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Beyond the Flipped Classroom: A Highly Interactive Cloud-Classroom (HIC) Embedded into Basic Materials Science Courses

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Abstract

The present study compares the highly interactive cloud-classroom (HIC) system with traditional methods of teaching materials science that utilize crystal structure picture or real crystal structure model, in order to examine its learning effectiveness across three dimensions: knowledge, comprehension and application. The aim of this study was to evaluate the (HIC) system, which incorporates augmented reality, virtual reality and cloud-classroom to teach basic materials science courses. The study followed a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental research design. A total of 92 students (aged 19–20 years), in a second-year undergraduate program, participated in this 18-week-long experiment. The students were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group (36 males and 10 females) was instructed utilizing the HIC system, while the control group (34 males and 12 females) was led through traditional teaching methods. Pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest scores were evaluated by multivariate analysis of covariance. The results indicated that participants in the experimental group who used the HIC system outperformed the control group, in the both posttest and delayed posttest, across three learning dimensions. Based on these results, the HIC system is recommended to be incorporated in formal materials science learning settings.

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Acknowledgments

This research is partially supported by the “Aim for the Top University Project” of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, R.O.C., and the “International Research-Intensive Center of Excellence Program” of NTNU and Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C., under Grant Nos. NSC 103-2911-I-003-301 and 102-2511-S-003-052-MY3.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Science Education Center, National Taiwan Normal University, 88 Sec. 4, Ting-Chou Rd., Taipei, 116, Taiwan, ROC

      Wei-Kai Liou & Chun-Yen Chang

    2. Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

      Kaushal Kumar Bhagat & Chun-Yen Chang

    3. Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

      Chun-Yen Chang

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    1. Wei-Kai Liou
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    Correspondence to Chun-Yen Chang.

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    Wei-Kai Liou and Kaushal Kumar Bhagat have contributed equally to this work.

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    Liou, WK., Bhagat, K.K. & Chang, CY. Beyond the Flipped Classroom: A Highly Interactive Cloud-Classroom (HIC) Embedded into Basic Materials Science Courses. J Sci Educ Technol 25, 460–473 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-016-9606-8

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