Challenges, opportunities, and prospects of adopting and using smart digital technologies in learning environments: An iterative review

The adoption of smart digital technologies in the education system has grown exponentially over the years, creating new possibilities to improve teaching and enhance learning. Against this backdrop, the 'brick-and-mortar' education approach survives on life support, with digital technologies promoting ubiquitous teaching and learning. Through complexity theory, this study uses an iterative review research approach comprising of nine steps to frame the study of smart digital education. The complexity theory lens provides an appropriate framework to reason about the complexities that surface due to interactions of the elements of smart digital technologies in the education system. The complementary strength of the adopted methodological approach led to multiple discourses on technology-enabled and technology-enhanced learning environments. In particular, four broad themes emerged, which demonstrated the prevalence of various technologies and how they interact as a means of making sense of the emerging digitally-enabled education environment. Through these themes, this paper highlights digitalisation affordances (which include multimodality, a/synchronicity, and new forms of engagement), discusses the key challenges and complexities of digitally enabled education, and advances the discourse on how digitalisation can support and promote inclusivity amidst historic challenges. Finally, it discusses how the advancement of technologies provides a new paradigm of learning, revolutionises knowledge construction, and extends and enriches the 'brick-and-mortar' learning environment to enhance the educational experience. As a future research agenda, this paper recommends comprehensive end-to-end programmes and innovative ways to conceptualise and execute digitally-enabled education that provides equity-oriented opportunities for cognitive development.

Oaks to arteries: the Physiology Core Concept of flow down gradients supports transfer of student reasoning

The Physiology Core Concept of flow down gradients is a major concept in physiology, as pressure gradients are the key driving force for the bulk flow of fluids in biology. However, students struggle to understand that this principle is foundational to the mechanisms governing bulk flow across diverse physiological systems (e.g., blood flow, phloem sap flow). Our objective was to investigate whether bulk flow items that differ in scenario context (i.e., taxa, amount of scientific terminology, living or nonliving system) or in which aspect of the pressure gradient is kept constant (i.e., starting pressure or pressure gradient) influence undergraduate students' reasoning. Item scenario context did not impact the type of reasoning students used. However, students were more likely to use the Physiology Core Concept of "flow down [pressure] gradients" when the pressure gradient was kept constant and less likely to use this concept when the starting pressure was kept constant. We also investigated whether item scenario context or which aspect of the pressure gradient is kept constant impacted how consistent students were in the type of reasoning they used across two bulk flow items on the same homework. Most students were consistent across item scenario contexts (76%) and aspects of the pressure gradient kept constant (70%). Students who reasoned using "flow down gradients" on the first item were the most consistent (86, 89%), whereas students using "pressures indicate (but don't cause) flow" were the least consistent (43, 34%). Students who are less consistent know that pressure is somehow involved or indicates fluid flow but do not have a firm grasp of the concept of a pressure gradient as the driving force for fluid flow. These findings are the first empirical evidence to support the claim that using Physiology Core Concept reasoning supports transfer of knowledge across different physiological systems.NEW & NOTEWORTHY These findings are the first empirical evidence to support the claim that using Physiology Core Concept reasoning supports transfer of knowledge across different physiological systems.

A potential dissociation between perception and production version for bounded but not unbounded number line estimation

BACKGROUND

What, exactly, do number line estimation (NLE) tasks measure? Different versions of the task were observed to have different effects on performance.

METHOD

We investigated associations between the production (indicating the location) and perception version (indicating the number) of the bounded and unbounded NLE task and their relationship to arithmetic.

RESULTS

A stronger correlation was observed between the production and perception version of the unbounded than the bounded NLE task, indicating that both versions of the unbounded-but not the bounded-NLE task measure the same construct. Moreover, overall low but significant associations between NLE performance and arithmetic were only observed for the production version of the bounded NLE task.

CONCLUSION

These results substantiate that the production version of bounded NLE seems to rely on proportion judgment strategies, whereas both unbounded versions and the perception version of the bounded NLE task may rely more on magnitude estimation.

A Review of Seductive Details in Educational Activities Using Electronic Slide Presentations: Derailing the Learning Process

This review article examines the use of seductive details in nursing education activities. Seductive details are irrelevant images that are placed into educational material. Although seductive details may be found in any type of educational material and at any academic level, this article focuses on the placement of seductive details in electronic slide presentations used in nursing education activities. Educators optimistically place seductive details in educational material to engage learners or provide a momentary break from the presentation. Although engaging the learner is important, educators must use methods that do not derail how the learner's brain remembers information. Added visuals should be relevant to the material needed to be understood. Using seductive details may adversely affect learning by overloading the working memory with extraneous cognitive information, affecting the ability of the learner to create a coherent mental model needed to store a long-term memory. Evidence-based information about seductive detail use is nonexistent in nursing education literature. Professional nurse educators must carefully consider the use of seductive details in electronic slide presentations. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2023;54(6):261-267.].

Practitioners' perspectives on spatial reasoning in educational practice from birth to 7 years

BACKGROUND

There is a growing evidence base for the importance of spatial reasoning for the development of mathematics. However, the extent to which this translates into practice is unknown.

AIMS

We aimed to understand practitioners' perspectives on their understanding of spatial reasoning, the extent to which they recognize and implement spatial activities in their practice, and the barriers and opportunities to support spatial reasoning in the practice setting.

SAMPLE

Study 1 (questionnaire) included 94 participants and Study 2 (focus groups) consisted of nine participants. Participants were educational practitioners working with children from birth to 7 years.

METHODS

The study was mixed methods and included a questionnaire (Study 1) and a series of focus groups (Study 2).

RESULTS

We found that whilst practitioners engage in a variety of activities that support spatial reasoning, most practitioners reported little confidence in their understanding of what spatial reasoning is.

CONCLUSION

Informative and accessible resources are needed to broaden understanding of the definition of spatial reasoning and to outline opportunities to support spatial reasoning.

