Educ. Sci., Volume 8, Issue 4 (December 2018) – 69 articles

Debates about the teaching of religion date back to the formation of the modern education system, when religion was first compartmentalized as a distinct subject within a broader curriculum. In many places, they continue to rage today. In Turkey, they are inextricably tied to the creation of the country’s system of secular public instruction in the 1920s and the transition to multi-party government in the 1940s. On 30 March 2012, Turkey passed a new law that revamped the country’s public educational system, mandating twelve years of instruction divided into three four-year periods (roughly corresponding to elementary, middle, and high school). This law led to the opening of many new religious schools—known as Imam-Hatip schools (i.e., schools for the training of imams and hatips, or preachers)—across the country, especially at the middle-school level. The number of students studying in these schools rose from 70,000 in 2002 to 1,300,000 after the new law. New elective courses on religion were also added to the curriculum, and curricular and extra-curricular religious-education activities offered by government-sponsored Islamic civil society organizations became more prevalent. All of this has reignited old debates about religious instruction in the country. This article begins with an overview of the history of secularism in Turkey. It then focuses on the history of religious education and the model of religious education in Turkey. It concludes with a discussion of how religious education centering on values education operates within the secular framework of public education in confessional and non-confessional formats. Full article

John Hattie’s Visible Learning research has been read, dissected, and implemented by educators and leaders around the world. Whether it’s the effect sizes or the influences that challenge the thinking of the status quo, the Visible Learning research has taken a place in many educational conversations. Over the last three years, the author of this paper has been researching and implementing the Visible Learning research, and used some of the findings to create a leadership workshop that focused on six of the influences that Hattie has been studying for years. The point of using the six influences he focused on was that based on the author’s knowledge of leadership through his experience as a teacher and building leader, as well as his understanding and research around school climate, there were six areas that all leaders should understand deeply if they are to have a positive impact on student learning. Full article

Recent reports from federal agencies and legislation call for explicit avenues to incorporate K–12 STEM master teacher voice into the policy space. National initiatives, federal legislation, and teacher recognition programs have sought to identify K–12 STEM master teachers and harness their potential. These efforts warrant a conceptual framework to quantify attributes of K–12 STEM master teachers, to foster pathways for the development of current and future leaders. Using a sample of 10 individuals from two extant programs of K–12 STEM master teachers (Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship and Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching), data from their career trajectories (sourced from Curriculum Vitae) were sequenced to construct and confirm the STEM Master Teacher (STEMMaTe) conceptual framework. This framework may be used to guide programmatic development to increase national capacity for K–12 STEM master teachers. Recommendations are discussed for the creation of pathways to develop STEM master teachers and increase their participation in the broader education system. Full article

Background: Research on educational leadership has transcended the international sphere. Numerous studies have been developed on this factor of educational improvement. Few is their number, contextualized in the mathematics area and specifically the teachers. Methods: This paper presents a systematic review that highlights the importance of school leadership and mathematics education, providing empirical evidence on the positive impact that the former has on the latter. The method has been adapted to the guidelines promulgated in the PRISMA declaration, to ensure its systematicity. Results: Regarding the results, most of the research included in this review has found positive leadership effects on teacher professionalism, teaching and learning processes, and student performance. Conclusions: As limitations, the prescriptive nature of legislation and organizational structures has been found, which impedes the implementation of more effective leadership modalities. Full article

The creation of healthy habits and lifestyles is fundamental in the educational field and for acquiring adequate health levels that will prevail in adulthood. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics and correlations between the level of practice of physical activity, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), body mass index (BMI) and problematic use of videogames and self-concept of primary education students. This non-experimental, cross-sectional study is composed of a sample of 577 students aged 10-12 years (11.1 ± 0.638). Subjects were evaluated using the Mediterranean Diet Adherence questionnaire (KIDMED), Self-Concept Form-5 (AF-5), Experiences Related to Videogames (QERV) and anthropometric measurements were taken following the guidelines of the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry. Most students have been found to be of normal weight, although one in five has problems with being overweight or experiencing obesity. Likewise, half of them need to improve their adherence to the Mediterranean diet, while they do not have a problematic use of videogames, although one tenth of them in these early ages offer severe problems and it is highlighted that students offer an adequate self-concept. It is also noted that BMI correlates positively with problematic videogame use and social self-concept. Greater addiction to videogames is associated with poorer academic performance, low levels of physical activity and poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Finally, it should be noted that the continued practice of physical-sports activity favors emotional competence and academic performance. Full article

