Responsible research and innovation in science education: insights from evaluating the impact of using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values

The European Commission policy approach of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is gaining momentum in European research planning and development as a strategy to align scientific and technological progress with socially desirable and acceptable ends. One of the RRI agendas is science education, aiming to foster future generations' acquisition of skills and values needed to engage in society responsibly. To this end, it is argued that RRI-based science education can benefit from more interdisciplinary methods such as those based on arts and digital technologies. However, the evidence existing on the impact of science education activities using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values remains underexplored. This article comparatively reviews previous evidence on the evaluation of these activities, from primary to higher education, to examine whether and how RRI-related learning outcomes are evaluated and how these activities impact on students' learning. Forty academic publications were selected and its content analysed according to five RRI values: creative and critical thinking, engagement, inclusiveness, gender equality and integration of ethical issues. When evaluating the impact of digital and arts-based methods in science education activities, creative and critical thinking, engagement and partly inclusiveness are the RRI values mainly addressed. In contrast, gender equality and ethics integration are neglected. Digital-based methods seem to be more focused on students' questioning and inquiry skills, whereas those using arts often examine imagination, curiosity and autonomy. Differences in the evaluation focus between studies on digital media and those on arts partly explain differences in their impact on RRI values, but also result in non-documented outcomes and undermine their potential. Further developments in interdisciplinary approaches to science education following the RRI policy agenda should reinforce the design of the activities as well as procedural aspects of the evaluation research

Innovating Pedagogy 2017: Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers. Open University Innovation Report 6

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This sixth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Learning In a NetworKed Society (LINKS) Israeli Center of Research Excellence (I-CORE). Themes: • Big-data inquiry: thinking with data • Learners making science • Navigating post-truth societies • Immersive learning • Learning with internal values • Student-led analytics • Intergroup empathy • Humanistic knowledge-building communities • Open Textbooks • Spaced Learnin

Using Technology to Facilitate Modeling-Based Science Education: Lessons Learned from a Meta-analysis of Empirical Research

This study focused on the integration of technologies in regular science teaching within the pedagogical framework of modeling-based instruction (MBI), a well-established instructional method in science education, and aimed to identify new trends of technology integration in MBI, explore the particular features (Interactivity, Collaboration, and Scaffolding) and affordances of new technologies, and examine the effect of technology-supported MBI on students learning outcomes. By analyzing empirical MBI studies from 2000 to 2010 through a meta-analysis and qualitatively reviewing studies from 2011-2016, this study shared three major findings: (1) computer-based software was the most commonly used technology in MBI, with Internet and mobile technologies rarely used, thus indicating an alarming gap between technology advancement and its integration in education; (2) the majority of technologies used in MBI were considered highly-interactive, but collaborative and scaffolding features of MBI technologies were rarely discussed in MBI literature; (3) technology-supported MBI had an overall much higher effect size on students’ science learning performance. Implications and suggestions for future research were also discussed

A Predictive Correlational Study of Factors Affecting Teachers\u27 Technology Self-Efficacy

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study is to examine the predictive relationship between teachers’ age, gender, teaching experience, and grade level and teachers’ technology self-efficacy. This study is important because of its potential to identify factors that may affect educational technology program efficacy and ultimately, academic achievement. The convenience sample included 118 elementary school, middle school, and high school teachers from one rural Pennsylvania school district that implemented a one-to-one (1:1) iPad initiative in 2016. Teachers’ age, gender, teaching experience, and assigned grade levels were anonymously determined using a demographic survey, and teachers’ technology self-efficacy was measured using the Educator Technology Self-Efficacy Survey (ETS-ES). The researcher used a multiple regression analysis to analyze the predictive strength of each predictor variable on teachers’ technology self-efficacy. The researcher failed to reject the null hypothesis at the 95% confidence level since the researcher was unable to prove a significant, predictive relationship between all four predictor variables and the criterion variable of teachers’ technology self-efficacy. The variables of age and gender did make a significant contribution to teachers’ levels of technology self-efficacy, while the variables of grade level and teaching experience did not make a significant contribution. The results of the study can be used by educational leaders to create more targeted technology-related professional development opportunities for teachers. More research is needed to further investigate factors impacting teachers’ technology self-efficacy

System upgrade: realising the vision for UK education

A report summarising the findings of the TEL programme in the wider context of technology-enhanced learning and offering recommendations for future strategy in the area was launched on 13th June at the House of Lords to a group of policymakers, technologists and practitioners chaired by Lord Knight. The report – a major outcome of the programme – is written by TEL director Professor Richard Noss and a team of experts in various fields of technology-enhanced learning. The report features the programme’s 12 recommendations for using technology-enhanced learning to upgrade UK education

The use of ICT by science teachers in middle secondary science education in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

This research investigated Bhutanese middle secondary science teachers’ ICT knowledge, skills, perceptions and attitudes, patterns of ICT use, and associated factors linked to effective ICT implementation in their classrooms. The study was based on the hypothesis that the use of ICT in secondary science education in Bhutan was affected by the teachers’ attitudes and perceptions towards the use of ICT; their knowledge and skills related to ICT; their TPACK and the barriers associated with effective implementation of ICT. The research was primarily an exploratory study accommodating a post-positivist approach employing mixed design of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A questionnaire survey on a sample of middle secondary science teachers was the quantitative study. Case studies of eight schools consisting of their historical background and performance records, semi-structured interviews with eight science teachers from these schools and focus group of students from three of these schools formed the case studies. The survey questionnaire targeted 189 middle secondary science teachers from a total of 63 middle secondary schools and secured a response rate of 85.7%. The survey questions covered patterns of ICT use in daily life, interest in ICT, confidence in using ICT and application of ICT in science teaching. A set of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) questions (Mishra & Kohler, 2009) were also included to test the level of ICT integration achieved by these teachers. The findings showed that overall, the teachers possessed moderate levels of ICT knowledge and skills; very few ICT elements were used in the teachers’ daily life, and still less were employed in science teaching due to lack of confidence. Although teachers had positive perceptions and attitudes regarding use of ICT in teaching science, many could not fully utilise ICT due to personal and institutional constraints. Teachers were found to use various ICT tools dependent upon their personal competence and confidence. ICT trained teachers used more tools and engaged with more innovation in the classroom, whilst teachers with low ICT competency and confidence exhibited little integration. ICT trained teachers also helped the school management in developing administrative facilities that engaged ICT, and they also involved students in using ICT presentations. Specialised ICT teachers facilitated innovative uses of ICT such as: interactive student-centred teaching; enhanced collaborative student work; improved problem-based and project-based learning. These teachers also shared their ICT knowledge and skills with other colleagues. Schools with a poor ICT resources often provided less time for professional engagement and therefore, inhibited the implementation ICT in classrooms. Based on these findings, the research recommended the government to increase funding for ICT in schools to provide: more computer laboratories and extend the professional development opportunities for both pre-service and in-service science teacher contexts. More extensive research covering other types of educational institutions, more student-focused research, comparison of teacher and student perceptions and linking performance with ICT use were some new research areas suggested for future. The limitations of sample size and sampling method and difficulties encountered in interviews using social sites in recording the proceedings were two main limitations identified in this study. The sampling and size limitations could affect generalisability of the findings beyond the context of this research