Investigating problem-based learning in Saudi Arabian mathematics education: a TIMSS-related study

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) on students’ mathematical performance. This includes mathematics achievement and students’ attitudes towards mathematics for third and eighth grade students in Saudi Arabia. Mathematics achievement includes, knowing, applying, and reasoning domains, while students’ attitudes towards mathematics covers, ‘Like learning mathematics’, ‘value mathematics’, and ‘a confidence to learn mathematics’. This study goes deeper to examine the interaction of a PBL teaching strategy, with trained face-to-face and self-directed learning teachers, on students’ performance (mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics). It also examines the interaction between different ability levels of students (high and low levels) with a PBL teaching strategy (with trained face-to-face or self-directed learning teachers) on students’ performance. It draws upon findings and techniques of the TIMSS international benchmarking studies. Mixed methods are used to analyse the quasi-experimental study data. One -way ANOVA, Mixed ANOVA, and paired t-tests models are used to analyse quantitative data, while a semi-structured interview with teachers, and author’s observations are used to enrich understanding of PBL and mathematical performance. The findings show that the PBL teaching strategy significantly improves students’ knowledge application, and is better than the traditional teaching methods among third grade students. This improvement, however, occurred only with the trained face-to-face teacher’s group. Furthermore, there is robust evidence that using a PBL teaching strategy could raise significantly students’ liking of learning mathematics, and confidence to learn mathematics, more than traditional teaching methods among third grade students. Howe ver, there was no evidence that PBL could improve students’ performance (mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics), more than traditional teaching methods, among eighth grade students. In 8th grade, the findings for low achieving students show significant improvement compared to high achieving students, whether PBL is applied or not. However, for 3th grade students, no significant difference in mathematical achievement between high and low achieving students was found. The results were not expected for high achieving students and this is also discussed. The implications of these findings for mathematics education in Saudi Arabia are considered.

Educación sexual: la asignatura pendiente

A pesar de los avances en el conocimiento de la educación sexual, la falta de estudios sobre la perspectiva de los docentes y la importancia de su rol al impartir esta temática a sus estudiantes adolescentes, ha llevado a realizar esta investigación presentada en este artículo. El estudio se centra en los conocimientos, prácticas y actitudes de los docentes de los colegios de la ciudad de Cuenca sobre la educación sexual de sus estudiantes adolescentes. Para ello se ha adoptado un enfoque cuantitativo, mediante la encuesta basada en un cuestionario de recogida de datos. La población del estudio consistió en una muestra de 180 docentes de los colegios públicos y privados. Los resultados demuestran que un porcentaje de docentes nunca recibió formación en temas de educación sexual. Esta falta de formación se refleja a su vez en la escasa participación de los docentes en el abordaje de la educación sexual en sus aulas, lo que lleva a los conceptos erróneos de salud sexual.

Valoración de los deberes y derechos docentes y de la comunidad educativa por las familias

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo principal conocer el grado de aceptación que tienen los deberes y derechos docentes y de la comunidad educativa entre las madres y padres que tienen hijos escolarizados en institutos y colegios. Se trata de una investigación descriptiva. Como instrumento de evaluación se ha empleado el cuestionario “Deberes y derechos del profesorado en la comunidad educativa”. En los resultados se demuestra que las madres y los padres consideran muy importantes los deberes y derechos presentados, sin que se observen diferencias significativas en función de la titularidad de los centros educativos, el cargo que ostentan en la asociación, la edad o el género de los participantes.

Knowing What to Do: School Focus, Teacher Morale, and Teacher Turnover

This study explored how schools��� focus – the collective perception among teachers of clarity and consistency regarding school goals, expectations, and priorities – related to schoolwide morale and school turnover rates. I examined the hypothesis that focus attenuates the deleterious effects of student misconduct on teacher morale and the contributory role of student misconduct leading to teacher turnover. In addition, I examined climate strength regarding perceptions school focus as an indicator of focus itself, as well a potential moderating effect of climate strength on the magnitude of school focus-school morale and school focus-turnover relationships. Data from a national sample of middle and high schools (N schools = 348, N teachers = 11,376) were analyzed using school-level multiple regression models. Schools with higher focus had significantly higher morale, independent of related perceptions of administrative leadership. No significant relationship was found between school focus and school turnover rates. The hypothesized moderating effect of focus on student misconduct and morale was not supported, though there was a significant indication that focus attenuated the positive relationship between student misconduct and turnover. Climate strength of school focus ratings significantly correlated with focus scores, but did not moderate relationships between focus and predicted outcomes. Findings suggest that school-level focus does represent a characteristic of schools that has a meaningful positive relationship with teacher morale but do not necessarily clarify how that relationship manifests in schools or if that relationship presents an avenue for intervention.