Even though there is a plethora of research that can be used by educators to inform their practice, the deep implementation of evidence-based strategies remains unrealized in many schools and classrooms. The question we set out to answer was: What conditions help encourage educators to implement and adapt evidence from the Visible Learning synthesis when they encounter it? We examined two examples of the reception of the Visible Learning research in schools and identified the following six key conditions that helped foster the translation of the Visible Learning research into classroom practice in ways that demonstrated measurable impact on student learning: (1) The presence of a learning methodology; (2) clear examples of how to apply the strategies; (3) a ‘knowledgeable other’ to help assist educators in processing the research; (4) a supportive organizational environment; (5) the recognition of educators as agents of influence, and (6) the monitoring and adjustment of implementation strategies. Full article

New paradigms such as the Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), or industrial cyber-physical systems (ICPSs) have been impacting the manufacturing environment in recent years. Nevertheless, these challenging concepts are also being faced from the educational field: Engineering students must acquire knowledge and skills under the view of these frameworks. This paper describes the utilization of an Industry 4.0-oriented flexible manufacturing system (FMS) as an educational tool to develop final projects (FPs) of engineering degrees. A number of scopes are covered by an FMS, such as automation, supervision, instrumentation, communications, and robotics. The utilization of an FMS with educational purposes started in the academic year 2011–2012 and still remains active. Here, the most illustrative FPs are expounded, and successful academic outcomes are reported. In addition, a set of initial considerations based on the experience acquired by the FP tutors is provided. Full article

The current study presents an evaluation of the laboratory instructional tasks prepared based on innovative teaching approaches (research-inquiry, problem solving, project, argumentation and web-based interdisciplinary learning approaches) designed to enhance science teachers’ biotechnology knowledge, awareness and laboratory experiences. The laboratory instructional tasks developed by the researchers aim to improve the laboratory experiences, as well as support the teaching of biotechnology through innovative teaching approaches. For this purpose, in-service training course titled Biotechnology Education Practices was conducted with the voluntary participation of science teachers (n = 17). The current study employed the embedded design. The quantitative part of the embedded design is designed as the single group pretest-posttest model and the qualitative part of it is designed as the case study. The data of the current study were collected through the Biotechnology Awareness Questionnaire, Biotechnology Evaluation Questions, The Laboratory Self-Evaluation form and worksheets. The results obtained from the analyses revealed that the instructional tasks conducted within the context of the Biotechnology Education Practices resulted in significant effects on the science teachers’ biotechnology knowledge and awareness and that the innovative teaching approaches were effective in developing the science teachers’ laboratory experiences. It would be useful to use laboratory instructional tasks enriched with innovative teaching approaches in teaching biotechnology subjects. Full article

This paper contributes to the discussion on how morality may be uncertain when life orientation changes, for instance, from religious belief to spirituality. Accepting the ‘subjectivation’ thesis as a key concept in understanding the contemporary world, the spiritual realm is treated as a site on which the subjective turn has made a tremendous impact. That turn is investigated particularly in a comparison between “subjective-life” spirituality and “life-as” religion. Then, this paper asks what happens to morality when people’s religious belief disappears, changes, or evolves into spiritual experience. Educational practices are also viewed as a resonant field where the subjective turn has impacted on morality. The context of this paper refers to the subjective turn, as explained by The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Then, the comparison of “life-as” and “subjective-life” is expressed according to their diverse values. Finally, the conclusion deals with the crucial points of morality in subjective life. In this regard, it is stressed that ‘subjectivation’ is a feature of our time, and presenting a remarkable challenge in the realm of values. Since their orientations are different, ‘subjective-lives’ have a different disposition in morality than the mode of “life-as”. Although it is impossible to generalize concerning whether or not spirituality is moral, nevertheless, it is expected that there will be challenges for religious education when dealing with spirituality. Full article

