Education Sciences — Open Access Journal

This study examined the impact of perceived teacher discrimination on the school discipline of African-American and Caribbean Black adolescent girls. The findings are drawn from a nationally representative sample of (n = 410) African-American and (n = 193) Caribbean Black adolescent girls age 13 to 17 (M_age = 15). Results indicate that perceiving discrimination from teachers was associated with higher school discipline (e.g., suspension, expulsion, and spending time in a jail, detention center) for African-American girls. For Caribbean Black girls, higher household income and school bonding was associated with lower school discipline. Older Caribbean Black girls were also more likely to receive higher school discipline. However, perceiving discrimination from teachers was not associated with school discipline for Caribbean Black girls. The developmental significance and implications for future research are discussed Full article

The paper is focused on the investigation of impact of created experimental natural scientific programme for preschool-age children. Our programme concentrates on physics teaching adapted for preschool age in which children have possibilities to make experiments themselves—empirical cognition. Its innovation with respect to other stimulation programmes implemented in the past consists of including connection and thus developing a wide spectrum of intellectual abilities. Primarily, we are focusing on the impact of stimulation programme research on selected psychological variables, specifically intellectual abilities—intellectual maturity. Its second aim is to compare and test the validity of drawing tests designed for intellectual-level investigation of preschool-age children, school maturity, and school readiness. The obtained results do not provide evidence in support of the stimulation programme on developing intellectual/conceptual maturity. The results of the second part of the research (i.e., drawing) shows that the indicative level of intellect, perception, and motor maturity are closely related. Full article

Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHS) play a crucial role in supporting adaptive learning and immensely outperform learner-control based systems. AEHS’ page indexing and hyperspace rely mostly on navigation supports which provide the learners with a user-friendly interactive learning environment. Such AEHS features provide the systems with a unique ability to adapt learners’ preferences. However, obtaining timely and accurate information for their adaptive decision-making process is still a challenge due to the dynamic understanding of individual learner. This causes a spontaneous changing of learners’ learning styles that makes hard for system developers to integrate learning objects with learning styles on real-time basis. Thus, in previous research studies, multiple levels navigation supports have been applied to solve this problem. However, this approach destroys their learning motivation because of imposing time and work overload on learners. To address such a challenge, this study proposes a bioinformatics-based adaptive navigation support that was initiated by the alternation of learners’ motivation states on a real-time basis. EyeTracking sensor and adaptive time-locked Learning Objects (LOs) were used. Hence, learners’ pupil size dilation and reading and reaction time were used for the adaption process and evaluation. The results show that the proposed approach improved the AEHS adaptive process and increased learners’ performance up to 78%. Full article

Scientific integrity, proper research conduct and avoiding research misconduct including plagiarism, fabrication and falsification, are all essential to all disciplines. Since research experience is a recommended skill to gain during undergraduate education, undergraduate students need to be aware of research misconduct in order to avoid it. This study was carried out to determine the level of knowledge and awareness regarding research misconduct, and the independent factors that might contribute to attitudes towards research misconduct. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was self-filled by pharmacy undergraduate students about their knowledge of practices in research misconduct. Among the respondents (n=800), 79.12% had poor knowledge, whereas 20.88% had good knowledge about research misconduct and research ethics. Furthermore, only 9% indicated having previous training in research conduct/misconduct, whereas 36.5% had previous training in research ethics. In conclusion, this study reflects insufficient knowledge and awareness about research misconduct concepts and their main terminologies among undergraduate pharmacy students, which emphasizes the importance of implanting proper training programs/courses on research ethics during students’ academic years. Full article

In recent years, the ways in which to read English picture books to young children has become diverse in English as a foreign language (EFL) context. The present study examined the effect of parent-child interactions and digital pen use during English picture book reading in the child’s interest in learning English. A total of 320 Korean mothers of three to five year old preschool children participated in the study. The results revealed the following. First, children’s interest in learning English was higher when they used digital pens and engaged in frequent parent-child interactions during English picture book reading. Second, parent-child interaction was a more significant variable in children’s interest in learning English compared to digital pen use. Third, the moderator effect of digital pen use in the relation between parent-children interaction and children’s interest in learning English was insignificant. In other words, parent-child interaction was important in increasing children’s interest in learning English, regardless of digital pen use. While rapid advances in technology enhanced teaching pedagogy, parent-child interaction in foreign language learning still remains as a crucial factor. Further implications and future directions are discussed. Full article

