High School Courses Research Articles

Leveling Up: An Academic Acceleration Policy to Increase Equity in Advanced High School Course Taking

Taking advanced courses in high school predicts many positive outcomes, yet low-income students and students who identify as Black and Hispanic are underrepresented. Policies such as “algebra for all” that accelerate middle school students into advanced courses are well-studied, but little is known about newer academic acceleration policies that target older students. Between 2014–2015 and 2016–2017, 72 districts in Washington implemented Academic Acceleration policies, which identified proficient 11th- and 12th-grade students for automatic acceleration into AP, IB, and other dual credit courses. We used difference-in-differences models to examine changes in advanced course enrollments, GPAs, and high school graduation between districts that began implementing the policy at different times. We found advanced course enrollment increased and became more equitable postpolicy.

Primus inter pares effect in high schools.

Primus inter pares effect or better-than-average effect is cognitive bias known as illusory superiority in which individuals overestimate their positive abilities and traits in comparison to others. Overestimation and bias are often accompanied with various dangers on a personal, organizational or even societal level. We investigated the presence of overestimation among high school graduates in Slovenia in areas of teamwork, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, problem solving, and decision making. Although overestimation was present in all areas, results have also shown indications of indecisiveness. Overestimation was highest in the area of interpersonal skills, which is more of a social skill area in comparison with decision making or problem solving. Individuals probably receive more feedback over the course of high school in decision making, problem solving, and teamwork than in interpersonal skills, as those can directly impact grades while interpersonal skills less so.

Creating window applications in Python using the PyQt5 library tools

The section "Programming" at the advanced level of studying the informatics course in high school includes consideration of issues related to the design of the user interface. If the study of the basics of programming is carried out using the Python language, it is reasonable to develop window applications using this language. Recently, the PyQt library has become increasingly popular, which makes it relevant to create methodological materials to familiarize schoolchildren with the capabilities of this library.It is advisable to carry out training in accordance with the reverse engineering technology, which consists in the fact that students do not write program code from scratch, but explore the finished product. At the first stage, you can organize the activities of schoolchildren by completing tasks to study the finished program; at the next step, offer to analyze the appearance of the finished application, highlight its elements and select tools for their creation; finally, provide additional tasks that involve independent study by students of the class features not considered earlier.The article offers reference material for familiarizing schoolchildren with the main capabilities of the library, tasks for lab sessions and home assignment.

The effectiveness of using science fiction films to foster creativity in a biological context

ABSTRACT The use of science fiction resources to enhance creativity is an innovative approach that is gaining international attention. This study combines science fiction films (SFFs) based biological learning with the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) model to offer the Biology in Science Fiction Films course in high school. During the course, we assessed students’ creative thinking propensities using the Creativity Assessment Packet and evaluated creativity in students-created micro-science fictions (micro-SFs) by the consensus assessment technique. The results showed that after the theme-based instruction: (1) the students’ creative thinking propensities produced a significant increase in the overall (p = 0.005), with highly significant increases in the imaginative dimension (p = 0.004) and the challenging dimension (p = 0.030); (2) Students’ scores on micro-SFs created in the post-test improved over the pre-test, but their pre- and post-test gaps have not yet reached the level of significant difference. The study indicates that the course has the potential to offer a new avenue for the development of students’ creativity. Collaborating across disciplines may be able to enhance students’ creativity in a more comprehensive manner.

The Application of Situational Teaching Method in Junior Middle School English Classroom

Junior high school stage is important for not only students' life development, but also development of thinking. As one of the important compulsory courses in junior high school, English occupies a very important position in education. The new curriculum standard puts forward the requirement of creating associative situation for junior high school English teachers. Situational teaching method is a kind of teaching method which originated in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s. It is based on the cultivation of oral ability and emphasizes the basic structure of target language through meaningful situations. Therefore, it is of great significance to apply situational teaching method to junior middle school English teaching.

