The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of a pedagogical model of digital games on students' scientific competencies that are advocated by the Programme for International Student ...Assessment (PISA). As a single game‐based learning strategy may not be enough to enhance such competencies, the online game in the current study incorporated the design of the proposed pedagogical gamification, assessment, modeling, and enquiry (GAME) model. The participants were 69 sixth grade students at one primary school in Taiwan. A quasi‐experimental design was adopted. The experimental group students learned with the GAME model, whereas the comparison group students only learned with traditional learning way. The results showed that the learning gain in scientific competencies of the experimental group was better than those of the comparison group. This study revealed that the GAME model has potential to promote students' PISA scientific competencies. It is suggested that the integral GAME model may serve as one kind of strategies to enhance students' scientific competencies.
Lay Description
What is already known about this topic:
The existing literature suggested that GBL has the potential to improve science learning.
Studies of the effect of GBL on students' scientific competencies are still limited.
What this paper adds:
This study proposed the pedagogical GAME model that consists of gamification, assessment, modeling, and enquiry.
This study revealed that the GAME model led to differences in primary school students' scientific competencies.
Implications for practice and/or policy:
The enquiry activities embedded in games were shown to be crucial for students' learning gains of scientific competencies.
The GAME model may serve as a reference for improving students' scientific literacy.
A raíz de los bajos resultados obtenidos en las pruebas PISA, en Colombia el desarrollo de competencias se convierte en un objetivo urgente para generar efectos de cambio en la sociedad, por lo ...tanto, los docentes estamos llamados a proponer actividades que aporten a su desarrollo desde la escuela. Sin embargo, la conexión entre las competencias, el currículo y la aplicación en el aula no es una tarea fácil. En consecuencia, esta investigación se centró en desarrollar la competencia científica en estudiantes de grado octavo y noveno de la Institución Educativa Distrital Alfredo Iriarte en la ciudad de Bogotá, mediante un proceso de intervención que emplea una línea de saberes sustentada en el enfoque por competencias de PISA, todo lo anterior está enmarcado en contextos de aprendizaje de interés socio-científico. Dicha investigación se deriva del análisis de los ítems PISA y de la comprensión de las sub-competencias científicas que arrojaron los resultados de anteriores investigaciones, diseñando así actividades a partir de dichos ítems y adaptándolos a nuestro contexto, que fueron posteriormente aplicados a los alumnos. Proceso que fue evaluado mediante una metodología cuasi experimental donde el grupo intervenido obtuvo una mejora significativa en el desarrollo de las habilidades que componen la competencia científica en comparación a los de control. Entre las implicaciones didácticas se señala la necesidad de diseñar actividades que requieran diferente nivel cognoscitivo por parte del docente, esto con el propósito de desarrollar paulatinamente sus capacidades y habilidades que permitan la conexión entre los distintos saberes y las diferentes sub-competencias que el alumnado debería alcanzar.
Institutions of Higher Education seek to instil in their students the scientific competencies throughout the guidance of different included courses in their curriculums. However, the assimilation of ...diverse methodologies evidence the lack of development of those scientific competencies necessary for professionals to be graduated and therefore required by the labour market. This research examines the research competencies of students of higher education sample (N=189) to determine their appreciation towards scientific competencies they consider to have developed in both their educational processes. The results prove the perception of subjects in respect to the development of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, decision-making, problem-solving and acquisition of scientific competences, the basic ones; use of technology, appropriation of new knowledge, self-learning and search of information, specialized competences, drafting of reports, design of articles, presentations, development of degree works and definition of new projects. The application of ANOVA detects that there are significant differences according to the gender of subjects on competencies referred to the search of physical information where women stand out, and reading comprehension of documents in English where men stand out. Besides, it’s demonstrated that these competences contribute to students’ critical thinking. IES required to include research as mechanism to strengthen the education.
This study investigated the associations among students' attitudes towards science, students' perceived difficulty of learning science, gender, parents' occupations and their scientific competencies. ...A sample of 1591 (720 males and 871 females) ninth-grade students from 29 junior high schools in Shanghai completed a scientific competency test and a Likert scale questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students' general interest of science, their parents' occupations and perceived difficulty of science significantly associated with their scientific competencies. However, there was no gender gap in terms of scientific competencies.
In recent years, research on students' scientific competencies has generated much discussion. According to the PISA 2015 Assessment and Analytical Framework, both scientific competencies and ...attitudes towards science - interest in science, valuing scientific approaches to enquiry (or epistemological beliefs about science), and environmental awareness - are integral aspects of scientific literacy. However, few studies have focused on the relationships between them. This article examines how students' scientific competencies are affected by their attitudes. Based on a theoretical analysis, the present study argues that the three attitudinal factors have a direct impact on scientific competencies, interest has an immediate influence on the other two attitudes, and epistemological beliefs are directly affected by environmental awareness. To test this hypothesis, a model was constructed to verify such relationships. PISA 2015 assessment instruments were used for data collection. The participants were 25,658 students from different parts of China, containing Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results confirmed our hypothesis. The way in which Chinese students' attitudes affected their scientific competencies did not differ (to a statistically significant level) by gender or district. The limitations and implications of this research are discussed below.
Providing medical students with opportunities for research experience is challenging for medical schools in developing countries. The Research Training Program (RTP), which is carried out in Ege ...University Faculty of Medicine (EUFM) parallel to the core curriculum, aims to improve the scientific competencies of the highly motivated students and to provide them with the opportunity to conduct a research. The purpose of this project is to evaluate RTP through the perspectives of students and faculty members.
