We designed an interactive virtual reality (VR) application to provide a controlled and yet unpredictable environment for the development of classroom management skills. The simulated environment allows teachers in training to interact with virtual students in realistic and meaningful ways. The VR application allows rich verbal interaction by using artificial intelligence (AI). Initial findings suggest it is a successful proof of concept. In this paper, we focus on the technical implementation. Predictions on educational effectiveness and the educational challenges of pre-service teacher education are discussed. Future developments include rigorous testing and incorporating non-verbal communication based on a multi-dimensional interpersonal behavior model.

This philosophical reflection focuses on the ‘T’ of technology in STEM as it appears to stand out as the product or artefact resulting from the practices of science, engineering, and mathematics. This interpretation is enriched by a historical and cultural comparison of technology to ‘techne’, the Greek word for craft that had a deep influence on European educational practice and draws attention to the value of traditional, tacit practices that are not taught through theory alone. The meaning of technology, as artefact and artful practice, is further analysed from viewpoints of linguistics, cognitive psychology, anthropology, and ethics. Technology is thoroughly human in the sense that it solves problems from a human point of view, and therefore we all should, in principle, be able to understand the technology and recognize its affordances. Technology has shaped us as much as we shape technology: the development of our cognitive system goes hand in hand with making and using technology, both in the development from birth to adult as in the evolution from our prehistoric ancestors to the creative and responsible Homo sapiens we may one day become.

This systematic literature review presents a review of the effects of integrated language arts, science and technology (ILS&T) instruction, with an inquiry- or design-based pedagogy, in elementary schools on student achievement. To this end, an overview of the characteristics of the 19 included studies and their interventions is first presented. Second, the effects of interventions in relation to the study characteristics and outcome variables were examined, by comparing the mean effect sizes. The findings demonstrate positive effects of ILS&T instruction for all reported student learning outcome variables. Third, the relation between characteristics of the intervention and effect sizes was analysed. Interventions with higher levels of integration, a short duration, and teacher professional development activities produce higher effect sizes. These findings are relevant for the design of ILS&T interventions. The analysis was challenged by a lack of detailed information in study and intervention descriptions, which prompts a call for scholars to provide more comprehensive information in their intervention studies.

Integrated language, science and technology (ILS&T) instruction is a complex task for primary school teachers that requires professional development. Task-centered educational approaches such as the four-component instructional design (4C/ID) model are well suited for the development of complex professional skills. This article describes the application of the Ten Steps approach to the 4C/ID model in the domain of teacher education. The findings describe a blueprint for a 4C/ID-based teacher professional development program aimed at equipping in-service primary school teachers with the competences for ILS&T instruction, which can support instructional designers, teacher educators and researchers in making informed instructional design decisions.

When addressing problems with wicked tendencies in higher professional education, students experience complexity, uncertainty, and value divergence. Furthermore, they are confronted with disciplinary, organisational, and sector boundaries. Prior research has revealed variability in students’ experiences and boundary-crossing behaviour when dealing with problems with wicked tendencies. In this study we explore these differences by identifying student profiles based on the attributes that comprise the competence for dealing with problems with wicked tendencies, and by identifying their relations with students’ boundary-crossing behaviour and relevant work experience. Person-centred cluster analysis in a sample of first-year students (N = 264) from a bachelor’s programme in social work identified four student profiles, based on students’ self-assessed degree of creativity, critical thinking, initiative, proactivity, risk tolerance, and work efficacy. Meaningful relations with students’ prior work experiences and their boundary-crossing behaviour were found. These profiles could serve to better understand students’ boundary-crossing behaviour when confronted with problems with wicked tendencies, and help teachers foster the development of all students.

