Middle School Learners Research Articles

Machine Learning for All!—Introducing Machine Learning in Middle and High School

Machine Learning for All!—Introducing Machine Learning in Middle and High School

Дифференциальные аспекты регуляторных и личностных ресурсов успеваемости учащихся с различными профилями школьной вовлеченности

Background. Presented research was carried out in the context of relevant in modern psychology differential approach to the study of the psychological characteristics ensuring students’ academic achievement. Objective. The study had its purpose to identify differential features of regulatory and personality resources of academic performance in the students with different profiles of school engagement. Sample. The sample consisted of 1056 schoolchildren of 5-11 grades. Methods. V.I. Morosanova’s “The Self-Regulation Profile of Learning Activity Questionnaire (SRPLAQ)”; “A Multidimensional School Engagement Scale” (Wang et al., 2019; Russian adaptation Fomina, Morosanova, 2020); “Big Five Questionnaire — Children version (BFQ-C)” (Russian adaptation Malykh et al., 2015); “Academic Motivation Scale - School (AMS-S)” (Gordeeva et al., 2017); “Attitude towards learning in middle and high school” (modification of «Method of diagnostic of learning motivation and emotional attitude to learning in secondary and high school») (Andreeva, Prikhozhan, 2006). Academic achievement indicator was calculated as the average score in all subjects. Results. The study revealed 4 groups with different levels of school engagement and its components. An analysis of differences in achievement resources in the identified groups showed that students with a high level of school engagement were characterized by the highest levels of self-regulation, internal academic motivation, extraversion, conscientiousness and openness to experience. The most successful in terms of academic achievement were the students with a high level of all engagement components, as well as those with a high cognitive engagement. Conclusion. The study provides empirical data on the differential features of regulatory and personality resources of academic achievement in the students with different profiles of school engagement. Further studies might be aimed at investigating the age specificity of the identified engagement profiles and individual typological features of academic achievement resources.

Analysis of Middle School English Teaching Mode Based on Teaching Situational Method under the Background of New Curriculum

With the development of globalization, the society's requirements for English ability are constantly improving. In English teaching, the golden stage of students' ability development is this stage of middle school learning. Therefore, if we can make middle school English teaching more efficient, we can effectively improve middle school students' English learning level. At present, with the deepening of the new curriculum reform aimed at developing students' subject literacy, teaching methods are increasingly diversified. Among many teaching methods, situational teaching method attracts people's attention, which plays a positive role in mobilizing students' enthusiasm and emotion, and can effectively improve teaching quality. Based on the implementation of situational teaching method in middle school English teaching, this paper discusses how to implement situational teaching method in English teaching and promote the cultivation of middle school students' English core literacy. English teaching in middle schools plays an important role in promoting students' comprehensive quality and ability. The application of situational teaching method in middle school English teaching can effectively stimulate students' interest in learning English, improve their enthusiasm for learning English, and let students experience situational teaching personally; It can also help students discover the charm of English and cultivate their love for English learning.

공변 추론과 조작적 사고

In this study, two surveys were conducted (first: 108 people, second: 94 people) for middle school students in order to investigate the ways of thinking in understanding graphs, and the results are as follows. First, many middle school students tend not to coordinate the coordinate system in the process of solving the task of interpreting and constructing direct and inverse proportion graphs. Second, middle school students showed the characteristic of drawing straight lines using points rather than a slope in the process of solving the task of interpreting and constructing a direct proportional graph. Third, some middle school students verbally express the inverse proportional relationship between two variables and translate it into a straight line. Fourth, many middle school students showed a pattern of figurative thought rather than operative thought in the process of understanding the direct proportion graph. The analysis results of this study suggest that it is necessary to expand learning opportunities for the development of covariational reasoning and operative thought in the middle school teaching and learning process.

