自考生学习动机特点及影响因素调查分析

本研究通过对自考生学习动机的调查显示：自考生的学习动机总体上处于中上水平;不同群体自考生的学习动机在性别、是否独生子女、年级、家庭住址、学业成绩、专业满意程度等影响因素方面存在差异。研究进一步提出了相关的教育对策。     

Professional development schools: Cataylsts for teacher and school change

Drawing on data from questionnaires and 49 interviews with teachers and principals, the impact of involvement in Professional Development Schools on teacher professional growth and school change at seven Professional Development School sites is explored through a cross-case analysis. Each of the seven sites, four elementary and three secondary, served five or more years as a PDS site. Program results were mixed, underscoring the importance of a range of context variables to program success, including school district support, principal, staff and University faculty stability, student body composition, school and faculty size, as well as the nature of teachers' program involvement. Implications for PDS program development and research are discussed and a range of policy issues explored, including those associated with tensions between university faculty roles and PDS responsibilities.     

A 3-Year Study of a School-Based Parental Involvement Program in Early Literacy

ABSTRACT

Although parental involvement in children's literacy development has been recognized for its potential in helping children develop early literacy achievement, studies of the effectiveness and sustainability of school-based parent involvement programs are not numerous. This study examines the effectiveness and durability of a school-based parent involvement program that was implemented by school staff without external supervision over 3 consecutive years in a public school. Results indicate that implementation of the program was associated with higher levels of children's achievement in foundational literacy competencies. Moreover, the program has sustained over 3 years and actually grew in the levels of parental participation over time. The authors argue that effective and systemic parental involvement programs are possible and can be guided by certain principles of program development and if implemented by a committed teaching staff.     

Students' Perceptions of Interpersonal Aspects of the Learning Environment

This study examined variables associated with differences in students' perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior. The perceptions of 3023 students and 74 teachers in 168 classes in seven secondary schools were used in the analyses. Investigating variance at the student, class, teacher and school levels revealed that several variables are significantly related to students' perceptions: student and teacher gender, student and teacher ethnic background, student age and grade, class size, grade level, subject taught and teacher experience. There were interaction effects between some variables, such as student ethnicity and student gender, as well as student and teacher gender. While significant, the amount of variance explained by these was low (around 10%). The outcomes generally confirmed earlier research, although some new effects were found. Perhaps the main result of the study was its verification of the complex and interactive nature of students' perceptions of the learning environment and researchers' understanding of it.     

School‐based promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption in multiculturally diverse,urban schools

Rates of childhood overweight 1

1 The term childhood overweight as opposed to childhood obesity is used in this article. This term is consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (2007a) nomenclature for describing children's weight status. For children, weight status is determined by a BMI percentile using age‐ and gender‐specific normative data. Underweight is defined as a child being below the 5th percentile based on the age‐ and gender‐specific norms, Normal Weight is defined as being between the 5th and the 84th percentile, At Risk for Overweight is defined as being between the 85th and the 94th percentile, and Overweightis defined as at or above the 95th percentile. For more information, go to www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/childrens_BMI/about_childrens_BMI.htm .

have reached epidemic proportions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), and schools have been called on to play a role in the prevention of this medical condition. This article describes a multiyear health promotion effort—the Athletes in Service fruit and vegetable (F&V) promotion program—which is based on social learning theory for urban, elementary school children in kindergarten through third grade. Children participate in the program for a period of 3 years. The goals of the program are to increase opportunities for children to be more physically active during the school day and to help students increase their F&V consumption. This article describes the F&V promotion components of the program that were implemented in year 1, including implementation integrity and treatment acceptability data. Year 1 evaluation data demonstrated that the program is acceptable from the perspective of school staff and was implemented by school staff with high levels of integrity. Hallmarks of the program's successful implementation and high acceptability include (a) having a school‐based program champion; (b) designing the program to include low‐cost, attractive, interactive materials; (c) including many school staff members to facilitate a culture of healthy eating in the school; and (d) spreading out implementation responsibilities among the multiple staff members so that each individual's involvement is time efficient. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Assessing the impact of a program designed to develop sustainability leadership amongst staff members in higher education institutes: a case study from a community of practice perspective

