Exploring the complementarities between complexity and action research: the story of Technology Together

This paper takes up an ongoing dialogue in the educational literature regarding the relationship between complexity theories and action research. Recognising the contributions of other writers in this field and building on arguments made previously by the authors, this paper argues that there are multiple synergies between complexity and action research, and that action research can be a valuable and congruent meta‐methodology for those researching from complexity‐based perspectives. The paper illustrates these arguments through the example of a large action research initiative, Technology Together, which aimed to investigate the metacognitive influences on teachers' use of information and communications technology (ICT) and the implications of these for teacher professional development within a whole‐school context.     

Exploring the dynamics of novelty production through exaptation: a historical analysis of coal tar-based innovations

Theories of technological change fail to account for innovation stemming from affordances of previously developed artefacts.  The literature has highlighted that novelty can originate from market needs, from inferences made from scientific theories or be the object of deliberate technology projects in technology-push models. More recently, scholars have suggested that exaptation, defined as the co-option of artefacts for new functions, may constitute a different path to novelty production. However, the link between the existing artefact and the genesis of new functions driving exaptation is underexplored. Through a longitudinal case study of instances of emergence of new technologies stemming from a single compound, coal tar, we show that exaptation plays a role in all novelty production and, in some cases, it is its main determinant. We build a model of exaptive novelty production that captures the interactions between secondary effects of existing technology, affordances, functionalities, and the emergence of new functions. Our model enriches the theory of innovation by integrating both serendipitous and planned processes as well as both artefactual characteristics and human intentionality.     

Curriculum planning for the development of graphicacy capability: three case studies from Europe and the USA

Curriculum planning for the development of graphicacy capability has not been systematically included in general education to coincide with the graphicacy needs of human society. In higher education, graphicacy curricula have been developed to meet the needs of certain disciplines, for example medical and teacher training and engineering, among others. A framework for graphicacy curricula, anticipating the graphicacy needs in higher education, has yet to be strategically planned for general education. This is partly a result of lack of research effort in this area, but also a result of lack of systematic curriculum planning in general. This paper discusses these issues in the context of graphicacy curricula for engineering. The paper presents three broad individual case studies spanning Europe and the USA, brought together by the common denominator, graphicacy. The case studies are based on: an analysis of graphicacy within general education curricula, an analysis of graphicacy for engineering education in Europe and an analysis of graphicacy for engineering education in the USA. These three papers were originally presented in a plenary session at the American Society for Engineering Education, Engineering Design Graphics Division at the University of Limerick in November 2012. The case studies demonstrate the potential for strategic curriculum planning in regard to the development of graphicacy in general education and an overview of a methodology to achieve that. It also offers further evidence towards the importance of the systematic classification of graphics capabilities in Engineering and how the lack of a developed theoretical framework in this area undermines the case for the importance of graphics within engineering education.     

Children’s Protagonism in a Science Exhibition: an Exploratory Study of an Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Research in Science Education - Despite the fact that the majority of museum visitors are often very young children, much research in museums focuses on pre-teen learners (ages 8–12). Our...     

Socioeconomic disparities in the comprehension of lexical categories. A study with Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study documents the effects of social inequality on different dimensions of lexical comprehension in Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers, a...     

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among children in Children’s Hospital Zagreb during the initial and second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia

IntroductionThe study aimed to investigate the prevalence and titres of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in children treated at the Children’s Hospital Zagreb in the first and the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical significance of difference at two time points was done to determine how restrictive epidemiological measures and exposure of children to COVID-19 infection affect this prevalence in different age groups.Materials and methodsAt the first time point (13th to 29th May 2020), 240 samples and in second time point (24th October to 23rd November 2020), 308 serum samples were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA). Confirmation of results and titre determination was done using virus micro-neutralization test. Subjects were divided according to gender, age and epidemiological history.ResultsSeroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies differs significantly in two time points (P = 0.010). In first time point 2.9% of seropositive children were determined and in second time point 8.4%. Statistically significant difference (P = 0.007) of seroprevalence between two time points was found only in a group of children aged 11-19 years. At the first time point, all seropositive children were asymptomatic with titre < 8. At the second time point, 69.2% seropositive children were asymptomatic with titre ≥ 8.ConclusionsThe prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was significantly lower at the first time point than at the second time point. Values of virus micro-neutralization test showed that low titre in asymptomatic children was not protective at the first time point but in second time point all seropositive children had protective titre of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.     

When Things Go Wrong

In this project, we worked in partnership with school teachers who are frequent users of experimental kits available for loan to schools using the historical-investigative approach. The original kits bring a traditional approach to experimentation, without the presence of the history of science. We developed and implemented new guides to the kits, without changing their materials and instruments. Design-based research supports the development methodology; the school science topics covered in this paper are Joseph Black’s studies on latent and specific heat. Although some of the challenges faced in the implementation of historical-investigative approach are known and well-documented, the present article addresses teachers’ perspectives and some of the problems they faced in the implementation process, most of them related to school and teacher working conditions. Even though this is a case study with a small number of schools and teachers, it is possible to say that there is a huge gap to overcome before the historical-investigative approach can be implemented in large scale.

     

Using the first principles of instruction and multimedia learning principles to design and develop in-game learning support videos

Educational technology research and development - Over three years, our research team has designed various learning supports for promoting content knowledge and solving game levels. In this case...