Year Of Compulsory Secondary Education Research Articles

Effectiveness of tutoring at school: A machine learning evaluation

Tutoring programs are effective in reducing school failures among at-risk students. However, there is still room for improvement in maximising the social returns they provide on investments.Many factors and components can affect student engagement in a program and academic success. This complexity presents a challenge for Public Administrations to use their budgets as efficiently as possible. Our research focuses on providing public administration with advanced decision-making tools.First, we analyse a database with information on 2066 students of the Programa para la Mejora de Éxito Educativo (Programme for the Improvement of Academic Success) of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla y Léon in Spain, in 2018–2019, the academic year previous to the pandemic. This program is designed to help schools with students at risk of failure in Spanish, literature, mathematics, and English. We developed a machine learning model (ML) based on Kohonen self-organising maps (SOMs), which are a type of unsupervised (ANN), to group students based on their characteristics, the type of tutoring program in which they were enrolled, and their results in both the completion of the program and the 4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO).Second, we evaluated the results of tutoring programs and identified and explained how different factors and components affect student engagement and academic success.Our findings provide Public Administrations with better decision-making tools to evaluate and measure the results of tutoring programs in terms of social return on investment, improve the design of these programs, and choose the students to enrol.

Evaluating a Secondary Education Urban Ecology Project within the Framework of a Problem-Based Learning Methodology

As a reaction to the current situation of local and global environmental deterioration, recent decades have seen the emergence of multiple educational strategies and methodologies within Environmental Education (EE) with the aim of promoting pro-environmental attitudes among young people. One of these strategies is Problem-Based Learning (PBL), and it is necessary to analyze the didactic implications of this methodology in the field of EE in order to maximize its effectiveness. This study evaluates the implementation and didactic implications of an environmental project designed under the PBL methodology. The project was carried out over consecutive years of compulsory secondary education (Grades 9 and 10) in two secondary schools in the province of Granada, Spain. The data collection instruments used included the researcher’s diary, self-assessment and reflection questionnaires for the participating students, and questionnaires and rubrics completed by the audience during the presentation of the final product. The study employed a qualitative interpretative approach, using response categorization and SWOT analyses, the results of which revealed multiple conclusions, highlighting the high level of motivation, work and participation of the students, as well as the didactic benefits of the enriching socialization of the project. Difficulties, such as time management and cooperative group work, lack of practice in the methodology used and challenges related to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), were also identified. Finally, recommendations are provided for the application of this methodology in other educational contexts.

Perception of Parental Attitudes and Self-Efficacy in Refusing Alcohol Drinking and Smoking by Spanish Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to initiation of the use of substances harmful to health, and its increase is cause for concern. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between self-efficacy in refusing alcohol and the attitude of adolescents toward drugs and their perception of their parents' attitude toward refusal. The study was carried out in 2019 in a sample of 1287 students from 11 public high schools in the province of Almería (Spain). Students were aged 14 to 18 in their 3rd and 4th year of compulsory secondary education. The Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire-Revised Adolescent version (DRSEQ-RA), Attitudes Toward Taking Drugs-Basic BIP Scale and the Parents' attitudes Toward Drug Use were administered. The results showed that family relationships seem to have a direct impact on adolescent patterns in smoking and drinking alcohol. However, a favorable attitude toward drugs is a risk factor for drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco. The self-efficacy dimension also acts as a protective factor against the probability of using alcohol or tobacco. The conclusions emphasized that communication within the family core can increase or decrease the risk of adolescents using substances harmful to health.

Validation of the General and Sport Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GeSNK) in Spanish Adolescents

The General and Sport Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GeSNK) is an instrument that has been developed and validated to assess the level of nutrition knowledge in adolescents and young adults. The aim of the present study was to validate the GeSNK questionnaire in a group of Spanish adolescents in the framework of a Nutrition Education Programme in Secondary Schools in Andalusia, Spain. This cross-sectional questionnaire validation study was developed in two phases: translation-cultural adaptation and validation. A total of 305 adolescents aged 11 to 17 years, studying from the first to the third year of compulsory secondary education, participated on a voluntary basis. The GeSNK questionnaire consists of 62 items: 29 items for the General Nutrition section and 33 items for the Sports Nutrition section. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the complete questionnaire (GeSNK Total) was: 0.934; for the GeSNK General Nutrition section it was 0.918; and for the GeSNK Sports Nutrition section it was 0.856. The stability measured by the correlation coefficient for the General Nutrition section was 0.406 (p = 0.000); for the Sports Nutrition section it was 0.198 (p = 0.017); and for GeSNK Total the stability was 0.545 (p = 0.000). The questionnaire also demonstrated adequate construct validity. We therefore conclude that the Spanish version of the GeSNK questionnaire is a valid instrument to measure the level of knowledge in general nutrition and sports nutrition in adolescents.