An understanding of falling bodies across schooling and experience based on the conceptual prevalence framework

In this article, we describe a study conducted online with 953 participants of varying levels of education and, when applicable, science/physics teaching experience. These participants were asked to solve a cognitive task in which many different pairs of objects were presented and to identify which, if any, would touch the ground first when dropped (in atmospheric or non-atmospheric environments). Recorded accuracies and response times allowed us to conduct an analysis based on the conceptual prevalence framework, which posits that the coexistence of conceptual and/or misconceptual resources can produce interference in response production. The results show that the influence of some of them decreases or, more surprisingly, increases with training. In fact, secondary and college physics teachers seem to cultivate some of them, and most likely have contributed to their spread. The implications for teaching and research are discussed.

Participatory design of teacher dashboards: navigating the tension between teacher input and theories on teacher professional vision

In the field of AI in education, there is a movement toward human-centered design in which the primary stakeholders are collaborators in establishing the design and functionality of the AI system (participatory design). Several authors have noted that there is a potential tension in participatory design between involving stakeholders and, thus, increasing uptake of the system on the one hand, and the use of educational theory on the other hand. The goal of the present perspective article is to unpack this tension in more detail, focusing on the example of teacher dashboards. Our contribution to theory is to show that insights from the research field of teacher professional vision can help explain why stakeholder involvement may lead to tension. In particular, we discuss that the sources of information that teachers use in their professional vision, and which data sources could be included on dashboards, might differ with respect to whether they actually relate to student learning or not. Using this difference as a starting point for participatory design could help navigate the aforementioned tension. Subsequently, we describe several implications for practice and research that could help move the field of human centered design further.

The Job Perception Inventory: considering human factors and needs in the design of human-AI work

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is seen as a driver of change, especially in the context of business, due to its progressive development and increasing connectivity in operational practice. Although it changes businesses and organizations vastly, the impact of AI implementation on human workers with their needs, skills, and job identity is less considered in the development and implementation process. Focusing on humans, however, enables unlocking synergies as well as desirable individual and organizational outcomes.

Methods

The objective of the present study is (a) to develop a survey-based inventory from the literature on work research and b) a first validation with employees encountering an AI application. The Job Perception Inventory (JOPI) functions as a work-analytical tool to support the human-centered implementation and application of intelligent technologies. It is composed of established and self-developed scales, measuring four sections of work characteristics, job identity, perception of the workplace, and the evaluation of the introduced AI.

Results

Overall, the results from the first study from a series of studies presented in this article indicate a coherent survey inventory with reliable scales that can now be used for AI implementation projects.

Discussion

Finally, the need and relevance of the JOPI are discussed against the background of the manufacturing industry.

Spatial-Numerical Magnitude Estimation Mediates Early Sex Differences in the Use of Advanced Arithmetic Strategies

An accumulating body of literature points to a link between spatial reasoning and mathematics learning. The present study contributes to this line of research by investigating sex differences both in spatial representations of magnitude and in the use of arithmetic strategies, as well as the relation between the two. To test the hypothesis that sex differences in spatial-numerical magnitude knowledge mediate sex differences in the use of advanced strategies (retrieval and decomposition), two studies were conducted. Study 1 included 96 US first graders (53% girls); Study 2 included 210 Russian first graders (49% girls). All participants completed a number line estimation task (a spatially based measure of numerical magnitude knowledge) and an arithmetic strategy task (a measure of strategy choice). The studies showed parallel results: boys produced more accurate numerical magnitude estimates on the number line estimation task and used advanced strategies more frequently on the arithmetic task. Critically, both studies provide support for the mediation hypothesis (although there were some differences in the pattern obtained for the two strategies). The results are discussed in the context of broader research about the relation between spatial and mathematical skills.

Prior math achievement and inventive production predict learning from productive failure

A frequent concern about constructivist instruction is that it works well, mainly for students with higher domain knowledge. We present findings from a set of two quasi-experimental pretest-intervention-posttest studies investigating the relationship between prior math achievement and learning in the context of a specific type of constructivist instruction, Productive Failure. Students from two Singapore public schools with significantly different prior math achievement profiles were asked to design solutions to complex problems prior to receiving instruction on the targeted concepts. Process results revealed that students who were significantly dissimilar in prior math achievement seemed to be strikingly similar in terms of their inventive production, that is, the variety of solutions they were able to design. Interestingly, it was inventive production that had a stronger association with learning from PF than pre-existing differences in math achievement. These findings, consistent across both topics, demonstrate the value of engaging students in opportunities for inventive production while learning math, regardless of prior math achievement.

A method for assessing students' interpretations of contextualized data

Learning to interpret data in context is an important educational outcome. To assess students' attainment of this outcome, it is necessary to examine the interplay between their contextual and statistical reasoning. We describe a research method designed to do so. The method draws upon Toulmin's (1958, 2003) model of argumentation for the first stage of qualitative data analysis and the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) (Biggs & Collis, 1991) model for the second stage. Toulmin analyses help identify the justifications and expressions of uncertainty students provide in their interpretive arguments. Subsequent analyses based on the multi-modal conceptualization of SOLO help characterize the quality of student arguments relative to one another. Existing literature and an empirical example are drawn upon to explain how the Toulmin and SOLO models can be used in tandem to analyze students' interpretations of contextualized data. We also explain how pairing Toulmin and SOLO can address theoretical and practical limitations that arise when using just one of the two models on its own.

Seductive details hamper learning even when they do not disrupt

Previous research often revealed detrimental effects of seductive details on learning with multimedia instruction, but there are mixed findings regarding how to best explain these detrimental effects. We investigated whether the detrimental effects of seductive details are mainly mediated by the cognitive processes of diversion (deeper processing of seductive details rather than pertinent content) or disruption (unsuccessful attempts to integrate seductive details with pertinent content) by assessing the effects of instructional prompts. In an online learning experiment, participants (N = 247) learned either without seductive details (control condition) or with seductive details in one of three conditions: Participants received either a prompt informing them about the irrelevance of seductive details (irrelevance-prompt), a prompt to process seductive details and pertinent content separately (separation-prompt), or no prompt within their task instruction. We assessed recall and transfer of knowledge as dependent variables. Supporting the diversion hypothesis, participants in the no-prompt condition regarded seductive details as more relevant and consequently spent more time processing them compared to participants in the irrelevance-prompt condition, which negatively influenced their recall performance. Against the disruption hypothesis, participants in the no-prompt condition reported lower integration avoidance between seductive details and pertinent content compared to participants in the separation-prompt condition, but this led to better rather than worse transfer performance. Our results thus suggest diversion, and not disruption, to be the main process driving the seductive details effect. Reducing the details' diverting potential seems a good way to deal with seductive details in instruction.

