Measuring twenty-first century skills: development and validation of a scale for in-service and pre-service teachers

A self-report scale that measures teachers’ confidence in teaching students about twenty-first century skills was developed and validated with pre-service and in-service teachers. First, 16 items were created to measure teaching confidence in six areas: information literacy, collaboration, communication, innovation and creativity, problem solving, and responsible citizenship. Then, the items were tested in two groups of pre-service teachers and two groups of in-service teachers respectively. Exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the scale’s validity and reliability. The analyses identified a three-construct scale including innovation and problem solving, collaboration, and utility of technology for pre-service teachers and a one-dimension scale, cross-functional skills, for in-service teachers. This study suggests that different scales should be used to measure in-service teachers’ and pre-service teachers’ confidence in teaching twenty-first century skills.     

Testing students under cognitive capitalism: knowledge production of twenty-first century skills

Abstract

Scholars studying the global governance of education have noted the increasingly important role corporations play in educational policy making. I contribute to this scholarship by examining the Assessment and Teaching of twenty-first century skills (ATC21S?) project, a knowledge production apparatus operating under cognitive capitalism. I analyze how ATC21S gains symbolic power and authority as it defines what counts in education through three key processes: (1) By legitimizing and disseminating new knowledge about twenty-first century skills; (2) By implementing this knowledge concretely in schools and (3) By embedding this new knowledge within a global alliance. I suggest that the knowledge produced by ATC21S in calculating and measuring twenty-first century skills contributes to the capture of living labor and its reproduction for the knowledge economy through the school system.     

Building collective leadership capacity using collaborative twenty-first century digital tools

The current research explores how using collaborative twenty-first century digital tools developed the collective leadership capacity among participants in an educational leadership course. A qualitative interpretive approach was used. The data show how learning within the digital collaborative spaces was multidirectional and enhanced the possibilities of each student’s learning and practice. Communicating, curating and sharing knowledge, led to the development of new insights and support of mutual practice. The authors argue that the group’s collaborative endeavours produced substantive collective knowledge that elevated practice, and in so doing created collective leadership capacity within educational institutions and organisations in Trinidad and Tobago.     

Guidelines to design engineering education in the twenty-first century for supporting innovative product development

In the twenty-first century, meeting our technological challenges demands educational excellence, a skilled populace that is ready for the critical challenges society faces. There is widespread consensus, however, that education systems are failing to adequately prepare all students with the essential twenty-first century knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life, career, and citizenship. The purpose of this paper is to understand how twenty-first century knowledge and skills can be appropriately embedded in engineering education finalised to innovative product development by using additive manufacturing (AM). The study designs a learning model by which to achieve effective AM education to address the requirements of twenty-first century and to offer students the occasion to experiment with STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) concepts. The study is conducted using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology.     

Developing employability skills via extra-curricular activities in Vietnamese universities: student engagement and inhibitors of their engagement

This article reports a study that investigated student engagement and inhibitors of their engagement with developing employability skills via extra-curricular activities in Vietnamese universities. Content analysis of 18 interviews with students and statistical analysis of 423 students’ responses to a paper-based survey showed that despite a variety of extra-curricular activities being frequently organised, students engaged in these activities just above a moderate level. The analysis revealed that students with different motivations as well as students from different university types, disciplines, and university years engaged differently with developing employability skills via this channel. Five inhibitors of their engagement were identified, including students’ working part-time, a lack of information about extra-curricular activities, students’ beliefs about participating bringing no benefits, competition with curriculum-based activities, and unprofessional organisation of these activities. The article discusses ways to improve student engagement with developing employability skills via extra-curricular activities.     

Examining models of twenty-first century education through the lens of Confucian cosmopolitanism

ABSTRACT

Today, the intensification of global interconnectivity is a key characteristic of the twenty-first century. This has spurred governments and policymakers to envision how best to equip future-ready citizens who can navigate increasingly globalized workplaces resulting in the worldwide popularity of models that articulate twenty-first century competencies. Twenty-first century education models perpetuated by transnational and multinational organizations posit an idealized vision of the future-ready citizen equipped with requisite skills to compete in the global economy. Informed by economic rationality, such models promote a consequentialist approach to education where the primary aim of schools is to develop citizens as human capital who can thrive in globalized workplaces and ultimately contribute to the progress of their nation. In this paper, I focus on the twenty-first century education model currently infused across schools in Singapore. Using this as an example, I examine models of twenty-first century education from the lens of Confucian cosmopolitanism. I explore how the application of Confucian cosmopolitanism can facilitate an ethical re-orientation of twenty-first century education that shifts the focus from instrumental competencies to humanistic virtues needed for a more hospitable future.     