Polydrug Use of Tobacco and Cannabis in a Cohort of Young People from Central Catalonia (2012–2020)

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of tobacco and cannabis use, and their relationship, in a cohort of adolescents from Central Catalonia in the period 2012–2020. The study had a prospective longitudinal design with 828 students in the 4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education. In 2012, 828 adolescents answered a health behaviour survey; in 2016, 342; and in 2020, 265. The dependent variables were: exclusive last month tobacco use; exclusive last month cannabis use; polydrug use of tobacco and cannabis; and no use of tobacco and cannabis in the last month. Independent variables were sex and follow-up year. For the analysis, prevalences were used with a significance level of 0.05. Polydrug use went from 11.5% (95% CI: 7.4–17.6) among girls and 8.2% (95% CI: 4.3–15.2) among boys in 2012, to 7.0% (95% CI: 3.9–12.3) among girls and 13.7% (95% CI: 8.4–21.7) among boys in 2020. With regards to those girls who used polydrug in the last month in 2012, 33.3% (14.8–58.9) continued using it in 2016, and 22.2% (7.9–48.6) continued in 2020; among boys, 33.3% (14.8–58.9) of those polydrug users in 2012 continued using it in 2016, and 44.4% (14.5–79.0) continued in 2020. There is association between tobacco and cannabis use, and there is an important percentage of young people who do polydrug consumption at very early ages.

Psychometric properties and cultural adaptation of "LifeConScale" -Life Conditions Scale for Adolescents.

Promoting the adoption of healthy habits represents a great challenge for health and education professionals. In this sense, childhood and adolescence are propitious times for the acquisition and consolidation of behaviors and skills, being that numerous and different determinants act in the genesis of behavior. The purpose of this study was to test the Psychometric properties and cultural adaptation of “LifeConScale” -Life Conditions Scale for Adolescents-. A cross-sectional and multicenter study was carried out in a representative sample of adolescents enrolled in 1st and 2nd year of Compulsory Secondary Education in 18 educational centers in Aragon, during the 2018–2019 school year. Sociodemographic characteristics, life skills, daily habits, and academic performance were analyzed using an adapted questionnaire from different scales and previous studies. For the adaptation of the questionnaire, the expert panel technique was used and for its validation, exploratory factor analysis was carried out and Cronbach’s Alpha was applied, assessing the global internal consistency and of each one of the factors. The instrument showed a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin sample size adequacy of 0.8122. A 6-dimensional model was chosen that explained 75.25% of the variance. The goodness of fit obtained a value of 0.802 in the Nomed Fix Index. The Comparative Fit Index was 0.891. The result of the analysis of variances and covariances carried out according to the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual yielded a value of 0.093 The analysis showed excellent application conditions in the study population and construct validity. This instrument will be useful for the evaluation of educational programs that work to promote health in educational centers, such as Health Promoting Schools.

Critical Global Citizenship Education: A Study on Secondary School Students

This article describes a study conducted in Catalonia (Spain) that examines the dimensions of global citizenship education (GCE) that emerge when secondary school students analyse images taken from the digital platforms of the mainstream media. We followed a mixed methodology for the research. To analyse the data, we employed content analysis, in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that students in the final year of compulsory secondary education (aged 15–16) have great difficulty with analysing the information and images contained in media from a global citizenship perspective. While students tend to adopt a perspective of social responsibility, they do not have the tools necessary for critical interpretation of social facts and problems; they are still less able to formulate arguments or make decisions relating to actions within the parameters of social justice.

Who Are the Protagonists of History? Exploratory Study on Historical Relevance after Completing Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain

Which historical figures do Spanish students think are relevant after completing their compulsory schooling in the subject of history? The main objective of this research is to discover which four historical figures students choose as the most important in human history after completing their compulsory schooling, and the type of reasons they give to justify their answers. By means of a mixed study, this research involved asking 165 students, aged 16 to 17, which four figures they think are the most relevant in history and why. Based on this statement, a quantitative and qualitative analysis was conducted to explore the students’ discourses justifying their choices using the categories proposed by Partington, Hunt and Lévesque. The results show a clear tendency in students to choose key figures in Spain’s history, such as Christopher Columbus or Francisco Franco, or a prominent person, such as Adolf Hitler, as the most relevant historical figures, who appear in the curriculum in their last year of compulsory secondary education. Lastly, the argumentative approach regarding the level of historical significance focuses primarily on the impact of their actions on a large number of people during their historical moment, with no critical reflection on their long-term impact or consequences.

