El lenguaje de los niños de 3 a 10 años desde la perspectiva funcional

¿Para qué utiliza el lenguaje el niño? ¿Existen funciones del lenguaje más o menos fuertes o más o menos presentes a lo largo de su desarrollo? En el trabajo, que presenta datos empíricos sobre el peso de las distintas funciones del lenguaje desde los 3 a los 10 años, pueden apreciarse cambios evolutivos importantes respecto al protagonismo de estas funciones.     

The influence of core teaching conceptions on teachers' use of inquiry teaching practices

This article investigates three teachers' conceptions and use of inquiry‐based instructional strategies throughout a professional development program. The professional development program consisted of a 2‐week summer inquiry institute and research experience in university scientists' laboratories, as well as three academic year workshops. Insights gained from an in‐depth study of these three secondary teachers resulted in a model of teacher conceptions that can be used to direct future inquiry professional development. Teachers' conceptions of inquiry teaching were established through intensive case–study research that incorporated extensive classroom observations and interviews. Through their participation in the professional development experience, the teachers gained a deeper understanding of how to implement inquiry practices in their classrooms. The teachers gained confidence and practice with inquiry methods through developing and presenting their institute‐developed inquiry lessons, through observing other teachers' lessons, and participating as students in the workshop inquiry activities. Data analysis revealed that a set of four core conceptions guided the teachers' use of inquiry‐based practices in their classrooms. The teachers' conceptions of science, their students, effective teaching practices, and the purpose of education influenced the type and amount of inquiry instruction performed in the high school classrooms. The research findings suggest that to be successful inquiry professional development must not only teach inquiry knowledge, but it must also assess and address teachers' core teaching conceptions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1318–1347, 2007     

The Effect of Stereoscopic Augmented Reality Visualization on Learning Anatomy and the Modifying Effect of Visual-Spatial Abilities: A Double-Center Randomized Controlled Trial

Monoscopically projected three-dimensional (3D) visualization technology may have significant disadvantages for students with lower visual-spatial abilities despite its overall effectiveness in teaching anatomy. Previous research suggests that stereopsis may facilitate a better comprehension of anatomical knowledge. This study evaluated the educational effectiveness of stereoscopic augmented reality (AR) visualization and the modifying effect of visual-spatial abilities on learning. In a double-center randomized controlled trial, first- and second-year (bio)medical undergraduates studied lower limb anatomy with stereoscopic 3D AR model (n = 20), monoscopic 3D desktop model (n = 20), or two-dimensional (2D) anatomical atlas (n = 18). Visual-spatial abilities were tested with Mental Rotation Test (MRT), Paper Folding Test (PFT), and Mechanical Reasoning (MR) Test. Anatomical knowledge was assessed by the validated 30-item paper posttest. The overall posttest scores in the stereoscopic 3D AR group (47.8%) were similar to those in the monoscopic 3D desktop group (38.5%; P = 0.240) and the 2D anatomical atlas group (50.9%; P = 1.00). When stratified by visual-spatial abilities test scores, students with lower MRT scores achieved higher posttest scores in the stereoscopic 3D AR group (49.2%) as compared to the monoscopic 3D desktop group (33.4%; P = 0.015) and similar to the scores in the 2D group (46.4%; P = 0.99). Participants with higher MRT scores performed equally well in all conditions. It is instrumental to consider an aptitude–treatment interaction caused by visual-spatial abilities when designing research into 3D learning. Further research is needed to identify contributing features and the most effective way of introducing this technology into current educational programs.     

Prevalence of vulnerability and protective factors of sexual victimization

English language abstract not available at time of publication.     

Motivación y aprendizaje escolar: una aproximación desde la teoría de la autoeficacia

Resumen

En el presente trabajo se reinterpreta el problema de la motivación para el rendimiento académico desde una perspectiva cognitiva, fundamentada en la teoría de la autoeftcacia. Se hace hincapié en el papel de las expectativas de eficacia como mediadoras entre las habilidades y el rendimiento de los sujetos y se acentúa el papel que juega la motivación cognitivamente basada en el proceso de aprendizaje. Postulamos, asimismo, la necesidad de fomentar la autoevaluación frente a la evaluación externa y los sistemas que permitan el desarrollo de la motivación intrínseca para el aprendizaje.     