Integrated language arts and science & technology (ILS&T) instruction can make learning more meaningful and improve student learning outcomes for both subjects. Although the literature has stressed that such integrated instruction presents pedagogical challenges for elementary school teachers, little is yet known about the specific characteristics of the required pedagogical repertoire. To gain a better understanding of the teacher knowledge and skills required for ILS&T instruction, a cognitive task analysis was conducted. This analysis resulted in a hierarchy consisting of the various required constituent teacher skills for ILS&T instruction. The cognitive task analysis also revealed what knowledge teachers rely on and identified the factors influencing the complexity of ILS&T instruction. The findings presented here contribute to our knowledge about what ILS&T instruction requires from teachers and can serve as a basis for the development of substantiated, 4C/ID-based teacher professional development trajectories. Furthermore, it provides valuable insight into the pros and cons of a relatively new, systematic way of analyzing teacher expertise.

Een onderzoek naar het gebruik van sociale robotica in primair onderwijs ten behoeve van de ontwikkeling van technische en sociale vaardigheden voor leerlingen met een autismespectrumstoornis (ASS)
RoboWise: An investigation into the use of social robotics in primary education for developing technological and social skills in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Hoe deze lessenserie werkt
Je leest nu de docenthandleiding, hier vind je een overzicht van de opbouw van de lessenserie en de bijbehorende materialen. Deze lessenserie bestaat uit zes thema’s. Ieder thema duurt een week en heeft eigen doelen op het gebied van samenwerken en programmeren. Bij ieder thema hoort een docentkaart en leerlingkaarten. Op de docentkaart staan de leerdoelen en wat jouw rol is gedurende dat thema. Op de leerlingkaarten staan opdrachten voor de leerlingen. Op
deze kaarten staan ook alle benodigdheden. Voor zowel de vaardigheid samenwerken als het werken met de robot zijn hulpkaarten voor de leerlingen aanwezig. De hulpkaarten kunnen de leerlingen helpen de problemen zelfstandig op te lossen voordat ze jou om hulp hoeven te vragen. Iedere les volgt dezelfde opzet: introductie, opdracht en reflectie. Deze onderdelen staan hieronder toegelicht. De kinderen werken tijdens de lessen in twee- of drietallen.

Professionals are increasingly involved in attempts to under- stand and address problems with wicked tendencies, which require crossing boundaries between disciplines, organisa- tions and stakeholder perspectives. This multiple-case study investigated six higher professional education courses in order to develop better understanding of how teachers fos- ter the development of students’ boundary-crossing exper- tise through enhancing relevant learning processes in courses focussing on wicked-problem-solving in interdisci- plinary and multi-stakeholder contexts. We viewed students’ relevant learning processes as learning mechanisms that foster boundary awareness (identification and reflection) and boundary work (coordination and transformation) and considered teachers to be enablers of such learning pro- cesses. Data came from semi-structured interviews with tea- chers, students and stakeholders, observations and document study. We identified nine interrelated enabling strategies teachers used. To foster students’ observation of wickedness through boundary awareness, they encouraged mutual acquaintance, open exploration, opportunities for learning, and multi-perspectivity. To foster students’ action through boundary work, they encouraged initial contact, joint action and multifaceted perspectives on value creation. To foster the interplay between boundary awareness and work, they encouraged successive refinement and structure while embracing wickedness. Balancing the tension that stu- dents experience at boundaries when navigating complexity, uncertainty and value divergence was identified as an impor- tant element of these enabling strategies.

Social interactions are essential in the everyday lives of humans. People with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display shortages of social skills, thus making their day-to-day encounters more difficult. This paper reports on two small-scale studies, investigating whether the use of collaborative robot tasks in an educational setting stimulates the collaborative behavior of children with ASD, and whether robotic task complexity affects collaborative behavior. A total of 24 children participated in robotic tasks of varying complexities. The sessions were videotaped and analyzed. Children’s supervisors completed questionnaires, evaluating the social behavior of participants. Results demonstrate that children collaborated during the robot activities. The influence of robotic task complexity on collaboration skills was not significant, possibly due to the small number of participants. The results show the promise of using robots in education for children with ASD, although further research is needed to investigate the implementation of robots in special education.

In fantasiespel doen jonge kinderen middels hun verbeeldingskracht de wereld van grote mensen na. Maar hoe komen ze aan hun kennis over die wereld? En hoe kun je als professional de ruimte inrichten om hen via spel te leren hoe de wereld werkt?

