Promoting Conceptual Change for Complex Systems Understanding: Outcomes of an Agent-Based Participatory Simulation

Components of complex systems apply across multiple subject areas, and teaching these components may help students build unifying conceptual links. Students, however, often have difficulty learning these components, and limited research exists to understand what types of interventions may best help improve understanding. We investigated 32 high school students’ understandings of complex systems components and whether an agent-based simulation could improve their understandings. Pretest and posttest essays were coded for changes in six components to determine whether students showed more expert thinking about the complex system of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Results showed significant improvement for the components Emergence (r = .26, p = .03), Order (r = .37, p = .002), and Tradeoffs (r = .44, p = .001). Implications include that the experiential nature of the simulation has the potential to support conceptual change for some complex systems components, presenting a promising option for complex systems instruction.     

Measures of instruction for creative engagement: Making metacognition,modeling and creative thinking visible

The purpose of the current study was to estimate reliability, internal consistency and construct validity of the Measure of Instruction for Creative Engagement (MICE) instrument. The MICE uses an iterative process of evidence collection and scoring through teacher observations to determine instructional domain ratings and overall scores. The results demonstrated the sound inter-observer reliability, teacher stability and score validity of the MICE. We found (a) a low proportion of rater variance (0.14–5.99%), (b) moderate to highly correlated within-teacher ratings ranging from r(17) = 0.663, p < 0.01 to r(17) = 1.000, p < 0.01 and (c) a statistically-significant difference between classroom teachers and teaching artists, t(56) = 7.37, p = 0.000. These results relate to the development of classroom environment instruments and the substantive development of pedagogy that supports creative thinking and behaviours, both of which are a priority for enhancing teacher accountability and student learning.     

Millennials,Technology and Perceived Relevance of Community Service Organizations: Is Social Media Replacing Community Service Activities?

This mixed-methods qualitative study examined the relationship between perceptions of the importance of social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter) with community service projects and volunteerism. Participants (n = 80) were interviewed and surveyed regarding their experiences in participating in a variety of community service work (CSW) projects (i.e., urban forestry, community gardening) with their perceptions of the importance of social media. Results supported the hypothesis that a significant correlation exists (r = .286, p < .05) between perceptions of technology as an important part of my life and reduced importance of CSW activities. A significant correlation (r = 287, p < .001) also developed between perceptions of “connectedness” to one’s community, increased technology use and reduced perceptions of the importance of CSW activities. Additionally, a significant positive correlation (r = .454, p < .001) was found between reports of improved perceptions among ethnically diverse populations and the overall importance of CSW activities within the community. Results and suggestions for further research are offered regarding the application of theory to “real world” perspectives and problems involving education and environmental issues.     

Problem-Centered Supplemental Instruction in Biology: Influence on Content Recall,Content Understanding,and Problem Solving Ability

To address the need for effective, efficient ways to apply active learning in undergraduate biology courses, in this paper, we propose a problem-centered approach that utilizes supplemental web-based instructional materials based on principles of active learning. We compared two supplementary web-based modules using active learning strategies: the first used Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction as a framework for organizing multiple active learning strategies; the second used a traditional web-based approach. Results indicated that (a) the First Principles group gained significantly from pretest to posttest at the Remember level (t(40) = ?1.432, p = 0.08, ES = 0.4) and at the Problem Solving level (U = 142.5, N1 = 21, N2 = 21, p = .02, ES = 0.7) and (b) the Traditional group gained significantly from pretest to posttest at the Remember level (t(36) = 1.762, p = 0.043, ES = 0.6). Those in the First Principles group were significantly more likely than the traditional group to be confident in their ability to solve problems in the future (χ² (2, N = 40) = 3.585, p = 0.09).     

Processing of expository and narrative texts by low- and high-comprehending children

The present study investigated comprehension processes and strategy use of second-grade low- and high-comprehending readers when reading expository and narrative texts for comprehension. Results from think-aloud protocols indicated that text genre affected the way the readers processed the texts. When reading narrative texts they made more text-based and knowledge-based inferences, and when reading expository texts they made more comments and asked more questions, but also made a higher number of invalid knowledge-based inferences. Furthermore, low- and high-comprehending readers did not differ in the patterns of text-processing strategies used: all readers used a variety of comprehension strategies, ranging from literal repetitions to elaborate knowledge-based inferences. There was one exception: for expository texts, low-comprehending readers generated a higher number of inaccurate elaborative and predictive inferences. Finally, the results confirmed and extended prior research by showing that low-comprehending readers can be classified either as readers who construct a limited mental representation that mainly reflects the literal meaning of the text (struggling paraphrasers), or as readers who attempt to enrich their mental representation by generating elaborative and predictive inferences (struggling elaborators). A similar dichotomy was observed for high-comprehending readers.     

