Seventh-grade Classes Research Articles

Um editor inteligente para auxiliar estudantes na tradução de problemas algébricos

One of the most important skills to be developed in algebra learning is word problem solving. The word problem presents a situation or a story, where students need to understand the elements that make up the situation to generate a mathematical model to represent it, i.e. one or more equations. In this paper, we propose an editor to help students in the translation phase of problem solving, from the identification of the parts of the problem to the definition of relations and equations. The editor also provides feedback to the students about each step provided by them, indicating whether it is correct or incorrect. The editor follows the cognitive load theory, based on the following effects e.g. the splitattention effect and the worked-example effect. An evaluation of the editor was carried out with two seventh grade classes, in a total of 59 students, that showed the editor helped in the learning process and that the students found the editor easy and fun to use.

Existential Meditation on Morality: Janne Teller’s Nothing

The epigraph for this discussion on Janne Teller’s (2010) Nothing, an artful and iconoclastic work of young adult fiction from Denmark, comes from the notebooks of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Intended as a critique of academia (British Broadcasting, 2013), the sentiment expressed is offensive and amusing. If we understand “the system” as code for academia (reflective of Kierkegaard’s contempt for the professoriate) (British Broadcasting, 2013; Kaufman, 1975), then Kierkegaard here implies that a bird on a branch is more seriously reflective than a professor at a university, or that a philosopher in a tree comes closer than an academic to the legitimate province of philosophy. To arrive at Kierkegaard’s sense of the mission or responsibility of philosophy, we must draw, again, from the author’s notebooks in which he writes: “What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain understanding must precede every action” (1835/2001, p. 15). This remark suggests that, for Kierkegaard, the protocol for moral action is personal, reflective, and perhaps necessarily undertaken at a remove, like the philosopher/bird on a twig. At the same time, as Kaufman has observed (Partially Examined Life, 2011), the statement represents Kierkegaard’s critique on the limits of reason or his objection to the academic premium placed on logic as the ultimate path to understanding. Therefore, the bird on a twig might be viewed as metaphoric of the retreat of the thinker to a place apart from institutionally sanctioned practices and beliefs. This situation is mirrored in another story of a thinker who took to the trees, Janne Teller’s (2010) Batchelder Award-winning novel, Nothing. In Teller’s stylistically austere, existential allegory, a middle school student named Pierre Anthon, who lives in the town of Tæring [“a verb meaning to gradually consume, corrode, or eat through” (p. 229)], announces that “nothing matters . . . [s]o nothing is worth doing” (p. 1). Thereafter, he quits school and takes up residence in a plum tree. From his position above the doings of Tæring society, Pierre Anthon pelts his peers from the seventh-grade class with over-ripe fruit and “truth bombs,” or deconstructive statements that threaten the social and ontological sense of order and coherence that the kids have always accepted without question. From there, the seventh graders work to assemble an object lesson that will disabuse Anthon of his skepticism, but their plan degenerates into chaos. In the end—true to its existential roots—Teller’s Nothing proposes no answers to the questions it raises, nor does it offer an alternative belief system to replace the one the philosopher in the tree debunks. The reader is left only with a menacing admonition from the narrator of the story, Agnes, and must make personal sense of the moral message conveyed by the text.

Exploring the Efficacy of The Word Within the Word for Gifted and Typically Developing Students

An exploratory study of the efficacy of The Word Within the Word tested students’ abilities to recognize, use, and recall vocabulary. Ten middle school teachers and their 493 students participated. Five teachers used The Word Within the Word, and five used traditional vocabulary materials. Students completed an out-of-level sentence completion test and a test of prompted vocabulary recall. Analysis of sentence completion data revealed significant differences with moderate effect sizes, favoring students in The Word Within the Word sixth- and seventh-grade classes. Analysis of prompted vocabulary recall data revealed significant differences with moderate to large effect sizes at all grade levels, favoring The Word Within the Word classes. Results suggest that in this case, both gifted and typically developing students in classrooms using The Word Within the Word were more skilled in vocabulary recognition, use, and recall than students in classrooms using traditional methods of vocabulary instruction.