Vocabulary in digital science resources for middle school learners

This corpus-based study examined the vocabulary in a 2.7 million token corpus composed of digital science resources for middle school (6–8 grade) students in the United States. The findings of this study showed that to reach the suggested 95%–98% lexical coverage thresholds of the Digital Science Corpus (DSC) that are conventionally deemed to facilitate minimal and optimal reading comprehension (Laufer, 2020), middle school (MS) students grade 6–8 must recognize the first 6,000, respectively 14,000 most frequent BNC/COCA (Nation, 2012) word families plus proper nouns and marginal nouns. The results of the lexical analysis across the three sub-corpora in the DSC suggest that the Life Science sub-corpora has a considerably larger vocabulary load than the Physical Science and Earth and Space Science sub-corpora. Additionally, while 98.60% of the most frequent 1,000 BNC/COCA word families occurred at least six times in the DSC, the 2,000–7,000 BNC/COCA word families provided significantly fewer opportunities for repeated occurrence. Since more than half of the words in the 5,000–7,000 BNC/COCA bands occurred five times or less in the overall corpus, most words across these bands do not have high enough frequency in the digital science resources to allow MS students to learn them incidentally from reading the texts found in digital science resources. Several pedagogically relevant suggestions are discussed.

All kinds of text: Investigating a phenomenon through multimodal media

Explanations about real-world phenomena are frequently challenging for students in this time when they can ask Siri or Google for the answer to a question like, “How far away is the moon?” Many of the worthwhile scientific questions are more complex, dependent on numerous conditions, subject to individual interpretations, and requiring attention to the credibility of the resource that is answering the question. The typical approach of elementary and middle school learners to an informational text is an open-ended or exploratory one in which they read a text with attention to the main idea and supporting details. The purpose of reading is usually for the learner to look at explanations of concepts, facts, and ideas in these expository texts. In this article, we approach text using the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Science and Engineering Practice of Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information to interact with a variety of information sources with the purpose of investigating a phenomenon.

Integrating Gamification into Middle School Mathematics Curriculum: Game-Based Learning Approach in Namibia

The urge to integrate gamification into the traditional curriculum as a new educational technology tool has garnered widespread popularity throughout the years. In that light, unknown is the degree to which Namibia can adopt game-based learning in its educational system, precisely the middle schools. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions of learners and teachers toward the effective integration of gamification into the mathematics curriculum for middle school learners in Windhoek, Namibia. Grounded in the pragmatism philosophy, the study adopted a mixed research method in which quantitative data were obtained from 876 learners in middle school grades while qualitative data were acquired from 29 mathematics teachers using questionnaires with close-ended and open-ended questions, respectively. To dive into the phenomenon, the study analyzed quantitative data using structural equation modeling in the LISREL program, while qualitative data were analyzed using coding and reflexive thematic analysis with direct quotations in ATLAS.ti software. Based on the findings, learners and teachers in Windhoek expressed positive perceptions of integrating gamification into the middle school mathematics curriculum. However, the study also reveals the possibilities of gamifying the mathematics curriculum to be merely effective at the first stage of implementation, but other subjects are at stake, and not inclusive-friendly to learners from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, as emerged from the qualitative aspect of the study. Thus, the research calls for cohesive support in terms of financial support, non-financial support, and human capital support from the private sector, government, and international organizations to ensure the effective integration of gamification without jeopardizing other subjects and the inclusivity of vulnerable learners and those in remote areas.

A specialized vocabulary list from an original corpus of digital science resources for middle school learners

• A digital science corpus from middle school resources was assembled. • The corpus consists of approximately 2.7 million tokens. • A type-based specialized list was extracted using three instruments and seven inclusion criteria. • The lexical coverage of the lists was compared with the lexical coverage of four other secondary science lists. • The list could be used as a tool for specialized vocabulary learning in science classrooms where digital science resources are used.

학교 온라인 교수학습 설계 방안 연구

The purpose of this study is to provide middle school teachers with specific guidelines in order to design and develop online teaching and learning plans. Since they encountered unprecedented difficulties caused by COVID-19 in 2020, they strongly demanded detailed information on method of how to construct the online teaching and learning plans. This study investigated an ideal model for online teaching and learning in order to establish theoretical foundation of online teaching and learning in middle school. With this theoretical model, it furthered 21 principles, 62 guidelines, and specific procedures. In order to secure validity and usability of the developed model and principles, educational experts examined these products. The result of usability evaluation revealed that these products can be employed appropriately in middle school. The output of this research can provide teachers with detailed information and useful guidelines for design and development of online teaching and learning plans in middle school, and innovate educational systems in the future.

