Teaching future teachers basic astronomy concepts—seasonal changes—at a time of reform in science education

Bearing in mind students' misconceptions about basic concepts in astronomy, the present study conducted a series of constructivist activities aimed at changing future elementary and junior high school teachers' conceptions about the cause of seasonal changes, and several characteristics of the Sun–Earth–Moon relative movements like Moon phases, Sun and Moon eclipses, and others. The activities and results concerning the cause of seasonal changes are reported. Both the experimental class and the control groups improved their grasp of basic astronomy concepts statistically significantly, although the experimental class made the most impressive progress of all. Regarding subjects relevant to this study (seasonal changes), only the experimental class showed a statistically significant improvement, which justifies the constructivist approach. We conclude that in implementing a reform in the science curriculum, the change has to include the subjects taught and also the way they are taught. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 879–906, 2006     

The formation of the academic counsellor

Conclusion A detailed and exact evaluation of this program of Teacher Formation and of theactivities of academic counsellors is presently underway. We expect to have theresults by the middle of 1982. Nevertheless, partial evaluations of differentteaching and counselling activities show that there has been a change in the conceptionof what education is, development of aptitudes and attitudes and a profoundimprovement in the teaching quality.     

(Re) thinking Emotions in Visual Education Activities: Students' Experiences

This article focuses on the emotions of 13 and 14 year‐old students related to visual art education activities. Our aim is to understand the interference of the students' emotions with the processes of the creation and reception of their own pictures, as well as their characteristics in an art education context. The article adopts a Vygotskian theoretical perspective about emotion and aesthetic education that refers to the biopsychological nature of emotion and its cultural determination. The need to transform emotions in art activities is stressed and the teenagers' pictures are interpreted as a means of communication. The data collection was based on questionnaires and interviews with seventh and eighth grade secondary school students. It is concluded that students' emotions are not only present in the creative process and in its result, but also that they could have a significant positive or negative impact on students' motivation and achievement behaviour in art education classes. In this context, the students' pictures, acting as stimuli, may evoke their emotions.     

Educational counselling in Mexico: Developments and perspectives

Conclusion It is necessary to realize the limitations of counselling services in Mexico. In spite of all the efforts taken, the academic preparation of counsellors is not strong enough. As has been mentioned, 50% are psychologists or pedagogues, at best, and the rest, who are not specifically prepared for counselling, are constantly moving away from the helping services. There seems to be little progress. On the other hand, we hope that counselling and the counsellors, once services have been established, might some day be able to resolve those complex problems which the educational system has not been able to resolve or diminish with its own traditional resources, especially problems like school dropout, the correct choice of vocational and academic studies, the distribution of students to the various branches and levels of the educational system in accordance with the actual needs of the country, and a whole series of other tasks, which may fail in an area of myth or may really be related to the possibilities of the discipline. Therefore, it is necessary to set the limits of counsellors' tasks and to define the counsellor's role more clearly in the near future, in order to strengthen the discipline on behalf of our future students.Knowing, understanding and evaluating the relationship that now exists between the counselling tasks of counsellors, the educational Practice and the national and international policy, shall facilitate the future implementation of more solid and feasible programmes. For the time being, having a clear view of what we can do (and not only justifying things we cannot accomplish) should help our students to use our counselling services with higher benefits.     

Adult learning and education as a tool to contain pandemics: The COVID-19 experience

International Review of Education - In combating pandemics, more can be gained by changing citizens’ behaviours than by relying solely on the medical route. In the current COVID-19 pandemic,...     

Performance equivalency between computer‐based and traditional pen‐and‐paper assessment: A case study in clinical anatomy

The time, material, and staff‐consuming nature of anatomy's traditional pen‐and‐paper assessment system, the increase in the number of students enrolling in medical schools and the ever‐escalating workload of academic staff have made the use of computer‐based assessment (CBA) an attractive proposition. To understand the impact of such shift in the assessment method, an experimental study evaluating its effect on students’ performance was designed. Additionally, students’ opinions toward CBA were gathered. Second‐year medical students attending a Clinical Anatomy course were randomized by clusters in two groups. The pen‐and‐paper group attended two sessions, each consisting of a traditional sectional anatomy steeplechase followed by a theoretical examination, while the computer group was involved in two similar sessions conducted in a computerized environment. At the end of each of the computer sessions, students in this group filled an anonymous questionnaire. In the first session, pen‐and‐paper group students scored significantly better than computer‐group students in both the steeplechase (mean ± standard deviation: 66.00 ± 14.15% vs. 43.50 ± 19.10%; P < 0.001) and the theoretical examination (52.50 ± 12.70% vs. 39.00 ± 21.10%; P < 0.001). In the second session, no statistically significant differences were found for both the steeplechase (59.50 ± 17.30% vs. 54.50 ± 17.00%; P = 0.085) and the theoretical examination (57.50 ± 13.70% vs. 54.00 ± 14.30%; P = 0.161). Besides, an intersession improvement in students’ perceptions toward CBA was registered. These results suggest that, after a familiarization period, CBA might be a performance equivalent and student accepted alternative to clinical anatomy pen‐and‐paper theoretical and practical examinations. Anat Sci Educ 11: 124–136. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Mathematics Education: A Vision of Its Evolution

Teaching in general and teachingof mathematics in particular are matters ofgreat importance for contemporary society.Over the years, societies have establishedinstitutions in order to incorporatemathematics and science into the culture ofsociety with the clear intention ofencouraging a scientific vision of theworld among the population. This intensesocial process of scientific enlightenment has helped us recognize theneed to implement educational modificationsin the specific field of mathematics basedon designs that are better adapted toschool practices. Mathematics educationdeals with the systematic study of theeffects of such processes; in this paper,we have decided to describe a certainevolution of its research problems. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Higher education and its contribution to a diverse regional supply of human capital: does the binary/unitary divide matters?

Diversity has been an important topic of research for some time in higher education, though the purposes underlying this attention have varied across national and regional contexts. In many parts of the world, the term diversity has been emphasized with regard to variety among the programs or services provided by academic institutions, and differences among the types of institutions themselves. It is particularly important to discuss whether different dimensions of diversity may influence the degree of effectiveness of higher education (HE) in fulfilling its contribution and relevance to economic and social development. We are particularly interested in analyzing whether unitary or binary systems present significant differences in different dimensions of diversity that may be relevant to enhance higher education institutions’ (HEIs) contribution to territorial cohesion, notably by enhancing the local stock of human capital and contributing to the social and cultural development of their regions. Therefore, we propose the following research questions: *Are there relevant patterns regarding different dimensions of diversity between unitary and binary HE systems? *In the case of binary systems, is it possible to find relevant differences in different dimensions of diversity between universities and more vocational HEIs? By looking at these questions, we aim at contributing both to the literature on HE institutional diversity and to the study of the role played by HEIs on regional development.     

What catches the eye in class observation? Observers’ perspectives in a multidisciplinary peer observation of teaching program

Peer Observation of Teaching has raised a lot of interest as a device for quality enhancement of teaching. While much research has focused on its models, implementation schemes and feedback to the observed, little attention has been paid to what the observer actually sees and can learn from the observation. A multidisciplinary peer observation of teaching program is described, and its data is used to identify the pedagogical aspects to which lecturers pay more attention to when observing classes. The discussion addresses the valuable learning opportunities for observers provided by this program, as well as its usefulness in disseminating, sharing and clarifying quality teaching practices. The need for further research concerning teacher-student relationships and students’ engagement is also suggested.