ICT-related variables as predictors of ICT literacy beyond intelligence and prior achievement

Education and Information Technologies - This study examined the incremental validity of different information and communication technologies (ICT)-related person characteristics over and above...     

Exploring connections between teacher interpersonal behaviour,student motivation and competency level in competence-based learning environments

Learning Environments Research - Studies of connections between teacher behaviour and student outcomes are numerous, but those specifically addressing such connections in a competence-based...     

Exploring informal science education responses to COVID-19 global pandemic: learning from the case of the Gwacheon National Science Museum in Korea

Cultural Studies of Science Education - Science museums have long been heralded as important informal science education sites where people can engage in voluntary and experiential science learning....     

Two comparative studies of computer simulations and experiments as learning tools in school and out-of-school education

Instructional Science - Interactive computer simulations and hands-on experiments are important teaching methods in modern science education. Especially for the communication of complex current...     

Lessons Learned from a Predominantly Latinx Autistic Population: Preliminary Effects of the PEERS Intervention on Neural and Perceived Educational Performance

Thirteen autistic teens, who were predominantly Latinx, completed the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS), a 16-week social skills intervention. Time-frequency decomposition was calculated using advanced electroencephalographic techniques to measure oscillatory brain activity during reward anticipation and processing before and after PEERS. Fourteen neurotypical teens participated but did not receive intervention. The perception of educational performance was also measured. The perception of educational performance did not differ between groups and did not change after participation in PEERS. Approach motivation increased after intervention in the autistic group. This suggests an enhancement of social motivation after learning social skills in a group composed of a majority of Latinx autistic teens.     

Predicting academics' willingness to participate in peer review of teaching: a quantitative investigation

Peer review of teaching is a collegial process designed to help academics reflect on and improve their teaching practice. Considerable research supports the value of peer review of teaching. However, uptake of voluntary programs is typically low. Few studies have examined the predictors of engagement in voluntary peer review. This study surveyed 221 (106 female, 115 male) academics in the first year of implementation of a peer review of a teaching program at a large dual-sector university. Results supported the impact of four key variables on willingness to engage in peer review of teaching: the perceived benefits of the program, an individual's perceived need for support around teaching, perceived drawbacks of the program and career-related benefits. Level of teaching experience was related to willingness to engage: staff with moderate levels of teaching experience were most willing to participate in the program. Limitations of the study are noted and recommendations for peer-review programs are provided.     

Playing with others: Head Start children's peer play and relations with kindergarten school competence

Time-sampled observations of Head Start preschoolers’ (N = 264; 51.5% boys; 76% Mexican American; M = 53.11 and SD = 6.15 months of age) peer play in the classroom were gathered during fall and spring semesters. One year later, kindergarten teachers rated these children's school competence. Latent growth models indicated that, on average, children's peer play was moderately frequent and increased over time during preschool. Children with higher initial levels or with higher slopes of peer play in Head Start had higher levels of kindergarten school competence. Results suggest that Head Start children's engagement with peers may foster development of skills that help their transition into formal schooling. These findings highlight the importance of peer play, and suggest that peer play in Head Start classrooms contributes to children's adaptation to the demands of formal schooling.     

Global Crisis: Local reality?: An international analysis of ‘crisis’ in the early years

Abstract

In a recent keynote speech Paul Standish noted ‘there is agreement in judgments. But how the response to those judgments is realised is always cultural’ (paper presented to PESA Conference, Taiwan, 2012, p. 2). Making judgments about what constitutes ‘crisis’ for children is not necessarily agreed universally, though clearly there are some commonalities across many countries, as evident in United Nations on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) agreements. This article examines the local rhetoric and reality of ‘crisis’ for children in countries across the world. What constitutes a crisis for children, and how this plays out in the contexts of nine countries is explored by the authors based on the insights of each countries’ (OMEP) (www.omep.org.gu.se) Chapter representatives. Policies will be juxtaposed with provision based on the experiences of OMEP members reporting from their various contexts. Taken together they provide a contextualised perspective on ‘crisis’ and its relationship to a non-absolutist foundation to children’s rights. The article concludes that what constitutes crisis from a global perspective warrants consideration in the context of local reality—in this locale the concept of every child as having access to ‘rights’ is far from realisation.