Assessing 10- to 11-year-old children’s performance and misconceptions in number sense using a four-tier diagnostic test

Background: Number sense is a key topic in mathematics education, and the identification of children’s misconceptions about number is, therefore, important. Information about students’ serious misconceptions can be quite significant for teachers, allowing them to change their teaching plans to help children overcome these misconceptions. In science education, interest in children’s alternative conceptions has led to the development of three- and four-tier tests that not only assess children’s understandings and misconceptions, but also examine children’s confidence in their responses. However, there are few such tests related to mathematical content, especially in studies of number sense.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate children’s performance and misconceptions with respect to number sense via a four-tier diagnostic test (Answer Tier → Confidence rating for Answer Tier → Reason Tier → Confidence rating for Reason Tier).

Design and method: A total of 195 fifth graders (10–11 years old) from Taiwan participated in this study. The four-tier test was web-based and contained 40 items across five components of number sense.

Findings: The results show that (1) students’ mean confidence rating for the answer tier was significantly higher than for the reason tier; (2) an average of 68% of students tended to have equal confidence ratings in both answer and reason tiers; (3) students who chose correct answers or reasons had higher mean confidence ratings in most items (36 out of 40) than those who did not; and (4) 16 misconceptions were identified and most of them were at a strong level.

Conclusion: The four-tier test was able to identify several misconceptions in both the answer and reason tier and provide information about the confidence levels. By using such information, teachers may be better positioned to understand the nature of learners’ misconceptions about number sense and therefore support their pupils’ progress in mathematics.     

Development and initial investigation of a self-report measure of teachers’ readiness to implement

This paper describes development and piloting of a self-report measure of teachers’ readiness to implement evidence-based programs. Using mixed methods, this project proceeded in two phases. In the first phase, a program-independent self-report measure of readiness to implement was developed and piloted with N?=?53 teachers. Results of quantitative analyses offer initial support for the structure and utility of this scale. In the second phase, qualitative interviews were conducted with a subset of the overall sample in order to more thoroughly understand teachers’ experiences of readiness and implementation. Together, results contribute to further scale development and offer preliminary support for the validity of this measure in assessing readiness.     

Development and application of a scale to measure students’ STEM continuing motivation

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to develop a scale to measure students’ STEM continuing motivation (CM). In accordance with the conceptualisation of CM by Maehr (1976. Continuing motivation: An analysis of a seldom considered educational outcome. Review of Educational Research, 46(3), 443–462. doi:10.3102/00346543046003443), we define STEM CM as students’ tendencies to actively engage in STEM-related activities. The STEM Continuing Motivation Scale was developed from a literature review and student cognitive interviews, and was validated on a sample of 465 Chinese 7th and 8th graders. The results demonstrated that the developed scale had high reliability (Cronbach’s α?=?0.91) and good validity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that boys had significantly higher STEM CM than girls and there were significant differences in engineering CM among students from different schools. The implications of the findings of this study are also discussed.     

Using process drama to enhance pre-service teachers’ understanding of science and religion

I report an action research study that aimed at improving Thai pre-service teachers’ understanding of the relationship between science and religion and at assisting them to respond to this issue in a science classroom. The participants were twelve post-grad students pursuing Master of Art in Teaching Science at Kasetsart University. They took a course, Philosophy of Science, taught by the researcher in Semester A, academic year 2007. Process drama is the teaching strategy employed. The students were fully engaged in the process drama; doing research, producing, distributing, and criticizing the drama. Focus group, student journal, and observation were used to gather the data and the data was analyzed using qualitative analysis techniques. The focus groups revealed that the drama could help students reflect on the complexity and sensitivity of the issue. They found there was no inherent conflict between science and religion since they answered different questions and used different methods to achieve their results. However, the conflicts occurred when people were not aware of the basic differences between the two so they justified one on the basis of purpose and method of one another. The pre-service teachers also found consistency between science and Buddhism. They thought that the teachers of science should respond to the conflicts in a respectful, compromising, and neutral manner.     