학생의 퀀텀점프 성장을 위한 대학의 마스터키 융합교육 전략

Objectives The purpose of this study is to establish a convergence education plan to quantum jump students from local private universities whose academic capabilities are gradually declining, to nurture them into talented individuals who can take on various challenges after graduation, and to establish detailed strategies to implement them. Methods Reflecting the internal needs of students for activating convergence education obtained through the survey results of previous research and external factors such as the situation of local private universities, the need for master key education, and the trend of introduction of minor degree in domestic universities, specific convergence education strategies that can be effectively applied in universities are presented step by step. Results The strategic steps of master-key convergence education proposed in this study are: 1. Using the convergence university as a convergence education platform. 2. Strengthening the basic academic capabilities of freshmen by reviewing middle and high school courses. 3. Exploring various majors by easily teaching non-majors the core contents of each department. 4. Opening a small-scale curriculum called ‘convergence module’ by combining subjects with common educational goals from one or more departments, and awarding nano-degree to students who complete it. 5. Universities, students and/or local companies create numerous convergence majors by combining various convergence modules according to their individual needs. Conclusions Through the master-key convergence education strategies proposed in this study, universities aiming to newly introduce convergence education or make significant changes in existing curriculum can establish effective convergence education plans that can be immediately implemented with minimal reorganization of the current curriculum.

Enhancing student engagement with introductory microbiology and immunology topics using a novel board game.

In introductory microbiology courses for non-biology majors, it can be difficult to ensure that students gain a functional understanding of the interplay between the host immune system and an invading infectious agent. Immune Battle is a board game that allows students to explore pathogen evolution and the immune system's response to incursions in a captivating way, leveraging battleship and worker placement styles of gameplay. Students play in teams as either a pathogenic microbe attempting to reproduce and transmit itself to new hosts or as the immune system trying to defend the host from infection. Immune Battle seeks to mimic real-world interactions between immune cells and microbes using board game mechanics. For example, students will quickly find that adaptive immune system actions are better at fighting off microbial incursions than innate immune actions but require more time to activate. In this way, Immune Battle reinforces student's understanding of the immune system and pathogenic virulence in an exciting and interactive way that keeps them thinking about host defenses long after the end of the class period or exam. This board game is well suited for advanced high school courses and introductory college-level courses that have only limited time to cover the immune system and microbiology. Documents containing the necessary components of the board game (not including a six-sided die) are included in the supplemental materials, so educators can print out their own copies and use this board game in their classes with no cost to themselves or their students.

Planning to Take More Mathematics Courses in High School: Who Does and Who Doesn't?

What are the most common motives invoked by 9th graders when asked about their plans to take (or not) more mathematics courses during high school? How do beliefs about math course-taking affect students’ actual planning? To what extent is planning of math course-taking associated with high school students’ socio-demographic backgrounds? The study employs data from the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009 to examine the issue of persistence in math course-taking during high school. The study shows that almost two-thirds of 9th graders plan to do math during all their high school years, although intentions to persist in math vary across racial and especially socioeconomic backgrounds. The study also demonstrates the importance of belief constructs such as math identity, internal motivation toward math learning and math utility on math course-taking planning. A better understanding of students’ motives to engage in high school math may help develop classroom practices that emphasize the long-term benefits of math learning.

“What’s Math Got to Do with It?” Emphasizing Math as an Impediment to STEM Excellence for Black Students

Drawing on Martin’s Multilevel Framework for Analyzing Mathematics Socialization and Identity Among African Americans this study explores the mechanisms that influence Black students’ decision-making processes related to math course taking in high school. Three years of student transcript data for 1561 Black seniors in a Southern California school district were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses in STATA. The findings reveal factors that impact students’ ability and desire to complete a fourth year of math in high school, interconnected with institutional, structural, identity, and parental factors. One such finding is that accelerated 8th-grade math placement significantly increases the likelihood that a student would enroll in upper-level math coursework, such as “Beyond IM3” courses in high school. The researcher also investigated the influence of the concentration of Black math teachers in a school on the likelihood of a Black student enrolling in a Beyond IM3 math course. The results of this study contribute to an understanding of the limited racial diversity in STEM fields, highlighting the role of math as a major deterrent for Black students’ interest and persistence in STEM. The findings suggest the need for policy and curriculum changes to promote equitable access to advanced math coursework for Black students, especially in the 8th grade. This study also emphasizes the need to address the structural and institutional factors that influence Black students’ decision-making processes related to math course taking in high school.

The Conif Matrix and the curricular restructuring of the Integrated High School courses offered by Ifal

This paper analyzes how Conif's Budget Matrix, approved to take effect as of 2019, guided the curricular restructuring of the Integrated High School courses offered by the Federal Institutes. We seek to demonstrate how, through the economic bias, the Executive Government encouraged the Federal Institutes to restructure the curricula of the Integrated High School courses, reducing the curricula and bringing them closer to what is proclaimed in the High School Reform. To this end, we analyzed the curricular restructuring of these courses that took place at the Federal Institute of Alagoas – Ifal, starting in 2018.

