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Since its establishment in 1972, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has been providing improved access to education and certification for both in-school and out-of-school students in the Caribbean. In order to optimize the benefits of its courses of study and examinations to out-of-school students, CXC had to treat with the challenge of the School-Based Assessment which must be undertaken under the guidance of the teacher and is therefore designed for in-school students. In response, CXC developed the Alternative Paper to School-Based Assessment which is an external examination paper. This article examines the value of the Alternative Paper in the examinations of CXC. It explains how the Alternative Paper provides an alternative path for the completion and certification of a secondary school education. The author argues that the Alternative Paper opens up, for the out-of-school person, opportunities that are similar to those from which the in-school student benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The journey to pursue and persist with a career in STEM is a complex process that begins at a young age, continues across secondary education and the end of school transition to university. Such decisions are influenced by a range of personal, social and environmental factors, highlighting the practical complexities of supporting young people in their transition to university. This paper explores the post-school transition of two students, one female and one male, with strong technological dispositions and aspirations to pursue careers in STEM fields. We focus on two STEM disciplines, Information Technology and Engineering, chosen by our participants. We employ the theory of practice (Bourdieu 1977) to analyse two students' experience of transition. The findings from these case studies are not intended to be generalised. Rather the in-depth stories and theoretical case analysis provides a nuanced account of transition to study STEM disciplines. Importantly, the pathways into university were not equal for the participants. Class and gender intersected with university structures to enable and constrain students' transition highlighting the significance of institutional supports within STEM disciplines to better support diverse students across the period of transition to university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equal opportunities in the context of education can be interpreted as ensuring equitable access to certain kinds of education (e.g. an academic track) or as equal opportunities to lead a fulfilling life regardless of the educational route followed (e.g. vocational or academic). These interpretations are in tension: the former implies a hierarchy where some forms of education are considered better than others, whereas the latter requires that they are all considered valuable. This paper presents a case study of a secondary school in the Netherlands that pursued both interpretations of equal opportunities and made systemic reforms to achieve this. Building on interviews, focus groups and participant observation with students, staff and management, the paper analyses the tension these actors experienced between the two interpretations of equal opportunities. It is argued that this stems from a societal context that endorses the first interpretation of equal opportunities but aligns less with the second interpretation. The analysis shows that individual institutions like schools have limited power to shift narratives surrounding educational tracks, especially when these do not align with prevailing trends in society. Additionally, the paper underlines the value of applying analysis of different interpretations of equal opportunities, which is usually undertaken by theoretical work, to empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level of difficulty of mathematical test items is a critical aspect for evaluating test quality and educational outcomes. Accurately predicting item difficulty during test creation is thus significantly important for producing effective test papers. This study used more than ten years of content and score data from China's Henan Provincial College Entrance Examination in Mathematics as an evaluation criterion for test difficulty, and all data were obtained from the Henan Provincial Department of Education. Based on the framework established by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for test item assessment methodology, this paper proposes a new framework containing eight features considering the uniqueness of mathematics. Next, this paper proposes an XGBoost-based SHAP model for analyzing the difficulty of mathematics tests. By coupling the XGBoost method with the SHAP method, the model not only evaluates the difficulty of mathematics tests but also analyzes the contribution of specific features to item difficulty, thereby increasing transparency and mitigating the "black box" nature of machine learning models. The model has a high prediction accuracy of 0.99 for the training set and 0.806 for the test set. With the model, we found that parameter-level features and reasoning-level features are significant factors influencing the difficulty of subjective items in the exam. In addition, we divided senior secondary mathematics knowledge into nine units based on Chinese curriculum standards and found significant differences in the distribution of the eight features across these different knowledge units, which can help teachers place different emphasis on different units during the teaching process. In summary, our proposed approach significantly improves the accuracy of item difficulty prediction, which is crucial for intelligent educational applications such as knowledge tracking, automatic test item generation, and intelligent paper generation. These results provide tools that are better aligned with and responsive to students' learning needs, thus effectively informing educational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unprecedented global temperatures have brought the question of how to teach sensitive issues of climate change to the fore. In this paper we suggest that a refocusing on adaptation productively shifts the debate to climate justice and practical solutions to building community resilience. The paper examines a practice-led project that sought to innovate and test the use of participatory storytelling with young people to explore climate adaptation. Our insights relate to two areas: first, the benefits of mutual learning through engaging in dialogue with frontline communities; second, how participatory storytelling supports emotionally intelligent sensemaking, agency and leadership by providing both 'connections' and 'containers' for engaging with climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Knowledge of changes in the domains of physical activity (PA) during the transition period from primary to secondary education and the factors associated with these changes, are prerequisites for the design of effective PA promotion strategies. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to systematically review changes in general, leisure-time, school, transport, work, and home PA across the transition from primary to secondary education. The second aim was to systematically review the individual, social, and physical environmental factors that were associated with these changes. Methods: Records published up until September 2023 were retrieved from five electronic databases. We included longitudinal and cross-sectional studies that investigated general or domain-specific PA from 2 years before to 2 years after the transition from primary to secondary education. Information on source, study characteristics, sample characteristics, PA, and factors were extracted from the papers included. We reported the direction of change in general and domain-specific PA and the direction of association of the factors with change in general and domain-specific PA. Results: Forty-eight papers were included in the study. The evidence on changes in PA and associated factors was greatest for general PA. A limited number of the studies investigated the separate domains of leisure-time, school, and transport. Most studies on general and school PA reported a decline in PA, but there were no consistent results for the domains of leisure-time and transport. With respect to the associated factors, evidence was predominantly found for individual factors and to a lesser degree for physical environmental and social environmental factors. None of the factors were consistently associated with changes in general or domain-specific PA during the school transition. Conclusions: For the design of targeted PA promotion strategies, further studies are warranted to explore changes in the specific domains of PA across the transition from primary to secondary education, especially in the domains of leisure-time, transport, home, and work PA. In addition, the interactions between factors at different socioecological levels to influence changes in PA need to be addressed more in the future. Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42020190204. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the extent to which Biology syllabi are open to students' engagement with and acquisition of critical thinking skills in Tanzania's developing country context. It focuses on the Biology syllabus of Ordinary-level secondary education and that of Advanced-level secondary education. The paper reports the findings of a study whose primary objective was to explore the coherence of the two syllabi under review with the elements of critical thinking skills drawn from extant literature. The analysis also entailed exploring the coherence between the specific objectives of the syllabi linked with critical thinking skills and the assessment questions suggested. The study used the Atlas TI programme to analyse the data to achieve the research objectives. The findings revealed that the specific objectives in the syllabi under review focus mostly on lower order thinking (LOT) skills, according to Bloom's taxonomy of learning, rather than on higher order or critical thinking skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an introduction to issues surrounding the participation rights of young people in research and the implications of their growing involvement in research as well as providing a discourse on the ethical implications related to consent. The unique contribution of this paper is that it considers children’s rights in respect to the increasing opportunities for young people to take part in evaluation research. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to acknowledge the growing involvement for young people in research and the implications of ensuring that their rights of participation are respected. Secondly, we will consider the children’s rights legislation and our obligations as researchers to implement this. Finally, we will explore consent as an issue in its own right as well as the practicalities of accessing participants. This paper will postulate that any research about young people should involve and prioritize at all stages of the research process; including participation in decision-making. We conclude by identifying five key principles, which we believe can help to facilitate the fulfilment of post-primary pupils’ ability to consent to participate in trials and evaluative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combined use of origami and dynamic geometry software has recently appeared in mathematics education to enrich students' geometric thinking. The objective of this research is to study the roles played by the interaction of two artifacts, paper folding and GeoGebra, in a construction-proving problem as well as its generalization in the Euclidean geometry context. For this, we designed and implemented two mathematical tasks with 52 secondary education students (15–16 years old, 10th grade) during the COVID-19 emergency lockdown period in Italy. The tasks involved four phases: constructing, exploring, conjecturing, and proving. This article presents an epistemic analysis of the tasks and a cognitive analysis of the answers given by one of the students. The theoretical tools of the onto-semiotic approach supported these analyses. Cognitive analysis allows us to confront the intended meanings of the task and the meanings actually employed by a student, thus drawing specific conclusions about the roles of such artifacts in written arguments and give an interpretation of their combined use in mathematics education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this proof-of-concept paper, we propose a specific kind of pedagogical use of ChatGPT—to help teachers practice their Socratic dialogue skills. We follow up on the previously published paper 'ChatGPT and the frustrated Socrates' by re-examining ChatGPT's ability to engage in Socratic dialogue in the role of a physics student. While in late 2022 its ability to engage in such dialogue was poor, we see significant advancements in the chatbot's ability to respond to leading questions asked by a human teacher. We suggest that ChatGPT now has the potential to be used in teacher training to help pre- or in-service physics teachers hone their Socratic dialogue skills. In the paper and its supplemental material, we provide illustrative examples of Socratic dialogues with ChatGPT and present a report on a pilot activity involving pre-service physics and mathematics teachers conversing with it in a Socratic fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines three questions: (1) (How) Is democracy promoted in secondary schools in England? (2) How is the promotion of democracy understood in education and teacher education policy? and (3) To what extent does existing education policy benefit the promotion of democracy in schools in England? To explore these questions, we first discuss the policy landscape surrounding democratic education in England. We then outline our data collection and analysis methods, which comprised (a) the coding of ten different policy documents, including curriculum specifications, teaching standards and inspection frameworks, and (b) the utilisation of an original survey of more than 3000 teachers working in approximately 50% of all secondary schools in England. Together, our data allow us to raise three important points. First, education and teacher education policy neglects to specify ‘how’ democracy should be promoted and by ‘whom’. Second, schools are offering scant provision of democratic education. Third, the majority of teachers feel fundamentally underprepared to teach democracy. We conclude this paper by arguing that, if policymakers do wish to promote democracy, there is a need for a cohesive policy and teacher education approach that guarantees democratic education for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music education has traditionally followed a one-size-fits-all approach, often failing to address the diverse needs and preferences of individual students. A recommender system for music education is a specialized software or algorithm that helps students, educators, or music enthusiasts discover and access relevant music content, learning materials, or educational resources. This paper introduces the Graph Theory-based Information Technology(GTIT) music learning system, a revolutionary platform designed to personalize music education. The GTIT system leverages advanced technology, data-driven recommendations, and social learning networks to enhance the musical journey for students. The proposed GTIT model uses the graph theory-based music education model for the estimation of the data features with information technology. The proposed GTIT model comprises the stacked recommender model for the classification of the appropriate features in the music education data. The data for the analysis of the proposed GTIT model is collected for the existing sources. With the extracted features the recommender system is designed for the classification and recommendation of the features related to the music education. The proposed model explores the key components of the GTIT system, including the assessment of students' musical preferences, skill levels, and learning patterns. These factors are analyzed to provide tailored music recommendations that keep students engaged and motivated. Additionally, the GTIT system employs graph theory to create connections among students, fostering collaboration and social learning. Simulation results reveals that students who engage with the learning system experience significant improvements in their musical skills and knowledge. The personalized recommendations and collaborative learning environment contribute to enhanced skill development and musical progress. Moreover, the sense of community established by the system encourages peer interaction and mentorship. