Do new information and communications technologies have a role to play in the achievement of education for all?

Many commentators have suggested that the use of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) has significant potential in providing access to, and improving the quality of, teacher education. Such an idea is particularly relevant for the Global South, it is argued, where tens of thousands more qualified teachers are required if universal primary education (UPE) is to be achieved. This article explores six arguments commonly used to critique the relevance of ICT for development, encompassing technical, cost, philosophical, cultural and pedagogic issues. The arguments are categorised as the ‘technological’ view; the ‘donor’ view; the ‘anthropological’ view; the ‘standard’ view; the ‘individual’ view; and the ‘transmissional’ view. Drawing on empirical research into ICT and teacher education in sub‐Saharan Africa, including the work of the Digital Education Enhancement Project, six responses are used to review these arguments (‘developmental’, ‘democratic’, ‘cultural’, ‘deep’, ‘community’ and ‘pedagogic’). The author concludes that these contemporary data offer new ways of thinking about such debates and concludes with recommendations for policy makers, educators and the donor community.     

Do performance goals promote learning? A pattern analysis of Singapore students’ achievement goals

This study investigated how achievement goals are combined to affect students’ learning. We used a multiple goals perspective, based on mastery (i.e., mastery approach) and performance (including both approach and avoidance components) goals, to examine the achievement goal patterns of 1697 Singapore Secondary 3 students in their math study. Four types of goal clusters emerged from latent class cluster analyses: Diffuse (moderate multiple), Moderate Mastery (moderate mastery/low performance approach and avoidance), Success Oriented (moderate mastery/high performance approach and avoidance), and Approach (high mastery and performance approach/low performance avoidance). Analyses of covariance were conducted to compare these four clusters on eleven cognitive, behavioral, and affective learning outcomes. In general, students in the Success Oriented and Approach groups were higher on self-efficacy, subjective task values, class engagement, homework engagement, time management, and meta-cognitive self-regulation than those in the other two groups. In addition, students in the Approach and Moderate Mastery groups were more likely to make effort when encountering difficulties in learning math, showed lower test anxiety, lower negative affect, and achieved higher scores in math than students in the other two groups. These findings suggest that the goal profile with high mastery and performance approach goals combined with low performance avoidance goals is most beneficial for learning, whereas high performance approach goals, when associated with performance avoidance goals, have some negative effects on affective outcomes. The patterns help to refine distinctions in performance goals, and are discussed in the context of academic achievement in Singapore.     

ICT use in mathematics lessons and the mathematics achievement of secondary school students by international comparison: Which role do school level factors play?

By means of an international comparison, the research presented in the article aims to identify supporting and hindering school level factors for the use of ICT in secondary school mathematics lessons. The relationship between ICT use and the performance of Grade 9 students in mathematics is examined and further integrated into a multi-level model including school level factors. Against the background of a theoretical allocation (1) the IT equipment of schools, (2) school leadership, (3) aspects of school goals and educational strategies as well as (4) teachers’ attitudes will be analyzed by means of a multi-level regression model as well as a multi-level path model including the mathematics achievement of students as measured in the context of PISA 2012. Representative school and student data from five countries, namely Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Singapore are taken into consideration, as the integration of ICT in teaching and learning is firmly emphasized in these countries (overall 24,579 students in 1263 schools). By modeling the complex structure, school characteristics are examined with respect to their effect on the use of ICT for mathematics teaching. Moreover, the relation between different factors and students’ mathematics achievement will be synchronously assessed in the different educational systems. The results show that characteristics at school level do play a major role in the integration of ICT into teaching and learning and turn out to be relevant across the educational systems. In addition to further in-depth country-specific findings, the results point to cross-national future challenges in the field of using technologies to enhance teaching and learning.     

Does homework design matter? The role of homework's purpose in student mathematics achievement

This study used a randomized pretest–posttest clustered design to examine the effect of 3 homework purposes (i.e., practice, preparation, and extension) on 6th graders' mathematics achievement and how this relationship was modulated by the amount of completed homework. A total of 27 mathematics teachers and their 638 students participated in this study. Once a week for six weeks, the teachers assigned tasks that had a specific type of homework purpose according to their treatment condition. At the end of the six weeks, the students completed a non-standardized mathematics achievement test. The results of multilevel modeling showed that after controlling for student characteristics and class-level variables, extension homework positively impacted students' mathematics achievement, while practice and preparation homework did not. These findings were not related to the amount of homework that was completed by the students. The findings highlighted the importance of the teacher's role in the first phase of the homework process (i.e., designing homework with a specific purpose) and provide important data for teachers and school administrators to reflect upon when conducting actual homework practices.     

