Learning paths have the potential to play an important role in the way educators serve their learners. Empirical research about learning paths is scarce, particularly in a secondary education setting. The present quasi-experimental study took place in the context of a biology course involving 360 secondary school students. A 2 × 2 factorial research design was adopted. Learners were engaged in learning activities in a learning path. These learning activities (1) differed in design and (2) were either undertaken individually or collaboratively. Gender was considered as a critical co-variable, given the focus on science learning. All learning paths were developed on the basis of visual representations, but in the experimental design conditions, learners worked with learning paths designed according to Mayer's multimedia guidelines (2003). Multilevel analyses were applied to study the impact on learning outcomes according to the design of learning paths, the individual/collaborative setting, and the co-variable gender. The study provides empirical evidence that both the design and the group setting (collaborative versus individual) have an impact on learning outcomes. Although there was no main effect, several significant interaction effects with gender were found. The results are helpful to direct research about the design and implementation of learning paths in a secondary school setting and underpin the relevance of representation modes in science learning

Selecting computer-aided manufacturing software that meets learners' requirements in education is a difficult process. Selection of a wrong software package can turn out to be costly in terms of allocated learning time and adaptability of students to software packages used in industries. This paper presents a methodology to provide selection criteria in education based on the theoretical model of activity theory. The main identified factors allowed us to draw up a questionnaire. This questionnaire aimed at getting learning effectiveness consideration from a group of 50 students of higher education using computer-aided manufacturing software. The processing and analysis of the questionnaire data helped us to set general criteria for the selection of computer-aided manufacturing software to be used for education purposes.

International audienceno abstrac

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International audienceThis paper discusses the design activities of students in secondary school in France. Graphics tools are now part of the capacity of design professionals. It is therefore apt to reflect on their integration into the technological education. Has the use of intermediate graphical tools changed students’ performance, and if so in what direction, in phase of seeking solutions through a design activity in a situation of teaching and learning? The influence of computer aided design (CAD) tools on design professional activities has been the subject of much research, but little has focused on student activity. Thus, analysing student work through an experimental device, we ask that students produce more solutions without using CAD tools. Do CAD activities encourage the modelling of a particular solution? Does drawing by hand before CAD activities support the production of various solutions and define them more precisely? Through the analysis of solutions developed by students, including traces of their activity (sketches, digital files), we test our hypotheses