scholarly journals VR-Technology in Teaching: Opportunities and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Caroline Graeske ◽  
Sofia Aspling Sjöberg

Use of virtual reality (VR) to teach in upper-secondary schools has become more common during recent years. This article discusses the implementation and testing of VR to teach Swedish in upper-secondary school, a pilot study carried out during the 2020/2021. The purpose of this study is to investigate how VR can be used to teach Swedish, what possibilities and challenges arise from using VR as a learning resource. The method used was inspired by action-based research, where teachers and researchers together, in a symmetrical and complementary approach, explore and evaluate an action. Central theoretical perspectives were TPACK-competences and design principles for gamified learning. The results indicate that students’ motivation increases by possibilities to co-create, co-design and customize their own learning, where the students solve problems and consider and reflect on their own learning. Both students and teachers point out didactical potentials and explain that VR technology offers many opportunities, but cannot exist on its own. It must function in accordance with the curriculum and regulatory documents of the educational institution.

Author(s):  
Aija Ahtineva

As an integral part of scientific way of thinking, practical laboratory tasks are a pivotal part of chemistry education. element of chemistry education. The first section begins with a discussion of how to assess laboratory work according to the current frame curricula for comprehensive and upper secondary schools. The second section discusses laboratory work as a learning method. Several studies have shown, that laboratory work is used mostly to liven up the lessons and to arouse interest rather that to teach something in a goal oriented way. The systematic study on what students learn from laboratory tasks has begun as recently as the 2000s. This paper focuses on the results of two separate studies. In interconnected papers, Abrahams and Millar (2008) as well as Abrahams and Reiss (2012) analyze learning in laboratory tasks using a 2 x 2 effectiveness matrix for practical work. Lewthwaite (2014) discusses the teachers’ choice of laboratory tasks. Both studies highlight the influence of evaluation practices on learning. At the end section, the paper presents some tasks and evaluation models suited for comprehensive and upper secondary school chemistry education. These tasks are based on the levels of learning and taxonomy of leaning presented by Doran and colleagues (2002).


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ing-Marie Andersson ◽  
Kristina Gunnarsson ◽  
Ann Hedlund ◽  
Gunnar Rosén

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">Attractive work has been defined as a job position which an individual wants, where the employee experiences job stability and where employee identification and dedication are fostered. The present study is aimed at increasing knowledge about attitude changes to work during young people’s transition from school to work-life. A closed cohort, consisting of 225 pupils from graduating classes in 10 upper secondary schools in Sweden, was studied. The most significant result was found in the pupils’ expectations regarding work attractiveness while they were still attending school and in the subsequent year, after they had finished school. During school attendance, there were no differences between the groups, while those who did not find employment after school greatly reduced their demands regarding attractive work.Those who managed to get a job maintained the same level of expectation as during their school years, in terms of requirements for an attractive job. </div></div></div>


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Slávka Krásna

AbstractThe article focuses on the value “health”, as a component of the value orientation of students of lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools in our country. At the same time, it focuses on the presentation and interpretation of the results of a research conducted on a sample of students of selected schools, which was a part of a more comprehensive research on subjective understanding and individual interpretation of selected life values of lower secondary and upper secondary school students in Slovakia.


Prismet ◽  
1970 ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Ulrika Svalfors

Denna artikel diskuterar hur ungdomars egna erfarenheter kan användas som en resurs i undervisning för hållbar utveckling inom religionskunskapen. Diskussionen sker mot bakgrund av en intervjustudie bland sistaårselever på fyra gymnasieskolor i Sverige. I dessa intervjuer framkommer det att ungdomar har gedigna erfarenheter av såväl engagemang som makt och uthållighet som är så pass integrerade med ungdomars uppfattningar om sig själva att de kan betraktas som delar av deras livsåskådning. Dessa erfarenheter kan därmed utgöra en resurs i undervisning om hållbar utveckling, vilket blir tydligt i religionskunskapen. Hållbar utveckling är ett tema som kan bidra till att stärka elevernas hermeneutiska förmåga och till mångfald – centralt för religionskunskapen och nödvändigt för en hållbar utveckling.Nyckelord: ungdomar, livsåskådning, religionskunskap, hermeneutisk förmåga, engagemang, makt, uthållighet, utbildning för hållbar utveckling, gymnasieskolan, SverigeThis article discusses how young people's own experiences can be used as a resource for sustainable development education within religious education. The discussion takes place in the light of an interview study among last year's students at four upper secondary schools in Sweden. In these interviews, it appears that young people have a solid experience of commitment as well as power and stamina that are so integrated with their perceptions of themselves that they can be regarded as part of their world view. Hence, these experiences become a resource for education for sustainable development, which become clear in religious education. Sustainable development is a theme that reinforces the students’ hermeneutical competence and contributes to diversity – central for religious education and necessary for sustainable development.Keywords: youth, world view, religious education, hermeneutical competence, commitment, power, stamina, education for sustainable development, upper secondary school, Sweden


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-42
Author(s):  
Toni Mäkipää ◽  
Najat Ouakrim-Soivio

The paper addresses Finnish students’ perceptions of assessment practices in upper secondary school. We study what experiences students have about assessment, and how they assess their ability to use and understand teachers’ feedback. The data were gathered on a web-based questionnaire to 918 students in four upper secondary schools. The questionnaire contained both closed-ended and open-ended questions. According to students’ responses, most students consider that they are able to use and understand their teachers’ feedback, and that teachers are prone to apply traditional assessment methods. The results pave the way for enhancing versatility in assessment practices. At the end of this paper, we will discuss the important role of assessment in teaching and how teachers’ assessment literacy could be enhanced and made more visible. We also ponder whether alongside teachers’ assessment literacy we should also consider students’ assessment literacy.


