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'construct exploration' Search Results



Concepts of Plants Held by Young Brazilian Children: An Exploratory Study

plant conception preschool and primary school pupils mental model drawings

Amauri Betini Bartoszeck , Claudete Rosa Cosmo , Bernadete Rocha da Silva , Sue Dale Tunnicliffe


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Children from southern and northern Brazil have a basic knowledge of plants, which they observe during their everyday life. Children ages between 3 to 10 years old (kindergarten & primary school), but the majority of them in the age group of 4-5 (total 145) were asked to draw what they think is a plant (total sample=332). Afterwards, a equal number of boys and girls randomly chosen were interviewed individually (mix ability) to list plants they said they knew and where they had seen them. Then they were asked to give exemplars of the local plants which they had seen. These data from the exploratory study show that pupils are in touch with their environment and recognize plants that are part of it. The everyday experiences of these children in school and out of school, at home and in leisure activities with family and friends, contribute to their knowledge about plants and such knowledge is complemented in the preschool and primary school classes by appropriate teaching. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.

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10.12973/eu-jer.4.3.105
Pages: 105-117
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1142
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11

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Entrepreneurship has been an intriguing issue as an indicator of economic development and social welfare particularly being focused on last decades. Furthermore, the issue of immigration has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Nowadays, the quality of the workforce and it's training processes are not getting only progressively important but as well the participation of migrants in the labor market will be a great problem in the future. Migrant’s entrepreneurial tendencies and career expectations designation are the main objectives of this research. This research was designed as a comparative qualitative model, and the structured written interview technique was used in order to collect the data. Randomly sampling study groups were formed according to methods of maximum diversity. The sampling group was formed by the participation of 12 Syrian migrant high school students who live and get trained in Altindag, a district of Ankara, Turkey and 13 Syrian migrant high school students who live and get trained in Kreuzberg, a district of Berlin, Germany. The collected data were analyzed by content analysis technique. The results of the research reveal that immigrant students have a high level of entrepreneurship in Germany, the nonetheless low level of the expectations of future career prospects in Turkey. Thus, the absences of sociocultural and economic areas where they will use entrepreneurial tendencies are a serious obstacle to them. Moreover, participants argue that they do not want to stay in Turkey anymore, and most of them intend to emigrate to Europe or another country if they can do so. Unlike Germany, many of the participants in Turkey neither know what they want to be nor how they want to live in the future and nor have they made any career planning.

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10.12973/eu-jer.6.1.15
Pages: 15-27
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502
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1082
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20

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Firstly, the researcher provides an insightful introduction into the phenomenon focused on to explicate the learners’ views about the role of school counselors in line with career selection. To attain the study objectives, the researcher used a multi-unit case study to investigate the perceptions among high-school students about school counselors’ roles and career selection. The investigator used open-ended questionnaires to harness information and then utilized the qualitative descriptive approach to analyze the data. Analysis of the information collected via open-ended questionnaires was done through thematic analysis, which was a subset of the broader qualitative descriptive technique. The findings denoted that high-school learners have varied perceptions with regards to the roles of school counselors and career selection.

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10.12973/eu-jer.7.4.763
Pages: 763-774
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2449
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1347
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0

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6

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The major purpose of this study was to create a path analysis model of academic success in a group of university students, which included the variables of academic confidence and psychological capital with a mediator variable - academic coping. 400 undergraduates from Marmara University and Istanbul Commerce University who were in sophomore, junior and senior years participated in the study. The Academic Behavioral Confidence Scale, the Academic Coping Strategies Scale and the Psychological Capital Test Battery composed of the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Life Orientation Test, the Hope Scale and the Resilience Scale were utilized to disclose the predictive roles of these variables on academic success. The results of path analyses showed that academic confidence and psychological capital had pivotal direct and indirect effects on academic success via the mediator variable – academic coping. Academic coping had also a direct influence on academic success.  The findings of the study are essential for telling both vocational counselors and educational psychologists the fact that career interventions for university students should consider the non-cognitive factors on their academic achievements.

