Categoria: Conference Papers

END 2018 – International Conference on Education and New Developments

Intervento di Marco Perini, Roberto Franchini e Monica Pentassuglia al convegno “END 2018 – International Conference on Education and New Developments” – Budapest (Ungheria)

The use of Ipad for supporting instructional practices in vocational education and training centers: searching for effects on students achievements.

Despite the lack of studies that shows the effectiveness and sustainability of Educational Technologies, the emphasis on them has been encouraging a lot of Italian policymakers to adopt mobile devices (e.g. tablets) in instructional practices of education and training (Avvisati, Hennessy, Kozma, & Vicent-Lancrin, 2013; Pellerey, 2015). In the last years, in Italy, a lot of pilot projects on the use of technologies for supporting of instructional practices have been implemented in general school and Vocational Education and Training (VET) system. The present exploratory study aims to compare the learning outcomes of a group of VET students which used iPad in the classroom with a group of students of the same VET centers which did not use it. 400 VET students from five VET centers were involved. The researchers gathered data about the final exam of the third year students. Specifically, the grades of the common general subjects (i.e. italian, mathematics, and english) were collected. Gathered data were analysed with a quantitative approach. Results show that the correlation between the use of iPad and the students outcomes is different depending on the general subject taken into account. While there is no correlation with what concern italian and mathematics grades, the one with english subject seems to be better. The findings represent the exploratory phase of a wider research project. Thus, new data collection and analysis will be carried on in order to better understand which factors affect students’ achievements when they are involved in instructional practices supported by technologies.

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END 2018 – International Conference on Education and New Developments

Intervento di Marco Perini, Chiara Barile e  Monica Pentassuglia al convegno “END 2018 – International Conference on Education and New Developments“- Budapest (Ungheria)

Social networks as new places for informal learning: a grounded theory analysis in higher education student communities

Facebook has been recognized as one of the most used tools in supporting undergraduates’ informal learning (Akcaoglu & Bowman, 2016). Furthermore, students seem to prefer Facebook rather than the E-Learning tool provided by their University to achieve their learning goals (Eger, 2015). Although Social Networks (SN) have been recognised as fertile environments for informal learning (Mao, 2014), especially in encouraging knowledge exchange (Forkosh-Baruch & Hershkovitz, 2012), the empirical research activity about this topic is still lacking (Sackey, Nguyen, & Grabill, 2015). This study aims to explore the undergraduates’ point of view on the informal learning processes, which take place on SN. The main research questions are as follows: 1) how do undergraduates use SN for supporting learning activities? 2) How do students leverage these resources? 3) Which are the social dynamics and roles involved in these informal learning communities? 34 members of 13 Facebook groups (FBG) have been involved. The participants were recruited posting an informal invitation on several Italian undergraduates FG. The students were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire that was developed according to the indications of Patton (2002). The data analysis followed a grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2014) in order to maintain a strict adherence between students’ voices and results. Leggi tutto “END 2018 – International Conference on Education and New Developments”

International VET conference: Crossing Boundaries in Vocational Education and Training: Social Dimensions and Participation

Intervento di Marco Perini al convegno “Crossing Boundaries in Vocational Education and Training: Social Dimensions and Participation” – Rostock (Germania)

 

Crossing Boundaries in Vocational Education and Training: Social Dimensions and Participation

Within VET, technologies are involved in the learning processes taking place in the classroom, in the laboratory and during traineeship. In thelaboratory and during the traineeship, technologies are used in different ways: on one hand, they are (and they have always been) a regular part of the work activities, which are the subjects of learning; on the other hand, they “can serve many roles to support work-based learning” (Margaryan, 2008, p.17). Though, can the use of technologies enhance WBL activities while students sit in the classroom (off the job)? This review aims gathering information about the potential of ICT in crossing the boundaries of learning processes between classroom and work within initial vocational education contexts.

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International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies

Intervento di Marco Perini e Monica Pentassuglia al convegno “Edulearn17 – International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies” – Barcellona (Spagna)

The management of institutional innovation process through the introduction of instructional technology in vet centers. A comparative case study.

