The application of online learning and educational technologies in higher education has changed teaching methods, the channels of delivering learning materials, and modes of communication between teachers and students. This study is aimed to improve learning effects and investigate, via quasi-experiments, the effects of web-mediated…

Web-based learning is generally a solitary process without teachers' on-the-spot assistance. In this study, a quasi-experiment was conducted to explore the effects of various combinations of Web-Based Cognitive Apprenticeship (WBCA) and Time Management (TM) on the development of students' computing skills. Three class cohorts of 124 freshmen in a…

Much application software education in Taiwan can hardly be regarded as practical. The researchers in this study provided a flexible means of ubiquitous learning (u-learning) with a mobile app for students to access the learning material. In addition, the authors also adopted computational thinking (CT) to help students develop practical computing…

This research investigated, via quasi-experiments, the effects of web-based co-regulated learning (CRL) on developing students' computing skills. Two classes of 68 undergraduates in a one-semester course titled "Applied Information Technology: Data Processing" were chosen for this research. The first class (CRL group, n = 38) received…

Many private vocational schools in Taiwan have taken to enrolling students with lower levels of academic achievement. The authors re-designed a course and conducted a series of quasi-experiments to develop students' long-term computing skills, and examined the longitudinal effects of web-enabled, problem-based learning (PBL) and self-regulated…

Innovative teaching methods integrated with web technologies have been increasingly used in higher education. However, there are few studies discussing effective web-mediated teaching methods for both students and teachers. To help students learn and develop their academic involvement in a blended course, and improve their thoughts regarding this…

Students in the vocational schools in Taiwan largely care little about their grades and do not get involved adequately in their schoolwork. To respond effectively to this challenge of teaching, two cases were studied and compared; one is a class using a traditional method of teaching and the other a class deploying innovative teaching methods of…

As more and more people use computers to complete their work and solve problems in the workplace, computing education is emphasized for students of all levels and disciplines in Taiwan. However, the computing education in Taiwan can hardly be recognized as effective and satisfactory. Many inappropriate examples that lack context are used in…

Vocational education in Taiwan is highly competitive in that it must attract sufficient student enrollment in the environment with a rapidly increasing number of schools. Many students in this context tend to have lower levels of academic achievement, and do not adequately get involved in their schoolwork. Under such constraints but moving toward…

This study explored the effects of web-enabled pedagogies on students' involvement in learning. A series of quasi-experiments were conducted to investigate whether students' involvement increases over time if intervened, respectively, by problem-based learning (PBL), self-regulated learning (SRL), and their combinations. Two classes of 102…

This article describes the design and delivery of a compulsory course in packaged software at vocational schools in Taiwan. A course website was devised and deployed to supplement learning activities in the traditional classroom. A series of quasi-experiments was conducted with innovative instructional designs, that is, web-enabled problem-based…

The computer software education in vocational schools in Taiwan can hardly be deemed as effective. To increase students' learning motivation and develop practical skills, innovative learning designs such as problem-based learning(PBL) and self-regulated learning (SRL) are on trial in this specific context. We conducted a series of…

Contrary to conventional expectations, the reality of computing education in Taiwan's vocational schools is not so practically oriented, and thus reveals much room for improvement. In this context, we conducted a quasi-experiment to examine the effects of applying web-based problem-based learning (PBL), web-based self-regulated learning (SRL), and…