Using Prezi to Motivate Middle School Science Students

Vol. 7 No. 3

Year: 2012

Issue: Dec-Feb

Title: Using Prezi to Motivate Middle School Science Students 

Author Name: Caroline Bender, Prince Bull 

Synopsis: 

This study examined the effects of the use of a non-linear multimedia presentation model, Prezi, on middle school students’ attitude toward learning science, engagement in school science, and the impact on learning science.  Prezi was used as the primary instructional model for an intensive six-week intervention period in seventh grade science classrooms.  A total of 28 students, from two science classes, participated in the study.  Each student completed a pre- and post-survey to determine attitudes and beliefs about learning science and also completed two surveys at the end of the intervention to determine the effectiveness of Prezi as an instructional tool.  Findings indicate small improvements in both students’ attitudes and beliefs about learning science in general.  However, results do show that Prezi is effective as a learning tool because it engages students in learning, helps students retain information, and for its ease and style of design and presentation.  Results also indicated that Prezi was, most notably, effective in informing students about science topics, presenting information in an understandable way, and that Prezi would be an effective learning tool if used in other courses.

Cross Curricular Connections: An Innovative Model for Curriculum Transaction

Vol. 7 No. 3

Year: 2012

Issue: Dec-Feb

Title: Cross Curricular Connections: An Innovative Model for Curriculum Transaction 

Author Name: H.G. Jeya Harish, R.Krishna Kumar , B. William Dharma Raja 

Synopsis: 

Students want to discuss each and everything related to the subject as well as the personal matters with their teacher. This shows that they trust their teachers so much than anyone else. So it is the duty of the teacher to teach the subject with more and more concrete examples and connections with the day to day life. They should connect the subject with all disciplines so that rather than opening the new memory location the information will store on the location which was already created on the brain. In the light of the above discussion researcher (authors) decided to carry out a research (article) on Cross Curricular Connections. Cross Curricular Connections to science instruction can result in rich and meaningful experience for students. The article that follows describes Cross-Curricular or interdisciplinary connections and their values to learners. Then, it lists specific considerations a Science teacher, or any other teacher, should consider before setting aside instructional time to make Cross Curricular Connections.

The Availability And Use Of Science Laboratories At Secondary Education Level

Vol. 7 No. 2

Year: 2011

Issue: Sep-Nov

Title: The Availability And Use Of Science Laboratories At Secondary Education Level 

Author Name: T.J.M.S. Raju, N.V.S. Suryanarayana 

Synopsis: 

This study focuses on the availability and use of Science Laboratories at the secondary education level in Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is commented that most of the schools do not possess well equipped laboratories and even when equipment is available some science teachers are not utilizing the laboratory facilities. Another issue is many of the laboratories do not possess appropriate equipment and many schools use expired chemicals that can skew experiments as well as be hazardous to students and teachers. The data were collected from 50 science teachers working in both government and private management secondary schools by way of a statement questionnaire. The items denoting various facilities in the science laboratories and the availability of equipment and utility by the science teachers are more important. The tool is a self developed tool and was standardized by conducting item analyses using the statistical procedures of chi-square tests. The reliability of the test is 0.75 and the validity is 0.86. So the tool is highly reliable and valid. The data were analyzed by way of means, standard deviations, t-values and chi-square tests for testing the various hypotheses framed. The results declare that there are no significant differences between male and female science teachers, rural and urban science teachers, below 5yrs and above 5yrs experienced science teachers and graduate and post graduate science teachers in the availability and effective use of science laboratories at secondary schools, demerits of science laboratories and measures taken for effective use of science laboratories. On over all observation of the study some educational implications were given.

Skewness And Comparability Of School Based Continuous Assessment Scores

Vol. 7 No. 2

Year: 2011

Issue: Sep-Nov

Title: Skewness And Comparability Of School Based Continuous Assessment Scores 

Author Name: Gbore, L.O, Abe, T.O. , Adodo. S.O 

Synopsis: 

