The role of technology in supporting classroom assessment in play-based kindergarten

There has been a rapid increase in the integration of new technologies in early education. While research has examined how technology can benefit classroom instruction, few studies have looked specifically at how technology is used by early educators to enhance their classroom assessment practices. The current study examined educators’ approaches towards the integration of technology in assessment in 20 play-based kindergarten classrooms. The majority of educators described technology as improving the efficiency of their assessment practices, while a minority of educators described technology as meaningfully extending student learning in assessment. Implications of different uses of assessment technology are discussed.     

The role of mentoring relationships in the career development of successful deaf persons

A qualitative study of deaf graduates of Rochester Institute of Technology in New York State who became supervisors in primarily hearing work settings found that having a mentor was a primary and persistent element in their career success. In the deaf individual's early years, generally it was a family member or teacher who conveyed a belief in that individual's abilities, encouraged effort, and helped instill self-esteem and confidence. Parents were often their strongest advocates, and teachers were their advisors and facilitators. In the work setting, a supervisor or coworker often served as a mentor by coaching, advising, and teaching the individual what they needed to know to succeed on the job. In many ways, these "informal" mentors provided the foundation that enabled the deaf individual to break through what are often barriers to career success despite their skills and abilities. The various forms of mentorship and their impact on deaf college graduates are explored.     

Attachment style and mentoring relationships in adolescence

This study examined the relationship between adolescents’ attachment style and their decision to enter mentoring relationships. The participants were 569 Greek Cypriot high school students. It was found that adolescents who have a mentor are more secure in their attachment than those who do not. Girls with low scores in secure attachment do not enter easily into mentoring relationships. Older adolescents are more anxious in their attachments, probably because they can better appreciate the possible difficulties if something goes wrong; thus, they are more reluctant to take the risk of starting a mentoring relationship than younger students. Furthermore, secure attachment was found to be positively correlated to the perceived impact of the whole experience: the more secure the attachment, the stronger the mentoring bond seems to be.     

Socioeconomic and language minority classroom composition and individual reading achievement: The mediating role of instructional quality

In this study, we investigated effects of socioeconomic and language minority classroom composition on students' reading achievement and explored the mediating role of central features of instructional quality, namely focus on language, student-oriented climate, and structured classroom management. Analyses were based on data collected from 352 German ninth-grade classrooms across two measurement points (t₁, t₂) in a multilevel framework. We found socioeconomic composition to be related to individual reading achievement at t₂ after accounting for the corresponding baseline assessment at t₁. However, the proportion of German language learners had no additional effect on reading achievement. Our results also suggest that the effect of the socioeconomic composition on achievement may be mediated partially by the teacher's focus on language during instruction. We conclude that more attention has to be paid to providing equal opportunities to all students in language classes.     

Parent-child and teacher-child relationships in Chinese preschoolers: The moderating role of preschool experiences and the mediating role of social competence

Based on two samples of Chinese preschoolers (Study 1: N = 443; Study 2: N = 118) and their parents and teachers, the present research examined the associations between parent-child and teacher-child relationships, and how the associations were moderated by children's preschool experiences and mediated by their social competence. Using a cross-sectional design, Study 1 showed that children's years of preschool experiences moderated the associations between parent-child and teacher-child relationships. Both father-child and mother-child relationships were associated significantly with teacher-child relationships for the first-year preschoolers, and these associations were mediated fully by children's social competence. For the second- or third-year preschoolers, however, neither father-child nor mother-child relationships correlated significantly with teacher-child relationships. Using a longitudinal design, Study 2 also showed the moderating role of children's preschool experiences in the associations between parent-child and teacher-child relationships. Relationships with mothers were associated significantly with relationships with teachers at 3 months after the children's preschool entrance and, again, this association was mediated fully by children's social competence. In contrast, neither mother-child nor father-child relationships correlated significantly with teacher-child relationships at the end of the first or second preschool year.     

The relationship between perceptions of the classroom goal structure and early adolescents' affect in school: The mediating role of coping strategies

This study investigates the relations among students' perceptions of the goal structure in the classroom, the self-report of coping strategies, and affect in school. We hypothesized that perceptions of a task goal structure would be associated with positive coping strategies, and in turn with positive affect; and that perceptions of an ability goal structure would be associated with projective coping, denial coping, and noncoping, and in turn with negative affect. In addition, the study takes note of hypothesized reciprocal relations among all these variables. Using a longitudinal design, surveys were administered to 880 students from 4 ethnically and economically diverse school districts in the fall and spring of the 5th grade in elementary school, and in the fall and spring of the 6th grade in middle school. The findings support the hypothesized relations as well as some reciprocal relations among these variables. The findings also indicate that perceptions of the classroom goal structure were more stable within an environment than across environments, thus supporting the role of environmental characteristics in these perceptions.     

The role of social community and individual differences in minority mentoring programs

Researchers have examined various outcomes of undergraduate minority mentoring programs. However, there is a significant gap in research about how program members with different demographic backgrounds may not have the same experiences or outcomes as other members despite being subject to the same program elements. To address these gaps, we employed a social community framework to examine the differences across the perceptions of connectedness to a social community and participant outcomes of members of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Merit Program (MP) for Emerging Scholars. An ANOVA was performed for a study sample of n = 179 current and past MP participants. Results indicated a need to: (a) find ways to translate experiences to lower performing groups, (b) identify other approaches to build resilience and encourage connections and engagement in communities of practice, and (c) explicitly educate all participants in the importance of social community in their professional development.     

