Researching research use : an online study of school practitioners across Canada

Because of its traditional role as an enabler of knowledge dissemination, education is expected to contribute substantially to the development of the knowledge economy. This means applying the knowledge that it generates through research to its own practice. Yet the literature shows that school practitioners do not express much demand for research findings, unlike doctors, engineers and other professionals. The purpose of this pan-Canadian online survey study is twofold. First, it investigates the extent to which school teachers, principals and professionals use research to inform their practice and indicates predictors of this use. Second, it tests the generalizability of a questionnaire originally developed within a provincial secondary school context. The 43-item questionnaire yielded 1,153 responses. Frequency of use of research-based information from a variety of sources and types of use were used as outcome measures. The questionnaire also explored practitioners' opinions about research, their attitudes towards research-awareness activities and their expertise to use research findings, as well as the constraints they contend with in everyday practice:- The results indicate that the three groups of practitioners either do not use educational research or use it infrequently. Although the respondents share neutral attitudes towards research, their comments add a negative connotation by qualifying research as irrelevant, and biased. The latent factor opinions about research is the greatest predictor, accounting for 9-16% of the variance in practitioners' use of research. The psychometric qualities of the questionnaire remain stable. Its internal reliability is 0.94. The four-factor solution explains 60% of variance and together with demographic variables predicts 22% of the frequency of use of research-based information. School leadership organizations, teacher education institutions and research-generating bodies stand to benefit from the study's findings, as they point to the necessity of increasing research relevance and accessibility, cultivating teaching as a research-based profession and building school capacity to use research. Future research should further explore the reasons why practitioners do not use research-based information and the ways to change school practitioners' negative perceptions of educational research. Refinements to the questionnaire and its cross-disciplinary comparison to other professions are also open for future inquiry

Learning Mathematics with Interactive Technology in Kenya Grade-one Classes

While countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made significant progress towards achieving universal school enrolment, millions of students lack basic numeracy skills. This paper reports the results of a pilot study that aimed at using the Emergent Literacy in Mathematics (ELM) software to teach mathematics in early primary grades in Kenya. Designed as a pre- and post-test non-equivalent group research, the study unfolded in 14 grade-one classes from 7 primary public schools. After having learned with ELM for about two terms, the experimental students (N = 283) considerably outperformed their peers (N = 171) exposed to traditional instruction with the effect sizes of +0.37 on the overall skills measured by a standardised test of mathematics. The impact of ELM activities was the greatest on students’ ability to take language and concepts of mathematics and apply appropriate operations and computation to solve word problems. On this set of skills, the magnitude of difference between the experimental and control groups was +0.77. This study also revealed some positive shifts in the teachers’ perceptions about their practice. The teachers who adopted ELM in their practice reported having gained more confidence in mathematics and comfort in teaching mathematics with computers

Educational Research in Educational Practice: Predictors of Use

This study investigates the predictors of school practitioners’ (N = 2,425) use of educational research. The suggested model explained significantly but modestly the infrequent use of educational research by practitioners. Of the four factors in the study, “opinions about research” had the most explanatory power. The results are discussed in connection with existing knowledge about school practitioners’ use of educational research and implications for further research and practice

Sustainability and scalability of digital tools for learning : the learning toolkit plus in Kenya

This research involved more than 500 primary and secondary classrooms in five areas of Kenya. The paper provides details of the study, including literature review, methodology, student response and factors that impact teacher’s beliefs, attitudes and motivation. The model points to directions for technology-based pedagogical innovations in developing context, such as seeking support from local and national governments and enhancing teacher professional development in order to strengthen individual and collective capacity. In terms of teacher motivation, political context turned out to be very influential.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canad

Environmental Consequences of the Explosion of the Kahovsky Hydroelectric Plant on Biodiversity

The purpose of this article is to determine the ecological consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant (southern Ukraine) on the biological diversity of the region. The main research methods were: theoretical generalization and system-functional approach, analysis, synthesis, expedition method. Results. The ecological consequences of the destruction of a hydroelectric dam are divided into two types: drainage and flooding. As a result of the flooding, 48 objects of the nature reserve fund, with a total area of 120 thousand hectares, were affected. Aquatic biotopes and biotopes characteristic of overmoistened areas were the most affected by drainage. 38 rare types of biotopes, which are under the protection of the Bern Convention, were affected by the ecological disaster; wetlands of international importance (so-called Ramsar) with an area of 33,000 hectares in the Dnipro delta and seven objects of the Emerald network. Perspectives. Prospects for further research are related to the study of biotope restoration after an ecological disaster

Use of ELM software to teach and learn mathematics in grade-one Kenyan classrooms : a brief report of the 2019 study

The Kenyan government mandates one digital device per child in elementary grades, making it possible to test if the need for early numeracy intervention can be addressed by introducing Emerging Literacy in Mathematics (ELM) software in teaching and learning mathematics. This brief reports on the study conducted in 14 grade-one classes from 7 primary public schools in Mombasa area (2019). Designed as a strong test of ELM, it unfolded in authentic classroom conditions. Outcomes strongly suggest that the use of ELM significantly improved young students’ mathematical abilities over those of students from the control group

Self-regulated learning in Kenyan classrooms : a test of a process e-portfolio

Defined as “self-generated thoughts, feelings and actions that are planned and cyclically adapted to the attainment of personal goals,” self-regulated learning (SRL) addresses both meta-cognitive and motivational aspects of learning that unfold through the cyclical phases of forethought, performance, and self-reflection. The report provides details of the study design, activities and outcomes of the project. After learning with the e-portfolio, the students’ achievement and perceptions of their self-regulation skills improved when compared to peers who hardly used the electronic portfolio tool or did not use it at all.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC

Promoting young Kenyans’ growth in literacy with educational technology : a tale of two years of implementation

The study explored impacts of the interactive early literacy software, ABRACADABRA (A Balanced Reading Approach for Children Always Designed to Achieve Best Results for All, ABRA) and the digital library, READS, on primary students’ reading abilities and reading instruction in Kenyan schools. ABRA is an online application that provides an engaging interactive environment for learning literacy for early elementary school-aged children. Embedded in the “Learning Toolkit Plus,” READS (Repository for E-Books and Digital Stories) is a searchable collection of multi-lingual stories available online. As a result of exposure to ABRA and READS, the gap between high and low performing students diminished.Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD)Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC)Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canad

Teaching and learning with technology in Sub-Saharan Africa

This report presents the summary of results of the Teaching and Learning with Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa project completed in Kenya (2016-2020). In addition to showing significant gains in student learning, the findings suggest that teaching behaviors were also positively affected by educational software applications. The project confirmed that with appropriate support, teachers are able to integrate software within their regular unscripted lessons in real-world conditions of Kenyan public primary and secondary schools. The support system was put in place to aid with the classroom implementation of the Learning Toolkit Plus (LTK+) software

2019 Kirindon literacy study : using ABRACADABRA and READS

Two grade-one English teachers and their students from two World Vision schools in Kirindon (a remote region of Narok County, Kenya) participated in this study; one teacher used ABRA-READS as part of her English Language instruction (40 students) and one control teacher (40 students) did not use the tools. Analysis of findings show that after exposure to the ABRA and READS instruction, the students improved their scores at a higher rate than their peers from the control class. ABRA/READS students showed significantly larger improvements in Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Total Grade. The software helped learners become active learners and to reason faster