Effectiveness of the Type of Feedback on Learning to Pass in Volleyball

Objective: To determine which type of feedback (visual, verbal, or both combined) facilitates to a greater extent the learning of a specific skill (passing in volleyball). Methods: Three groups of students between 14 and 15 years of age belonging to the third year of Compulsory Secondary Education in a Spanish public high school (n = 58) were randomly assigned a type of feedback implemented in the part of the syllabus dedicated to volleyball. The students’ knowledge, motor performance, accuracy, and self-perception about the action were evaluated before and after the intervention and enjoyment afterwards. Results: All the groups obtained improvements in all the variables studied (p < .05); the verbal and visual feedback group was the one that obtained greater improvements, showing also a greater enjoyment than the visual feedback group. Conclusions: It has been found that the use of the combination of verbal and visual feedback is most recommended for learning a specific skill, such as passing in volleyball.

Learning to resuscitate at school. Study in 8-12 year-old schoolchildren

ObjectiveTo quantitatively assess the learning capacity of school children aged between 8-12 years in basic life support (theory and practice) after a feasible school training programme. Material and methodsQuasi-experimental study with a convenience sample of 567 pupils in 3rd and 5th year of Primary Education, and first year of Compulsory Secondary Education, from 3 public schools in Galicia. They received 2h (one theoretical and another practical) of basic life support training by their Physical Education teachers, as part of the school program. The children were evaluated by a theoretical test and a practical skill test that measured the quality of chest compressions, and assessed the performance of the basic life support sequence. ResultsThe level of knowledge increased with respect to the baseline, and was higher in the higher grades (P < .001). The complete basic life support sequence was carried out by 16.5% of pupils in the 3rd year of Primary Education, 54.4% of pupils in the 5th year of Primary Education, and 28.5% of pupils in the 1st year of Secondary Education (P = .030). The following compression quality parameters improved significantly with age: continuity of compressions (P < .001), percentage of compressions performed at correct depth (P = .002), and median depth (P < .001), while the percentage of compressions with correct decompression decreased significantly (P < .001). ConclusionsAlthough their anthropometric characteristics may not allow them to achieve the ideal quality of this manoeuvre, a 2h theoretical and practical training programme, taught by Physical Education teachers, helps to improve the ability of children younger than 13 years old to recognise the emergency, start the chain of survival, and initiate chest compressions.

Conflicts and Sustainability of Coexistence in Secondary Education: An Ethnographic Study in Spain

In the last two decades, school coexistence in Spain has suffered an important deterioration with consequences in the quality of working life and the health of teachers, as well as in the academic performance of students. Educational administrations have promoted actions to improve it; however, the results have not been positive. To give a more adequate answer we must know in depth the scope of the problem. The objective of this study was to analyze the most common types of conflicts, the degree of incidence of each one and how they are distributed among students, as well as to determine the most important underlying cause according to the teachers. The field work was carried out during the 2018/2019 academic year, in a Secondary School located in the south of the Valencian Community (Spain). The student population was 1040, 532 women and 508 men. The research followed a mixed, qualitative, and quantitative methodology, making use of in-depth interviews with the teaching staff, participant observation and a quantitative analysis of 1501 incidents that were reported throughout the academic year. The results show us differences by sex: 84% of the incidents are produced by male students and 16% by female students. Incident distribution is very uneven among the different courses. Of the center’s problems, 88.14% are concentrated in the first two years of Compulsory Secondary Education. It is remarkable that 51% of the problems are generated by only 3% of the students, mostly men and with a significant academic disinterest; therefore, it is a very small number of students, but with a great impact on coexistence.

"Developing Capabilities". Inclusive Extracurricular Enrichment Programs to Improve the Well-Being of Gifted Adolescents.

