Alternate Conceptions of Preservice Elementary Teachers: The Itakura Method

In this study, we determined the effectiveness of the inquiry-based Itakura method for mediating alternate conceptions of preservice elementary teachers (N = 38) in an integrated mathematics, science, and technology methods course. We investigated alternate conceptions in the expansion of solids due to heating. There was a significant increase in participants’ immediate learning gains after participating in the Itakura method. Retention data was gathered after 1, 2, and 3 months. After 3 months, retention levels dropped slightly, but not significantly. Responses revealed that the majority of the participants did not revert back to alternate conceptions after 3 months.     

Student teachers’ skills in the implementation of collaborative learning: A multilevel approach

This study explores the development of student teachers’ skills in implementing collaborative learning (CL) using a multilevel repeated measures design. Participants were 105 pre-service teachers that were trained in CL implementation. The results indicate that student teachers generally perform well in implementing CL. Further, it appears that these skills increase over time, although no linear growth can be found. Student teachers’ skills development appears to be positively connected with their general feeling of teaching efficacy. Surprisingly, training and students’ pedagogical knowledge have no significant impact.     

Are preschool children active enough? Objectively measured physical activity levels

The present study aimed to describe accelerometer-based physical activity levels in 4- and 5-year-old children (N = 76) on 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days. The children were sedentary for 9.6 hr (85%) daily, while they engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for 34 min (5%). Only 7% of the children engaged in MVPA for 60 min per day, and only 26% reached the standard of 120 min of total activity. Their engagement in MVPA did not significantly differ between weekend and weekdays. Mean activity counts and minutes in MVPA did not differ between genders. Physical activity levels in this sample of preschool children were far lower than recommended.     

The translation of preschoolers’ physical activity guidelines into a daily step count target

This study aimed at translating the physical activity (PA) guideline (180 min of total PA per day) into a step count target in preschoolers. 535 Flemish preschoolers (mean age: 4.41 ± 0.58) wore an ActiGraph accelerometer (GT1M, GT3X and GT3X+) – with activated step count function – for four consecutive days. The step count target was calculated from the accelerometer output using a regression equation, applying four different cut-points for light-to-vigorous PA: Pate, Evenson, Reilly, and Van Cauwenberghe. The present analysis showed that 180 min of total PA per day is equivalent to the following step count targets: 5,274 steps/day using the Pate cut-point, 4,653 steps/day using the Evenson cut-point, 11,379 steps/day using the Reilly cut-point and 13,326 steps/day using the Van Cauwenberghe cut-point. Future studies should focus on achieving consensus on which cut-points to use in preschoolers before a definite step count target in preschoolers can be proposed. Until then, we propose to use a provisional step count target of 11,500 steps/day as this step count target is attainable, realistic and helpful in promoting preschoolers’ PA.     

Young people’s expressed needs for Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Ecuadorian schools

This study analyses the expressed sexuality education needs of young people from Azuay, a region of Ecuador characterised by a large proportion of young people whose parents have migrated abroad, a group often considered at risk to developing of sexual health problems. Multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to recruit young people aged 11 and 19 years to the study. The expressed needs of participants were analysed in relation to gender, parents’ migratory status, age and geographical location. Survey findings revealed that young people expressed high needs with respect to the different components of Comprehensive Sexuality Education: gender roles, sexual and reproductive health, sexual citizenship, pleasure, violence, diversity and relationships. Ordinal regression analyses revealed few significant differences in relation to socio-demographic variables, which was surprising, in particular, with respect to the group of young people with migrating parents. Given the high levels of expressed needs, the findings carry important implications for the design and implementation of future sexuality education programmes.     

Social-emotional characteristics and special educational needs

The aim of the research described in this article was the development of an instrument to measure social emotional characteristics and special educational and pedagogical needs of students in the last grade of primary education. Questionnaires were developed for teachers as well as for students. Exploratory factor analyses showed that the factors underlying the structure of the teacher questionnaire corresponded for the larger part with the negative poles of four factors of the Big Five, i.e., conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability. A stepwise regression analysis was conducted to examine which factors contribute to the prediction of type of secondary education. Intelligence was the most important predictor; lack of conscientiousness accounted for another nine percent of the variance in level of secondary education.     

Functioning and participation problems of students with ADHD in higher education: which reasonable accommodations are effective?

Abstract

Students with ADHD struggle in higher education as a result of various functioning and participation problems. However, there are remaining gaps in the literature. First, it remains unclear how often and during which teaching and evaluation methods problems arise. Second, we do not yet know which reasonable accommodations are most effective to deal with the functioning. And third, we do not know which accommodations are most effective to address participation problems of students with ADHD in higher education. This study addresses these three gaps in literature. In total, 86 students with ADHD, 42 student counsellors and 86 students without a disability participated in a survey-based study. The results show that students with ADHD most frequently experience problems with sustaining and focusing attention and it is demonstrated that most problems arise during classical teaching or evaluation methods. Finally, the perception of the effectiveness of reasonable accommodations is strongly dependent on which problems students experience in higher education. These findings suggest that it is important to consider both personal and environmental characteristics when selecting and implementing reasonable accommodations.     

Multimodal learning analytics to investigate cognitive load during online problem solving

To have insight into cognitive load (CL) during online complex problem solving, this study aimed at measuring CL through physiological data. This study experimentally manipulated intrinsic and extraneous load of exercises in the domain of statistics, resulting in four conditions: high complex with hints, low complex with hints, high complex without hints and low complex without hints. The study had a within-subject-design in which 67 students solved the exercises in a randomized order. Self-reported CL was combined with physiological data, namely, galvanic skin response (GSR), skin temperature (ST), heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). Multiple imputation was used for handling missing data from resp. 16 and 19 students for GSR/ST and HR/HRV. First, differences between conditions in view of physiological data were examined. Second, we investigated how much variance of self-reported CL and task performance was explained by physiological data. Finally, we investigated which features can be used to assess (objective) CL. Results revealed no significant differences between the manipulated conditions in terms of physiological data. Nonetheless, HR and ST were significantly related to self-reported CL, whereas ST to task performance. Additionally, this study revealed the potential of ST and HR to assess high CL.