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the GTIT music education system's impact on students' learning experiences, skill development, and collaborative efforts. The analysis expressed the transformative potential of personalized recommendations and networked learning environments in music education. The GTIT system serves as a model for the future of music instruction, offering a promising approach for educators and institutions seeking to provide engaging and personalized music education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper in question is focused on (1) valuing the expanded and transdisciplinary approach for the definition of cultural heritage, consolidated in Brazil from the 1970s/1980s onwards, (2) and its subsequent applicability in the field of education, under the influence of a liberating pedagogy proposed by educator Paulo Freire. An important consequence of this process involves the conception of a formal education system structured to promote collectivity, equality, diversity, and educational equity, as a solution towards ensuring both the learning and development of students. (3) The paper discusses the contribution of the expanded context of cultural heritage and its relationship with the field of education in the development of pedagogical strategies that promote educational equity, through the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC), a document that parameterizes the curricula from early childhood education to high school in Brazil. From a bibliographic review, the paper presents the conjuncture on which the new look at cultural heritage has been consolidated, and the consequent redefinition of heritage education actions, and then, as a result, analyzes the approximation between this new approach and the formal educational strategies present in the BNCC, as well as the possibilities of intercommunication between both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the central arguments of 'Working Paper 36: Religious Education in the Secondary School,' published by the Schools Council. Its critique of Christian confessionalism in education; Its advocacy of a phenomenological approach to religious education; Its strategy for developing tolerance among adherents of different religions or none.

The research question at the core of this paper concerns how teachers in elite Israeli high schools explain their educational work in this context, given its central role in establishing and perpetuating privilege in the current polarised era. To answer this question, we conducted 28 interviews with teachers from three elite high schools in Israel. The findings reveal three ways teachers justified their educational work in elite schools: cultivating the 'serving elite', helping shape elite students' leftist political orientation and future voting behaviour (emphasising the idea that political leftism serves as a mitigating force against the excesses of plutocracy) and fulfilling elite children's right to a level of education commensurate with their ability. The discussion problematises these justifications by highlighting their features, which, in turn, contribute to a complex understanding of how privilege functions and how advantages and inequality are produced and perpetuated in exclusive and exclusionary elite spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing numbers of rural girls and young women in Ethiopia are migrating to urban towns and cities and taking up employment as domestic workers, some of whom continue their education by attending evening classes. For urban households, rural migrants help to fill the domestic work gaps created by the entry of urban women into employment. For rural young women, migrating as a domestic worker is an important strategy for achieving social mobility and empowerment. However, domestic workers are vulnerable and largely hidden in the city and we know little about their lived experiences. In this paper, we start to address this gap, drawing on interviews with eight rural female migrants who are working as domestic workers in the city and attending evening classes in urban secondary schools. Informed by a critical framing of empowerment, we explore the extent to which intersecting inequalities in rural areas disempower these young women, and how migration and education become important strategies for improving their lives. We show how the support of social network members is crucial in enabling participants' migration, yet how this also leads to power asymmetries and exploitation. We reflect on how the ability of rural young women to achieve better futures is limited due to their status as poor, rural, female migrants, yet how many wait in the city in the hope of a better future. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of critical approaches to female empowerment that includes a focus on structural inequalities and power imbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the development of computational literacy, there has been a surge in both research and practice application of text‐based and block‐based modalities within the field of computer programming education. Despite this trend, little work has actually examined how learners engaging in programming process when utilizing these two major programming modalities, especially in the context of secondary education settings. Objectives: To further compare programming effects between and within text‐based and block‐based modalities, this research conducted a quasi‐experimental research in China's secondary school. Methods: An online programming platform, Code4all, was developed to allow learners to program in text‐based and block‐based modalities. This research collected multimodal data sources, including programming platform data, process data, and performance data. This research further utilized multiple learning analytics approaches (i.e., clustering analysis, click stream analysis, lag‐sequential analysis and statistics) to compare learners' programming features, behavioural patterns and knowledge gains under two modalities. Results and Conclusions: The results indicated that learners in text‐based modality tended to write longer lines of code, encountered more syntactical errors, and took longer to attempt debugging. In contrast, learners in block‐based modality spent more time operating blocks and attempt debugging, achieving better programming knowledge performances compared to their counterparts. Further analysis of five clusters from the two modalities revealed discrepancies in programming behavioural patterns. Implications: Three major pedagogical implications were proposed based on empirical research results. Furthermore, this research contributed to the learning analytics literature by integrating process‐oriented and summative analysis to reveal learners' programming learning quality. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Programming has the potential to improve learners' higher‐order thinking skills.Block‐based and text‐based modalities are two major instructional methods.There has been a growing interest to understand how learning occurs in two modes.Most previous work has evaluated two modalities based on learners' knowledge, skills, and attitudes. What this paper adds: Code4all allows learners to programming in text‐based and block‐based modalities.Quasi‐experimental research was conducted to examine block‐based and text‐based programming modalities.Multimodal learning analytics were used to compare programming under two modalities.Learners' programming features, behaviouralbehavioral patterns, and knowledge gains were identified under two modalities. