Academic literature on the topic 'Learning from First Nations' teachings'

In this two-part life writing script, I narrate and interpret my experiences as a teacher and parent of a “reluctant reader” in the early phases of learning to read. In the first part, I address the myths and panics that often overtake parents of young reluctant readers, who may fear that their children are at risk of falling behind their peers in reading. In the second part, using the Four Directions teachings taught by Elder Bob Cardinal of the Enoch Nation in a graduate holistic curriculum studies course at the University of Alberta, I interpret the process of learning to read as a relational and careful act of ceremony, which literally overflows the dominant interpretation of reading as a technical, fragmented skill of decoding. The lovely, difficult work of learning to read, when treated as a gift between generations, opens up possibilities for “renewing a common world” (Arendt, 2006, p. 196).

This research suggests guidelines for college instructors which could help them facilitate success of First Nations students based on written narratives and data from four focus groups: (1) two groups of First Nations students; (2) two Faculty of Arts focus groups consisting of professors from the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College and the University of Regina who were identified as effective teachers of First Nations students. Data analysis revealed five themes that identify strategies that individual faculty members, as well as university program groups can use to create more positive learning environments for First Nations students: (1 ) enhancing the professor-student relationship; (2) including relevant First Nations content in curriculum; (3) using flexible teaching methods; (4) adopting a more culturally-appropriate teaching style; and (5) gaining an understand- ing of the unique life of a postsecondary First Nations student.

As an artist and writer who often works across disciplines and cultures, my education into effective and respectful engagement has been built on my experience working with First Nations friends, collaborators, and Elders. The aim of this paper is to explore teachings from a number of these leading thinkers, writers, and Elders on the topic of knowledge sharing, cross-cultural awareness, and ethical engagement through practice-led research. Drawing from personal experience, it will incorporate learnings that have informed a world view that has been evolving since childhood. The paper highlights the importance of giving rightful recognition to knowledge keepers and provides some guidance for readers interested in developing productive and respectful partnerships with First Nations collaborators. Here knowledge can be safely shared and celebrated as ways to understand the world around us that are restorative and regenerative. I speak as a woman of mixed European background raised in Australia on Gubbi Gubbi Country of South East Queensland, and Larrakia Country of Darwin. Culturally, I am descended from Norse, Celt, Saxon, and Druid ancestors. Through this lived experience I hope to share learnings that support the goals of reconciliation, truth telling, and First Nations determination in my home country, as well as facilitating greater awareness for people seeking to respectfully engage with Indigenous knowledge.

This paper involves an inquiry into the effects and affects of service learning in a Biidaaban Youth Group (BYG) programme under the auspices of the Biidaaban Community Service Learning centre (BCSL) at a small northern Ontario university. Phenomenological, hermeneutical, and narrative inquiry approaches were applied to interviews with stakeholders in BYG including a First Nations’ parent, a school-aged child, a First Nations’ grandparent and Elder, an education community partner, and a university-student tutor. The concepts of pathic teaching and liberatory service learning help to frame the findings of this study. Analysis of the data evidenced authentic caring for self and other and genuine reciprocity that is transformative and enabled participants to attain a liberatory level of social change and social consciousness as key components of the high quality of service learning that is perceived by those who serve and those who receive service from this unit.

This study aims to find out what the meaning of the evaluation is, then why the teacherneeds to conduct an evaluation of the learning program and what are the objects andtargets in the evaluation and how to carry out the evaluation of the program. This researchis motivated by the existence of an evaluation process of student learning outcomes andevaluation of the teaching process. When we see in the evaluation process only concernedwith evaluating learning outcomes, it seems less comprehensive. Therefore, it is necessaryto discuss program evaluation. Therefore the evaluation needs to be planned carefully,because it is related and involves many aspects. The method used in this study is a librarywhere data is taken from several reference books relating to the evaluation of learning.Then analyzed using a descriptive approach. Furthermore, the conclusion of this study isthe evaluation of Islamic education programs is an assessment of the design or activitythat is planned carefully to provide guidance to someone so that he can be a human beingwho can develop optimally in accordance with Islamic teachings. Furthermore, beforeevaluating the program, we must first pay attention to institutional objectives and thenspecialize in the field of PAI study and consider the competence of graduates as having:recognizing and behaving in accordance with the teachings of Islam, recognizing andexercising their rights and obligations, having employment ethics, and caring for theirenvironment , think logically critically, and be creative and communicate through variousmedia, enjoy beauty and get into a clean, fit and healthy life, have a sense of love and pridefor the nation and the motherland. Then in carrying out program evaluation can be doneby people from within (people involved in activities), and can also be people from outside(people who are not involved in program activities). The teacher is the implementer sothey know very well what is happening in the teaching and learning process. Teachersare important for improving the quality of teaching, to improve the teaching process thatwill be carried out at a later time. And the last way to carry out program evaluation isby preparing a questionnaire instrument, interview guidelines, observation guidelinesand so forth. The simplest way is to record the events experienced from daily activities inclass.

