Gli alunni stranieri e l’apprendimento delle matematica: alcune riflessioni sul caso italiano

The growing presence of foreign students in the Italian school continually interrogate teachers, policy makers and all those who are daily faced with issues related to this more and more structural reality. This work presents an analysis of the educational achievements in Mathematics of foreign students who have just completed the first cycle of education (5th grade) in Italy. To this end, we use INVALSI data that have the advantage to measure learning outcomesthrough standardized tests. Studying the frequency of responding correctly to any individual item and controlling for students’ background, we find substantially different and more encouraging reading of the learning gaps between Italian and foreign students.La crescente presenza di allievi stranieri nella scuola italiana interroga continuamente gli insegnanti, i decisori politici e tutti coloro che si trovano quotidianamente a fronteggiare le problematiche legate a questa realtà sempre più strutturale. Il presente contributo propone un’analisi sugli esiti in Matematicaalle Rilevazioni INVALSI 2014 degli studenti con cittadinanza non italiana che hanno appena terminato il primo ciclo di istruzione (classe V della scuola primaria). Considerando la probabilità di rispondere correttamente ai singoli item e tenendo sotto controllo alcune condizioni di contesto, si può avere una lettura diversa e più incoraggiante dei divari nell’apprendimento tra alunni italiani e stranieri

Mathematics teaching and learning: a paper starting from Invalsi data

This paper illustrates the main teaching practices features in the Italian primary and secondary school, by using new data, provided by Invalsi, about teachers’ daily activities. We merge such information with the scores achieved by the students in the Invalsi test. Our study reframes the cognitive test results in mathematics from a new bottom-up perspective, that is internal to the educational system. La didattica della matematica e gli apprendimenti: un contributo a partire dai dati InvalsiLa finalità principale del presente lavoro è di illustrare alcune caratteristiche delle pratiche didattiche del primo e del secondo ciclo di istruzione, utilizzando alcuni nuovi dati forniti da Invalsi sulle attività quotidiane degli insegnanti. Unendo queste informazioni con i punteggi ottenuti dagli studenti nel test Invalsi, si vogliono approfondire i risultati ottenuti dagli studenti in matematica partendo da una nuova prospettiva, interna al sistema di educazione.

Prova strutturata vs prova con svolgimento aperto: gli effetti sul rendimento degli studenti in Italiano

Didactic practices, i.e. choices and actions taken intentionally to realize an educational goal, play a crucial role in students' learning achievement. The aim of the present contribution is to examine the effects of teaching practices, in particular written composition tasks and structured tests, on the score obtained by students at the end of lower secondary education at the Italian tests of INVALSI (school year 2016/2017). To this end, we proposed hierarchical regression models, by controlling for some of the relevant variables at the student and class level. The datasets used are those of the INVALSI National Surveys and the Teacher Questionnaire of the school year 2016/2017.Le pratiche didattiche, intese come le scelte e le azioni attivate in modo intenzionale per la realizzazione di un fine educativo, svolgono un ruolo cruciale sui risultati di apprendimento raggiunti dagli studenti. L'obiettivo del contributo è studiare gli effetti delle pratiche didattiche, in particolare il componimento scritto e le prove strut­turate, sul punteggio ottenuto dagli studenti al termine della scuola secondaria di I grado alle prove INVALSI di italiano (anno scolastico 2016/2017). A tal fine sono stati realizzati alcuni modelli di regressione gerarchica, controllando per alcune variabili rilevanti a livello di studente e di classe. I dataset utilizzati sono relativi alle rilevazioni nazionali INVALSI e al Questionario Insegnante dell'anno scolastico 2016/2017

Educational Expectations of Migrant Students in Italy: Second-class Destiny or Integration’s Opportunity?

