Evaluation à l’ère du numérique: continuité ou rupture?

Scientific Conference (2018, January 10)

Face aux nouveaux défis qui se posent à la société-monde du 21e siècle, les « techno-prophètes » présagent que la numérisation nous aidera à améliorer l’éducation des futures générations (Dräger & Müller ... [more ▼]

Face aux nouveaux défis qui se posent à la société-monde du 21e siècle, les « techno-prophètes » présagent que la numérisation nous aidera à améliorer l’éducation des futures générations (Dräger & Müller-Eiselt, 2015 ; Khan, 2013 ; Cuban, 2003). L’évaluation des apprentissages assistée par ordinateur deviendrait notamment plus efficiente, plus pratique, plus flexible, plus rapide, plus objective, plus accessible, plus sécurisée, plus juste et plus économe. Par contre celle-ci reste souvent dans la continuité de pratiques existantes (Substitution ou Augmentation dans le modèle SAMR de Ruben Puentedura, 2006), donc limitée à la reproduction de connaissances déclaratives et de procédures fixes. Les ordinateurs sont en effet mieux aptes à rapidement corriger les réponses des apprenants à des tests standardisés et fermés. De plus, pour nous la révolution numérique incarne plus un grand défi qu’une solution miracle pour l’évaluation des apprentissages (scolaires ou autres). En effet, dans un monde où la numérisation mène à une croissance exponentielle et à une diffusion ultra-rapide des informations et à leur accès de plus en plus libre et facile, il ne suffit plus d’accumuler des connaissances, ni de simplement les reproduire. Mais il faut être capable de savoir où aller chercher des informations, comment juger leur crédibilité et utilité et comment les utiliser pour résoudre des problèmes. L’évaluation des apprentissages ne pourra donc plus se limiter à mesurer la capacité des élèves à mémoriser et à reproduire des informations mais devra s’aligner sur les nouveaux objectifs d’une éducation préparant les futures générations à affronter les défis d’un monde globalisé et connecté (cf. modèle des 21st century skills; Trilling & Fadel, 2009). La question fondamentale qui se posera pour l’évaluation des apprentissages sera celle de savoir comment évaluer des compétences (savoir, savoir-faire et savoir-être) complexes, dynamiques et changeantes. La question de l’utilisation des technologies numériques à des fins d’évaluation nous semble donc secondaire par rapport à la question de la transformation de l’évaluation afin qu’elle nous permette de répondre aux défis de la révolution civilisationnelle provoquée par la présence des technologies numériques et leur expansion irrémédiable dans nos pratiques culturelles, sociales, économiques, politiques et pédagogiques quotidiennes. Dans cette communication nous ne viserons pas nécessairement à fournir des réponses toutes faites, mais à stimuler le débat sur les relations mutuelles entre révolution numérique et évaluation en milieu scolaire, en termes d’innovations évolutives ou disruptives (Christensen, Johnson & Horn, 2008). [less ▲]

Lived Histories of Science Education in Modern Luxembourg: Interactions between Global Policies, National Curriculum and Local Practices.

Scientific Conference (2017, August 23)

The current paper is part of a larger research project, that seeks to gain insights into the policy and curricular reform of science education in Luxembourg’s primary schools through a state of the art ... [more ▼]

The current paper is part of a larger research project, that seeks to gain insights into the policy and curricular reform of science education in Luxembourg’s primary schools through a state of the art approach that integrates research in educational sciences (interviews and classroom observations) with research in the history of education (interviews and document analyses). Beginning with the premise that “science education” as a school discipline is the product of culturally shaped expectations, we examine the interface of international and national educational policy with local educational practice through the lens of primary school science education in Luxembourg (from 1920 through the present). This papers focuses on the historical analysis of science education and policy changes in modern Luxembourg using (1) a document-based historical analysis of curricula, textbooks and public discourses and (2) interviews with curriculum developers from the 1980s and 1990s and with key participants in science education in Luxembourg to examine the lived practices in a local context. In the synergy of the different approaches, local analysis of historically shaped notions of science education can be integrated with a transnational global perspective. Our analysis shows, among other findings, that the science education curriculum was conceived as a response to a variety of specific national educational needs (e.g. environmental protection, love of nature, scientific rational thinking, economy development, technological progress, social progress, demographic changes and challenges). But at the same time, it was covertly in line with international “scientization” policies (e.g. Drori & Meyer, 2009) building on transnational ideas such as the “spiral curriculum”. The analysed educational reform is thus a relevant example to understand culturally and historically embedded perspectives of what “science” is, and how this shapes ideals of “science education” as a discipline in school. [less ▲]

