Teaching Partnerships: Early Childhood and Engineering Students Teaching Math and Science Through Robotics

This paper presents an innovative approach to introducing pre-service early childhood teachers to math, science and technology education. The approach involves the creation of partnerships between pre-service early childhood and engineering students to conceive, develop, implement and evaluate curriculum in the area of math, science and technology by using robotics and the engineering design process. In this paper we first present the theoretical framework for the creation of these partnerships. We then introduce an experience done at Tufts University in which three different forms of partnership models evolved: the collaborators model, the external consultants model and the developers model. We also present different case studies from this experience and finally we conclude with some remarks and observations for making this work scalable and sustainable in other settings and universities.     

Spatial Ability Mediates the Gender Difference in Middle School Students' Science Performance

Prior research has demonstrated a male advantage in spatial skills and science achievement. The present research integrated these findings by testing the potential role of spatial skills in gender differences in the science performance of eighth‐grade students (13–15 years old). In 2 (N = 113), the findings showed that mental rotation ability mediated gender differences in physical science and technology/engineering test scores. In 3 (N = 73,245), science performance was examined in a state population of eighth‐grade students. As in 2 , the results revealed larger gender differences on items that showed higher correlations with mental rotation. These findings underscore the importance of considering spatial training interventions aimed at reducing gender differences in the science performance of school‐aged children.     

Youth Protests against Education Privatization Reforms in Post-Soviet States

This article examines youth protests against education privatization in the post-Soviet countries of Latvia, Russia, and Ukraine. Drawing on a sample of online sources and scholarly articles, this study uses critical discourse analysis and visual methodologies to examine why and how post-Soviet university students have organized to protest against education privatization reforms. The study also critically analyzes visual and discursive representations of youth protests by government officials, mass media, and academia in the post-Soviet education space. The study reveals that while student protesters are deeply concerned about the future of public education, the messages (and images) generated by youth protesters are reappropriated in various ways by mass media, often beyond the control of protesters themselves.     

INTERCULTURALISM,MULTICULTURALISM, AND THE STATE FUNDING AND REGULATION OF CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS

In this essay, Bruce Maxwell, David Waddington, Kevin McDonough, Andrée‐Anne Cormier, and Marina Schwimmer compare two competing approaches to social integration policy, Multiculturalism and Interculturalism, from the perspective of the issue of the state funding and regulation of conservative religious schools. After identifying the key differences between Interculturalism and Multiculturalism, as well as their many similarities, the authors present an explanatory analysis of this intractable policy challenge. Conservative religious schooling, they argue, tests a conceptual tension inherent in Multiculturalism between respect for group diversity and autonomy, on the one hand, and the ideal of intercultural citizenship, on the other. Taking as a case study Québec's education system and, in particular, recent curricular innovations aimed at helping young people acquire the capabilities of intercultural citizenship, the authors illustrate how Interculturalism signals a compelling way forward in the effort to overcome the political dilemma of conservative religious schooling.     

开放远程教育研究与文化及社区建设

开放和远程学习者通过运用通信技术与世界各地人士联系在一起,本文将从文化和社区的角度对这些联系进行探讨。文化和社区这两个概念对学生和教师的互动有着直接的影响,而这种影响在网上社区中尤其显著。一些研究者已经开始探讨通信技术,尤其是因特网技术对不同背景的学生所产生的巨大影响,然而,对于如何将有关文化、社区、社会存在和社会学习等不同主题结合在一起,进行整体研究,仍是我们面临的新课题。本文作者对这一课题的研究提出了建设性的意见。     

Moral Foundations Theory and Moral Reasoning in Video Game Play: Using Real-Life Morality in a Game Context

Although research has indicated that moral decisions are made during video game play, less research has examined moral reasoning during play. Using a think-aloud protocol, participants’ decisions and reasoning were recorded during game play and coded as either strategic or moral. Players’ reasoning was also coded using Moral Foundations Theory. Results indicated an almost equal percentage of strategic and moral reasoning; the salience of several individual moral foundations predicted moral reasoning during play. Video game experience was positively related to the use of moral reasoning, which can be explained by relating reasoning to rational and experiential processing during game play.     

Telework in academia: associations with health and well-being among staff

Higher Education - As the development of technical aids for telework has progressed, work has become more flexible in time and space. Among academics, the opportunity to telework has been embraced...     

Design,development and evaluation of open interactive learning objects for secondary school physical education

Education and Information Technologies - The aim of this study was twofold: (a) the design and development of a set of open, interactive, digital Learning Objects (LOs) for high school Physical...