Using structural equation modeling to assess two theoretical models that explain dropout

This study evaluated the relative fit of both Finn's (1989) Participation-Identification and Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko and Fernandez's (1989) School Membership models of high school completion to a sample of 4,597 eighth graders taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, (NELS:88), utilizing structural equation modeling techniques. This study found support for the importance of educational engagement as a factor in understanding academic achievement. The Participation-Identification model was particularly well fitting when applied to the sample of high school completers, dropouts (both overall and White dropouts) and African-American students. This study also confirmed the contribution of school environmental factors (i.e., size, diversity of economic and ethnic status among students) and family resources (i.e., availability of learning resources in the home and parent educational level) to students' educational engagement. Based on these findings, school social workers will need to be more attentive to utilizing macro-level interventions (i.e., community organization, interagency coordination) to achieve the organizational restructuring needed to address future challenges. The support found for the Participation-Identification model supports a shift in school social workers' attention from reactive attempts to improve the affective-interpersonal lives of students to proactive attention to their academic lives. The model concentrates school social work practices on the central mission of schools, which is educational engagement. School social workers guided by this model would be encouraged to seek changes in school policies and organization that would facilitate educational engagement. ^

Utilização de mapas conceituais como ferramenta de ensino para o desenvolvimento do raciocínio clínico no curso de medicina da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

BACKGROUND: Among the wide range of skills displayed by a medical doctor is undoubtedly the need to use cohesive and well grounded clinical reasoning in order for medical care to be indeed effective. It is in this respect that conceptual maps emerge; these are a methodological innovation that allows a comprehensive, panoramic and associative outlook of theoretical content, making it more practical and applicable to the reality of clinical observation. Promoting learning, learning resources and a feedback system between professor and students, as well as assessing and monitoring the performance of students during their academic training, are the main features of this tool. OBJETIVE: Assess the use of conceptual maps as a teaching-learning tool in the training of undergraduate medical students at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). METHODOLOGY: Interventional, randomized, cross-sectional study conducted with students from the 3rd and 5th periods of the medical course at UFRN, during the second semester of 2014, totaling 86 participants, divided into two groups: GI (intervention – clinical case resolution with a conceptual map) and GII (control – clinical case resolution without a conceptual map) in each period. RESULTS: The use of conceptual maps to teach liver failure syndrome resulted in a statistically significant cognitive gain for G1 students from the 5th period (GI: 6.8±1.6 and 8.0±1.5, p = 0.024; GII: 7.2±2.1 and 8.0±1.7, p = 0.125, pre and post-intermediate means, respectively), a result not observed in the period 3rd (GI: 7.7±1.3 and 8.0±1.4, p = 0.501; GII: 6.7±1.8 and 7.8±1.8; p=0.068, pre and post-intermediate means, respectively). Students in the 3 rd period gave better responses to the first clinical case, with a larger number of suitable concepts and crosslinks, when they used conceptual maps (GI: 91.3±13.15 and GII: 64.84±22.84, p=0,002). Students in the 5th period exhibited better clinical reasoning and more complete responses using the tool (p=0,01). Most of the students were not aware of the tool (53.8% from the 3rd period and 65.3% from the 5th period). Among those who knew about conceptual maps, most (59.3%) had only used them during high school, 14.8% had never used them and only seven students (25.9%) used them during the medical course. Analysis of open responses, obtained in process assessment showed clear satisfaction and enthusiasm with learning about the new tool, and frequent suggestions to use it at other moments in the course. Assessment of learning profile, using the VARK questionnaire, showed that most students from both periods exhibited a multimodal style. CONCLUSION: Despite their scant knowledge regarding the tool, good acceptability and understanding was observed in the study participants. The conceptual maps allowed cognitive gains, better responses and clinical reasoning in teaching liver failure syndrome to 5th period students.

