Search Results (4,246)

While visual literacy has been identified as a foundational skill in life science education, there are many challenges in teaching and assessing biomolecular visualization skills. Among these are the lack of consensus about what constitutes competence and limited understanding of student and instructor perceptions of visual literacy tasks. In this study, we administered a set of biomolecular visualization assessments, developed as part of the BioMolViz project, to both students and instructors at multiple institutions and compared their perceptions of task difficulty. We then analyzed our findings using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analysis was used to answer the following research questions: (1) Which assessment items exhibit statistically significant disparities or agreements in perceptions of difficulty between instructors and students? (2) Do these perceptions persist when controlling for race/ethnicity and gender? and (3) How does student perception of difficulty relate to performance? Qualitative analysis of open-ended comments was used to identify predominant themes related to visual problem solving. The results show that perceptions of difficulty significantly differ between students and instructors and that students’ performance is a significant predictor of their perception of difficulty. Overall, this study underscores the need to incorporate deliberate instruction in visualization into undergraduate life science curricula to improve student ability in this area. Accordingly, we offer recommendations to promote visual literacy skills in the classroom. Full article

Many educators agree that science instruction should be dominated by inquiry strategies, while others stress the need for responsive practices to place a focus on student learning and understanding. Some scholars believe the two approaches exist on opposite ends of an instructional spectrum, while others believe they may be aligned and intertwined. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), the broadly accepted gold standard for science education, seems to include both. Understanding how teachers incorporate inquiry strategies and responsiveness and how the two intersect could lead to a more complete framework for K–12 science instruction and help streamline science teacher education. This qualitative single-case study examined the reflections of a first-year chemistry teacher by exploring how she demonstrated responsiveness to students while maintaining a teaching orientation of inquiry-based instruction. Results indicated that responsiveness depended on a high level of PCK and led to higher or lower levels of inquiry based on the students’ need for teacher support. Additionally, findings showed that the teacher’s stated and demonstrated beliefs about inquiry were disconnected. Finally, a gap between science conceptual understanding and mathematics PCK suggested the need to support more innovative mathematics pedagogical strategies during physical science teacher education. Full article

Learning analytics (LA) involves collecting, processing, and visualizing big data to help teachers optimize learning conditions. Despite its contributions, LA has not yet been able to meet teachers’ needs because it does not provide sufficient actionable insights that emphasize more on analytics and less on learning. Our work uses specific analytics for student guidance to evaluate an instructional design that focuses on LA agency between teachers and students. The research goal is to investigate whether the minimal and strong guidance provided by the LA learning approach has the same impact on student outcomes. The research questions are as follows “Does the LA-based minimal and strong guidance learning approach have the same impact on student performance and SRL skills? What are the students’ learning perceptions and satisfaction under LA-based guidance?” A mixed methods study was conducted at a university in which LA-based strong guidance was applied to the experimental group and minimal guidance was given to the control group. When strong guidance was applied, the results indicated increased final grades and SRL skills (metacognitive activities, time management, persistence, and help seeking). Furthermore, student satisfaction was high with LA-based guidance. Future research could adapt our study to nonformal education to provide nuanced insights into student outcomes and teachers’ perceptions. Full article

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of using an educational program on the development of creative writing skills in fourth-grade students. Creative writing is an important component of teaching, learning, and assessment at the level of primary education. The objectives of the study aimed to identify the general level of development of creative writing skills and establish any significant differences in the development of specific components of creative writing skills (narrative voice, characterization, mood and atmosphere, language and technical aspects of writing, dialogue, narration, setting, image and plot). A quasi-experimental design with intervention and control groups was used. A total of 146 students from 3 public school institutions in the city of Bacau, Romania, that include elementary grades participated in the study. The research group consisted of 73 students in the intervention group and 73 students in the control group. A paired-samples t test was used to compare the scores for two paired variables. The research results have shown that creative writing skills are developing in young school-age students. Also, it was found that there are significant differences in the students from the experimental group, compared to the students in the control group, at the level of the nine components of creative writing skills. Full article

Design thinking is a set of cognitive, strategic, and practical procedures used in innovation. This article argues that this approach varies across disciplines. The contexts for this study are two higher educational frameworks where language and technology have different aims and target unique skill sets and where transdisciplinarity is crucial. In our contrastive case study, we use a four-step model to compare two contexts. QUAN(qual) → QUAL mixed methodology is used which includes a quantitative and a qualitative comparative analysis. Context one takes place in an education faculty and focuses on developing cultural heritage. Context two takes place within a research project on linguistics and telecommunications involving linguistic analysis and bioelectrical measurement. Our findings indicate that there are clear and specific differences between the two domains when approaching design thinking. We observe that engineers seem to have a tangible final product in mind at each step of the process, while in the social sciences, the construct is more humanistic in its approach and works towards multiple tangible goals, including an examination of the existing needs in the community. The novelty of the study is the applied approach it takes in treating transdisciplinarity as a skill that is essential both in research as well as in the teaching–learning process. Full article

