Robotics as a Powerful Vehicle Toward Learning and Computational Thinking in Secondary Education of 21st Century

This chapter focuses on the design and implementation of robotics activities in authentic classroom conditions in secondary education. It suggests that robotics can provide a powerful educational vehicle for guiding high school students toward learning in 21st century. It presents a constructionist approach to foster computational thinking and creativity by engaging in robotics and programming activities in real-world classroom. More specifically, this chapter presents teaching interventions that have been implemented in real conditions to high school students during robotics courses at Arsakeia Schools Psychikou in Athens, Greece. It describes robotics activities employing the Edison educational robotics system. Main features of teaching interventions concerning the utilization of Edison robot, digital learning environments, and unplugged activities in the classroom focused on 21st century skills, computational thinking, and creativity development as well as findings, solutions, recommendations, and future research directions are discussed.

Pragmática da Linguagem e Ensino da Compreensão Leitora: Revisão de Estudos

ResumoA proficiência na compreensão da leitura de textos não requer apenas o adequado desempenho do leitor nas competências fonológica, morfológica, sintática e semântica, mas também demanda competência pragmática – habilidade de, deliberadamente, articular a materialidade linguística da superfície textual ao próprio conhecimento de mundo – revelando que a interação autor-texto-leitor se concretiza no empenho do leitor em enlaçar o contexto de uso e as ideias expressas no texto aos seus objetivos de leitura. Assim, se a pragmática se constitui aspecto relevante para o bom desempenho na compreensão da leitura, questiona-se sobre qual espaço essa vem tendo nos estudos acadêmicos com finalidade de trabalhar tal compreensão. O artigo tem como objetivo apresentar um levantamento de estudos que abordam, na perspectiva da pragmática da linguagem, a compreensão leitora. Para isso, foram pesquisados estudos sobre o tema nas plataformas SciELO, PsycINFO e ERIC. Os resultados mostram que há uma carência de artigos que abordam contribuições da pragmática associada à compreensão leitora. Essa lacuna identificada nos estudos reflete a escassez de intervenções pedagógicas focalizando as habilidades (meta)pragmáticas. Assim, entendendo que algumas dificuldades apresentadas pelos estudantes na compreensão de textos estão relacionadas justamente à falta de um trabalho pedagógico focalizando a pragmática, sugere-se que investir no ensino explícito dessa competência pode contribuir para os avanços no desempenho dos estudantes em leitura. Palavras-chave: Compreensão da Leitura. Compreensão de Textos Escritos. Habilidades Pragmáticas. Desempenho em Leitura. AbstractProficiency in reading comprehension does not only require readers’ appropriate performance in phonological, morphological, syntax, and semantic competencies but also pragmatic competence – the skill of deliberately connect linguistic materiality of the textual surface with knowledge of the world itself – revealing that the author-text-reader interaction materializes in the reader’s commitment to link the context of use and the ideas expressed in the text to his/her reading objectives. Hence, if pragmatics is a relevant aspect for good reading comprehension, it is asked herein how it has been addressed in academic studies intended to promote reading comprehension. This objective of this paper is to present the studies addressing reading comprehension from the pragmatic language perspective. Hence, studies addressing the topic were searched in the SciELO, PsycINFO, and ERIC databases. The results show a lack of papers addressing the pragmatics contributions associated with reading comprehension. This gap identified in the study reflects a lack of teaching interventions focusing on (meta)pragmatic skills, suggesting that some of the students’ difficulties may be related to this lack of interventions. Teaching this competence can improve the students’ reading performance, and competent reading promotes social inclusion and a citizenship. Therefore, schools must train these competencies for individuals to interact with texts, process ideas, make connections with different types of knowledge, and (re)construct meaning(s). Keywords: Reading Comprehension. Written Comprehension Texts. Pragmatic Skills. Reading Performance

A Systematic Review of Single-Case Research on Science-Teaching Interventions to Students with Intellectual Disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder

The present study records and evaluates science-teaching interventions for students with intellectual disability (ID) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at all education levels, for better access to the general curriculum. We conducted a systematic review of the primary research literature published from 2008 to 2018. A total of 24 single-case designs were identified through determined inclusion criteria. The articles were coded based on specific variables, and they were analyzed as a descriptive synthesis. A synthesis was then approached and the PND effect size was calculated. The study concludes that using systematic instruction with supplemental practices and technology support in teaching science to students with ID or ASD will allow them to make more meaningful natural-world connections through their learning. In addition, designing postsecondary programs for this population will contribute to building a society with equal participation and progress. The necessity for continuous research in teaching science to students with ID or ASD is also emphasized.

Exploring the effectiveness and the transversal competency retention of a game-based learning activity one year after student participation

Most studies in engineering education focus on the effectiveness of the teaching interventions and what transversal competencies engineering students gain from those interventions immediately after they take place. This study explores the effectiveness of an existing game-based learning activity and the competency retention of the participating students one year after its implementation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to nine students who participated in the activity at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. The findings showed that students remembered and benefited from the activity. This exploratory study indicated that this activity is valid to retain students transversal competencies because it provides active learning, engagement, rules, risk-taking, cooperation and competition, and it can be plugged-and-played in any engineering context. This study encourages researchers in the field of engineering education to conduct transversal competency retention studies, which are fundamental to understand how the teaching practices shape students’ competencies in the period after their participation.