English as a subject used to be assessed using course-based or portfolio assessments but now it is increasingly examined through terminal tests. Canada is an exception to this rule. This paper compares the way English is assessed in England and Canada and looks to the ways in which the kind of assessment undertaken affects the practices of English teachers both in the teaching of summative and formative assessment. Full article

Final Year Projects (FYPs) play a significant role in undergraduate education in the computing field of study, and most of the related university departments and schools consider them an essential contribution to this study. However, issues such as whether to assign the projects individually or to a group of students, the procedures followed in their assignment, the supervision process and the evaluation of the outcomes have been of concern to many academics in the field. In this case study, we present the methods for activities such as assignment, supervision, and evaluation of FYPs at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH) between the years 2009 and 2017. We discuss the development of our approach and the lessons learned during the mentioned period. Furthermore, we present our current way of managing the FYP module. The aim is to develop a platform for interested and involved academics to discuss the topic further. Sharing the experiences on managing FYPs would not only help in making the module more attractive and beneficial to the students but also in the consolidation of the guidelines and indicators of the proper supervision and a fair evaluation of this significant undergraduate study endeavor. Full article

In this article, we describe the philosophical and the scientific background of teacher mindframes and we argue that educational professionalism consists not only of ability and knowledge (competence), but also of will and judgement (attitudes). To back up our argument, we present the results of our current research project on this matter. Full article

Religious diversity within Dutch schools has greatly increased. We carried out an empirical study to offer insights into how secondary school teachers (try to) relate to the formal Protestant Christian identity of their school, the challenges they experience in relation to their own personal worldview, and the recommendations they have to overcome these challenges. In our qualitative study, we interviewed thirty-two teachers from eight different schools. In selecting the schools, we took into account the diversity of Protestant Christian secondary education in the Netherlands. The teachers teach different subjects in a variety of disciplines (languages, creative arts, sciences, et cetera). For many teachers, their personal worldview does not align neatly with the formal religious identity of the school. As a result, teachers experience challenges in relation to, for example, the act of daily worship and (Christian) celebrations. Teachers also experience tensions regarding the extent to which schools could or should be open towards (religious) others. Teachers’ advice, among other recommendations, is to create room for an open exchange of views, opinions, and experiences between teachers and principals. Some teachers recommend that their principal reconsider the formal Christian identity of the school and search for another, more inclusive school identity with which everyone involved can better identify. Full article

Professional knowledge is highlighted as an important prerequisite of both medical doctors and teachers. Based on recent conceptions of professional knowledge in these fields, knowledge can be differentiated within several aspects. However, these knowledge aspects are currently conceptualized differently across different domains and projects. Thus, this paper describes recent frameworks for professional knowledge in medical and educational sciences, which are then integrated into an interdisciplinary two-dimensional model of professional knowledge that can help to align terminology in both domains and compare research results. The models’ two dimensions differentiate between cognitive types of knowledge and content-related knowledge facets and introduces a terminology for all emerging knowledge aspects. The models’ applicability for medical and educational sciences is demonstrated in the context of diagnosis by describing prototypical diagnostic settings for medical doctors as well as for teachers, which illustrate how the framework can be applied and operationalized in these areas. Subsequently, the role of the different knowledge aspects for acting and the possibility of transfer between different content areas are discussed. In conclusion, a possible extension of the model along a “third dimension” that focuses on the effects of growing expertise on professional knowledge over time is proposed and issues for further research are outlined. Full article

Deaf individuals present differences compared to their hearing peers in terms of their learning profile. In addition, deaf adults seem to still be socially excluded nowadays, given that the transition from school to work is more difficult for people with hearing loss. This study aims to analyze the cognitive characteristics of deaf adults, as well as the way they learn better, for the development of an innovative and user-friendly e-learning platform, which will be adapted to the educational needs of the target group. Fifty-three deaf or hard-of-hearing adults participated in the field research for the needs of this study. According to the results, participants prefer e-learning modules with continuity in terms of the content, which offer comprehension questions during the sessions, as well as practice exercises after their completion. Furthermore, participants had positive attitudes towards the use of special graphics and explanatory videos. Full article

