► Interest in engaging further with particular science topics provides an effective task related measure of student interest in science. ► Personal value, enjoyment and interest in science are ...predictive of students’ interest in engaging further with science topics. ► Enjoyment of science is not dependent on high levels of science knowledge. ► Relations between science knowledge and enjoyment of science vary across countries with different cultural traditions.
Recent research has expanded understanding of the contribution of emotions to student engagement and achievement. Achievement emotions can be conceptualized as general ways of responding to achievement settings or specific emotional states aroused during a specific learning activity. Emotion processes can be distinguished as positive or negative, activating or deactivating. Using data from an international survey of science achievement (PISA 2006;
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400,000 15-year-old students from 57 countries), relations between the positive, activating achievement emotion of enjoyment and a number of variables that combine with enjoyment to define students’ engagement with learning science are examined. Previously, we reported that enjoyment is central to relations between interest in science, value and knowledge, and students’ reported current and future engagement. The embedded attitudinal items from PISA 2006 allow testing of how enjoyment contributes to a more direct measure of engagement with science by assessing students’ interest in finding out more about the specific topics used to measure their science achievement. In this investigation, structural equation modeling is used to test predictions based on
Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest development, and
Pekrun’s (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions.
This Open Access book summarizes the key findings from the second cycle of IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), conducted in 2018. ICILS seeks to establish how well ...schools around the globe are responding to the need to provide young people with the necessary digital participatory competencies. Effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is an imperative for successful participation in an increasingly digital world. ICILS 2018 explores international differences in students’ computer and information literacy (CIL), namely their ability to use computers to investigate, create, and communicate at home, at school, in the workplace, and in the community. Participating countries also had an option to administer an assessment of students’ computational thinking (CT), focused on their ability to recognize aspects of real-world problems appropriate for computational formulation, and to evaluate and develop algorithmic solutions to those problems, so that the solutions could be operationalized with a computer. The data collected by ICILS 2018 show how digital competencies can be assessed using instruments representing authentic contexts for ICT use, and how students’ CIL and CT skills relate to school learning experiences, out-of-school contexts, and student characteristics. Those data also show how learning technologies are used in classrooms around the world. Background questionnaires asked students about their use of ICT, and collected information from teachers, schools, and national education systems about the resourcing and teaching of CIL (and CT) within their countries. The results of ICILS 2018 will enable policymakers and education systems to develop a better understanding of the contexts and outcomes of CIL (and CT) education programs.
This open access book presents a systematic investigation into internationally comparable data gathered in ICILS 2013. It identifies differences in female and male students’ use of, perceptions ...about, and proficiency in using computer technologies. Teachers’ use of computers, and their perceptions regarding the benefits of computer use in education, are also analyzed by gender. When computer technology was first introduced in schools, there was a prevailing belief that information and communication technologies were ‘boys’ toys’; boys were assumed to have more positive attitudes toward using computer technologies. As computer technologies have become more established throughout societies, gender gaps in students’ computer and information literacy appear to be closing, although studies into gender differences remain sparse. The IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) is designed to discover how well students are prepared for study, work, and life in the digital age. Despite popular beliefs, a critical finding of ICILS 2013 was that internationally girls tended to score more highly than boys, so why are girls still not entering technology-based careers to the same extent as boys? Readers will learn how male and female students differ in their computer literacy (both general and specialized) and use of computer technology, and how the perceptions held about those technologies vary by gender.
In this paper, we examine the nature of interest in science as represented in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 data. We discuss the interconnections between measures of ...knowledge, affect, and value as components of interest in science. Working from a perspective acknowledging that many of the models of motivation represented in the literature have been developed in Western countries, we investigated whether the ways that knowledge, affect, and value combine in the structure of students' interest in science might vary in line with historical and cultural traditions. Four countries were chosen to represent contrasting cultural values as defined in analyses of the World Values Surveys and the European Values Surveys-Colombia, Estonia, USA, and Sweden. Models are described showing variations in fit across the four countries. Efforts to increase the attractiveness of science to students should take heed of the fact that all models indicated a central role for enjoyment of science in the paths linking personal value, interest, and current science activities with intentions for future participation in science. Differences in the strength of the associations between science knowledge and interest in science support the proposition that the interconnections between knowledge, affect, and value need to be understood in relation to students' broader historical and cultural context.
This open access publication outlines the underlying framework for gathering data on civic knowledge, attitudes, and engagement as well as contextual information, and it describes the assessment ...design for the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s (IEA) International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2022. The IEA International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) investigates how young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in a range of countries in the second decade of the 21st century. ICCS 2022 is a continuation of two earlier IEA studies, ICCS 2009 and ICCS 2016, and, for the first time, this survey includes the option of a computer-based assessment. Responding to enduring and emerging challenges of educating young people in a world where contexts of democracy and civic participation continue to change, the study addresses issues related to young people’s engagement through digital technologies, migration and diversity, perceptions of the political system, global citizenship, and education for sustainable development. Over the past 50 years, IEA has conducted comparative research studies in a range of domains focusing on educational policies, practices, and outcomes in many countries around the world. Prior to ICCS 2022, IEA conducted four international comparative studies of civic and citizenship education, with a first survey implemented in 1971, a second one in 1999, third in 2009 and fourth in 2016. ICCS 2022 data will allow education systems to evaluate the strengths of educational policies, both internationally, and in a regional context, and to measure progress in achieving critical components of their educational policy agendas.