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Instructors should integrate text‐based and block‐based modalities into programming courses.Process‐oriented assessment should be integrated with summative assessment. Adaptive, timely scaffoldings should be provided with the external support (this should be marked like above two points). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that processes of marginalisation experienced by white working-class students provide insight into systemic problems with the English education system. White British students eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) are a low attaining group. This research investigates factors affecting their engagement and achievement. Fieldwork in three comprehensive secondary schools in a London borough used qualitative methods to gather data on the perspectives of staff, students and parents. Using Bourdieu's conceptual tools to guide the analysis, the study found that performance pressure and funding cuts can result in an institutional habitus which privileges academic attainment, side-lines the social and emotional aspects of learning and misrecognises working-class capitals. Such habitus fosters pedagogic practices which reduce levels of felt safety and limit opportunities to actively engage and exercise agency in the classroom. These conditions often make fragile the learner identity of white working-class students (and others) and prompt disengagement from school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractConsidering the crucial role of education in offering mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change, there is a clear need for objective tools to assess its impact on the understanding of the issue among secondary school students. This paper describes the methodological design used to build and validate an instrument that explores secondary education students’ climate change knowledge. The design is organized into several steps: literature and document review; item design; Expert judgment; pilot testing; and instrument quality criteria analysis. Thus, a questionnaire comprising 27 4-points Likert scale items was designed. Two rounds of pilot testing and statistical analyses were conducted on the difficulty indexes, factor analysis, Spearman coefficient (flit-half method), and alpha coefficient. The result is an instrument with a degree of feasibility, validity and reliability suitable for comparative research as was found in a Spanish macro-study involving 6398 secondary school students. Preliminary results for the Spanish context are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address youth mental health needs, student wellbeing has traditionally referred to caring for individuals’ psychological health and subjective emotions. However, an individual subjective psychological approach is insufficient in addressing society’s responsibilities to enable individuals to live a happy and fulfilling life. A more comprehensive conceptualisation of student wellbeing is needed to understand the needs of individuals to stay well in society. Hence, the purpose of this article is to re-conceptualise student wellbeing from a relational perspective, emphasising wellbeing as happening, fluid, and always becoming. Taking student wellbeing in secondary education in China as a case, this paper discusses how student wellbeing is currently understood through a non-Westernised lens. The discussions of Chinese students’ wellbeing might be extended to other social groups where wellbeing is conceptualised as ‘being-well-in-relationships’. This is both about ‘fitting in’ and embracing an active pursuit of personal development within the context of interconnected relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all citizens. In this context, promoting communicative competence is crucial. It enables individuals not only to understand oral and written texts in the school environment but also to function effectively in society and in interpersonal relationships. Improving the communicative ability of students is particularly important in contexts of social exclusion, where it is crucial to provide comprehensive education based on principles of quality and equity. This paper examines the adherence of Secondary Education teachers to principles and practices related to classroom methodology in environments where there is a risk of social exclusion, with special attention to the development of communication skills. To conduct the study, 407 teachers completed a 60-question questionnaire. The results provide insight into the participating teachers' perceptions of communication skills in contexts of exclusion. These findings have implications for the organizational model of schools and the training of teachers, both pre-service and in-service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early career teachers (ECTs) are potential resources for educational innovation and development in schools. Innovative professional potential (IPP) emerges in interaction between ECTs and their school ecology. Using semi-structured timeline interviews, we explored 105 IPP experiences of 19 ECTs in the Netherlands, aiming to understand when and how IPP emerges in the school, and to obtain a first grasp of how it can be stimulated. We categorised typification, location and professional interests and explored interaction processes with persons and affordances in the school ecology. Findings showed that ECTs initiate and perform innovative tasks and activities mainly at school or subject department levels. These tasks and activities are mostly social in nature or focused on educational development, while including a wide range of professional interests. Rather than one specific interaction with a person or an affordance, accumulations of restricting and stimulating interactions appear important for how IPP emerges. This paper concludes that it is crucial to consider ECTs capable of exercising the full range of teaching activities from the start of their career, and to share responsibilities among professionals in the school during ECTs' induction. These practices can help to increase educational quality and prevent teacher attrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on pattern generalisation as a way to introduce young students to early algebra. We build on research on patterning activities that feature, in their work with algebraic thinking, both looking for sameness recursively in a pattern (especially figural patterns, but also numerical ones) and conjecturing about function-based relationships that relate variables. We propose a new approach to pattern generalisation that seeks to help children (grades 2 and 3) work both recursively and functionally, and to see how these two modes are connected through the notion of variable. We argue that a crucial change must occur in order for young learners to develop a flexible algebraic discourse. We draw on Sfard's () communication approach and on Châtelet's () notion of the virtual in order to pursue this argument. We also root our analyses within a new materialist perspective that seeks to describe phenomena in terms of material entanglement, which include, in our classroom research context, not just the children and the teacher, but also words, gestures, physical objects and arrangements, as well as numbers, operations and variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This small-scale pilot study aimed to establish how the mode of response in an examination affects candidates' performances on items that require an extended answer. The sample comprised 46 17-year-old students from two classes (one in a state secondary school and one in a state sixth-form college), who sat a mock A-level English Literature examination. The analysis compared writing produced on screen and on paper to try to uncover any systematic differences between the two modes of delivery. The study considered the linguistic features of the texts produced in each mode, the marks achieved and the views of the participants regarding the use of computers in essay-based examinations. The study found that the response mode had a small effect on the length of essay produced, in that students using a