Reliability of the new environmental paradigm for analysing the environmental attitudes of Senegalese pupils in the context of conservation education projects

The New Environmental Paradigm scale for children was developed and validated in Western nations but has seldom been applied in non-western countries. The aim of the current study is to examine the scale’s validity for schoolchildren in Senegal. The study was conducted in three regions of Senegal in November and December 2015, and a total 782 schoolchildren with an average age of 13 years participated. We used Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis to assess the consistency of the scale. The principal component analysis was used to reveal the different potential dimensions of our data-set. Given the low internal consistency of the scale and the unexpected responses to certain items, the scale seems to be rather unreliable for the investigated population. This difference could be caused by specific cultural features encompassing strong religious beliefs, different understandings of the place of humankind in nature, and weak awareness of humans’ impact on the natural world.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY,ABILITIES AND SOCIAL RELATIONS IN A SPECIAL CLASS

Two years have passed since our first report on the project with primary school children at Törökszentmiklós. New results indicate that participation in the project has accelerated the development of abilities, has led to mainly favourable personality changes and has promoted the formation of advantageous social structures in the classroom. In the future, in addition to increasing support for the children's personal wellbeing (for instance, provision of more free time, promotion of communication skills), the work of four terms will be completed in three.     

Spanish validation of the Basic Psychological Needs at Work Scale: A measure to predict teachers’ well-being in the workplace

The present study aimed to validate a Spanish-version of the Basic Psychological Needs at Work Scale (BPNWS-Sp) and to examine the associations between needs satisfaction and engagement and burnout in secondary education teachers. Using a sample of 584 secondary education teachers, the results supported the three-factor model, composite reliability, measurement invariance, and nomological validity of the BPNWS-Sp. This study contributes to validating the first instrument in Spanish to measure the satisfaction of the three BPNs separately in secondary education teachers. The measurement of teachers’ BPNs could effectively provide guidance for school policies to improve teaching and learning.     

Early childhood,breakfast, and related tools: analysis of adults’ function as mediators

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study presents the results of a systematic, 3-month-long observation of the verbal and gestural interactions which took place between a preschool...     

Performance and Perception in the Flipped Learning Model: An Initial Approach to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a New Teaching Methodology in a General Science Classroom

“Flipped classroom” teaching methodology is a type of blended learning in which the traditional class setting is inverted. Lecture is shifted outside of class, while the classroom time is employed to solve problems or doing practical works through the discussion/peer collaboration of students and instructors. This relatively new instructional methodology claims that flipping your classroom engages more effectively students with the learning process, achieving better teaching results. Thus, this research aimed to evaluate the effects of the flipped classroom on the students’ performance and perception of this new methodology. This study was conducted in a general science course, sophomore of the Primary Education bachelor degree in the Training Teaching School of the University of Extremadura (Spain) during the course 2014/2015. In order to assess the suitability of the proposed methodology, the class was divided in two groups. For the first group, a traditional methodology was followed, and it was used as control. On the other hand, the “flipped classroom” methodology was used in the second group, where the students were given diverse materials, such as video lessons and reading materials, before the class to be revised at home by them. Online questionnaires were as well provided to assess the progress of the students before the class. Finally, the results were compared in terms of students’ achievements and a post-task survey was also conducted to know the students’ perceptions. A statistically significant difference was found on all assessments with the flipped class students performing higher on average. In addition, most students had a favorable perception about the flipped classroom noting the ability to pause, rewind and review lectures, as well as increased individualized learning and increased teacher availability.     

Social problem-solving among disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged adolescents

The study examined the differences of social problem-solving (SPS) among 12-, 14- and 16-year-old Hungarian disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged adolescents (N = 382) and investigated the relationship between SPS and family background (FB). SPS was measured through students’ own and their teachers’ evaluations by an adapted questionnaire (Social Problem-Solving Inventory–Revised, factors: negative/positive problem orientation, rationality, impulsivity and avoidance). Based on the total values of SPS, the difference between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged adolescents was significant in all age groups in the case of negative orientation. The difference was significant in the case of impulsivity at the age of 12; in the case of avoidance at the age of 14; in the case of rationality and avoidance at the age of 16. FB had the strongest link with negative orientation, impulsivity and avoidance. In case of impulsivity and avoidance, variance explained by FB was higher among 16-year olds than among 12- and 14-year olds.     

The Phenomenon of False Assumption in Historical and Educational Texts

This article describes two heuristic strategies for problem solving: the use of false assumption strategy and the use of double false assumption strategy. Both of these strategies have their roots deep in history. In this article, we define these two strategies and illustrate their use in a problem developed by Frances Pellos. The article provides an overview of occurrences of these two strategies in various mathematical and educational texts. The texts show clearly that both of these strategies played a significant role in mathematics education in the past. We present some examples from concrete historical documents, which we use later for the preparation of a teaching experiment. We also present the conclusions of an experiment conducted on three lower secondary schools in the Czech Republic, the goal of which was to test the applicability of the use of false assumption strategy as a propaedeutic to solving word problems using equations.