The Effectiveness of Interventions Aimed at Reducing Teacher Burnout: a Meta-Analysis

We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing teacher burnout. Online and reference list searches yielded 513 unique results, and the final sample contains 23 controlled trials (19 journal articles and 4 unpublished dissertations). More than two thirds of the studies had optimal quality, and the risk of bias was not related to the overall effectiveness of the interventions. The overall effects were small, but statistically significant (d = 0.18, SE = 0.05, Z = 3.26, p < 0.001, k = 23). Separate analyses on each burnout component showed similar intervention effects on emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment, but almost null effects on depersonalization (d = 0.03, SE = 0.06, Z = 0.53, p > 0.05, k = 11). Additional moderator analyses suggested that mindfulness interventions had significant effects on exhaustion and personal accomplishment. Interventions on primary and middle school teachers reported effect sizes below the average effect. Similar to previous findings, interventions that lasted less than 1 month had the smallest levels of efficacy.     

Studying and Constructing Concept Maps: a Meta-Analysis

A concept map is a node-link diagram in which each node represents a concept and each link identifies the relationship between the two concepts it connects. We investigated how using concept maps influences learning by synthesizing the results of 142 independent effect sizes (n = 11,814). A random-effects model meta-analysis revealed that learning with concept and knowledge maps produced a moderate, statistically significant effect (g = 0.58, p < 0.001). A moderator analysis revealed that creating concept maps (g = 0.72, p < 0.001) was associated with greater benefit relative to respective comparison conditions than studying concept maps (g = 0.43, p < 0.001). Additional moderator analyses indicated learning with concept maps was superior to other instructional comparison conditions, and was effective across science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and non-STEM knowledge domains. Further moderator analyses, as well as implications for theory and practice, are provided.     

Do 2nd and 3rd grade teachers’ linguistic knowledge and instructional practices predict spelling gains in weaker spellers?

The relationship between 2nd and 3rd grade teachers’ linguistic knowledge and spelling instructional practices and their students’ spelling gains from fall to spring was examined. Second grade (N = 16) and 3rd grade (N = 16) teachers were administered an instructional practices survey and a linguistic knowledge test. Total scores on the two instruments were not significantly related (r = 0.20), indicating two different constructs. Students (N = 331 2nd graders, N = 305 3rd graders) completed a 40 item spelling dictation test in the fall and spring. HLM analyses were conducted on subsamples of weaker spellers (Ns = 226 2nd graders and 50 3rd graders) who spelled fewer than 20 words correctly on the pretest. Limiting the sample to weaker spellers eliminated ceiling effects on pre- to posttest gains. Results revealed that 2nd grade teachers’ linguistic knowledge of phonemic units in words, their teaching of spelling strategies, the time they spent in weekly spelling instruction, and the greater the number of weaker spellers in their classrooms, were significant predictors of weaker spellers’ improvement in spelling. For 3rd grade teachers, HLM analyses were not significant perhaps due to lack of power. However, 3rd grade teachers’ phonemic knowledge was significantly correlated with weaker spellers’ gain scores. Results while correlational provide tentative support for the conclusion that teachers who are more knowledgeable about phonemes in words and who utilize more effective, research based spelling instruction are more successful in teaching spelling to weaker spellers.     

Interleukin-18, matrix metalloproteinase-22 and -29 are independent risk factors of human coronary heart disease

Background

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is characterized by arterial wall inflammation and matrix degradation. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-22 and -29 and pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-18 (IL18) are present in human hearts. IL18 may regulate MMP-22 and -29 expression, which may correlate with CHD progression.

