Role play to develop oral production of the English language in undergraduate engineering students

This research aimed to develop the oral production of the English language in undergraduate engineering students at a national university. It was based on the need to improve the teaching of oral language production to promote oral ability in students. The research is interpretive paradigm educational. The sample consisted of four teachers and 26 students. Questionnaires and observation were used to collect data in this study. The information was processed and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, which allowed the generation of emerging categories. The diagnosis showed that teachers apply strategies that do not promote oral production in students or are contextualized. It is concluded that the scientific contribution of research is the design of the didactic strategy, based on the role play, which will generate a more interactive, contextualized and reflective teaching-learning process.Campus Lima Centr

METHODS OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE INFORMATICS PROFESSIONALS

This research investigates the methods employed in the development of professional competence for future informatics professionals. Employing a mixed-methods approach, encompassing surveys, interviews, and a comparative analysis of international practices, the study offers a comprehensive overview of the strategies underpinning competence development. The findings highlight the necessity of a holistic approach, wherein formal education is complemented by experiential learning, collaborative projects, industry partnerships, and continuous professional development. The comparative analysis underscores the universal value of these methods, emphasizing their applicability across diverse educational systems. This research provides a valuable roadmap for educational institutions, industry stakeholders, and policymakers to design effective competence development programs, fostering a robust and adaptable informatics workforce

Transversal Skills in Vocational Education and Training: The Case of ENSAM Engineering Students

This study deals with 4th year ENSAM (École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Meknes, Morocco) engineering students who are studying English for engineering through Project-Based Learning (PBL). It attempts to describe how PBL helps develop students’ transversal skills, namely critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, and media and information literacy skills. The importance of such skills is reflected in the success of the learning process as well as the academic achievement of the targeted students. In addition, these skills get more importance when engineering students seek effective employability and successful integration in the job market. A field study has been carried out among 240 students who have responded to a close-ended questionnaire for a quantitative research in addition to a qualitative analysis of such numerical results. The analyzed findings reveal an overall positive response to the integration of PBL in the English class, stressing that this form of contextualized learning has helped the respondents develop the three sets of transversal skills above. General conclusions are presented and highlighted for other similar investigations

Identification of levels of sustainable consciousness of teachers in training through an e-portfolio

The contents of Education for Sustainable Development should be included in teachers’ initial and advanced training programs. A sustainable consciousness is one of the main foundations for determining the key competences for sustainability. However, there are not many empirical studies that deal with consciousness from education. In this context, the e-portfolio appears as a tool that promotes reflection and critical thinking, which are key competences for consciousness development. This work intends to propose a categorization system to extract types of consciousness and identify the levels of consciousness of teachers in training. For this research work, which is of an eminently qualitative nature, we have selected 25 e-portfolios of students (teachers in pre-service training) in the last year of the School of Education at the University of Macerata (Italy). The qualitative methodological procedure that was followed enabled deducing three bases that shape the consciousness of teachers in training: thinking, representation of reality, and type of consciousness. We concluded that the attainment of a sustainable consciousness in teachers requires activating and developing higher levels of thinking, as well as a projective and macrostructural representation of reality

ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF AN AUTHENTIC PROJECT-BASED INTERVENTION ON SECONDARY STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF ECOSYSTEMS AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD AND INTERESTS IN STEM

There is a need for secondary schools to provide more authentic, hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and specifically, project-based investigation (PBI) environments in the classroom that focus on real-world problems relevant to students’ experiences, interest, and lives that manifest the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) following practices they prescribe. This study investigated how, to what extent, a contextualized aquaponics PBI (APBI) 10-week model unit affected high school students’ attitudes toward STEM in general, and aquaculture and aquaponics in particular, and interests in future STEM-related disciplines and/or STEM career pathways. This study also measured changes in students’ understanding of standard-based ecological relationships and concepts concerning interactions in ecosystems and specifically the phenomena carrying capacity and bacterial nitrification process. Currently, there is very little research literature on how APBI may engage students in learning science, initiate affective attitudes and interest in their local environments, and potentially pique their interests in STEM, and aquaculture/aquaponics fields as a career choice. Using a quantitative methods, quasi-experimental research design, three different student groups who participated in the authentic, hands-on APBI intervention (i.e., treatment groups) were given a pre- and post-attitude/interest survey (N=55). The 12 survey items were rated by a 5-point Likert-type scale that measured changes in student interest and attitudes toward STEM as discipline and area of interest. In addition, the survey included a profile of the respondents with the demographic items. Further, the treatment groups and control group were given a pre- and post-content-aligned test (N=88) which measured changes in students’ ecological knowledge. The results in this study revealed that the intervention contributed to the treatment group students’ positive attitudes toward STEM in general, and aquaculture and aquaponics in particular, and developing an interest in STEM disciplines and/or STEM career pursuits. Results also demonstrate that the project-based intervention, utilizing a real-life aquaculture/aquaponics context, was an effective method to provide meaningful learning and content understanding of standard-based ecological concepts and relationships. The evidence from this study suggest that authentic instructional experiences can facilitate students’ understanding of standard-based ecological concepts and knowledge of ecosystems as the three treatment group students showed statistically significantly higher mean difference (improvement) sum scores after taking the pre- and post-content-aligned assessment when compared to the control group (Group 1). Overall, the gain in understanding and appreciation for and interest in STEM and aquaculture can be attributed to the project-enhanced unit implemented in this study. The implications of this study suggest APBI models may create authentic science learning environments that promote student learning of scientific concepts while piquing their interest in STEM related disciplines and/or career pathways. The intervention design and findings in this study may provide educators new insights and ideas on how to incorporate and use contextualized, aquaponics project-based instruction as a teaching and learning tool. In addition, APBI can offer engaging curricula that articulates NGSS

Career Advancement Academies: Insights into Contextualized Teaching and Learning

This brief explores our work with the Career Ladders Project (CLP) to improve educational outcomes for underserved Californians.Launched in 2007, the Career Advancement Academies are designed to enable underserved Californians – typically first in their families to attend college, low-income, or from communities of color – to enroll in higher education and adjust to emerging and evolving workforce and industry needs. Specifically, CAAs aim to increase the supply of middle skill workers by targeting under-prepared young adults (ages 18-30) whose low basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics shut them out of post-secondary education and high-wage jobs. CAAs support students through a holistic set of interventions to build the foundational skills needed to complete postsecondary education and enter careers