Today’s learning landscape differs greatly from that of a few years ago (Bates, 2015; Daniel, 2016; Mathes, 2019; Ossiannilsson, Williams, Camilleri, Brown, 2015). The main global challenges highlighted so far and affecting and influencing education are globalization, changing demographics and increasing digitization (Schwab, 2016). The United Nations’ UNESCO sustainability goals aim to meet these challenges (2015a; 2015b). In the field of education, the SDG4 focuses on education for all through its core areas of access, equity, equality, equality, inclusion and lifelong learning. Mobile learning is the first choice for most people today. The way learners learn is changing dramatically, due to the fourth industrial revolution, not just the way we learn, but also the way we live, perform, communicate, and interact (Schwab, 2016). Today, learning is possible anywhere, anytime and through any type of device. In the context of globalization and the knowledge-based economy, the quality of higher education is increasingly seen as strategically important for national economic development and competitiveness. High quality and relevant higher education provide students with the knowledge, skills and transferable core competences they need to succeed after graduation, in a high-quality learning environment that recognizes and supports good learning and teaching. The combination of educational technologies is both natural and demanding, so quality aspects must be taken into account (Bates, 2017, Daniels, 2016, Heurtas et al., 2018).

This paper attempts to investigate the student-teacher ratio of various Southeast Asian nations and each country’s reading performance through the lens of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores. This paper employed a purely secondary analysis using data available online. The first phase of the research involved revisiting online documents about the student-teacher ratio in the classroom among selected Southeast Asian nations. In the second phase, reading test scores presented in this study are sourced from PISA. The last phase is the comparison and contrast of the data through a tabular presentation. Findings reveal that the countries with a ratio having the least number of students per teacher ranked higher compared with those with a nation having the greatest number of students per teacher. Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam with a ratio ranging from 8 to 11.6 per teacher scored 408-549 points in the PISA Reading Test while Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines with a ratio ranging from 15 to 36 students per teacher scored 340-393 points. It is undeniable that the student population in the classroom positively impacts the teaching and learning processes, particularly in reading as contextualized in this study. The government should recognize the dire need for schools to be provided with appropriate funds to sustain the public education system. Careful analysis of the presented data shows the connection between student-teacher ratio and reading performance as manifested by test scores. It is undeniable that the student population in the classroom positively impacts the teaching and learning processes, particularly in reading as contextualized in this study.

In 2015 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded a six-year process of listening to the stories of Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. More than 6000 witnesses came forth to share their personal experiences in listening sessions set up all across the country. These stories primarily revolved around their experience of abuse and cultural genocide through more than 100 years of Residential Schools, which were operated in a cooperative effort between churches and the government of Canada. The Commission’s Final Report includes 94 calls to action with paragraph #60 directed specifically to seminaries. This paper is a case study of how Taylor Seminary, in Edmonton, is seeking to engage with this directive. It explores the changes made in the curriculum, particularly in the teaching of missiology, and highlights some of the ways the seminary community is learning about aboriginal spirituality and the history and legacy of the missionary methods that have created conflict and pain in Canadian society.

Abstract This research explores the relationship between stories from the land and character education, and examines how the land forms the characters of those who live with Her. Twenty-seven participants were chosen through the snowball, or chain sampling, method from three groups of people living roughly within the boundaries of Hastings County, Ontario. Three groups of people were included: those living on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory; generational farmers, whose families had settled in this area; and relative newcomers who have come to the area as recently as twenty years ago and self-identified as coming here in order to be closer to the land. Ages varied, with the youngest participant being 30 years old and the eldest being 94. Each participant was asked to share a story from his or her experience of living with the land in this area. During personal visits, stories were conveyed through conversations between the participant and the researcher, and recorded using both audio and video equipment. After transcription, the stories were coded for evidence of character development and reflected upon using three lenses: Noddings (2003) circles of caring; Haig-Brown’s (2010) ways through which the land teaches us; and the traditional Ojibway story of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. This reflection process was guided by the notion of close reading of the transcripts, close listening to audio recordings for voice inflection and laughter, and close watching of video recordings for body language. Findings from the research revealed rich connections between the stories and the three lenses used. Every aspect of character development was evidenced in one or more stories. The stories affirmed that, as the elders have traditionally taught, the land moulds people. Those who live in the same area develop character in similar ways. There was no substantial difference shown between the character traits evident in the stories given by Mohawk people and those from the other two groups. Character traits identified were reflective of the skills necessarily developed to live and work on this land. Implications for the development of character education curriculum emerged from the consideration of the use of locally based stories within classrooms.<br>Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-12-17 11:03:25.805

First Nations and local government communities in urban areas in British Columbia find themselves living in close proximity to each other as a result of urban growth. Local governments are becoming concerned about the impacts final treaty settlements will have on their communities. In general, they are unsure about the effects increased self-governing powers will have on their communities. In order for treaty implementation to be successful and, for First Nations and local government communities to co-exist in urban areas, it is necessary for these two parties to develop collaborative relationships. The main objectives of this research were to identify ways First Nations and local governments could collaborate on planning matters and to contribute to the literature on First Nation and local government planning relationships in BC. A framework of opportunities and obstacles to structuring collaboration among a First Nation and local government was developed by interviewing individuals from Katzie First Nation and neighbouring local governments. A discussion on the need for both parties to be motivated by a critical interest to structure collaboration is included in the framework. For the current study, the critical interest for the two parties stems from Katzie's treaty negotiations. The study found five key elements that together increase the opportunity for First Nations and local governments to structure collaboration. These are First Nation participation in the BC treaty process, face to face communication, mutual learning, First Nation participation in neighbouring community events, and informed municipal leaders on First Nation issues. The study identified the following four obstacles to collaboration: First Nations and local governments inability to negotiate at the treaty table, competing land use and development, relative government and administrative capacity, and lack of legislation requiring First Nations to consult with local governments. The framework considers issues that are specific to urban areas in BC where First Nations are negotiating treaties and how these issues affect collaboration among First Nations and local governments. The opportunities are consistent with the general principles of collaborative planning. It is concluded that the BC treaty process, in this case, acts as a catalyst in bringing these two parties together in long term dialogue and eventual collaboration.<br>Applied Science, Faculty of<br>Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of<br>Graduate

