Effects of Jigsaw III technique on achievement in written expression

The objective of this paper is to compare the Jigsaw III technique (of cooperative learning) with the instructional teacher-centered teaching method in six graders in terms of the effect of written expression on their academic success. The universe of the study consists of 71 sixth-grade students studying during 2009–2010 academic term in a primary school in the province of Erzurum. Two classes were randomly selected: one (n = 35) of which was the control group where teacher-centered teaching method was applied, the other being experimental group (n = 36) where the Jigsaw III technique was applied. In the study, one of the most common application, pretest/posttest with control group experimental design, was chosen. The data regarding the academic success of the groups were collected by means of the achievement test in Turkish course as pretest, posttest and retention test; the students’ opinions about the group works were obtained through feedback form, group work opinionnaire, and data were analyzed through 11.5 SPSS program. The results of the statistical analysis of teaching a written expression course showed that the experimental group did significantly better than the control group in terms of academic success. In addition, it can be said that the students had positive impressions on the Jigsaw III technique.     

Engaging Prospective Elementary Teachers in Lesson Study

This paper discusses the ways in which teacher educators can effectively engage prospective teachers (PTs) in lesson study during mathematics methods courses. Evidence from this work suggests that engagement in lesson study provides PTs with opportunities to strengthen their knowledge about mathematics, students, and pedagogy. More specifically, the results demonstrated that lesson study helped PTs to engage in deep and thoughtful discussions about mathematics, reflect on their teaching, and make effective changes to their lessons that showed noticeable improvements in student learning. Recommendations from this work provide specific methods-course suggestions on the implementation of lesson study as a model for PTs' professional and practitioner development, including strategies and guiding questions that teacher educators can utilize to help deepen PTs' knowledge about mathematics, teaching, and student learning.     

Evaluation of Jigsaw,a cooperative learning technique

Cooperative learning techniques have been promoted for the development of academic and social competencies. One such technique, Jigsaw, creates cooperation by structuring student interdependence through the learning task, rather than through the grading system. A process and outcome evaluation of Jigsaw was conducted. Eleven teachers of fifth-grade classes received Jigsaw in-service training and conducted Jigsaw in their classes over a school year. Students in 13 other fifth-grade classes served as a comparison group. Students received a pretest and a post-test assessing attitudes toward self, peers, and school, and achievement and attendance records were collected. The process evaluation revealed that the quality and frequency of Jigsaw implementation varied greatly. Jigsaw failed to have a positive effect on the outcome variables, even for the five classes where it was implemented proficiently. The results, which are consistent with an earlier study (J. Moskowitz, J. Malvin, G. Schaeffer, & E. Schaps, 1983, American Education Research Journal, 20, 687–696), are discussed in terms of a theoretical shortcoming of this technique.     

Effectiveness of cooperative learning (jigsaw II) method in teaching English as a foreign language to engineering students (Case of Firat University,Turkey)

The present study compares the effects of the cooperative jigsaw II method and traditional teacher-centred teaching method on improving vocabulary knowledge and active–passive voice in English as a foreign language for engineering students and the students' attitudes towards learning English. Jigsaw is a cooperative learning model that involves small groups of 5–6 students teaching each other subject matter with success dependent upon student cooperation. Sixty-six engineering students participated in the study and a pre-test–post-test control group experimental design was employed. The students were randomly assigned into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group used cooperative Jigsaw II as an instruction method while the control group used traditional teacher-centred instruction. The groups were administered an achievement test, as a pre-, post- and delayed post-test. The results revealed statistically significant differences in favour of the experimental group on the dependent variables of improving vocabulary knowledge and learning active–passive voice in English. The attitude scale results showed that the cooperative learning experience had a significant positive effect on engineering students' attitudes towards learning English and promoted better interactions among students as well.     

Parent involvement and views of school success: The role of parents' Latino and White American cultural orientations

We examined ethnicity and cultural orientation as predictors of parents' views of and involvement in children's education, using data gathered from the Latino (n = 74) and non‐Latino (17 White and 13 ethnic minority) parents of children in an elementary school's dual‐language program. Parents completed a questionnaire that assessed Latino and White American cultural orientations, importance of children's academic and social success, and self‐ and significant other involvement in children's education. Results indicated that Latino (and other ethnic minority) parents valued academic and social success equally and more strongly than did Whites and that Whites valued social success more strongly than academic success. Latinos also reported greater involvement of significant others. These differences were largely accounted for by cultural orientations. Educational practices that take into account differences in cultural orientations and the involvement of significant others thus seem more likely to improve academic outcomes than do efforts intended to promote the valuing of education. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

PERSONALITY FACTORS FOR SUCCESSFUL HIGH‐RISK STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to identify those factors related to academic success in high‐risk students so that college educators could more precisely develop remedial programs to heighten the probability of academic success for high‐risk populations.

