A review of the research literature relating to ICT and attainment

Summary of the main report, which examined current research and evidence for the impact of ICT on pupil attainment and learning in school settings and the strengths and limitations of the methodologies used in the research literature

Meta-analysis of the Effect of the Discovery Model in Physics Learning on Critical Thinking Ability and Knowledge Competence of High School Students

21st Century Education requires students to have the competence and ability to think critically, especially in learning Physics. So we need an appropriate learning model, one of which is the discovery model. In fact, there are still many teachers who cannot choose the right learning model, so students cannot develop their competence and critical thinking skills. The solution is to analyze the effect of the discovery model on students’ critical thinking skills and knowledge competencies in terms of the type of discovery model and physics material. The articles were analyzed from 16 relevant articles originating from international and national articles. Based on the analysis that has been done, four research results were obtained. From the four research results, it is known that the discovery model in terms of the type of discovery model and physics material influences students’ critical thinking skills and knowledge competence

Implementing Realistic Mathematics Education for Elementary Schools in Indonesia

In mathematics learning, concepts and contexts are required that students are able to learn from real-life environment. However, teachers generally equip students with formulas without being accompanied by the ability to comprehend basic concepts. Mathematics learning will indeed be enjoyable if it is not only textbook-based but also followed by real-life experience. This study aims to investigate whether local cultural context could foster students’ concept understanding in mathematics learning, particularly plane figures. Therefore, the research will, firstly, describe plane figures learning that uses the Indonesian Realistic Mathematics Education approach via iceberg and, secondly, discover students’ improvement in concept comprehension after applying the approach. 50 elementary school students participated in the research, which employed experimental and descriptive methods. Further, the study results demonstrate an increase in concept comprehension, indicated from the increase in student learning achievement based on the average score of the experimental class and of the control class (88.40 and 72.91 respectively). Next, the independent sample ttest suggests t-count is higher than t-table, therefore Ho is rejected and Ha accepted. Thus, the learning outcomes of the class using the PMRI approach linked to Palembang’s cultural context has increased

The Problem Based Learning in Enhancing Students’ Critical Thinking for Reading Skills in English Teaching at Vocational School

The purpose of this research explained how Problem Based Learning (PBL) designed in teaching and learning English for Vocational School students in Indonesia. A PBL was used for overcoming critical thinking skill in teaching English at vocational school. The sample consisted of tenth grade of vocational school students who were recruited purposively. The research methodology used qualitative and qualitative method. Interview was used to get data about instructional and students’ needs. Questionnaire was used to obtain expert validation during teaching and learning process, and a test was used to obtain the effectiveness. The results of expert validation showed that the design of this learning strategy was good and can be used in learning English. It was effective in English as Foreign Language teaching strategy for vocational school in Blega of Bangkalan. Thus, it could be implemented in the teaching and learning English for vocational school students in enhancing students’ critical thinking

ImpacT2 project: preliminary study 1: establishing the relationship between networked technology and attainment

This report explored teaching practices, beliefs and teaching styles and their influences on ICT use and implementation by pupils. Additional factors explored included the value of school and LEA policies and teacher competence in the use of ICT in classroom settings. ImpaCT2 was a major longitudinal study (1999-2002) involving 60 schools in England, its aims were to: identify the impact of networked technologies on the school and out-of-school environment; determine whether or not this impact affected the educational attainment of pupils aged 816 years (at Key Stages 2, 3, and 4); and provide information that would assist in the formation of national, local and school policies on the deployment of IC

A Metacognition-Based Digital Worksheet for Automotive Fault Diagnosis: a Needs Assessment

