This article reflects on formal education for sustainable development (ESD), demonstrating how critical course on culturally diverse ways of relating to nature can contribute both to an appreciation of alternative ways of relating to nature and to a more nuanced understanding of one's own cultural and ideological positioning. This article will focus on the analysis of student reactions to the film Schooling the World, shown to students as part of this critical course. The film stimulated the discussion of the effects of Western-style education on indigenous communities. In their evaluation, the students have demonstrated their critical ability to look beyond their own neoliberal education and cosmopolitan culture. The course described in this article can serve as a blueprint for educational initiatives that combine both ethnographic insights and critical scholarship addressing environmental education and ESD. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2013.10.002 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Teacher development courses should be based on both research and literature to promote their success and impact in practice. In this article, we translate the findings of research studies and theories into evidence-based design principles for a professional development course for honors teachers. This course was evaluated on the level of teacher reaction, teacher learning, outcomes, and organizational response. Nine design principles were formulated and translated into concrete actions, resulting in a one-year course (study load of 140 hours), ‘A Teacher’s Road to Excellence.’ We evaluated the impact of the course with a questionnaire filled in by participants (N=10) who finished the course one year ago. The design principles showed to be helpful in developing this course for honors teachers. The course, ‘A Teacher’s Road to Excellence,’ seems to be instructive for honors teachers and impact on student learning outcomes is seen. More research is needed to improve its impact further, on organizational level.
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The aim of this small explorative study was to get an impression of the participants’ views and understanding of the role of becoming a teacher in Swedish schools, realising the characteristic of pedagogy aimed for in the curriculum (in Lgr11 and Lgy), specifically the interaction patterns and student participation in learning processes. Main research questions addressed participants expectations of differences and challenges in the Swedish school context as compared to their experiences in Syria contexts, in specific the development of their understanding of student participation in interaction as characteristic of Swedish education and curriculum. From this, recommendations are formulated for curriculum and research for future Fast Track trajectories.
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Game-based learning (GBL) and gamification can improve the learning experience of students by making learning more fun, interesting, and motivating. However, integrating games in practice is challenging for many teachers as it requires competences that not necessarily are part of their teaching repertoire. Game-based pedagogy (GBP) refers to the teaching methods and learning processes involved in learning with games. Research stresses the need for adequate professional development and teacher education on GBP. However, there is a lack of empirical knowledge on effective methods to prepare pre-service and in-service teachers for using game-based learning. The aim of our research is to gain insight into the design of effective GBP learning experiences for teachers. The guiding research question was: What design elements of a course on GBL impacted in-service teachers' GBP competences and teaching practice? We investigated this question in the context of a teacher education program in the Fall 2023. We conducted an empirical study in which a course on GBL was designed, implemented, and evaluated in practice. The participants were 16 in-service secondary teachers from different disciplines in secondary education, from which 13 agreed to participate in this study, and three course leaders. We investigated participants’ and course leaders’ experiences, participants’ competences in GBP, the impact on participants’ teaching practice and the way design elements contributed to it. The data consisted of participant reflections, transcripts from participants and course leaders’ interviews and answers to a questionnaire. The data was collected and analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods between January and April 2024. Results reveal that in-service teachers’ improved their competences on GBP and increased their use of GBL in practice. Qualitative data analysis provides insight into the course's design elements and on participants’ learning process. This study contributes to GBP-education by offering a possible design solution and framework for developing effective teacher education.
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OBJECTIVE: This work aims to gain insight into the long-term impact of depression course on social network size and perceived loneliness in older people living in the community. METHODS: Within a large representative sample of older people in the community (Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA)), participants with clinically relevant levels of depressive symptoms (scores >16 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) were followed up over a period of 13 years of the LASA study (five waves). General estimating equations were used to estimate the impact of depression course on network size and loneliness and the interaction with gender and age. RESULTS: An unfavorable course of depression was found to be associated with smaller network sizes and higher levels of loneliness over time, especially in men and older participants. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study stress the importance of clinical attention to the negative consequences of chronicity in depressed older people. Clinicians should assess possible erosion of the social network over time and be aware of increased feelings of loneliness in this patient group.