This survey explored Indonesian science teachers’ experience and perceptions toward science teaching that is based on socio-scientific issues (SSIs). The participants were asked whether or not they already used corresponding practices in their own teaching and whether they experienced any challenges in implementing SSI-based pedagogies. Further focal points were the teachers’ views on student competencies that can be fostered through SSI-based education, the connection of SSI-based pedagogies with students’ character formation, potential topics for implementing SSIs in science education, and the teachers’ interest in such implementation. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire that was administered to 99 science teachers. This was then followed up by interviews with 20 intentionally selected teachers taken from the overall sample. The study revealed that teachers’ familiarity with SSI-based pedagogies varies greatly. Regardless of their familiarity with the term, some of the teachers had already implemented corresponding practices at varying levels of intensity. Although almost all of the participants saw potential in SSI-based pedagogies for increasing student competency development and character formation, most of the respondents did not implement SSI-based teaching very often in their lessons. They mentioned several challenges that hindered them in implementing SSI in their teaching practices. Reasons included the lack of necessary students’ competencies, a lack of teacher expertise, the content in the official curriculum, inadequate facilities, and a lack of time for lesson preparation and implementation. When asked for ideas in implementing SSI-based education, teachers basically suggested topics related to the environment or technology as suitable for SSI-based education. In spite of the many challenges, most of the teachers were still interested in implementing SSIs in their classes. Full article

The underrepresentation of American Indian (AI) students pursuing higher education opportunities continues to persist. This study sought to measure the perceived changes in participants’ self-efficacy and confidence in navigating the college environment as a result of their participation in a mentoring program and addressed the research question “How does mentoring contribute to changes in tribal college students reported self-efficacy?” Nineteen participants who had participated in a semester-long mentoring program were given a retrospective pre- then post-program survey to measure changes in participants’ perceived confidence in navigational and informational skills related to college success. Participants reported a significantly higher level of awareness in the post-program survey than they did in the pre-program survey across all of the mentoring program goals with the exception of one goal. In addition, there were no reported differences in AI and non-AI participants’ and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)/non-STEM responses on the five scaled variables for the mentoring survey. Providing support early on in a student’s educational career allows for the establishment of student connections with peers, support personnel, and resources that they can turn to for help in academics or setting goals. Additionally, early support provides encouragement and a sense of belief in themselves, which is critical to student success. Full article

Mobile devices have penetrated all spheres of human activities, including education. Previous research has shown that smartphones are becoming widely used in learning as they can improve knowledge retention and increase student engagement. The purpose of this study was to discuss students’ perception of the use of a mobile application aimed at learning new English vocabulary and phrases and describe its strengths and weaknesses as perceived by the students. In total, 28 university students answered a pen and paper questionnaire survey after experiencing the app during one semester. Overall, the students’ agreement to the positive aspects displayed in the questionnaire prevailed over their disagreement or neutral opinions. The mobile app helped students prepare for the final achievement test, learning was accessible from anywhere and at any time, students appreciated the corrective feedback and would opt for the implementation of the mobile app in other courses taught at the faculty. On the other hand, as the findings indicate, the students reported that the app was not very supportive regarding communication performance; they did not find the teachers’ notifications encouraging and they did not use the pronunciation support much, which was caused by various factors, such as offering students words and phrases without context or not testing all the items in the final credit test. The findings of this study contribute to the existing knowledge of students’ perceptions of the use of mobile apps for learning purposes. Full article

What are the structural characteristics of written scientific explanations that make them good? This is often difficult to measure. One approach to describing and analyzing structures is to employ network theory. With this research, we aim to describe the elementary structure of written explanations, their qualities, and the differences between those made by experts and students. We do this by converting written explanations into networks called element maps and measure their characteristics: size, the ratio of diameter to size, and betweenness centrality. Our results indicate that experts give longer explanations with more intertwinement, organized around a few central key elements. Students’ explanations vary widely in size, are less intertwined, and often lack a focus around key elements. We have successfully identified and quantified the characteristics that can be a starting point for guiding students towards generating expert-like written explanations. Full article

