be characterised by a transmission mode of instruction, whereby knowledge moves from the expert educator to the student. This study investigates the extent to which an authentic learning framework can be used to improve the teaching of meso practice in social work to a class of 80 second-year students at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. A modified version of educational design-based research, was deployed which created a set of guidelines to inform future research and course design. Design-based research includes an iterative process, however, and the four-phased modified version of design-based research used in this study deploys just one roll-out of a redesigned course on meso practice, using the elements of authentic learning (Herrington, Reeves & Oliver, 2010). Phase 1 consisted of a review of the literature on meso practice education and the authentic learning framework. Phase 2 involved an analysis of practical problems identified by six educators and four field instruction supervisors, based on the way they teach and supervise students in the area of meso practice intervention. In Phase 3 the course was implemented and evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively by the student participants and four field instruction supervisors. Phase 4 consisted of a reflection on the entire process, to produce design guidelines using the elements of authentic learning and the inclusion of affect in course design. Mixed-methods research was undertaken, incorporating primarily qualitative data with quantitative data from a survey conducted with the students. Findings from this study have led to an augmented list of authentic learning elements, which includes the use of affect in meso practice and the development of guidelines for educators which have the potential to be relevant and applicable in other courses, contexts and disciplines. / NRF / Pillay, R. (2017). Crafting a meso practice course using elements of authentic learning for undergraduate social work students in South Africa. PhD thesis. University of the Western Cape

In an increasingly digitised world, the pedagogy of education is at risk of being dictated by technological advancement. As fragments of teaching practice left over from previous curricula are adapted and amalgamated into new curricula, the educational landscape becomes a sea of learning terminologies used interchangeably. In many cases these terminologies are then disconnected from an underlying understanding of what learning is and how the best possible form and quality of learning can be brought about. Two recent technological advancements in the field of education is Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and the MakerSpace movement. However, these fields need to be engaged with as avenues of investigation in the pursuit of the highest possible learning quality outcome required by a world that is super-complex. Through comprehensive literature research, the researcher first presented an in-depth argument detailing what learning is, what the highest quality of learning is and how this learning quality can be measured. The literature revealed a particular professional practice of “facilitating lifelong authentic learning” of which the sole purpose is achieving exactly that. In this mixed method research project, an attempt was made to re-connect the technological advancement of online learning with the theoretical framework of the learning process as laid down by Vygotsky, particularly through the Zone of Proximal Development. Within the context of a MakerSpace subject, the researcher attempted to determine how the identified practice of facilitating lifelong authentic learning would ensure the increase in the quality of learning in online groups where MakerSpace learners were required to resolve a real-life challenge. An experiment then followed where a professional facilitator of learning was present in the experimental groups, while the control groups attempted to resolve the challenge un-facilitated. A comparison of the analysis of chat transcriptions indicated that on average the quality of learning was higher in facilitated groups. Interview data collected after the experiment shed light on this finding and suggested that the quality of learning in an online group increases when a facilitator of learning increases the level of difficulty of the real-life challenge as perceived by the group’s dominant participant (the person who contributes the most to the group dialogue). This not only indicated the value of Facilitating Learning in an online learning evnvironment, but also highlighted its necessity in terms of improving the quality of the learning. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

New advances in computer programming and more powerful technology have opened up new opportunities for learning though immersive virtual reality simulations. This research highlighted the importance of the role of a lecturer in fostering learning in a technology rich learning environment. Undergraduate business studies students worked collectively to try resolve a problem depicted through an immersive simulation involving a burning factory. The simulation provided a rich personal experience that enabled students with lecturer support to generate effective strategies to address the problem.

