Collaboration among teachers,researchers and in-service trainers to develop an integrated science curriculum

The German contribution to the OECD SMTE Project is based on an evaluation of the PING Project (Practising Integration in Science Education) where teachers, researchers and in-service trainers collaborate in the development of an integrated school science programme emphasizing the relationship between humanity and nature. Collaboration among teachers, administrators, a research institute and in-service activities allowed the development of materials whichreflect the students' relationship withnature, promote responsible action, andare sensitive tothe cultural aspects of the topic. There is acoordinating networkwhich gives teachers information and access to materials, and a coordinating center for organizational development, information exchange, collection of relevant literature, revision of existing materials and subsequent distribution. Workshops are heldfor teacher education andfor dissemination.     

Primary/secondary transition and related teacher attitudes to science

There is an increasing call for K-12 continuity in education. This is supported by curriculum policy statements that are designed to cut across the traditional lines of discontinuity, particularly the primary/secondary boundary. However, apart from the different curriculum traditions of the two areas (Primary & Secondary), other major differences still remain. One such difference is the generalist training of primary teachers and the subject-based specialist training of their secondary counterparts. Does this result in attitudinal differences in respect to curriculum development and implementation priorities? This paper goes some way to addressing this question and is based upon interview data obtained from both practising teachers and teacher education undergraduates. The data represent two separate stages of research, one completed and one on-going.     

Effectiveness of National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in terms of classroom environment, attitudes and achievement among secondary science students

No previous research has employed learning environments criteria in evaluating the effectiveness of the system of teacher certification sponsored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Because the litmus test of any professional development effort is the extent of the changes in teaching behaviours in participating teachers’ classrooms, our study drew on the field of learning environments in evaluating the effectiveness of National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in terms of their students’ perceptions of their classroom environments. A sample of 443 students in 21 Grade 8 and 10 science classes taught by NBC teachers in South Florida was compared with a matched group of 484 students in 17 classes taught by non-NBC teachers in terms of classroom environment (as assessed by the What Is Happening In this Class?) and students’ attitudes and achievement. Statistically significant differences (with small to medium effect sizes ranging from 0.14 to 0.35 standard deviations) were found in favour of NBC teachers for numerous classroom and environment scales (Teacher Support, Involvement, Task Orientation, Investigation and Cooperation) and for student attitudes.     

Learning strategies and learning-related emotions among teacher trainees

Teacher trainees are questioned about their strategic and emotional relationships with a key area of their future activity, learning. Characteristics of German teacher trainees are identified through comparisons with German students on a related course of study (educational science), and through comparisons with Swedish teacher trainees. N = 875 people took part in the study, of whom n = 135 German teacher trainees participated again after two years.There are national differences both in the numbers of students allocated to the identified learning strategy clusters, and in the balance of learning-related emotions. In both areas, the Swedish students show more favourable configurations.     

Initial teacher trainees and their views of teaching and learning

One hundred and sixty-two student secondary teachers were followed through a postgraduate certificate in education course at a university department of education in England to identify, using a variety of methods, changes in their thinking about the teaching and learning process and initial training course. While it was found that student teachers' knowledge of teaching gained from earlier experience was highly influential in their views on teaching and learning and interpretation of the course, differences between individuals and curriculum groups emerged which suggest that the course of training could not be considered a constant, as had been assumed by earlier studies. Several issues are raised and discussed concerning the influence of preservice courses on student teachers' thinking and classroom practice, together with their implications for course design and the selection of students.     

Images of science teaching: An exploration of the beliefs of preservice secondary science teachers

Science graduates who enrol in a preservice Graduate Diploma of Education bring with them many years of experience as learners of science. These will have enabled them to develop implicit theories about what a science teacher is and does. Such implicit theories almost certainly affect the process of becoming a teacher, and may prove persistent despite the input from University and school during the Dip. Ed. year and beyond. This paper presents the research method and results obtained from a group of graduates on entry to their Diploma course. Concept maps and Repertory Grid interviews were obtained from eleven graduates, with varying life experiences. The paper presents analyses of these and explores emerging themes. Specializations: reflective teaching, general science and biology, curriculum and assessment.     