The capacity to successfully, positively engage with the cognitive capacities of critical thinking has become the benchmark of employability for many diverse industries across the globe and is considered critical for the development of informed, decisive global citizenship. Despite this, education systems in several countries have developed policies and practices that limit the opportunities for students to authentically participate in the discussions, debates, and evaluative thinking that serve to develop the skill set and mindset of critical thinkers. This writing examines the status of critical thinking in four different contexts across the globe as reflected in educational policies and academic experiences as a preface to investigating actual classroom practices and possible impacts the support of critical thinking skills may have on the potential development of the global citizens of the future. Each vignette reflects the contextualized difficulties that are presented by social and cultural concerns and traditions of making meaning. These stories of education also illustrate the various ways in which the skills and capacities of critical thinking are interpreted in different contexts and address the negative nuances with which thinking critically has become associated. Finally, a pedagogical model of teaching, which may support student development of the skill set of critical thinking within the boundaries of social and cultural mindsets, has been developed. Full article

In support of sustainable development, the United Nations (UN) launched its Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) with the aims of accelerating progress towards universal access to education, good quality learning and the fostering of global citizenship. This paper explores how and to what extent Stoic virtue ethics and critical Freirean ecopedagogies can advance the UN’s vision for progressive educational systems with transformative societal effects. We propose an integrated solution that provides ecopedagogical concepts a more robust philosophical foundation whilst also offering Stoicism additional tools to tackle 21st-century problems, such as climate change and environmental degradation. The result of the paper is the preliminary theoretical underpinnings of an educational framework that encompasses planetary-level concerns and offers a fuller expression of the terms “sustainable development” and “global citizen”. Full article

This Special Issue seeks to address the needs of all postsecondary/tertiary students for a barrier-free learning environment to increase their academic achievement, engagement, learning mastery, and persistence to graduation. Universal Design for Inclusive Pedagogy (UDIP) is sensitive to diverse students and individual differences to promote access and equity. While our colleagues in elementary and secondary education have been addressing this issue for many years, postsecondary education is a newer field for this approach. The six articles in this issue break new ground with regards to expanding the boundaries of Universal Design (UD). Areas explored in this Special Issue are transformed curriculum, innovative teaching and learning practices, cross-national and cross-cultural student interactions, application of UD to academic pathways, and UDIP embedded into the institutional culture and policies. The central themes of the articles are increased access, equity, and social justice for all students. Full article

‘Mastery’ is central to current policy in mathematics education in England, influenced by East Asian success in transnational assessments. We scrutinise the prospects for mastery pedagogies to improve pupil attainment in English primary schools. The Mathematics Teacher Exchange (MTE)—an element of the mastery innovation—involves teachers visiting Shanghai and then hosting Shanghai teachers in their schools. Informed by programme evaluation, core component practices are analysed, which were implemented by schools belonging to the first cohort of MTE schools. These consist of: varied and interactive teaching; meaningful and coherent mathematical activity; and full curriculum access for all. These elements are supported, optimally, by collaborative, embedded, and mathematically focused professional development. Details of the implemented pedagogy and forms of professional development are reported. Differences from prevailing practice in primary mathematics in England are highlighted. Evidence is reviewed from quasi-experimental trials, reviews and meta-analyses, and rigorous observational studies of the efficacy of practices similar to the MTE mastery pedagogy components in order to assess the prospects for increases in pupil attainment. The analysis suggests that many of the specific practices, if considered individually, have the potential to improve attainment, though overall policy ambitions may not be realised. Based on the review, component practices are identified for which existing evidence justifies immediate implementation by schools and teachers. In addition, practices that would benefit from further testing and evaluation are highlighted. Full article

Convergence education of medicine and theology (CEMT) is an effective religious education learning model in a secular age. The highly elaborate rationality of the secular environment encourage es dialogical discourse between science and religion. There is a mutually reinforcing relationship between medicine and theology even given each discipline’s differences from the other. In this paper, the dialogical discourse between medicine and theology about the human-genome project serves as an example of the symbiotic relevance of both disciplines. The Ebola virus shows how theological discourse can be included in what is apparently a medical concern to ultimately benefit medical efforts. An example of CEMT in the classroom shows the possibilities for enlarging the conventional horizons of religious education to overlap medicine. Full article

