Greek Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge of Ocean Sciences Issues and Attitudes Toward Ocean Stewardship

Greek pre-service teachers’ level of ocean literacy was assessed using a revised questionnaire concerning ocean content knowledge and an instrument about ocean stewardship. Rasch analyses showed that the items of both measures were well targeted to the sample. Pre-service teachers possessed a moderate knowledge of ocean sciences issues and positive attitudes toward ocean stewardship; they obtained most information on ocean content from the Internet and mass media and less from formal education, nongovernmental organizations, books, and out-of-school settings. Students who mostly preferred the Internet and mass media scored significantly higher on the knowledge questionnaire. The results could contribute to the enhancement of teachers’ ocean literacy.     

职前教师教育实践的范式变迁与模式革新

职前教师教育所面临的一个核心议题是如何帮助职前教师恰如其分地将理论知识运用于教育教学实践中。越来越多的研究者认为,职前教师应该在习得和建构教育教学的理论知识的同时,需要充分理解、体验和建构实践知识,"从实践中学习,为实践而学习"。基于这种主张,本文重点讨论:大学场域中职前教师的理论知识习得与教育教学实践(田野经验)之间的关系。讨论的过程分为三个部分:教育实践内涵的再讨论、教育实践的范式变迁过程,以及教育实践的模式变革。     

Developing Self-Efficacy in Teaching Mathematics: Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Role of Subject Knowledge

ABSTRACT

Two major concerns in mathematics teacher education are the role of subject matter knowledge and the development of self-efficacy in pre-service teachers. This article brings these issues together in an exploration of the interaction between pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their subject matter knowledge and their accounts of university and placement experiences as potential sources of self-efficacy. Reporting on a group of ten pre-service teachers in Norway, we explore variations in the ways in which they perceived the role of subject knowledge in relation to experience, particularly “mastery experiences”, over a period of nearly two years. We suggest that recognition of the role of “understanding why” in mathematics is crucial in the experience of mastery, and that there is a need to focus more on the role of subject matter knowledge in all sources of self-efficacy in teaching mathematics.     

‘You never know what research is like unless you’ve done it!’ Action research to promote collaborative student-teacher research

In contrast with its high level of popularity in both research and practice for in-service teacher development, teacher research has received much less attention in pre-service language teacher education as a reflective learning approach, particularly in China’s context. Action research, as a major form of teacher research, has rarely been employed by teacher educators. This action research study undertaken by a teacher educator aimed to address this dual gap by examining the effect of collaborative research experience undertaken by a cohort of English as a foreign language pre-service teachers in China. Triangulated research methods were employed to gather two sets of data respectively reflecting the student-teachers’ views of their collaborative research and the teacher educator’s perceptions of the action research. It was found that both groups highly endorsed their research experience. Meanwhile, issues also arose in terms of the sustainability of such research experiences for both groups. The study highlights the necessity of incorporating collaborative student-teacher research and teacher educators’ action research into pre-service teacher education programmes, which entails the need to transform the existing foundationalist teacher education paradigm into a post-foundationalist paradigm, and to recognize teacher educators’ action research on pertinent issues in teacher education.     

Teacher education for World English speaking pre-service teachers: Making transnational knowledge exchange for mutual learning

Pre-service teachers are taught that the funds of knowledge their students bring to school provide intellectual resources to be engaged through productive pedagogies. Teacher education may assist and/or hinder World English Speaking (WES) pre-service teachers in gaining access to the teaching profession by doing likewise. The interpretative case study presented in this paper involves exploring possibilities for teacher education programs to make transnational knowledge connections through WES pre-service teachers. Evidence from interviews with WES pre-service teachers and their Anglophone teacher educators are analysed to elaborate issues confronting teacher education programs involving World English Speakers. The findings indicate that teamwork which is constructed to privilege the knowledge of Anglophone pre-service teachers over their WES peers is questionable. Further, WES pre-service teachers are not only structurally disadvantaged by teamwork practices that privilege local knowledge, they are also challenged by teacher educators’ assessment procedures. The pressures created on teacher educators’ workloads, may lead to ‘lean and mean’ assessment procedures which serve to contain excessive demands on their labour, but do not necessarily resolve the dilemma of how to use assessment practices that minimise WES pre-service teachers’ learning.     

