Role of expectations and explanations in learning by teaching

The present study examined the role of preparing to teach (i.e., teaching expectancy) and actually teaching (i.e., explaining to others) on immediate and long-term learning. In Experiment 1, participants studied a base version or an enhanced version of a paper-based lesson on how the Doppler Effect works with the expectation of taking a test on the material or with the expectation of teaching the material by providing a video-recorded lecture. Results indicated that those who prepared to teach (without actually teaching) outperformed those who prepared for a test on an immediate comprehension test (i.e., a teaching expectancy effect; d = .55), regardless of the format of the lesson. In Experiment 2, participants studied while expecting to be tested or expecting to teach the material; some then actually did teach the material by providing a video-recorded lecture, whereas others received additional study time. Results indicated that those who actually taught the material outperformed those who did not teach on a delayed comprehension test (i.e., a teaching effect; d = .56), though this effect was strongest for those who also prepared to teach. Overall, these findings are consistent with the idea that preparing to teach results in short-term learning gains, whereas the act of teaching (i.e., by explaining the material to others) coupled with preparing to teach is important for long-term learning.     

The relative benefits of learning by teaching and teaching expectancy

The purpose of this study was to explore the hypothesis that learning is enhanced through the act of teaching others. Specifically, two experiments aimed to disentangle the relative effects of teaching expectancy (i.e., preparing to teach) and actually teaching (i.e., explaining to others for instructional purposes) on learning. Some participants studied a lesson on the Doppler Effect without the expectation of later teaching the material and then took a comprehension test on the material (control group). Other students studied the same lesson with instructions that they would later teach the material; of those expecting to teach, some participants actually taught the material by presenting a brief video-recorded lecture before being tested (teaching group), whereas others only prepared to teach before being tested (preparation group). Results of Experiment 1 indicated that both the preparation group and teaching group significantly outperformed the control group on an immediate comprehension test (Teaching vs. Control: d = 0.82; Preparation vs. Control: d = 0.59). However, when the same test was given following a one-week delay (Experiment 2), only the teaching group significantly outperformed the control group (Teaching vs. Control: d = 0.79; Preparation vs. Control: d = 0.24). Overall, these findings suggest that when students actually teach the content of a lesson, they develop a deeper and more persistent understanding of the material than from solely preparing to teach.     

Success in Science Learning and Preservice Science Teaching Self-Efficacy

This study examined relationships between conceptual understanding, self-efficacy, and outcome expectancy beliefs as preservice teachers learned science in a constructivist-oriented methods class. Participants included 49 preservice elementary teachers. Analysis revealed that participants increased in self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and conceptual understanding. Engaging preservice teachers in hands-on, minds-on activities and discussion were important contributors. Participants reported that they would be inclined to teach from a constructivist perspective in the future. One implication from this study is that increasing the quantity of science content courses that preservice elementary teachers are required to take may not be sufficient to overcome their reluctance to teach science if some of their learning does not take place in a constructivist environment. In our teaching, we have tried to integrate pedagogy with learning science content.     

A coding tool for examining the substance of teacher professional learning and change with example cases from middle school science lesson study

Although lesson study is increasingly adopted in the United States (U.S.), the impact of lesson study on teacher learning is uncertain. This study presents a theoretically grounded set of codes to systematically document the various aspects of teacher learning and change (knowledge and beliefs, professional learning community, resources) in lesson study across contexts. To present examples of the codes in use, a subset of codes related to change in teacher knowledge and beliefs were applied to analyze teachers' professional discourse in three middle school science lesson study teams.     

TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION TO LEARNERS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: PREDICTORS OF TEACHER SELF‐EFFICACY AND OUTCOME EXPECTANCY

Learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit difficulty in the area of reading comprehension. Research connecting the learning needs of individuals with ASD, existing effective practices, teacher training, and teacher perceptions of their own ability to teach reading comprehension is scarce. Quantitative survey methodology and hierarchical regression analysis were utilized to investigate teacher preparedness to use effective practices, along with the job‐related factors of experience, administrator support, learner verbal ability, and instructional setting, as predictors of (1) teacher perceived self‐efficacy and (2) teacher perceived outcome expectancy teaching reading comprehension to learners with ASD. Study findings, based on 112 teacher participants, indicate that teachers with a higher confidence in using effective practices have both a higher perception of their own ability to teach comprehension (self‐efficacy), and a higher expectation of their own ability to increase instructional outcomes in learners with ASD (outcome expectancy). Implications for practice include professional development recommendations and provision of ongoing support from principals and administrators.     