Relações entre mecanismos de coordenação e controle com desempenho organizacional: um estudo nas instituições públicas de ensino médio de Natal

This research aimed at relating coordination and control forms to organizational performance. The multicase study was applied in two public high schools: Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica do Rio Grande do Norte and Floriano Cavalcanti. In order to accomplish these objectives, it was developed a qualitative analysis and considered coordination and control forms of several authors. Also was considered Sander´s (1984) model of organizational performance. The mentioned model considers two criteria to analyze organizational performance: one instrumental (efficiency and efficacy) and other substantive (effectiveness e relevance). The research attempts to show the importance of balancing these criteria in a way that effectiveness and relevance becomes more important at schools. It was proven that the use of bureaucratic coordination forms has the power to influence the evaluation on the instrumental technique. At the same time, it was observed that the use of mechanisms based on the autonomy of the school is related to efficiency and efficacy. The object of this research can be considered successful

Valores profissionais família e grupo de pares

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Educacional.

Procedimento para estudo da escolha modal em viagens realizadas por estudantes de instituições de ensino médio, mediado pela psicologia social

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Civil e Ambiental, 2016.

Relatório final de estágio pedagógico realizado na Escola Básica e Secundária de Gama Barros

O estágio pedagógico em Educação Física é o momento derradeiro da formação inicial dos professores de Educação Física, surgindo, por isso, como uma etapa fulcral da sua formação, oferecendo ao novo professor, a oportunidade de prática do ensino em contexto real, conjetura essencial para o desenvolvimento das suas competências profissionais. O presente relatório incorpora o relato e a análise reflexiva das experiências vividas ao longo do estágio pedagógico realizado na Escola Básica e Secundária de Gama Barros no ano letivo 2014/2015, e integrado no Mestrado em Ensino da Educação Física nos Ensinos Básico e Secundário da Faculdade de Motricidade Humana. O documento apresenta como objetivo a exposição, reflexão e análise das atividades desenvolvidas, dificuldades encontradas, estratégias utilizadas e decisões tomadas no âmbito das diferentes áreas trabalhadas neste processo de formação. Isto é, a organização e gestão do ensino e da aprendizagem (nas dimensões de avaliação, planeamento e condução), a investigação e inovação pedagógica, a participação na escola e, ainda, a relação com a comunidade. Esta análise reflexiva permitiu a avaliação dos fatores que condicionaram o processo, evidenciando as mais-valias deste relatório para a formação do professor enquanto futuro profissional na área disciplinar de Educação Física.

Relatório de Estágio de Enfermagem Comunitária

O estágio de enfermagem comunitária, integrado no Mestrado em Enfermagem na área de especialização em enfermagem comunitária da ESSP decorreu no período de 14 de Fevereiro a 27 de Junho de 2011. Este foi desenvolvido em duas áreas de intervenção comunitárias distintas: a primeira na área da educação sexual na adolescência realizada aos alunos do 8.º, 9.º, 10.º ano e CEF das Escolas Secundárias Mouzinho da Silveira e São Lourenço; a segunda na área da promoção de hábitos de vida saudáveis nos adolescentes do 9.º ano e 12.º ano da Área Ciências e Tecnologia das escolas do Concelho de Portalegre integrada na promoção da imagem da Escola Superior de Saúde de Portalegre (realizada nas instalações da ESSP). Deste modo com este relatório pretendo:  Descrever e analisar de forma crítica os objetivos, intervenções e recursos utilizados durante o estágio;  Analisar o desenvolvimento das competências adquiridas;  Refletir sobre a prática do enfermeiro na intervenção comunitária; Para se atingir os objetivos propostos foram realizadas sessões e atividades de educação para a saúde quer no âmbito da educação sexual quer da promoção de estilos de vida saudáveis. Nestas sessões e atividades foram abrangidos 276 e 317 alunos respetivamente. Ao longo do estágio pude adquirir e desenvolver competências como enfermeiro especialista, para tal foi importantíssimo a utilização da metodologia de planeamento em saúde

Factores que influyen en la prevalencia de bullyng en estudiantes de los colegios rurales del Cantón Cuenca, Azuay, 2014.

