Promoting academic satisfaction and performance: Building academic resilience through coping strategies

The aim of this article is twofold: (a) to validate the psychometric properties of the Academic Resilience Scale (AR‐S) in a Spanish university context; and (b) to test a model where different coping strategies are antecedents of AR, and where academic satisfaction and performance are its consequences. The studies were conducted with 185 (study 1) and 780 (study 2) students. In study 1, the construct validity, reliability, and convergent and divergent validity of the AR‐S were analyzed. The hypothesized model (study 2) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed the good psychometric properties of the AR‐S in the Spanish context, providing evidence of its validity. Furthermore, the distinctive role of different coping strategies in resilience was confirmed, as well as the relationship between resilience and academic satisfaction. No direct relationship between resilience and performance was found, highlighting the full mediation of satisfaction.     

Minecraft and machinima in action: development of creativity in the classroom

ABSTRACT

Numerous studies show the positive effects of introducing video games into learning contexts. These instruments help develop twenty-first-century skills, such as creativity, from a dual perspective: (i) the students’ perspective, since they develop skills and competencies that allow them to find innovative solutions to the challenges posed by games, and to become digital culture producers; and (ii) the education professionals’ perspective, to use these instruments in schools and thereby change the way students learn. Using a sample of 85 first-year secondary school students, this study aims to provide empirical evidence about the development of creativity through the introduction of video games in the classroom. To do this, an eight-week pedagogical workshop was developed in which the Minecraft video game was introduced in the subject of technology. To assess the results of the workshop, the participants’ creativity was analysed using a pre-test/post-test design through the CREA Creative Intelligence Test, as well as the evaluation of the students’ machinima productions by their teachers. Results show a significant increase in creativity and high scores for machinima productions, highlighting the opportunity to introduce these tools in classrooms in order to develop innovative educational contexts where creative processes and products are the protagonists.     

Redefining professional identity: the voice of a language teacher in a context of collaborative learning

Following a narrative and biographic approach, in this study, we present the case of an in-service language teacher and her professional learning trajectory in the context of the project ‘Languages and education: constructing and sharing training’. This project aimed at the construction of a collaborative teacher education context for learning and transformation of experiences, views and practices in language education, and involved teachers, teacher educators and researchers. Based on a single case study, the analysis tries to disclose the teacher’s discursive displacements as hints of professional transformation while she reinterprets the learning taking place in the collaborative education process. The signs of change are visible in the way she constructs meanings regarding her professional identity, re-identifies her mission as a language teacher and reconsiders her professional identity. Finally, we reflect upon how collaborative teacher education scenarios may foster teachers’ personal professional learning and renewed self-images.     

Responding to external accountability in high-performing,high-capacity public secondary schools in Chile

The qualitative study on which this article reports explored how senior leaders, mathematics and Spanish language teachers (N = 72) in four high-performing, high-poverty, public secondary schools in Chile enact performance-based accountability policies related to standardised assessments. These four public schools were selected because prior to when the study was conducted all were part of the Bicentennial Schools Programme led by the Ministry of Education from 2010 to 2014. The aim of the programme was to develop effective secondary schools to serve low-income students. A thematic analysis of data produced through individual and group interviews and observations of departmental meetings shows that the enactment of performance-based accountability involved two dimensions of learning-centred leadership, distributed among senior leaders and department heads. An aim shared by parents, students, teachers and senior leaders was to ensure students' access to, and completion of, studies in higher education. Attaining good scores in national standardised SIMCE tests was key to meeting the vision. Collective trust among all actors and macro level trust in standardised testing served as a resource for strong collaboration to improve instruction and learning as well as teachers' collective efficacy. The discussion focuses on school-level practices and policy-level decisions that create conditions for the effective use of information produced from standardised assessments. A key point supported by our findings is that successful performance in external assessments is resourced by, and fosters, trust formation in schools.     

Assessing effectiveness of nurture groups in Northern Scotland

The aim of this small‐scale study was to assess the effectiveness of nurture groups in Northern Scotland. Data were collected from children (N = 19) and staff (N = 5) from three nurture groups. Pre‐ and post‐nurture group Boxall Profile information was also assessed for 33 children across two of the nurture groups. Analysis of the Boxall Profiles found that nurture group children had made significant gains. The majority of children reported that they feel happy and enjoy attending the nurture groups. Nurture group staff reported improvements in the children, and that parents are positive about the nurture groups. However, staff did report a number of challenges that the nurture group face. Overall, this study contributes to the evidence that nurture groups can be an effective intervention for improving social, emotional and behavioural outcomes for children.     

Solving Physics Problems: The Conceptions and Practice of an Experienced Teacher and an Inexperienced Teacher

The results are described of two case studies on the conceptions and classroom practice of two Portuguese physics and chemistry teachers on the role of problem solving in the teaching/learning of science. One of these teachers was a novice and the other had about 20 years of teaching experience. The data were obtained from a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, classroom observation, personal documents, and stimulated recall. The analysis was carried out with instruments organised into categories and specific indicators. The results showed there to be major differences between the intention behind the new curricula, the teachers' conceptions, and their practice. Some suggestions are put forward on the basis of these results for the initial and ongoing education of secondary education teachers of physics and chemistry in Portugal.     

Correlates of adjustment to aging among the young-old and the oldest-old: A comparative analysis

This study aims to compare the correlates of adjustment to aging (AtA) reported by young-old and oldest-old adults and to build two structural models to explore the correlates of AtA for these two age groups. A cross-national study encompassing a community-dwelling sample of 823 older adults aged 65 years and older was undertaken. Several measures were employed to assess AtA, subjective well-being, and sense of coherence. A questionnaire to determine socio-demographic (sex, age, professional and marital status, education, household, adult children, family’s annual income, living setting, and self-reported spirituality), lifestyle and health-related characteristics (perceived health, recent disease, medication, and leisure) was also used. Structural equation modeling was employed to investigate a structural model of AtA, comprising socio-demographic, lifestyle, and health-related variables, as well as SWB and SOC for both groups. Leisure was the most significant correlate of AtA for the young-old (β = .422; p < .001) while self-reported spirituality was the most significant correlate of AtA for the oldest-old (β = .711; p < .001). Significant correlates explain 67.8% and 73.1% of the variability of AtA, respectively. The results presented in this study highlighted different perspectives of AtA, outlined in two structural models, for the groups, and the need of addressing the differences between these, when implementing health care interventions, in particular the relevance of leisure and self-reported spirituality.