Alternate Conceptions of Preservice Elementary Teachers: The Itakura Method

In this study, we determined the effectiveness of the inquiry-based Itakura method for mediating alternate conceptions of preservice elementary teachers (N = 38) in an integrated mathematics, science, and technology methods course. We investigated alternate conceptions in the expansion of solids due to heating. There was a significant increase in participants’ immediate learning gains after participating in the Itakura method. Retention data was gathered after 1, 2, and 3 months. After 3 months, retention levels dropped slightly, but not significantly. Responses revealed that the majority of the participants did not revert back to alternate conceptions after 3 months.     

Promoting Mathematical Communication in the Classroom: Two Preservice Teachers' Conceptions and Practices

Recent reforms in mathematics education have encouraged teachers to engage their students in various forms of communication. Scholars have begun to consider questions such as: In what ways do teachers facilitate and guide classroom discourse? How does the quality of students' reflections impact the development of rich mathematical understanding? In order to address these and similar questions, the authors provide a framework of four constructs that can be used to analyze various forms of classroom communication: uni-directional communication, contributive communication, reflective communication, and instructive communication. Throughout the article,the authors both develop and use these constructs as they consider two preservice teachers concepts of communication and their corresponding classroom practices.     

Preservice Elementary School Teachers' Understandings of Theory Based Science Education

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Effects of Videocase Construction on Preservice Teachers' Observations of Teaching

Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 observation conditions: technology-supported practice in observation (TSPO) plus standard classroom placement observation, n = 31, and classroom placement observation (control), n = 31. Over a 10-week term, TSPO students augmented their classroom placement observations of their mentor teachers by engaging in technology-supported construction and video analysis of those mentors' teaching, while control students engaged in only the classroom placement observations. The authors used an online, computer-supported instrument that elicited written responses during observation of 3 different teaching videos to assess the participants' ability to identify, interpret, and analyze evidence of exemplary teaching. TSPO students significantly outperformed controls on all 3 video tests. Implications of these findings for teacher training in both traditional and online education programs are discussed.     

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Knowledge of Observable Moon Phases and Pattern of Change in Phases

The purpose of this study was to describe selected content knowledge held by 52 preservice elementary teachers about the observable phases of the moon and the monthly pattern of change in observable phases. Data were obtained from participants in a physics course before and after they received inquiry-based instruction designed to promote intentional learning of the cause of moon phases and the observable pattern of change in moon phases. Results indicated that, prior to instruction, most preservice teachers had major deficiencies in knowledge of observable moon phases and the pattern of monthly change in the phases. Fortunately, participants who completed the instruction were likely to show evidence of having addressed the deficiencies.     

Preservice Teachers' Use of the Technology Integration Planning Cycle to Integrate iPads Into Literacy Instruction

The purpose of this case study was to examine preservice teachers' use of the Technology Integration Planning Cycle (TIPC; Hutchison & Woodward, 2014 Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. (2014). A planning cycle for integrating technology into literacy instruction. Reading Teacher, 67(6), 455–464. doi:10.1002/trtr.1225.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]) to integrate iPads into literacy instruction. Analysis revealed two findings related to using the TIPC to plan instruction: (a) Though the TIPC provides a structured approach to planning that guides teachers in using their Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK), the preservice teachers still used a technocentric approach to planning instruction and did not fully engage in all elements of the planning cycle; (2) even with the structured planning approach, preservice teachers had difficulty aligning their lesson content with the instructional goals of the lesson; and (3) preservice teachers rely on recommendations from their university classes when selecting apps to use in instruction, rather than independently seeking out resources. The implications of this research suggest the need to support preservice teachers in developing a professional learning network; the importance of a structured approach to planning technology integration to support preservice teachers; and considerations for helping preservice teachers develop their TPACK. (Keywords: Common Core State Standards, digital technology, instructional planning, TPACK, technology integration)     

Exploring the Use of Cases and Case Methods in Influencing Elementary Preservice Science Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs

In this study, we hypothesize that cases demonstrating exemplary practice in the science classroom can be used as a source for learning content and pedagogical skills that will improve teachers' self-efficacy beliefs. Twelve preservice elementary science teachers are followed as they participate in a case and case method activity illustrating the Grade 7 topic of robotics and fluids. While there was little evidence to show improvements in content knowledge, results indicate that the case acted as a boundary object for brokering between individual experiences and those found in the science teaching community by scaffolding for multiple points of entry, bridging the theory practice gap and offering beginning teachers more immediate access to the community of already practicing teachers.

