Weaving the literature on integration, pedagogy and assessment: insights for curriculum and classrooms. Report 2.

Readers should bear the following in mind: ● This is the second of two reports commissioned by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to inform the ongoing development of the Primary Curriculum Framework. Report 1 addresses conceptualisations of curriculum integration. This second report addresses the literature on pedagogy and assessment. Annex 2 contains the relevant methodological information for this report. ● A timeline for the development of this report can be seen on p. 2 of Report 1. ● This report is one of several commissioned by NCCA in 2022. We encourage readers to consult the reports on specific curriculum areas available on the NCCA website (e.g. Nohilly et al., 2023). We do not attempt to detail pedagogical or assessment advice for specific disciplines/subjects in this report. ● This report draws extensively on meta-analytic reviews. The box below provides guidance for readers on interpreting the effect sizes reported in such reviews. Understanding Effect Sizes To establish the efficacy of a particular practice, it is common to use experimental research designs. This usually involves one randomised group of children being taught using the practice of interest (e.g. Group 1= a new teaching strategy) and a comparison group (Group 2= traditional teaching strategy). The performance of each group is measured and an average score is calculated. The scores of each group of students are then statistically compared to see if there is meaningful difference. The effect size (ES) indicates the scale of this difference (if it exists). Effect size can be calculated in many ways, e.g. Cohen’s d, Hedge’s g. They can also be aggregated for the purpose of meta-analytic reviews. In educational research, an effect size of less than 0.05 is considered small, 0.05 to less than 0.20 is medium, and 0.20 or greater is large (Kraft, 2020). Different benchmarks exist, but in general, the larger the effect size the greater the impact on student learning. In this report, we use the original author’s descriptors, e.g. if an author classified the effect of their intervention as ‘medium’, we report as such

‘Time to figure out what to do’: understanding the nature of Irish post-primary students’ interactions with computer-based exams (CBEs) that use multimedia stimuli

In line with the widespread proliferation of digital technology in everyday life, many countries are now beginning to use computer-based exams (CBEs) in their post-primary education systems. To ensure that these CBEs are delivered in a manner that preserves their fairness, validity, utility and credibility, several factors pertaining to their design and development will need to be considered. This research study investigated the extent to which the design of different types of test items (e.g. inclusion of multimedia stimuli) in a CBE can affect test-takers’ engagement and behaviour. Qualitative data from a cued-Retrospective Think Aloud (c-RTA) protocol were gathered from 12 participants who had participated in a previous eye-tracking study. Participants watched a replay of their eye movements and were asked to state out loud what they were thinking at different points of the replay. Thematic analysis of the responses from these cognitive interviews captured the nature of students’ interactions with online testing environments under three main themes: Familiarisation, Sense-making and Making Decisions. Students also provided their opinions of and recommendations for the future of Irish online assessments. These findings can offer guidelines to all stakeholders considering the use of CBEs in post-primary contexts

A validity perspective on interviews as a selection mechanism for entry to initial teacher education programmes

Across the world, teacher quality has come to be recognised as one of the most important variables affecting student outcomes; consequently, the regulation of entry into the profession is the subject of iterative review. The traditional ‘one-off’ interview, involving an interviewee and two or more interviewers, is a common, but not unproblematic, selection mechanism in the field. In particular, the modest positive correlation between performance at interviews and in clinical settings raises questions about using interviews as a selection mechanism for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. In this paper, we draw on validity theory and some key commentaries and studies in the research literature to offer a perspective on the extent to which the traditional interview provides data that can be used to make good decisions about applicants for ITE. The paper proposes a validity-based framework for use by practitioners to enhance the conceptualisation, design and evaluation of interviews in the process of teacher selection

Understanding pre-service teachers’ improvement in professional practice: A quantitative perspective