Difficulties in learning computer programming for novices is a subject of abundant scientific literature. These difficulties seem to be accentuated in students whose academic choice is not computation, like architecture students. However, they need to study programming, since it is part of the new academic curricula. The results presented here are part of a PhD research, which investigates the achievement motivation and the acquisition and transfer of programming knowledge from an online environment designed on the basis of the 4C-ID instructional design model. These results are a sociodemographic analysis, and the technological competence of these subjects. We concluded that most of the students of our sample do not know how to auto assess their ICT expertise level, because they believed that they had sufficient computational knowledge for their needs. However, most of them told that they had difficulties creating codes. However, they recognized the importance of learning to program, thought it was valuable for architectural students, and felt motivated to acquire this new skill. Full article

This paper discusses and provides two case studies on a postsecondary, accessible, global project among students in Russia, China, and the United States. The project design was to engage diverse students in an international conversation to explore their place in the world and envision their future as individuals, innovators, workers, and/or leaders in this globalized world. The three countries chosen, Russia, China, and the United States, are world powers and are pivotal countries for building international bridges. This paper highlights the evolution of the project and students’ vision for developing ongoing student-centered international research projects. It is the hope of the authors that educators reading this article will be inspired to embark on other accessible global projects designed to enhance language and cultural competence with and among all college students. Full article

Vocabulary instruction is a critical component of language and literacy lessons, yet few studies have examined the nature and extent of vocabulary activities in early elementary classrooms. We explored vocabulary activities during reading lessons using video observations in a sample of 2nd- and 3rd-grade students (n = 228) and their teachers (n = 38). Teachers spent more time in vocabulary activities than has been previously observed. In the fall, 28% of their literacy block was devoted to vocabulary in 2nd grade and 38% in 3rd grade. Our findings suggest that vocabulary activities were most likely to take place prior to reading a text—teachers rarely followed-up initial vocabulary activities after text reading. Analysis of teachers’ discourse moves showed more instructional comments and short-answer questions than other moves; students most frequently engaged in participating talk, such as providing short, simple answers to questions. Students engaged in significantly more talk during vocabulary activities (including generative talk such as initiating an idea) in the spring of 3rd grade than the spring of 2rd grade. These data contribute descriptive information about how teachers engage their students in vocabulary learning during the early elementary years. We discuss implications for practice and future research directions. Full article

This paper critically examines the possibilities of education for social transformation (EST) in the context of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). This is a region with a history of colonialism and embodies some of the central dilemmas of globalization, such as inequality and environmental precarity. Thus, conceptually, EST holds great promise for social justice and environmental sustainability. The paper argues, however, that EST can be relevant to the region only if it takes account of the enduring deep-seated legacy of asymmetries of power, exploitation and inequality in the broader society and within the education system resulting from colonialism and now exacerbated by globalization’s processes. Using postcolonial theory as the analytical frame, the paper highlights these challenges to EST in the context of the Caribbean and also identifies educational principles for EST to be a catalyst for social transformation in the region. Full article

In the context of the increasing migration into Germany that has taken place in recent years and German efforts to establish an inclusive school system, which enables learners from different religious, ethnic, language and social backgrounds with and without disabilities to participate, religious education has become a key topic for interdisciplinary discourse between theology, philosophy, and pedagogy in German schools. The following questions are of special interest: How can we manage diversity in inclusive classroom settings in general, and specifically: how can we do so with regard to worldview diversity? Does worldview diversity in schools exist, and if so, how can we recognize it in its plurality and complexity? How can we acknowledge different worldviews in the context of a changing inclusive school system? In this article, we would like to present the theoretical foundation, the research setting and the first findings of our ongoing pilot studies of worldview education at an inclusive German school. The experiments are part of a larger project context that is also described. The case study presented in this article, in which innovative language and machine learning technology was used for data analysis, illustrates the potential of inclusive methods and didactic concepts such as Universal Design for Learning, Learning in the Presence of the Other, and Reflexive Inclusion for inclusive worldview education in the context of a religiously pluralized and secularized society. Full article