促进师范生实践性知识发展的课程开发研究——以高师信息技术教学法课程的设计与实施为例

我国教师教育课程的突出问题是理论与实践的割裂,为促进信息技术教育专业的师范生实践性知识的发展,作者尝试在高师信息技术教学法课程中实施全新的课程设计,将"真实问题"、"可操作的"项目、"大学-中小学合作"的学习环境和"反思性行动"四要素融入课程教学,完成信息技术教育专业师范生实践性知识的发展。     

Pre-service teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about multiculturalism

The present study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of issues related to multiculturalism and diversity before and after taking a multicultural education course. Data from 38 degree students in an urban university in the southwest of Finland were analysed using a mixed method approach. The results indicate that pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels increased with respect to diversity and multicultural education after taking the course. In addition, pre-service teachers felt more competent and prepared to teach students with diverse backgrounds after the exposure. The implications of the findings for teacher education programmes and teacher educators are discussed.     

USING A STATE TEACHER CERTIFICATION TEST TO ASSESS AN INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAM

In this study, we looked at the impact of our specially designed inquiry-based science courses for pre-service elementary teachers on their science content knowledge as measured by a high-stakes state certification test for elementary education. We conducted a pre/post-analysis of the certification test scores of 1,003 pre-service teachers. Cohort 1 consisted of 424 students who took the test prior to implementation of our reformed science courses. Cohort 2 consisted of 579 students taking the test after complete implementation. We examined overall test scores, science subscores, total science credits, age, and science transfer credits. We found that the overall test score dropped significantly from cohort 1 to cohort 2, but the science subscores remained unchanged. Our results showed that students who took all 3 of the science content courses vs. none scored significantly higher on the science portion, non-traditional students (older than 25) scored similarly to traditional-aged students, and there was a negative correlation with the number of science courses transferred. Of importance is the fact that students who took the minimal number of science courses and are less interested in science passed the science portion at the same rate (over 90%) as science majors and minors. We conclude that our pre-service elementary teachers can and do learn science content using inquiry as recommended by the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996).     

物理学专业实习生在教育实习中遇到的困扰——四名实习生个案研究

通过开放式访谈、非正式交谈、课堂观察等方法,对四名物理学专业的实习生在教育实习中教学方面所遇到的困扰进行了探讨.结果表明,一些实习生主要遇到了以下9方面的困扰专业知识、教学效果反馈技能、时间控制、计算机多媒体技术运用、洞察能力、教学组织技能、教学语言技能、板书技能、教态变化技能.根据研究结果,提出应加强对实习生的教学技能的培训.     

Pre-service teachers’ use of the objective knowledge framework for reflection during practicum

This empirical study, conducted in a Canadian university, argues that the objective knowledge growth framework (OKGF), a self-directed reflective approach, can contribute to the professional development of pre-service teachers in dealing with the complexities of teaching. The paper seeks to answer the following research question: How do pre-service teachers use the OKGF as a self-directed professional development tool to solve teaching practice issues that arise during their practicum? It offers a critical analysis of 24 pre-service teachers’ use of the OKGF, as well as the trends in their application and interpretation of the OKGF in solving issues of teaching practice during practicum.     

Marine environmental awareness among university students in Taiwan: a potential signal for sustainability of the oceans

University students are regarded as future decision-makers in society and have a high likelihood of becoming opinion-shapers in terms of the environment. Their awareness of the marine environment will therefore have a significant effect upon sustainable marine development. This study examines Taiwanese university students’ marine environmental awareness, focusing on environmental attitudes, understanding of marine and coastal issues, and environmental behavior. A total of 825 valid samples in a questionnaire survey are used for the analysis. Overall, respondents possess a highly positive attitude towards the marine environment and a moderate self-reported level of marine knowledge, but are not actively engaged in environmental protection endeavors, particularly ones involving spending personal income and taking legal or political action. Experience in marine-related activities and marine knowledge are important in fostering marine environmental awareness, particularly in regard to environmental behavior. This study addresses the gap between widespread environmental concerns and low engagement in environmental actions by proposing a multimodal approach: improving marine knowledge and experience in marine-related activities, creating safe recreational spaces at seasides, and reinforcing legal education. This study concludes by highlighting the importance of marine environmental awareness in the development of ocean citizenship as well as the sustainability of the marine environment.     