Italian students’ results in the PISA mathematics test: does reading competence matter?

In Italy, from the 2003 reports to the present, the National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training (INVALSI) has conducted research on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in order to understand Italian students’ low achievement in mathematics. In the present paper, data from a representative sample of 15-year-old Italian students who participated in PISA 2012 were analysed. This study’s primary aim is to verify how students’ linguistic competences are associated with their performance in mathematics. For the evaluation of the impact of item reading demand on students’ performance, we selected 24 mathematics items with a high reading demand and 31 mathematics items with a low reading demand, as classified by Italian language and methodology experts. Repeated measure variance analyses were conducted. The results showed differences in function of gender: females are advantaged in mathematics items with a high reading demand, independent of their level of reading literacy. In contrast, males are advantaged in mathematics items with a low reading demand, independent of their level of reading literacy. Possible policy implications are discussed.     

Does lengthening the school day increase students’ academic achievement? Results from a natural experiment in Chile

This study (an impact evaluation of the Chilean full school day program) uses difference-in-differences to estimate the effect of a large increase in instructional time on high school students’ academic achievement. The main findings are (i) the program had a positive effect on students’ achievement in both mathematics and language; (ii) the effect-size on language achievement was 0.05–0.07 standard deviations and not sensitive to control for covariates, different control groups, and historical trends; (iii) the effect on mathematics achievement was not sensitive to control for covariates, but was sensitive to use different control groups, and historical trends; the effect-size on mathematics achievement ranged from 0.00 to 0.12 standard deviations; and (iv) the program effect has been constant over time. Finally, there is evidence suggesting that the program had larger positive effects on rural students, students who attended public schools, and students situated in the upper part of the achievement distribution.     

What role do students’ enjoyment and perception of ability play in social disparities in subject choices at university?

Prior research has shown that students from less educated families are less likely to study both science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and arts and humanities subjects. This article used a large representative sample of university students in England to explore the relationship between students’ enjoyment, perception of ability and socio-economic disparities in subject choices. Although these attitudes differed by students’ parents’ education level, and were associated with subject choices, disparities in choices persisted when accounting for these differences. Students with less educated parents were less likely to choose arts and humanities and more likely to study social sciences, law and business, over STEM, even when their enjoyment and perception of ability in subjects were similar. Students whose parents had higher levels of education were more likely to choose STEM over arts and humanities as their enjoyment of STEM increased, suggesting different underlying processes informing student choices by social background.     

Language of learning and teaching in schools: an issue for research in mathematics teacher education?

Most countries in Africa have introduced the use of local languages as the language of learning and teaching for the first few years of schooling. Meaning that for the first few years of learning, learners learn mathematics in their local languages. In response to this, most research has focused on the challenges of using local languages in multilingual mathematics classrooms in schools. Not much research focuses on how the teacher educators prepare the prospective teachers to teach mathematics in multilingual classrooms. To further knowledge in the area of multilingualism in mathematics education, I, in this paper, present an analysis of the literature on multilingual teacher education in Africa. Specifically, I look at what it is that governments in interested countries are doing in teacher education programs in response to the introduction of local languages in schools. From the literature examined, I found that although there is awareness in a number of countries of the need for multilingual teacher education, not much has been done in order to train mathematics teachers on how to use local languages in the classroom. I therefore recommend that, for those countries that have implemented or planning to introduce the use of local languages in schools, some reforms should also take place in teacher education programs in terms of training the prospective teachers how to teach in local languages.     

Student-centred teaching methods: Can they optimise students’ approaches to learning in professional higher education?

This paper investigates dynamics in approaches to learning within different learning environments. Two quasi-experimental studies were conducted with first-year student teachers (N_{Study 1} = 496, N_{Study 2} = 1098) studying a child development course. Data collection was carried out using a pre-test/post-test design by means of the Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory. Study 1 compared a lecture-based learning environment with a student-centred learning environment. Results were opposite to the premise that student-centred instruction deepened student learning. Instead, the latter pushed students towards a surface approach. Study 2 investigated whether mixed learning environments consisting of lectures and case-based learning could enhance students’ approaches to learning, compared to learning environments in which either lectures or case-based learning were used. Results showed that the deep and strategic approach decreased in the lecture-based, the case-based and the alternated learning environment, in which lectures and case-based learning were used by turns, while they remained the same in the gradually implemented case-based learning environment. With respect to the surface approach, the strongest decrease was found in the latter learning environment. In conclusion, this paper shows the added value of gradually implementing case-based learning. Nevertheless, it remains difficult to enhance the deep approach, monitoring studying, organised studying and effort management.     