Obesity Risk Assessment for Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Families with Young Children in the United States: Reliability and Validity with Nutrient Values

The purpose is to examine validity and reliability for an obesity risk assessment tool developed in Spanish for immigrant families with children, 3-5 years old using an 8-week cross-sectional design with data collected over 1 year at Head Start and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children [WIC]. Parent/child dyads (206) provided a child obesity risk assessment, three child modified 24 h dietary recalls, three child 36+ h activity logs and one parent food behavior checklist. Main outcome measures were convergent validity with nutrients, cup equivalents, and diet quality and three assessments of reliability that included item difficulty index, item discrimination index, and coefficient of variation. Validity was demonstrated for assessment tool, named Niños Sanos. Scales were significantly related to variables in direction hypothesized [p ≤ 0.05]: Healthy Eating Index, fruit/vegetable cup equivalents, folate, dairy cup equivalents, vitamins D, β-carotene, fiber, saturated fat, sugar, time at screen/ sleep/physical activity and parent behaviors. Three measures of reliability were acceptable. The addition of nutrient values as an analytical validation approach adds strength and consistency to previously reported Niños Sanos validation results using children's blood biomarkers and body mass index. This tool can be used by health professionals as an assessment of obesity risk in several capacities: (1) screener for counseling in a clinic, (2) large survey, (3) guide for participant goal setting and tailoring interventions, and (4) evaluation.

Flipped Classroom to Facilitate Deeper Learning in Veterinary Undergraduate Students: An Educational Change Pilot Study Limited to the Imaging Module Bones

In a flipped classroom, learners study at home and do the 'homework' in class. This approach respects the limitations of memory and allows more interaction between learners. The overall vision is self-paced activities for learners with decreased boredom and greater task value, which should facilitate deeper learning. To implement a flipped classroom, a bumpy incremental change process characterized by periods of relative stillness punctuated by the acceleration of pace was planned. All veterinary undergraduate students used an existing eLearning platform to access relevant text and selected image examples before class. Only for the randomly selected students in the flipped classroom (FC) was this content amended with purposeful audio content and concrete tasks. Further, FC learners discussed their opinions in an online class forum. To measure the educational change, a pre- and post-class formative test and a standardized questionnaire for students in the FC versus in the traditional classroom (TC) were performed. To assess engagement, students were invited to measure all learning activities, categorized into attendance, or self-study. The educational change project resulted in more commitment and less resistance from teachers. The FC consisted of 20 students, while the TC had 40. The mean pre-class scores difference between FC students and TC students was +1.7/20 points, and the mean post-class scores difference was +3/20 points. The chance of answering item 10 of the formative test (describe site of the fracture) correctly was about seven times higher for FC compared to TC learners (OR = 6.96; p = 0.002). The questionnaire revealed more satisfaction and greater task value in the FC compared to TC (p = 0.048). FC students invested 21 h into the course on average, while TC students invested 16 h. The results of this pilot agree with previous reports: A transparent process was helpful to initiate mainly positive interactions between teachers and students. Higher scores, higher chance to give the correct answer, greater task value, and more positive emotions are observed in the FC compared to the TC. Higher measures of learning time are not expected to affect exam results but indicate more engagement.

Promoting children's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning at home through tinkering and storytelling

This study examined whether connecting storytelling and tinkering can advance early STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning opportunities for children. A total of 62 families with 4- to 10-year-old (M = 8.03) children were observed via Zoom. They watched a video invitation to tinker at home prepared by museum educators prior to tinkering. Then, half of the families were prompted to think up a story before tinkering (story-based tinkering group), whereas the other half were simply asked to begin tinkering (no-story group). Once they had finished tinkering, researchers elicited children's reflections about their tinkering experience. A subset of the families (n = 45) also reminisced about their tinkering experience several weeks later. The story instructions provided before tinkering engendered children's storytelling during tinkering and when reflecting on the experience. Children in the story-based tinkering group also talked the most about STEM both during tinkering, and subsequently when reminiscing with their parents about their tinkering experience.

Elementary Teachers' Perspectives on Teaching Reading Comprehension

PURPOSE

We report findings from a survey of elementary teachers regarding reading instruction. The purpose was to examine teachers' beliefs about how children in the first 7 years of schooling develop reading comprehension skills and to characterize the self-reported practices and strategies they use to support children to comprehend connected text.

METHOD

A web-based survey was used to collect data from 284 Australian elementary teachers about their beliefs and practices regarding reading comprehension instruction. Selected Likert-scale items were aggregated to determine the degree to which participants held "child-centered" or "content-centered" views of reading instruction.

RESULTS

Australian elementary school teachers hold a wide range of beliefs about reading instruction, some of which are in direct opposition to each other. Our findings indicate low consensus about what elements of instructional practice are useful in classrooms or how time should be apportioned to different tasks. Commercial programs had significant penetration in schools, and many participants reported using multiple commercial programs, with varying degrees of pedagogical harmony. Participants indicated that their most common source of knowledge about reading instruction was their own personal research, with few nominating university teacher education as a primary source of knowledge or expertise.

CONCLUSIONS

Little agreement exists within the Australian elementary teacher community regarding the ways that reading skills can and should be taught. There is significant room for teacher practice to have improved theoretical underpinnings and to develop a consistent repertoire of classroom practices aligned with these.

Choosing optimal means of knowledge visualization based on eye tracking for online education

In online education, the appropriate choice of means of knowledge visualization can reduce cognitive load and improve cognitive efficiency. However, no universal basis for selection can cause confusion in the pedagogical context. This study used the revised Bloom's taxonomy to combine the types of knowledge with cognitive goals. We used a course on marketing research as an example to summarize the choices for visualizing factual knowledge (FK), conceptual knowledge (CK), procedural knowledge (PK), and metacognitive knowledge (MK) through four experiments. Visualized cognitive stages were used to determine the cognitive efficiencies of visualization for different knowledge types. In this stage, eye tracking is used for collecting eye movement indicators to measure cognitive load. The cognitive goals stage is used to get cognitive goals of the means of knowledge visualization. Combining the two stages, we get the conclusions as follows: Teachers and students can mostly benefit from presenting FK and CK points via mind maps. Using mind maps to teach FK online could be indirectly beneficial for improving students' creativity. Concept maps may be chosen for this point if the linked knowledge points are PK and the achievement of the analytical objective is emphasized in the student's knowledge points. The flowchart can be used to display PK, while timelines could be utilized if the PK point is to be presented in a temporal dimension. Teachers should choose the curve area chart to display MK. A pie chart might be chosen and added more instructions. The findings suggest that mind maps are very effective as a means of knowledge visualization in online education. In the meantime, it suggests that overly simplistic graphs increase cognitive load, while it also raises the possibility that redundant information in the text may increase cognitive load.