Author(s):  
Marko Telenius

Various virtual laboratory environments have been developed during recent years, but upper-secondary school chemistry education has been missing a clear need for using them. The current reform of the upper secondary-school frame curriculum and the matriculation examination require upper secondary schools to increase the use of information and communication technologies. Virtual laboratory environments are ideally suited for this as they are affordable, interactive, free from the restraints of classroom space and time, as well as able to visualize difficult concepts in concrete ways. Simulations and virtual laboratories can be utilized to diversify the type of questions used in exams. Several virtual laboratory environments are available for comprehensive and upper secondary schools for free, but most of them cannot be utilized in classroom education without modifying them to suit the objectives of the lesson. It is the responsibility of the teacher to figure out how to use them to support learning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Helleve ◽  
Marit Ulvik ◽  
Kari Smith

Målet med denne studien er å undersøke hvordan lærere forstår og tolker sitt profesjonelle handlingsrom og hvordan de, basert på denne erfaringen, har opplevd å nå sine egne mål over tid. Studien, som er del av en internasjonal studie, bygger på observasjoner, intervjuer og story-lines fra seks lærere ved tre videregående skoler. Lærerne er av ledelsen utpekt til å være lærere som utnytter det handlingsrommet de har og som selv tar styring på hvordan de praktiserer lærerjobben. Funnene viser at lærerne langt på vei tolker og endrer rammer og regelverk i tråd med egne mål – også lærere innenfor samme kontekst. De fleste lærerne opplever at de utnytter og har utnyttet et større handlingsrom enn de erfarer å ha med bakgrunn i rammer og pålegg. Dette resultatet skiller seg fra de to andre landene som deltar i den internasjonale studien. Konklusjonen er at kunnskap om læreres forståelse av sitt profesjonelle handlingsrom kan bidra til refleksjon over egen lærerrolle og til ny innsikt i skoleutvikling.Nøkkelord: profesjonelt handlingsrom, videregående skole, lærereTeachers’ professional space – How it is experienced and utilizedAbstractThe aim of the study is to examine teachers’ understanding and interpretation of their professional space, and how they experience having possibilities to practice their pedagogical beliefs throughout their careers. The study, which is part of an international study, is built on observations, interviews and story-lines from six teachers in three Norwegian upper secondary schools. These are teachers viewed by their principals as independent teachers exploiting their professional space when practicing teaching. Findings show that to a large extent teachers interpret and change frames and rules according to their own pedagogical beliefs. Teachers working in the same schools respond differently to school regulations. Most of the teachers claim to have more space than what they perceive external rules and frameworks allow for. This finding differs from the two other participating countries in the international study, in which obedience to external regulations was strong. The conclusion reached in this paper is that additional knowledge about teachers’ perceptions of their professional space will contribute to ways in which reflection of practice and professional role can be enhanced, and thereby support school development.Keywords: professional space, upper secondary school, teachers


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silje Andresen

Using a toolkit approach in combination with the concept of street-level bureaucracy and theories of discretion, this article has empirically investigated the resources that influence teachers’ discretionary reasoning when teaching controversial issues. The analysis has been based on 32 classroom observations at two upper secondary schools in Oslo, Norway, in one Religion and Ethics and one Social Science class, and interviews with 16 teachers who taught the same subjects. The results have shown that professional competence, professional and personal values, and relationships with pupils worked as a toolkit of resources that teachers could draw upon when making discretionary judgments in different contexts. A better understanding of teachers’ use of discretionary reasoning may enable curriculum developers and policymakers to support teachers in the complex social landscape of teaching controversial issues.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 735-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Liu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of transformational school leadership on teachers’ commitment to change and the effects of organizational and teachers’ factors on teachers’ perception of transformational school leadership in the Chinese urban upper secondary school context. Design/methodology/approach – The paper mainly uses quantitative methods to explore the relationships between different constructs. The author asks: to what extent can transformational school leadership practices in the urban upper secondary schools of a particular Chinese city explain the variation in teachers’ commitment to change during curriculum reform? What are the effects of organizational and teachers’ factors on teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership? Findings – The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the effect of transformational school leadership was moderate when transformational school leadership and teachers’ commitment to change were treated as single variables. Four dimensions of transformational leadership practice together explained the moderate effects on four dimensions of teachers’ commitment to change, among which the effect of managing the instructional program was the most prominent. The results of multiple regression analysis also revealed that variables like culture, strategy, environment, and teachers’ age had significant relationships with teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership. Culture, environment, strategy, structure, and teachers’ factors such as age and grade taught had moderate effects on different dimensions of teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership. Originality/value – This study is one of the first to explore the effects of transformational school leadership on teachers’ commitment to change in the Chinese urban upper secondary school context. The findings contribute to educational management in China and similar contexts, and this study advances knowledge and furthers the understandings of the transferability of theories to different contexts.


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