This chapter emphasizes the potential leadership functions of universities in this field. They can (1) heighten awareness of the gravity of the problem, especially by international cooperation in sharing data; (2) conduct research with emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration that gives deeper understanding of causes, nature and scope, amelioration, and prevention of mass violence; (3) upgrade education for peace in the universities and also extend the reach to educate the general public and leaders, including political, religious, ethnic, and military leaders—all of whom have massive responsibility for preventing catastrophes rather than inducing them; and (4) program excellent developmentally-appropriate educational materials for elementary and secondary schools, working in conjunction with teachers at each level. In March 2001, an international group of experts from various fields met to discuss the current status of education for peace and ways to improve it. Scholars from academia, prominent UN officials, and experts from nongovernmental, governmental, and multilateral organizations considered ways in which the University for Peace (UPEACE) might be able to strengthen the field of peace education.More broadly, participants analyzed the current state of peace education internationally. All concurred that the concerns posed by human conflict in the twenty-first century must be more adequately addressed. This initial section outlines important issues raised at the conference as well as its recommendations. In opening this meeting at the United Nations, Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, made these remarks:… Knowledge, research, and teaching are vital in our new global environment. To achieve effective education for peace, we need to reach out to as many actors as possible to devise new approaches to challenges that are in themselves only beginning to be fully understood. . . . How do we promote the good governance needed to underpin stable and transparent societies? How do we make the unprecedented opportunities offered by science and technology work as a tool for peace? . . . Achieving decent, just, and peaceful relations among diverse human groups is an enterprise that must be constantly renewed—and education for peace is a fundamental part of that enterprise. Yet the world’s record on education for peace has been weak indeed. . . . To address complex causes, we need complex, interdisciplinary solutions.

In winter 2020, Coronavirus silently spread from a Chinese metropolis globally. Schools closed and emergency distance teaching was enforced wherever possible. This chapter examines this phenomenon as it took place in an Italian upper secondary school and applies the rules of gamification as a key to understanding the process and the interconnections of all the agents that played a role. The theoretical background includes Werbach and Hunter's game theory, the SAMR model of Ruben Puentedura, and the findings of social and emotional learning (SEL), with the aim to analyze not only the technical transformations with their consequences on teaching practices, but also the emotional impact the pandemic had on teachers and pupils. The results of the first national surveys about the effect of the lockdown months are taken into consideration to validate the author's experience, as well as articles and studies from sources such as UNESCO, OECD, and the Economic World Forum. The description of what happened as if it were a proper game may shed some light into the complexity of this experience.

A paradigm shift has taken place in the last decade, with a move from traditional to Web-based education at different educational levels (Harasim, 2000; Karuppan, 2001; Kilby, 2001). Web-based education (WBE) has moved on from the delivery of educational content to Web-based sites with interactive functions (Carty &amp; Philip, 2001). Concurrently, new innovative kinds of pedagogical experiments have shifted the paradigm from teaching to learning (Pahl, 2003). As summarised by Armstrong (2001), what educators have in fact realised is that a good Web-based education theory and good education theory are one and the same; the only difference is that WBE transcends the barriers of space and time. The paradigmatic shift has occurred as part of planned educational policy, while at the same time good international or national experiences have also supported the growth of WBE. In addition, there have been attempts to have more coherent and cohesive educational systems and degrees especially in the European context (The Bologna Declaration, 1999.)

This chapter focuses on protographical literature written by those who articulated the culture of the conquerors. The Greeks of Alexander's era saw themselves as the peers and heirs of the Near Eastern civilizations they were about to conquer. They accepted foreign contributions to their culture but were also confident in their own achievements, presaging the skill with which Greek rulers in the Near East would adopt the native traditions of those they conquered while expanding the influence Greek learning. In contrast, Ibn Qutayba and Pliny, wrote after the conquests and thus had to differentiate the conquerors' culture from that of the conquered following decades or centuries of foreign influence. Unlike the Greek authors, the two men are modest about the cultural achievements of the conquerors (Roman and Arab), reflecting the conquerors' genuine lack of a native learned high culture comparable to those they conquered. This lack of sophistication also caused both men to worry about the cultural influence of their imperial predecessors (Greek for Pliny, Iranian for Ibn Qutayba) on the new empires.

This chapter argues for the importance of equipping academics with the knowledge and impact of IR4.0 and beyond for future graduates. Particularly to prepare for military leaders for Malaysia at the National Defense University of Malaysia (NDUM), a new learning model may be apt and urgently needed. The objectives of the chapter are twofold: firstly, to gauge the readiness and awareness level of academics on implementing IR4.0 during their classroom teaching, and secondly, to investigate academics' views on their own teaching practices. The methodology for this chapter is quantitative in nature, where an online survey was used to collect data from the academics. It is found that, first, there are mixed reactions from academics on their readiness and awareness of IR4.0 and its impacts, and second, should the existing curriculum be revamped to serve students' needs on IR4.0, academics opined that the delivery methods must change too.