教师职前教育理论与实践关系的哲学审思

教师职前教育中理论与实践的关系是一个常说常新的老问题。在诸多解释路径中返回到哲学源头,从实践、实践智慧、认知的知识和明智的知识的差异中检视理论与实践的发生空间、思量对象、活动本性和作用机理,并通过高观点下的哲学审视,可以挖掘出理论与实践问题的根源所在,从而达致一种对教师职前教育理论与实践关系认识的自为超越。     

Special education pre-service teachers' interest,subject knowledge,and teacher efficacy beliefs in mathematics

Teacher efficacy beliefs is an important characteristic to predict instructional quality and the level of cognitive activation and educational support. Since teacher efficacy beliefs are context and domain specific, this study focuses on how special education pre-service teachers' individual interest and subject knowledge in mathematics predict their efficacy beliefs in teaching mathematics. Data were collected from 57 special education pre-service teachers. The results indicated that the individual interest of pre-service teachers has a strong effect on teacher efficacy beliefs, while subject knowledge has only an indirect effect.     

融合内容的教学知识之课例研究

借鉴Kahan等的教学过程和基本要素研究框架,以情意原理、序进原理和活动原理作为解析课堂教学的框架,调查师范生融合内容的教学知识的实然水平。师范生的教学水平大致分布在三个等级上,师范生对学与教的理解有明显的缺失。如果师范生对知识的发生发展过程认识较为深刻,那么知识教学的序列安排就与知识发生的历史过程拟合得较好;如果师范生对做数学的一般机制有一定的体会,那么学生思维过程的设计就与历史上人们做数学的活动经验较为相似。数学发生发展的知识是影响师范生课堂教学水平的重要因素之一。     

The impact of a combined cognitive-affective intervention on pre-service teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and anticipated professional behaviors regarding homosexuality and gay and lesbian issues

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a cognitive-affective intervention the attitudes, knowledge, and anticipated professional behaviors regarding homosexuality and gay and lesbian issues of pre-service teachers in the United States. Sixty-seven participants were randomly assigned either to a control group (n = 34) or an experimental group (n = 33). Pre-test and post-test means were compared using paired-samples t-tests to determine the impact of the intervention. Data analysis revealed significant positive changes in the pre-service teachers’ attitudes and knowledge about homosexuality, as well as their anticipated professional behaviors with respect to homosexual students and their families.     

Factors that influence pre-service teachers’ ICT usage in education

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the role of internal factors (e.g. attitudes towards computers and internet, self-confidence, and knowledge) and external factors (perceived support) on the level of information and communication technology (ICT) usage. The participants were 1898 pre-service teachers in Turkey. The results revealed that Turkey, like many other developing countries in the world, is in the early phase of ICT integration in education. Most pre-service teachers reported that they use only basic ICT applications for educational purposes. Internal and external factors were found to be related to each other and to ICT usage level. In general, male pre-service teachers’ knowledge and usage levels of ICT were higher than that of female teachers.     

Number Sense Strategies Used by Pre-Service Teachers in Taiwan

This study examined number sense strategies and misconceptions of 280 Taiwanese pre-service elementary teachers who responded to a series of real-life problems. About one-fifth of the pre-service teachers applied number sense-based strategies (such as using benchmarks appropriately or recognizing the number magnitude) while a majority of pre-service teachers relied on rule-based methods. This finding is consistent with earlier studies in Taiwan that fifth, sixth, and eighth grade students tended to rely heavily on written methods rather than using number sense-based strategies. This study documents that the performance of pre-service elementary teachers on number sense is low. If we want to improve elementary students’ knowledge and use of number sense, then action should be taken to improve the level of their future teachers’ number sense.     

Pre-service and In-service Secondary School Teachers’ Knowledge about Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attitudes toward Students with ADHD

This article reports on a mixed-method inquiry into pre-service and in-service secondary school teachers’ knowledge about Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and attitudes toward students with this disorder in Hong Kong. The inquiry revealed no differences between pre-service and in-service secondary school teachers concerning their knowledge of ADHD and attitudes toward students with ADHD. It also identified possible sources of participants’ knowledge and a variety of factors underlying their attitudes toward students with ADHD including sociocultural beliefs and working conditions. The findings call for teacher educators to develop better education programmes to support both pre-service and in-service teachers in undertaking the challenging task of teaching students with ADHD.     

Blogging with pre-service teachers as action research: when data deserve a second glance

The implementation of digital pedagogies (i.e. blogging) is one way to mediate large classroom discussions in culturally relevant ways. This 2.5-year longitudinal mixed-method action research study reflects on the ways blogging can further promote culturally relevant discussions explored in face-to-face classes. Findings include pre-service teachers’ use of blogs in: interrogating issues as a means of developing cultural competence; recognizing their own trepidation and lack of self-knowledge related to topics of diversity; and exploring the disconnect between their current knowledge and future practice. Additionally, this study explores ways in which the authors could have further assisted students in challenging their beliefs and strengthening cultural competencies through blog responses.