This paper discusses authenticity from the perspective of mathematics education. Often, school mathematics offers students inauthentic word problems, which don’t show the authentic usefulness of mathematics in real life. In some tasks, authentic aspects are combined with inauthentic ones (e.g., an authentic context, but the question is artificial and different from what people within that context would ask). Several studies show that students are more motivated by authentic questions than by authentic contexts. Embedding these findings, I discuss issues associated with defining authenticity in education. A first issue is that philosophers use the term to characterize a person’s existential expressions (e.g., being true to oneself), whereas in education, we use the term for learning environments, artefacts, etc. Second, some researchers define authentic learning environments according to criteria (being open to different approaches, simulate a real-life activity, etc.), but I will illustrate that inauthentic activities can comply with such criteria as well. Alternatively, I suggest using the term for separate aspects in a learning environment (contexts, questions, etc.), and define authenticity as a social construct rather than as a subjective perception. In this way, a community (teachers, students, out-of-school experts) can reach agreement on the nature of this characteristic. For an aspect to be authentic, it needs to have: (1) an out-of-school origin and (2) a certification of originality (e.g., by bringing artifacts physically into a classroom or by testimony of an expert). This approach is illustrated by a study on students’ project work during an excursion to a mathematics research workplace. Full article

Nowadays, social networks incessantly influence the lives of young people. Apart from entertainment and informational purposes, social networks have penetrated many fields of educational practices and processes. This review tries to highlight the use of social networks in higher education, as well as points out some factors involved. Moreover, through a literature review of related articles, we aim at providing insights into social network influences with regard to (a) the learning processes (support, educational processes, communication and collaboration enhancement, academic performance) from the side of students and educators; (b) the users’ personality profile and learning style; (c) the social networks as online learning platforms (LMS—learning management system); and (d) their use in higher education. The conclusions reveal positive impacts in all of the above dimensions, thus indicating that the wider future use of online social networks (OSNs) in higher education is quite promising. However, teachers and higher education institutions have not yet been highly activated towards faster online social networks’ (OSN) exploitation in their activities. Full article

In viewing the principles of Universal Instructional Design (UID), both inside and outside the classroom, a direct connection may be made to the principles of Ignatian pedagogy—a 500-year old tradition of education—in meeting the learning needs of today’s college students, Generation Z. The Ignatian pedagogy as a frame for universal instructiosnal design principles can guide instructors to understand how college students can learn best and facilitate that knowledge acquisition to serve the common good. This article addresses Generation Z’s experience with digital technology and illustrates how the Ignatian pedagogical model tenets (i.e., context, experience, reflection, action, and evaluation) connect with UID practices in a higher education curriculum. Examples of UID, as it applies to each tenet and to web access, are included. Full article

This study tested the construct validity, factorial validity, and measurement invariance of the learning gains scale based on survey responses of a large sample (n = 536) of undergraduate students in two colleges at a university in Ethiopia. The analyses were performed through structural equation modeling technique using the stata 13 data analysis and statistical software package. The results demonstrate a 3-factor model representing the underlying construct satisfying the different model goodness-of-fit statistics and practical indexes. The observed factor loadings of variables within each factor and the correlations between the factors provide supporting evidence of construct validity. Measurement invariance tests were also confirmed acceptable levels of measurement equivalence between groups. Implications of the 3-factor model in higher education research are discussed. Full article

Educators and policymakers are keenly aware of the need to prepare students to compete in an increasingly global society. It is widely accepted that a high school diploma is not sufficient and that secondary schools have a responsibility to prepare students to be college and career ready. This study examined participation in a rigorous secondary curriculum and the corresponding outcomes related to college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. Focusing on the involvement of students in high-rigor courses that provide a stronger pathway to college, we seek to understand further the indicators that lead to postsecondary success. The sample comprises 1464 students who graduated from high school between 2009 and 2014. The primary analytic technique was binary logistic regression. The results from this study confirmed that a positive relationship exists between high-rigor courses and college success. This relationship was evident even after controlling for relevant student demographics including gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The academic benefits of the high-rigor course participation are discussed. Full article