Problems of Education in the 21st Century

669-670

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 78, No. 5, 2020

674-687

Authors: Luciana Castellani, Luiz Fernando Quintanilha, Maria Belen Arriaga, Maria de Lourdes Lima, Bruno Bezerril Andrade

The new curriculum of medical schools has brought the need to develop a professional committed to ethics, capable of understanding the role of social factors, the insertion of the individual into the family and their role in promoting health. These skills and the use of new methodologies in teaching-learning process have demonstrated that the traditional performance assessment methods are limited in holistically evaluating the student. This study analyzed the correlation among different methods for evaluating competencies in medical internship students and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study was performed among 5th year medical students at Pediatric, Surgery, Medical Clinic, Family and Community Medicine and Gynecology and Obstetrics. Grades of each student obtained through different evaluations (theoretical test, conceptual evaluation and test skills) at the end of each rotation were correlated with the individual results from OSCE. In regard to correlations with the OSCE score values, it was found a weak to moderate positive and statistically significant relationship with the global cognitive score (r= .22, p< .001), global abilities score (r= .26, p< .001) and with the global behavioral score (r= .38, p< .001). The students' performance in the various assessments of performance evaluated here was positively correlated to their performance on OSCE. Furthermore, the organization of an OSCE-type assessment prepared in multiple, committed and competent hands may serve as a unique assessment and, in fact, assess the development of clinical skills for future doctors.

698-718

Authors: Luciane F. Goes, Keysy S. C. Nogueira, Carmen Fernandez

Redox reactions are considered one of the most difficult chemistry subjects to teach and learn. However, this is an important content that permeates several topics and includes many everyday life-related phenomena. To understand the teaching and learning difficulties of the ‘redox reactions’ topic, a systematic literature review was conducted. Initially, 318 articles were mapped, between the years 2000 to 2019, related to the teaching of redox reactions. The inventoried articles were analyzed to identify, in their results, the aforementioned difficulties. Only 54 presented difficulties related to teaching and learning redox reactions. To analyze these articles, the year of publication, the conceptual/procedural difficulties resulting from the study, the researched participants, and the strategies used throughout the data collection were adopted as categories. As a result, the main participants of the investigations were students. It was observed that the research studies favored bachelor degree as the level of education. Moreover, most of the analyzed studies mainly proposed experimentation as teaching strategy for teaching redox reactions. This study points to the need for continuing education courses for chemistry teachers to discuss emerging difficulties, in addition to proposing teaching strategies to remedy these difficulties.

734-753

Authors: Mehboob Ul Hassan, Rafaqat Ali Akbar

Technology plants concrete effects on the supremacy of humans' technological success that have been remaining awe-inspiring aspects for stakeholders; teachers and students since last eras. Teachers make students technologically literate, reshape their hidden potential, skill them through modern gadgets, help in understanding and evaluating their functions applying technological and engineering standards for goal achievements. Present research was conducted to explore the effect of teachers’ technological literacy on students’ academic success occurs in vibrant environment on conveniently selected sample of 200 teachers working in public and private universities of district Lahore. Researchers administered a self-developed survey to collect data from teachers. Content validity of questionnaire was ensured from experts and reliability was confirmed by calculating Cronbach’s Alpha Scores .821. Normality of the data was assured by calculating Shapiro-Wilk’s test, ¬ n < 2000, p > .05. Students’ academic success was measured through acquiring achievement scores, obtained from concerned university offices ensuring ethical considerations, as in data collections. Results of independent samples t-test and regression analysis ascertained no significant difference between usage of technological literacy by teachers’ gender and university type; male teachers working in public and private universities have same usage of technological literacy as compared to female teachers. Moreover, teachers’ technological literacy affect 43% on students’ academic success occurs in vibrant learning environment. On the basis of results, research recommends that universities may established digital lab ensuring vibrant environment and hire technologically literate staff providing fringe benefits to meet 21st century technological literacy demands for students’ success.

777-798

Authors: Balli Lelinge, Christina Svensson

Few research studies have been conducted in a primary school in early mathematical education about the teaching of geometry. This research aims to contribute with knowledge of how teachers’ awareness and understanding of necessary conditions to enhance students’ abilities to discern two- and three-dimensional shapes develop. In this research, qualitative methods were used to analyse data from a lesson study in grade 4 in the subject of mathematics. Data were primarily collected through audio-recorded conversations with teachers before and after the lesson, and the results of students’ pre- and post-test. The results of this research showed increased awareness of using collaboration opportunities to apply professional classroom instructions and activities to enhance students’ knowledge of two- and three-dimensional shapes. This research elucidates how the practice-based professional development approach emphasised the teachers’ teaching targets for understanding students’ content knowledge of geometric shapes. Additionally, the result highlighted teachers’ awareness and understanding of the challenges students face in learning about three-dimensional shapes from two-dimensional representations. Future research should develop a more iterative and revised research lesson design to develop more powerful content knowledge and classroom activity in this topic area.

815-831

Authors: Klara Skubic Ermenc, Damijan Štefanc, Jasna Mažgon

One of the main factors contributing to students’ optimal development in school settings is the implementation of appropriate differentiating and individualizing measures. While this topic is well researched and addressed in the context of primary and lower secondary education, the theoretical and empirical research on differentiated and individualized teaching in vocational education and training (VET) programs is relatively scarce. However, well-applied individualization measures seem equally important in the context of VET programs, as they are frequently attended by students with lower educational aspirations, diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, and complex educational and personal needs. Our research explores what kind of individualization practices exist in Slovenian VET programs and what roles teachers and school management play in implementing individualized teaching. A single case study with one class of 16-year-old students (N = 22) attending the confectioner VET program was conducted. The data were collected by means of interviews, observations, and questionnaires, and were analyzed and interpreted by combining qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. The results indicate that the school strove to address the diversity of the student population and used a number of different activities at institutional (school) as well as individual (teacher) levels. However, the potential of a more individualized approach seems to be largely unexploited. It is necessary to understand individualization as a principle implemented at the level of direct teaching and at the school level. Students should receive guidance that adapts the education process to their individual characteristics and aspirations as much as possible.

856-872

Authors: Ya-Ling Wu, Shan-Ru Chao, Wei-Fang Tsai, Mei-Lun Chen

Based on the reminiscence therapy, the research aimed to develop the horticultural program with life contexts for the elderly in southern Taiwan, and to explore the effect on overall cognitive function of the elderly. The participants were 17 seniors in one community care center. The research adopted quasi-experimental research of one group pre-test and post-test design of time series, and data were collected by questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. The objective of the program was to maintain cognitive function of the elderly. Twelve activities of the program were implemented once a week and 2 hours for each activity. The program included manual activity, group activity, and outdoor planting activity. The program content was based on farming experience of the elderly and integrated with diverse cognitive function trainings. It was found that the program showed immediate effect and two-week delay effect on promoting overall cognitive function of the elderly. Also, the elderly obtained new planting experience and their learning motivation was enhanced. Additionally, because of integrating with life contexts, the program was meaningful and encouraged the elderly to be engaged in the activities and recall the past. In the process, the elderly enjoyed the exchange of horticulture and life experience.