Meet students in the middle: A culturally responsive, near-peer literacy program

The middle school years are important for social and emotional learning, and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated social-emotional learning needs. At this age, young people are paying attention to the social world and exploring their identities and need learning environments that respond in kind. Jessica Shiller and Inte’a DeShields describe a model for middle school learning built on their need to connect with their peers, learn about their cultural identities, and receive social and emotional support. Pairing college students with middle schoolers, the model for literacy instruction produced positive results.

Book Review

Neumann, M.D., Dion, L., &amp; Snapp, R. (2021). <em>Teaching computational thinking: An integrative approach for middle and high school learning</em>. The MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262045056 (paperback), $45.00, 200 pages; ISBN: 9780262366144 (electronic), open-access. <a href="https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11209.001.0001">https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11209.001.0001</a> <strong> </strong> Introducing students to computer science (CS) and programming, primarily through the development of coding skills, has emerged as a top priority in policy and practice in recent years. The impact on Technology and Engineering Education is clear: The ability to use, create, and understand computer programs is essential for success in subjects such as automation and robotics, digital and integrated manufacturing, media production, and more. However, the conversation surrounding the implementation of these 21^st-century skills has moved beyond the ability to use computers or create code toward the development of a broader set of <em>computational thinking skills</em> that support critical thinking on- and offline. Maureen D. Neumann, Lisa Dion, and Robert Snapp (2021) define computational thinking skills as "a set of mental and cognitive skills that are applied to the problem-solving process to help individuals discover and apply different strategies and algorithmic solutions to challenging and complex problems" (p. 1). This book offers educators a hands-on, evidenced-based approach to introducing middle and high school students to the application of computational thinking skills using various integrative approaches to learning that supports this premise.

Multimodal Digital Storytelling Presentations among Middle-School Learners of English as a Foreign Language: Emotions, Grit and Perceptions

Despite the increasing attention to technology-enhanced language learning in English-as-a-foreign-language contexts, investigation regarding the effects of multimodal technologies on affective factors (particularly emotions and grit) in digital storytelling has remained underexplored. Therefore, this mixed-methods study reports on positive/negative emotions, grit and learner perceptions in the digital storytelling presentation process as the result of different presentation modes (robot-assisted versus PowerPoint-assisted). With 52 9th-grade middle-school students from two intact classes in a junior high school in central Taiwan, the results from multiple data sources (an emotion questionnaire, a grit survey, a perception survey, student in-class sharing) revealed that the robot-assisted mode was more advantageous in contributing to more positive emotions and in making learners grittier, foregrounding higher perseverance of effort in the learning process. The students having the robot-assisted mode also responded more positively to the overall learning experience.

Analysis of Middle school Learners’ Perception on Online Mathematics Courses during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

목적 이 연구의 목적은 온라인 수학 수업에 대한 중학생의 생각을 심층적으로 이해하는 데 있다. 코로나19 대유행(펜데믹)으로 인한 비대면 수업의 급증과 함께 학교 현장의 변화를 고려하여, 온라인 수업에 참여하는 학습자의 요구와 학습유형에 주목하였다. 방법 연구 방법은 사례연구를 활용했다. 사례연구를 위한 자료 수집 방법으로는 심층 면담, 문서 수집, 설문조사 방법을 활용하였다. 사전 조사로는 G 중학교 2학년 학생 120명을 대상으로 설문조사를 실시했다. 심층 면담 참여자는 사전 조사 대상자였던 G 중학교 2학년에서 5개 반에서 3명씩을 연구자가 선정하여 의도적 표집으로 선정하였다. 최종 설문 응답자는 114명, 심층 면담 참여자는 13명이었다. 결과 연구 결과, 온라인 수업에 대한 학생들의 생각은 온라인 수학 수업이 수학 학습에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 그 원인으로는 외부요인과 온라인 수업 방식 그리고 수업 과정을 들었다. 그리고 학생들은 온라인 학습유형 중에서 몇 가지 수업 방식을 병행하거나 면대면 수업과 온라인 수업의 조화로운 균형을 통한 혼합수업을 원하는 것으로 나타났다. 결론 결론에서는 온라인 수학 수업의 효과와 온라인 수학 학습에 대한 학습자의 생각을 확인하였으며, 학습자의 정확한 인식 이해는 온라인 수학 수업을 이용한 맞춤형 교육을 제공할 수 있을 것이다.

