Revista Electrónica Educare

How did Teacher Collaboration Develop During the Pandemic? A Case Study of six Public High Schools in Santiago, Chile

Jose Weinstein, Javiera Peña-Fredes, María Elisa Ansoleaga, David Godfrey — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Background. Although it is often assumed that the COVID-19 crisis led to increased teacher collaboration, there is a scarcity of empirical studies in this area. Aims. This research aims to investigate the impact of the pandemic on teacher collaboration in six public high schools in the Metropolitan Region of Chile over a two-year period (2020-2021). Methods. A qualitative methodology was employed, utilizing a multiple case study design, with a focus on conducting individual semi-structured interviews. Principals and teachers from the six high schools were interviewed three times, resulting in a total of 146 interviews. Results. I) The crisis resulted in three distinct moments: emergency responses, remote working, and adapted face-to-face modes that affected collaborative work. II) Three shared tasks emerged: remote teaching, addressing emerging student needs (prioritizing learning), and renewing teaching approaches on which teachers focused their professional collaboration. III) Two key factors, namely social capital and a pre-existing culture of collaboration, as well as effective school leadership, played a mediating role in the varied responses observed among the high schools. Conclusions. Although the crisis initially contributed to increased teacher collaboration across all the high schools examined, this collaboration often diminished as the school year progressed and returned to a more normal state, without extending over time. Only a few high schools were able to sustain the progress made and implement changes in their institutional and pedagogical management, as well as in their teaching working conditions. These changes facilitated a successful transition to face-to-face teaching. The key factor to understand the difference between the high schools lay in organizational learning, which can be defined as the schools’ capacity to convert crises into opportunities for transformation, specifically through collaboration among teachers.

Progressions in the Understanding of Pedagogical Concepts in Teachers in Advanced Formation

Rosa Julia Guzmán-Rodríguez, José Eduardo Cifuentes-Garzón — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Objective. This study aims to identify the differences in the thinking paths used to appropriate pedagogical concepts by students with or without initial university education. These paths were implemented in a course on teaching comprehension (TFC) in the Master’s Degree in Pedagogy program at a Colombian university. Methodology. This qualitative research was conducted through surveys, field journals, and thinking routines administered to fifty-eight students across three cohorts (2013-2014) enrolled in the Master’s degree in pedagogy. They participated in the TFC contest. Results. The study found differences in the paths to building pedagogical concepts (teaching, learning, didactics, evaluation, comprehension and research in the classroom) between those who obtain the master’s degree with previous formation in education and those who do not have such formation. Conclusions. Knowledge of these differences constitutes a contribution to the design of advanced teacher training programs. On the other hand, the thinking paths are based on theoretical and practical reflections on the student and the teacher-learner relationship.

Psychometric Properties of an Instrument to Evaluate the Execution of a Didactic Sequence in Higher Education

Martha Gabriela Ávila-Camacho, Luis Gibran Juárez-Hernández — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Aim. To analyze the psychometric properties of construct validity and reliability of an instrument to assess the didactic sequence. Methodology. The instrument was administered to 488 students enrolled in Bachelor’s Degrees in Preschool and Elementary Education; the students were working on the 2012 study plans. They were informed of the purpose of the research and the confidentiality of the results; they also were asked for their consent to use the data collected. The construct validity analysis implemented a cross-validation process involving an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was evaluated with Cronbach’s alpha. Results. The EFA revealed the correspondence of the factorial model obtained with the theoretical model, since only one factor was found to explain the 63% of variance, in which all items were represented. The CFA showed the empirical sustainability of the factorial model and optimal fit (Ratio χ2/gl: 2.19; GFI: 0.942; RMSAE: 0.063; RMR: 0.029; CFI: 0.977; TLI: 0.971). The study also confirmed the presence of convergent validity. Finally, the Cronbach’s alpha result was 0.931, indicating optimal reliability. Conclusions. The instrument has adequate psychometric properties. Therefore, its utilization ensures the acquisition of reliable results in the evaluation of didactic sequences in higher education.

Effects of an Emotional Competence Development Program on University Students with High Scores in the Antagonistic Personality Trait

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 21:55:02 -0600

Objective. This study aims to understand the effects of an eight-workshop self-leadership program using an experiential learning approach on master’s students with high antagonistic personality traits scores. The study seeks to examine, more comprehensively, the impact of incorporating emotional competence development into a restricted technical competence approach, as a method to facilitate antagonistic students to develop prosocial leadership styles. Methodology. The quasi-experimental ex post facto design (n=126) study implemented self-reported instruments, including the Bisquerra and Pérez-Escoda for the Emotional Competences questionnaire (QDE_A35) and the agreeableness-antagonism sub-scale of the Big Five. Results. The ANCOVA tests revealed significant changes in antagonistic students who attended the self-leadership program (experimental group) compared to those who did not and formed part of the control group. Specifically, the experimental group showed changes in total emotional competence, as well as in the sub-dimensions of emotional awareness, emotional regulation, and emotional autonomy. However, no differences were reported in social competencies and emotional well-being. Conclusion. The self-leadership program analyzed in this study contributes to the development of emotional competence in students with high scores in antagonism.

