This study addressed the issue of learning about climate change by examining the relationships among cross-cutting concepts, inquiry abilities, and multiple representations in high-school textbook exercises. Content analysis was applied to the exercise items in the climate change chapter of the high-school earth science textbooks used in two versions of the curriculum in Taiwan. The study analysed 88 exercise items (39 from 2019 and 49 from 2009). The findings revealed that the concept of climate change is relatively complex, requiring the comprehensive application of knowledge within the earth science knowledge system, particularly addressing the themes of "interaction" and "stability and change". Furthermore, the analyses indicated that multiple representations enable students to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge and form opinions about climate change. By reading the temperature table, they can determine whether global warming is occurring. The research analysis simultaneously revealed that the latest examination questions are beginning to incorporate topics that integrate the nature of science and cultivate student interest in science due to the requirements of the new curriculum. The findings of this study support the importance of textbook design and suggest that multiple representations should be utilised in exercises to assess students' learning and allow them to self-evaluate.
Media and information education (abbreviated as EMI in France1) is a cross-disciplinary component of the French education system. One of its goals is to help students develop digital citizenship through critical thinking skills. EMI is not linked to any specific school subject and is integrated into all of them. While the French ministry of education calls for collective coherence without providing the usual tools (curricula, textbooks, programmes), EMI is unevenly approached by teachers through a heterogeneity of practices. Based on ongoing research into the motivations of some lower and upper secondary school teachers involved in EMI, the aim of this study is to determine what types of resources are mobilised, in a pedagogical environment that is built around an active approach. Results show that practice of EMI remains mostly implicit: teachers prefer to use the autonomy allowed by the weak institutional framework to create their own resources rather than relying on institutional resources, thus reinforcing their professional singularity and practising their pedagogical expertise.
This paper studies a form of pedagogy that has been introduced into the Algerian middle school: namely, project-based pedagogy. This new pedagogy directs teaching/learning towards the development of competencies rather than the transmission of knowledge. The motivation that led us to carry out this research was the need to understand how project-based learning is incorporated in My Book of English (middle school year four), a textbook produced within an education reform introduced in 2003. Our study was intended to help us find out what competencies such project work aims to develop in learners. We used an analytic model created by Sercu (2013). Results indicated that project-based pedagogy has been incorporated in the EFL textbook in order to develop learners' intellectual, digital, methodological, and intercultural communicative competence. Findings are discussed with reference to the general aims of foreign language education in Algerian schools within the reform of 2003.
The Brazilian High School Reform Act, Act 13.415/2017, was the foundation for significant changes in high school educational policy and resulted, in 2022, in various innovations in the teaching materials used in the classroom. The objective of this research is to identify the political-pedagogical aspects of the changes present in the Law and the potential impacts of the Law on the Brazilian Textbook and Teaching Material Programme (PNLD). For this purpose, the methodology used involved a historical review of the context of the Law's proposal and approval and its relationship with other regulations, followed by a content analysis of the Law. The results indicated the victory of the pragmatic political-pedagogical field in the disputes surrounding the drafting of Act 13.415/2017, the resurgence of competencies and skills, and the view that economic growth should be the priority axis of society to which educational actions are directed.
Digital learning resources and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) have, during recent years, been increasingly discussed in the Swedish school context. The aim of this study, therefore, is to investigate how GenAI and chatbots influence teachers working in upper secondary schools. In the study, which was conducted during 2023, teachers of Swedish (mother tongue) were interviewed. The material was analysed using thematic content analysis and teacher agency theories. The study shows that chatbots affect the teachers' work and agency considerably. Almost all teachers highlight the work they have to do to prevent cheating, but several teachers also highlight the opportunities of chatbots as study buddies. Moreover, the teachers stress the importance of oral assessments, critical thinking, and AI-literacy, which tend to affect subject conceptions.