This study examined skewness as means of determining the nature of distribution of school based continuous assessment (SBCA) scores in selected subjects among Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria, to determine whether or not there is need for moderation of the SBCA Scores. This is an ex-post-facto research design involving no treatment and nonmanipulation of subjects but collection of data from records. Cluster sampling techniques was used to select ten schools from three senatorial districts in Ondo State. Simple random sampling technique was employed to selected one thousand five hundred Senior Secondary Students. This comprised 500 students per subject (one hundred and fifty students per school which was made up of 50 students per subject in each school). The SBCA Scores for year 2005/2006 —2007/2008 for the selected school formed the data for the study. Data collected were analysed using Coefficients of Skewness and Pearson Product moment Correlation Statistic. Results indicated that SBCA Scores for first year in English language, first, and third year in Mathematics were positively skewed while SBC Scores for second and third year in English Language, Second year in Mathematics and first, second and third year in Biology showed negative Skewness. There was significant relationship between coefficients of skewness of school based continuous assessment (CSBCA)Scores of first and second year in English Language, Mathematics and Biology. There was no significant relationship between CSBCA scores for first and third year in Mathematics and between CSBCA scores for second and third year in Biology. Based on the findings of the study, some recommendations were made.

Building professional learning communities in special education through social Networking: directions for future research

Vol. 7 No. 2

Year: 2011

Issue: Sep-Nov

Title: Building professional learning communities in special education through social Networking: directions for future research 

Author Name: Elizabeth L. Hardman 

Synopsis: 

This paper examines the challenges inherent in building professional learning communities (PLCs) in special education and describes how two Web 2.0 tools were used to build a community that engages general and special education teachers, school administrators, and teacher educators in implementing research based inclusive practices that are known to have a positive impact on student learning. A wiki and ning were selected to provide the network's infrastructure because these applications have the capacity to support collaboration and networking when community members are separated by geographical location and time. The first year of the project was focused on developing web pages for community consumption and building membership. The membership grew from 50 at the end of the first year to 150 during the second year but data collected on member use showed that the membership contributed very little to community development and relied almost entirely on the network administrator to direct and manage all facets of community work. The success of any PLC is ultimately dependent upon members' level of engagement in community work. Thus, continued research should explore the processes that support community development and teacher engagement in community work, and most importantly, the degree to which participation in community work impacts student achievement.

K-12 Student Use Of Web 2.0 Tools: A Global Study

Vol. 7 No. 2

Year: 2011

Issue: Sep-Nov

Title: K-12 Student Use Of Web 2.0 Tools: A Global Study 

Author Name: Cheri Toledo, MaryFriend Shepard 

Synopsis: 

Over the past decade, Internet use has increased 445% worldwide. This boom has enabled widespread access to online tools and digital spaces for educational practices. The results of this study of Web 2.0 tool use in kindergarten through high school (K-12) classrooms around the world will be presented. A web-based survey was sent out through online social networks (e.g., Twitter, Nings, and blogs). From a list of 25 types of digital tools, 189 participants chose the online tools that their K-12 students used in educational settings. The data analysis identified tool-use across grade levels and trends based on teacher demographics. At all four levels students most frequently used wikis, blogs, and multimedia presentation tools. Further analysis revealed six categories that described how teachers were designing instruction for students to use online tools.

Trends and challenges of integrating ict in indian education: a paradigm shift in 21st century

Vol. 7 No. 2

Year: 2011

Issue: Sep-Nov

Title: Trends and challenges of integrating ict in indian education: a paradigm shift in 21st century 

Author Name: vijaykumar Ramalingappa 

Synopsis: 

Information and communication technologies are today playing a very important role in transforming the mode of imparting education. The trend in educational system has seen a leaning towards upgrading and updating knowledge and ideas to face increasingly demanding in order to meet the rapid expansion of knowledge. Technology enabled teaching have helped in taking forward the level of education by preparing teacher community in improving their professional competencies and skills in order to meet the competitive classrooms. The increase in the number of job opportunities in the current global economy has witnessed an enhanced demand for skilled and qualified teacher community. The synchronous learning environment proves to be advantageous to the workforce, as it brings to them a quality and standard of education that would otherwise not be available to them at all. ICT brought considerable change in capacity and globality for accessing and using information as well as communicating both of which have impacted on education. The digital era brought revolutionary changes in teaching and learning process by bringing multimedia approach in which multifaceted instructional pedagogies have been incorporated in order to simplify classroom instruction to the fullest extent. There are lots of ICT applications designed for children in the classroom teaching and a lot of imagination has gone into these designs especially educational applications and it is evidenced that technologies have changed the way of teaching and learning is conducted in different parts of the world by developing some effective and interesting education tools. It is evidenced that integration of ICT in Education and changing role of imparting instruction has fully influenced modern classroom practices and it is right time to address the present ICT application in the 21st Century that is the paradigm shift in Indian class room. This paper addresses the modern Trend and Challenges in Integrating the ICT in Indian education system.