Demographic, academic, and personality variables were analyzed for groups of successful and unsuccessful high‐risk students in order to determine which were significant predictors of academic success.

An analysis of the data revealed that a greater proportion of the students in the successful group were married and female. The successful group's reading score at the time of admission was significantly higher than the unsuccessful group's. The majority of the successful group had enrolled in college to acquire job related skills; the unsuccessful group had enrolled to receive transfer credits toward a baccalaureate degree.

The personality analysis indicated that the successful group scored significantly higher on self‐esteem, assertiveness, and internal locus of control. Their learning style was characterized by their desire for detailed instruction, their preference for working with inanimate objects, and reading was their preferred modality for learning. The unsuccessful group scored lower on self‐esteem and higher on control by chance. The learning style inventory revealed that they did not like detailed instruction, they preferred working with people, and listening was their preferred mode of learning. Their grade expectancy was extremely unrealistic; they predicted higher grades for themselves than did the successful group.

The authors suggest strategies for utilizing these findings in the development of remedial programs for high‐risk students.     

ACADEMIC SELF‐EFFICACY AMONG JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GHANA: EVALUATING FACTOR STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENT INVARIANCE ACROSS GENDER

Self‐efficacy is a universal construct, but few validated measures exist for researchers in developing countries to use in assessing youths’ perceptions of their ability to achieve academic success. This study examined the cross‐cultural suitability and psychometric properties of an academic self‐efficacy scale (ASES) adapted for the Ghanaian context. ASES construct validity was assessed with a sample of 4,289 Ghanaian junior high‐school students and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Invariance testing assessed the scale's measurement equivalence by gender and temporal stability of gender equivalence. The ASES is a valid, reliable one‐dimensional scale for assessing young Ghanaians’ perceptions of their academic capabilities, and it works equally well across genders. As adapted, ASES is a valid scale with utility for researchers examining predictors and effects of academic self‐efficacy. The ASES has important implications for decisions regarding investment in programs aimed at improving academic self‐efficacy of youth, both in sub‐Saharan Africa and the increasingly diverse American public schools.     

Metaphorical images of schooling: beliefs about teaching and learning among prospective teachers from the United States displaying different motivational profiles

This study focused on investigating the types of schooling beliefs (teaching and learning) expressed through metaphorical images by prospective teachers (PTs) from the United States. Participants (N = 215) rated 10 schooling metaphors illustrating the student–school–teacher relationships (i.e. Passenger–Bus–Driver; Student is a passenger, School is a bus and Teacher is a driver). Two main factors, a student-centred and a teacher-centred approach described the key schooling beliefs of PTs. Additionally, differences in PTs’ schooling beliefs across typologies/clusters of PTs were found. Further, qualitative data from interviews illustrated how each cluster specifically expressed their instructional views.     

Examining Person–Environment Fit and Academic Major Satisfaction

Decisions regarding college majors have the potential to affect a person's overall academic performance and long‐term career success. With Holland's ( 1997 ) trait‐and‐factor theory serving as a foundation, the authors examined relationships between person–environment fit, college major satisfaction, and grade point average of undergraduate students (N = 99). Results revealed that student–major congruence and academic major satisfaction were both significant predictors of grade point average.     

Theories of education among academically able adolescents

The associations among views about the purposes of school, motivational orientations, and beliefs about the causes of academic success were examined in a sample of students of very high academic ability and attainment. The abilities of these students would make them especially well placed to outperform their peers academically and to attain those occupations of high status and income that require high academic attainment. Nevertheless, the view that school should help one gain status and wealth was not (whereas views that school should make one a responsible citizen were) associated with an orientation to learning for its own sake, satisfaction with school learning, or beliefs that success comes from attempts to learn. Similarly, despite the manifest competence of the sample, a competitive ego orientation was not associated with satisfaction with school learning, whereas a task orientation was. These results strengthen previous conclusions that a competitive orientation to schoolwork and the view that school should promote one's chances of gaining wealth and occupational status might be relatively incompatible with interest in learning and satisfaction with school. They also add to our understanding of the highly able.     

