Denis Vavougios

The Implementation of a Web Application for Screening Children with Dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is defined as an unexpected specific and persistent failure to acquire efficient reading skills despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and sociocultural opportunity. The main aim of the present research protocol was to construct a web screening battery of tests in order to screen children’s reading, orthographic and cognitive skills. The main hypothesis of the present study was that Greek students that were already diagnosed as dyslexic, shall present significantly lower scores. A total of sixty, right handed children (30 male and 30 female, age range 8–11 years old M = 8.93, SD = 0.83) participated in this study. Reading, cognitive and orthographic skills of children with dyslexia and typically achieving children were examined, using a battery that consisted of seven tasks. Subsequent analysis of variance revealed that the children with dyslexia had statistically significant (p < 0.01) lower mean scores of correct answers and larger latencies in all tasks compared to their average peers that participated at the control group.

The Effect of Switching the Order of Experimental Teaching in the Study of Simple Gravity Pendulum – A Study with Junior High-school Learners

The present study focuses on the educational value of lab work while teaching and learning Physics. Specifically, it investigates and compares the learning outcomes between three different experimental groups, in the study of the Simple Gravity Pendulum in the lower secondary school, using a sample of 61 students aged 14-15. The first group comprising 25 students practiced first on virtual and then on real lab, while the second group of 24, first on real and then on virtual lab (change of order in the tasks).An additional third group, involving 12 students, used sensors and data loggers during experimental practice. The educationally optimum order of use of such labs is investigated herein. The learners exploited the capabilities of the lab equipment, in that they themselves designed, constructed, and analysed the simple gravity pendulum. The focus in the teaching and learning of the pendulum was on examining subject relevance in the context of everyday applications, the independency of the period from the mass of the bob, or the amplitude, and the dependence of the period from the pendulum length, and the local acceleration of gravity. The research tools used were a stabilised questionnaire, with 16 closed-type questions and 7 questions asking for a justifying answer, in addition to a semi-structured interview. Data were taken and were appropriately analysed and compared, and conclusions are presented herein. The results confirmed that concerning some teaching objectives, learners’ understanding is positively affected by the order the real and the virtual labs are used in teaching. This result applies when addressing this age-group, and when teaching the simple gravity pendulum

The use of LEGO mindstorms in elementary schools

Popular interest in robotics has increased significantly over the last years. It has been claimed that robotics can provide new benefits to the learning process at all levels of education. The main ideas of the present study adhered to the constructionist theory, according to which the learning process is not only transmitted from teacher to pupil, but rather constructed in the mind of the pupil in the form of active learning. The purpose of the present study was to implement a robotic toy (Lego Mindstorms NXT TM) in a Greek primary school, in order to teach twelve year-old children some of the basic concepts of geometry. The main hypothesis of the present study was that children who used the Lego Mindstorms NXT platform would score higher on an evaluation questionnaire than children who formed the control group. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed in order to evaluate the correct answers of the questionnaires. Statistical analysis revealed that children who participated in the experimental group performed better in the 21 items of the questionnaire. Moreover, they mentioned that the geometry course became more interesting and drew their attention in comparison to the courses that were taught through the standard teaching process. It is apparent that the present study follows the line of inquiries that supports that robotics can make a significant impact to education. Robots can be a tool that can enhance the skills of children.

Enhancing and assisting laboratory teaching of electrical circuits using ICT: An evaluation of educational software

The present study aimed at the evaluation and comparison of two example of educational software by Vocational School students - namely of Edison 5 and of Crocodile Technology 3D 6.1.0. Both these software packages can be used not only for the teaching of Vocational School speciality third grade courses but also for the teaching of the physics courses at Junior and Senior High Schools, as well as for those of the first and second grades of Vocational Schools. For the purpose of this evaluation, 76 participants, from a Vocational School (aged 16 to 20 years old), were asked to use them for 8 hours and in parallel with ordinary lab work to design simple electric circuits, through both of the aforementioned software packages, and through these to study circuit laws, formulate conclusions, and finally select the software they considered the most appropriate for the teaching of electric circuits. Upon completion of their tasks, students went through a closed type questionnaire, resulting to a definite choice as the most preferable and most appropriate software package for the teaching of electric circuits. The results are discussed herein and some interesting conclusions are drawn.

The effectiveness of virtual laboratories as a contemporary teaching tool in the teaching of electric circuits in Upper High School as compared to that of real labs

The present article compares the effectiveness of virtual labs, and that of real school-labs in teaching electric circuits at Upper High-School. The 73 participating learners were divided in two groups, the group that used the virtual lab (VEL), and the group that used the real lab (REL). The data were collected using a DIRECT (v. 1.0) type questionnaire, containing 29 suitably formulated questions, clarified by oral interviews. The data analysis revealed no significant difference between the 2 groups in their conceptual understanding, regarding the basic concepts of electric circuits. Those individual differences that did appear to be significant were observed in the 3 out of 12 teaching objectives, and all were in favour of the real-lab group. All these 3 were further investigated in detail and found to relate directly to the teaching approach followed. Overall, either of the teaching approaches tested will decisively help students to develop an investigative attitude relating to everything scientific, their cooperative skills, and their ability to express important queries with clarity and precision.

Students Designing Their own Experiments on Heat Transfer Phenomena Using Sensors and ICT: An Educational Trial to Consolidate Related Scientific concepts

Following our previous research effort, the present study focuses on a laboratory practice utilizing sensors and ICT, and follows the change in the perceptions students have in relation to the concept of heat transfer. The present paper builds on the experience gained and refines the techniques used. The new sample consists of a larger group of 16-20 year old students, all studying mechanical engineering in a vocational school. A novel and creative research approach was followed. Students were asked to use their experience so as to design, create, calibrate, and use an experimental setup so as to demonstrate heat transfer phenomena. All students used heat sensors and appropriate ICT-systems. Our aim was to improve studentsâ?? comprehension concerning heat transfer. The 122 students forming the total sample were split into an experimental group of 64, which is the one that was asked to design, create, calibrate, and subsequently use a school-experiment, while a control group of 58 of student-users only used the experimental set-ups of the experimental group (without any creative design). Both questionnaires and personal interviews were used to collect the research-data. Subsequent data analysis indicates that, when the questions are relevant to the creation of the experimental setup, the experimental group exhibits a higher percentage of correct or partly correct answers in comparison to those of the control group, whereas any differences observed in the rest of the questions lie within the limits of the total measurement errors. The use of ICT-systems in the present educational effort is proving invaluable. Some interesting conclusion are drawn which are discussed herein.