Social Education in Social Media: An International Systematic Review

Iñigo Rodríguez-Torre, Monike Gezuraga-Amundarain, Leire Darretxe-Urrutxi — Sat, 08 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Objective. Social education is no stranger to the changes of today’s increasingly technological society. In this sense, this study aims to provide an updated overview of the the present status of the question, based on an international systematic review of the scientific literature in social education, key concepts (professionalization, identity, and professional development), and Web 2.0. Methodology. Qualitative research was conducted, based on a systematic review of international literature between 2012 and 2021. The study utilized the PRISMA-P tool as a reference, specifically by conducting a content analysis using Nvivo 12 Version Release 1.5 software. Among other strategies, the study conducted text searches and employed hierarchical maps and coding matrices. The final selection contained 22 articles that were reviewed and categorized from an inductive-deductive approach. Results. Social media have a notorious impact on fundamental aspects of social education such as professionalization, identity, and professional development. The study highlights the need for competence development of social educators for an ethical performance of their work in the virtual space. Conclusion. In today’s technologized society, the use of social media continues its exponential rise, and the profession of social education must also seek its place in the virtual environment, recognizing that the profession has to respond to a society in which the Internet is a communication space. In this sense, a wider definition of digital competencies in social education is advocated.

Development of a Programme of Musical Activities for the Contribution of Unplugged Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education

Arantza Campollo-Urkiza — Sat, 08 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Introduction. National and international educational bodies emphasize the importance of developing teaching-learning strategies in classrooms that standardize the use of Information and Communication Technologies in a globalized world. For this reason, programming and robotics have been introduced in classrooms in Spain from early childhood education to higher education as a means of contributing to computational thinking and other approaches such as the STEAM construct in which the arts and sciences converge. Objective. This paper aims to present a program of musical activities for early childhood education with which to contribute to unplugged computational thinking and the language of programming and its relevance in 3-year-old classrooms. Method. This qualitative study presents a didactic proposal with musical activities to develop computational language. These activities were conducted during the 2021-2022 school year in two 3-year-old classrooms in a school in the Community of Madrid, Spain. The participants were 38 students and the two tutors of these classrooms. These two professionals collected information on the categories analyzed and the children’s evaluation items through participant observation and subsequent recordings. Results. The results show a positive development in literacy in programming and robotics, as well as an improvement in spatial reasoning skills, progress in logical thinking, lower limbs motor control, and oculo-manual dexterity. Conclusions. There exists the need to perform programming and robotics activities in contexts and learning situations in pre-school classrooms for the development of computational thinking and interdisciplinary work in all areas of this stage.

Human Being-Nature Connection: An Alternative Educational Experience in the “Dream Factory,” Manizales, Colombia

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Aim. This study aims to analyze the perceptions of alternative education in the La Fábrica de Sueños (Dream Factory) project. The project aimed at the reforestation of consciousness and the cultural transformation in seven-year-old children from educational institutions for the care of nature and coexistence. Methodology. The methodology focuses on the systematization of an experience that parents, teaching staff, and children lived. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, stories, and drawings; it was analyzed with the Atlas ti program based on qualitative research and categorical analysis. Coincidences, relationships, and correlations were established through the central category of reforestation of awareness and the following five axial categories: personal empowerment, human being, self-awareness, coexistence, and relationship with nature. These five categories emerged from experiences and educational commitments, focused on ethics and pedagogy. Results. It was found that the applied experiential approach, especially the contact with nature and art, sensitizes toward new learning from the stimulation of creativity and imagination that are motors for children’s free expression and narration. The Dream Factory project contributes to comprehensive training and leads to the children’s awakening in coexistence with their social and natural environment. The experience strengthens the development of creative, critical, and reflective thinking that starts from the empowerment and understanding of children’s vital space.

Perception of Leadership in the Implementation of Organizational Strategies Before Covid-19 in Technological Higher Secondary Education Schools

Sat, 15 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Objective. This work aimed to identify the effect of transformational and transactional leadership in the design and implementation of organizational strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method. The study used a quantitative methodology with a non-experimental cross-sectional design; the scope was descriptive and correlational. The instruments were applied to 294 workers from six technological higher secondary education institutions in Tabasco, Mexico. Results. Significant correlations were found between transformational and transactional leadership related to the design and implementation of strategies carried out in these educational institutions. Another finding was that sociodemographic characteristics, such as gender, marital status, and job seniority, do not influence the levels of perception of the design or implementation of organizational strategies. Conclusions. It is concluded that leadership styles in the institution are related to and influence the design and implementation of the proposed strategies.

Secondary School Teachers’ Practices and Beliefs About Feedback in Students’ Assessment Processes

Flor Mella-Mella, María Amparo Calatayud-Salom — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Introduction. Feedback is a fundamental construct of formative evaluation, and a current consensus considers it one of the most powerful strategies for teaching-learning processes. Objective. The study aims to analyze the perception of praxis and conceptions of feedback as essential pillars of formative evaluation in Chile. Methodology. This is a quantitative and non-probabilistic sampling design study in which 100 secondary school teachers participated. The participants were administered a questionnaire, validated through Alpha Cronbach reliability analysis. The data processing was conducted through Jamovi project 2.3. A Likert-type scale was utilized to enable a descriptive analysis of frequencies and items. Results. A high percentage of the participants believed that feedback is a key learning strategy. On the contrary, they presented low percentage values on the use of rubrics and logbooks to provide feedback on students’ progress. Conclusion. Nowadays, teacher training in feedback skills is needed to promote meaningful and formative learning.