This paper examines the extent to which pre-service teachers exhibit improvements in their professional practice while on placement in their final years of initial teacher education (ITE). This research involved an analysis of the placement grades of three cohorts of pre-service post-primary teachers (N = 198) as they completed the final two years of a four-year concurrent programme of teacher education in the Republic of Ireland. For those placements completed in Year 3 and Year 4 of this programme, the pre-service teachers received a mark for eight ‘key’ skills sets (for instance, Classroom Management, Assessment). Scores on these skill sets contributed to their total mark for that placement. The analysis conducted on these scores suggests that pre-service teachers’ overall skills and competencies improve in the final years of their ITE programme. The findings also indicate that pre-service teachers’ performance from Year 3 to Year 4 showed a statistically significant improvement in skills relating to Professionalism, Teacher Communication Skills, Classroom and Lesson Management, and Inclusive Practice. Such data can provide evidence to inform programme evaluation, planning, and delivery. The findings from this research may also contribute to the design of continuing professional development for newly qualified teachers

Strong Host-Feeding Preferences of the Vector Triatoma infestans Modified by Vector Density: Implications for the Epidemiology of Chagas Disease

Chagas disease is a complex zoonosis with more than 150 mammalian host species, nearly a dozen blood-sucking triatomine species as main vectors, and 9–11 million people infected with Trypanosoma cruzi (its causal agent) in the Americas. Triatoma infestans, a highly domesticated species and one of the main vectors, feeds more often on domestic animals than on humans in northern Argentina. The question of whether there are host-feeding preferences among dogs, cats, and chickens is crucial to estimating transmission risks and predicting the effects of control tactics targeting them. This article reports the first host choice experiments of triatomine bugs conducted in small huts under natural conditions. The results demonstrate that T. infestans consistently preferred dogs to chickens or cats, with host shifts occurring more frequently at higher vector densities. Combined with earlier findings showing that dogs have high infection rates, are highly infectious, and have high contact rates with humans and domestic bugs, our results reinforce the role of dogs as the key reservoirs of T. cruzi. The strong bug preference for dogs can be exploited to target dogs with topical lotions or insecticide-impregnated collars to turn them into baited lethal traps or use them as transmission or infestation sentinels

Proteases of haematophagous arthropod vectors are involved in blood-feeding, yolk formation and immunity : a review

Ticks, triatomines, mosquitoes and sand flies comprise a large number of haematophagous arthropods considered vectors of human infectious diseases. While consuming blood to obtain the nutrients necessary to carry on life functions, these insects can transmit pathogenic microorganisms to the vertebrate host. Among the molecules related to the blood-feeding habit, proteases play an essential role. In this review, we provide a panorama of proteases from arthropod vectors involved in haematophagy, in digestion, in egg development and in immunity. As these molecules act in central biological processes, proteases from haematophagous vectors of infectious diseases may influence vector competence to transmit pathogens to their prey, and thus could be valuable targets for vectorial control

Hidden Sylvatic Foci of the Main Vector of Chagas Disease Triatoma infestans: Threats to the Vector Elimination Campaign?

Triatoma infestans, a highly domesticated species and historically the main vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, is the target of an insecticide-based elimination program in the southern cone countries of South America since 1991. Only limited success has been achieved in the Gran Chaco region due to repeated reinfestations. We conducted full-coverage spraying of pyrethroid insecticides of all houses in a well-defined rural area in northwestern Argentina, followed by intense monitoring of house reinfestation and searches for triatomine bugs in sylvatic habitats during the next two years, to establish the putative sources of new bug colonies. We found low-density sylvatic foci of T. infestans in trees located within the species' flight range from the nearest infested house detected before control interventions. Using multiple methods (fine-resolution satellite imagery, geographic information systems, spatial statistics, genetic markers and wing geometric morphometry), we corroborated the species identity of the sylvatic bugs as T. infestans and found they were indistinguishable from or closely related to local domestic or peridomestic bug populations. Two sylvatic foci were spatially associated to the nearest peridomestic bug populations found before interventions. Sylvatic habitats harbor hidden foci of T. infestans that may represent a threat to vector suppression attempts