Methods and results

Immunoblot analysis showed that IL18 induced MMP-22 expression in human aortic smooth muscle cells. The Mann Whitney test from a prospective study of 194 CHD patients and 68 non-CHD controls demonstrated higher plasma levels of IL18, MMP-22 and -29 in CHD patients than in the controls. A logistic regression test suggested that plasma IL18 (odds ratio (OR)=1.131, P=0.007), MMP-22 (OR=1.213, P=0.040), and MMP-29 (OR=1.198, P=0.033) were independent risk factors of CHD. Pearson’s correlation test showed that IL18 (coefficient (r)=0.214, P=0.045; r=0.246, P=0.031) and MMP-22 (r=0.273, P=0.006; r=0.286, P=0.012) were associated with the Gensini score before and after adjusting for potential confounding factors. The multivariate Pearson’s correlation test showed that plasma MMP-22 levels correlated positively with high-sensitive-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (r=0.167, P=0.023), and MMP-29 levels correlated negatively with triglyceride (r=?0.169, P=0.018). Spearman’s correlation test indicated that plasma IL18 levels associated positively with plasma MMP-22 (r=0.845, P<0.001) and MMP-29 (r=0.548, P<0.001).

Conclusions

Our observations suggest that IL18, MMP-22 and -29 serve as biomarkers and independent risk factors of CHD. Increased systemic IL18 in CHD patients may contribute to elevated plasma MMP-22 and -29 levels in these patients.

     

Die Effektivität schriftlicher und kombiniert auditiv-schriftlicher Wortschatzfördermaßnahmen bei Kindern mit nichtdeutscher Herkunftssprache

Disparities in language competencies of children with and without immigrant background are well-documented through large scale assessments. This study investigates the potential of implicit language promotion, presented in written and combined auditory-written formats. Three experimental groups of 4^th graders in elementary schools have been compared. Intervention group (IV) 1 (n?=?33) read the intervention texts two times in German, IV 2 (n?=?52) read texts in their heritage language Turkish and afterwards in German, and IV 3 (n?=?35) listened to texts in Turkish first and read them in German afterwards. All children learned new vocabulary, but analyses of variance showed that students from IV 2 achieved greater vocabulary gains than IV 3. Results also do not support advantages for the combined auditory-written form including the heritage language. Students’ text comprehension and reading competencies influence their incidental vocabulary acquisition. The results are discussed in the light of practical and research implications.     

Child Readers and the Worlds of the Picture Book

Children as readers of picture books and the ways they respond to, and make meaning from, such texts are the focus of this article, which reports on a small-scale study undertaken in Norway and Wales, UK. The theoretical framing of the research draws on concepts of the multimodal ensemble in picture books and of the reading event as part of a social practice. The research design was developed from the team’s analysis of two texts, Pappa by Svein Nyhus (1998) and What does Daddy Do? by Rachel Bright (2009). Twenty-four children, who were 7 and 8 years old, took part in the study. This was built around two reading events for each book, staged as an immediate response and as a guided response. The data subsequently collected were analysed according to three overarching organisational principles, as book world, real world and play world. For both Daddy and Pappa, the first reading event showed the children’s responses were mainly directed towards exploring the book world. On the second reading event, references to the real world predominated for Daddy, while for Pappa the book world was again dominant. Across both reading events and for both books, the playworld revealed those occasions when the children expanded the meaning of the story, demonstrating an inventive ability to play with the text. Overall, the children’s responses moved fluidly across the three worlds, showing them to be energetically making connections between the reading, their experience of books and their own lives.     

Parental Behaviours Predicting Early Childhood Executive Functions: a Meta-Analysis

Recent research indicates that parental behaviours may influence the development of executive functions (EFs) during early childhood, which are proposed to serve as domain-general building blocks for later classroom behaviour and academic achievement. However, questions remain about the strength of the association between parenting and child EFs, more specifically which parental behaviours are most strongly associated with child EFs, and whether there is a critical period in early childhood during which parental behaviour is more influential. A meta-analysis was therefore conducted to determine the strength of the relation between various parental behaviours and EFs in children aged 0 to 8 years. We identified 42 studies published between 2000 and 2016, with an average of 12.77 months elapsing in the measurement of parent and child variables. Parental behaviours were categorised as positive (e.g. warmth, responsiveness, sensitivity), negative (e.g. control, intrusiveness, detachment) and cognitive (e.g. autonomy support, scaffolding, cognitive stimulation). Results revealed significant associations (ps < .001) between composite EF and positive (r = .25), negative (r = ?.22) and cognitive (r = .20) parental behaviours. Associations between cognitive parental behaviours and EFs were significantly moderated by child age, with younger children showing a stronger effect size, whereas positive and negative parental behaviours showed a stable association with EFs across ages. We conclude that modest, naturally occurring associations exist between parental behaviours and future EFs and that early childhood may be a critical period during which cognitive parental behaviour is especially influential.     