computer wrote more, and on the type of language used, in that students writing on paper used denser but less varied language. There was very little effect on the marks achieved. Participants expressed a variety of concerns about computer-based examinations, such as noisy keyboards, assessment of spelling, and unfairness towards those who are less comfortable with the technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attitude towards ICT determines the amount of incentive for practicing with it, which may directly affect ICT literacy. So, students' attitude inter alia is one of the substantial building blocks of ICT literacy, which in turn is an important component of improved student achievement brought about by it. This paper is devoted to exploring the determinants of students' attitudes towards ICT. On recognizing the complexity of integration of ICT into education systems and unlike previous research that has largely focused on the idea that student's learning engagement can be boosted through the availability and use of ICT alone, this paper acknowledges that integrating ICT into education is a complex process and the link between supplying ICT resources and enhanced student attainment is far from straightforward. Using rich PISA 2018 survey data from N = 129,724 students in 47 countries/economies, the results from this paper indicate that girls have better attitudes towards ICT than boys; students in private schools have more interest in ICT than those in public ones; students using ICT outside of school for leisure have a higher level of interest; and students with higher levels of fear of failure are more interested in ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the duality between global perspectives and local realities that have influenced the design of the school architecture by examining and comparing state school projects in two geographically distant countries: Chile and Portugal. The proposals and experiences of the "Society for the Construction of Educational Facilities" (1937–1987) in Chile and the "Board of Constructions for Technical and Secondary Education" (1934–1969) in Portugal are analysed. Established in the 1930s, these centralised bodies managed, organised, and controlled state school building projects in such a way as to achieve uniformity in design, creating architectural identities that embodied both the educational values and the representative character of the State. These bodies were influenced by similar global circumstances, and their activities were guided by the recommendations issued by intergovernmental organisations of the time. Such a situation brought their projects closer together in terms of their functional, aesthetic, technical-constructive characteristics. After examining and identifying the international influences which brought them closer in terms of the educational meanings and values associated with school architecture, the paper identifies the local circumstances that guided the design and construction processes of schools in both countries, bringing fresh geographical insights to school architecture discussion. At the same time, possible global readings of strategies, influences and results are explored, enabling us to understand school architecture as part of a nation's cultural values and as a material expression of the social model of modernity, which will continue to meet the challenges that schools face in twenty-first-century society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a review of studies focusing on student autonomy in early childhood, primary, and secondary education in Spain published in the last 10 years. Autonomy is defined as the capacity of individuals to act in a self-determined way. Educational institutions play a key role in the development of autonomy through experience, and students demonstrate more autonomy in learning when they are older. The method used in this paper consists of an overview of empirical studies from different databases and the application of three pre-defined filters. A total of 41 studies is analysed and critically assessed in relation to (1) the area of knowledge and level of schooling, (2) the definition of autonomy, (3) the method used, and (4) the elements influencing student autonomy. Results indicate that (1) physical education in secondary education is the most researched area, (2) most studies have defined autonomy and used self-determination theory as a framework for measuring student autonomy, (3) the majority of studies have used quantitative methods and a student sample, and (4) autonomy support provided by teachers positively influences student autonomy. In addition, the results show that intrinsic elements, such as the development of stable individual identity and psychological resources, enhance student autonomy. The paper concludes that future research should be aimed at a more specific conceptualisation of student autonomy to be assessed, measured, and promoted in different international educational environments and areas of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shares the first insights of the Digital Storytelling Hubs research project held by the School of Primary Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation. It is a still in-progress action research study that comprises two action research cycles. The aim of the present paper is to outline the dynamic role that digital storytelling could play in building learning communities. The research program includes the creation of three hubs, one digital and two physical, for transferring higher education research practice to primary and secondary education, and for disseminating digital storytelling as an innovative learning tool. During the pilot cycle, digital storytelling was implemented in two experimental schools in Greece, while during the main cycle, a total of 50 elementary and secondary teachers were involved. Data sources include students' and teachers' participation statistics, the digital stories created by students so far, the students' answers in questionnaires and teachers' semi-structured interviews after the pilot interventions in class. The findings suggest the dynamics of digital storytelling workshops to create vivid and powerful learning communities that foster both classic and new literacies and enhance a creative and critical attitude towards modern media culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching the colour of stars is not as trivial as one might think. It can be challenging for students to grasp that the colour of stars follows a temperature sequence. This paper introduces a simple experimental setup for instructing the correlation between a star's colour and its temperature. Furthermore, the experimental setup facilitates the exploration of the topic of colour addition, demonstrating to students how to replicate the colour of a star—a spectrum colour—by employing an RGB LED that emits only primary colours (red, green, and blue). The experiment utilised an Arduino microcontroller board in conjunction with RGB LEDs and an LCD display. The activity was conducted with 53 7th-grade students from a private school in Portugal results suggest a positive reception, indicating success in both motivational and cognitive aspects. The overall outcomes underscore the effectiveness of the activity in imparting new knowledge to students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the design of a new teaching-learning sequence on quantum physics aimed at upper secondary school students. In this teaching-learning sequence, GeoGebra simulations and interactive screen experiments are used to investigate the behaviour of a single photon at beam splitter and single photon interference in a Michelson interferometer. We propose a minimal formalism using Dirac notation, which avoids complex numbers and elaborate vector calculus, to make a quantitative description of the quantum optics experiments accessible to secondary school students. With this new educational pathway, we take into account findings from physics education research, which suggest that the introduction of a mathematical formalism tailored to students' abilities might help them to overcome naive-realist views of