A meta-analysis of the effects of E-books on students' mathematics achievement

Relationship between learning flow and academic performance among students: a systematic evaluation and meta-analysis

Introduction

The concept of "flow experience," characterized by a state of immersive enjoyment and profound engagement, pertains to individuals' deep involvement in intriguing and pleasant tasks. In the field of study, individuals are in a state of flow when encountering challenging tasks, which matters considerably in completing the tasks. Therefore, learning flow is considered a hotspot in education that may be related to improving academic performance. Nonetheless, there remains contention regarding the extent of learning flow's impact on academic performance. To this end, meta-learning was hereby used to provide evidenced on the relationship between them.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted under the guidance of PRISMA to examine the evidence of learning flow and academic performance, check the potential mechanism and evaluate the current evidence. Clinical research or empirical research on the influence of learning flow on academic achievement was collected by searching four databases. The literature retrieval spanned from each database's inception until June 2023, specifically covering the PubMed (2000-2023.6), Embase (1974-2023.6), Cochrane Library (1993-2023.6), and the Web of Science (1807-2023.6), with particular attention to the period between 2000 and 2023.

Results

Thirteen RCTs were included, the total sample size used in the study was 3,253. Using the NOS evaluation tool of queue study, the average evaluation score of the included literatures was 7.46, indicating that the overall literature was above average. Besides, the data software StataSE was used to test the heterogeneity of the data, and the correlation coefficient and 95% confidence interval effect were found to be 0.43 (0.28, 0.57).

Discussion

Our research indicates a link between learning flow and academic performance, that is, students with high learning flow levels tend to have better academic performance. At the same time, this conclusion needs to be verified by more high-quality literature and larger sample data.

Systematic review registration

https://inplasy.com, identifier INPLASY202360079.

The study on the effects of gamified interactive e-books on students' learning achievements and motivation in a Chinese character learning flipped classroom

Existing empirical research has demonstrated the positive effects of flipping the classroom to improve student motivation and achievement by flipping in-class learning content to pre-class. However, the flipped classroom approach requires that students be engaged and motivated in the pre-class stage to ensure that the in-class learning activities run smoothly. Previous studies have highlighted the difficulties that students often encounter when trying to learn Chinese characters in Chinese language classes, especially those who are in the early stages of learning the language. Therefore, in this study, a gamified interactive e-book was developed and used in a flipped classroom for Chinese character learning. To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, a pre-test and post-test control group experimental design was used. The participants were 90 s-grade students from a public primary school in Zhengzhou, China, who were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group: the students who used a gamified interactive e-book in a Chinese character learning flipped classroom (GIEFC group), the students who used a traditional flipped classroom (TFC group), and the students who used a traditional teaching classroom (TTC group). The experimental results indicated that students in the GIEFC group scored higher than those in the TFC and TTC groups in terms of learning achievements and motivation. In addition, the experimental results also demonstrated the positive effects of gamified interactive e-books in flipped classroom learning. Future research could explore a variety of different types of game elements as well as the extension of research to other subjects.

Preferences for printed books versus E-books among university students in a Middle Eastern country

Background

Learning styles vary among the students at the university level which has changed from traditional to more technology pervaded strategies involving digital gadgets. The Academic libraries are being challenged to upgrade from old fashioned hard copy resources to digital libraries including electronic books.

Purpose

The main purpose of the study is to assess the preferences of using printed books versus e-books.

Methods

A descriptive cross sectional survey design was used to collect the data. A total of 607 students were included in the study. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results

Results showed that 86.8% of the students were in undergraduate program with 48.9% students in the second year of the program, 95.6% in the age group of 17-26 years and 59.5% of them being females. The study concluded that 74.6% of students prefer e-books in terms of easy to carry and 80.6% of them spent more than 1 h reading from e-books, while 66.7% of the students preferred printed books due to the ease in studying and 67.9% favored as it is easy to make notes. However, 54% of them felt studying from the digital copies difficult.

Conclusion

The study concludes that the students prefer e-books as they spent more time reading from e-books and are easy to carry; while traditional printed copy is comfortable to use and easy to take notes and study for exams.

Implications for practice

As many changes are happening in the instructional design strategies with the introduction of hybrid methods of teaching and learning, the findings of the study will guide the stake holders and educational policy makers to design novel and modernized educational design that has a psychological, and social impact among the students.

A Case Study of Factors That Affect Secondary School Mathematics Achievement: Teacher-Parent Support, Stress Levels, and Students' Well-Being

Psychology is one of the numerous factors that influences students' mathematics achievement, but studies on the influence of psychology on student mathematics achievement are still limited. This study analyzes key factors affecting mathematics achievement through teacher-parent support, stress, and students' well-being in learning mathematics. Data was collected via online questionnaires. Participants of the study are 531 students studying at five secondary schools in Bandung, Indonesia. The data were analyzed using the structural equations modeling approach using SMART-PLS 3.0 software. The results showed that interest in learning was the most significant factor affecting students' mathematics achievement. Moreover, teachers have a more substantial effect than parents' support, which does not significantly reduce the students' stress levels. The academic and emotional support of teachers and parents reduces students' stress levels while increasing their feelings and interest in learning mathematics. This study provides essential results for school teachers and parents to improve students' mathematics achievement at the secondary school level.

Factors Affecting the Use of Digital Mathematics Textbooks in Indonesia

Digital mathematics textbooks differ from traditional printed textbooks in, among other things, their dynamic structural elements, representing a potential that traditional textbooks cannot fulfil. Notably, dynamic structural elements, i.e., multimodal representations of mathematics, could be of particular importance for learning, which is why the scientific interest in digital mathematics textbooks has increased in recent years and many digital textbooks have been developed. However, research related to predicting teacher usage behavior of digital textbooks is still limited. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the predictors that may influence the intentions of mathematics teachers and the actual usage of digital textbooks by applying the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Data were collected from 277 teachers in West Java Province, Indonesia, and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicated that Performance Expectancy (PE) is the biggest significant factor, followed by Social Influence (SI), that influences the Behavioral Intention (BI) of mathematics teachers to use digital textbooks in Indonesia. Effort Expectancy (EE) does not affect the intention to use a digital textbook. In turn, BI has the largest and most significant effect on teachers’ actual usage of digital textbooks. This result contributes to the understanding of the predictors that can increase the use of digital textbooks by mathematics teachers.