The use of iPads in Kindergarten: An exploratory survey study

Scientific Conference (2016, September 06)

The educational technology support team of the city of Luxembourg deployed 60 iPads, in a pilot phase during the school year 2014-2015, in around 120 Kindergarten classes. In order to assess whether this ... [more ▼]

The educational technology support team of the city of Luxembourg deployed 60 iPads, in a pilot phase during the school year 2014-2015, in around 120 Kindergarten classes. In order to assess whether this deployment was well received by teachers and whether it was worth extending it, we did an exploratory survey study that asked Kindergarten teachers about their reactions to the provided iPads. Moreover, we wanted to contribute to the existing body of research on enabling and hindering factors for the integration of ICT in education (Ertmer, 2005; Pelgrum, 2011). We did send out an email to about 210 Kindergarten teachers inviting them to participate in our study and answer various questions about their use or not of the provided iPads. A mix of open and closed questions were used. We first asked them whether they had used the iPads or not and depending on their answers they received a slightly different version of our survey. Both groups of respondents were asked to answer some questions not directly linked to the use of iPads in education: their gender, their age, the length of their work experience, how many children they have in their class, how competent they feel with using digital tools, what digital tools they use privately and for what purposes they use them, what digital tools (other than iPads) they use in their classes and for what purposes they use them, what they consider to be good teaching in Kindergarten. Those who said they had indeed used the iPads were then asked how they had prepared themselves before using the iPads in class, why and for what purposes and for which learning & teaching activities they had used them (Leclercq & Poumay 2005), what they had expected from their use, what problems, issues and challenges they had faced, if they would want to use them more / differently in the future, what they would need to wore more / better with iPads and whether they would be willing to offer professional development sessions to other teachers. Those who said they did not use the provided iPads were asked why they did not use the iPads, if they had thought about the use of iPads in education, if they had heard about it from colleagues, under which conditions they might consider to use them, how they would prepare themselves in case they would plan to use iPads in their class, if they wanted to visit colleagues and observe how they use them, for what purposes and activities they might want to use them, how they would use them, and what effects they would expect the iPads to have on their pupils and on their teaching. Overall, 91 teachers filled out the survey, 63 claiming they had (at least once) used the provided iPads in their class and 28 saying they never used them. Results will be presented at the conference and discussed in terms of teacher believes about the usefulness of tablets and digital technologies (Tondeur, Hermans, van Braak & Valcke, 2008), and more specifically how first-order and second-order barriers impact Kindergarten teachers decisions to integrate mobile ICT in their classrooms, or not (Lui & Pange, 2015). [less ▲]

Fostering Reflective Thinking About Information In 5th Graders With Blogs: How Helpful Are Learning Supports?

in EAPRIL Conference Proceedings (2016, March), (2), 246-257

This study is about fostering media and information literacy and, more precisely, reflective thinking about information in 5th graders. A learning scenario integrating weblogs into a class by providing ... [more ▼]

This study is about fostering media and information literacy and, more precisely, reflective thinking about information in 5th graders. A learning scenario integrating weblogs into a class by providing learning tasks, learning supports and learning resources was elaborated and tested. The class was divided into a test group and a control group, which did not receive learning supports. Over five weeks the pupils ́ degree of reflection was measured by analysing their blog entries by means of pre- defined evaluation criteria. We also observed them while blogging and recorded our impressions. The results showed that, against our expectation, the pupils of the test group were less reflexive in their entries than the ones of the control group. However, we observed that the test group pupils verbally expressed many reflections, which they did not write down. This suggests that our learning scenario comprised of learning tasks, resources and supports promoted reflective thinking about information of all the pupils even if this is not recognisable in their entries. [less ▲]

Problematizing science as a primary school discipline: Learning from contingencies and diversities

Poster (2015, September 03)