quanta or space-time descriptions of quantum phenomena, while at the same time facilitating a transition to a functional understanding of quantum models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the great mysteries of contemporary science is dark matter, an exotic substance of unknown nature that, in theory, makes up about 27% of the total mass-energy density of the Universe, and which does not appear to emit, absorb, or reflect any kind of light, meaning that it is invisible and can only be detected through its gravitational effects on objects around it. Dark matter is a frontier topic, involving highly complex subjects that usually exceed the training of a physics teacher. Given this difficulty, the aim of this paper is to shed some light on dark matter, and to offer a broad, up-to-date introduction that is mainly directed at physics teachers in training and in practice. Due to the breadth of the subject, the article has been divided into two parts. In Part I, we deal with general concepts, which serve as an introduction to the more specific topics analysed in Part II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper, based on a primary survey, explores the inequalities in access and household investment on the market-based 'supplemental educational services' (SESs) in post-compulsory school education (i.e. secondary level of education) in Haryana, a northern state in India. We find that around 44% of students access SESs in secondary education in Haryana, and it varies considerably across socioeconomic groups such as class, caste and gender. Results from the two-step Heckman selection model suggest that access to and household investment in SESs is significantly determined by household factors and school characteristics. We also find that SESs in Haryana are not homogenous, vary widely in content delivery and private costs. Nearly 56% of the students (mainly from socio-economically underprivileged groups) attend the low-cost and low-quality private tuition centres, while their better-off counterparts attend the more organised medium- and high-cost tuition services, and this widens the already existing inequality in educational opportunities in the state. The study suggests to stringently regulate the flourishing commercial SESs market to minimise growing educational inequality in the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefits of video games in physical education have been extensively researched (Camunas-Vega & Alcaide-Risoto, 2020; Fang et al. 2020). However, little attention has been paid to the effectiveness of commercial video games combined with basketball practice in improving students' reasoning skills (Chuang, Yeh, and Lin 2021; Rogers et al., 2020). In this paper, we present the results of an experimental study whose objective was to assess the effects of a programme that includes the use of a video game as the main learning tool to enhance the reasoning process of secondary education students in Physical Education. A total of 271 students participated in this study. A quasi-experimental pre-post design with a control group was used. The experimental group performed a specific training programme with the NBA 2K16 video game for nine weeks, once a week, 60 min per session. The results show that the students who participated in the programme achieved an improvement in deductive and spatial reasoning with a moderate effect possibly due to the use of a video game. Another conclusion was that sex differences in the spatial and deductive reasoning on the pretest disappeared on the post-test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although all young people in England are entitled to a full-time, state-funded education suitable to their needs, every year some are without a school place and must be found one through local fair access protocols. This paper uses the enactment of fair access protocols in one local authority to examine the impacts of policy shifts to increase the power of self-governing schools and reduce the role of local authorities in ensuring local educational inclusion. Drawing on observations of two fair access panel meetings and a school's preparations for these meetings, alongside Foucault's theorisation of relationships between local practices and wider policy conditions, I argue that particular tactics are produced through fair access practices, which prioritise procedural fairness to schools and serve to categorise perceived risky young people. This interpretation of fairness arises out of a policy landscape of tensions, which requires schools to balance individual performance priorities alongside collective duties for inclusive and equitable education, and turns what should be an inclusive policy into another facet of the increasingly nuanced exclusionary architecture of English education. The findings are internationally relevant given global support for self-governing schools which is creating new issues for the educational inclusion of marginalised populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a four-year longitudinal study analysing what teachers who participate in a non-formal scientific activity think they will learn during the activity. Unlike previous studies, this paper is focused on a long-term activity. The answers given by the teachers to an open-ended question were subjected to an interpretative-descriptive analysis which allowed the emergence of five main categories of response and five teacher profiles. These categories and profiles allowed the characterization and interpretation of teachers' responses. It is concluded that the teachers perceive the activity as a multidisciplinary training opportunity with which to expand and diversify their formation and, especially, to acquire new teaching learning strategies that can be transferred to their classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces Developing analytical writing (DAW), a model of text analysis aimed at capturing how social expectancies of analytical writing become part of students' linguistic literacy. DAW proposes a multilayer analysis of text features on repeated text production prompted by the same and different topics, control for pedagogical input, and researcher- and reader-based evaluations of text quality. We revise DAW previous implementations that delved into lexical, syntactic-discursive, and structural aspects of analytical essays as indexes for developing writing proficiency. We focus thereafter on a current application of DAW to assess content-related dimensions: explicitness of a central standpoint, flexibility of writers' positioning, and expression of reflective thinking. Analyses revealed that the probability of explicitness and reflexiveness increases from elementary to higher levels of schooling, while the probability of flexible positioning appeared conditioned by text topic and pedagogical input. The three dimensions showed stronger effect of instruction on high schoolers' than on elementary and university students' texts. Regression analyses support a foundational role of development and a significant contribution of the assessed dimensions to an appraisal of text quality. DAW facilitates distinguishing analytical text features that improve in the course of development from those sensitive to pedagogical scaffolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translanguaging refers to the communicative practices that go between and beyond defined linguistic systems. In language learning, it can be applied by helping learners access their whole linguistic and semiotic repertoires, thus enhancing language acquisition. This paper draws on quantitative data provided by language teachers of both elementary and secondary education in Greece through an online survey, in order to study their attitudes and practices towards translanguaging in the classroom. A combination of convenience sampling and snowball sampling was applied. The findings indicate that the majority of participants found translanguaging beneficial. Moreover, participants incorporate translanguaging practices quite often, while they encourage students' translanguaging slightly less often, and there is a small positive correlation between attitudes