Global socio-technical regimes

This paper addresses the question why socio-technical transitions follow similar trajectories in various parts of the world, even though the relevant material preconditions and institutional contexts vary greatly between different regions and countries. It takes a critical stance on the implicit methodological nationalism in transition studies’ socio-technical regime concept and proposes an alternative ‘global’ regime perspective that embraces the increasingly multi-scalar actor networks and institutional rationalities, which influence transition dynamics beyond national or regional borders. By drawing on globalization theories from sociology and human geography, we show that socio-technical systems often develop institutional rationalities that are diffused via international networks and thus become influential in various places around the world. In so doing, we shed light on the multi-scalar interrelatedness of institutional structures and actors in socio-technical systems and elaborate on the implications for the conceptualization of transition dynamics. The paper illustrates this with the case study of an unsuccessful transition in the Chinese wastewater sector. Recent studies indicate that key decisions on wastewater infrastructure expansion were not only influenced by path-dependencies stemming from China’s national context, but equally (or even more critically) by the dominant rationality of the water sector’s global socio-technical regime. We conclude by discussing the contours of a new research agenda around the notion of global socio-technical regimes.     

Immediations and rhythms of speculative design: Implications for value in design-based research

This paper presents data from the first six-months of an ongoing speculative design project in which youth and researchers co-created a videogame club, and later an eSports team, in an urban youth centre in Montréal, Québec. It describes how process philosophy informed researchers’ approach to speculative design, allowing youth and researchers to co-compose a sense of value for the club and the potentials for what they could do together through the club. This speculative process is contrasted with structuralist approaches to design-based research in education, which can overly or pre-determine value and mechanisms of social change, with or without the collaboration of youth and communities.     

Charter schools: learning from the past, planning for the future

Charter schools have garnered strong support over the past decade, however, opponents question this choice option on many grounds, including their effectiveness, accountability, equity, and sustainability. This paper addresses these concerns by synthesizing what we know from the literature on charter schools, exposing areas where evidence is lacking, conflicting or ambiguous, and assessing the overall maturation of charter school reform. To help answer the question of sustainability, we draw in part on findings from our in-progress, long-term case study of a conversion charter school. This ethnographic data reveals the existence of serious challenges for researchers and policymakers, but also provides useful guidance for the future direction of the charter school movement.     

A Class-Wide Intervention for Improving Homework Performance

Homework completion has an important impact on the overall academic functioning of students. Consultation requests often center on identifying efficient interventions so that teachers may facilitate the homework process and enhance students' academic achievement. This investigation employed a randomized interdependent group contingency and randomized reinforcers to improve homework completion and accuracy of spelling performance in 21 elementary school students. An ABAB reversal design across all students was employed. Results showed this intervention to have a positive impact on both spelling homework completion and accuracy rates. Limitations, future research, and contributions are addressed.     

Optimizing Word Learning via Links to Perceptual and Motoric Experience

The aim of this review is to consider how current vocabulary training methods could be optimized by considering recent scientific insights in how the brain represents conceptual knowledge. We outline the findings from several methods of vocabulary training. In each case, we consider how taking an embodied cognition perspective could impact word learning. The evidence we review suggests that vocabulary training methods can be optimized by making a congruent link between the words to learn and one’s own perceptual and motoric experiences. In particular, we suggest that motoric information about the meaning of a word could be incorporated into more standard vocabulary training methods. Finally, we consider the impact an embodied cognitive perspective may have on other characteristics of word learning, such as individual differences in learning and variations in learning different types of words, for example words from different word classes and words in different contexts.     

Fostering children's acceptance of educational apps: The importance of designing enjoyable learning activities

Educational applications (apps) offer opportunities for designing learning activities children enjoy and benefit from. We redesigned a typical mobile learning activity to make it more enjoyable and useful for children. Relying on the technology acceptance model, we investigated whether and how implementing this activity in an app can increase children's intention to use. During the 27-day study, children (N = 103, 9–14 years) used the app to memorize one-sentence learning plans each day. Children used three different app-based learning activities throughout the study. In two standard activities, children reread or reassembled the words of the plan. In the redesigned activity, children represented the meaning of the plan with emojis. Children repeatedly reported on their attitude towards each activity. Subsequently, children reported perceived enjoyment and intention to use the app. Results showed children found the emoji activity most enjoyable, and enjoyment of the emoji activity contributed uniquely towards intention to use. Additionally, children's enjoyment of the app mediated their intention to use the app in the future. Overall, the study suggests that children's enjoyment of an app is crucial in predicting their subsequent intention to use, and it provides a concrete example of how emojis can be used to boost enjoyment.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Educational applications provide children with unrestricted access to mobile learning resources.
• Positive attitudes towards educational applications predict behavioural intention to use these applications, at least in young adults.
• There is a need for more research examining the relevance of enjoyable learning activities in fostering children's sustained usage of an educational application.

What this paper adds

• Positive attitude towards the use of emojis during learning activities uniquely contributed to children's behavioural intention to use the application.
• Perceived enjoyment predicted behavioural intention to use the application.
• Perceived enjoyment mediated the effect of attitude towards using learning activities on the behavioural intention to use the mobile educational application.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• These findings highlight the importance of enjoyment for children's' acceptance of educational applications.
• Enjoyable learning activities are necessary to ensure sustained usage of educational applications.
• The paper provides a concrete example of how emojis can be used to boost enjoyment of a typical mobile learning activity.