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10.12973/eu-jer.7.1.133
Pages: 133-150
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12
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1165
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1482
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12

Participation in Leisure Activities as an Indicator of Inclusion: A comparison between Children with and without Disabilities in Portugal

participation leisure activities children with disabilities inclusion

Manuela Sanches-Ferreira , Sílvia Alves , Mónica Silveira-Maia , Manuela Gomes , Bárbara Santos , Pedro Lopes-dos-Santos


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Participation is recognised as an important indicator of school inclusion and educational success of children with and without disabilities and one of the fundamental human rights. In particular, the participation in leisure activities plays a vital role in children’s life and needs to be given a higher attention. The aim of the present exploratory study was to reflect on the inclusion of children with disabilities in Portuguese schools, by portraying and comparing their participation profiles in leisure activities to those of typically developing peers. The participation patterns in leisure activities of 61 children with disabilities and 114 children without disabilities were assessed. Results indicate that the pattern of participation of children with and without disabilities differs whether they are school or community-based activities. Regarding school-based activities, findings reveal that children with disabilities participate more frequently in these activities, but in solitary and constrained spaces at school compared to children without disabilities. For community contexts, our findings indicate that children with disabilities participate in less diverse activities than children without disabilities. In addition, the range of activities is correlated to their level of independence. This exploratory study contributes to an understanding of the pattern of participation of children with and without disabilities.

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10.12973/eu-jer.8.1.221
Pages: 221-232
cloud_download 1079
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1079
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885
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9

Scopus
8

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Currently, it is taken for granted that teachers have to take into account the conceptions in order to achieve some efficient learning, the latter are generally resistant and may hinder the learning. Studies have shown that learning amounts to make conceptions evolve which play a determining role in the appropriation of scientific concepts such as neurotransmission, which is the subject of our study. This concept is present in the Life Science syllabus as early as high school. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of an interactive approach on the evolution of students' conceptions of neurotransmission. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to the first two years’ students (second year) in the Life Sciences stream at Dhar El Mahraz Faculty of Science in Fez during the academic year 2016-2017. This questionnaire was in the form of a pre-test and a post-test on learning/teaching of neurotransmission. The results of the study showed that the approach which was adopted had a positive effect on the evolution of the students' conceptions of neurotransmission in that it apparently contributed to a conceptual change for them.

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10.12973/eu-jer.8.2.567
Pages: 567-579
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306
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652
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0

Scopus
2

Greek Teachers’ Perceptions about the Types and the Consequences of Conflicts within School Context

conflicts types consequences primary school teacher

Nikolaos Manesis , Elisavet Vlachou , Foteini Mitropoulou


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Conflicts are an inevitable phenomenon within organizations. The organization of interest in this study is the elementary school and the conflicts that may emerge into its context. There are many types of conflicts and their consequences vary; there are positive consequences, but also negatives ones. When teachers are to express their opinions on conflicts, they think that conflicts happen often enough, and they recognize both their negative and positive effects. The present study examined teachers’ perceptions on the frequency of certain types of school conflicts and their consequences. The researchers asked teachers working in public elementary schools in Achaia Prefecture, Greece. Personal characteristics of the study’s participants such as age, gender, years in service and teaching specialization were also taken into consideration. It was found that a small percentage of teachers believed that conflicts happen very often. In general, teachers thought that negative consequences are more frequent than positive ones, even though, they recognized the beneficial aspect of conflicts. Lastly, the teachers’ groups that were formed based on participants’ characteristics showed significant differences. Study’s limitations along with suggestions for future research are also discussed.

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10.12973/eu-jer.8.3.781
Pages: 781-799
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1002
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1663
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7

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7

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This research aims to find out: (1) the more effective learning model on students' divergent-thinking skills; (2) the better adversity quotient on students' divergent-thinking skills; (3) the better adversity quotient to improve students' divergent-thinking skills in each learning model; and (4) the better learning model to improve students' divergent-thinking skills in each adversity quotient. This research uses a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental type. The fifth-grade students were selected as the research subjects. This research was carried out at the public elementary schools in Laweyan District, Surakarta, Indonesia. Test and questionnaire techniques were used to collect data. The data analysis was performed with the analysis prerequisite, hypothesis, and multiple-comparison tests. The results showed that the learning model and adversity quotient have an influence on divergent-thinking skills; for each adversity quotient, the thinking actively in a social context learning model is better than the creative problem solving and direct instruction learning model; the creative problem solving learning model is better than the direct instruction learning model; and adversity quotient of the climbers is better than that of the campers and the adversity quotient of the campers is better than that of the quitters in each learning model.

