What do K-12 students feel when dealing with technology and engineering issues? Gardner's multiple intelligence theory implications in technology lessons for motivating engineering vocations at Spanish Secondary School

The interest on engineering and scientific studies can be raised up even from the early years of academic instructional process. This vocation may be linked to emotions and aptitudes towards technological education. Particularly, students get in touch with these technological issues (namely STEM) during the Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain (12–16 years old).This work presents a preliminary evaluation of how relevant is Gardner's multiple intelligence theory (MIT) in the teaching–learning process within the Technology Lessons. In this sense, MIT was considered as an explanation variable of the emotional response within the different educational parts (so-called syllabus units, SU) in the Technology spanish curriculum. Different intelligence style (IS) will orient the student to a vision of the engineering and technology. This work tries to identify which relationships can be established between IS and specific technology and engineering learning. This research involved up to 135 students were subsequently tested about their predominant (IS) and on the emotions that arouse in them when working with each SU. The results were statistically significant and only those with a Logic-arithmetic or Environmental IS were not affected by the SU.Best teaching and learning practicesare required for encouraging further engineering studies.     

PISA as a Political Tool in Spain: Assessment Instrument,Academic Discourse and Political Reform

This study examines to what extent there is a sort of “political appropiation” by political parties when they seek to set a discourse about the Spanish PISA outcomes. We have consistently found that programs for assessing the competencies of students, especially PISA, have become tools of rationalization and the legitimization of education policies in both the national and territorial contexts. Furthermore, each regional government focuses its discourse on what it feels to be its strong points, that is, a clear “self-justifying reading” of PISA outcomes.     

“The Day That Changed My Life,Again”: The Testimonio of a Latino DACAmented Teacher

This article, based on the testimonio of a Latino DACAmented teacher, underscores the impacts and benefits of immigration policies for individuals and their communities. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has benefitted about 750,000 people; most have used the benefits to pursue higher education and to enter public service careers, including teaching and nursing. Mr. Juárez’s testimonio walks us through his educational trajectory and current role as an educator. This testimonio contributes to current debates and struggles demanding the new U.S. presidential administration to maintain DACA. As researchers, we urge students, educators, policymakers, and the incoming administration to listen to the testimonios of DACA beneficiaries prior to making hasty decisions that will have dire consequences for individuals, families, and the nation, as a whole.     

College Major and the Gender Earnings Gap: A Multi-country Examination of Postgraduate Labour Market Outcomes

This paper explores the effects of degree choice on the distribution of occupational benefits in terms of income, and their contribution to the gender earnings gap, among young European higher education graduates. The results reveal that the field of study, which is the result of a personal choice, appears to influence the distribution of work-related benefits among graduates even after controlling for unobservable heterogeneity and observable individual/job specific characteristics. Analysis of the gender earnings gap shows that the earning disparities among female/male graduates in Education, Humanities and Mathematics are smaller.     

Perspectives on human and social capital theories and the role of education: An approach from Mediterranean thought

Current discussions about education suggest that a transformative pedagogy that goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge and skills is needed. However, there is no agreement as to the inputs needed for a correct development of the educational model. In this sense, we can identify the presence of two different approaches to human and social capital which embody distinct educational worldviews. On the one hand, the ‘Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Personal Culture’ approach, and on the other hand, the ‘Non-Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Civic Culture’ approach. The first, which is linked to mainstream economic theory, sees education as any stock of knowledge that contributes to an improvement in the productivity of the worker and individual well-being. The second, which is rooted in the Mediterranean tradition of political thought, highlights the role of civic virtues, reciprocity, and public action within the educational process and its influence on public happiness. In this article, we analyse these connections in order to introduce the eighteenth-century Mediterranean tradition of economic thought into discussions about human and social capital theories and the role of education in them. Focusing on education through these prisms, national and international agendas must be reoriented towards the integral development of people to include broader global debates.     

Effects of treadmill running and fatigue on impact acceleration in distance running

The effects of treadmill running on impact acceleration were examined together with the interaction between running surface and runner's fatigue state. Twenty recreational runners (11 men and 9 women) ran overground and on a treadmill (at 4.0 m/s) before and after a fatigue protocol consisting of a 30-minute run at 85% of individual maximal aerobic speed. Impact accelerations were analysed using two lightweight capacitive uniaxial accelerometers. A two-way repeated-measure analysis of variance showed that, in the pre-fatigue condition, the treadmill running decreased head and tibial peak impact accelerations and impact rates (the rate of change of acceleration), but no significant difference was observed between the two surfaces in shock attenuation. There was no significant difference in acceleration parameters between the two surfaces in the post-fatigue condition. There was a significant interaction between surface (treadmill and overground) and fatigue state (pre-fatigue and post-fatigue). In particular, fatigue when running overground decreased impact acceleration severity, but it had no such effect when running on the treadmill. The effects of treadmill running and the interaction need to be taken into account when interpreting the results of studies that use a treadmill in their experimental protocols, and when prescribing physical exercise.     

Sociomathematical and mathematical norms related to definition in pre-service primary teachers’ discourse

This study is part of a wider research program, which seeks to investigate the existence (or not) of relationships between sociomathematical and mathematical norms at different academic levels. Here, we consider the norms that arise in the interaction between primary student teachers when they solve a mathematical task related to the mathematical definition. We hypothesize that in the colloquial mathematical discourse between these students coexist two types of discourse as follows: sociomathematical and mathematical, each one with its specific norms. This coexistence can originate commognitive conflicts. We have been able to identify different commognitive conflicts that arose from the simultaneous existence of sociomathematical norms and mathematical norms linked to defining, approaching their generation.     

Prospective biology teachers’ understanding of the nature of science through an analysis of the historical case of Semmelweis and childbed fever

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This article presents a qualitative study of the understanding of various epistemic and non-epistemic aspects of the nature of science (NOS), based on...     

Research Active Programme: A pilot inclusive research curriculum in higher education

Participation of people with disabilities in producing and using research is critical for monitoring the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Research Active Programme (RAP) is a module designed to build research capacity of students with intellectual disabilities. RAP was implemented over 11 weeks in 2 Irish universities. The mixed methods programme evaluation was completed from the students' perspectives, attending to curriculum content, pedagogical approach, the research knowledge and skills acquired by students. Twenty-five students completed interviews before and after engaging in RAP. Focus groups and quizzes were held after sessions to assess learning outcomes. Content analysis was used to interpret student perspectives. RAP was an effective approach for supporting students with intellectual disabilities to develop introductory research knowledge and skills; however, across the cohort, there were differences in demonstrated learning. Student expectations with respect to overall curriculum design, learning outcomes and delivery were reviewed. Specifically, learning outcomes, module delivery and assessment strategies were critiqued. Overall, the RAP curriculum supported research skill development in students. This module prepared people with intellectual disabilities to engage more fully as research partners in monitoring the implementation of the CRPD.     

Education for citizenship and reconciliation in Nicaragua

Original language: Spanish