Students’ experiences of academic success with dyslexia: A call for alternative intervention

This article describes a small‐scale study exploring the perspectives of five undergraduate students with dyslexia. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted in two universities in the UK. The interviews explored participants’ perceptions of their dyslexia label and how it had affected their academic success. The aim of the research was to identify facilitating factors that supported participants with dyslexia during their education. The following themes were identified: age of dyslexia identification, family support, dyslexic identity, self‐advocacy skills and learning resources. The study makes a case for an intervention for children and young people (CYP) with dyslexia that, in addition to remedial literacy support, explores self‐advocacy, thinking and study skills and facilitates positive academic self‐concepts. Future research could evaluate such an intervention for its effectiveness on CYP's social emotional well‐being and literacy skills.     

Being ‘nuff’ and ‘scudding class’: exploring girls’ and boys’ perceptions of popularity,gender and achievement in Antiguan secondary schools

This paper will report on the findings from classroom observations and focus group discussions conducted on the topic of popularity and fitting in at school with girls and boys from four government secondary schools in Antigua. The findings show that whilst boys did experience difficulties negotiating academic success and acceptable masculinities, the consensus was that popularity was associated with low achievement for both girls and boys. However, there was evidence that some girls were able to work hard and maintain better peer relations than other high achieving students, but that this ‘balancing’ required conformity to hetero‐feminine norms as well as the espousal of rigid views about what girls can and can't do. This suggests that real equality is far from being reached.     

Using behaviour contracts to decrease antisocial behaviour in four boys with an autistic spectrum disorder at home and at school

This article describes how a behaviour contract has been implemented to achieve positive and enduring results for four boys with a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Four case studies are described which address reductions in behaviours such as assaultive and destructive behaviour, out‐of‐seat behaviour, inappropriate contact with others and loud vocalisations, while also increasing the following of directions in the classroom and at playtimes. The common thread across all of the case studies is the use of the behaviour contract and the link that is built between home and school. The authors suggest that it is this contingent link that is the basis for the success in each of these studies. Based on their research, they believe that the behaviour contract can be considered an important and useful tool in helping address challenging behaviours in children with an ASD. Emma Hawkins is the Director of Education at The Jigsaw CABAS® School and oversees the implementation of strategies at the school to improve the behaviour of the pupils. Grant Gautreaux, from Nicholls State University in Louisiana, consults at The Jigsaw CABAS® School and is a member of the CABAS® Board. All of the remaining authors work at The Jigsaw CABAS® School and have successfully implemented the behaviour contract in their classrooms.     

Marketing Executives' Views of Academic Research in the Field of Marketing

A mail survey of marketing executives from Fortune 1000 companies was conducted to address issues concerning practitioners' views of academic research in the field of marketing. These executives reported their (1) perceptions of the responsibilities of academic research and how well such responsibilities were being met, (2) willingness to improve communications and collaborate in academic research, (3) key research interests, and perceived lack of attention thereto, and (4) general impressions regarding academic research in marketing. Results suggest that practitioners have substantially negative perceptions of academic research and varying interests in a variety of collaborative activities. Their most frequently reported research interests pertained to marketing management topics.     

Latino immigrant parents’ financial stress,depression, and academic involvement predicting child academic success

The current study examines Mexican‐ heritage immigrant parents’ financial stress, English language fluency, and depressive symptoms as risk factors for parental academic involvement and child academic outcomes. Participants were 68 Latino immigrant (from Mexico) third and fourth graders and their parents. Results from a structural equation model analysis indicated that Latino parents who reported greater financial stress also reported higher levels of depressive symptoms; this, in turn, was related to lower parent‐reported levels of engagement in the monitoring and transmission of implicit and explicit valuing of academics. Parental monitoring of academics was positively associated with children's success in mathematics and transmission of implicit and explicit valuing of academics was positively associated with children's success in language arts. The current study extends support for the Family Economic Stress Model by demonstrating connections between parental stress, emotional well‐being, and child academic outcomes, through parental involvement in children's academics in a Latino‐heritage sample.     

