Pupils’ attitudes towards school science as they transfer from an ICT-rich primary school to a secondary school with fewer ICT resources: Does ICT matter?

The first part of this study was carried out in a primary school in a rural part of Wales in the United Kingdom. All classrooms were equipped with interactive whiteboards (IWBs) linked to a teacher’s computer and six PCs for pupil use. Teaching through ICT was the prevalent culture in the school. Thirty year six pupils [aged 10–11 years] were selected at random from the final year cohort and were interviewed to determine their views about school science and their views about the teaching methods employed. The pupils moved to a medium sized secondary school where the teachers were beginning to develop their ICT skills and the availability of the computers was limited. The group was re-interviewed after 3 months, once they had settled in to their new school, and were again asked their views about school science and the way it was taught. While in the primary school, pupils expected to use ICT in every lesson, they enjoyed the way information was presented and they were interested in finding things out for themselves when given the opportunity. The lack of ICT in the secondary school caused some frustration, but this was mostly with the teaching of ICT, and the group remained predominantly enthusiastic about science. Those who were less keen on science indicated that it was a teacher factor rather than anything to do with the resources being used. In general the pupils particularly enjoyed the practical aspects of science lessons, something that they had not experienced in the primary school, which compensated for the relative lack of ICT in science teaching.     

Hemispheric laterality in music and math

Hemispheric laterality may be a useful concept in teaching, learning, training, and in understanding more about human development. To address this issue, a measure of hemispheric laterality was compared to musical and mathematical ability. The Human Information Processing Survey (HIPS) instrument, designed to measure hemispheric laterality, was administered to 101 participants who were then asked to provide a measure of their conceptual aptitude for mathematics and music. Scores were then compared through canonical correlation to test the hypothesis that perceived mathematical ability may be explained by left-brain hemisphere preference and musical by the right hemisphere. A relatively strong correlation was found between music ability and right-brain hemisphere preference. A relationship between math and left-brain hemisphere preference or integrated brain processing scores was found to be marginal. Ramifications to learning are discussed.     

Metricon 2.0关注安全度量

2007年IEEE在波士顿召开了Metricon2.0工作会议,同时进行的还有第十六届Usenix安全研讨会.与会人员被问到的首要问题是:"度量事关重大吗?"你可以想象,与会者对这一问题的直觉问答会是"yes",但是经过会议当天的一番激辩,支持这一回答的人数在数量上只是稍占上风.     

Investigation of Single-Case Multiple-Baseline Randomization Tests of Trend and Variability

Educational Psychology Review - Previous simulation studies of randomization tests applied in single-case educational intervention research contexts have typically focused on A-to-B phase changes...     

Knowledge of Sets: a Didactic Phenomenon

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - This paper examines a didactic phenomenon, a perception that the elements of sets have a common property, e.g. that {1, 2, 3} and {a, b,...     

Virtual Dissection: An Interactive Anatomy Learning Tool

The novelty of three-dimensional visualization technology (3DVT), such as virtual reality (VR), has captured the interest of many educational institutions. This study’s objectives were to (1) assess how VR and physical models impact anatomy learning, (2) determine the effect of visuospatial ability on anatomy learning from VR and physical models, and (3) evaluate the impact of a VR familiarization phase on learning. This within-subjects, crossover study recruited 78 undergraduate students who studied anatomical structures at both physical and VR models and were tested on their knowledge immediately and 48 hours after learning. There were no significant differences in test scores between the two modalities on both testing days. After grouping participants on visuospatial ability, low visuospatial ability learners performed significantly worse on anatomy knowledge tests compared to their high visuospatial ability counterparts when learning from VR immediately (P = 0.001, d = 1.515) and over the long-term (P = 0.003, d = 1.279). In contrast, both low and high visuospatial ability groups performed similarly well when learning from the physical model and tested immediately after learning (P = 0.067) and over the long-term (P = 0.107). These results differ from current literature which indicates that learners with low visuospatial ability are aided by 3DVT. Familiarizing participants with VR before the learning phase had no impact on learning (P = 0.967). This study demonstrated that VR may be detrimental to low visuospatial ability students, whereas physical models may allow all students, regardless of their visuospatial abilities, to learn similarly well.     

Is Canada really an education superpower? The impact of non-participation on results from PISA 2015

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - The purpose of large-scale international assessments is to compare educational achievement across countries. For such cross-national...