Inquiry of pre-service teachers’ concern about integrating Web 2.0 into instruction

To promote technology integration, it is essential to address pre-service teacher (PST) concerns about facilitating technology-enhanced learning environments. This study adopted the Concerns-Based Adoption Model to investigate PST concern on Web 2.0 integration. Four hundred and eighty-nine PSTs in a teacher education university in north Taiwan participated in this study, achieving a response rate of almost 50%. Participants completed online surveys at their convenience over a two-week period. Significant relationships between the concern and a few personal characteristics were found. The PST concern was most intense in the self-concern stage and then fluctuated from task-concern to impact-concern within a small range. Findings of the study provide valuable insights for personalising teacher education as to how levels of concern, self-efficacy for teaching, teacher knowledge and demographics influence the change process required for Web 2.0 integration in instruction.     

A discursive psychology approach to the study of pre-service teachers’ written reflections about teacher effectiveness

This article reports findings from a discourse analysis, informed by a discursive psychology (DP) perspective, of pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teacher effectiveness as constructed in reflective papers. DP treats beliefs as discursive productions that are occasioned by an interactional task and are made visible through discursive features. Our analysis highlights the discursive features employed by pre-service teachers as they wrote about teacher effectiveness in relation to their field observations. We conclude that in their texts, the pre-service teachers went about constructing identities of knowledgeable and legitimate speakers on teacher effectiveness, particularly as they gradually gained firsthand experience via classroom observations.     

Construction and validation of a psychometric scale to assess extension agents’ beliefs about extension and innovation

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This article aims at designing and validating a psychometric scale to assess extensionists’ and advisors’ beliefs about extension and innovation.     

Microteaching and pre-service teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in teaching

This study examined the effect of microteaching on pre-service teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in teaching using a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design. The sample of the study consisted of 70 pre-service teachers on a special education teacher preparation programme. The pre-service teachers in the experimental group were exposed to microteaching training for one semester. The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale was administered to all pre-service teachers as a pre-test at the beginning and as a post-test at the end of the semester. The results revealed that the pre-service teachers in the experimental group showed statistically significant greater progress in terms of sense of self-efficacy in teaching than those in the control group. In addition, the results highlighted that microteaching had a positive impact on developing pre-service teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in teaching.     

Learning to become a teacher in Australia: a study of pre-service teachers’ identity development

This study aims to examine how pre-service teachers learn to teach in Australia context during their practicum and how this learning experience constructs their identities as teachers through activity theory framework. Data were drawn from interviews with two pre-service teachers, interviews with their supervising teachers and university mentors, lesson plans, and supervising teacher’s feedback. The findings indicate that the two pre-service teachers’ identity formation is a continuing process and an outcome of the collective activity through their interaction with their coordinating teachers, mentors and students. We argue that teachers’ identity formation is related to their agency to seek and offer support to others. The pre-service teachers could produce and reproduce their identity in the relevant community through their agentive action to interact with others.     

Variations in pre-service teachers’ career exploration and commitment to teaching

The purpose of this study was to investigate various career paths pre-service teachers explore and the processes of establishing their commitment to becoming a teacher. A mixed-methods design was employed; 326 surveys measured the levels of pre-service teachers’ career exploration and commitment using occupational identity status (achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion), along with resilience and perceived instrumentality. Thirty-two interviews were followed to further explore detailed variations of their career decision-making journey. MANOVA analysis indicated significant differences for resilience and perceived instrumentality based on the four occupational identity statuses. Subsequent qualitative analysis identified various patterns where pre-service teachers differed in their entry motivation, negotiation for their career decision making, and the strength of their commitment to teaching. The findings of this study illuminate iterative and non-linear development of pre-service teachers’ professional identity.     

Online searching behaviours of preschool teachers: a comparison of pre-service and in-service teachers’ evaluation standards and searching strategies

The aim of this study was to explore preschool teachers’ evaluation standards and searching strategies during their online searching process, focusing on the difference between pre-service and in-service teachers. A total of 408 pre-service and in-service preschool teachers in Taiwan participated in the survey research. The validity and reliability of the instruments were confirmed through factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha. The results showed that the in-service teachers adopted Deep Strategiesand all four kinds of evaluation standards (Multiple, Authority, Content, and Technical) more often than the pre-service teachers did.The results also showed that Internet experience may affect both pre-service and in-service teachers’ use of searching strategies. The findings of this study suggest that more education on online searching strategies as well as evaluation standards should be provided for both in-service and pre-service teachers.     