Class Notes from Geometric Physics 101

Long ago, the author took high school courses in Physics and Geometry. Our long-suffering teachers tended to talk somewhat faster than we could comfortably write, so inevitably some factual errors crept into our study notes. And we weren’t really very good students at that age, either, which I'm sure didn't help. In any case, in "Class Notes..." I try to capture my sense of things when trying to rapidly learn a lot of new information, while lacking good idea-distillation and writing skills. How many technical errors can you find in this poem?

استقلالية الشخصية وعلاقتها باختيار الجامعة والتخصص لدى الطلبة الجامعيين

The current study aimed to identify the autonomy of personality and its relationship to the choice of university and specialization among university students in Palestine, The researchers used the descriptive correlative approach. The study was applied to a random sample of (550) male and female students from the universities of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The results showed that the satisfaction of their need for independence came to a medium degree, and there were no statistically significant differences in the satisfaction of that need according to the variables of gender, high school course, and school year. The results indicated that the most influential and predictive factors for students’ choice of university were: the quality of educational services, lower university fees, and the geographical location of the university. Additionally, the most influential and predictive factors for students’ choice of university major were: the social status of the major, exposure to academic advising services, and the freedom to choose a major that allows self-running. The study recommended the need to provide effective counseling spcaes in secondary schools and academic counseling in universities and colleges based on well-studied and systematic scientific priciples, with the results being implemented by universities

The Importance of Digital Visual Learning Materials for Enhancing Middle School Students' Academic Performance in Islamic Subjects in the Sidikalang District

The purpose of this study is to characterize the importance of digital visual learning materials for raising student learning outcomes. The topic of discussion is Islamic religious education courses in the junior high schools in the Sidikalang District, namely SMPN 1 Sidikalang, SMPN 2 Sidikalang, and SMPN 3 Sidikalang, with a research background. This kind of research, which is being conducted from November 2023 to March 2024, is qualitative and uses a descriptive analytical study method. In order to gather factual information from schools, data was first collected through observation techniques. Later, data was collected through interview techniques and documentation studies. The study's findings demonstrate that representative photos, diagrams, and graphs are used in digital visual media for teaching the Islamic faith at three SMPN Sidikalang District locations, LCD or projector is used to operationalize the media. The steps involved in creating digital visual learning materials are needs analysis, planning, design, development, assessment, revision, implementation, long-term use, and ongoing evaluation. Digital visual learning materials have the potential to improve comprehension, jog memory, pique students' interest, and provide a contextual link between the content being taught and real-world experiences.

How to select candidates for an undergraduate degree in psychology? Combining high-school GPA and admission test score

AbstractThe current study investigated whether the grade point average (GPA) of high school courses and the score on the test for admission to a bachelor’s degree in Psychology—assessing logical reasoning, reading comprehension, and general knowledge—can predict student academic success (AS) and to what extent. Archival data from 5147 candidates (82.4% female) collected over six years (2010–2016) were used. For 2559 of these, indicators of AS (graduation marks, average weighted marks, completion of the degree on time, and dropout) were also available. A series of hierarchical regressions were performed, in which the high school GPA was included as the first predictor, and the scores of the three sections of the admission test were included as the second set of predictors. Findings indicated high school GPA as the best predictor of AS. However, admission test scores predicted a portion of AS that the high school GPA was not able to account for. This result indicates that the administration of the admission test, which evaluates logical reasoning, reading comprehension, and general knowledge, can add relevant information to the high school GPA, thus increasing the efficacy in the selection of candidates, who can have the best chance to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Identifying colours in the absorption spectrum with an app

This study addresses the challenges faced by students with colour blindness during the exploration of light spectra, emphasizing the crucial adaptation of educational materials for effective learning. The proposed solution, characterized by its low-cost and straightforward implementation, involves the use of smartphone apps, notably the ‘ColorADD,’ to assist students who cannot perceive colours in understanding spectral phenomena. This topic is integrated into the curricula of both high school and undergraduate physics courses in Portugal and Brazil. This approach represents a tangible opportunity to promote inclusive scientific education, fostering active participation and ensuring equal opportunities for colour-blind students without compromising their overall visual perception.

