Pedagogy and Practice
The Development of Death Knowledge, Attitudes towards Death, and Beliefs of Life Meaning Scales for Senior High School Students with Mild to Moderate Intellectual Disabilities View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Wen Ying Liou
Being born and going to be dead are the life journeys that anyone would go through. According to the statistical data, the life expectancy of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) has increased, so the experience of death of relatives or friends has also increased. However, if people with ID are unable to understand death, their negative feelings of depression will be produced and affect their mental health. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to develop three pictorial scales, the death knowledge, attitude towards death, and belief of life meaning assessment tools for senior high school students with mild to moderate ID, and to test the reliability and validity of the three assessment tools. The research method of this study adopts purposeful sampling to collect the three assessment data from about 200 senior high school students with mild to moderate ID. The consistency and validity are examined using Cronbach alpha coefficient and exploratory factor analysis.
A Comparative Study on the Implementation of Mathematics Content and Language Integrated Learning Instruction in Taiwan: Subject Teachers versus English Teachers View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Yen-Hui Lu
Due to the nascent status of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) as an instructional approach in Taiwan, empirical research targeting mathematics CLIL teaching remains limited. The aim of this study is to address this gap by examining the differential instructional approaches employed by subject teachers and English teachers, with each group having distinct educational backgrounds and teaching experiences. Employing a case study methodology, this research focused on the institutional practices of two subject teachers and two English teachers engaged in mathematics CLIL instruction. Data were collected from multiple sources including classroom observations, field notes, video-recorded discussions, and in-depth interviews. These data were subsequently analyzed through the lens of the 4Cs framework: content, communication, cognition, and culture. The ultimate objective is to provide valuable insights that may inform the pedagogical strategies of future bilingual educators and teacher-trainers.
Enhancing Engineering Design Process for Teaching Energy in Physics to Grade 10 Students
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jiraporn Tupsai, Chokchai Yuenyong
This research aimed to improve students' understanding of engineering design thinking in the context of teaching energy concepts in physics. The study involved 30 Grade 10 students from the Demonstration School of Khon Kaen University (DSKKU). Employing a mixed-methods approach, activities were developed to cultivate students' engineering design thinking skills through integrated STEM education. The findings revealed that fostering engineering design thinking in the realm of physics energy concepts contributed to a dynamic learning environment that encouraged students to tackle real-world problems using the STEM approach. The analysis categorised the innovative ideas generated by students into three primary groups: wind-powered solutions, water-powered solutions, and waste-powered solutions. The evaluation of student outcomes integrates empathising with problems, prototyping, and problem definition within the study's STEM education framework. 1) Empathise: Understanding diverse problems, causes of the problem, and impact of the problem scored 2.3 (SD = 1.0). 2) Define: identification or selection of the problem that needs innovative design to solve and identification of problem constraints scored 2.1 (SD = 1.1). 3) Ideate: The demonstration of ideas aimed at solving the problem scored 1.9 (SD = 0.8). 3) Prototype: Demonstration of conceptual principles for learners to create innovative prototypes scored 2.2 (SD = 1.0). 4) Test: demonstration of conceptual principles for learners to test prototypes, evaluation, and improvement of prototype innovation based on identified problems scored 1.9 (SD = 1.2). These results signify the successful integration of empathising with problems, prototyping, and problem definition in enhancing students' engineering design thinking skills.
The Study of First Grade Students’ Geometric Abilities Emphasizing Problem-solving Skills Using an Open Approach
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Naphaporn Woranetsudathip, Sampan Thinwiangthong
The research investigates first-grade students’ ability to learn about geometry. The intervention of geometric problem solving through an open approach consisted of 6 lesson plans of 2D and 3D shapes. Tools of interpretation included the geometric ability evaluation form for 3 independent class observers, a video recorder, and digital skill camera. Qualitative data was analyzed and presented in an analytical description. The results illustrate that the average score for geometric ability of first-grade students was interpreted as ‘very good’ (Mean = 3.56, S.D. = 0.45) which could be elaborated across 4 aspects. Their ability in Shape Recognition was at a ‘very good’ level (Mean = 3.66, S.D. = 0.40) indicating that the students identified circles, triangles, squares, and rectangles correctly. Their ability in Shape Reproduction was considered ‘very good’ (Mean = 3.61, S.D. = 0.39) which reflected how well they reproduced copies of the shapes from their memory. Their ability in Orientations was considered at a ‘good’ level (Mean = 3.49, S.D. = 0.43) indicating they could discuss if the shapes were vertical or horizontal. Their ability in Patterns, was at a ‘good’ level (Mean = 3.46, S.D. = 0.56), indicating that the students could sort the figures into patterns. Additionally, this study discovered notable developments in creativity and reasoning ability as the students use 3D shapes to replicate real-world items and explained the reasons why each shape was placed in a particular position.
