Teachers adapt their instruction according to students’ academic performance

This study examined the extent to which a student’s academic performance in first grade contributes to the active instruction given by a teacher to a particular student. To investigate this, 105 first graders were tested in mathematics and reading in the fall and spring of their first school year. At the same time points, their teachers filled in a questionnaire on five successive days on the active instruction they have given a particular student. The results showed that the poorer the performance in reading a student showed in fall, the more active instruction teachers reported giving a student in spring. Moreover, the poorer the performance in mathematics a student showed in fall, the more active instruction less-experienced teachers reported giving that particular student in spring. The giving of active instruction by less-experienced teachers also contributed to an increase in children’s subsequent performance in mathematics.     

Lecturers’ text competencies and guidance towards academic literacy

Embedding academic literacy into the curriculum and regular subject teaching has received little attention in Norwegian higher education (HE). The present article, drawing on the findings of two studies carried out in 2013/14, seeks to amend this. The first study, an action research study, exposes how lecturers in one of the faculties at Oslo and Akershus University College perceive their role in teaching and guiding students’ discipline-specific literacy, in particular academic writing. Collaborating with the faculty in a joint action research project, we seek to empower the lecturers, and develop pedagogical methods that are suitable for academic literacy teaching and guidance, and thereby make a change in the institution. The second study analyzes the academic literacy skills and knowledge of new students. We follow students in their final semester in upper secondary school, and identify how they are prepared for academic literacy in HE. Together, the studies reveal that despite the students’ preparation for higher studies, they are not fully qualified for meeting the demands of academic literacy. When entering HE, the students are still in need of guidance to establish textual meta-perspectives and to develop relevant disciplinary literacy practices. However, the lecturers are neither fully qualified for nor willing to include this topic in their content teaching.     

Teachers’ beliefs and practices related to mathematics instruction

Beliefs and practices related to mathematics were assessed for 21 fourth- through sixth-grade teachers. At the beginning and the end of the school year teachers’ beliefs about (1) the nature of mathematics (i.e., procedures to solve problems versus a tool for thought), (2) mathematics learning (i.e., focusing on getting correct solutions versus understanding mathematical concepts), (3) who should control students’ mathematical activity, (4) the nature of mathematical ability (i.e., fixed versus malleable), and (5) the value of extrinsic rewards for getting students to engage in mathematics activities were assessed. (6) Teachers self-confidence and enjoyment of mathematics and mathematics teaching were also assessed. Analyses were conducted to assess the coherence among these beliefs and associations between teachers’ beliefs and their observed classroom practices and self-reported evaluation criteria. Findings showed substantial coherence among teachers’ beliefs and consistent associations between their beliefs and their practices. Teachers’ self-confidence as mathematics teachers was also significantly associated with their students’ self-confidence as mathematical learners.     

A comparative examination of Canadian and American pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for literacy instruction

This study explored Canadian and American pre-service elementary teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for literacy instruction, as well as the contextual factors (i.e., course and field experiences) that contribute to these self-efficacy beliefs. Survey data were collected over a two-year period at the beginning and end of a required elementary literacy methods course that assessed pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy for literacy instruction. A content analysis of the American and Canadian literacy methods course syllabi was also conducted. Paired t test results showed no significant difference in pre-service teachers’ literacy teaching self-efficacy scores from pre-test to post-test; however, there was a significant difference in the pre-service teachers’ literacy efficacy beliefs related to oral reading from the beginning to the end of the course. A weak negative correlation was found between the Canadian pre-service teachers’ total Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy for Literacy Instruction (TSELI; Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2011) scores and their teaching experience specific to literacy instruction, r = ? .1, p = .04. There was a positive correlation between Canadian pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy scores related to engagement and differentiated instruction and their volunteer and work experiences. A positive correlation existed between Canadian and American pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy for reading/writing connections and university coursework related to literacy instruction. Implications for literacy teacher educators and recommendations for literacy instruction are discussed.     

Teachers’ adaptations to and orientations towards an adolescent literacy curriculum

This study examines teacher implementation of an adolescent literacy curriculum designed as an intervention for students reading two years below grade level. Specifically, this work focuses on the adaptations made by four experienced teachers in a single school that sustained implementation of this curriculum after the intervention trial had ended. Data were collected through observation and interview. An accounts of teaching practice methodology was used to define each teacher’s orientation towards the curriculum, and then to determine whether this orientation demonstrated assimilation or accommodation to intervention principles. I found that the vast majority of time spent implementing the curriculum included adaptations, and that each teacher’s adaptations were different, and reflected her pre-existing orientation towards literacy teaching. Although one teacher demonstrated assimilation and accommodation to intervention principles, the other three primarily demonstrated assimilation. These findings suggest the importance of understanding teachers’ orientations towards curriculum in order to provide more tailored professional development which may help teachers accommodate to the most critical pedagogical features of a curriculum. This may be especially significant in considering sustained implementation, after research-related supports have been withdrawn.     

Teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding academic support following concussion

Teachers play an important role in supporting students' return to school after concussion. This online cross sectional survey examined teachers' beliefs and practices regarding concussion and academic support strategies, or academic adjustments (AA). Most teachers (99.1%) agreed-to-strongly agreed concussions affect school performance, and many (71.6%) have worked with a student who received AA after concussion. Teachers who participated in concussion education and observed a decline in a student's academic performance after concussion were more familiar with and recommended AA more often. Professional development is recommended to provide teachers with practical and timely resources to enhance support for students after concussion.     

Pathway Towards Fluency: Using ‘disaggregate instruction’ to promote science literacy

This study examines the impact of Disaggregate Instruction on students’ science learning. Disaggregate Instruction is the idea that science teaching and learning can be separated into conceptual and discursive components. Using randomly assigned experimental and control groups, 49 fifth‐grade students received web‐based science lessons on photosynthesis using our experimental approach. We supplemented quantitative statistical comparisons of students’ performance on pre‐ and post‐test questions (multiple choice and short answer) with a qualitative analysis of students’ post‐test interviews. The results revealed that students in the experimental group outscored their control group counterparts across all measures. In addition, students taught using the experimental method demonstrated an improved ability to write using scientific language as well as an improved ability to provide oral explanations using scientific language. This study has important implications for how science educators can prepare teachers to teach diverse student populations.     

Research on training wheels – embedding academic literacy and numeracy in vocational pedagogy through action research

Concerns about developing academic staff capability in literacy and numeracy development led members of the Academic Literacies Team in a New Zealand institution to research ways for achieving and sustaining educational change. The findings indicated that enquiry through action research could be beneficial for supporting the process of integrating literacy and numeracy development with the educational practices of lecturers (Tertiary Education Commission 2008 Tertiary Education Commission. 2008. “Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy and Numeracy: Background Information.” edited by Tertiary Education Commission. Wellington: Tertiary Education Commission. [Google Scholar]; Whatman, Potter, and Boyd 2011 Whatman, J., H. Potter, and S. Boyd. 2011. Literacy, Language and Numeracy: Connecting Research to Practice in the Tertiary Sector. Wellington: Ako Aotearoa. [Google Scholar]) to improve existing vocational pedagogy (Lucas, Spencer, and Claxton 2012 Lucas, B., E. Spencer, and G. Claxton. 2012. How to Teach Vocational Education: A Theory of Vocational Pedagogy. London: City &; Guilds. [Google Scholar]). This article introduces the approach taken with the second Literacy + Numeracy Enquiry Group and the research methodology that combines the gathering of impact data and process evaluation. Overall evaluation findings are outlined. Lecturers shared their challenges, successes and perceptions of how participating impacted on them. The findings show that participants clearly appreciate action research enquiry as a means of achieving change in their teaching. Moreover, the results of the evaluation also indicate the value of employing action research methodology to improve learning and teaching as evidenced by the participants of this study.     

Teachers’ stages of concern for media literacy education and the integration of MLE in Chinese primary schools

Media literacy is an essential skill for living in the twenty-first century. School-based instruction is a critical part of media literacy education (MLE), while research on teachers’ concerns and integration of MLE is not sufficient. The objective of this study is to investigate teachers’ stages of concern (SoC), perceived need, school context, and teacher practices of the integration of MLE in primary schools. For this purpose, a survey was setup and 392 primary school teachers participated in this study. The results show that teachers’ concerns of integration of MLE were generally oriented at the level of self-concerns. In the meanwhile, the integration of MLE was significantly related to teachers’ concerns and perceived need for MLE. Based on the results of regression analysis, teachers’ integration of MLE was significantly influenced by their SoC for MLE, school professional development support, and leadership support.     

Task persistence mediates the effect of children’s literacy skills on mothers’ academic help

This longitudinal study aimed at examining the relationship between children's task persistence, mothers' academic help, and the development of children’s literacy skills (reading and spelling) at the beginning of primary school. The participants were 870 children, 682 mothers, and 53 class teachers. Data were collected three times – at the beginning and the end of Grade 1 and at the end of Grade 2. Better literacy skills predicted higher persistence in completing school tasks and, correspondingly, higher persistence was related to better subsequent skills. Also, lower task persistence at the end of Grade 1 corresponded to more frequent academic help from mothers in Grade 2. Moreover, children’s literacy skills predicted mother’s later academic help via task persistence: the lower the children’s literacy skills were, the less task persistence children exhibited, and the more mothers engaged in academic help later on.     

