The Effectiveness of Concept Maps in Teaching Physics Concepts Applied to Engineering Education: Experimental Comparison of the Amount of Learning Achieved With and Without Concept Maps

A study was conducted to quantify the effectiveness of concept maps in learning physics in engineering degrees. The following research question was posed: What was the difference in learning results from the use of concept maps to study a particular topic in an engineering course? The study design was quasi-experimental and used a post-test as a measuring instrument. The sample included 114 university students from the School of Industrial Engineering who were divided into two equivalent homogeneous groups of 57 students each. The amount of learning attained by the students in each group was compared, with the independent variable being the teaching method; the experimental group (E.G.) used concept maps, while the control group (C.G.) did not. We performed a crossover study with the two groups of students, with one group acting as the E.G. for the topic of optical fibers and as the C.G. for the topic of the fundamental particles of matter and vice versa for the other group. For each of the two topics studied, the evaluation instrument was a test of 100 dichotomous items. The resulting data were subjected to a comparative statistical analysis, which revealed a significant difference in the amount of learning attained by the E.G. students as compared with the C.G. students. The results allow us to state that for the use of concept maps, the average increment in the E.G. students’ learning was greater than 19 percentage points.     

Discusión de dilemas morales y desarrollo progresivo del juicio moral

La técnica de discusión de dilemas se presenta en el marco de las teorías cognitivo-evolutivas, haciendo referencia a la teoría de los estadios morales que establece Kohlberg. Se presenta un dilema dirigido en especial a los alumnos del tercer nivel de la Educación Primaria, ofreciendo, asimismo, prototipos de actividades para otros tramos educativos.     

A basic model of integration of ICT by teachers: competence and use

The process to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT), where teachers play a decisive role, is complex. The objective of this study is to build a basic model that connects teachers’ ICT technological and pedagogical competences with the use of these technological resources by teachers (both personal-professional use and use with students). The model also considers how personal and contextual factors influence this relationship. A secondary analysis study was used, whose sample included 1095 male and female Primary, Secondary and Higher Education teachers from the Valencian Community (east Spain). Information was collected with a questionnaire from two survey design studies. Using an MIMIC model, teachers’ integration of ICT was optimally modeled. This model shows a complex relation between competence and use. Technological competences influence pedagogical competences and personal-professional use, while pedagogical competences influence personal-professional use and use in class. Use in class is influenced by both pedagogical competences and personal-professional use. Personal and contextual factors influenced the four dimensions of use and competence. This basic model of the relationship between teachers’ ICT competences and using these educational resources helps us to understand the complex process of integrating ICT into classrooms. Therefore, this model is a key element to guide teacher training in ICT.     

Public perceptions of teachers’ status in Flanders

Schools have increasingly been targeted as appropriate sites for mental health promotion and teachers are considered well placed to identify issues concerning students’ social and emotional well-being. Whilst teachers are now expected to be responsive to a wide range of student needs and circumstances, they receive little in their pre-service and subsequent teacher education to adequately prepare them for such realities. This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated teacher perspectives on student mental health and mental health education, including their sense of self-efficacy in relation to promoting and supporting children’s mental well-being in schools. These findings highlight a complex interplay between teachers’ constructions of ‘mental health’, the importance they place on mental health promotion in schools, issues of teacher confidence, role identity conflict and school culture, as well as teachers’ own sense of mental well-being. The discussion signals a need to pay close attention to the assumptions, values, beliefs and attitudes of teachers in relation to children’s mental health since these are integral to their confidence and skill in supporting children’s social and emotional well-being.     

A quoi servent les reunions d'enseignants?

Résumé Le C.P.E.D.S. de Barcelone est une institution chargée de l'intégration des déficients sensoriels à l'école dite normale. Sur la base d'une étude longitudinale effectuée entre 1978 et 1986 dans 12 écoles, on a analysé le matériel recueilli concernant les réunions d'enseignants. Avec une méthode à orientation ethnographique, on a distingué trois types de réunions: Les réunions d'évaluation de toutes les classes d'un même cycle, où participent enseignants, personnel spécialisé et le directeur; des réunions programmées entre un enseignant et le spécialiste du C.P.E.D.S.; et des réunions informelles (dites de couloir) entre ces derniers. Dans un premier niveau on a analysé les actions, pour chercher à dégager, dans une deuxième étape, la structure sous-jacente à la réunion en dévoilant les rôles, les rites et les stratégies de défense et d'évitement. En guise de synthèse, enfin, l'analyse a été replacée dans son contexte (institutionnel et historique), le but étant de saisir l'écart entre les objectifs explicites et le mode de fonctionnement des réunions d'enseignants.

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TheCentro Psico-Pedagógico para la Educación del Deficiente Sensorial (C.P.E.D.S.) in Barcelona was established for the purpose of integrating children with sensory handicaps into so-called normal schools. On the basis of a longitudinal study carried out in 12 schools between 1978 and 1986, the authors have analysed the data collected on teachers' meetings. Using an ethnographically based approach, they have identified three types of meeting: evaluatory meetings for all classes in one year-group in which teachers, specialist staff and the director participate; scheduled meetings between one teacher and the C.P.E.D.S. specialist; and informal, so-called corridor meetings between the latter. At the first level the actions of participants have been analysed, in order to try and bring into the open the latter's roles, rituals, defence strategies and methods of evasion. By way of synthesis, the analysis is finally placed once more into its institutional and historical context, the aim being to indicate the disparity between the explicit objectives of the teachers' meetings and the manner in which these function.