This study focuses on the impact of a sustainability leadership development program (SLDP) designed to develop staff members as leaders who encourage sustainability practices within institutions of higher education (IHE). Using the framework of community of practice (CoP), we explored the program’s contribution by interviewing 16 staff members who had attended the program. At the individual level, we found that the SLDP provided participants with opportunities to learn from and with other members of the CoP and to engage them in debate about the various meanings of ‘sustainability’, increasing their environmental awareness and their environmental involvement within the IHE’s community. At the institutional level, the SLDP disseminated the college’s socio-environmental mission statement, increased its administration’s commitment and involvement, served as a platform for addressing local socio-environmental problems and initiated an Education-for-Sustainability (EfS) activists’ network. However, the participants indicated that the SLDP had limited impact on the environmentalism of other staff members and that the on-going mentoring and support from the college administration was insufficient. This study highlights the importance of such EfS professional programs to the development of both staff members and entire institutions as sustainability leaders. It also suggests ways to increase staff involvement in institutional EfS discourse.     

Any Letter for me? Relationships Between an Elementary School Letter Writing Program and Student Attitudes, Literacy Achievement, and Friendship Culture

This study involved the development, implementation, and assessment of a comprehensive schoolwide mailing program as a practical tool to communicate enthusiasm towards writing to children and actively engage them in letter writing. The author played the dual role of teacher-researcher and worked for one school year with one teacher from each grade level from grade 1 to grade 5. The objective of the study was to explore the relationship between an innovative mailing program and children’s attitudes towards letter writing. This study employed both qualitative (conference with teachers) and quantitative (survey) methods. The author initiated the study with a presentation to the teachers (during a staff meeting) and to the children (in an assembly), systematically collected feedback from teachers to assess the program throughout the year, informed parents (through school newsletters), and assessed children’s attitudes towards both writing and letter writing at the beginning and end of the program. It was anticipated that the program would provide children with authentic writing experiences, foster positive attitudes towards writing, enhance their literacy skills, and in turn strengthen a “friendship culture” in the school by being coparticipants as readers and writers in the letter writing process. Data analysis indicated that children enjoyed the responsive letter writing process and that their self-perceptions as writers and their writing skills improved. Results support the introduction of an elementary school mailing program as a means to cultivate and strengthen positive relationships between pupils and invite family participation.     

Gender effects for student perception of the classroom psychosocial environment

A future shortage of science teachers has been predicted, and since women are presently underrepresented in the sciences, they are a good potential source for future science teachers. Unfortunately women appear to become less interested in science as they continue in school. Because the classroom psychosocial environment has been shown to be related to learning outcomes, it may contribute to women's lack of interest in sciences. This study compared the classroom environments perceived by fourth grade, seventh grade and high school boys and girls in classes taught by males and females to determine if any perceptual differences existed. The three, two factor MANOVAS (teacher gender by student gender) showed no differences for fourth grade students, one for seventh grade students and three for high school students. The seventh grade boys and girls perceived classes taught by females as having more friction than classes taught by males and high school boys and girls perceived classes taught by females as being more difficult than classes taught by males. Further, for the high school students it appears that classes are perceived more favorably when the opposite genders are combined. These perceptual differences combined with role modeling may contribute to the lack of women in science. More research is necessary to determine causal relationships.     

Characteristics of elementary teachers related to attitudes toward science

The purpose of this study is to ascertain what personal and professional characteristics are related to elementary attitudes toward science and the scientific institution. The Schwirian Science Support Scale (TRI-S) was administered to 191 elementary teachers and analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The personal characteristics examined are: (1) age; and (2) religious preference. The six professional characteristics explored are: (1) highest academic degree held; (2) semester hours of college science; (3) type of undergraduate institution attended; (4) years teaching experience; (5) grade level taught; and (6) the nature oj the teaching experience, i.e., continuous or interrupted. Of these eight independent variables, age is associated with the greatest attitudinal differences, the younger teachers expressing the more positive attitudes toward science. Teachers who graduated from state schools had more positive attitudes than those who came from private, liberal arts institutions. There was also a positive association found between number of hours in science and positive science attitudes.     