The educational inclusion of gifted students requires not only equity but also emotional accessibility and social participation. However, different studies indicate that gifted students constitute a vulnerable group (for example, the incidence of bullying is higher). Psychosocial variables are determinants for the development and expression of giftedness, particularly during adolescence. This study analyzes the impact of an inclusive extracurricular enrichment program for gifted secondary school students on the well-being of adolescents. The program was based on the enrichment model of Renzulli and Reis (2016). The objective was to develop a cluster to facilitate high-achieving learning in collaboration with teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors from their schools as well as university professors and students that would address their emotions and socialization across the board and benefit or involve their peers in their regular classrooms. The intervention took place over two years: eight sessions, one afternoon per week, for five months during each school year. The sample consisted of 47 students from the first and second years of compulsory secondary education (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria - ESO) (age, mean (M) = 12.57, standard deviation (SD) = 0.82) during the first year and 27 students from the first, second, and third years of ESO (age, M = 13.48, SD = 0.94) during the second year; 61.4% were girls. Participants completed a questionnaire before (T1) and (T3) and after (T2) and (T4) each intervention. The results show better outcomes for psychological and subjective well-being, more positive moods, and a significant reduction in school fears. The results from this study indicate the importance of educational screening and support for gifted students to promote their well-being through collaborative enrichment activities.

The horizontal stratification of the Catalonian university system: the role of the private university

ABSTRACT The present paper explores the role the private university plays in the horizontal stratification of the university system in Catalonia, a context where, like in the rest of Spain, there has been little tradition of private universities but there has been a strong expansion in recent years. From a sample of 807 students who have accessed university and who we have been following since the last year of compulsory secondary education, we measure the importance attributed to two horizontal stratification criteria, the degree programme and whether the university is private. We then explore which socio-demographic and academic variables can explain the different assessments students make of the private university, differentiated by fields of study. The results show that in the Catalan university system, the degree programmes are more important than university ownership. Furthermore, students from higher sociocultural backgrounds and those with better marks do not value the prestige of the private university highly, except in the area of the social sciences and, to a small degree, the sciences. Thus, there has been a slight advance in the private university within the context of the university field in recent years, showing a weak capacity to generate horizontal stratification.

Consumption of Alcohol, Cannabis, and Tobacco in a Cohort of Adolescents before and during COVID-19 Confinement.

The aim of this study was to identify changes in the hazardous consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, due to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 in a cohort of schooled adolescents from Central Catalonia. We also analyzed the effect of the individual and social factors on risky consumption during confinement. This longitudinal study involved a subsample of 303 adolescents aged 14–18 years, who were attending 4th year of compulsory secondary education (ESO), 2nd year of college preparation (baccalaureate), or Vocational and Educational Training (VET). We collected data before COVID-19 lockdown (October 2019–February 2020) and 2 months after the lockdown ended. We estimated the prevalence of risky substance use in the sample at baseline for each independent variable. We used Poisson regression models with robust variance to compute the Cumulative Incidence (CI) and Relative Risk (RR), with their respective 95% confidence interval. We found that VET students had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher risk of substance use: binge drinking (RR = 3.21 (95%CI: 1.00–10.34)); hazardous drinking of alcohol (RR = 3.75 (95%CI: 1.12–12.54)), hazardous consumption of cannabis (RR = 3.75 (95%CI: 0.65–21.59)) and daily smoking of tobacco (RR = 4.82 (95%CI: 1.74–13.39)). The results showed a general trend of reduction of consumption during COVID-19 confinement period. This study suggests that VET students were more likely to engage in hazardous drinking of alcohol and daily smoking of tobacco. No statistically significant differences were found for the other age groups and variables.

Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept

In this work we will analyze the relation between registers of representation and the construction of the fraction concept. Ninety-six students from first year of compulsory secondary education participated in the study, and performed equal share tasks in the context of Egyptian fractions (unit fractions with different denominators). The aim was to determine if, with these types of tasks, students could improve their learning of the different meanings of the fraction concept. Our results indicate that there seems to be a relationship between the meaning used and the representation chosen. Similarly, we found that—with these tasks—students significantly increased the number of registers of representation they used. Students who used distinct representations had to coordinate several registers, which might be interpreted as proof of the development of conceptual understanding.

STEAM views from a need: the case of the chewing gum and pH sensopill (Miradas STEAM desde la necesidad: el caso de la sensopíldora chicles y pH)

ABSTRACT The integrated STEAM approach arises when a contextualized problem’s resolution requires different contributions (views) from each discipline. In this descriptive article we discuss the views needed from chemistry, technology, design skills, mathematical modelling and the artistic support necessary for constructing a scientific model that explains the pH of the mouth when chewing gum. To do this, we focus on describing the implementation of a short sequence of video-recorded inquiry-based contextualized activities (didactic innovation) in two classrooms with students in their third year of compulsory secondary education (14–15 years old). The scenes taken from the analysis of the implementation videos support the proposal of the connections needed in the STEAM contributions. The difficulties encountered from each discipline and the resolutions we propose shed light on how well-selected problems make STEAM views necessary, thus avoiding the usual summative multidisciplinary approach.