Pre‐service teachers’ preconceptions,misconceptions, and concerns about virtual schooling

Over the last decade, online distance education has become a common mode of study in most states in the USA, where it is known as virtual schooling (VS), but many people have misconceptions about it. Pre‐service teachers’ personal histories as students and their preconceptions, misconceptions, and concerns influence pre‐service teacher training experiences. A qualitative study of an introductory field experience course that included this new mode of schooling for the first time analyzed the personal journals and online discussion responses of 65 pre‐service teachers in the USA. Analysis identified that common misconceptions and concerns included career threat, viability of VS, academic dishonesty, reduced interaction, teacher feedback, and lack of rigor. The curriculum innovations in this innovative teacher preparation program were shown to address these misconceptions and concerns and facilitate understanding and acceptance of VS as an alternative form of education by many of these pre‐service teachers.     

Development of pre-service teachers’ information and communication technology (ICT) in education competencies in a mainland Chinese university

This paper examines how the design and implementation of a core teacher education course develops pre-service teachers’ information communication technology (ICT) in education competencies in a mainland Chinese university. This course adopted a four-component instructional design system to develop its curriculum, incorporated an inquiry-based learning approach to develop pre-service teachers’ pedagogical competencies, and used an online learning platform to facilitate the sharing of experiences of using ICT for teaching and learning. This case study demonstrates that innovative pedagogies together with more relevant course content supported by an online learning platform may enhance the effectiveness of a core ICT in education course.     

Development and use of a test instrument to measure biology teachers’ content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)

Research on teachers’ professionalism and professional development has increased in the last two decades. A main focus of this line of research has been the cognitive component of teacher professionalism, i.e., professional knowledge. Most of the previous studies on teacher knowledge—such as the Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) (Hill et al. 2004), the Professional Competence of Teachers, Cognitively Activating Instruction, and Development of Students´ Mathematical Literacy (COACTIV) (Baumert et al. 2010), and the Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21) (Schmidt et al. 2007) studies—have been conducted in the field of mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK). There have been few comparable studies conducted with science teachers, especially biology teachers. To fill the gap, this study examines the development and use of instruments to measure biology teachers’ CK and PCK. In particular, this study describes a method to develop reliable, objective, and valid instruments measuring teachers’ CK and PCK in four steps by the use of empirical data of students. Additionally, the study explores whether CK and PCK might be measured as separate knowledge categories by using a paper-and-pencil test. This paper presents a theoretical model that guides test development and provides steps to develop and validate the instruments. Details are also provided regarding the computation of the Rasch scale score measures for 158 biology teachers. The results indicate that the instruments measured teachers’ CK and PCK in an objective, valid, and reliable way. This suggests that the new instruments can be used in combination with classroom observations to examine teaching quality and further its relation to student learning.     

Measuring pre-service teachers’ Asia literacy and their preparedness to teach Asia

Asia literacy is a growing concern of the Federal Government in relation to the development of an Asia literate workforce. Despite 30 years of funded initiatives, the thought of teaching about Asia is a daunting one for pre-service teachers. This is due to the lack of Asia foci in university pre-service courses and complicated by the definition of Asia literacy. This study sought to identify the Asia literacy needs of 54 undergraduate pre-service students in a teacher education programme of study at a regional university. Results of this study indicated that few respondents considered themselves to be Asia literate and most did not believe they were ready to teach about Asia. However, the majority of respondents wanted to know more about Asia prior to graduation. The results indicate that much needs to be done to support students and universities in preparing students to teach about Asia.     

The preparation of pre-service student teachers’ competence to work in schools

Competence to work in schools is an important dimension of professional competence, although it is often a neglected dimension of teacher development. This article reports a qualitative study that examined student teachers’ learning experiences in initial teacher education (ITE) in relation to competence to work in schools. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 student teachers on an undergraduate ITE programme in Hong Kong. The findings of the study show that competence to work in schools is characterised by student teachers’ deep contextualised learning. In addition, it offers a deeper understanding of this competence in the ITE context by identifying its three facets, namely understanding of the micro-political realities of schools, social capital building and social strategies. The study provides insights for ITE and schools to support student teachers’ development of their competence to work in schools, including the design of ITE curricula, ITE processes and co-curricular activities in undergraduate studies. Moreover, it suggests the importance of developing schools as growth-fostering and positive micro-political sites for ITE fieldwork and teacher induction.