A Systematic Review of Sequential Multiple-Assignment Randomized Trials in Educational Research

Educational Psychology Review - The purpose of this systematic review is to describe the state of the art of sequential multiple-assignment randomized trials in education research. An iterative,...     

Fostering parents-professional collaboration for facilitating the school inclusion of students with ASD: design of the “ToGather” web-based prototype

Educational technology research and development - In recent years, many psycho-educational technologies were studied to address the school-related difficulties encountered by students with autism...     

Exploring the use of technology among newly arrived children in Hong Kong: from an e-sports and cultural capital perspective

Educational technology research and development - Based on Bourdieu’s cultural capital theory, our study examined the engagement of newly arrived children (NAC) with ICT and e-sports both at...     

Epidemiology in Middle School Science Curricula: a COVID-19 Pre–post Intervention

Journal of Science Education and Technology - It is of great importance that science educators teach COVID-19 and related pandemics to boost students’ scientific literacy. A mixed methods...     

Drivers of teachers’ intentions to use mobile applications to teach science

Education and Information Technologies - Using mobile applications in science education has proven to be effective as it adds multiple benefits including learning gains, motivation to learn, and...     

The discourse of design: Patterns of TPACK Contribution during pre-service teacher learning design conversations

Education and Information Technologies - Analysing pre-service teachers’ learning design conversations in relation to Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework to...     

Algorithmic thinking development through physical computing activities with Arduino in STEM education

Education and Information Technologies - The need to benefit from information technologies in the twenty-first century digital age is increasing in all economies to overcome problems and...     

Effects of ‘Environmental Chemistry’ Elective Course Via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry Model on Some Variables

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of ‘environmental chemistry’ elective course via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model on senior science student teachers’ (SSSTs) conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) levels. Within one group pre-test–post-test design, the study was conducted with 117 SSSTs (68 females and 49 males—aged 21–23 years) enrolled in an ‘environmental chemistry’ elective course in the spring semester of 2011–2012 academic-years. Instruments for data collection comprised of Environmental Chemistry Conceptual Understanding Questionnaire, TPACK survey, and Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire. Significant increases in the SSSTs’ conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and TPACK levels are attributed to the SSSTs learning how to use the innovative technologies in the contexts of the ‘environmental chemistry’ elective course and teaching practicum. The study implies that the TESI model may serve a useful purpose in experimental science courses that use the innovative technologies. However, to generalize feasibility of the TESI model, it should be evaluated with SSSTs in diverse learning contexts.     

Exploring Interactive Writing as an Effective Practice for Increasing Head Start Students’ Alphabet Knowledge Skills

The current study used a pretest–posttest randomized control group design with 73 Head Start students, ages 3–5 years. The researcher served as the interactive writing teacher for the treatment group, rotating to five different classrooms in one Head Start center 3–4 days a week for 13 weeks. Children in the treatment group received a 10–15 min interactive writing lesson each day in small groups within their own classroom settings. Children in the control group received standard literacy instruction in small groups with their own classroom teachers. Child outcome data on upper case, lower case, and letter sound identification were collected before and after the intervention for both groups. Based on the large frequency of zeros on outcomes, zero-inflated Poisson regression analyses were performed. The results of the study showed that children receiving interactive writing identified more lower case and upper case letters at the end of the study relative to children in the control, but no differences were observed on letter sounds. While continued evaluation of the interactive writing strategy is needed in the preschool setting, the evidence from the current study shows encouraging trends in alphabet knowledge skill development as a result of this strategy.     

Experimental Evaluation of the Value Added by Raising a Reader and Supplemental Parent Training in Shared Reading

Research Findings: In an effort toward developing a comprehensive, effective, scalable, and sustainable early childhood education program for at-risk populations, we conducted an experimental evaluation of the value added by 2 family involvement programs to the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM). A total of 91 preschool classrooms that served minority populations of low socioeconomic status were randomly assigned to TEEM, TEEM plus Raising a Reader (RAR), or TEEM plus RAR augmented by Family Nights. Assessments of oral language and print knowledge were completed by more than 500 children at the beginning and end of the school year. Multilevel analyses of covariance controlled for classroom nesting and individual differences in age, ethnicity, and pretest scores. Although RAR alone demonstrated no added value, augmentation of RAR with Family Nights demonstrated significant impacts on measures of oral language (ts = 1.81–2.51, .05 < ps < .01) and print knowledge (t = 2.39, p < .01). Practice or Policy: Thus, parent training in shared reading practices appears to be necessary for children to benefit from programs that enrich the home literacy environment. That the combined program particularly benefited children who started preschool lagging behind in school readiness (ts = 1.64–2.49, ps < .05) suggests that this comprehensive model offers hope for closing the achievement gap.