Given the high proportion of struggling readers in school and the long-term negative consequences of underachievement for those affected, the question of prevention options arises. The early identification of central indicators for reading literacy is a noteworthy starting point. In this context, curriculum-based measurements have established themselves as reliable and valid instruments for monitoring the progress of learning processes. This article is dedicated to the assessment of word recognition in silent reading as an indicator of adequate reading fluency. The process of developing an item pool is described, from which instruments for learning process diagnostics can be derived. A sample of 4268 students from grades 1–4 processed a subset of items. Each student template included anchor items, which all students processed. Using Item Response Theory, item statistics were estimated for the entire sample and all items. After eliminating unsuitable items (N = 206), a one-dimensional, homogeneous pool of items remained. In addition, there are high correlations with another established reading test. This provides the first evidence that the recording of word recognition skills for silent reading can be seen as an economic indicator for reading skills. Although the item pool forms an important basis for the extraction of curriculum-based measurements, further investigations to assess the diagnostic suitability (e.g., the measurement invariance over different test times) are still pending. Full article

Chemical educators are facing a new generation of instructional technologies that impact classroom teaching. New technologies, like smartphones, cloud computing and artificial intelligence take learning beyond the classroom; 3D printing, virtual reality, and augmented reality provide new ways to teach the virtualization skills that are important for chemists. These technologies cause students to become more isolated, so students may not develop the social skills that they will need for today’s workplace. Individualized learning may be beneficial to many students, but it will create challenges for faculty. Although this article focuses on chemistry education, it should be apparent that a similar argument could be made for other sciences, like physics and biology. Full article

Multimedia engineers develop digital content in a wide range of fields that require them to acquire skills in the development of web solutions for those fields. In this study, we evaluated the level of didactic knowledge of mathematics that Multimedia Engineering degree students possess. The aim was to determine whether they are prepared to conceive, design and develop educational multimedia tools for teaching mathematics to primary school children. For this evaluation, the Didactic–Mathematical Knowledge and Elementary Algebraic Reasoning (DMK/EAR) test was carried out on a sample of 50 students in the second year of a Multimedia Engineering Degree. The results were compared with those of teacher training students who receive specific training in mathematics didactics. The study shows that, for most of the variables analysed, the Multimedia student scored better or comparatively equal to the teaching trainee. In conclusion, students of Multimedia Engineering have a solid foundation in the didactics of mathematics, although some deficiencies have been detected in the cognitive dimension and the content in structures, which indicate that they would need to complete their training in these areas. Full article

The Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDR) phenomenon refers to the weaker effects of parental educational attainment for marginalized groups, particularly ethnic minorities. This literature, however, is limited to Blacks and Hispanics; thus, it is not clear if the MDR phenomenon also applies to the educational performance of Asian Americans or not. To explore ethnic differences in the association between parental educational attainment and youth mathematical performance among 10th-grade American high schoolers, this cross-sectional study used baseline data from the Education Longitudinal Study, a national survey of 10th-grade American youth. The analytical sample included a total number of 10,142 youth composed of 1460 (14.4%) Asian-American and 8682 (85.6%) non-Hispanic youth. The dependent variable was youth math performance (standard test score). The independent variable was parental education. Gender, both parents living in the same household, and school characteristics (% students receiving free lunch, urban school, and public school) were the covariates. Ethnicity was the moderating variable. Linear regression was used for data analysis. Overall, parental educational attainment was positively associated with math ability (test score). We observed a statistically significant interaction between ethnicity (Asian American) and parental education attainment on the results of math test scores, indicating that the boosting effect of high parental educational attainment on youth math function is smaller for Asian-American youth than for Non-Hispanic White youth. While high parental educational attainment contributes to youth educational outcomes, this association is weaker for Asian-American youth than non-Hispanic White youth. Diminished returns (weaker effects of parental education in generating outcomes for ethnic minorities) that are previously shown for Hispanics and Blacks also apply to Asian Americans. Full article

In the United Kingdom, the number of mature students studying in higher education is diminishing. This is also the case within the subject of art and design. This article reports on a project “Mature Students Matter,” a study that aims to widen participation in art and design education within a small specialist university. The approach was developed from a Research Development Fellowship, which provided a model for the project. A case study is used as a method of inquiry through which the project is described and evaluated using a form of narrative inquiry. The study found that the principles of Joint Practice Development (JPD) underpinning the design and development of the project enabled practitioners from different parts of the university to work together and to share similar aims, objectives and values in their research. Drawing some tentative conclusions, the project also found that the wider institutional context was important in the success of the project. Full article