The role of mentoring in the CPD programmes of professional associations

This paper seeks to position the current role of mentoring within the continuing professional development (CPD) programmes of UK professional associations and to examine its potential for developing reflective practice. Following a review of mentoring and CPD in terms of their relationship to the ethos of lifelong learning, it indicthes the extent to which mentoring has been embraced by professional associations. Here, reference is made to a wider research project that set out to map the CPD policies and programmes of UK professional associations by analysing the documentation of over 100 associations. The paper puts forward the idea that mentoring could form an important support for reflective practice, particularly where participation in CPD is compulsory. In conclusion, it argues that the wider introduction of mentoring could help forge new relationships between professionals and their clients, and overcome some of the tensions inherent within CPD itself.     

The role of attention in expert classroom practice

In this paper we outline a new theoretical model of expert practice that identifies the importance of attentional skills. We report on a small-scale pilot study of the classroom practice of experienced teachers of mathematics based on this model, through which a method of articulating aspects of classroom practice has been developed. This study took place in England, where current policy in teacher education places considerable emphasis on lesson planning. Our study raises issues about the relationships between the different kinds of knowledge that we see as constituting expert practice.     

The role of classroom differences in achievement changes

A combined criterion involving the regression slopes of pretest-posttest achievement scores and achievement gain scores was used to classify similar types of classrooms. Mathematics achievement differences among 632 fifth graders were analysed in a longitudinal design and explained in a structural equation framework provided by LISREL, separately for four types of classrooms. The results replicated the findings of an earlier study (Schneider & Treiber, 1984) in that the local nature of achievement models could be demonstrated. That is, the structural components of the causal models could not be generalized across the four groups of classrooms. The inclusion of a second grouping criterion (i. e., achievement gain) proved useful in that a better model fit was always obtained for classrooms with high achievement agains. As a global model test ignoring group and classroom membership did mask the differential validity of the achievement model in the various subgroups, the need for multilevel approaches was emphasized.     

The flipped classroom: supporting a diverse group of students in their learning

Learning Environments Research - Higher education faces several challenges including both increased student diversity and the use of technologies. The flipped classroom approach has been proposed...     

The role of cognitive engagement in classroom learning and motivation

The article analyzes the concept of student cognitive engagement, and the manner in which classroom instruction may develop self‐regulated learners. Since theory and research on academic motivation, to date only vaguely define the role of learning processes, and since studies of learning strategies rarely assess motivational outcomes, our analysis integrates these two streams of literature. We also identify specific features of instruction and discuss how they might influence the complex of student interpretive processes focal to classroom learning and motivation. Measurement issues and research strategies peculiar to the investigation of cognitive engagement are addressed.     

辅导员在第二课堂活动中的推动作用

随着市场经济的发展,人才竞争也变得越加激烈,这对教育体制的改革,学校教育方式的创新也提出了新的要求。在高校学习中,学习专业知识是第一课堂,而引导学生参与各种活动则是学生学习生涯中不可或缺的第二课堂。第二课堂不仅是第一课堂的延生和补充,更是学生实践的"试验田"以及发挥个人作用的"自留地"。本文在基于对辅导员有关工作的研究分析中,探讨辅导员在学生第二课堂中发挥的作用。     

The role of target students in the science classroom

This study investigated whole class interactions in 200 science lessons involving 15 teachers and students from grades 8 to 12 in two urban Australian high schools. A relatively small number of 3–7 “target students” monopolized whole class interactions. In most instances target students were male. Compared to others in the class, target students asked more questions of the teacher, were called on to respond to higher cognitive level questions, and received higher quality feedback. Two types of target student were identified. The students who actively participated in classroom interactions in a self-initiated manner tended to accept responsibility for their academic achievement and for interactions with others. The second type of target student, who participated as a consequence of being selected by the teacher, tended to have higher formal reasoning ability and achieve at a higher level than others in the class.     

The role of facilitators in Virginia's electronic classroom project

Abstract

Although distance education is experiencing rapid growth in the United States, there is little research that measures the beliefs of certified public accountants (CPAs) toward the use of distance education in obtaining continuing professional education (CPE). This study examined the beliefs of CPAs in the state of Georgia concerning the effectiveness of distance education in providing CPE. The basic findings indicate that CPAs in the state of Georgia believe distance education to be an effective mode of learning. In addition, they indicate that the technological capabilities necessary to participate in distance education are available to them. However, with the exception of print‐based distance education, the percent of professional learning received via distance education is minimal. The results of this study may provide information beneficial to program planners of CPE.     

大学英语课堂教师角色定位及转换

在以往的教学过程中,教学的核心是教师和知识,教学的主体是教师,教学的客体是学生。新课程标准提倡将学生放在中心位置,教师创设教学情境的时候一定要充分的带动学生学习的积极性,让学生主动的参与到教学活动中。所以,教师一定要做好角色定位工作,将过去的传统观念摒弃掉,将学生放在教学工作的中心位置,教师一定要对自己的角色进行定位,并且进行转换,扮演好激励者、解答者和指导者的角色。