Utilizing action research to integrate curriculum, instruction, and assessment in middle school classrooms

Action research is an evidence-based practice that is highly applicable to middle school teaching and learning. Middle school teachers can empower themselves and their students by participating in immersive, meaningful activities that are designed to improve educational outcomes. Action research is purposeful and beneficial for teachers, students, and educational stakeholders. This article describes the features and phases of action research and how the framework can be used to find solutions to classroom concerns.

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Middle School: Intervention Effects of Facing History and Ourselves

There are fewer evidence-based social and emotional learning programs for middle school students compared to younger grades. This randomized controlled trial tests the effectiveness of Facing History and Ourselves (hereafter, Facing History) with a sample of 694 (Facing History n = 437; Comparison n = 257) students from a low-resourced school district. Youth self-identified as female (59%), Black/African American (61%), Hispanic/Latinx (18%), White (2%), and multi-racial or some other race/ethnicity (19%). Intervention students perceived their classrooms as more caring and democratic than students in the comparison group. They reported higher levels of empathy, prosocial behavior, and stronger participatory citizenship beliefs. This study expands the evidence-based of effective SEL programs available to schools.

Supervisors Professionality Implementation in Improving The Creativity of Islamic Religious Education Teachers: Study of Middle School Learning Management in Sumedang Regency

This research is based on the non-optimal professionality of supervisors, which in turn has an impact (outcome) on the quality of learning output(output)in the form of increased creativity of teachers who overall the relationship between these components forms a system. The main problem of this research is how the implementation of supervision of the creativity of Islamic Education teachers in improving the quality of learning, both from planning, implementation, evaluation, follow-up. This study aims to find out the picture related to the implementation of supervision on planning, implementation, evaluation and follow-up in increasing the creativity of Teachers of Islamic Religious Education Junior High School in Sumedang Regency. This research uses a qualitative approach using descriptive analysis. Data collection techniques are carried out through observation, interviews and documentation studies. Data analysis is done through data reduction, organizing and grouping, examination, interpretation, and verification. The data analysis is further described according to the problem and the purpose of the research. The results showed that the planning of supervisory coaching of Islamic Religious Education teachers was developed based on the results of supervision in the previous year and contained coaching priorities with their achievement targets in the short, medium-term, and long term

SCHOOL CHILDREN IN E-CAMPUS - NEW INSIGHT

Introduction: The current pandemic has affected the education of children in an unprecedented way. Children are not able to go to school and in a short span of time schools have tried to come up with online teaching methods which have not been validated. This study was undertaken to assess children's viewpoint on this new mode of teaching. Aims: The primary objective of the present study was to assess the clarity, logical flow and effectiveness of online teaching learning in middle school and high school students. The secondary objective was to assess the student satisfaction after 6 months of online teaching. We also wanted to identify the mental health of students after e-learning. Methodology: After obtaining consent from parents and school principal, a questionnaire on new learning method and the ease of understanding was shared with students in google form.Their responses were assessed in various dimensions. Results: Students felt lonely and tired at the end of e-learning sessions. They felt that they are missing on co-curricular and extracurricular activities. There was difficulty in falling asleep and missing of peer groups. Conclusions: E –learning is the need of the hour. Despite user ease and accessibility, e–learning cannot completely replace in-campus learning. Multiple aspects of student mental health are being compromised in a pure e-learning school. Blended learning is a useful modality and its implications remain to be analyzed.

