Critical Thinking and Physics Problems

Critical thinking is considered to be one of the most important abilities which help us to solve problems, interpret information or make decisions in everyday life. Every person needs to use critical thinking, therefore, it is important to develop students` critical thinking in all classes including Physics. We summarize various definitions of critical thinking and we describe the survey, where students solve problems whose solution requires critical thinking. We compare students` results to see if they can solve problems without physics content with better successfulness than the problems with physics content and to see how the school attendance impacts its development.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly . A Broad look at the Adaptation of Technology in Education

Technology in education is a global phenomenon affecting learners of all ages. The breadth and variety of available tools make it difficult to implement a standardized method for assessing the impact of technology on learning. The lack of a consensus on good and bad practices results in inconsistent application and mixed learning results. This article takes a look at the adaptation of technology to education and examines the various tools used to enhance learning. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using technology, as well as review methodologies for evaluating the impact. The essay concludes by identifying several problems with the way technology is evaluated and offers suggestions for further research to address those problems.

Theoretical Framework for Research on Mathematical Olympiads in Latin America

This theoretical framework is intended to serve as guide to research on national Mathematical Olympiads in Latin America. Research with the goal to elucidate critical factors involved in the existence and results obtained by Latin American teams in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and other international contests, may find a stepping stone in this framework and the references cited in it. From the way local committees see themselves and their indicators for success. to the feedback subsumed in the IMO results, different comparable metrics for success must be developed to understand the specific challenges faced by these organizations and the goals set by themselves and the educational communities in their own countries. As for Latin American countries the IMO is not the only competition they attend or their single metric for success, reference to the IMO is provided as the evolving opportunity leading to the creation of local olympiad committees, the committees this framework presents as an opportunity for research and understanding of the search for talent in developing countries. As a way of closing the document, a few questions are proposed, offering both quantitative and qualitative research areas and with the possibility to reach findings helpful for those organizations, for the school students in their respective countries, and for similar organizations in other countries.

The Potentiality of Black Women Narratives for Inclusive Education: Developing other Subjectivities at School

The paper aims to present the results of a research developed with narratives written by Brazilian Black Women, as well as to discuss its educational potentiality. The research data was composed of 36 autobiographic narratives published by Black women in a blog called Blogueiras Negras, between 2013 and 2016. The research relies on post-structuralism perspective, articulating Foucaultian Studies, the field of Multicultural Education, and the Critical Race Theory-CRT. The analysis shows that the blog works as an essential educative place, where women of color feel safe to share their experiences. The narratives about the school are mostly discriminatory and painful, which made it possible to problematize the processes of learning and teaching. The paper concludes by discussing how the autobiographic narratives of Black women in classrooms can help students and teachers to work forward an inclusive education.

Conceptions about Electrical Circuits of English and French Pupils from Nova Scotia in Canada

The present research was intended to identify the conceptual of 84 students from the region of Clare in French-language public schools and 54 from the Argyle region in French immersion public schools in Canada on the operation of simple electrical circuits. To this end, they completed a pencil-and-paper questionnaire of sixty minutes duration. The analyses of the data show clearly the preponderance of erroneous conceptions about the current and voltage concepts like those identified in the international review of the literature. Thus, despite the cultural and language differences, their conceptual understandings related to the simple electrical circuit are similar.

PRINCIPAL'S ACTIONS THROUGH DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP DIMENSIONS: A CASE STUDY OF TWO PUBLIC SPANISH SCHOOLS

Experience has shown that the attitude of the person assuming the management functions in the school is a key and decisive element in the quality of the change processes in the school. Of these ideas is born, the concept of distributed leadership (DL). The research design is a case study. The main objective is to understand the four dimensions of DL and the actions of the Principal through representative cases of two schools. The techniques used to collect information were documentary analysis, questionnaires, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and observation. An analysis of the data and conclusions are provided.

Implementing Text-to-Speech Technology as a Means of Enhancing L2 Reading Fluency

This article reports on the results of a participatory action research project carried out with a group of ten elementary level students from extension courses in a private university in Bogotá, Colombia (Universidad Minuto de Dios, main branch). The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of text-to-speech (TTS) technology usage on reading fluency in speakers of English as a foreign language. The results show that learners develop oral reading fluency in areas such as linking sounds, pronouncing accurately, and reading timing. Furthermore, learners raised their awareness of the benefits of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the process of learning a foreign language, as well as the importance of being autonomous learners. Pedagogical implications and prospects for future research are included.

A Data Analysis of Social Characteristics of Basic and Secondary Education Students in Ecuador

The objective of the study is to examine the social profile of Basic and Secondary Education students in Ecuador by means of a statistical analysis of this sector of the Ecuadorian population based on data from the National Survey of Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment from 2015. The variables investigated were: area, sex, age, language spoken, ethnic self-identification, condition of activity and inactivity, school enrollment, use of smartphone, use of computer during the last months, use of internet during the last 12 months, natural region, income poverty, occupational group and the level of happiness at work. The results of the study may be used as a tool for the development of the Basic and Secondary Education studies in Ecuador in accordance with the social profile and the needs of the students in the country.

Strengthening the visions of students as proficient L2 speakers: A teaching proposal for the EFL classroom

Over the past ten years, research on second language motivation has been dominated by Dörnyei’s influential motivational paradigm, the L2 Motivational Self System. This theoretical construct is comprised of the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self and the L2 learning experience. Students’ imagined visualisations are central components in this theory, as this holds that students who have an explicit ideal self-image with an L2 component are more likely to be motivated to learn a language than other students that have not established a desired future state goal for themselves. To enhance students’ future-self-images, L2 lecturers can create adequate L2 learning experiences, where methodologies and materials fit in with the students’ needs, and where their visions as proficient users of the L2 are regularly sustained and strengthened by productive and realistic tasks. This article offers a teaching proposal that uses multimodal TED conferences as classroom artefacts to embolden students in the foreign language classroom to speak in public. These students might, if able to visualise their desired language selves portrayed in TED speakers, be motivated to spread their ideas worth spreading.

USE OF APPARATUSES IN SCIENCE LABORATORY: Developmental Characteristics of Didactical Interactions

Teaching and learning through the use of tools is evolving in response to new developments in pedagogy that aim to enhance students’ high-order thinking skills. This paper presents results from part of a research project investigating innovative teaching pedagogy, engaging with active learning through students’ manipulation of apparatuses in a series of mathematics lessons conducted in a science laboratory. The findings of the study include illustration of the development of didactical interactions, a modified framework yielding multi-directional transitions of interactive activities. This serves not only to promote interactive learning activities, including various active forms of productions, but also embraces innovation in STEM education.