Defining the Difference: Comparing Integrated and Traditional Single-Subject Lessons

Early childhood curricula should be authentic and child-centered, however, many teachers still rely on direct instruction lessons. To better define how an integrated curriculum meets the needs of students, this study examined teacher talk and actions during instructional activities with first and second graders under two conditions: (1) subject-integrated social studies lessons of an integrated curriculum unit (experimental condition); and (2) single subject-focused mathematics lessons of a traditional separate subject curriculum (control condition). The mixed-methods study sought to define and compare characteristics of both curriculum approaches. Fourteen hours of observations were collected in each setting. In the integrated curriculum setting, the teacher was a facilitator of teamwork, offering choices, and giving praise; students made choices, decisions, and worked collaboratively. In the traditional setting, the teacher delivered direct instruction and controlled behavior; students followed directions, recalled knowledge, and worked individually. Less teacher energy was expended for behavior management in the integrated curriculum setting, indicating intrinsic motivation of students. Implementation of integrated curricula is recommended because of the student-centered focus that results in greater motivation, ownership, and teamwork, along with deeper knowledge connections. Because many factors hinder implementation, teachers need support when first teaching with this approach.     

An online categorization task to investigate changes in students' interpretations of organic chemistry reactions

In this study, we investigated how students organized their knowledge about organic chemistry reactions in a transformed curriculum, including their choices, abilities, and changes over time. This transformed curriculum focuses on interpreting the underlying mechanistic patterns of chemical reactions and emphasizes the principles of reactivity in organic chemistry. Data from this study were collected at beginning and end of an Organic Chemistry II course using an open and closed online categorization task with a set of organic chemistry reactions. In the open task, participants organized the set of reactions as they chose, giving us insight into how the participants preferred to organize their knowledge. In the closed task, participants were asked to organize the set of reactions in a specific way—by each reaction's governing mechanism—which would provide a measure of the students' ability to categorize the reactions in that way. We investigated the similarities and differences of the open and closed categorizations at each time of administration and analyzed the changes over time. Findings from this study emphasized the efficacy of the transformed curriculum for: (a) promoting a focus on process-oriented features of reactions over static features of a reaction and (b) increasing the students' abilities to categorize a set of reactions according to the mechanism governing the reaction. Findings revealed implications for the transformed curriculum, which addresses key areas for improvements, potential implications for research, and also limitations of the current study. We further describe possible extensions of this study to how the open and closed categorization tasks may be used for research and instruction in other science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines.     

Toys and Materials as Setting Events for the Social Interaction of Preschool Children with Special Needs

The present study compared the effects of social and isolate toys as setting events on the social interactions of 2 pre-school-aged children with special education needs in a setting that approximated a regular pre-school environment. A single subject alternating treatment design was used for 3 days a week over a 7 week period. Findings of this study showed there was no consistent overall difference between social and isolate toys. This was in contrast to previous studies that have found differences in interaction patterns across conditions. There were also two unanticipated findings from the study. While there was no evidence of an overall difference between social and isolate toys, there was some evidence of an interaction. Students with special education needs tended to interact more with each other when using isolate toys and tended to interact more with regular peers when using social toys. Further, it was also found that particular toys from both social and isolate classifications were consistently associated with social interaction across both subjects while other toys were not associated with social interaction. This raises questions about the validity of traditional classifications of toys and materials. The use of toys to promote social interaction is a potentially valuable technique but this study raises questions that indicate a need for further research.     

Impacts of Teacher–Child Managed Whole-Group Language and Literacy Instruction on the Depth of Preschoolers’ Social Interaction

Research Findings: This study examined the potential impacts of ongoing participation (twice weekly for 30 weeks) in teacher–child managed whole-group language and literacy instruction on prekindergarten children’s social interaction with classmates. Teacher–child managed whole-group instruction that provides children with opportunities to engage with all of their classmates regularly may potentially deepen the social depth within a classroom (i.e., the frequency with which children regularly interact with each other). Provision of this type of instruction occurred via teachers’ implementation of a whole-class literacy curriculum twice weekly. Participants were 119 preschoolers who received an experimental literacy curriculum in 26 classrooms and 76 children in 17 business-as-usual control classrooms. Condition predicted the strength of children’s social interaction, suggesting that children in experimental classrooms had relatively stronger social ties with peers than children in control classrooms. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that participation in ongoing teacher–child managed whole-group instruction could facilitate stronger social connections among preschool children.     