Developing and Validating a Computer-Based Training Tool for Inferring 2D Cross-Sections of Complex 3D Structures

OBJECTIVE

Developing and validating a novel domain-agnostic, computer-based training tool for enhancing 2D cross-section understanding of complex 3D structures.

BACKGROUND

Understanding 2D cross-sections of 3D structures is a crucial skill in many disciplines, from geology to medical imaging . It requires a complex set of spatial/visualization skills including mental rotation, spatial structure understanding, and viewpoint projection. Prior studies show that experts differ from novices in these skills.

METHOD

We have developed a novel training tool for inferring 2D cross-sections of 3D structures using a participatory design methodology. We used a between-subject study design, with 60 participants, to evaluate the training tool. Our primary effectiveness evaluation was based on pre- and postspatial tests that measured both cross-section abilities and specific spatial skills: viewpoint, mental rotation, and card rotation.

RESULTS

Results showed significant performance gains on inferring 2D cross-sections for participants of the training group. Our tool improves two other spatial skills as well: mental rotation and viewpoint visualization.

CONCLUSION

Our training tool was effective not only in enhancing 2D cross-section understanding of complex 3D structures, but also in improving mental rotation and viewpoint visualization skills.

APPLICATION

Our tool can be beneficial in different fields such as medical imaging, biology, geology, and engineering. For example, an application of our tool is in medical/research labs to train novice segmenters in ongoing manual 3D segmentation tasks. It can also be adapted in other contexts, such as training children, older adults, and individuals with very low spatial skills.

A Treatment-To-Prison-Pipeline? Scoping Review and Multimethod Examination of Legal Consequences of Residential Treatment Among Adolescents

OBJECTIVE

Toward the overall goal of interrogating systems that contribute to racial inequity in child and adolescent psychology, we examine the role and function of Residential Treatment Centers (RTCs) in creating or exacerbating race and gender inequities using the language of mental health and the logic that treatment intentions justify children's confinement.

METHODS

In Study 1, we conduct a scoping review to investigate the legal consequences of RTC placement, attending to race and gender in 18 peer-reviewed articles, encompassing data for 27,947 youth. In Study 2, we use a multimethod design focusing on RTCs in one large mixed-geographic county to examine which youth are formally charged with a crime while in RTCs, and the circumstances under which these charges occur, attending to race and gender (N = 318, 95% Black, Latine, Indigenous youth, mean age = 14, range = 8-16).

RESULTS

Across studies, we find evidence for a potential treatment-to-prison pipeline through which youth in RTCs incur new arrests and are charged with crimes during and following treatment. This pattern is pronounced for Black and Latine youth and especially girls, for whom use of physical restraint and boundary violations are recurring challenges.

CONCLUSIONS

We argue that the role and function of RTCs via the alliance between mental health and juvenile legal systems, however passive or unintentional, provides a critical exemplar of structural racism; and thus invite a different approach that implicates our field to publicly advocate to end violent policies and practices and recommend actions to address these inequities.

Effects of response format on achievement and aptitude assessment results: multi-level random effects meta-analyses

Psychological achievement and aptitude tests are fundamental elements of the everyday school, academic and professional lives of students, instructors, job applicants, researchers and policymakers. In line with growing demands for fair psychological assessment tools, we aimed to identify psychometric features of tests, test situations and test-taker characteristics that may contribute to the emergence of test bias. Multi-level random effects meta-analyses were conducted to estimate mean effect sizes for differences and relations between scores from achievement or aptitude measures with open-ended (OE) versus closed-ended (CE) response formats. Results from 102 primary studies with 392 effect sizes revealed positive relations between CE and OE assessments (mean r = 0.67, 95% CI [0.57; 0.76]), with negative pooled effect sizes for the difference between the two response formats (mean d av = -0.65; 95% CI [-0.78; -0.53]). Significantly higher scores were obtained on CE exams. Stem-equivalency of items, low-stakes test situations, written short answer OE question types, studies conducted outside the United States and before the year 2000, and test-takers' achievement motivation and sex were at least partially associated with smaller differences and/or larger relations between scores from OE and CE formats. Limitations and the results' implications for practitioners in achievement and aptitude testing are discussed.

Overconfidence in the Cognitive Reflection Test: Comparing Confidence Resolution for Reasoning vs. General Knowledge

This research examines the metacognitive awareness that people have about their reasoning performance in the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). The first two studies compare confidence judgments about the CRT vs. general knowledge (GK) questions. Results show that (1) people are generally able to discriminate between correct and incorrect answers, but this ability is far from perfect, and it is greater for GK questions than for CRT problems. Indeed, and strikingly, (2) incorrect responses to CRT problems are produced with approximately the same level of confidence as correct responses to GK questions. However, (3) even though confidence is high for incorrect responses to CRT problems, it is even higher for correct responses. The results of two additional studies show that these differences in confidence are ultimately related to the conflict that CRT problems pose between intuition and deliberation. These findings have implications for the possibility of implicit error monitoring and dual-process models of overconfidence.

Ausubel's meaningful learning re-visited

This review provides a critique of David Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning and the use of advance organizers in teaching. It takes into account the developments in cognition and neuroscience which have taken place in the 50 or so years since he advanced his ideas, developments which challenge our understanding of cognitive structure and the recall of prior learning. These include (i) how effective questioning to ascertain previous knowledge necessitates in-depth Socratic dialogue; (ii) how many findings in cognition and neuroscience indicate that memory may be non-representational, thereby affecting our interpretation of student recollections; (iii) the now recognised dynamism of memory; (iv) usefully regarding concepts as abilities or simulators and skills; (v) acknowledging conscious and unconscious memory and imagery; (vi) how conceptual change involves conceptual coexistence and revision; (vii) noting linguistic and neural pathways as a result of experience and neural selection; and (viii) recommending that wider concepts of scaffolding should be adopted, particularly given the increasing focus on collaborative learning in a technological world.