107 Improving Frailty Screening and Accuracy in the Emergency Department (Ed) of A Busy District General Hospital

Background Over 20,000 75+ years attendances annually in ED with frailty screening in introduced in ED in 2016. Early recognition of frailty is recommended. Accurate estimation of frailty level is important as it contributes to clinical pathway and management. Introduction Screening rates had fallen and there were concerns about the accuracy.. Our aim was increased frequency and accuracy of screening at triage. Method Frailty screening rates for patients aged 75+ years attending the ED (routine measure) reviewed with ED Frailty Lead. Stakeholder engagement with ED staff and Frailty and Interface Team (FIT). Frailty screening tool revised. Data review March 2020 focused on CFS accuracy (CFS at triage v CFS by FIT in routine assessment). Sampling approach to CFS accuracy during June 2020. Interventions Small group sessions with ED nursing staff (Jan 2020). Revised electronic screening tool introduced (February 2020). Education sessions (x2) for ED nursing staff (June 2020) focused on CFS. Results Frailty screening increased significantly following revised screening tool introduction from 60% to >80%. In March 2020 agreement of CFS at triage and FIT review in 22% (76/341). The CFS reliability for 10 consecutive patients per day was measured in June 2020 before and following 2 education sessions held on CFS. The reliability of CFS was 0.23 prior to teaching in June and rose to an average of 0.31 following the teaching intervention. Conclusions Frailty screening frequency and the reliability of the CFS improved following teaching interventions but remains low. Work is continuing to focus on improving this further. Although CFS has been found to be reliable between raters in other hospitals we have found this difficult to replicate. It is not known if this is due to local factors or to more common challenges that others may face in CFS estimation by ED staff.

On open questions in Holocaust education

Even though recent decades have borne witness to an increased educational interest in teaching the Holocaust, academic stances on why the topic should be taught still vary significantly. The aim of this paper is to present teaching interventions that would help educators to navigate through one of the most important open questions in Holocaust education: the question of aims. Three Holocaust-related teaching interventions, which themselves use open questions as the basis for teaching and learning, are presented and analysed. The open questions, as the background, allow the educators to simultaneously shift between various teaching aims. The interventions addressing the question of heroes, victims and bystanders, causal analysis of the Holocaust, and the responsibility of the Allies for the escalation of the Holocaust, are arranged in such a way so as to lead students from their day-today knowledge, through historical concepts, finally ending up addressing more abstract concepts. The analysis draws on literature related to both Holocaust education and the teaching of controversial issues, and covers a range of topics; from practical to more philosophical.

Robotics as a Powerful Vehicle Toward Learning and Computational Thinking in Secondary Education of 21st Century

This chapter focuses on the design and implementation of robotics activities in authentic classroom conditions in secondary education. It suggests that robotics can provide a powerful educational vehicle for guiding high school students toward learning in 21st century. It presents a constructionist approach to foster computational thinking and creativity by engaging in robotics and programming activities in real-world classroom. More specifically, this chapter presents teaching interventions that have been implemented in real conditions to high school students during robotics courses at Arsakeia Schools Psychikou in Athens, Greece. It describes robotics activities employing the Edison educational robotics system. Main features of teaching interventions concerning the utilization of Edison robot, digital learning environments, and unplugged activities in the classroom focused on 21st century skills, computational thinking, and creativity development as well as findings, solutions, recommendations, and future research directions are discussed.

Efficacy of a Nasogastric Tube Educational Intervention for Nursing Staff

Aim We performed a single-center teaching intervention with nursing providers on nasogastric tube (NG tube) clinical practice. The initial purpose of this study was the validation of whether the training was sufficient enough to be retained at a later time point. Methods We performed a prospective pre-post study examining participants’ knowledge before, immediately after, and 4 weeks after training in NG tube management. Training was delivered in face-to-face classroom sessions. Knowledge was assessed using a multiple-choice test (pretest, posttest #1and #2) Results A total of 137 nursing providers participated in the training intervention. Immediately after training (posttest #1) and again 4 weeks later (posttest #2), participants overwhelmingly recalled and retained the knowledge of NG tube management as compared to pretest results. Paired t-tests showed each participant increased their test score from pretest to posttest #1, t (134) = 12.64, P = .0001. Similarly, participants who took posttest #2 significantly improved their scores from the pretest to posttest #2, t (71) = 10.629, P < .0001. Secondary analysis showed that the NG tube management comfort level and age of provider were not significant in predicting test results. However, years of professional experience and frequency of NG tube care were significant predictors for higher test scores. Conclusion To minimize the risk of NG tubes for patients, it is critical to follow clinical guidelines. This study shows that teaching interventions for providers to increase knowledge on NG tubes are beneficial. In addition, the knowledge is retained at later time points.