Ya Ping Hsiao | Tilburg University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ya Ping Hsiao

The European educational researcher, Jun 15, 2023

Character building (CB) is a crucial aspect for basic psychologists who need to carry out their c... more Character building (CB) is a crucial aspect for basic psychologists who need to carry out their consultation tasks effectively. At Tilburg University, lecturers have the freedom to interpret the five CB dimensions and implement them in courses, including intellectual independence, critical mindset, social responsibility, scientific responsibility, and entrepreneurship. This study aims to investigate how the five CB dimensions are interpreted and implemented in the three-year Bachelor Psychology program at Tilburg University. As part of the regular quality assurance of assessment, we made a full program assessment plan in 2021-2022 and collected extra data on course practices of CB. At the program level, the five CB dimensions were related to the 13 program learning outcomes by reviewing the self-reflection report. At the course level, a template thematic analysis was used to code the course learning goals, instructional activities, and assessment. Two-thirds of the courses formulated CB-related learning goals, mostly delivered through interactive lecture forms. The instructional activities were categorized into six themes: academic standards, application, evaluative judgment, self-regulation, societal relevance, and taking initiatives. The five CB dimensions were mostly assessed by coursework method, but there was a lack of assessment of CB elements such as reflection. The five CB dimensions were implemented in most educational processes at the course and program level, despite the absence of a standardized implementation plan. We advise to focus on the assessment design for character education, particularly through the use of more authentic and performance-based assessment methods

Social Interaction in Learning and Development, 2023

The didactic principles of collaborative learning, peer learning, and the process and social inte... more The didactic principles of collaborative learning, peer learning, and the process and social interaction of writing are becoming increasingly important in Dutch Higher Education (HE), with the uptake of undergraduates' theses at the exit level (Elbow, 1998; Rajagopal et al., 2021; Romme & Nijhuis, 2002). Following these, peer review, defined as "an instructional writing activity in which students read and provide commentary on one another's writing, and the purpose of this activity is to help students improve their writing and gain a sense of audience" (Breuch, 2004, p. 1), has been an important learner-centered activity in the context of thesis circles, a form of group supervision, in which a number of students are supervised under one or two academic supervisors in the process of writing their graduation thesis (Rajagopal et al., 2021; Romme & Nijhuis, 2002). In thesis circles, students often receive feedback from multiple peers to compensate for little and targeted supervisor feedback (Romme & Nijhuis, 2002). Starting from student independent work and critical thinking, students de facto act as non-formal co-supervisors of their peers and co-regulate each other's learning (Romme & Nijhuis, 2002). We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Higher Education Evaluation and Development

PurposeIn the Netherlands, thesis assessment quality is a growing concern for the national accred... more PurposeIn the Netherlands, thesis assessment quality is a growing concern for the national accreditation organization due to increasing student numbers and supervisor workload. However, the accreditation framework lacks guidance on how to meet quality standards. This study aims to address these issues by sharing our experience, identifying problems and proposing guidelines for quality assurance for a thesis assessment system.Design/methodology/approachThis study has two parts. The first part is a narrative literature review conducted to derive guidelines for thesis assessment based on observations made at four Dutch universities. The second part is a case study conducted in one bachelor’s psychology-related program, where the assessment practitioners and the vice program director analyzed the assessment documents based on the guidelines developed from the literature review.FindingsThe findings of this study include a list of guidelines based on the four standards. The case study res...

Athens Journal of Education

The aim of this study was to identify process-related indicators for grading group essays. The re... more The aim of this study was to identify process-related indicators for grading group essays. The research participants were students registered in a teacher-training course using an instructional design with face-to-face and digital blended learning. The course required the students in small collaborative groups to design, implement, and evaluate a teaching program using creative pedagogical designs, which were documented using group essays. Four indicators relating to group essays along the course process were collected: (A) group essay grades assessed by different agents, (B) students’ other course grades or behaviours (i.e., multiple assessments) as well as (C) comment behaviours and (D) version history behaviours through an online co-editing system (i.e., Google Docs). Statistical analysis results indicated that the instructor’s group essay grades were related to the group essay grades assessed by out-group peers (i.e. peers from other groups), online group comment frequencies, an...

Character building (CB) is important for basic psychologists. This study aims to investigate t... more Character building (CB) is important for basic psychologists. This study aims to investigate the implementation and interpretation of character building (CB) in the three-year Bachelor of Psychology program at Tilburg University. Five dimensions of CB, including intellectual independence, critical mindset, social responsibility, scientific responsibility, and entrepreneurship, were analyzed using a review and template thematic analysis as part of the regular quality assurance assessment in 2021-2022. The results of the full program assessment plan and additional data collection on course practices revealed that the five dimensions of CB were well-integrated into most educational processes at both the program and course level. We submitted this previously as a preprint and received the following comments: Nicholas's comment: Dear Dr Sabita Soedamah, Thank you for your interest in Advance, the preprint server for social science research offered by SAGE Publishing. We have succ...