A Framework for Evidentiary Reasoning in Biology: Insights from Laboratory Courses Focused on Evolutionary Tree-thinking

Science educators report that students struggle with understanding, using, and evaluating the evidence underpinning scientific knowledge. However, there are not many studies focused on helping instructors address those difficulties. Here, we report on a laboratory instructor's scaffolding of students' evidentiary reasoning with and about evidence for evolutionary trees with guidance from the Conceptual Analysis of Disciplinary Evidence (CADE) framework, which links biological knowledge with epistemic considerations. To consider both domain-general and discipline-specific aspects of evidence, CADE was implemented to inform scaffolds in two ways: (1) generic evidence scaffolds (GES) reminded students of general epistemic considerations; (2) disciplinary evidence scaffolds (DES) explicitly reminded students of the disciplinary knowledge of relevance for considering biological evidence. An instructor's lab discussions were compared before and after they had a workshop with CADE. CADE helped the lab instructor facilitate students' evidentiary reasoning about evolutionary trees. In comparison to baseline, both GES and DES discussions covered more aspects and relationships among types of evidence for evolutionary tree-thinking and the instructor prompted more kinds of general epistemic considerations and biological knowledge. DES discussions emphasized the importance of disciplinary knowledge for research design. The CADE framework guided planning and implementation of intentional scaffolding aimed at guiding evidentiary reasoning.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11191-023-00435-6.

Living the DReaM: The interrelations between statistical, scientific and nature of science uncertainty articulations through citizen science

Responsible citizenship and sound decision-making in today's information age necessitate an appreciation of the role of uncertainty in the process of generating data-based scientific knowledge. The latter calls for coordinating between different types of uncertainties, related to three types of relevant reasoning: statistical, scientific, and nature of science uncertainties. This article examines separately the uncertainties that young students articulate as they engage in activities designed to concurrently foster all three types of reasoning, and also explores how these different types can interrelate. The context of Citizen Science is particularly suited for this goal, providing a unique pedagogical opportunity for learning scientific content by engaging learners in authentic scientific practices, including data analysis. Based on literature from the three fields of statistics, science and nature of science education, we offer an integrative framework, Deterministic Relativistic and Middle ground (DReaM), which consists of nine sub-categories of uncertainty articulations. We utilize it to analyze an instrumental case study of a pair of middle school students' (ages 13 and 14) participation in a pilot study of an interdisciplinary extended learning sequence, as part of the Radon Citizen Science Project. The results of an interpretative microgenetic analysis identified all nine DReaM uncertainty articulations sub-categories. These are illustrated in the Findings section with key scenes from the pair's participation. The discussion depicts how these sub-categories manifested in this particular case study and suggests interrelations between them in a more extended depiction of the DReaM framework. We conclude with the pedagogical implications of the extended framework.

Simulation-based learning in teacher education: Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to conceptualize instructors’ needs

Introduction

Simulation-based learning (SBL) has become an effective tool in the education field, and instructors play a significant role in leading it. Although much is known about participants’ needs, SBL instructors’ needs have yet to be addressed. The study’s goal was to explore SBL instructors’ needs while guiding an SBL workshop using the psychological framework of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Methods

We employed a qualitative case-study design, consisting of 68 four-hour-long workshops, held at a teacher-education simulation center by the center’s professional instructors. Data collection comprised 211 statements derived from instructors’ open-ended reflections, the transcripts of two focus groups held with the instructors, and 98 interpersonal communication documents.

Results

Data were analyzed using both deductive and inductive thematic analysis, which rendered 11 themes spanning Maslow’s five levels, and revealing two possible simulation-based learning paths: a complete process, in which all needs are met and an incomplete process, in which needs remain unmet.

Discussion

Theoretical insights and practical implications are provided for attending to instructors’ needs (i.e., basic needs, security, belonging, self-esteem, self-actualization) to ensure optimal learning in teacher education when using SBL.

Exploring the relationships between teacher noticing, ambisonic audio, and variance in focus when viewing 360 video

A growing body of research has supported the implementation of innovative and immersive video for teaching and learning across the lifespan. Immersive video, delivered through eXtended Reality (XR) tools like 360 video, provides users with new ways to see real or created environments. Unfortunately, most of the existing research has highlighted immersive video without accompanying immersive audio. This use of monophonic audio can create a disconnect for viewers as they experience close to real world video with sounds that do not match a real-world environment. The purpose of this study was to respond to this gap in the literature by exploring the use of ambisonic audio and its impact on preservice teacher noticing and variability of viewing focus when watching 360 video. Data were collected from undergraduate teacher education students who participated in a self-paced online activity that included watching 360 videos and responding to a questionnaire. A convergent mixed methods design was employed to compare participants' professional noticing and observed viewing behavior in the context of ambisonic and monophonic audio. Results showed that users in ambisonic audio conditions in 360 video environments were more likely to have higher focus. Moreover, for users who had specific professional knowledge, monophonic audio with immersive video had a negative impact on their variance in focus. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on the use of audio in virtual and augmented reality environments.

Developing an Integrated STEM Classroom Observation Protocol Using the Productive Disciplinary Engagement Framework

STEM education and research has gained popularity internationally over the last decade. However, there is a lack in specifications in existing K-12 STEM classroom observation protocols of how features of an integrated STEM experience/lesson would lead to desired outcomes and how those outcomes should be measured. To bridge this gap, we propose the development of a new integrated STEM classroom observation protocol (iSTEM protocol). This article describes the ongoing development work of the iSTEM protocol, which features two creative attempts. Firstly, the productive disciplinary engagement framework is adapted to design a classroom observation protocol that provides a coherent frame of design principles to be met to achieve desired 3-dimensional pedagogical outcomes. Secondly, interdisciplinarity of student engagement was interpreted in terms of the extent to which students take a systematic and disciplinary-based approach to make and justify decisions during STEM problem-solving. The iSTEM protocol comprises 15 items (4-point scale) rated holistically for the extents to which evidence was found in the observed lesson for (1) the 3-dimensional pedagogical outcomes of productive interdisciplinary engagement (five items) and (2) problematising, resources, authority, and accountability design principles (10 items). The accompanying iSTEM profile visually represents and communicates the strengths and inadequacies in design principles, thus providing explanations for extents of students' productive interdisciplinary engagement. The iSTEM protocol will contribute as a research tool for STEM education researchers and as a pedagogical guide for STEM classroom teachers to improve their design of STEM learning experiences.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11165-023-10110-z.

