A meta-analysis of the impact of mobile learning on mathematics achievement

Education and Information Technologies - The technological developments of the twenty-first century have enabled the emergence of alternative teaching-learning models and instructional tools. One...     

Crowdsourcing: A Platform for Crowd Engagement in the Publishing Industry

Publishers will usually make decisions based on their experience and knowledge in book publishing. However, there are risks of losses as markets can be unpredictable. Now, with the availability of various online social platforms, “crowdsourcing” is being used by publishers and authors to gather new ideas and innovations. This article will analyze how the crowdsourcing platform is used by industry players to attract active participation from the public, especially in the title development process. Publishers or authors also need to understand which platform is appropriate and how to use the platforms as a marketing communication tool. The netnography approach will be used to gather and analyze the data related to the specific subject area of the study, including literature review and online observation. Based on our observations, platforms such Wattpad and Ilham Karangkraf are popular among Malaysian authors and publishers, and had been used to get crowd engagement as well as to communicate with readers. With it, sometimes a work that has many readers or followers will be published.     

Effects of Conceptual Change and Traditional Confirmatory Simulations on Pre-Service Teachers’ Understanding of Direct Current Circuits

The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of simulations based on conceptual change conditions (CCS) and traditional confirmatory simulations (TCS) on pre-service elementary school teachers’ understanding of direct current electric circuits. The data was collected from a sample consisting of 89 students; 48 students in the experimental group who were taught simulations based on CCS, and 41 students in control group who followed the TCS. Subjects in both groups used open source software (Qucs) to simulate electric circuits. All students were administered Electric Circuits Concepts Test (DIRECT), Science Process Skills Test, Physics Attitude Scale, and Computer Attitude Scale before the treatment. Pre-test analyses revealed that there is no significant difference between experimental and control groups in terms of understanding of direct current electricity. After completing 3 weeks treatment, all students received the DIRECT again as a post-test. Analysis of covariance was used. Science process skills and attitudes toward computers were taken as covariates. The results showed that the conceptual change based simulations caused significantly better acquisition of conceptual change of direct current electricity concepts than the confirmatory simulation. While science process skills and attitudes towards computer made significant contributions to the variations in achievement, gender differences and interactions between gender and treatment did not. Eleven weeks later, the DIRECT was reapplied to the students in both groups. Eleven weeks delayed post-test results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in understanding of direct current electric concepts.     

A Student-centred Approach: Assessing the Changes in Prospective Science Teachers’ Conceptual Understanding by Concept Mapping in a General Chemistry Laboratory

Although researchers in higher education propose alternatives to traditional approaches to assessment, traditional methods are commonly used in college or university science courses. The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility and validity of Prospective Science Teachers’ (PSTs) concept maps as authentic assessment tools in a student-centred approach to describe the changes in the conceptual understanding of the PSTs in general chemistry laboratory investigations. After the PSTs (n = 47) decided on important issues, such as who would assess their concept maps and what scoring strategy and criteria would be used, they practiced assessing their own and peers’ concept maps during the first five laboratory investigations. They subsequently constructed and assessed pre- and post-laboratory concept maps in a student-centred approach consisting of self, peer, and instructor assessments for the five remaining laboratory investigations. The results of the study showed using pre- and post-laboratory concept maps as authentic assessment tools in a student-centred approach was valid and reliable for describing the conceptual understanding of the PSTs in a university general chemistry laboratory course. The results of individual interviews indicated most PSTs had positive views of their assessment practices in the laboratory course. This study also provides pedagogical implications for the training of science teachers.     

Alternative views of the solar system among turkish students

This study examines middle-school students’ alternative frameworks of the earth’s shape, its relative size and its distance from the sun and the moon. The sample was selected in the province of Giresun in Turkey. Sixty-five 14-year-old students participated in the research. A structured interview consisting of open-ended questions was employed to reveal students’ ideas. The students’ verbal responses were scrutinized and categorized according to their level of understanding. The results showed that the students had many alternative frameworks with regard to astronomical concepts. Implications and recommendations were made for teachers, textbook authors, teaching materials developers and researchers for future research to remedy students’ alternative frameworks.     

Maarif: transformation of a concept in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the nineteenth century

During the Ottoman period, ‘science (ilim, pl. ulûm)’, ‘knowledge (marifet, pl. maarif)’ and ‘technique (fen, pl. fünûn)’ emerged as three important concepts of knowledge. Maarif, which came into prominence with Selim III, began to undergo a semantic transformation together with the concepts of ulûm and fünûn and by the time of Mahmud II it had become an overarching concept representing the knowledge dimension of the new era. This article discusses the semantic transformation of maarif, focusing on the period between 1789 and 1839. This study applies the history of concepts approach developed by Reinhart Koselleck, whereby a synchronic analysis of the concept of maarif is undertaken alongside an examination of its diachronic dimension. This reveals an ambiguous and multi-dimensional structure and helps us to account for its evolution as an umbrella term.     

Looking at the Social Aspects of Nature of Science in Science Education Through a New Lens

Particular social aspects of the nature of science (NOS), such as economics of, and entrepreneurship in science, are understudied in science education research. It is not surprising then that the practical applications, such as lesson resources and teaching materials, are scarce. The key aims of this article are to (a) synthesize perspectives from the literature on economics of science (EOS), entrepreneurship, NOS, and science education in order to have a better understanding of how science works in society and (b) illustrate how such a synthesis can be incorporated in the practice of science education. The main objectives of this article are to (1) argue for the role and inclusion of EOS and entrepreneurship in NOS and re-define entrepreneurship in the NOS context; (2) explore the issues emerging in the “financial systems” of the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) to NOS and propose the inclusion of contemporary aspects of science, such as EOS and entrepreneurship, into NOS; (3) conceptualize NOS, EOS, and entrepreneurship in a conceptual framework to explain how science works in the society; and (4) transform the theoretical knowledge of how science operates in society into practical applications for science teaching and learning. The conceptual framework that we propose illustrates the links between State, Academia, Market and Industry (the SAMI cycle framework). We suggest practical lesson activities to clarify how the theoretical discussions on the SAMI cycle framework can be useful and relevant for classroom practice. In this article, science refers to physics, chemistry, and biology. However, we also recommend an application of this framework to other sciences to reveal their social-institutional side.     

Democracy Through Learner-Centered Education: a Turkish Perspective

Aimed at documenting the problems and constraints confronting learner-centered instruction in Turkey, this article first explains the link between democracy and education and the role of learner-centered instruction in realizing democratic ends. By drawing on John Dewey’s ideas and Turkish scholars’ perspectives on Turkish education, the article then presents the problems and constraints that pose threats to the implementation of learner-centered instruction in Turkey. The author also explains the problems within the Turkish educational system and teacher education programmes, and the challenges that in-service teachers and students may experience with learner-centered instruction.     

An investigation of mathematics anxiety among sixth through eighth grade students in Turkey

The purpose of the present study is to investigate mathematics anxiety among 220 sixth through eighth grade Turkish students in terms of mathematics achievement levels, perceived enjoyment of the mathematics teaching method, perceived enjoyment of mathematics, and perceived help with mathematics from parents. The Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Primary School Students (Bindak, 2005) was used to assess the levels of mathematics anxiety. A 3 × 2 factorial analysis of variance results showed that there was not a significant interaction effect or main effect of gender; however, there was a significant main effect of grade level. Standard multiple regression analyses show that independent variables accounted for 63% to 70% of variability in the dependent variable. The results also indicate that not only the perceived enjoyment of mathematics, but also the enjoyment of the mathematics teaching method and help with mathematics from parents had a significant effect on mathematics anxiety.