The Design and Development of Educational Immersive Environments: From Theory to Classroom Deployment

Computer game technology is poised to make a significant impact on the way our youngsters will learn. Our youngsters are ‘Digital Natives’, immersed in digital technologies, especially computer games. They expect to utilize these technologies in learning contexts. This expectation, and our response as educators, may change classroom practice and inform curriculum developments. This chapter approaches these issues ‘head on’. Starting from a review of the current educational issues, an evaluation of educational theory and instructional design principles, a new theoretical approach to the construction of “Educational Immersive Environments” (EIEs) is proposed. Elements of this approach are applied to development of an EIE to support Literacy Education in UK Primary Schools. An evaluation of a trial within a UK Primary School is discussed. Conclusions from both the theoretical development and the evaluation suggest how future teacher-practitioners may embrace both the technology and our approach to develop their own learning resources.

Ampliando as ações educativas dos museus por meio da formação de comunidades virtuais de aprendizagem

Este artigo tem como objetivo mostrar que é possível incentivar a aprendizagem informal em museus através da construção de comunidades virtuais, com base em repositórios de objetos de aprendizagem, ferramentas comunicacionais e produção de OAs por parte dos visitantes. O enfoque é incentivar a aprendizagem no sentido de motivar a participação/envolvimento do visitante nas atividades da comunidade virtual. Nesta perspectiva, partimos do pressuposto de que a informação, a comunicação, a interação e a cooperação são essenciais para o processo de aprender no contexto informal dos museus. Acreditamos que a interação e a cooperação são partes integrantes do processo de aprendizagem proporcionado por comunidades virtuais e que o principal recurso de aprendizagem oferecido nessas comunidades são os objetos de aprendizagem. Diante do exposto, construímos a Comunidade Virtual do Muzar e realizamos uma experimentação do ambiente de modo a verificar o quanto os visitantes são incentivados a produzir novos conhecimentos.

New Library-curated Faculty Profile Platform Launches Through bepress

As faculty needs evolve and become increasingly digital, libraries are feeling the pressure to provide relevant new services. At the same time, faculty members are struggling to create and maintain their professional reputations online. We at bepress are happy to announce the new SelectedWorks, the fully hosted, library-curated faculty profile platform that positions the library to better support faculty as well as the institution at large. Beverly Lysobey, Digital Commons and Resource Management Librarian, at Sacred Heart University, says: “Both faculty and administration have been impressed with the services we provide through SelectedWorks; we’re able to show how much our faculty really publishes, and it’s great for professors to get that recognition. We’ve had several faculty members approach us for help making sure their record was complete when they were up for tenure, and we’ve even found articles that authors themselves no longer had access to.” With consistent, organized, institution-branded profiles, SelectedWorks increases campus-wide exposure and supports the research mission of the university. As the only profile platform integrated with the fully hosted Digital Commons suite of publishing and repository services, it also ensures that the institution retains management of its content. Powerful integration with the Digital Commons platform lets the home institution more fully capture the range of scholarship produced on campus, and hosted services facilitate resource consolidation and reduces strain on IT. The new SelectedWorks features a modern, streamlined design that provides compelling display options for the full range of faculty work. It beautifully showcases streaming media, images, data, teaching materials, books – any type of content that researchers now produce as part of their scholarship. Detailed analytics tools let authors and librarians measure global readership and track impact for a variety of campus stakeholders: authors can see the universities, agencies, and businesses that are reading their work, and can easily export reports to use in tenure and promotion dossiers. Janelle Wertzbeger, Assistant Dean and Director of Scholarly Communications at Gettysburg College’s Musselman Library, says, “The new author dashboard maps and enhanced readership are SO GOOD. Every professor up for promotion & tenure should use them!” And of course, SelectedWorks is fully backed by the continual efforts of the bepress development team to provide maximum discoverability to search engines, increasing impact for faculty and institutions alike: Reverend Edward R. Udovic, Vice President for Teaching and Learning Resources at DePaul University, says, “In the last several months downloads of my scholarship from my [SelectedWorks] site have far surpassed the total distribution of all my work in the previous twenty five years.”