Improving Astronomy Achievement and Attitude through Astronomy Summer Project: A Design, Implementation and Assessment

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of an astronomy summer project implemented in different learning activities on elementary school students, pre-service elementary teachers and in-service teachers’ astronomy achievement and their attitudes to astronomy field. This study is the result of a five-day, three-stage, science school, “I Learn the Planet I Live on”. The first stage involved astronomy science schools with 30 elementary school teachers, the second stage involved 30 pre-service elementary school teachers and the last stage involved 30 primary school pupils (aged 14). Within this scope, 30 elementary school teachers from different cities who are volunteer to participate in project, one seventh grade class of each of these teachers from their own schools and 30 pre-service teachers attending elementary department of education faculties of universities in Turkey are participated in the astronomy summer project in Samsun City in 2015 make up the sample of the study. For this purpose, within the scope of a nine-day long project, the participants were presented with hands on activities, outdoor practices, planetarium and observatory activities to enable them to view astronomy education from different views. The study was designed as one group, pre-test post-test experimental research. Astronomy attitude scale and astronomy achievement test were used as pre-test and post-test. The data obtained were evaluated using the SPSS 20.0 software package program. For the analysis of data, a parametric test, a two-way ANOVA for mixed measures, an experiment model, was used. The results of the study showed that the project was effective in increasing the participants’ attitudes towards the astronomy field and their astronomy achievement. A comparison of the data from the teachers and the students produced interesting results, notably that more pupils than teachers answered certain questions correctly.

CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH: Using Semantic Mapping in Teaching Descriptive Paragraph

This classroom action research conducted to 38 participants at the seventh grade class D of SMPN 29 in2011/2012 academic years. It tries to improve their writing skill by applying semantic mapping strategy. Theresearcher collecting writing tests, observations, field notes, and interview as the instrument. The date reveals that improvement exists after the treatment on the students' writing skill. The data indicates that some factors influenced their improvement. The first was brainstorming process that led them easy to convey and think about the ideas. The second was the categorization process that made them easy to determine kinds of the idea. The third was the mapping process made them easy to write a good descriptive paragraph. The last was the teacher’s roles facilitated them to have an effective class.

Guided Inquiry and Consensus-Building Used to Construct Cellular Models

Using models helps students learn from a “whole systems” perspective when studying the cell. This paper describes a model that employs guided inquiry and requires consensus building among students for its completion. The model is interactive, meaning that it expands upon a static model which, once completed, cannot be altered and additionally relates various levels of biological organization (molecular, organelle, and cellular) to define cell and organelle function and interaction. Learning goals are assessed using data summed from final grades and from images of the student’s final cell model (plant, bacteria, and yeast) taken from diverse seventh grade classes. Instructional figures showing consensus-building pathways and seating arrangements are discussed. Results suggest that the model leads to a high rate of participation, facilitates guided inquiry, and fosters group and individual exploration by challenging student understanding of the living cell.

과학 수업에서 스마트 기기를 활용한 개념 적응적 개별화 학습의 효과

이 연구에서는 스마트 기기를 활용한 개념 적응적 개별화 학습의 효과를 개념 이해도, 개념 파지, 학업 성취도, 학습 동기, 과학 수업에 대한 즐거움, 스마트 기기를 활용한 수업에 대한 인식 측면에서 조사하였다. 서울시의 한 남녀 공학 중학교 1학년 4개 학급을 통제 집단과 처치 집단으로 배치하고, 7차시 동안 '분자의 운동'에 대하여 수업을 실시하였다. 이원 공변량 분석 결과, 처치 집단의 개념 검사, 개념 파지검사, 학습 동기 검사, 과학 수업에 대한 즐거움 검사의 점수가 통제집단에 비하여 유의미하게 높았다. 학업 성취도 검사에서는 처치 집단의 점수가 통제 집단보다 높았으나, 그 차이가 통계적으로 유의미하지 않았다. 스마트 기기를 활용한 수업에 대한 학생들의 인식도 긍정적인 것으로 나타났다. In this study, we investigated the effects of individualized learning adapted to students' conceptions using smart devices in science instruction upon students' conceptual understanding, the retention of conception, achievement, learning motivation, enjoyment of science lessons, and perception about individualized learning using smart devices. Four seventh-grade classes at a coed middle school in Seoul were assigned to a control group and a treatment group. Students were taught about molecular motions for seven class periods. Two-way ANCOVA results revealed that the scores of a conception test, the retention of the conception test, a learning motivation test, and an enjoyment of science lessons test for the treatment group were significantly higher than those for the control group. Although the score of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group in the achievement test, the difference was not statistically significant. Students' perceptions about individualized learning using smart devices were also found to be positive.

An Exploration of Hundredths, in Part

Teachers have found many different ways to support students who are learning about rational numbers. Some of the most productive ways often involve the use of representations that anchor students' experiences in the quantities being learned. Although almost all representations have their limitations, they also provide opportunities to support students in pressing their understanding of rational numbers. In this article, I share an activity motivated by a discussion that occurred during one of my seventh-grade classes. We used a hundredths diagram, in which the area of the large square represented 1 unit (for other interesting uses of this diagram, see Scaptura, Suh, and Mahaffey 2007 and Cramer et al. 2009).

