Towards a knowledge-rich learning environment in preparatory secondary education

In this case study a novel educational programme for students in preparatory vocational education was studied. The research questions were: (1) Which teaching/learning processes occur in a simulated workplace using the concept of a knowledge-rich workplace? (2) What is the role of models and modelling in the teaching/learning processes? The curriculum project consisted of design and construction tasks. The students were collaboratively involved in the process of designing a tricycle for a real customer. This real-life activity creates opportunities for students to develop and use models, which can be used in more than in one context. The case study explored how the teachers deal with the students' explicit and implicit need for knowledge and skills. The main findings are that teachers more often provide this knowledge, rather than guide the students in reconstructing it, and towards the end of the project, knowledge tended to remain situated

Mindergie: A pervasive learning game for pro-environmental behaviour at the workplace

This chapter reports about a pervasive learning game to increase the environmental awareness and pro-environmental behaviour at the workplace. Based on a discussion of the theoretical background and related work we introduce the game design and game elements. Results of a formative evaluation study are presented and discussed. Results show that incentive mechanisms are less important than challenging game components that involve employees in proposing solutions for energy conservation at the workplace. Conclusions are drawn for future games and energy conservation activities at the workplace.This project has been partially funded by a SURFnet innovation grant for sustainable ICT solutions and partially by the Welten Institute – Research Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology of the Open University of the Netherlands

Pervasive interventions to increase pro-environmental awareness, consciousness, and learning at the workplace

Börner, D., Kalz, M., Ternier, S., & Specht, M. (2013). Pervasive interventions to increase pro-environmental awareness, consciousness, and learning at the workplace. In D. Hernández-Leo et al. (Eds.), Scaling up Learning for Sustained Impact. Proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2013), LNCS 8095 (pp. 57-70). Berlin Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. [The final publication is available at link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-40814-4_6]This paper reports about pervasive interventions at a university campus to increase the pro-environmental awareness, consciousness, and learning of employees. Based on an assessment of the research gaps in this problem area we present results and design implications from three intervention iterations. While in the first intervention the focus was on increasing awareness through information distribution with ambient learning displays on the campus, the second iteration provided personalised feedback to employees with the help of a sensor network and different client applications. The third iteration then implemented a game-based learning concept. Results reveal that these approaches are effective on different levels and that a combination of these elements can lead to increased pro-environmental consciousness, learning and hopefully a sustained behaviour change of employees.SURFnet Innovatieregeling Duurzaamheid & IC

iRPD-A framework for guiding design-based research for iPad apps

© 2016 British Educational Research Association. The last 5 years have been marked by an explosion of tablet and smartphone applications designed for young children and several calls to encourage educational researchers to engage in children's app research. This paper presents a novel prospect for educational researchers: to collaboratively research, implement and produce iPad apps for educational purposes. Based on the author's own research as well as that of others, an original framework "Research, Practice and Design framework" (iRPD) for guiding such collaborative efforts is provided, along with five key principles: triple collaboration, shared epistemology, awareness of affordances and interconnected social factors, and child-centred pedagogy. The novel affordances of collaboratively produced iPad apps for educational design-based research are outlined, along with several examples of how such an engagement might enrich educational research and the app landscape

PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN DAN VARIASI INKURI SISWA SMP MELALUI PEMBELAJARAN INKUIRI PADA TOPIK KALOR DAN PERPINDAHANNYA

Studi ini dilakukan untuk mendapat gambaran tentang peningkatan kemampuan dan variasi inkuiri siswa yang mendapatkan pembelajaran berbasis inkuiri dan pembelajaran konvensional yang dilakukan di salah satu SMP di Makassar. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuasi eksperimen dengan desain The Static-Group Pretest-Posttest Design. Sampel dalam penelitian adalah siswa kelas VII sebanyak dua kelas (n = 74) yang diambil dengan teknik sampling acak kelas. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan tes kemampuan inkuiri (pretest dan posttest) dan lembar observasi variasi kemampuan inkuiri. Teknik pengolahan data menggunakan uji normalitas, homogenitas, N-gain dan uji-t. Hasil analisis data uji-t diperoleh nilai Sig. 0,000 < 0,05 yang berarti H¬0 ditolak, H1 diterima yang menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan peningkatan kemampuan inkuiri yang signifikan antara siswa yang belajar melalui model pembelajaran inkuiri dan pembelajaran konvesional. Hasil perhitungan N-gain menunjukkan bahwa siswa yang belajar melalui model pembelajaran inkuiri memiliki rata-rata N-gain 0,70 (kategori tinggi) yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan siswa yang belajar melalui model pembelajaran konvesional yang memiliki rata-rata N-gain 0,48 (kategori sedang). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerapan model pembelajaran inkuiri dapat meningkatkan kemampuan inkuiri yang lebih baik daripada penggunaan model pembelajaran konvensional. Hasil observasi pada kelas eksperimen menunjukkan variasi kemampuan inkuiri mengalami peningkatan pada setiap ciri esensial inkuiri. --- This study aimed to find the profile about enhancing inquiry ability and variation of students which is given inquiry based learning and conventional learning in one of middle school student in Makassar. This research used quasi experiment method with the static group pretest-posttest design. The sample of the research was the students of first grade as many as two class with total number of participants were 74 by using simple random sampling. The technique of collecting data used inquiry ability test (pretest and posttest) and observation sheet on inquiry ability variation. The technique analyzing data used N-gain test and t-test. The result of data analysis t-test showed score sig. 0,000 < 0,05 which mean H0 rejected, H1 received which showed there are significant difference to enhance the ability inquiry among students through inquiry learning and conventional learning. The result of N-gain showed students who learn through inquiry learning has average score N-gain 0,70 (high category) higher than students who learn through conventional learning has average score N-gain 0,48 (medium category). The result of research showed that implementation inquiry learning can enhance inquiry ability better than implementation conventional learning. The result of observation on experimental class showed variation inquiry ability has enhance in every essential feature of inquiry

Learning from multimedia and hypermedia

Computer-based multimedia and hypermedia resources (e.g., the world wide web) have become one of the primary sources of academic information for a majority of pupils and students. In line with this expansion in the field of education, the scientific study of learning from multimedia and hypermedia has become a very active field of research. In this chapter we provide a short overview with regard to research on learning with multimedia and hypermedia. In two review sections, we describe the educational benefits of multiple representations and of learner control, as these are the two defining characteristics of hypermedia. In a third review section we describe recent scientific trends in the field of multimedia/hypermedia learning. In all three review sections we will point to relevant European work on multimedia/hypermedia carried out within the last 5 years, and often carried out within the Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence. According to the interdisciplinary nature of the field this work might come not only from psychology, but also from technology or pedagogy. Comparing the different research activities on multimedia and hypermedia that have dominated the international scientific discourse in the last decade reveals some important differences. Most important, a gap seems to exist between researchers mainly interested in a “serious” educational use of multimedia/ hypermedia and researchers mainly interested in “serious” experimental research on learning with multimedia/hypermedia. Recent discussions about the pros and cons of “design-based research” or “use-inspired basic research” can be seen as a direct consequence of an increasing awareness of the tensions within these two different cultures of research on education