如何上好初中生物实验课

生物课是一门实验性很强的学科，要上好生物实验课，生物老师必须更新观念，转变角色，改进评价方法，注重培养学生的实践能力，通过实验课使学生学好生物课。     

Short-term developments in student teachers' lesson planning

Research on teacher thinking offers interesting perspectives for studying the process of learning to teach. Research on student teaching, however, would be furthered most by a conception of teaching and of learning to teach that integrates complementary approaches. In this study, the action-oriented interpretation of teaching is used as a heuristic model of such an integration. Both observations and self-reports were used to gather data on two to four successive lessons of 18 student teachers. These different kinds of data were analyzed simultaneously and in their mutual relations by means of a complex system of categories. Results on student teachers' lesson planning and its developments are presented.     

运用同伴指导提高师范生的学教能力

同伴指导作为视导技术的补充和辅助方式,常被认为是对师范生学教影响微弱的资源,缺乏研究和利用.同伴互助指导能够为师范生学习教学提供一种维持性的平等环境,这种安全环境能够让双方逐步认识到教学的复杂性,逐步提高交流的层次和标准,也能加深双方对课堂行为评价标准理解的深度和广度.同伴指导作为师范生学教的辅助和补充手段,应该与大学视导人员、中学指导教师的主导有机结合.     

小说教学内容的合宜选定与呈现——宁波市第四届语文优质课《变色龙》课例评析

小说教学中教什么比怎样教更重要,选定合宜的教学内容并精妙地呈现,是评价一堂好课的标准。选定合宜的教学内容涉及到学情、师情、教材等,而呈现的方式可以从教学流程、文本细读、板书设计等入手,达到"怎么教"为"教什么"服务。     

Using Community Artifacts to Support Novice Math Teacher Educators in Teaching Prospective Teachers

Despite the centrality of math teacher educators (MTEs) in teacher education, we know little about the nature of professional learning opportunities for MTEs to develop and enhance the knowledge needed to teach prospective teachers. Existing models for supporting MTEs in developing their knowledge and practice do not address how to prepare novice MTEs in initially learning to teach prospective teachers. We present a professional learning model we have been pursuing for supporting novice MTEs and the generation of and role for community artifacts, namely lesson plans, in that model. We outline the process by which we implement, analyze, and collectively revise lesson plans so that they are continually improved over time to serve as artifacts that better instantiate what members of the local community are learning about how to support novice MTEs through identification of their problems of practice. Finally, we problematize the model we are investigating and propose implications of this model and questions raised by our work with the goal of inviting further discussion about supporting novice MTEs.

     

Learning from reviewing peers’ concept maps in an inquiry context: Commenting or grading,which is better?

In peer assessment, both receiving feedback and giving feedback (reviewing peers’ products) have been found to be beneficial for learning. However, the different ways to give feedback and their influence on learning have not been studied enough. This experimental study compared giving feedback by writing comments and by grading, to determine which contributes more to the feedback providers’ learning. Secondary school students from Russia (n = 51) and the Netherlands (n = 42) gave feedback on concept maps during a physics lesson. The lesson was given in an online inquiry learning environment that included an online lab. Students gave feedback in a special Peer Assessment tool, which also provided assessment criteria. Findings indicate that post-test knowledge scores were higher for students from the commenting group. The difference between the groups was largest for the low prior knowledge students. Possible educational implications and directions for further research are discussed.     

Detail and background in audiovisual lessons and their effect on learners

Does complexity of detail, accuracy of scale, and use of background help subjects learn technical information? Apparently not — at least not the 80 soldiers who learned about bore sighting of tank machine guns in this study. Half the subjects used the existing self-contained learning package, a tape-filmstrip lesson containing a large number of complex visuals. The other half used lessons identical in the audio portion but containing simplified (but not deliberately improved) visuals. There were no significant differences between the two groups in achievement, and both were strongly favorable toward their respective lesson.     