This study aims to define the problems and potential theoretical solutions to the problems in an automotive vocational teacher department. This study is part of a comprehensive study about the potential benefits of using the metacognition concept. Metacognition as the concept of learninghow-to-learn is needed for prospective automotive vocational teachers to conduct sustainable learning. This study is a qualitative study using semistructured interviews (SSI) and a focus group discussion (FGD) to collect the data. Firstly, the SSIs were conducted twice, before and after the FGD. The first SSI explores the problems, while the second SSI was conducted after the FGD to gain a possible contextual solution to the problems based on the result of FGD. Secondly, an FGD was conducted to explore the theoretical solutions to the problems. The findings of the first SSI stated that teaching communication skills and sustainable learning are necessary to be equipped since the automotive technologies in industries have been being developed rapidly from time to time. Those skills were not facilitated well in the teaching and learning activities in the department. The integration into courses of teaching communication and habit of sustainable learning could be the possible solution. The FGD findings stated that the metacognition concept could be brought into teaching and learning to deal with those problems. The second SSI findings said that automotive fault diagnosis learning was chosen as the subject since this is a problem-solving and higher-order thinking subject. Also, the learning tool kit for this subject is still conventional, so it needs to be improved with the metacognition concept

Employability skills for Australian industry: Literature review and framework development

The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) funded a project in 2001 to analyse and report on industry requirements for ‘employability skills’. This project was jointly managed by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was completed in March 2002. Employability skills were defined for the purposes of the project as ‘skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one’s potential and contribute successfully to enterprise strategic directions’. The project was commissioned to provide: (a) advice on possible new requirements for generic employability competencies that industry needs, or will need in the forseeable future, since the development of the Mayer key competencies; (b) clear definitions of what Australian industry and enterprises perceive as employability skills and the terminology being used to describe them; and (c) a proposed suite of employability skills and assessment and reporting options. The project also investigated industry reactions to the proposed suite and reporting options and undertook case studies involving a number of large enterprises and focus group research with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This report is based on a review of Australian and overseas policy and research literature on key employability skills. It clarifies concepts and terminology, analyses the principles and purposes of different approaches to key employability skills, develops a framework of such skills to support the fieldwork aspects of the overall project, and suggests strategies to facilitate the development of these skills more effectively within Australian education and training

Students’ Engagement in Independent Learning and Personal Development: Issues, Attitudes and Difficulties from the Female Learners’ Lived Experiences of Using Social Media in the Context of Saudi Higher Education

Personal access to digital information affects all situations in life, from lifelong learning and careers to teaching and learning practices. Recently, there has been interest in individuals’ uses of social media, its association with personal and academic development, and its extensive use in both formal and informal educational contexts. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), particular research attention has been given to females’ use of social media due to the significance of such easy access to their learning and development in the broader cultural context. However, little is known about the educational implications of such extended personal learning practices. For instance, the issues, attitudes and difficulties of students’ engagement, and the students’ changing needs and expectations under current social media influence, are still not fully understood. This research employs an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to investigate the lived learning experiences of female university students, focusing on their personal use of social media to examine current issues in students’ experiences in Saudi higher education. A group of female undergraduate learners in a Saudi higher education context were selected to offer the learners’ voice and perspective on educational issues related to their own engagement. Students’ personal accounts and different stories of engagement in independent learning and personal development from their use of social media have been collected through two phases. In the first phase, 20 female students participated in in-depth individual interviews and reflective diary reports. In the second phase, 12 female students participated in two focus group discussions to elicit their attitudes and opinions. The (IPA) analysis of the data drawing from different educational theories in the literature was used to understand factors related to students’ engagement and non-engagement from their different attitudes and stories of success and failure when using social media independently. Themes that emerged as drivers and motivations leading to students’ engagement in learning and personal development included self-efficacy and reflection, personal values and beliefs, awareness of opportunity, challenges and transitions, social inclusion and empowerment with learning choice. Several themes were also revealed from the personal accounts as barriers and difficulties for students’ engagement, including personal negative attitudes and experiences, understanding of social media risk, information overload and distraction, organisational, pedagogical and curriculum barriers, lack of social inclusion, technical problems, and time and cost issues. The research concludes with several recommendations for improving all students’ engagement under the current themes of personal and self-directed lifelong learning with matching curriculum and pedagogies adopted in this context to meet current student learning needs