How research on self-regulated learning can advance computer supported collaborative learning / El papel de la investigación sobre aprendizaje autorregulado en el desarrollo del aprendizaje colaborativo asistido por ordenador

Abstract

Learning in and for the twenty-first century requires motivational competence and effective learning strategies in individual and collaborative learning settings. Being able to strategically regulate one’s own learning and that of others is a vital and increasingly important skill. Most learners are not equipped to regulate and direct their own learning or might lack the motivation to do so. Additionally, if self-regulation of learning is difficult at the individual level, it becomes even more difficult when interacting with peers and in teams, known as co-regulation and shared regulation. Fortunately, recent research has shown that regulation can be both learned and also often supported with self-regulation tools and/or environments. This paper discusses recent trends in self-regulated learning research, focusing especially on regulating learning in computer supported collaborative learning. It is concluded that today’s education should help learners become aware of their strengths and weaknesses in a learning situation, so as to help them develop skills and strategies to continue to learn throughout their lives.     

Formatively assessing teamwork in technology-enabled twenty-first century classrooms: exploratory findings of a teamwork awareness programme in Singapore

Teamwork, one of the core competencies for the twenty-first century learner, is a critical skill for work and learning. However, assessing teamwork is complex, in particular, developing a measure of teamwork that is domain-generic and applicable across a wide range of learners. This paper documents one such study that leverages technology to help provide a formative assessment of teamwork. It focuses on the self and peer ratings of a teamwork measure and a pedagogical method, which was trialled as a teamwork awareness programme in a mainstream Secondary School in Singapore. This teamwork awareness programme was incorporated into the school’s Interdisciplinary Project Work curriculum. Findings of students’ experiences of the programme are described. The teamwork competency dimension of “team emotional support” was rated highest amongst students. Also, students’ report gains in teamwork awareness, mixed engagement in reflective practices, and on the real-world relevancy of the programme. Discussions and implications of the findings follow.     

Building professionalism and employability skills: embedding employer engagement within first-year computing modules

This paper outlines a means of improving the employability skills of first-year university students through a closely integrated model of employer engagement within computer science modules. The outlined approach illustrates how employability skills, including communication, teamwork and time management skills, can be contextualised in a manner that directly relates to student learning but can still be linked forward into employment. The paper tests the premise that developing employability skills early within the curriculum will result in improved student engagement and learning within later modules. The paper concludes that embedding employer participation within first-year models can help relate a distant notion of employability into something of more immediate relevance in terms of how students can best approach learning. Further, by enhancing employability skills early within the curriculum, it becomes possible to improve academic attainment within later modules.     

The professional student program for educational resilience: Enhancing momentary engagement in classwork

Abstract

The Professional Student Program for Educational Resilience (PROSPER) was designed to increase students’ ability to stay momentarily engaged in classwork, thus promoting educational resilience. Participants (N?=?277, 51% male, 74% Irish) from two low-income schools in Dublin, Ireland (School A n?=?158; School B n?=?119), were assessed using the intervention’s theory of change: (1) change in knowledge of how to stay engaged in classwork, (2) subsequent change in momentary engagement in classwork, and (3) subsequent longer-term change in dispositions for engagement (i.e., tendency to enjoy learning). Qualitative results demonstrated that PROSPER facilitated students’ knowledge, momentary engagement, and teachers’ involvement with students. Quantitative analyses uncovered changes in knowledge and momentary engagement for both the higher and lower ability tracks in School A. The results give refined information on how this universal-school based program increased students’ momentary engagement and supported their educational resilience.     

