Xi Wang’s research while affiliated with East China Normal University and other places

This meta-analysis focuses on the relationship between digital literacy (DL) and academic achievement. The 35 independent effect sizes that were collected were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-analysis (CMA) software version 2.0, and the results showed a significant, medium positive correlation between DL and academic achievement. In addition, there were significant differences in the correlation between DL and academic achievement among students of different grade levels, orientations of DL, subjects, sampling methods, and genders. We suggest that (1) schools should develop students’ DL by strengthening the construction of a digital learning environment; (2) teachers and parents should give more guidance to primary and middle school students on the application of digital tools, making them aware of the advantages and disadvantages of digital technology for learning; and (3) students should have general digital operation skills and further master the special methods and learning models of digital technology applied to different subjects. Finally, although the relationship between DL and academic achievement was moderated by gender, with a stronger link observed in males than females, there are no full gender ratios of participants from the samples. Therefore, the relationship between DL and achievement across genders needs to be further verified in future research.

This study compares the effects of Spherical Video-Based Virtual Reality (SVVR) and Conventional Video (CV) on students’ writing achievement and motivation. A quasi-experimental method was used in a primary school’s Chinese Descriptive Article Writing courses. Twenty-eight fourth-grade students were randomly divided into two groups. In the SVVR group, students observed the writing scenes using SVVR devices. In the CV group, students watched the writing scenes through conventional video. SPSS software was used for the statistical analysis of the data. The results show that: (1) there is no significant difference ( U = 714, p = .061) in the overall writing achievement between SVVR and CV groups. However, students in the SVVR group performed significantly better in Organization ( U = 693, p = .029) and Content ( U = 609, p = .003) than those in the CV group. (2) Overall writing motivation improved in both SVVR and CV groups. The improvement of writing expectations in the CV group was significantly higher than that of the SVVR group ( t = −2.119, p = .044). Therefore, we suggest that schools: (1) design the integration method of SVVR and writing learning to solve the problem of the gap between students’ immersive situational experience and completing their writing goals. (2) use the immersive and interactive features of SVVR technology to create virtual experience scenes to improve students’ observation and description abilities. (3) add activity clues to guide students to experience SVVR scenes purposefully and plan and transform situational interest into learning ability. (4) further optimize SVVR devices to improve their usability during learning.

This study adopted a meta-analysis to explore the effectiveness of unplugged activities (UA) and programming exercises (PE) teaching approaches on computational thinking (CT) education. Through a two-stage literature collection and selection process, 29 articles were included in the meta-analysis, 31 independent effect sizes (16 of UA and 15 of PE) from these articles were used, and a total of 2,764 participants were involved in these studies. CMA software version 3.3 was used to analyze the collected data. The result of the meta-analysis showed that both the UA and PE teaching approaches are useful in cultivating students’ CT. Besides, the effect of the PE teaching approach is better than the UA teaching approach in CT education. Moreover, we analyzed the effect of moderator variables (grade level, interdisciplinary course, and experiments duration) on the relationship between UA or PE and CT education. The results showed that the effects of UA teaching approach in CT education was stronger (a) for primary school students than for secondary school students, (b) in interdisciplinary courses than in computer science courses, (c) with long duration teaching experiments than with medium and short duration teaching experiments. However, these effects are not significant. The effects of the PE teaching approach in CT education were stronger (a) for secondary school students than for primary school students, (b) in interdisciplinary courses than in computer science courses, (c) with short duration teaching experiments than with long and medium duration teaching experiments. These effects are not significant either. Therefore, we suggest that (1) the UA teaching approach should be used more for primary school students, while the PE teaching approach should be used more for secondary students; (2) CT education should be integrated into other subjects through UA and PE teaching approaches, and (3) the UA teaching approach requires more teaching time than the PE teaching approach does in CT education.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of augmented reality (AR) applications on K-12 students’ academic achievement through meta-analysis and thematic analysis. 40 samples from 35 articles published between 2006 and 2020 were used to examine the impact of AR on academic achievement and to explore the effects of differences in grade level, academic subject, duration of the experiment, and sampling methods. The research results showed that (1) AR has a medium effect on K-12 students’ academic achievement (g = 0.437) according to the Thalheimer and Cook’s effect size classification. (2) academic subject and duration of experiment as moderator variables have a significant influence on whether AR application will enhance K-12 students’ academic achievement, and (3) the advantages of AR in K-12 education include enhancing interest and motivation, offering vivid resources, providing an interactive environment, and improving attention. The disadvantages include integrated method limitations, system function shortcomings, and the causing of physical discomfort problems. The advantages and disadvantages show why AR application has a medium effect on K-12 students’ academic achievement.