and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates international and domestic peer relations in two Australian schools and how they are shaped by structural, cultural and discursive dimensions of schooling. In particular, it analyses intercultural relations between domestic and international students in the context of policies promoting "internationalisation-at-home". We argue that how international students are positioned within specific school contexts impacts their sense of inclusion in everyday social and pedagogical relations and informs their relationships with domestic students, whether viewed as a stranger or potentially as a friend raising questions as to who is responsible for intercultural relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between music qualification choice and academic performance in secondary education in England at Key Stage 4 (KS4; usually at ages 15 and 16). We analysed data from 2257 pupils at 18 educational settings in a city in the southeast of England. Two regression analyses with clustered errors modelled KS4 music qualification choice and GCSE academic achievement in English, Mathematics and other English Baccalaureate subjects, while controlling for a range of demographic, academic and socio‐economic variables. Choice of music as a subject at KS4 was positively associated with the total volume of KS4 qualifications entered for examination and was also predicted by coming from an affluent neighbourhood. Furthermore, this choice of music at KS4 was associated with greater academic performance on English Baccalaureate subjects above and beyond other significant predictors (gender, language, prior academic achievement, total volume of KS4 qualifications and neighbourhood socio‐economic status; local Cohen's f‐squared = 0.09). These results point to moderate but significant additive effect of studying music at KS4 in relation to performance on core GCSE subjects. We also found that schools with KS4 music qualification choice greater than the national average were higher in overall academic attainment, in the proportion of pupils attending extra‐curricular instrumental lessons, and in our composite measure of school's engagement with a local music education hub. The results are interpreted in light of sociological theories of education in an attempt to better understand the underlying systemic factors affecting youth music engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how one mathematics teacher, in a government secondary school in rural Rwanda, re-contextualises learner centred education (LCE) and English medium instruction (EMI) policies in classroom practice. Data are drawn from an ethnographic, critical case study and include lesson transcripts and teacher and student perspectives. The study indicates the importance of including non-verbal language in investigations of classroom interaction, and problematises the tendency to equate LCE with student talk in groups. In these lessons, whole-class interactions are managed by the teacher and student verbal participation is limited. Nevertheless, students co-construct and participate in activities and communicate mathematical meanings. The teacher observes and responds to students and enables students to access the English and mathematics they need for examinations. EMI limits student verbal participation and access to the textbook. The study indicates the importance of learning from and responding to classroom realties rather than pedagogical and linguistic ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a growing policy interest in establishing connections between heritage and education. Nevertheless, there seems to be very little evaluation or critical reflection on what actually happens in practice, and it remains unclear how heritage education is employed in countries throughout Europe. The aim of this paper is to assess the current status of heritage education in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium) via a literature review and an exploratory case study. The perceptions and opinions of pre-service teachers (n = 17) were investigated using three instruments: a questionnaire, document analysis, and the think aloud method. The results show that the pre-service teachers had a traditional interpretation of heritage, mainly relying on well-known and monumental examples and following a rather historical–artistic conception. However, it was found that their opinions were positive towards the use of heritage as an educational resource, and their evaluations of educational materials from the heritage and museum sector provided detailed information concerning teachers' desires and needs in this regard. The implications of this study should encourage initial teacher training in Flanders to further consider the epistemological and methodological challenges in the emerging field of heritage education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the initial motivations for studying the Master’s Degree in Secondary School Teaching in Spain. Participants were 441 university students who filled out a work-related values and motives questionnaire. Cluster analysis revealed four motivational profiles. Three of them display adequate intrinsic motivation, although there are marked differences among them. However, the fourth profile was associated with a low degree of vocation, along with difficulties in adapting to the demands of the role of teacher. The Chi-squared test yielded a better motivational profile in females and among those who had previous experience. These results allow us to make a series of proposals in the educational field. Further research should be conducted in this area; moreover, efforts should be devoted to improving the instructional design of the Spanish Master’s Degree in Secondary School Teaching, as well as to revising the procedures designed for selection and orientation of future students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One in five child deaths under age 5 are a result of severe wasting. Malnutrition at early ages is linked to lifelong consequences, such as reduced cognitive skills, reduced earnings in adulthood and chronic health conditions. Countries worldwide have committed to addressing child undernutrition, and ending hunger is foundational to the Millennium Development Goals. In this paper, we study the intergenerational effect of providing free tuition in secondary school on future children’s nutrition. We combined a novel longitudinal dataset that captures educational policies for 40 African countries from 1990 to 2019 with the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). We identified three countries that introduced free secondary education several years after implementing free primary education. Exploiting this variation in timing we estimate the additional impact of providing free secondary education over free primary education. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find that introducing free secondary education significantly reduced wasting. Cohorts exposed to free secondary had an 18% relative decrease in wasting. The impact on cohorts exposed only to free primary was smaller and not statistically significant. Expanding free secondary education has long-term, intergenerational benefits and is an effective path to reducing malnutrition. Results are robust to different specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human consumption of scarce ecological resources is at the heart of the climate change crisis. Mitigating climate change will require changes in consumer behavior. Further, to respond effectively, policymakers need information on the environmental impact of individuals' behaviors. In this paper, we study the effect of socio-demographic characteristics and personality traits on individuals' environmental impact measured by their ecological footprint. We also investigate consumers' willingness to pay for "green" goods. Using survey data from the Netherlands, first, we construct individuals' ecological footprint. The survey also uses a 50-item personality scale developed by Goldberg (1992) to construct five personality traits. We find that individuals with higher personal income, less than a high school