Applying the Matrix Model in an English for Presentation Online Class during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of an Undergraduate Class in Thailand

During the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning was an important topic for scholars. A private university in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand followed a policy to create online courses for every subject to ensure that education could proceed effectively. To correspond with the policy, the Matrix Model was integrated with the online course development of an English for Presentation class at this private university. The Matrix Model is also known as SAMR which refers to Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. The online course was presented in the third semester of the academic year of 2019 with 77 participants who volunteered to participate in this course. The research instruments used in this study were observation, surveying, and interview. The data collections were done at the beginning, during, and after the course to provide a comprehensive study of online learning. The data revealed both positive opinions and obstacles associated with this online learning. The results of using the SAMR model in this study do provide benefits to students and educators and show that 84% of the participants prefer online presentation over in-class presentation.

INVESTIGATING THE USE OF MAXIMS IN THE EFL CLASS PRESENTATION: A PRAGMATIC STUDY

Maxim is one of the aspects studied in pragmatics, a relatively new field in linguistics. It is used in social interactions, especially in the form of conversations. In this study, the researchers conducted maxim analysis in an EFL class. The research data were collected from the WhatsApp-group communication of an online class in the English language education department of a public university in Central Java. This study employed a qualitative descriptive design using pragmatic analysis as its framework. There are maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of manner and maxim of relevance. The result shows that there were 22 occurrences of maxim of quantity with 5 cases of flouting of the maxim. Then, 28 occurrences belonged to maxim of quality and the researchers did not find any flouting of the maxim. Next, 26 occurrences were labelled as maxim of relevance with 2 cases of flouting of the maxim. Besides that, 22 occurrences were categorized as maxim of manner with 3 cases of flouting of the maxim. In general, 110 maxim occurrences were identified from 16 conversations recorded in this research.

Identifying Difficulties Encountered by Indonesian EFL Learners in Oral Presentation

This research investigated the most dominant issue experienced by EFL oral class presentation in their vocal class performance and identifying the extent of the students' difficulties in delivering material. The method used was the case study approach. In gaining specific data and information, the researchers collected the data by classroom observation and interviews of English students at Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin Banten. The result shows that a significantly prominent matter faced by the students in doing a presentation is the explanation aspect and Self-control, getting nervous and unconfident.

Graves’ Disease during Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy (A Case Series and Literature Review)

Thyrotoxicosis is an adverse event associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPis) that occurs in 0.6 to 3.2% of treated patients, depending on ICPi class. Presentation usually consists of a biphasic thyroiditis with transient thyrotoxicosis and secondary hypothyroidism. ICPi-induced Graves’ disease (GD), due to the stimulating activity of TSH-receptor autoantibodies (TRAb), is extremely rare. The aim of this retrospective study was to describe the characteristics and evolution of GD during ICPi therapy. Five among 243 patients followed for ICPi-induced thyrotoxicosis showed TRAb positivity (2% of the cohort). GD occurred quickly after initiation of ICPis; its course was typical for two patients, with prolonged requirement for antithyroid drug treatment (ATD). The three other patients experienced biphasic thyroiditis with secondary hypothyroidism requiring long-term substitution. Three other patients had a diagnosis of GD before starting ICPis; they evolved toward hypothyroidism with early cessation of ATD and long-term substitution treatment during ICPi treatment. None developed significant Graves’ orbitopathy. ICPi treatment was not interrupted for thyroid dysfunction. In conclusion, GD is a rare, immune-related adverse event of ICPis with an unusual course and frequent evolution to biphasic thyroiditis. In the case of ICPi-induced thyrotoxicosis in the presence of TRAb, observing the spontaneous evolution and performing a scintigraphy are useful before starting ATD treatment. Pre-existing GD is not exacerbated by ICPis and tends to evolve towards hypothyroidism. ICPi treatment can be maintained with adequate biochemical surveillance.