Effectiveness of Mathematical Modeling in a Technological Environment and Its Impact on Developing Motivation toward Learning Mathematics among Students in Middle Schools in Israel

The study aims to identify the effectiveness of mathematical modeling in a technological environment, and its effect on the development of middle school learners' critical thinking skills and motivation rising toward mathematics as a subject in Rahat area/ Negev region. In this study, the researcher employed the experimental approach where the two tools of the study were applied to two groups of eighth graders: (group A, control group, 29 learners) and (group B, test group, 30 learners). The tools employed were, first, measuring learners' motivations towards learning, and second, measuring the degree to which learners possess the skills of critical thinking. The tools were used in both the prior and the latter stages of mathematical modeling where a questionnaire was prepared with the aim of identifying the views of students in the middle schools about their motivation to learn mathematics, and the questionnaire included the three dimensions of the study. The second tool consists of a set of questions that measure the degree to which the student has critical thinking skills by answering the test questions (consisting of a set of questions selected to test students in critical thinking skills in solving mathematical problems). The two instruments were initially presented to a group of competent arbitrators in order to benefit from their expertise, and after presenting them and making the necessary adjustments, they were produced in their final form. The results were as follows: 1. The scale of the student's desire towards learning mathematics, and their sense of perseverance and awareness were all intermediate. 2. Learners' average in the prior test that was designed to measure their skills in critical thinking was low. 3. The study shows variations in the degree of motivation toward mathematics learning regarding their desire and awareness of the importance of the subject. 4. The study shows a variation in the degree of the possession of critical thinking skills in middle school learners. The variation was in favor of the test group.

РОЛЬ ОСОЗНАННОЙ САМОРЕГУЛЯЦИИ В ДИНАМИКЕ ПОЗНАВАТЕЛЬНОЙ АКТИВНОСТИ И КОГНИТИВНОЙ ВОВЛЕЧЕННОСТИ УЧАЩИХСЯ В ПЕРИОД ПЕРЕХОДА ИЗ ОСНОВНОЙ В СТАРШУЮ ШКОЛУ: ЛОНГИТЮДНОЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ

Background. A decrease in cognitive activity and the occurrence of various defi cits with a general decrease in a positive attitude to learning creates diffi culties in learning during the transition to high school. It becomes important to identify regulatory resources for development of cognitive activity and engagement during the period before the 9th grade, as well as at the beginning of high school. Objective — to identify the dynamics of cognitive activity and engagement during the transition from middle to high school and to assess the contribution of conscious self–regulation of eighth graders to this dynamic in the 9th and 10th grades. Sample. 156 eighth graders aged M=13.88; SD=0.445. In the 9th and 10th grades, repeated examinations were carried out using the same methods. As a result, longitudinal data was collected at three points. Methods. “Attitude to learning in middle and high school” (I.N. Bondarenko, I.Yu. Tsyganov, V.I. Morosanova). “Multidimensional scale of school engagement” (T.G. Fomina, V.I. Morosanova). Questionnaire of V.I. Morosanova “Style of self-regulation of learning activity, SRLAQ-M” (V.I. Morosanova, I.N. Bondarenko). Results. We revealed between individual diff erences in the trajectories of cognitive engagement, but they were not revealed for cognitive activity. It is shown that in order to successfully maintain cognitive activity and engagement in high school, it is important to achieve the maximum level of their development in the 8th grade, a year before the state exams. Longitudinal analysis has shown that school engagement is more associated with conscious self-regulation in comparison with cognitive activity, which signifi cantly depends on external factors. Conscious self–regulation, fulfi lling its resource role, on the one hand, makes a direct contribution to the level of development of these characteristics, on the other hand, prevents their sharp decline in case of diffi culties or temporary failures. Conclusion. Th e development of conscious self-regulation in secondary school is able to compensate for the negative trends of falling cognitive activity and engagement that occur in high school students.

Testimonios and picturebooks: An Afro-Latino adolescent’s exploration of immigration stories through the lens of LatCrit and testimonios

This paper explores how LatCrit and testimonios were used to explore and make sense of one Afro-Latino adolescent’s immigration story. Picturebooks written by those emic to a community have long been acknowledged as providing a site where children of color can find a space that not only validates their lived experiences but also provides a counternarrative or testimonio that decenters negative hegemonic narratives that position Latiné youth as the “other.” This study contributes to the body of scholarship about the significance of using emic entry-point text picturebooks in middle schools to help youth, parents, and teachers to combat anti-Latiné and Anti-Black-Latiné negative stereotypes as part of a larger effort to cultivate inclusive middle school learning environments.