A growing body of research demonstrates the effectiveness of computerized cognitive training (CCT) in building specific abilities (e.g., working memory) among school-age children. As a result, CCT is increasingly cited as a means to enhance and support students’ academic performance and school experience. However, many studies exploring CCT as an intervention have done so outside of the school setting, limiting its potential impact with regard to students who may benefit from it but cannot access such supports. This project examined the efficacy of a CCT program implemented within the academic day for all students attending a private school. The findings showed that two CCT programs resulted in improvements in working memory, cognitive flexibility, and/or processing speed among third graders through sixth graders (N = 95). Furthermore, this project demonstrates a model for the effective integration of CCT into a school day without interrupting the academic curriculum. The present results have important implications for the current ideological shift in education that focuses on how to more broadly address students’ learning differences. Full article

This study analyzes three competency areas promoted in the Practicum during the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 academic years: pedagogical and didactic competences, coexistence and participation management and collaborative work. To this end, using a non-experimental design, data were collected from a sample of 725 Education students from University of Salamanca with the aims of determining the students’ expectations about the Practicum prior to its development and of measuring its impact on the students during its development or the influence of the context imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was contextualized in two Practicum subjects included in the curricula of the bachelor’s degrees in Early Childhood/Primary Education at the University of Salamanca. Both degrees are taught at three different university centers, Ávila, Salamanca and Zamora. The results revealed the importance of the preparation of the students in their university training period with regard to the first competence area, together with the perceptions of the students about what they learnt in the competences of areas 2 and 3. Relevant conclusions were drawn about their learning expectations towards the second area and the problems caused by the pandemic in order to develop communication skills with students and families. Full article

The Portuguese educational system aims at nurturing the holistic development of individuals and societal progress, surpassing the mere transmission of curriculum-based knowledge. While considerable advancements have been made, the need for ongoing innovation and equal educational opportunities remains evident, so that all children can have not only equal access to education, but also equal chances of success. This study investigates the largest Portuguese Scout movement, the CNE, exploring its organisational and pedagogical approaches, potentially applicable in formal education settings. This research surveyed participants aged 18–22, having completed approximately 12 years in the Scout movement. Data collection via focus group followed a semi-structured script, before a thorough content analysis was carried. Findings are organised as follows: Pedagogical organisation in learning cycles; Patrol system; The four stages of the Project Method; Characterization of the Scout Game and other learning process dimensions; Other competencies and values developed throughout the Scout learning course; and Comparisons with formal education contexts. The discourse of participants strongly suggests the Scout movement’s potential to inspire educational change, displaying consistent indicators of pedagogical innovation. The study advocates for further exploration of the CNE’s pedagogical functioning and its potential to serve as an inspiration for transformative changes in educational systems worldwide, as evidenced by the learners’ reflections. Full article

Teaching students to think in complex systems and design is presumably intricate, creative, and nonlinear. However, due to the overwhelming number of standardized tools and frameworks, the process sometimes ends up being procedural and deductive. Conformity to rigid procedures loses the intention of creative problem-solving towards tackling wicked problems. This paper proposes a project-based approach to instill the mindsets for those who aspire to be design and systems thinkers through a first-year engineering course. Using the ADDIE model, the instructional design was implemented in three modules focusing on design, systems, and integration for real-world applications. The instructional design was evaluated via course feedback surveys and focus-group interviews. Students indicated positive impacts on creative mindsets, habits of systems thinkers, and interdisciplinary awareness. However, negative comments about the course arrangement such as heavy workload and disconnection between topics were identified. Suggestions from students, challenges faced by the instructors, and recommended practices are discussed. In times of increasing need to reform higher education due to digitization and artificial intelligence, this study provides a timely investigation of a new project-based and mindset-focused pedagogy in design and systems thinking education. Full article

This study explores the educational adoption of Minecraft as a boundary-crossing practice in primary schools. Previous research indicates that Minecraft can facilitate connections between educational activities and students’ out-of-school experiences, promoting the development of skills such as creativity, innovation, and collaboration. Using a qualitative approach, this study analyzed group interviews with 37 primary school students who participated in a Minecraft-based school project. The analysis focused on instances of boundary crossing associated with the Minecraft activity, allowing an examination of how various socio-cultural boundaries were overcome. The results suggest that educational activities in Minecraft can facilitate connections between school and out-of-school contexts. Moreover, the results indicate that Minecraft can serve as an interdisciplinary learning environment, enabling students to acquire knowledge and skills across diverse domains and disciplines. The analysis also underscores the significance of teachers’ design work in transforming the game into an educational resource. Overall, this article argues that the educational adoption of Minecraft has the potential to foster the construction of continuity between students’ different spheres of life, as well as prompting a reconsideration of students’ previous cultural classifications and social positions. Full article