Development and validation of internet literacy scale for high school students

The paper aims to develop and validate an internet literacy scale for high school students. The study emphasizes the importance of internet literacy, especially for adolescents who need sufficient internet literacy to gain self-development and live their whole lives in this information age. The study has recruited 744 high school students and provided a validated scale consisting of thirty items in eight dimensions: (1) self-management, (2) self-image construction, (3) damage control, (4) information processing, (5) critical thinking, (6) cooperation, (7) consciousness of morality, and (8) consciousness of security. The current developed scale can reflect the latest, abundant meaning of internet literacy. This study fulfills the need to build up a validated, comprehensive internet literacy scale for adolescents such as high school students. The study also suggests potential applications of the scale in the pedagogical context.

Effects of morphological intervention on multiple aspects of academic vocabulary knowledge

Despite the positive role of English morphology in word learning, the existing evidence is mainly on young L1 native speakers' receptive word gains. This intervention study, which employed a pretest-posttest control-experimental group design, was conducted to explore the effects of morphological training on multiple aspects of academic vocabulary learning. Participants (N = 50) were college EFL learners from southern China, who received either traditional vocabulary instruction or morphological training for 6 weeks. The 2 × 2 ANOVA analysis revealed significant instructional effects on receptive academic vocabulary learning, but not for productive academic word knowledge. Results are discussed in light of the important connection between morphology and receptive word learning, and the nature of productive vocabulary acquisition.

Understanding individual psychological and behavioral responses during COVID-19: Application of stimulus-organism-response model

To comprehend the nature, implications, risks and consequences of the events of the COVID-19 crisis, individuals largely relied on various online information sources. The features of online information exchange (e.g., conducted on a massive scale, with an abundance of information and unverified sources) led to various behavioral and psychological responses that are not fully understood. This study therefore investigated the relationship between exposure to online information sources and how individuals sought, forwarded, and provided COVID-19 related information. Anchored in the stimulus-organism-response model, cognitive load theory, and the theory of fear appeal, this study examined the link between the online consumption of COVID-19-related information and psychological and behavioral responses. In the theory development process, we hypothesized the moderating role of levels of fear. The research model included six hypotheses and was empirically verified on self-reported data (N = 425), which was collected in early 2021. The results indicate that continuous exposure to online information sources led to perceived information overload, which further heightened the psychological state of cyberchondria. Moreover, the act of seeking and providing COVID-19 information was significantly predicted by perceived cyberchondria. The results also suggest that higher levels of fear led to increased levels of seeking and providing COVID-19-related information. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are presented, along with promising areas for future research.

Orthographic facilitation in upper elementary students: does attention to morphology of complex words enhance the effects?

The current study aimed to investigate whether exposure to spellings would boost memory of meanings and spellings of morphologically complex words, and when spellings are present, whether drawing attention to the morphology of derivative words would activate morphological analysis and therefore enhance word learning. Participants were 36 fourth and fifth graders (20 Spanish speakers, and 16 English speakers) from an elementary school in the Southeastern U.S. students were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: (a) group A, simple spelling exposure group; and (b) group B, drawing attention to morphology group. Each group learned 12 low-frequency morphologically complex words (e.g., odorous) in two orthographic conditions: with the presence of spelling (1) and with the absence of spelling (2). Three learning trials and three test trials were interweaved. After each learning trial, students were prompted to meaning and spelling recall for each target word. Results have extended the evidence of orthographic facilitation effect to morphologically complex words. Students with both higher and lower word reading skills benefitted from spelling presence. Drawing attention to morphology did not enhance the memory of meanings and spellings of morphologically complex words, in comparison to spelling exposure only condition. Implications for vocabulary learning theories and instruction for linguistically diverse students were discussed.

Gendered racial microaggressions and emerging adult Black women's social and general anxiety: Distress intolerance and stress as mediators

There is robust evidence that gendered racial microaggressions affect Black women's mental health. However, few studies have examined how this form of discrimination affects Black women's social anxiety in addition to their general anxiety, as well as the underlying mechanisms related to gendered racial microaggressions and anxiety.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between gendered racial microaggressions stress (GRMS) and gendered racial microaggressions frequency (GRMF), and Black women's social anxiety and general anxiety symptoms. We also examined the mediating roles of distress intolerance and stress in these associations.

METHOD

One hundred and sixty-three Black women, between the ages of 18 and 25 years old, completed a cross-sectional survey. Regression analyses were used to examine the associations between gendered racial microaggressions and social anxiety and general anxiety, and mediation analyses examined the indirect effect of gendered racial microaggressions on the outcome variables through distress intolerance and stress.

RESULTS

GRMS was associated with greater social and general anxiety through the mechanisms of distress intolerance and stress. GRMF was associated with reduced social anxiety and was not associated with general anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

Intervention efforts should be aimed to prevent the experience of gendered racial microaggressions to prevent subsequent stress and mental health outcomes for Black women.

Are adults influenced by the experience of mentoring youth? A scoping review

AIMS

A relatively large body of research exists on the effectiveness of mentoring programs directed at youth and numerous syntheses of this literature have proven useful for advancing both research and practice. Less studied, but also important is the potential for adults serving in the role of mentor to young persons to be influenced by this experience. A scoping review was conducted with the aim of identifying and critically assessing major trends in the methods and findings in this literature.

METHODS

Included sources were empirical studies reporting findings that address potential influences on adults (18+) serving as mentors to youth (<18) in formal programs designed for this purpose. The initial search resulted in 3155 records and 96 were included in the review.