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10.12973/eu-jer.9.2.537
Pages: 537-568
cloud_download 876
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876
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1148
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9

Scopus
14

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Research on critical thinking skills has been frequently carried out, but it has not shown maximum results. This problem is exacerbated by the differences in pre-service teachers’ academic abilities. A new learning model that can improve pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills and reduce the gap in critical thinking skills among the upper, middle, and lower academic ability pre-service teachers is needed. This research aims at exploring the potential of the QASEE learning model on the critical thinking skills of different academic ability. This quasi-experimental research involved 107 pre-service teachers of Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Fatah, Indonesia. The research classes were divided into three classes, namely the QASEE class (experimental class), the RQA class (positive control class), and the conventional class (negative control class). Each class was further divided into upper, middle, and lower academic categories. The data were collected using an essay test supported by a critical thinking skill rubric. The data were analyzed by using ANCOVA and followed by LSD test. The research results show that the QASEE (Questioning, Answering, Sharing, Extending, and Evaluating) learning model can improve and equalize the critical thinking skills of pre-service teachers with various academic levels. Thus, the QASEE learning model can be used as a new reference to improve pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills, especially the lower academic ability.

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10.12973/eu-jer.9.2.853
Pages: 853-864
cloud_download 883
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883
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988
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3

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3

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This research aimed at analyzing the influence of ‘Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning’ model assisted by realia media, in which it was to improve the scientific literacy and critical thinking skill of primary school students, especially for the material of energy. This quasi-experiment research used single factor independent groups design. The research sample of this research were fourth grade students of SD Inpres Oeba 2 Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara Province, of which students were in the academic year of 2019/2020. The technique of sample collection was carried out purposive sampling for 2 classes. The IVA class was used as the experimental class (POGIL model assisted by the realia media), in which it consisted of 30 students and the IVB class was used as the control class (expository learning) that consisted of 28 students. The learning was carried out in four meetings. The data of scientific literacy and the results test of critical thinking were collected by means of objective test on the energy material. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the data using significance level of 0.05. The results indicate that (1) There is a significant difference between the students’ scientific literacy who gain the POGIL learning assisted by the realia media and the students’ scientific literacy who get the expository learning; and (2) There is a significant difference between the critical thinking of students who get POGIL learning assisted by realia media and the students who get the expository learning. It can be concluded that there is a significant difference between the scientific literacy and the students’ critical thinking taught by the POGIL learning that assisted by realia media to the students who use expository learning. Since there is a significant difference, it means that the POGIL learning assisted by realia media has an influence on the students' scientific literacy and critical thinking.

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10.12973/eu-jer.9.4.1635
Pages: 1635-1647
cloud_download 1231
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1231
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988
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15

Scopus
10

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The research explores the narrative inquiry of Indonesian teachers who are assigned to teach in remote areas. The research was conducted from 2019 until 2020. The teachers, in this case, are considered ethnographers because they try to recognize and enter remote island areas that have not been recognized. During this time, in the education context, narrative inquiry is more focused on teacher identity, teaching, curriculum, assessment, and counseling. In terms of narrative inquiry, the teacher as an ethnographer is very interesting to be studied, because it can provide ethnographic insight into the teacher’s perspective. The research used qualitative methods supported by ethnographic studies and involved 21 participants. Data analysis techniques used were the stages of identification, classification, reduction, and verification. The interview used was unstructured. The results show that the teacher as an ethnographer learned the local language in the early stage. The second stage is understanding the cultural situation of the local community. The third stage is the contribution of the teacher to the local community in the education context.

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10.12973/eu-jer.10.1.115
Pages: 115-126
cloud_download 597
visibility 667
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597
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667
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4

Scopus
7

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An evidence-based, interactive teaching method peer instruction (PI) is promoted to support effectiveness over more commonly used teaching methods. Usually it is proposed for the university and upper secondary school. The research reports on the implementation of the PI approach in teaching subject Science and Technology (S&T) in the 4th grade of primary school. The aim of this research was to verify the feasibility of this approach for much younger students in primary school by evaluating the students’ progress in the subject S&T, identifying the differences in individual progress in relation to students’ general learning success, and determining students’ opinions about the approach and where no desired progress has been made. In a selected Slovenian primary school, a classroom with 26 students (age 9 – 10) was included in the study and 5 different content areas (Earth’s motion, Matter, Magnetism, Forces and motion, and Electricity) were taught using this PI approach. Results show that students made progress in all content areas and no differences were identified in the progress of individual students in terms of general learning success. Students were satisfied with the approach, although more than half of them found the multiple-choice questions as too difficult. Although the PI approach is successful, teachers must be aware that some persistent and widespread misunderstandings may still remain and require additional intervention.