This diploma work is primarily oriented at application of the authentic materials when using the LT strategy of authentic learning in teaching English to the pupils at Czech primary schools. In the theoretical part of this work there were at first analyzed curricular documents of the Czech Ministry of Education concerning the changes in the sphere of educational policy regarding Language and Language Communication. After that, there were described various ways of application of didactic principles of adequity, systematic approach, illustrativeness, willful learning, activity, individual approach, compactness of learning process and cyclical arrangement of the newly learned information. Next, there were defined the term of authentic learning and the difference between the didactic and authentic materials. There were also compared various views on the use of innovative authentic learning strategy in ELT and mentioned various possibilities of presenting sociocultural context of English speaking countries in language teaching. In the research part of these theses there was conducted research whether the authentic learning had really happened when the authentic materials were used in teaching English and if yes, to what extent exactly the authentic learning happened. For this reason there was done research at...

Our purpose has been to explore how teachers' educate to influence their pupils' interests in biology and if outdoor education is considered to be a part of this. Also how this affects the pupils possibilities in achieving the goals in the nature science oriented curriculum.  The purpose has been examined through qualitative interviews with teachers' who are teaching in the nature oriented subjects in compulsory school, and applies outdoor pedagogy. With a phenomenographic research approach, we were able to gain a deeper insight into the teacher’s individual perceptions of the phenomenon of outdoor learning versus students' interest in the content of the biology subject. The study shows that teachers' see a great value in taking note of students' experiences and prior knowledge and proceed from them in interest-creating teaching in biology. They use reality-based experiences and authentic learning situations as a way to create interest in the subject content. Outdoor lessons are highlighted by teachers' as a way to do this, where they experience benefits by giving students' the opportunity to experience and explore in a more sensory environment. Outdoor lessons also affect their participation and commitment to teaching. The teachers' believe that the practical elements in an authentic environment have an effect on students' ability to absorb the content and remember it, which in turn gives the student a greater chance of achieving the goals in the curriculum. Based on this, we believe that a recommendation for the application of outdoor lessons should be included in the school's governing document. / Vårt huvudsyfte är att bidra till ökad kunskap om utomhuspedagogikens potentiella roll att påverka elevers intresse för biologi och hur utomhuspedagogik kan hjälpa elever mot ökad måluppfyllelse. För att få perspektiv på hur utomhuspedagogik används i förhållande till annan intresseskapande undervisning valde vi också att undersöka hur lärare mer allmänt arbetar för att påverka elevernas intresse för biologi. Syftet har undersökts genom kvalitativa intervjuer av lärare i årskurs 1-9 som undervisar i grundskolans naturorienterande ämnen, med betoning på biologi, samt som aktivt tillämpar utomhuspedagogik. Med en fenomenografisk forskningsansats kunde vi få djupare insikt i lärarnas individuella uppfattningar om just fenomenet utomhuspedagogik kontra elevers intresse för innehållet i biologiämnet.  Studien visar att lärare ser ett stort värde av att ta fasta på elevernas erfarenheter och förkunskaper och att utgå från dem i intresseskapande undervisning i biologi. De använder sig av verklighetsbaserade erfarenheter och autentiska lärsituationer som ett sätt att skapa intresse för ämnesinnehållet. Utomhuspedagogiken lyfts fram av lärarna som ett sätt att göra detta på, där de upplever fördelar genom att eleverna får möjlighet att uppleva och utforska i en sinnlig miljö. Utomhuspedagogiken påverkar också elevernas deltagande och engagemang för undervisningen. Lärarna menar att de praktiska momenten i en autentisk miljö ger effekt på elevers förmåga att ta till sig innehållet och komma ihåg det, vilket i sin tur ger elever större möjlighet att nå målen i kunskapskraven för biologi. Utifrån detta anser vi att en rekommendation för tillämpande av utomhuspedagogik borde finnas i skolans styrdokument.