Effects of a Sport Education Curriculum on the Positive Social Behavior of At-Risk Rural Adolescent Boys

The training of positive social behavior in children and youth holds particular significance in contemporary culture. One setting that holds great appeal for implementing social behavior interventions is public school physical education in which sport education is a part of the curriculum. This study describes the changes in a number of positive social behaviors of a cohort of at-risk adolescent youth during the implementation of a sport education season. Twenty 7th- and 8th-grade boys from a small rural school in the south participated in an experimental subject matter curriculum consisting of a 20-lesson unit of "kangaroo ball." During the latter part of the season, 2 specific fair-play interventions were introduced, and changes in student compliance, interpersonal behaviors, and leadership behaviors were measured. Results indicated that exposure to the curriculum model produced increased student positive peer interactions, as well as accurate self-monitoring by students of their social interactions. Implications for the importance of providing specific prosocial objectives in physical education are discussed in light of this study's findings.     

Computer use in learning about language

This study is part of a research project aimed at studying ways and effects of introducing computer use within a context of linguistic education. Linguistic activities, in which language was treated as an object instead of a means of communication, were carried out through a curriculum unit aimed at developing reflection on language. Within the curriculum a new software has been developed and implemented. The software promotes reflection on language and metalinguistic awareness in a social and educational context in wich «playing with language» is stimulated in children. It requires language comprehension and production, and offers to children (working in groups of three) the open task of composing sentences and stories in a problem solving setting. In this study we collected observational data on children’s interactions with the software and used the data as an ecological measure of children’s metalinguistic development. Positiv effects of the curriculum supported by the computer use were verified through measures of metalinguistic skills, investigated through individual interviews and administered also to a matched control group.     

Forms of mathematical interaction in different social settings: examples from students’, teachers’ and teacher–students’ communication about mathematics

The study presented in this article investigates forms of mathematical interaction in different social settings. One major interest is to better understand mathematics teachers’ joint professional discourse while observing and analysing young students mathematical interaction followed by teacher’s intervention. The teachers’ joint professional discourse is about a combined learning and talking between two students before an intervention by their teacher (setting 1) and then it is about the students learning together with the teacher during their mathematical work (setting 2). The joint professional teachers’ discourse constitutes setting 3. This combination of social settings 1 and 2 is taken as an opportunity for mathematics teachers’ professionalisation process when interpreting the students’ mathematical interactions in a more and more professional and sensible way. The epistemological analysis of mathematical sign-systems in communication and interaction in these three settings gives evidence of different types of mathematical talk, which are explained depending on the according social setting. Whereas the interaction between students or between teachers is affected by phases of a process-oriented and investigated talk, the interaction between students and teachers is mainly closed and structured by the ideas of the teacher and by the expectations of the students.

体育专业课程设置调整的必要性和发展趋势

通过调查访问和文件，资料的学习整理，对体育专业的课程设置应根据社会的发展需要和培养目标进行适当调整的必要性进行了分析，并结合高教改革总目标和现代社会的多元化儒求，对体育专业课程设置发展趋势进行讨论，分析。     

Relationships among cooperation-competition and locus of control in social and academic situations among children in traditional and open classrooms

The relationships among cooperation-competition, perceptions of locus of control in social situations, and perceptions of locus of control in intellectual-academic situations was compared among 89 fourth- and fifth-grade students in traditional and open classrooms. Children from the open education setting displayed substantially more cooperative behavior on Madsen's marble-pull game than children from the traditional school. They also made significant gains in cooperative behavior from the first to the second trial, while the difference between trials was not significant for the traditional students. Traditional students displayed significantly higher internality for locus of control in academic settings, while perceptions of locus of control in social settings did not differ for the two groups. Academic and social locus of control judgments were significantly correlated for the open education students, but not for the students from traditional classrooms.     