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10.12973/eu-jer.10.2.785
Pages: 785-798
cloud_download 223
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223
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379
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3

Scopus
4

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The aim of this study is to find out the influence of online project collaborative learning and achievement motivation on problem-solving ability in the area of citizenship. This study uses a quasi-experimental design. The total of study subjects is 71 students of higher education; consist of 36 students as the experimental group and 35 students as the control group. Data of problem-solving ability is obtained by using an essay test, while data of achievement motivation is obtained by using a questionnaire. Data analysis is done with ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). The study results show that online based-project collaborative learning strategy has a positive influence on civic problem-solving ability. There is a difference in civic problem-solving ability between students with high achievement motivation and students with low achievement motivation. Online project collaborative learning strategy and achievement motivation interact in influencing the civic problem-solving ability of students. It is recommended that further study corroborate this finding by testing again the effectiveness of using online-based project collaborative strategy in the aspect of problem-solving in a similar field of study.

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10.12973/eu-jer.10.2.813
Pages: 813-823
cloud_download 499
visibility 548
8
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499
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548
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8

Scopus
14

Enhancing Scientific Discovery Learning by Just-in-Time Prompts in a Simulation-Assisted Inquiry Environment

guidance inquiry learning prompts simulation

Shiva Hajian , Misha Jain , Arita L. Liu , Teeba Obaid , Mari Fukuda , Philip H. Winne , John C. Nesbit


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We investigated the effects of just-in-time guidance at various stages of inquiry learning by novice learners. Thirteen participants, randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 8) or control (n = 5) group, were observed as they learned about DC electric circuits using a web-based simulation. Just-in-time instructional prompts to observe, predict, explain, systematically test, collect evidence, and generate rules were strongly associated with diagnosing and correcting misconceptions, and constructing correct scientific concepts. Students’ repeated use of predictions, systematic testing, and evidence-coordinated reasoning often led to formulating new principles, generalizing from observed patterns, verifying comprehension, and experiencing “Aha!” moments. Just-in-time prompts helped learners manage embedded cognitive challenges in inquiry tasks, achieve a comprehensive understanding of the model represented in the simulation, and show significantly higher knowledge gain. Just-in-time prompts also promoted rejection of incorrect models of inquiry and construction of robust scientific mental models. The results suggest ways of customizing guidance to promote scientific learning within simulation environments.

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10.12973/eu-jer.10.2.989
Pages: 989-1007
cloud_download 477
visibility 535
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477
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535
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5

Scopus
4

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Teachers who can adapt and be ready for all changes will also be able to provide a balance to increase the competence of vocational high school students. This is also not denied when teachers become assessors in student competency tests. The objectives of this study were to produce an instrument for the readiness of teachers as assessors; to knowing good grain reliability; to know the characteristics of the instrument; and to know the difficulty level of the item. The method used in this research is instrument development. Respondents were vocational school teachers who were candidates for competency test assessors. Data collection techniques using a questionnaire. Analysis of construct validity using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. Test the instrument items using the Rasch model. The results are the readiness instruments of the vocational teacher as an assessor has 19 indicators that have been grouped into 5 factors with consistency values being in the same construct (proven construct validity). The result of the calculation of the reliability of this instrument is 0.852, which means that the reliability coefficient is high; There are two items, namely numbers 24 and 18 which indicate the absence of a fit item in the overall item fit criteria; At the item difficulty level, items 8 and 6 have a difficulty score of more than 2, while this indicates that items 8 and 6 have a high difficulty level.

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10.12973/eu-jer.10.3.1471
Pages: 1471-1485
cloud_download 235
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235
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371
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5

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7

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This research aimed to develop a historical thinking assessment for students' skills in analyzing the causality of historical events. The development process of Gall and colleagues and Rasch analysis models were used to develop an assessment instrument consisting of two processes, including the analysis of the framework of cause and consequence, the validity, reliability, and difficultness test. This research involved 150 senior high school students, with data collected using the validation sheet, tests, and scoring rubric. The results were in the form of an essay test consisting of six indicators of analyzing cause and consequence. The instruments were valid, reliable, and suitable for assessing students’ skills in analyzing the causality of historical events. The developed instruments were paired with a historical thinking skills assessment to improve the accuracy of the information about students' level of historical thinking skills in the learning history.