In my eleven years of teaching graphic design at Tshwane University of Technology, I have come to realise that education is more than just teaching a student the fundamentals, techniques and new technologies, it is also about their personal development. I conducted this study to ensure that my educational practices challenge my graphic design students to acquire the essential characteristics – or more profoundly, the essential human qualities -­‐ required for a contemporary graphic design career through which the quality of life for all will be enhanced. The study is a participatory action research study involving the second and third year graphic design students at Tshwane University of Technology. It involved five action intervention cycles. In the first cycle I explored the current graphic design education practices in order to determine whether these practices ensure the acquisition of such essential human qualities that a graphic designer should posses. The acquisition of such human qualities has become paramount because of the ethical imperative that graphic designers can change the world (Berman, 2009). I found that my current graphic design education practices as they relate to the commonly most dominant practices are not sufficient to accomplish this purpose. During the research I was exposed to a paradigmatically innovative education practice that focuses on maximizing human potential and it was adopted to improve my existing education practice. Through four additional action intervention cycles I provided evidence that indicated that my improved education practice contributed to my students’ acquisition of an identified four sets of essential human qualities: the artistic quality of creativity; the professional quality of continuous, independent, increasing expertise in creativity within an interdependent, co-­‐operative value based community of graphic design practitioners; the personal quality of maximizing human potential; and the leadership quality of an enlightened change agent. The primary focus on the acquisition of these essential human qualities through the proposed method of graphic design education, also allows for the gaining of the necessary graphic design knowledge and skills (Barnett, 2007:101). / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Humanities Education / Unrestricted

Syftet med studien är att öka kunskaper kring lärares tankar om hur utomhuspedagogik kan bidra till lågstadieelevers måluppfyllelse och lärande för socialt hållbar utveckling, samt kunskaper kring hur elever interagerar när lärare använder utomhuspedagogik. Syftet undersöks med hjälp av sex kvalitativa intervjuer av lärare som arbetar aktivt med utomhuspedagogik samt tre observationer av elevers interaktioner i lärarnas utomhusundervisning. Studiens resultat visar att lärarna eftersträvar att kombinera teoretiska och praktiska erfarenheter som de menar kan bidra till en ökad måluppfyllelse för eleverna. I resultatet framkommer det att lärarna anser att utomhuspedagogik kan vara en inkluderande arbetsmetod för elevers lärande när språket är begränsat, eftersom den autentiska lärmiljön tillåter eleverna, med hjälp av sina sinnen, att kommunicera genom sitt kroppsspråk. Observationerna av elevernas interaktioner i utomhusundervisning visar att de får träna sina sociala förmågor genom att samarbeta och kommunicera med hjälp av utomhuspedagogikens praktiska inslag. Lärarna beskriver att utomhuspedagogik tillåter elever att lära genom en friare undervisning i en social gemenskap, där aktiviteter som sker i grupp är kärnan i lärarnas undervisning mot socialt hållbar utveckling. En slutsats är att det är viktigt att lärare får utbildning och kompetensutveckling för att bedriva utomhuspedagogisk undervisning som kan bidra till elevers kunskapsutveckling mot en hållbar framtid. / The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about teachers’ thoughts on how outdoor pedagogy can contribute to primary students’ goal achievementsand learning for social sustainable development, as well as knowledge about how students interact when teachers use outdoor pedagogy. The purpose has been achieved with the help of six qualitative interviews of teachers that actively work with outdoor pedagogy and three observations of students’ interactions in outdoor education. The results of the study show that the teachers aim to combine theoretical and practical experiences that they believe can contribute to an increased goal achievement for students. The results also show that the teachers believe that outdoor pedagogy can be an inclusive working method for students’ education when language skills are limited, as the authentic outdoor environment allowthem to communicate through gestures and visual communication. The outdoor observations of student’s interactions show that they can practice their social skills with the help of the practical elements of outdoor pedagogy through collaborations and communication. Finally, the study’s respondents describe that outdoor pedagogy allows students to learn through a social and unconfined teaching environment, where group work is the core of the teachers’ educational teachings towards social sustainable development. In conclusion, it is essential that teachers receive the education and skills needed to implement outdoor pedagogy that can contribute to students’ developmental knowledge towards a sustainable future.