RESULTS

Approximately half of the studies (58%) focused on younger adults (ages 18-22 years old, e.g., college students) serving as mentors; only a small minority of studies focused on adults over 35 years old (10%). Most studies were qualitative (n = 54). Studies with a quantitative component (n = 18 quantitative only; n = 24 mixed methods) exhibited a significant risk of bias for inferring effects on mentors due to limitations in study design (e.g., lack of comparison group). Studies most often addressed potential outcomes for mentors in academic/career (55%) and social (45%) domains, when findings suggested possible effects on mentors, they were nearly universally in a positive direction.

CONCLUSION

Existing research, although consistent with the potential for adults to benefit from the experience of mentoring youth, has insufficient rigor and representativeness to adequately address this question. Future research should utilize more rigorous quantitative designs and samples with greater representativeness of the different stages of adult development.

'Noticing' in health professions education: Time to pay attention?

BACKGROUND

Health professions education teaches students to notice particular things, but has given little attention to teaching 'noticing' as a form of personal inquiry. The former is self-evidently important, as it develops a way of seeing and behaving that is uniquely relevant to each health profession. Despite this emphasis, health professionals may fail to notice 'warning signs' in patients, be unaware of their own biases or develop unrecognised habits that have moved away from accepted standards. It has been suggested that such 'not noticing' is currently endemic.

APPROACH

We situate our exploration of noticing in the mathematics and science education literature and John Mason's treatise on 'The discipline of noticing', differentiating between the observations that people make as they go about their lives ('ordinary' noticing), the specialised noticing that underpins professional expertise (Professional Noticing) and practices that can enhance the capacity to notice and to learn from experience (Intentional Noticing). We make the case for teaching health professions students about these conceptualisations of noticing, being able to notice with all our senses, and learning about the practices of Intentional Noticing in particular, which we suggest will have utility across health professional careers and personal lives.

IMPLICATIONS

We acknowledge the difficulties in transferring heterogenous finding from one field to another but suggest that there are gains to be made in applying these noticing concepts to health professions education. We tentatively propose some strategies and activities for developing Professional Noticing and the practices of Intentional Noticing and link them to a new module that we are piloting with health professions students. As well as aiding health professionals sharpen their noticing abilities, reinvigorate their practice and interrogate assumptions that underpin health care, we suggest that ideas about 'noticing' may also help educators and researchers in the health professions reimagine their work.

Longitudinal relationship between number line estimation and other mathematical abilities in Chinese preschool children

Many cross-sectional studies have shown that number line estimation is associated with other mathematical skills, but there has been limited longitudinal research. To systematically examine such associations longitudinally at the earliest stage of mathematical learning, the current study tested 40 Chinese preschoolers (mean age = 4.97 years, SD = 0.18) and followed them up 8 months later. For both waves of data collection, children were administered six tasks: number line estimation, dot counting, comparison of two dot arrays, comparison of triple dot arrays, symbolic number comparison, and simple addition. Results of two-wave cross-lagged panel analysis showed that (a) dot counting and non-symbolic numerical comparison at Time 1 had significant longitudinal associations with number line estimation at Time 2, (b) number line estimation had bidirectional associations with symbolic number comparison, and (c) number line estimation at Time 1 had a marginally significant longitudinal association with simple addition at Time 2. These results extend the small but accumulating literature on the longitudinal relations between number line estimation and other mathematical skills and specify the important role of number line estimation in the early development of mathematical skills.

Associations between emotions and psychophysiological states and confirmation bias in question formulation in ongoing simulated investigative interviews of child sexual abuse

Introduction

In forensic settings interviewers are advised to ask as many open-ended questions as possible. However, even experts may have difficulty following this advice potentially negatively impacting an investigation. Here, we sought to investigate how emotions and psychophysiological parameters are associated with question formulation in real time in an ongoing (simulated) child sexual abuse (CSA) interview.

Method

In a experimental study, psychology students (N = 60, Mage = 22.75) conducted two interviews with child avatars, while their emotions (anger, sadness, disgust, surprise and relief), GSR and heart rate (HR) were registered.

Results

First, we found that general emotionality related to CSA and perceived realness of the avatars was associated with stronger overall emotional reactions. Second, we found that closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by more facially observable anger, but not disgust, sadness, surprise or relief. Third, closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by higher GSR resistance and lower heart rate.

Discussion

Results suggest for the first time that emotions and psychophysiological states can drive confirmation bias in question formulation in real time in CSA.

Exploring the interaction of cognition and emotion in small group collaborative discourse by Heuristic Mining Algorithm (HMA) and Inductive Miner Algorithm (IMA)

This study explored the interaction between cognition and emotion in blended collaborative learning. The participants (n = 30) of this study were undergraduate students enrolled in a 16-week course on information technology teaching. These students were divided into six groups of five people each. The behavior modes of the participants were analyzed using a heuristic mining algorithm and inductive miner algorithm. Compared with the groups with low task scores, the high-scoring groups exhibited more reflection phases and cycles in the interaction process and thus more frequent self-evaluation and regulation behavior for forethought and performance. Moreover, the frequency of emotion events unrelated with cognition was higher for the high-scoring groups than for the low-scoring groups. On the basis of the research results, this paper presents suggestions for developing online and offline blended courses.

Promoting learning transfer in science through a complexity approach and computational modeling

This article concerns the synergy between science learning, understanding complexity, and computational thinking (CT), and their impact on near and far learning transfer. The potential relationship between computer-based model construction and knowledge transfer has yet to be explored. We studied middle school students who modeled systemic phenomena using the Much.Matter.in.Motion (MMM) platform. A distinct innovation of this work is the complexity-based visual epistemic structure underpinning the Much.Matter.in.Motion (MMM) platform, which guided students' modeling of complex systems. This epistemic structure suggests that a complex system can be described and modeled by defining entities and assigning them (1) properties, (2) actions, and (3) interactions with each other and with their environment. In this study, we investigated students' conceptual understanding of science, systems understanding, and CT. We also explored whether the complexity-based structure is transferable across different domains. The study employs a quasi-experimental, pretest-intervention-posttest-control comparison-group design, with 26 seventh-grade students in an experimental group, and 24 in a comparison group. Findings reveal that students who constructed computational models significantly improved their science conceptual knowledge, systems understanding, and CT. They also showed relatively high degrees of transfer-both near and far-with a medium effect size for the far transfer of learning. For the far-transfer items, their explanations included entities' properties and interactions at the micro level. Finally, we found that learning CT and learning how to think complexly contribute independently to learning transfer, and that conceptual understanding in science impacts transfer only through the micro-level behaviors of entities in the system. A central theoretical contribution of this work is to offer a method for promoting far transfer. This method suggests using visual epistemic scaffolds of the general thinking processes we would like to support, as shown in the complexity-based structure on the MMM interface, and incorporating these visual structures into the core problem-solving activities.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11251-023-09624-w.