Developing students’ linguistic and digital literacy skills through the use of multimedia presentations

With the immense presence of English language video content in the online digital environment and students’ everyday exposure to multimedia content, this project aims to explore how to replace traditional in-class presentation with video presentation within an autonomous learning environment, examine the impact of doing so on the development of English language and digital literacy skills, and develop assessment rubrics at both individual and group levels. The project was conducted as part of an English language course for undergraduate students majoring in English in the context of a higher education institution in Hong Kong. Data were collected through multiple methods: survey questionnaires, open-ended questions, and face-to-face interviews. The results showed that the video production mode of presentation could not only replace traditional in-class presentation but also improve students’ learning autonomy, and language, collaborative, and digital literacy skills. The analysis of videos elucidated how the video production (VPR) group of students use multimodal semiotic resources to design their relationships with viewers while simultaneously adapting their discoursal identities. In addition, the comparison between VPR- and non-VPR-group presentations demonstrates that constructing audio-visual resources in a collaborative environment contributes to a variety of aspects to a higher extent. Implications for foreign language curriculum and instructional design, as well as recommendations for future studies of digitalization of students’ oral assessment tasks, are discussed.

Alcohol and Khamr on Fiqh Using Science Experiment Videos in Schools Affected by COVID-19

Covid-19 has paralyzed Islamic and Natural Science Education in Indonesia. The impact of online learning is not optimal, teachers have difficulty explaining the material or practice making it more difficult for students to understand the material. The purpose of this study was to improve the students' understanding of grade 8 PGRI 6 Denpasar Junior High School on fiqh regarding alcohol and khamr with online learning. The media used is a science experiment video which will have implications for changing the way students perceive the use of alcohol and khamr. This study uses the Nonequivalent Control Group Design method with a comparison between the science experiment class and the control class using the traditional method. The results of the validation of experimental experts, 91.34% fiqh material with perfect criteria. Pretest in the experimental class percentage of 70% sufficient criteria from the experimental class and the control class get a presentation of 72.4% sufficient criteria. Posttest in the experimental class with a percentage of 87.4% good criteria while in the control class presentation 75%.Based on the results of the validation and pretest-posttest comparisons between classes, the experimental method is good for learning fiqh in Islamic education.

Deepening reflexivity through art in learning qualitative research

Reflexivity involves examining one’s background and perspectives in relation to the research topic, participants, and the processes and practices of research. Building on the growing field of utilizing arts-based practices in teaching qualitative research, in this article we examine how one doctoral student’s engagement with drawing and painting within and beyond a qualitative research class supported her developing reflexivity. Guided by an interactional ethnographic perspective, we conducted domain, taxonomic, and discourse analyses of the student’s art, reflection journals, video of a class presentation, and retrospective reflections she wrote three years later. Through these analyses we make visible that reflexivity through art creates potentials for understanding and transcending one’s background to create new opportunities for learning about self and research. We also argue that deepening reflexivity requires a commitment to engage in the discomforts of learning in order to develop new ways of thinking and researching.

Improving Student Presentation Skills Using Asynchronous Video-Based Projects

Given the central role that excellent presentation skills plays in management, methods for better developing these skills represent an important area of focus in business education. Rapidly evolving distributed (distance) technologies have compelled businesses to reimagine practices in most areas, and presentations are no exception. In the present study, we examine the potential advantages of video presentations—not from the perspective of the audience, but rather from the perspective of the student as immersed in the process of developing individual presentation skills. We crafted a course project where students collaborate to create a video presentation, replacing a more traditional in-class presentation. To test the effectiveness of this new approach, we conducted a study in which measures from multiple course sections using either the new video creation approach or the traditional presentation approach were compared. For the former, we found a significant improvement in students’ presentation skills on five dimensions (central message, supporting material, language, organization, and delivery) as evaluated with the authoritative Oral Communication VALUE Rubric developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. We describe the project and the study, and end the article with lessons learned and recommendations for expanding the project’s applications to other courses.