The impact of ICT on educational achievements is a controversial issue which has attracted increasing attention from both policy makers and researchers. Policy makers have shown great enthusiasm over ...the positive impact of ICT on teaching and learning, investing substantially in this area. However, scientific evidence does not clearly support this effort.
This paper analyses the impact of the use of ICT at school on students’ outcomes in compulsory secondary education in maths, reading and science. It uses data from three rounds of PISA (2009, 2012, 2015) for Spanish regions (Autonomous Communities). From this, the paper analyses whether, in those Autonomous Communities which have taken greater steps in increasing the use of ICT at school, educational outcomes have improved more than in the others. This analysis takes advantage of the availability of representative samples for Spanish Autonomous Communities in PISA, together with autonomy and variability across them as regards the use of ICT at school. This makes it possible to capture the effect of the different policies adopted by Spanish Autonomous Communities on the use of ICT at school.
The results show that an increase in the use of ICT at school in an Autonomous Community does not render positive effects on PISA scores in maths and reading, whilst we do find a positive effect on PISA scores in science. These results suggest that the impact of ICT on educational outcomes depends on the subject and on the type of use of the technologies. As a result, policies oriented at increasing the educational use of ICT should require a careful evaluation, to identify in which fields, for which uses and for which methods of use, it may render a positive effect on educational outcomes.
•Spanish regions have made substantial investments in equipping schools with ICT.•We evaluate whether regions that further increased ICT at schools achieved higher improvements in students' outcomes.•We estimate a multilevel model with data of 61,042 students, attending 2,195 schools, distributed in 13 regions.•A higher use of ICT at school has a positive effect on outcomes in science, but non-significant effects in maths and reading.
This article draws out the implications for school and classroom practices of an emerging consensus about the science of learning and development, outlined in a recent synthesis of the research. ...Situating the review in a developmental systems framework, we synthesize evidence from the learning sciences and several branches of educational research regarding well-vetted strategies that support the kinds of relationships and learning opportunities needed to promote children's well-being, healthy development, and transferable learning. In addition, we review research regarding practices that can help educators respond to individual variability, address adversity, and support resilience, such that schools can enable all children to find positive pathways to adulthood.
In this paper we discuss the ongoing colonial relationship between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous peoples in Canada with a consideration of how to align the principles and core values of community ...psychology in relation to Indigenous rights, decolonization, and social justice. In working with Community Psychology values to address issues of social justice it is necessary to recognize that empowerment alone is only one half of the solution. While our discipline focuses on oppression and the empowerment of vulnerable and disenfranchised populations we generally fail to consider the relational aspects of power and justice. Specifically, in recognizing power inequities the focus is often placed on empowerment among vulnerable or subjugated communities while neglecting the requisite counterbalance of consciousness‐raising and de‐powerment of dominant populations. The authors provide three personal accounts from a non‐Indigenous faculty member, an Indigenous doctoral student, and a recently graduated non‐Indigenous Masters student. We share our experiences of conscientization and decolonization within the post‐secondary and graduate education systems. We describe an educational context, a pedagogical praxis, and our efforts to bridge the theories of Settler colonialism and community psychology. From our individual and collective reflections of engagement with decolonization in the education system we present an emergent framework that highlights four principles for decolonization. In implementing these principles we discuss the co‐creation of safe(r), decolonized spaces within post‐secondary institutions through deconstructing dominant narratives and illuminating Indigenous narratives of self‐determination with attention to the de‐powerment of non‐Indigenous faculty and students.
Highlights
Provides novel standpoint reflections on decolonization by Indigenous and non‐Indigenous authors.
Contributes to critical scholarship on concepts of allyship and depowerment in Community Psychology.
Offers four practice principles for decolonizing the academy and the Community Psychology classroom.
Educational researchers have recognized Augmented Reality (AR) as a technology with great potential to impact affective and cognitive learning outcomes. However, very little work has been carried out ...to substantiate these claims. The purpose of this study was to assess to which extent an AR learning application affects learners' level of enjoyment and learning effectiveness. The study followed an experimental/control group design using the type of the application (AR-based, web-based) as independent variable. 64 high school students were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group to learn the basic principles of electromagnetism. The participants' knowledge acquisition was evaluated by comparing pre- and post-tests. The participants' level overall-state perception on flow was measured with the Flow State Scale and their flow states were monitored throughout the learning activity. Finally, participants' perceptions of benefits and difficulties of using the augmented reality application in this study were qualitatively identified. The results showed that the augmented reality approach was more effective in promoting students' knowledge of electromagnetic concepts and phenomena. The analysis also indicated that the augmented reality application led participants to reach higher flow experience levels than those achieved by users of the web-based application. However, not all the factors seem to have influence on learners' flow state, this study found that they were limited to: concentration, distorted sense of time, sense of control, clearer direct feedback, and autotelic experience. A deeper analysis of the flow process showed that neither of the groups reported being in flow in those tasks that were very easy or too difficult. However, for those tasks that were not perceived as difficult and included visualization clues, the experimental group showed higher levels of flow that the control group. The study suggests that augmented reality can be exploited as an effective learning environment for learning the basic principles of electromagnetism at high school provided that learning designers strike a careful balance between AR support and task difficulty.
•Comparison of augmented reality and Web interfaces for learning electromagnetism.•Higher levels of flow were observed in students who worked with augmented reality.•Evaluation reports better learning outcomes for augmented reality interface users.