Executive function and mathematics in preschool children: Training and transfer effects

Identifying the underpinnings of mathematics proficiency is relevant for all societies. A growing literature supports a relation between executive function (EF) and mathematics across a wide age range, but causal links are not well understood. In the current study, typically developing preschool children (N = 104) were randomly assigned to one of four training conditions: EF, Number, EF + Number, or an active Control. They participated in three brief training sessions and pretest and posttest sessions measuring EF and mathematics skills. EF training improved EF skills on a task similar to the training but did not extend to an untrained EF task. In addition, the EF training improved number skills but not general mathematics skills. The EF + Number training improved number and general mathematics skills but not EF skills. The EF + Number training did not yield significantly greater benefits for EF and mathematics beyond other training conditions. Finally, differential training effects emerged, such that children with lower pretest EF skills had greater EF benefits on only the trained EF skill. In addition, children from lower versus higher socioeconomic households had greater gains in numerical skills following EF training. No training condition improved verbal knowledge, suggesting that results were specific to the targeted skills. These results extend prior findings on the effectiveness of improving EF and mathematical skills through short-term trainings during early childhood.

Sociopolitical solidarity in STEM education: youth-centered relationships that resist learning as just achievement data

In this paper, we-a participatory action group-use the tenants of critical pedagogy to articulate how youths developed relationships for and with STEM disciplinary practices through participation in spaces outside of the official scripts of their high school STEM classrooms in the United States. Spaces included their robotics team, a hybrid digital collaborative space, and in an extra project with a teacher. Each of these cases surfaces youth's ongoing orientation to the fact that STEM learning is relational, and political, exemplifying pockets of resistance against the structures of schooling that foreground learning as an act of individuals. These pockets of resistance take a certain sociopolitical solidarity between learners and educators that centers STEM education which has the possibility to remake power structures to center relations with worlds, human and non-human, and the futures they help learners imagine.

Development of associations between elementary school students’ mindsets and attentional neural processing of feedback in an arithmetic task

The aim of this study was to examine the development of the associations between elementary school students’ mindsets and the attentional neural processing of positive and negative feedback in math. For this, we analyzed data collected twice from 100 Finnish elementary school students. During the autumn semesters of their 3rd and 4th grade, the participants’ general intelligence mindset and math ability mindset were measured with a questionnaire, and their brain responses elicited by performance-relevant feedback were recorded during an arithmetic task. We found that students’ fixed mindsets about general intelligence and math ability were associated with greater attention allocated to positive feedback as indicated by a larger P300. These associations were driven by the effects of mindsets on attention allocation to positive feedback in grade 4. Additionally, 4th graders’ more fixed general intelligence mindset was marginally associated with greater attention allocated to negative feedback. In addition, the effects of both mindsets on attention allocation to feedback were marginally stronger when the children were older. The present results, although marginal in the case of negative feedback and mainly driven by effects in grade 4, are possibly a reflection of the greater self-relevance of feedback stimuli for students with a more fixed mindset. It is also possible that these findings reflect the fact that, in evaluative situations, mindset could influence stimulus processing in general. The marginal increase in the effects of mindsets as children mature may reflect the development of coherent mindset meaning systems during elementary school years.

Advancing a cross-cultural understanding of teacher perceptions of school climate: A latent class analysis using 2018 TALIS data

In recent years, school climate has increasingly received research attention. Most studies have focused only on student perceptions of school climate, whereas little is known regarding teachers’ views, and cross-country comparisons are scarce. To advance cross-country understanding of teacher perceptions of school climate, this study used data from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS) to explore latent classes of teacher perceptions and compared differences between American, Finnish, and Chinese teachers. Latent class analysis revealed that a four-class solution was the most appropriate for each teacher subsample: positive participation and teacher-student relation, positive teacher-student relation, moderate, and low participation for the U.S. and China datasets, while positive teacher-student relation, moderate, negative discipline, and low participation for the Finland dataset. However, measurement invariance across countries was violated. We further investigated the impact of predictors on latent classes of teacher perceptions of school climate. The results revealed varied patterns of cross-cultural differences across countries. Our findings implied that a more reliable and valid scale of teacher perceptions of school climate for cross-country comparison is needed. Tailored interventions are necessary as more than half of teachers perceived moderate and less desired school climate, and educators should consider cultural differences when drawing on experiences from other countries.

"We All Sort of Jump to That Relationship Piece": Science Teachers' Collaborative Professional Learning About the Role of Relationships in Argumentation

This study investigates how a professional learning approach that draws on elements from collaborative autoethnography (CAE) can support science teachers' learning about argumentation. It provides an account of how six secondary science teachers collectively explored their views and understandings of the importance of relationships for fostering argumentative sensemaking in classrooms. The educators partnered across four sessions to identify themes that emerged from their autoethnographic writings and discussions. The construct of "diffraction" later helped provide a situated, entangled analysis of how ideas traveled within the group over time. Findings highlight how teachers surfaced the importance of cultivating trusting classroom relationships (between teachers and students as well as between students with one another) to foster the social dialogic elements of argumentation and collective sensemaking. This insight is one not generally emphasized in teacher professional development related to argumentation and has only recently been examined in the research literature. Teachers also reclaimed the idea of "rigor" to encompass discourse that is connected to students' lives and engages them in knowledge-building with others. This study demonstrates how a CAE-inspired teacher professional development model that emphasizes teacher agency and professional knowledge can help educators develop nuanced understandings of argumentation. As more classrooms focus on engaging students in argumentative practices, this study suggests the need for the field of science education to shift its focus to attend more fully to the role of classroom relationships, vulnerability, and trust. This study also suggests promising strategies for helping teachers increase their commitment to enacting productive and expansive classroom argumentation practices that center students' experiences, value diverse sensemaking, and increase equitable opportunities for learning.