Effectiveness of “Shifting Boundaries” Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program for Subgroups of Middle School Students

PurposeWe examine whether the Shifting Boundaries (SB) intervention, a primary intervention to prevent youth dating violence and sexual harassment (DV/H), is differentially effective for girls compared with boys or for youth with a history of DV/H experiences. MethodsWe randomly assigned SB to 30 public middle schools in New York City, enrolling 117 sixth and seventh grade classes to receive a classroom, building, combined, or neither intervention. The SB classroom intervention included six sessions emphasizing the laws/consequences of DV/H, establishing boundaries and safe relationships. The SB schoolwide/building intervention included the use of school-based restraining orders, greater faculty/security presence in unsafe “hot spots” mapped by students, and posters to increase DV/H awareness and reporting. Student surveys were implemented at baseline, immediately after intervention, and 6 months after intervention. ResultsAt 6 months after intervention, the SB building-level intervention was associated with significant reductions in the frequency of sexual harassment (SH) perpetration and victimization; the prevalence and frequency of sexual dating violence victimization; and the frequency of total dating violence victimization and perpetration. We also had one anomalous finding that the interventions were associated with an increase in the prevalence of SH victimization. These results were consistent for girls and boys, and those with or without a history of DV/H, with the one exception for those exposed to the SB building condition who had earlier reported perpetrating SH had a significantly lower frequency of perpetrating SH at the follow-up than those without such a history. ConclusionsSB can provide effective universal prevention of middle school DV/H experiences, regardless of students' prior exposure histories, and for boys and girls.

A Theory-Grounded Measure of Adolescents' Response to Media Literacy Interventions

This study examined the effectiveness of the implementation of a small-scale critical media literacy curriculum unit focused on gender stereotypes, especially as they pertain to occupations. The research question was whether students exposed to the critical media literacy (CML) curriculum were more likely than students not exposed to believe: that women experience discrimination in the workplace; that the media constructs stereotypical messages about women and men, especially regarding occupations; and that the media influences people’s thinking. Participants were students in 5 seventh grade classes, who were exposed to a 4-workshop curriculum, and students in 5 eighth grades classes, who were not. Methods included a 14-question pre-post survey and interviews with 4 students before and after implementation of the CML unit. Quantitative and qualitative findings indicate that the CML unit was generally successful at increasing the seventh graders’ understanding of target issues.

Use of Instrument to Measure Student’s Understanding of the Concept of Light Refraction Using Animation Slide Show for Secondary School Students

The purpose of this study was to get an idea of the effect of the use of assessment instruments in the form of animation to test understanding of the concept of refraction of light. The method used is a quasi-experiment with design posttest only nonequivalent control group design. As a control group used items were in the form of paper and pencil tests. Study was conducted on a class X student of SMA Tanjungpinang in Provinsi Kepulauan Riau of academic year 2013/2014. Samples were selected two classes of seventh grade classes were randomly parallel, as a control group and experiment group. Sum of sample of 85 people with 42 people for a percentage of the control class and 43 people for classroom experiments. Data collected after the experimental class and control class equally get learning the refraction of light. Gain control class test in the form of paper and pencil test which amounts to about 20 numbers, and the experimental class to get the test in the form of the same animation and the number 20, numbers matter. The research instrument used was a questionnaire about the pretest and posttest design. Data analysis was conducted using inferential statistics using SPSS 17.Based on the results the average score of the experimental class 74% with a standard deviation of 14 and an average score of 31% control class with a standard deviation of 12. It can be concluded that the test results of students' understanding of the concept of refraction of light that gets items were significantly different in animated form compared to students who obtain items were in the form of paper and pencil test. Understanding students' test results in sub concepts Snell's law, a concave lens and a convex lens using items were in the form of animation is higher than the students who use the items were in the form of paper and pencil tests. Students agree with the use of items were in the form of animation on comprehension tests concept of refraction of light. Students stated that the items were animated very interesting, a better understanding of the issue in question, to understand the purpose and content of questions, and a description of the problem becomes clearer. The use of items was suggested in the form of animation to be developed on other concepts in physics learning.