This meta-analysis synthesizes the literature on interventions for struggling readers in Grades 4 through 12 published between 1980 and 2011. It updates Scammacca et al.’s analysis of studies ...published between 1980 and 2004. The combined corpus of 82 study-wise effect sizes was meta-analyzed to determine (a) the overall effectiveness of reading interventions studied over the past 30 years, (b) how the magnitude of the effect varies based on student, intervention, and research design characteristics, and (c) what differences in effectiveness exist between more recent interventions and older ones. The analysis yielded a mean effect of 0.49, considerably smaller than the 0.95 mean effect reported in 2007. The mean effect for standardized measures was 0.21, also much smaller than the 0.42 mean effect reported in 2007. The mean effects for reading comprehension measures were similarly diminished. Results indicated that the mean effects for the 1980–2004 and 2005–2011 groups of studies were different to a statistically significant degree. The decline in effect sizes over time is attributed at least in part to increased use of standardized measures, more rigorous and complex research designs, differences in participant characteristics, and improvements in the school’s “business-as-usual” instruction that often serves as the comparison condition in intervention studies.
ABSTRACT Concern about Early School Leaving (ESL) is a constant in European and national policies, justifying specific educational measures to reduce it. Results show that the majority of those with ...compulsory secondary education continue to study successfully, thus contributing to the reduction of ESL. ...30% of the students who enroll in Secondary Education (ESO) do not complete this level, and approximately two thirds of that percentage drop out before the 4th year. Though graduation from BVET is lower than that of the PCPI, its contribution to improving the drop-out rate is clear because it allows for the certification of ISCED level 3.
This work investigates the development of students’ computational thinking (CT) skills in the context of educational robotics (ER) learning activity. The study employs an appropriate CT model for ...operationalising and exploring students’ CT skills development in two different age groups (15 and 18 years old) and across gender. 164 students of different education levels (Junior high: 89; High vocational: 75) engaged in ER learning activities (2 hours per week, 11 weeks totally) and their CT skills were evaluated at different phases during the activity, using different modality (written and oral) assessment tools. The results suggest that: (a) students reach eventually the same level of CT skills development independent of their age and gender, (b) CT skills in most cases need time to fully develop (students’ scores improve significantly towards the end of the activity), (c) age and gender relevant differences appear when analysing students’ score in the various specific dimensions of the CT skills model, (d) the modality of the skill assessment instrument may have an impact on students’ performance, (e) girls appear in many situations to need more training time to reach the same skill level compared to boys.
•Students reach the same level of Computational Thinking (CT) skills development independent of their age and gender.•Computational Thinking skills in most cases need time to fully develop (students’ scores improve significantly towards the end of the activity).•Girls appear in many situations to need more training time to reach the same skill level compared to boys.•The different modality (written and oral) of the CT skill assessment instrument may have an impact on students’ performance.
Using hearing aids appears to reduce the excess risk from hearing loss. New evidence supports adding three modifiable risk factors—excessive alcohol consumption, head injury, and air pollution—to our ...2017 Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care life-course model of nine factors (less education, hypertension, hearing impairment, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, and infrequent social contact). Encourage use of hearing aids for hearing loss and reduce hearing loss by protection of ears from excessive noise exposure. Examples include creating environments that have physical activity as a norm, reducing the population profile of blood pressure rising with age through better patterns of nutrition, and reducing potential excessive noise exposure.
In this review we examine the evidence regarding self-determination theory within the school physical education context. We applied a multilevel structural equation modeling approach to meta-analyze ...data from a systematic review that identified 265 relevant studies. In line with theory, autonomous motivation was positively correlated with adaptive outcomes and negatively correlated with maladaptive outcomes. Introjected regulation was modestly correlated with both adaptive and maladaptive outcomes. External regulation and amotivation both showed negative relationships with adaptive outcomes, and positive relationship with maladaptive outcomes. Also supporting SDT, autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfactions were strongly correlated with autonomous student motivation, and less strongly, but still positively, correlated with introjected regulation. Weak negative correlations were found between autonomy, competence, and relatedness and external regulation. Amotivation had moderate negative correlations with needs satisfaction. Findings further revealed that teachers more greatly impact classroom experiences of autonomy and competence, whereas relatedness in physical education is associated with both peer and teacher influences.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
We found that the different types of motivation identified in SDT differentially predict student outcomes in predicted ways, and that these motivations are systematically associated with instructor supports for students' basic psychological needs. Although teachers can support all three students' psychological needs, teachers appear to have greater influence on students' autonomy and competence, whereas peers seem to have more impact on students' relatedness. These results have implications for the design of teacher and peer focused interventions.
This study comprises two meta-analyses conducted to investigate relations between socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement, with a focus on macro-level, micro-level, and methodological ...moderating variables in primary and secondary education. The first meta-analysis is based on 326 empirical studies with 949,699 students from 47 countries and areas, and the second is based on three international large-scale assessments (i.e., PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS) with 1230 independent samples of 5,095,283 students from 105 countries and areas. We found moderate correlations between SES and academic achievement across the world,
r
s = .22 ~ .28. Moderation analyses revealed that (a) these relations have strengthened since the 1990s; (b) GDP per capita and economic equality did not affect the relations; (c) higher net enrollment ratio and longer duration of compulsory education did not weaken these relations; (d) the relations stayed stable or even strengthened across grades in concurrent and longitudinal designs. Taken together, our findings suggest that educational expansion that focuses on increasing educational opportunities does not seem to reduce inequalities in academic outcomes between high- and low-SES school children in educational systems on the national level. Quality indicators for educational expansion, however, should be considered in setting educational policy to achieve inclusive, equitable education.
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