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This article will discuss social, environmental, and ecological justice in education for sustainable development (ESD) and Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG). The concept of sustainable development and, by extension, the ESD, places heavy emphasis on the economic and social aspects of sustainability. However, the ESD falls short of recognizing ecological justice, or recognition that nonhumans also have a right to exist and flourish. An intervention in the form of an undergraduate course titled Politics, Business, and Environment (PBE) will be discussed. As part of this course, students were asked to reflect on the three pillars of sustainable development: society, economy, and environment, linking these to the fourth concept, ecological justice or biospheric egalitarianism. Biospheric egalitarianism is characterized by the recognition of intrinsic value in the environment and is defined as concern about justice for the environment. Some of the resulting exam answers are analyzed, demonstrating students’ ability to recognize the moral and pragmatic limitations of the anthropocentric approach to justice. This analysis presents ways forward in thinking about the role of “ecological justice” as the ultimate bottom line upon which both society and economy are based. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10100261 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Lectorale rede
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High consumption of animal-source foods, specifically meat, adversely affects human health and the environment. Dietary habits are shaped at younger ages and a reduction in meat consumption may be facilitated by the life course transitions in early adulthood, but studies are limited. This study among young Dutch adults aimed to describe their perceptions on the influence of life course transitions on meat consumption, barriers and enablers to reduce meat consumption, and strategies for reducing meat consumption. Barriers and enablers were grouped applying the COM-B model that includes capability, opportunity, and motivation. This quantitative cross-sectional study included a representative sample of 1806 young adults from two Dutch consumer panels who completed an online survey. Young adults frequently reported life course transitions, especially those related to moving house, to have decreased their meat consumption. Barriers and enablers to reduce meat consumption were identified for all three factors of the COM-B model. Important barriers included taste, perceived high prices of meat alternatives, and habits. In contrast, important enablers included care for the environment and animal welfare, enjoyment of smaller portions of meat and saving money. However, barriers and enablers largely differed by groups of meat consumption frequency. Self-perceived effective strategies for reducing meat consumption were price reduction of meat alternatives, recipes for vegetarian meals, and more attractive meat alternatives. The findings of this study are relevant for the development of targeted behaviour-change programmes including interventions in the physical and the social environment (like lowering prices and improving the offer of meat alternatives).
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In order to be able to integrate ICT into Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE), teachers need much time and support for mastering ICT tools, learning the basis of IBSE, and getting experience in applying these tools in pupil investigations. For this purpose, we have developed a course within the teacher education program of universities in the Netherlands. During the course, pre-service teachers learn to use and apply one of three ICT tools i.e. data logging, video measurement, or modeling to design and implement an inquiry-based lesson in the classroom. The course participants are expected to study on their own most of the time through a blended setting including life sessions, in-between tasks, and an online platform with support materials and with close supervision. The challenges are the lack of time and the heterogeneous background of pre-service teachers, many of whom opted for teaching later in life, not immediately after university and already hold first year teaching jobs. This paper presents the first case study on implementation of the course in early 2013 with 12 pre-service teachers. The learning scenario was implemented quite faithfully as the life sessions were executed pretty smoothly, and finally, almost all participants went through a complete cycle of designing, implementing, and evaluating an ICT-IBSE lesson. Within a limited time, the heterogeneous group of pre-service teachers achieved a reasonable level of competence regarding the use of ICT in IBSE. There was still a considerable difference between intended inquiry activities and actual realized inquiry which parallels result from the literature [1], [8]. The blended setting with support materials contributes to this result if course participants really spend considerable time outside the life sessions. Also discussed in this paper are revision for further rounds of development based on case studies in the Netherlands and investigation on applicability of the course setting and materials in different contexts e.g. in-service training, other countries.
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These are hard days for companies: they have to survive in a market that has been hit by a financial crisis. Many countries in Europe have severe problems trying to overcome this financial crisis. The main remedy applied by governments is to cut back on expenditure, but on the other hand it is said that it is important for a country, and especially for companies, to invest in innovation. These innovations should lead to innovative products that will lead to profitability turnovers for these companies and, as a consequence, improve the economic conditions in a country. Universities provide students with engineering competences, like develop innovation, with which they can show a higher degree of ability to answer complex questions such as how to become players in the market again. Teaching students to become more innovative engineers, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Department of Engineering, has designed a curriculum in which students are educated in the competence innovation. An important element in the process of teaching innovation to students is the approach of inquiring into possibilities of patents. In the second semester of the first year, students can decide to join an innovative project called: ‘The invention project’. The basis of this project is that students are given the opportunity to create their own invention and with their previously acquired knowledge and skills they design, calculate, prototype and present their invention. In a research project, the experiences of students in this Invention Project have been analysed. The goal of this study was to understand what the success factors are for such a project. The basis of this inquiry is a questionnaire to identify the opinions of students. The research was carried out in the spring semester of 2012. In total 31 students were involved in this research. The results show that there was a high degree of student satisfaction about the Invention Project focused on innovation development. Success factors for this project in the first year of the curriculum were seen: 1 to work on own inventions, 2 development of student’s perception of the total product creation process and 3 to make students see the relevance of contacts with real professionals from industry and from the patent office in their own project. Improvements can be made by: 1 helping students more during the creativity stage in the project and 2 to coach them more on the aspect of engineering a successful invention of which they can be proud. This Invention project is a interesting with which collaborations with other universities can be set up.
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