USE OF ENHANCED FEEDBACK IN AN ELECTRONIC LEARNING COURSE “FUNDAMENTALS OF MOLECULAR PHYSICS AND THERMODYNAMICS”

Background: Being an essential part of the educational process, blended learning still faces some problems concerning the interaction between teachers and students. They include a decrease in the level of knowledge and in the number of graduates as students experience a lack of live communication with the teacher, lack of sufficient experience of independent work, lack of interactive assessment. Aim: This study aimed to elaborate the model of enhanced feedback in an e-learning course, “Fundamentals of Molecular Physics and Thermodynamics,” to increase student educational achievements. Methods: The effectiveness of the model of enhanced feedback in the learning process was measured with the methodology for calculating statistical indicators of the quality of education: knowledge quality, level of student proficiency, progress, and average grade. To measure the emotional and evaluative attitude of students to educational activities and interaction with the teacher in an electronic course, a test-questionnaire satisfaction with learning activity was employed. Results and Discussion: the results of the initial and final control of the statistical indicators of the quality of education including knowledge quality, level of student proficiency, progress, and average grade in students showed a significant difference between the control and the experimental groups. At the end of the semester, the difference in knowledge quality was 23%, student proficiency level – 13%, progress – 3.5%, average grade – 0.6 scores. The analysis of student satisfaction with the learning process also confirms an increase in satisfaction with the learning process and with the interaction with the lecturer. Thus, the experimental methodology contributes to a significant improvement in the learning process results. Conclusions: The experiment demonstrated that replacing formative assessment with the model of enhanced feedback raises student educational achievements and compensates for lack of live communication with the teacher.

Characterizing Student Proficiency in Software Modeling in Terms of Functions, Structures, and Behaviors

Software modeling is an integral practice for software engineers, especially as the complexity of software solutions increases. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the industry standard for software modeling. however, it is often used incorrectly and misunderstood by novice software designers. This study is centered around understanding patterns of student proficiency of abstraction and systems thinking within a software modeling context. The participants of this study (n = 97) belonged to a systems analysis and design course that is primarily taken by second-year university students. The exam solutions to a case study from the course were evaluated for modeling proficiency. As evidence of proficiency in abstract thinking and systems thinking, we evaluated UML activity diagrams, class diagrams, and sequence diagrams and the alignment between these representations in terms of functions, structures, and behaviors. The results suggest students being proficient in modeling the functional aspects of an information system while facing some difficulty in capturing the structural and behavioral aspects of an information system. Clustering analysis revealed two groups within the sample, with one group displaying a significantly higher abstraction and systems thinking ability. Statistically significant correlations were also found between student proficiency of abstraction and their modeling proficiency in terms of functions, structures, and behaviors.

The Effects of a CLIL Programme on Linguistic Progress at Two Different Points in Time

In an attempt to explore the effects of different kinds of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning contexts, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) have been at the centre of FL acquisition research over the past decade. Studies have focused on the features and gains this setting brings, whether content is learnt at the same level of success as when taught in the learners’ L1, and whether that L1 is negatively affected by CLIL. However, to our knowledge, very little attention has been brought to how the seniority of the programme affects learner progress in the target language. This study aims to fill such a gap in the understanding that the programme will have developed and improved in terms of quality of exposure and interaction, and that learners’ EFL performance will be higher. To do that, we measured the efficacy of a long-standing CLIL programme in Barcelona twelve years after it was launched and examined the reading, writing, and lexico-grammatical abilities of CLIL EFL learners aged 8, 11, and 14 compared with results obtained by learners measured at the onset of the programme in 2005. The results showed that the quality of the programme has increased over the last decade, guaranteeing a higher level of EFL student proficiency when raw scores are considered, but not in terms of linguistic gains, in which only improvement in older students’ grammar and reading skills can be observed.

Características da política educacional do Acre (1999 a 2010) e repercussões sobre a capacidade estatal e a equidade

This text explains the characteristics of Acre's educational policy (1999-2010) and its impact on state capacity and equity. The conception of public policy was based on Arretche (1998) and Palumbo (1989). To characterize the policy, interviews were carried out with implementing agents in 2014, data treated by content analysis. State capacity was defined based on Souza (2017), Souza and Fontanelli (2020) and Gomide and Boschi (2016). In order to verify equity, in the light of Fraser (2007) and Dubet (2008) we analyzed: policy strategies and the evolution of enrollment of indigenous and rural populations; and Saeb student proficiency data from 1999, 2005, and 2011 by gender, race, and social class, based on Crahay (2000). The characteristics of the policy include: i) Organization and planning; ii) guarantee of basic operating conditions; iii) coordination of pedagogical practices; iv) meeting the needs of population diversity and strengthening local identities; v) negotiation processes. These characteristics indicate the expansion of state capacity in Acre in the period. Strategies supported by principles of recognition justice favoring excluded populations. Analysis of student proficiency differences between social groups indicates broadening gender equity.