The Lesson Preparation Method: a way of investigating pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge

Teacher education should build on the knowledge base that pre-service teachers already have on account of their lifelong learning in and outside of school. An international team of mathematics and science teacher educators developed a method of investigating the pedagogical content knowledge parts of this knowledge base. They asked pre-service teachers to prepare a lesson about a topic, e.g. area, as if they had to teach that lesson the next day. In this article the main aspects of the research environment are described and their effects on the research outcomes are evaluated.     

Can teachers and mathematicians communicate productively? The case of division with remainder

Is it possible that a meeting of mathematicians and primary school teachers will be productive? This question became intriguing when one professor of mathematics initiated a professional development course for practicing primary school teachers, which he taught alongside a group of mathematics Ph.D. students. This report scrutinizes the uncommon meeting of these two communities, who have very different perspectives on mathematics and its teaching. The instructors had no experience in primary school teaching, and their professed goal was to deepen the teachers’ understanding of the mathematics they teach, while teachers were expecting the course to be pedagogically relevant for their teaching. Surprisingly, despite this mismatch in expectations, the course was considered a success by teachers and instructors alike. In our study, we analyzed a lesson on division with remainder for teachers of grades 3–6, taught by the professor. The framework used for the data analysis was mathematical discourse for teaching, a discursive adaptation of the well-known mathematical knowledge for teaching framework. Our analysis focuses on the nature of the interactions between the parties and the learning opportunities they afforded. We show how different concerns, which might have hindered communication, in fact fueled discussions, leading to understandings of the topic and its teaching that were new to all the parties involved. The findings point to a feasible model for professional development where mathematicians may contribute to the education of practicing teachers, while they are gaining new insights themselves.     

Mushrooms and the Cycle of Life: integrating literature and biology in secondary teacher education

Can two apparently totally different secondary school subjects join forces in an attempt to enrich the learning processes of both? The authors address this question by describing an experimental lesson in which student‐teachers verbalize their preconceptions concerning a natural object (mushrooms) while in the same lesson they do a personal response activity for a poem by Sylvia Plath entitled ‘Mushrooms’. The results indicate that student teachers of different disciplines find this to be a meaningful teaching approach. It proved to be a motivating way to evoke preconceptions about a natural phenomenon by means of a poem and resulted in an enhanced awareness of mushrooms, which culminated in questions on both their growth and reproduction. Moreover, their ‘literary’ interest in the poem and the writer appeared to be stimulated. Possible applications in teaching and teacher training are discussed.     

政治课教学中应重视对学生学法的指导

教师教的目的之一是为了使学生学会学习。因此，在思想政治课教学中，应指导学生掌握正确的阅读、运用、记忆、评价的方法，使其在掌握学习方法的能力上有大的提高。     

Freedom of Choice,Task Performance,and Task Persistence

Much current educational literature argues that providing the learner more freedom in the learning situation enhances the learning process. This experiment tested two relevant hypotheses: (1) Ss who freely choose a task will perform better at that task than Ss who are forced to do it; and (2) Ss who freely choose a task will persist longer at that task than those who are forced to do it. The experiment employed a yoked-8 design in which the first S chose to perform any of five tasks, while the second S was forced to perform that same task. The results supported only the second hypothesis. A suggested explanation of the effects of freedom of choice as a psychological variable was presented.     

The effects of practice and orienting activities on learning from interactive video

The purpose of this study was to examine the combined effects of orienting activities and levels of practice on learning from interactive video. Participants were 72 college students. Each participant was randomly assigned to an orienting activity group and to one of three practice groups: No Practice, Limited Practice, or Elaborate Practice. The lesson, which focused on characteristics of various artists and art periods, included practice for one half of the facts and applications cued initially via the orienting activity. The posttest included both new and repeated items for both facts and applications taught during the lesson. Results indicated significant main effect differences related to item familiarity and practice. In addition, interactions were detected between type of learning and practice, and item familiarity and practice.