A Critical Review of Students’ and Teachers’ Understandings of Nature of Science

Science & Education - There is widespread agreement that an adequate understanding of the nature of science (NOS) is a critical component of scientific literacy and a major goal in science...     

Simulating Oppression: Digital Gaming,Race and the Education of African American Children

Educational game designers and educators are using digital games as a platform for teaching academic content, including multicultural curriculum. However, it is unclear how well digital game-based learning can coexist with the goals of multicultural education for the purpose of meeting the needs of African American children. In this essay, we raise serious questions about the use of digital games to teach about social oppression in ways that privilege the psychological well-being of African American children. We argue that digital games that intend to recreate histories of racial oppression can be harmful to African American children if they reproduce popular and problematic notions of indigenous lives and experiences. We illuminate some of the dangers of such digital games through a preliminary exploration of one digital game designed to teach about facets of African American enslavement. Our essay concludes with recommendations for culturally relevant digital game-based learning design and instruction.     

The relationship between motivation to read and reading comprehension in chilean elementary students

This study examined the role of reading motivation in reading comprehension achievement of 1070 Chilean third, fourth, and fifth-grade students enrolled in public and private schools. Students were assessed in Spanish reading comprehension and were administered the Motivation to Read Profile from Gambrell, Palmer, Codling and Mazzoni (1996), at the beginning and end of the school year. Results showed that motivation to read at the beginning of the school year was significantly associated with gains in reading comprehension skills. When disaggregating motivation into self-concept and value of reading, only self-concept of reading significantly predicted gains in reading comprehension. Moderation analyses showed that students that started the year with lower reading comprehension and higher motivation to read, had significantly better reading comprehension at the end of the school year, than their peers who started with lower reading motivation. The pedagogical implications are discussed.

     

¿Cómo desarrollar secuencialmente el conocimiento fonológico?

A partir de una revisión de los procesos que requiere la “conciencia fonológica”, necesaria para la lectura, se proponen aquí una serie de actividades para desarrollarla.     

Comprensión de la inclusion jerárquica de clases Estudio evolutivo

Resumen

En el presente trabajo se estudia el desarrollo de la comprensión de los principios que rigen la inclusión jerárquica de clases en sujetos de 4 a 14 años. Se presentan y comparan los resultados de tres experimentos en los que se utilizan, respectivamente, cuestiones de tipo piagetiano, problemas deductivos y problemas de inclusión con los cuantificadores «todos» y «algunos». Se examina también el efecto que diferentes variables definitorias de la estructura de las tareas tienen en el éxito o el fracaso en las mismas. Los resultados sugieren un desarrollo lineal progresivo en relación con la comprensión de la extensión diferente de clase y subclase, y la aplicación correcta de los cuantificadores, y un salto entre los 9 y 12 años en relación con la comprensión de la transitividad. Se discuten las implicaciones teóricas y prácticas de estos resultados.     

A Case Study on the Use of Blended Learning to Encourage Computer Science Students to Study

Students tend to procrastinate. In particular, Computer Science students tend to reduce the number of hours devoted to study concepts after class. In this paper, a case study on the use of Blended Learning to encourage Computer Science students to study is described. Furthermore, an experiment in which the reaction of 131 Computer Science university students to the proposal is analyzed. The material for the preparation of an exam was produced both in electronic and paper formats. 64 students were asked to study using a free-text scoring system, and 67 students were asked to study with printed documentation in the same class. The students’ reactions, the results of a pre-post-test and the answers to a voluntary and anonymous satisfaction questionnaire were registered. After that, students were given the option to keep studying with the scoring system or with the printed documentation. 99% of the students chose to study with the computer, and a higher frequency of study was registered during the previous month to the exam.