Learning about science topics of social relevance using lower and higher autonomy-supportive scaffolds

Evaluation of plausible alternative explanations of scientific phenomena is an authentic scientific activity. Instructional scaffolding can facilitate students’ engagement in such evaluations by facilitating their reflections on how well various lines of scientific evidence support alternative explanations. In the present study, we examined two forms of such scaffolding, with one form providing more autonomy support than the other, to determine whether any differential effects existed between the two. Nearly 300 adolescent students in middle school, high school, and university courses completed two activities on scientific topics of social relevance (e.g., the climate crisis, fossils and fossil fuel use, water resources, and astronomical origins), with the less autonomy-supportive form being completed prior to the more autonomy-supportive form. In line with prior pilot studies, both scaffold types demonstrated significant pre- to post-instructional shifts in plausibility judgments toward the scientific model and gains in knowledge with small to medium effect sizes. A mediation model provided a robust replication of previous findings showing that the indirect path meaningfully linked greater levels of evaluation to more scientific plausibility judgments and topic knowledge, above and beyond the direct relational path linking greater levels of evaluation to topic knowledge. However, we found no difference in relations between the two scaffold types, counter to our hypothesis that the more autonomy-supportive version would lead to better outcomes. This suggests that the implementation of more autonomy-supportive learning environments may be conditional, opening up a promising avenue for additional research, such as looking at specific contexts and how activities could be sequenced to optimize learning.

Context of Employing Non-English Language Major Teachers to Teach English Courses in High School: Implications for a Policy Note

Teaching English courses mainly improves students’ communicative competence for a successful integration into public life so English teachers should possess certain qualifications to deliver instruction well. This study aims to describe the causes and effects of employing non-English language major teachers to teach English courses in the Naguilian Cluster as basis in policy note formulation. It employed the descriptive survey research design and used a researcher-made questionnaire in gathering data. The study found out that none of the respondents pursued higher studies related with English since their baccalaureate degree is not English and they were underload. They believed that there should be strict hiring and selection of English teachers. Moreover, they greatly affect the quality of English language learning since they commit errors or mistakes in the production of learning resources or instructional materials in teaching English. Thus, English teachers should either have a bachelor’s degree related with English or a certification in English language teaching; should undergo intensive training to enrich their English language teaching pedagogy; and the preparation and development of learning resources or instructional materials in English teaching and learning should be led by English language teachers who are experts in this field. The study recommends the inclusion of a certification in English language teaching in the absence of a bachelor’s degree in English.

Work Experience in Studying the Topic “Chemical Properties of Salt” in a Secondary School Chemistry Course

The school chemistry course contributes to formation of worldview ideas, thinking skills and creative abilities of students. To determine the content of the topic “Chemical properties of salts” in a chemistry course in high school. Research materials and methods: teacher shows demonstration experiments explaining the properties of salts, and invites students to write molecular, complete and abbreviated ionic equations for salt reactions. The solubility chart helps students to understand the course of substitution reactions that result in the formation of soluble salts. Finding out the influence of metals on salts, students conclude that metals which do not react with water displace metals on the right side of the order from solutions of their salts.

Studying the Opportunities Provided by an Applied High School Mathematics Course: Explorations in Data Science

This article reports on a multi-method study of a high school course in data science, finding that students who take data science take more mathematics courses than those who do not, there are more under-represented students in data science than is typical for other advanced mathematics courses; that the students who take data science are more positive about a future in STEM and they tend to be older. Analysis of writing from the students shows that students are very positive about the course, appreciating the relevance of the content, the opportunity to investigate ideas, the chance to learn challenging, applied content, and the opportunity to think creatively. In an assessment of data and functions given to students in data science and Algebra 2 courses, the students in data science scored at significantly higher levels.

특수교사의 인공지능 활용 교육 경험 탐구

This study aims to examine the experiences of special teachers who conducted teaching and learning activities using artificial intelligence technology for students with disabilities in elementary, middle, and high school courses. To this end, in-depth interviews were conducted on how artificial intelligence technology-based classes were conducted with six incumbent special teachers who conducted related educational activities in the actual special education field, as well as on their educational effectiveness and improvements. As a result of analyzing the interview data through systematic comparative analysis, 3 topics, 6 sub-themes, and 18 concepts were derived. As a result of the study, first, the research participants said that there was an opportunity to use artificial intelligence technology for teaching and learning activities in special education. Second, the research participants highly appreciated the possibility of education using artificial intelligence technology in the special education field as well as the positive effect it on the education of students with disabilities. Third, the research participants noted the limitations they experienced when teaching while using artificial intelligence technology in the special education field and suggested opinions on how to improve the use of existing artificial intelligence technology in the special education field. Based on these research results, effective ways to utilize artificial intelligence technology in the special education field in accordance to the changing times were discussed. In addition, it was suggested that various empirical studies on the contents derived from this study, as well as the development and effectiveness of specific teaching and learning programs, are necessary.