Invention Pedagogy – The Finnish Approach to Maker Education

This collection, edited and written by the leading scholars and experts of innovation and maker education in Finland, introduces invention pedagogy, a research-based Finnish approach for teaching and learning through multidisciplinary, creative design and making processes in formal school settings. The book outlines the background of, and need for, invention pedagogy, providing various perspectives for designing and orchestrating the invention process while discusses what can be learnt and how learning happens through inventing. In addition, the book introduces the transformative, school-level innovator agency needed for developing whole schools as innovative communities. Featuring informative case study examples, the volume explores the theoretical, pedagogical, and methodological implications for the research and practice of invention pedagogy in order to further the field and bring new perspectives, providing a new vision for schools for decades to come. Intermixing the results of cutting-edge research and best practice within STEAM-education and invention pedagogy, this book will be essential reading for researchers, students, and scholars of design and technology education, STEM education, teacher education, and learning sciences more broadly

A Mixed Method Study: Assessing Critical Thinking, Metacognition, and Motivation in a Flipped Classroom Instructional Model

Technology has changed pedagogical methods in higher education. Educators are using technology more and integrating more active learning techniques. One pedagogical method, the flipped classroom, is suitable for integrating technology and active learning techniques. The pedagogical efficacy of the flipped classroom has not been determined despite being a potential solution for technology savvy millennial students. This mixed method study assessed critical thinking, metacognition, and motivation in higher education flipped classrooms in the United States. Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) members teaching traditional and flipped format science courses were purposefully selected to participate in the study. A sample of 14 HAPS educators recruited 426 students enrolled in their science courses to complete the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), a five-point Likert scale instrument used to measure critical thinking, metacognition, and motivation. The study was a pre-test/post-test non-equivalent control group design with semi-structured interviews for flipped classroom educators. The MSLQ was administered at the beginning and end of the fall semester (16 weeks) or the summer semester (8 weeks). A multivariate analysis of variance was used to estimate relationships between classroom format (flipped or traditional) and outcome variables (critical thinking, metacognition and motivation). The results were not statistically significant, meaning the flipped classroom was not more effective than the traditional classroom format for the outcome variables. The semi-structured interviews with flipped classroom instructors addressed the limitations and challenges of implementing a flipped classroom instructional model (FCIM). The most common limitations and challenges were preparation, in-class activities, student attitudes, and classroom space. The findings from this study will help those making pedagogical decisions in higher education as well as educators interested in implementing FCIM

Invention Pedagogy – The Finnish Approach to Maker Education

This collection, edited and written by the leading scholars and experts of innovation and maker education in Finland, introduces invention pedagogy, a research-based Finnish approach for teaching and learning through multidisciplinary, creative design and making processes in formal school settings. The book outlines the background of, and need for, invention pedagogy, providing various perspectives for designing and orchestrating the invention process while discusses what can be learnt and how learning happens through inventing. In addition, the book introduces the transformative, school-level innovator agency needed for developing whole schools as innovative communities. Featuring informative case study examples, the volume explores the theoretical, pedagogical, and methodological implications for the research and practice of invention pedagogy in order to further the field and bring new perspectives, providing a new vision for schools for decades to come. Intermixing the results of cutting-edge research and best practice within STEAM-education and invention pedagogy, this book will be essential reading for researchers, students, and scholars of design and technology education, STEM education, teacher education, and learning sciences more broadly

Inquiry-based instruction: The role of mindset for students with mathematics difficulties

The effectiveness of inquiry-based instruction (IBI) is well documented, however its use with students with mathematics difficulties (MD) has been limited, since it is often thought such methods are unsuitable for low attaining students. However, this belief is not entirely evidence based, and little research has explored how students with MD perceive IBI. In addition, previous research has demonstrated that students’ beliefs can have an impact on mathematics performance. This thesis therefore explores two research questions: (1) How do students with mathematics difficulties perceive inquiry-based instruction? and (2) Are students’ beliefs (e.g. mindset) associated with the effectiveness of inquiry-based instruction for students with mathematics difficulties? In a multiple case study involving two secondary schools from the United Kingdom, students with MD were taught using an inquiry approach to learning mathematics. Data were collected through a combination of questionnaires, lesson observations, student interviews, and pre-test/post-test assessments. Cross-case analysis suggested that students with mathematics difficulties perceived inquiry-based instruction according to four themes: IBI as a form of empowerment, IBI as a form of neglect, importance of the teacher, and importance of peers. The expression of the first two themes seemed to differ depending on the students’ mindsets. In addition, the students’ beliefs (including mindset) were analysed according to McLeod’s (1992) framework of beliefs in mathematics. Beliefs about mathematics, mathematics teaching, the self (including mindset), and the social context appeared to be associated with the effectiveness of IBI. Students with fixed mindsets showed poorer engagement and persistence compared to students with growth mindsets, but surprisingly, this effect was not reflected in test scores. Future research should seek to further explore the contextual factors that contribute to the effectiveness of inquiry instruction for students with MD