This chapter argues for the importance of equipping academics with the knowledge and impact of IR4.0 and beyond for future graduates. Particularly to prepare for military leaders for Malaysia at the National Defense University of Malaysia (NDUM), a new learning model may be apt and urgently needed. The objectives of the chapter are twofold: firstly, to gauge the readiness and awareness level of academics on implementing IR4.0 during their classroom teaching, and secondly, to investigate academics' views on their own teaching practices. The methodology for this chapter is quantitative in nature, where an online survey was used to collect data from the academics. It is found that, first, there are mixed reactions from academics on their readiness and awareness of IR4.0 and its impacts, and second, should the existing curriculum be revamped to serve students' needs on IR4.0, academics opined that the delivery methods must change too.

The chapter provides a description of the first stage of an SoTL project consisting of an interdisciplinary research collaboration between nursing disciplinary experts from the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies (ALCNS) and academic literacy experts from the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). This stage includes the creation of appropriate lesson material for teaching critical reflection drawing on Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with nursing lecturers and the use of ‘model' reflective writing texts from high-scoring students in past cohorts analysed using Systemic Functional linguistic frameworks such as genre pedagogy, appraisal, The Legitimation Code Theory tool of semantic waves. The intervention was designed to improve the highly valued skill of ‘critical reflection' in nursing undergraduate clinical modules drawing on the use of rigorous theoretical frameworks that make visible salient linguistics resources and knowledge practices drawing on SFL and LCT.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 18.9 percent of elementary and middle school teachers are from diverse backgrounds. Only 15 percent of preschool and kindergarten teachers are minority (“Household Data Annual Averages,” 2008). The current teacher workforce remains predominantly white, middle class (Hughes &amp; Kwok, 2007), and female (Kearney, 2008; Weinstein, Tomlinson-Clark &amp; Curran, 2004; Garmon, 2005; Thomas &amp; Kearney, 2008). Another problem that affects teacher workforce is that half of new teachers leave their jobs within their first five years of teaching (Kearney, 2008). Because of high burn out due to improper working conditions and lack of support, teachers are leaving schools with a high minority rate (Horng, 2009). Therefore, this chapter is intended to stimulate reflections on strategies to deal with the increasing diversity in the national teacher educator workforce. Further, since diversity is a complex issue, issues that teachers of all ethnicities (including white) come across in working with culturally diverse learners are also examined.

Historically, latecomer countries have moved up the development ladder by learning from forerunners and adopting what has been learned to their specific starting conditions and resource endowment. However, it has always been puzzling and difficult to understand why some nations managed to learn and emulate technologies and catch-up successfully while others encounter difficulties and remain lagging behind despite the opportunities to learn from or even copy others. To a large extent, these variations are influenced by the long-term strategies and types of policies that countries pursue to initiate economic development and kick-start the process of technological learning and industrialization. This volume has attempted to shed light on the ‘how’ aspect of the learning and catch-up processes and the potential for late-latecomer countries to promote technological learning and catch-up. The combination of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence in this volume provides a particular contribution to the ongoing debate on the dynamics of learning and catch-up. This chapter looks into the future and considers the implications of its key findings for late-latecomer countries learning and catching up in the twenty-first century. The discussion focuses on the key dynamics of technological learning; industrial policy and manufacturing as prime drivers of learning and catch-up; and finally, catch-up and the scope for policy space in the twenty-first century.

This chapter states that there exists a difference between a learning program and an educational curriculum. Beneficiary-learners participate in the development, implementation and evaluation of learning programs whereas educational curricula are offered by some authorities who hardly consult with potential learners and who oversee the fashioning, execution and evaluation of the programs they have developed. The chapter draws attention to the fact that with regards to education in prison, the world is currently divided into three camps (nations that believe in the provision of a full range of educational services to prisoners, those that hold the view that only a limited provision of educational services is needed and nations that think prisoners deserve no education). The chapter ends by supplying a rationale for the provision of learning programs to the prisoner and the psycho-social and temporal sources from where the building blocks for such learning programs should be derived.

The spread of novel Corona Virus and the resulting Covid-19 Pandemic has had a profound impact in our lives and most of daily activities have been upset. Negative effects crushed education and all around the world schools, universities and tertiary institutions had to shut down moving to Distance Learning. Distance Learning was in fact the global answer to continue educational activities and preserve students’ right to education. The United Nations Organization for Culture and Education (UNESCO) reports that ten months after rising pandemic, more than 331 million students worldwide are affected by the Pandemic and in 28 countries the schools are still closed (updated 09.12.2020). During the months of the first contagion curve, only 15% of teaching activities were delivered remotely, globally, thanks to Distance Learning. More than 1.5 billion students worldwide are or have been touched by the closure of schools and universities due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Teachers and instructors world-wide had to find the best solution to fix the pedagogical challenge. For this reason, teaching strategies, methods and materials have been adapted to the online learning environment. Distance Learning refers to an electronic learning environment; generally, it is used if time and/or geographic conditions do not allow a direct contact between educators and students (King, Young, Drivere-Richmond &amp; Schrader, 2001). UNESCO (2002) asserts that Distance Learning includes learning process carried out separately in time and space, through artificial electronic or print media; this holds also for a part of the educational process. Distance Learning requires specific evaluation procedures throughout qualitative and quantitative methodologies, focusing the performance assessment and the learning process (Benigno &amp; Trentin, 1999). This article is a part of a wider research that wants to investigate the students’ experience about online Laboratory classes during Pandemic crisis. Based on a quantitative, non- experimental and ex-post-facto research, this article specifically investigates the strategies used during remote Labs students attended during the sanitary emergency. Data was collected through a no-tested research survey administered with an online free app. A voluntary response sample from 749 Single-cycle Primary Teacher Education students, from first year course to the fifth, attending university in one of the most important athenaeums in Southern Italy, at the end of their last second semester. Results from the closed-response questions show the use of a variety of strategies whose effectiveness should be assessed based on empirical evidence.