Knowledge sharing is key to non-formal learners who want to learn deeply in the context of social... more Knowledge sharing is key to non-formal learners who want to learn deeply in the context of social networks for learning. However, according to cognitive load theory, without support from others, self-organizing these activities hampers learning when working on complex tasks. After all, learners have to simultaneously deal with the high intrinsic load of the complex tasks and the extraneous load of knowledge sharing activities. For learning tasks that have to be performed in networked learning environments, reducing extraneous load therefore becomes imperative. To facilitate knowledge sharing, in this study, we used a peer support system to match learners; we also provided role specifications and an interaction tool (wiki). Primarily, our study investigated the effects of using this peer support system for the facilitation of knowledge sharing at different levels of task complexity in a specific Learning Network. The results did not significantly show that this peer support system was instrumental in reducing cognitive load and improving learning performance. However, the study did shed an illuminating light on two other questions: 1) how to apply instructional guidelines of cognitive load theory to non-formal Learning Networks, and 2) what are the challenges of data collection, especially for measuring cognitive load in social learning environments.

The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how halo-eects,may be detected and quantied,usin... more The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how halo-eects,may be detected and quantied,using two independent ratings of the same persons. A practical illustration is given to show how halo-eects,can be avoided. Key words: rated data; halo-eect;,performance-based testing; language testing; classical test theory. 1

Omdat het Chinees een toontaal is en bestaat uit karakters in plaats van lettertekens is een bijz... more Omdat het Chinees een toontaal is en bestaat uit karakters in plaats van lettertekens is een bijzondere didactiek nodig. Maar met voldoende uithoudingsvermogen is het leren van de taal ook voor westerlingen niet onmogelijk.

Professional Development in Education, 2021

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2016

In a non-formal learning network, knowledge sharing is often desirable when working on complex ta... more In a non-formal learning network, knowledge sharing is often desirable when working on complex tasks. However, without support, learners need to first find a tutor and then maintain social interaction, which, according to cognitive load theory, may hamper learning. After all, the extraneous load imposed by these two activities and the intrinsic load imposed by the task itself might easily overload learners' cognitive capacity. We compared the effects of using a peer support system with an automatic tutor assignment and an interaction tool (wiki) to a forum and control group (without any support) on learners' cognitive load and learning efficiency for simple and complex tasks. The results did not significantly show that this peer support system was instrumental in reducing cognitive load and improving learning efficiency. However, the study did shed an illuminating light on how to apply instructional guidelines of cognitive load theory to non-formal learning networks.

Language Learning in Higher Education, 2013

Applying the writing scales of the common European framework of reference for languages to the ne... more Applying the writing scales of the common European framework of reference for languages to the new HSK test of proficiency in Chinese Hsiao, Y.; Broeder, P.

Language Learning in Higher Education, 2014

It is widely recognized that matchmaking for group formation is one important factor that determi... more It is widely recognized that matchmaking for group formation is one important factor that determines the effectiveness of peer learning. Finding peers with certain peer learning skills and content expertise is likely to induce interaction that contributes to learning performance. However, there has been relatively little attention to how students self-select their peers to work on a collaborative task while this is particularly important for university students who need to form groups by themselves. This study aims to explore (i) how students self-select peers to prepare a collaborative speaking assessment, (ii) how students perceive the peer learning process with self-selected peers, as well as (iii) the differences in students' perceptions of the assessment interaction and performance between working with self-selected and randomly assigned peers. Results show that students choose peers from classmates whom they have interacted with before. Students are more satisfied with the interaction process and their own language skills with self-selected partners than with randomly assigned peers. The results of this study provide implications for future research to match peers for peer learning.

Interactive Learning Environments, 2013

Learning Networks are online social networks designed to support non-formal learning; they are th... more Learning Networks are online social networks designed to support non-formal learning; they are therefore particularly suitable for self-directed learners. In Learning Networks, learners need to acquire knowledge through knowledge sharing with other participants. However, without a support structure, learners have to organize knowledge sharing themselves and this could induce extraneous cognitive load. When working on complex learning tasks, this organizing process could have a detrimental effect on knowledge acquisition. To optimize cognitive load, we propose to use a particular type of collaborative learning, peer tutoring, as a support structure. Its mechanisms reduce, we argue, the extraneous load imposed by organizing knowledge sharing as well as induce germane load by directing the freed cognitive capacity to processes that contribute to knowledge acquisition.

Learning Networks are designed to support the lifelong learner. In such settings, learning needs ... more Learning Networks are designed to support the lifelong learner. In such settings, learning needs to be guided for self-organisational processes to emerge. Using a cognitive load approach it is argued that without guidance, learners have to allocate cognitive capacity to structuring the cooperative process of knowledge sharing, thus diminishing the capacity available for knowledge sharing and learning. In the domain of online information-seeking, it is investigated whether peer-tutoring can be used as guidance and how peer-tutoring is ...

In Learning Networks, learners need to acquire knowledge through knowledge sharing with other par... more In Learning Networks, learners need to acquire knowledge through knowledge sharing with other participants. However, without support, learners have to self-organize knowledge sharing and this could induce extraneous load. According to cognitive load theory, this self-organized knowledge sharing becomes detrimental to learning effectiveness and efficiency when working on complex tasks. This study investigated the effect of using peer tutoring to support knowledge sharing on different levels of task complexity in the Learning Network ...

Learning Networks are particularly suitable for lifelong learners as Learning Networks are online... more Learning Networks are particularly suitable for lifelong learners as Learning Networks are online social networks designed to support non-formal learning. Lifelong learners want to learn what they need, when they need it and at a place and pace that suits them. Combined with the heterogeneous background of the learners, it is very hard to meet these needs with traditional curriculum based formal education. Instead the learner needs to be put central. Moreover, learners in a LN need to rely on learning through and with others, by sharing ...