Moodle as a central platform for the Virtual Campus

Moodle als zentrale Plattform für den virtuellen Campus

Didac Ltd case study

Case study on how e-portfolio and e-learning resources improve timeliness of achievement

Relatório de estágio de qualificação profissional

Relatório EPE - Relatório de estágio em Educação Pré-Escolar: O presente relatório de estágio foi elaborado no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada, integrada no Mestrado em Educação Pré – Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico da Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico do Porto. O estágio realizou-se no Jardim de Infância Gaia 13 que abarca crianças desde os 3 aos 6 anos de idade. A interação com a instituição e com o grupo de crianças e equipa educativa foi feita de modo progressivo, de modo a que as atividades planificadas e o projeto curricular de grupo construído, fossem ao encontro das características do contexto e do grupo de crianças. Desde o início da prática pedagógica que se construíram planificações semanais, que tinham como pressuposto a identificação das necessidades de desenvolvimento das crianças, bem como os seus interesses, os objetivos, os resultados de aprendizagem e os recursos pedagógicos, integrados no plano de ação. O trabalho desenvolvido teve por base a metodologia de investigação–ação, através de uma articulação entre a teoria e a prática, com a intenção de proporcionar competências profissionais na mestranda tais como: ser capaz de mobilizar vários saberes científicos e pedagógicos correspondentes à educação pré – escolar; ser capaz de desenvolver estratégias pedagógicas diferenciadas; construir uma atitude reflexiva de caráter indagador. Todo este processo contribuiu para a idealização de uma identidade profissional, em construção permanente, numa expectativa de aprendizagem ao longo da vida.

Aplicação das ciências forenses no ensino secundário: um conjunto de actividades para a disciplina de Física e Química A

A popularidade das séries televisivas que abordam as Ciências Forenses (CSI 1 Mentes Criminosas, Casos Arquivados...) permite construir actividades que envolvem os alunos numa exploração científica de modo a que dominem os conceitos e apreciem a natureza da Ciência. Estes recursos educativos aplicam uma abordagem Ciência­ Tecnologia-Sociedade -Pensamento Crítico (CTS-PC) e podem ser explorados segundo uma metodologia de Aprendizagem Baseada na Resolução de Problemas (ABRP). Neste trabalho são propostas actividades laboratoriais, a decorrer no contexto formal das aulas da disciplina de Física e Química A (FQ·A), utilizando sensores e a calculadora gráfica. Num contexto não-formal, e baseadas nas técnicas analíticas utilizadas em Ciências Forenses, foram desenvolvidas actividades para um Clube de Ciência ou Laboratórios Abertos, complementadas por um blogue (CSI-Mafra). Estes recursos foram posteriormente partilhados com outros professores de Física e Química, numa acção de formação, proposta pela autora, e cujo objectivo principal foi a diversificação das estratégias de ensino e aprendizagem. O entusiasmo dos alunos na realização das tarefas propostas e os resultados nos questionários de grau de satisfação e de opinião, aplicados a alunos e professores, sugere que as actividades desenvolvidas podem contribuir na motivação dos alunos para o estudo da Física e da Química e promover a literacia científica da comunidade escolar. ABSTRACT; The high popularity between teenagers of the television series that have Forensic Sciences and Criminal lnvestigations as central theme, such as CSI, Dexter, Criminal Minds and Cold Case, can be used to develop learning activities that involves the students into a scientific exploration which aim is leading the students to learn Chemistry and Physics with pleasure, motivation and curiosity. The educational resources developed in this thesis make use of the strategy Science-Technology-Society-Critical Thinking (STS-CP) and can be exploited according the teaching methodology Problem Based Learning (PBL). ln this work we propose a number of laboratory activities that can be used on the classes of the High School course Physic and Chemistry A (FQ-A) and a different set of activities to be used in a non-formal teaching environment, which are based on the analytical techniques used in Forensic Sciences. The non-formal activities were developed as part of the activities of a Science Club and complemented with an interactive blog. The teaching resources developed by us were also used in a professional training course to physics and chemistry teachers aimed to teach how to introduce new teaching­ learning strategies. The enthusiasm of the students shown during the activities and the extremely positive results of the questionnaires, applied to students and teachers after the activities, clearly indicates that the learning resources developed in this thesis contribute to the student's motivation to learn Physic and Chemistry and to promote the scientific Iiteracy of the scholar community.