Experiential Learning and Integrated Learning Environments in Architecture is a pedagogic project based on action learning (Revans, 1980) that challenges the traditional design studio teaching approach to Architectural/Urban Design and builds on Dewey (1939) and Kolb (1984) theories of experiential learning. An innovative model of teaching Urban Design to Master of Architecture students has been trailed for the first time in 2018, when the studio was set in the City of Bayswater, and has been refined over the course of 2019 in two separate study periods – Study Period 1 (Rome/Milan Study Tour) and Semester 2. This model provides students with an opportunity to collaboratively learn from and re-design the existing urban environments by immersing themselves in the very context they are studying. The proximity of the classroom to the urban setting presented an opportunity for students to draw comparisons and analysis between national and international examples and that of the surrounding urban milieu. Additionally, advanced technology supportive of distributed learning environment and intense collaboration with industry such as Hassell, Element and The Office of the Government Architect (OGA), coupled with opportunities to visit various practices, provided deeper insights and an all rounded approach to learning and engaging with architecture. Keywords: experiential learning; collaborative learning environments; architecture, urban design

In an Irish national setting, the urgent need to address the national language skills' shortage has been highlighted in numerous arenas, and in the context of the need for a continued economic recovery, language skills and proficiency are essential. Against this backdrop, the national project* reported in this paper aims to develop a digital literacies framework and accompanying on-line interactive resource for language learners and teachers in Irish higher education (HE). Within the scope of this project the target user groups include first year students, study abroad students, and language lecturers. The main research questions for the project are: - what are the main practical issues that students have when making the transition from secondary to third level language study? - to what extent are digital literacies part of the curriculum at third level and what gaps do students and lecturers identify in this provision? - what are the strengths and weaknesses of the emerging digital literacies framework for language learning (as identified through piloting and evaluation) and how do these inform the final design and implementation of the ‘digilanguages’ platform? Preliminary primary pilot research conducted in 2015 as part of the project identified a number of key areas where online flexible support is best focussed. Based on these findings and international research in the field, the aim of the project is to develop online resources and activities in three broad areas: Digital Literacies for Language Development Language Learning Strategies and PracticesTransitions to Third Level Language Learning Environments The portal will be freely available, offering a range of OERs and will be scalable for use in other contexts. The contents and activities will afford integration into many programmes currently on offer in Irish HE.

According to the Estonian National Curriculum for Basic Schools (2011), students should value their cultural heritage. Therefore, schools should do everything to develop students’ cultural awareness and knowledge. Despite the importance of the topic the curriculum does not specify how and where it should be taught and does not say which material to use. One possibility to address the problem is to use authentic materials and tasks. The latter offer numerous ways to learn about one’s cultural history, and help to create a bridge between the classroom and real life. Authentic materials are not specifically created for pedagogic purposes while authentic tasks require students to learn, practise and evaluate material the same way as they would do in real life. The focus of the use authentic materials has so far been mostly on foreign language teaching and learning. However, they have a huge potential in acquiring cultural knowledge as they offer both current and historical information. The aim of the study was to find out future primary school teachers’ opinions about the authentic materials and tasks used during the course “The Child in Estonian Cultural History”. 25 first-year students who attended the course participated in the study. The data was collected from the students’ written reflection and analysed qualitatively. The results revealed that the students understood the relevance of authentic materials and tasks in acquiring and appreciating one’s cultural history. They believed that authentic materials and tasks enrich the teaching and learning process, and help to make connections to their everyday life. It also became evident that the students needed better instructions of how to find appropriate authentic materials and exploit them effectively in their future teaching career.

Engineering Education has always been focusing on the development of technical skills since decades. Technological advancement and digitalization have enabled the educators to implement various teaching pedagogies for the Digital Natives [1]. According to the World Bank report on the employability and skill set of newly graduated engineers in India, the core employability skills like self-discipline, reliability, self-motivation, team work, willingness to learn, flexibility, empathy, understanding and taking instructions for assignments with the weightage of 4.27 and communication skills with the weightage of 4.01 are prioritized much more than the professional skills with the average of 3.91 [2]. The three skills groups identified by The World Bank, partly underpinned by the tripartite conceptualization of learning as cognitive, psychomotor and affective domain of Bloom’s taxonomy are an important source of investigation for teaching learning pedagogy [3]. The engineers always play a critical role in the development of the society which demands from them critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration skills, decision making, communication skills, integrity, realizing human values, being compassionate and accountable etc. These skills enable them to work for the welfare of mankind. Much of the research has emphasized to have such types of skills among the engineers but increased demand and increased number of qualifying engineering graduates have led to poor quality of education and consequently skill shortage. This paper presents a unique pedagogical framework focusing on the development of affective domain among the first year engineering students. The authors ascertain that the cognitive domain has been always emphasized in engineering education, more than the affective domain, albeit affective domain is substantial for engineers. The affective domain, arguably the most complex, [4] is about students’ values, attitude, emotions, appreciation etc. The authors have adopted a new hybrid learning concept offering a conducive, student-centered learning environment that motivates and enhances students’ engagement with their peers, friends, teachers and the institute. This paper discusses a new learning concept, specific to engineering education for the smooth transition of the students to real contributors and life-long learners by acquiring some indispensable 21st century skills.

