Search Results (6)

Lublin University of Technology has been offering computer science studies for over 25 years. From the beginning, computer graphics have played a crucial role in the studies program. The Lab3D international efforts aimed at cultural heritage 3D digitization allowed for enriching the regular introductory course of computer graphics with elements of digitized real-life heritage, without disturbing the regular didactic process, nor the scope of the course learning outcomes. Such an activity was aimed at increasing the students’ engagement in learning and fits into the contemporary trend of including real-life cases in the course of teaching. The article presents the curriculum (including the changes introduced) together with an extensive analysis of the effect of such changes on students’ achievements. In total, 3042 grades of 1522 students from the years 2018–2024 underwent statistical analysis in order to support answering placed hypotheses related to keeping the effects positive or neutral. Luckily, students’ achievements did not worsen, and in fact significantly improved. To the authors’ knowledge, such an analysis in relation to computer graphics courses has never been published before. Full article

The shape of the Earth is a fundamental concept that students need to learn in astronomy education. This paper reports the findings of a study that confirms the effectiveness of an intervention involving the construction of a model of the Earth prior to the introduction of the globe as a codified artefact. The educational intervention had been preceded by the EARTH2 test, which was used to check how well students participating in the study mastered the concept of the Earth’s shape. The study included forty-seven primary school students (grades I and II). Effectiveness was measured by comparing the answers chosen by Polish children in a test as mental models. The study confirmed (A) that the intervention was effective: 49% of progressive changes, 30% of regressive changes, and 21% of changes within the same mental model were observed; (B) that there was an increase in the children’s interest in space, revealed by an increased number of questions going far beyond the school astronomy curriculum; and (C) that students’ concerns about the dangers of space were revealed. Key findings include the following: (a) Educational effectiveness regarding the concept of the shape of the Earth is achieved in activities that involve building a spherical Earth model before introducing a globe as a ready-made model. (b) The topics addressed in astronomy classes must be far broader than what the current curricula provide. They should take into account current issues reported by the media and deal with astronomical discoveries and space technology. (c) When organising activities, children’s concerns about the dangers of space should be borne in mind. Full article

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in a growing number of domains in recent years has put into focus the ethical, legal, and societal aspects (ELSA) of these technologies and the relevant challenges they pose. In this paper, we propose an ELSA curriculum for data scientists aiming to raise awareness about ELSA challenges in their work, provide them with a common language with the relevant domain experts in order to cooperate to find appropriate solutions, and finally, incorporate ELSA in the data science workflow. ELSA should not be seen as an impediment or a superfluous artefact but rather as an integral part of the Data Science Project Lifecycle. The proposed curriculum uses the CRISP-DM (CRoss-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining) model as a backbone to define a vertical partition expressed in modules corresponding to the CRISP-DM phases. The horizontal partition includes knowledge units belonging to three strands that run through the phases, namely ethical and societal, legal and technical rendering knowledge units (KUs). In addition to the detailed description of the aforementioned KUs, we also discuss their implementation, issues such as duration, form, and evaluation of participants, as well as the variance of the knowledge level and needs of the target audience. Full article

This study explores the implementation of an interdisciplinary curriculum in product and media design education and its impact on knowledge innovation and competency development. The curriculum is based on scaffolding theory, incorporating design proposals, workshops, digital design, marketing tests, and marketing activities guided by teachers and mentors from a branded ceramic workshop. The research findings demonstrate that the interdisciplinary curriculum facilitates knowledge innovation and fosters the development of students’ professional skills, creativity, and problem-solving skills. The study also highlights the importance of stable scaffolding, including artefact-, peer-, and teacher support, which significantly contributes to cultivating transformational competencies, as outlined in the 2030 OECD Learning Compass. Additionally, the collaboration with Shanshing Four Seasons Celadon Studio on a patented ceramic product, “Funny Monkey”, is a tangible example of the journey towards a triple-helix knowledge economy. This research underscores the importance of interdisciplinary curricula in promoting knowledge innovation and integrating transformational competencies in education. Scaffolding theory provides practical guidance for student learning and teaching strategies, presenting a sustainable roadmap for developing interdisciplinary curricula and offering a concrete and transferable pedagogical prototype for educational innovation. Full article

Recent developments in webGIS are transforming how geospatial information can be used in schools. Smart mapping, mobile applications, editable feature services (EFS), and web map services (WMS) are all now more freely available. These have made prior technological, cost and access challenges for teachers largely redundant but are only part of ensuring that geospatial information is used to its full educational potential in geography education. This paper argues that drawing on a GeoCapabilities approach can enhance teacher’s use of webGIS in deepening their students’ abilities to think and reason with geographical knowledge and ideas. To illustrate this line of argument, a geography curriculum artefact constructed in ArcGIS Online is presented and analysed. The discussion identifies a range of specific educational benefits of geography teachers adopting a GeoCapabilities approach to using webGIS including how powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) can be constructed. The discussion also identifies a number of significant implications for teacher education of adopting such a methodology. The paper concludes with recommendations for the future use of webGIS in schools and geography teacher education. Full article

This paper is drawn from a research project that investigates the relationship between teachers’ understanding of the religious identity of Asian background students, and recent Australian curriculum initiatives focused on religion and religious identification. Based on responses from an Australia-wide survey, and follow-up interviews from teachers and principals in several Australian states, the project examined the ways that Australian teachers understand, respond to and talk about the religious identities of their students, and the implications of these demands for teacher practice and education. This paper is concerned with the findings from the interview phase that for a significant number of teachers, notions of religion were often elided with culture and race, and often subsumed by broader notions of a nominal ‘white’ Australian culture. Research conversations appeared framed by an often Christian perspective and sense of self, as opposed to a putative and Asian religious and cultural other. We argue that a better understanding of the ways that teachers participate in discourses of representations about Asian religious identities negotiated by Australian diasporic communities has direct implications for the refinement of policy and for teacher professional learning. In the light of our findings, we further argue that there is a need for curriculum, teachers and researchers to move beyond an understanding of culture and identity that is based on monolingual, monocultural and Anglocentric perspectives that frame the foreign as the ‘exotic’ other, and define it through references to limited, tokenistic artefacts of culture, which are reinforced by iconic use of language to talk about culture, religion and identity. Full article