In the eye of the beholder: Do adult students’ achievement goal orientation profiles predict their perceptions of instruction and studying?

The purpose of this study was to examine how adult students’ perceptions of their learning environment vary as a function of their achievement goal orientations. Study 1 (n = 196) reports the development of a questionnaire that focuses on aspects of instruction presumably linked to student motivation. In Study 2, students (n = 167) were classified into groups according to their goal orientation profiles, and then compared in terms of their evaluations of the learning environment and their relation to it. Students with different motivational profiles perceived the learning environment somewhat differently, with most differences reflecting the students’ view of their own role in studying. The findings will be discussed in terms of how personal and contextual factors contribute to the development of individuals’ motivation.     

The Internet in face‐to‐face higher education: Can interactive learning improve academic achievement?

Recent research on e‐learning shows that blended learning is more effective than face‐to‐face learning. However, a clear empirical response has not been given to the cause of such improvement. Using a data set of 9044 students at two Catalan universities and a quasi‐experimental approach, two possible hypotheses identified in previous research are studied. The results show that the principal cause of the improvement is not, in itself, the increase in time spent online for educational purposes. Rather, increasing the time devoted to studying online is only useful when it takes place as some form of interactive learning. The educational implications of these results are discussed.     

Divergences in learning and memory among wild zebrafish: Do sex and body size play a role?

Given its diverse ecological distribution, zebrafish has great potential for investigations on the effect of habitat characteristics on cognition. Studies were conducted on four wild-caught zebrafish populations to understand the role of native habitat, sex, and body size in determining learning through a novel task associated with a food reward. The habitat variables, namely, the relative abundances of zebrafish and predatory fish and the substrate and vegetation diversity, were quantified during fish sampling. Fish were subjected to a novel task to find a food reward in a maze over successive training trials followed by a test for memory. Performances of subjects were based on time taken to find the food reward and number of mistakes made during trials, and tests for memory. The experiments revealed significant differences in learning rates and memory across populations. Males made significantly fewer mistakes than females only within two populations. No relationship between performance and body size was observed. The differences in learning and memory among wild zebrafish could be due to differences in predation, complexity, and stability of the native habitats. These findings suggest the possible role of multiple interacting factors in determining learning and memory among populations and point to a need for incorporating effects of several factors in future studies.     

Competence-based teacher education: Illusion or reality? An assessment of the implementation status in Flanders from teachers’ and students’ points of view

Since 1998, the Flanders’ educational government in Belgium has been urging teacher education institutions by decree to implement competences in teacher training programs. Since then, years have gone by, and institutions have acted in order to achieve the competence-based goals. However, have they succeeded in implementing them? This is the research question that is central to the current study. An online survey inquiry was set up in eight elementary teacher education institutions using two questionnaires; one for final year elementary institution pre-service teachers, who were about to graduate at the time of completing the questionnaire (N = 218), the other for teacher trainers throughout the elementary teacher training program (N = 51). Ten years after the decree was issued, results show that competence-based education has become a reality in terms of its implementation. However, the process has not yet come to an end. Whereas some competences are clearly present in the institutions’ policies and practices (e.g. teacher as guide to learning and development, teacher as subject expert), others are poorly represented (e.g. teacher as partner of parents, external parties and as a member of the educational community). Moreover, teacher trainers tend to take four different approaches to the implementation of competences (1) during internship, (2) through the institution’s policy and program planning, (3) by means of their integration in both theoretical and practical components of the curriculum and finally, (4) a lack of implementation because the competences are considered insufficiently applicable by the teacher trainers. In particular, more experienced and subject expert teacher trainers tend to adopt the final approach more often than do younger colleagues and pedagogues. Student teachers’ results, on the other hand, suggest important differences between institutions concerning their understanding of competences and the integration of these competences in the curriculum; suggesting different paces of adaptation between teacher education institutions. Moreover, even within schools, the trajectory towards implementation is not always clear for all members of the teaching team, nor for the students of most teacher education institutions. Consequently, there is still important work to be done in order for successful competence-based change to occur.     

How effective is role play in supporting speaking and listening for pupils with English as an additional language in the Foundation Stage?

