Representational Classroom Practices that Contribute to Students’ Conceptual and Representational Understanding of Chemical Bonding

Understanding bonding is fundamental to success in chemistry. A number of alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding have been reported in the literature. Research suggests that many alternative conceptions held by chemistry students result from previous teaching; if teachers are explicit in the use of representations and explain their content-specific forms and functions, this might be avoided. The development of an understanding of and ability to use multiple representations is crucial to students’ understanding of chemical bonding. This paper draws on data from a larger study involving two Year 11 chemistry classes (n = 27, n = 22). It explores the contribution of explicit instruction about multiple representations to students’ understanding and representation of chemical bonding. The instructional strategies were documented using audio-recordings and the teacher-researcher’s reflection journal. Pre-test–post-test comparisons showed an improvement in conceptual understanding and representational competence. Analysis of the students’ texts provided further evidence of the students’ ability to use multiple representations to explain macroscopic phenomena on the molecular level. The findings suggest that explicit instruction about representational form and function contributes to the enhancement of representational competence and conceptual understanding of bonding in chemistry. However, the scaffolding strategies employed by the teacher play an important role in the learning process. This research has implications for professional development enhancing teachers’ approaches to these aspects of instruction around chemical bonding.     

Translating between representations in a social context: a study of undergraduate science students’ representational fluency

Interacting with and translating across multiple representations is an essential characteristic of expertise and representational fluency. In this study, we explored the effect of interacting with and translating between representations in a computer simulation or in a paper-based assignment on scientific accuracy of undergraduate science students’ explanations regarding the underlying mechanisms of action potential. The study proposed that a simulation designed with scaffolded inquiry and with multiple dynamically linked representations fosters students to use greater scientific accuracy in speaking about a complex scientific phenomenon as well as to work with this complex knowledge in higher cognitive domains. Student explanations were analysed for use of accurate scientific language as they worked with the instructional tool as well as under test conditions. We also investigated the cognitive domain that students worked within as they created explanations of the phenomenon under study. The proportion of elaborations that occurred in higher-level cognitive domains such as applying, analysing, evaluating and synthesising was used to denote representational fluency. The rationale for this approach is discussed. Findings suggest that the simulation prompted students towards operating in higher cognitive domains in order to construct new knowledge and therefore promoted representational fluency. It also suggests that translating between representations in a simulation in a collaborative social setting contributes towards students’ use of accurate scientific language. Students’ perceptions expressed during the interviews confirmed the findings.     

Globalization and Internationalization: the Implications on the Mental Health Field in Bhutan

Globalization and internationalization are terms growing in prevalence in the mental health professional field with increasing interactions between nations and cultures around the world. After a broad review, we define globalization as the continual process of interactions between cultures with the dominant culture influencing local cultures towards integration. Internationalization, on the other hand, we define as a partnership between cultures focused on mutual development and in which the local individuals and communities are empowered to make decisions about how best to meet their needs. In our analysis, we specifically examine the recently modernized country of Bhutan as a nation greatly influenced by both processes. More research is needed to further the knowledge within the internationalization literature and to ethically develop the mental health profession in Bhutan.     

Publication Patterns of Counselor Educators at Comprehensive Universities

The authors examined the publication patterns of 821 counselor educators across 174 comprehensive universities for the years 2008 through 2017. Nearly half of the sample did not have any journal article publications, and the median number of publications was 1. Several institutional variables were useful for predicting article publication counts.     

Early childhood language gains,kindergarten readiness,and Grade 3 reading achievement

In this preregistered study, we used latent change score models to address two research aims: (1) whether preschool-aged children's language gains, over a year of early childhood education, were associated with later performance on state-mandated, literacy-focused kindergarten readiness and Grade 3 reading achievement assessments, and (2) whether gains in language, a more complex skill, predicted these outcomes after controlling for more basic emergent literacy skills. There were 724 participating children (mean = 57 months; 51% male; 76% White, 12% Black, 6% multiple races, and 5% Hispanic or Latino). We found that language gains significantly predicted kindergarten readiness when estimated in isolation (effect = 0.24 SDs, p < .001), but not when gains in letter knowledge and phonological awareness were also included.     

Unique Characteristics, Leadership Styles, and Management of Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Historically Black colleges and universities play a significant role in our nation's higher education system. Currently, there are 105 historically Black colleges operating in the United States. Over the years there have been many challenges for these institutions. Given the importance of these institutions, the purpose of this article is to explore and understand the leadership styles and management of the institutions and provide insight into how they might adapt their leadership styles to ensure that they not only survive but prosper. This article also highlights strategies suggested by former presidents of historically Black Colleges to ensure educational opportunities for African-American students and others.     

Children as citizens: literacies for social participation

The last decade has seen, in the policy arena, a broad global push for children to be treated as active participants in society rather than as the passive recipients of adult decisions and interventions. The topic of literacy learning and teaching has, however, been absent from much of the policy and literature on children's social participation. This paper is an exploratory foray into possible connections between literacy and citizenship from the perspective of young children and those responsible for their education. Drawing from both sociocultural and semiotic perspectives on literacy, this analysis crosses between institutional texts, ethnographic accounts and children's own representations of their places in the world. A hierarchical model of literacy development, which emphasises the teaching of basic decoding skills in the early years, is associated with a view of young children as future citizens rather than as active social participants. Recognising children's agency, and supporting their meaningful participation, requires literacies of social participation.     

Connecting learning to the world beyond the classroom through collaborative philosophical inquiry

This study explored the impact of facilitating collaborative philosophical inquiry (CPI), in the tradition of “Philosophy for Children,” on connectedness pedagogies. The study employed an experimental design that included 59 primary teachers in 2 groups. The experimental group received an intervention that comprised training in CPI and the comparison group received training in Thinking Tools (graphic organisers), a subset of the CPI training. Lessons were coded on four variables of connectedness pedagogies, across the two groups, at three time-points. Teacher interviews were conducted to gather participants’ perspectives. Between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) on particular measures of pedagogy revealed that CPI significantly broadened teachers’ pedagogical repertoires, in ways that included drawing on students’ background knowledge and preparing a problem-based curriculum which connects students to the world beyond the classroom.