Examining teachers’ perceptions of K‐11 students’ 21st century skills and student performance

This study examined the relationship of teachers’ ratings of students’ 21st century skills (i.e., persistence, curiosity, externalizing and internalizing affect, and cognition) via the Human Behavior Rating Scale: Brief (HBRS: Brief; Eaves & Woods‐Groves, 2011) with student performance. Midwestern K‐11 teachers (n = 96) rated students (n = 1,689) via the HBRS: Brief and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). Students’ academic (i.e., standardized tests) and behavioral (i.e., office discipline referrals [ODRs] and absences) performance was compared with HBRS: Brief ratings. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that teachers’ ratings of students’ 21st century skills were related to the following: (a) Persistence with SDQ conduct problems, academic performance, and absences; (b) curiosity with SDQ emotional symptoms; (c) externalizing affect with SDQ conduct problems, academic performance, and ODRs; (d) internalizing affect with SDQ emotional symptoms and academic performance, and (e) cognition with academics.     

Social learning spaces and student engagement

Notable gains have been made in understanding the factors that influence the student experience in higher education, particularly in the area of student engagement. While tremendous effort has been focused on identifying educationally beneficial activities for students, we must also consider where these activities are occurring. In recent years there have been technological advances that have paved the way for blended learning environments, however, physical learning environments continue to dominate the functionality of many universities. The development of purpose‐built informal social learning spaces as a strategy to enhance the student experience is becoming more prevalent, although empirical research in this area is lacking. This study explores the role of social learning spaces on the student experience using the student engagement framework within a qualitative research design. Informal interviews with 103 students were conducted within a social learning space. Findings reveal that social learning spaces can contribute to enhanced student engagement by fostering active learning, social interaction and belonging amongst tertiary students. The study also suggests that design is a contributing factor to students' perceptions of social learning spaces.     

Reading: three to thirteen

Askew and his colleagues (1997), put forward a range of important notions as to what might constitute effective approaches to the teaching of numeracy. In particular, they place great emphasis on the way in which teachers who make links between different areas of mathematics are seen to be effective teachers of numeracy. (Askew et al term this approach ‘connectionist’)

The work reported here suggests that the notion of classifying a teacher as, say, connectionist is too simplistic. We report observations which suggest that effective teachers of numeracy incorporate a range of approaches into their teaching.     

Active learning promoting student teachers’ professional competences in Finland and Turkey

This study investigates student teachers’ active learning experiences in teacher education (TE) in Finnish and Turkish contexts and attempts to determine how active learning methods’ impact student teachers’ professional competences. Student teachers (N = 728) assessed their active learning experiences and the professional competences they achieved during TE. Self-regulated and collaborative learning provided the theoretical framework for the active learning measurements. The professional competences included a wide range of teacher responsibilities in schools and society. The data were collected by a survey. A quantitative analysis utilising a regression analysis approach provided strong evidence that active learning has an impact on professional competences. A qualitative analysis further revealed that active knowledge creation with high engagement in learning tasks and a collaborative learning culture were important modes of active learning. While the study focused on two different TE systems, active learning was important in student teachers’ professional development in both contexts.     

Enhancing student engagement through practice experience in social work education: the Social Work Studio

It can sometimes be difficult to engage students in ‘real life experiences’ within the classroom. In one Bachelor of Social Work program, the development of a Social Work Studio (the Studio) has provided students with opportunities to engage in simulated social work practice in a safe and supportive environment. This article reports on a small exploratory study of students' responses to a survey that sought their views and reactions to the development of this Studio initiative. Findings were analysed from a sociocultural perspective. They indicate that students' responses to the development of the Studio reflect their emerging constructions of the cultural world of social work.     

Understanding student behavioral engagement: Importance of student interaction with peers and teachers

Recent theoretical conceptualizations of student engagement have raised questions about how to measure student engagement and how engagement varies not only across schools, but also within school and within classrooms. The authors build on existing research on student behavioral engagement and extend this research to emphasize a continuum of disengagement, active engagement, and passive engagement. They review common approaches to measuring engagement and highlight areas where new theoretical conceptualizations of engagement require new approaches to measurement. The authors analyze how student behavioral engagement changed depending on the context and demonstrate the need of a finer scale of engagement. They find there was not a uniform association of higher behavioral engagement and student interaction with peers, but it was the interaction with other students and the teacher that was predictive of increased engagement. Their work suggests that disaggregating behavioral engagement into disengagement, active engagement, and passive engagement has important research and conceptual implications.     

