Independent assessment of the several digital skills of secondary school students: Approaches and results

The article presents and comprehends the results of an independent assessment of several digital skills of students of general education organizations. The problem of assessing digital skills is relevant the PISA international research on the quality of education, which includes the study of this competence various aspects. Digital literacy is a strategic education system direction of the Russian Federation, the Perm Region, and the city of Perm.The study provides an assessment of the digital skills of eighth graders in terms of the computational thinking and safe behaviorin a digital environment (sample of schoolchildren in the city of Perm).The research is based on a competence-based approach, consideration of digital skills in the context of assessing functional literacy, the use of big data for making management decisions in education, approaches to implementing an independent assessment in education.The most scarce trainees’ skills in the aspects of digital security and computational thinking are highlighted: critical attitude to information on the Internet; selection of Internet sources for a practical task; assessment of the capabilities of digital tools for solving practical problems. The study shows the need to improve the training of students in the use of digital technologies for solving practical problems. The authors formulate recommendations for the training of teachers of general education organizations teaching various subjects, as well as students studying in pedagogical areas of training. The revealed deficient skills of students show the need to improve the methods of teaching informatics.The authors emphasize the need to comprehend the problem of independent assessment of digital skills as an interdisciplinary problem affecting general pedagogy, teaching methods of informatics, pedagogy of vocational education, meta-pedagogy and metamethodology, big data analysis for making management decisions in education.

Performance Assessment Task: A Point of Reference for Science Teachers - this Pandemic and Beyond

The pursuit for quality education, including that in the basic education levels, for sustainable development is clearly described in the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), one of the17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN. Accordingly, to equip students, with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values they'll need to face the difficulties along with sustainable development, there is a need to update some processes currently utilized in science teaching and learning. For this reason, alternative activities and assessment methods, like the use of performance task assessment is needed to improve both the quality of teaching and to provide a meaningful learning experience to students. The purpose of this study was to provide relevant information from extant literature and a sample performance task assessment to encourage Science teachers to utilize these information in their classes. To achieve this purpose, significant information about performance task assessment and an original performance task assessment were presented. The use of performance assessment task is one alternative method to develop critical thinking skills, and to provide an education that is truly relevant to every student in the light of today’s challenges, like the pandemic. It could provide authentic and meaningful learning experience to students, and is very relevant in the context of coping with the challenges the science teachers have been facing. With the many pieces of evidence on its effectiveness and positive learning experience by students provided by literature, it is certain that the use of performance assessment task in Science classes cannot be overemphasized.

A normalized method for determining the influence on the fixed joints tightness using the technology of the sealing surface job

The existing approaches for determining and evaluating the sealing properties of seals for fixed sealants, as well as methods of leakage monitoring are considered. The description of a normalized method for leak-tightness assessment is given, which allows solving a sufficiently large number of evaluation tasks, for example, technological task: assessment of the influence of the technology sealing surfaced job; design: assessment of the influence of the seals surface layer quality of sealants and geometric parameters of them on sealing capacity (service property).

A Prospective Assessment of Knee Arthroscopy Skills Between Medical Students and Residents—Simulator Exercises for Partial Meniscectomy and Analysis of Learning Curves

Background The Covid-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education in history. In a response to this, we aimed to evaluate the knee arthroscopy learning curve among medical students and orthopaedic residents. Methods An arthroscopy simulator was used to compare the learning curves of two groups. Medical students with any prior knowledge of arthroscopy ( n=24) were compared to a residents group ( n=16). Analyzed parameters were “time to complete a task,” assessment of the movement of tools and values scoring damage to the surrounding tissues. Results After several repetitions, both groups improved their skills in terms of time and movement. Residents were on average faster, had less camera movement, and touched the cartilage tissue less often than did students. Students showed a steeper improvement curve than residents for certain parameters, as they started from a different experience level. Conclusion The participants were able to reduce the time to complete a task. There was also a decrease in possible damage to the virtual surrounding tissues. In general, the residents had better mean values, but the students had the steeper learning curve. Particularly less experienced surgeons can especially train their hand–eye coordination skills required for arthroscopy surgery. Training simulators are an important training tool that supplements cadaveric training and participation in arthroscopic operations and should be included in training.

Performance-Based Executive Function Instruments Used by Occupational Therapists for Children: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties

Introduction. The use of executive function (EF) instruments to assess children’s functional performance is obscured with a lack of consensus on which is most suitable to use within the occupational therapy profession. This review identifies EF instruments used by occupational therapists (OTs) for children and evaluates their measurement properties. Methods. This systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020172107). We reviewed occupational therapy-related studies published until March 2021, to identify performance-based EF instruments used among children by OTs. Two review authors independently screened, extracted, and evaluated the methodological rigor of the included studies. Adequacy of the measurement properties was determined using the COSMIN, and the Terwee criteria were used for synthesis of best evidence. Results. Five EF assessments were found across eight study articles: Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children, Children’s Cooking Task, Children’s Kitchen Task Assessment, Do-Eat, and Preschool Executive Task Assessment. Adequacy of measurement properties and synthesis of best evidence varied, leading to a low GRADE rating on the certainty of evidence for the included instruments. Conclusions. There is limited evidence that supports the certainty of evidence on the measurement properties of the reviewed tools in helping OTs assess performance-based EF among children. Nevertheless, the authors conditionally suggest their use based on the critical need to measure children’s EF. Further research is needed to establish the measurement properties of these measures across different childhood populations.

Feasibility of the Menu Task Assessment in an Inpatient Population With Heart Failure

Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. The Menu Task Assessment is a brief, reliable, and valid functional cognitive assessment designed for use by OTs in both the acute- and the postacute-care environment. This poster describes the feasibility of its use in an inpatient heart failure population, as well as the prevalence of cognitive dysfunction and association between Menu Task Assessment score and discharge disposition. Primary Author and Speaker: Malachy James Clancy Additional Authors and Speakers: Megan Drollinger

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY AND COGNITIVE LOAD FOR STUDENTS IN DISTANCE LEARNING

The COVID-19 global pandemic has forced the education process worldwide to change its form to distance learning. This empirical study contributes to recently limited knowledge about the remote learning process. The study aimed to determine how academic self-efficacy is related to subjective cognitive load to predict achievement results in different forms of distance learning. The research method used was a quasi-experimental pilot study. The research questions were: (1) What is the relationship between academic self-efficacy, subjective cognitive load, and achievement results in teacher-directed distance learning? (2) What is the relationship between academic self-efficacy, subjective cognitive load, and achievement in student-directed distance learning? (3) What is the difference between teacher-directed and student self-directed distance learning settings regarding relationships between academic self-efficacy, subjective cognitive load, and achievement results? The measurement of academic self-efficacy and subjective cognitive load in the context of task assessment results were compared in different distance learning settings in two independent groups of 9th graders. The results suggest a significant relationship between subjective cognitive load and achievement results in student self-directed but non-significant between all variables in teacher-directed distance learning settings. In contrast, settings themselves demonstrated no influence on any measured factors.