Adolescent Development in Context: Social, Psychological, and Neurological Foundations

This project was funded by KU Libraries’ Parent’s Campaign with support from the David Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright and the Open Educational Resources Working Group in the University of Kansas Libraries.Increasingly, there is a tendency to characterize the teenage years as a time of general moral degeneration and deviance. This is unfortunate because the teenage years represent a key developmental period of the typical human lifespan, and from an evolutionary point of view, the actual characteristics that define adolescence represent critical learning opportunities. The increased sensitivity to social influences, identity formation, and social-emotional skills are just a few of such opportunities that require appropriate environments and contexts for optimal, healthy outcomes. Research in the field of adolescent development has not been immune to the negative stereotypes surrounding adolescence, and it is common to see researchers, either implicitly or explicitly, refer to adolescence as a high-risk, anomalous developmental stage that must be controlled, managed, or simply endured until adult-level abilities emerge spontaneously as a result of having survived an intrinsically tumultuous developmental time. More enlightened views of adolescence recognize that all biological adaptations have a cause and a purpose, and that the purpose of adolescence can be discerned from understanding the complex evolutionary history of humans as a group-based, family-based, highly social, sometimes competitive, abstract-thinking species. Understanding the biological foundations of adolescence is meaningless if one does not also consider how biology and environment interact. In humans, these interactions are highly complex and involve not only immediate physical realities, but also social, cultural, and historical realities that create complex contexts and webs of interactions. Therefore, this textbook seeks to reconcile the biological and neurological foundations of human development with the psychological and sociological mechanisms that formed and continue to influence human developmental trajectories. To this end, we have divided the textbook into three main sections. The first, Foundations of Adolescent Development, introduces the historical science of studying adolescence and the biological foundations of puberty. The second section, Contexts of Adolescent Development, considers the primary contextual factors that influence developmental outcomes during adolescence. These include work and employment, peers, in-school and out-of-school contexts, leisure time, and the family. The final section, Milestones of Adolescent Development, addresses the primary psychological milestones that represent healthy adjustment to adult roles and responsibilities in society. The domains of these milestones include cognition and decision-making; identity, meaning, and purpose, moral development, and sexuality. From an educational point of view, the objective of this textbook is to provide a resource that is capable of fostering advanced conceptual change and learning in the field of adolescent development in order to go beyond stereotypical portrayals of adolescence as a pathological condition. Organized in a manner designed to scaffold increasingly complex ideas, the textbook redefines adolescence a sensitive period of development characterized by phylogenetically derived experience-expectant states and complex interactions of biological, psychological, and social factors. The textbook draws from the latest advances in neuroscience and psychology to construct a practical framework for use in a wide range of academic and professional contexts, and it presents historical as well as contemporary research to accomplish a radical redefining of an often misunderstood and maligned developmental period

Tools for underprepared students in engineering physics with a focus on online mastery learning exercises

For students entering college with very little or poor physics background, the transition into fast-paced calculus based physics courses at a large university can be demanding; this thesis documents tools used in a preparatory course which is intended to ease that transition by teaching fundamental skills and problem solving. Within the preparatory course, we implemented online mastery-style homework, introduced frequent testing with retakes, and applied a values affirmation intervention intended to quell stereotype threat. In the initial implementation of our mastery-style exercises, which were successful in two clinical trials, mastery was less successful in the course due to high levels of student frustration. Adjustments to the delivery and content with student affect in mind were able to mitigate frustration and increase students’ productive behaviors and performance. On mastery activities which were particularly difficult or calculation-heavy, increasing the amount of scaffolding and breaking up content into smaller, more focused pieces were strategies that helped students master content. Frequent testing improved midterm scores, but the effects were diminishing with the number of tests. The values affirmation activity, which was given to the preparatory course and a more mature physics course, had little effect on students’ performance despite its success documented elsewhere. Reflection on these tools’ success has highlighted the importance of considering student affect and the sensitivity of their effectiveness to students’ sense of agency and to the tools’ specific implementation