Variation indexes of marks due to continuous assessment. Empirical approach at university / Índices de variación de la nota debidos a la evaluación continua. Contrastación empírica en la enseñanza universitaria

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has required continuous assessment at university in Spain. The goal of this paper is to analyse how continuous assessment modifies the subject’s final mark, to ascertain whether it improves or lowers the final exam score and to determine whether other variables also affect this relationship. To accomplish this, we have created a database with the marks earned by students who took the final exam in the Financial Accounting class at university in the last three academic years. A variation index of the exam score was constructed as a consequence of continuous assessment, and it was analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results obtained from the marks and the index were analysed using contingency tables, ANOVA, regression analyses and a contrast of differences in mean. The main conclusions allow us to state that continuous assessment has an important direct effect on the learning process as well as on the final exam score and the overall class mark, and that other variables also influence them.     

Learning analytics application to examine validity and generalizability of game-based assessment for spatial reasoning

Game-based assessment (GBA), a specific application of games for learning, has been recognized as an alternative form of assessment. While there is a substantive body of literature that supports the educational benefits of GBA, limited work investigates the validity and generalizability of such systems. In this paper, we describe applications of learning analytics methods to provide evidence for psychometric qualities of a digital GBA called Shadowspect, particularly to what extent Shadowspect is a robust assessment tool for middle school students' spatial reasoning skills. Our findings indicate that Shadowspect is a valid assessment for spatial reasoning skills, and it has comparable precision for both male and female students. In addition, students' enjoyment of the game is positively related to their overall competency as measured by the game regardless of the level of their existing spatial reasoning skills.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic:

• Digital games can be a powerful context to support and assess student learning.
• Games as assessments need to meet certain psychometric qualities such as validity and generalizability.
• Learning analytics provide useful ways to establish assessment models for educational games, as well as to investigate their psychometric qualities.

What this paper adds:

• How a digital game can be coupled with learning analytics practices to assess spatial reasoning skills.
• How to evaluate psychometric qualities of game-based assessment using learning analytics techniques.
• Investigation of validity and generalizability of game-based assessment for spatial reasoning skills and the interplay of the game-based assessment with enjoyment.

Implications for practice and/or policy:

• Game-based assessments that incorporate learning analytics can be used as an alternative to pencil-and-paper tests to measure cognitive skills such as spatial reasoning.
• More training and assessment of spatial reasoning embedded in games can motivate students who might not be on the STEM tracks, thus broadening participation in STEM.
• Game-based learning and assessment researchers should consider possible factors that affect how certain populations of students enjoy educational games, so it does not further marginalize specific student populations.

     

Building personalised homework from a learning analytics based formative assessment: Effect on fifth-grade students' understanding of fractions

This study analyses the potential of a learning analytics (LA) based formative assessment to construct personalised teaching sequences in Mathematics for 5th-grade primary school students. A total of 127 students from Spanish public schools participated in the study. The quasi-experimental study was conducted over the course of six sessions, in which both control and experimental groups participated in a teaching sequence based on mathematical problems. In each session, both groups used audience response systems to record their responses to mathematical tasks about fractions. After each session, students from the control group were given generic homework on fractions—the same activities for all the participants—while students from the experimental group were given a personalised set of activities. The provision of personalised homework was based on the students' errors detected from the use of the LA-based formative assessment. After the intervention, the results indicate a higher student level of understanding of the concept of fractions in the experimental group compared to the control group. Related to motivational dimensions, results indicated that instruction using audience response systems has a positive effect compared to regular mathematics classes.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Developing an understanding of fractions is one of the most challenging concepts in elementary mathematics and a solid predictor of future achievements in mathematics.
• Learning analytics (LA) has the potential to provide quality, functional data for assessing and supporting learners' difficulties.
• Audience response systems (ARS) are one of the most practical ways to collect data for LA in classroom environments.
• There is a scarcity of field research implementations on LA mediated by ARS in real contexts of elementary school classrooms.

What this paper adds

• Empirical evidence about how LA-based formative assessments can enable personalised homework to support student understanding of fractions.
• Personalised homework based on an LA-based formative assessment improves the students' comprehension of fractions.
• Using ARS for the teaching of fractions has a positive effect in terms of student motivation.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• Teachers should be given LA/ARS tools that allow them to quickly provide students with personalised mathematical instruction.
• Researchers should continue exploring these potentially beneficial educational implementations in other areas.