education, males, the employed, and people living in rural areas are associated with a higher EF. We also find that consumers' WTP and demand are responsive to price increases in high-emitting goods and personality traits. We contribute to our understanding of the influence of socio-demographic and personality characteristics on the actual ecological footprint at the individual level. Further, we contribute to the economic literature on consumers' WTP for "green" products as well as the ongoing discussion on using market-based solutions to tackle climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new subtype of multigenre paper helps students in both dominant and nondominant groups to connect with counternarratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate how professional cultures and situated, material and external contexts relate to dynamic low- and underperforming schools in Scandinavia, particularly how the leadership is constructed through the leader, the followers and the situation. The first school studied was a low-performing school in Norway called 'Toppen', which has shown improved student outcomes. The other school, Seaside, is a Swedish school that is considered underperforming because student outcomes are lower than expected based on the contextual prerequisites. Our results show that Toppen can be described as a turnaround school and Seaside can be described as a cruising school. Analysis reveals that, at Toppen, the principal has been developing a culture that can be described in terms of community and motivation. At Seaside, on the other hand, the culture can be described in terms of individuality and conservatism. From this analysis, we can detect how different contexts impact two low- and underperforming schools and how they are affected by different prerequisites linked to the situated, material, external and professional contexts. However, the development of a collective professional culture with a shared sense of commitment seems to be an important tool to plan and communicate organizational improvement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is v ery little research on imagination in the context of leadership in general, and even less in relation to educational leadership. Drawing on available research on imagination in leadership and scholarship in the field of imagination, this qualitative content analysis seeks to add to foundational understanding of imagination's role in educational leadership. First, it describes the range of meanings leaders hold about imagination and the contradictory feelings these meanings create. Second, it indicates some of the varied ways in which imagination contributes to leadership. Third, it contributes a definition of imagination that encompasses the potential value of imagination for leadership now and into the future. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for future research and identifies the improvisational imagination as an additional feature that imagination contributes to leadership practices. The research shows that imagination is not something we should call on only in times of crisis, but, rather, that it is an indispensable ally in dealing with leadership challenges of all kinds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims at investigating the relationship between students' attitudes toward online homework use and mathematics anxiety among secondary school students. In this study, a model has been proposed by integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM) with mathematics anxiety theory. Three hundred and forty-five secondary school students participated in the instrument of the study that included 20-item based on a 5-point Likert scale. The subsequent analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) supported the negative relationship between attitude toward an online homework (OHW) tool and mathematics anxiety. The results revealed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are predictors of attitude toward the use of OHW. This study maximized the capability of acceptance of the OHW tool in mathematics learning. The findings provided by the study will encourage mathematics educators to implement mathematics OHW tools in the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive consumption and massive waste generation are considered some of the most important current socio-environmental issues. In view of this, education is considered key. In this paper, we analyse one of the most widely used teaching resources in secondary school classrooms: the textbook (TB). The results of the analysis of 14 TB of 7th and 10th grade indicate that they do not establish adequate connections between the causes, consequences and possible solutions to the problem, nor do they contextualise them in the students' possibilities for action. Furthermore, the images used do not provide relevant information and are inoperative, while the activities do not favour the development of the responsibilities and commitments needed to promote changes in behaviours. Therefore, the TBs analysed do not contribute to the desired awareness, neither to the promotion of more sustainable attitudes and habits in the face of this socio-environmental problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are gaining increasing popularity in education. Due to their increasing popularity, many empirical studies have been devoted to exploring the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes. The proliferation of experimental studies has highlighted the need to summarize and synthesize the inconsistent findings about the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes. However, few reviews focused on the meta‐analysis of the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes. The present study performed a meta‐analysis of 24 randomized studies utilizing Stata software (version 14). The main goal of the current study was to meta‐analytically examine the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes and the moderating effects of educational levels and intervention duration. The results indicated that AI chatbots had a large effect on students' learning outcomes. Moreover, AI chatbots had a greater effect on students in higher education, compared to those in primary education and secondary education. In addition, short interventions were found to have a stronger effect on students' learning outcomes than long interventions. It could be explained by the argument that the novelty effects of AI chatbots could improve learning outcomes in short interventions, but it has worn off in the long interventions. Future designers and educators should make attempt to increase students' learning outcomes by equipping AI chatbots with human‐like avatars, gamification elements and emotional intelligence. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topicIn recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots have been gaining increasing popularity in education.Studies undertaken so far have provided conflicting evidence concerning the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes.There has remained a paucity of meta‐analyses synthesizing the contradictory findings about the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes.What this paper addsThis study, through meta‐analysis, synthesized these recent findings about the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes.This study found that AI chatbots could have a large effect on students' learning outcomes.This study found that the effects of AI chatbots were moderated by educational levels and intervention duration.Implications for practice and/or policyAI chatbot designers could make AI chatbots better by equipping AI chatbots with human‐like avatars, gamification elements and emotional intelligencePractitioners and/or teachers should draw attention to the positive and negative effects of AI chatbots on students.Considering the importance of ChatGPT, more research is required to develop a better understanding of the effects of ChatGPT in education.More research is needed to examine the mechanisms underlying the effects of AI chatbots on students' learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]