高师写作教学与审美教育

审美教育在高师写作教学中起着非常重要的作用。教师要想写作教学有较高的成效,就必须充分认识到这一点。本文在高师写作教育中审美教育的重要性的基础上提出了五种高师写作教学中实施审美教育的途径。     

Course evaluation and attitudes toward college teaching

Prior research suggests that attitudes may be one category of personal (student) variables that students bring to the task of evaluating college courses and their instructors. In a previous study, attitudes toward college teaching, in general, and the perceived progessivism of instructors, in particular, were associated with students' evaluations of courses. Perceived attitudes were a kind of evaluation. The results of the study raised the question as to when the attitude-evaluation relation was first formed in the course of a semester and whether a causal order between them could be established. The present study, using a repeated-measures design, replicated the major findings of the previous study on a cross-section of University of Haifa students attending 22 courses. While there is no clear evidence for the priority of either attitudes or evaluation, the findings indicate that their association is formed early in the course, with some further consolidation later on. Both attitudes and evaluations are remarkably stable during the course. In view of these findings it is suggested that classroom evaluations might be moved back to one of the first meetings of the course to allow for feedback and changes in the instructor's presentation. Moreover, perceived attitude measures could be developed into an indirect measure of teacher performance.     

大学英语教学改革中的教师角色

从大学英语教学改革的总体趋势出发,探讨教师在教学中所起到的作用以及教师角色改变的必然性。     

Studies on attitude toward teaching science and anxiety about teaching science in preservice elementary teachers

These studies examined attitude toward teaching science (ATTS) using an adaptation of the Bratt Attitude Test (M-BAT); anxiety about teaching science (ANX-TS), as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI A-State); and selected demographic variables in preservice elementary teachers for the 1977–1978 and 1978–1979 academic years and a follow-up of those students who completed their student teaching in May 1979. The M-BAT and STAI were administered in September at the beginning of Science 6 (earth science and biology course), in December on the next to last day of Science 6, in May on the next to the last day of Science 5 (physical science), and in May 1979 after student teaching. In the two academic years, both ATTS and ANX-TS became more positive during the sequence Science 6-5. Both changes in ATTS and ANX-TS continued to change in a positive direction after completion of Science 6-5, after student teaching. There were differences in the times that the greatest changes in ATTS and ANX-TS occurred. In both studies, the greatest change in ATTS took place between September and December, during Science 6. The greatest change in ANX-TS, however, took place during Science 5 between December and May in the 1977–1978 study. In the 1978–1979 study, the greatest changes in ANX-TS occurred in Science 6, between September and December. The delayed reduction of ANX-TS in the 1977–1978 study may be explained by differences in teaching patterns. In 1977–1978, two teachers taught only their academic specialty, biology or earth science, to students who switched teachers midsemester. In 1978–1979, the same two instructors taught both biology and earth science to the same students. Correlation coefficients for successive and corresponding administrations of both the M-BAT and STAI suggest these variables are related. Students with more positive ATTS tended to have reduced ANX-TS. Neither the number of high school or college science and math courses completed nor the level of enjoyment of these courses appears to be related to ATTS or ANX-TS for the initial administration of the M-BAT and STAI. Closer examination of data, however, indicates that students with negative ATTS and high ANX-TS were fairly evenly divided in their enjoyment of mathematics, while students with positive ATTS and low ANX-TS enjoyed math in a 3:1 like/dislike ratio. The relationship between both ATTS and ANX-TS and achievement is reasonalbly consistent for Science 6. In Science 5, however, the relationship between ATTS and achievement is inconsistent and there is no indication of a relationship between achievement and ANX-TS.