With the increase in enrolment figures from second level education to third level education over the last number of decades, non-progression rates continue to give cause for concern in certain levels and disciplines. It has been widely argued that in addition to increasing enrolment numbers, higher education must also be concerned with the success of these students. In both the Irish and the international sector, the negative consequences of non-progression has been highlighted, not just on a societal level, but also for the students themselves. It is crucial for first-year student experience to have a positive experience and be fully supported in achieving the goals of higher education. From researching several reports in the area of retention and in particular the reports published by the Irish Higher Education Authority and the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in this area, it is clear that there is a need to analyse the data available and present the findings in a clear way to the key decision makers to allow for early intervention. This paper uses the different phases of the CRISP-DM methodology and applies data mining techniques and models to a real student dataset with the aim to predict the students that will progress. Keywords: Learning analytics; Data Mining; Higher Education; Retention.

In Chile, despite the great coverage achieved, there are still children and adolescents who leave school without being able to complete 12 years of compulsory education (Casen, 2015); moreover, among the countries that make up the OECD, Chile is in the first places of deschooling (TALIS, 2013). This marginalization from the school system is affecting a significant number of children and hindering areas of integration and social development, which accentuates processes of social exclusion and violation of rights in Chile (Casen, 2015; Mide-UC, 2016; Mineduc, 2017). This is reinforced by pedagogical practices that strengthen these probabilities of failure (Román, 2013). The phenomenon of school reintegration has little evidence in relation to the human and technical component in school reintegration processes, either locally (Mide-UC, 2016; UNESCO-UNICEF-Chilean Association of Municipalities, 2012), or internationally (CEPAL, 2010; Contreras et al, 2014; Sucre, 2016), which implies observing and analyzing pedagogical intervention practices in these contexts, in terms of how these dialogical-reflective relational dynamics between teachers and children and adolescents are developed, from the perspective of pedagogical interactions, an area of growing interest in educational sciences, which looks at more than the action itself, at how and what happens in the interaction. (Colomina et al, 2001) This research from a qualitative, transactional approach, oriented from the perspective of descriptive studies (Hernández,et al, 2010) and enriched with the symbolic interactionism of Blumer (1969), whose contributions indicate that the nature of the teaching-learning processes can only be unraveled through direct examination, seeks to understand pedagogical intervention practices from the perspective of pedagogical interactions which are developed between teachers and their students, within the framework of the specialized protection programs in school reintegration implemented in Chile by the National Service for Minors of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, in vulnerable sectors of the communes of Talca, Region of Maule and La Pintana, Metropolitan Region. The analysis through the theoretical and empirical contributions provided by the scientific evidence on pedagogical interactions, in terms of how they are configured, deployed and how these pedagogical intervention practices are perceived by the actors involved, added to the findings obtained, provides an opportunity to innovate by allowing the observation of school reintegration as a scenario of human relations and to deepen around this professional action as a critical element, constituting the improvement of teaching and effectiveness in school reintegration processes.

The first step most engineers take toward professional engineering licensure is taking the Fundamentals of Engineering examination administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. The examination is typically taken by students near completion of an undergraduate engineering degree. By following up with engineering experience and the Professional Engineering examination, engineers can be licensed in any of the 50 states of the U.S. Professional licensure is both an aid and an incentive to professionalism in engineers. Licensure provides a publicly recognized credential for engineering competence and professional ethics. The licensing process, together with state requirements for maintaining licensure, ensures that professional engineers have the depth and breadth of knowledge required for engineering practice. Knowledge of licensing requirements helps young engineers set their own standards for engineering competence. Virginia Tech has, for many years, assisted its senior engineering students in preparing for the Fundamentals of Engineering examination. The program began in the 1970’s as an unofficial series of review lectures offered by engineering faculty. Later, it became a two credit hour course administered by the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics with modules taught by faculty from many engineering disciplines as well as mathematics and chemistry. The course was taught every spring, using a set of notes and problems prepared by the instructors and available to students at reproduction cost. Lectures were scheduled in the evening to reduce interference with other courses. In spring 2011, the course was taught for the first time as an asynchronous online course developed by the instructors working in conjunction with Virginia Tech’s Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning. Updated lecture notes and problems were available for download, and lectures, recorded for the online course, were available for viewing as audio/video slide presentations using streaming video format. Since different faculty had different prior experience with computer-aided and online teaching, the different course modules used various online teaching techniques. The course website has been organized so that student response to the online materials may be monitored. Historically, Virginia Tech has had both high levels of undergraduate participation in the Fundamentals of Engineering examination and a high pass rate. Statistics on course registration, exam participation, and pass rate over the past decade are presented and compared with statistics for the new online course. In spite of a few technical and other issues, the online course appears to be a success. It is anticipated that feedback from this initial online offering will result in even better student acceptance and utilization of the online content, as well as examination performance, in the future.