‘I Hate Physical Education’; an analysis of girls’ experiences throughout their school life

ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were two-fold: to analyse the perceptions of girls who have negative experiences of Physical Education (PE) and to compare this experience with their families’ perspectives on the emotional implications of this in their daily lives. Seven girls in the final year of compulsory secondary education in Spain participated in the study. These participants were selected according to the criterion of having had negative experiences in PE classes. Their families also participated, specifically seven mothers and four fathers. A qualitative methodology was used, with interviews, personal diaries and discussion groups being the instruments used to collect data. There were three categories of results: a) the role that students assume in PE; b) motivation towards PE and c) frustrating experiences of PE. The girls expressed frustration at the impossibility of passing certain sports tests, referring to contempt, and underestimation, by both their peers and teachers. The subjects were clear that the fact that they were girls clearly undermined them in PE classes. The families told of how difficult it had been at times to live with this situation throughout the girls’ school lives. This manuscript contributes to the existing literature on the subject, since, although gender has been addressed in terms of the experiences of girls in PE classes, this has not been complemented with the views of students’ families.

Gender Segregation in Peer Relationships and its Association with Peer Reputation.

Segregation by gender when relating to peers is a well-known phenomenon, with important implications for the development of children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to deeply analyze the intra and intergender relationships that young people establish with their peers, as well as the link that these relationships have with social reputation. 593 youngsters (50.1% girls) from 5th and 6th years of Primary Education, and 1st and 2nd years of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) completed a sociometric test and a social reputation test. The main results indicate that girls had a higher number of positive reciprocities with other girls, whereas boys tended to have conflictive intragender relationships. We confirmed that the relationships between the different sociometric indices and social reputation were different in boys and girls. Thus, for example, aggression and sociability were differently related to the establishment of intergender relationships in boys and girls. The results related to previous research are discussed, and some possible educational implications are noted.

Secondary School Students’ Perception of the Acquisition of Social Science Skill

The aim of this study is to find out the relevance of the competences worked on in the area of social science, specifically in the subjects of geography and history, through the perceptions of pupils in the 4th year of compulsory secondary education (ESO). In order to carry out the survey, a purposive sampling was carried out in which more than 1400 4th year ESO students (in Spain) participated. In addition, using a Likert-type scale of our own creation called Evaluation of the Perception of Social Science Competences (EPECOCISO) and following a design of quantitative methodology, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out with the analysis software SPSS through the descriptive process, which allowed us to select the three factors that make up the study. Subsequently, correlations were established between factors through Pearson’s test, and between the different variables that make up each one of them with the socio-demographic variables (distinguishing between ordinal and nominal variables) through the chi-square test of independence and Cramer’s V test (nominal), as well as the linearity test, Goodman’s gamma test, and the Kruskal (ordinal) test. Finally, one of the most important conclusions of this study is that the difficulties encountered by students in the acquisition of competences is conditioned by the development of the assessment processes that are carried out.

Comprehensive School and Vocational Training in Spain. A Longitudinal Approach from the Transition from Lower to Upper Secondary Education

Fitting vocational training into the Spanish education system has been challenging and problematic because two objectives are trying to be fulfilled; the first to supply skills for the productive system and the second to be an alternative option for the young people who do not follow the academic track. Moreover, the political vicissitudes of recent decades have added to the difficulties involved in balancing these requirements. In Spain, both the economic agents and the education system itself with its academic inertia have relegated vocational training to a subordinate position, able to attract mainly young people with lower academic achievement and largely rejected by families with a higher educational level. The assumption was that the introduction of a comprehensive secondary education in the 1990s would provide parity between the academic and the vocational tracks. However, the comprehensive nature of this system was not fully applied, with students in many schools separated by ability levels, and in fact having little impact on the social bias of the students choosing vocational training. The empirical contribution of this study is based on a survey carried out among 2056 students from Barcelona in their last year of compulsory secondary education in 2013–14 and who continued in full-time education, be it baccalaureate or vocational training. The main result shows that comprehensive education improves school success and decreases the vocational orientation of students from low social backgrounds.