Permeating the social justice ideals of equality and equity within the context of Early Years: challenges for leadership in multi-cultural and mono-cultural primary schools

This paper explores the ideology of social justice through links between equality and equity within Early Years and what remain the challenges for leadership. Questionnaires and interviews in English multi-cultural and mono-cultural schools with Early Years age phases were conducted. The findings showed that the ideology of social justice, equality and equity was interpreted differently in each Early Years setting. The multi-cultural schools used a variety of activities to embed social justice principles that involved their diverse communities more to enrich the curriculum in contrast to the mono-cultural schools. In mono-cultural schools however, leadership had to be more creative in promoting equality and equity, given the smaller proportion of their diverse pupil and staff population. Our conclusions suggest that most schools are struggling initially with implementing the current changes in Early Years, therefore their vision for permeating this curriculum with an equality and equity focus is at the early stages.     

The resources and strategies that 10–11‐year‐old boys use to construct masculinities in the school setting

The data in this article come from an ethnographic exploration into the construction of masculinities in three junior schools in the UK between 1998 and 1999. The author argues that the construction and performance of masculinity is inextricably linked to the acquisition of status within the school peer group, and he delineates the specific series of resources and strategies that the boys draw on and use in each setting to achieve this. The different meanings and practices at each school, and the different array of resources available, means that there is a different set of options and/or opportunities within each school setting to do boy, and the author classifies these as being either open (possible), restricted (more difficult), or closed (almost impossible). The principal and most esteemed resource used by the boys was physicality and athleticism, and the author highlights the link between masculinity and the body.     

Decision‐Making in Future Science and Technology Curricula

Summaries

English

In this article, the author argues in favour of a decision‐making orientated science and technology curriculum for secondary school students. To achieve this, the curriculum should (i) expose students to open‐ended problems within their natural setting, (ii) provide students with real decision‐making situations and (iii) involve them in scientific‐technological social actions, e.g. in community institutions or industrial plants.     

Implementing a Primary Prevention Social Skills Intervention in Urban Preschools: Factors Associated with Quality and Fidelity

RESEARCH FINDINGS: Preschool behavior problems are of increasing concern to early childhood educators. Preventive interventions are being developed, but implementation in under-resourced child care programs is challenging. This study describes the implementation of an adapted Second Step curriculum to increase children's social skills and decrease behavior problems in preschool classrooms. Teacher training/coaching, organizational supports, and procedures for sustainability are described. Measures included baseline classroom characteristics, lesson completion and fidelity, and teacher satisfaction. Teachers completed 88% of the lessons across two years. Follow-up monitoring in Year 3, once all training was terminated, found 95% of lessons were delivered with higher fidelity than the first two years. Teachers were satisfied with training, felt the curriculum improved children's social skills, and stated they would continue to use the curriculum. Lesson completion and fidelity were associated with various teacher characteristics, training attendance, classroom characteristics, teacher and child turnover, and the percent of children with developmental delays in the classroom. PRACTICE: Results support the implementation strategy and suggest that paying attention to teacher morale, general skill development, and a period of on-going support for training is important and will lead to sustainable and high implementation rates.     

How the second screens change the way people interact and learn: the effects of second screen use on information processing

The use of a second screen can enhance information processing and the execution of search tasks within a given period. In this study, we examined the learner's attentional shift (AS) between two screens and controlled secondary tasks (STs) in the media multitasking setting and its effect on the learning process. In particular, we analyzed how cognitive and emotional learning effects can be explored depending on the role of this setting. A between-subject experiment was conducted with 69 participants (simultaneous vs. sequential use of a second screen in terms of open versus closed STs). The findings showed that there was a greater difference in emotional learning effects than in cognitive learning effects for participants who used a second screen. In terms of estimated emotional learning effects of media multitasking, participants engaged in sequential use demonstrated lower anxiety levels and higher competence beliefs during learning compared to participants who were engaged in simultaneous use. Moreover, an interaction effect occurred in the AS between the two screens and in controlled STs of recognition memory. These results indicate that attentional change and controlled STs are key predictors of learning effects in the media multitasking environment.     

