Effectiveness of ontology-based learning content generation for preschool cognitive skills learning

During early childhood, children start developing their cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioural skills, laying the foundation for life-long learning. Cognitive skills are usually taught in traditional classrooms through the use of textbooks and worksheets. The learning content in these textbooks and worksheets is static pre-authored content that is repeatedly used for teaching and learning. This repetition jeopardises the child's learning of individualised and cognitive skills. Preschool cognitive skills learning content comprises facts of everyday life. Similarly, the Semantic Web attempts to model these facts through ontologies. From this, a relationship appears between preschool cognitive skills learning content and the ontologies. The present work focuses on the stated problem and presents the theoretical and development details of a child-friendly tutoring application that dynamically generates cognitive skills learning content using ontologies as domain knowledge. The proposed application was evaluated in a preschool environment for its learning effectiveness and the correctness of the generated content. Three groups of preschool children participated in the study for preschool cognitive skills learning through the use of the proposed application. The first group learned the cognitive skills through the traditional method with textbooks and the teacher's teaching. The second group learned the skills through the proposed application at school in classroom sessions. The third group experienced the proposed application both at school and at home, along with regular classroom sessions. The results show significant gains by the third group over the other two groups, and hence support the use of the proposed application in practice. However, the enhanced learning by the third group disappears if the additional application usage time is removed. Moreover, the results of the expert evaluation show that a great deal of the learning content was correctly generated, thus justifying the true modelling of the domain ontology.     

Promises and pitfalls of learning objects

Learning objects (LOs), generally understood as digital learning resources shared through the Internet and reused in multiple learning contexts, have aroused worldwide enthusiasm in the field of educational technology during the last years. Although LOs and LO systems offer tremendous possibilities to improve educational practices, there are many theoretical problems and practical shortcomings which are usually neglected. In this article we introduce the promises of cost‐effectiveness, reusability, modifiability and adaptability associated with LOs. Then we critically look at the problems underlying the LO approach, and provide our own alternative interpretation of LOs as useful elements of meaningful learning environments. Because of their flexible nature, LOs and LO systems can be used to support a variety of learning theories and instructional strategies—both sophisticated and reductionist ones (Parrish, 2004 Parrish, P. E. 2004. The trouble with learning objects. Educational Technology, Research & Development, 52(1): 49–67. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). LOs per se are not necessarily pedagogically functional or non‐functional, but their pedagogical value is determined through their context of use. The implementation of LOs requires a sound pedagogical grounding, and we argue that only by using LOs according to the principles of contemporary learning theories can their promises be fulfilled.     

A practical guide for the fabrication of microfluidic devices using glass and silicon

This paper describes the main protocols that are used for fabricating microfluidic devices from glass and silicon. Methods for micropatterning glass and silicon are surveyed, and their limitations are discussed. Bonding methods that can be used for joining these materials are summarized and key process parameters are indicated. The paper also outlines techniques for forming electrical connections between microfluidic devices and external circuits. A framework is proposed for the synthesis of a complete glass/silicon device fabrication flow.     

An investigation of the validity and reliability of the adapted mathematics anxiety rating scale-short version (MARS-SV) among Turkish students

This study adapted the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale-Short Version (MARS-SV) into Turkish and investigated the validity and reliability of the adapted instrument. Twenty-five bilingual experts agreed on the language validity, and 49 Turkish language experts agreed on the conformity and understandability of the scale’s items. Thirty-two subject matter experts’ responses provided evidence for content validity. Finally, 475 college students (51.58% men) responded to the adapted scale. Based on the existing literature, several models were specified and estimated. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that only five-factor model provided fit to the data (all fit indices exceeded 0.90). Standardized factor loadings were found all positive, significant, and ranged from 0.40 to 0.78. Factors are named as the Mathematics Test Anxiety, Course Anxiety, Computation Anxiety, Application Anxiety, and Social Anxiety. All subscales were significantly correlated with the total scale score as well as among themselves. It was concluded that the adapted scale measures the construct of mathematics anxiety in Turkish college student populations.     

Understandings of current environmental issues: Turkish case study in six teacher education colleges

The purpose of this study is to profile future science teachers’ understandings of current environmental issues in the context of an education reform in Turkey. Knowledge base and understandings of elementary and secondary prospective science teachers about biodiversity, carbon cycle, global warming and ozone layer depletion were targeted in the study. Questionnaire surveys developed for this purpose were adapted and used in this investigation. The questionnaires were administered to 360 participants in six universities. Analysis involved frequencies, percentages and comparing means for students majoring in elementary and secondary science teaching. Analysis of variance for differences among majors and responses to different issues are also included. Findings are compared and contrasted with the previous research in other countries. The study has implications for the prospective preparation of teachers and the future of environmental literacy movement in Turkey.     

Learning science content through socio-scientific issues-based instruction: a multi-level assessment study

Science educators have presented numerous conceptual and theoretical arguments in favor of teaching science through the exploration of socio-scientific issues (SSI). However, the empirical knowledge base regarding the extent to which SSI-based instruction supports student learning of science content is limited both in terms of the number of studies that have been conducted in this area and the quality of research. This research sought to answer two questions: (1) To what extent does SSI-based instruction support student learning of science content? and (2) How do assessments at variable distances from the curriculum reveal patterns of learning associated with SSI-based instruction? Sixty-nine secondary students taught by three teachers participated in the study. Three teachers implemented an SSI intervention focused on the use of biotechnology for identifying and treating sexually transmitted diseases. We found that students demonstrated statistically and practically significant gains in content knowledge as measured by both proximal and distal assessments. These findings support the claim that SSI-based teaching can foster content learning and improved performance on high-stakes tests.     

Digital competence – an emergent boundary concept for policy and educational research

Digital competence is an evolving concept related to the development of digital technology and the political aims and expectations of citizenship in a knowledge society. It is regarded as a core competence in policy papers; in educational research it is not yet a standardized concept. We suggest that it is a useful boundary concept, which can be used in various contexts. For this study, we analysed 76 educational research articles in which digital competence, described by different terms, was investigated. As a result, we found that digital competence consists of a variety of skills and competences, and its scope is wide, as is its background: from media studies and computer science to library and literacy studies. In the article review, we found a total of 34 terms that had used to describe the digital technology related skills and competences; the most often used terms were digital literacy, new literacies, multiliteracy and media literacy, each with somewhat different focus. We suggest that digital competence is defined as consisting of (1) technical competence, (2) the ability to use digital technologies in a meaningful way for working, studying and in everyday life, (3) the ability to evaluate digital technologies critically, and (4) motivation to participate and commit in the digital culture.