Teaching Social Studies with Video Games

Today's youth have grown up immersed in technology and are increasingly relying on video games to solve problems, engage socially, and find entertainment. Yet research and vignettes of teachers actually using video games to advance student learning in social studies is scarce (Hutchinson 2007). This article showcases how social studies teachers used the Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings in a seventh-grade world history class. On the basis of our experiences, we believe video games provide students with a digitally relevant world in which to explore abstract concepts and theories that are all too common in social studies. Outside of providing strategies and advice to teachers when integrating video games in the social studies, we identity challenges and issues inherent in their classroom use.

The Relationship between English Language Arts Teachers’ Use of Instructional Strategies and Young Adolescents’ Reading Motivation, Engagement, and Preference

Conducted at 10 schools in four communities, this study investigated relationships of young adolescents’ reading motivation, reading preference, and reading engagement as influenced by their English Language Arts teachers’ use of instructional strategies. Students in eight sixth grade (N=196) and nine seventh grade (N=218) classes completed a post Reading Behavior Survey and the Motivation to Read Questionnaire (MRQ) and a Class Strategies Checklist at the beginning and end of the academic year. The 17 teachers also completed a pre/post Strategies Checklist and a Survey. Mean MRQ difference scores were averaged by ELA class group. Scores in nine MRQ dimensions revealed a decline except for Challenge with a slight positive increase for seventh graders. These results confirm prior research findings that as adolescents move along in grade level their reading motivation decreases. However, 11 of the 17 class groups indicated some positive change in one or more MRQ dimensions with five classes revealing positive reading motivation growth in four dimensions. Enjoyable reading activities noted by all students involved receptive and expressive oral language. Such preference may have been due to large class populations of Hispanic, subsidized lunch, and limited English proficient students who found that oral language interaction helped them understand and enjoy the readings. The most preferred reading activity during out-of-school time was that of a social nature involving text messaging. Both this current and prior research suggest that successful teachers motivate their students through classroom interaction, challenging literacy activities and discussion about what was read.

Influência dos padrões de interação didática no desenvolvimento da aprendizagem Matemática: análise de uma atividade exploratório-investigativa sobre sequências

Neste artigo exploramos as configurações didáticas e, mais especificamente, os padrões de interação estabelecidos entre professoras e alunos em uma atividade exploratório-investigativa de Matemática. Essa atividade foi implementada em uma turma do sétimo ano do Ensino Fundamental (alunos de aproximadamente 12 anos), visando melhor compreender a emergência dos padrões de interação e seus efeitos sobre o desenvolvimento da aprendizagem. Identificamos as configurações didáticas, utilizando um modelo teórico-metodológico concebido para descrever e interpretar os processos interativos em sala de aula. Como conclusão, ressaltamos a necessidade da gestão entre as distintas configurações, e a consequente cooperação produtiva (sinergia) entre os diferentes padrões de interação, para estabilizar a negociação de significados e possibilitar o desenvolvimento da aprendizagem dos alunos.

Estratégias usadas por alunos do 7.º ano de escolaridade na exploração de padrões

In this article we present some of the main results of a research work which main aim was both describing and understanding the main strategies of generalization in the exploitation of the students patterns of a seventh grade class. For that, the study of qualitative nature, focused in a teaching intervention and the data were obtained through the observation of the students work, as well as their written productions. In terms of results, among the different strategies adopted by students, it was really noted, the prevalence of the Explicit strategy, followed by the strategies Difference and Count, respectively.

Empowering students through digital game authorship: Enhancing concentration, critical thinking, and academic achievement

Digital game-based learning is a popular strategy for engaging students by making learning fun. Actively involving students as designers and producers of digital games may have even greater potential for student empowerment through enhancing concentration and engagement, fostering higher order thinking, and improving learning outcomes. Thus, this study empirically investigated the impact of digital game authoring on students' concentration, critical thinking skills, and academic achievement. A total of 67 students in two seventh-grade classes participated in this 19-week-long experiment, and were divided into an experimental group (32 students designing digital games) and a comparison group (35 students designing Flash animations). The interdisciplinary approach involved integrating biology and computer programming classes. Students in the experimental group designed digital games based upon biology course content, while the comparison group collaboratively produced Flash animations based upon the same course content. The experimental results, using MANCOVA for pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest scores, demonstrate significant improvements in critical thinking skills, and academic achievement, with increased retention of both course content and critical thinking skills observed for the delayed posttest. For concentration, a relative advantage for the experimental group as compared with the comparison group was noted, but did not reach statistical significance. Based on the results of this study, implications for practitioners and researchers are provided, including the integration of programming or computer science with other courses for digital game authoring and the evaluation of other learning outcomes such as creative thinking, problem-solving, and flow.

