The Assessment of Students' Competencies and Constructionism With Examples in Biological and Natural Sciences

The author approaches the necessity of the reform of the evaluation activity in the educational process at biology and natural sciences classes in various ways (i.e., the assessment of students' competencies, the assessment of construction of knowledge by students' efforts, assessment of students' productions, of projects, assessment of their experimental, practical and investigative activities, the assessment with the aid of informational and communicational technologies, the complementary use of modernized traditional methods and modern methods, the use of the new system “nothing is lost, everything is transformed,” for which this researcher contributes with examples and recommendations); all these are in accordance with Papert's constructionist ideas (e.g., to learn by doing). Also, the researcher treats and contributes with examples to the process of assessment of students' competencies and of their constructionism in natural sciences, according to Program for International Student Assessment (P.I.S.A.).

Digital Technologies in Kindergarten

With this chapter, the authors aim to present a theoretical review about the use of digital technologies in kindergartens, with preschool children. They begin by taking a theoretical and generalized approach to the subject. Next, they present the added value for children when using technologies. The importance of the kindergarten teacher in the use of technologies by younger children is also explored, as well as the factors that influence technological integration in schools and kindergartens. The authors present a project carried out in Portugal, which refers to publications of books for pre-school children, with the aim of sensitizing children of these ages for a safe use of technologies. Finally, they round it up with some brief conclusions.

Pedagogy of Inclusion

For far too long, in all parts of the world, the most vulnerable members of society have been excluded from schools. All children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other conditions, including disabled and gifted children, have the right to education and the relevant pedagogy of inclusion. The teaching methods used should accommodate all members of the society. People who are planning the teaching strategies should also know that people learn better when they do things. The purpose of this chapter is to determine how the theory of constructionism can be applied in the teaching and learning of students in the inclusive education. Information collected from literature on teaching and learning in inclusive education is critically analyzed through the theory of constructionism. Various theorists found that constructionism is relevant to an inclusive classroom since it encourages learning by doing.

Toward New Method for Adaptive Learning

This chapter deals with the design, creation, and implementation of the content model of an adaptive system. The authors propose the use of a meta-ontology composed of three conceptual models. They also propose SCORM as a technical means for structuring ontology and resources. They also present the problem of adaptation as the search for the most relevant pedagogical sequence among the available ones. To evaluate this relevance, the authors propose to use an original semantic similarity measure. This allows one to measure a distance between each of the available sequences and the metadata vector returned by the decision engine. Thus, the authors recommend the educational activities that best fit the learner's learning style, as one would have thought.

Learning Models and Strategies and the Constructionism in Modern Education Settings

The researcher has shown the importance and necessity of the combination of didactic models of learning of one part of biology to obtain the best results in construction of biological concepts, by students' effort, in according with Papert's constructionism ideas (e.g., those that refers to learning by doing) to digital technology, both with cognitive benefits and formative and emotional benefits. The researcher recommends using an empirical-psycho-sociocentrically combined didactical model based on the rediscovery of learning strategies by constructionism of new biological concepts by efforts of students, according to their individual and age peculiarities, taking in mind their training for social life. In alternation or in combination with the empirical-psycho-sociocentrically didactical model a logo-psihocentrically modernized didactical model, respectively presentation of science as a finished product, respecting the individual and age peculiarities of students, using an attractive and productive procedure can be applied.

Comparing the Effectiveness of Using Tablet Computers for Teaching Addition and Subtraction

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate if tablet computers help improve primary school students' mathematical achievements regarding addition and subtraction. This research compares the level of mathematical competence of the students taught using tablet-computer-oriented learning method which specifically takes advantage of “realistic mathematics education” (RME) for the concept of addition and subtraction, as opposed to traditional teaching methodology. The designed software consisted of several activities with and without the use of computers for addition and subtraction. It was designed following the background of the RME theory. The present study was a pilot research of quasi-experimental design with one experimental and one control groups. The research results show that the students who were taught with the educational intervention based on tablet computers and RME had a significant improvement in their total mathematical achievement, addition, and subtraction in comparison to those taught using the traditional teaching method.

The Role of Parents for Developing Digital Literacy of 0-5 Year Olds

The digitalization of the world has brought with it changes in the mutual relationship of parents and children, upbringing traditions, and challenged the parents' role. Parents' attitudes towards the digital world could be described as “fear and fascination,” where a fraction treats the possibilities provided by the digital environment with uncritical adoration, while another fraction is convinced that the digital environment poses a variety of risks, which is why children should be deterred from the use of digital media for as long as possible. None of the approaches is productive in helping the development and growth of children born in the digitalization era. That is why an objective for the study was set out – to identify parents' competence in promoting children's digital literacy in order to seek solutions and make recommendations for parents to promote children's digital literacy. The chapter summarizes the results of a part of an ongoing study of parental competence in raising kids of the digital era.

A Continuous Assessment Strategy Using Fuzzy Logic

Effective teaching depends on the ability to channel the knowledge from different sources properly to the students that enhances the total development of their mental growth as well as creative thinking. Therefore, it is essential to have a systematic mechanism to ensure the intended objectives of the lecture have reached the students. The assessment method should be in such a way that it has to mind each and every parameter that contributes to effective learning in a continuous and systematic fashion. With this focus, the purpose of this chapter is to present an efficient way of assessing the course learning outcome with the help of fuzzy logic concepts. The advantage of this approach relies on its efficacy to give more or less unique output corresponding to each and every input, which is not in the case of traditional assessment methods. This Mamdani rule-based approach gives an accurate measure to assess the attainment level of the course by considering every parameter enabling the learning process.

Positive Interdependence in Blended Learning Environments

Computer-supported collaborative learning is becoming one of the most impactful learning and teaching approaches in higher education. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of different conditions of face-to-face learning (cooperative, inter-group competition, and inter-individual competition) on the participation and learning of students in the virtual community. This investigation takes into account three parameters according to a Latin squares design. In this study, designing learning environments in conditions of collaboration without competition in face-to-face environments facilitates the cognitive responsibility of the collective and better achievements in the community to a greater extent. The authors did not find any benefits of intergroup competition or individual competition over collaborative learning without competition.

Integration Approaches of Digital Media in the Teaching/Learning Process

During the last two decades, a generation for which the life in the media environment and the use of media in everyday life has become a norm in Europe and beyond its boundaries. The representatives of this generation are engaged with technologies both at home for their entertainment and use them for learning at school and university. In addition, they would like to experience the integration of technologies in education more frequently and more extensively. The researchers in the field of social sciences have concluded that in general the social contexts in which any individual, including the school student, acquires experience and is learning in modern society have changed radically. Researchers encourage teachers to improve their skills of integrating digital technologies in education that would help students develop their information analysis and evaluation skills in the learning process, which in turn, would decrease the scope of the possible risks caused by digitalization.