Since Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) had taken part of everyday life both in workplace and domestic settings, the Italian educational system has progressively tried to promote technological innovations within schools. The present contribution takes place in the iCnos project started in 2012 and promoted and driven by the central coordination of CNOS-FAP federation. This paper aims to analyse experiences and actors’ voices involved in the project in order to achieve a better comprehension of the process and providing transferable and reusable information. Four VET centres were randomly selected among those included in the iCnos project. Teachers who were responsible to coordinate the local section of the overall project were interviewed in two different occasions. Leggi tutto “International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies”

END 2017 – International Conference on Education and New Developments

 Intervento di Marco Perini, e  Arianna Costatntini al convegno “END 2017 – International Conference on Education and New Developments” – Lisbona (Portogallo)How can the technology introduction foster educational innovation in VET centers? a comparative case study. Since the mass diffusion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Italian educational institutions have been implementing several experimental projects in order to enhance students learning experience (Moricca, 2016). The initial Vocational Education and Training (VET) has been part of this innovation process with several pilot projects, such as iCnos, which aims at introducing ICTs as support to teachers’ activities and students’ learning process (Franchini, 2015). This project has been led by the central management of CNOS-FAP federation through several teacher training courses, the empowerment of internet connections and the substitution of paper handbooks and notebooks with the iPad. Each center involved in the pilot project has managed independently the innovation process based on the guidelines issued by the central management. The main research questions of this exploratory study are as follows: Can an institutional innovation process-managed with a top-down approach-fosters pedagogical and organizational changes in VET centers? Which aspects and roles are involved in this innovation process? How do teachers and students perceive and react to this innovation process? Which are the solutions implemented by the different centers? Which are the shortcomings? Which solutions have been implemented by the centers? To answer these research questions a comparative case study has been conducted (Campbell, 2010; Yin, 2009).  Leggi tutto “END 2017 – International Conference on Education and New Developments”

Unleashing the creative potential of VET. 5th Congress on Research in Vocational Education and Training

Intervento di Arianna Costatntini, Andrea Ceschi, Riccardo Sartori, Marco Perini, Giuseppe Tacconi al convegno “SFIVET Congress 2017” – Berna (Svizzera)

Discovering the interplay between situational and dispositional factors leading to career decidedness
A lifelong learning perspective to the development of individuals needs to rely on a dynamic educational environment, able to support multiple career pathways. Accordingly, educational settings need to possess the knowledge to design effective career counseling programs to allow institutional permeability and options to move horizontally to different educational streams.
Drawing on social cognitive career theory, this contribution explores how career decidedness (CD) of 798 students from different educational streams is affected by optimism, facilitating conditions for school motivations (FCSM), and career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE).
Results showed that career decision-making self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between FCSM and CD. Interestingly, whilst the direct effect of FCSM on CD is negative, the relationship linking FCSM to CDSE, as well as that linking CDSE and CD, is positive. Leggi tutto “Unleashing the creative potential of VET. 5th Congress on Research in Vocational Education and Training”

ECER 2016 – Leading Education: The Distinct Contributions of Educational Research and Researchers

Intervento di Vidmantas Tutlys , Giuseppe Tacconi, M’Hamed Dif e Marco Perini al convegno “ECER 2016 – Leading Education: The Distinct Contributions of Educational Research and Researchers”

Dublin 22/26 Agosto 2016

 

 

Access of the Initial VET and Apprenticeship to Socially Disadvantaged Youth in the Initial VET Systems of Lithuania, France, Italy

Access of the initial VET and apprenticeship to the socially disadvantaged youth is widely considered as one of the crucial factors contributing to the development of social cohesion and prevention of social polarization and poverty. This idea is reflected in the wide range of the EU policies and strategies, including Copenhagen process, New Skills for New Jobs, as well as in the national educational policies and strategies. Leggi tutto “ECER 2016 – Leading Education: The Distinct Contributions of Educational Research and Researchers”

ECER 2016 – Leading Education: The Distinct Contributions of Educational Research and Researchers

Intervento di Monica Pentassuglia, Serafina Pastore e Giuseppe Tacconi al convegno “ECER 2016 – Leading Education: The Distinct Contributions of Educational Research and Researchers”

Dublin 22/26 Agosto 2016

The “Shadow Movements”: Teachers’ Profession and Performance in the Arts-Based Research Perspective

Educational research, in recent years, focusing its attention on different ways of acquiring and transmitting knowledge within educational contexts, has focused a special attention on practical experience of teachers (performance and efficacy). This interest became valuable material for the understanding of the whole teaching-learning processes.
It is especially the Practice Based Studies that have exerted a new influence in the reading and understanding of teachers’ work. The attention to the concept of practice allows a different interpretation of the work that is now understood as a space, as a context (in the broadest meaning of the term) in which specific skills are created, transmitted, and stored (Shilling, 2003; Schatzi, Knorr-Cetina, von Savigny, 2001). Leggi tutto “ECER 2016 – Leading Education: The Distinct Contributions of Educational Research and Researchers”