Objecten trekken de aandacht, roept behoefte tot exploratie op, verkennen van de ruimte zonder ‘boundaries’ (Goldschmeid, 1989; Gascoyne, 2012). Dit kan worden ingebed in een spelverhaal met een handelingschronologie  zo ontwikkelen kinderen zelfsturing (Bodrova & Leong, 2007). De materiaal-gefundeerde acties roepen taal op: Hoe heet het? Hoe gebruik je het? Op welk moment gebruik je het? Wat heb je ervoor nodig? Vraagt om structuur en spelplanning: ‘Wat hebben we nodig om dit spel te spelen?’ (Pellegrini, 2019). Echte voorwerpen leiden tot rijkere ervaringen, preciezer taalgebruik, beter begrip: het boundary object trekt kinderen een nieuwe wereld in waarmee zij zich kunnen identificeren (Van Keulen & Venema, 2021).

This study contributes to a deeper understanding of using problems with wicked tendencies as vehicles for learning in higher professional education (HPE). It was guided by this question: How can the features of problems, problem-solving approaches and outcomes be aligned in HPE courses aiming to prepare students for addressing problems with wicked tendencies? A multiple case study design was used to investigate six courses in HPE. Data came from semi-structured interviews with teachers, students and external stakeholders, observations and document study. Wickedness was defined in terms of complexity, uncertainty and value divergence. Findings showed nine characteristic manifestations of wickedness that students encounter and should learn to deal with. These manifestations pertain to the system-like character, the changing patterns and the fragmented character of problems; the transdisciplinary, adaptive and participatory character of the problem- solving process; and the integral, provisional and mutually shared character of outcomes.The study led to the generation of curriculum design principles for the design and implementation of courses that foster students’ skills for addressing problems with wicked tendencies. The conjecture is that students’ experiences of wickedness can create destructive tension leading to efforts to reduce this tension by reducing wickedness. Teachers should balance this tension, provide alignment of the dimensions of wickedness in problem, process and outcome and ensure the integration of these dimensions as such in a coherent curriculum design.

Dit manifest betreft ontwikkelingen in het primair, secundair, en beroepsonderwijs die betrekking hebben op verbindingen tussen de domeinen kunst, wetenschap en technologie. In het onderwijs wordt dit hybride leergebied ook wel aangeduid met termen als onderzoekend leren, ontwerpend leren, STEAM of Maker Education.

PURPOSE OF THE CHAPTER The purpose of this chapter is to illuminate how children come to understand the world they live in through playing with material objects and through linguistic interaction with each other and with more experienced peers and adults. After studying this chapter, you should be able to • describe STEM pedagogies that are applicable in early childhood education • relate children’s cognitive development to playing with authentic materials • differentiate between age-related formats of play: object use, object play, phantasy play, scenario play • appreciate the importance of a child’s interaction with peers and more experienced adults in understanding the material world and developing adequate linguistic skills • derive play-based activities and scenarios from situations and professions in the world of science and engineering.

In this study, an educational development approach is investigated aiming at improving reading comprehension outcomes in primary education through inquiry and design-based Science & Technology teaching. The context is societal pressure to increase the likelihood that more students, later in their life, will aspire for careers in technology-intensive professions. However, schools are under more pressure to focus on core subjects, such as language. Integrated Science & Technology and Language education may overcome this problem. In this study, students from Years/Grades 3-6 (9- to 12-year-olds) received an experimental treatment, in which regular reading comprehension lessons were replaced by inquiry and design-based projects with a strong focus on oral language. Before and after, their performance on tests for reading comprehension was measured. No significant differences were found from performance in a control group, who received the regular reading comprehension lessons, but hardly any Science & Technology lessons. In the experimental group, teachers used the Skills Rubric Inquiry and Design and reported that students’ skills for inquiry and design improved considerably. Substantial professional support in the form of weekly meetings in a professional learning community was necessary to achieve these goals. Initially, the teachers involved had little knowledge of Science & Technology and low self-efficacy with regard to teaching this subject, but teacher attitude towards teaching Science & Technology improved considerably during the project. It was concluded that integrating Science & Technology and language education is a complicated yet rewarding approach.