Evaluation of a pedagogical model for student engagement in learning activities

Current research suggests that student engagement with academic schoolwork in secondary school classrooms is often insufficient. This issue is of relevance because student engagement is a prerequisite for acquiring knowledge and skills and is also a mediator of achievement and important life outcomes. In response to this, the present study evaluates a pedagogical model for stimulating student engagement in learning activities in secondary school contexts through an action research approach. This model is composed of five facilitators of engagement that, when considered in both the design and implementation of learning activities, can potentially contribute to stimulating behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement in such activities. Nineteen Year 9 students of Spanish from a state school in England, their teacher and the researcher participated in two long-term, learning activities designed using the proposed pedagogical model. Data were collected over two school terms through qualitative student self-reports, interviews with students and their teacher and the researcher’s journal. Thematic analyses were used to examine the effects of the learning activities on student behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement. The results seem to confirm that the application of the proposed pedagogical model could help promote thorough student engagement in learning activities. Findings also suggest that failing to support the model’s facilitators of engagement may have detrimental effects on overall student engagement in learning activities. The study contributes to the improvement of student engagement with academic schoolwork internationally by proposing an assessed pedagogical solution that could be implemented by secondary school teachers with relative ease.     

Effectiveness of the multidimensional curriculum model in developing higher-order thinking skills in elementary and secondary students

The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the multidimensional curriculum model (MdCM) in the development of higher-order thinking skills in a sample of 394 elementary and secondary school students in Israel. The study employed a quantitative quasi-experimental pre-post design, using a study module based on MdCM, comparing intervention group to control group. Thinking skills were measured using a thinking questionnaire comprising three dimensions: Scientific thinking – focusing on inquiry skills; creative thinking – relating to problem finding and problem-solving; and future thinking – concerning personal and time perspectives. Findings indicate improvement in measured thinking skills in the intervention group by 40% compared to 4% in control group. Most improved skills were future thinking and creative thinking. Differences were detected according to the type of school. It is suggested that when used regularly the MdCM incorporating innovative teaching–learning strategies and embedded thinking tools could improve thinking skills among students from different age groups. General implications for curriculum design are discussed.     

Beyond employer engagement and skills supply: building conditions for partnership working and skills co-production in the English context

Education providers and employers working together to prepare young people and adults for employment is internationally accepted as a key factor in effective technical and vocational education. In the English context, however, we argue that two related orthodoxies have prevailed – ‘employer engagement’ and ‘skills supply’ – in which education providers have striven to gain employer involvement in their programmes and meet their skills needs. The effectiveness of these twin orthodoxies has been limited by the ‘New Low Skills Equilibrium’ (NLSE) involving a symbiosis of weaknesses on both the education and employer sides. The article draws on findings of a two-year research and development programme in East London which explored the process of education-employer partnership working to support inclusive growth in key economic sectors. The research suggested that this aim was best supported by processes of ‘co-production’ that actively involved both partners in attempting to address features of the NLSE. The research also pointed to constraining factors. The article concludes by identifying the conditions required for the realisation of co-production approaches that include the development of new collaborative structures – High Progression and Skills Networks (HPSNs) – involving a wide range of social partners at the local and regional levels.     

Assessing heterogeneous student bodies using a methodology that encourages the acquisition of skills valued by employers

This work compares the results of three assessment systems used in two Spanish universities (the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the Universidad Católica de Ávila): the traditional system based on final examinations, continuous assessment with periodic tests and a proposed system (specially designed for heterogeneous student bodies) orientated towards motivating students. This third system involved dividing the syllabus into two different parts: a common core assessed by multiple choice tests, and a specialisation assessed by a literature review, the writing of an article and an oral presentation. The latter skills are highly valued by employers. The proposed system led to a greater pass rate than that achieved by students taking similar courses assessed by the more conventional systems. In addition, the results show that involving students in the assessment process increases their participation in their studies and generates a feeling of satisfaction and justice.