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10.12973/eu-jer.11.2.609
Pages: 609-619
cloud_download 1295
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1295
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843
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2

Scopus
1

Parental Obstacles During Distance Learning Mathematics in Indonesia: A Phenomenology Study

covid-19 distance learning mathematics panic-gogy phenomenology

Muhamad Galang Isnawan , Didi Suryadi , Turmudi Turmudi , Marfuah Marfuah


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The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an inevitable shift from face-to-face to distance learning, a phenomenon known as panic-gogy. Parents are the main students’ companions while studying at home. Although various studies show the constraints in this condition, few employ phenomenology that accurately describes people’s experience regarding a situation. Therefore, this study aimed to describe parents’ experience during distance learning mathematics using a phenomenology approach. The participants comprised 71 35-50-year-old parents of junior high school students. A Google form with open-ended questions was used as the main instrument in data collection. Data were analyzed using NVivo-12-assisted thematic analysis in coding, while source triangulation was used to strengthen the data trustworthiness. The results showed that students did not learn the content well due to poor explanations by the teacher. Furthermore, they did not study well at home due to signal constraints and quota limitations. This study recommends blended learning by combining limited face-to-face and online learning.

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10.12973/eu-jer.11.2.873
Pages: 873-883
cloud_download 896
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896
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601
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2

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3

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This research aims to determine second-year university students’ understanding in interpreting and representing fractions. A set of fraction tests was given to students through two direct learning interventions. An unstructured interview was used as an instrument to obtain explanations and confirmations from the purposive participants. A total of 112 student teachers of primary teacher education program at two private universities in Indonesia were involved in this research. A qualitative method with a holistic type case study design was used in this research. The results indicate that a significant percentage of the participants could not correctly interpret and represent fractions. In terms of interpretation, it is found how language could obscure the misunderstanding of fractions. Then, the idea of a fraction as part of a whole is the most widely used in giving meaning to a fraction compared to the other four interpretations, but with limited understanding. Regarding data representation, many participants failed to provide a meaningful illustration showing the improper fraction and mix number compared to the proper fraction. Improvement of fraction teaching at universities - particularly in primary teacher education programs - is needed so that students get the opportunity to develop and improve their knowledge profoundly. We discuss implications for teaching fractions.

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10.12973/eu-jer.11.3.1747
Pages: 1747-1762
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337
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419
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2

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0

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School placement plays a critical and complex role in student teacher development as well as in their professional dispositions and career attitudes. It is where theory and practice meet, teaching skills are developed, professional relationships formed and future careers envisioned. This mixed methods study explores student teachers’ experiences with and perspectives about new models of extended school placements developed in Ireland following significant policy and programme reform. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires with one of the first cohorts to experience a reconceptualised initial teacher education programme, including extended school placement periods in a variety of school settings. This paper will explore student teachers’ perspectives regarding the value of the extended placement and factors influencing their professional learning, agency and sense of belonging. Overall, our findings confirm the pedagogical benefits of the extended placement in two different school settings for student teachers’ professional learning. However, they also highlight how a number of factors, including the existence (or absence) of school support structures, school culture, peer networks, paid or unpaid additional workload and financial pressures impacted on student teachers’ capabilities to develop their skills and professional agency, their sense of belonging and, in some cases, their physical and mental health.

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10.12973/eu-jer.11.4.2373
Pages: 2373-2386
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301
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374
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4

Scopus
2

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Multiculturalism in the school environment is challenging for all educational systems. This study examines the effect of multicultural school leadership on multicultural teacher culture and determines mediating effects of multicultural inspiration, personality, and attitude. A quantitative research approach using a cross-sectional survey was used for this study. The population and sample of this study were school principals and high school teachers in Central Java Province, Indonesia. The participants were a total of 357 individuals. Data analysis was done by structural equation modeling (SEM) using the software AMOS 24. The results show that multicultural school leadership directly influences multicultural teacher culture. This study also highlights multicultural inspiration, multicultural personality, and multicultural attitude as factors that mediate the effect of multicultural school leadership on multicultural teacher culture. This study makes a practical and theoretical contribution, especially by providing data to support the improvement of multicultural teacher culture and the importance of multicultural leadership of school leaders in influencing these factors through multicultural inspiration, personality, and attitude.

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10.12973/eu-jer.11.4.2387
Pages: 2387-2399
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522
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482
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7

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4

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