Social persistence following failure in boys and girls with LD

The response of boys and girls with or without learning disabilities to social failure was examined. Children participated in two dyadic interactions with experimental confederates: an unfriendly interaction and a friendly one. The children's behavior was videotaped, and they answered questions following each interaction. The children with learning disabilities were found to be hyperresponsive to both interactions: They felt significantly worse following the unfriendly one and significantly better following the friendly interaction. Limited evidence was found to suggest that girls with learning disabilities were more adversely affected by the unfriendly interaction. Several of the findings were consistent with the hypothesis that children with learning disabilities show a learned helplessness response to social failure. The implications of these findings for understanding the social behavior of children with learning disabilities are discussed.     

浅谈语文课程的开放性教学

开放性是新课改对语文学科的基本要求,它是实现语文课程三维目标的必由之路。树立开放性教学观念、构建开放性课程体系、倡导开放性学习方法和实施开放性课程评价是实现语文课程开放性教学的基本要求。     

Teaching in Natural Areas: what urban teachers feel is most appropriate

This paper describes and discusses a study of urban teachers’ perceptions of the use of various natural settings for environmental education. In the study 59 teachers were interviewed. Each teacher was asked to examine a set of black and white photographs depicting four different natural settings. For each setting the teacher made a judgement as to whether particular subject areas (e.g. science, social studies and art) and lesson activities (e.g. writing, plant studies and listening and observation) could be taught there. Implications for the infusion of environmental education throughout the curriculum are discussed.     

中美社会科课程结构比较研究——兼评社会科课程世界发展趋势

美国是世界上较早开设社会科课程的国家,20世纪进入90年代,全美社会科协会(Na-tional Council for the Social Studies)推出全国社会科课程标准,在世界范围内产生了较大影响。跨入新世纪,中国基础教育改革中的历史与社会课,走的是一条独自发展的创新之路。中美两国课程的比较研究,尤其是课程结构的比较研究,能够找到两国各自的特点以及共同之处,并探讨综合社会科课程中的一些本质问题。     

Implementing a Primary Prevention Social Skills Intervention in Urban Preschools: Factors Associated with Quality and Fidelity

Research Findings: Preschool behavior problems are of increasing concern to early childhood educators. Preventive interventions are being developed, but implementation in underresourced child care programs is challenging. This study describes the implementation of an adapted Second Step curriculum to increase children's social skills and decrease behavior problems in preschool classrooms. Teacher training/coaching, organizational supports, and procedures for sustainability are described. Measures included baseline classroom characteristics, lesson completion and fidelity, and teacher satisfaction. Teachers completed 88% of the lessons across 2 years. Follow-up monitoring in Year 3, once all training was terminated, found that 95% of lessons were delivered with higher fidelity than in the first 2 years. Teachers were satisfied with the training, felt that the curriculum improved children's social skills, and stated that they would continue to use the curriculum. Lesson completion and fidelity were associated with various teacher characteristics, training attendance, classroom characteristics, teacher and child turnover, and the percentage of children with developmental delays in the classroom. Practice or Policy: The results support the implementation strategy and suggest that paying attention to teacher morale, general skill development, and a period of ongoing support for training is important and will lead to sustainable and high implementation rates.     

Exploring the Dimensions of Medical Student Engagement with Technology-Enhanced Learning Resources and Assessing the Impact on Assessment Outcomes

Anatomy curricula are becoming increasingly populated with blended learning resources, which utilize the increasing availability of educational technology. The educational literature postulates that the use of technology can support students in achieving greater learning outcomes by increasing engagement. This study attempts to investigate the dimensions of student engagement with technology-enhanced learning (TEL) resources as part of a medical program’s anatomy curriculum using exploratory factor analysis. A 25-item five-point Likert-based survey was administered to 192 first-year medical students, with three emergent factors discerned: satisfaction, goal setting and planning, and physical interaction. The three factors closely aligned with the existing literature and therefore additional nonparametric analysis was conducted that explored the levels of engagement across three custom-made anatomy TEL resources, including: (1) anatomy drawing screencasts; (2) an eBook; and (3) a massive open online course (MOOC). Usage data indicated that the most popular resource to be accessed across the cohort was the anatomy drawing screencasts via YouTube, with the MOOC being used least. Moreover, some evidence suggests that those students who utilized the MOOC were more engaged. Generally, however, no correlations were observed between the levels of engagement and TEL resource usage or assessment outcomes. The results from this study provide a clear insight into how students engage with TEL resources, but do not reveal any relationship between levels of engagement, usage, and assessment outcomes.