---

     

Comparing the Effects of Classroom Audio-Recording and Video-Recording on Preservice Teachers' Reflection of Practice

This study examined the effects of audio and video self-recording on preservice teachers' written reflections. Participants (n = 201) came from a secondary teaching methods course and its school-based (clinical) fieldwork. The audio group (n_A = 106) used audio recorders to monitor their teaching in fieldwork placements; the video group (n_V = 95) used video recorders. Qualitative methods (content analysis) of the reflections found that preservice teachers gave varied attention to curricular decisions, question/response patterns, wait time, mannerisms, nervousness, and use of praise. Quantitative analyses (chi-square tests for independence) indicate the recording format did not lead to significant differences in participants' reflection on their various instructional behaviors except for two aspects: the video group gave more attention to non-verbal behaviors and movement around the classroom (α = .05). Implications are discussed, including methods for enhancing the habit of teachers recording and reflecting in teacher education.     

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Evaluations of Elementary Students' Scientific Models: An aspect of pedagogical content knowledge for scientific modeling

Part of the work of teaching elementary science involves evaluating elementary students' work. Depending on the nature of the student work, this task can be straightforward. However, evaluating elementary students' representations of their science learning in the form of scientific models can pose significant challenges for elementary teachers. To address some of these challenges, we incorporated a modeling-based elementary science unit in our elementary science teaching methods course to support preservice teachers in gaining knowledge about and experience in evaluating students' scientific models. In this study, we investigate the approaches and criteria preservice elementary teachers use to evaluate elementary student-generated scientific models. Our findings suggest that with instruction, preservice elementary teachers can adopt criterion-based approaches to evaluating students' scientific models. Additionally, preservice teachers make gains in their self-efficacy for evaluating elementary students' scientific models. Taken together, these findings indicate that preservice teachers can begin to develop aspects of pedagogical content knowledge for scientific modeling.     

国外教师评价观研究及启示

教师的评价观作为教师观念的重要分支,成了当今世界各国学生评价改革中倍受关注的主题。国外围绕教师评价观的类型和结构、影响教师评价观形成的因素、教师评价观与评价实践的关系、教师评价观与学生评价观的比较展开了研究,获得了数量较为丰富的实证发现。然而尽管已有的研究成绩斐然,但仍存在着有待进一步开拓与深入研究的问题。分析这些问题对我国教师评价观研究的主要启示是:一方面需要全面拓展研究领域,另一方面应综合使用多种研究方法。     

师范生教师身份认同危机及其原因探析

师范生教师身份认同危机的本质是一个以价值认同为核心的循环向上的发展过程。这种危机主要表现在归属感的消解、方向感的模糊和无力感的侵袭。究其原因,它主要是由于教师角色的不确定性、师范生与教学实践的疏离、功利主义评价、师范生个体消极被动的学习态度等造成的。基于上述分析,本文提出了加强师范生职业伦理教育,强化课程的实践性、改进评价方式和促进师范生自我反思四方面的建议。     

The Effects of a Teaching Methods Course on Early Childhood Preservice Teachers' Beliefs

This study examines the effectiveness of an educational methods course for changing early childhood preservice teachers' instructional beliefs. The teaching methods course emphasized constructivist teaching principles. Seventy-eight of the early childhood education preservice teachers who were enrolled in this course filled out the Teacher Belief Survey at the beginning and end of the 15-week course. The results of both quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated that participation in the teaching methods course had significantly changed preservice teachers' beliefs. As a result of the course, preservice teachers' constructivist beliefs increased, and these beliefs became more concrete and coherent. Results are discussed in relation to the literature, and the implications of examining early childhood education programs are explored.     

The Effect of Collaborative Concept Mapping on Elementary Preservice Teachers' Anxiety,Efficacy, and Achievement in Physical Science

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Validating the Conceptions of Assessment-III Scale in Canadian Preservice Teachers

Building on Snow's (1989) idea of 2 pathways to achievement outcomes, a performance and a commitment pathway, this study examined how cognitive and motivational factors associated with each of these pathways, respectively, contributed to the prediction of achievement outcomes in science. The sample consisted of 491 10th- and 11th-grade high school students. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that (a) students' cognitive abilities were the strongest predictors of their performance in science as measured by standardized test scores; (b) motivational processes enhanced the predictive validity for science test scores and grades beyond the variance accounted for by ability; and (c) motivational processes were the strongest predictors of students' commitment to science in the form of situational engagement and anticipated choices of science-related college majors and careers. These results are consistent with Snow's (1989) conjecture that both performance and commitment pathway-related factors are necessary for understanding the full range of person-level inputs to achievement outcomes.     

