An IRT-based approach to assess the learning gain of a virtual reality lab students’ experience

The current trends in education for distance and personalized learning, calls for further investigation on the educational benefits of a Virtual Reality (VR) software, regarding laboratory science courses. In this study, we investigated the teaching effectiveness of a VR-oriented innovative method vs a more traditional pedagogical approach, by measuring the Pre-Post change, commonly called as Learning Gain (LG). An Item Response Theory model, The Rasch Model (RM), was used to assess the LG as the difference between the students’ ability before and after the educational treatment. The participants, (N= 54) graduate students enrolled in the Department of Primary Education, at the University of Patras, in Greece, were divided into two groups and followed two different scenarios to be educated on the topic of microscopy. Our findings provided evidence in favor of using simulations as a supplementary tool to the learning procedure. According to the LG analysis, the students that interacted with the VR software showed a higher change in ability, compared to their fellow students, who followed a more classic teaching methodology and obtained no LG between the Pre and Posttesting situation.

Socio-cultural disadvantages and cumulative deficits: which education can fight inequalities?

This article focuses on identifying the root causes of educational problems before starting “educational treatment” It starts from the premise that prevention is better than cure since it avoids further damage and is a way to prevent the problem from getting worse. Prevention understood as early action, which takes advantage of adequate planning and programming processes, keeps us away from the dangers of school failure, and guarantees us “cultural health”. Through a contrasted and comparative methodology, it was possible to analyze and interpret the sources that inform a review of the literature, with the objective of understanding how students should be helped at an early stage if they do not have the necessary conditions to face their path of acquisition. The aim is to prevent teachers from “returning” responsibilities once the damage is done, by compensating and treating the “deficit” and creating favorable conditions before starting the new segment of education. The article addresses these problems by trying to focus attention on the cumulative capacity of the “difficulty” to consolidate and grow, making subsequent compensatory interventions more problematic in their effects.

Pesticide application, educational treatment and infectious respiratory diseases: A mechanistic model with two impulsive controls

In this paper, we develop and analyze an SIS-type epidemiological-mathematical model of the interaction between pesticide use and infectious respiratory disease transmission for investigating the impact of pesticide intoxication on the spread of these types of diseases. We further investigate the role of educational treatment for appropriate pesticide use on the transmission dynamics. Two impulsive control events are proposed: pesticide use and educational treatment. From the proposed model, it was obtained that the rate of forgetfulness towards educational treatment is a determining factor for the reduction of intoxicated people, as well as for the reduction of costs associated with educational interventions. To get reduced intoxications, the population’s fraction to which is necessary to apply the educational treatment depends on its individual effectiveness level and the educational treatments’ forgetfulness rate. In addition, the turnover of agricultural workers plays a fundamental role in the dynamics of agrotoxic use, particularly in the application of educational treatment. For illustration, a flu-like disease with a basic reproductive number below the epidemic threshold of 1.0 is shown can acquire epidemic potential in a population at risk of pesticide exposure. Hence, our findings suggest that educational treatment targeting pesticide exposure is an effective tool to reduce the transmission rate of an infectious respiratory disease in a population exposed to the toxic substance.

THE NECESSITY OF GIFTED EDUCATION IN GREEK SCHOOLS

Questions about gifted and talented students have from time to time concerned the scientific community, teachers and parents. It is widely accepted that additionally to high intelligence, characteristics such as creativity, but also social and emotional characteristics had to be taken into account in order to identify gifted students. Today the wide group of disabled people includes also gifted children or “high ability children”. In Greece the legal framework for gifted children is incomplete. It was not until 2003 and then 2008 that a low was passed, which states that people with special skills and talents could be given special educational treatment. However, this reference has never been applied. The role of a teacher in observing, recognizing and developing the giftedness and the talent of the students is particularly important. The aim of this article is to define the gifted, talented or “high abilities” students, to describe their positive and negative characteristics, as they emerge from the recent literature and finally to report the situation that has been formed in Greece as well as the steps that need to be taken. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0712/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

THE IMPORTANCE OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Inclussive education means that all students including child with special needs attend, participate, and learn in inclussive schools with normal students without considering each disabilities. The aim of this article is to describe the importance of inclusive education for child with special needs, because the reality shows to us that many students with special needs often times did not get the same educational treatment fairly like normal students. This article helps people open the understanding and horisan of the right of every citizen especially child with special needs to get the same education with normal students. In order to reach out this aim, the writer applies library research method in which he reads and writes the material related to this topic from the articles, journals, and books. The results of the study pointed out that some parents and the socities did not undertand much the urgency of inclusive education for child with special needs. Therefore, child with special needs often time did not get the same right in relation to education like normal childen.

Software Educativo como herramienta de apoyo para niños autistas

We live in the digital age or computer age that offers new devices (computers, smart phones, and electronic tablets) and Electronic Applications (APPs) with enormous potential for the educational treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder ( hereinafter ASD) defined by the DSM IV psychiatry manual as “a neurobiological developmental disorder that already manifests itself during the first three years of life and that will last throughout the entire life cycle.” (US ASSOCIATION OF PSYCHIATRY, 2002 ) After the analysis of the few centers of attention in the south of Veracruz for children with ASD and the ease offered by ICTs to create PPPs, the “ELY” software emerges that is divided into three important sections: Mental Activities, Social Activities and Social interaction activities. These sections contain activities that reinforce absent cognitive and social skills in children with ASD. In addition, with this tool the tutors did not require constant economic investment in teaching materials such as cardboard cards, colored pencils, geometric figures, among others. Participants who used the software in their treatment improved their recognition of emotions such as happiness, sadness and anger, also progressed by recognizing patterns and colors. This proves that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in this research supported the specific teaching-learning processes of children with ASD, promoting communication, socialization and imagination, which are essential factors for relating to people who surround.

Creating a Culture-Based Language Learning Course for Developing Adult Learners’ 21st Century Skills

Aim. The aim of the study is to research ways of developing adult learners’ 21st century skills in a culture-based language learning course applying innovative teaching/learning tools and methodologies considering adult learners’ specific needs and special educational treatment required to overcome learning barriers. Methods. Data collection methods include teachers’ accounts in the form of reflective essays on their pedagogical experience collected from 14 teachers. For data analysis and interpretation constant comparative method to elicit themes/categories and create construct mapping to make connections between ideas and themes has been used. Results and conclusion. An on-line learning course for adult learners, including blended-learning, must be based on classic adult learning principles considering the given socio-cultural context, learners’ backgrounds, needs, motivation, learning styles and strategies. The adult learners’ skills developed and cultural knowledge increased will help them in enriching their knowledge and competences, thus leading to higher upskilling and higher employability and quality, as well as becoming true lifelong learners. Research restrictions. The current paper deals with the analysis of the first stage of the research – teachers’ feedback and course creation. The second stage comprising observation and feedback obtained during the course piloting eliciting learners’ and teachers’ data will be analysed in a later article. Practical application. The research findings are useful in selecting suitable methodologies and approaches for language learning courses for adult learners, possibly for other courses as well. Originality/Cognitive value. The current research enables understanding adult learning context and specifics to secure special educational treatment required to overcome learning barriers and develop adult learners’ 21st century skills in a culture-based blended-learning course.