Aim/Purpose: This paper provides the results of the preliminary analysis of the findings of an ongoing study that seeks to examine the social media use, cultural and political awareness, civic engagement, issue prioritization, and social activism of Gen Z students enrolled at four different institutional types located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The aim of this study is to look at the group as a whole as well as compare findings across populations. The institutional types under consideration include a mid-sized majority serving or otherwise referred to as a traditionally white institution (TWI) located in a small coastal city on the Atlantic Ocean, a small Historically Black University (HBCU) located in a rural area, a large community college located in a county that is a mixture of rural and suburban and which sits on the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and graduating high school students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs in a large urban area. This exploration is purposed to examine the behaviors and expectations of Gen Z students within a representative American region during a time of tremendous turmoil and civil unrest in the United States. Background: Over 74 million strong, Gen Z makes up almost one-quarter of the U.S. population. They already outnumber any current living generation and are the first true digital natives. Born after 1996 and through 2012, they are known for their short attention spans and heightened ability to multi-task. Raised in the age of the smart phone, they have been tethered to digital devices from a young age with most having the preponderance of their childhood milestones commemorated online. Often called Zoomers, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation and are on track to be the most well-educated generation in history. Gen Zers in the United States have been found in the research to be progressive and pro-government and viewing increasing racial and ethnic diversity as positive change. Finally, they are less likely to hold xenophobic beliefs such as the notion of American exceptionalism and superiority that have been popular with by prior generations. The United States has been in a period of social and civil unrest in recent years with concerns over systematic racism, rampant inequalities, political polarization, xenophobia, police violence, sexual assault and harassment, and the growing epidemic of gun violence. Anxieties stirred by the COVID-19 pandemic further compounded these issues resulting in a powder keg explosion occurring throughout the summer of 2020 and leading well into 2021. As a result, the United States has deteriorated significantly in the Civil Unrest Index falling from 91st to 34th. The vitriol, polarization, protests, murders, and shootings have all occurred during Gen Z’s formative years, and the limited research available indicates that it has shaped their values and political views. Methodology: The Mid-Atlantic region is a portion of the United States that exists as the overlap between the northeastern and southeastern portions of the country. It includes the nation’s capital, as well as large urban centers, small cities, suburbs, and rural enclaves. It is one of the most socially, economically, racially, and culturally diverse parts of the United States and is often referred to as the “typically American region.” An electronic survey was administered to students from 2019 through 2021 attending a high school dual enrollment program, a minority serving institution, a majority serving institution, and a community college all located within the larger mid-Atlantic region. The survey included a combination of multiple response, Likert scaled, dichotomous, open ended, and ordinal questions. It was developed in the Survey Monkey system and reviewed by several content and methodological experts in order to examine bias, vagueness, or potential semantic problems. Finally, the survey was pilot tested prior to implementation in order to explore the efficacy of the research methodology. It was then modified accordingly prior to widespread distribution to potential participants. The surveys were administered to students enrolled in classes taught by the authors all of whom are educators. Participation was voluntary, optional, and anonymous. Over 800 individuals completed the survey with just over 700 usable results, after partial completes and the responses of individuals outside of the 18-24 age range were removed. Findings: Participants in this study overwhelmingly were users of social media. In descending order, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Tik Tok were the most popular social media services reported as being used. When volume of use was considered, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter were the most cited with most participants reporting using Instagram and Snapchat multiple times a day. When asked to select which social media service they would use if forced to choose just one, the number one choice was YouTube followed by Instagram and Snapchat. Additionally, more than half of participants responded that they have uploaded a video to a video sharing site such as YouTube or Tik Tok. When asked about their familiarity with different technologies, participants overwhelmingly responded that they are “very familiar” with smart phones, searching the Web, social media, and email. About half the respondents said that they were “very familiar” with common computer applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite or Google Suite with another third saying that they were “somewhat familiar.” When asked about Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Course Compass, Canvas, Edmodo, Moodle, Course Sites, Google Classroom, Mindtap, Schoology, Absorb, D2L, itslearning, Otus, PowerSchool, or WizIQ, only 43% said they were “very familiar” with 31% responding that they were “somewhat familiar.” Finally, about half the students were either “very” or “somewhat” familiar with operating systems such as Windows. A few preferences with respect to technology in the teaching and learning process were explored in the survey. Most students (85%) responded that they want course announcements and reminders sent to their phones, 76% expect their courses to incorporate the use of technology, 71% want their courses to have course websites, and 71% said that they would rather watch a video than read a book chapter. When asked to consider the future, over 81% or respondents reported that technology will play a major role in their future career. Most participants considered themselves “informed” or “well informed” about current events although few considered themselves “very informed” or “well informed” about politics. When asked how they get their news, the most common forum reported for getting news and information about current events and politics was social media with 81% of respondents reporting. Gen Z is known to be an engaged generation and the participants in this study were not an exception. As such, it came as no surprise to discover that, in the past year more than 78% of respondents had educated friends or family about an important social or political issue, about half (48%) had donated to a cause of importance to them, more than a quarter (26%) had participated in a march or rally, and a quarter (26%) had actively boycotted a product or company. Further, about 37% consider themselves to be a social activist with another 41% responding that aren’t sure if they would consider themselves an activist and only 22% saying that they would not consider themselves an activist. When asked what issues were important to them, the most frequently cited were Black Lives Matter (75%), human trafficking (68%), sexual assault/harassment/Me Too (66.49%), gun violence (65.82%), women’s rights (65.15%), climate change (55.4%), immigration reform/deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) (48.8%), and LGBTQ+ rights (47.39%). When the schools were compared, there were only minor differences in social media use with the high school students indicating slightly more use of Tik Tok than the other participants. All groups were virtually equal when it came to how informed they perceived themselves about current events and politics. Consensus among groups existed with respect to how they get their news, and the community college and high school students were slightly more likely to have participated in a march, protest, or rally in the last 12 months than the university students. The community college and high school students were also slightly more likely to consider themselves social activists than the participants from either of the universities. When the importance of the issues was considered, significant differences based on institutional type were noted. Black Lives Matter (BLM) was identified as important by the largest portion of students attending the HBCU followed by the community college students and high school students. Less than half of the students attending the TWI considered BLM an important issue. Human trafficking was cited as important by a higher percentage of students attending the HBCU and urban high school than at the suburban and rural community college or the TWI. Sexual assault was considered important by the majority of students at all the schools with the percentage a bit smaller from the majority serving institution. About two thirds of the students at the high school, community college, and HBCU considered gun violence important versus about half the students at the majority serving institution. Women’s rights were reported as being important by more of the high school and HBCU participants than the community college or TWI. Climate change was considered important by about half the students at all schools with a slightly smaller portion reporting out the HBCU. Immigration reform/DACA was reported as important by half the high school, community college, and HBCU participants with only a third of the students from the majority serving institution citing it as an important issue. With respect to LGBTQ rights approximately half of the high school and community college participants cited it as important, 44.53% of the HBCU students, and only about a quarter of the students attending the majority serving institution. Contribution and Conclusion: This paper provides a timely investigation into the mindset of generation Z students living in the United States during a period of heightened civic unrest. This insight is useful to educators who should be informed about the generation of students that is currently populating higher education. The findings of this study are consistent with public opinion polls by Pew Research Center. According to the findings, the Gen Z students participating in this study are heavy users of multiple social media, expect technology to be integrated into teaching and learning, anticipate a future career where technology will play an important role, informed about current and political events, use social media as their main source for getting news and information, and fairly engaged in social activism. When institutional type was compared the students from the university with the more affluent and less diverse population were less likely to find social justice issues important than the other groups. Recommendations for Practitioners: During disruptive and contentious times, it is negligent to think that the abounding issues plaguing society are not important to our students. Gauging the issues of importance and levels of civic engagement provides us crucial information towards understanding the attitudes of students. Further, knowing how our students gain information, their social media usage, as well as how informed they are about current events and political issues can be used to more effectively communicate and educate. Recommendations for Researchers: As social media continues to proliferate daily life and become a vital means of news and information gathering, additional studies such as the one presented here are needed. Additionally, in other countries facing similarly turbulent times, measuring student interest, awareness, and engagement is highly informative. Impact on Society: During a highly contentious period replete with a large volume of civil unrest and compounded by a global pandemic, understanding the behaviors and attitudes of students can help us as higher education faculty be more attuned when it comes to the design and delivery of curriculum. Future Research This presentation presents preliminary findings. Data is still being collected and much more extensive statistical analyses will be performed.