School choices are a complex and important step that characterizes the path of any student. This moment of transition is particularly crucial for foreign students, for whom it represents also a measure of their integration. The aim of this work is to verify if the Italian intercultural model is ensuring equal opportunities for immigrant students and if foreign students are able to progress through the educational system on par with other Italian peers. Our purpose, more specifically, is to verify if foreign students have the same aspiration for the future than the Italian ones, investigating the role and the weight of some important background factors such as gender, socio-economic status and learning abilities. We used census data coming from INVALSI (Italian National Institute for the Evaluation of Educational System) of grade 10 in the academic year 2016/2017. The key variable of this study relies on the question about educational expectation («What is the highest degree you expect to obtain?»), analyzed according with student’s origin (native/migrant), keeping into account also the age of arrival in Italy for students born abroad

Sex- and APOE-specific genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease: Evidence from gene-gene interaction of longevity-related loci

Advanced age is the largest risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), a disease in which susceptibility correlates to almost all hallmarks of aging. Shared genetic signatures between LOAD and longevity were frequently hypothesized, likely characterized by distinctive epistatic and pleiotropic interactions. Here, we applied a multidimensional reduction approach to detect gene-gene interactions affecting LOAD in a large dataset of genomic variants harbored by genes in the insulin/IGF1 signaling, DNA repair, and oxidative stress pathways, previously investigated in human longevity. The dataset was generated from a collection of publicly available Genome Wide Association Studies, comprising a total of 2,469 gene variants genotyped in 20,766 subjects of Northwestern European ancestry (11,038 LOAD cases and 9,728 controls). The stratified analysis according to APOE*4 status and sex corroborated evidence that pathways leading to longevity also contribute to LOAD. Among the significantly interacting genes, PTPN1, TXNRD1, and IGF1R were already found enriched in gene-gene interactions affecting survival to old age. Furthermore, interacting variants associated with LOAD in a sex- and APOE-specific way. Indeed, while in APOE*4 female carriers we found several inter-pathway interactions, no significant epistasis was found in APOE*4 negative females; conversely, in males, significant intra- and inter-pathways epistasis emerged according to APOE*4 status. These findings suggest that interactions of risk factors may drive different trajectories of cognitive aging. Beyond helping to disentangle the genetic architecture of LOAD, such knowledge may improve precision in predicting the risk of dementia and enable effective sex- and APOE-stratified preventive and therapeutic interventions for LOAD

I segni raccontano. La Lingua dei Segni Italiana tra esperienze, strumenti e metodologie

Il libro, nato dalle ricerche, esperienze, proposte e sperimentazioni presentate al 3° Convegno sulla Lingua dei Segni Italiana, racconta di una lingua che è parte della vita di molte persone sorde e udenti, e si dipana intorno a quattro tematiche: i profili professionali in evoluzione; la LIS come risorsa; le esperienze di bilinguismo e integrazione; i diritti, i servizi e l’accessibilità.The book, born from the research, experiences, proposals and experiments presented at the 3rd Conference on Italian Sign Language, tells of a language that is part of the life of many deaf and hearing people, and unfolds around four themes: professional profiles Evolving; the LIS as a resource; experiences of bilingualism and integration; rights, services and accessibility

Les textes médiévaux face à l'édition scientifique contemporaine.

Le texte médiéval est soumis, dans sa construction et sa diffusion, à un travail éditorial qui en modifie nécessairement la nature et la réception. Face à la mouvance du texte au Moyen Âge et devant l’hétérogénéité des pratiques éditoriales médiévales, quels ont été les partis-pris scientifiques de l’édition de ces trente dernières années ? Depuis le xixe siècle, la philologie a connu de nombreuses évolutions : comment le travail éditorial a-t-il intégré, adapté ou rejeté les acquis de ses prédécesseurs ? Par ailleurs, Internet est depuis ces quinze dernières années l’un des principaux vecteurs de transformation de l’édition de textes médiévaux et les enjeux de cette révolution éditoriale n’ont pas encore fait l’objet d’un bilan. La dématérialisation du livre suppose nécessairement une construction et une transmission différente du texte. On pourra notamment se demander dans quelle mesure cet outil parvient ou non à pallier les limites techniques du livre imprimé et à renouveler l’approche de l’objet manuscrit dans ce qu’il a de plus singulier. Cependant, l’édition sur Internet, la numérisation du patrimoine manuscrit et tous les outils électroniques de ressources textuelles qui se développent aujourd’hui n’imposent-ils pas un nouveau mirage ? Le sentiment d’un accès apparemment illimité et sans contrainte à l’objet manuscrit ne produit-il pas de nouveaux écarts interprétatifs entre le texte édité et le manuscrit ? Les contribution qui forment la partie « Études et travaux » de ce premier numéro en ligne de Perspectives médiévales apportent des éléments de réponse et des éclairages à ces questionnement qui traversent l’histoire et les pratiques contemporaines de l’édition des textes médiévaux. Sébastien Douche