Primary Trainee Teachers’ Learning and Teaching About Light: Some pedagogic implications for initial teacher training

This paper is focused on primary trainee teachers’ conceptualization of the vision process and image formation in a plane mirror. The study involved 55 non‐specialist, undergraduate trainee primary teachers on a 4‐year programme of initial teacher training. The process incorporated tracking trainees’ ideas during university‐taught sessions through collating and analysing responses to set tasks that included both the interpretation of annotated diagrams of the vision process and diagrammatic representation of image formation in a plane mirror. A selected sample of trainees was also interviewed. The data indicate that trainees experience significant difficulties in articulating coherent explanations regarding basic ideas about light. This presents particular professional constraint within the current demands of the primary initial teacher training science curriculum. It is argued that a more productive approach would be to focus on the professional issue of pedagogy through raising trainees’ awareness of the conceptual difficulties in learning rather than the current curriculum focus that seems to privilege knowing over understanding.     

Making the connection: Examining the relationship between undergraduate students’ digital literacy and academic success in an English medium instruction (EMI) university

The transition through the first year of university study is challenging for the majority of students. For students from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, commencing studies in an English-Medium Instruction (EMI) university program presents a number of specific challenges. These students are faced with meeting both language demands as well as learning expectations of the institution, which often differ markedly from their previous formal learning experiences. Developing CALD students’ digital literacy practices has been shown to lead to improved academic performance, success and retention in some higher education settings. This paper focuses on the digital literacy practices of undergraduates at a national public university in a Gulf State. Results from a survey and focus groups are analysed to identify the students’ access to and use of digital technologies, in order to better understand how their academic success can be enhanced through digital literacy development. The study identifies a disconnect between students’ perceptions of their digital capabilities and the institutional requirements for study. The research recommends that providing integrated, institution-wide digital literacy development focused on accessing, assessing and incorporating online resources in their work, will help improve transitioning CALD students’ preparedness for undergraduate study in this and other EMI universities.

     

The device in the room: Technology’s role in third grade literacy instruction

Abstract

This yearlong study explores how digital technologies are used during literacy instruction in the critical year of third grade. We analyzed technology use in 16 classrooms across six geographically and socioeconomically diverse schools. We examined the multiple layers of technology’s influences on teachers’ instructional decision-making and on students’ engagement. Applying Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy alongside the SAMR model, expectations for student technology use varied across settings and resulted in mixed levels of student engagement. Although technology has the potential to transform teaching and learning, it is most often used as a substitution for traditional instructional tools and to support students’ remembering and understanding rather than more complex tasks. Analysis suggests technology tools are not being strategically employed to support the development of 21st century learning skills.     

Inquiry Summary for Universities English Teachers’ Self-development

College English teachers' Self development apparently affects teaching quality, major curriculum development and inquiry development. The scope of inquiry summary indicates the intrinsic factors as awareness of professional competence, professional-knowledge learning awareness, awareness of teaching means, development awareness and the notions alike. And the summary comes to the findings that foreign ones ignore the effect of the external factors, the domestic just focus on the teaching pattern of team, yet ignore the scientific and inquiry group construction.     

Teachers’Day

9月10日的教师节是全中国教师的节日。该节日是从1985年开始庆祝的,以表达对教师辛勤劳动以及他们对社会所做贡献的敬意。庆祝教师节的目的是为了形成尊敬老师和尊重知识的社会氛围。每年学期开始时便迎来教师节,这样可以激发教师们和学生们工作和学习的热情,使教学与学习都有一个好的开始。在教师节那一天,学生通常会送老师写满祝福的贺卡来表达他们对老师的尊重。在台湾,一年一度的教师节定在9月28日,将这一天定为教师节是为了庆祝孔子的生辰,他为中国文化做出了很大贡献。别的国家也有教师节。美国的教师节是五月的第一个星期二。印度的…     

Teachers’Day

“春蚕到死丝方尽,蜡烛成灰泪始干。”这脍炙人口的诗句歌颂了人类灵魂的工程师——教师甘当人梯、无私奉献的高贵品质。藉此一年一度的教师节来临之际,向全国所有辛勤耕耘的园丁表示最崇高的敬意!并祝愿全体教师节日快乐!