This research investigated how role play supports the development of speaking and listening skills for pupils who have English as an additional language in the Foundation Stage. The literature highlighted sociocultural perspective on language development, importance of role play within Early Years pedagogy and key strategies for language learning which may be promoted through role play. Data was triangulated through questionnaires and interviews in relation to the key questions. The findings were positive with pupils demonstrating an improved use of English and a wider range of language learning strategies.     

Do Teachers’ Instructional Practices Moderate Equity in Mathematical and Scientific Literacy?: an Investigation of the PISA 2012 and 2015

Many efforts have been made to reach educational equity, especially to reduce mathematics and science achievement gaps by students’ socioeconomic status. Across countries, educators strive to reform traditional teacher-centered instructional approaches to more student-centered/inquiry-based instruction to improve equity in education. In this context, this study examines whether relationships between socioeconomic status and scientific or mathematical literacy are moderated by student-centered instruction. Ten countries covering a wide range of achievement levels as well as equity in education are selected for an international comparison. A linear regression analysis is applied to student achievement, equity, and frequency of student-centered instruction data from the PISA 2012 and PISA 2015. We find mixed results: As student-centered instruction is offered more frequently, the gap in mathematical and scientific literacy between low and high socioeconomic status is generally narrowed or maintained. In most countries, students’ mathematical and scientific literacy scores are expected to decrease across all socioeconomic status as student-centered instruction is given more frequently. The findings necessitate further scrutiny of how teachers implement student-centered instruction in various educational systems. This further research need to consider the complexity of implementation related to sociological and pedagogical aspects.     

How do professional development programs on comparing solution methods and classroom discourse affect students' achievement in mathematics? The mediating role of students’ subject matter justifications

Comparing solution methods fosters strategy flexibility in equation solving. Productive classroom discourse such as Accountable Talk (AT) orchestrated by teachers can improve students' justifications during classroom discussions and achievement. Do students' subject matter justifications during classroom discourse mediate the effect of teachers' professional development (PD) programs focused on comparing and AT on students’ mathematics achievement? We investigated whether two PD programs (comparing or comparing+AT) compared to a control group increased the number of students justifications, and whether this affected mathematics achievement (strategy flexibility, procedural knowledge, and conceptual knowledge). The study (739 9th and 10th grade students in 39 classes) had an experimental pre-post control group design. Both PD programs significantly increased students justifications compared to the control group. The results of our multilevel path models showed significant small mediation effects in the comparing+AT group on procedural and conceptual knowledge. No mediation effects were found in the comparing group.     

Does it matter who your schoolmates are? An investigation of the association between school composition,school processes and mathematics achievement in the early years of primary education

Although many studies have focused on the importance of school composition for student achievement, there is still no consensus on whether school composition matters to student achievement, and, if so, why. Therefore, the present study investigates the association between school composition and mathematics achievement at the end of second grade in Flanders. International research points to the initial ability level, SES, ethnicity and sex composition of the school as potential variables in explaining differences in student achievement. Moreover, some researchers suggest that schools ‘react’ to their student body and for that reason we investigated the possible association between school composition and school processes. Data from the SiBO Project have been analyzed using multilevel regression and multilevel mediation analysis. The results showed no direct school composition effects with respect to prior achievement, SES, ethnicity and sex on math achievement. We found two small differential effects, indicating that mean school prior achievement seems to positively affect initially high achievers, and the proportion of minority students in school seems to negatively affect students speaking a non‐European language except for Turkish, Arabic or Berber at home. Furthermore, two small indirect effects were found which suggest that schools with a high mean prior achievement or a high mean SES keep in regular contact with their students' parents and this, in turn, appears to enhance students' math achievement. Overall, our results seem to indicate that school composition in the early years of primary education hardly matters.     

Does knowledge of connectives play a unique role in the reading comprehension of English learners and English‐only students?

Connectives (e.g., although, meanwhile) carry abstract meanings and often signal key relationships between text ideas. This study explored whether understanding of connectives represents a unique domain of vocabulary knowledge that provides special leverage for reading comprehension, and whether the contribution of knowledge of connectives to reading comprehension differs for students from distinct language backgrounds. Understanding of connectives, word reading efficiency and breadth of vocabulary knowledge of 75 English language learners (ELLs) and 75 English‐only (EO) fifth graders were assessed. Hierarchical multiple regression techniques revealed that understanding of connectives explained a sizeable and significant portion of unique variance in comprehension beyond that explained by breadth of vocabulary knowledge when controlling for word reading efficiency. The magnitude of this relationship was larger for EO students than for ELLs. Findings indicate that connectives play an important role in comprehension, but that the strength of their influence varies by readers’ linguistic background.