Objetivo: Determinar los factores que influyen en la prevalencia de bullying en estudiantes de los colegios rurales del Cantón Cuenca, Azuay, 2014. Métodos: Estudio descriptivo transversal con participación de 493 estudiantes (283 hombres y 210 mujeres), de 11 a 19 años de edad. La selección de la muestra se realizó por aleatorización simple. Los datos se obtuvieron a través de una encuesta auto-aplicada, los instrumentos utilizados fueron el cuestionario de intimidación escolar CIE-A (Modificado) y el Test del APGAR Familiar. Los datos se procesaron en el programa SPSS 19. Resultados: La prevalencia de bullying en los estudiantes de los colegios rurales del Cantón Cuenca es del 20.0% en mujeres y 17.3% en varones, el acoso fue más evidente en estudiantes de octavos, novenos y decimos de básica superior 21.9%. El tipo de agresión más frecuente es el daño a la propiedad 98.6%. Los factores de riesgo encontrados fueron ambiente escolar desfavorable 71,4%, familiar desfavorable 71.4%, e individual desfavorable 42.2%. Conclusiones: Se encontró una prevalencia importante del bullying en los estudiantes de los colegios rurales del cantón Cuenca y existe asociación significativa del mismo con los factores familiar, escolar e individual desfavorables

La enseñanza comunicativa del inglés en el ciclo diversificado en Costa Rica: imágenes de algunas realidades

Análisis sucinto de una investigación de campo efectuada con estudiantes de 10 grado y 11 grado de colegios urbanos y rurales, públicos y privados, de Heredia. La investigación explora las metodologías empleadas por el profesorado y la aplicación del enfoque de la enseñanza comunicativa de la lengua y su relación con el Examen de bachillerato.A field study was carried out with tenth and eleventh grade students in private and public, urban and rural high schools in Heredia. The research focused on exploring the methodologies used by the instructors as well as on the implementation of the Communicative Language Teaching Approach and its relationship with the Standardized English Test.

Prevalencia de daltonismo en estudiantes de las unidades educativas: Herlinda Toral, Manuel J. Calle, Francisco Febres Cordero, Dolores J. torres y Octavio Cordero. Cuenca. 2015

Las anomalías en la percepción del color constituyen un tipo de deficiencia sensorial cuya prevalencia apenas se ha investigado a nivel nacional. Objetivo: determinar la prevalencia de daltonismo en estudiantes de las Unidades Educativas: Herlinda Toral, Manuel J. Calle, Francisco Febres Cordero, Dolores J. Torres y Octavio Cordero, en Cuenca, de julio a noviembre del 2015. Metodología: investigación de tipo descriptiva y de corte transversal, conformada por 703 estudiantes de tercero de bachillerato de las Unidades Educativas: Herlinda Toral, Manuel J Calle, Francisco Febres Cordero, Dolores J Torres y Octavio Cordero. Se aplicó el test utilizando las láminas pseudoisocromáticas H.R.R. (Hardy, Rand y Rittler). La información fue recolectada en formularios, se procesaron los datos utilizando el programa SPSS V.15 mediante frecuencia absoluta y porcentajes, los cuales fueron representados en tablas. Resultados: el 82.5% son jóvenes entre 15 y 20 años; 67,6% son mujeres y el 90,9% son de etnia mestiza. El daltonismo tiene una prevalencia del (1,6%), la unidad educativa más afectada es Manuel J Calle (45,5%) y se presentó más en varones (81,8%). Se observó defecto de color rojo-verde en el 54,5% de la población y encontramos daltonismo tipo protán (45,5%), tritán (45,5%) y deután (9,1%). El 54,4% manifiesta un grado de afectación severo. Conclusiones: el daltonismo es una patología poco prevalente en nuestro medio, los más afectados son los varones y se presenta mayormente de forma severa. Es necesario evaluar el grado de dificultad en la vida diaria que presentan estos estudiantes y enseñarles mecanismos de afrontamiento a las dificultades que comprende esta enfermedad