This study estimates the prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents in Australia, and the severity and impact of those mental disorders. Seven mental disorders were assessed using the ...parent- or carer-completed version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV, and major depressive disorder was also assessed using the youth self-report version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV. Severity and impact were assessed using an extended version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV impact on functioning questions, and days absent from school due to symptoms of mental disorders. Data were collected in a national face-to-face survey of 6310 parents or carers of children and adolescents aged 4-17 years, with 2969 young people aged 11-17 years also completing a self-report questionnaire. Twelve-month prevalence of mental disorders was 13.9%, with 2.1% of children and adolescents having severe disorders, 3.5% having moderate disorders and 8.3% having mild disorders. The most common class of disorders was attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder followed by anxiety disorders. Mental disorders were more common in step-, blended- or one-parent families, in families living in rented accommodation and families where one or both carers were not in employment. Mental disorders were associated with a substantial number of days absent from school particularly in adolescents. Mental disorders are common in children and adolescents, often have significant impact and are associated with substantial absences from school. Child and adolescent mental disorders remain an important public health problem in Australia. Accurate information about prevalence and severity of child and adolescent mental disorders is an essential prerequisite for effective mental health policy and service planning. Author abstract
Religious attachment has been identified as an important correlate of civic participation, civic engagement, and civil participation among adults. This study investigates two aspects of relationships ...between religiosity and intended political engagement among lower secondary school students in 2009 and 2016. One aspect is the extent to which religious attachment is associated with an endorsement of the influence of religion in society. This can be viewed as the converse of secularity which asks for the separation of social and political institutions from religion. A second aspect investigated is the extent to which religious attachment is associated with expected adult electoral participation and expected adult active political participation after controlling for the effects of other characteristics. While the results from this study show no strong or consistent relationships between religious background and expected political participation among lower-secondary students, findings suggest that young people’s endorsement of religious influence in society depends strongly on their religious background and in turn shows associations with expected active political participation.
Working memory training may help children with attention and learning difficulties, but robust evidence from population-level randomized controlled clinical trials is lacking.
To test whether a ...computerized adaptive working memory intervention program improves long-term academic outcomes of children 6 to 7 years of age with low working memory compared with usual classroom teaching.
Population-based randomized controlled clinical trial of first graders from 44 schools in Melbourne, Australia, who underwent a verbal and visuospatial working memory screening. Children were classified as having low working memory if their scores were below the 15th percentile on either the Backward Digit Recall or Mister X subtest from the Automated Working Memory Assessment, or if their scores were below the 25th percentile on both. These children were randomly assigned by an independent statistician to either an intervention or a control arm using a concealed computerized random number sequence. Researchers were blinded to group assignment at time of screening. We conducted our trial from March 1, 2012, to February 1, 2015; our final analysis was on October 30, 2015. We used intention-to-treat analyses.
Cogmed working memory training, comprising 20 to 25 training sessions of 45 minutes' duration at school.
Directly assessed (at 12 and 24 months) academic outcomes (reading, math, and spelling scores as primary outcomes) and working memory (also assessed at 6 months); parent-, teacher-, and child-reported behavioral and social-emotional functioning and quality of life; and intervention costs.
Of 1723 children screened (mean SD age, 6.9 0.4 years), 226 were randomized to each arm (452 total), with 90% retention at 1 year and 88% retention at 2 years; 90.3% of children in the intervention arm completed at least 20 sessions. Of the 4 short-term and working memory outcomes, 1 outcome (visuospatial short-term memory) benefited the children at 6 months (effect size, 0.43 95% CI, 0.25-0.62) and 12 months (effect size, 0.49 95% CI, 0.28-0.70), but not at 24 months. There were no benefits to any other outcomes; in fact, the math scores of the children in the intervention arm were worse at 2 years (mean difference, -3.0 95% CI, -5.4 to -0.7; P = .01). Intervention costs were A$1035 per child.
Working memory screening of children 6 to 7 years of age is feasible, and an adaptive working memory training program may temporarily improve visuospatial short-term memory. Given the loss of classroom time, cost, and lack of lasting benefit, we cannot recommend population-based delivery of Cogmed within a screening paradigm.
anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12610000486022.
the objective of this article is to describe the study design of Young Minds Matter: The second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. The aims of the study, sample ...design, development of survey content, field procedures and final questionnaires are detailed. During 2013-2014, a national household survey of the mental health and wellbeing of young people was conducted involving a sample of 6310 families selected at random from across Australia. The survey included a face-to-face diagnostic interview with parents/carers of 4- to 17-year-olds and a self-report questionnaire completed by young people aged 11-17 years. The overall response rate to the survey was 55% with 6310 parents/carers of eligible households participating in the survey. In addition, 2967 or 89% of young people aged 11-17 years in these participating households completed a questionnaire. The survey sample was found to be broadly representative of the Australian population on major demographic characteristics when compared with data from the Census of Population and Housing. However, adjustments were made for an over-representation of younger children aged 4 to 7 years and also families with more than one eligible child in the household. Young Minds Matter provides updated national prevalence estimates of common child and adolescent mental disorders, describes patterns of service use and will help to guide future decisions in the development of policy and provision of mental health services for children and adolescents. Advancements in interviewing methodology, addition of a data linkage component and informed content development contributed to improved breadth and quality of the data collected. Author abstract
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