The relationship between growth in principal leadership and growth in school performance: The teacher perspective

Using a multilevel multiset time-series model, the present study aimed to examine whether changes in teacher perceived principal leadership practices were associated with the change in school academic performance. Teacher perceived principal leadership practices tapped into various aspects of school process and principal leadership. School academic performance was measured as a school’s average in reading and mathematics at a certain grade level (Grades 5–8) in a certain calendar year (2013–2017). Change in teachers’ perceptions regarding principals’ efforts to improve parent involvement was identified as the single most important teacher perceived principal leadership practice for growth in both school reading and school mathematics performance across grade levels (moderate effect size of .481 in reading and small effect size of .254 in mathematics). Implications were discussed, including the hypothesis of “growth” factors in principal leadership practice.     

The Integration of Creative Drama in an Inquiry-Based Elementary Program: The Effect on Student Attitude and Conceptual Learning

Creative drama activities designed to help children learn difficult science concepts were integrated into an inquiry-based elementary science program. Children (n?=?38) in an upper elementary enrichment program at one primary school were the participants in this action research. The teacher-researcher taught students the Full Option Science System? (FOSS) modules of sound (fourth grade) and solar energy (fifth grade) with the integration of creative drama activities in treatment classes. A 2?×?2?×?(2) Mixed ANOVA was used to examine differences in the learning outcomes and attitudes toward science between groups (drama and non-drama) and grade levels (4th and 5th grades) over time (pre/post). Learning was measured using the tests included with the FOSS modules. A shortened version of the Three Dimension Elementary Science Attitude Survey measured attitudes toward science. Students in the drama treatment group had significantly higher learning gains (F?=?160.2, p?<?0.001) than students in the non-drama control group with students in grade four reporting significantly greater learning outcomes (F?=?14.3, p?<?0.001) than grade five. There was a significantly statistical decrease in student attitudes toward science (F?=?7.5, p?<?0.01), though a small change. Creative drama was an effective strategy to increase science conceptual learning in this group of diverse elementary enrichment students when used as an active extension to the pre-existing inquiry-based science curriculum.     

Students’ Attitudes Toward Chemistry Lessons: The Interaction Effect between Grade Level and Gender

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the interaction effect between grade level and gender with respect to students' attitudes toward chemistry lessons taught in secondary schools. The sample consisted of 954 chemistry students in grades Secondary 4–7 (approximately 16–19 years of age) in Hong Kong. Students' attitudes were surveyed using an attitude toward chemistry lessons scale (ATCLS), and subscale scores were produced on four dimensions: liking for chemistry theory lessons; liking for chemistry laboratory work; evaluative beliefs about school chemistry; and behavioral tendencies to learn chemistry. When the ATCLS data were subjected to two-way MANOVA, the interaction effect between grade level and gender on students' attitudes toward chemistry lessons was statistically significant. The interaction effect was attributable to scores on the theory lessons subscale and laboratory work subscale. Male students in Secondary 4 and 5 liked chemistry theory lessons more than their female counterparts. However, male students' liking for chemistry laboratory work declined when they progressed from Secondary 4 to Secondary 7; no such a significant decline in attitude toward chemistry laboratory work was found in females. Overall, both males and females were just marginally positive about chemistry lessons during the years of secondary schooling. Implications of these findings for curriculum design are discussed.     

Perspectives on academic staff involvement in the acquisition and implementation of educational technologies

This article presents the results of a study using both quantitative and qualitative data to uncover the extent and nature of the involvement of academic staff in the processes of acquisition and implementation of educational technologies. Actor-network theory (ANT) is used to inform the design of the study and the analysis of the data. Three main areas of investigation are (1) issues of institutional policy and overall purpose of technology, (2) issues of staff involvement in various activities related to acquisition and use of technology and (3) issues related to the existence of arenas for dialogue and discussions of technological needs and requirements across organisational boundaries. The analysis focuses on the diffuseness of the role of academic staff in processes of development of institutional policies and technology acquisition. The article concludes with suggestions for organisational policy in higher education contexts, and possible directions for new research.     

Trends in the development of student level of reasoning in pattern generalization tasks across grade level

This paper explored (1) the developmental trend of student level of reasoning across grade level in pattern generalization; (2) the mediatory role of task variables in the developmental trend of student level of reasoning within and across tasks; and (3) developmental trend of student level of reasoning associated with strategy use across grade level. A test designed to measure student level of reasoning was given to a sample of 1232 students from grades 4 to 11 from 5 schools in Lebanon. The Structure of the Learned Outcomes or Responses (SOLO) was used as a theoretical model. Results show that student level of reasoning exhibited an increasing trend across clusters of grade levels and that there were several SOLO levels in each cluster of grade levels. Type of task (immediate, near, far) and function type (linear, non-linear) seem to mediate the development of level of reasoning across grade level but the complexity of the task (simple, more complex) did not. Students used several strategies in each cluster of grade levels and the developmental trends of student level of reasoning associated with strategy use were not uniform and varied across clusters of grade levels, thus supporting a neo-Piagetian interpretation of the results.     

