Research Article
Kannattha Chaisriya, Siriwatchana Kaeophanuek, Lester Gilbert
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 15, Issue 2, Article No: ep416
ABSTRACT
Communication skills are soft skills critical for students’ development in educational institutions in the digital age. This study aims to determine the feasibility and practicality of a learning model, which combines digital storytelling with a metacognitive strategy called the DSTMC model. This learning model utilized digital storytelling as a primary learning step and integrated metacognitive strategies to monitor the thinking process to improve students’ communication, such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, and presentation skills. The research was conducted through case studies at a regional, southern Thailand university. The data were collected from 30 undergraduate participants. The research instruments were expert validation, pre-/post-test data, and a self-assessment questionnaire. The study showed that the DSTMC learning model is an alternative teaching method to improve communication skills, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The results of students’ test scores and self-assessments provide significant evidence indicating that it increases their learning and retention of information. The paper concludes with suggestions for using various strategies and motivating activities to encourage learners’ communication proficiency. Future research should investigate the creation of a system to track how learners improve their communication skills.
Keywords: digital storytelling, metacognition, communication skill, learning model, active learning
Research Article
Ahmet Coymak
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 10, Issue 1, pp. 94-105
ABSTRACT
There is a growing interest in the use of computer-based learning environments to enhance learning in higher education, but the implications of this on the improvement of metacognition in higher education have yet to be adequately explored. In the current study, 175 students who enrolled in an introductory psychology course were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (computer-assisted vs. self-managed). In the computer-assisted condition, besides the lecture delivered four hours per week and for three months in total, students took a set of assignments based on evidence-based teaching in a computer-based environment. The control group, however, took these assignments as in-and-out class activities without using a computer environment. An assessment based on Bloom’s taxonomy was utilized to obtain metacognitive and competency scores for both groups. The results of the study showed that the students who completed the structured learning assignments as computer-based, self-learning environment showed better metacognition performance than those in the self-managed group, who did not engage with the online platform, even though there was no significant difference between the groups regarding competence on the course’s learning objectives. The current experiment offers an empirical validation for why instructors should use technology as a self-regulatory tool that enhances students’ metacognitive performance and competence of learning outcomes.
Keywords: Metacognition, University teaching, Self-regulation in learning, Computer-based learning