Classrooms are complex in their real sets. To understand such sets and their emergent patterns, network approach provides useful theoretical and methodological tools. In this work, we used network approach to explore two domains of complexity in a classroom: the interpersonal domain, via social networks; and the representational domain, through collective semantic networks. This work is grounded in both Social Network Analyses and Social Representation Theory for gathering information from interpersonal and representational domains. We investigated a physics high school classroom by proceeding sociometric tests and by using words freely evoked by students to explore relations between students’ dyad’s weights, in social networks, and emerging consensus in semantic networks. Our findings showed closer relations between social ties’ weight and consensus formed on intra-school representational objects, while consensus on extra-school representational objects is less dependent on the classroom interpersonal ties’ strength. Full article

One of the main objectives of the Undergraduate Dissertation is to evaluate the skills associated with a degree. Student satisfaction with the training and skills acquired can be an indicator of the quality of higher education. This paper aims to analyse student satisfaction with Undergraduate Dissertation at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). Based on a survey conducted among 130 students (75.7% of a total of 172 students who presented their UD during the academic year 2013–2014), structural equation modelling was applied to analyse the influence on satisfaction of aspects related to intellectual curiosity and the perception of acquired skills. The results show that the perception of the skills acquired play a crucial role in students’ satisfaction with Undergraduate Satisfaction, conditioned by their perceived future usefulness and backed by personality and motivation elements that encourage their acquisition. The results confirm the significant role played by the tutor, who emerges as an element that boosts the central relations of the model. Full article

The field of geography is important for any sustainability education. The aim of geography education is to enable students to understand the environment, its influence on human activity, and how humans influence the environment. In this article we present a study on how the interplay between the three pillars of sustainability thinking (environment, society and economy) play out on smaller and larger scales of time, space and multitude in geography education. In this paper, we argue that central issues in high quality sustainability education in geography relates to students’ deeper grasp of how to shift between magnitudes of time, space and multitude patterns. We show how an appreciation of many core issues in sustainability education require students to understand and traverse different magnitudes of the scalable concepts of time, space and multitude. Furthermore, we argue and exemplify how common sustainability misconceptions arise due to an inability to make the cognitive shift between relevant magnitudes on these scalable concepts. Finally, we briefly discuss useful educational approaches to mediating this problem, including the use of digital tools in order to allow geography teachers to facilitate the students’ better understanding of different magnitudes of slow, fast, small and large scale entities and processes. Full article

During the last century, the human way of life has begun to transgress many of the Earth’s biophysical boundaries in an alarming way. The consequences of this are more dramatic and long lasting than ever before. Many researchers even argue that humanity has created a new geological epoch, which they call Anthropocene. Education, even in early childhood (EC), is often presented as a remedy for these complex problems. Yet, how can anyone prepare young children to deal with such tremendous changes? The primary aim of our study is to define and outline what the mission of early childhood education (ECE) might be in the epoch of the Anthropocene. Through a comprehensive review of the literature, we have tried to find answers about how the Anthropocene could be addressed in ECE. We have searched for answers in the natural science literature, policy documents, educational research articles and philosophy, and discuss the various standpoints we have identified. We argue that the Anthropocene demands a new, more authentic education; a change towards a more holistic, transformative, sustainability-oriented approach. At the same time, children, as always, have a right to a safe, positive and encouraging childhood. Full article

One of the emerging technologies that have sparked greater interest in pedagogical contexts is augmented reality. This paper aims to assess the impact, practices and attitudes that are generated from augmented reality in the initial training of future teachers, and the presence of these practices in a university training context. The study was carried out with 87 trainee primary teachers. Information was obtained by applying the Wilcoxon test. The qualitative data obtained in open questions were also triangulated. It is emphasized that students do not habitually use this resource at the university, and that with these practices there is sometimes a certain amount of distraction, and even of time being wasted. From the data analyzed, we also highlight that once the availability of resources, class planning and initial teacher training are overcome, augmented reality provides benefits and advantages centered on pedagogies that allow for greater enthusiasm on the part of the students, with significant advantages in creativity, innovation, participation, and especially in the motivation of participants. Coinciding with recent research, our results underline the need for initial training so as to be able to design and apply practices with augmented reality in teaching, and to take advantage of the aforementioned benefits. Full article