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Eric.ed.gov – Kenya’s ICT Policy in Practice: The Effectiveness of Tablets and E-Readers in Improving Student Outcomes

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Kenya is investing in information and communication technology (ICT) to improve children’s learning outcomes. However, the literature on ICT is pessimistic about the ability of ICT alone to improve outcomes, and few ICT programs have created the instructional change necessary to increase learning. The Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative implemented a randomized controlled trial of three ICT interventions to enhance learning outcomes: tablets for instructional supervisors, tablets for teachers, and e-readers for students. All three showed significant impacts in English and Kiswahili above the results of the control group. The impacts of the three interventions were not statistically significantly different from each other. Based on the findings, we recommend that Kenyan policy makers embed ICT interventions in a larger instructional reform, using ICT to support particular… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Creative Futures: Act, Sing, Play. Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Act, Sing, Play (ASP) offered music and drama tuition to Year 2 pupils. The aim of the programme was to evaluate whether music workshops had a bigger impact than drama workshops in terms of pupils’ maths and literacy attainment. The evaluation was based on the hypothesis that participation in high-quality music instruction promotes educational attainment over and above instruction in other artistic pursuits (see Schellenberg, 2004). The ASP programme was developed specifically for this trial and ran from September 2013 to June 2014: 909 pupils participated in 19 schools across London, Essex, Sussex and Coventry. In each participating Year 2 class, pupils were randomly allocated to one of three groups: violin or cello workshops (ASP-strings), singing lessons (ASP-singing), or drama workshops (ASP-drama). The two music groups (strings… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Environmental Systems Simulations for Carbon, Energy, Nitrogen, Water, and Watersheds: Design Principles and Pilot Testing

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Guided by the Next Generation Science Standards and elements of problem-based learning, four human-environment systems simulations are described in brief–carbon, energy, water, and watershed–and a fifth simulation on nitrogen is described in more depth. These science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education simulations illustrate design principles that make them engaging to students, such as dynamic visual environments that are controlled by the user and immediate visual feedback to user actions taken. The simulations are contextualized in real-world natural resources management challenges involving biogeochemical cycles, such as Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, which provide an opportunity to “win the game,” while the introduction of complexity in steps provides scaffolding. Pretest versus posttest results indicate a substantial and statistically significant improvement in learning outcomes resulting from using the nitrogen simulation,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Designing Professional Development around Key Principles and Formative Assessments to Improve Teachers’ Knowledge to Teach Mathematics

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The authors’ hypothesis is that if teachers (as experts) understand and teach concepts from the position of expertise teacher quality will improve. They believe that focusing on the key ideas will deepen both teacher and student understanding and allow learners to build the concepts necessary to form solid foundations for the application of mathematics both in and out of school. But such methods of instruction often require that teachers learn to reorganize and teach fundamental concepts in more expert-like ways. Because many teachers were taught in a system that stressed procedure rather than conceptual understanding, and the dearth of guidance on how teachers might change their teaching in this manner, such change may be difficult. Building on the expert-novice literature, and the findings by Carpenter, Fenamya, Levi,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Effects of Computer Games on the Achievement of Basic Mathematical Skills

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study aims to analyze the relationship between playing computer games and learning basic mathematics skills. It shows the role computer games play in the learning and achievement of basic mathematical skills by students. Nowadays it is clear that individuals, especially young persons are very fond of computer and computer games. Since students are very interested in computers, they can be used to achieve education and instructional objectives. This study aims to search for evidences whether computer games can be used to obtain basic mathematical skills. The study was conducted in 2012, with grade 5 elementary school students (44 in number). 22 of the students made up the experimental group, and the other 22 students constituted the control group. The two groups studied basic mathematical skills in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – An Investigation the Effect of STEM Practices on Fifth Grade Students’ Academic Achievement and Motivations at the Unit “Exploring and Knowing the World of Living Creatures”

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study aims to investigate the effects of Science Technology Education Math (STEM) practices on academic achievement and motivations of students in the 5th grade of middle school in “Exploring and Knowing the World of Living Creatures” section in Science lecture. The study was designed in a semi-experimental pattern with pre-test post-test control group. A middle school in the center of Antakya was selected by appropriate sampling method. The sample of the study was formed by the 5th grade students who were studied in 2 sections where the same teacher taught. A group of students in one section formed the control group of students while the other branch formed experimental group. The unit ‘Exploring and Knowing the World of Living Creatures’ was explained through the lesson plans… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Title I Schools: The Student-Based Impact of Online, On-Demand Professional Development on Educators

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Title I students remain among the most challenging population for achieving significant gains in academic performance and standardized test scores. This multi-state, quasi-experimental, pre-versus-post study reflects the comparative Title I gains for math and reading scores for teachers participating in an online, on-demand professional development program school-wide versus non-participating Title I in their respective districts as benchmarks. Average Title I gains in reading were 4.8% (p<0.001) versus 0.1% (ns) in the non-participating Title I schools. For math scores, non-participating Title I schools in the districts saw a decline of 5.9% (p<0.001), while Title I schools participating in the professional development experienced a gain of 7.3% (p<0.001). Conclusions are that significant advantages for Title I students are achieved when teachers participate actively in such a high impact, high… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Using Learning Centers to Improve the Language and Academic Skills of Preschool Children

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A mixed-methods research design was employed to investigate the impact of use of learning centers to support language and academic skills of children aged 61-72 months. The sample of quantitative data of the study consisted of 70 children (35 in the experimental group and 35 in the control group). In the quantitative dimension of the study, data were collected using the “Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills,” “Progress in Maths 6 Test,” and the “Control List for the Evaluation of the Print Awareness of Pre-School Children” scales. In the qualitative dimension of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers of the experimental group through the “Teacher Interview Form” developed by the researchers. During the implementation period, learning centers were established and organized in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Capitalizing on Context: Curriculum Integration in Career and Technical Education. A Joint Report of the NRCCTE Curriculum Integration Workgroup

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) has undertaken three scientifically based research studies in an effort to determine whether the integration of career and technical education (CTE) courses with academic content can increase student achievement. These include the Math-in-CTE study, completed in 2005 (also known as “Building Academic Skills in Context”; Stone, Alfeld, Pearson, Lewis, & Jensen, 2006); the Authentic Literacy Applications in CTE pilot study, completed in 2009, with a full-year study launched in 2010; and the Science-in-CTE pilot study, launched in 2010. Each of these three studies was designed as a group-randomized trial in which teachers and their classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Each also employed a mixed-methods approach intended to capture qualitative data in order to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Long-Term Effects of Teacher Performance Pay: Experimental Evidence from India

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: While the idea of teacher performance-pay is increasingly making its way into policy, the evidence on the effectiveness of such programs is both limited and mixed. The central questions in the literature on teacher performance pay to date have been whether teacher performance pay based on test scores can improve student achievement, and whether there are negative consequences of teacher incentives based on student test scores? The literature on both of these questions highlight the importance of not just evaluating teacher incentive programs that are designed by administrators, but of using economic theory to design systems of teacher performance pay that are likely to induce higher effort from teachers towards improving human capital and less likely to be susceptible to gaming. Also, while there is a growing… Continue Reading