This phenomenological study included two groups; students of RTP and faculty members who contributed to the program. Interviews were conducted with the research group whose selection was determined by maximum variation technique. Interviews with new individuals continued until data saturation was reached. Interpretative data analysis started with close reading of the transcripts and generating a list of codes. Coding by two independently, developing categories and themes were the following steps.
Twenty-one RTP students and 14 faculty members were interviewed. The main motivation for students to participate was the desire to learn how to do research. The introduction course providing the students with the basic competencies needs to be improved in terms of practical activities. It was reported that during the project process students needed intensive guidance especially in finding a research topic and a mentor. The students' lack of time, deficit of enough mentoring and the fact that conducting a research does not provide a competitive advantage for residency are important obstacles to the completion of the program. The most frequently mentioned achievement of the students is to learn all the stages of the research as well as getting acquainted with critical thinking.
This research showed that it was realistic to implement research programs for highly motivated students in medical schools with conditions like those in EUFM. The solution of mentor shortage emerged in this study is dependent on the adoption of student research as a national policy. Getting acquainted with the interrogative thinking style, conducting research, and making lifelong learning a core value are more important outcomes of research programs than the number of completed projects.
This study aimed to explore the effect of peer coaching on science teachers’ practice and their students’ scientific competencies. The mixed method approach and static group comparison design were ...adopted. The participants in this study consisted of four science teachers and 132 high school students. The results showed that the students in the peer-coached group teachers’ classes demonstrated more positive perceptions of their teachers’ teaching practice than those in the comparison group. The students in the peer-coached group teachers’ classes outperformed their counterparts in terms of their scientific competencies. From the teachers’ perception, peer coaching workshops encouraged them to use science literacy-based instruction and improve their assessment knowledge. These workshops also guided them to carry out reflections and provided them with the support and opportunities for interactions. These results indicated that the peer coaching model may improve science teachers’ teaching practice and their students’ scientific competencies.
The aim of this paper is to present the development of a longitudinal curriculum for medical students that is rooted in the particularity of the medical sciences and that aims to build and strengthen ...medical students' scientific skills and use thereof in clinical practice.
The curriculum development was initiated based on students' feedback on the initial curriculum. To improve and expand the curriculum appropriately, a needs assessment, a literature review to define science specific to the medical sciences and practice, and an analysis of national and international curricula were performed. The curriculum development followed the PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act).
The curriculum extends across the entire medical study programme from semesters 1 to 10. It consists of the seminar series on basic conduct and the epistemological groundings of science, scientific methods in medical research and health sciences, statistics and the scientific internship. Up to the sixth semester, the focus is on the acquisition of skills and abilities to work on and carry out a concrete research project; starting in semester seven, the critical evaluation and application of research results in everyday clinical practice are introduced. The curriculum is taught by epidemiologists, anthropologists, statisticians and public health scholars. Starting in semester seven, seminars are generally taught together with clinicians as tandem teaching. The curriculum is regularly assessed and adjusted.
The Brandenburg Scientific Curriculum can be seen as a model of a longitudinal curriculum to teach scientific thinking and acting. One that is at the same time highly integrated in the medical curriculum overall. A central coordination point seems to be necessary to coordinate the teaching content and to ensure that teachers are interconnected. Furthermore, a complex curriculum in scientific methodology requires a set of teachers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. To ensure equally high-quality education, the variability of research projects and faculty must be taken into account by establishing generally applicable evaluation criteria and fostering faculty development, and providing all students supporting courses throughout the research project.
Cet article a pour objet de questionner la méthodologie utilisée par les enseignants en formation en master d’enseignement premier degré et enseignement maternel à l’Université des Açores, pour ...évaluer le développement de compétences scientifiques chez les enfants en cycle primaire et préscolaire. Le « registre ethnographique » nommé ainsi par les étudiants et professeurs impliqués dans cette recherche, sera analysé en tant qu’outil scientifique permettant de lire des indices de développement de compétences scientifiques. L’utilisation des guillemets dans le titre et dans le texte fait référence aux différentes utilisations du terme ethnographie. Il s’agira donc de mettre en perspective, tant l’utilisation faite par les étudiants de ce qu’ils appellent le « registre ethnographique », que la méthodologie ethnographique même en tant qu’outil scientifique d’analyse des comportements des enfants.
The aim of this article is to question the methodology used by the first grade and preschool’s teachers, training for the master degree in First grade and pre-school teaching in the University of Azores. It is to assess the development of children’s scientific competences in primary school and pre-school. The « ethnographic register » so called by the students and teachers involved in the research will be analyzed as a scientific tool that enables the reading of development index of scientific competences. The use of double quotes refers to diverse uses of the term « ethnography ». Though, it will be put into perspective their use of the term « ethnographic register » and the actual ethnographic methodology used to analyze children’s behavior.
The scientific competencies advocated by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) focus on the abilities needed in students' adult lives. This study investigated how such scientific ...competencies could be improved by using online argumentation. One hundred and thirty-eight 8th grade high school students took part in the study, with 69 in the experimental group and 69 in the control group. A quasi-experimental design was adopted and qualitative and quantitative analyses were used. An online argumentation system served as an aid for argumentation instruction and activities among experimental group students during the experiment. The results showed that using online argumentation could improve the students' scores for the PISA scientific competencies. The experimental group students outperformed their counterparts in terms of overall mean scores for the scientific competencies. On the one hand, the individual competencies of 'using scientific evidence' and 'identifying scientific issues' of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group. On the other hand, the experimental group students did not outperform their counterparts in terms of competency in 'explaining phenomena scientifically'. Using an online environment to complement argumentation instruction and organizing argumentation activities focused on related topics may be a potential direction to consider for improving students' PISA scientific competencies.
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