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Zusammenfassung DasCentro Psico-pedagógico para la Educación del Deficiente Sensorial (C.P.E.D.S.) in Barcelona ist eine Einrichting zur Integration sinnesgestörter Kinder in sogenannte Normal schulen. Die aufgrund einer in der Zeit von 1978 bis 1986 an 12 Schulen durchgeführten Langzeitstudie gesammelten Daten über Lehrerzusammenkünfte wurden von den Verfassern analysiert. Anhand einer ethnographisch-orientierten Methode wird zwischen drei verschiedenen Arten von Lehrerzusammenkünften unterschieden: Zusammenkünfte für die Auswertung aller Klassen einer Stufe unter Beteiligung der Lehrer, der Fachkräfte und des Direktors; Zusammenkünfte, die zwischen einem Lehrer und der C.P.E.D.S. Fachkraft geplant sind; und informelle, sogenannte Korridorgespräche zwischen den beiden letztgenannten. In einem ersten Schritt werden die Handlungen der Teilnehmer untersucht, um anschließend deren Rollen und Rituale sowie Verhaltensweisen des Abwehrens und Ausweichens ans Licht zu bringen. Abschließend wird in Form einer Synthese die Analyse wiederum in ihren institutionellen und historischen Kontext gestellt, mit der Absicht, die Ungleicheit zwischen den expliziten Zielsetzungen der Lehrerzusammenkünfte und der Art und Weise, in der diese ablaufen, zu verdeutlichen.

     

El aprendizaje significativo de la segunda ley de la termodinámica

Resumen

El currículum de ciencias, especialmente en los niveles secundario y terciario, ha sido estructurado tradicionalmente de modo que refleja una visión estática del conocimiento científico. En este trabajo, se exploran las limitaciones que tiene tal estructuración del contenido conceptual, en el aprendizaje significativo de los alumnos. Se enseñó una lección sobre la Segunda Ley de la Termodinámica a alumnos de tercer curso de bachillerato, usando estructuraciones conceptuales alternativas, «estática» y «evolutiva». Las conclusiones que se obtienen ponen de manifiesto, por una parte, el efecto sobre el aprendizaje de las preconcepciones de los alumnos y, por otra, la influencia de la organización conceptual general de los materiales de enseñanza.     

The Internet Serving Personal Communication

Abstract

This article is the text of the presentation made by Isabel Correia from the Macau Territorial Commission for the Commemoration of the Portugese Discoveries based in Macau. It describes the programme developed by the Commission for schools in Macau and Portugal working together via the Internet on projects seeking to put them in touch with each other and to learn about each other's country.     

Evaluating the impact of an environmental education programme: an empirical study in Mexico

This study draws on information from 11 in‐depth interviews, two focus groups and 72 written questionnaires to evaluate an extra‐curricular environmental education programme on forestry designed for preparatory school students from a small rural community in Mexico. Specifically, the study assessed the impact of the programme on the ecological knowledge of 72 students. Qualitative feedback suggests that students learnt about forestry, acquired greater awareness of the importance of conservation for the local environment and enjoyed the participatory teaching methods used in the programme. Quantitative results show a positive and significant association between the number of times a student participated in the programme and the student’s ecological knowledge. Students who participated in the programme once had a 16.3% higher knowledge on ecological concepts and knew, on average, 1.5 more local forest plants than students who never attended it (p<.001). Findings suggest that the inclusion of participatory environmental education programmes in preparatory schools would improve the acquisition of ecological knowledge. Further research could consider the consistency of the findings by replicating participatory methods presented here and by using an experimental research design.     

Synthesising information from various texts: A study of procedures and products at different educational levels

The production of written syntheses, which requires reading various sources and integrating information from these sources into one’s own text, has been characterised as a potentially useful task for promoting constructive learning. This article describes research aimed at examining and characterising written syntheses and the processes involved in producing them. A case study was carried out of 45 students from four different educational levels (ranging from secondary school to university) performing synthesis tasks set by their teachers. An analysis was made of the synthesis tasks set and the syntheses produced, the prototypical procedures carried out at each educational level, and the quality of the written products.     

Making Sense of Disaster Through Rhetorical Homologies: Extending Walter Benjamin’s Unique/Copy Binary to Post-Katrina Tours

Over a decade after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, publics continue to come to terms with the tragedy. Isabelle Cossart, owner of “Tours by Isabelle” and survivor of the hurricane, began offering disaster tours of the affected areas after taking note of people’s desire to see the damage and contemplate its effects. Public accounts of Cossart’s business suggest that people make sense of disasters symbolically via tourism. Cossart’s post-Katrina disaster tours belong to a wider form concerning disastrous events springing from anxiety over how to respond, followed by agency-driven strategies for coping. This discursive dichotomy of disaster/agency is grounded in a homologous discourse of uniqueness versus copy in Walter Benjamin’s essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Through publicly available information on “Tours by Isabelle,” this article compares subcategories of disaster, Cossart’s tours, and works of art, and explores how people make sense of disaster symbolically.