Embedding Nature of Science Instruction in Preservice Elementary Science Courses: Abandoning Scientism,But...

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Mathematics Instruction in Safe Space: Prospective Elementary Teachers' Views of Mathematics Education

This article discusses findings from an investigation into 42 prospective elementary teachers' views of mathematics teaching and learning. The focus is on how the participants saw the roles of teachers, pupils,and mathematics in mathematics classes as they communicated their views in journals written during the study. I argue that some prospective teachers express a tendency to protect and relieve their future pupils from mathematics. I show how this tendency affects a shift from school being the place where teachers teach pupils toward a conception of a safe space where the teachers predominantly care for the children. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Embracing the Complexity of Instruction: A Study of the Effects of Teachers' Instruction on Students' Reading Comprehension

The purpose of this study was to determine whether third-grade teachers' instructional actions during reading comprehension lessons contributed to their students' reading comprehension achievement. Our framework focused on teachers' emphasis on three dimensions of instruction (pedagogical structure, teacher-directed instruction, and support for student learning), as observed in comprehension lessons across a year. Third-grade teachers' instruction was analyzed first by measuring their latent propensity to engage in instructional actions in the three dimensions and then by using these latent variables in a multilevel model to examine their students' gains in reading comprehension. Results provided support for the theoretical dimensions, taking into account contextual variables including lesson, student, and teacher characteristics; teachers' engagement in teacher-directed instruction and their support for student learning significantly contributed to their students' reading comprehension. Results suggest that analysis of teachers' instructional actions within and across lessons is a promising approach for the study of effective reading instruction.     

《夜色温柔》中“黑夜”与“白昼”对立的消解

菲茨杰拉德的小说《夜色温柔》在语言技巧上成功解构了传统语言的二元对立关系,体现了作者在语言运用上的前瞻性,具有解构主义特点。本文将选取＂黑夜＂与＂白昼＂这组能够相互消解的二元对立关系,采用解构主义文学批评理论,去颠覆看似稳定的二元对立关系,从而消解这种平衡,抹掉两级间的深度模式,彰显语言意义的不确定性,突显＂美国梦＂之解构的主题意义。     

Influence of a Reflective Explicit Activity‐Based Approach on Elementary Teachers' Conceptions of Nature of Science

This study assessed the influence of a reflective, explicit, activity‐based approach to nature of science (NOS) instruction undertaken in the context of an elementary science methods course on preservice teachers' views of some aspects of NOS. These aspects included the empirical, tentative, subjective (theory‐laden), imaginative and creative, and social and cultural NOS. Two additional aspects were the distinction between observation and inference, and the functions of and relationship between scientific theories and laws. Participants were 25 undergraduate and 25 graduate preservice elementary teachers enrolled in two sections of the investigated course. An open‐ended NOS questionnaire coupled with individual interviews was used to assess participants' NOS views before and at the conclusion of the course. The majority of participants held naive views of the target NOS aspects at the beginning of the study. During the first week of class, participants were engaged in specially designed activities that were coupled with explicit NOS instruction. Throughout the remainder of the course, participants were provided with structured opportunities to reflect on their views of the target NOS aspects. Postinstruction assessments indicated that participants made substantial gains in their views of some of the target NOS aspects. Less substantial gains were evident in the case of the subjective, and social and cultural NOS. The results of the present study support the effectiveness of explicit, reflective NOS instruction. Such instruction, nonetheless, might be rendered more effective when integrated within a conceptual change approach. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 295–317, 2000.     

昼光和夜天空光的测量方法

探讨了天空光度与色度测量方法与测量仪器的选用,提出了根据晨昏蒙影确定天空光测量时间基点的方法。用符合CIE1931xy的标准色源对一种彩色亮度计进行校准后,证明由于白昼和夜晚天空光色度不同,用一种标准光源对彩色亮度计进行校准,不能完全适用和伸延到各个色域。依照国际标准,使用与不同色域对应的标准光源和标准色源对彩色亮度计进行校准,使彩色亮度计的测量误差减到了最小限度。应用经过校准的彩色亮度计,实测了特定地区的24 h白昼和夜晚天空光的亮度与色度。通过数据分析,研究了天空光随时间的变化规律和测量夜天空光的改进方法。