Questionnaire on Perceived Competency-based Learning for primary school students (#ICOMpri1) / Cuestionario del Aprendizaje Percibido basado en Competencias para el Alumnado de Educación Primaria (#ICOMPri1)

The purpose of this study was to design and validate an assessment tool to find out how primary school students perceive their competency-based learning. By examining the content validity (n = 35 experts), comprehension (n = 173 students) and construct (n = 523 students) of the instrument, the results showed correct psychometric quality, internal consistency, reliability and adequacy of the structural model: χ²/df = 2.08, TLI = 0.88, CFI = 0.90, GFI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.04, and SRMR = 0.04. The final version of the Questionnaire on Perceived Competency-based Learning of primary school students (#ICOMpri1) includes eight dimensions and 27 items. The results showed a high perceived competency-based learning of primary school students. This is therefore a valid and reliable instrument that provides a more subjective and real vision of primary students’ academic performance. Nevertheless, future studies should analyse the criterion-related validity by comparing perception results with those of international academic achievement.     

Prediction model for the inclusion of key competences in the primary school curriculum through the teachers’ perceptions in the Region de Murcia / Modelo de predicción para la inclusión de las competencias en el currículo de educación primaria según la percepción del profesorado de la Región de Murcia

The purposes of this paper were twofold: (a) to analyse primary school teachers’ perceptions of the inclusion of the key competences in the curriculum; and (b) to test a hypothetical prediction model about the inclusion of the key competences in the curriculum according to their perceptions. The participants were 1,010 teachers from 110 schools. The results showed that the teachers need training on this new competency-based approach to teaching, learning and evaluation. The hypothetical prediction model confirmed the high predictiveness of pre-service teacher education and continuous professional development regarding the proper development of the main elements of competency-based learning which contribute to achieving the purposes of today’s education. One of the possible recommendations that could facilitate the inclusion of the key competences in the curriculum according to their perception is teacher training geared towards pedagogical models adapted to the reality of teaching today which optimize teachers’ professional performance and students’ academic achievement.     

Does teacher homework feedback matter to 6th graders’ school engagement?: a mixed methods study

Metacognition and Learning - The effectiveness of homework on improving student academic achievement depends on several factors; for example, feedback provided by the teacher (i.e. grading) and...     

Automated summary evaluation with inbuilt rubric method: An alternative to constructed responses and multiple-choice tests assessments

Automated summary evaluation is proposed as an alternative to rubrics and multiple-choice tests in knowledge assessment. Inbuilt rubric is a recent Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) method that implements rubrics in an artificially-generated semantic space. It was compared with classical LSA’s cosine-based methods assessing knowledge in a within-subjects design regarding two validation sources: a comparison with the results of rubric scores and multiple-choice tests, and the sensitivity of predicting the academic level of the test-taker. Results showed a higher reliability for inbuilt rubric (from Pearson correlation coefficient .81 to .49) over the classical LSA method (from .61 to .34), and a higher sensitivity using binary logistic regressions and effect sizes to predict academic level. It is concluded that inbuilt rubric has a qualitatively higher reliability and validity than classical LSA methods in a way that is complementary to models based on semantic networks. Thus, it is concluded that new automated summary evaluation approaches such as the inbuilt rubric method can be practical in terms of reliability and efficiency, and, thus, they can offer an affordable and valuable form of knowledge assessment in different educational levels.     

Meaningful actions and motivated projects in the transition to adulthood: two case illustrations

A framework for understanding career transitions based on the joint processes and goals of those engaged in the transition and significant others in the person’s social network was used to study the transition to adulthood of youth aged 17–19 years and their families. Twenty parent-youth dyads participated in this study in which a transition project was identified and monitored for 6 months. Two cases are used to illustrate the characteristics of the motivated transition project at the levels of meaning, functional processes, and conscious and unconscious behaviour and structural support and resources.     

The competence to act: Chicana teacher role identity in life and career narratives

Relationships between teachers' biographical experiences and their beliefs and practices have become central concerns in the area of teacher life history and teacher socialization research. Unfortunately, few teachers from cultural minority backgrounds have been included in this research. In the present study, the life and career narratives of two Chicana teachers are examined in order to identify the influences of biographical experiences on how they define their teacher role identity. In recognition of and building from the narrative form of the written and interview data from which the life and career narratives are constructed, teacher role identity is defined as a narratively constructed self-image that presents an identity-in-action in which teachers' competence to act is demonstrated through their actions across various occupational challenges and demands. The competence to act is the product of teachers' biographical experiences and is based on the appropriation of family values through which the case study teachers make connections between their family socialization and their current professional educator role.     

The new educational pluralism in Latin America

Conclusion Education is, however, already beginning to reflect the whole range of pluralisms that constitute the relatively complex, urbanized and semi-industrialized societies of most of Latin America.Modernity in these societies assumes the form of cultural pluralism with a centrifugal and fragmented social basis, in which deep divisions of class and social strata still exist alongside emerging tensions due to the spread of markets, privatization in civil society, the disintegration of the traditional state, the rapid internationalization of communications and expectations, and the consolidation of liberal-democratic regimes that enable all this diversity to be expressed more freely.The new pluralism of Latin American education has therefore more to do with the modernization of societies and their cultures than with the more restrictive notion of complementarity among well-structured socio-cultural elements that fight to preserve their identity and that attain a form of expression recognized by the state in the field of education. The latter type of pluralism, found in more stable and better structured societies, is replaced in Latin America by a more fluid and ambiguous educational pluralism which, in the final analysis, reflects a process of construction of modernity that began only recently but is now in full swing. Specialist in the sociology of education. Professor-researcher at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), vice-president of the Chilean Higher Council of Education, where he chaired the Presidential Study Commission on Higher Education. Member of the Executive Committee of the Latin American Social Sciences Council. His most recent books are: Educación superior en América latina: cambios y desafíos (1990), Chile: transformaciones culturales y modernidad(1989), and Recursos humanos para la investigación en América latina (1989).     

Family preparation for school entry and the role of transition practices

Entry into school represents as much a challenge for children as it does for their parents. The authors examined the ways in which transition practices help children and their families feel prepared for school entry, as measured by the child's emotional adaptation during the first days in class and the family's sense of being prepared for this transition. Data were collected from a sample of 412 parents. The results indicate that children's emotional adaptation during the first days in school is related to their families' preparedness for school entry. Moreover, families' preparation is partly explained by the number of transition practices perceived by the parents. These data support the importance of transition practices in the preparation of the family as a unit. Transition practices could serve to reassure parents and their children that the school is ready to welcome them.     

Hyperlink format, categorization abilities and memory span as contributors to deaf users hypertext access

Sixty deaf and hearing students were asked to search for goods in a Hypertext Supermarket with either graphical or textual links of high typicality, frequency, and familiarity. Additionally, they performed a picture and word categorization task and two working memory span tasks (spatial and verbal). Results showed that deaf students were faster in graphical than in verbal hypertext when the number of visited pages per search trial was blocked. Regardless of stimuli format, accuracy differences between groups did not appear, although deaf students were slower than hearing students in both Web search and categorization tasks (graphical or verbal). No relation between the two tasks was found. Correlation analyses showed that deaf students with higher spatial span were faster in graphical Web search, but no correlations emerged between verbal span and verbal Web search. A hypothesis of different strategies used by the two groups for searching information in hypertext is formulated. It is suggested that deaf users use a visual-matching strategy more than a semantic approach to make navigation decisions.