Abstract 183: School-Centered CPR Education to Improve Survival from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in High-Risk Neighborhoods

Background: Low-income and Latino neighborhoods are at high risk for having low provision of bystander CPR for victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Novel community-based intervention is needed in these neighborhoods to increase awareness of CPR techniques and, ultimately, to decrease mortality from OHCA. Objective: To determine the feasibility of a train-the-trainer hands-only CPR program as a required assignment in a middle school. Methods: Design: Prospective survey-based interventional study. Setting: Public charter school in the Denver, CO metropolitan area. Population: Cohort of 118 subjects was recruited out of 134 eligible seventh grade students. Observations: Participants completed a 6-question test to assess baseline knowledge of CPR. Subjects then completed a group hands-only CPR training lasting 1 hour using the CPR Anytime kit, which included both an educational DVD and hands-on practical skills training with an inflatable mannequin. Participants were then asked to use these kits to train other community members over a 2-week period. At the end of the study, students were asked to complete the same 6-question survey to assess their retention of knowledge. Two-sample t-tests were conducted to assess for differences in hands-only CPR knowledge pre- and post-CPR training. Results: Demographics are given for the entire seventh grade class ( Table 1 ). Students were mostly white (71.6%), and 11 (8.2%) participated in the Free & Reduced Lunch program. Of 134 seventh graders attending the school, 118 (88%) completed a pre-intervention survey and 74 (55%) completed a post-intervention survey. Between the surveys, the mean number of questions answered correctly increased ( Table 2 ), as did performance on the question asking where to place AED pads on the chest (p < .001). Students performed poorest in both pre- and post-testing on identifying the appropriate situation for performing hands-only CPR. Conclusion: Implementation of a school-based train-the-trainee CPR education program is a feasible endeavor. Students demonstrated increased knowledge of CPR techniques two weeks after training compared to baseline. Future studies will need to be conducted to assess the people who are then trained by these students using the CPR Anytime Kits.

A 19-Year-Old Male with Multiple Tics and Attentional Difficulties

CME Educational Objectives 1. Be able to screen for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults with childhood-onset Tourette’s disorder. 2. Understand the clinical manifestations of late adolescent and young adult ADHD comorbid with childhood-onset Tourette’s disorder. 3. Identify appropriate treatment options for adult and late adolescent ADHD when comorbid with Tourette’s disorder. Now a 19-year-old white man, Henry (not his real name) has suffered from multiple tics and attentional difficulties for many years. He originally presented to the clinic when he was 12 years of age, after experiencing attentional and academic decline in his seventh-grade class, in the setting of a recent parental divorce.

Shifting Boundaries: An Experimental Evaluation of a Dating Violence Prevention Program in Middle Schools

We randomly assigned the Shifting Boundaries interventions to 30 public middle schools in New York City, enrolling 117 sixth and seventh grade classes (over 2,500 students) to receive a classroom, a building, a combined, or neither intervention. The classroom intervention included a six-session curriculum emphasizing the laws and consequences for perpetrators of dating violence and sexual harassment (DV/H), the social construction of gender roles, and healthy relationships. The building-based intervention included the use of building-based restraining orders, higher levels of faculty/security presence in safe/unsafe "hot spots" mapped by students, and posters to increase DV/H awareness and reporting. Student surveys were implemented at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and 6-months post-intervention. As hypothesized, behaviors improved as a result of the interventions. The building-only and the combined interventions were effective in reducing sexual violence victimization involving either peers or dating partners at 6-months post-intervention. This was mirrored by reductions in sexual violence perpetration by peers in the building-only intervention. While the preponderance of results indicates that the interventions were effective, an anomalous result (increase in sexual harassment victimization reports that was contradicted by lower frequency estimates) did emerge. However, after analysis these anomalous results were deemed to be most likely spurious. The success of the building-only intervention alone is important because it can be implemented with very few extra costs to schools.

Enhancing autonomy-supportive I–Thou dialogue in schools: conceptualization and socio-emotional effects of an intervention program

We present a conceptualization and a 2 year program of autonomy-supportive I–Thou dialogue among teachers and students that is based on self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan in Psychol Inq 11(4):227–268, 2000) and Buber’s (1960) philosophy. The program was applied in 18 seventh grade classes (420 students). Findings showed: (a) increases in positive emotions and in perceptions of teachers as conducting more dialogue on the relevance of studies to students’ lives, and (b) decreases in negative emotions and in classroom violence. The findings highlight the importance of autonomy-supportive I–Thou dialogue and suggest that such dialogue might help adolescents to experience studying and school as more pleasant and secure.