This paper traces the development path adopted for the SCWR, including the directions taken for innovative collaboration (R&amp;D+i). In the pre-conceptual design work, instead of taking a fixed concept, the constraints and resulting design targets are defined first. By encouraging innovation, the motivation for the work is not just the size of the R&amp;D funding for a single project, but rather the scale and opportunity of the technology challenge and the potential for attracting grass-roots support at all levels. From the beginning of the Generation IV ideas, the SCWR has taken a somewhat different path from other systems. Learning from the historical lessons of earlier unsuccessful designs of gas-cooled and liquid metal-cooled concepts, the SCWR targets the twin aims of increased efficiency and low cost by leveraging conventional thermal technology while also improving safety and avoiding open-ended development. By working with universities nationally, and other partners internationally, a wider R&amp;D+i activity was possible that was not constrained by any early time-frame demonstration project. As a result, presently a number of unique and creative achievements stand out, where the collaborative SCWR R&amp;D+i partnership is very different from other systems in approach, potential and scope by: a) Providing an open opportunity for some 30 countries to share their development efforts, while representing major global industrial and economic development (the 24 EU nations, plus Canada, Japan, Russia, China, India, Korea and others) without the impediments of any “national” demonstration projects; b) Allowing differing design concepts to flourish, from simple systems to more complex ideas, with process heat and hydrogen production applications emerging naturally, providing flexibility in application and design approach; c) Encouraging extensive educational research opportunities, ideas and contributions outside national laboratories, providing a unique framework for quality assurance that meets the needs of industry, universities and other partners worldwide, as well as a coordinated effort within the Generation IV International Forum and the IAEA cooperative research efforts; d) Examining many innovations (e.g., on alternate thermal cycles, fuel cycles and energy uses) without impacting any specific demonstration, so the testing and research are based largely on new capability development, without committing large funding to design teams with already fixed or unrealizable concepts. This paper describes this new R&amp;D+i concept and its potential directions and results.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study of student achievement directed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). TIMSS was first conducted in 1995 and the assessment conducted in 2019 formed the seventh cycle, providing 24 years of trends in mathematics and science achievement at Year 4 and Year 8. In Australia, TIMSS is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and is jointly funded by the Australian Government and the state and territory governments. The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries in order to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. TIMSS is based on a research model that uses the curriculum, within context, as its foundation. TIMSS is designed, broadly, to align with the mathematics and science curricula used in the participating education systems and countries, and focuses on assessment at Year 4 and Year 8. TIMSS also provides important data about students’ contexts for learning mathematics and science based on questionnaires completed by students and their parents, teachers and school principals. This report presents the results for Australia as a whole, for the Australian states and territories and for the other participants in TIMSS 2019, so that Australia’s results can be viewed in an international context, and student performance can be monitored over time. The results from TIMSS, as one of the assessments in the National Assessment Program, allow for nationally comparable reports of student outcomes against the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008).