Teacher Professional Development and Student Literacy Growth: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

This systematic review explores the impact of teacher professional development (PD) on student reading achievement. The first part of the literature evaluates all available existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses of PD intervention studies. No quality reviews of PD and reading specifically (distinct from ‘attainment’) were found. There was a little overlap of studies in existing reviews. The second part of the systematic review focuses on the most recent intervention studies exploring PD and student reading achievement. The results of a meta-analysis of all high-quality studies are presented in the third part of the paper. This analysis showed no strong evidence of publication bias and an effect size for PD on student literacy of g = 0.225. This effect was moderated by the number of hours of PD whereby studies with fewer than 30 h of PD was significant for student reading outcomes (g = 0.367, p < 0.001) but more than 30 PD hours was not significant (g = 0.143, p > .05). Following a Weight of Evidence assessment, analysis showed that nearly all high-quality articles involved shorter PD. Weight of Evidence was a significant moderator, (g = 0.408, p < 0.001 for high-quality studies, g = 0.077, p > 0.5, n.s., for medium quality studies). Our review suggests that only high-quality studies of short teacher PD currently provide evidence of impact on student’s reading achievement.     

Handwriting in signing deaf middle-school students and relationship with text composition and spelling

We set out to (i) assess the handwriting skills of signing deaf students, and (ii) examine the extent to which their text composition and spelling performances are linked to their handwriting efficiency. We asked 15 prelingually and profoundly deaf middle-school students (M = 15.18 years), all sign-language users, and a group of hearing students matched on chronological age (M = 15.32 years) to write the letters of the alphabet and their firstname and surname from memory as a handwriting assessment, and to compose a text describing their bedroom. Results showed that even though the deaf students formed legible letters in both handwriting tasks, they spent more time producing the alphabet letters, and composed shorter texts that were less fluent and contained more phonologically inaccurate spelling errors. Analysis of correlations between handwriting and text production (including spelling) measures revealed strong and significant relationships for the deaf students. This study showed that handwriting difficulties, in terms of executing the letters of their firstname and surname, as well as retrieving the letters of the alphabet from memory, persist in 15-year-old signing deaf students, and represent a constraint during text production, impairing spelling as well as text content richness and word fluency.     

The impact of student teaching experience on pre-service teachers’ readiness for technology integration: A mixed methods study with growth curve modeling

Adopting a two-phase explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, the current study examined the impact of student teaching experiences on pre-service teachers’ readiness for technology integration. In phase-1 of quantitative investigation, 2-level growth curve models were fitted using online repeated measures survey data collected from 68 pre-service teachers doing their student teaching. The results revealed significant progress in readiness for technology integration during student teaching and significant variability in individual change trajectories of readiness for technology integration. Two dummy variables, prior-teaching (0 = “having no prior teaching experience”; 1 = “having prior teaching experience”) and grade-level (0 = “elementary level”; 1 = “secondary level”), were identified as significant in predicting the shape of individual change trajectories of readiness for technology integration. In phase-2 of qualitative investigation, follow-up interview data were collected from 11 pre-service teachers among those who participated in the online surveys. The interview data was analyzed both deductively and inductively yielding clues and insights for interpreting and understanding the quantitative results from phase-1. Based on its quantitative and qualitative results, this study made recommendations for future technology integration research and for improving pre-service teachers’ technology use experience during student teaching.     

Conditional cooperators: student prosocial dispositions and their perceptions of the classroom social environment

A common problem in education is getting students to cooperate effectively in groups during learning. Because interdisciplinary research has established that cooperation is sensitive to specific contextual factors such as reciprocity, friendship and benefit, similar factors could be shaping student interactions in contemporary classroom environments. The present article reports an initial investigation of this idea by examining how student perceptions of their classroom environment relate to their willingness to expend energy and resources on classmates (through helping). This was accomplished through the structural equation modeling of survey data collected from 845 undergraduate life sciences students from 41 laboratory classrooms at a research-intensive university. Characteristics of the classroom social environment previously associated with benefits in other contexts also predicted (reciprocity β = 0.576; friendship β = 0.156) the educational benefit that students perceive as coming from their classmates. This perceived benefit in turn was highly associated (β = 0.605) with student willingness to expend resources on classmates (i.e. their prosocial disposition). Also both reciprocity (β = 0.298) and perceived benefit (β = 0.403) concurrently predict a student’s support for enforcing cooperation in the classroom. Potential insights into the contribution of classroom social environment to student dispositions towards cooperation are discussed.