THE CO‐OPERATIVE SCHOOL OF RELIGION IN PRACTICE

A report of a conference of leaders, both men and women, in the fields of secular education, religious education, community and social work, and business and professional life. In the group are Protestant, Catholic, Jew and those having less formal attachment to organized religion—the Ethical Culturist, the New Thought adherent, the pure humanist and the scoffer at man‐made schemes for personal and social salvation.     

THE IMAGE OF TECHNICIAN OCCUPATIONS AMONG SCHOOL‐LEAVERS

Two groups of secondary schoolboys of below average academic ability were studied. The control group received traditional English teaching; the experimental group had experience of SRA Reading Laboratory 2a included in their English lessons. After nine weeks, no differences were shown in the reading performance of the two groups. Caution is advocated in the interpretation of this result.     

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEAN AND MEDIAN

This study provides a snapshot of elementary school teachers’ understanding of the mean and median. The research is presented in light of recent work regarding preservice teachers’ understanding of the mean. Common misconceptions are identified which lead to potential implications for teacher preparation programs. One of the primary concerns regarding increasing the standards expected of students to learn statistics is teachers’ preparation to address those standards. Exploring issues with teachers’ understanding of two of the most prominent concepts in the enacted curriculum provides a glimpse into the need to adequately prepare teachers to teach statistics.     

TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE: HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS’ CONCEPTIONS OF THE NATURE OF TECHNOLOGY

In-depth interviews guided by video elicitations examined 30 high school science teachers’ conceptions of technology and by extension how these conceptions reflected dimensions of nature of technology. Altogether, 64 % of the teachers characterized their schools and departments as aggressive–moderate adopters with generous access and support for technological tools. In comparison, 30 % noted that their school lagged behind due to funding and lack of infrastructure. Definitions of technology revealed emphasis on technology as artifact, overwhelming optimism on the purpose and function of technology to improve and make life easier and as representation of advancement in civilization. In tandem, teachers were most drawn to two video scenarios—medical and everyday tool videos because it reflected notions of progression and expectations of future changes; heightened awareness of the multitude of available technologies; and perceived relevance with classroom content. Perhaps most telling in these findings was that few teachers were drawn to the classroom video scenario, and only three teachers highlighted the technology–science–school science connection. These findings have implications for holistic understandings of technologies, which may inform how science teachers perceive and enact technologies in their science classrooms.     

A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 1915‐1958

The subject of this paper is the evolution of the Theobgical Faculty in Pavia from the late Middle Ages to the end of the 18th Century. At the down of the Modem Age, the Medieval educational model underwent a deep crisis, mainly for extemal reasons. The educational model promoted by the University, based on open access and ment, no longer fulfilled the expectations of an increasingly closed society, jealous of its privileges. At the same time, internally coherent educational programmes were offered by the schools and colleges of the new religions orders, which were both rigorous in moral education and open to the new cultural orientations of Humanism and the Renaissance. As a conseequence, the University lost its central place to become an element within a complex System of educational institutions. It was only during the last decades of the 18th Century, under Austrian rule, that the University regained its central role: with the closing of the religious schools, the University became the only institution allowed to grant legal degrees.     

A MODERN JEWISH EXPERIMENTAL SCHOOL—IN QUEST OF A SYNTHESIS

The question of teacher recruitment for Jewish schools has been on the Jewish community agenda for decades. I have been a practicing Jewish educator for 33 years and in educational administration for 25 years, and I cannot remember a time when there was an abundance of licensed, qualified teachers for Jewish schools. There were always men and women who were available to teach. Most were partially qualified people with some teaching experience. But the fully qualified teacher, especially the one who was effective and successful in the classroom, was a rarity.     

MY SCHOOL LIFE

My name is Zhang Xi.I’m fourteen years old.I’m a middle school student.I’m in Class3,Grade7. I’m tall.I have a medium build.I have long,straight,black hair.I am serious but have an outgoing personality. I like sports.For example,football,basketball,ping-pong, and so on.     

THE RELATION OF WEEK‐DAY RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION TO THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

This article seeks to demonstrate that in the burgeoning spiritual memoir literature of those leaving Ultra-Orthodoxy, scant attention is paid to the negative impact of schooling, yet it may be a significant contributing factor to the decision to leave traditional practice and community. Differing educational expectations for girls and boys—an amplified focus on modesty for females and scholarship for males—can become constricting and, ultimately, oppressive. Highlighting these inequities in other similar parochial systems or traditional but more progressive schools may shed light on how specific messaging may work counter to desired educational outcomes.     

SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF MATHEMATICAL INDUCTION: STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE PROCESS OF PROOF CONSTRUCTION

In this study, we investigate the meaning students attribute to the structure of mathematical induction (MI) and the process of proof construction using mathematical induction in the context of a geometric recursion problem. Two hundred and thirteen 17-year-old students of an upper secondary school in Greece participated in the study. Students’ responses in 3 written tasks and the interviews with 18 of them are analyzed. Though MI is treated operationally in school, the students, when challenged, started to recognize the structural characteristics of MI. In the case of proof construction, we identified 2 types of transition from argumentation to proof, interwoven in the structure of the geometrical pattern. In the first type, MI was applied to the algebraic statement that derived from the direct translation of the geometrical situation. In the second type, MI was embedded functionally in the geometrical structure of the pattern.     

THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION FROM THE SUNDAY‐SCHOOL VIEWPOINT

Dorothy Day's love of the poor originated from reading novels that portrayed the poor as persons worthy of respect. This article explores how Day's reading novels opened her mind and heart to the realities of poverty. The methodology is literature-based. Dorothy Day's autobiography reveals the novelists who captivated her mind and cultivated a religious heart: Charles Dickens, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and the Russian authors Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. As a journalist and writer, Day described how the poor struggled to survive and how love is needed to counter the challenges that poverty presents. Finally, two novels by authors favored by Day will serve as examples for educating young adults religiously and encouraging love for the poor.     

ENGAGING SCIENCE: PRE-SERVICE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS�� NOTIONS OF ENGAGING SCIENCE LESSONS

If children are engaged in science lessons, their learning is likely to be better and, in the long term, careers in science and technology will remain open. Given that attitudes can develop early and be difficult to change, it is important for teachers of younger children to know how to foster engagement in science. This study identified what a cohort of 79 pre-service teachers in England considered to be engaging elementary science lessons and compared their notions with teacher behaviours known to be conducive to engagement. First, all brought beliefs about how to engage children in science lessons to their training. They tended to favour children’s hands-on activity as an effective means of fostering attentive participation in learning, although many had additional ideas. Nevertheless, the means and ends of their ‘pedagogies of engagement’ tended to be simple and narrow. Trainers need to ensure that notions of engagement are wide enough to cope with a variety of teaching situations, as when hands-on experience is not feasible, effective or appropriate. At the same time, teachers will need to recognise that one approach may not suit all learners. Without this, there is the risk that they will lack the skills to engage children in science. Nevertheless, these beliefs could offer a useful starting point for trainers who wish to widen pre-service teachers’ conceptions of engagement and increase their repertoire of teaching behaviours.     

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LEARNING SCIENCE? AN ANALYSIS OF POLICY AND PRACTICE IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL

ABSTRACT:  The paper explores the current rationale for primary science in England with a focus on how competing perspectives arising from perceptions of educational ideology and policy discourse have helped to shape current practice. The aim will be to provide a conceptual understanding of this by focusing specifically on how policy has influenced practice. In particular it will consider the way in which discourse and policy text have contributed to the emergent rationale for primary science which in many ways reflects conflicting influences, views and policies. Data were collected over a year from a regional survey and from four case-study primary schools. The findings suggest that teachers in primary schools face tensions between promoting both an educational and a political rationale for learning primary science. The paper will conclude by suggesting that the justification for primary science should be based on what we already know about how children learn science as well as helping them to develop an understanding of science and how it influences and is intrinsically linked to the needs of society.     

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF MODEL FUNCTIONS AND MODELING PROCESSES: A COMPARISON OF SCIENCE AND NON-SCIENCE MAJORS

This study aimed to: (a) understand practicing teachers’ knowledge of model functions and modeling processes, (b) compare the similarities and differences between the knowledge of science and non-science major teachers, and (c) explore the possible reasons for the similarities and differences between the knowledge of these 2 groups. A 4-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed and used to measure the knowledge of 187 practicing elementary school teachers (94 science majors and 93 non-science majors) on model functions and modeling processes. The author selected 10 target teachers to conduct think-aloud interview and to explore their ranking. One month after completing the questionnaire, 28 volunteer teachers were selected for a follow-up interview to better understand the reasons for their responses. The results show that these teachers tend to agree or strongly agree with the items about model functions and modeling processes. The only significant difference between science and non-science majors was for the item “generating new ideas.” Qualitative analyses of the follow-up interviews and think-aloud results showed that teacher education and professional development did not focus on understanding and using models. Science-major teachers tended to formulate their responses with reference to specific models, while the non-science major teachers’ responses contained acquiescence bias. Finally, implications for science education are discussed.     

A SUPERFICIAL VIEW OF THE OBJECT TEACHING METHOD IN JUNIOR MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHING

Object Teaching is an ancient form of teaching, through which the teacher uses material things-models,pictures, gestures combined with livhlg words, to direct the students to the full sense of the teaching materials, to enrich the students‘ direct experience and perceptual knowledge, and to help them lay a foundation for a deep understanding of the learning contents.     

A SUPERFICAL VIEW OF THE OBJECT TEACHING METHOD IN JUNIOR MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHING

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INVESTIGATIONS OF STUDENTS�� MOTIVATION TOWARDS LEARNING SECONDARY SCHOOL PHYSICS THROUGH MASTERY LEARNING APPROACH

Teaching method is a major factor that affects students’ motivation to learn physics. This study investigated the effects of using mastery learning approach (MLA) on secondary school students’ motivation to learn physics. Solomon four non-equivalent control group design under the quasi-experimental research method was used in which a random sample of 4 co-educational secondary schools was obtained in Kieni East Division of Nyeri District in Kenya. The 4 schools were randomly put into 4 groups. Each school provided 1 Form Two class for the study; hence, a total of 161 students were involved. The students were taught the same physics content. In the experimental groups, MLA teaching method was used while the regular teaching method was used in the control groups. The researchers trained the teachers in the experimental groups on the technique of MLA before the treatment. Two groups were pre-tested prior to the implementation of the MLA treatment. At the end of treatment period, all the 4 groups were post-tested using a validated Students’ Motivation Questionnaire, whose reliability coefficient was 0.76. Data were analysed using the t test, analysis of variance and analysis of covariance. The results of the study show that students exposed to MLA have significantly higher motivation than those taught through regular methods. Gender has no significant influence on their motivation to learn physics. The researchers conclude that MLA is an effective teaching method in motivating students; hence, physics teachers should incorporate it in teaching.