Intergenerational leisure can be a tool to stimulate and reinforce the learning of primary school students. The aim of this study was to examine which leisure activities shared by grandparents and their grandchildren are carried out from the perception of intergenerational learning as one of the main reasons for joint practice, and its link with the grandparents’ level of education. An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to 329 students aged 6 to 12 years in the north of Spain, and a descriptive study and inferential analysis of the data were carried out. The leisure activities that students highlight the most as experiences in which they perceive that by sharing them with their grandparents, they learn from them, are board games, artistic activities, caring for plants or gardens and reading. There are only significant differences in the learning perceived by primary school students depending on the level of education of their grandparents in caring for plants or vegetable gardens, as the grandparents of children aged 6 to 12 in the northern part of Spain are more able to teach their grandchildren to care for plants or vegetable gardens when their level of education is primary education. These four activities highlighted by the grandchildren as facilitators of knowledge are very interesting instruments to stimulate and reinforce the education of primary school students, so involving grandparents in their grandchildren’s education and taking advantage of their knowledge and experience, as well as their ability to stimulate their grandchildren, is a good strategy to turn free time into valuable leisure time. Full article

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) requires innovative educational environments to leverage this technology effectively to address concerns like academic integrity, plagiarism, and others. Additionally, higher education needs effective pedagogies to achieve intended learning outcomes. This emphasizes the need to redesign active learning experiences in the GenAI era. Authentic assessment and experiential learning are two possible meaningful alternatives in this context. Accordingly, this article investigates how GenAI can enhance teaching and learning by constructively addressing study situations beyond conventional learning approaches and cultivating high-order skills and knowledge acquisition. This study employs thing ethnography to examine GenAI tools’ integration with authentic assessment and experiential learning and explore implementation alternatives. The results reveal insights into creating human-centered and GenAI-enhanced learning experiences within a constructive alignment. Specific examples are also provided to guide their implementation. Our contributions extend beyond the traditional use of GenAI tools as mere agents-to-write or agents-to-answer questions to become agents-to-support experiential learning for authentic assessment. These findings underscore the transformative role of GenAI tools in enhancing teaching and learning efficacy and effectiveness. The limitations in treating GenAI tools as subjects in thing ethnography are acknowledged, with potential for future implementation evaluation. Full article

The promise of Learning Analytics Dashboards in education is to collect, analyze, and visualize data with the ultimate ambition of improving students’ learning. Our overview of the latest systematic reviews on the topic shows a number of research trends: learning analytics research is growing rapidly; it brings to the front inequality and inclusiveness measures; it reveals an unclear path to data ownership and privacy; it provides predictions which are not clearly translated into pedagogical actions; and the possibility of self-regulated learning and game-based learning are not capitalized upon. However, as learning analytics research progresses, greater opportunities lie ahead, and a better integration between information science and learning sciences can bring added value of learning analytics dashboards in education. Full article

Starting early in life, children, especially girls, experience obstacles when it comes to developing an interest in STEM. Although early childhood (EC) educators face an important task in promoting girls (and boys) in STEM, they often face challenges in doing so. Therefore, it is crucial for EC educators to cultivate positive attitudes, self-concepts, and STEM skills. To address these identified issues, a three-month professional development program was created for EC educators. This professional development program was evaluated using a pre–post design with a focus on the self-concept and gender stereotypes of EC educators. The program involved 30 female EC educators in evaluating these aspects. The statistical analyses show positive results in enhancing educators’ self-concepts and reducing gender stereotypes over the course of this professional development program. The results suggest the potential of the blended learning design in this professional development program and indicate that this program could serve as a promising model for future interventions. Full article

School–museum partnerships have gained considerable attention in the academic literature in recent decades. However, their role in enhancing science education is still an under-researched topic. This work reports on the outcomes of the recovery, study, cataloging, and valorization of the 18th century geo-mineralogical collection belonging to the Collegio Nazareno, now housed at the Istituto San Giuseppe Calasanzio in Rome. The project, which was participated in by the students enrolled in the fourth- and fifth-grade high school classes, revealed rare specimens such as the mineralogical collection donated by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (1741–1740) in 1785. Furthermore, the laboratory activities organized from the stored samples highlighted educational approaches that helped students to cope with the complexities of authentic scientific work and cultural related issues. This work thus offers significant insights into the importance of natural history school museums as useful (and oft-forgotten) learning tools in science education. Full article