The amplifier - v. 17, no. 1

In this issue...Faculty, Mineral Club, Copper Bowl, Football, Jean Redpath, Faculty Women's Club, Library, World War I, Band, East Junior High, Mountaineering Club

Cognitive Competence and Life Course Change in Multi-Problem Adolescents

The dissertation reports on two studies. The purpose of Study I was to develop and evaluate a measure of cognitive competence (the Critical Problem Solving Skills Scale – Qualitative Extension) using Relational Data Analysis (RDA) with a multi-ethnic, adolescent sample. My study builds on previous work that has been conducted to provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the RDA framework in evaluating youth development programs (Kurtines et al., 2008). Inter-coder percent agreement among the TOC and TCC coders for each of the category levels was moderate to high, with a range of .76 to .94. The Fleiss’ kappa across all category levels was from substantial agreement to almost perfect agreement, with a range of .72 to .91. The correlation between the TOC and the TCC demonstrated medium to high correlation, with a range of r(40)=.68, p Study II reports an investigation of a positive youth development program using an Outcome Mediation Cascade (OMC) evaluation model, an integrated model for evaluating the empirical intersection between intervention and developmental processes. The Changing Lives Program (CLP) is a community supported positive youth development intervention implemented in a practice setting as a selective/indicated program for multi-ethnic, multi-problem at risk youth in urban alternative high schools in the Miami Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). The 259 participants for this study were drawn from the CLP’s archival data file. The study used a structural equation modeling approach to construct and evaluate the hypothesized model. Findings indicated that the hypothesized model fit the data (χ2 (7) = 5.651, p = .83; RMSEA = .00; CFI = 1.00; WRMR = .319). My study built on previous research using the OMC evaluation model (Eichas, 2010), and the findings are consistent with the hypothesis that in addition to having effects on targeted positive outcomes, PYD interventions are likely to have progressive cascading effects on untargeted problem outcomes that operate through effects on positive outcomes.

The Relationship of Culturally Responsive Instruction and the Reading Comprehension and Attitude of Struggling Urban Adolescent Readers

Culturally responsive instruction refers to the identification of relevant cultural aspects of students’ lives and infusion of these into the curriculum. This instructional approach assumes that a culturally appropriate curriculum can potentially motivate, engage, and lead students to higher rates of achievement. This quasi-experimental study (N=44) investigated the relationship of culturally responsive instruction and the reading comprehension and attitude of struggling urban adolescent readers. The study incorporated the use of culturally responsive instruction using culturally relevant literature (CRL), the Bluford Series Novels, as authentic texts of instruction. Participants were seventh grade reading students at a Title I middle school in South Florida. After a baseline period, two different classes were taught for 8 weeks using different methods. One class formed the experimental group (n=22) and the other class formed the comparison group (n=22). The CRI curriculum for the experimental group embraced the socio-cultural perspective through the use of small discussion groups in which students read and constructed meaning with peers through interaction with the Bluford Series Novels; gave written responses to multiple strategies according to SCRAP – Summarize, Connect, Reflect, Ask Questions, Predict; responded to literal and inferential questions, while at the same time validating their responses through evidence from the text. The Read XL (basal reader) curriculum of the comparison group utilized a traditional form of instruction which incorporated the reading of passages followed by responses to comprehension questions, and teacher-led whole group discussion. The main sources of data were collected from the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR), and the Rhody Secondary Reading Attitude Assessment. Statistical analyses were performed using Repeated Measures ANOVAs. Findings from the study revealed that the experimental participants’ reading attitudes and FAIR comprehension scores increased when compared to the comparison group. Overall, the results from the study revealed that culturally responsive instruction can potentially foster reading comprehension and a more positive attitude towards reading. However, a replication of this study in other settings with a larger, more randomized sample size and a greater ethnic variation is needed in order to make full generalizations.