Scale Adaptation and Validation to Assess the Development of 21st Century Skills in Secondary School Students

Felipe Sepúlveda, Paz Céspedes, Jordán Ovalle, Daniela García — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Objective. This research aims to modify and validate a scale for assessing students’ perceptions of pedagogical practices employed in classrooms to foster 21st-century skills. Methods. The WVDE-CIS-28 scale, originally designed for teachers, was adapted and administered through a survey to a sample of 3432 high school students from 26 schools in the Biobío region, Chile. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to determine the number of underlying dimensions and verify whether the proposed theoretical model with 8 dimensions showed a significant statistical adjustment. Results. The validation analyzes of the scale confirmed the factorial structure of the original instrument, which comprised the dimensions of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity and innovation, self-direction, global relations, local relations, and the use of learning technologies. The study presents the factor loading tables and model fit indices for EFA and CFA, as well as descriptive results categorized by item and dimension. Conclusions. The adaptation of the instrument demonstrates an adequate psychometric adjustment, explaining how the 8 dimensions considered contribute to the 21st-century skills construct. This tool can be useful to investigate how classroom pedagogical practices promote the development of these essential skills.

The Rational Numbers in Chile’s Primary School Curricula (1974-2012)

Camila González-Peñaloza, Elena Castro-Rodríguez, Juan Luis Piñeiro — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Purpose. The article presents a descriptive-comparative analysis of how rational numbers are taught in four mathematics programs developed in Chile from 1974 to 2012, encompassing from third to sixth grade (ages 8-12). Methods. The learning objectives were analyzed based on the notion of fractions, decimals, and percentages, following the standards set by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2003). Content analysis was used as the method. Results. Most of the notions and understanding the rational number are recurrent aspects across the programs. However, they vary in their flexible use, representations, calculation and solving problems processes. Discussion. The observed evolution in the topic is found to be related to social changes and educational policies during the time period.

Digital Tools Used in Face-to-face Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Ana da Costa Polonia, Angélica Inês Miotto, Josefina Amanda Suyo-Vega — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Introduction. The higher face-to-face education can benefit from technological tools to promote, improve, and introduce new teaching methodologies. Method. This research aimed to characterize the digital resources/tools used to support the face-to-face modality and the challenges encountered in the introduction of these tools to this modality. The study implemented a systematic literature review; it examined the following databases: Scopus, Scielo, Proquest and Ebsco Host. Boolean operators “AND” and “OR” were used to compose the search equation (“Online teaching” OR “Online learning” OR “online education” OR “online tools “ OR “digitais tools” AND “university” OR “graduate” OR “undergraduate”) in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. The literature review was conducted between 2015 and 2021 in the areas of education and social sciences. Results. Out of the 14,801,280 articles found, only 11 were obtained through PRISMA systematization. It is necessary to explore the potential of digital tools in the face-to-face modality. This exploration is an essential competence to develop in higher education. Therefore, educational institutions should promote digital skills in both students and teachers. The use of digital tools can be categorized as content-oriented, collaborative, and for self-reflection. Conclusion. Students and teachers use technological resources in their lives, but there is still little investment on the part of teachers to integrate these resources in face-to-face classroom settings. This lack of investment has led to problems such as connectivity issues, technological incompetence of the actors, and difficulties in introducing digital tools in curricular and extracurricular activities.

Standardized Learning Assessment in Languages Core Curricula: A Study at the Autonomous University of Baja California, México

Jorge Gustavo Gutiérrez-Benítez, Luis Alan Acuña-Gamboa — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Objective. The study presents the structure and components of a standardized departmental test applied to one of the subjects of outmost curricular relevance for the core curricula of the Faculty of Languages (FL). It also presents psychometric evaluation results of the evaluation performed on the test. Method. To conduct this standardized test, the study used the methodology developed by the Educational Research & Development Institute (Contreras Niño, 2000; Contreras Niño & Backhoff Escudero, 2004). The test is based on the proposed psychometric model by Nitko (1994), designed to construct large-scale criterion-referenced tests. The study sample consisted of 260 first-semester students from FL in the state. The psychometric analysis followed the Item Response Theory to measure features such as the discrimination index, discrimination coefficient, and difficulty index. Results. Average values obtained from the psychometric analysis of the test exceeded discrimination index and coefficient standards (.32), especially those obtained in the thematic unit of greatest curricular relevance for the studied subject. Also, a general average difficulty and an acceptable distribution of said difficulty in the items were observed. Conclusions. The obtained values for the reliability and validity features evidenced the instrument´s quality. This directly contributes to the certainty of the level of mastery that the students show in relation to the knowledge universe represented in the test; this situation has a high impact because of the relevance of this subject.