Personality and Student Teaching Success

The relationship between personality factors of education students and their success in student teaching was explored in relation to the student teacher’s sex and level of pupils taught. The IPAT Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire was administered to all education majors at Florida Atlantic University and the student teaching grade was collected for those students (N = 362) completing the education program.

A 3 × 2 × 2 Manova was employed wherein the level of pupil taught, teacher sex, and student teaching grade served as independent variables and the 16 personality scores as dependent variables. Significant effects were grade achieved in student teaching and sex. Separate discriminant functions were derived to separate both males and females with respect to student teaching grade. The percentage of hits resulting from subsequent classification of a replication sample was found too low to validate the personality discriminant model as a student teaching grade predictor.     

Using Conjunctive Methods to Explore Factors Associated with On-Time Grade Attainment Among High Risk Youth

This study examines risk and protective factors associated with on-time grade attainment among a cohort of high risk elementary age youth 3?years post truancy intervention. Conjunctive Analysis of Case Configurations was used to identify dominant subpopulation profiles and assess distinctions in the likelihood of on-time grade completion among groups with unique combinations of characteristics. Comparisons of subpopulation profiles revealed substantial contextual variability in the influence of race, gender, service completion, psychosocial risk factors, and truancy. Findings indicate race is not influential across all grades but appears to be dependent on truancy level. Although psychosocial risk factors are not present for K-3^rd profiles, they are critical among 4-5^th graders, specifically lack of motivation. Findings from this study allow practitioners to better understand risk and protective factors influencing grade progression and aids in the development of individualized case management and intervention. Findings indicate better policies are needed to address early truancy.     

The Principal's Role in Promoting School Development Activity in Norwegian Compulsory Schools

The focus of this article is to explore the role of the principal in promoting school development activity (SDA) in Norwegian compulsory schools. The sample included 81 schools from 42 randomly selected municipalities. Results suggest that the principal can promote SDA among the teaching staff by playing an active role in creating an innovative culture at school. Moreover, results suggest that the principal may have a more important role in promoting SDA in secondary than in primary schools. Finally, results indicate that support from local authorities was related to SDA involvement among secondary school principals, whereas it was unrelated to such involvement among primary school principals.     

How confident are primary school teachers in teaching science?

The recent nationalDiscipline Review of Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science outlines the lack of confidence of many preservice primary school teachers in teaching science. This study explores the attitudes of 170 primary school teachers in a Perth school district. By means of a simple questionnaire the perceptions and attitudes of these teachers about the following aspects have been examined: (1) background understanding of science; (2) preservice training; (3) interest in teaching science; (4) skill in teaching science; (5) confidence in the plant, animal, matter, energy areas, and (6) time spent teaching science. Besides compiling frequency responses for all teachers on these aspects comparisons have also been made on the basis of: (1) gender; (2) time of graduation, and (3) grade level taught. Specializations: Primary science, teacher attitudes. Specializations: Primary science, science teaching strategies, curriculum implementation, cognitive studies.     

Academic self-concept and achievement in Polish primary schools: cross-lagged modelling and gender-specific effects

This study reports relationships between general academic self-concept and achievement in grade 3 and grade 5. Gender-specific effects were investigated using a longitudinal, two-cycle, 3-year autoregressive cross-lagged panel design in a large, representative sample of Polish primary school pupils (N?=?4226). Analysis revealed (a) reciprocal relations between general academic self-concept and achievement over time but the influence of prior achievement on self-concept was stronger; (b) on average, levels of both constructs declined over time; (c) gender differences were not observed in longitudinal relations (i.e. cross-lagged, autoregressive and intra-wave correlations); (d) girls demonstrated higher mean levels of academic achievement at both grades; and (e) average level of general academic self-concept was not gender differentiated in grade 3 but decreased more for girls. These results are discussed in the light of the theoretical and practical implications.