Plano nacional de leitura: mais e melhor literacia

Este estudo visa descrever e analisar comparativamente as estratégias de leitura desenvolvidas por um grupo de educadoras a trabalhar em estabelecimento educativos, nos quais está a ser desenvolvido o Plano Nacional de Leitura e por outro grupo no qual não está implementado este projeto. Para o efeito realizamos um estudo de caso em quatro salas do ensino pré-escolar frequentadas por crianças de cinco anos de idade. Neste estudo, foram utilizadas várias técnicas e instrumentos de recolha de dados. Assim sendo, realizámos entrevistas às educadoras, observação naturalista às mesmas a lerem histórias às crianças, aplicámos questionários a nível nacional e também aplicámos inquéritos às crianças dos grupos destas educadoras, com o objetivo de detetarmos quais as suas atitudes perante a leitura de histórias. Os resultados mostram-nos que apesar de existirem nos estabelecimentos onde se encontra a decorrer o Plano Nacional de Leitura mais livros e equipamento informático que naqueles aonde este projeto ainda não foi implementado isso não é sinónimo de mais e melhores práticas nem melhores resultados na promoção da literacia junto das crianças. ABSTRACT: This Study is a comparative analysis of the literacy strategies employed by two groups of teachers; one that follows the National Reading Project and another one that does not. The case study was conducted in four preschool classrooms with five-year old children. Several data collection techniques were used; teacher interviews, naturalistic observations in the classrooms during read-aloud, teacher questionnaires, and student questionnaires to describe Literacy beliefs and practices. The results show that, even though there are more books and e-learning resources in classrooms where the National Reading Project is implemented, this does not translate into more and better Literacy practices or in better promotion of reading attitudes in children.

Teaching Through Technology – the Experience of Bulgarian Teachers

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2016

Local Resources for Learning/Teaching CS for Pre-College Students/Teachers

Presentation by Dr. Frank Ackerman. Additional information can be found on Montana Tech's Department of Computer Sciences website.

Digital media literacy : connecting young people’s identities, creative production and learning about video games

This chapter outlines examples of classroom activities that aim to make connections between young people’s everyday experiences with video games and the formal high school curriculum. These classroom activities were developed within the emerging field of digital media literacy. Digital media literacy combines elements of ‘traditional’ approaches to media education with elements of technology and information education (Buckingham, 2007; Warschauer, 2006). It is an educational field that has gained significant attention in recent years. For example, digital media literacy has become a significant objective for media policy makers in response to the increased social and cultural roles of new media technologies and controversies associated with young people’s largely unregulated online participation. Media regulators, educational institutions and independent organizations1 in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia have developed digital media literacy initiatives that aim to provide advice to parents, teachers and young people.

Learning by design workshop

The Learning by Design Workshop Program 2010, a part of the Queensland Government Unlimited: Designing for the Asia Pacific Event Program, was a one-day professional development design thinking workshop run on October 9, 2011 at The Edge, State Library of Queensland for self-selected public and private secondary school teachers from the subject areas of Visual Art, Graphics and Industrial Technology and Design. Participants were drawn from a database of Brisbane and regional Queensland schools from the goDesign and Living City Workshop Programs. It aimed to generate leadership within schools for design-led education and creative thinking and give teachers a rare opportunity to work with professional designers to generate future strategies for design-based learning. Teachers were introduced to the concept of design thinking in education by international keynote speakers CJ Lim (Studio 8 Architects) and Jeb Brugmann (The Next Practice), national speaker Oliver Freeman (NevilleFreeman Agency) and three Queensland speakers, Alexander Loterztain, David Williams and Keith Holledge. Inspired by the Unlimited showcase exhibition Make Change: Design Thinking in Action and ‘Idea Starters’/teaching resources provided, teachers worked with a professional designer (from a discipline of architecture, interior design, industrial design, urban design, graphic design or landscape architecture) in ten random teams, to generate optimistic ideas for the Ideal City of tomorrow, each considering a theme – Food, Water, Transport, Ageing, Growth, Employment, Shelter, Health, Education and Energy. They then discussed how this process could be best activated and expanded on to build interest and knowledge in design thinking in the classroom. Assisted by illustrators, the teams prepared a visual presentation of their ideas and process from art materials provided. The workshop culminated in a video-taped interactive design charette to the larger group, which is intended to be utilised as a toolkit and praxis for teachers as part of the State Library of Queensland Design Minds Website Project.