This paper puts the idea of a contingent nature of science at its fore, asking what we as researchers can learn from seemingly irreconcilable differences in our approaches and interpretations to past ... [more ▼]

This paper puts the idea of a contingent nature of science at its fore, asking what we as researchers can learn from seemingly irreconcilable differences in our approaches and interpretations to past, present and future developments in science education. To do so, we aim to explore the potentials of multi-perspectivity in an academic self-experiment. The idea is to problematize science as a school discipline from different theoretical, disciplinary and methodological standpoints. By taking one concrete example of a Luxembourgian primary school curriculum document, four researchers will independently apply their individual lenses on science as a school discipline. Concretely, the coverage of the hedgehog as a “characteristic animal” in our primary school curriculum will be commented on in historical, sociocultural and pedagogical perspectives. This concrete curricular example is seemingly defined and non disputable as a content theme in primary school science education in Luxembourg, and is also to be found in international curriculum policy documents. Yet a seemingly proven fact can be interpreted in multiple ways, not only to bridge controversies, as it is done so often, but as exploring the differences in a self-reflective manner. Through such multiple interpretations, we are specifically looking for inconsistencies between the four different narratives, instead of focusing on consensual conclusions or firm and consistent patterns. Instead we will follow a multi-layered approach to research in order to undertake a métissage approach to analyzing a component of the science pedagogical practice, allowing the different understandings on the Luxembourgian science curriculum to remain and complement each other in a complex manner. [less ▲]

Project Based Learning - A Teaser

Conference given outside the academic context (2015)

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is currently one of the big buzz words in education. To some it is like a "magical wand” that transforms everything and turns dull classes into rich and deep learning ... [more ▼]

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is currently one of the big buzz words in education. To some it is like a "magical wand” that transforms everything and turns dull classes into rich and deep learning experiences. Others think that PBL is just a waste of time and that the return on investment is not worth trying. In order to give you a better understanding of this pedagogical approach, we will (1) define what Project-Based Learning is, (2) what it is not, (3) what scientific research tells us when it works and when it does not work, (4) which educational challenges teachers and students have to face when using PBL in classes and (5) which theories of learning & teaching help us explain and understand why and how PBL works. Finally, we will give you a very personal account of PBL based on our teaching experiences in a higher education setting. [less ▲]

Herausforderung “Mobiles Lernen”: Konzepte und Entwicklungslinien

Article for general public (2015)

Die Grundlagen effektiven Lernens: Zeit und sinnvolle Wiederholung

Article for general public (2014)

Mahara@bsce.uni.lu: expériences vécues et leçons apprises

Presentation (2014, March 13)

Vers une intégration stratégique des technologies digitales à l’école

Conference given outside the academic context (2014)

Dans cette présentation nous allons tenter de proposer un certain nombre de concepts théoriques et pratiques que nous jugeons utiles pour toute personne désireuse de se lancer dans l’aventure d’une ... [more ▼]

Dans cette présentation nous allons tenter de proposer un certain nombre de concepts théoriques et pratiques que nous jugeons utiles pour toute personne désireuse de se lancer dans l’aventure d’une intégration stratégique des technologies digitales à l’école. Ces concepts et scénarios sont issus et nourris de nos recherches empiriques, de nos lectures de textes scientifiques et didactico-pédagogiques et de nos propres expériences en tant qu’enseignants à l’université. L’objectif de notre présentation sera double. Nous souhaitons fournir des instruments de pensée qui permettront 1) de (mieux) comprendre l’utilisation et l’intégration des technologies d’apprentissage et d’enseignement dans les contextes scolaires et 2) de planifier et de réaliser cette utilisation de façon plus consciente, plus réfléchie. Ainsi nous proposons de mettre en évidence les défis posés à l’école par la révolution digitale et de les rendre reconnaissables comme opportunités pour l’école de demain en fournissant des éléments conceptuels et théoriques pouvant informer, voire guider l’action et la réflexion didactico-pédagogiques. Nous proposons donc de fournir quelques outils psychologiques susceptibles de vous aider à marcher les chemins passionnants mais semés d’embûches qui mènent vers une intégration stratégique, réussie et satisfaisante des technologies digitales dans votre pratique au quotidien. [less ▲]