Martina R.M. Meelissen

Computer attitudes of primary and secondary students in South Africa

This study investigated computer attitudes of 240 students from eight primary and secondary schools in South Africa. The student population of six of the eight schools that participated in the study can be characterised as middle or upper class. Two schools were from South African townships. All eight schools used computers for educational purposes, although the availability and use of the computers differed. The research question of the study was whether differences in computer attitude could be found between boys and girls, and to what extent these differences could be explained by student, school, and environment characteristics. In contrast to most studies on gender differences and computer attitudes, no gender differences in computer attitudes were found. However, this study showed differences in computer attitudes between students from the upper/middle class schools and students from the township schools. The latter showed a less positive attitude towards computers, but more interest in computer-related careers compared with the students in the upper/middle class schools. The study found that computer access and experience, which was significantly lower in the township schools, was also related to computer attitude.

What makes teacher teams in a vocational education context effective? A qualitative study of managers' view on team working

Purpose – At a time when secondary vocational education is implementing competence-based education (CBE) on a large scale, to adapt to the needs of students and of the labour market in a modern society, many vocational schools have recognised that interdisciplinary teacher teams are an important condition for this implementation. In order to provide students with the right competences for the labour market, different subject teachers should work and learn together and, by doing so, should be able to develop changes and improvements to ensure the effective implementation of CBE. In spite of the appeal of forming teacher teams in vocational education, studies on this subject show that teams in educational settings are not easily implemented. This paper aims to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, 28 managers from a Vocational Education and Training (VET) college in The Netherlands were interviewed in order to find factors that are related to effective team functioning. The authors choose to rely on a qualitative approach, because there has hardly been any empirical validation of factors that are related to effective team functioning in a vocational education context. In order to determine what factors influence team effectiveness, the results from the interviews have been related to what is known about team effectiveness from the literature. Findings – By relating the results from the interviews to what is known about team effectiveness from the literature, a framework for future research on team effectiveness in schools is provided. In line with the organisational and psychological literature on team effectiveness, the managers distinguished several aspects in their definition of team effectiveness. Moreover, the findings of the study highlight the importance of the development of task interdependence, transformational leadership, and group efficacy for producing effective teams in education. Originality/value – Although teams and team functioning have been the focus of researchers from different disciplines and have been studied from different perspectives, studies on the conditions that support or limit the successful implementation of teacher teams in vocational education are still scarce. The results of this study are expected to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism that underlies the ability of teacher teams in vocational education to function effectively

The contribution of TIMSS to the link between school and classroom factors and student achievement

Worldwide, the interest of policy-makers in participating in studies from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) has been growing rapidly over the past two decades. These studies offer the opportunity to relate the teaching and learning context to student achievement. This article presents the results of a systematic review of the research literature on TIMSS. Its main purpose is to find out to what extent TIMSS has contributed to insights into ‘what works in education and what does not’, particularly with regard to school and classroom factors. The review was guided by a generic framework developed within the tradition of educational effectiveness research. The review showed that: (a) since 2000, the number of publications which use TIMSS data for secondary analyses aimed at explaining differences in student achievement has increased strongly; (b) a number of studies, especially older ones, did not take account of the specific sample and test design of TIMSS; and (c) there are large differences between countries in school and classroom factors associated with student achievement. In the light of these results, we discuss the benefits and limitations of country and system comparisons.

PIRLS- en TIMSS-2011: Trends in leerprestaties in lezen, rekenen en natuuronderwijs

PIRLS Hoe goed zijn onze groep 6 leerlingen in lezen in internationaal perspectief? Zijn de leesprestaties sinds 2001 er op voor- of achteruit gegaan? Waarin wijkt het Nederlandse leesonderwijs af van dat in andere landen? Deze en andere vragen over leesvaardigheid worden in dit rapport beantwoord. In het voorjaar van 2011 zijn namelijk wereldwijd meer dan 600.000 basisschoolleerlingen getoetst in het kader van Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of in het kader van Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Het Nederlandse aandeel in PIRLS is in opdracht van NWO/PROO uitgevoerd door de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, in samenwerking met het Expertisecentrum Nederlands. TIMSS Dezelfde vragen komen ook voor rekenen en natuuronderwijs aan bod. De eerste TIMSS stamt al uit 1995. Dit rapport brengt in kaart hoe het niveau in rekenen-wiskunde en natuuronderwijs zich in de afgelopen 17 jaar heeft ontwikkeld en of de prestaties van de Nederlandse leerlingen zich nog steeds kunnen meten aan de internationale top. Voorgaande metingen hebben laten zien dat Nederlandse leerlingen goed presteren in zowel TIMSS als PIRLS. In dit rapport worden daarom ook de resultaten van de drie vakgebieden met elkaar vergeleken. Het Nederlandse aandeel in TIMSS wordt in opdracht van NWO/PROO uitgevoerd door de vakgroep Onderwijskunde van de Universiteit Twente.

Computer Attitudes and Competencies Among Primary and Secondary Schoolstudents

This chapter provides an overview of research from the last 15 years on attitudes and competencies regarding computer use by primary and secondary school students. For many scholars in this field, the low participation of women in computer related training courses and professions, has been the reason to focus mainly on the ‘gender gap’ in computing and on gender differences in computer attitudes especially. However, despite the numerous studies on this subject, consensus about explanations for these gender differences in computer attitudes is still lacking. Three main theories will be discussed: socialisation, gender specific behaviour and the influence of teaching. Compared to computer attitude studies, the availability of studies and theories on students’ computer competencies is much more limited. Students’ own assessment of their abilities in general computer use has received more attention in this field of research, although this subject is also often addressed from a gender perspective.

Relation Between Parental Involvement and Student Achievement in PIRLS-2011

The relationships between the five parental involvement components and student literacy were modelled using latent multilevel modeling. The models incorporated data from all 41 participating PIRLS countries. Outcomes for the components entered as fixed effects are presented. Models with random slopes at county level for two components establish whether their effect differs across countries. Comparing the outcomes of the multi-level models for different modeling approaches of the CDIF in the parental involvement constructs reveals the impact of CDIF.

Gender differences in computer and information literacy: An exploration of the performances of girls and boys in ICILS 2013

IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013 showed that in the majority of the participating countries, 14-year-old girls outperformed boys in computer and information literacy (CIL): results that seem to contrast with the common view of boys having better computer skills. This study used the ICILS data to explore whether the achievement test used in this study addressed specific dimensions of CIL and, if so, whether the performances of girls and boys on these subscales differ. We investigated the hypothesis that gender differences in performance on computer literacy items would be slightly in favour of boys, whereas gender differences in performance on information literacy items would be slightly in favour of girls. Furthermore, it was examined whether such differences varied across European countries and if item bias was present. Data was analysed using a confirmative factor analysis model, i.e. a multidimensional item response theory model, for the identification of the subscales, the explorations of gender and national differences, and possible item bias. To a large extent the results support our postulated hypothesis and shed new light on the commonly assumed disadvantaged position of girls and women in modern information society.

Modeling Parental Involvement

This chapter presents a psychometric framework aimed at identifying and modeling cultural differential item functioning (CDIF) in multiple ways. One line of modelling uses the residual approach to identify CDIF, and country-specific and random item parameters for the affected items. A second approach uses a non-standard application of the bi-factor model. The results of all approaches for each of the five parental involvement components provide insights into the extent to which they are affected by CDIF.

Parental Involvement in PIRLS-2011

This chapter builds on the parental involvement factors defined in chapter two, and examines how these may be reflected in the IEA’s PIRLS-2011 home, student and school questionnaire. Five scales to measure parental involvement are proposed and described.