Success,Gender and Academic Voices. Consuming Passion or Selling the Soul?

ABSTRACT In 1995 a research team interviewed a cross-section of academics and senior managers in an Australian public university about their perception of the attributes of success. A number of different views emerged. Respondents who felt the system was reasonable saw the successful academic as someone who was productive, hard-working, strategic and able to adopt a university-wide perspective. Those who saw the system as flawed, identified success in negative terms, speaking of 'careerism' and selfishness. This group also spoke of institutional discrimination. These responses were differently articulated by senior managers, and by male and female, and senior and junior, academics. The article discusses these responses. It concludes with an analysis of the way gender constructs patterns of academic and managerial success within universities, and argues that in a profoundly gendered fashion production is privileged over reproduction and output over process.     

“Brains before ‘beauty’?” High achieving girls,school and gender identities

In recent years educational policy on gender and achievement has concentrated on boys' underachievement, frequently comparing it with the academic success of girls. This has encouraged a perception of girls as the “winners” of the educational stakes and assumes that they no longer experience the kinds of gender inequalities identified in earlier studies. However, trying to balance academic achievement with being seen as a “proper girl” presents girls with difficult challenges, particularly in terms of being accepted and approved of by classmates and securing the attention of teachers. This paper explores the views of a group of high achieving 12‐ to 13‐year‐old girls who indicate that being regarded as “clever” continues to be negotiated within acceptable frameworks of femininity.     

AFFECTIVE RESPONSES OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS TO SELF‐SELECTED CRITERIA OF SUCCESS

This study examines changes in the academic self‐concepts of a group of community college students who succeeded or failed according to their own standards for success. Over a 16‐week semester, the students who did as well or better than they wanted or expected to showed increased academic self‐concepts and higher standards for success. Students who did not succeed showed no changes in academic self‐concept, but lowered their criteria for success.     

The development of student teachers' views on pupil misbehaviour during an initial teacher training programme in England and Norway

A group of postgraduate (secondary school) student teachers attending a teacher training course in York (England) and Stavanger (Norway) completed a questionnaire at the start (N = 174) and at the end (N = 128) of their course which explored their views regarding the factors accounting for pupil misbehaviour, the frequency of pupil misbehaviour, the strategies for dealing with pupil misbehaviour, and their confidence that as a full‐time teacher they will have the skills needed to keep pupils engaged in their work and to deal with pupil misbehaviour that occurs. Overall, the major factor accounting for pupil misbehaviour was reported to be ‘parents who do not instil pro‐school values in their children’; the most frequent pupil misbehaviour reported was ‘talking out of turn (e.g. calling out, interrupting, inappropriate remarks or distracting chatter during the lesson)’; and the strategy rated most positively was ‘establish clear and consistent school and classroom rules about the behaviours that are acceptable and that are unacceptable’. Both the York and Stavanger students grew in confidence over the year. The study also highlights areas where there appear to be shifts in students' views over the course of their training year and differences between the students across the two settings (York and Stavanger).     

Implementing Change in Neuroanatomy Education: Organization,Evolution, and Assessment of a Near-Peer Teaching Program in an Undergraduate Medical School in Greece

In light of the current shifts in medical education from traditional lectures to more active teaching modalities, a peer-teaching program was introduced to a compulsory, second-year neuroanatomy course. A cross-sectional survey of 527 medical students in the six-year medical program of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was administered. The primary aim of the survey, which was distributed to second- through sixth-year medical students, who had completed the neuroanatomy course, was to assess student perception of peer teachers (PTs). Across the five years assessed, students increasingly acknowledged the contribution of PTs to their learning (P < 0.001). Attributes of PTs (e.g., contribution to learning, motivation, effective usage of material, and team environment) were significantly related to the student's opinion of the importance of laboratory activities (P < 0.001). Students who received “average” final grades scored the importance of laboratory exercises, and by inference PTs, significantly lower than students who received “excellent” final grades (P < 0.05). The amount of training that PTs had received was also significantly related to student perceptions of a PT's contribution. Better trained PTs were associated with significantly higher scores regarding learning, motivation, and positive environment compared to less trained PTs (P < 0.05). The results of the present study show that peer-teaching was well received by students attending the neuroanatomy course. While the results express the evolution of the program across the years, the findings also show that learners believed that PTs and the laboratory program contributed significantly to their understanding of neuroanatomy.